Name: Nicholas Provenzano (@TheNerdyTeacher | TheNerdyTeacher.com)
School: Grosse Pointe South High School
Current title: English Teacher
Selected accolades: 2nd Runner-up in EduBlog Category for Best New Blog, Nominated for Best Teacher Blog for EduBlog Awards

What is the best part of your job?

Working with students and helping them grow as learners and individuals.

From where do you draw professional inspiration? How do you stay connected and grow as an educator?

My students inspire me to be great for them every day. For some, school is their escape from serious problems and I never want to let them down.

I use my blog and Twitter to stay connected to some of the best educators in the world. My readers and followers keep me informed and thinking every day

Some educators feel they can’t give up class time to explore technology for fear that students won’t get all the content they need. Your response?

There will always be a reason not to do something. As a dedicated educator, I choose to put in extra hours up front because I know it will be helpful to me and my students in the future. Teachers need to be lifelong learners and learning new technology is part of that idea.

What skill(s) do you feel are most important for today’s students to explore in academic settings (tech or non-tech related)?

Critical thinking and creativity are huge. Let students deal with real world problems and let them create. Life is about problem solving, not filling in bubbles on a test sheet.