Culture Eats Structure For Breakfast

"Listen to politicians now, with their comprehensive 12-point plans. They're not inspiring anybody. Because there are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them."

How not to coach the flip

When I first experimented with digital lesson's in the lab (literally computer lab), I was shocked by my student's response.  "Boring", "no interaction", and a nearly uniform desire to continue with lecture.  They even complained that they needed a teacher standing over them so that they would stay focused.

It is important to note that I am kind of a whack job in the way I run my class so relative to most teachers, there is an entertainment/interest factor associated with "what is he gonna do next?". I would like to recognize that this does not translate to better learning, as much as it makes them more willing to sit through lecture.

Anther unexpected mistake was that I waited until the end of the year to experiment with it.  Student's had learned the system and were comfortable with it, even if it meant accepting a lower grade then they would have expected of themselves.

Comfort is a powerful draw...sad face.

On top of all of this, my most glaring error was articulating my intentions with structural rational predictably following the what, how and very little on the "why", which is a trademark of uninspiring leadership everywhere.

Culture Eats Structure for Breakfast

I have changed very little in my videos, curriculum, and website design.  Before I started the flip, I obsessed over creating a course that students could self navigate.  Criterion referenced so that students had incentive to revisit old material.  The structure was ready for the flip, so why was my initial experiment meet with a luke warm response?  Because culture eats structure for breakfast, at times I have tried to replicate what other people do in their classrooms, things that don't appear to be terribly complex. When my results fall short it is not for lack of execution or experience, but the lack of cultural leadership that usually lead me to say things like, "well that doesn't work with my students".


This summer, I spend 18 min listening to this TED video during a morning run, the first 8 min was all I needed.


Leading with the "WHY"

Combing my experience last year with ideas from this video I made the following move.

First:  Do business as usual for the first unit.  Students are very effectively primed to experiment with school after they have gone through the pain of sitting through lecture and not understanding content while the class keeps moving, or sitting through example after example when the message was clear to you the first time.  My first unit is very rigorous, possibly the most difficult of the semester, so most students are below where they would like to be and therefore more open to change.

Second:  I carved out time for them to make a case for what works and what doesn't.  We used todaysmeet.com to have a quick informal conversation around two questions.  How much time does (during a given class period) does a teacher spend addressing your questions?  How much time does a teacher spend talking to everyone?  The results are predictable.

After this brief interlude from business as usual, my students were ready for the "why", ready for it to be something they could b a part of, that would meet their interest.  The entire pitch needed to be about them, how this is for them, and how this will solve more problems (and there will be problems) than it creates.

The Pitch...I made a recording of the conversation I lead (minus the student interaction) to provide some talking points you might consider.

The results were a complete shift in my students initial attitude toward the process.  They see it for what it is, an experiment to solve a problem that is important to them.  I continue to be honest with them about the challenges and regularly invite their feedback.  They are part of the process, it is 100% for them and they know that it is experimental in nature and expect problems to come up.  It's less about if they like it or not, and more about inquiry to see if it works.