Tag Archives: classroom

Aug26

My Toughest Year in the Classroom

Posted on August 26, 2013 by daunaeasley

Something happened this week. One young lady I know and love experienced her first week in front of a classroom full of students. She was hired on Sunday evening and drove two hours out-of-town for her first teachers’ meeting which was to take place at 8:00 on Monday morning, the very next day. Her new students arrived Wednesday. She had never even seen the school before her first day. How did this happen? Who knows? But embarrassingly it happens all the time in our profession. My young friend was tired of the endless interviews for teaching positions. It was the last week in August and she was determined to take any job offered. The good news is…she has her start. Even better news…she’ll be a good teacher.

What was her email comment on Friday after her first week of school?

I used to think I looked forward to and appreciated Fridays. Turns out I was way under appreciating them all these years.

I laughed when I read her comment. It took me back to the toughest year I ever had as a teacher. It was a year I’ll never forget, like a bad nightmare that stays in your psyche and haunts you forever. I was luckier than my young fledgling teacher. My toughest year came after I had already been teaching for more than 20 years. By then I was a confident and experienced professional who didn’t think anything a student could conjure would knock me off my game. I was competent. I was prepared. I was wrong.

Picture This

In one week I went from teaching primary aged students to high school seniors! I went from teaching in a private school that I owned to a high school with students considered “at risk.” I had teen moms, many pregnant students, and kids with parents in jail. On the first day of school when I asked them to introduce themselves with 3 descriptive words, several of them announced they had “an attitude.” They saw this as a positive attribute. They were proud of their attitudes. I went from suburban type students to predominantly urban kids who came from different neighborhoods who didn’t like each other. The only thing that united them was their dislike for me. They all agreed on one thing. I had to go. Those kids reared up and took a bite right out of my backside when I wasn’t looking.

I only made it to the second day of school at 11:00 am when I knew I was going to cry in front of the class. They were passing a basket around the classroom and asking their peers to contribute money to buy me a ticket out-of-town. No, I’m not making this up. I was used to children who loved me. I knew I was going to cry and worse…I knew they would love to see my tears. Not crying in front of them became my number one goal. But I could feel the tears just ready to spill over. What was I going to do?

I was so new in this building I couldn’t even decipher when the bells were ringing. All day long you would hear bings, buzzes and bells coming into your classroom. I later learned that there were a certain numbers of bings and buzzes to call each administrator. The kids knew when the change class tone sounded, but I didn’t. One of those buzzes started to sound. Maybe they were going to leave for lunch but I wasn’t certain. I spotted the closet door. I decided I would walk through that door and act like I was looking for something in the closet so they wouldn’t see my tears. I tried not to run. I tried to look like a woman who was just going to the closet to look for something. I opened the door and walked through. It turned out not to be a closet after all. I was right in the middle of another classroom, not the closet, but I burst into tears anyway.

I got lucky. It did happen to be the lunch bell. My students vacated the room and I had a half an hour to pull myself together before the torture began anew. At the end of my first week I called the friend who had recommended me for the position and apologized to her, but told her I was going to quit. I called my mom and told her I was going to quit. But I didn’t. I hung in there. If I told you all the things my students did to me that year, you would never believe me. You would also stop reading my blog because I would sound like an ineffective nincompoop. I made many mistakes that year. But I grew more as a teacher than during any other year of my teaching career.

What My Students Taught Me

Hearts that have been rejected will reject others in self-defense. They think, “I’ll reject you first so you can’t hurt me.” It has very little to do with you. The rejection isn’t personal, but it sure feels that way until you understand that truth.
Once students know you really care about them, they will be your staunchest champion. But you have to prove you care about them first. And in an environment like this you have to prove it every year.
I’ve learned you can’t talk to high school students the same way you talk to third graders. It doesn’t work. I was used to saying things like “Oh I like the way Megan has started her assignment.” That is how clueless I was. Believe me that strategy doesn’t work in a tough high school environment.
I learned to cuss. I’m not saying that was a good thing. And I never used profanity in front of my students but I was so surrounded by it, I found it peppering my personal conversation when I wasn’t on the job. I was in my forties and had never sworn. I still don’t use the really offensive words, but It makes some of my conversations a lot more humorous, because it astounds people who know me well.
Other than cussing with my friends, I stayed true to myself. I didn’t get pulled into the drama that surrounded me. I didn’t yell. I didn’t meet sarcasm with sarcasm. I stayed calm and was able to be a positive role model. Most of these students had lives steeped in drama. They needed positive role models more than they needed anything else.
That old adage, “The more you put into something, the more you get out of it,” is 100% true. I have never worked so hard in my life, but I also never changed lives so dramatically as I did in that environment. When kids don’t have other positive role models, you can make the most profound difference in their lives.

Teachers measure their worth by the lives that they change.

