My heart is the student's real classroom 10. Einstein was right when he said that the supreme art of a teacher is not the transmission of information but the awakening of joy in creative expression 11. Imagine the wonders we would discover if we entered the classroom as excited seeders and enthusiastic feeders and optimistic cultivators rather than as stern weeders and grim reapers. Hug a student, don't tug at him or her. Look around in those eyes, faces, hearts.
Leopards can change their spots.
We have choices. We make choices. Even when we choose not to choose, that is our choice. These are not just pithy catchphrases or trite sayings for me. They are the way I now struggle, not always successfully, to live, to learn, and to teach.