On Teaching: The Grand Canyon and Room 2

Today I had a wonderful day of teaching, mainly because I remembered to think of the Grand Canyon. Sometimes I worry about my teaching -- whether I'm a good teacher, whether my students are learning what they need to learn, whether I should maybe retire and turn this teaching business over to a younger person who might have some real talent for it. Today I didn’t worry. Today I kept the Grand Canyon in mind. I held in thought a picture of the spectacular canyon in Arizona, and that helped me have a spectacular day in the classroom. How did it work? Simple -- I just reminded myself that the Grand Canyon can't help but be an amazing canyon, day in and day out, moment after moment. It's always beautiful -- in rain, wind, snow, sunshine, or bitter cold. The nature of the Grand Canyon is to be stunning and sensational -- a totally "successful" canyon -- at all times and in all situations. I then simply reminded myself that my students and I are every bit as beautiful as the Grand Canyon, and, like the Canyon, we are always beautiful. We can't help it. No matter what happens in class, rare and wonderful beauty will be there in Room 2. It may not always be the exact kind of beauty I planned for or expected, but it will definitely be beauty -- and beauty of an extravagant kind. The Grand Canyon is a thing of splendor in any weather and in any situation, and so are my students and I. In my classroom today, I just kept this in mind, and sure enough, I felt like I was watching something magnificent unfold before my eyes.