I have the unfortunate habit of calling my teachers by their first names when they’re not around. When I’m in class, a teachers is always Mr./Mrs./Ms. XYZ, but when I’m with anybody other than a teacher, I call them Kyle or Sophie. For a while, I thought there was no harm in calling teachers by their first name when they’re not around. Then I started mixing up the times when I can and can’t use first names. While I’ve never been punished for it, I’ve accidentally called mentioned a teachers first name while in the presence of another teacher. Luckily I haven’t called a teacher by their first name to their face yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

I’ve begun to wonder, though, if calling a teacher by their first name should be allowed. There are so many rules that vary from school to school that deal with cell phones and gum chewing, but the one rule that I’ve discovered to be nearly universal is that all teachers are to be called Mr./Mrs./Ms. XYZ. It’s also one of the few rules that isn’t regularly challenged by students (except me). The reasoning seems to be that it’s a sign of respect and using first names is not formal enough for a student-teacher relationship. I say that’s ridiculous.

I firmly believe that students should be allowed to call teachers by their first names. We show our respect through our words and actions. If a teacher’s respect hinges on being addressed as Mr./Mrs./Ms. XYZ, then that teacher should probably not be teaching. There are obviously exceptions, but I think that allowing teachers and students to be on a first name basis creates an important bond between student and teacher and furthers a student’s education by changing the student-teacher relationship.

The one big restriction on usage of a teacher’s first name is this: I think that the right to use a teacher’s first name should only be extended to middle and high schoolers. For the first several years of education, the in-class relationship is much different than it is in middle and high school. In the lower grades, the teacher tends to be a clear leader in the class and the type of teaching is more of the teacher-talks-student-listens variety. As I get older, however, classes are focused much more on group discussions and learning from each other. I’ve noticed that the role of a teacher shifts from Master and Commander to facilitator. I certainly do not mean to minimize the job of a teacher; I don’t think the job gets any easier as the role of a teacher in a classroom changes, but in class discussions, it’s important for everyone to operate on the same level and have the teacher be less of an absolute authority figure.

The change in names may seem only symbolic, but I believe it has the potential to actually change the way people learn. While schools will always have a hierarchical arrangement of power, striving to create a learning community rather than a learning command structure is infinitely more beneficial. I doubt that educational traditionalists are big fans of a world where teachers can learn from students as much as students can learn from teachers, but schools shouldn’t be afraid to embrace a new kind of learning that doesn’t stop with the names students are allowed to use for teachers.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a good idea, but I’ve thought, “If this was a good idea, somebody would have thought of it all ready.”  That is the biggest obstacle to innovating that I’ve experienced.  It’s not that the ideas I create are inherently bad or stupid, but most of the time, I put the idea in a drawer because I don’t think it will go anywhere.

The second problem with innovation is not knowing enough to accomplish a task.  My good friend Mark Temple had an excellent idea the other day.  Mark came up with an innovative way to remotely access contacts, but it was only a concept.  Where does he go from there?  Neither Mark nor I have the technical know how to further develop the concept.

I always thought the hardest part to innovating would be coming up with an idea.  But it’s not.  It’s putting the idea out there. So I’m challenging myself, and everyone reading this, to live by the philosophy that no idea is too stupid to talk about.  I wonder how many great ideas have been tabled before they’ve ever become a reality, simply because it’s assumed that someone already had the idea.  So I will dare to dream big.

And right now, I’m going to sleep.  That’s my first good idea that almost got shelved.