Yarnell visits the home of greatness... what can be learned?

To celebrate my 50th birthday, Barb (my lovely wife) and I went to Los Angeles for a weekend of relaxation, fun and sun. A highlight for me was attending the UCLA vs. WSU basketball game... see why I call my wife lovely? The whole setting was very interesting as campus environment celebrates the incredible success the Bruins have experienced in Men's Basketball. In short, beginning with Coach John Wooden's tenure UCLA has won many Pac-10 championships and a record 11 national championships.

The community is proud of what Wooden stood for... namely, great teaching and an emphasis on teamwork and character. From a teaching standpoint, Wooden's practices were noted for the practices we value as classroom teachers. These include:

• Learning Targets- Each practice had 2-3 objectives posted and these were constantly referred to and assessed...
• Whole-Part-Whole- Richard Schmoker talks about good teaching as being in "chunks." In essence, he advocates that a lesson should have several small parts. This is exactly how Wooden coached, as a two-hour practice would be broken into parts that directly related to their goals and each segment had some sense of informal assessment.
• Depth vs. Breadth- A genius of Wooden's coaching was that he was simple. He constantly re-taught his big ideas. He believed it was better to really understand and execute a few principles than be exposed to many principles, none of which you really master. Isn't this true i our various disciplines?

Finally, my favorite quote from Wooden is shown below,

"Success is peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."