Teach42

Catching up on the aggregator a bit today, and found something a little ironic while reading through David Warlick’s blog. First I read about his experience meeting Consuelo Molina. 

I looked back — at a young man with a hulking video camera resting on his shoulder, and that customary tremor of terror ricocheted through my body. I don’t like cameras.

Interesting, the man who has no problem keynoting conferences with thousands of attendees gets a ‘tremor of terror’ when confronted with a video camera.

He continues:

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the wits about me to suggest that someone take a picture of me with Ms Molina, so I do not have the proof. But it just goes to show how a simple classroom assignment can affect people around the world and how just looking down at a name tag, can put you in the presence of a very important person.

I’m a little embarrased to admit that I don’t know who she is.  But if she’s famous to Dave, then she must be somebody I should learn more about.  Regardless, I move on down the blog and came upon his blog post about being interviewed for the Chicago Tribune.

I must admit a certain amount of nervousness when I am interviewed by journalists.

Once again, a man who earns his a living as a speaker and writer is nervous about being interviewed by a journalist.  A journalist who happens to be an English teacher in Illinois.

One other recent experience ties into this.  At CUE on Friday, I was sitting in my usual seat (along a wall next to an outlet) when I began talking to somebody next to me about blogging.  We chatted for a little while, when all of a sudden he glanced down at my name tag and then exclaimed that he was a fan of the blog and just read about me in Warlick’s book, Classroom Blogging.  His name was Ed Warkentin, and it turns out that he was a Discovery Educator as well.  Small world, eh?  He even asked me to sign a page that refered to me in Dave’s book (causing a flashback within my head to me asking Will to sign his book for me at ICE). 

The point to all this musing?  Fame has become such an incredibly relative term lately.  We’re all rockstars, and we’re all screaming fans.  We’re all famous for fifteen people out there.  Somewhere out there, there are 15 people who are going to be nervous to speak to you and who are going to hang on your every word.  Why?  Because you’ve got knowledge and experiences to share that are incredibly valuable to them.

There are so many teachers that I meet that don’t realize just how much of a rock star they are.  They have no idea just how cutting edge their classroom experiences are.  They think that the gadgets are shinier on the other side of the fence.  They believe that they may be doing cool things, but there are so many other educators that are doing cooler things.  What they fail to realize is that their own experiences are so incredibly valuable and important to share.

That’s what I love about blogs and podcasts.  They provide a medium for us all to become rock stars.  Even if it’s only for 15 people.

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