Invitation

Invitation
by Shel Silverstein

If you are a dreamer, come in
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
a hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

My Official Card of Business states that I am a
Teacher
Mad Scientist
Magic Bean Buyer

What does this mean exactly?
I can't remember why I put it on my business card to begin with. It was only about 4 years ago....
I think I did it on a whim.

But it probably speaks more truth for me than any of the "qualifications" listed on my resume.

Yes, I have a license to teach. Yes, I have over 10 years of experience. I've taken enough graduate credits to get a masters and accumulated enough "clock hours" to keep my license current....

Being a Mad Scientist means I believe in trying things out. Yes, I stick with what works. I have my own habits of what I think makes a good classroom. But I am also ALWAYS trying new things out. I like to take risks. I like technology.

Being a Magic Bean Buyer means that I'm willing to buy into what seems to others to be a crazy idea, but what I know to be good for children. Does being fired repeatedly by the administration prove me wrong or RIGHT?

Or does it just mean that I haven't found my right fit yet?
Thomas Edison tried over 1,000 filaments before he perfected the light bulb. Should it be held against me that I've had 7 or 8 jobs in the past decade?

Being a Magic Bean Buyer also means that I believe in children. I believe that they should form the fabric of their own education.
BUt how have I accomplished that in the classroom? I can't think of a single story that makes that true.
How soon I forget.