Daring classrooms

 This summer, I had my students watch “Daring Classrooms” by Brené Brown (video here). In this talk, Brené explains that to have a great classroom, students must be vulnerable and not be shamed. For students to learn in your classroom, they must feel free to take risks and learn from their mistakes. 

When students laugh or make jokes about a student’s answer, it can derail this process. The students do not realize the harm they are doing when they make fun of a classmate. But the humor they often use among friends can bring shame into the classroom. As teachers, we can’t allow that behavior. 

When a teacher asks a question, there is usually a scattering of hands raised to answer it. Most of the time, students raise their hands when they know the answer. What we don’t see enough of are students who raise their hands when they don’t know the answer. This way, the teacher will walk through the process or have another student help to get to the correct answer. 

Too often, to prevent embarrassment, students walk out of a classroom without understanding the information the teacher has presented. They fear asking a question because of how they might be perceived by both the teacher and their fellow students. 

Nobody makes more mistakes in my classroom than I do. Each semester, I track my blunders (presently approaching 50) so students can understand that if the “expert” is making these mistakes, it is okay for them to make mistakes, too. 

Learning from mistakes is a difficult yet important skill. If you can learn from your mistakes, you will grow at a fast rate. 

The challenge for all of us is to take off our protective armor and allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We will all be better off if we do. 

Lessons from Coach

 

Lessons from Coach

 

A couple of months ago, one of my friends was booing at a baseball game. When I asked my friend why he booed, he told me he paid money for his ticket, and he could boo if he wanted.

The conversation triggered a memory of when I was an assistant basketball coach. We were playing our archrival in a keenly contested game. In the last seconds, we were up one point. Then we fouled the opposing team, sending them to the foul line with a chance to tie and win the game. To rattle the opposing shooter, our fans started to boo.

Within seconds, Coach called for a time-out. He then went to the score table to get the handheld microphone. He told the fans that we did not boo at this high school. If we booed again, he would pull the team off the court, and we would forfeit the game. He then placed the microphone back down on the score table. He sat down next to me and said, “Teachable moment.” This happened 30 years ago, and while I cannot remember whether we won the game, his message was unforgettable.

Next year, we had a transfer come into our basketball program who was touted as the best player to ever play at our school. During one of our first practices, Coach blew his whistle and called a foul on the new transfer player. The player replied, “Coach, the refs never see that.”  Coach replied, his voice rising with each word, “We want to win here. We, however, never intentionally violate the rules. If you cannot play within the rules, you should go back to your former high school.”

After practice, I asked Coach, did he think any other coach would have reacted in the same manner as he did? He said, “I do not get paid to worry about other coaches. We win a lot of games here, and we do it the right way.”

When I was named head coach of another school, I went to thank Coach for everything he taught me. I asked if he had any last words of wisdom. He said, “Many coaches talk about character. Be the type of coach that builds character.” That challenge resonates with me to this day.

Mentoring

 

I was talking with my friend when mentoring program at his company came up.  I said, “I have never seen a mentoring program that actually works.” Most of them require everyone to be a mentor, and the truth is, not everyone is cut out to be one.  My friend then asked me, “What were some of the characteristics of your best mentors?”

My mentors were usually good at their job.  More importantly, they took great pleasure in helping people grow.  They seemed to remember what it was like to be new at the job and were extremely helpful in navigating the sometimes-difficult terrain.

On reflection, I realized that my mentors never really gave me advice, even when I asked them directly.  Instead, they would ask me questions that forced me to think about situations from different perspectives.  What made this tactic powerful is that they left the decision-making process to me.  They just guided me down the path and provided me with the framework to solve future problems.

I think the best mentor-mentee relationships evolve into partnerships.  After a while, you no longer know who is the mentor and who is the mentee.  You just have two people helping each other grow into their best selves.

I often felt lucky that I had such good mentors.  Now, however, I realize that it was not luck.  Great mentors are the type of people who just have a way of finding those in need.  These people sensed that I needed some guidance, and they were there to help me.

When we finished our conversation, my friend said to me, “I do not think I am going to start a mentoring program.  Instead, I will just let it happen organically.”

Silent quitters

 I was listening to my favorite podcast (No Stupid Questions) while taking a walk, and the topic was burnout.  At every school I have taught, at least one teacher would warn me about burnout. I have never really felt burned out, but the podcast episode brought up a Gallup Poll showing that 59% of the global workforce had become silent quitters. 

What are silent quitters? They are people who do just enough not to get fired. They are the type who punches in and out at the contracted time. Management is often irritated with them, and they are called lazy. 

What first came to my mind is, how many teachers are silent quitters? Then I thought, how many students are silent quitters? Usually, the bias is to blame the individual, but research has shown that it is more often the company that needs to be fixed. In my case, that means the classroom. 

Research says that these six variables promote a healthy work climate. 

