WEEK 13 *N*A*C*H*A*S*

I noticed a quote on a sheet of paper in class yesterday.

It read, "What I teach to another, I master." -Mel Silberman

(Psychologist and Author of Active Learning Strategies.)



((-Sidenote:  On the website: http://www.activetraining.com/, it announced that sadly, Mr. Silberman passed away in 2010 from lung cancer.  For 13 years, Silberman lived with stage IV lung cancer. 

During those 13 years, he never missed a class at Temple University where he taught :) 

"It was his *~L~O~V~E~* of family, community, and his work that, our family, believes helped him survive and live life to the fullest."
For thousands of years, people have known how the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else. This is ancient wisdom:

"What I hear, I forget
What I see, I remember

What I do, I understand."
(Confucius, Chinese Philosopher)

"While we teach, we learn."   (Seneca, Roman philosopher)

I've also heard the saying that we LEARN 95% by what we TEACH someone else. 

You know when I heard this, at first, it didn't make any sense to me. But I was intriqued to make sense of it.  I asked myself, "What does all this really mean?" 

So, this prolific concept motivated me to do some research of my own.  My research led me to this article in Time magazine by Annie Murphy Paul:  *The Protégé Effect*:  Why Teaching Someone Else, Is The Best Way To Learn (November 30, 2011). 

What is the The Protégé Effect?The Protégé Effect is best explained by saying that student-teachers work harder to understand, recall and apply material more effectively because they are teaching it to someone else.  According to this article, the student-teachers score higher on tests than students who are learning only for their own sake. 

So true!  When I was preparing and researching for my lessons, I discovered that I was:
1) Organizing knowledge and 2) Improving my own understanding. I wanted to master the material.  How could I teach a concept I didn't fully comprehend myself?  I am confident that the majority of "teaching jitters" are due to a lack of not mastering the material or skills needed to pass along to students.  If we get this down, teaching can be a lot less stressful!  This reminds me of the parallels of public speaking jitters.  The initial fear isn't necessarily speaking in front of an audience...the fear stems from not being prepared or knowing what the heck it is we are talking about!

According to Paul, there are also *social*impulses* that make learning-by-teaching so desirable.  Student-teachers are motivated* to help students master material, therefore they study it more conscientiously. 

Finally, above all else, their are *emotions* elicited by teaching which also makes teaching a compelling channel for learning.  When students succeed, an expert labels this feeling with the Yiddish term,
*N*A*C*H*A*S: "Pride and satisfaction that is derived from someone else's accomplishment."