"Body of Work"

Once again, Seth Godin puts his finger on the future that is already in our midst:

Are you leaving behind an easily found trail of accomplishment?

Few people are interested in your resume any more. Plenty are interested in what you've done.

The second thing you'll need to do is regularly note what you produce in a log or find some other way to keep track.

The first thing is more difficult: If the work you do isn't worth collating and highlighting, you probably need to be doing better work.

He appears to be talking about professional employment, but I'm confident that the same principle applies to high school students thinking about college.

Which means if you're a teacher, you owe it to your students to push them in this direction, because their "trails of accomplishment" on, say, Facebook aren't going to cut it.

In other words, help them do their best work and make it visible to the whole world.

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

A Third Story about Coaching

In my last post, I told two stories about coaching experiences.  Here’s a third story.

After reading (and blogging on) Atul Gawande’s New Yorker essay “Personal Best,” I wanted to experiment with the species of classroom observation he calls “coaching.”  So I asked Joe Quinn, a new member of our English Department, if he would be willing to conduct the experiment with me.

Joe wanted to try a new in-class writing assignment.  Having just completed a discussion of Stephen Crane’s story “The Open Boat,” his students were primed to think further about literary realism.  Joe proposed the following:

• Have class recall the various dimensions of realism, which Joe would list on the board.
• Show a realist painting (“Gulf Stream,” by Winslow Homer).
• Ask students to compose a single sentence, in the realist style, describing something in the painting.
• Ask for volunteers to read aloud their sentences for the group to evaluate.

I agreed to sit in on two consecutive classes (that is, group #1 of students would meet from 10:50-11:30 am, and group #2 would meet from 11:30-12:10).  During the first class (group #1), I took notes.  Before the beginning of the second class (group #2), I suggested that Joe tweak two specific things:

• When students volunteer to have their sentences critiqued by the class, have each student type that sentence for display on the SMARTBoard rather than read it out loud.
• Start with a single volunteer for the group to critique to establish a model for providing effective feedback.  Then break into pairs to practice providing that feedback.  Then return to the large group for a last critique.

Clearly, neither of these recommendations is earth shattering.  What matters is that Joe and had a chance to receive feedback after the first class and then implement changes in the second class.

In fact, not only did Joe make these changes (and do so effectively), he even improvised a third change: after the one-on-one sharing, he said, “Would anyone like to nominate his partner’s sentence for the group to discuss?  The only requirement is that you explain why you’ve chosen to volunteer your partner.”  This was a clever way to get students to articulate their understanding of realism before passing the baton to the large group.

This kind of “coaching” was truly energizing for me and for Joe.  It makes sense that this would increase adoption rates for improved pedagogies, but it seems to me that the real virtue lies in creating a process that frames classroom observation as an opportunity for personal growth as opposed to a test that has to be passed.

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

Two Stories about Coaching

Two stories about coaching:

Coach #1

When I was a teenager, my AAU basketball coach always devoted part of each practice to individual shooting drills.

“Take 100 free throws,” he would instruct us.  “Keep track of your makes.  Your goal is to hit 70 or more.”  

Every once in a while he would come around and make a comment on your form, then move on to the next guy while you attempted to put his feedback into practice.

Coach #2

When I was in 7^th grade, I was having trouble with my free throw shooting.  My father, who was my CYO coach, invited a local high school basketball coach to help me out.

“Take 10 free throws,” coach #2 said, “and I’ll watch.”

When I was done, he put the ball in my hand and asked me to bring the ball into the shooting position.

“Now stop,” he said.

He pointed to the positioning of the thumb on my shooting hand.

“Your thumb starts here, which is perfect.  Your hands are in exactly the right spots at the beginning of your shot.”

Then he moved my arms up as if I were taking the shot.

“But when you get to the point where you’re releasing the ball,” he said, “your thumb ends up pointing straight ahead when it should end up pointing down.  Do you know why that is?”

I had no clue.

“Because you’re using your thumb to push the ball, for extra force, but you really should only be using your wrist and your other four fingers.  The thumb is only there to guide the ball, to keep it in the correct position.”

