An Educator’s Instructions from a Greeting Card

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
—Mary Oliver

While perusing the greeting cards in a used book store, I discovered the secret to joyful teaching on the front of a greeting card. The instructions were concise and absolutely crystal clear on how to best perform our jobs as educators. Mary Oliver — an esteemed Greatest Generation American poet who is finding a new following on social media — provides the recipe for living life… which also happens to be the true method for being the best of educators.

Step one: Pay attention. Be curious—read, listen, observe, and connect events like they are clues in a mystery novel. Do not stay in your designated lane or subject area. The world is not flat, nor should your attention be paid to your curriculum alone. We often speak about the power of interdisciplinary curriculum, yet we — as educators — often forget to be interdisciplinary. As we expand our learning, we expand our interests, and we can showcase to our students a lesson that transcends any state regulated curriculum: Excitement and passion for learning beyond the cinder block walls.

One day in class, between balancing equations, Mr. Lukens — my high school chemistry teacher — mentioned his new hobby of candle making. He explained the chemical process, but also the holistic research he had done on oils and scents possibly affecting our emotions and boosting our health. Mr. Lukens did not come into class that day planning a lesson on candle making and the medicinal powers of scent, but his passion for his new hobby—which was casually slipped into the lecture—continues to inspire this student nearly 45 years later. In reality, I have used little from that chemistry class in my own life. And yet, his infectious curiosity and excitement for what he was both learning and creating outside of school, and then him sharing those discoveries with us while also teaching the mandated chemistry course, is the best lesson I have used in my own career as an educator. 

Mary Oliver may have intended her instructions to be for life in general, but they are by far the best instructions for any educator as well. Truly, nothing replaces a sense of curiosity, a wonderment for what you have discovered, a passion to learn more, and—finally—a willingness to share with others. And as we share more, questions are asked… and more discoveries are made. From this, an energy for a life of learning is established.