– Dauna Easley

That first really tough year helped me grow immensely as a teacher. It groomed me to teach future teachers. If you want to be an effective teacher for future teachers you need a wide variety of experiences. It helped me begin writing books. I had a message. I had stories to tell. I spent 12 years at that job I thought I would quit at the end of the first week. I learned I could persevere through challenging circumstances. That alone is an important life lesson.
Those kids groomed me, chiseled me and sometimes even sandblasted me, until I became a true teacher.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author: dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Book Dauna Easley to speak to your group. dauna@cinci.rr.com

Aug21

Happy New (School) Year!

Posted on August 21, 2013 by daunaeasley

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I confess. As a teacher it used to annoy the summer sunshine right out of me when the stores starting stocking their shelves with school supplies on about the Fourth of July. I had barely finished posting grades and watching the most recent class of seniors graduate and the merchandisers were trying to entice us into another school year.

Yet by August I was ready to begin the cycle once again. I actually enjoyed decorating bulletin boards and thinking up new activities for getting acquainted with my students. Shiny floors, new calendars, bright posters, a clean desk (which only occurred once a year), and students decked out in their favorite outfits gave a fresh exciting feel to a profession I loved.

One of my top priorities was to build a community within my classroom. I created and “gathered” (stole) many ideas for helping students to connect with one another over the years. We knew we had a community only when every member of the class was valued by everyone else. The first part of becoming a community was learning facts about one another.

Bulletin Boards Created by My Students

Let them work on a project together. Not everything in the classroom has to be perfect when they walk in. Let them take ownership of their new home by designing some of their surroundings.

Have the students bring a photo or a baby photo on the first day of school. Make a display.
Let the students bring items from home that illustrate important items or times in their lives. Have them describe what those items stand for in front of their peers.
I always had a True/False Quiz about myself on the first day of school. I wrote statements about me and had them write answers about whether they thought each statement was true or false. I tried to fool them. Allow some of the students who would like to participate to make up true false quizzes about themselves to try to stump their peers.
Type up a paper with everyone’s name on it. Have classmates circulate around the room until they have listed two things they have in common with every other student in the room.
Line Up. The first week of school have them line up in a variety of ways. They have to get up and talk to each other to determine how to arrange themselves. Line up youngest to oldest, Alphabetize themselves by the first letter of their middle name. Group themselves by sports or school clubs they are involved in. Line up by the number of siblings they have. Line up by the grade they were in when they moved into your district. Etc.
Let them write riddles about themselves that end in Who Am I? Peers use the clues to guess the student as the teacher reads the clues aloud.
Give out snack sized bags of M&Ms or Skittles. Have them tell something about themselves for every piece of candy they have in the bag.
On the first day of school, I used to have my Teacher Academy students draw a picture using only their feet to hold the crayon. I’d play funny music as they made these crazy drawings. The point? It was an icebreaker, but it also illustrated how uncomfortable students could be in our classroom when we asked them to do things that were new or difficult.
Give out a few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to each student. Don’t reveal the design. Have them work together to assemble the picture. It can be a large drawing of your school logo, but it will take them a while to figure it out. Meanwhile they make new friends.
Have them bring their chairs into a circle. Ask a question to which they must all respond. Example: ” Describe a person who makes you feel valued? How do they make you feel that way?:” This helps them focus on how we can make our classmates feel valued. There will be a positive feeling in your classroom at the end of this activity.
Get them excited about working on a creative project together. In our high school we were encouraged to decorate a grocery cart (instead of a parade float) for the Homecoming Game.

You can’t build a community in a day. However, working on building positive relationships within your classroom walls, will pay dividends for all your students. it is time well spent.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed on in large quantities from the author: dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Aug5

Great Teachers Put Compliments in Writing

Posted on August 5, 2013 by daunaeasley

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As you begin your school year, I want to toss a challenge to you. Every chance you get to compliment a student, do it. Don’t just think good thoughts. Voice them. But my challenge goes further than that. Give your compliments ten times their power by putting those positive comments in writing.

At a graduation party I attended a few years ago, I noticed a small note I had written rather spontaneously to this particular graduate. It was framed and on display on a table among items that defined the graduate’s life. This note meant so much to her that she wanted to share it with others. That simple gesture humbled me. When I saw that hastily written note, I was a little embarrassed at the old note card I had quickly selected to use when I wrote to her. That particular note card had actually kind of yellowed a little. It was one that had come from the bottom of a box and had clearly been sitting in that box for years.

Yet while I stood there berating myself for not choosing a fancier stationery, the bigger more important message gradually began to occur to me. This quickly written message was so important to this young lady that it was framed. She wanted everyone who came to her graduation party to read it. At this writing I can’t even remember what I wrote; but it still chokes me up that she framed it and put in on display.

What touched and frankly scared me so much was the importance that she gave to that note. It gave me a mental reminder to always picture this note when I wrote to a student in the future. I wanted to remember the power of even my quick notes and promise myself to only use stationery that wouldn’t shame me if a written message turned up framed and on display at a future graduation party. I feel certain this young lady will never forget the contents of that rapidly composed note. Written words have a way of branding our hearts. What it said took me minutes to compose, but the message will encourage her for a lifetime.

Written words from a teacher have such power to push our students toward success.

Use that influence. Don’t passively wait for the chance, make the opportunity.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Apr29

Why Teach?

Posted on April 29, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Are the Payoffs Worth the Challenges?

Let’s be honest. In many ways teaching is more challenging than ever. It has always been a profession which demands a person accept a salary which doesn’t reflect the amount of education, dedication and preparation it requires.

However, it used to be a profession that earned the esteem of parents, community members and the public at large. That is no longer true. Today’s teachers are blamed for, and at the same time required to heal, all the country’s challenges…test scores, broken homes, illiteracy, hard economic times, school calendars, the increase in disabilities and second languages, drug dependency, unemployment, latch key children, and hunger in America. They are maligned by politicians, billionaires, and celebrities. That is the teacher’s new reality.

So Why Teach?

If you look at just the dismal numerical facts and current public opinion, it can’t be explained. However, I have been retired from full-time teaching for three school years now. I do still work with student teachers at the college level, so I am in and out of schools all throughout the school year. I feel so “at home” whenever I’m in a school building. Each one has its own unique personality. Listen to some things I am experiencing right now.

Yesterday I was invited to the wedding shower of a college grad whom I had taught in high school. Four years after she left my classroom I am still important in her life. She turns to me for advice with frequency. She values the role I have played in her life and the opinions I have. She tells me so.
Not a week passes that I don’t hear from at least a half-dozen former students. They share their successes, life milestones, and challenges with me.
I received a beautiful thank you note this past week from a former high school student who is now a college graduate. Four years later, she thanked me again for being her teacher.
A week ago I noticed a plastic container in a corner of my bedroom. I couldn’t remember what was inside. When I looked inside I discovered dozens of thank you notes from students. Three years ago when I first retired I decided to put thank you notes from students and their parents in a notebook. I filled a three-ring binder that was three inches thick. These (that I rediscovered in the corner of my bedroom) were the left over notes. I had run out of steam before I finished the job. I decided to finish the task. I took another two-inch binder to complete the job.
When my former students change jobs, (and sometimes even careers) they write and ask for my advice. Many times they solicit input from me that they won’t accept from their own family members. That’s not exactly true. When they were in my classroom, we became a family.
My retirement years may not be flush with funds, but it is a wealth of appreciation and valued relationships. I can live contentedly with that.

Can You?

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author: dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Apr16

Finding Ways to Make Students Shine

Posted on April 16, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Against the Odds

One morning in our sheet of staff announcements, there was a mention about an “Against the Odds” award. This award was being sponsored by the largest newspaper in Cincinnati. The newspaper wanted to feature ten students across the entire area that were having success in spite of some personal challenges. They would do an article on each student selected and then invite them to a dinner with business leaders. I ran quickly through my class list mentally. No one was in a wheel chair, blind or deaf. It would be a long shot even if they were. Only ten students – not just from the city – but the whole area. I’m embarrassed to admit that my vision was so narrow about this opportunity.

Thankfully, Jim Wallace, an insightful guidance counselor suggested I nominate Dorothy. In spite of being born with a cleft palate and having several surgeries to correct this, she was having some success in our high school career academy early childhood education program. She worked conscientiously and had high grades in my class. She held down a job after school hours working in a child care center. Why not Dorothy?

But let’s be honest, this is frequently where the process breaks down. What teacher has extra time to go through a lengthy nomination process which usually requires many steps including a well written essay? Not one teacher I can think of has extra time for such a long shot possibility. It never ceases to amaze me how many letters of recommendation a high school teacher is asked to write and how long a good letter of recommendation takes to author. But I went to work anyway. I already knew Dorothy’s mom was disabled with serious health issues. I had to hold my home visit while she was in bed. I discovered her father had also died when she was very young.

Weeks later we found out she won the award! What a significant accomplishment for her this was. The newspaper sent a professional photographer right into my classroom to shoot a whole roll of film of Dorothy working on the floor with preschoolers. (I ran a laboratory preschool to train my high school early childhood education students). The resulting photo in the newspaper was the largest I had ever seen. It covered 3/4 of the front page of the education section. After all it was the newspaper that sponsored the award. The program made for the dinner was even more impressive, all glossy print. She received a $500.00 scholarship from business leaders. But best of all a young lady was getting a long overdue chance to shine. She became a temporary hero in our classroom instead of being just outside the inner circle. I have no doubt that this was an event that Dorothy will remember forever.

I shudder to think of how I almost over looked this opportunity. It taught me to dig a little deeper and take a few more risks as I look for a variety of ways to give my students the chance to shine.

