Teacher power, crawdad fun, and lemon bars

ByJohn Brown

Teacher Power

When we find great teachers, we prize them not only because what we learn improves our lives but also because good learning can be one of the most exhilarating things we experience. Unfortunately, a lot of teaching stinks. It’s boring, misguided, useless.

I’ve made a study of teaching. I’ve had to. For almost 20 years I’ve taught and designed courses in the private sector. And for many of those years, my work has been in a revenue-generating department. That means that my classes had better be effective and interesting, otherwise nobody signs up, revenue falls, and a lot of folks will stand around and wonder if it might not be better to just replace me with a potted plant.

I kind of like having a job. And so I’ve tried my best to find the most effective methods for instruction. In the last few decades, education researchers have put many teaching techniques and principles to the test. We know better now than ever before how to structure learning that is effective and interesting. And I have yet to find a better explanation of the proven techniques and principles than Ruth Colvin Clark’s Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement, 3rd Edition. 

Don’t let the “training” part fool you. We often associate “training” with learning procedures and simple tasks, e.g. the State pays for “sex education” in our schools, not “sex training.” But Clark isn’t using the term that way. Clark’s “training” includes all types of learning.

Two things separate Clark from so many others who would offer advice on teaching. First, she bases everything on tested principles and techniques. I’m not talking about tested as in some teacher somewhere tried it and was impressed. I’m talking about scientifically valid testing that controls for variables and shows causation. The methods she describes are practical and proven. Second, she writes clearly enough and uses enough examples so that I can read about the principle and immediately see how I can apply it in my own class.

Among other things, you’ll learn:

  • Why working memory is key to instruction and how to overcome its limits
  • How to motivate learners
  • How to structure learning
  • When to use lecture and when to put learners into action
  • When taking notes can actually be counterproductive

You’ll even learn why assigning lots of practice is NOT always the best way to learn. In fact, sometimes your child will learn more if you do half of their homework questions for them. Sound ridiculous? It’s not. It’s science.

You’ll find that there is no yellow brick road in teaching. Instead, you’ll see that the effectiveness of any method depends on whether it’s suited to the specific situation. And Clark will explain what the key factors in any situation are so you know which methods to apply and the trade-offs you’ll make when you do.

If you’re a teacher in any setting–family, job, church, school, or recreation–or if you’re trying to teach yourself, this book (specifically the 3rd edition) will be a goldmine. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Crawdads & the Bear River Greenway in Evanston

Here’s a recipe for a whole lot of family or date fun. And it costs almost nothing. Drive to Evanston, Wyoming. Make sure you bring a bucket. Pick up a few pieces of fried chicken at Wal-Mart then picnic at the Bear River Pavilion park. It’s the one with the small lake west of Wal-Mart and east of the overpass on 89. Keep your chicken bones.

When you finish eating, attach a length of about four feet of string or yarn to each chicken bone. Weight the bone down with some rocks or washers. You want it to sink deep. Tie a loop for your finger in the end of the string. Then go out to the pier or the cement box on the northwest side of the small lake and drop your bone in.

Wait.

Slowing bring your chicken bone up. You’ll find a crawdad clinging to it, thinking he’s gone to free lunch heaven. Use a net to snag the crawdad. A simple fish aquarium net will do. You can get them at Wal-Mart for a few bucks. Plop crawdad into the bucket. Ooh and aah appropriately. Make sure he’s got some water to swim around in.

Drop your line in again and repeat until you and the kids or dates are bored. We had a bucketful in about twenty minutes. You might want to pick a few of the crustaceans up. Just grab them on the sides just behind the spot where the arms of their big pincers join the body. Wave the crawdad at a selected victim—wife, daughter, girlfriend–for special effects.

When you’re done, dump the critters back into the water. But don’t go home yet. Take a stroll along the greenway that follows the river and enjoy the beautiful sights. If you walk east from the park, you might be able to be at the right spot at the right time to see a train up close as it thunders by.

We just did this with family from Colorado and California and had a great time. Who would have thought Evanston had this gem?

Crocker’s Luscious Lemon Bars

I luv lemon in desserts. I especially love lemon pies, but they take too long to make. Plus you’ve got the meringue to whip up, and half the people hate that stuff anyway. I’ve found lemon bars taste just as good, probably better, and are far easier. Here’s a recipe I just tried and loved. It’s from our Betty Crocker cookbook. Please remember to include the sugar. My sister, bless her heart, attempted it without, and she can verify that, surprise surprise, it just doesn’t taste quite as good.

STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

STEP 2: Make pastry crust.

1.   Combine: 2 C flour, ½ C powdered sugar, 2 T cornstarch, and ¼ t salt

2.   Use pastry blender and cut in ¾ C butter until it mixture resembles coarse crumbs

3.   Press mixture into bottom of greased 13x9x2 inch pan

4.   Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges are golden

STEP 3: While crust is cooking, make filling by stirring together: 4 slightly beaten eggs, 1.5 C granulated sugar, 3 T flour, 1 t lemon peel (optional),  ¾ C lemon juice, ¼ C half-and-half (you can substitute with light cream or milk if needed)

STEP 4: When crust finishes, pour filling over hot crust.

STEP 5: Put it all back into oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until center is set, i.e. it doesn’t jiggle and slosh.

STEP 6: Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

STEP 7: Cut into bars, but DO NOT EAT IT YET! The lemon bars will taste 500% better if you totally chill them in fridge (the chill is the secret, folks). So put that pan in the fridge and wait! It will take a few hours.

STEP 8: When TOTALLY chilled, take out of fridge, sift some powdered sugar over the top, and serve.

Try to refrain from eating half of the pan.

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  • Witchbreaker by Author James Maxey

    ByJohn Brown

    I’m supposed to do this tag thing where one author tells about his or her latest project and then tags other authors to tell about theirs and so on and so on until we turn into some weird internet author borg and eat your brains out. 

    Heck with that.

    I want to simply share something cool with you instead. James Maxey (who tagged me in the borg fest) writes stories with lots of action, fun, and character that also make you think. They always start with a bang and never let up. For example, look at how GREATSHADOW, his last book, starts.

    When Infidel grabbed me by the seat of my pants and charged toward the window, I didn’t protest. Partly this was due to the speed of her action, but mostly due to my inebriation from the sacramental wine we’d stolen.

    If an opening like that isn’t going to make you want to read more, I don’t know what will. Especially when the wine was stolen from a lava-pygmy temple carved into the sheer cliff face of a volcano.  I’m not alone in my appreciation of Maxey’s writing. Orson Card wrote this glowing review of GREATSHADOW earlier this year.

    Here is the opening to Maxey’s “To The East, A Bright Star” which was published in Asimov’s.  It has one of my favorite beginnings.

    There was a shark in the kitchen. The shark wasn’t huge, maybe four feet long, gliding across the linoleum toward the refrigerator. Tony stood motionless in the knee-deep water of the dining room. The Wolfman said that the only sharks that came in this far were bull sharks, which were highly aggressive. Tony leaned forward cautiously and shut the door to the kitchen. He’d known the exact time and date of his death for most of his adult life. With only hours to go, he wasn’t about to let the shark do something ironic.  

    Which brings us to the fact that Maxey has another book out called WITCHBREAKER. That’s such a cool title I wish I could off Maxey and steal it for myself. The book has, as you have seen to the right, a fabulous cover as well. About 5000% better than the horrid thing Solaris put on GREATSHADOW.

    Maxey talks about what inspired WITCHBREAKER in this blog post, which I recommend you read in full. But just in case you’re a lazy son-of-a-gun like me, here’s the meat of the thing. WITCHBREAKER is about a woman named Sorrow. Says Maxey:

    Her father was a judge who hung his own mother after she was accused of being a witch. Sorrow rebelled by becoming a witch herself, but her hatred isn’t directed directly at her father, it’s directed at the religious and political institutions that empowered him. So, Sorrow’s life mission is to overthrow that system. She’s one woman against the world, fighting to make it a better place even though everyone she meets keeps insisting that the world isn’t so bad. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for characters locked into a lifelong battle against forces more powerful than they will ever be.

    Blast that dang Maxey and his character genius. I’m not envious at all. No, sir. Which is why I suggest you give Maxey a go. Maybe you’ll appreciate him as much as thousands of other readers do. Read the first few pages of WITCHBREAKER here with Amazon’s look inside.

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  • Good Stuff! StoryBrand

    ByJohn Brown

    Folks running for office, especially our wonderful citizens running for local county offices, business owners, and any of the rest of us who what to persuade people to listen, I’ve got something for you.

    I will bet that most of you aren’t aware that you’re muddling your message and losing votes, sales, and converts to your causes.

    Of course, maybe you’re way ahead of me. I thought I knew what I was doing. I have a master’s degree in business, spent a few years in business consulting, have created a few small startups, and currently am a product manager for large software company. Despite all of that, I had somehow missed something vital. Something simple and powerful. Something that has a dramatic effect on sales, votes, and converts. On getting people to even listen to what I had to say.

