Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future | Joe Ruhl | TEDxLafayette

Summary

In this inspiring talk, a veteran teacher with 37 years of experience emphasizes the importance of student-centered learning over traditional teacher-centered methods. The speaker advocates for a classroom environment that fosters the 'five Cs': Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Choice. By allowing students to engage in these Cs, the teacher becomes a guide rather than a lecturer, creating a more effective and enjoyable learning experience. The talk also underscores the significance of a teacher's passion for the subject and genuine care for students, suggesting that these elements are the most inspiring and memorable aspects of education.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker enjoys working with teenagers due to their fun, energetic, and creative nature, which helps keep them young at heart.
• 🧠 The speaker emphasizes the importance of research-based teaching techniques and building relationships with students for effective teaching.
• 🏫 Traditional teacher-centered classrooms are contrasted with the speaker's approach, which incorporates student choice and the 'five Cs'.
• 🔄 The 'five Cs' include Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Choice, identified as essential skills for 21st-century learning.
• 🤔 The speaker suggests that student choice in learning activities can lead to more authentic and enjoyable learning experiences.
• 👥 The classroom is envisioned as a place for collaboration and communication, drawing parallels to early human survival strategies.
• 🎨 Creativity is highlighted as a uniquely human trait that is both pleasurable and satisfying, and integral to the learning process.
• 👨‍🏫 The speaker's teaching approach involves shifting from a teacher-centered to a student-centered model, allowing for more personalized guidance.
• 💻 Technology, such as computer tutorials, is used to replace traditional lectures, providing students with interactive and self-paced learning.
• 🎭 The 'Arts and Entertainment' activity allows students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts in creative, non-traditional ways.
• ❤️ The speaker concludes by stressing the importance of caring and love for students as the most powerful teaching tool, even more than lesson plans or standards.

Q & A

What does the speaker believe are the two essential elements for inspiring students?

The speaker believes that research-based teaching techniques and relationship are the two essential elements for inspiring students.

How does the speaker describe the traditional teacher-centered classroom?

The speaker describes the traditional teacher-centered classroom as one where the teacher is at the front, students are in neat rows, not allowed to talk to each other, and the teacher is the sole source of authority, delivering information to students who then regurgitate it on tests.

What did the speaker observe about students' behavior in the cafeteria that inspired a change in his teaching approach?

The speaker observed that students love having choices in the cafeteria, which led him to consider incorporating student choice into his classroom as a way to inspire them.

What are the 'five Cs' that the speaker believes are essential for a student-centered classroom?

The 'five Cs' are Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Choice. The speaker added 'Choice' to the list identified by the National Education Association as essential 21st-century skills.

How does the speaker's approach to teaching align with the way early hominids might have learned?

The speaker suggests that early hominids' survival activities, such as hunting, required the same skills emphasized in his classroom: Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity, indicating that our brains are naturally wired for learning in this way.

What role does the teacher take on in a student-centered classroom according to the speaker?

In a student-centered classroom, the teacher shifts from being the 'sage on the stage' to becoming a 'guide on the side,' facilitating learning rather than delivering lectures.

What is the significance of the 'Arts and Entertainment' activity in the speaker's classroom?

The 'Arts and Entertainment' activity allows students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept in a nontraditional way, limited only by their imagination, which can include performances, presentations, or any creative means of showcasing their knowledge.

How does the speaker's teaching method affect his interaction with students?

The speaker's teaching method allows him to interact with small groups of students, responding to their questions, listening to their thinking, and using his passion for the subject and love for the students as powerful teaching tools.

What two types of love does the speaker emphasize as crucial for effective teaching?

The speaker emphasizes the teacher's love for the subject and genuine love for the students as the two types of love that are crucial for effective teaching.

What does the speaker suggest is the most memorable aspect of a teacher for students?

The speaker suggests that what students will remember most about a teacher is not the lesson plans or standards, but the caring and personal interactions, such as showing interest in their lives, attending their events, and being genuine and approachable.

Outlines

00:00

👨‍🏫 Inspiring Future Students with the 'Five Cs'

The speaker, a teacher with 37 years of experience, shares her belief in the importance of research-based teaching techniques and relationships in inspiring students. She critiques the traditional teacher-centered classroom and advocates for a student-centered approach that includes 'choice' alongside 'collaboration,' 'communication,' 'critical thinking,' and 'creativity.' These five Cs are presented as essential for authentic learning and student engagement. The speaker's classroom model allows students to choose from various learning activities designed to accommodate diverse learning styles, aligning with the National Education Association's identified 21st-century skills.

