When you get busy and tired it is easy to find yourself in a rut. You go back to more comfortable and familiar ground. I have noticed that many teachers are not just multi- tasker's, they are multi-multi tasker's. It seem that everything needs to be done now. In the end, students get remnants of the rut. At this point more discipline problems creep in.
Talking to the students and other innovative teachers is a great way to bust a rut. The students have great ideas. This week, instead of the students bringing current events, I brought in the article. After reading an article about the high school drop out rate in Georgia, the students worked in groups to discuss the article. They had three questions to discuss as a group. They wrote their answers on the tables with dry erase markers. They had great ideas and really liked the fact that I listened to what they had to say. Of course, writing on the table was the highlight for them. In the end. many students stated that they believe some students drop out because it is the same thing every day. Even though it seems easier to do things the more comfortable way, in the end trying new ideas not only help teachers out the rut, but the students are more interested and ready to learn.
That was a great way to "bust the rut" Freda. I totally agree with your analogy of how teacher fall into a rut. I also found that when you involve the students more in the planning of activities they are more engaged and it also helps you to find new ways to re-invent previous lessons. I will sometimes ask my students how they felt about different assignments and they provide their opinions on how well they felt the assignment went and if they learned what they needed to learn. All of these things I think help teachers to stay out of the "rut" zone.
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