Do you see the flaws... or the potential?

I recently came across this quote by Ellen Goodman:

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives . . ., not looking for flaws, but for potential."

I think this quote has so many applications to education. Do we look at our students' potential rather than focusing on their flaws? Do we look at our own potential as educators? I think it is especially relevant to technology integration. I believe that many teachers walk around focusing on their flaws. By this, I mean they are so concerned about what they don't know that they often miss out on opportunities to learn new ideas. Teachers often say to me that there is too much to learn or that things change too quickly to keep up. This is true, but we CAN choose to focus on what we CAN accomplish and worry less about what we do not get to.

I hope this year, we can all focus on our incredible potential as educators to try new things, learn new ideas, and most of all, have an incredible impact on our students.

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