Leveraging Learning

An often heard comment among teachers is "A room full of kids is no problem, but I get so nervous talking to a room full of adults." We feel this way every Back to School Night, whenever we have to facilitate a faculty meeting and most especially when we are teaching other adults. It's scary. We feel vulnerable, out of our element and certain that what we have to say is meaningless. I went to bed on Sunday feeling all of these things in preparation for my role in facilitating learning at Summer Teaching Institute. My units aren't all that awesome, my students are kinda messy and I sometimes - especially on a Friday - wing it. What could I possibly share with new teachers? Monday morning on my train ride in, I set a little goal: Get over this nonsense by Friday. And never again say out loud "I'm not good at teaching adults." Over the centuries of education in America, teachers have been sent and have internalized a very clear message - Do the im