May teacher burnout is real. As teachers we often struggle to deliver amazing lessons and content to students who are also beginning to check out for the year. This does not have to be the case. Often times teacher struggle is caused by over-delivery, over-talking, and over-working throughout the school year. As teachers, we have to stop doing the work for our students, putting them in the drivers seat and spending our time stoking their curiosity. At the end of the year, I prefer to allow students to create an inquiry based project where they are almost completely in the driver’s seat. They have an assignment to learn about, must frame questions, and answer those questions. But it doesn’t stop their, they have to create a final product that shows what they have learned. For many creative students, this drive them through those research tasks they do not want to do and propagates increased success. As you close the year, I would encourage you to spend some summer time researching inquiry based learning, project based learning and the blended classroom. A great summer read would be Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz.
Plus, it never hurts to take the class to the outdoor classroom.
Speaking Principal 