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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Katie Martin
Read between
July 8 - July 8, 2019
Research has consistently concluded that innovation flourishes when teachers collaborate on teaching practices, are provided opportunities to learn and practice new methods, and are guided by a common vision and continuous support.
I never saw the purpose of this or felt like my ideas were valued or nurtured.
What if teachers are supported and empowered to create new and better experiences for the students they serve?
The question “what if?” should not be reserved for our students but is one we all will need to ask if we are to create an educational system that truly inspires this generation to change the world.
“If a student leaves school less curious than when they started, we have failed them.”
if we, as educators, lose our curiosity and ability to ask “what if,” we and our students lose out.
If we change the way we learn and how we see our learning, we ultimately change the way our students learn. When we c...
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But it’s fair to point out that just because we can find the information doesn’t mean that a Google search should be our default. Alec Couros, associate professor at the University of Regina, shared in a blog post about how his immediate inclination to look up answers to his son’s questions actually curbed their wonder and curiosity. After finding the answer, he realized, We no longer had to wonder. I did that entirely wrong. At the very least, I could have asked my boy, “Well, which do you think, son?” perhaps followed by, “So why do you think that?” But I didn’t. And because I didn’t, I
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Today’s technology provides easy access to answers, but if we focus only on the answers and not on thinking, questioning, and solving, we rob students (and ourselves) of great
learning experiences.
more significantly, we fail to develop the critical behaviors that will empower them (and u...
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to learn to how to ask better questions
Our job is not to provide the answers that can be found in a textbook or in a webpage but to create the conditions that inspire learners to continue to wonder and figure out how to learn and solve problems and seek more questions.
our current system in education was not set up to foster this type of exploratory...
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When school is characterized by compliance and mandates, opportunities for creation, exploration, and developing
connections between people and ideas are limited at best.
It gives us a false sense of precision and gives up on pretending to know anything about these kids.
Today’s marketplace needs people to think differently,
How much more so will our world need innovation as today’s children move from the education system and into positions of business and leadership?
Yes, we need to teach foundational skills; knowing how to read and write are critical skills, but they cannot be the end goal.
obligation—to
change how all students learn in school.
opportunity to align learning experiences to authentic tasks that develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions students need to be successful in the world we live in now and the ...
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when students feel disconnected or wonder-less, they disengage.
Students in our schools today live in between two worlds;
worked.
I question if the “old” system ever REALLY worked for us ... I grew up in it and still I did most of my learning on my own, with books, matinee movies, encyclopedias, and imagination.
This model has left far too many behind and has produced even more people who, although they successfully navigated school, remain ill prepared to successfully navigate the world in which we live.
game of school
align teaching and learning to modern demands and opportunities.
it is critical to create new and better opportunities for all learners.
cannot continue to add on twenty-first-century expectations to a twentieth-century model of education.
Life today is driven by change. With this truth in mind, it is impossible to think that anyone could or should have all the answers,
although too often educators feel inadequate when they don’t.
prevents teachers and administrators from being open about what they don’t know,
Nobody is perfect, and at times we don’t measure up, but if we can be authentic and open to learning and growing with those we serve, we can collectively achieve much more than if we assume we have all the answers.
she put in the ten minutes of prep time that she knew teachers would have and openly worked through some struggles with students.
The example that she set has paved the way for others to take risks and lead by example.
“Are we willing to change our expectations for how and what students learn?”
When teachers embrace their roles as learners, everyone benefits.
Teachers don’t have to know everything, but as partners in learning, they can model lifelong learning and empower students to explore
their passions and interests while employing valuable skills.
Changing how we learn in school can be a struggle, and there is not always one right way.
Change is hard, but there are always lessons to be learned. Through collaboration, reflection, and multiple iterations, they look to evidence of impact on learners to inform next steps in powerful ways.
“The teacher has to be more active in this learning experience than anything else. Because students need coaching.
Focus on the students and how to collectively create learning experiences based on a shared understanding of what we want students to know and to be able to do.
not aligned with the desired changes in teaching and learning. The beliefs teachers hold directly impact their actions and decision-making in the classroom and can influence the way in which they design learning experiences.
When the focus is on learning, and what’s best for learners, we look for solutions.
The hands-on practice made them a little less afraid of the technology and more excited to explore the possibilities in their classrooms.
Once they saw the benefits, there was no way they were going to keep these powerful learning opportunities from their students.
Taking the time to explore the benefits and understand why we need to change can have a dramatic impact on how educators see their roles and the power to improve learning for their students.
