So, inspiring the students of the future. What really works? 37 years of teaching experience have taught me that two things are needed: research-based teaching techniques and relationship. Relationship is huge, but we'll talk more about that later. What I'd like to look at first are the techniques. I think probably most of us remember the teacher-centered classroom; this is probably what we are familiar with from our youth. You remember the teacher was up front in the center, the students were in nice neat rows, not allowed to talk to each other, and the teacher, the source of authority, downloaded information to the kids, who regurgitated it back up on a test designed to measure how much content they could remember. Now, I have to admit, I love lecturing, but my students don't always love it; it does not always inspire. So I was thinking, what really inspires? Years ago, I was doing lunch duty at school, standing in the lunchroom, being visible, watching kids go through the cafeteria line, and as I watched the kids going through the line, it occurred to me they love having choices. And so I said to myself, "Self, maybe that would work in the classroom. Let the kids have choices."

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And so that's what I did. I converted my classroom to a situation where student choice was a big part of the room along with four other Cs: Collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Actually, over ten years ago, the National Education Association identified those last four Cs on the list as essential 21st century skills that kids should learn, and I agree wholeheartedly. I've added choice to the top of the list not as a skill for kids to learn, but rather as a characteristic of the classroom. By choice, I mean a situation where many learning activities are available to students, designed to meet the many diverse learning styles that they have. And the kids love it as much as they love choices in the cafeteria. Now, I think we're made for learning this way. Imagine our early hominid ancestors out looking for food. Don't you know that finding and tracking that woolly mammoth required critical thinking and problem-solving? It definitely required collaboration, teamwork. I mean, you wouldn't want to do this by yourself. No way. And collaboration required communication. And then I imagine those people sitting around the campfire at night, reliving the adventures of the day's hunt. They must have had smiles on their faces when they were retelling the story of the hunt. And I know they smiled when they put those cave paintings up on the wall because creativity is a uniquely human, pleasurable, satisfying activity.

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So I believe our brains are wired for the five Cs. And since they're wired for the five Cs, that authentic learning will happen when kids are allowed to engage in the five Cs. And not just learning, but I think kids will enjoy a classroom setup like this and even be inspired in this way. Now, this requires - A classroom setup based on the five Cs requires a shift from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom.