Day One

Coming home on the plane from an Eckankar seminar in Minneapolis last night, I digested the end of Catcher in the Rye and the first two chapters and 11 techniques of Teach Like a Champion. The guys over the aisle were digesting Bacardi at a rate equal to my reading and getting pretty spunky--made for an interesting trip home.

This book has made me reflect deeply on my teaching practices (and lack thereof), and while it is discouraging to see how futile much of my training was and how high the mountain looks in front of me, I am also encouraged to finally have concrete techniques to incorporate and more importantly, feel like I am shifting into a paradigm of measurability as an educator. The goal is to be able to measure my effectiveness as a teacher in practical ways by the end of this whole venture. I am finding respite from that inner critic already because my mind has something to noodle on instead of beating myself up for all the ways I feel I am failing as a teacher.

So here goes the first key idea: NO OPT OUT

This one is simple, but it is amazing how many teachers let kids slide so as to avoid making students uncomfortable. I've had students ask for a "pass" frequently when it comes to reading, sharing or answering questions, which is really code for skipping them never to return again. I have gone both ways in the past with this idea of letting students not answer, not sure which was honoring their needs the most. I can see, however, how the ability to opt out of answering is a way many kids cover their learning issues and try to just get by. NO OPT OUT means honoring the need to learn first.

I'm not going to lie to you: parts of this chapter were addressed in a New York Times Magazine article, so I've implemented this idea for a few days before spring break in addition to today.

When first implementing the technique, students were eager to help each other out--whispering answers or trying to take the skip me route. They quickly found out how tedious and annoying it was to have to answer the question again after another student gave the right answer. Busted. On the other hand, students who genuinely didn't know had their voice heard, and got to correct their understanding and even add on if they wanted. Some of the more shy kids are also the ones who don't become good speakers, and disengage. Losing that ability to opt out of participating helped me see how my students were gaining accountability and knowledge. I felt a little mean at first, but adapted my tone to still remain encouraging. Technique one, success! FYI--No, these people are not paying me, but I'm open to the possibility, ha.