What do I want to be when I grow up?

Being a teacher

Since I paid attention in class, I know Bloomʻs Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and Piaget stages. I know to tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them.

Most importantly, I learned you don’t learn what is expected. You learn what is inspected.

When I created web-based courses, I also learned that adult learners are not “formal operational learners” when they are at work. Adult learners are very much “concrete operational” when at work. They don’t want theory; they want to do their job. Forget that to your peril.

There are times that I miss being in a classroom, though. Nothing felt as good as the time I was a substitute teacher for a combined K-1-2 class (rural school). The first grade students figured out how to use their phonics lessons to sound out words they didn’t know in their reading lesson, with some encouragement from me. “You can do it.” They believed me.