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Don Lee Milner, Montgomery College Youth Development Program, Aggressive Learning instructor, was interviewed Aug. 16, 2010.

Will you introduce yourself starting with your teaching positions?

I am a Montgomery County Public School teacher. I teach eighth grade US History. In the summer, I teach Aggressive Learning for Montgomery College Youth Development Program. The program basically offers classes for grades K through 12 at all the campuses: Takoma Park, Rockville and Germantown.

Can you explain Aggressive Learning?

Aggressive Learning is a class that has a two part definition: You learn how to study and you learn to never give up, hence the title Aggressive Learning.

How did you get involved in it?

As teachers it is our job to teach kids what to learn in terms of content, but we are not doing enough to show students how to learn. Eight years ago, I decided to do something in the summer so I developed the class and the activities around the handbook. I did not develop the course. I worked in Connecticut with a teacher named Phyllis Nobile. She is the creator of [Aggressive Learning]. I felt her ideas really spoke to young people about where they are and where they want to be in terms of achievement.

How are you applying that knowledge?

Teaching kids that they are not the problem. My message to the kids is don't adapt to the school, have the school adapt to your learning style.

How do kids learn how they learn?

The first thing I teach them is about the brain. We know from science that we use 1 to 3 percent of the brain's capacity. I tell them they have the capacity to learn anything.

The activities teens take part in should be varied and mentally stimulating because that part of the brain is still being developed. I tell them computer games are OK but not all the time.

What I do to teach them time management, I use the 25/5 method. For every 25 minutes we are doing lessons, they take a five minute break. What we are trying to do is build a habit. Once they are in the habit of taking those breaks, the three-hour class isn't too long. When [the students] come back from the break they are more focused, more alert. The idea is to have them apply that in their studying.

Tell me about your students...

I would characterize them as under achievers. Most of them say they are there because their mothers made them. Parents read about [Aggressive Learning] and say, "that is something I could have used when I was in school." I teach them to make their study time more effective and more efficient.

Has the enrollment grown? Is there a fee?

It has or I wouldn't be able to do it full time in the summer. My class maximum is 15 students, I can go with five. There is a fee. It's $260 or $265. I think Aggressive Learning II is a little bit higher.

Why is it taught at Montgomery College rather than in the high schools?

I think [because] there is such a focus on test scores and reading and math. I also think it is expected of us teachers to embed these strategies in class. Good [teachers] do, but we have just a little time to do it. [We] are spending time preparing for [standardized tests]. There are so many things teachers have to do. There is so little time.

What do you think helped you have the drive to stay in school and get through college?

I was a student who under achieved in school. I was bored — education can be one size fits all — it didn't engage me. I thought my underachieving was because of me, as I learned to study, my grades improved and I was motivated to do better.

I had teachers who didn't give up on me. I floundered academically and behaviorally. In seventh grade, a teacher told me I was good at social studies and I could go to college and major in history. I didn't even know what a major was! I explain to students that in college you are focusing on a field of study.

Is that how you became a teacher?

I wanted to be a lawyer. As an undergrad I worked in a law library. I had some great experiences but I found that work wasn't very exciting. A professor told me about a part-time geography teaching position. I took it and loved it.

As the curriculum changes to place more emphasis on reading and math skills, test scores, do you agree with that or do you think there is a loss?

Everything is reading and math focused, as a result of that, when it comes to teaching kids strategies, they don't have the time. As a history teacher, I will incorporate reading strategies and vocabulary acquisition into the lessons. Where the loss comes is I don't have time to teach other strategies like taking notes. I don't want them to only do well on the [Maryland School Assessment]; I want them to do well in life.

What advice would you give students to help them get more out of school?

I'd say to them that learning can be a messy affair. There is more than one way to learn. Your job as a student is to find out how you learn and what is the best way to study for that learning style.

And their parents, what would you like to say to them?

To parents I would say their job, their goal, should be to help their child develop a repertoire of good study habits by 12th grade.

We tend to tell parents that the older the kids get, they should back off. Grades six through 12 is not a time to back off. I say the kids need their parents more and more. Be a study partner, discuss what they are studying. If they can explain it to you, they understand it.

Don Lee Milner

Age: 40

Job title: Aggressive Learning Instructor, Montgomery College Workforce Development and Continuing Education; eighth grade U.S. history teacher at Roberto W. Clemente Middle School.

Hometown: Norwalk, Conn.

Education: University of New Haven, master's in education; Washington Adventist University, bachelor's degree in history.

Family: Married; Children, Jevon, 15; Autumn, 8; Yoshua, 7; Morgan Alexis, 4.

Hobby/favorite vacation spot: Coaching. Miami, Fla.

Lesson to live by: Education is the passport to the future. Tomorrow belongs to those that prepare for it today. If school is difficult and unintersting, find new ways to learn and engage the educational process. Develop new ways to learn and process information. You are already working hard, start working smart. Learn how to learn in addition to what you need to learn.

Voices in Education highlights the men and women who are involved with the education of Montgomery County's children. If you have a suggestion for someone you would like to see featured, e-mail Peggy McEwan at pmcewan@gazette.net.