    And I’m not alone. I saw another company struggling with it this weekend.

    On Saturday I went and watched the latest Marvel movie at a theater in Logan. One of the pre-movie video ads was for a local company called Conservice. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars they spent on the ad they played. Or how much they spent on the many other ads we’ve seen over the years. But when it finished, I turned to Nellie and said, “I still don’t know what that company does or why I should care.”

    “I know,” she said. “I know.”

    We were both baffled. After years of seeing their ads, we still have no idea what they do, how it would make our lives better, or what action we should take to use their service.

    They have wasted thousands and thousands of dollars on their marketing.

    There’s another local company that advertises during those pre-movie slots. It’s called ARS. I saw one of their ads this weekend as well. But it only reminded me of what I already know. I know exactly what they do, how it would make my life better, and what action to take.

    If you have a flood, fire, or plumbing backup—whatever—they clean it up. “Got a mess? Call ARS.” That’s their one-liner.

    If I ever have a mess, I will call ARS. I will never call Conservice. I have no idea what they do.

    What’s the difference here?

    Clarity.

    And what generates that clarity?

    A complete focus on the customer. The ARS ads are all about the customer and their problems and needs.

    The Conservice ads, on the other hand, are all about Conservice. We’ve been in business for x years. Here’s what our building looks like. Here’s a worker planting a bush. Blah, blah, blah.

    The ARS ads are all about me, the guy in the theater seat, the thing I want and the problem I have. ARS features me as the hero in my own story. They present themselves as the helper—the Yoda or Gandalf or Haymitch who helps the hero get what they want. You got a mess? We’ll help you.

    The difference in the power of the two ads is night and day.

    Of course this means it’s been verified that I’m a dolt. After all the years in business and education, I should have known this. But the surprising truth is that I’m not alone.

    I look at the marketing we do at the billion-dollar company I work for and see this same issue everywhere. Millions of dollars spent on muddles. I look at company websites on the internet and see more muddles. I recently listened to pitches by many of our local citizens running for office and saw the same thing. It seems this communication muddle afflicts a lot of us.

    About five years ago, when I began investigating an idea for a new company, I came across the Lean Startup method pioneered by a guy at Stanford and began to see the light. But a few months ago, the curtains were completely pulled aside to let in the sunshine. And wow! What a revelation.

    If you want to get people to listen, you have got to hear what Donald Miller has to say. He’s consulted with thousands of companies on how to clarify their message so people will listen. His framework and method make clarifying your message so easy.

    He calls it the StoryBrand framework, and it’s brilliant. What it does is help you clarify your message so that a customer or voter or whoever will know within three seconds:

    1. What you offer
    2. How it will make their life better
    3. And what action they should take if they are interested

    But it goes beyond that. It helps you actually define what you should be offering in the first place. It’s a powerful product development tool. I’ve started using this in all my business efforts. And in my training and presentations.

    For example, I just used it to develop a presentation I delivered at a huge writer’s conference last week. The results were that after the presentation, I had a line of people wanting to thank me. I had people telling me I made them cry. Others wanted to give me a hug. They were grateful. I had people tell me it was the best presentation of the conference.

    This was not because I’m brilliant. I’m a dolt, remember. It’s because I used the StoryBrand framework to focus on those people. Their needs. Their problems. Their aspirations.

    If you’re running for office, if you have a business, if you want to persuade anyone to do anything, then let me recommend you listen to this guy and learn about this framework.

    Get the revelation. Get out of the muddle. And get people to listen.

    And when you’ve finished the Miller stuff above, read How to Write Copy That Sells by Ray Edwards, the guy who has partnered with Miller. It’s all about clarifying your message as well.

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  • Good Stuff! Operation Underground Railroad

    ByJohn Brown

    WeSaveChildrenFromSlavery

    I blogged about this before.

    On February 28th, Operation Underground Railroad freed 20 kids from slavery and brought 5 slavers to justice. They are continually running operations.

    Oskar Schindler didn’t stop the killing of all Jews. But he did what he could. One of the most poignant moments of Schindler’s List was when he pulled out his pen and realized he could have saved someone with his pen. We all have a pen opportunity in front of us. Join me and my family. Become an abolitionist.

    We’ve set up a monthly amount, but even a one-time donation puts you on the team.

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    In this one, Glenn Beck interviews Cliff Graham about the organization. It’s a must-see interview.

