Successful people

I chanced on an interview television the other day.  Successful people by most standards that we use to measure success, interviewing other successful people.  A common thread in their success seemed to be that each had hated school as a child, and each for a different reason.  Most of us know people with similar stories.  Many of us have similar stories of our own.  It's not that the teachers were bad.  We've all had many caring compassionate teachers.  It was that some aspect of the system stifled us and kept us from blossoming.  Systems have that tendency because one size almost never fits all.

How can we as teachers and as caring human beings lead our students towards discovering their passions instead of locking them into programs that just don't fit?  How can we open doors towards new experiences in the classroom and out?  How can we give our students the courage to explore new skills and new ideas?

I ask myself these questions every day.  I expect, or at least hope, that most teachers are doing the same.