Tag Archives: education

Mar17

When Did This Happen?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by daunaeasley

The shift has been gradual but upsetting all the same. No longer are teachers automatically respected for their commitment to young people. When I was a beginning teacher the community assumed that teachers deserved respect for entering a profession committed to helping their children grow toward success. Parents supported the teacher’s decisions. If a kid was in trouble at school, the kid was in more trouble at home. Parents supported the schools. They assumed that behavior guidelines were in the best interest of their child and the classroom at large.

I understand that respect must be earned. There is a very small percentage of teachers whose names we see in the media, who clearly deserve no respect. These situations make me heartsick and even furious. I am angry that those few sully the reputation of a profession that I revere.

But beyond the few who never should have been allowed into the profession, the vast majority of teachers are incredibly hard-working and selfless. They will do anything to help a child succeed.

Yet somehow it has become so fashionable to speak out against teachers and schools that it has turned into an acceptable parade of negative comments. You hear it everywhere. Politicians, media members, community leaders, and parents sitting on the sidelines at school functions have joined the band of negativity. Trashing teachers has somehow become politically correct.

During my last decade of full-time teaching I taught high school students in a Teacher Academy program. This was a wonderful group of students who already had identified a passion for teaching even in their teen years. They were a pleasure to teach and mentor. They were such positive role models within our high school. Their enthusiasm for helping others using the teaching profession just bubbled over. Lauren was one of those enthusiasts. Most of them are young full-time teachers now. But many of the stories they share with me sadden me.

Listen in as I share one. A couple of weekends ago I ran into Lauren at a gymnastics meet. She is currently teaching second grade. During the week that I ran into her she had stayed late for Parent Teacher conference night. A father of one of her students had screamed and screamed at her during the “conference.”

“You’re a fool!” he screamed. After several minutes of this she finally told him he would have to call the Principal and set up another appointment if he wanted to continue the conference with her. He continued to yell so she left her classroom in fear. As she walked down the hallway he followed her screaming. She went into the first empty classroom she could find, stepped inside, closed the door and leaned against the door. She was afraid to go to her car without an escort that night when the conferences ended. She had just purchased her first home in this community. She was afraid to drive straight home to her house for fear that he might be following her. The next day the school was on “lock down” worried that he might return to school and do harm to her or children.

What made this father so angry? His son didn’t follow classroom behavior guidelines and his teacher took away a privilege. Is there any surprise that the child had trouble following behavior guidelines? What was the consequence for the father? The police security officer called him on the phone the next day and the dad apologized to the officer. End of story.

Now a young lady who is such an asset to the teaching profession and her students, is left wondering if she wants to remain in the profession. When did it become OK to follow a teacher down the hallway yelling at her? When did it become socially acceptable to bad mouth teachers in the community?

My close friend has a daughter who entered the teaching profession within the past five years. People now come up to my friend and criticize schools and teachers. She is surprised at how they seek her out to say something negative about the education system. But I’m not.

Teachers have become targets. Somehow we’ve got to turn that around. Trashing teachers doesn’t fix anything. It just drives some of the very best people away from a worthy profession and the students who need them so much.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Feb17

No Experience is Ever Wasted

Posted on February 17, 2014 by daunaeasley

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No experience is EVER wasted. In no other profession is this more true than in teaching. But there are two caveats to that statement.

First, we have to be willing to learn from the experience. No matter how frustrating or unfair the circumstances seem to be at the time, our challenges will help us grow only if we are willing to learn from them. Sometimes we learn things we never even wanted to know. But in every experience there is something to learn.

Second, we have to be willing to share our failures with others. Why let our personal setbacks teach only a personal lesson? In no other profession can a setback be such an opportunity for learning. Being a teacher puts you in the perfect setting for helping others as a result of your past challenges. But you have to be willing to share. You have to show your students your vulnerabilities.

My experience has taught me that most young people think their parents have never made a mistake. That’s too often what we want them to think. But we teach our children the most when we allow them to know that we have made mistakes. We have survived those mistakes. We have learned from them.

When I taught urban kids, they believed that a teacher knew nothing about real life. Ha! I have not lived a charmed life…far from it. Parts of my life have been embarrassing. I’ve failed plenty. I’ve faced challenges and painful experiences that no one would choose. In fact, my past six weeks would provide material for a dramatic documentary. No vampires were involved, but this time period has supplied me with just about every other beast of a problem you could imagine.

Here’s my challenge for you for this week. Help someone who needs it, by sharing one of your failures or painful experiences from your own life. If you are a teacher, you won’t have to look far. One of your students is right now walking in shoes you have filled at one time in your life. Most times they won’t reveal their challenge to you until you have been brave enough to share your own with them.

Mission Possible: Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to change someone’s life by revealing your own human experience. (If you are old enough, you will hear the Mission Impossible theme music playing in your head right now. If I were just a little younger, I could probably figure out a way to insert it into this blog post). No matter what your age, I hope you are brave enough to accept this challenge.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Feb9

If I Were the Boss

Posted on February 9, 2014 by daunaeasley

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If I were the boss of the school, I’d give myself a fancy chair, It would be tufted, comfy and it would swivel. Since I’m posting this piece the week of Valentine’s Day, let’s make it red. It’s my fantasy so I can call the shots.

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I have been through one of the toughest times of my life this past month. You know what helps me when times get tough? I like to focus on good things.

So today I’m going to focus on the good qualities and traits of some of my former school administrators. We all are a sum of our traits, some great and some areas where growth is needed. Today I’m focusing on some of the best things that principals and other administrators and supervisors in the educational setting have done to encourage me while I was in the classroom.

Sit back in my red swivel chair and relax while you read my true stories. Maybe you might even want to share it with your boss.

