SWENSDAY STUFF

Teachers Must Become Like Little Children
Swen Nater

I have a piano. I play a little but I can’t read sheet music. Mostly, I play in the key of C (white keys) but I’m trying to branch out into keys that require sharps and flats (black keys). The sounds of the many available cords are wonderful. There are 7th, 6th, minor, major, and an almost endless supply after that, each with its unique, amazing, sound.

I have a grandson. He’s almost eight-months old. He has discovered he can use his hands to make things happen. He can turn pages in a book, pick up a golf ball, hold his Tigger and hug him, and, although he hasn’t learned how to tip his bottle up high enough so the formula can go downhill, he can hold it. Sometimes, when I put my face close enough to him, he gently feels my skin. Of course, once in a while, he squeezes my nose real hard. He hasn’t yet learned how sensitive grandpa’s nose is.

When he was about four months old, I put him on my lap and sat down at the piano with him. I made sure he was far enough away so he couldn’t reach the keys. I showed him that, when I pushed the keys down, they made sounds. I even played our favorite song, “Hush Little Baby,” something I play on the guitar for him almost every day. At first when I demonstrated, he just watched. I could tell how interested he was because his lips would pucker up and he became very still, something he does when he’s concentrating.

But it wasn’t long until he wanted to do what grandpa did. I could tell he wanted to get down to the piano when he began leaning forward and reaching for the keys after I played a little. So with him on my lap, I brought him close to the piano, took one of his hands, and we pushed down some keys. It made a sound but at that point, I’m not sure he realized he made it happen. In time, he learned that it was him. Once he did, it was all over. Have you ever seen a little child bang on the piano? It’s noisy but it’s awesome. It’s awesome because you can actually see someone learning right in front of your eyes.

Piano is not the only thing he’s working on. Whatever he sees his mother (my daughter) and I do, he tries. He’s learning how to strum guitar strings, eat out of a spoon, bounce, and a lot more. This little guy just watches and tries. To him, life is about learning.  

How does he learn?
1. He is curious and observant. He watches everything we do and he doesn’t seem to miss a thing. It’s almost as if he believes, whatever we do, he should be a part of. He might be busy with his Tigger, but his ears are tuned for anything that sounds interesting.  
2. He copies what we do. When he’s in his bouncer, I stand close by and jump in the air several times (Can’t jump like I used to. I’ve got split-second hang time.). When I jump, I say, “Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.” When I stop, he gets a big smile on his face, gets that puckered face going, and then bounces too. When he stops, we do it again. He loves to try and he’s not afraid to do so. In fact, if he fails, he keeps trying, perhaps a different way, but he keeps trying none the less.
3. He listens more than he speaks. Although that kid has a set of lungs on him, he doesn’t use them as much as he listens. For example, if, when he’s banging on the keys, I start playing Figaro on the high notes, he stops and listens. When I stop, he moves over and tries to do exactly what I did.
4. He has an excitement for new things. The first time he banged on the keys and realized he was the one responsible for the sounds coming out of the piano, he got the biggest smile on his face. It was an awful sound because he hit about five keys that were right next to each other. He didn’t care though. He made a sound and that was all that mattered. But I guess he wanted to make sure so he banged on the keys again and again and again. “Yup! That was me alright.”

Children are natural learners. We see them in action everywhere we take them; home, park, grocery store, mall, school. Let’s talk about those schools for a minute. I have found, the best schools always have one thing in common: A “learning community” for teachers is in place, active, and growing. Schools where there is a culture of accelerated, collaborative, and focused teacher learning—where subject knowledge is deepened and teaching skills learned and sharpened—always have accelerated student learning as well. It’s always true. You’ll always find the second when the first is present. In fact it’s safe to say, in any given school, the more teachers are learning, the more students are learning.  

It takes leadership to make that happen, leadership that will convince, even the teacher that is the most resistant or stuck in his or her ways, there is a lot to learn if you want to be the best teacher you can be. As Coach Wooden said, “When you’re through learning, you’re through.” He also said, “It’s what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.”

If you’re a teacher and you want to make the effort to become the best you can be, what do you do? You know the answer. You get your leadership to create and fully-support a collaborative and serious teacher learning program. But it won’t work unless you do one thing first. You must first become like a child. You must first become like my grandson. Become curious and observant, copy what the great teachers are doing and don’t be afraid to try, listen to ideas more than share your own, and show an excitement for learning new things. If you do, your class will be filled with children, and you’ll be one of them. Everyone will be learning, all the time. In fact, you could be learning more than the students. I think that’s the way it should be. Don’t let those little kids catch up with you.

That reminds me; I’ve got to get back to the piano and practice in the keys that require sharps and flats. My grandson is already ahead of me. He’s been banging on those black keys for weeks.