Teaching Also Means Knowing When to Get Out of the Way

I love being a teacher.
And I get kids that hate school.
Because I hated school when I was in it.
Hated it! 
Couldn't think of anything more pointless.
The world was outside those windows and walls.
There was more happening on the lawn than inside any classroom.
More happening in the bathroom,
in the locker rooms,
on the basketball court,
on the soccer field.
On the streets.
​In my house.

That's where life was happening.

I get the kids today who hate school.
And because I get them, because I am honest with them,
they are honest and open with me.

This is what they tell me:


Why do we have to all come to the same building to learn?
Why do we all have to be in the same room? Why can't I sit outside?
or
Why can't I be in the library while y'all up in here?
or
Why can't I be... anywhere else?
I can learn from anywhere. Helloo... wifi...
Can't we learn from home? 
On a beach? 
In a car. 
We work from those locations, why can't we learn in those locations?
Why isn't all educational learning personalized? Kids are not robots.
They are not the same.
This is what they tell me:

Why do I have to know math? Why can't math people who love math learn it and I will learn about what I love:
Marine Life! 
Electronics! 
Robotics! 
Fashion design! 
Oil painting! 
Sustainable Cooking Practices!
Why do I need to know how to write an essay? I'm never going to write an essay. 
I'm going to write tweets and posts that will establish my brand and educate the public about the benefits of my vision.
Do I need a topic sentence to do that?
I promise you, my writing will have a topic and a searing focus. It will inform and persuade and I will have the evidence to back it up or my mission will fail. 
And I will learn from my mistakes.
Or I won't. 
And I'll do something else while someone more passionate and committed than me will complete the mission. 
They will build the brand. 
They will do the heavy lifting. 
They will get it right.
Then I will go to work for them.
Or not.
Why can't I just learn from my trying and failing?
Why can't I just go out there and do it? 

I'm ready. 
I'm ready! 
I'm ready! 
Just let me try. 
Just let me try.
Just let me try it!
Just let me... be me.

Good teaching is helping kids follow their passions and become masters of their own interests.
A lot of what teaching is, is knowing when to get out of the way.