    See how you can help.

    JumpTeamImage1-350x175

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  • “Like Diamond Tears From Emerald Eyes” by Eric James Stone

    ByJohn Brown

    Take a runty warrior and a slow-witted wizard who have been contracted by a veiled bride willing to pay diamonds to anyone who would fetch an oh so precious box from the castle of a dead wizard. A castle from which no adventurers have returned. Well, except for Thogar the Mighty. Of course, he’s now Thogar the One-Armed Madman. But let’s not quibble.

    At first blush you might think, whopee, another fantasy quest. But this isn’t another quest. This is an Eric James Stone quest, and it’s full of surprises.

    I was fortunate enough to hear Stone read his story at CONduit this May. He takes his listener on a ride full of humor and adventure. Then, if you’re like me, he will make your heart lurch. I loved this story down to the last line which is pure poetry.

    You can find it in issue 13 of Orson Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.

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  • Good Stuff: Poldark, Monk, and the cure for dragon feet

    ByJohn Brown

    For all of you longing for just one more season of Downton Abbey, I’ve found a new series from the BBC I think you’ll enjoy (thank you Duane Robinson for the recommendation).

    It’s called Poldark and is set in the late 1700s in Cornwall, that little southwestern leg of England that juts out into the Atlantic. The dark-haired and handsome Ross Poldark returns to England after having fought in the American War of Independence and finds that his father has died, and he’s inherited the estate. Except the estate is in ruins.

    The house, which is a long way from being anything grand, is a mess and being inhabited by the deceased father’s last two servants. A man and a wife who are equal parts louts and lushes. The land isn’t producing. The mine is closed. And Poldark has very little money.

    By the way, when we think of British aristocracy, we most often think of dances and fine clothing and large tracts of lands. We seldom think of mines. But Cornwall has been mining tin for a very long time, and so were its lords. In fact, Cornwall was known outside of the Isles anciently, and some historians suggest that Cornwall was probably selling tin to the seafaring Greeks and Phoenicians many hundreds of years B.C.

    So our young and handsome lord has come home to a mess and very little money. But he immediately sets about trying to repair things. And what unfolds is a wonderful story with love, action, humor, injustice, and villains plotting Poldark’s downfall.

    We loved Downton in part for the refinement and high society (and Lady Grantham’s hilarious one-liners). However, Poldark isn’t about the top of the aristocracy. It’s about a man almost at the bottom. And many of those of the lower class who are his friends. There’s a refreshing earthiness about it even while you still have scenes of the high society and all that goes with it.

    We just finished the first season and are hooked. In fact, I stood up and cheered at the end of the last episode we watched. So if you love English historicals, you’re going to enjoy Polkdark.

    *

    The humorous detective series Monk debuted in 2002 and ran for eight seasons. It was a huge hit. But because I’m a cave dweller I didn’t get to it until now. But, boy, I’m happy I did.

    If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re in for a treat. Monk is one of those brilliant detectives like Patrick Jane in The Mentalist or Sherlock Holmes who sees all sorts of details that so many others miss. But unlike those guys, Monk has obsessive-compulsive disorder plus a number of phobias.

    And so he can’t just walk in and stun everyone with his brilliance because at any moment he might get sidetracked straightening pictures or moving lamps or trying to avoid germs. In one funny scene he’s being chased on foot by someone intent on killing him, and he can’t help but touch the poles as he runs by. However, he’s not all helpless because he’s hired a female nurse, Sharona Fleming, to help him. And the interaction between the two of them adds another enjoyable dimension.

    And so you get to experience all the awe of watching someone like Sherlock solve crimes plus laugh along the way. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud during a number of episodes.

    If you like The Mentalist, Elementary, or Psych, I think you’ll really enjoy Monk.

    *

    This last review is for all of you who have dragon feet.

    That’s what I had until two months ago. Dry dragon feet. So dry and with such sharp and jagged calluses that I regularly wore the area on my sheets around my feet to shreds. Nellie’s side of the sheets were nice and smooth. My side, after a year or two, looked like the dog had attacked it.

    The calluses were so bad I periodically sanded them off with 400 grit sandpaper.

    I also got stress cracks in the winter, which I tried to heal with band-aides and Neosporin. And that worked a decade ago. But the stress cracks were just getting more frequent and longer-lasting. This last winter I had three that stayed for weeks and weeks.

    And so when I went into my dermatologist for my annual skin cancer check, I asked him if there was anything to be done. He said, “Get CeraVe cream with SA, salicylic acid. It has to have SA.”


