A Thought (435):
One thing that I have started to pick up on this semester is that I, as a teacher, will have a lot of expectations of my students depending on their comfort level of the materials and how I will present it to them.  There is a trap that I feel I have fallen into as a student many times where the teacher gives a guideline as to what to do for a unit and I use that as a guideline to do the least amount of work possible to get the grade I want.  What I have noticed with this class is that the tasks are so open that they leave room for me to do whatever I want in a way that I want to do it.  


Now as a student who has been trained in following a guideline, this is terrifying.  Not knowing what there is out there on a topic and having to discover it by yourself is what drives education forward.  As an educator, I must push students in a general direction in order for them to discover new ideas in a way that will be memorable for the student.  


Math is interesting when it comes to what I have said.  Students should be guided to the unknown;  but to get there, they must follow ideas and logic in a set path to understand it.  I feel that this is like a traveling.  Some will want to take the quickest way they can to a vacation destination (end result) by flying, others will want the experiences that the road can offer, and even some will run like Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.  How do I get students to not fly and take the quick way to finding out new information?  It will not be easy, but I will work to have them get the experience of road and different ways to getting to where they, and myself as a teacher, need to be.