TEACHER, SHUT UP

Shut up! You shut up!

I’m serious. SHUT UP.

Be consequent. On this you do agree with your students. They don’t want to listen to you and you are tired of talking without anyone listening. So why do you speak? For whom? Shut up for once and everyone will be happier.

You will tell me that you cannot, that you are paid to teach. But you are very wrong. They pay you for your students to learn. And you yourself have said thousands of times that those chumps don’t know anything. So why do you bother talking so much? If the more you talk, the less they find out… Isn’t that true?

If you open your mouth, let it be to ASK. To DELAY. To CHALLENGE. And then shut up.

You, listen, trust them, let them think. They will surprise you.

If you open your mouth, let it be to TELL YOUR STUDENTS THAT THEY ARE WONDERFUL, THAT THEY ARE DOING AN EXTRAORDINARY JOB, THAT THEY HAVE SURPRISED YOU. But only tell them WHEN IT’S TRUE. They will get addicted to you and will toil and work seeking your approval.

And if on any occasion it is not true that they are wonderful, shut up. And if you are tempted to open your mouth to let out toads and snakes and take out your frustration on your students, don’t miss out on that wonderful opportunity to keep your mouth shut. You will get nothing. Well yes, make them insecure, make them doubt, take them away from you.

“Yes, this all sounds great, but it’s just theory. You will tell me how it is possible to give classes without explanations”, will you aswer me.
Well, if you want, yes, I’ll tell you. Or much better, I’ll show you. Thus we will not need explanations.

Our classes with the STEAM SCHOOL IN-A-BOX method look exactly like this.
They are classes with their mouths closed. Or almost. We speak to challenge students. We speak to encourage them. And we let them work. And it works very well.

Don’t you think so? I’m not going to argue with you. I’d rather have my mouth shut. Or better, let the facts speak for me. Invite me to give a class to the children at your school and I will let your own students argue for me.