Education is Energy!
January 27, 2010
Savvy teachers are keenly aware of the role that emotion plays in the educational process. Using emotion to involve students is not difficult when students are given “something” to be emotional about. Teachers, for example, who lack passion and curiosity often leave students bored and uninspired, which are among the primary reasons why students drop out of school.
However, passion and curiosity are not enough to insure that students are engaged and paying attention, instructors must also:
- Inspire students to get excited about their future.
- Clearly define the class’s objectives and strategies.
- Discuss the role that respect plays in the educational process.
- Present the material within a context that entices students to learn.
- Teach students the mechanics of self-esteem.
- Ask open ended questions that require a thought process.
- Recognize accomplishments as they occur.
Connecting, building emotional bridges creates a safe place for students to explore, what is in their heart, which will serve them for the rest of their life. To learn more about this unique style of class management, log on to www.coachmerich.com and click on “Workshops.”
What is a Good Teacher?
January 27, 2010
With a third of this nations high school students dropping out of school each year, both federal and state governments are searching for ways to fix the leak. Identifying “good teachers” is high on the repair list, which raises a question.
What is a good teacher? Depending upon who you talk to i.e. students, parents and administrators, the definition will vary. When Googling, for example, “What is a good teacher,” I came upon an article entitled, “What is a good Teacher,” by Catherine Taylor, Lagos who said,
Good teachers:
- See each student as an individual with hopes and dreams
- Know their students on many levels e.g. strengths and weaknesses
- Promote self esteem
- Allow students to know them
- Value the parent/teacher relationship
- Put themselves in the shoes of the student
- Are not afraid to try new things
- Make learning exciting
- Networks with other teachers about “what works.”
Most would agree a “good teacher” values these qualities, which raises another question. Are teachers communicating their values? This is where leadership comes in.
A “good” military leader, for example, will communicate the order of battle and the manner in which it is to occur. Good teachers do much the same by making students aware of what they value.
Number seven says, “Not afraid to try new things.” Would you like to learn about a new style of class management that enables students to be…
- Aware of the factors that move a class forward and those that hold it back?
- Mentally present?
- Conscious of their choices?
- In harmony with their studies?
If the answer is yes, then I invite you to log on to www.coachmerich.com and click on “Workshops” to learn more.
Effective Teachers Work Smart and Use Leverage to Move Students Forward.
December 16, 2009
Archimedes, the Greek mathematician who lived from 287 to 212 B.C. said, “Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the earth.”
Leverage is “doing a lot with a little” and may be defined as the ability to influence a system, or an environment, in a way that multiplies the outcome of one’s efforts without a corresponding increase in the consumption of resources.
Leverage, from a teacher’s perspective, is having the ability to influence a student’s performance or behavior with little effort, which raises a question. How does one gain this ability? Answer, by inviting students to participate in the use of the ”Circle of Education,” which is a strategic model that is introduced during the initial classroom orientation. This new paradigm displays the factors that move a class forward and those that hold it back.
However, models are not a panacea. We must be mindful when attempting to influence the learning curve of another. This is where leadership comes in. Leadership is an energy that others find interesting, enthusiastic, supportive and productive.
Tools, from a screw driver to a copy machine create efficiencies in our work. The “Circle of Education” is an awareness tool that provides leverage to teachers when attempting to adjust the classroom environment.
Co-active Teaching Revs Up the Energy.
December 14, 2009
“Co-active teaching” is a collaboration between teacher and student. The purpose of this arrangement is to generate mutual respect, interest and participation, which leads to the creation of educational moments.
Image your students:
- Being aware of the qualities that move a class forward and hold it back.
- Being mentally present.
- Making conscious choices.
- Being in harmony with their studies.
Teaching is a team sport. Team sports have coaches who call the plays. Plays have an order to them and are designed to move the team forward. There is an order to teaching and instructors who are co-actively skilled employ an axiom that just about every coach would agree on, “When you start true, you end true.
The Heart of The Matter?
December 14, 2009
Unbelievable as it may sound, every year, nearly one third of all the high school students in this country, drop out. A massive leak in our educational system is filling our cities, towns and neighborhoods with those who are likely to: be unemployed, receive public assistance or be involved with crime. And here’s the sad part, we don’t understand the human condition well enough to fix it.
For example, in the report, The Silent Epidemic that was prepared for the, “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,” boredom and being uninspired were listed as the two primary reasons why students drop out of school.
Whether it’s reading a book, watching a movie, hanging out with a friend or being a student ourselves, we want to be engaged. We want that connection and when it’s not there, our minds wander.
So what steps can teachers take to inspire that connection?
- Explain the co-active role students will play in creating educational moments.
- Communicate the goal of each class before instruction begins.
- Ask open ended, thought provoking questions that support the goal and its underlying principles.
- Stimulate the hopes and dreams of their students.
- Link the subject matter to a student’s interests.
- Celebrate a student’s progress.
Educators’ impact lives. You never know when a word, a phrase or a look, becomes that invisible spark that motivates a student to complete their education and go on to do wondrous things.
If we are nibble enough to capture a student’s heart, there is a good chance, their diploma will follow.
The Inner Creates The Outer
November 11, 2009
You can’t plant beans and grow potatoes, any more than you can expect a class to perform when a teacher’s energy is somewhere else.
One of the big challenges of life and teaching is knowing what it is that we want and our willingness to create it.
Teachers who seek greater job satisfaction may want to clarify:
- The kind of class they want to create
- What type of energy they want in the room
- The skills they want their students to take with them
- What they want to be known for
- The parent/teacher relationship and its affect on the student
We produce, not what we say we want, but rather what’s in our heart, which brings to light a universal law that we rarely consider, “The inner creates the outer.”
Socrates Had It Right!
November 11, 2009
Good salespeople know that asking questions is critical to the selling process.
Teachers who are on top of their game know that asking questions is critical to the educational process.
Socrates, the famous Greek Philosopher who lived from 469-399 B.C., noted his students learned more when he addressed them with open ended questions. Socratic teaching is a methodology, a critical thinking technique that enables students to mentally construct, organize and visualize the potential outcome of a thought, before acting upon it.
Questioning, is perhaps, the most accurate mental compass we can give students as they travel down life’s road.
Students Don’t Hear The Teacher, Until They Know The Teacher!
November 6, 2009
Instructors allow students to know them when they:
- Have a meaningful discussion as what is to be learned and why.
- Explain the rules governing the class.
- Invite students to participate in the creation of “educational moments.”
Tips for building bridges:
- Clarity – If you can’t describe your vision, lesson or goal, in one or two sentences, you may be guilty of not having a command of your topic.
- Organize your thoughts in a meaningful way. Make it easy for students to follow you’re logic.
- Memorable Stories. People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images that your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories. Help students “make the movie” in their heads by using memorable characters, exciting situations, dialogue, suspense and above all, humor.
- Engage a student’s emotions. Emotions answer an unspoken question that fills every student’s mind, “What’s in it for me.”