Allison Behne
Every holiday season, the teachers’ lounge at my school is filled with candy, cookies, and other goodies. Colleagues and staff members, not to mention our students’ wonderful parents, bake more during this season, and they like to share their tasty creations. It was this time of year, many years ago, that I first tasted Carrie Orth’s chocolate chip cookies, which were rich, soft, golden, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. My favorite thing about Carrie’s cookies, however, was that they weren’t flat—they were beautifully plump and full.
Carrie was more than willing to share with me her recipe, which I followed with painstaking care. My first batch of cookies came out of the oven good and chewy, but . . . well, flat. Thinking that I must have made a mistake, I tried again. Same result—delicious, flat cookies. Was there an error in the recipe Carrie had given me? I called her to double-check, but she confirmed that my copy of the recipe was correct. I was stumped, and after a few more failed attempts, I gave up.
Then one day at school, Carrie asked if I had figured out the problem with my flat cookies. She told me to call her when I got ready to make my next batch, and she would talk me through it. That idea seemed a bit strange to me. What could she say that wasn’t in the recipe? Still, I decided to take her up on her offer.
On the day I decided to try one last time, I called Carrie and listened carefully as she talked me through each step of the recipe. Then I placed the first batch in the oven, waited eight minutes, and pulled the baking sheet out. Perfect! They melted in my mouth—rich, soft, golden, and beautifully plump. I was so happy to have finally achieved success. To this day, I make Carrie’s cookies every holiday for friends and family, and they come out perfect nearly every time.
That experience makes me think of the various ways in which we teach our students. We teach in whole group, small group, and individual conferences. We model, provide examples, guide student practice, and facilitate student exploration. We teach through visual, auditory, and hands-on modalities. We use various texts, manipulatives, and tools. We respect the individuality of our students, understanding that there is no single path to success, and we do whatever is necessary to help them be successful.
Carrie took the time to talk me through her cookie recipe. The recipe didn’t change, and I still am not sure what I did differently under her guidance. But whatever it was, it worked. Spending 10 minutes on the phone with her, as she provided explicit directions, was my path to success. We owe it to our students to help them find their paths to success, too.
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