Be the Chief Learner in Your Classroom

There's a commercial on television in which children are asked what they want to be when they grow up.  An adorable little boy says, "I wanna be a teacher because they know a lot of awesome stuff" and, "I'll stand in front of the room and make sure everyone knows what I know."  While really cute, I feel certain that this little boy's script was written by an adult.  It reflects an old mindset about teachers and teaching.  While it is essential that you know your discipline well and are able to communicate it clearly, it is critically important in teaching that students see you as a learner.  First of all, they absolutely will not respect you as a teacher if they think that you think you already know everything.  Second, you will either communicate the importance of learning or its lack of importance, depending on how you model it in your own life.  They should see you as the chief learner in the room.

Here a few ways that you as a teacher can model curiosity and lifelong learning to your students.

1.  Go observe another teacher. This is a pretty common practice in my school.  We have a pineapple chart in which teachers let each other know if they are doing something you might enjoy observing.  I have enjoyed seeing math, English, and art classes.  Not only have I gotten ideas that I can apply in my classroom, I have enjoyed learning new things in these disciplines.  Right now, I am reading a book because I enjoyed the lesson I was observing on it so much.  When kids see you enjoying the things they are learning, they might find it more enjoyable and realize that learning can be enjoyable at any time.

2.  Tell kids about your reading.  Speaking of reading books, most teachers do.  We should be telling our students about it.  Asking them about what they are reading and telling them about what you are reading creates a culture in which reading for pleasure is considered the norm.  It also opens a door for relationship building as you discuss important themes in your reading and discover that you love the same author.  I also like to tweet about what I am reading so that those who aren't in my class at the moment of a discussion can participate and former students can join in as well.

3.  Tell kids about your current learning.  A few years ago, our librarian decided that she wanted to communicate this to the kids, so she asked every teacher what they were learning and made it into a bulletin board.  I had just learned to repair my shower using the Home Depot YouTube channel.  Another teacher had taught herself the guitar while another had begun gardening.  One of our teachers had spent the summer learning Photoshop.  In our knitting club, a teacher dropped by and couldn't remember how to do a stitch she had once known.  She pulled out her phone, googled it, and was working on it within a few minutes.  I think this could be taken one step further by discussing the challenges you encounter while learning something new because this would also model growth mindset and grit. 

4.  Ask questions you don't know the answer to.  A few years ago, I was doing morning front door duty when there was a strange water pattern in the asphalt of the school parking lot.  As kids came in, I asked them what they thought the cause was.  Most gave me a simple answer about humidity because they didn't realize we were talking about something stranger than that.  When I asked why they thought it was doing this particular thing in this particular way, they asked me what the answer was.  When I told them I was asking because I truly didn't know, they seemed surprised.  When I teach why the sky is blue and sunsets/sunrises are red, I also tell them that I wonder why don't see green twice a day.  When we talk about transparency and I ask why we can see through the window but not the wooden door, we go through a lot of them giving me basic answers (One is glass and the other is wood) before they realize that I am really asking why some materials are able to let light through while others aren't and that I actually don't know the answer. 

5.  Let them teach you what they know.  We all have students that are quite gifted in non-academic ways.  They've learned through the unintentional messaging of the system that their gifts are less important than others, but we can change that in our interactions with them.  Last year, I taught a young man who learned enthusiastically and deeply about the things that he loved.  He was a brilliant video editor, digital animator, and sound editor.  When he realizes how special his skills are, he is going to build a career in this area.  (When I asked him about it, he told me "anyone could do" what he does; he doesn't realize they cannot.)  He was not an academic, but he improved my teaching in physics.  He showed me audio tools that related to things we were learning about sound waves that I will now use in my classes.  He often asked if I had seen a particular YouTube channel or animation that related to what we were doing.  Learning from him has made me better and hopefully shown him that what he knows is valuable to others, no matter what our broken academic system has communicated.