Updated December 26, 2000
The effective teacher must possess the same skills as a detective. In every instructional setting the teacher will be confronted by students with varied learning styles, topics that require many hours of preparation, and a limited amount of resources. To overcome these obstacles, the teacher must use observation, deduction, and knowledge, three skills inherent in all great detectives, to create instructional treatments that go beyond simple memorization of facts, to create new levels of understanding within the learner.
Furthermore, the effective teacher must, as Sherlock Holmes states in the novel The Sign of Four, "rebel at stagnation, be willing to take on work, tackle the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and abhor the dull routine of existence." Therefore, individuals who wish to become great teachers must be willing to sacrifice time and effort to reach their goal. Finally, the structure of the class will center around the teacher as a detective, who must use his or her skills to solve instructional problems by integrating instructional technology into the classroom.
Gone are the days when the role of the teacher was primarily one of imparting knowledge. The information explosion has forged a new dynamic role for the teacher...one which requires him or her to act as facilitator of student learning. Today's teachers often find the wealth of knowledge, skills, and understandings students bring to the classroom is phenomenal. Such wealth cannot and should not be ignored! Creating a learning environment where constructing and sharing knowledge, skills and understandings is valued should be an honorable goal that each of you must strive to reach. The appropriate use of instructional media in designed instruction is the ticket to success in the classroom.