I received a cryptica one sentence note this morning from a
professor in the far northwest.  "Louis, you talk about teaching like
you're an addict on a high."  I didn't know this person.  This is the
first message I have ever received from her.  So, I'm not sure whether I
should see a warm smile or a chilly sneer as she typed in her words.  It
may not a very nice analogy, since it does more than infer an abnormality
or an uncontrolled obsession.  There is nothing abnormal or uncontrolled
in my educational philosophy or practices, or in my life, although my
report card is full of "F's."  I am lucky to have several true "F"riends;
I have a loving "F"amily; I have a strong spiritual "F"aith; I keep
physically "F"it; every day I have what some would call childish "F"un;
every day I meditate by my "F"ish pond in order to keep myself mentally
and emotionally "F"resh; I am constantly and devilishly "F"risky with my
angelic Susan;  I do walk among, tend, and talk with my "F"lowers each
day.  I am an accomplished "F"ixer-upper who can work with his hands as
well as with his mind; I know where I presently am is "F"ine, but I can
still grow so much more.  And, admittedly my "F"inances aren't great, but
I'm working on them.  When you add up all those "F's" and average them
out, I get an "A" for active, and "A" for alive, and a "B" for balanced.
Not a bad personal and professional GPA.  Doesn't seem all that abnormal
or uncontrolled to me.  But, then, that's me.

        And yet, I can understand where that professor might be coming
from if she doesn't understand where I came from.  A little over a decade
ago, I came to a sudden realization of the truth of what William James
said:  "....human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds,
can change the outer aspects of their lives."  That is, for things to
change, you have to change; and, you can change if you chose to change.
Ever since that critical moment, I started making some choices about
changing myself and hence changing what I do. I began to learn about
learning; I began to find my "why" am I teaching and my "what" do I want
and want others to get out of an education; I began to develop a set of
articulated life-directing characters and subsequent values; I started to
write a song into my teaching instead of continuing to chant a dirge; I
started to introduce a dance step into my teaching to replace my plodding
along; I started to evolve into a "do" person from a "going-to-do" person;
I started to place one foot in front of the other rather than stand where
I had been for decdes; I started to become what Zig Ziggler called a
"meaningful specific"  instead of remaining a "wondering generality."

        Now, understand what I am about to say is my take, and, of course,
I'm not asking anyone to accept what I say.  I only ask that you stop and
think about it.  After all, you never know which line is crooked or
straight, as Socrates said, unless they lie next to each other.

        I started learning almost twelve years ago (and yet is seems like
literally yesterday), when I chose to start believing in myself and in
each student, I started putting faith at the very heart of my personality
and I started changing from a more-often-than-not purveyor of the
discouraging negative to a universal propagator of the encouraging
positive.

        At the core of the negative person such as I subtle was is
skpeticism and cynicism.  You see it in everything they say and do.
There is so little happiness and so much more stress, so little energy and
so much underwhelming, so little dreaming and so much wall-hitting.  They
aren't "make-it-happen" people.  But, if you're a positive believer, each
day is like going into a bakery and deeply inhaling the aroma of fresh
bread hot from the oven.

        I am thinking more and more that when it comes to teaching,
E.I.--Emotional Intelliegence--is so much more important than I.Q.  After
all, attitudes are ways in which we can make anything happen and we are or
become what we think about all day long.  It's your E.I.  that determines
who you are, where you go, what you do when you come to the wall, and how
you handle the hell when it breaks loose!  I fully admit that I'm an
E.Ier, that I am a strong believer in the driving power of self-esteem,
self-confidence, optimism, and what I call "those four little big words:"
hope, belief, faith, and love.  Sure, I might sigh disappointment; sure,
my voice and face may get a sternness; sure, I might have to get in a
student's face or kick him or her in the butt.  But, I never stop caring
for each of them.

        You see, I am a rabid and raving fan of each student. I know each
and every life in that classroom is significant; I known each life in that
classrom is going to make a difference; I know each life will help alter
the future.  An authentic caring for each student, an unshakeable belief
in each student, a firm faith in each student, a endless hope for each
student, a appreication of each student, and, yes, a boundless love for
each student will let anyone see the invisible, believe in the incredible,
achieve the impossible, and leave a lasting legacy of making a difference!

        That's who and what I am. That is my normal way of living and
teaching.  And, if that means to this professor that I am an addict, I
stand ready to accept the judgement of a life sentence in the classroom
for my addiction.

Make it a good day.

                                                       --Louis--


Louis Schmier                            www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History                    www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698                    /~\    /\ /\
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