No, no… this does not fall in the tax/accounting category of post! “Double Dipping” is a reference to the alumni show on the second Barenaked Ladies “Ships and Dip” cruise.
I don’t listen to many live recordings of artists, but for the last 3 weeks or so I’ve been listening almost exclusively to the “Double Dippers” show from the first night of the cruise. It was far and away the best part of the cruise for me, and several cruisers agree that this particular show was the best performance of the entire cruise.
Leave it to me to relate everything back to education, but that amazing concert was the musical equivalent of a rockin’ tutoring session. Here’s why the show was the ultimate concert going experience, and why tutoring is the ultimate educational experience:
The audience planned the show
Before the concert started, slips of paper were distributed so people could request the songs they wanted to hear. During the show, band members took turns drawing random songs out of a bucket.
That’s often how I describe tutoring. Substitute “open a textbook to any page” for “drawing a song out of a bucket” and that’s how tutors work. Unlike traditional classroom teaching, a tutoring session is student-led: the hour is driven by the student’s specific needs and goals. The result is an extremely personalized experience where no question is off-limits.
The Double Dippers concert allowed devoted fans to choose some of the more obscure songs that aren’t guaranteed to be played at a standard concert. Although our row wasn’t given request slips, others in the audience had the good sense to request Blame it on Me, Jane, Break Your Heart and yes, even Another Postcard. (I swear, it wasn’t me but I can’t say I’m disappointed!) The result was a concert lineup that I don’t think anyone could have planned in their wildest dreams. Most importantly, it was highly relevant to the audience.
The performers relied on their experience and musicianship rather than a plan or agenda
When you don’t know which songs to expect and have to be prepared to “go with the flow,” the truly talented shine. It could be a song that hasn’t been played live in years, or a song written once to go straight to recording (*cough* Big Bang Theory *cough*) or a song that predates some of the band members . . . spontaneity reveals character, and as someone once wrote about … let’s say event planning, “It’s not what you’re sure of / It’s what you don’t know.”
This concert format revealed the band’s human side and brought a certain lightness to the event. No one cared whether we had to wait a few extra minutes for Ed to tune yet another guitar. It gave the audience a chance to revel in the afterglow of the song they’d just heard and also time to get sufficiently excited for the next song.
Similarly, tutoring is a highly human (and humane) form of interaction. I would often get comments from my staff about the raucous laughter that always seemed to be clearly audible, even through my closed door, while I was tutoring. There’s a certain intimacy and casualness to sitting down, one-on-one that can make you forget that you’re screwed for tomorrow’s calculus test and allow you to calmly focus on the task at hand.
Your students also tend to be pretty forgiving if you have to take a couple of stabs at a question before you find a clean, elegant way to work it out. If we haven’t seen something in a while and you spring it on us out of the blue, sometimes we just need to gather our thoughts for a few minutes. Not only are students forgiving, but many times they are quite relieved to learn that their tutor isn’t some calculating machine, or that it really is a hard question. They generally don’t mind if the productivity seems to slow for a bit. If they’re not the type to thoroughly enjoy working through a problem with you, then they’re probably the type who are more than happy to “zone out” for a few minutes and completely don’t mind the downtime! 
The musicians knew they were respected and appreciated, even admired and loved
I can’t imagine a “safer” environment for BNL to play than to a roomful of people on their second cruise with them. If ever the band felt comfortable trying new things, or just being themselves, that would have been the time for it! Short of walking out there and being complete jerks, BNL could have done no wrong that night.
And, I have to admit that being a tutor is pretty darn cool when parents and students think the world of you. You can’t get cocky about it (at least you shouldn’t) but as much as confidence is important for students, it’s important for instructors, too. One thing that can completely suck the joy out of teaching is looking into the face of a student (or worse, sea of students) who just don’t care — about you, about the math, about anything at that moment. It can really put you off your game.
Having the respect of your students (even if it’s not adoration and worship!) allows you to focus on the task at hand and put all your energy into your teaching and communication skills. You know that your audience is receptive and willing and you don’t have anything to “prove” to your student first and you don’t have any barriers to break through before your message can be heard.
I used to say I had the sweetest job in the world. All I had to do was hang out with teens and do math! I did a little more than that, but essentially I had the pleasure and honour of being the person that kids went to for help. All I had to do was respond.
It may not sound like much when you distill it down to its core element, and really, all I did was give them my time to be used however they saw fit. That’s exactly what the Double Dippers show was: BNL simply gave us their time and allowed us to control the puppet strings for a few hours.
One could argue, “They didn’t even put the time or effort into planning something for you. They just showed up and thought that would be enough.” But, isn’t that what all of us really want: for people we respect and admire to simply make time for us?
We didn’t get a canned performance, I like to think, because they respected us more than that. They had confidence in their ability to provide something of quality just by being there because they’re just that good. They also had confidence in the fans to direct the course of the evening, and the result was a set list from heaven.
This is what happens when mutual respect is assumed and assured. I don’t think all my students were “adoring fans,” though very many of them were, I have to say. But, they all knew that I was passionate about creating time personalized exclusively for them, that they called the shots and that no matter what might happen, at least I was “serving up quality.”
I couldn’t think of any better way to treat my students, and it was such an overwhelmingly emotional experience to be on the receiving end for once, and treated like that by BNL. I think now I have a better idea of why the kids kept coming back, and I can’t wait for Ships and Dip V, the re-dippening!
(It’s not too late to join us, either! Hint, hint!)