Teacherscribe's Teaching Thought #24

Teaching Thought #24

In prepping for my UND Teaching and Learning 250 class a few years ago, I came across this interesting read, Ten Things Teachers Should Unlearn – I revisit it before every school year.

Ninth thing teachers should unlearn: Worksheets support learning

They can support learning.  No doubt.  I know my foreign language friends rely on them as a rote memorization and practice tool.  So they certainly serve a purpose.  But for too long that purpose hasn’t been learning at all.  It’s been busy work.  And that rarely supports learning.  It just keeps kids occupied.  When you compare that with the old belief that learners need to sit quietly and listen, well that was much of what Gen X’s education looked like.  But that doesn’t work well anymore.