Here's to the Passionate Ones (Teachers)

What would make you riot? With over 140 million iPhones sold worldwide, the Chinese are demonstrating to get the 4S back on their store shelves. Apple products inspire intense passion.

Steve Jobs’ new biography is a fascinating peek inside the mind of one of this century’s greatest innovators.  I was shocked to learn that his leadership style did not match my image of him. The book is a great read for anyone whose life has been transformed by the digital revolution (that means all of us!)

More than anything, I was struck by Jobs’ intense passion for his products. He was a perfectionist who relentlessly pursued the most elegant, user-friendly devices.  His passion made him volatile and sometimes cruel. To a lesser degree, I was fascinated by his marketing prowess.  I reminisced about the Think Different Campaign of 1997 and its anti-establishment poetry: Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently… (the entire ad/poem is on Wikipedia under 'Think Different').

To celebrate Jobs, I would rewrite the poem: Here is to the passionate ones. The caring ones. The ones who go the extra mile. The optimists who work to make things better.

And here is to the Evergreen School teachers and all others who attended Montessori workshops at Loyola University last weekend, The ones who choose to learn and grow. The ones who look for ways to be better teachers.

Here's to you!