There was Tim, a grade 11 student, standing in the spotlight at TEDxOntarioEd with his baseball cap on shielding his eyes from the glare. He spoke about what motivates students who are not succeeding in school. Just a few slides into the 5 minute presentation, which was following academics, teachers, a Hollywood writer, a journalist, and an ultra marathon runner, Tim stumbled. He couldn’t find the words to complete his thought. Empathy swelled within the room. As each second ticked by, the room seemed to mentally reach out to Tim trying to propel him forward past this hurdle. Tim was shaken. He muttered to himself. As I sat on a table in the back of the room I wondered which of 3 options would happen next. Would he walk off stage? Would his teachers, in the audience, bail him out? Would he overcome this adversity and keep going?
Adversity arose at another moment during the evening of presentations. Danika Barker, an innovative secondary English teacher, was about to give her talk. At the moment she stepped forward onto the red dot in the middle of the risers, the powerpoint computer crashed. As the computer began to reboot, the emcee tried to fill time as Danika stood beside the wooden 3D TEDx letters and waited for the powerpoint slides to re-appear on the giant screens. In this moment, as a co-organizer of the event I looked toward the tech team who was working feverishly, part of me wanted to rush over there and help troubleshoot.
Thank goodness I didn’t go over to the tech team and try to impose myself. This would have been extremely arrogant and would have prolonged the glitch. The team would have went from empowered to second guessed. A glitch would have turned into conflict. Faith and confidence would have been shaken. The truth is this team was far smarter than I in this area. My actions would have just sabotaged a great team. We have all experience the erratic behaviour of a crashing computer and this amazing tech team was brilliant as they gracefully corrected the issue.
Thank goodness Tim’s teachers didn’t bail him out. He composed himself and continued. If his teachers had jumped onto the stage, it would have ruined his message. Once again the teacher would have been ‘in charge’ and the student would have been seen as subordinate. That didn’t happen. Tim, as he overcame the adversity, reached to new emotional levels and delivered an empowered plea for educators to understand students who have been labelled ‘at risk’.
This had left me with a few questions for myself:
1) How often, when I am leading, do I jump in and sabotage my team instead of empowering?
2) How often, when I am teaching, do I try to fix my student’s adversity instead of giving them the opportunity to overcome the challenge and become empowered with confidence?
Photo credits:
1) Tim (student) live by Windsordi
2) Danika Barker; Live by Windsordi
3) IMGP2995 by Jamie7
4) IMGP3109 by Jamie7
11/04/2010 at 11:44 pm Permalink
Great post, Ben. TEDxOntario was fantastic – glitches and all. I took part in Winnipeg and we all had a great evening. The ‘problems’ showed many things – that tech isn’t perfect is a given, but the way it was handled was great. From the impromptu story about root canals, to the way Dana held her composure, to the extra video of Alec Couros singing when he ‘broke up’…. and Tim … I think we all felt like we wanted to rush up and help him .. but he recovered and carried on, what courage! It was an event worth attending, even if from a few thousand miles away. And the last two questions you pose – wonderful! Thanks!
12/04/2010 at 6:16 am Permalink
Being quick with the sponge in awkward moments ….trying to be too ‘clean’ … denies all participants the benefit of the essential – the magical epiphanies that only erupt from the process. Like your musings, learning is a wonderfully messy process.
Roger
12/04/2010 at 8:27 am Permalink
I think that part of the successful integration of so many new technologies is learning to relinquish some of the control. How many times has a student asked me how to insert a video into PowerPoint, or to email an attachment? And the worst part? I showed them! My new answer is “show me what you tried first and we’ll go from there”. Instead of simply telling the student, I encourage them to take risks, problem solve, find a way to learn. With technologies changing at lightning speed (and no end of that in sight) we need to teach our students to take risks and problem solve. Something that Roger pointed out above, is messy. When I taught grade 9 and 10 applied mathematics, I used to consider the first three weeks “training”. Training the students how to problem solve and learn through inquiry, and training me to recognize their individual strengths. It takes time and confidence to take risks. So, we spent the first three weeks building confidence and relationships using math as the context. The rest of the course would fly by, none of us afraid of making mistakes or taking risks. I think maybe the same theory could be applied across the board? We can’t possibly predict what we are preparing students for, so lets prepare them to problem solve and take risks in their own learning. Easier said than done!
12/04/2010 at 11:23 am Permalink
Ben-
I can so relate to this post. As a speaker, I can count the number of times on one hand the technology, presentation, equipment has worked smoothly. This struggle with elements beyond my control have made me a better speaker, learner, and all around more empathic and understanding human being.
This is an extraordinary post and a lesson for all to yield. Our best lessons and are power and strength are revealed during turbulent times. Our true test of character is revealed in the moments all things to wrong rather than how we act and behave during times of smooth sailing.
12/04/2010 at 2:33 pm Permalink
It’s all about the teachable moments right? Thanks for a great experience, Ben!