James Altucher is a quirky business guru, podcaster, diy learner. If he were a math teacher, he definitely would be in on the MTBoS. He wants you to be better. (Yeah, he wants you to buy his books, but he also wants you to learn from his mistakes and he wants your path to be easier because he learned a lot of it the hard way.)

Why am I bringing up a business dude? BECAUSE, he recently had Austin Kleon on his show. Their conversation was powerful and resonates strongly with the MTBoS philosophy. Some of what they discussed was about how to have creative success. You have to put your work out there. Even if it isn't perfect, those you trust will help you make it better. (So MTBoS!) He talks about how most of us have been influenced by others. Cool. Talk about who inspires you, what articles, blog posts, activities are piquing your interest and making you feel empowered. Acknowledge your heroes and whose floating your boat at the moment and how they have inspired your work.

We have all known the teacher who thinks they are the expert. They must be the keepers of the knowledge and want their students and colleagues to hang on their strategically parceled wisdom. What James points out is that this kind of teacher/speaker/boss/worker/human misses out on a valuable part of the equation: LEARNING. Wow! My self-esteem regarding my quirky, risk-taking, growth mind-set teaching style got a little less feeble, I think I grew an inch. What a relief to know that even though I have been teaching a long, long time, it is not only okay, but actually enlightened to acknowledge that I am NOT the solitary expert on ALL of Geometry!

Perfect timing to meet the challenge of the last two teaching weeks of the year.

I hope you all have a wonderful year end and an invigorating summer.