This is a compilation of some of the things I have learned along the way.
Learn alongside your students
This requires being transparent at times. This requires voicing your own curiosities, and discovering something new right alongside them.
The traditional omniscient teacher is a thing of the past, and saying, "I don't know, but let's find out" is the thing of the present. It not only shows students that you are genuine, but also models for them how the process of learning should happen: through beautiful, serendipitous events.
practice and teach skepticism
This is one of those topics you want to introduce in August and revisit throughout the school year. Don't let students push this idea to the back of their thoughts. Make it present. Make it important. Don't give them a chance to forget it.
For more on skepticism click here.
If students can copy it, don't assign it
Students should be assigned work that matters to them-the kind of work that they see as important and relevant. This can be done by first of all, stop assigning busy work, and second, make their voices matter in the classroom.
Assigning work that can only be their original ideas will mean more to them and will ensure each child actually completes it on their own, enhancing their learning.
For more on homework click here.
celebrate differences
There are artists. There are mechanics. There are gardeners. There are beauticians.
And if there is one truth we need to face as teachers, it is that our students will always be better than us at something, if not many things. So, why not celebrate everything that makes those students so special and unique?
Provide opportunities for students to show their skills and feel a sense of pride. This can be done by assigning self-choice projects that allow students to use their individual skills. This can also be done by asking a student to solve a tech problem, or highlighting their specific skills and interests inside the content you are teaching.
For more on diversity click here.
you are teaching more than your content
Are they learning chemistry? Biology? Physics?
Maybe; hopefully, but what else are they learning?
Are they excited to learn? Are they learning to make their own choices? To be skeptics? To observe and appreciate the world? To think critically? To be respectful during discussions? That school is a safe place?
These are some of the things students should be learning outside of the content because each of these things holds its own importance.