Process Lessons

Excellent teachers use a number of modalities when teaching. Most teachers lecture, some use “discovery”, and yet others provide “active participation”.

All teachers model behavior.

Character development may not appear on a list of educational objectives of any given lesson but any interaction the students have with a teacher is a lesson in human behavior non-the-less.
Who will forget the kindness a teacher showed on a difficult day?
Which one of us can forget the sixth grade science teacher who lost his temper?
Who can forget the times we were sent to the principal and how he reacted to our misbehavior?

The lessons learned through personal experience last long and can permanently change the way a child interacts with the world. When we think about our actions as teachers in this light we can appreciate why Chazal expect Rebbaim to act as “Malachim”. Education can not only be about meaningful content, it must also be about exceptional character development.

One can say that in every interaction between teacher and students there are two layers to the lesson. There is the content of the words being taught on one level and then there is the process. The process refers to the lesson about how the information is given over.
For example, if a child runs into the street and the parent screams “Moshe, get out of the street” there have been two layers of lessons taught. Content – Moshe should not be in the street. Process – When there is danger one should scream.

Now to the classroom.

When are we to make of the use of anger and intimidation in the classroom or school building? Is there a place for screaming at a child (even if one can keep “calm” on the inside)? What about using intimidation to get a child to behave?

These approaches are quite effective when attempting to get control over a situation but what is the “process lesson”. When is life would these modalities be appropriate?

Are we teaching that screaming and intimidation are acceptable when you really need something?
Are we teaching that when one has absolute power it is okay to embarrass or overpower someone?

We must find process lessons that result in behaviors we want to see the child doing in other context. This may be easy to write about but in the heat of the moment it is much easier to only focuses on the content of our words but not the process.
The problem is that the process is experienced, not only heard, and therefore will be a more effect lesson that the content which is purely auditory.

Day One, Number Eight

Tomorrow morning will be my eighth “first day of school”. I wish I could report that I was not nervous and knew exactly what to do.

I can not.

This time of year brings me back eight years ago when I started my fist day. There were four ninth graders and me. I do not recall ever having been so scared of 13 year olds.

Here are some lessons I have learned since then.

Lesson One: Being nervous is normal and part of teaching.

We tend to resist our nerves by telling ourselves not to be nervous. This is usually unsuccessful and only succeeds in making us more nervous.

I have found that the best way for me to deal with nerves is to except them and understand that they will be there, as they were in all previous years, and I will be okay non-the-less. I read about such a technique that Dr. Pelcowitz suggests when working with a person with OCD. As you remember, a person with OCD has obsessive thoughts or worries that overtake them. He suggests allowing them to “obsess” for specific amounts of time. This way they can relax between those times and this helps them function. When a person has a good reason to feel an emotion it rarely helps to deny the emotion. If we can channel the emotion we will be better off.

So right now I am pretty nervous but trying not to worrying about my being nervous! That may sound funny but it is true.

Lesson Two: The students are WAY more nervous than I am.

This would be true of any grade but even more so for me who is teaching ninth grade. None of my students have ever been to Yeshiva or High School and some are even away from home for the first time. Keeping this in mind will help relieve my nerves and help me to be sensitive to my students. They have so many questions about how the year will go and what they are expected to do. I let them know that I will address these questions which helps calm them a bit.

Lesson Three: You only get one chance to make a first impression.

For anyone who has taken Rabbi Yoel Kramer’s teaching classes you understand this point quite well. This is not the place for a discussion about classroom discipline and management but suffice it to say that the first moments of class are significant.

Although different teachers will handle this differently I have decided to start with learning from the first moments. No provisos or procedural announcements. The second we are sitting I run into the learning. I do this because a) what better way to teach what is important to me? b) What better way to teach how I will run the classroom than showing them? C) I often throw in procedurals comments in the learning, this way they are non-threatening and not a big deal, “Take out you notebooks, you will need these everyday…” “Non bathroom breaks during this part of shiur, this will be true everyday..” I can address many things before the formal “talk” about this.

There are many more aspects to the first day. Harry Wong, a well know speaker on education has an entire book in the first days of teaching! I just wanted to share these few thoughts. Now I better get make to the preparation for tomorrow or else…

What gift?

Naming a Blog is harder than I thought.

A name should encapsulate the idea that the blog is trying to convey. The challenge is crystallizing the message into a small number of words.

As I sat at a blank screen from a few minutes I was reminded of a book I read a number of years ago by Dr. Irvin Yalom.

Dr. Yalom is a world renowned therapist from California who is best know for his work regarding group therapy and a number of books that he authored about therapy.

The book that I have enjoyed most is entitled "The Gift of Therapy". In this book he writers short essays to new therapists with small thoughts and ideas he has picked up over the years.

I am not sure that my experience is sufficient to accomplish the same here but I can attempt.

The name also speaks to me on another level.

Chinuch is a gift for all involved.

It is a gift for the student who is being exposed to Torah, the life line of humanity.

Chinuch is also a gift for the educator "From my Talmidim more than any"

Chinuch is about constent growth for all involved.

What greater gift is there?