Give students facts, and they will learn for a moment.
Teach students to learn, and they will learn for a lifetime.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
How can I improve?
This is the perfect opportunity for you to give me a grade, for once. I want to know what you think I should do to improve as a teacher. Consider everything: teaching style, assignments, grading, homework. You don't have to sign your name, so don't worry that I'll "get you back" (as if!). Just let me have it, but try to be realistic. If you tell me not to give homework, I'm not going to read your other ideas because I'll think that you're unserious.
How can we use technology better in school? How would technology be used in your "dream school"?
MLK had a dream, and so do I. I want to use technology more in school. A lot more. Why? Because it is more efficient. Because it is the way students will be working in their careers. Because it's faster and paperless (and I hate piles of paper!). Because it is more interactive than paper. Because it is more visual than paper. Because I hate reading poor handwriting. Because I love when students create professional presentations, articles, and video, and they love it too. Because I don't have as many problems with student behavior when she is using technology. Because... Because... Because... I could go on and on. But I want to hear what you think.
How can we use technology better in school? How is technology used in your dream school? What technology should all students have? What software should they have? How should we communicate? What about the internet? Or, do you like things the way they are? Please respond to this post with a few ideas by clicking on the "comments" link below.
How can we use technology better in school? How is technology used in your dream school? What technology should all students have? What software should they have? How should we communicate? What about the internet? Or, do you like things the way they are? Please respond to this post with a few ideas by clicking on the "comments" link below.
Why "Eat for a Lifetime"?
The title of my blog, as you've probably already guessed, comes from that very wise aphorism that goes...
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime.
This summarizes my philosophy of teaching. I think we in education might be focusing too much on force-feeding students facts rather than giving them the tools they need to learn on their own.
The famous aphorism above, it must be stated, assumes that the man wants to learn how to fish. But what if he doesn't ? Before one can even teach him how to fish, the man must want to learn. In this fishing example, the motivation to learn comes from hunger, which happens automatically and naturally. But is the motivation to learn, especially in a formal environment like school, automatic and natural? I have a hunch that it is automatic and natural, but that this motivation can be and too often is squelched by the very institution that should be motivating.
So, maybe instead of "Eat for a Lifetime" this blog should be called "Cart Before the Horse" because we in education don't realize an essential fact: We are putting learning, the cart, before motivation, the horse. It would be much smarter, in my opinion, to put motivation before learning. I would get rid of GPA and replace it with WHPA: Work Habits Point Average.
So the essential question in education, the Holy Grail, then becomes, 1) how do we hold onto and even improve upon a child's natural curiosity, and 2) how do we motivate a child to learn who doesn't want to learn or is lukewarm on the prospect. One start to this difficult question: In my experience, the best way to motivate a child is by showing her success and progress.
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime.
This summarizes my philosophy of teaching. I think we in education might be focusing too much on force-feeding students facts rather than giving them the tools they need to learn on their own.
The famous aphorism above, it must be stated, assumes that the man wants to learn how to fish. But what if he doesn't ? Before one can even teach him how to fish, the man must want to learn. In this fishing example, the motivation to learn comes from hunger, which happens automatically and naturally. But is the motivation to learn, especially in a formal environment like school, automatic and natural? I have a hunch that it is automatic and natural, but that this motivation can be and too often is squelched by the very institution that should be motivating.
So, maybe instead of "Eat for a Lifetime" this blog should be called "Cart Before the Horse" because we in education don't realize an essential fact: We are putting learning, the cart, before motivation, the horse. It would be much smarter, in my opinion, to put motivation before learning. I would get rid of GPA and replace it with WHPA: Work Habits Point Average.
So the essential question in education, the Holy Grail, then becomes, 1) how do we hold onto and even improve upon a child's natural curiosity, and 2) how do we motivate a child to learn who doesn't want to learn or is lukewarm on the prospect. One start to this difficult question: In my experience, the best way to motivate a child is by showing her success and progress.
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