Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #20
Think about this for a second:
An average teacher teaches a subject. I think most of our textbooks and curriculum materials are designed for average teachers. They seem to say to us, Don’t think. Just do the guides and go through the motions, stick to the pacing guide, read the suggested notes and comments the teacher text has in the margins, and anyone can do this. It’s teacher proof.
A good teacher teaches students how to learn. No textbook or curriculum can assist with this. This involves a teacher knowing their students individually. Even more importantly, this involves the teacher having time to allow the student to know themselves. That’s even more difficult. It’s difficult because that takes away time from what the average teacher does to teach a subject.
A great teacher teaches students to love learning. Again, no student gets out of bed and comes to class eager because of the textbook or the new fangled curriculum. They come - if you ask me - because of two things: the culture you create in your class and the environment that allows them to take risks, experiment, and learn and grow. The hard part about that is that stuff isn’t easily measurable by a cheap standardized test. But it can change a kid’s life.
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