I follow a few education gurus on the Twitter and the Facebook, and I understand the importance of finding materials, methods, and ideas from people who seem to be successful. At the same time, I have noticed that when some teachers read that expert's books, posts, or blog, the teachers often buy in to everything that expert might say. They reproduce everything the expert does and says, expecting the same results.
But that is not how it works.
You see, we often think that education is a science. It may be, but I suppose we know less about this branch of science than we do about how to cure incurable diseases. Put simply, what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. I would encourage you to take what these people put out with a grain of salt. That's not to say we can't learn from them, but to bite on everything, hook, line, and sinker, it to fail to discern what works for you. We all - teachers and students - are different. Rather than drive in someone else's ruts, how about picking and choosing the things that will work for you - a little from this guy, a little from that book, a little from this video, a little from that keynote - and include them along with your own strengths. I don't ever want to teach without my personality and strengths, but that's exactly what happens when I try to become somebody else. Take some from Ron Clark, some from Gerry Brooks, some from Dave Burgess, and some from your own teaching neighbors, and blend them all together to make them work. For you and your students.
But that is not how it works.
You see, we often think that education is a science. It may be, but I suppose we know less about this branch of science than we do about how to cure incurable diseases. Put simply, what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. I would encourage you to take what these people put out with a grain of salt. That's not to say we can't learn from them, but to bite on everything, hook, line, and sinker, it to fail to discern what works for you. We all - teachers and students - are different. Rather than drive in someone else's ruts, how about picking and choosing the things that will work for you - a little from this guy, a little from that book, a little from this video, a little from that keynote - and include them along with your own strengths. I don't ever want to teach without my personality and strengths, but that's exactly what happens when I try to become somebody else. Take some from Ron Clark, some from Gerry Brooks, some from Dave Burgess, and some from your own teaching neighbors, and blend them all together to make them work. For you and your students.
