I will never be able to share the majority of the lessons and resources I've used in my classroom over the years.
Why? I didn't create most of them. It's a cliché at this point, but nevertheless true: effective teachers beg, borrow and steal.
I usually found that while no single resource (textbook, teacher resource book, online lesson idea, district curriculum guide, etc) met the needs of my students for a given lesson, there was almost always enough to create a working sketch. After that, I could simply fill in the details.
Sometimes I just needed practice problems to supplement a step-by-step example I had created, or a word problem to make a real-world connection with a challenging concept. Sometimes I just needed to add white space for students to show work or add a helpful graphic organizer.
A lot of the time, I simply needed to incorporate my hilarious sense of humor into an otherwise dull topic, or make someone else's work fit into a lab, project or other student-led activity.
I've never felt guilty about this, and neither should you. Everything you want to do has been done before, if not exactly than in bits and pieces spread across the education ether. Being able to synthesize disparate resources into something that will help your students is a skill you need to hone.
If you spend your days and nights trying to be the world's most original teacher, you'll very quickly find yourself becoming the world's most frustrated.
4 comments:
Wisely put!
I love it that we live in a world where there are so many ideas out there for us teachers and that we have access to them. I too am eclectic in my teaching, and use bits and pieces from all over in my work.
I think what makes a good teacher is the one who takes the time to find the right resources, find new and exciting resources, and them make them work well in her classroom.
That could even involve adding your own touch, twist or tweaks.
Teacher Mum: Couldn't agree more!
I just read Clive Thompson's column in this month's Wired magazine, "The Breakthrough Myth," about how most "revolutionary" ideas have actually been evolving in plain sight for quite a while. It's who uses the idea and how they use it that makes it seem like a breakthrough. I think it lends a bit more support to my post.
An effective teacher is one who keeps learning. New learning can occur almost anywhere. Colleagues are certainly a great source of learning and new ideas as are educational resources whether live, in print or on- line. Often an idea from someone sparks a variation of an idea that you can incorporate into your lesson plan. A good teacher strives to constantly improve those plans and is always learning. The act of sharing becomes a learning tool as well.
For all of the Ag Teachers out there or teachers that want to tie in science and Ag into their classroom, here is a good website that you can find great lesson plans off of. http://www.ideas4ag-ed.com/lesson-plans.html
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