What I learned about teaching from watching Jeopardy live.
On Christmas morning, my 67-year-old Mom opened a card from me to her. The card was nice, but the real present was a ticket to see Jeopardy live from Sony Studios in Culver City, CA. Mom is a huge fan of Jeopardy! She has watched the show for decades and she was speechless when she saw the tickets!
Little did I know how much I would learn about teaching from our experience at the show.
Lesson #1: Prepare the Audience for the Show
As we waited in line to be taken to the studio, we were informed to go to the bathroom and silence our phones. Disabled audience members got to take a short shuttle ride to the building that housed the Jeopardy set. Audience members were differentiated by their individual needs and accommodations were made for every guest to be prepared to enjoy the show BEFORE it started. This helps the audience focus on participating in the show rather than on other concerns. This also ensured that the show would run without interruptions.
Lesson #2: Preview the Show
The producers discussed the ground rules for the audience including the sequence of events and the expectations for behavior — don’t yell out the responses! We were lucky enough to sit in the front row where one of the producers who was stationed near us took the time and effort to answer our questions and tell us the inside scoop on the show. More on this later. There was a clear structure to the show and everyone knew what was coming next so they felt comfortable with the process. No surprises equated to less anxiety.
Lesson #3: Audience Participation
The audience host, Johnny Gilbert, made the audience feel welcome to participate by explaining that Alex Trebek will be available to take questions during the commercial breaks. He reminded us when to clap and gave us even more inside information about the show. I asked Alex if he talks to other game show hosts and what he discusses with the contestants at the end of each show as the theme music plays. He said that he talked to Bob Barker a few years ago as well as Pat Sajak. But since Pat lives in Maryland, they don’t get a chance to interact very much even though they work out of the same studio. He said that he converses with the contestants about current events or other interests when they convene at the end of the show. Alex didn’t carry himself like the celebrity he is and thus act superior to his audience members. He gave them attention and respect. He was magnanimous!
Also, his answers were often hilarious! Question: “When Will Ferrell portrays you on SNL [Saturday Night Live], the contestant impersonating Sean Connery seems to always be angry with you. Do you have a bad history with Sean Connery?” Trebek: “Well, everyone knows that Sean Connery is a DORK!” Of course, Alex was just being sarcastic and everyone had a good laugh. Surely he has heard other questions posed by the audience 1,000 times before. After all, Jeopardy is in it’s 33rd year. Nevertheless, Alex answered them sincerely, as if it was the first time he has responded to the question.
Lesson #4: Audience Appreciation and Prizes
During the show, the crew conducted a raffle with two separate prizes delivered in reusable Jeopardy shopping bags. At the conclusion of all the shows, Alex Trebek didn’t simply exit stage left. He addressed the audience to thank us for our participation, our interest in the show, and the questions we asked. He appreciated our role in the success of the show and valued our attendance given the abundant entertainment options available in Los Angeles from which to choose. Everyone felt that their contribution and presence was important.
And finally, the inside scoop was that Alex Trebek doesn’t always read the clues correctly the first time. He made about 4 mistakes out of the 3 shows we saw (which was very impressive). During commercial breaks, Alex re-read the clues until they were correct. Since the show is not recorded live, these recordings can be inserted in post-production. Even one of the best game show hosts of all time makes mistakes and is given a chance to correct them. Do we give our students the same chance? FYI, nobody docked his pay for these mistakes either.
Now, I’m not saying that teachers should teach like they are game show hosts. I’m also not saying that learning always has to be delivered in a game-like fashion.
What I AM saying is that Jeopardy ran like a finely tuned, well oiled dynamo that would be an ideal environment for any classroom. As teachers, we could all revisit and reevaluate the basics of teaching from time to time. So, let’s ask ourselves some questions.
Communicating Clear Expectations: Do our students truly know what we expect of them each and every day or do our expectations change based on our mood or our interest in the subject matter? Students can tell when a teacher doesn’t like the particular unit they are studying and those feelings ARE contagious! If we lower our standards, the students will follow suit.
Setting the Stage: Do we clearly layout the structure of our lessons to our students so they have a sense of where their learning is going next? Do we eliminate distractions in our transitions between activities that could potentially derail the flow of our lessons? Many teachers lose their “audience” when they have to get out computers and wait for them to boot up, wait for students to get out a piece of paper or get back from the bathroom. Redirecting students during a transition when they have lost focus is time consuming; and it disrupts the momentum of a lesson which, consequently, diminishes its effectiveness.
Keeping Perspective: Do we act as if we are above our students when they address us? Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, it makes our students less likely to participate or show initiative in our classrooms. Do we sigh or roll our eyes when a student asks us a question that we have heard 10 times that day? Students pick up on every subtle nonverbal cue that we broadcast (pun intended). Their antennas are uniquely tuned to pick up on such messages. Sometimes, we all need to be reminded that these students are learning our subject matter for the first time. Do you remember learning something for the first time? Do you remember the uncertainty, anxiety, and difficulty that came with it?
Fostering Inquiry: Do we encourage our students to ask questions? Do we give them ample opportunity to formulate questions and then ask them throughout our lessons? Sometimes we are so focused on getting through a lesson that we neglect to stop periodically to ask if everyone understands what we are saying. What we say and what students hear can be two very different things.
Giving Thanks: Do we take the time to acknowledge our students hard work and focus in our lessons or do we take it for granted? How can we show our appreciation for their efforts? In some ways, growing up is more challenging than when most of us grew up. High-stakes testing, cyberbullying, and even child poverty rates have increased in the last 15 years. I know we are all wary and weary of the “everyone-gets-a-trophy” self-esteem movement in modern day society, but children need to know that we value their commitment to our class.
Thank you Alex Trebek, the whole Jeopardy crew, and Sony Studios for providing a wonderful memory that my Mom and I will cherish for a very long time.
Please comment below on some of the questions I have posed above. Did I miss any other basics of teaching?