Tip#6 - TEACH, don't tell.

"The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself."- Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton

As a writer, I am constantly reminded of the advice SHOW, don't tell.

This refers to writing in a way that paints a picture for your audience, using descriptions and images and the senses, rather than just straight out TELLING your audience how someone feels, or what the atmosphere of a particular place is like. It's all about bringing your reader closer to the characters, the story, and the setting; bringing your reader INTO the writing in order to make the piece more memorable for him or her.

For example, compare these two sentences:
Lucy is scared to open the door.
Lucy's hand shook as she reached for the doorknob.

The first sentence TELLS, while the second SHOWS.
When SHOWING, the reader can come to figure out himself that Lucy is scared, and get a deeper sense of the extent of her fear. Perhaps the description can also make the reader FEEL what the character is feeling. And that's when you just never forget that piece of writing, that book, or that author.

This reminded me of some of my most memorable moments as a teacher and as a student. What has stood out to me the most are the teachers who allowed me to come to my own realizations, to explore a particular topic or question on my own, in order that the learning becomes personal and sticks in my memory.

Instead of giving away particular answers, there are times when teachers can take the opportunity to facilitate the type of learning where students are guided to make their own discoveries.

Does the teacher still have a role if the student is doing the discovering? Yes, of course. In fact, there is an art to doing this, just as there is an art to SHOWING what is happening in a particular piece of writing.

It takes creativity to find ways in which your students can come to find answers themselves. And you are still leading them towards particular answers, but allowing them to do it in their own ways. It also takes patience and a good understanding of the learning process to avoid just spilling out the answer. WE may know the answer as teachers, but how about giving your students a chance to figure it out themselves?

Though particular subjects such as science or literature seem to lend themselves more easily to this type of learning and teaching (because they involve trial and error, or interpretation), it can actually be used in any discipline.

If you are teaching math, see if your students can use objects to discover how to create particular formulae. If you teach dance, allow your students to try out different body movements or even make up their own, within a certain framework of rhythm or space. If you are teaching voice lessons, give your students a chance to play around with different registers to see if they can find out what works for them. If you are teaching literature, get your students to play around with first starting with a character, or first starting with the plot to discover their own framework for short story writing.

This is not a free for all learning session. Teachers still have particular objectives and end results planned for this type of learning. But you just need to have faith and flexibility to allow your students to get to these results themselves. And when they seem stuck, it is your job to find ways to nudge your students in the right direction.

And remember, whatever it is that you are teaching was most probably taught or created by someone who was not afraid to explore, play around and just discover long ago. Why not allow your students to do the same, rather than just feeding them information and facts? You never know what they may come up with! Maybe they themselves will discover a new way to reach a particular answer, and how excited would they be to teach it to you!

Don't get me wrong. I know that this cannot be done all of the time. There are times when giving out facts and clear information, giving out answers is most productive. Just as in writing, there are times when TELLING your audience exactly what you want to say is important. But the trick is to make sure you are using a combination of the the two, because not all teaching involves TELLING. Sometimes, you have to help your students come to their own conclusions so that what they learn will stick with them over time. This way, they can say, "Hey, look what I figured it out," rather than saying "Hey, this is something my teacher TOLD me."

Making the learning your own... As a student, that is so beneficial and memorable. And helping your students see and apply this makes you an inspiring and memorable teacher. More importantly, WHAT you teach is not just the information that you were trying to get across, but also the process of learning- how students can make their own discoveries.

"Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve." - Roger Lewin

Tip#5: Planning Is Important, But So Is Seizing Moments Unplanned

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."- John Lennon

My friends Renee and Steve are in New York right now. It's one of my favourite cities; I've been there a few times. So naturally, when Renee asked me to share some information about Manhattan, I jumped at the chance.

I compiled a bunch of information into one long email and was proud of having put together such an organized list for my friends.

The following day, when I called to say I wanted to add a few other items to the list, Renee said something along the lines of, "Thanks. We'll try to get to some of these, but I also don't want to be overwhelmed by planning everything, and missing out on other things."

