I have found an interesting pattern recently, and I wonder if this is simply my experience, or a more broad common experience. I find several types of teachers / administrators to be in the educational environment.

Teaching from the Gut - There seem to be many teachers out there that have some innate, natural sense of “this is the right thing to do for XYZ child or classroom” They are phenomenal teachers, they do amazing instruction, and are quality educators, but they cannot explain to you WHY the things they do are the right educational pedagogy.

Teaching from the Gut, with reason - There are other educators, who not only have the aforementioned ability to naturally do the “right thing” in the classroom, like the above instructors, but when you ask them, “Why did you do that?” or “What did you want the student to learn from this activity?” they can tell you exactly why and or what. This is fantastic. Not only does the educator do the right thing for their students, but they have moved up Bloom’s Taxonomy and have understanding in addition to knowledge.

The only “deficiency” these instructors may have is that they can only use common language, not all of the “educational buzzwords” to explain their actions. One might ask “are you doing data-driven instruction in your classroom?” and this kind of teacher may reply, “No, I am just marking check marks on this clipboard which ones of my students can’t, can with some difficulty, or can easily color within the lines.” Brothers & sisters, let me tell you, if one of the “things you wanted the student to learn from the activity” [e.g. learning objective] was to “practice coloring inside the lines” [e.g. demonstrate small motor skills] then your marks on clipboard are data! Moreover, if you look at the check marks on your clipboard and realize “little Johnny” has been struggling with “coloring in the lines” for a while, and then try to do something to help little Johnny learn how to color in the lines better, then you have done data-driven decision making!

Educational Translators - There are some educational practitioners who can do what I have been doing in this post. One can take the high-level, and sometimes annoying plethora of educational buzz-words (see article on buzz-word bingo) and translate them to more common language and vice versa. They have the skill to not only know what the right thing is to do with students, and can explain it in common language, but if necessary they can explain it with the incredibly detailed, sometimes dizzying array of educational or technical buzzwords. You remember your Bloom’s, we would call these educators ones who have “synthesis level understanding”. They not only understand the the whole, and the pieces, but they can take the knowledge apart, rearrange it, and put it back together to make a new thing. I joke with many people that I believe my niche in the education industry is in the small group of us that are “teacher enough to talk to the teachers and geek enough to talk to the geeks.” I am absolutely certain there are better teachers in America than myself. I try to be a great teacher, but I am sure there are professionals out there that have forgotten more than I will ever know about being a great educator. I also carry no illusions that there are many computer people out there that can program circles around me (in fact, I am fortunate enough to call several of these people dear friends). However, in the words of my favorite author, “…if my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame.” It is my hope that I can be used to bridge the gap between geek and teacher, between ostentatiously large vocabulary toting theorists and solid, “from the gut” teachers. If I can ever be used to get these diverse groups in the room and communicating with each other effectively, then I will have served my purpose in this world of education.

Ostentatiously large vocabulary toting theorists - Sadly in any Aristotlian (Golden) Mean, there is always a good thing taken too far, which becomes a bad thing. We have all met a teacher or administrator, who has all the educational theorists memorized, and can use every educational buzzword in a properly structured sentence, but they can’t for the life of them actually get anything accomplished. I once had a Director of Curriculum that had her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, and could bury you in a cacophony of vocabulary, but when push came to shove, she couldn’t tell us the simplest step to solve a critical problem. Sadly, these practitioners have fallen so in love with the process of learning, that they have forgotten that for any learning there is a reason why we learn. They were like the students we all chide for cramming the words in their head, so they could get a 100% on the exam, but never really understood the content we wanted them to learn.

Are these things common? I have only noticed a pattern in my life and experience, and I post it here for others to share and add. I look forward to your input!