My English teacher was tall and desperately skinny with a long bony nose upon which rested a considerable pair of thick glasses. I was thirteen and didn’t see any of that. What I saw was a frustrated poet who was teaching us the language by playing us haunting songs. In one lesson he introduced our young minds to the trio, Peter, Paul and Mary and their plaintive “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. It was hard not to cry for all the world’s farewells, right there, in class.
golden teacher growkit Anyhow, we began exchanging notes. My high school used a “block schedule” where our classes would change depending upon the day, so that would leave one day in between to write a letter in return.
golden teacher What was most remarkable though, was that it wasn’t my class. I was their substitute teacher. The transformation they experienced took place in a two week period. For the two years I subbed, this ritual of establishing respect and mutual worth had the same results–regardless of were it was applied. So-called troubled, hyper, or violent kids all rose to the expectation that they too, were worthy of being addressed and treated with respect. Was I a super teacher or psychological genius? Not by any stretch. I simply worked a principle. That’s the great thing about principles; they work regardless of who uses them. Later in my career, I saw a memorable illustration of the power of positive expectations. It came from the story of a legendary trader with a comic strip name.
growkit golden teacher Sometimes a famous teacher lectures in Huxley or at times someone plays the congo drum or there is a classically trained musician or teacher demonstrating his technique. One of my favorite classes was with the famous Cellist David Darling and Al Huang. Electricity wildly alive in the environment. Genius at play.
Still other workshops may have breathing or breath work or sacral cranial work or acupressure, shiatsu or, well the list is infinite. They even show movies. And there are places where one can borrow consciousness raising sound and video tapes. There is a bookshop in the main office filled with tapes and books and things one might need. Some come for room and board but most are here for workshops and seminars.
There is a distinct difference between the two. Bottom line is accents are played higher than taps. Drum teachers usually explain this by saying taps are all the inside notes, the low notes. Accents are taught to be played vertically. The common misconception is that accents and taps is just for marching drumlines, but it can also be played by drum kit drummers too. The benefit to playing drum music with proper stick heights is that it sounds and it looks good. One of the best books that could teach you how to play proper stick heights is Accents and Rebounds by George Lawrence Stone. Stone is well-known for his first book, Stick Control.
One fellow floating in the tubs brags that he is wealthy and seemed to tune into me and began speaking about a course I had been taking in L.A. It was amazing that he was expounding the very knowledge I was studying. One woman later was giving him undivided attention.
Get it set in your mind now, that you are going to practice at least some of what you read. Grab a notebook, and record your favorite exercises and pieces of wisdom from the ezine that you have decided to continue reading.
Remember, students are self-centred. Many believe that because you are correcting their behaviour that ‘you are picking on them’ and/or ‘you hate them’. You might get that impression from them too. Don’t take it personally. It’s just ‘the nature of the beast’. Let what happens in the classroom stay there.
When you are practicing tai chi, move slowly and continuously and use intent to move beyond the physical part of the form. This helps to develop a strong mind-body connection. Qi gets stronger as it continues to flow, just like the force of water gets stronger as it flows downhill. If you stop moving during the forms, your qi also stops moving.
golden teacher growkit These must be realistic but just above their current standards to give the class an incentive to try. As they achieve each goal ‘raise the bar’ again. Acknowledge publicly with the class each goal that is met and exceeded. These expectations should centre on academic, behavioural, industry and cooperation issues. The goals must be published and crossed off as each is achieved.
If you tested five new things every month and just one out of the five was successful (if you use our monthly teaching strategies it’s more likely to be four out of five) then at the end of a year you would have twelve new proven teaching strategies to add to your mix. So testing and measuring all of your teaching is the first golden rule for motivating learners.
Remember, students are self-centred. Many believe that because you are correcting their behaviour that ‘you are picking on them’ and/or ‘you hate them’. You might get that impression from them too. Don’t take it personally. It’s just ‘the nature of the beast’. Let what happens in the classroom stay there.