It's called "The Cape Routine."  And if you haven't seen it before, you need only watch the video above to experience its ethos and understand its effectiveness.  

 

James Brown, soaked from sweating buckets all night long, would literally beg his audience to allow him to leave the stage and get some rest.  He would stop signing and walk off the stage multiple times (sometimes 20 times... and there's a rumor that he once did it 100 times), only to have a visceral reaction from having to part with the audience.  They would court him back by cheering for him, and he would continue the song... This would go on for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.

 

Clearly, how one closes the show matters.

 

Fortunately, teachers know this already, and they are always saving their best stuff for last.  After all, students have short attention spans these days... they're never going to remember what you said 10 seconds ago, let alone 50-minutes ago when class started.

 

It's the same thing in baseball.  Starting pitchers are important, no doubt.  They're the ones that set the tone and get the team to where they need to be.  But closers win ball games. Mariano Rivera (pictured on the left) throws a cutting fastball that is virtually impossible for professional baseball players to hit. Because he is so good, the Yankees used him to finish games for 19 years.  He won 5 World Series during that time...

  

Teachers understand the importance of closing strong, and they're constantly developing ways to make skills, content, and experiences stick for students.  We may not throw a cape over ourselves at the end of every lesson, but we are trying to leave our audiences wanting more of what we have to offer... just like James Brown did.

 

And if James Brown isn't your cup of tea, how about a similar-but-different closing act from another legend of the 60's:  Ottis Redding.  In this video, Redding sings a song that starts off soft and beautifully, but ends with him pleading with the audience to just try a little tenderness.  Just like James Brown, every time Redding leaves, he feels compelled to come back and sing some more.

 

If the analogy here is that educators are performers and students are their audience, then it couldn't be more clear that how you close the show has the most lasting impact of all. 

 

P.S.  Make sure to watch the whole Ottis Redding Video video too for all of the encores :)

Last year, Griffin Lab was started as an afterschool time and space for students to work on homework and study for tests while having access to credentialed Los Al teachers at the same time.  A year later, things have evolved in the Lab to include peer-to-peer tutoring as well.

 

Headed by teachers Ms. Bratcher (left) and Ms. Avina (right), G.W.A.M. is comprised of close to 100 student leaders who are Juniors and Seniors that act as facilitators during the two-day retreat in December.  Almost every G.W.A.M. leader has experienced G.W.A.M. when they were a Freshman, and they were so moved by the experience that they wanted to be a part of paying it forward as a facilitator when they got old enough.  This experiential background works well when G.W.A.M. leaders are leading difficult conversations or demonstrating group activities that may involve personal narratives and the creation of trust. Since leaders have gone through it before, they can identify with the apprehensions of others.

In the classroom, though, it can sometimes feel different.  Often, being direct with students in an academic setting (especially in larger groups) leads to embarrassment, shame, and uncomfortability.  And it's because of these awkward feelings that teachers sometimes rely on coach-y speeches meant to drum up the same kind of motivation that a "Win One For The Gipper" Halftime Speech does.

Sure, a good speech can work from time to time.  But the best way to give feedback to students and colleagues is to do it often, do it honestly, and be receptive to getting a little feedback yourself.