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Being Fake Smart

3/29/2014

2 Comments

 
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.

Richard P. Feynman


Do you know people that can “talk the talk” but can’t “walk the walk?” I sometimes refer to this behavior as being fake smart. Someone is fake smart in my mind when they can talk knowledgably and knowingly about certain ideas in education, but cannot implement them in their own classrooms. The scary part for me is that I don’t believe these educators are dishonest at all – the tragedy is that they are simply fooling themselves. I worry about this behavior in myself because I see it in others, particularly online where we are physically separated and cannot observe real life behaviors in a classroom.

I sometimes lurk in a twitter chat and my BS detector will start going off. It usually works like this: The moderator will ask a question – and everyone sort of ignores it for a little bit; they keep visiting and chatting about random things. Then one brave soul addresses the question. After that, there is a cascade of responses, each one an attempt by the author to sound smarter or more knowledgeable than the last person. Often some “expert” makes a comment that is then retweeted numerous times by adoring fans.

Do you ever look at the profile of many of these experts?  Very often they show little indication of classroom experience. Do you ever wonder if they can actually “walk the walk?” Don’t misunderstand me – there are folks outside the classroom that are in fact experts and they do know what they are talking about. The issue is - how do we know the expert from someone that is only fake smart?

For me the answer lies in the willingness of the other person to share their failures as well as their successes. I have a number of digital friends that I have enormous respect for, because they share both their successes and failures. I follow them through times of great frustration. I see my teaching practice reflected in theirs, and I learn from them. Perhaps ironically, I trust them because they struggle and don’t know all the answers.

I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent human. I feel like I work very hard at my job. I spend a ridiculous amount of time at school and at home working on school. I am a student myself, usually taking a class or reading a book about education. I make myself available to students before and after school. Teaching is a passion for me – not just a job. My point is I cannot imagine giving any more of myself than I already am – and I never feel like my class measures up against my vision. I know my class seems lame compared to the way many others describe theirs. This is what makes me wonder, are their classes really that great? Do many experts talk about what they wish their classes looked like, or what they actually look like?

I am in my second year of flipped instruction – but like someone on a diet, I slip back to my old ways occasionally. Yes, I sometimes give direct instruction – gasp –a lecture. I make my own videos – and they won’t win any awards. People love to hate Khan Academy videos – and that makes me want to hide some of mine. I am a huge fan of writing in the content area – but sometimes my students go too long without writing. I genuinely believe in a growth mindset – but I catch myself in fixed thinking about my students. I teach in a 1:1 school. I have been 1:1 for eight years – and I sometimes feel I don’t use technology effectively.

So, what’s the point? My point isn’t to criticize others. Rather, I think we must be very discerning about what we believe about our digital acquaintances. I think we have to be very careful not to fool ourselves about our own classrooms and how effective we are. I think we need to grow each day and strive to improve. I think we need to cut ourselves a break when we have trying experiences.

Feel free to leave a comment. I truly don’t mean this post to be an attack toward anyone, but rather a reflection about my own practice. Have you ever had any of these thoughts? How did you respond? 

2 Comments
Teresa Ryan link
3/29/2014 01:53:45 pm

Thank you for this. I have often thought the same thing. So often I work hard to put something together, only to have it fall flat in class. I have days where my students have wonderful conversations, dig in and really explore something that I have set up, and come up with ideas that I hadn't even thought of myself. Then I'll have days were nothing works. Students won't talk to each other, they won't even try to solve a problem, I can't seem to say or do anything that makes any sense to them, and my class is so boring I wonder why I'm not falling asleep myself.

There have been lots of times that I have read tweets or blogs and thought, "I'd really like to sit in on their class for a day or two and see if this is how it is working, or if they are seeing something that others aren't."

I believe I'm a good teacher. I work hard, both at school and hours outside of class time. I am available before school, during lunch and after school to students. I change book material and write some of my own curriculum trying to make things more interesting and understandable to kids, and I hear other teachers saying that students love their classes and work so hard. I have wondered what was wrong with me.

I appreciate your candor, and helping me see that while I still have a lot of work to do, I am doing the right thing. I'm also willing to admit that I have a long way to go before I have the classroom I dream of having.

Reply
Gary
3/30/2014 10:20:09 pm

Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond.
"I change book material and write some of my own curriculum trying to make things more interesting and understandable to kids, and I hear other teachers saying that students love their classes and work so hard. I have wondered what was wrong with me."
First, that iterative process of improvement is how we all grow. Second, be proud of your successes. I have been guilty of thinking my students were working hard and then make an assessment only to discover I was fooling myself. Perhaps you are being more honest with yourself - that's not a bad thing.
Good luck with the rest of your year.

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    Author

    My name is Gary Strickland. I teach physics and IPC to high school students in rural Texas. I taught science for nine years in our middle school. Coleman is a one to one environment where all students in grades 4-12 have a laptop. I have been teaching in a tech-rich environment for over eight years. I teach using the flipped model of instruction. This blog is intended to chronicle that process.

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