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"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." -Teddy Roosevelt.
Yesterday I had an insightful and rich conversation with a Physics Teacher & Assistant Varsity Basketball coach for an episode coming out next week.
He shares his journey of innovating the physics program and going against the grain of how physics is usually taught.
Now how do you think humans learn best? Reading from textbooks from the 1900s or teaching a lesson on inertia with the ballet dancers in your classroom? Or measuring the angle on Steph Curry's shot?
One of the things we coaches, teachers, & I'm sure even parents get wrong is how we teach. The reason behind the lessons or skills we are teaching is correct, but do they relate to our audience?
I'll give you a basketball example. The basketball school I work for has classes with 4-5 year-olds. Guess what? They DO NOT care about how good you are. What do they care about?
Well, they care about laughing, having fun, & being silly. So when I coach, I do my best to relate to youngins. Every time we do a drill, I connect it to them being animals or driving a car. While performing the drill or activity, they have to make sounds.
Now, what is the opposite of being relatable?
I believe it is what has been traditionally done in sports & in the classroom. Okay, let's read from the book or do this drill. But when in reality, if we ask why we teach the lesson or skill this way, there is no good answer.
If the answer is "because that's how we have always done it." You can throw that lesson or drill into the garbage and never look back!
The Three C's on How to Be More Relatable
1. Commonality: Finding commonalities between the group can help you connect the drill/lesson to real-life application.
2. Curiosity: We must be curious about each of our students & players to honestly know how we can apply/connect the lessons to their interests. Ask questions, and be an active listener.
3. Connect: Students and athletes these days want to know why we are working on a specific lesson or drill. Their thirst for why comes from needing to understand the purpose of spending time on the lesson/drill.
What other ideas would you add to the list on how to be more relatable?