Frontier

As I'm coming to the end of my student teaching experience, part of me is really nervous about teaching full-time. Who's to say that I am qualified to teach the youth of America? I certainly don't have all the answers! And yet, it's ok to not have all the answers. I think part of the reason I like this quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson so much is because as applicable as it is to science, it's even more applicable to teaching.
So much of the time, we (myself included) like to pretend that we know everything, that we are the foremost expert. Oftentimes in teaching, admitting that we don't know something is the difference between success and failure in the classroom. Are you successful? If so, I'm willing to bet that you ask lots of questions and never really settle for what you already know. Don't be ignorant, don't look for failure. Ask questions, look for success. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know it all.

Salad

Although Ron Swanson adamantly claims that salad is rabbit food, I'd like to make another comparison. I've always thought of salad as a good break from the meath and potatoes of a meal. It's that moment to give your taste buds something different, something lighter. At least that's what my stomach always thinks, after eating a salad, I go right back to the meat and potatoes.

In life, I find those nice breaks to be the salad. For students and some teachers, that moment is in the summer. For many others, the salad is a vacation in the middle of the year. What is your salad? What are those respites, those moments where you step away from the meat and potatoes of a career to enjoy the lighter side of life? For me, those moments are time spent with my family and loved ones. Or a good fishing trip. Whatever you salad is, hold dear to it. Always keep it in mind those moments when things just seem to be going wrong. Just as in tricking a stomach during a meal, taking a short break will ultimately bring you more success. What is your salad?

Intelligence

At some level, intelligence is simply a measure of how someone communicates his or her message. To be sure, there are some people who are truly intelligent, and some that are simply good at 'smart talk', but the ability to communicate ones message is key.
I have one student in particular that struggles with this communication piece. He is very intelligent, but he often struggles with the communication piece. Sometimes it takes him so long to piece a question together that by the time he's done I've forgotten what exactly he's asking in the first place. In truth, I feel kind of bad for him.
Are you intelligent? Better yet, are people able to tell that you are intelligent? Beyond the high school level, I'm betting that level of perceived intelligence rests largely on your ability to communicate. Even as a college student, I've caught myself thinking, "What a goon" as a classmate stumbles through a presentation or an answer. Now I'm not saying that this is right or even accurate. However, it is imperative that you hone your communication. Without it, you could be that goon.

Debate

I love Amy Poehler. Ever since my wonderful girlfriend introduced me to Parks and Recreation, I've been very impressed by Poehler and her character, Leslie Knope. And although they both make mistakes, in the end they are able to work out differences, change minds and make a difference.

The other day I held a debate in one of my classes. I let the students pick the topic, which ended up being the use of cell phones in class. Surprisingly, there were very strong feelings on both sides of the issue. As the debate went on, I was impressed by one students ability to meet every emotional debate with a calm, cool and collected response. Needless to say, this student and his team had my vote.
So many students (and adults) can't seem to understand this concept of respectful disagreement. Can you articulate your belief without insults? If so, can you change minds? Today on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus, the 5th Annual Ag Awareness Day was held to spread the message of agriculture. Friends, students and agriculturalists - were you able to make a difference?

Doubt

I suppose today's Thought was more a product of what I was feeling when I woke up this morning than anything else. Today I had a rather significant event happen: I accepted a position teaching agriculture at Cedar Mountain High School. As I woke up this morning I just had this feeling of knowing that my future is taking shape, that my future is back.

However, throughout the day, I kept getting more and more nervous. What am I getting myself into? What if I mess up? What if I'm a terrible teacher? What is my future? All those little doubts that constantly bug me kept hitting me.
What is your future? If you don't know, that's ok. Everyone has those doubts. Everyone needs time to figure these things out. However, when you do figure it out, when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what your future is meant to be, go for it! Don't sit by and watch it float on by. Yes, pay attention to your doubts, they keep you sharp, but don't be paralyzed by them. Take action. Go for your goals. Is your future back?

Word

Today's Thought is one of those wonderful bits of biting wisdom from Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones. Whenever he gets in trouble or whenever he needs a favor done, he always pulls out this line: "Everyone knows a Lannister always pays his debts". Despite the fact that he rarely ends up paying these debts, there nonetheless is a bit of wisdom within these words.

How good is your word? Are you like Tyrion, promising to pay off your debts, then turning tail and ignoring the debt? Or do you take those words to heart, stake your reputation to them and live by them every day? I must confess that currently I am in the midst of a big life decision. Without giving out specifics, I will tell you that it is one of those moments that I wonder just how much my word is worth.

I think everyone wants his or her word to carry a lot of weight. And yet, that weight takes a lot of effort and hard work to cultivate and raise. However, the rewards are worth it. If only from a personal, philosophical perspective, they are worth it. Take your words to heart. Hold them close. If you aren't good for your word, how good are you? How good is your word?

Write

I'm a little surprised that this is my first Thought from Mythbusters. After all, what better source of inspiration for a teacher than a show that dispels common misconceptions? However, it wasn't until halfway through the day that I truly got to understand the implications of this slight but significant difference between science and screwing around.

In one class, we have studying electrical wiring. The last few days have been very exciting as it's the last days of boring theory work in the classroom before we transitioned to working in the shop on actual circuits today. Each group of students is required to wired certain configurations and a good chunk of the class time was spent drawing these schematics out. Lo and behold, there's always that group that somehow never wrote things down. In that moment, it truly struck me. Because they didn't 'write it down' they were simply screwing around instead of doing something awesome.
Do you write it down? Don't get caught in that slight, but significant difference. Be prepared. Write it down. Are you just screwing around or are you making great things happening?