Teach Like A Gardener

I compare teaching to the garden.

Students are like plants - the same in many ways, but each one having specific needs and requirements.

Teachers, like good gardeners, need to figure out what each plant needs.  They also must to determine which plants compliment each other.  

Gardeners must figure out how to make the best use of the space that is available.  How to balance sun, shade and water.  And how to give each plant the space it needs to grow and thrive.

Gardeners need to ensure that the soil conditions are favorable for growth and the weeds don't encroach on the their plants.

Finally, gardeners and teachers alike must also take a leap of faith.  They are continually striving to give their plants and students suitable growing conditions and adequate supports, but they must also accept that things are sometimes outside of their control.  Plants will grow they way the grow and the same is true of students.  We can give them all the things they might need, and sometimes we get a remarkable crop or outcome.  Other times, the outcome is average or even crummy.  But we keep coming back.