A teacher is someone who loves to learn and loves to share what they learned.

I read on twitter yesterday (my newest tech love) a quote by Don Taylor that said, “After teaching all day, if you didn’t learn anything, you probably didn’t teach anything either.” Thanks Todd Whitaker. Rather harsh, but also a profound statement. It gets to heart of what I have always believed about education and learning. They go together like peanut butter and jelly.
I LOVE to learn. I’ve always had a wondering, and sometime wandering, mind. Some people called me curious and warned me of the dangers of such curiosity. Who hasn’t heard that it killed the cat? Others called me precocious, but most called me “weird”. When you wonder out loud, “Does everyone see the same colors as me?” people always think maybe you are a little strange. Okay, so I’ve learned that sometimes thinking out loud may get you some strange looks and always asking questions gets on some folks’ nerves, but being inquisitive is root of learning. Let me tell you a little story about the first time I went on a canoe trip.
I went with the guy I was dating at the time and group of friends. We got in the canoe and I, not knowing how things went, began to paddle, switching sides every few strokes. I was in the front and did not understand that I was NOT responsible for steering the canoe. My boyfriend told me to only paddle on one side. He was a little irritated because my constantly switching sides was making his job difficult and his tone was, in my opinion, overly bossy. I have never really liked being ordered to do anything without a good reason. So, I asked, “Why?” His response and tone of voice was a little insulting. “Just like a teacher! Always asking questions!” My instant response: “I don’t ask questions because I’m a teacher, I’m asking because I’m a learner!” I snapped it at him, surprising both of us. Not because of my tone, necessarily, but because the thought had never really occurred to either of us.
That incident has been stuck in my head for a long time and has impacted the way I teach for nearly 18 years now. If you approach your teaching from the perspective of the learner, your lessons will be geared more to what students are learning rather than what teachers are teaching. We need to instill a love of learning in our students. One of the best ways to do that is to model learning. On the first day of class, as I’m introducing myself and the class policies, I tell my students that I am not a perfect person. I let them know that I make mistakes and that I am always learning. I also let them know that I hope they will enjoy learning with me. I don’t get upset when they correct my mistakes. I teach them how to do it respectfully, how to give constructive feedback to their peers, and how to learn from their mistakes. I learn from the first period of the day just what about my fabulous lesson isn’t so fabulous. The students give me feedback and the lesson changes as the day goes on. Isn’t that what learning is? Isn’t that what teaching is? Teaching and learning are synchronic. You can’t have one without the other. One of our district’s mission statements is to create life-long learners. How can we do that? It’s simple. Love learning, keep on learning, and keep sharing what you’ve learned! That’s what teachers do.