One of the best jobs anyone could possibly have who hoped to teach, coach, facilitate, present, or speak in public: Graduate assistant for two years at the Teaching Skills Center at the university where I was an undergrad. This is one of the four best jobs I’ve ever had.

What the Teaching Skills Center was: College juniors or seniors who planned to be teachers were required to participate in the Teaching Skills Center. As the name implies, people learned strategies, tools, and techniques to become more effective teachers. Mini-lesson learner plans were prepared. Instructional media were integrated into the lessons. Sessions were taped with small groups of learners, then played back so everyone could offer positive critiques to improve performance.

Things I learned on this job:

1. How to become a better learner and better teacher

2. How to facilitate small groups

3. How to prepare mini learning plans and, especially, mini-presentations and mini-lessons. I learned anything can be briefly presented for learning-instructional purposes.

4. How real teams (the team of graduate assistants) work; how fragile true teams are; and how the feeling of a real team always stays with you as a model, goad, and aspiration.

5. How presenting and teaching can be fun.

6. How to become a better listener and “get out of the way” of the learners.

7. What a good “boss” is, could, and should be.

What I don’t understand is why learning skills and techniques for the classroom ever went away. (Ditto for people learning how to present mini-programs on…um…pretty much anything.) I see the lack of simple teaching and presenting skills nearly every professional day. Seems like a crazy thing to have tossed aside….