I was going through some grade school handouts, and was surprised and disappointed by what I found. Here are some tips for some teachers…
1. Please do not just copy/paste Wikipedia articles.
2. If you do copy/paste Wikipedia articles, please cite the source or the URL.
3. Please check if your handout is complete. Some of your handouts are obviously missing blocks of text on the right side.
4. If you prefer to rely mainly on articles posted on the web, please provide a summary. Or add your own insights. Otherwise, just publish a blog or Facebook fanpage and provide direct links to the Wikipedia articles instead.
5. Please avoid cramming too much trivia into the minds of my children. You don’t need to compete with Google or Wikipedia in today’s “always connected” generation.
6. If you’re running out of time to engage, motivate, or inspire your students, please consider reducing the amount of printed handouts that you distribute (especially if those are mainly copy/pasted Wikipedia articles).
7. Tell more stories.
8. Start publishing online, whether at Blogger, WordPress, YouTube, or Facebook.
9. Create your own content.
10. Love what you do, and be passionate about teaching.