Graduations will be happening soon. The same students will receive award after award at banquets and scholarship ceremonies. The vast majority of students will walk across the stage in their caps and gowns and that will be it. No special accolades except for the scattered applause from their families in a large auditorium.

Only teachers can make that event significant for more than just a small group of students. Yes, it will take a little more time and effort…time teachers don’t have. It may even take a little personal out-of-pocket money. I always liked to buy a small item I thought represented each student’s special talents. I brought their parents into my classroom ( all of my students). I carefully chose and dedicated a song to the class. That song played behind a slide show of their photos and memories we had made. I wrote a poem just for their class. I brought students to the front of the room one at a time and told a cute story or two about each one. I voiced their talents.

If you want to teach to change lives you have to find a way to make every single student feel significant. It’s a tall order and I promise you I fell short a time or two. I am human, not a saint. But as I look back over a long teaching career, it was the times I went above and beyond expectations to honor students, that make me most proud.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities through the author dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Apr8

Helping Students Create Their Own Destiny

Posted on April 8, 2013 by daunaeasley

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YOU Create Your Own Destiny

“Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

-Viktor E. Frankl

These words have always inspired me. Written by a man who survived the concentration camps of the holocaust makes them even more significant. We cannot control many of the things that happen to us in life; but we have absolute control over the ways we respond to those events.

One of our greatest roles as teachers, is to teach truths about life. Sure, we are hired to teach our academic areas; but I believe we miss one of our most important choices if we don’t also teach underlying truths that help our students live a successful life. This quote helped me come up with a way to teach students that they have the power to create their own destiny. How did I do that?

Early in the school year, I put a dot or a star on the far left margin of the chalk board. (Think wipe-off board or electronic board these days). Then I would move to the farthest right side of the board and make another dot or star.

I would pause until they seemed interested in what I was doing. You can do a lot of teaching in the pauses. Once they seemed quiet and curious I would say as I pointed…

This dot on the left side of the board represents the things that happen to us as we live our lives.

Pause

Sometimes those events are terrible. Someone we love rejects us.

(Teens always are interested in matters of the heart).

Pause

Sometimes we work hard toward a goal and yet we get passed over. Someone else gets recognition that we deserve. We lose our jobs. A loved one dies. Someone insults you or passes around untrue gossip about you. Someone steals something from you. Someone hurts you deeply.

(Each time I offer one of these scenarios I once again point to the star or dot on the left side of the board). I sometimes ask them to add bad things that might happen in life.

Then I move to slowly the left side of the board and point to the dot on the far right.

Way, way over here on the far right side of the board is the way you respond to those events.

Pause

Do you know what is between these two dots?

Usually they just look at me and wait. Sometimes someone will make a joke and say, “Nothing?”

Pause

The only thing that lies between an event and what you do to respond to that event, is your choice. No matter what happens to us, we always, always, have control over the way we respond to it.

We need to remember only we have the choice to decide how we respond. We always choose. It is those choices that determine our destiny. Look carefully. What is between those two dots?

I then v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y draw a wavy line between those two dots on opposite ends of the board.

You have allllllll this time between the two dots, between the event and your response to decide how you are going to respond.

Choosing the way you will respond, making the choice creates your destiny. What happens to you, doesn’t create your destiny. Your choices in the way you react create your destiny.

Teens (and some adults) limit their destiny when they react without thinking…without making a choice. They say things like, “Well, he pushed me so I punched him,” or “When she looked at me like that I just had to tell her off.”

Wrong. Your reaction was a choice.

Teens will tell me that their parents or buddies told them never to let people treat you like that.

Look around you. Are the people who give you this “punch-them-in-the-face” advice… are they themselves a success in life? Are they living a life you want to emulate? Well, are they?

Or are they in prison or holding entry-level jobs or no jobs even though they are middle age?

You create your own destiny by the choices you make between any stimulus and the response you choose.

Let’s be honest, sometime in life we’ve all made a mistake with a knee-jerk reaction to a situation. I know I have. But I later regretted my response. I share a couple of examples of my own mistakes with my students. We can teach quite a bit by sharing our failures and vulnerabilities. They hear us best when we aren’t preaching.

As the year progresses and a teen or two will invariably make a poor choice, I don’t have to say anything. I just go to the board, make my two dots, and draw the wavy line in between. No words have to be spoken, though many of the students will give that little hum (or groan) of understanding.

I find it’s best to do this activity early in the year before a poor choice has occurred. That way no student is made the target of the exercise. When students come into class all excited about a fight that has just occurred in the cafeteria or hallway, I just draw my two dots and that slow wavy line in between. They get it. They may say something like, “No, seriously Mrs. E. you should have seen it, it was so cool.” But I just draw my two dots and my wavy line again.

What is My Hope?

