"Ms. Brailov, how do you know everything about everything?"

First off, I know I skipped my quick Wednesday mid-week update... it's been a busy week! I was very busy teaching my original unit to my students. 

One of my university requirements is that I write my own unit for any subject and teach it to my kids. WOW, I have learned a lot about how extensive the planning, copying, gathering of materials, time management, etc can be.... But what I have realized is that the reality is that once I make these materials once, I have them forever! And let me tell you.. the effort has been SO worth it. My lessons have clearly been engaging and interesting to my students. Once I wrap up the unit, I'll share all the details with you. :) Long story short for now.... it's a science unit about outer space... how cool?! 

Any way... the student quote title this week was, "Ms. Brailov, how do you know everything about everything?" 

**This was said after I taught a lesson about the Earth's orbits and rotations and how we have day and night and seasons***

A student actually said this to me! Well, I need to admit I did feel really cool and honored that this student thought I knew "everything about everything"... I think my response shocked him even more than the thought that I might be a genius. 

I simply said, "I actually don't know everything about everything... believe or not... I have been learning most of this stuff with you guys! I spend a little time every night learning about want I want you to learn about and figuring out how I can teach it to you." 

This student stood there with a blank stare and finally said, "Is a teacher the smartest job in the world?" 

HAHA! Well in my opinion.... yes.... ;)... kidding! No, I don't think the smartest people in the world are teachers but I do think the people who are truly life long learners are teachers. To me, being a life longer learner is so much more valuable than being 'smart'. 

Life longer learners is basically a catch phrase the College of Education liked to throw at us often. It did not have too much meaning to me until I started student teaching. I've recently found myself spending long nights learning about star constellations or the history of communities in the United States or how a prosthetic leg is made. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this! 

I never remember loving school but I always remember loving to learn. I'm someone who can think of a question and then can read up on information about it for hours and lose track of time. Trust me, I can tell you almost everything and anything there is to know about Ebola. Some people might think that is a harsh example.. but really. It's a current event affecting our world and I want to know about it. I've spent hours lost in news articles, videos, and tweets learning about Ebola. 

I don't just do this with current events. Sometimes I'm just curious! One time I spent hours learning about the tentacles on a octopus. I was curious and had to learn about it! 

Basically, I feel so lucky to be going into a profession where I can continue my passion for learning. Everyday, I learn something! I really do. I don't care if my students are in second grade... I can still learn plenty from teaching their classes. 

Sometimes I find myself getting lost in lesson planning because I start learning so much about a topic. 

It's a cool feeling to know that you're educating yourself while educating others. 

The beauty of teaching is that you are not expected to know all the answers. In my opinion, I'm expected to instill the idea of wanting to learn in my students.... not always having all the answers.

While teaching a science lesson last week a student asked me a question about how the Earth's rotation began. I honestly didn't know the answer. I didn't feel embarrassed one bit! I simply explained that I don't know the answer but that it is a great question and I would love to get back to him tomorrow about it! He was perfectly okay with this response. 

Here is the best part...

The next day he handed me a piece of paper he printed out from the NASA website about how the Earth started rotating. HOW COOL? My student went home... wanting to keep learning about something we talked about in class. 

That's AMAZING! That's what I want to see from my students. I want to spark the desire to keep learning in all of them. For all I know... I just sparked an interest in a future astronomer. That's a pretty great feeling to have. 

I don't care if my students know all the answers. I don't expect them to. We are human and we do not know everything. 

But what I do want... 

I want them to question things. I don't want them to be satisfied on only the information I give them in class. I want them to be curious and want to know more. I want them to take those extra steps on their own and further their own learning. I want us all to learn together. That's what I want my future classroom to be about. 

I want us all to be life long learners. No more throwing around that catch phrase, now I mean it.