05:01

📚 Implementing the 'Five Cs' in Classroom Practice

The speaker describes how she has implemented the 'Five Cs' in her ninth-grade biology classes by dividing the school year into units and providing students with a menu of activities to choose from. She has written self-paced, interactive computer tutorials to replace traditional lectures, which students reportedly prefer. The classroom environment includes various activities such as online research, video watching with reflection, laboratory work, science fair projects, and educational games. A unique feature is the 'Arts and Entertainment' activity, where students present nontraditional projects to demonstrate their understanding of the unit's concepts. The speaker emphasizes that this approach is not only effective but also enjoyable for her as a teacher.

10:02

🌟 The Power of Passion and Love in Teaching

The speaker discusses the importance of a teacher's passion for their subject and genuine love for their students in inspiring and motivating them. She shares her own experiences and memories of teachers who made a significant impact on her life through their love for teaching and their students. The speaker also highlights the 'teacher paradox,' where by stepping back from being the center of attention, a teacher can become more important as a guide, mentor, and nurturer. She emphasizes the decisional love, or 'agape love,' which is self-sacrificial and committed to the well-being of the students, as a powerful teaching tool.

15:09

💖 Prioritizing Caring and Relationship in Education

In the final paragraph, the speaker stresses the importance of caring and building relationships with students, referring to it as the 'sixth C.' She advises teachers not to let standards and lesson plans overshadow the personal connections they make with their students. The speaker suggests that what students will remember most are the interactions and the care shown by their teachers, such as learning their names, attending their events, and showing genuine interest in their lives. She concludes by emphasizing that love, in the form of caring and relationship, is the most important aspect of teaching and has the potential to be the most inspiring.

Keywords

💡Inspirational Teaching

Inspirational teaching refers to the approach of motivating and engaging students in a way that fosters a love for learning and encourages them to think creatively and critically. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of moving away from traditional, teacher-centered classrooms to a more student-centered environment that encourages choice, collaboration, and creativity. This approach is exemplified by the speaker's own teaching practices, where students are given a variety of activities to choose from, allowing them to engage with the material in a way that suits their individual learning styles.

💡Student-Centered Classroom

A student-centered classroom is an educational environment where the learning process is tailored to the students' needs, interests, and learning styles, rather than being dictated by the teacher. The speaker discusses how this approach requires teachers to shift from being the 'sage on the stage' to becoming a 'guide on the side,' which allows for more personalized instruction and fosters a deeper connection with the material. This is illustrated in the script by the speaker's practice of offering a 'menu' of activities for students to choose from, ensuring that each student can engage with the curriculum in a way that is meaningful to them.

💡Choice

Choice, in the context of the video, refers to the empowerment of students to make decisions about their learning path, including what activities they engage with and the order in which they complete them. The speaker believes that incorporating choice into the classroom is crucial for student engagement and is reflective of the diverse learning styles that students possess. An example from the script is the 'menu' of activities provided at the beginning of each unit, which allows students to select tasks that align with their interests and learning preferences.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration is the process of working together to achieve a common goal, often involving communication, cooperation, and the sharing of ideas. The speaker highlights collaboration as one of the essential 21st-century skills that students should develop. In the video, collaboration is encouraged through group activities and projects, which not only enhance learning but also help students to develop important social and teamwork skills. The speaker's classroom setup includes opportunities for students to work together on various tasks, reflecting the belief that learning is a social activity.

💡Communication

Communication is the act of conveying information, ideas, or feelings through speech, writing, or other means. In the video, the speaker underscores the importance of communication in the learning process, as it is essential for effective collaboration and the sharing of knowledge. The script mentions various activities that require students to communicate their understanding, such as group discussions, presentations, and reflections, which are designed to enhance their ability to articulate their thoughts and ideas clearly.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking involves the ability to analyze and evaluate information objectively, using reasoning and logic to form judgments. The speaker includes critical thinking as one of the key skills that students should develop, and it is integrated into the classroom through activities that challenge students to solve problems, analyze data, and think creatively. The script provides examples of how the speaker's teaching methods encourage students to engage in critical thinking, such as through problem-solving tasks and the analysis of complex concepts.

💡Creativity

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; it is a key aspect of the learning process that allows for innovation and the development of new ideas. The speaker advocates for the inclusion of creativity in the classroom, arguing that it is a uniquely human and satisfying activity. In the video, creativity is encouraged through activities such as 'Arts and Entertainment,' where students are invited to present their understanding of a concept in a nontraditional way, such as through a song, skit, or model.

