An Educator's Decree

AN EDUCATOR’s DECREE:

To be or not to be, that is—a teacher…

Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows

Of being embarrassed by your students…

Or to be shown up and outwitted time and time again,

Because they know the newest dance, hit, or hashtag—or they can technology better than you can,

And they use it at every turn to plague your very presence,

And rub your ever-jaded nose in the fact that:

You’re always getting older.

To die, to sleep… sounds good.

And by a “sleep”, to say we take a power nap in the front seat of our car—or find solace in the fact

That we’re all teacher, learner, knower day by day,

And that to pass on knowledge to others

Is truly a two-way street.

What layers may added to the very fabric of our being by the spirit of our pupils—must give us pause.

For who would bear the selfishness of knowing something worth sharing and keeping it to yourself?

The pangs of letting your biases go unchecked,

When he himself might his disquieted ego teach from—barely scratching the surface, or worse: missing the point entirely.

Who would these implicit biases bear, being left unchecked, to grunt and sweat under the weary burden of believing that your least favorite students are an unsolvable riddle?

A puzzling problem best left for the next willful traveler to solve…

Or not.

Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself to the fact that the majority of these ill moments aren’t on you, they are on me.

Many, many apologies. But that’s why I’m here to teach you accountability… because if I can teach you nothing else in this vast (un)discovered country, then—perhaps I can leave you with some self-efficacy; because you should let no one stand in the way of your learning… Not even me. Not even you.

Fly yourself toward the things you know not of.

To be or not to be, that is the question–

But it’s not the only one worth asking;

There are millions more to explore.

Be not afraid of greatness.

Be unafraid of always learning more.

~FIN