What's the Big Idea? How can it be that what I knew was true isn't???
And WHAT DO I DO NOW????
I think you do what good teachers everywhere always did -
- you try lots of different things.
- you have a 'toolkit' of varied and tested ideas
- you stay alert to what is working and what is not
- you are always revising, tweaking, improving based on evaluation of desired outcomes
- you remember that you won't always be successful, but you never stop trying to be better
- you study new ideas but don't necessarily throw out the old ones
- you hesitate to blindly follow every new theory
- you plan,
- you evaluate,
- you build on success
- you remember that you became a teacher because you love learning
- you do everything in your power to encourage the love of learning in your students.
Remember the wisdom of the statement:
Lo alecha ha-m'lacha ligmor
v'lo ata ben chorin l'hivatel mimena
You don't have to finish the work - but you are obligated to begin it
