SOMETHING I WANT TO TRY IN THE FALL

I just checked the statistics for this teaching blog.   Sometime over the next day or so, it will likely reach a total of 200,000 page views.   I am always amazed and pleased that so many teachers read these essays.   Since there is no publicity, the word only spreads because readers like you pass along the URL.   Thanks for doing that!!  Whenever you read an idea that you like, I hope you will share it with your colleagues, friends, neighbors, and even your enemies.   I love it when people send me teaching ideas.  Likewise, I appreciate your sharing my thoughts with others.  Teaching ideas should be shared and not hoarded.

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If you have read this blog for long, you know that I am always thinking of possible ways that I can improve my teaching.   I am a big believer that the more ideas you have then the more ideas you will have.  If you have one idea, a second idea may be difficult to produce.   But if you already have 10 or 20 ideas, the next bunch is likely to flow out of your brain at record speed.   Okay, some of those ideas might not be feasible but I guarantee that 10 ideas will produce more good ideas than one idea will.   I really believe that producing innovative ideas is a habit that teachers can stimulate within themselves.

I know that there are a lot of people who have just read the previous paragraph and are already shaking their heads and muttering, “No, Joe, you are wrong.  I never have any ideas.  I am always trying to borrow ideas from others.  If I don’t do that, I will continue to teach the way I have always taught.  I don’t have faith that my ideas are any good.”   Well, that is certainly a self-fulfilling prophesy if I have ever heard one.   Don’t be so down on yourself.   Don’t be so timid.   Break out of the rut a little bit.  

Here’s an experiment that you ought to try.   For the next 30 days, write down one teaching idea every day that you might be able to use during the upcoming fall semester.   Don’t try to judge whether any of the ideas are good or bad – just get them down on paper.   One idea a day for 30 days.

I think you will discover that two things will happen:

--First, as you eventually look back over your 30 ideas, you will realize that at least 2-5 of them are really good.   They are worth trying.   They can make your fall semester go better.   A lot of time it takes 30 ideas in order to produce 2-5 good ones.   So, you’ve got to get in the practice of producing those 30 ideas.  No one has 30 great ideas but everyone should be able to hit 10 to 20 percent batting average.

--Second, I think you will find that your ideas become easier to generate after the first couple of weeks.   Yes, for the initial 10-14 days, ideas will be difficult but you will get into the swing of it.   The brain cells begin to loosen up.   Eventually, your mind will simply be looking for more ideas throughout the day even when you are not trying.   It is like physical exercise.   It becomes easier with practice.

Try it – what do you have to lose?   30 ideas in 30 days.

So, what is my idea for today?   Here is one that I was pondering this afternoon.   In every class, it seems to me that students spend time doing two things.   One is thinking – trying to figure out how things work or why things work as they do.   They are trying to develop an understanding that will help them in solving future problems.   The rest of the time they are doing something other than thinking.   They are copying notes that they will later memorize.   Or, they are daydreaming or contemplating something that is not class related.  

No one can think about subject matter 100 percent of them time but I wonder how close students can get.

Next fall, as I leave each class, I am going to try to estimate what percentage of class time was spent in actual thinking.   Obviously, it will be a guess but I am betting that I can figure out which activities lead to thinking and which activities lead to note taking or some other type of nonthinking.  If I say, for example, that Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, then that is note taking.   No matter how interesting that might be, no thinking is required.  On the other hand, if I ask a student why Boston became the capital of Massachusetts, then—assuming they have some way of figuring out the answer—that should lead to thinking.   It is not thinking if the answer is a known fact.   It is thinking if the student must, in some way, try to figure out the answer based on the information they have.

I have never done this kind of measurement exercise before.   Can I get to 50 percent of class as thinking time or maybe even 75 percent of time?   That might well be a legitimate goal.   Or, will I be stuck at 10 percent?   That is certainly possible.    Just to make things more interesting, perhaps I could explain my definitions to the students and occasionally ask them to judge:   In class today, what percentage of our time was thinking time and what percentage of our time was something else?

Maybe I am wrong (I’ve not read any research on this) but I would suspect that the more time during class that is spent thinking, the better the learning results are for the students.   If that is true, then I should be able to improve the education level of my students by forcing/encouraging them to think more during class.   Not necessarily thinking deeper, merely thinking more.  That strikes me as an interesting possibility.  Maybe we worry about thinking deeper when we should be worrying about thinking more.

That’s my idea for today and one that I do plan to try out in the fall.

What’s your idea for today?

