Why I teach
My mom was a teacher.
She was my teacher. I learned from her that the learner should take charge and not just follow orders, that people enjoy learning together -- I later understood that social learning is what humans do better than all other species.
She also taught me that learning can and should be fun.
It took me a while to get off the podium.
I started by moving the chairs in a circle and joining the circle. It was scary at first, but I started turning my teacher power -- and the responsibility for learning -- over to the learners. Eventually, we moved from this:
to this:
As I found techniques that worked, I realized that more important than my expertise in the subject was my growing expertise -- and confidence -- in transforming a classroom of individual learners into a cooperative learning community.