I am pondering getting ready for school and am having to take a hard look at my teaching methods. When I was a student, the way I was taught was here is a 100 questions memorize how to do them for the test at the end of the week. When I was in college it was more memorization and "borrowing" of information for my papers. When I became a teacher I was truly lost in what I was going to do. What was going to be my methods of teaching? Most people when they are threatened go to old habits or routines that they are comfortable with. That is what I did. I taught using the methods that I had been taught.
That might have worked 10 years ago but does not work well now in the 21st century!
I attended a conference last week in Calgary, Alberta and was privledged to listen to some fabulous keynotes (and some not so great ones). It made me take a hard look at what I am doing as an educator. One of the best keynotes that I heard that weekend was Ewan Macintosh who has an interesting site http://www.edu.blogs.com/.
Educators out there take a look at how you teach. If you are/were like me you spent the majority of the time lecturing (teaching students to be quiet and listen). Then we give them an assignment (individual) and if they are not done in class it is for homework.
Looking at past assignments that I have given them many of them are meaningless and trivial.
Abeit not as bad as these ones that were submitted to Dangerously Irrevalent.
This is going to be a continuing saga with me as I try to change the way I teach and more importantly the way students learn. Time will tell. . .
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