Dr. Who + Jack Sparrow + Leonardo da Vinci = ME!

Read this post by Steve Wheeler.  Super interesting.  To sum up – what twisted pair (real or fictional) has influenced your teaching?

Dr. Who + Jack Sparrow + Leonardo da Vinci = ME!

Why?

Dr. Who is always working to save the human race.  He is creative, thinking outside the box.  The Doctor does not allow the circumstances of a situation to define how he will solve a problem.  He may be given just a few small things to use, and use them he will, sometimes in bizarre and wonderful ways.

He never stops.  Never.  The Doctor is on a mission to save humankind.  He tirelessly pursues this mission.  As soon as a crisis has been overcome, another one comes of out nowhere.  The Doctor dives in!  Always on call, always just able to save the day.

He always has help.  Very rarely has The Doctor had to embark on an Earth saving mission alone.  There is almost always a companion to help.  The Doctor is brilliant, yet he trusts the advice from his Human Companions.  He listens, he questions, he encourages, he argues…Yet he needs his Companion.

Me: I’m not really trying to save the entire human race, but I do have a lot of passion for my fellow educators at all levels and in all schools.  I try really hard to not be hemmed in by the walls that have been erected to contain me.  I may not always make it, but working within the system and outside the box is my goal.  I also require help.  I have to have my PLN!  There is no way that I am what I am without my PLN being what they are.  I rarely embark on a mission alone…

Jack Sparrow is never doing what you think he should be doing while at the same time accomplishing exactly what he should be accomplishing while doing it differently than everyone thinks he should be doing it…whew…

Jack does not do what you expect.  Always doing things just a bit different that planned, but he accomplishes the goal.  He also has his companions with him, and even though not everyone agrees with his choices at first, they see the end results work out.

Jack also has his trusty map and compass.  He knows where he is supposed to go and is constantly working his way there.  Always checking his navigation to ensure that his ship is sailing the right direction.

Me: The more I taught, the harder I worked to knock down the walls that tried to contain my class and I.  I usually was doing what I was supposed to do according to district policy, but I worked really hard to go about things in a different way.  Flipped classroom, gamification, and mastery learning marked my most recent years in the high school math classroom.  Students (and some colleagues) were not fans of some of the things I tried, but they were willing to be caught up in my enthusiasm.  I am also guided in my teaching by a map and compass: the math standards.  I was in control of my ship, I could captain my ship any way that I wanted.  IN THE END, the standards were my guide, they were those key things that my students had to learn.

Leonardo da Vinci never quite thinking about what could be.  He was always creating, always thinking, always tinkering.  He left a huge mark and he was not hemmed in by the popular thinking of the day.  His impact is still being felt.  He was crazy brilliant.

Me:  My mind is almost always focused on what could be, sometimes to the detriment of what is currently happening…I have been a dreamer for a long time – ask my wife – a touch of Luke Skywalker: always wondering where I could be.  The thing is this – I love thinking about what could be.  There are so many things that we are stuck doing, just because.  We get stuck on now at the expense of the amazing things that could happen tomorrow.  I am working to always be creating, although my medium is quite different than da Vinci’s.  I am also working on creating a positive impact with teachers.  We need that!  I also work very hard to not be hemmed in by our current system.  As a teacher we should always focus on the learning – WE KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR OUR STUDENTS!  Never forget this!!  Don’t ever be hemmed in by the popular talk of the day!  Teach your kids, form relationships with them, and help them do more than they every dreamed possible.

Don’t every forget that you will make a difference in someone’s life.  Be Brilliant!