I am so glad Renee said what she did. I tell you, everyday a learn something from that girl:) Her words made me stop and remember that part of what made New York so magical and so exciting for me was falling into places and events I didn't even expect or didn't even plan for. Yes, my suggestions might have given them a good start, or some grounding- ideas for places to hit along the way. But just as I met people and stumbled into venues that opened my eyes to a new interest, a new perspective, a new activity in New York, I hope that Renee and Steve stay open to all the opportunities that may come their way, in order to make the trip their own. I think another friend explained it best the first time he visited New York when he said, "I'm going to let the city take me where it will"

As teachers, we can become so obsessed with planning and organizing that we can often forget about the importances of seizing opportunities that come about each day-opportunities unplanned. These unexpected moments may at first seem difficult to manage and even frightening at times. What if a student says something that you're not sure how to address? Or what if a conversation takes a turn you didn't anticipate, or what if the space you were planning to use is suddenly unavailable?

My suggestion is to take these unexpected happenings and turn them into opportunities. Teachers are faced with students of varying personalities, interests and backgrounds. And life is always changing around us.

But looking back, that unpredictability was part of what made teaching so exciting and challenging for me. I looked forward to hearing and seeing what my students would do next, what would happen in the classroom next. Because of this, teaching was never boring. And being open to "letting the plan go" is not the same as being careless and disorganized. Seizing opportunities unplanned does not mean being without goals. In fact, it takes creativity and a skilled teacher to take advantage of the unpredictable circumstances that come his or her way.

I remember a foggy day up in West Vancouver. I was trying to teach a poetry class, but the windows of the classroom seemed to mesmerize my students. They couldn't stop staring at the mist that had gathered outside, and that had seemed to hide the city below. None of the students were listening to my lesson, and all my advanced planning seemed to be going to waste. But then I thought about the objectives I had for that day. I could still teach poetry and get those objectives met, but perhaps I could go about it in a different way, I thought. So I got the whole class to move their chairs close to the windows. We stared outside together for quite some time, and then began discussing what the scene reminded them of, what it made them feel. And soon enough, I began transcribing their ideas onto chart paper. We used metaphors, personification, alliteration... And we ended up with a beautiful poem, written by the class as a whole, and inspired by the scene outside. I still have it and it is one of my best memories of teaching, and one of my best lessons, because I was not scared to step away from the original plan and to see where the new situation would take us.

On another occasion, our classroom was occupied and for a moment, I panicked thinking where was I going to teach my math lesson and how would I do it without the tools I had organized beforehand? As I looked around, I noticed it was a nice day outside, and one of my students had a basketball with him. So I gathered my students in the basketball court outside. We used the hoop to practise making shots, and the students described the fraction of shots taken, scored and missed, and predicted the ratios of future shots. Not only did we cover the math objectives for that lesson, but we all got some fresh air and played a little bball.

My tango instructor Nina also makes use of the situations around her. She often asks us why we are interested in learning the dance. And once I mentioned how it reminded me of poetry- it's expressive and emotional and fluid. After that description, she related various movements in our tango lesson to the idea of phrases and words and sentences in a piece of writing or a poem. This helped to keep my attention, and I was better able to relate the instructions with what I was already familiar, and I felt like my instructor had a genuine interest in me and my learning.

Our tango lessons are held in a fitness gym. And so when this same instructor needed a way to demonstrate how to create a rounded space, a clear connection and frame, she grabbed the exercise balls that were nearby. Each student placed a ball between their upper body and their partners, and we were able to clearly understand how to maintain that frame.

Finding opportunities to use what is around you can even come from something as small as observing what your students are wearing or what your students have brought with them. I used to use these as inspiration for creative writing stories and exercises in the classroom. For example, the red sweater of one student might be used in a descriptive paragraph, and I might have asked my students to write a mystery story based on the necklace of another student.

This ability to seize unexpected, unplanned opportunities, or to make use of what is happening in the moment, what is at your disposal then and there, is very important, especially in teaching.

Don't get me wrong. Plans are fundamental. They set a strong foundation and are necessary to remind us of our goals and keep us focused and directed. But if we are only concerned with sticking to a plan, a list of things we need to say and do, without being open and flexible to allowing the new and unexpected to enter our teaching, we can become closed off to all the wonderful things happening around us. And this can cause us to lose out on opportunities to further involve the students and their real lives in our lessons. If we are more aware of this, we can help further students' understanding and interest, and make the learning much more memorable for them and for ourselves.

