Never Work Harder Than Your Students

In her new ASCD book, Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching, educator Robyn R. Jackson makes a bold assertion: Any teacher can become a master teacher with the right kind of practice. The book makes the case that high-quality teachers concentrate on seven essential principles of effective teaching before implementing specific classroom strategies. One of Jackson's seven principles is that teachers should "never work harder than your students."

"The starting point comes when teachers embrace the messiness that is learning," says Jackson. "We have sanitized learning; we want to make it so clean. Everything in a classroom has to go just like we planned it. But if you leave spaces [in lesson planning] for kids to occupy, that's when they'll start to take control. You're creating situations where the kids have to do the work. We think kids are lazy, but kids want to work. They'll work in ways that are authentic to what they need."

Jackson, a former National Board–certified teacher and middle school administrator, not only shares how she learned from her mistakes but also explains how other teachers helped her think and act like a master teacher. Watch Jackson talk about her book on ASCD Talks With an Author.

How do you embrace the messiness of learning in your classroom?

Comments

[dhickel]

I embrace the messiness of learning in my classroom by having my students gather and replace their own needed tools from a class predesigned designation.

I am interested in others comments on the subject.

[Jpurinton]

I have been working to embrace the concept of messy as my groups of students work. We are trying to find a learning contract that works for them and for me. It's messy, but learning is happening!

[helen]

it's impossible to plan everything! but to embrace the messiness of learning ...one should be very careful about it, cause learning can turn to mess. guess i saw smth more about it at http://www.picktorrent.com. would be grateful for more info on the topic

[Debbie]

I liked Robin's idea that having high standards is not enough to engage students in learning. With state objectives putting more pressure on teachers to "teach": the test, we have to learn to work smarter, not harder. I would like to get this book and dig deeper into the principals of thinking like a master teacher. I am a second year teacher, and the prospect of learning/preparing new curriculum, classroom managements skills, discipline plans, students on IEPs, and all the other polical stuff we have to deal with can make the job daunting. I don't mind the messiness of learning, as long as there is learning taking place!