10 Things I've Learned about Teaching

I think that "Reflective Teaching" is the single-most important tool that educators can use to improve student learning. If we don't take the time to truly think about what we do in the classroom - and how we do it - how can we transform our practice in meaningful and lasting ways? What we think worked 5 years ago, likely won't have the same impact on our students - so how can we continually evolve and re-define ourselves as facilitators for student growth and development?

Put simply, we need to question everything and focus on only those things that we can honestly say are "good for students."

Here's what I've come up with so far....(put together as my very first infographic:)

What's missing from this list? What have you learned about teaching? What would your list include? 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

How Neckties Prevent Disease

In university, I remember one of my professors sharing an anecdote about a trip to Sierra Leone. He explained that the villagers (from one local area he visited), believed that neckties protected people from disease. Strange - yes; but the conclusion that they had formed derived from the fact that all the agency workers, professionals and outside visitors (most of whom wore a tie) were never sick or impacted by the diseases to which they were often succumb. None of the local villagers wore neckties, and therefore, it must be the lack of neckties which caused there succeptability. In turn, ties were associated with health, prosperity and safety.

What I think we need to take away from this interesting anecdote, as educators, is the importance of drawing appropriate (and rational) conclusions. Especially, when it is those same beliefs that drive our programming, instruction and assessment decisions.

What the villagers had come to believe makes sense when you look at the surface evidence. Yet, when we add in the other factors and forces at play in this situation - there is certainly more to it than meets the eye.

In terms of the learning that occurs in your classroom - what assumptions are you making and how are using those assumptions to plan and assess for student learning going forward?

What "ties" are you focused on as indicators of student learning and appropriate assessment strategies?

Through what lenses can you observe, track, assess and provide feedback - in order to program for future learning opportunities?


Ultimately, what key issues do we need to shine a more critical eye on, in order to support student well-being and success?

What is Leadership to You?

I have been having a philosophical discussion about leadership (with myself) for a while now. Weird, sure; but, meaning is often made only when things get weird – and real. Here’s where I am right now…

Being a leader is about knowing how to step aside and trust your instincts. Leadership has nothing to do with me. It is about the idea and the movement. Those of us that aspire to be leaders; should make sure that we are fully aware of what we are striving towards. Building school cultures, affecting positive change and improving student well-being and achievement – these are what matters. If your sights are set on leadership – and you don’t know this by now – listen up. This message is for you.

I have come to believe that it is the means that earn our attention – not just the ends. Learning is messy. It better be. Without the mess, the inner-struggle and the self-reflection – there can be no lasting change or learning. Experience should be the goal. Living the idea and trying the next approach are what we should be asking of our educators, students and parents alike.

I used to think that my own professional image would be crafted through successful projects and key networks that I could form. I believed that my pathway to leadership sat idle on the shoulders of others who may vouch for me and spread the word about my potential. I have come to understand that it is the work that needs the spotlight. Doing the work ensures that not only can you connect to what’s important – you can also understand why the ‘how’ is important.  We are curious by nature, indeed, but it is not until we step into a growth mindset and build a new way of ‘being’ for ourselves that we can truly model learning and growth for others to emulate.

Our students are the work. Make no mistake about it. In spite of some of their teachers, the classroom approaches to learning and the things they will experience, within our school walls – they will grow, develop and affect change for themselves and others in some way. Our charge is to guide the process. It is to teach essential learning practices, key ideas and critical thinking processes – so that they can discover their own journey – and be successful on their chosen pathways.

Leadership is scary. How can anyone step forward and declare that their goal is to make themselves obsolete by building the successes of others (thereby suppressing individual glory)? It takes a truly altruistic act to recognize just how inconsequential the day-to-day actions of the ship’s ‘captain’ are; if the ship is running efficiently and purposefully – and that is the goal all along.

Be a leader. Facilitate the learning of others. You might phase-out yourself – but you will ignite all the leadership dreams and potential of others in a way that illuminates your own growth journey.

What is leadership to you? Am I way off? I would love to hear about your leadership journey in the comment space below. Thanks!

The Very Best Thing About iPads (and other devices)

I love everything about my iPad. It possesses a powerful processor and eye-popping screen, has more innovative apps than I will ever be able to use, and it fits easily into my carry-on luggage in its gorgeous purple leather case. What’s not to love?

Because I love my iPad, it is easy for me to understand the enthusiasm of teachers who are keen to get their hands on a class set of iPads, ipods, laptops, or netbooks. I get it when people talk about how engaged they think their students will be, and how many new and authentic activities they can create when students have fingertip access to apps and to the Internet. Nevertheless I must confess to having felt downright curmudgeonly in the last few months as I listened to people extolling the virtues of one app or another. I worried about the certainty I was hearing that any given app or device had the power to ensure both engagement and achievement.  It seemed to me that the focus on learning had been lost, that the ‘gee whiz’ factor had taken over. It was all I could do not to sigh aloud, wag my finger, and talk about the good old days when we knew what really mattered in education and pursued our desired goals with grit and determination. (I’m not sure those days ever existed but in the novels I read, curmudgeons always make extensive reference to halcyon days of long ago.)

A teacher in Victoria, British Columbia saved me from a certain future of scowling and finger wagging. Explaining the benefits of her class’s iPad project, Jane said, “The learning just exploded. I learned from the kids and the kids learned from each other.”

Repositioning teachers from the stance of expert to that of co-learner is the very best thing about iPads and other devices. Our students experience sustained intellectual engagement and achievement not because of an app or a device, however wonderful it might be. Rather student engagement and achievement is, at least in part, the result of adults engaging intellectually with essential concepts and skills, acknowledging that we don’t have all of the answers, and inviting students to join us in building new knowledge. Technology isn’t the only way we can become co-learners in the classroom but because it is an area of genuine new learning for many of us, it is a good way.

This guest post is by Karen Hume, author of Tuned Out: Engaging the 21st Century Learner, Start Where They Are: Differentiating for Success with the Young Adolescent, and many other books. Check out Karen’s blogs at www.karenhume.ca 

Web 2.0 and You

This "GoAnimate" animation has been created to explain what Web 2.0 is. There are many programs being used by students that are interactive and user-based; rather than content-based. With these tools and applications, though, comes responsibility. It should be the role of the parents and schools to educate students on how to use these Web 2.0 tools, in order to facilitate digital citizenship values in our youth. Digital citizenship is the next great frontier of curricular development needed to further our students in the coming years.

These kinds of technologies have exploded into our lives - so fast that there has not been the framework and support system put in place in our education system to properly equip students for their 'online' lives. Teachers find themselves caught in the middle between traditional methods of teaching that appear to be relatively safe and known, and web-based methods of teaching that are still somewhat unchartered due to their constant development and innovation.

Choosing to stay 'ahead of the curve' when it comes to implementing technology into your classroom practice, also means that you will need to show the professional commitment and initiative to map out these rich areas of 21st century learning in order to be successful. There are many opportunities for personal and professional growth in this learning realm, should you jump on board and began your ride. The key is the confidence and resilience you will need to experiment with your methods, evaluate your pedagogy, and forge a new teaching identity to your students.