A question I kept asking myself last summer was, "Would I like being my own student?" Beside bringing back a flood of unfortunate memories of my own schooling, it also stopped me in my prep tracks. The answer was a resounding "No." I would have been that kid rolling their eyes at the teacher (yes, that happened daily), groaning every time a new group project was introduced (I hated group work), and refusing to do homework out of sheer principle of boredom (and then argue with the teacher as to why it was pointless). Yikes, I am still that kid. And so when a tweet by Jeremy MacDonald asked
"How do we get teachers past the teacher-centric use of tech? Modeling? Should I make them let me teach 30 mins in their classroom?"
my mind started to spin. Would simply asking teachers to sit through their own type of teaching, stop them in their tracks? Or would the response be a more nuanced reflection discussing the need for various learning styles and types? Or would we hear the stagnant adult claiming that, "they went through it so that is just how things are and to suck it up?" I love that "suck it up" like school is just meant to be survived and not lived.
So how do we get teachers to rethink the traditional classroom setting? Why is it we tend to forget our own school experience and then repeat it as teachers? Why do most teachers come to teach prepared to speak most of the time? I have been actively trying to stop talking and let me tell you, it is hard! Our curriculum is not set up for a lot of exploration, but rather mini activities packaged with a lot of careful monologue. What is it about our way of educating that makes question-answer seem like the best fit?
So I start my own quiet revolution, using less words and still getting to the point. Using less teacher-focused and more student-directed learning. I even started thinking about it all as a learning process rather than how I am going to teach something. In the end, we have to realize that if we want just test-taking students, then yes, talking at students will get us there. If we want independent thinkers who are also creative and confident, then we have to stop talking. So how do we stop talking?
"How do we get teachers past the teacher-centric use of tech? Modeling? Should I make them let me teach 30 mins in their classroom?"
my mind started to spin. Would simply asking teachers to sit through their own type of teaching, stop them in their tracks? Or would the response be a more nuanced reflection discussing the need for various learning styles and types? Or would we hear the stagnant adult claiming that, "they went through it so that is just how things are and to suck it up?" I love that "suck it up" like school is just meant to be survived and not lived.
So how do we get teachers to rethink the traditional classroom setting? Why is it we tend to forget our own school experience and then repeat it as teachers? Why do most teachers come to teach prepared to speak most of the time? I have been actively trying to stop talking and let me tell you, it is hard! Our curriculum is not set up for a lot of exploration, but rather mini activities packaged with a lot of careful monologue. What is it about our way of educating that makes question-answer seem like the best fit?
So I start my own quiet revolution, using less words and still getting to the point. Using less teacher-focused and more student-directed learning. I even started thinking about it all as a learning process rather than how I am going to teach something. In the end, we have to realize that if we want just test-taking students, then yes, talking at students will get us there. If we want independent thinkers who are also creative and confident, then we have to stop talking. So how do we stop talking?
