What Inspires Me

Last week I mentioned Danny Steele, an administrator with a Twitter account of educational encouragement.  Occasionally, he does a few posts called "What Inspires Me?"  Since I don't do New Year's resolutions, I thought I would use the typical end of year reflective time to think about the things that have inspired me in 20 years of teaching.  Here are some things that inspire me (and just a few of the people who display them).

- Teachers who challenge their students and then spend their time helping students meet that challenge. (Zane and Meagan)
- Students who give their best to meet challenges. (They're minors, so I won't use their names, but they know who they are.)

- The energy and enthusiasm of first and second year teachers. (Hannah and Emily)

- Veteran teachers who still spend time reading and learning from the latest research. (Kristin)
- Teachers who keep using techniques they know to be effective, not being swayed by fads. (Kellie)
- Teachers who come to our school from other places and give us a chance to see it with fresh eyes, reminding us what we have. (Melanie and Julianne)
- Colleagues who generously share their best practices. (Too many to name)
- Media specialists who help me think through new things. (Laura and Daniel)
- Colleagues who give me great ideas and then help me implement them.  (Kellie, Elizabeth, Jaime)
- Administrators who problem solve so that everyone gets the best they can have. (Mandy, Eric, James, Pascale, Isaiah)
- Office, lunch, and maintenance staff who give their best every day even though their work doesn't get talked about. (Karen, Kathleen, Willa Bea, Beth, Vivian, BJay)
- Educators who take to Twitter to share their wisdom and encourage strangers. (Danny Steele)
- The memories I have of my best teachers (I wrote about them in November)
- Alumni who return to share their lives with us. (Harrison, Will, Jay, Caroline, Cassidy, Rhea, Alex, and dozens of others)

Thanks to all of you for inspiring everyone you influence.