Teachers as Pollinators

This post corresponds to day #18 of the +TeachThought 30-day blogging challenge, focused on reflective teaching through blogging. Click here to learn more about the challenge!

I've been giving a lot of thought to an analogy that helps to shed light on my teaching philosophy, and I have landed on the following:

Teachers are like pollinators.

image: https://flic.kr/p/ePxjLW

We are hard workers.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/European_honey_bee_extracts_nectar.jpg

We deliver information and instruction to our students, and provide them with 

opportunities that help them to grow and flourish.

https://flic.kr/p/52YHcV

We cross-pollinate by connecting, sharing and collaborating 

with colleagues with different areas of expertise.

https://flic.kr/p/7EUDEk

What's your metaphor for teaching?