Inspired Teaching Institute Day 7: Leaving the door ajar

“Scientists are used to dealing with doubt and
uncertainty. I believe that to solve any problem
that has never been solved before, you have to
leave the door to the unknown ajar.”
-- Richard Feynman, Theoretical Physicist

Learning, like life, can become a habit. We start to only bring as much excitement as the day before or as the people around us. We develop hang-ups and complexes. You may believe that understanding physics is something other people do. Or maybe you have convinced yourself that you’re incapable of learning how to yo-yo.

Each day at the Institute has reinforced for me the idea that being out of one’s comfort zone, of relinquishing control can open* the “door to the unknown.” And just look at what’s sneaking in! Creativity, deeper motivation, renewed curiosity—what’s coming through it for you?

There seems to be an unstated alternative step in the Inspired Teaching Five-Step Process: letting one’s old philosophy unravel.

Let it fall or disappear along with any complexes, right along with any labels—whether chosen or assigned—that limit you from discovering how you can be the teacher and person that you want to be. The new philosophy that you find for yourself just might make you the teacher you dream of being.

This afternoon we discussed possible explicit and implicit meanings in posters. From our conversation, I gather that a statement like “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason” might take on a more moving meaning (less authoritative too) if it were borne out of a collaborative effort to guide a classroom or school as a community, than manufactured by some pereson or business that has never known your learning community. Likewise, the new philosophy of teaching that one grows after letting the old one unravel can have a greater impact in the classroom.

Let it.


*In this era of the linguistic blend, I think the word that I first typed—“hopen”—could be an apropos new term that also just happened to be a Freudian typo.

Inspired Teaching Institute Day 5: Getting the rhythm

All of the music that accompanies the Inspired Teaching Institute has already been carefully selected, but I would like to propose another song for this unofficial soundtrack: “Three-Four Vs. Six-Eight Four-Four Ways,” performed by Max Roach and the Legendary Hassan.

It’s characterized by portions in varying meters, or the basic rhythm that notes are played over. From a waltz-like three-four time (ONE two three, ONE two three) to the straight-forward four-four time of a march (ONE two three four, ONE two three four). The composition and its name illustrate what teachers do all day—change gears.

It’s almost unbelievable how many different factors a teacher must be cognizant of at any given moment. Hours of intensive preparation only take one so far. One Institute participant shared that an administrator at her middle school believes teachers need to be able to scan a room and in ten seconds assess students’ moods and possible situations—who is happy, who didn’t get enough sleep, who was just dumped in the hallway, and who’s texting under a desk? Ten seconds would be quite a challenge, I imagine, but however long it takes to develop and utilize, this skill could determine how a teacher would pose the same basic question to, say, the one who was dumped versus the one who is texting. And if there’s any hope of proceeding toward the objectives of a lesson, it all needs to flow like music.

In the song, the sections in different meters play out with a strange synergy. They sound distinct but not oppositional. On the contrary, they make the whole piece more interesting.

Now, I’ve written a song or two in my day, and composing is hard enough in one time signature. Why would I go out of my way to compose or even improvise in three different meters in a single piece? For some of the same reasons, I suppose, that teachers at the Institute may have decided to participate in this professional development opportunity: to take one’s craft to a higher level, infusing it with a new element of interest.

All of the my new ideas catalyzed by this experience are beginning to reveal their own pattern with a call to action. In step three of Inspired Teaching’s Five-Step Process, we explore the connections between one’s philosophy of teaching and one’s classroom practice. This weekend we will grapple with questions that will allow us to strengthen this relationship and make our classrooms truly inspiring. Fortunately, we have at least are five more days of the Institute and many practicum sessions left to support each other along the way.