Why Do I Need a Teacher When I’ve Got Google

write. I know I do.
    Remember, too, to do things
with
children and not
to
them in your classroom laboratory. Open up the debate about their preferred learning mix by asking them about what they think. Talk to them about why you are going to try using music in the lesson or get them up after every 30 minutes to do some physical exercise or allow them to record their homework as a rap or a radio jingle. Encourage them to take an active part not only in the teaching of the lesson but also in the planning of the lesson itself. The more you can open up what has been called the ‘secret garden’ of teaching to the learners the better, as it helps develop interested, responsible, self-motivated, independent learners. Not only that, by helping them understand the variety of ways in which people can learn, not to mention the range of ‘biopsychological potentials’ there are, it helps them form a variety of metacognitive strategies when it comes to approaching their own learning not only in your classroom but also outside, both now and throughout their lives.
    One art teacher did just that with a
Doodle Day
3 idea she had. She set things up in her school so that all teachers would let children doodle for the day during lessons and then got feedback from them about whether it helped with student learning. She was amazed at the 100 per cent positive feedback from her colleagues with a whole list of benefits including a calm atmosphere, engaged students, creativity and expression, cross-curricular learning, positive relationships, concentration, listening skills and confidence. 4
    When it comes to making changes in your classroom practice, it is also worth remembering that you should think in terms of ‘little things’. Don’t try and change everything straightaway or try every new technique you’ve just heard about in one all-singing all-dancing Braingym-ed, Mindmapped, fully VAK-ed and multiply intelligent 50-minute period that leaves the students gasping for breath and praying for budget cuts that will prevent you from going out on any more courses. Sometimes when I lead a lesson planning exercise on the use of Multiple Intelligences, I see teachers become all excited when they talk about preparing something along the lines of ‘Repeal of the Corn Laws – The Musical!’ If ever you find yourself contemplating how to represent the Periodic Table as a dance routine remember the adage ‘Little Things’. In a similar vein, one thing I say to teachers when we are doing the MI planning activity is that if the word ‘laminate’ crops up then they are trying too hard! Ease back! Get a life! I really, really don’t want you to work hard. Far from it, as we shall see in chapter 29 . As the Eskimo saying goes, ‘If you sweat, you die.’ I want you to work less hard because the less work you do the better their learning, if you plan things well enough. As I have said, what I want is more efficient working from teachers. Work less but achieve the same, or even better results.
    I was observing an English lesson one Tuesday morning where the teacher had been up all night cutting and pasting and sticking into envelopes for a ‘kinesthetic learning activity’ he was planning to use as a starter activity in the lesson. Within minutes of him handing out his carefully prepared envelopes, though, the class were messing about with them, skidding the laminated cards around or blowing them off the tables and generally causing havoc. Not only did he then have classroom control issues but they were compounded by the fact that he had carried into the classroom all the ‘I’ve been up all night preparing that … !’ emotional baggage. If, however, he had approached his planning from the point of view of ‘What’s the least amount of preparation I can put into this lesson to get the learning outcomes I want?’, then things could have been very different. Maybe he could have used Post-It pads, given the students a page each and got them to write down the keywords he had on his cards, for example. That way they would have had a sense of ownership of the lesson, there would be a sense of curiosity as the lesson was unfolding before them (something that helps with motivation), you can’t blow Post-Its off the table and he wouldn’t have wasted his time and his lamination budget and built up resentment in the process.
    So, for this book as for any other book you read with ideas for your teaching practice, think ‘little things’