I’m reading the book ‘Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life’ by Lisa Cron. It has me wondering about the narratives that teachers, students, and school leaders live out.

I remember my own thinking through middle and high school… and wish I had crafted a better narrative for myself to live into. A twenty-year journey to this point could have been very different, but that’s how it goes.

I think this one of the final realizations after 10 years of zooming out conceptually. In other words, every so often I have grown frustrated with the results of my teaching and then widened my view of the overall goal.

Here is how my thinking has changed:

• First year of teaching: Survive.
• Years 2-3: Are charter schools serving kids better? Very difficult job & a complex situation… then burnout.
• Years 4-6: Public school kids need great teachers too. Teaching Goal: If we do science well enough, everyone can engineer better lives for themselves and understand how the world works.
• Years 7-8: Technology can engage students and help them see all sorts of things are possible. Teaching Goal: Teach 3D printers, CNCs, vinyl cutters, etc and the awesome creations we make will make an awesome snowball of creativity.
• Year 9: Being a creator and creating is a great way to learn about yourself, find things that interest you, and find your way into things that you think are awesome. Teaching Goal: Teach about being a unique creator and how everyone can create
• Year 10: Our attitudes and mindsets decide if we are engaged learners. Teaching Goal: Teach about mindsets. Changing to a growth mindset places us on a wonderful journey.
• Year 11: The narrative we tell ourselves dictates our trajectory in life, the mindsets that we develop, and how we interact with peers and the school system. Teaching Goal: Create a narrative that students can step into, identify with, and live into. Also, articulating the narratives that teachers and school leaders subscribe to our classes and schools.

It’s been a journey and it’ll take us some time to articulate it better. Unless this journey is even longer!