Can you accept the fact that you are not the smartest person in the room?

When you are a student, it's completely fine to not be the smartest kid. But when you are a teacher, there's an unspoken expectation that you must be the expert. You need to know all the answers.

The problem is: most of the time, you don't have all the answers.

But maybe, just maybe, someone in the class has a clue. Maybe, someone has the experience. Maybe, someone knows a person who can help. Maybe, when we all work together, we might find the solution.

It is easy for teachers, me included, to fall into this "trap" of pretending that we know the answers, that we are the experts, that we have the most experience. We fall into this trap because we think that's what people expect of us. So we think that the goal is to preserve our image.

But that's never the goal. The goal is to allow the most learning to happen. To let students share their personal experiences in the classroom. To foster collaboration in the pursuit of knowledge.

Maybe, the best learning environment is where everyone works together to find solutions. In that environment, you can be the expert, but not the only one.

The best teacher I've ever had said that: "I step into every classroom THINKING that I'm the stupidest person here, that these kids are so talented, their stories so rich, their perspectives so fresh that I have so much to learn from." I haven't learned more from anyone since.

What about you? Can you accept the fact that you are not the smartest person in the room?