1. Sustainable workload 

2. Recognition and rewards 

3. Choice and control 

4. Supportive work community 

5. Clear values and meaningful work 

One challenge we all face is to avoid falling into the trap of solely blaming the individual. We need to make sure that we put everyone in an environment where they can thrive. 

As always, your feedback is welcome. 

Meet Ego Nwodim

 

I was teaching in a school where most of our students stayed at home when they went to college.  To broaden kids’ horizons, a group of teachers tried to encourage students to go out of state for college.  So, you can imagine our excitement when Ego decided to go across the country to University of Southern California to become a doctor. 

Little did we know that becoming a doctor was her backup plan. She picked USC to become an actor, which would eventually lead her to join the cast of Saturday Night Live.

Ego majored in biology and minored in sociology, finishing in three years, but neither of these subjects resonated with her.  She took an acting class at USC, but that did not inspire her.  She finally joined a acting group outside of college.

As a service-oriented person, Ego wondered if she was being self-centered in pursuing an acting career.  One day, however, she was alone in her apartment and feeling kind of down.  She started listening to a comedian.  By the end of the show, Ego realized she was happy and that becoming an entertainer was about bringing joy to others.

A couple of agents recommended she try improv. But Ego did not think that was for her. She finally gave in, thinking that it would look good on her resume.  In two weeks, she totally fell in love with improv.  When I asked her what made that happen, her reply was, “I just knew I loved it.  It was what my friends and I did every day.”

What did she learn from improv?  How to adjust when pushed out of your comfort zone.  That there is a world of possibilities out there if you just take some risks.  Listening skills—you need to actively listen to what your partner is saying. 

Teamwork truly comes through in improv.  You need to take what your partner gives you and make it better.  And we all face situations in life that we do not like, but the key is turning them into a positive. 

The goal in improv is making your partner look like a genius.  This one truly resonates with me, and I now think about it every day.  So many of us worry about making ourselves look good instead of making those around us shine like stars.

Ego’s last piece of advice was [MS1] that students need to know that there is a wide range of possibilities.  Get out of your comfort zone and dip your feet in the water.  Finding out what you do not like is probably as important as finding out what you do like.  Eventually, you will find your passion.

Her goal this year is to bring improv to young people, and she plans to teach improv to teachers so that they can share these skills with their students.

I hope she inspires you as much as she inspires me.

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study tips

 In my previous blog post, I wrote about the importance of putting yourself in the best possible situation to be successful.  Now that you have put your phone out of reach, let’s discuss the best way to study for an assessment. 

The first myth I would like to expose is that reading over your notes helps you study.  When students go over their notes, they think they know more than they do.  Everything seems familiar, so they can develop false confidence. 

So, what works better?  Old-fashioned flash cards.  Trying to recall the information is a great way to study.  You can go through a deck of flash cards and keep in the deck the concepts that you are having trouble learning.   

When studying your flash cards, try to think of ways the material relates to your day-to-day life.  Any time you can relate the material to something in your life, you have a better chance of recalling the information—and more importantly, an increased understanding of the concept. 

Once you’ve mastered the flash cards, you are now ready to take a practice assessment. As a teacher, I provide all my students with a practice assessment to help them recall information and identify weak areas in their understanding.  If you do not have a formal practice assessment, you can look over your teacher’s drills, objectives, or study outline to test your mastery of the information. 

Finally, take advantage of the spacing effect.  It is best to study 15 minutes per day instead of cramming for 2 hours the day before the test.  While most students believe this is true, they still have a hard time doing it.  One easy way to get this done: When you are with a friend who is in your class, just ask each other what you learned that day in class.  After you are both done, check your notes to see what you missed.  If no friend is around, then do this by yourself. 

In the end, you must trust that keeping your phone out of reach and using these study tips will increase your mastery of the content.  At first, there might only be small gains, but by the end of the year, you should see good results. 

Get the wind to your back

 

I was playing golf with a friend on an extremely windy day, and my friend hit a tremendous drive into the wind.  When I told him how amazed I was that he could hit the ball that far into the wind, he replied, “Golf is much easier when you have the wind to your back.” He was right because even I could hit it relatively far with the wind to my back.

The difference the wind makes started me thinking about how to get the wind to my students’ backs. What situations can we put students in to make their job of learning and studying easier? As I was thinking about this idea, I came across some research about studying with phones.

Students who studied with their phones face up next to them (more about research) received lower grades than those who put their phones somewhere outside the room where they were studying. When I surveyed my students, only 5% of them put their phones in another room. This was so unusual that other students seriously questioned the honesty of those responses.

The good news, however, is that most of my students do not study with their phones face up next to them. Most of them have their phones face down or—even better—face down and out of reach.

My advice to my students: Just put the phone somewhere outside your room or give it to someone else. Not only will you score better on your tests, but you will also decrease the amount of time you need to study.

The challenge to all of us is when we need to focus: We must get rid of our phones. Feel the nice breeze to your back as you put the phone in another room and watch your productivity increase.

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome.