THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF TEACHING

As some of you might know, about five years ago I cofounded the website www.CPAreviewforFREE.com.   Since that time, we have provided CPA exam candidates with 2,400 free questions and answers which are (in my opinion) well written and well explained.  We do this because we firmly believe that everyone needs access to affordable materials so that they have a reasonable opportunity of passing the CPA exam.  The CPA profession should be open to all people, even those who cannot afford expensive study guides and review materials.  Over the years, many candidates have passed the exam solely using our questions and answers.  These are often young people with very limited resources.   These are the kinds of folks who keep the profession fresh, active, and innovative.

We have been searching for some way to fund this site so that we can continue to offer this assistance for free.   Over the last couple of months, I have been writing an entire book on Achieving Success.   I am thrilled with the way it has turned out – even better than I had hoped.   We will publish the book in January or February for under $10 (with proceeds going to support www.CPAreviewforFREE.com).   

More information will be available soon but I wanted to get this book on your radar.  It is intended as a guide for anyone who wants to become more successful:   more successful in school, more successful at work, more successful on tests, and just more successful in life.   You can never be successful 100 percent of the time but you can certainly increase the odds for success by adopting logical (and reasonable) strategies.   Success does not happen by accident.

When the book is published in early 2014, I hope you will consider buying a copy and telling your friends, neighbors, relatives, enemies, and anyone else you encounter all about it.   You will be helping us continue our mission AND I hope that my thoughts on achieving success will prove to be beneficial.

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I was in San Francisco a few days ago on business and had some time to waste.   So, I wandered around the city and played one of my favorite games.   In this game, I assume that I am a rich business owner who has an unlimited number of jobs to fill.   I need one of everything:   one bus driver, one plumber, one dish washer, etc.   As I walk from place to place and go in and out of buildings, I ask myself which people I would hire.   Who catches my attention for doing a particularly good job?   And, just as importantly, what did they do that caught my attention?  I am trying to figure out what makes someone excellent at their work.   I am obviously fascinated by success and this is one way that I can better see what leads to success.  Focusing on the essential nature of success helps a person become more successful. 

In life, a few people are terrible at their vocations whereas a great majority are basically average.   Luckily, the remaining folks (a relatively small number) are absolutely excellent.   What makes this last batch so very good at what they do?   How does Mr. A manage to do his job so much better than Mr. B?   What can we learn from these people?

For example, while I was in San Francisco, I had to rush across town and then hurry back to work.   The driver of the taxicab was wonderful.   He stayed calm in heavy traffic and was both friendly and helpful.   I would have hired him for my company.   I liked his attitude.  I liked his efficiency.   I liked his calm control while he navigated through all the cars.   If I drove a cab, I would want to be like him.

Later that day, I went to a deli (a large chain) and ordered a sandwich.   Four employees stood in line behind the counter making sandwiches.   Three of these people never looked at me even once, never smiled, never seemed to care if I lived or died.   However, the third person in the line looked up with a kind smile and asked how she could be of help.   She actually listened to my request and made the sandwich in the way that I had asked.   She was quick and efficient.   I would have gladly hired her for my company.   Her attitude made my day a bit brighter and she did her work with a genuine sense of enthusiasm.   If I made sandwiches for a living, I would want to be like her.

There are two ways to do things – the right way and the wrong way.   I was looking for people who did their job the right way.   And, they are out there but you will see them only if you look.

This game got me to thinking.   Let’s assume that I was going to hire someone to teach at my school.   What characteristics would I search for?   This question intrigued me so much that, on the plane trip home, I made a list of characteristics that I would be looking for if I was given the task of hiring one exceptional teacher.   Here is my list but you might want to stop before reading and make your own list for comparison purposes.   Remember, though, how I have defined the position:   a person to teach at your school.

Because I stopped at ten items, I refer to this as my Ten Commandments of Teaching.

--Walks in every day adequately prepared.   No one ever teaches well making up the lessons on the spot.   No one becomes a great teacher by just reading Power Point slides to the students.

--Has a true sense of what he or she wants to accomplish.   If you have a reasonable understanding of what you want your students to know on the last day of class, the entire semester goes better.   (I wrote about this in one of my first blog entries “Thinking about Teaching” way back on February 28, 2010.)

--Is able to impart a sense of excitement about the material.  If the teacher shows no enthusiasm, why should the students get excited?

--Is able to engage the students so that the energy for learning comes from them instead of being forced on them.

--Is fair to all students.   The education process breaks down almost immediately if students feel they are being treated unfairly.   Fairness usually requires a lot of open and frank communications.

--Stays as far away from memorization as is humanly possible.   With modern day technology, education needs to focus on using information rather than memorizing it.

--Cares about the students as individuals.  Teachers and students should be on the same side and not come to be rivals or enemies.   

--Makes efficient use of class time.   At my school, we have the students in class for 150 minutes each week.   That is not a lot of time.   It is important to make good use of every one of those minutes.

--Works to teach 100 percent of the students and not just the top 10 percent.

--Is not put off when students claim “I am stupid,” “I am lazy,” “I cannot do this.”  Education teaches students to push for a low threshold.   Don’t let them pull that trick.   If you don’t demand excellence, you’ll never get it.

Okay, what would you add or delete?   This was just the list that I came up with on a plane flight across the country.   But, I believe that a person who followed this list would likely be an outstanding teacher.   This job is not rocket science.   I think it is important to take the mystery out of teaching.   Most of us know what it takes to become excellent.   In fact, as you can see from my list, it is basically just common sense.  

Now, do one more thing.  Take your list or take my list.   That makes no difference.   Look at each of those ten commandments very carefully and give yourself a grade on each one.    Where are you strong and where are you weak?   That can be amazingly helpful as you strive to become a better teacher.   For the 2-3 areas where you give yourself the lowest grade, make it your goal over the next week or two to focus on them in particular.   If you can locate weaknesses and address them with some serious effort, your chances of becoming a great teacher go up immediately.

Make it your long term goal to be the type of teacher that an outside person would see and immediately say “If I were hiring someone to teach at my school, it would be that person because that’s a person who knows what it takes to be successful and can make learning happen.”

If I Challenge You to Become a Better Teacher in 2013-2014, What Is Your First Response?

As some of you might know, besides being a college professor, I am a cofounder and president of CPAreviewforFREE.com.   In that role, I send out email lessons to about 20,000 past and future CPA candidates two or three times each month.   These lessons talk about how to pass the CPA Exam and, hopefully, encourage and assist those candidates in achieving their goal.   I’ve actually written these motivational email lessons now (off and on) for nearly 20 years.  

The following blog entry is adapted from a recent one of those lessons.   Obviously, I’ve changed the goal from “pass the CPA Exam” to “become a better teacher” but I believe that this basic message applies to teachers just as much as it does to CPA Exam candidates.   Success is success whenever you face a genuine challenge.

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Two to four times each year, over the past 10-12 years, I have given presentations around the country on teaching.   I am always amazed by how many capable teachers show up to these sessions and immediately start telling me why they cannot improve their teaching.   Were it not so sad, it would be funny.   Over the years, I have started diagnosing this as the “I can’t do this because” disease.  

--I can’t do this because the students are lazy.

--I can’t do this because I have to focus on my research.
--I can’t do this because I have too many students.  
--I can’t do this because I am paid so poorly.  
--I can’t do this because my dean will not give me the resources that I need.
--I can’t do this because I have always gotten bad evaluations in the past.
--I can’t do this because it is not important for tenure and promotion.
--I can't do this because no else around here wants to teach well.

--I can’t do this because my students have no interest in learning.  

With all these self-imposed barriers, I often wonder how anyone ever manages to become a better teacher.   But people do improve and even become great teachers.   If you want to be one of those folks who really does improve,  it can be done.   Yes, it can!!!   It might not be easy but it can be done.   The excuses might slow you down but you can still get better.

When teachers tell me why they cannot improve, my response is always “well, don’t place too many stumbling blocks in your path.   Let’s start by looking at several places where small amounts of improvement can be made.”   Teaching in college is tough enough without you telling yourself you are going to fail.  

So, let’s practice.   Let's check your attitude.   If I were to get in your face and challenge you to become a better teacher in 2013-2014, what is your first response – would you start giving me reasons why that can’t happen or would you start thinking about changes you might make in order to become a better teacher?

I have long pondered the need of teachers to establish excuses.   For many, it is very much like a chanted mantra:   “I cannot become a better teacher because….”  This tendency seems almost universal.   A lot of humans just think in that negative way.   Every time we start a new challenge in life, especially if it pushes us outside of our comfort zone, we seem to lack faith in ourselves.    I suppose setting low expectations makes failure easier to face.  We make excuses as a way to soften the possible blow to our egos if we do fail. 

