Last Friday, several staff members from Austin (and teachers from all over Coppell) were able to take part in a half day of professional learning with Eric Jensen (of Teaching With Poverty In Mind fame). Check out this quick video for a brief overview of what Jensen speaks about. One of the things that stuck in my mind and kept popping up later was something that he said about our role as teachers. "Kids no longer need us for our content. Google replaced us there years ago." I think that really struck home to what we are trying to do now as 21st century teachers.
No longer will it suffice for us to teach our students "something" and then test them on it. Chances are, that "something" is readily available already at the click of a button. Instead, our focus should be on the skills and talents that will help them be successful in a global setting.
What were some other "take-aways" that some of you left with?
It was interesting to look at Jensen's strategies through the lens of my role--with teachers as my students. I would be foolish not to recognize how outside stress affects my learners in Professional Learning courses. I'm excited to work with the iTeam to develop new strategies and techniques with the information on brain research in mind as we plan for next year.
ReplyDelete