100 or Nothing: Reimagining Success in the Classroom
Excerpts
Excerpts:
I believe to ask is human, to pursue, divine. Great questions have the power to open minds, especially when we stop, listen, and engage in conversation with our students. Teachers can bring together people with different points of view and form a community. I believe great moments in the classroom can emerge, change lives, and open hearts unexpectedly. Instantly. A silly joke can make people laugh. Yes, the computer can snuff out the spirit. Zoom can make us number and dumber. But the computer can also elevate the classroom. Page 8
Yes, I feel the stress of a society whose ties are fraying, but the question “What do you think?” still has the power to awaken young people. If we’ve become robots, perhaps a surviving corpuscle will remind our circuitry of when we were human: teaching meant deepening human bonds with course material, especially with young people. But if you’re hankering to teach has not yet been crushed—may it never!—let this book spark your reinvention. Page 9
I try to instill in my students that learning requires not perfection but failure, not depression but a sense of humor. Learning checkmates everyone. Laugh. Try again. Finding the strength to get back up is the lesson. We’ll face heartbreak in our disrupted classrooms. Acknowledge it. The first day of school, I say something like: “My goal is for this class to be 1,000% awesome.” And the next sentence: “I will fail. That’s what excellence requires. And you will too.” The upside to grit is humor. Acknowledging the struggle is key. Page 14
I want to give you courage. Don’t think of your subject as codified. Your subject is dynamic, new, and now. If our intention is to grow, we must ask inspired questions. It will keep wind in our sails. Do so with this North Star: “I don’t know, but I will find out with you.” Yes, math too evolves. Take, for example, geometry, with its two-thousand-year-old proofs. When we insert the world into the curriculum, the statue steps down from its pedestal. It draws a breath. It’s no longer an inanimate object confined to a museum. Pages 21
To snore or not to snore, that is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the classroom to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous boredom or to take up arms, and by opposing, end them. To dream, to question, to feel, to try, to love, to fail gloriously and try again—there’s the rub. Our conscience doesn’t make cowards of us. It spurs us to read, to teach. To uplift humanity and make life sparkle by spurring students to think. Page 31
The whole point of constructivism is to do something with what you’ve learned, to make something new, memorable, and enduring. It’s one thing to mold clay (ace a test). It’s another to make pottery (a work of art). Don’t be afraid to make a mess. Construct something new and show your friends. It might be wonderful or laughable. It might clue you in to an undiscovered talent or frustrate you. Probably all of the above. But without the opportunity to wrestle with the clay (the content) and learn from failure, the plane crashes. Failure is the wind beneath our wings. Making something new makes our plane take off.
It’s not about the answer.
It’s not about the grade.
It’s not about technology.
It’s about students’ voices, the challenge, and what results. Page 99-100
Reviews
"Glen’s book is a must-read for anyone who wants to reclaim their love for teaching. It’s also a manual for rethinking basic approaches. He is honest in his outlook, compelling in his insights, and creative in his use of technology.”
- Bill Librera, former NJ Commissioner of Education
"Glen's instructional process is innovative and I can see why students would like it and grow by it.”
- Bret Schundler, former NJ Commissioner of Education, founder of Beloved Community Charter School
"Dr. Coleman brings innovation to the classroom by encouraging his students to think divergently and "fail gloriously." He knows that when students collaborate and help each other overcome failure, they can far exceed their own expectations. He cultivates qualities that we celebrate at IBM. I find his approach is inspiring."
- Deborah Urso, Vice President of the Chief Business Architecture Office at IBM
“Glen has leveraged his 20-plus years of experience in the classroom, his innovations as an HP Teaching Fellow, and his epiphanies during COVID to craft compelling new teaching strategies that have applications far beyond the classroom. His insights that students fail their way to mastery, learn best collaboratively, and motivate each other to success are just as relevant for startups as they are for students: 100 or Nothing should be on every entrepreneur’s desk.”
- Tony Coretto, NYSERDA Entrepreneur-in-Residence and 4-time Inc 5000 award-winning CEO
"Teaching’s been around since the dawn of civilization, so it’s quite a feat to break new ground in pedagogy, yet Coleman seems to have done just that. His solutions to common classroom situations are innovative, and the evidence he presents to back up his points is persuasive. As someone who spent two decades in classrooms of one sort or another, I highly recommend his book to anyone ready for a fresh take on teaching."
- Vincent Czyz, W. Faulkner-@. Wisdom Prize Winner for Short Fiction
"I chose '100 or Nothing' as a book study with our Intermediate/Secondary Student Success Staff. Glen’s examination of the crucial role of failure and narrative organization in learning is an attractive concept as we look for deeper understanding on the part of our students."
- Sean Kelly, Superintendent of Ottawa Catholic School Board
Glen Coleman’s book - 100 or Nothing – provides a roadmap for educators to assist students develop content mastery. It is a powerful renewal tool for teachers who wish to rediscover their passion for our noble profession.
- Patrick Fletcher, Superintendent of Schools, River Dell Regional
"Dr. Coleman's innovative approach to teaching is sure to light some educational fires and help teachers renew their passion and mission in the classroom: get students to think, care, and engage as informed citizens."
- Lorraine Brooks, Principal of River Dell High School, 1993-2020