As someone who gets bored easily, I cannot imagine teaching the same way year after year. This tendency I have to seek out new ways of doing things has allowed me to change the way I teach all the time. I am constantly designing new projects to try, testing the latest technology available, and learning new ways to teach. Not all of these changes have been innovative; they have just been different ways of covering the same material. Yet, it’s those new and better ways of doing things that my students get the most out of.

In The Innovator’s Mindset, George Couros defines innovation as “a way of thinking that creates something new and better.” (19) Changing the way I teach because I get bored teaching the same lessons all the time isn’t enough. I have to strive for the new lesson to be better than the old ones.

Case in point: One of my second grade teachers recently came to me with the goal of planning lessons that promote the 4Cs in her students through the relevant use of technology. I applauded the last part of that: relevant use of technology. She wants to use the tools available to enhance student learning, but not as the focus of her lessons. We created several math centers that used apps designed to allow students to create something. Our first center involved creating videos to teach first graders the concept of even and odd. This activity became an example of innovation for this teacher. Her new center allowed her to promote the 4Cs (Critical thinking skills, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity) into math for her students in a new and better way.

Notice, in this example, the technology is not the focal point. Yes, students are using the technology to create a video, but their focus was more on how to teach the concept of even/odd to a group of first graders. These students were focused on teaching their content, not on the video they were making. Through their videos, the teacher was able to check for deeper understanding than she would have with her traditional center activities. She used this insight to guide her small group instruction during centers. As a side benefit, the teacher also noted that this year students have taken less time to learn the center expectations and rotations than her past experiences! Students are excited about going to math centers, so they listen to directions better and do what is expected.

In what ways are you going to be innovative this week?

“Change is an opportunity to do something amazing.” (George Couros, “The Innovator’s Mindset”)

I have often been handed a book from team leaders, administrators, or supervisors who profess that this book study will be transformative, inspiring, innovative, though provoking, and on and on. The “boss” always adds that we shouldn’t worry because this book is an easy read, and it won’t take long to get through, digest, and understand. So far, I have rarely made it beyond the first few uninspiring chapters (or pages!), and I have an entire bookshelf of these transformative books. None of them were pivotal to causing change. And then came this book by George Couros.

I inwardly rolled my eyes when I was saw the agenda for our September meeting. Oh boy! A book study! Then, I shook my head as I picked up the book at sign in, thinking I’d have a new book to add to the shelf. I read the back cover and saw all the buzz words necessary for a book called The Innovator’s Mindset. The cute gear theme makes me think of inventing things. But, I promised myself I’d give it a try. I’d read at least the first three chapters before tossing it with the rest of my professional books.

I can already tell you that Couros’ book, The Innovator’s Mindset, is different. I began the introduction, but had to stop reading to go find a highlighter. WHOA! This was different: I actually picked up a highlighter because I was interested in highlighting what the author was saying. (I also had to borrow the highlighter, because I never use them and didn’t have one!) I settled back in to read the intro again with my brand new highlighter. I think the flags in the lid of the highlighter will probably come in handy, too. By the time I finished the intro, I had multiple highlights on every page! Mr. Couros is spot on in his observations, and I’ve been saying many of the same things to myself (and friends) for years!

I’ve never understood the teacher who saves a file cabinet worth of worksheets and lesson plans they use year after year. I guess I just get bored easily, but I do not like to do the same projects more than once. I kept lesson plans for basic skills, but my unit and project plans changed every year. For one, I always had a different group of students each year, and each student had different needs. I also felt that if I was bored with doing the same thing year after year, that attitude would bleed over into my instruction, and the students would pick up on it. But ultimately, the world is constantly changing. I feel that if I don’t change with it, I would be doing my students a disservice. If I don’t learn how to use new technology and try new ideas, and share those new tools with my students, they won’t be prepared to go out into the world.

Today, the world is changing faster than ever. Employers are changing. They are no longer looking for assembly line workers with cookie cutter education. They are not seeking new employees who do only what they are told, and are only responsible for doing the same task over and over each day. Employers need creativity, innovation, critical thinkers, problem solvers, communicators, collaborators, and more. Couros makes the argument that, “Inspiration is one of the chief needs of today’s students.” (4) Yet schools are continuing to turn out students who lack these skills. Schools are still trying to make sure students can pass “the test,” but they are not ensuring that students can be creative. Like Couros says, “Twenty-first-century education is not about the test; it’s about something bigger.” (9) The focus on standardized testing removed time for allowing students to be creative. We began to teach to the test, and showed students the “formula” for passing a writing test. A formula for writing! We should have been allowing our students as many opportunities for creative writing as we could. We should be giving our students a real world problem to solve. We should make our students question everything around them. Maybe Johnny will be the one to help end world hunger. Maybe Alicia will figure out how to make wind energy more affordable and wide spread. Jose might have a solution to water shortages, or droughts. These students might not have the answers today, as 4th and 5th graders, but if our schools give them the tools they need to think outside the box, these students will one day be able to take over the world! Students today don’t know how to think outside the box. They aren’t problem solvers, and they can’t think critically. They don’t know how to accept that there is not one right answer. We need schools to “spark a curiosity that empowers students to learn on their own.” (4)

I love the example Couros gives in his intro of students learning about space.

“If, for example, a student wants to learn about space, she doesn’t ask her teacher what space is like. She visits NASA.gov to read blogs by astronauts and scientists.” (3)

Students today have information at their finger tips. They need their teacher to help guide them in using the information to do bigger and better things. Help your students locate more resources on the topic, point them to a Twitter chat with NASA officials. Show them how to dig deeper, and ask questions. My 4th graders often participate in Twitter chats with Ford’s Theatre around the anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination. My students are able to ask the experts questions about Lincoln, and his assassination. Granted, I know a lot about Lincoln, but I’m no expert! I can’t be an expert on every topic we learn about. So, I help the students find people who can be their expert. Step back and let your students drive the learning. I promise, it will be more rewarding and more powerful than you ever expected.