However, setting low expectations makes success so much more difficult to attain.   A negative attitude works against you.   It is hard to have the confidence to do the hard work necessary for success if you have already explained to everyone (including yourself) the many reasons you are going to fail.   Who wants to work hard if you don’t believe you can succeed?     People (teachers as well as students) live up to their own high expectations but, just as importantly, they also live down to their own low expectations.  

Attitude is vitally important in achieving success.   People rarely succeed without a “can do” attitude.   No one wants you to walk around and brag about how well you are going to do.   But, a certain degree of “I can do this” is necessary if you are going to take on tough challenges and succeed.

Let me give you an example.    My wife has long wanted to take a pottery class.   I have always resisted because I was convinced that I could never learn how to take a lump of clay and put it on a wheel and turn it into a pot or bowl or vase that could be glazed and fired.   I always assumed that I would produce a wreck and the teacher would look at me and just shake her head in frustration.   I didn’t want to try because I was afraid that I would be embarrassed by failure.   I was afraid of looking stupid.   So, I created all kinds of excuses.   When pottery was mentioned, I found myself starting every sentence with “I can’t do this because.” 

Finally, as I have written before on this blog, we decided to take a six-week pottery class this summer after I ran out of excuses.   I figured that I would produce awful stuff but I’d get it over with.  

And, of course, you can guess what happened.   The teacher was very patient and showed me exactly how to start, how to get the clay centered, how to mold it, how to shape and trim it.   When I did something wrong, she would show me how to learn from my mistake and do better the next time.   It was a wonderful learning experience.

I enjoyed every second.  And, almost immediately, “I can’t do this because” was replaced by “with some help, I can make this happen.”   Becoming a better teacher is much the same.   Quit the excuses and give it a try.

The key was that I stopped putting roadblocks in my path.   I stopped defeating myself.   I let the teacher help me make gradual progress.   And, eventually, I could make some pottery.

After 6 weeks, my wife and I had produced over 30 pieces.   If you want to see them, you can go to the following website and see a few photos that we took:  

http://www.cpareviewforfree.com/resources.cfm?name=article&article_id=83

What is the point of this story about pottery?   When it comes to teaching, stop doubting yourself and start thinking about improvement.   You have to rid yourself of “I can’t do this because” or you will never get one bit better.   Instead, get to work and get better.      

I recently read a book titled “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed.   It was a relatively long book and quite interesting.   But one line near the start of the book really caught my attention.   I immediately jumped up and ran to find a pen so that I could write down those few words.

Ms. Strayed was 26 and had lived a tough life.   Her mother died when Ms. Strayed was in college and she had a lot of trouble getting over it.   She had married and divorced and experimented with some dangerous drugs.

In hopes of getting her life straightened out, she decided to walk 1,100 miles of the very challenging Pacific Crest Trail by herself with little training or experience.   In the book, about the time she gets ready to start this grand adventure, she gets scared and almost backs out.   It is there that she includes the line that I appreciated so much:  

 

“Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves.”

 A line well worth remembering.

If you tell yourself that you cannot become a better teacher, you will become afraid and will not even try.   You are letting your own story defeat you.

If you tell yourself that you are going to keep pushing forward and learning from your mistakes, your chances of improving go up immediately.   Don’t let your excuses hold you back.  

When you look at becoming a better teacher, what story are you telling yourself?   In many ways, that question is the entire point of this blog entry.   What story are you telling yourself?

--The students don’t care so why should I waste my time as the teacher

Or
--If I improve, I’ll have a positive impact on more of my students

--I need to shut my door and work on my research; the students keep me from doing the work that is really important.

Or

--If I improve, I can change my students for the better and there is simply not a much better way to live a life.

--I have always gotten bad student evaluations; that is never going to change no matter what I do.

Or
--I cannot become great overnight but I can make small improvements and if I keep working and have patience, I can become a good (maybe outstanding) teacher.  

 Before the fall semester begins, ask yourself: “What stories am I telling myself about my teaching?”   Am I telling myself stories that are going to make me afraid and hold me back from getting better?   Am I convincing myself that I am weak and flawed?   Or, am I telling myself stories that will provide me with the courage, energy, and enthusiasm that I need to improve?   Am I convincing myself that I am strong and able?

There are no guarantees in life.   But that doesn’t mean that you have to view yourself as chained to failure.  Everyone can teach better; I guarantee it.   Tell yourself stories of courage and determination and, quite possibly, like Cheryl Strayed, you’ll succeed at a very difficult task and become a better teacher.

It is easy to have weak stories in your head.   But your chances for improvement go up dramatically if you can replace them with strong positive stories.