Look At Your Fish

Last week I traveled to the Tabernacle at Temple Square to attend a lecture given by David McCullough. My roommate teaches high school history and government and David McCullough was giving a lecture specifically for the teaching community; luckily Carrie invited me to go with her. I am officially her plus one. Ha ha. As some of you know, I love him. I read both 1776 and John Adams this past year, both are fabulous books . . . especially John Adams. If you're looking to be inspired, the life of John Adams will surely not disappoint.

I didn't realize this was a lecture targeted towards teachers, so I was expecting a speech on history or one of the many subjects he's written about. But as the daughter of teachers, the lessons of his speech did not disappoint.

He spoke of a teacher by the name of Louis Agassiz who was a renowned, but unorthodox, teacher in the mid-nineteenth century. Typically when he took on a new student his first lesson would be to place a dead fish in a jar in front of the student and proclaim, "Look at your fish." And then he would leave the perplexed student alone with their fish and not return for hours. Always, when Agassiz would return to the student, he would say, "Look at your fish." Often it resulted in confusion . . . look at fish? For what? And then slowly, after hours of observation, as the student looked at their fish they would begin to "see."

If you're interested in reading more, read the full story here.

It was a profound thought, and one that is not solely restricted to teachers. I am so easily persuaded by snap judgments that I wish I were slower to make decisions hopefully with more resolve and perspective. Since hearing McCullough's speech I've often thought about that, "Look at your fish."

What do you see?