Sharing: Teach the Way You Wish You Were Taught

Start with a Question: Teach the Way You Wish You Were Taught

There is a difference. If our learners want to learn, they will dive deeper, think more, and be more creative. Instructional design, student voice, and questions that matter to students can make that difference. I was lectured to, took notes, practiced on worksheets, and then took tests. Sure, there were science labs, poster projects, oral presentations, and lots more. The few learning moments I had where I did something that was meaningful were incredible (one involved the song Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog), and are burned in my memory.

There are only a few of those. Don’t we want our students to have more than a few?

Nostalgia is a powerful force, and one that isn’t always recognized. How much of how a teacher teaches is a product of how they were taught, and how the teacher subconsciously views those days as a student as how school should be? I know a principal who’s decisions aren’t always the best, and it hit me this week. This principal is “playing school”, and decisions are based on how the principal believes school should be, not what is best for the students.