"If I can beat you thinking, I can beat you living."

I met someone from New Orleans a few weeks ago.

When I meet new people, (who aren't educators) I like to ask them, "What's the most memorable lesson, quote, etc., you remember from when you were in school (K-12)?"

The person replied, "I had a high school teacher who told the class- 'If I can beat you thinking, I can beat you living.'"

I've been thinking about this statement ever since. It wouldn't make sense for me to just tweet this, so I had to do some writing and further thinking about it.

This quote appealed to me for a few reasons. First- it spoke to my competitive side- about winning, and to me, winning is empowering, like when the Raiders beat the Niners.

It also made me think about presenters. Are they approved to present because they have had enough time to think? And because someone has approved their "thinking?"

The quote resonated with me in terms of perseverance. If you are going to persevere long enough to win, that is empowering.

It made me think about critical thinking and how critical thinking is (or should be) the premise for creativity, collaboration and communication. Am I saying critical thinking is the most important/powerful of the 4 C's? Yes.

It's up to the reader to define 'living.' What is 'living' to you? I know what it is to me. It's how much fun I am having, as well as my overall happiness, kind of like Stargirl. ;)

It reminded me of chess. I can play chess, but I've never won a game. It's the thinking behind chess that gets me every time. I understand what each piece does, but I can't coordinate their moves to check mate.

I would have liked to have been in that class. To me, the quote is about empowerment, ownership, and active learning. What a powerful and realistic message to send to students.