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I’ve been going to a hot yoga class for two years now. As I move from one pose to another, the instructor keeps talking about moving with grace, about pushing to the point where strength and breath meet. Typically there are thirty or more folks in this class of all ages, fitness levels, and sizes. Some are there for the very first time; others exude a level of flexibility and power that make me feel like I am the remedial one in the class. Yet the instructor treats everyone with kindness and respect. He learns each student’s name before the end of the first class and he genuinely thanks everyone for sharing the time and space with him on their mats.
Right in the middle of the Warrior II pose, an insight smacked me in the face. How many times had he taught this class? It is the same basic 26 poses each time. So why wasn’t he bored already? Think about it, as a classroom teacher we may teach the same course or grade level several times a day and/or for multiple years. We grow weary teaching the same topic, the same skill set over and over again; annoyed by the students who aren’t making progress, the constant interruptions, the ticking of the clock. I look at him from across the room as he is calmly explaining the next pose, the mechanics, the feel, the breath. I was determined to find out his secret after class.
“So, can I ask you something,” I said.
“Happy to help.”
“How many times have you taught that class?”
He thought for a moment. “I guess thousands.”
“Well…” I hesitated due to embarrassment because I was going to say a very un-Zen like question. “How do you stay present as an instructor in the class?”
He smiled as if he understood. “I stay present to what the students are doing. Because people walk in and what they need is different every day. I am always trying to focus on how I am communicating and how they are receiving. And that is always fresh – people’s needs, abilities, and temperaments are constantly changing.”
“Really?” I said. I looked incredulous. “But the poses never change! How do you avoid being mechanical? Do you ever get tired of it?”
“The content doesn’t change, but I am more intrigued about what the students are doing than the content itself. I would never rush the poses to get through them. It is about the quality of the practice, not completing all of the poses. I stay connected to the students in my class and that (what?) only lives in the present moment.”
We spoke for a few more minutes and then I went to my car, opened the front door and sat in silence. He did in his yoga studio what all great teachers should do in their classrooms.
1. Teach the basic sequence (or skill set, procedure, strategy, structure) first, and then remind students to stay in the moment so they can get the most benefit out of their practice.
2. Once students have familiarity with the basics, show how to increase their sophistication, power and flexibility (power of deliberate practice where students need to focus on what they have difficulty with and do that over and over again).
3. Demonstrate that every student in the class believes that you are there to guide him by explaining the material in different ways and observing what the student does with that information.
4. Regularly provide students with feedback and immediate opportunities for adjustment.
When you are explaining the same basic set of directions, theorem, principle or skill for the umpteenth time, perhaps this may be a touchstone for you. Energy in your work does not come from covering the content, but rather from how the students are using the content to make connections, apply their learning, and hone their skills. We need to design tasks so we can be free to move around the room, asking them to explain their thinking, probing them with interesting questions that will take their work to the next level, and praising them for their effort, not their intelligence. That is where structures from ancient times (Socratic Seminar) to contemporary technology usage (“flipped classroom,” 1-to 1 laptops) create natural avenues for the students to create meaning for themselves.
I don’t have any great ambitions to be the greatest yoga student, but I do have a growing understanding of the discipline of yoga and its value. Isn’t that what we want for our students, whatever subject area we teach? That’s why I practice on my mat each week, looking for balance, breath, strength, and calm. That’s why I am committed to sharing with you each week the tasks, texts, ideas and experiences that continue to inspire me since writing Breaking Free from Myths about Teaching and Learning (ASCD, 2010). That’s why I hope you will join me in our discussions about powerful learning for our students and ourselves.
For more information and ideas, check out my latest book: Breaking Free from Myths about Teaching and Learning (2010)