Isn't the Best Way to Teach Quite a Puzzle?

Doesn't that seem the question that is always passed around when teachers get together? Or at least the administrators and 'higher ups'? When I first began teaching it seemed that the biggest complaint among the veteran teachers was the practice of the administrators and educational theorists and experts to suddenly change how things are done in the education process. It wasn’t so much that new ideas were unappreciated but it seemed to these teachers that not enough time was given to new practices to actually see if they were effective and to also often “throw out the baby with the bath water”. Remember that expression, where we tend to get rid of everything when we really need to keep the good without getting rid of the ineffective?

Effective teachers look for those ways to teach that work the best way for them. Yes, we need to constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve our teaching, if we don’t then I think we will become stagnant and ineffective. However, if you are knowledgeable about works for you then hold on to those methods, just make sure that you are not fooling yourself in believing that your way is always the best way.

With the Internet at our fingertips, teachers should develop resources that can keep us updated about trends and effective practices. One of the most talked about subjects is about problem solving and group learning being the way to go for our teaching. In this article at the  EducationNext.org site, check out this posting about the Sage on the Stage: “Learning by problem-solving may be less efficient, as discovery and problem-solving often take more time than mastering information received from an authority figure. And incorrect or misleading information may be conveyed in conversations among students….”  is part of this posting. Check out the rest and see what you think.

The EducationNext.org site often has a plethora of thought-provoking articles, videos and postings. Perhaps you will and perhaps you won’t, who is to say that looking through the postings we won’t find something about Globaloria and the way we are updating and challenging our students’ learning.  That, I believe, is what we all should be doing, challenging our students with their learning and developing OUR OWN BEST WAY TO TEACH EFFECTIVELY. Isn't it a Puzzle!