Be You, Not Whomever

In the spirit of Carl's keynote at TMC17, I thought I would pass along my best advice to all those who are taking on new challenges and have half a dozen #1TMCThing: don't let who you are get lost as you try to implement others' great ideas.

It took me a long time to figure this out - I can't be you so I need to make your idea work for me. And sometimes that means it just won't. After TMC15 I so wanted to jump on the High 5 bandwagon (giving every student a high 5 on the way into class), but I just couldn't. Merely thinking about it made me cringe, despite all the great things everyone was saying about it. I have also wanted to be more like <insert teacher's name here> and it took me some time to realize that I can't teach like them because I'm not them. So be sure to sift through all the great ideas you have collected and find the ones that you can actually put into action. Make them yours, adapt them as needed, and make them great. If you have found an activity that you think you can implement well with your students, work through it and tweak it so that it represents what your students need. Cultivate your own style while stretching yourself to be better, always. Be you, not whomever.

I really hope this doesn't sound preachy. Not sure whether to hit Publish, but #justpushsend and all...