Introduction

The theme that I have chosen for my E-Portfolio is Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes has some basic principles that I believe directly relate to education:

Learn from multiple disciplines.

"One's ideas must be as broad as nature if they are to interpret nature." - Sherlock Holmes

In education we must teach many different subjects and we need to do so in more than one way. Our students come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and they all learn differently. If we can open their minds up and help them see that there is more than one way to solve a problem, approach a topic, or have a conversation we should count ourselves successful.

Array your knowledge.

"A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic." - Sherlock Holmes.

We need to be able to prioritize our knowledge and focus on what topics are most important to teach. I think the Nevada Academic Content Standards are a great map to help us achieve this but we still need to decide the best way how.

Learn human psychology.

"Human nature is a strange mixture, Watson. You see that even a villain and murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited." -Sherlock Holmes.

I think this applies in a lot of areas. We will be dealing with people every single day. Whether it is colleagues, parents, or students. There are times where we will be having hard conversations with parents and we need to know how to navigate that. Classroom management and knowing about student behaviors will be a daily struggle or triumph. Understanding why students, parents, or colleagues behave the way they do can help make a better environment for all. If we can teach our students to be able to think of what others may feel instead of just themselves that is all the better.

Never stop learning.

"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last." - Sherlock Holmes.

This is something I hope to instill into every single one of my students. Even if it is not in an academic setting, that they should never stop learning. If they decide one day they want to take up baking, I hope they have the courage and knowledge of resources to try.

Do not jump to conclusions.

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." - Sherlock Holmes.

This is something else I find really important. It is easy to assume we know everything but not as easy to prove how or why. I want students to come to me after they have gotten all of their data or evidence together so they can show me how they know.

Always invert.

"Most people, if you describe a train of events to them, will tell you what the result would be. They can put those together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward, or analytically." - Sherlock Holmes.

Learning has to be important to the learner or it will not be absorbed. We need to actively model how what we are teaching them will enhance their life. I want to be able to ask them "why is this important to know?" and get great logical responses and a good conversation. I can tell them of course, but if they can tell themselves it is more powerful.

"To a great mind, nothing is little."

– Sherlock Holmes

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