Profile by rebecca bettinger by Freestyle Academy

Teaching Center Stage Mr. Smith’s Daily Production of “Edutainment”

ct One: The Te a c h e r in the To p H a t Every student in the classroom is completely quiet. No energy. No sound. No motivation. It’s a tough crowd. Mr. Michael Smith, an English teacher at Los Altos High School, realizes he needs a new strategy. The student in the corner is a break dancer. Time to take advantage of that. Mr. Smith clears all the chairs from the middle of classroom. The stage is about fifteen to twenty feet wide. Perfect. Cue break dance battle. The audience gathers around centerstage, immersed in the eccentric exchange of dance moves. Mr. Smith recalls, “... he did this move with a scarf and I said

‘How am I going to counter that?’” He enters the spotlight dramatically by jumping on a chair and sliding halfway into the middle of the stage. He then jumps off the chair with a twist. He grabs the scarf from his opponent and ties it in a bow around himself. The crowd goes wild! Energy levels are at an all time high! A curtain call is immediately followed by a very productive work period. What a student can get from Mr. Smith’s class is different than what one receives from a normal high school class. Former student Aditya Vohra explains, “He makes you feel really at ease. It’s a very casual setting and I think that’s a good change from sorta the classic school.” Students do not read from a boring Powerpoint or lazily stare at YouTube videos; rather, they experience an engaging performance. On any given day, Mr. Smith is wearing his top hat, “...out there shuckin’

by Rebecca Bettinger

and jivin’, dancing, singing, [executing] face, differed greatly from that of the back flips …. whatlocal neighborhood ever [he needs] to “ It’s fun. It’s goofy. It’s drug dealer, who do to get that kid was loaded with unpredictable. ” motivated and to money, yet never -Mr. Smith smile.” Welcome to seemed to find Mr. Smith’s producsatisfaction. The tion of “edutainment,” where education is drug dealer, though appearing fierce and now entertaining. In his own words, “It’s invincible, eventually was arrested. It’s fun. It’s goofy. It’s unpredictable” (Smith). people like Mr. Johnson, a neighborhood A c t Tw o : L i v i n g i n t h e B ro n x store owner, who became role models. Mr. “I made the connection quickly Johnson encouraged kids to stay in school that I wanted to be as educated as and often let struggling low-income families possible, formally and informally,” recalls Mr. take food until they could pay him back. Smith. Growing up in the South Bronx, “So I saw these wonderful examples,” rehe saw numerous examples illustrating the flects Mr. Smith, “and each example that value of education. The person with two or I saw that I liked was because the three jobs, no money, but a smile on their person had valued education.” This sparked

his quest for “edutainment.” People should enjoy learning and not take it for granted. When students are smiling and excited to gain an education, “life is so good and it gets better every day” (Dawson). Around the age of ten, Mr. Smith moved out of the South Bronx and to the Bay Area. Unable to afford a house, he lived with relatives and, at one time, even a homeless shelter. At a young age, he made the goal to someday own a house, a path led by a good education. He attended Los Altos High School and graduated in 1996. After high school he went to Morehouse College, Foothill College, and eventually transferred to UCLA. In 2001, he accepted a job opportunity that opened up at Los Altos High School, his alma mater.

His diverse educational path has granted him a satisfying lifestyle in which he owns a house and teaches other students the value of education. Act Three: Strengthen the Craft In this day and age, particularly in the heart of Silicon Valley, teachers are often competing against technology for their students’ attention spans. Many young startup companies see technology as a way to replace teaching methods rather than improve them. Different methods of learning have emerged such as online classes and video tutorials. Danny Crichton, author at Tech Crunch, believes education is not possible without the critical social aspect. He wrote, regarding startups aiming to replace the traditional classroom, “If we

can take a teacher and make them al- ers go through training and professional most equally effective in just one half or development, the performance aspect of even one tenth the time, we may have the job is rarely emphasized or taught. done more for human A c k n o w l e d gi n g development than “...there’s no wonder this aspect could any startup has” that I’m still excited be a missed op(Crichton). Technolportunity to reto this day.” structure ways ogy has the ability - Mr. Smith teachers learn to advance in the classroom and keep teachers in the loop. new skills and tactics” (Schwartz). The It enhances their ability to teach. But art of “edutainment” is a craft requirwhat else can teachers do to increase ing never-ending ways to engage students their effectiveness and engage students? while teaching appropriate curriculum and Perhaps another way to make teachers controlling the classroom. How is “edutain“equally effective” is by training them to ment” possible without the ability to act be better public speakers or actors. Ac- and create an energetic persona? Training cording to Katrina Schwartz, author of teachers to perform and edutain their education website MindShift, “when teach- students is the best possible

