I heard a story this week I thought was worth passing on. Not
only did it have a good message, but for teachers who often use stories in
their classrooms it also had two important lessons.
First, the story. Thanks to Tod Smith at Deloitte for
telling it.
A very, very old woman looks in the mirror. She’s almost
completely bald except for 3 strands of gray hair. As she looks at herself, she
wonders what hairstyle to wear. Eying her three strands, she decides that a braid works best.
She weaves the strands together and happily starts her day.
The next day as she looks in the mirror, two strands of hair
are left. In considering her hairstyle, she decides that pigtails are best. She
arranges her hair and starts her day.
The next day when she wakes and looks in the mirror she sees
just one strand of hair. The decision on her hairstyle is quick: Ponytail, she
says to herself, smiles and starts her day.
The next day, her final strand of hair is gone. She’s
completely bald. As she looks in the mirror she grins. How much simpler her
morning will be now, she says to herself, now that she won’t have to fuss over
her hairstyle. She smiles and starts her day.
The moral of the story is that attitude is everything. If
you approach your day with the right attitude – optimistically, with acceptance
and positive energy – it makes all the difference in your life.
When I heard this story, I liked it for two reasons. First, it
was well-told, well-placed and brief. Second, it characterizes the approach to
learning in the classroom that I think great teachers must have.
Storytelling
Telling stories is a tremendous tool for learning. Stories are
memorable. We not only remember the words of a story, but also we remember how we
feel about the story. As a result, our brain gives us two ways to recall stories. As humans and learners, we are
hard-wired for stories.
Stories are wonderful ways to encapsulate a key point. But to be effective, they
need to not only be well-told and well-placed in a class, but they also need to be
short. Hearing this story the other day took about 2 minutes, which is a great
length.
Nothing kills a story more than length. If you want to be
sure to lose your audience, provide a lot of unnecessary details and draw out
your story. As time ticks, listeners’ minds wander.
Be merciful. Be effective. Be brief. Get to the point, make
it and move on.
Optimism, Acceptance, Positive Attitude
Hearing this story reminds me that to be effective in the
classroom, teachers need to bring optimism and positive energy. I design,
develop and deliver learning for a living. The teachers I want teaching my
classes bring an attitude of optimism, and they set a positive tone.
This tone is infectious for the students. They want to
learn. They feed off the teacher’s energy.
Great teachers take what each class gives them, like the old
lady accepted her day. They approach the task of teaching ahead with a smile
and positive energy, just like the old lady approached her day.
So, the next time you are a student, look for that optimism
in your teacher. If you don’t get
it then provide that feedback. For teachers, the next time you teach, think about
the attitude you project to the class. It is positive?
Make a deliberate decision to be positive and it will pay
off.
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