Someday when I’m no longer standing in front of them in a classroom, my students will remember the two dots and the long wavy line between them. They will realize that they have the power to create their own destiny with the choices they make. They won’t feel they have to become the victim of their own poor choices even if lousy choices were all that was modeled for them.

When I move outside the sometimes confining limits of my academic area, I often feel like I’m doing my most important teaching. It is when I most feel like I am teaching to change lives.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author: dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Apr1

Letters from Teachers

Posted on April 1, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Lucky Me

I’m a lucky lady alright. Not only have I had the chance to spend decades involved in the teaching profession that I love, I’ve also been invited to speak to teacher audiences in 37 states. Sometimes I speak at conferences. Other times I’m invited to encourage teachers in individual school districts. I love to use my speaking skills to inspire and encourage teachers.

Have you ever wondered what teachers are thinking? I have scores of letters from teachers who write to me after they hear me speak. They tell me exactly what is on their minds. Listen in on what they have to say.

Dear Dauna,

… Last Friday, as school ended, I was scrubbing up a whole bottle of dried syrup that had been thrown into the broom closet. At that point I was thinking, “Why did I ever sign up to attend this conference next week? I still have things to do here AND at home!” Now I am so glad I came You were fantastic. You have made this whole conference worthwhile. I get the feeling that you are the kind of teacher who would have syrup spill in your closet too.

… You really touched our teachers. You gave them something that doesn’t come in books or on the internet. You shared YOU! Your human compassion and common sense encouraged them like nothing else can. You gave them a glow that they will not forget.

…Your stories were so moving and so real. I came away feeling very proud to be a teacher and there are not enough of those moments.

… What a gift you have to move people with your true stories about teaching. God bless you.

… I’ve been coming to these conferences with the same group of guys for years. We really enjoy each other’s company. Frankly we usually just sit in the back and talk through the presentations. When you gave your speech it was the first time not one of us said anything. You really hooked us.

… I knew from the moment you stepped in front of our group that you were going to be a huge success. You have a magic aura around you. Thank you for turning me into a hero because I was the one who invited you to our state to speak. I feel as though I’ve not just heard a great teacher speak, I feel as though I’ve made a new friend.

… You humbled me by talking about your failures. We all have failures but we forget the positive impact we can have by sharing those failures with others.

… My goodness you are an amazing speaker! I have never seen anyone, ever, control an audience like you did.

( I can’t help it. I just have to tell you. That last comment was written by a Georgia senator about ten years ago).

… You made me think of all the teachers whom I should thank. I hope and pray that someday someone feels the same way toward me. I know God has put me here for a reason. Thank you for helping me realize that I may be touching someone right now, even though I can’t see it.

… I almost didn’t come back today. I’ve been driving to Columbus an hour each way for the past three days to attend this conference. Last night I almost decided to stay home and avoid one more day of that drive. But, because of you I’m so glad I didn’t stay home. You made all that driving for all three days worthwhile? Next year you should speak all three days.

… I’ve always thought of myself as a positive person. I honestly try to take this into the classroom every day. But at times it’s hard to smile at the little SOB who gives me a rough time. But after listening to you today, I make you three promises:

I will smile at my problem child.
Every student of mine will hear the fish story.
I will write my 8th grade English teacher a thank you letter.

… At last they finally bring in someone to speak to us who REALLY KNOWS what it’s like to teach. I felt like you were inside my head hearing my thoughts. You have had all my same frustrations but you helped me realize that I might really be making a difference. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me hang in there.

… I came here worn out and wrung out. You lifted a heavy load from my shoulders and a weight from my chest.

… You know the most important thing I learned from you today? It is OK to be goofy. You are a riot!

… Last night I was talking to my wife about how “the job” was going. I told her I was considering going back into industry because I didn’t feel like I was having a positive impact on my students. Can it possibly be an accident that I heard you speak today? Wow, have you given me a boost! I can go back into the classroom with a positive attitude. You have reminded me of why I chose teaching.

… You could never believe how much I needed to hear the message you gave us today. You were speaking directly to me. I believe your stories will help me be a better person as well as a better teacher.

…I never would have believed I could laugh so hard – and cry too – in ninety minutes. The time went by too quickly. Please come back!

..I’m really not a warm and fuzzy person, but today you have inspired me to work harder and listen to my students more.

…My staff suggested I get you to come back once a month for a shot in the arm. You touched all of us in a special way.

… I hope someone, somewhere, lets me know I’ve been a positive influence in their life. Thanks for giving me hope.

Now Dear Readers, Will You Do Me a Favor?

