I have just read an incredibly useful article in the Washington Post about an approach to teaching called lesson study.  This article discusses the importance of teachers continuing to study the lessons they use to present new information.  It is true that most students spend their time trying to figure out what answer the teacher wants, but with lesson study teachers focus on what the students are thinking and how they are arriving at those thoughts. In my experience, teachers don't spend a lot of time studying their lessons.  Sure, we spend a great deal of time preparing and executing the lesson, but if it flops or doesn't reach the anticipated potential, we rarely spend time studying the reasons behind the failure.  What a great concept, where teachers actually do as much, and probably more, studying than the students.  If we can understand what is causing the errors or lack of understanding in specific areas, it will be easy to adjust lessons appropriately.