    After the appointment, I promptly drove to Walmart and walked down to the cosmetic aisle and purchased a little tub of CeraVe Renewing SA Cream. And I began to use it that night, putting socks on after I applied it. I applied it every morning and night.

    And, miracle of miracles, a few weeks later my feet were normal human feet again. The calluses were gone. The stress cracks gone. The pain gone. My sheets love me. My wife loves me. I’m saving money on sand paper.

    Folks, if you have dragon feet and want to be human again, let me suggest CeraVe with SA.

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11 Comments

  1. Sounds like that book would be a really big help for a lot of teachers out there. I’ve had way too many classes that assign hours and hours of busy work on a daily basis–instead of actually learning the material, I just learned how to get through homework more quickly. =P
    And I’ve found out that in classes that try to cover like three days’ worth of material in one day (which is not so uncommon in college), it really is better to just not take notes, because there’s no time for my brain to process the information at all if I’m never lifting my pencil from my paper for an hour.

  3. I’m not a teacher or instructor of any kind, but I’ve been to a few seminars, and I’ve heard of or known lots of others who are teachers. It seems like a lot them focus on either the left brain/right brain dichotomy or the visual/auditory/kinesthetic distinction. Does Clark address those issues at all? I’m curious because it’s my only frame of reference.

  4. Well, the left brain right brain business has been shown to be not so accurate. Here is a recent article with some summary and a great interview by Radio West.

    http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html

    http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain/article/184/0/1685545/RadioWest.(M-F..11AM..and..7PM)/8910.The.Creativity.Crisis

    The visual/auditory/kinesthetic stuff also has very little basis that I’ve been able to find, and I’ve read, taken classes, and tried to implement a lot of it. I don’t know of any studies that show how to test people for their “learning mode” and then use techniques that actually demonstrate statistically valid improvements in learning over control groups. I’ve concluded it’s yet more teaching folklore. Ideas with no real scientific evidence.

    What has been shown to benefit learners, and what Clark details, is managing visual and auditory working memory channels so they’re not overloaded and so they complement each other. We also know that aerobic exercise and short breaks with some activity seem to increase learning. But I haven’t seen any studies to suggest it’s only for people of a certain measurable type. It’s useful for everyone. Active projects can help all sorts of people encode what’s in working memory.

    There’s a whole body of research and testing of what is required for expertise in a specific domain. And Clark puts a lot of it in her book. It’s not the only book I’d recommend, but it’s a great one.

  5. I swear I’ve asked this before, but can’t find the answer.

    John, when the devil is your next book coming out? Honestly, there are a lot of series that I’ve started, but the one I’m interested in continuing is yours.

  6. Well, to my chagrin the date was this October. Then I slipped the schedule and we went to January, 2011. But the revisions for CURSE ended up rippling out through the whole book. They were massive and took far longer than I expected. So Hartwell decided to let the date float until we had a manuscript we agreed on. I just, I’m taking two seconds ago, finished draft 3. I’m going to email it to my agent here after my wife reads the two versions of the first chapter I have. Then it’s off to Tor. I hope we have a date set in a few weeks. I’m so sorry for not getting it out more quickly. But the story had to be my best.

  7. WHAT! WHAT!? WHAT?!!!!???? YOU OWE US A BOOK YOU DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL! YOU OWE IT TO US!!! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!! CLEARLY YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT US!!!! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS MILKING YOUR FRANCHISE AS LONG AS YOU CAN!!!

    Okay, totally kidding. I just wanted to give you a taste of what it will be like in several years when you’re huge and totally living off of your books in much the same way that Stephen King currently does. And you miss a deadline. And all your rabid fans turn even more rabid, like the fluffy white rabbit with very long fangs in a well-known Monty Pithon movie.

    It’s all good. I guess I’ll have to settle for Ken Scholes’ new book. Not that that’s bad. It’s a pretty good series. You know, it’s just not . . . John D. Brown.

  8. Hezekiah, thanks. Your comment made my day. Of course you have Brandon’s twelve gazillion pager coming out in just a week. That should keep you busy 🙂

  9. Honestly, I don’t think that I’m going to read that. Not any time soon. I’ll probably pick it up just so I can have a numbered copy, and to boost his numbers for the first week, but I don’t think I’ll read it, yet. I don’t have the stomach for a 10-books series that won’t be completed for 10+ years.

    Plenty of other books to read in the meantime.

  10. That’s true. It’s going to be a looooooong journey. But I expect it to be a good one.

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