When I started teaching, I’d tell my mentor things things like:
I want to blend Depth and Complexity with 21st-century, project-based learning and add a student-led maker space on top. What would that look like?
She’d blink for a moment.
What Problem Are You Solving?
Eventually, she’d say something like, “I have no idea what that would look like. Let me ask you, What problem are you trying to solve?”
Uh. Well. I didn’t know! I wasn’t really trying to solve a problem. I was just… adding more stuff? But I already had too much stuff to do!
It’s like I was grabbing medicine off a shelf without consulting a doctor, being diagnosed, and getting a prescription. “Why are you taking those pills, Ian?” “Oh, someone at a conference said they were good.” 😬
Mundane Problems With Simple Fixes
If you watched me teach back then, you would definitely not have said, “Oh, Ian just needs to ‘blend Depth and Complexity with 21st-century, project-based learning and add a student-led maker space on top!'”
When my mentor watched me teach, she’d spot fundamental issues like:
- I waited less than 1 second after asking a question before answering my own question and moving on.
- I didn’t check for understanding. I had five students who got the lesson immediately – and then became increasingly fidgety and distracting throughout the lesson.
- When a student raised their hand and enthusiastically gave the wrong answer, I didn’t know how to respond.
If the diagnosis is, “Mr. Byrd doesn’t give students enough time to think,” then the prescription is simple. “Silently count to 3 after asking a question.” (I wrote more about Wait Time here).
See, my actual problems had relatively simple solutions. I just didn’t know I had them! I didn’t realize I was making fundamental mistakes. I needed someone to diagnose me and give me the right prescription.
I’m Not The Only One Without A Prescription!
I often see this in the email I receive from educators. I spoke about it in this Byrd Byte:
Rather than reaching for more new ideas, consider, “What is my biggest problem right now? How can I solve that?”
For example, I’ve used Depth and Complexity a lot in my career. But, in the beginning it wasn’t really an appropriate tool for me. It wasn’t the right prescription. The real problem was that I didn’t know how to ask good questions yet. And adding Depth and Complexity to weak questions doesn’t do anything (I speak about that here.). I needed someone to tell me, “You need to learn how to ask questions at the Analyze level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Here’s how to do that…”
Get A Checkup First
So, if you want to get better at teaching, first get a checkup. Have someone who knows what they’re talking about watch you teach. Or record yourself and watch it back. Look for the lowest hanging fruit. There are 2 or 3 things that will make a huge difference with relatively little effort. This is the diagnosis!
Once you have a diagnosis, then you can get a prescription. How can I fix this? Ask veteran teachers. Email me! There might be a simple solution. Humans have been teaching for thousands of years, and we already figured out a lot of the basic stuff.
And, if your number one problem is, “I don’t have time to write great lessons!” Well, have I got a solution for you! 😝