On The Fly

Evaluating diamond rough in South Africa “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I was reminded of this quote recently while teaching a diamond grading class in Seattle. The teacher is the student in you. As educators, we tend to forget what it’s like to be a beginner. You tend to take for granted things you do by habit. You explain things based on your level of knowledge and understanding, rather than on the student’s level of mental preparedness. People selectively hear what they’re ready to hear when their experience, confidence, and skill balance. I call this selective absorption. Learning  a new skill can be a struggle. Facts, figures, and formulas, set up mental roadblocks for students who think they must memorize these things to understand the concepts. It’s not always true that memorization leads to understanding. Students learn best when the instructor challenges them to teach themselves.  That requires drawing out what they know...

Photo by; Patrick B. Ball Transport yourself to a simpler time—the late 18th century. It’s spring. Stop for a moment and listen. With a palm to your ear, can you hear the birdsong? As you stroll the gardens, feel the lush lawn  beneath  your feet, smell the fresh mountain air at Monticello , Thomas Jefferson's retreat in Charlottesville, Virginia. On this beautiful spring morning, we begin with a tour of Jefferson's home. Our docent, dressed in period attire, is a knowledgeable guide and polished presenter. He begins with the story of how Jefferson welcomed his guests in this very entrance hall . As we make our way through the house, it strikes me that the adults in our tour don’t ask questions. Later that morning, I slip into a group of third-graders. With small hands and arms flailing, the kids barrage the docent: “Did they brush their teeth?” “Why is there dirt here?” “How did they wind the clock ?” Questions that adults perhaps considered but were too embarrasse...

Earl Nightingale “We become what we think about.” I must have been about nine when that  quote  first entered my  subconscious , growing up in Cuba, Illinois. My family’s morning breakfast routine was to listen to the local radio station: “WBYS - AM and FM—Canton, Illinois.” That jingle vividly echoes in my mind. Little did I know that Earl Nightingale’s daily five-minute program, “Our Changing World,” would have such a profound impact on me. His deep, resonant voice could captivate the imagination. The program first aired in 1959, then continued for five minutes a day, five days a week for more than 40 years. Heard on more than a thousand radio stations, it was the most widely syndicated program of its time. Almost 50 years later I still start my day with this positive daily routine, set aside time just to listen and think. Enjoy music, audio-books, or podcasts that make your heart sing. For me, it’s “The Strangest Secret for Succeeding in t...

An incredible convergence of technology and human ingenuity was achieved as Commander Neil Armstrong and Colonel Buzz Aldrin stepped cautiously down the ladder of the lunar module Eagle and onto the moon’s surface. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” came Armstrong’s crackled transmission from the moon's surface. That sentence would resonate with millions on Earth for years to come. It was July 21, 1969, when I was 13 years old, watching a fuzzy black and white television transmission with fascination and anticipation; the space program held me captive. As an avid science fiction reader, I know this was not fiction - but mankind’s greatest achievement. That memory was rekindled over four decades later while clattering along the rails in a passenger train from Kansas City to Galesburg, Illinois, recently, while listening to Buzz Aldrin’s audiobook version, Magnificent Desolation, retelling the story in detail. I was transported back in time...

Would your friends describe you as open minded and curious? The very foundation of being an effective educator is curiosity. We must constantly search for innovative ways to present subject matter to our students. Curiosità is the first of the seven principles in the book How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael Gelb. Curiosità is defined as “an insatiably curious approach and an unrelenting quest for curious learning.” Would you like to try a proven approach to inspiring yourself and your students to think in new directions? Let Michael Gelb introduce you to Leonardo da Vinci’s seven principles: • Curiosità — curiosity • Dimostrazione — demonstration • Sensazione — sensation, being sharp • Sfumato — embracing change • Arte/Scienza — balance art and science • Corporalita — body and mind fitness • Connessione — find connections Among the fundamental shifts in thinking that Gelb presents is this: You can teach your students to increase their problem-solvi...