Week 3 Reading Post, (I miss named last week's)

After reading, I realized how much the composer resembles a teacher. In the same way Ben Zander saw a need for change in the way an orchestra is conducted, we are now seeing a need for change in the way we teach. In a past classroom, past I mean before 80's and 90's, the focus of the classroom was the teacher. She was the hub of information. She stood at the front of the room or sat in her desk in the front of the room and dictated what was happening in "her" class. What she said was the law.

There started to be a change that took place, I'm not sure when, I didn't start education courses till 1996; I remember high school teachers were still standing in front of the classroom, although some of the younger teachers did not stay in the desks and desks were at the back of the room. I graduated in 1991 and group or collaborative efforts were few and far between. I can still remember getting in trouble in Chemistry class for asking questions and interrupting the teacher's speech! Once I started teaching the ball was rolling quickly to get teachers out of their seats, there were several coined terms, none of which come to mind.

Now, teachers are shifting even more power and direction to the students. Having students work in pairs, using Kagan methods, and questioning paradigms all in an effort to get more engaged time out of the students. I can honestly say, many times my students ask me a question I don't know the answer to, and I say go Google it. I never heard a teacher say, "I don't know", when I asked a question. Either they made up an answer or they structured the lesson so that there was no time for thinking and questioning. I am so glad I teach in a time when my students are given the opportunity to think outside the box and in a time when I can say, "I don't know". I have often taken advice from students on everything, from our schedule to a lesson. Kids are a gift, they haven't learned to sensor questions and answers, so they don't look silly. They just ask "why not?" For that, I love my job!