21st Century Teachers- "I Need My Teachers To Learn"

Teachers are life-long learners. This statement can be seen as somewhat ironic considering a teacher's profession is stated in the job title. Teachers, well, teach. However, an effective teacher is one who is eager to learn. If a teacher is not willing to learn, why should students be expected or motivated to learn?

There was a line in the song from the video that captured my attention. "Prepare us for the future and not your past." That speaks volumes to me. The world is changing every day, and teachers have to be willing to leap, not step, out of the comfort zone of familiarity and embrace new technology and ideas. Teachers cannot be scared to admit when a new teaching or learning tool is unfamiliar. It is okay to admit that your student knows more about something than you do. Students can give suggestions for what would make learning more exciting and effective in their own lives. Obviously, a student would be more willing to participate in an activity that he or she suggested. Asking for students' help may actually be just what is needed to boost confidence and encourage classroom community.
 

The Importance of Creativity

The teacher makes her way through a stack of papers marking a red "X" on every question that is answered wrong. The student takes a test with choices "A, B, C, or D" knowing that only one answer is right. The class reviews a worksheet completed for homework the night before, and the student knows that every answer marked wrong is contributing to yet another "bad grade". The student studies for a final exam for three hours, but his mind seems to go blank when it comes time to take the test. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

This describes the learning environment of far too many school systems and classrooms. No wonder that many kids "become frightened of being wrong." Students are being taught in school that there is one answer, one correct way to solve a problem, and if you do not state the correct way, then you are WRONG! How disheartening? I recently witnessed this while tutoring a child one-on-one in math. She had missed several questions on a math worksheet, and the teacher had simply marked them all wrong. The student told me, "I didn't understand this." Maybe the teacher should help with understanding instead of lowering self-esteem by marking every question wrong?

All of this does tie into the subject of creativity. As stated in the video, "We don't grow into creativity. We grow out of it." This could not be more true. Students are scared away from creativity because it is taught that there is one way of doing things and everything else is WRONG! So why would a child risk finding other solutions when the result is obvious?

When I become a teacher, I plan to encourage activities that allow children to think creatively and explore possibilities. I am aware that there will be certain times when a worksheet or a test will have to be used, but I am at least going to consider what the student could have been thinking instead of simply grading a paper right or wrong. Teachers have a much more important job than just achieving good scores. We are to love, nurture, and invest in every child. By doing this, we can educate and create a positive learning environment.

Mr. Winkle Wakes... Embracing Change

Change. That is such a scary word for so many people. Change can be uncomfortable and unpredictable or exciting and full of potential. Most of the time, it is a mixture of both. However, the field of education is quite possibly the most important field that has to be willing to accept change and embrace the reality of the world in which we live. After all, does not every career begin first and foremost in an elementary classroom?

Just as Mr. Winkle found comfort in the "old way of teaching school", we will all find comfort in "old ways" from time to time. The familiar things in our lives may not be the most useful or most efficient things, but they are familiar, and that naturally brings comfort. However, as we all know, teachers have to train the brain to think outside of the box and try new and different ideas. As stated in the video, many public schools in the past as well as many still today have "no intrusion from the outside world". How sad but true! As future educators, we have the potential and resources to change things so that children can receive a true, real-world education.

Amazing opportunities lie in the world of technology, if we are willing to search, learn, and apply new ideas to our lives. Change can be uncomfortable, but will we ever know the potential if we do not take the risk?