Remember, when you want to teach something, always end on a
positive.


Gene Kearns wrote:
I don't necessarily disagree... it would be great if we could all have
that happy feeling all the time, but neither life nor education
assures this outcome.

My point is that if a student shows up totally unprepared, the student
hasn't got their head wrapped around the lesson, yet.

So why don't you just chop his head off and let that be a
lesson for the next student?

.... When my students
show up for shop class with flip-flops, no safety glasses, no ramp
badge, no tools,etc..... the lesson is over before it starts and they
get a chance to go home or do whatever it takes to be ready for class.
Maybe not a positive note, but a learning experience nevertheless.
IMHO, the first lesson is the one about being prepared to learn.


Agreed, and I also have a distaste for the kind of
self-esteem-boosting molly-coddling that seems to take the
place of education in many classes. But the student is
there, why not teach him *something*? And why not leave him
more interested in the subject instead of less, and why not
leave him more motivated instead of less? You catch more
flies with honey than vinegar... besides there should be a
reason why you're the teacher...



If the kid shows up for a boating lesson and hasn't got appropriate
eyewear, credentials, etc. he/she just isn't ready for that lesson....
their mind isn't on the subject.

Agreed. So would it not make sense to say "Well we can't go
out on the boat and give you a hands-on lesson in how to be
a captain, but so that you'll have more background knowledge
of the boat, draw a diagram of the vessel & it's major
operating parts. Label everything with the apporpriate
nautical & engineering terms." Then give him a grade on the
diagram.


.... It would be better for them to come
back when they are receptive to learning....

I disagree... it would be better to help them be more
motivated, to reward whatever positive impulses they have
brought into the picture, and to give them some idea about
just exactly how much there is to learn (thereby subtly
impressing them with the vast gulf between Student & Teacher).


..... Learning is not a
spectator sport.

I like that slogan!

But part of my point is that it's also not a spectator sport
for the teacher.

The old time samurai masters would simply chop the heads off
their failing students. We don't have that luxury today, but
we do have a lot of behavioral psychology tools (mostly just
a formalized & systematized set of rules drawn from common
sense) that work very well.

Regards
Doug King