two worlds collide

All we want is to be recognized and appreciated. Whether it is for love or legacy, humans at their very nature have to matter in order to function. Why do you get up in the morning? How is today different than yesterday? Have you thought about what you hope to get out of this day and not the next? Teachers often change lives by showing the world (but first their students) who they really are. Those students need entertainment, guidance and sometimes, even learning. They won't ask you for it - they assume that if you know what you're doing, you will bring things to the table that matter to them. While we often aspire to "one up" the next generation, we often find ourselves walking in the very steps that were forged before us. Only by stepping out of that comfort zone that was our experience growing up, can we blaze a new trail of educational direction. The pieces are all there. We are slowly making gains in the technology that will someday soon show students that their learning is not mutually exclusive of their interests. Their technology is our golden ring - grab it and run.

If all the world's a stage and we the players - do you deserve the encore?

"The Carrot"

For any student - there is a carrot. As teachers we strive to discover it, try to realize it, hope to find it: the thing that drives them. This carrot could be the thing that they come to school for. It could be the very thing they race through your lesson activities - to have a chance to do this. For class management and programming, it should be an integral part of your plan for that student. Over the years, I've taught drawers, writers, bloggers, readers, sports-junkies, gamers, bandies - they all have found the thing they are excited by and that gives them purpose and meaning. Teach to it. Remind them of it. Mention it as you have a minute walking by their desk. It will awaken them and give you a place in their world. Building rapport with students is nothing more than validating what matters to them. For me it has always been respecting them and expecting it back. Intermediates especially want the freedom and attention that comes from being almost-adults. Let them feel that when you speak to them - not at them. They will only remember the things worth remembering - which is 99% not taught, but experienced.

Engaging Students

Ignite. Incite. Inspire.

These 3 words should drive our instruction and motivate change. The change will come in not only the data collected, but in the attendance numbers. Both teacher and student working together as instruments of learning. Every year our classes are as much for US to learn from, as we are for THEM to learn from. With the increased focus on technology in the classroom and removal of barriers that suppress creativity and stunt individual learning growth for many of our students - we are heading in the right direction.

Instead of pulling out that worksheet that always goes well, scrap it just before the lesson starts and wing it. My best lessons have always come from spontaneous things and risk-taking. Teachers should have an innate ability to entertain and improvise - in everything they do. See where the lesson goes. Hand over the controls. They will drive you somewhere (not crazy of course) if you're willing to tag along.

Students know what they want and they equate it with what they need. Listen to them.

first blog

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