THE J-FACTORTECHNIQUE #46

TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION BY DOUG LEMOV

FINDING JOY IN THE WORK OF LEARNING –THE J-

FACTOR- IS A KEY DRIVER, NOT JUST A HAPPY

CLASSROOM, BUT OF A HIGH-ACHIEVING

CLASSROOM. PEOPLE WORK HARDER WHEN

THEY ENJOY WORKING ON SOMETHING.

There are 5 categories of J-Factor activities that

champion teachers use in their classrooms:

1 - Fun and games

2 - Us and them

3 - Drama, song and dance

4 - Humor

5 - Suspense and surprise

Fun and games - Include bees, (spelling, geography, math), content bases around the worlds, relay races, and jeopardies.

Us (and them) - kids, like everyone else, take pleasure in belonging to things. Unique language, names rituals, traditions, songs and the like, cultures establish “us”-ness. Example: History teacher David McBride came up with nicknames for all of his students and used them to call on students in class or to greet them in the hallways. Being greeted with “Mornin’, T-bone!” feels more special than being greeted with “Good morning, Taylor.”

Drama, song and dance - Acting things out and singing about them can be exceptional way to remember information. To learn about something---especially one that’s a tad absurd or unusal or one you sing regularly – is, for many, to know it for life.

Humor - Laughter is one of the base conditions of happiness and fulfillment, which makes it a powerful tool to building an environment of happy and fulfilled students and teachers.

Suspense and surprise - Routines are powerful drivers of efficiency and predictability. They also make occasional variations all the more fun, silly, surprising, and inspiring.