Apologies to Robert Fulghum
After working as a zookeeper and wild animal trainer for five years at the St. Louis Zoo while I was working on my undergraduate biology degree, I decided to try my hand at taming lions.
Why I did that, I'll tell you about later.
But I did it. And it was an amazing experience, as you might imagine.
And it was nothing like most people think!
I'll tell you more about that later, too.
After almost a year as an apprentice lion tamer, I decided to leave that profession and enter another profession that I am also passionate about . . . teaching.
For many years, I continued to work with wild animals part-time and during some summers. Even today, I have a strong interest in wild animal training and consider myself a serious student of the art and science of "lion taming."
I'm also a serious student of the art and science of teaching. As a student-practitioner of teaching, I've come to understand that a lot of the principles of good teaching and good lion-taming are very similar, if not the same.
Part of being a good student is taking good notes. So I thought I'd start this blog so I can "take notes" on what I've discovered.
Mainly it's to help me learn and think about and integrate what I'm learning as I continue in my life as a lion-tamer-turned-teacher. But I hope that some of what I share may get you thinking differently about your own teaching . . . and maybe even help you solve some problems now or in the future.
And I also hope this blog will be a forum for other teachers to share what they've learned, too!
