This is the fifth consecutive year that I had wished to be a K12 teacher to win that prize, but of course I cannot be one, as I teach university students, and at that point in time the inspiration is multiplied in my mind for those 10 best teachers in the world.
K12 teachers have multiple roles to play, to make the dissemination of information easy to the brain of the young child, to inspire the child, to make earth a better place for living, to educate the child on the importance of life, to create something from nothing, and these are only the tip of the iceberg. The teachers have to inspire the children that life is worth living, and to this end, this year’s teacher was well worth the one million dollar prize.
The winner is Canadian (Maggie McDonnell) who started to work with the indigenous people of Canada at a place that you can only reach by airplane, there are only 1200 people living there and many commit suicide. Her role was to inspire, to show those individuals that life is important and worth living. I actually cried when I saw the young man who accompanied her to the prize announcement. very inspiring. I only wish she can do something with that money or maybe she moves the whole of the 1200 people to main land Canada, I am sure its a difficult task, but rather than 1200 being left in a remote place why not go to a place that they can mix with other people and be less susceptible to suicidal thoughts.
We sat at all the master classes that the ten winners had performed in front of the delegates, and all of them have used moves and materials that doesn’t cost the student anything (mostly recycled materials) and at the same time we learnt what they taught us in a way that we will never forget (see the rocket that I had made!! its mostly paper and plasticine, with a simple air pump the rockets can go up to few hundred meters). We walked like elephants, ostriches and other wild animals so we know about the animal kingdom and we learnt how to be ballerinas. All in all, most of the sessions that the ten winners have done were brilliant and as I said earlier only the tip of the iceberg as they have to do this day in, day out for the rest of their teaching lives.
Attending this conference made a tremendous change in my life, before that I was busy working and teaching and running a business, after these conferences I started to open up to what is happening in the field around the world, realizing that we need to change or perish and hoping that our children will receive similar if not better education than the rest of the top countries in the world, countries that have no oil, but have people who cares.
Another important note, is the people that you meet in conferences make a big difference in ones life, we stay friends forever as we have a common goal, to make a change in the lives of those who are on our way.
A last note about the organizers of the conference, if they can deliver the prize through skydiving, and announce it from space, they can do anything.
Happy conferencing