If you enjoy reading my blog posts, could you recommend me to someone who hires speakers to encourage teachers?
I’d love to be the opening speaker at your school next year. Contact me.
Are you a teacher who attends in service meetings? Could you share a link from my blog posts with the person who invites speakers to your district?
Are you in charge of hiring speakers for teacher conferences?
My email address is the best way to reach me: dauna@cinci.rr.com

My past audience members are the ones who encouraged me to write a book for teachers. I’ve now written two. Some universities are having their education students read my books. Here is my most recent book for teachers.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Mar11

A Parent Teacher Conference I’ll Never Forget

Posted on March 11, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Meaningful Moments

I taught for more decades than I care to admit. During that time I’ve probably conducted thousands of parent teacher conferences. Many of those memories run together. However possibly a dozen parent conferences stand out in my mind because of what they taught me.

One time while teaching future teachers in a Teacher Academy program at high school level, I had the opportunity to talk with Jack’s mom. Jack was a junior in my class and an all around great guy. Everyone loved Jack. This particular class happened to be dominated by girls which meant that sometimes there was female drama percolating just below the surface within the classroom. But somehow Jack could stay above it and even maintain a friendship with every single female in the class. Watching him I knew he had the diplomacy, humor and kindness to be a great teacher. He instinctively knew how to make people feel valued.

Early in the year I asked the students in my Teacher Academy to give a speech on any topic of their own choosing. I wanted them to use the Smart Board, make slides, practice speaking comfortably in front of the class so I allowed the topic to be a topic of their choice. Jack’s topic surprised all of us.

How NOT to Get a Girlfriend

As speeches go it was terrific. He had the attention of every person in the classroom. He had made wonderful slides. His premise was that girls aren’t really attracted to the thoughtful, nice guys.

Drive them to school and carry their books from class to class….THAT won’t get you a girlfriend.
Listen to them talk about their boyfriend’s bad habits and build up their self esteem…THAT won’t get you a girlfriend.
Bring them a flower or buy them a dessert in the cafeteria…THAT won’t get you a girlfriend.

He went through several such examples accompanied by humorous slides. Every person in the class was laughing and attentive. They could hear the truth in his comments. When he had his audience primed and ready, Jack showed his final slide titled…

The Only Way to REALLY Get a Girlfriend

Reach into your pockets filled with lots of money, pull the money out and say, “I have all this money to spend and I don’t know what to do with it. Do you want to go to the mall?” THEN you’ll have a girlfriend.

Needless to say it was a very effective speech for a room full of high school students. Everyone was laughing and recognizing the uncomfortable truth in some of what Jack was saying. Why do high school girls overlook some of the best guys?

The Parent Teacher Conference Continues

I love telling parents cute stories about their kids. I thought perhaps Jack had told his family about his speech at home, maybe even practiced it in front of them, but he hadn’t. As I told his mom this story I could see that she was hearing it for the first time. I was laughing but she had tears in her eyes. I was confused. I paused to let her tell me why she was upset. She was too emotional to speak so she motioned for me to continue.

I started to understand that she had bad news to share, but I went on to tell her another story about Jack. He knew even as a junior in high school that he wanted to teach junior high level. Part of my job was to procure placements within the district for my students to shadow current professional teachers. I had Jack placed in a junior high classroom. It is daunting for even adults to get up in front of junior high students and maintain control of the class. Jack was only a junior in high school, just a couple of years older than these young teens, and yet he had an instinct for handling this age group using just the right combination of firmness and humor. He impressed even this seasoned teacher. I described to his mom a class I saw him teach successfully in a junior high health class.

By now Jack’s mom had tears running down her cheeks. She was openly crying. I knew that she was going to reveal that she had a life threatening illness. I braced myself for the bad news and was thinking of encouraging things I might say in response. I waited a few beats and asked, “So why the tears?”

Here’s what she said while trying hard to control her emotions.

Mrs. Easley, Jack has two older sisters, both of whom knew exactly what they wanted to do in life. They knew what their career path would be from a young age and then went straight toward their goals. Jack has been so different from them. He didn’t seem to know what he wanted to do. In Junior High he just seemed to get off course. His grades started to slip. Things he cared about previously he just kind of gave up on. His friends changed. We have just been so worried about him. We just wanted him to find something he loved. We’ve had so many conversations about what was going to happen to Jack.

She paused.

When he signed up for the Teacher Academy program we were surprised…pleased, but maybe just a little skeptical. But right now, in the past ten minutes, listening to you, I realize that Jack has found his niche. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the stories you shared with me. Jack has found his niche. It is the biggest relief to know that he has found something he loves and then to know he is good at it…it is the best possible news.

It took a lot of kleenex for her to get her story out. Her gratitude and relief was so great that she just let the tears flow.

It is one of the conferences I will never forget. I had completely blindsided her with good news. Isn’t it wonderful when a teacher can play that role? It gave me a renewed resolve to take time to share stories with parents. Conferences aren’t just about rattling off test scores and homework expectations. The very best parent teacher conferences are about listening to parents and then blindsiding them with great news and stories about their kid.

Guess What?

