Try teaching something you don't understand...

The best part of being a non-class based eLearning Coach is getting to work with lots of different children and lots of different teachers. Most of the time I support teachers to teach things they are not quite sure about... and this is where the magic happens!

Lev Vygotsky introduced this idea as the 'Zone of Proximal Development'. You probably remember it from teacher training; you might even bear it in mind when planning learning activities for your students. It's the space between what a learner can do unaided and what a learner can't do. The part where an adult can help a child to do something... I've heard "the children probably know more than I do" many times, and teachers are often nervous because of this. Turning the ZPD around and using it to your advantage is powerful and empowering.

Being a great teacher is not about knowing everything, but to quote Ben Johnson (2013);

"great teachers don't teach, great teachers engineer learning experiences that maneuver the students into the driver's seat and then the teachers get out of the way."

Technology allows teachers to engage learners then get out of the way, sneaking back to get a look of what they are doing! Last week our Year 4 teachers wanted to make movies, so, we bought iMovie for the iPads and despite none of the teachers (me included) having used the app before, we were off with the children as they formed groups and set off around school to make movies about following the school rules. That night, one of the teachers had gone home, downloaded the app and made movies with her family. 

In the zone, and out the other side...

References:
Johnson, B. (2013) Great Teachers Don't Teach. Available online at: http://goo.gl/Ok302 Accessed: 2 February 2014