Get Your Students the Biggest "Refund" Possible

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Our classrooms and lessons don’t look the same as they did 20 years ago. 10 years ago. Even five years ago.

Or at least they shouldn’t.

Think of all the tools potentially available in a teacher’s toolbox that weren't around just a few years ago, resources and strategies that enable teachers to better engage students, promote collaboration, differentiate instruction, communicate with parents, and increase learning (both for the student and teacher/administrator).

iPads. ChromeBooks. Google Docs. Desmos. Khan Academy. Thinking Maps, Kagan Strategies. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Twitter chats. Pinterest. Teachers Pay Teachers. Remind text messaging. ClassDojo.

Research, our own personal experience, and common sense tell us the traditional model of education isn’t what’s best for students. We’ve learned that the teacher should no longer solely be the “sage on the stage,” but rather the “guide on the side,” facilitating learning. Students sitting quietly in rows listening to the teacher do all the talking doesn’t necessarily equal learning. Students must be engaged in critical thinking, allowed opportunities for discourse, encouraged to ask questions, and allowed to create in order to demonstrate their learning.

We as educators must be willing to embrace change, for through change comes growth.

Last week, Alice Keeler tweeted the statement below, the inspiration for this blog post.

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​I think we would all agree that the answer to this question would be a resounding, “No!”

So for me, this tweets begs the question -- would we accept this mindset in education?

Would we accept it from our child’s teacher?

Do we accept it from ourselves?

There is always more to learn, always ways to get better at what we do. Equating experience with having the “teaching thing” or “admin thing” all figured out is not a recipe for excellence. We cannot say to ourselves, “I’ve been doing this a long time. I know what I’m doing, and my students do well. There’s no need for me to change or try something new.”

So back to the tax analogy. Your accountant chooses not to take advantage of new tax laws and deductions to get you a bigger refund. When you question his practice, he responds, “I got you a refund. What more do you want?”

Uh...a bigger refund!

Why would we be satisfied with a $2,000 refund when our accountant could have gotten us, say, $5,000 by incorporating new resources or strategies into his practice? We wouldn’t. Then how can we be satisfied with the idea that our students learned at a “$2,000 level” when they could have learned so much more if we had incorporated new resources and strategies into our practice?

We are our students’ accountants, and we are tasked to get them the biggest “refund” possible.

It’s been said the biggest obstacle to becoming great is being good. Are we satisfied with seeing good progress from our students, or are we willing to learn to be better, to do whatever it takes to see great progress? We must. Our accountants do it. Our doctors do it. Our mechanics do it. And so must we.