Students Teaching Students

The teacher's job is to get students started on the right path of the skill to be learned, guide them as they go along, and diagnose each learner's areas of strengths and weaknesses through observation and data analysis.

What is not true is that this type of instruction is impossible with the youth of students in the 5th grade and in a public school at that.

What is true is that this cannot happen without the full cooperation of the students. This requires high-level classroom management skills and is probably why so few teachers even attempt to teach this way. It's much easier to stand in front of the room and lecture. It is safer and "looks" like good teaching.

I guess what one believes becomes that person's reality.

Unfortunately the undeniable reality is that while our state test scores are increasing, our students' higher-level thinking abilities are dropping. As a result, so is our performance on international problem-solving tests (where we are now scoring in the lower 50%). Fewer college graduates are going into math, science and engineering professions while more are going into selling real estate.

And as our gross domestic product dwindles because of this, so does our our standing as a world economic and political power.

The solution is to produce students who can learn to learn, who are responsible for their own learning and know how to think for themselves and problem solve. Independent learners who are unafraid to make mistakes, say "I don't understand", and become leaders right now.