Essential Question 8

Can you teach more than you know?

I can absolutely teach more than I know! I have the most fun and best outcomes in the classroom when I am learning with (and from) my students. The best part of researching, experimenting, solving a math problem, etc., along side my students is that they get to watch my process and learn from they way I work through failure.

In my first couple years of teaching I would only teach what I was very comfortable with and would spend mind-numbing hours learning the ins-and-outs of topics before I covered them in my classes. I wish I had known then that the best learning I have ever seen in my classes was not when I was the expert, but when I gave up control and chose to guide my students through teaching themselves and one another.

The answer to this essential question is extremely important when applying it to technology and makerspaces. "We are teaching digital natives, many of whom have been pounding on keyboards since their toddler days." (Trierweiler Hudson, n.d.). Our students know so much more about technology than most of us do and if we waited to do a lesson or teach a topic until we were more comfortable than they are with the tech tools then the lesson would never happen.

The best thing about a makerspace is that "nobody who uses the space needs to be an expert, not even the teacher." (Maker Media, 2013). In a makerspace, the teacher can take the role of a project manager. There is less necessity for the direct instruction we are familiar with and more need to "define requirements and make judgment calls about budget, timeline, project scope, and desired outcomes." (Maker Media, 2013). Through this type of leadership, students can indeed be taught more than one teacher could possibly ever know.

Resources:
Maker Media. (2013). Makerspace Playbook - School Edition. Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://makered.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Makerspace-Playbook-Feb-2013.pdf

Trierweiler Hudson, H. (n.d.). Do Your Students Know More About Technology Than You Do? Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/do-your-students-know-more-about-technology-you-do/