From master teacher to master learner

I am enjoying the new book by Will Richardson and thought I’d share these few but smart changes you can start with in your classroom. How do you create powerful learning in your classroom? Perhaps you are in a school where everyone supports change? Both your district, your principal and your fellow teachers? Most likely you are not. Most likely some teachers in your school are thinking about change, but not sure how to do it, or why they should. It might seem like too much hard work. Look here for some ways to start, believe me, it’s easy and worth the effort!

Some easy ways to start

Every day, ask a question you don’t know the answer to. Better yet, ask students what questions they have that they don’t know the answers to.
Make sure at least 25 percent of student work in your class finds an audience outside the classroom and has an authentic purpose that the students designed.
Take some of the outcomes in your curriculum guide, and ask students how they would like to show that they have learned them.
Give students time to learn something about your subject that’s not in the curriculum, something they choose, and then have them share with the class.
Bring outside experts into your classroom on a regular basis via an online video chat program.

If you do like me, have your students ask the questions, write blogs and connect with students in other countries, and Skype with experts from different parts of the world……

Thats when you have started the journey, and that’s when it starts to get fun! Fun being a teacher, and hopefully fun being a student!