Worksheet Mania!

Especially in today's society, there is one thing that never seems to change no matter what school I am in- worksheets. They are everywhere. I would even venture to say that it is impossible to get through one school day without a worksheet. This was true even when I was in school. It is true of the classrooms in my Mom's school. It is true of the classroom I am in for Practicum. Worksheets are not necessarily a bad thing, but when they are overused, they can be. Why are teachers so determined to use worksheets all the time? In my opinion, I think the main reason is that pulling a worksheet is just simply easier than taking the time to invent something creative for the students to do to learn. Especially in an age where so much emphasis is placed on testing and things of that nature, what teacher has the time to sit down and find something to do besides a worksheet? There are so many resources today that cater to teachers and their lack of time. Textbook companies send resource books full of worksheets, and then are the other random books of resources that are full of worksheets also. In my Practicum classroom, when we walk in the students are always finishing a math worksheet. Then, they have centers. Nearly every center is some type of worksheet. Then, when we leave, they are usually working on some type of worksheet. Not all of the worksheets my teacher uses are bad. Some of them are right on target in helping the students to understand a concept. They have a purpose and aren't just busy work. But some of them are simply busy work- especially the worksheets that the students work on during Centers. They always have a spelling worksheet to do, and it always involves having students sort by ABC order, among other things. Does that REALLY accomplish anything? Does that REALLY help learning to take place? Is it REALLY that important that a 2nd grader know how to put a list of words in ABC order? And after seeing the students working on these worksheets, I am convinced now, more than ever, that busy work accomplishes nothing except for keeping the students busy (hence the name!!). Is it possible that our students are suffering from worksheet overload?
Although I do hope that I can avoid falling into the worksheet trap once I become a teacher, I must admit that this is going to be very, very difficult. No matter how hard and tiring it may be, I hope that I will be willing to find the time to plan things other than worksheets for my students to learn from. If I find some great, purposeful worksheets along the way, then I will take advantage of my resources and use them. Most of all, I just don't want to be the teacher who uses worksheet after worksheet per lack of time and motivation to be creative! I don't want my classroom to be cluttered with worksheets, but instead with students who are busily discovering the joys of learning and books without always having to have a worksheet right in front of their face.