TAKE A RISK--BE INNOVATIVE

Education is highly criticized these days for (a) costing too much and (b) achieving too little.   And, if we are perfectly honest, those criticisms are not just idle chatter.   I have long argued that much of college education is not radically different than what I experienced when I started as a college freshman 47 1/2 years ago.   (Okay, we do have PowerPoint now and teachers did not have that back in 1966, but I am not sure if that is progress or regression.)   The world has changed radically over those decades but a lot of education has barely flinched.

I believe that there is not enough innovation in education.   Think of the sheer number of teachers working in the United States.   Why are there not more innovative ideas flowing from those minds?    If each teacher came up with one innovative idea, the world of education would be radically transformed almost immediately.   We would be flooded with serious improvements.

We live in a risk-averse time.   People are so fearful of failure that they are afraid to take any chances.   They try to live in a cocoon.   Yeah, failure is tough but you can never accomplish anything if you let fear push you around.   (Perhaps, we should all start bragging about our failures just to show we are not so timid.)

Last week, a friend of mine sent me a quote that he thought I would like.   It comes from Peter Drucker, one of the most famous business writers and consultants to ever live.  

The quote said:    “People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.”

We need to stop being so risk averse.  It does not improve things.   It is not good for us.   It is not good for the world of education.   We hide our ideas under a barrel and the world is not improved.   Innovation is the cure for risk aversion.

I believe that the real problem today is that our organizations (schools, departments, businesses, and the like) do not encourage innovation.   Organizations fear innovation that does not come from “the chosen few.”    Therefore, organizations neither reward nor encourage innovation.   They do not create a path by which innovative ideas can be put forth.   You likely work at a school or in a school system.   If you suddenly had a great idea to radically improve education, is your organization open to the idea?  Would the administration encourage you and help you make it happen?   Well, if so, you are probably luckier than most.  

Most administrators claim to want innovation until someone suggests making a change.  

Organizations have a wealth of talent in their people.   The real question is how to jump start that talent pool to produce new and creative ideas and reach its potential.   Schools will never get better without a system to encourage and reward innovation.

As I have mentioned, I have a new book on Amazon (Don’t Just Dream About Success:   Stack the Odds in Your Favor).   I have one entire chapter on the idea of becoming more innovative.    I end that chapter with the following suggestion.   Okay, it is directed toward an individual and not to an organization but you get the idea.   Innovation does not happen by accident.   Each organization must truly go out of its way to make sure that every person within its ranks is encouraged to think about improvements.

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“I have long argued that the world’s economy would improve dramatically if a single action were taken.  All organizations should be required to create an annual employee award (with a significant cash prize) to be titled ‘The Weirdest Idea of the Past Year that Worked the Best.’  Every worker immediately has a good reason to look for innovative ways to create practical benefits.  Currently, too many employees lack the motivation to think differently.  Incentives do matter.  Scores of fantastic ideas undoubtedly remain locked inside heads at every organization and never emerge to make operations more effective.  Innovation is needed from everyone, not just a few.  A monetary prize should stimulate different thinking on a wide scale.  Ideas will pour in from every corner of each company.  The best are implemented and become eligible for the next award ceremony.

“Of course, organizations cannot be forced to provide prizes for creative thinking.   But, you can use this same logic to help develop a mind that is more inclined toward innovation.

“The first part of this closing assignment is to study the past year—at work, at school, at home, wherever you have been.  Consider all the ideas you produced during those 12 months.  Take the time to write them down.  Pick the one that best meets both of the above criteria.  It has to be weird or unusual.  It must have actually worked well.  This award is not for theoretical accomplishments.  Reflecting on the results of the past helps you evaluate your current level of innovative thinking.  Are you in a rut or has your brain been pumping out one great suggestion after another?  Thinking (like success) is habit-forming.  I used to tell my children:  the more ideas you have, the more ideas you will have.  

“Next, create a computer file titled ‘Weird Ideas to Increase Productivity.’  Over the next 12 months, whenever you have a unique thought, type it into this file.  Also describe what eventually happens to the idea.  Was it implemented and, if so, what was the outcome?  Monitor your thinking.  Push for results.

“During this period, encourage the incubation of new ideas by studying the ordinary aspects of everyday life.  Reconsider accepted assumptions.  Where can changes be made?  Where can you envision improvements?  Can you stack the cannonballs in a different pattern; and, if so, what possible avenues does that open?  Remember that insightful questions provide the energy to power innovation.  

“At the end of the year, look back at the ‘Weird Ideas’ file and judge whether the depth of your thinking is improving.  Becoming more aware of the innovation process helps stimulate you to think differently as a normal part of life.  That is the goal!  Creative thinking should not be a special event that happens on occasion, but one that occurs every day on a continuous basis.”