The Edutainer

I would like to give credit to the person that tweeted about The Edutainer but short-term memory has left me. Saw the tweet and was off to Amazon. The book just arrived and I found the first chapter most enjoyable. Just taking time to stop and blog a short introduction to The Edutainer – Connecting the Art and Science of Teaching – by Brad Johnson and Tammy Maxson McElory. These two are veteran teachers who understand the lives of contemporary classroom practitioners. It appears from the acknowledgments of the book that a great deal of their information came from the state of Georgia USA. A cleaver table of contents reveals: Edutainer Program, Act I: The Vision, Act II: The Rehearsal, and Act III: The Performance.
Passages I highlighted from Edutainer Program:
The foreword from Dr. Joe Richardson
Utilizing live theater as a metaphor, they argue that teaching, like acting, embraces elements of both science and art: the stage is to the actor as the classroom is to the teacher.
Great emphasis is place upon students assuming responsibility for their own learning.
Likening the classroom to the stage moves us to another level, away from the boundaries that suggest limits and narrow perspectives, to a different sort of arena where we see new possibilities, where imagination and creative impulses flourish and are encouraged.
The Edutainer would be a good resource book across all grade levels and should find its way into teacher training programs as well as staff development initiatives.
From the Introduction
· Research suggests that students are most successful when they “feel” connected to the teacher and classmates.
· Educators in the twenty-first century must take a different approach to teaching if we are to prepare students for an ever-changing world.
· The story behind the edutainer concept is base upon the collaborative effort of the authors’ more than thirty years of combined teaching experience at the K-12 and collegiate level within public and independent school systems.
Scene 1: Connecting Education with the Twenty-First Century
As a visionary, the Edutainer understands that culture plays an important role in shaping our lives.
Embracing these cultural influences not only makes learning more engaging, but also makes it more relevant as well.
Students today often seek to “be” understood rather than seeking to understand others.
However, the Edutainer embraces interaction with parents because it is beneficial for the student and her.
Research even suggests that collegiality among teachers has a positive correlation with student success.
The purpose of this section is to give you strategies to building a collegial relationship with your administration.
Remember, the Edutainer doesn’t just think outside the box, she threw the box away.

With just one chapter read, I can see this light reading educational book would be beneficial to all educators. Now I need to end this blog and get back to The Edutainer. Scene Two – Director’s Chair begins with this quote: “Leadership is about responsibility and action, not title or position.”

Are you an Edutainer? Do you know an Edutainer? Wouldn’t you like to be in a classroom lead by an Edutainer? Would love to hear your comments.