Know Idea

Dennis Hopper reads Rudyard Kipling’s “If” on The Johnny Cash Show. http://youtu.be/xlfnm9gV52w

Interesting discussion about choice especially for schools that offer a student-centric education.

Facebook is a digital Harkness table. http://www.knowideainc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=105

James Schafer: 2010 Montgomery County (MD) Teacher of the Year

With their presentation finished Thursday and the questions from their fellow students answered, four Montgomery Blair High School thermodynamics students turned their nervous attention to their teacher, James Schafer, sitting silently, arms-folded on the side of the classroom.

“First slide please,” Schafer announced. A chorus of “oohs” was provided by the class. “This is the good part,” one student whispered to another.

Slide-by-slide, Schafer evaluated the students’ presentation, a detailed, room-by-room design of an energy-efficient house. His evaluation was at once precise, intimidating and systematic, yet sarcastic, colloquial and endearing.

“What are the benefits of LED lights?” Schafer asked. Next slide. “Light-dimmers don’t save energy, they just adjust light.” Next slide. “That’s a pretty good breakdown in costs because it’s comparable to the neighborhood where you are trying to build.” Next slide. “What’s up with that faucet?” he asked, referring to a water-conservation faucet activated by foot pedals, as giggles smattered around the classroom.

The student presenters answered some questions confidently and others sheepishly; their audience responded with both serious feedback and joking catcalls.

“It’s not like other teachers where critiques are formal,” said Blair senior Eric Wan, one of the classroom presenters. “… But it’s a thorough breakdown that we have to go through. Some people like it, some people don’t.”

The balance in the classroom environment — between a college-style seminar befitting of the advanced thermodynamics curriculum and after-school hangout befitting of the camaraderie that comes with being in the smart-kid classes — is what has endeared Schafer to students. It also has won him this year’s Montgomery County Teacher of the Year award, announced earlier this month and sponsored by the Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education.

Schafer teaches thermodynamics, quantum physics, mathematical physics and freshman pre-calculus in Blair’s prestigious, 400-student Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Magnet Program, which draws students from around the county to study an advanced curriculum. His students averaged 4.8 out of a possible score of 5 on the Advanced Placement Physics exam last year.

If Schafer sometimes acts as if he is his students’ peer — at 30 years old with boyish features he looks younger than some of his students — it’s because he sometimes feels like one.

“One of the things I realized within 30 minutes of my first class is that I wasn’t the smartest person in the room,” Schafer of Rockville said Thursday. “I just happened to know more things.”

When he arrived at Blair eight years ago, fresh out of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., Schafer never had taught a class. He had earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and applied math, and was planning on becoming an engineer. But when the principal at the school where his mother taught suggested he get into teaching, he thought he’d give it a try.

“The first week I was hooked,” Schafer said.

He took education courses part-time to earn his teaching certification and found his naïveté in the teaching world an advantage. Because he had a strong foundation of knowledge in physics and math, he could teach upper-level high school courses at a young age.

But without formal training in education, his style was unorthodox — his classes are more of an ongoing conversation with his students rather than a teacher lecturing.

“I can’t remember the last time I called on someone who had their hand raised,” Schafer said.

Schafer is firm in his teaching style but adapts that style to his students. His freshman pre-calculus class is loose and casual but faster-paced, giving students less of a chance to deter the class. As the freshmen students tackle more remedial assignments — relative to thermodynamics, at least — Schafer is sillier, using more shtick and catchphrases. Instead of “Step one” or “Step two” it’s “Step next.” Activities aren’t measured on a “scale from one to 10,” it’s a scale from “one to awesome.”

“There are a lot of good teachers, but what makes a teacher stand out is how they relate with students,” said Peter Ostrander, the director of Blair’s magnet program. “He brings every student to the same level.”

Schafer’s classroom is adorned with banners from his students congratulating him on his award. He returns the favor with a prominent display of trophies his students have won. Schafer is the coach of Blair’s successful It’s Academic quiz-bowl team, a role that suits his fast-paced personality and his self-proclamation as “the most competitive person you will ever meet.”

When he began as head coach four years ago, he told the team they could do better.

“They said, ‘We want to have fun,’” Schafer recalled. “I said, ‘That’s fine, but the best way to have fun is to win.’”

As soon as the 17 team members arrive for practice Thursday, they immediately hook up their practice buzzers, sit down in a cluster and begin rifling through an enormous packet of trivia questions.

On the first page of the packet there is a question about geography in India, followed by one about late rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. Another asks “Which river empties into the Black Sea and is the subject of a waltz by Johann Strauss?” (Answer: the Danube.)

Schafer’s competitive spirit is evident in his players. Seniors Diana Jing and Joel Muskin-Pierret engaged in a spirited back-and-forth battle when, for several minutes, they are the only ones buzzing in to answer, often doing so before the question is completed. When they answer incorrectly or are beaten to the buzzer, they sigh and slap their thighs in disgust.

“When Mr. Schafer took over, we were doing OK,” said Jeremy Fallick, a senior captain of the “It’s Academic” team and one of Schafer’s thermodynamics students. “He discouraged us from going to tournaments knowing we weren’t going to win.”

In a Schafer-like moment, Fallick smiles and looks toward the trophy display.

“It’s worked.”

James Schafer was chosen as Montgomery County Teacher of the Year from among three finalists. The other finalists were Don Ayotte from Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville and Carol Knoblach from Travilah Elementary School in North Potomac. This fall, county Teacher of the Year winners from the 24 Maryland jurisdictions will be honored at a ceremony sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education, where the Maryland Teacher of the Year will be announced.

http://bit.ly/9Xr2Fq

Pretty funny ESPN-Soccer ad.  http://bit.ly/9ZB5TO

A good OpEd piece that speaks to (charter) schools and the metrics that are used to measure their success.  http://bit.ly/divXSi

TED – High School Math http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvKWEvKSi8&feature=player_embedded#!

While public schools are slowly making progress, they are so slow.  http://bit.ly/9QFAVt

All the Paintings in the MOMA in 2 Minutes  http://bit.ly/deEXye!

The Passover seder, when conducted correctly, is a great example of the effectiveness of a discussion-based teaching method. http://bit.ly/aCU9CD