Tip #133: Inspiration

My mother, Merle Levine, was a high school social studies teacher for many years before she became a high school principal. In a recent Tip, I mentioned that she was the one who first introduced me to Dr. Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching Model, which had an enduring impact on my philosophy and approach to training.

I have always known that my mother is an incredible teacher- creative, caring, dedicated to bringing history and culture alive for her students through role plays, field trips, literature, debates and all of the interactive and challenging avenues through which excellent educators introduce and teach critical thinking.

This week, I received a message from someone who had been trying to locate my mother. When she googled my mother's name, it brought her to that Tip, so she wrote to me. In our correspondence back and forth to give her my mother's contact information, the writer had this to say:

“I was a student of hers (Wheatley '73) and think of her often... She is the main source of many of my fond memories of [high school].”

It must be a common dream of most educators to have an impact on their students. Imagine one of your students remembering you and thinking of you “often” for over thirty-three years!

When William A. Ward wrote this sentiment, I'm certain he was thinking of my mother and of all the special teachers who make an indelible positive impression on the lives of their students: "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

Tip #132: How It Feels To Facilitate Learning

School will be starting soon. My son, Seth, will probably be part time at a technical college and part time finishing the one English credit he needs to graduate early from high school. He is anxious to continue his long and dedicated interest in computer animation. I have watched him teach himself how to draw, learn computer programs, read and then develop his own tutorials for his international network of computer animators, and continually seek to learn and try new techniques as he hones his personal style.

At the other end of the career spectrum, I spent a week at an Elderhostel in the San Juan Islands with my octogenarian mother, who is a retired high school principal and college educator busier than ever working hard to continue to make a difference in her community. (We get together for a weeklong adventure somewhere in the United States when my octogenarian father goes to what he calls his –music camp” at a college in Massachusetts to continue his lifelong learning on the clarinet.) So many of the incredibly fascinating folks at the Elderhostel were- you may have guessed it- current or retired educators!

Until now, Laurel Learning Tips have focused exclusively on the principles and techniques for assessing needs, designing curriculum, facilitating and presenting training, and evaluating training. What we have not discussed is how it actually feels to facilitate learning. Is it entirely altruistic, or is there something we as teachers and trainers get from the experience?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that all teachers and trainers are a special breed of lifelong learners. They continually seek new information and techniques that will allow them to be better at their craft, which increases the probability that they will have the amazing opportunity to see the light go on in learners' eyes! And what teachers or trainers leave a class without learning something about themselves as individuals or as trainers, in addition to new topic-specific information or techniques that they learn from the learners themselves. I have said that I will stop training when I stop learning from the participants in the classes I have the honor to facilitate. When learning is a cooperative venture, all of the partners benefit.

Tip #131: MTM: Effective Examples

Trainer behavior is concerned with what the trainer will do to facilitate learning. The use of relevant examples can ensure that learning occurs more quickly and is retained longer, because the example already has meaning to the learner.

Last week, we looked at four criteria involved in creating effective examples. Dr. Hunter also has suggestions for how to present those examples:

1. Highlight critical attributes by offering obvious –non exemplars.” Half of knowing what something is, is knowing what it isn't. A “non exemplar” is an example that is similar but lacks the critical attribute or essence of the example being taught.

   Analyze each example in advance. It is difficult to come up with an excellent example off the cuff. The example is more likely to be effective if it is carefully thought out and validated against the four criteria discussed last week.

2. Introduce trainer-generated examples first. To ensure quality control, it is best if the trainer gives most, if not all, of the examples at the beginning of new learning. After the concept is very clear, it is then useful to have the learners generate additional examples to check their comprehension.

Dr. Hunter concludes: "Generating interesting or humorous examples that use students' past knowledge and highlight the essence or critical attribute without ambiguous or emotional overtones is a manifestation of artistry in teaching.”