…doesn’t mean I’m more right than you, who are new.
I’ve directed the Rockford Aces for 15 years, and that means I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t, generally speaking. I’ve learned from hard mistakes I’ve made, and I’ve learned from successes. I’ve seen cyclical patterns, learned to recognize danger signs, and discovered the most effective ways to motivate and educate my students – as myself.
I try to remind myself regularly, though, that that doesn’t mean I have all the right answers for the students in front of me today. They might need something different. What worked in the past might fail this year.
I have blind spots, just like any other person, and my blind spot might be just where a 15-year-old sees most clearly. If I’m not humble enough to recognize that I might be wrong and a student might be right – even when I’ve been right before and know the history – I will necessarily fail over and over again.
I’m not always right, and neither are my students. I’m not always wrong, and neither are my students. When we see differently, I try to remember that.