Time Capsule reposts blogs from years past.
In the eighth year of Teach & Serve, there are more than a few from which to choose!
The Most Interesting Educator
Originally published in October 2016
The “news” that Dos Equis is retiring their “Most Interesting Man in the World” advertising campaign after over a decade of success (I guess they are sending him to Mars for his last commercial) got me thinking about how engaging that campaign was and how many times it made me laugh. A thought that commonly occurs to me followed – what would it be like if society celebrated educators the way it celebrates entertainers or sports figures or subjects of ad campaigns.
It would be kind of cool, wouldn’t it?
So, at the end of last week and into this one, I’ve been tweeting using the hashtag #TheMostInterestingEducatorAlive, commenting about friends of mine I’ve known in my years in education and making some remarks (remarks I found both funny and true) concerning how they affect their students or how they have affected me in their vocations.
I am unsure of just how many teachers and administrators I’ve worked with over the course of my quarter century in education. The total must be over 500, of that much I am certain. Do I remember all of them? No. Certainly not. I wish I did, but my personal data banks are so filled with comic book and Star Trek and Denver Bronco trivia that the important stuff is sometimes forced to the outskirts of my numb skull. No, I don’t remember all of the people with whom I’ve worked.
But this much I do know. I know that to some student they taught, to some athlete they coached or musician they inspired, to some kid in a classroom or some teenager in the cafeteria, they were the Most Interesting Educator Alive.
This is true and it’s also an awesome responsibility. Educators make differences in people’s lives with each moment and in each circumstance. Their actions are remembered. Their word echo.
This is why I wrote “@UrCinnamonGirl knows stories about Traveler that Robert E. Lee himself never did” because her students leave her class with minds filled with the stories of history that make history worth knowing.
This is why I wrote of the talented @Sean_M_O’Dea “he wrote 94 of the 95 Theses.” Of course he didn’t, but to his students, it seems he did. That’s the level of command he brings to his subject.
This is why I wrote “@KellyQuigs knows the real UN could learn a thing or two from her Model UN Club” because she inspires a love of the real world in her kids and they get it.
This is why I wrote “Ice cubes wish they were as chill as @JoeLags.” His students know that @JoeLags always approaches them calmly and with compassion. They trust him long after they leave his classroom.
This is why I wrote that “When Parker Palmer needs leadership advice, he asks @bhobbs63” – he teaches adults what it means to lead.
I’ve tweeted about almost 20 of my colleagues. I’ll continue tweeting about them and I encourage you to do so, too. Choose a teacher, compose a #TheMostInterestingEducatorAlive tweet and remind a teacher of what they meant to you. Remind an administrator of what they did for you. Remind an educator of what they do for eternity.
For someone in front of them each teacher is the most interesting educator alive. It’s an as awesome a responsibility as it is awesome.