Comments on "Dave Hewitt's" video

In the video we watched, we saw an alternative approach to teaching math. One in which the teachers acts as a facilitator, where he helps students' progress faster and easier by guiding them through activities. Instead of introducing the concepts, he uses activities where students get soaked into and get carried along, starting simple, building to and discovering complex concept through the exercise/activity. Everyone in the class seemed totally focused, interested, and engaged. He was able to introduce the idea of large numbers, arbitrariness of reference points, negative numbers, addition, subtraction, variables, algebraic equations, pattern recognition, ... The process is interactive and participatory. Students seemed so engaged and immersed in the process that they didn't seem to have time to be bored or to misbehave! The class was well-managed and the entire operation well-orchestrated. I wonder how many year of practice it takes for a teacher to get to this skill level.