Some time ago I ran into a former student of mine with her mom at the grocery store. It was the moment we as teachers so rarely get the pleasure of experiencing and yet is also the thing we go into the profession for. She had plans to go to college and they thanked me for being her teacher. They said I had changed the trajectory of her life by doing what I considered to be very little. I treated her like the kind, loving, brilliant human that she was. I stood up for her where needed and pushed her when necessary. Our interaction was only a few minutes but I’ll add that to my collection of memories that remind me why I went into teaching.

I’m impressed by how Mike Lang recalls experiences with the teachers that made him who he was with such precision. I have a few like that. Some who had a huge influence on me in big ways, some whose influence was what not to do or be. There were some who I had such short contact with and they probably wouldn’t know me from anyone else they ran into me at the grocery story but that had a profound impact. One such teacher is Mr. Rayburn, my middle school computers teacher.

In third grade, I moved to a new school district that had far more resources than my previous one did. As a result, we got to go to a computer lab. We played games like Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and O’Dell Lake. My first taste of video games that weren’t on the Nintendo or the Commodore 64 that belonged to the kids down the street. It was love at first click and the games seemed like all but magic. How did they even get those pixels to resemble fish?

In middle school, we had to choose three specials. Our choices were shop, home etc, art, and computers. Since my mom had already done a solid job of teaching me how to do most of what was covered in home ec, and because that tended to be what girls were expected to take, I decided to buck expectation (not the first time and not the last). I chose shop, art, and computers.

Mr. Rayburn was the computers teacher. While most schools at that time were using the computers class to teach typing or writing papers, Mr. Rayburn introduced us to HTML. He showed us how, with a text editor, an SFTP connection, and a browser, you could publish your ideas to the world. I was suddenly a creator. I was just like the people who made the fish out of pixels.

I don’t remember much about Mr. Rayburn. I don’t remember the sound of his voice or what he was like as a teacher other than he was patient and wanted to make sure every kid got it. I don’t remember specifics of what we did as far as projects because that was a lifetime ago, but I carried those skills forward.

In high school, with an internet connection at home, I was able to create my own Geocities website. In Spanish class, when I had the chance to do an enrichment project, I incorporated my web design skills. In college, I used my abilities to create a mail order cookies business and to make the work schedule more accessible for my colleagues at the mall by publishing it to a website. As a teacher, I continued to adopt new tech early by eagerly volunteering to have one of the first Smartboards at my school.

Eight years ago, I left education and changed fields. I taught myself to be a software developer and after a year of building my skills I was hired by a prestigious consulting firm. Over the last eight years, I’ve been a front end, back end, and full stack developer. I’ve been a platform engineer and a site reliability engineer. I’ve been a security specialist and a product owner. None of that would have been possible if Mr. Rayburn hadn’t taken the time and learned what was necessary to teach middle school students about what was then cutting edge technology.

He didn’t ban HTML from his classroom. He didn’t tell us we needed to learn basics before we could use it. He taught us skills and content alongside the technology. He used the technology as a platform to springboard our learning. Because of him, I have had several careers that didn’t exist back then.

As you think about what AI means to you and your students, remember this story. While you might be thinking you’re trying to ban it or limit it out of an abundance of caution, consider the futures you’re limiting as well. It’s not going to be clear always. There will be times when you stumble. You are not alone though. We are here to help, support, and guide you so that you can be someone’s Mr. Rayburn.