💡21st Century Skills

21st century skills are a collection of abilities and qualities that are deemed necessary for success in the modern world, including critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. The speaker references the National Education Association's identification of these skills as essential for students to learn. The video discusses how incorporating these skills into the classroom prepares students not only for academic success but also for the challenges of the future workforce and society.

💡Authentic Learning

Authentic learning is an educational approach that emphasizes real-world, meaningful tasks and problems that students can relate to and find personally engaging. In the video, the speaker suggests that authentic learning occurs when students are allowed to engage in the five Cs (Choice, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity). This approach is contrasted with traditional, test-driven learning, where the focus is on memorization rather than understanding and application. The speaker's classroom activities are designed to provide authentic learning experiences that are relevant and engaging to students.

💡Teacher as a Guide

The concept of the teacher as a guide suggests that the teacher's role is to facilitate learning rather than simply deliver information. This approach aligns with the student-centered classroom model discussed in the video, where the teacher supports and guides students through their learning journey rather than being the sole source of knowledge. The speaker describes how, by stepping back from the traditional lecturing position, they are able to engage more deeply with students, answering questions, and providing individualized support, which ultimately makes them more important in the learning process.

💡Caring

Caring, in the context of the video, refers to the emotional connection and support that teachers provide to their students, which goes beyond academic instruction. The speaker emphasizes that while lesson plans, discipline, and standards are important, it is the caring and personal connection that teachers make with their students that will be most remembered. Examples from the script include the speaker's efforts to learn students' names, attend their extracurricular events, and show genuine interest in their lives, which demonstrates the importance of the teacher's role as a caring figure in students' educational journey.

Highlights

The importance of working with young people to stay youthful and inspired.

The necessity of research-based teaching techniques and relationship in education.

The shift from teacher-centered to student-centered classrooms for better engagement.

The concept of integrating student choice into the learning process to enhance motivation.

The introduction of the 'five Cs' model: Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Choice.

The historical and evolutionary basis for the 'five Cs' in human development.

The practical application of the 'five Cs' in a ninth-grade biology class.

The use of self-paced, interactive computer tutorials as a substitute for traditional lectures.

The benefits of allowing students to work through a variety of activities based on their learning styles.

The role of the teacher as a guide rather than the central figure in the classroom.

The impact of teachers' passion for their subject on student engagement.

The concept of 'agape love' in teaching and its role in inspiring students.

The importance of remembering the sixth 'C': Caring, as the most powerful teaching tool.

The long-term impact of a teacher's genuine interest and support on students' lives.

The idea that the most memorable aspect of education is often the personal connection with the teacher.

The call to action for teachers to involve students in a collaborative and creative learning environment.

Transcripts

Translator: Tanya Cushman Reviewer: Queenie Lee

I have one of the best jobs in the world

because I get to work with people who are fun, funny,

energetic, creative and insightful.

And they happen to be 14 to 18 years of age.

I really do think kids keep a person young,

and I think that's probably why, when I'm in the presence of adults,

I sometimes don't know how to act,

so you'll forgive me.

So, inspiring the students of the future.

What really works?

37 years of teaching experience have taught me that two things are needed:

research-based teaching techniques and relationship.

Relationship is huge, but we'll talk more about that later.

What I'd like to look at first are the techniques.

I think probably most of us remember the teacher-centered classroom;

this is probably what we are familiar with from our youth.

You remember the teacher was up front in the center,

the students were in nice neat rows, not allowed to talk to each other,

and the teacher, the source of authority, downloaded information to the kids,

who regurgitated it back up on a test

designed to measure how much content they could remember.

Now, I have to admit, I love lecturing,

but my students don't always love it;

it does not always inspire.

So I was thinking, what really inspires?

Years ago, I was doing lunch duty at school,

standing in the lunchroom, being visible,

watching kids go through the cafeteria line,

and as I watched the kids going through the line,

it occurred to me they love having choices.

And so I said to myself, "Self, maybe that would work in the classroom.

Let the kids have choices."

And so that's what I did.

I converted my classroom

to a situation where student choice was a big part of the room

along with four other Cs:

Collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.

Actually, over ten years ago, the National Education Association

identified those last four Cs on the list

as essential 21st century skills that kids should learn,

and I agree wholeheartedly.

I've added choice to the top of the list

not as a skill for kids to learn,

but rather as a characteristic of the classroom.

By choice, I mean a situation

where many learning activities are available to students,

designed to meet the many diverse learning styles that they have.

