Takeaway 02: Different is Just Different

Once I began a conference session I was leading declaring there are many ways to be a great teacher. I was reminded of this on our first day on the ground in Italy. While en route to a small mountain town, my husband and I found ourselves desperate to find a snack that would ensure minimal language interactions for our underdeveloped tongues. Hallelujah! An Iperal Supermercati! We quickly found what we needed in what felt like a “regular” grocery store, until a slight mishap brought us inadvertent attention.

At our local grocery stores, one picks out produce, bags it up, brings it to the front to be weighed and paid for at the checkout. At Iperal, produce is weighed and priced within its aisle, by the customer, to be quickly scanned and purchased at the checkout. Unaware of this change of procedures, we found ourselves at the head of an ever-growing queue of patient but puzzled locals at one of only two open registers. Employees radioed each other and ran around the store determined to find out "Quanto costano queste banane???"​

To our benefit, the Italians did not grow angrily impatient and shout, as we had unfortunately seen by Americans in the airport. We learned the new routine and all went merrily on our way.

Be it supermarkets or classrooms, when comparing experiences, simple observations should take place in lieu of unnecessary critiques. There is no one single correct way to sell produce in stores. There is no single correct way to build relationships with students or teach content. 

Different is not better or worse, simply different.

---