Have you ever heard the phrase "coaching tree"? In most professional sports, you have these iconic coaches that have had such incredible success that their assistants are hired with the hope that they might have a fraction of the magic that their mentor held.
I came across a quote on Linkedin recently that said:
The greatest head coaches are building up next generations of greatest coaches. A leader's focus should be to develop, trust, and learn from those they are leading. If you are a leader that thinks you have all the answers, you are already being left behind.
Great Teachers should Build Better Thinkers
William Arthur Ward writes, "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.'
If we are aspiring to be great teachers, are we creating inspiration and curiosity to help students think?
Metacognition in it's simplest terms is "thinking about thinking". The industrial model of education as it's core creates consumers, taking in information and ideas from a teacher's presentation or another source. But where does the thinking happen? When students are cramming for that multiple choice test? Trying to figure out how to hack the code of the LMS so that you can steal the answers instead of looking them up?
The creativity, innovation and inquiry that students who try to "hack" the system isn't something to look down on, but to get curious about. How can we build up student's passions, skills, and abilities outside of the traditional "classroom"?
My favorite 2 questions to ask students (that I didn't ask when I was just beginning).
What are ways that Mr. Williams is getting in the way of you learning the content?
What is a skill or passion that you (the student) have outside of class? How do you see this fitting into the learning we are doing now or into the future?
Humble Teachers. Safe Classrooms. Empowered Students. Shared Vision for Better Thinking. Success in the process!
Don't forget to follow To Chase Innovation on Facebook or Instagram (@tochaseinnov8n). Additionally Follow Taylor @taylorhwilliams on X.
If this blog or another has challenged you, inspired you, or made you think, please pass it onto someone else!
Comments