ENCODING SUCCESS
BY JEREMY WILLIAMS
Eggs in Baku
I had the distinct pleasure of serving on an accreditation visit for a school in Baku , Azerbaijan this past March . They put me up in a really nice hotel called the Boulevard located seconds from the Caspian Sea . As many hotels do , breakfast was included and this hotel , in particular , had a really fantastic breakfast buffet .
Each morning , a really kind gentleman named Fuad would make me one egg omelet in a tiny pan . He included jalapenos , onion , green pepper , masala and cheese . It would take approximately 3-4 minutes to make the omelet and it was delicious .
After returning to Al Ain from Baku , I decided that I would make the same omelet each morning before going to school . After all , I had watched Fuad do it 7 straight mornings and had the process down .
The first morning I tried , I burned the egg . The second morning , I added milk to the egg and then when I tried to fold it over , it turned to mush and broke apart . I couldn ' t get the right temperature . I couldn ' t figure out how to get both sides to cook at once , or to flip the egg halfway throughout the process so I could cook the other side well . One week in , I was extremely frustrated .
How could something so easy be so difficult ?
The answer was two-fold . Firstly , it wasn ' t easy for Fuad . He just had an awful lot of practice making omelets . He was really good at it . I ' m not sure if he had hit the 10,000 hours of practice threshold for how long it takes to become effective at something , but he had been doing it for a while . People who are really good at things make them look really easy . Have you ever seen the Michael Jordan fadeaway , the Cristiano Ronaldo attack or the Tom Brady touchdown pass ?
Secondly , you have to know how to do it right to practice it effectively . Simply put , because I didn ' t know how to make a good omelet , I couldn ' t practice making a good omelet . You must practice doing the right things to get good at whatever it is you are aiming to achieve . Doug Lemov describes this as " encoding success ". Lemov discusses encoding success and 41 other strategies for effective practice in his 2012 book " Practice Perfect : 42 Rules for Getting Better at Getting Better ".
K-12 Implications
Encoding success is really important for students also . Let ' s think about homework for a moment . If a student is assigned an hour of homework in Maths but doesn ' t have the skills down to encode success through practice , it is conceivable that the practice we send for homework is actually doing more harm than good .
The same concern can be said with how students fare with formative assessment within the lesson . As teachers , how do we ensure that students are getting better at making the omelet because they have learned different and specific aspects of the process ( correct temperature , amount of egg , consistency , when to flip , etc .)? As leaders , how do we support other leaders and teachers in encoding success through their practice ? We must show people the right way to do things , which may sound simple , but I believe is often overlooked .
UPDATE : I am really , really good at making omelets now .
You can find me on Twitter at @ jwilliams0804 and my weekly podcast Dismissed on iTunes and on Soundcloud at www . soundcloud . com / dismissedpodcast .
Mr . Jeremy Williams is the Head of School for Manor Hall International School in Al Ain . He is a proud # EdChatEU facilitator , # teachuaechat contributor , and podcaster . Prior to joining Manor Hall , Jeremy served as a Superintendent , Principal , Vice Principal , and Mathematics Teacher in the United States .
After The Bell | | Sep - Oct 2018 | 47