Wednesday, April 15, 2020

"So You Will Have Answers"




He approached me, his arms crossed, brow low. "Teacher Tom, ask me a question."

For the most part, I strive to ask the children I teach very few questions. Or rather, when I ask them questions, I want them to be real questions, ones to which I don't already know the answer, instead of the sorts of testing or rhetorical or otherwise stupid questions adults most frequently ask around schools. So I decided to go (mostly) with the big ones.

"When is the first day of the rest of your life?"

"Elephant."

"What is the meaning of life?"

"Ninjas."

"Who is the best baseball player?"

"Ichiro."

"What is the best color?"

"All of them."

"Rainbow?"

"No, all of them."

"Who is the most important person?"

"All of them."

"What is the most important time?"

"Snack time."

"What is the most important thing to do?"

"Wake up."

"Why do you want me to ask you questions?"

"So you will have answers."

And now I do.

******

I hate to do this, but I earn most of my income by speaking at education conferences and running in-person workshops. I've just had 95 percent of my income wiped out for the next 9 months due to everything being cancelled. I know I'm not the only one living with economic insecurity, but if you like what you read here, please consider hitting the donation button at the bottom of this post . . . Or even better . . . 

. . . sign up for Partnering With Parents a 7-part e-course designed to help you make allies of the parents of the children you teach. 


Or maybe you're more the reading type. In that case, you might want to pre-order my brand new book entitled Teacher Tom's Second Book. We're offering a pre-publication discount right now. Books should arrive by mid-May in the US and a week later in Canada. We are still working out the rest of our international distribution, so hang tight! Thank you!


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