A truly great teacher is perpetually rocking the boat in the cause of furthering the waves of understanding that flood over the walls of defense and denial built up around young people’s thirsty minds.”
– Daniel Mark Childs
Creatively pushing the boundaries of teaching can illuminate to topic for students in a way never before possible. Although the current emphasis on test scores makes creative teaching seem difficult, these three educators will help inspire and challenge you to think about teaching differently, and what you as a new teacher can do to engage your students.
Steve Spangler
Science doesn’t have to be boring, a simple thought that Steve Spangler has been advocating for years. The Emmy-Award winning scientist (yes, they do exist!) will inspire you as he describes how to make science tangible for kids, and how to hold their attention in a world filled with distraction:
Sir Ken Robinson
Bursting into the public consciousness in 2006 with his talk on how schools kill creativity, Sir Ken Robinson follows up that talk with another TED presentation that will challenge you on how you think about teaching, and how to bring out the passions of every student in your classroom:
Conrad Wolfram
If computers are so good at math, why are we still teaching students how to solve problems by hand? Conrad Wolfram will inspire you to think differently about how to teach math, and how we can better prepare students for the real world problems they will confront:
Some standardized testing will always be required, but the more teachers able to challenge the teaching status quo and make learning fun for their students, the more likely those teachers will be to inspire a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.
