Lazy Teachers, There Is Still Hope For You

In my time as a student, I have seen more than my fair share of some bad teachers.

And I mean BAD.

There was the one who hated kids, which everyone has. Then there was the one who we couldn't tell what gender he/she/it was (and I don't think he/she/it knew either). Perhaps even scarier was the one who didn't speak English. That last one might have been a foreign language teacher, but I don't know for sure.

But even so, all of them do not compare with the teachers who are L-A-Z-Y. You know who they are. They miss the first day of class for who knows why, the spend an eternity in the Teachers' Lounge, and they grade on a curve that, due to the lack of teaching, doesn't curve at all. If they don't want to do their job, why don't they just say so?

There is, however, one reason why they could still be teaching. If you look at an extreme example of the Constructivism Teaching Theory, these lazy teachers could be doing something (gasp) right. Constructivism focuses more on concepts with grouping and categorizing things that have a certain commonality. How could you be lazy and get that work done, you might ask? Easy, just have the students do it.

Wait, what? Students WORK? (gasp, gasp) Why not? If they want to, then why not? Isn't that what we want? The students wanting to learn? Teachers getting them to be self-motivated? Isn't that a better way? Why am I still writing sentences ending in question marks?

Seriously, think about it. Students get interested in a topic, they research it, and then share what they know with others who have done the same. As long as the teacher can do the motivating part, the sky is the limit.

Unfortunately, these lazy teachers are dealing with young children and teenagers. Getting them motivated to even get out of bed is a challenge. Maybe teaching using a constructivist method is hard. Lazy teachers, you can ignore this method. It's too time consuming and requires too much effort. Besides, don't you have to go to the Teachers' Lounge now?

While you are on your 5 hour break, the readers who actually want to do something worthwhile will listen to some basic ideas/practices to get the students motivated. There are known as the 5 'E's--Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. They are all Student Centered, or actions the student will undertake.

For example: Remember when that special time of year rolled around when the 7th graders dissected frogs? Well, cancel that. Try the following. Ask the students something like "Ever wonder how a small animal like a frog can jump so far?" The students should be interested, so you say "Why do you think they can jump so far?" When the students have submitted their theories, you can ask them to work together in groups to find out which theory or theories are correct. Ask them to look this information up on their own. They shouldn't mind since the theories are theirs; they're just finding data to back them up. Finally, you compare findings. Wouldn't you know it, you covered the anatomy of a frog without cutting one open? Kermit gets to live and everyone is happy.