Why I'm One Brave Teacher

Teachers in general are a brave lot.  We enter into a profession where we know we will work long hours for low pay and marginal respect, and yet we do it anyway to serve a higher good.  That's brave.

Is that why I call my blog "One Brave Teacher"?  

Well, the part about long hours and low pay certainly is true for me, but that's not really why I'm one brave teacher.

I wrote about the small school where I teach, which is also the school I attended as a student, in my previous post Where I Come From.  It is across the channel from an Indian reservation and our school mascot is a Brave, so that alone makes me one brave teacher!  

However, I'd like to think I'm brave in other ways as well.  This blog was created as a place for me to reflect and share how I use technology to enhance instruction.  That's brave.  

It's brave to put yourself out there in a blog.  Lot's of people do it, but millions more don't.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so blogging isn't always easy for me because I like to really labor over and craft what I write, but I'm going to try it. 

It's brave to learn new technology, after all, it might be tricky and it might not work right, and then you have a room full of students staring at you wondering why you can't get the cool new thing you told them they were going to do to work.

It's brave to try to continually make yourself a better teacher.  I've been teaching since 1994.  After 17 years I could sit back and coast a little, but that wouldn't be what's best for me or for my students.  And, it wouldn't be any fun!  I want to learn too!

I want to keep up with what's happening in education, and better yet, get ahead.  I don't always know where I'm going or how I'm going to get there, or even if I'll like it when I arrive, but I go anyway.  That's brave. 

I think I'm one brave teacher, but only one among many.  Here's to all the brave teachers out there!   

Image found here.