We Become the Ones Who Just Know Things

I do something most teachers think is really scary in front of kids.

I write.

No plan, no script, no perfection.

I hit walls. In brainstorming, in drafting, and especially in revision.

I look up spelling, use a thesaurus, and cross out. A lot.

I get stuck on one sentence for longer than I want to admit. I say ideas out loud three different ways before I pick one. I ask my students what is confusing to them as an audience (and kids are brutally honest when something doesn't work).

If I prepare it all beforehand, I rob them of the process.

My students know I have experience as a learner, that I’ve lived longer on this earth, but I don't think they would say I have all the answers.

And I'm ok with that.

Somewhere along the way, we start hiding our curiosity, our lack of knowing, our wondering. We become the ones who just know things.

But we can't tell our kids to be curious and then never model it. They learn by watching us.

When we're overt about not knowing, about the strategies we think through to find out, about the resources we use, all of that teaches them something no explanation could.

It teaches them how to go from not knowing to knowing.

Turns out I’m not the only one teaching. I learn so much from students. They remind me that writing is a process. They tell me to grab a resource or take a break when I get stuck.

So much more gets "written" that day than a final essay. Trust, in each other and in the process.