The ABCs of K.L.M.
By Glenn Houthuysen
Prior to the start of my teaching career in 2003, I was an enlisted crewmember in the U.S. Air Force and N.J. Air National Guard. I flew in a KC-135 and offloaded gas midair to receiver airplanes such as fighter, bomber or cargo jets. During my years in this highly technical and sophisticated position, I came up with a useful acronym of K.L.M.
Simply put the letters stand for knowledge, leadership and mentoring. The acronym served me well as an instructor during my 29 years in the military when training young crew members. I have since applied the concept in my position as a third-grade teacher.
Knowledge
During my years in the military, I expected myself to be a subject matter expert. I demand the same of myself in my career as a teacher. We must be adept in our communication skills to be able to share our knowledge with our students. I often seek out professional development to stay on the cutting edge of our field.
I also encourage my students to become knowledge masters. I might have students create their own flash cards to quiz other students on a specific topic, skill or concept. The students can use these cards to help you create the end-of-course assessment. Allow the students to pick 20 of the most important facts and then the teacher selects perhaps 15 of them to use on the assessment with a few teacher-made questions.
Leadership
I pride myself on being a building leader in not only my union role but also in allowing myself to be open to questions and concerns of colleagues. If I am unable to find an answer I will seek it out whether by asking another colleague, the union or researching the issue on the internet. If I am unable to find an answer within a reasonable amount of time I will give a rough time frame to the questioner and get back to him prior to that date.
It stands to reason that we are also leaders to our students. Our students, whether or not you realize it, see you as a leader in not only their education but also as a role model. Leadership skills can be taught to all students, not just those with a natural talent. Spend a few minutes with each student every few weeks to guide them in the proper direction.
Mentoring
As a teacher in an urban area, I found myself being the parental and positive male figure in some of my student’s lives. During my years I found that providing guidance and assurance to my students made a difference in their home lives. Although I have lost track of most students over the years, I do know the advice that I provided helped many students in difficult situations.
Students can also peer mentor in the classroom but what does peer mentoring look like? Let’s say that a student comes to you with a situation that they need help with. You can create a Google Form with the situation and then allow the students to respond to the form. Of course, the students cannot see each other’s responses, so anonymity is assured. Select results can be shared with the student who originally came to you.
I hope that the K.L.M. method can be utilized in your classroom. The skills are simple to implement and can be used from pre-K to 12th grade and even through secondary education. By keeping knowledge, leadership, and mentoring in mind, you will become an even more effective teacher and co-worker.
Glenn Houthuysen is a third-grade math and science teacher at P.S. #27 in Paterson. He is a member of the Paterson Education Association.