"I Don't Know...Yet!"

If we as members of a greater society could overcome our innate fear of allowing others to know what we don't know, we would really be able to work as a very powerful learning environment. Working with the development of educators in the great state of New Mexico, I am forever faced with the dampening force that most educators have within themselves, the force of not allowing others, including their students, find out that they don't know it all. Heck, I fight the force from within myself also. But let's all face it, we can't know it all.

The classroom learning environment could be changed from the one directional, lecture mode, the teacher knows all of the information about everything, to we are a community of learners. Together, we can learn so much from each other, if we have the opportunity to share the knowledge that we all have. Yes, as the teacher of Quadratic Functions, there may be some things that I know about that you don't know. But you know things that could add to the learning experience of us all. This is only made possible, when the learning experience is crafted in a way that allows student centered learning. The students teach each other, the content is discovered in an inquiry fashion, the learners live in the fact that they contribute to the volume of skills that can be learned in through the experience. The teacher is a facilitator to direct, provide information, stimulate, encourage and structure the learning experience.

"I Don't Know....Yet!" This needs to become a mantra for all of us. It is ok that I don't know what today's lesson has for us. I may not know that yet, but I don't have to hide that from anyone. I can admit it, face it and move to learning in a positive exciting fashion. As the facilitator, I can open the door of student input, questions and passions because I Don't Know...Yet either.

Let me know what you think about Not Knowing...Yet.