A national education presenter recently visited with Greene County Middle School staff.

Principal Shawn Zanders says Kevin Honeycutt was originally a teacher from Kansas and is now a nationally-recognized speaker. Zanders points out Honeycutt came to the middle school to observe and give ways to help teachers better engage students in the learning process to be 21st century learners. Zanders explains what 21st century learners are.

“Most of us were trained in a ‘sit and get’ world. We’re getting more and more new teachers who are not trained that way, which is great, because most of our kids don’t learn that way. They don’t sit quietly for 40 minutes while the teacher lectures about whatever it is their topic is. They want to be actively engaged and participating in the learning.”

Zanders notes 21st century learning can happen in a multitude of ways, depending on the content, including physical activities, opportunities to converse and vocally present and incorporating technology. This was the second trip to the Greene County School District for Honeycutt. He last came before the beginning of the school year and spoke to all district staff. Zanders thanks Superintendent Tim Christensen and the School Board for allowing Honeycutt to be at the middle school.