If there is one thing I have enjoyed about being a connected educator, it’s been the sharing. The give and take from educators around the world, working together with one common goal… to make education better. I could name hundreds of people whose sharing has made me a better educator, and I could post a list of names of people who’ve personally made me a better person. But, it’s not a competition and the best way to thank them? Keep sharing. This sharing? It’s the very thing that it’s going to take for us to change things for the better. We need the very best each of us has to offer, given freely, so that together we can all be better. And we keep sharing. Even when others don’t understand, or approve, or agree. Because every single one of our voices matter.
Sharing. The raw kind where it’s good and bad. Where it is happy and when it hurts. I share my strengths, my weaknesses, my hopes, my failures, my dreams, my wishes, and my beliefs. Mixed with yours? And hers? And his? And this? And that? I become better. Pushed to reflect, stretch, and grow. We all become better. It’s not always easy, but it’s necessary. It’s what defines us as educators. It’s what connects us as humans.
Better. It’s honestly the only thing I’m searching for. It’s the thing I will continue to work toward. Because I need to. Because if I stop? My heart will dry up like a raisin and I’ll give in to the idea that I’m finished learning. An idea I hope I always refuse to believe.
We cannot afford for our focus to be anywhere other than improving and collaborating. We just don’t have the space for negativity, snap judgments, or complaining about the things we cannot change. Disagreements? They have a place. They are part of the give and take of sharing. Understanding. They force reflection, conjure up new ideas, cause us to wrestle with our comfort zones. But attacks? Anger? Bitterness? They will only drain the light from our souls. A light we need to shine for others, to spend more time spreading good. Lifting each other up.
We share, each in our own ways, for our own reasons. I won’t tell you to get on Twitter and share. I won’t tell you that you need to start a blog right now. These are just the ways I like to share. And I’ll respect what works for you, because that’s what we need to model of our students. In the meantime, I’ll just continue to share, and I’ll hope that you’ll share.
Because the world needs you, too.