And the kids love it as much as they love choices in the cafeteria.

Now,

I think we're made for learning this way.

Imagine our early hominid ancestors out looking for food.

Don't you know that finding and tracking that woolly mammoth

required critical thinking and problem-solving?

It definitely required collaboration, teamwork.

I mean, you wouldn't want to do this by yourself.

No way.

And collaboration required communication.

And then I imagine those people sitting around the campfire at night,

reliving the adventures of the day's hunt.

They must have had smiles on their faces

when they were retelling the story of the hunt.

And I know they smiled

when they put those cave paintings up on the wall

because creativity is a uniquely human,

pleasurable, satisfying activity.

So I believe our brains are wired for the five Cs.

And since they're wired for the five Cs,

that authentic learning will happen

when kids are allowed to engage in the five Cs.

And not just learning,

but I think kids will enjoy a classroom setup like this

and even be inspired in this way.

Now, this requires -

A classroom setup based on the five Cs requires a shift

from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom.

And this requires the teacher to remove him or herself from front and center,

becoming more of a guide on the side rather than a sage on the stage.

But this opens up opportunities

to not merely teach,

but to coach,

to mentor,

to nurture and inspire,

and that's why I love it so much.

Now, time out.

It's important for me to mention these are not my original ideas;

I stand on the shoulders of giants.

Remember Plutarch?

He said it a long time ago:

"The mind is not a vessel that needs filling,

but wood that needs igniting."

And more recently, Albert Einstein:

"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."

All right. You're going to have to bear with me.

I'm going to get real goose-bumpy for a minute.

One of the absolute, most exciting moments of my life,

my professional life was meeting Albert Einstein

just a few years ago.

(Laughter)

Changed my life,

bumping into him in that wax museum.

(Laughter)

What a moment it was.

So I stand on the shoulders of giants,

giants like Montessori and Piaget,

and Dr. Sam Postlewait, who was doing a lot of these things

in his biology classes at Purdue University,

back in the 1960s.

I'm a product of the Purdue Biology Department;

that's where I fell in love with biology.

I stand on the shoulders of giants,

like Tom Watts and Steve Randak,

who were doing this back in the 1970s in their high school biology classes.

I stand on the shoulders of many giants called elementary school teachers

and special ed teachers.

So, I'm a product of all of those mentors.

So, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity

and student choice,

what's it look like?

If I could just share with you briefly the experiences that I've tried with this:

I've taken my ninth-grade biology classes

and divided the school year up into two- to three-week units.

At the beginning of each unit,

the students are given a menu

of all the smorgasbord activities that are available on the menu.

Now, this has been challenging

because I've had to write all of these activities

so that no matter what combination of activities a student chooses to do,

based on their learning styles,

and no matter what order they choose to do them in,

they'll still achieve the required objectives for the unit.

It's been fun; it's been a challenge.

But the kids love it.

They love having the choice,

and there are many times when they forget that I'm even in the room,

and that's okay.

One of the things that is not required -

There are two activities normally in every unit that are not required:

One is the test at the end of the unit,

and the other one is the computer tutorial.

I've taken several summers

and written these self-paced, interactive computer tutorials

that the kids work through.

They're designed to take the place of the stuff I used to lecture on.

Kids have told me in private,

"Mr. Ruhl, we like the tutorials better than your lectures."

And that's okay,

that's perfectly okay,

because it's all about them.

And so if you came to visit my class on a typical day,

you would see some kids working through the computer tutorials.

You would very likely see some kids working on some website activities online.

It's possible you would see some kids in a corner of the room with headphones on

watching a video related to the unit,

writing out answers to questions that accompany the video.

I'm sure you would see students doing laboratory activities.

You would probably notice some kids

tending to their ongoing science fair projects,

and I know for sure,

you would probably find a group of kids off in another corner

around an educational game designed to teach them

about some biological concept related to the unit.

And you would likely see some kids

doing some hands-on, minds-on simulations,

learning about some other biological phenomena.

I know you would see some kids off in a corner

filling out what are called "reflection sheets,"

that are designed to get them to think about their learning,

self-evaluate their efforts,

take past knowledge and connect it to new knowledge.

And there's one other activity on the menu that a lot of kids really enjoy.

It's called "Arts and Entertainment."

It's on the menu in every unit,

and this is where the students take any concept they've learned in the unit

and at home, develop some kind of a project presentation

and then present it to the rest of the class

on the last day of the unit.

Arts and Entertainment

has to be nontraditional;

it's only limited by their imagination.

