I have had the opportunity to work with many outstanding and effective educators over the course of my career in education. One of them, a young man named Chris Swanson, sent me an email recently that included this:

I was in the new middle school drama teacher's classroom yesterday and noticed a sign that said . . .

Acting: Finding the Truth within the Imaginary Circumstances of the Play

I thought to myself, there is something here - what if we changed this quote a little . . .

Teaching: Finding the Truth within the Imaginary Circumstances of the Classroom.

I'm only on iteration two and am still debating if "Contrived" is better than "Imaginary," but I may be on my way to being able to answer the simple question of what is great teaching.

I suppose that learning is generally initially removed from doing. But how do we as educators collapse the distance between the two? School should never become the replacement for doing but rather a path to propel us further into the meaningful significance of doing that which is relevant and valued, of living truth, of authenticity of being, of creating beauty, of finding creative solutions to the problems faced in human condition, of lifting the soul to a higher place of being and doing.

As you teach your students this year, I hope you strive to supplant the "artifice of school" with a deeper quest for Truth in ways your students can embrace with their passion of soul.

P.S. I love the arts! They reflect Truth. I love people that think! They illuminate the path to Truth. Have a great school year!