A couple of weeks ago I heard from Jack. I think of him frequently and even made an attempt to find him last summer, but failed. But only a couple of weeks ago his name popped up on my Facebook page. He now has his Masters Degree in Education from The Ohio State University. I’m impressed but not surprised. He has a long-term substitute teaching job, with a full-time teaching job possibility on the horizon. Oh, and also he coaches a junior high girls’ basketball team.

I know he is going to be great with this age group, even the ones who get a little off course…maybe especially those kids. I know he is just the kind of guy who will blindside their parents with good news at conference time.

On the days when my life has too many challenges, I think about all the wonderful kids I knew when they were aspiring future teachers. Most of them are in the classroom now or only a year or two away from it. It makes me optimistic about our schools’ future and optimistic about the teachers in front of today’s students.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author at dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Feb11

Conversations About our Schools

Posted on February 11, 2013 by daunaeasley

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True Stories from My Past Week

Story # 1

I was visiting an elementary school this past week observing a college senior who is student teaching this semester. As I left her classroom I was walking through the school hallway alone. A kindergarten boy came running down the hallway on his way to the bathroom. He was close to me before he noticed me.

He stopped running when he saw me, looked me up and down and said, “What school did YOU go to last year?”

I laughed all the way home about his comment.

Moving Teachers

Story #2

On Saturday I visited a school district 45 minutes away to watch my granddaughter perform in a competition. There was a lady I had never met before sitting behind me. She began talking about her past week as a kindergarten teacher. Once I realized she was a kindergarten teacher, I turned around to tell her my story about the little boy in the hallway. She listened and laughed. When she realized I was also in the teaching profession she then said, “Let me tell you about my week at school.

“On Thursday of this week the administrators called a previously unannounced teachers’ meeting. We found out at that meeting almost all of the third through sixth grade teachers will be leaving our urban school. They are getting rid of all but two teachers in those grades because the students’ test scores came back too low. The only reason we kindergarten through second grade teachers still have jobs is because our students don’t yet take the standardized tests.”

I was stunned. “Are they firing all those teachers?” I asked.

She continued her tale, “No, they are moving them to another school in our district. The other school is in a completely different neighborhood with an entirely different clientele. Guess what? Not so surprisingly their tests scores are higher. Therefore the administrators (or somebody) believes those teachers are more effective. They are bringing those ‘effective’ teachers to our school to boost our students’ test scores. They are moving what they consider our ineffective teachers to the other school to learn from the ‘effective’ teachers still there.”

We smiled at each other and shook our heads.

I thought to myself, “Who is making these decisions? Did they visit in both those schools? What are educators even thinking? Or are educators even involved in any of these decisions?” Like the kindergarten boy I met in the hallway I wondered, “What school did THEY go to last year?”

Value Added

Story #3

On Sunday I was in another school watching yet another grandchild participate in a function. Next to me sat a wonderful, committed first year teacher. I have known this young lady for years and am very aware of her standard of excellence. I told her the story the kindergarten teacher shared with me. She was disappointed, but not surprised.

She described a similar circumstance she had encountered. School districts have become so reactionary to test scores that it seems like learning takes a back seat to the almighty score. Everyone is talking about value added.

Note from me: When schools talk about ‘value added’ these days they only mean how did you raise test scores? They don’t mean how well do you communicate with parents, differentiate instruction, tutor or counsel students. Value added means only, “What did you do to raise test scores on the standardized tests?” I’m sad about that. A valuable teacher is so much more than one number on a page. Ask any student what constitutes a valuable teacher. They will describe one accurately. But students’ opinions don’t factor into the equation either. Only standardized test scores matter anymore.

This young teacher pointed out that her subject (foreign language) isn’t covered on the state standardized test. But the teachers still have to prove ‘value added’. Essentially all they have to do is make up a pre-test, then teach the skill and administer their own post test. If the scores go up, they can prove value has been added. She is professional enough and committed enough to recognize the irony in this scenario and she is only a first year teacher.

Isn’t this just a little like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop?

It makes me sad to see educators running in circles like this. The cry for higher test scores from politicians and the media….higher test scores, no matter what the method… is causing otherwise intelligent people to make some pretty desperate decisions. When we don’t know what to do, we just get forced into doing something whether it is worthwhile or not.

I want to ask the politicians, government officials and reporters who are complaining about our schools…in the words of a kindergarten boy…

What schools did you go to last year?

What teachers did you interview? Did you ask them how to raise test scores?

What did students suggest about how to identify effective teachers and raise test scores?

TEACH…To Change Lives

Autographed books and large quatities available from the author: dauna @cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com

Jan28

I Believe in You

Posted on January 28, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Teachers Make the Difference

Effective schools are about so much more than just memorization of academic facts. The very best schools have teachers who come into the profession to change lives. They come into the classroom to share their passion for a subject, but refuse to stop there. They want to make a permanent difference in their students’ lives. They are constantly looking for ways to make that happen.

