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I'm back from an English teacher conference in Albuquerque. It was interesting, and combined with what I've been studying for the class I'm taking, I had a couple of epiphanies. I hope I can put them to work, even.

I think I'm getting to the point where I'm getting some keys to not only motivate students to do their work, but also empower them to OWN the work. This is something big for me. Something that I've been looking for for a while, but haven't really known where to look. I'm happy to be getting there, and yet, I'm kind of at a point with where I'm not really sure what to do with it immediately. I'm working on a philosophy sharpening. I almost said shift, but it isn't so much that I'm changing my philosophy of teaching, as it is that I am honing it. Bringing it into focus. Realizing how it is going to drive what I have my students do and help me inform them about how to do it and how they are doing.

I'm kind of glad that the things that I have been examining separately are turning out to be pieces of the same puzzle, and that - through turning them this way and that in my mind - they are starting to fit together. Not only that, but the picture is starting to show.

What picture? The one where students are motivated to perform to the best of their ability. Where they take ownership of their learning, and put in the effort it takes to succeed and excel. Where THEY are doing the work of learning, and I am only pointing out the road signs, and maybe giving a suggestion now and then.