way to combat the distractions of technology and keep the classroom alive. A c t Fo u r: Fi n d i n g t h e K e y , Pa s s i o n However, the idea of “edutainment” goes even further into the unteachable. The Huffington Post asked students around the country to send their thoughts on boredom in schools and one student wrote, “Personally, I feel that if a teacher seems to have no interest in a subject, neither will I” (Wiggins). A teacher can be a good performer or educator, but when they genuinely love what they teach, they can become great. “Remember why you majored in what you majored in,” Mr. Smith advises. “...I strategically chose Literature and English because you can explore anything…. I was excited about doing it and there’s no wonder that I’m still excited to this day.” Passion, although not a requirement on a resume, is the key to successful teaching. Mr. Smith is an excellent example of passion. Every day in class he puts

on the top hat, expressing his passion about First Amendment rights and I for learning through “edutainment.” say, ‘You know what? I’m not going The energy levels invested into each to sing but he summed it up exactly class period soar through the roof. how I would’ve.’” Act Five: Practice What Some days he chooses to perform the instructions in an inventive manner You Preach such as a rap or a Shakespearean Several years ago, two brothers, a accent. Other days, he is sharing freshman in his Survey Literature a deep story in a class discussion. class and a junior in his American Literature Instead of just making “...’You know what? I’m class, both his students not going to sing but deliberately read John he summed it up ex- slacked off. Steinbeck’s actly how I would’ve.’” A pattern of East of Eden, not finishing -Mr. Stewart he guarthe homeantees that they understand it. work and not finishing the readHe wants students to analyze J.D. ing had developed. Concerned with Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye this behavior, Mr. Smith warned both and ask why Holden Caulfield thinks brothers that he would come to the way he does. History teacher their house, sit at their dinner taGabriel Stewart, who co-taught Los ble, and make them finish their esAltos High School’s Global class with says. Though at the time, Mr. Smith Mr. Smith, remarked, “I always had put on that top hat and did like the look on the students faces not intend to actually follow through, when he’d start singing in class and he then heard a fellow student say, they’re like ‘Where’s he going with “Aye man, he’ll do it…,” to which the this?’ and then all of a sudden he brother replied, “No he won’t.” Mr. turns [it into] this incredible song Smith described this moment as the

“hook in the fish’s mouth.” When essays found a place in Mr. Smith’s the other brother did not bring hand. Mr. Smith would never allow his work into class, this was a clear these boys to actively fail. This idea indication that the brothers did not of “edutainment” and a passion for take the e d u cati o n “My kids are like, ‘Is class seriis one that ously. “So I students it gonna be like this go to their need teachall the time?’ and I’m house,” Mr ers to take like, ‘Pretty often.’ Smith exseriously and And they’re like, plained. take to the ‘Yes!’” “ S t ra i g h t next level. -Mr. Smith up. Knock on Te a c h e r s the door, and who invoke a no one’s home. So I wait. I wait personal connection with students for about thirty minutes and these make them the most enthusiastic two little boys, if you saw the looks and effective. “I don’t know if I on their faces, were beside them- connect emotionally on the same selves.” Their mother greeted Mr. level he does,” Mr. Stewart acknowlSmith, inviting him to sit and su- edges, “and I really find watching pervise the boys while they wrote him doing that is like, ‘Wow! We their essays. The next day, both need teachers like that.’”

Cue Curtain Call As the curtains begin to fall at the end of the school year, they never really do fall for Mr. Smith. Each day is a new scene with a new character from a novel to introduce or a new level of energy to engage audiences with. Leading man Mr. Smith plans to continue the life of the top hat and tails and pursue his career in the “edutainment” business for as long as he can at Los Altos High School. “My kids are like, ‘Is it gonna be like this all the time?’” Mr. Smith reflects, “and I’m like, ‘Pretty often.’ And they’re like, ‘Yes!’”

Works Cited: Crichton, Danny. “The Challenges of Teaching When Silicon Valley Doesn’t Care.” TechCrunch. N.p., 11 July 2015. Web. 2015. Dawson, George, and Richard Glaubman. Life Is so Good. New York: Random House, 2000. Print. Schwartz, Katrina. “Why Teachers Should Be Trained Like Ac tors.” MindShift. KQED News, 1 July 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. Smith, Michael. Personal interview. 3 Sept. 2015. Smith, Michael. Personal interview. 28 Sept. 2015. Stewart, Gabriel. Personal interview. 10 Sept. 2015. Vohra, Aditya. Personal interview. 17 Sept. 2015. Wiggins, Grant. “Attention, Teachers! Why Students Are Bored.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Rebecca Bettinger is a senior at Los Altos High School and attends Freestyle Academy. She hopes to pursue a degree in communications and eventually a career in advertising. In her free time, she enjoys writing, travelling, watching movies, and spending time with her family and friends.