How many times over the years have we all heard this from someone in our building? It is nauseating. Nathaniel addresses this idea in a whimsical and funny way, offering us a little comic relief before most of us will have to hear it again in August:
“There is more than one way to teach, you know!”
I have heard that several times. This year. What does that mean? Why would anyone say that? How does one respond to such a statement?
Do I say, “Oh, really? Thanks. I never knew that.”
Or, “How many ways are there?”
Or, “Let’s see. You teach one way and I teach another way. Why, wha’d ya know? That’s two ways right there.”
Or, “Let me think. Before I taught how I teach now I taught another way, and before that I taught a different way. That makes two…no, make that three ways.”
Or, “Wait a second. You are begging the question. Shouldn’t you first ask me whether or not I believe there is only one way to teach? Or at least ask me how many ways I think there are to teach?
Or, “No way. There can’t be more than one way to teach. I used to teach like my teacher taught me and now I teach…ah…different. Why, I do believe you are right, there are two ways to teach.”
Or, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Or, “I always kind a thought grammar-based explanations and comprehensible input were basically the same thing. I never thought of them as more than one way to teach.”
Or, “Doesn’t that open up a can of worms? That might mean there is more than one way to write a letter, or more than one way to cook a carrot, or more than one way to exercise, or more than one way to make a living. Yikes, this is getting complicated.”
Or, “Reminds me of the story where the teacher knew 437 1/2 ways to teach. Yeah, really, I think it was written by Blaine Somethin’ or other. Don’t quite remember the last name.