Tiny Garden. Big Thoughts.

My tiny garden has sprouted big insights into teaching and learning. Here are the 5 I think about most:

1. I Expect to Fail: Simply starting small reflects an openness to failure that needs to be more present in education. Just like every success does not define an educator or student, one failure doesn't either. 

2. It's Not Dirt. It's Soil: The ground is overlooked until you realize how important it is. Similarly, teaching and learning are only parts of the ecosystem of school, of education. Whether facilities, IT, food service, or the delivery drivers, there are a bunch of people who are never seen but integral to equilibrium. 

3. Harvest v. Picking: There's a way to take what you need while encouraging more growth. The classroom requires a lot from students. We need to balancing asking a lot from them with allowing them to find their voice. That requires understanding and empathy. It's short-term and long-term.

4. Herbs Need Flowers: Not only do we need different herbs in an herb garden, we need flowers to keep pests away and encourage pollinators. Similarly, we need to encourage students to disagree and to learn discourse. It's healthy. Doing it right, though, takes practice and it takes guidelines. Students have stretched my own thinking and understanding, and that has allowed me to grow. 

5. I Care about My Plants: I think about the sun, soil, water, and time differently. Teaching and learning will always evolve. Gen AI tools are a big part of that conversation now, but it has always needed to evolve and it always will. What won't change is the importance of relationships. Teaching and learning is interpersonal and it's personal. Regardless of the tools, it always will be. 

Cheers to all the tiny gardens, real and metaphorical!