Continuing our debate on words.  Today we took up the argument of whether one would rather be known as influential or inspirational.  It’s a great question.   It resonates differently for a teacher or a musician or a writer.  I definitely have influences that didn’t inspire me or make me want to work harder.  But the teachers, musicians, and writers who’ve inspired me have undoubtedly been an influence as well as an inspiration.

Tried to keep my opinions to myself.

The debate raged for forty minutes, twenty minutes longer than I had allocated and left us with only one word identified after four days.  The best point made:

“Ain’t nobody ever been arrested for driving under the inspiration.” 

As the debate came to an end, I asked each student to write down their choice with an argument as to why.  Good to feel that even the quiet kids had full index cards.