~ Create Leaders As You Lead The Way~

~In the Infantry we have a saying, "The best way to learn is to teach". So just like in the Infantry I will present a block of instruction to my students and then ask them to teach it back to me.





~Whether it be language class or H2H/Close Quarter Combat class, regardless, it never fails to impress me how much more quickly even the most insecure student will grow when they are given the opportunity, or requirement, to engage their brain in a more proactive manner by teaching the material back to myself and the class 'in their own words'.
 


~In language class, over the course of a few months, I've singled out my most insecure female student and patiently cultivated her to the point that she now is my most outspoken and sharpest student.



~She readily grasps even the most difficult material and has surpassed my best students already during a relatively short period of time.
 
~Regardless of any negative aspects to the Infantry culture from which I was forged, it is my personal belief that they have mastered the art of not building mindless drones but building teachers. Because in the Army Infantry and Light Infantry they begin training you to be a teacher from day one. Every single soldier, down to the lowliest E1 private, is required to teach classes, lead morning P.T., and quite often delegated authority to lead details at the inception of his career.
 
~This culture breeds not mindless followers but rather teachers and soldiers whom are disciplined enough to follow but confident and skilled enough to lead. We are taught that the best leaders are the ones whom 'Lead By Example'. Which is embodied in the Infantry motto, "Follow Me".
 
~This is what is lacking in the public school system and in the training of our children and youth today. The understanding that the best students are the ones whom we train not to be students but rather to be teachers...To lead by example.
 
~I tell my students during almost every class, "I'm not teaching you to merely repeat or copy what I tell you. I am teaching you how to think for yourself and to understand how to be your own translator as opposed to merely being a parrot that repeats a bunch of words and phrases. I am not teaching you to be students...I'm teaching you to be teachers so that you can go out and teach others! Hoo-ah?" (They still are not sure what 'Hoo-ah' means nor am I certain how to translate the meaning into Spanish.)
 
~I encourage you all, be you a veteran or civilian, to embody both the Infantry motto and the Infantry Ranger motto in whatever field that you pursue in life: "Follow-Me" (Implying that you lead by example) and "Rangers Lead The Way" (Same implication as the Infantry motto: to lead by example.) ~


AnDrew
25March2015.