Teaching Tip: Lose the Textbook.

I truly believe something I don't know if anyone has said before. I think the textbook should just be for the teacher.

The pictures--we could share, the stories--we could read allowed, but the boring words are to give us a resource. Students learn best from being involved. Get the information and give it them them in a new way. Don't expect them to learn from reading the words on a page.

Lose the book, we don't need it. It doesn't make us smarter. Give us points, support ideas, make us think with higher order questions. And stop making us regurgitate what was an idea somewhere.

Instead make us challenge our own ideas, make us grow as students, make us become better learners. And lose the book. Find relevant data, find important information, use UP TO DATE information and Lose the book.

This day and age the world is at our fingertips. Share it with our community, bring it to the world we live in and make the students in our classes, engaged, inspired, motivated and passionate. Challenge them to step away from the books and into their brains.

Turn the light switch on inside their brain and close the book.