Just a Thought...or Two

I recently attended a College Board AP Workshop for a couple of days and sat in on various sessions. While most were directly tied to AP exams, close reading strategies, and poetry there were a few thoughts I'd like to be sure and "record" on this blog as a way to remember them. The following is not a funny joke, but a way to make a practical point:

--A teacher, lawyer, doctor, and car mechanic all traveled in a time machine to the year 1950. Which one had the easiest time adjusting to their occupation? The teacher, of course. While laws, medicine, and cars have changed drastically over the past sixty years, unfortunately, many teaching practices have not. FYI: this should be a horribly shameful fact to those of us in the teaching profession.

--If a teacher is planning a lesson, and it can be taught or continued with all students absent, then the lesson (and probably the teacher) needs to change!

Both of these points were convicting to me. While most days I try to have student-centered learning, using innovative new methods such as technology, all too often I fall into the trap of lecture, power point slides, note-taking, and the ever-dreaded worksheet. I realize these all have their value, but they should not be a constant. I hope and pray I will not be the teacher who could easily adapt if placed in 1950 or the teacher who could carry on without the students.