10 Indicators You Are an Innovative Educator

The goal of most teachers is that their students would take responsibility for their own learning. How are students going to be able to do that if they never see it modeled?

That is why it is important for each teacher to be the lead learner in the classroom.  The teacher should be the model of what it means to be a "lifelong learner."  If the teacher is working from laminated lesson plans there is a problem.  That doesn't mean that you have to start from scratch every year.  What it does mean is that the teacher must always be looking for ways to improve.  This constant drive to improve, grow and innovate is key to successful teaching.  This is what all innovative educators do.

Would you consider yourself innovative?  Here are ten indicators that you are an innovative educator.

1. After every less you ask, "What worked? What didn't work? Will I use this lesson again?  If so, can I make it better? If I am not going to use it again, why?"
2. You are not afraid to ask others for help.
3. You share your successes/failures with others.
4. You use technology as a tool to extend learning and not just to take quizzes over books.
5. You network with other teachers.
6. You use the textbook as a resource and not the only source of information in the classroom.
7. You ask questions that require thought and not just rote memorization.
8. You see social media as a valuable tool for education and know that it is not inherently evil.
9. You see multiple solutions for every problem and reinforce that thinking in your students.
10. You know that just because you don't know how to do something doesn't mean you can't do it.  Possessing that knowledge means you are ready to do whatever it takes to learn how to get the job done.  

These are just a few of the things that set an innovative educator apart from everyone else.  Are you the kind of teacher that is unafraid to go off the path into unexplored territory or would you rather stay in the well traveled rut you are currently following?  I hope you are willing to be more innovative, take more chances.  Share those experiences with others.

"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." (George Bernard Shaw)