The Teacher's Desire to Learn?

These are just some of the explanations that I receive when I ask teachers to try something new.

"I don't have time during the school year."

"I can't take a sub day, it is too much effort to try to catch up."

"I have already put a lot of effort into this lesson and I have used it for years, I don't want to recreate it with something new when I think it already works fine."

Where did the desire to learn go?  Isn't that what teaching is all about?

It seems to me that "we" as educators have a responsibility to our students that requires us to help them learn.  In that responsibility we need to recognize that the same way we have done things for years, might not be the best way for our students.

Much of what I try to do with my teachers is show them new ways to engage the class, involved the students in the learning process and ultimately, in my hopes, make teaching easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

The movement in education today is to become more "student-centered".  This does require a little bit of an ego check on the teacher's part.  Let the students demonstrate understanding beyond the worksheet or multiple choice test.  Let the students create their own assessment or allow them to work collaboratively on a lesson they teach to everyone else.  Release that death grip on the reigns for control of the front of class.

When you release some of the control, you will start to see real learning.