Self Sustaining

According to an article in the Atlantic (I got the link off the CrossFit main site) one of the signs of an effective teacher is that they establish systems that persist even when they are not present.

What does that entail?  To me it means setting up routines that the students can execute in my absence.  The specific example that comes to mind is the way class starts.  All the students know what’s coming.  We’re going to line up and salute in.  Most of the time we then do a five minute warm up.

After watching me lead the warm up time and time again, I make some of the senior students run the warm up.  While they’re leading the warm up, I can stand back and watch how each student is doing.  I get to observe without having to be in charge.  It’s a great opportunity.  How is what I have established working – that is to say, without me there, without me leading, what have the students absorbed?  Because in the end, if everything we teach stays only within the classroom and is never internalized, what good is it?