My early-morning routine generally begins with a cup of coffee and a quick cruise through Facebook, the news, and Twitter. And while I am catching up on the world big and small, in truth, I am frequently looking for inspiration for the morning’s post. It is not always easy to come up with ideas at 3:30 in the morning–every day, so I seek my muse and I often find her in the Twitterverse. The graphic above caught my eye, and since I really had nothing else on this early Monday morn, I grabbed it. Here it goes.

I’ve spoken before about influence and power, highlighting the differences, advancing the former as the banner, the beacon in the P-180 classroom. Power does not belong in the P-180 classroom. It necessarily leaves as soon as we hand the A’s to the kids. But influence doesn’t magically appear in the vacuum of power’s exit from the stage. Influence is not incidental. Influence is intentional. And intentional influence is at the center of success in the P-180 classroom.

It’s funny how sometimes we don’t know what we know until someone or something shows us what we know. For me, in this particular moment, that something was the above graphic. It’s as if Ms. Vora divined what was going on in my muddled mess of a mind, and she captured it–beautifully. Thank you, Tanmay. I don’t know you, but I feel like you know me, at least that which makes me tick.

Of course, I am not suggesting that I am the things that she highlights. But I am suggesting that I work at those things; I work hard at those things. To some degree, I believe I always have as a teacher, but now it’s not a novelty; it’s a necessity. I have to work at these things to keep 180 alive. And now that these things have finally taken form, I will work even harder–with even greater intention–to create the influence I need to change education–within and without. In the end, if I am honest, it won’t be enough  to change the world in 211. I want to influence others to make their own changes, to make better the worlds of our kids’ educational experiences, our kids’ journeys. You see, I believe we can change the world. One classroom at a time.

Happy Monday, friends.