Tip #4: Believe in Your Students

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth". - Dan Rather

I remember this one particular student who I taught English to years ago. She was quiet and very shy at school.

But her writing was so fluent and expressive. She would open herself up in her journals, and write so freely. She wrote amazing stories, with imaginative characters, actions and conversations that demonstrated how perceptive she was towards people and emotions.

She often wrote about actresses, and how beautiful she thought they were. She shared how she admired her younger sister for going out on stage and performing in front of large audiences. And she confessed a few times that she wanted to be an actress herself. She had already decided which parts she wanted to play, and what she would wear, and how she longed to be up on a stage too.

But the problem was that this girl barely spoke up in class, she didn't socialize a lot, and no one else seemed to know about these aspirations of hers except for me. I was her English teacher and the only teacher who was taking a look at her journal entries daily.

I think all of us teachers assumed that this girl was uncomfortable speaking out, that perhaps if she was pushed to speak and participate more in skits and reading aloud, that it would be upsetting for her. I remember that when our yearly assembly production was coming up, one of the teachers announced that every student would have a role in the play. "But don't worry," this teacher said to the girl who was always so quiet. "We will give you a small part. We know you won't want a big role."

That moment and those words stand out so clearly to me because of the awkwardness I felt in the situation. Here was this experienced teacher who thought he was doing this girl a favour. He thought he was reassuring her that she wouldn't be pushed into doing something uncomfortable. But here I was, completely new to teaching, knowing that inside, this girl actually did want to learn to overcome that fear and be able to act on stage.

I should have found ways to give this girl a platform, an opening, an outlet to explore this dream she had. I should have told the other teacher about this girl's journal entries so that we could have worked together to help her develop her speaking and performance skills.

But instead, I thought, "Well, I'm a new teacher and these other teachers have been teaching for so long. They must know what they are doing." And I didn't say a thing.

I believed in this student. But what I regret is that I didn't SHOW HER that I believed in her. Maybe I didn't want to put her on the spot, because I knew what it felt like to be a shy and quiet little girl. That was me growing up. But there were people- teachers in particular- who showed me that they believed in me. And that helped me gain confidence and speak up later in my life. I should have done the same for this girl. I think she just needed to see that someone believed in her and her abilities, in order to learn to believe in herself.

I was happy to hear that after the year that I taught her, this student was exposed to teachers who showed her that faith.

Recently, I happen to have run into this same student. She is now a young woman. And when she said she is hoping to become a teacher, I couldn't help but to smile. I also made sure to tell her that I think she would make a great teacher, and that she would be successful in any career she chose. I finally got the chance to tell her that I believe in her. I always did.

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How can you make use of this tip?

• Find out what it is that your students want to learn or gain from your classes, what they are striving for. You can either simply ask them, or LISTEN to them carefully when they voice their concerns or questions. And don't peg them as a particular "type". Because what they may "seem" to be like or to want might be completely different than what they really feel. Sure, one student may seem shy and quiet, but maybe they want help in finding how to be more confident. Perhaps another one of your students always makes jokes and doesn't "seem" to take things seriously. But maybe they are really scared or want someone to show them how to be more mature and confident without hiding behind the jokes.
  
• Next, ask yourself if you believe in your students, if you believe in their ability to learn what you are teaching them, or to achieve their goals and desires.
  -If you hesitate in your answer, ask yourself why.
  -If you do believe in them, are you doing things to show them that you believe in them? - eg. simply telling them you believe in them, giving them opportunities to further develop their skills, allowing them to assist in your class, getting them to lead a group, challenging them with new material, putting time into them, and allowing them to ask questions, and to explore on their own, without you always being the one to tell them how it should be done. Sometimes, allowing someone this freedom is the best way to say I believe in you!
  
  And once you feel someone else's faith in you, it makes it so much easier to believe in yourself.

"Teaching is the essential profession- the one that makes all other professions possible."
-David Haselkorn