Forty Percent of Your Job

Years ago I was working in my room as two teacher colleagues were visiting in the hallway venting about distruptive students and how some teachers deal with them. I was not trying to evesdrop, but the conversation was animated enough that I couldn't help but hear a portion of it, and I heard something by the vetran teacher that profoundly effected me.

The veteran teacher of the two said, "Some teachers will say, 'I don't want to teach behavior, I just want to do my job and teach.' The problem with that is that forty percent of teaching includes helping the students manage themselves in the classroom, so when a teacher says, 'I just want to teach,' they're really saying, 'I just want to do sixty percent of my job.'"

Very true.

There is a balance between teaching content and teaching the students. Certainly one needs to know the content being taught, but the skills needed to teach (like providing practice, monitoring and adjusting teaching, engaging students, managing off-task behavior) also need to be in place. Ignoring the background or self-mangement skills of the students will kill even the best lesson. A teacher can also waste teaching time because he or she does not know the content well. The bottom line is that students will benefit far more by learning the skills they need to survive in a classroom than with just learning the content. If the teacher can't teach them how to behave in the classroom, they won't learn the content anyway.

Focusing on the positive

lf the teacher (or parent) is focused--where the lesson only teaches a few things instead of many--students learn better and their successes learning things can be more quickly celebrated. Most people are uncomfortable learning or trying something new, so it's scary. A good coach or mentor--thus, a good teacher--has much more success encouraging instead of scolding. Yes, students need to know when they're wrong, but also when they're right--and when learning something new, when they're going in the right direction, even if they're not there yet.

Grading using a bell curve has never felt right because, by definition, half of those who are graded are below average. The bell curve is the result of random chance--not good instruction. If good instruction occurred, most students should "get it" and scores would be skewed to the right of the curve like this:

 

Successful students--indeed, successful people--all keep trying because they've been successful more often than not, not because they've been humiliated, discouraged or reprimanded. Sure, effort is a big key, but if the results of effort is criticism, they won't think more effort is worth the investment.

Lecturing (blah, blah, blah)

Telling others what to do is easy. Helping them do or know something is harder, It is ironic that the older students are, the more lecturing they get. Some of the best teachers are kindergarten teachers and the worst are those who, at the university level, just lecture. Good kindergarten teachers mold students so well the children know exactly what to do and when. They practice and practice.

When teaching older students, s often unconsciously believe that "if I said it, I taught it." The human brain rarely remembers after only one or two times. How long can you recall a new phone number, an interesting quote, what was on the news yesterday, or the name of the person you were just introduced to?

When a student has to explain something they remember it much better. That is why good questions help draw out the lessons the student learned. An example could be in a Sunday school class learning about the story of Moses and the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. Instead of telling the class what we learn from the story, the teacher asks the class what they learn from the story. In a school setting the same can be done teaching world or U.S. history or geography. Best of all, the lesson is more likely to be remembered because the students explained it.

Learn by Doing

The founder of Boy Scouting said, "Boys learn by doing." I find it amazing that much teaching seems to be done using the same Aristotle and Pythagoras used: "Sit down, be quiet, and listen to the teacher." The problem is that children don't do any of those three things well.

I vividly recall teaching a difficult 7th grade math class. Most had never done well in math (and many didn't do well in other classes). When teaching (talking to the students), it was very hard to keep their attention and keep them behaving well. However, once I shut up and had them do the assignment in class, behavior problems almost disappeared and most were on task. The students wanted to be "doing" something--almost anything but listen to me. My best teaching was while I cruised around the room helping and letting them assist each other.

I have learned to now teach an initial short lesson and have them then apply it. For example, in computer class, I teach how to format a certain way and then spend double or triple the time having them practice doing it and showing me they can. I repeat the process and show them the next next thing they need to learn. In science, I briefly teach (talk about) a concept and their upcoming lab, then have them do the lab that reinforces it. After they clean up, I spend only 5 minutes reviewing the concept. In writing, I teach by demonstrating a writing technique and then have them write. After they write, they share and discuss (in a guided way as a large group or a small one) what they wrote during their practice.

This is exactly like when an teaches children (his or her own or others) proper behavior, ing what they should say works best. The children get it faster and they do it faster. The other part of this teaching is to immediately have the individual repeat what was taught. For young children, an example would be, "What do we say?" "Please," would be the answer. "Say, 'May I please...'" Then the child repeats it. The instruction is very short and the practice is as long or longer.

In a nutshell: If the students do it, they learn it better. Good teachers assist students as a coach, rather than lecture.

Immediate Practice

Years ago after my first year of teaching I was asked to attend a workshop on managing classroom behavior. They told us about "proximity praise" where the teacher thanks those sitting next to the one with poor behavior for doing well, hoping the one misbehaving will change (it works quite well, by the way). Then they ed it. Finally, they broke us up into small groups and we each took a turn being teacher and the misbehaving child. Everyone of us struggled with not trying to first tell the misbehaving child to stop. Often when those being teacher last have seen the mistake so many times they more easily do it correctly. Not in this case. That experience firmly taught me the value of practicing soon after instruction what was taught and ed and the value of having all practice the new skill.

In a nutshell: Make sure whatever taught, the students need to practice right away, not just as homework or later on a test.