So they can come in and perform a song,

a skit,

present a movie,

present a model that they've built,

poetry,

any nontraditional way of demonstrating their knowledge

of something they've learned in the unit.

For example, these two young ladies in our biochemistry unit

took it upon themselves to build a model of a chlorophyll molecule

using gumdrops to represent the atoms.

These two young ladies - they're sisters -

they happened to decide to demonstrate in a very creative way

the fact that they each inherited half of their genes from mom

and half of their genes from dad.

(Laughter)

Got to love them.

This method of teaching, for me, I have found -

37 years experience -

is not only effective, but it's fun

because it allows me to sit down with small groups of students

while I'm team-teaching with that fleet of ten computers;

it gives me the opportunity to sit down

with a group of two, three or four or five kids

and respond to questions that they initiate.

It allows me the opportunity to listen to their thinking,

and, teachers, when you do this,

if you do this,

the whole situation creates somewhat of a teacher paradox.

Because by removing yourself from front and center,

you seem to become less important,

but paradoxically,

in reality you become more important

because when working as a guide on the side,

you're freed up to use the most powerful teaching techniques

I have ever run across in 37 years.

They're as old as the hills;

it doesn't matter what techniques are used,

these two always work.

I'm talking about two loves.

First, the teacher's love for the subject and passion for the subject.

And secondly, the teacher's genuine love for the kids.

First, let's talk about the passion.

You know what I remember about third grade?

I remember Jenny on the bus.

I'm not kidding.

Third grade.

No, the thing I remember most about the classroom in third grade

is I remember our teacher every day after lunch

would read to us for 10 to 15 minutes;

she would read to us "Tom Sawyer."

What an adventure!

We had black-and-white TV,

we had cartoons on TV,

but this was different.

It was obvious to us that Miss Hershey loved reading,

and she was passionate about reading to us.

Tom Sawyer! What an adventure!

At the end of the 10-minute reading period,

I couldn't wait until the next day

to find out what would happen to Tom and his friends.

I don't know if Miss Hershey realized it or not,

I should have written her a letter a long time ago.

She inspired me to be a reader.

But you see, she wasn't saddled with state-mandated standards

and state-mandated, high-stakes standardized testing,

and so she was free to teach and inspire.

I'll never forget her.

She means the world to me.

I should have written her a long time ago.

Then for that other love.

Teacher's love for the kids.

If there are any teachers in the audience, don't get nervous.

I'm not talking about warm, fuzzy, emotional love.

I'm talking about genuine, decisional, put-the-other-person-first kind of love.

It motivates;

it inspires in a powerful way.

I'm talking about the kind of love that -

C.S. Lewis wrote about it in his book "The Four Loves."

He described it as "agape love," the highest level of love known,

a self-sacrificial kind of love,

a love that's passionately committed to the well-being of the other.

This kind of love is not always emotional,

but it is always decisional.

So, teachers, great news.

This means you can love your kids even when they're not likable.

Does that ever happen?

Because this kind of love is not emotional,

it's decisional,

and it motivates and inspires in a powerful way,

and it's as old as the hills.

So, teachers ...

an airtight lesson plan is important.

A well-organized, consistent discipline plan is important.

Effective use of technology is important.

The standards are important,

but, please, don't let them stifle your creativity.

All these things are important,

but what the kids are going to remember most of all

is you.

Don't forget that sixth C:

Caring.

That is the most effective, most powerful, most inspiring way of teaching:

getting their attention, motivating them, inspiring them.

What they're going to remember most is that you looked them in the eye

and asked them about their extra-curricular activities

and their part-time jobs.

What they're going to remember most

is that you just asked them in the hall how they were doing.

What they're going to remember most

is you worked really hard in the first couple weeks of school

to learn their names in the first couple days.

What they're going to remember most

is that you went to their athletic events

and their concerts.

What they're going to remember most

is that you led the class

in loud, off-key choruses of "Happy Birthday."

What they're going to remember most is that when they made the newspaper,

you put their newspaper clippings up on the wall in the classroom,

and you told them to autograph them,

and you told them to do that

so that some day when their autographs were worth lots of money,

it would fund your retirement.

(Laughter)

What they're going to remember is that you were transparent,

and that you were real,

and that you had the ability to laugh at yourself

and laugh with them.

So, what's really important?

How do we motivate?

How do we inspire?

Allow kids to involve themselves in the classroom

in student-choice collaboration,

communication,

critical thinking and creativity.

But don't forget that sixth C.

It's probably the most important one

because the greatest of these is love.

Thank you.

(Applause)