In today's world, creating new ideas does not require a complicated business plan. The internet has created a new paradigm, where people can create their products and later on try to find the resources to develop them. Joi Ito explains this idea in this fascinating Ted Presentation.
Teachers can also become innovators in the classroom just like Joi Ito described those young entrepreneurs in his presentation. There is a new trend called Teacherpreneur. "The Teacherpreneur merges the image of the innovative classroom teacher with the risk-taking and entrepreneurial leadership that we commonly associate with those who create their place in the professional world," says Heather Wolpert -Gawron.
How many times have you worked on something you felt was an excellent lesson plan only to see it fail miserably in front of your students? I know it has happened to me numerous times. Our challenge, as teachers, is to know our students' different talent levels and abilities. I equate this to what Steve Jobs said one time about knowing the customer. He said, "You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it and I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I’ve got the scars to prove it.” The lesson I have learned is that no lesson plan, regardless of how good it is, will work if we do not know our students well.