But sometimes the challenges teachers face in the classroom seem insurmountable. Our American schools welcome every learning style, nationality, culture, and disability. They welcome students who are homeless, children of incarcerated parents, children born with the consequences of their parents’ drug addictions and/or illiteracy. That is what makes America wonderful and unique. We value and are dedicated to an education for all children. Our schools are not merely available for elite learners, as is the case in many other countries to whom we are unfavorably compared. Committed teachers in the USA make it happen whether or not they have the financial support of their community, the supplies they need or the training they crave.

These days I help supervise and train young teachers. They are optimistic, committed and begging for ideas to make a positive difference in their students’ lives.

Let’s Start with “A”

Are Your Students Afraid?

Here’s an important piece of information not all students know or believe. You (the teacher) have to tell them or they won’t know. Everyone is afraid. Adults are afraid when they start a new job, are assigned a new project or (gasp!) face new computer software in the workplace. Many celebrities are afraid when they take the stage. Great speakers are often afraid before a speech.

What separates the successes from the people who just stand along the sidelines and never get started isn’t the lack of being afraid. They simply take action in spite of being afraid. Only action can overcome fear. When we are afraid of something and don’t confront it, the fear grows. Inactivity fertilizes fear. Next time we experience that situation we are even more afraid. I have a crazy friend who is so terrified of bugs that she drove a car without air conditioning with the windows completely rolled up in Florida during the summer time because she was afraid a bug might fly in the window while she was driving. It was probably 120 degrees inside that car. I know because I was in it! (I wish I had just made that up but unfortunately it is a true story).

Only action breaks the chain of fear. What can a teacher do? Talk to students about a time you were afraid. I was almost fifty when I wrote my first book. Was I afraid no one would want to read it? Yes. Talk to them honestly and frankly about how you overcame a fear. Help them make a plan for confronting something they have been afraid of approaching. If we don’t do this, when they feel fear they may believe it is reason to give up on a dream. They may believe that experiencing the fear is a sign telling them it is not wise to move forward. They need to understand that fear is just a step in the process and that every successful person faces it and pushes forward anyway.

“B”

Believe in Your Students

This is an outrageously obvious but too frequently overlooked concept. Children very frequently see their future successes first through the eyes of an adult whom they love or admire. Even before they can dream a dream for themselves we can plant a seed within them. Watch how still and receptive they become when you begin telling them about a skill in which you see them excel. I’ve told many teens that they are better writers that I was at their age. I’m not faking this. It’s the truth and that’s important. Children can discern honesty. I tell them I can’t wait to read their first book. I ask them in advance for an autographed copy of their future books. Someday I know I’ll have those books on my shelf.

Usually when we truly have a gift we don’t notice it so much. It comes easily to us and we assume everyone can do it. We believe if we can do this so easily, it must not be any big deal It is a breakthrough moment when we realize that the thing we do which seems so trivial to us, is a talent that others admire.

It’s easy for me to be in awe of students with artistic ability as I have absolutely no talent whatsoever along these lines. But I can compliment them, ask them to design contest posters and scrapbook pages I can ask them for a copy of a favorite drawing to hang in my classroom. I don’t have to be an art teacher to help them realize they have artistic talent. All of these strategies are outside my curriculum, but encouraging a talent which may become a future career may be the most important thing that takes place in my classroom on any given day. Recently I was watching a documentary on a famous Hollywood artist. How did his dream to make art his career begin? His kindergarten teacher stood him up in front of her class and told his peers that he would be a famous artist someday. Never underestimate the power of a teacher’s words to shape a life.

“C”

Creative Careers

Look for ways to help the important children in your life to think creatively about careers. There are thousands of careers that our children never think about simply because they have no awareness of them. The same is true of adults.

When my younger daughter was sick it was quite an eye opener for me in so many ways. I never realized that hospitals are actually small communities. It takes so many kinds of careers to make a hospital effective. Why do we only think of the doctors and nurses?

I began to ask each technician about their job. How did you find out about this career? What do you like about your job? How much schooling do you need? I learned about phlebotomists, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, x-ray and MRI technicians, social workers, audiologists, patient advocates, dieticians, child life specialists and the person who weighs and measures your child each time you visit the oncology clinic.

One little girl I taught in preschool eventually became the person who runs the machine in the operating room that keeps patients alive during heart and lung transplants. We need to develop a curiosity about careers so we can help our children find just the right one that ignites a flame in their spirit. Our curiosity and sharing will encourage their curiosity to explore. Have them think creatively. What do they love to do that they could turn into a career? What inspires them? The most satisfied adults turn their favorite pastimes into careers by thinking creatively.

Great teachers teach much more than the curriculum. They excite learners. They recognize and encourage talents. They explore and share possibilities. They listen, counsel, and validate the worth of every student. They are not satisfied until they TEACH…To Change Lives.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available autographed or in large quantities from the author dauna@cinci.rr.com

Also available at Amazon.com