How I Learned to Shut Up

Folks who met me at ISTE quickly discovered that I am pretty loud.  However, that’s a recent phenomenon for me and the unspoken part of the conference was that I often left the conversation with the incessant cycle of: did I ask too many questions?  Was I monopolizing the conversation?  Do I laugh too loud at my own jokes?

Then I want to hide.

I didn’t learn this at home.

I didn’t learn this from friends.

I learned this at school.

When teachers used to say, “You’ll need this in the real world,” my response was almost always, “then what kind of fantasy land is this?”

Nearly every time it led to laughter.

I learned that my most earnest questions would be laughed at.

Then I learned to be silent.