Teaching Class Clowns

About William Purkey

I ran across this quote in a The Passive Voice blog. Passive Guy always gives me food for thought with his blog posts where he shares blog site quotes along with a spattering of poetry.

In this blog he introduced me to William Purkey, author of this meme. Purkey was a public school teacher then Professor Emeritus of Counselor Education at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro who co-founded The International Alliance for Invitational Education to help educators foster human potential in educational settings. He authored a book titled Teaching Class Clowns. I wish I’d had that resource during my teaching years.

About the quote

A different version of Purkey’s quote hangs off the lamp on my computer desk, a gift from a dear friend. Both versions carry the same meaning.

Work like you don’t need the money.

Dance like no one is watching.

Love like you have never been hurt.

I’m sure there are other versions that encourage us to live in the moment and that’s a good thing. Both quotes make me smile. How about you? Did you smile when you read Purkey’s quote?