He held me by the elbow and wrist and made my arm go through the motions so that I knew what it should look and feel like.

“Got it?”

I got it.

He had me take 10 more free throws, but this time around, whenever my thumb pushed out, he would stop me and ask if I felt it.  Then I shot another 10 shots, and another 10, getting feedback from him every time.  Before long, I was the one telling him when I had misused my thumb.

Feedback is more useful when:

1.      It’s specific.

2.      The interval between performance and feedback is as short as possible.

3.      The coach (or teacher, or mentor, et al.) then observes while you try to implement the feedback in another performance.

What kind of coach are you?

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

Who Teaches This Stuff Anyway, Part 3

The stuff I don't know about Twitter, HTML, designing web sites, etc., could fill many books.  Though I don't need to know the majority of that stuff, some things would undoubtedly open new vistas on using technology to work with students.

But who's going to teach me?

The students, obviously.

Wouldn't it be interesting if teachers and students had regular opportunities to flip their roles?  If you subscribe to any of the stuff in Tina Barseghian's "Mind/Shift" article on trends for 21st century learning, then you'll probably answer yes.

What if you announced, "Next Friday I need some of you to teach me how to use hashtags on Twitter" (or whatever you want to learn)?

In the short term, it might feel as though we are burning minutes that we don't have to spare, but the long-term return on that investment would be well worth it, both for us (efficiency, productivity, improved pedagogy) and our students (essential 21st century skills).

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

The Destroyer

"The destroyer of weeds, thistles, and thorns is a benefactor whether he soweth grain or not."
--Robert Green Ingersoll

That quote, which just came through on my email, made me reflect upon the fact that schools often seem inclined to add programs without pruning those that no longer serve a purpose (or not enough of a purpose).

Isn't it worth asking--on a regular basis--what weeds, thistles, and thorns we can destroy in order to allow something else to grow?

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

Who Teaches This Stuff, Part 2

If you have anything to do with the world of education, please read James Marshall Crotty's Forbes piece "Free Education for All."  (HT to Basil Kolani for posting on Facebook.)

Crotty begins his piece with a reference to the demise of Kodak, which had all the reason (and resources) in the world to pay attention to the tectonic shift in from print to digital photography, yet did almost nothing.

If you read the news today, then you know that Kodak is about to file for bankruptcy.

Free education for everyone with an Internet connection is coming--and much sooner than we think.  Just last month MIT announced that its going to increase the number of its free online courses (with modest fees for users to receive a certificate of completion).

But let's be honest: free "education" doesn't really mean a free "educational experience."  It simply means that someone with an Internet connection and sufficient motivation can teach herself almost anything.

This would be bad news if "education" = "content."  Fortunately, it doesn't.  Even in a world where the content of an MIT education will be free, an education also consists of interpersonal skills and experiences.

Can't you see the commercial coming?

An iPad 2: $500.

A monthly Internet connection: $30.

Teaching your students to ask the right questions, to solve problems creatively, to challenge themselves, to develop a habit of mindful reflection and introspection: Priceless.

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

Who Teaches This Stuff Anyway?

I recently had breakfast with Jeff, one of my best English students (ever).  After a fine career studying creative writing and literature at Oberlin, he joined an e-publishing start-up that has doubled in size in the last year.  The company's prospects for growth seem promising, and Jeff continues to take on more and more responsibility.

Which made me curious.  "Let's say you have to hire someone right out of college," I said.  "What would be the most important skills or competencies you would be looking for?"

His number one answer surprised me: How to write emails.

In particular, Jeff said that students should learn at an early age to:

1. use an email subject line to communicate as much information as possible.  For example, instead of writing just "?" write "Can we change meeting from 12 to 1 pm?"

2. limit email responses to 2-3 sentences.  If you can't boil your question/issue down to that space, then pick up the phone or go see the person.

For all of my former (and current) students who have joked about my obsession with concision...voila.

http://teaching-excellence.blogspot.com/

p.s.: If you haven't already read Chris Anderson and Jane Wulf's email charter, check it out.