Great Teachers' Society at work

Teaching vs. learning

Every year teachers feel that they run out of time as March turns into April and April turns into May. There are so many topics on the syllabus that should have been covered, and you do not have a clue how to get through it all before the exam. This year is no exception; already April has come to an end, and there are still things we have not managed to teach the students. Maybe this is part of the problem - we feel obliged to teach the students everything. We need to make sure we have read enough central texts and given lectures on almost everything. My question is, are we only good teachers if we give our students lectures on each and every single part of the syllabus? Do we need to reassure ourselves that all the pupils in our groups know all the answers to all the questions that might be given an the exam? Would it be possible for us to give the students more responsibility? Are there parts of the syllabus that they can teach themselves?

Visuwords

Have you ever wanted a more visual approach when you're looking for the meaning of a word? Well, here it is! Visuwords is an online visual, graphic dictionary that lets you look up words and find how they are associated with other words. It produces diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. The different colours represents verbs, nouns, adjectives etc. and you only have to add a word to get started. Give it a try - you might find this a useful tool. Visuwords has also been seen at Diginalet.

Students 2.0

Did you know that there is a blog out there written by students about learning, schooling, teaching, education and much more? It is written because a handful of young people want to give a voice to the future - their own. And yours. But let them introduce themselves:

For decades, students have been stuck in classrooms, behind desks, being told how and what to learn. For a time, when students were expected to become widgets for the vast machine of industry, this model of education was highly effective. However, we have now entered a new age: an age where thinking is more important than knowing, where thoughts out-do the facts. Borders are melting away; project teams collaborate across the globe and intelligence is being continually redefined. The world’s information is at our fingertips and anybody can publish their thoughts for virtually no cost.
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This blog is an attempt to give students a voice in where the future of education is headed. But do not let the idea of listening to students turn you away: for everyone here is also a teacher. We are a team from across the globe, and this is our time.

I highly recommend Students 2.0 to anyone who is interested in learning, education and the future - and that should mean you, too.