The very last school district in which I taught full-time, I had a superintendent named Kathy. This district was quite large. It had 4 early childhood buildings, 10 elementary buildings, 4 junior high buildings, 2 freshman buildings and 2 high schools. The district had an enrollment of over 16,000 students and I don’t know how many teachers. This superintendent did not interview me for my job, but knew my name, face, and what I taught from the day I walked in the door on my first day of employment. Wow.

Whenever she would pass me in a hallway she would greet me by name. She was upbeat and positive. Since I taught one of two Teacher Academies in the district I invited her into my classroom to be interviewed by my students who were all future teachers. She came willingly and answered all their questions fully. Later a group of Middle Eastern future school administrators were traveling the country and wanted to interview her. They were astonished a woman could lead a district so large. She asked if this could be done in my classroom so my students could also take advantage of the experience.

Whenever I wrote an article that appeared in an educational magazine she would drop me a note complimenting the piece. I was in awe of her professionalism and consistent encouragement. I have to admit, if I were the boss, I could never achieve her ability to know everyone by name and face. I struggle mightily in that area.

Another boss I had was named Herb. He was an assistant dean (asst. principal) and my immediate up line supervisor. Herb always had a smile on his face and he was a master of giving compliments. Once I wrote an article that appeared in a very small local paper. Several times that day people would mention that they had seen my written piece and say that they had liked it. “Great job,” they’d say. Herb said it this way. He didn’t just walk past me in the hallway, he had me stop. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Dauna, I read that article in the paper that you wrote. I liked it so much I cut it out. I found myself rereading it all day long. I took it home and read it to my family at the dinner table. That was a very inspiring article.”

Herb’s comments and the way he delivered them, made his compliment one I will never forget because of the eye contact, the sincerity and the specific details he included in his compliment.

My very first principal was named Elmer. He was my principal when I was fresh out of college. I was twenty years old when I walked into a classroom in his building and yet he is one of the best principals I have ever had. I wish I had known how special he was at the time. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t…not until many years later.

How did he encourage me? He trusted me. He gave me many responsibilities within the building and that made me feel competent. He could feel my passion and ambition for the profession of teaching. He never stopped challenging me. While many teachers balk at additional responsibilities, I never did. When a supervisor didn’t recognize my leadership potential it always made me feel uncomfortable in their building. It was important for me to excel. Elmer could see that in me. When I left his building after ten years it was to start a private school. He had given me so many extra responsibilities, and groomed me so well, he made this giant leap a possibility for me. He was a true mentor.

And then there was Jon. Jon remains an enigma to this day. He was definitely not a touchy-feely kind of a supervisor. It would take Oprah and Dr. Phil combined to smooth out some of his people skills. He could pass you in the hallway and be so consumed by his thoughts and current errand that he wouldn’t speak. He would walk into your classroom and without saying “Good morning” lunge right ahead into some task that was on his mind. If you approached him with an idea, he would make a snap decision about it, usually opposing your idea. I think he felt like he might lose some kind of control of the building if he took outside suggestions. But what I gradually learned about him was that while making a snap negative decision, he would later take your idea and mull it over in private. If it was for the good of the students he was man enough to reverse his opinion. I respected that.

While Jon was my administrator, my sixteen-year-old daughter died of cancer over one summer break. When I returned to school in August, the very first time I saw him, he pulled me aside. He said, “I want to show you something.” He pulled out an article that appeared in the newspaper about my daughter. He pulled this article out of his wallet! He said, “I want you to know that I am carrying this article about Kelsey and that I will never forget her.”

I was stunned and speechless. This man with the gruff exterior was revealing his compassionate center. I was touched.

Later in the school year he was being his normal prickly self one time. When a group of other teachers walked away and no one else was around I said, “Jon, you can’t fool me anymore. Underneath that gruff exterior, I know you are just a really decent guy.” He paused for a few seconds, then finally grinned and said, “Well, don’t tell anyone.”

His gruff exterior was his armor. But how can you not admire and respect a guy who would admit that he would always remember your daughter? Impossible. The comment was made even more poignant because it cost him so much to reveal his vulnerable side.

Cindy was another supervisor who touched me in an extremely positive way. Cindy always had a positive word of encouragement for everyone around her. Cindy had the gift of encouraging everyone. It was Cindy’s encouragement that gave me the courage to write my first book. She read the very first story I wrote for my book even when that story was in its first and very rough draft. I never would have shown that draft to just anyone. Cindy was a blue ribbon encourager and one of the people I most admire to this day.

What do all these supervisors have in common? They are very different people who approach supervision in a variety of ways. Most of them have never met any of the others. There are a few who overlap. But they all had a way of making me feel valued. When we make people feel valued, they can accomplish great things. When we make a teacher feel valued they learn how they can make students feel valued. It is the greatest gift any school supervisor can pass along.

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

Feb4

The Heart of the School

Posted on February 4, 2014 by daunaeasley

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It’s the month of Valentine’s Day so let’s talk about heart. Yesterday was a personal treat for me. I had a speaking gig, but a particularly special one. I was invited back to one of my former school districts to speak to the secretaries. First, it felt great that they remembered me fondly and invited me back. Even better, the day felt like a warm reunion. I was surrounded by so many familiar and friendly faces. And let’s be honest. I was happy to see so many people who had tirelessly and willingly helped me while I was a teacher in a new-to-me district struggling to learn the system.

If you have been a teacher for even a week, you’ve already learned how much the school secretary can help you. Their charms and skills are a treasure trove for a teacher. They can find a form, explain the software, tweak a copy machine so that it will actually run copies, and encourage a teacher like no other. The smart teacher recognizes all this and puts them on the pedestal they deserve.

For just a moment let’s talk about teacher turnover. Here are some sobering statistics from The National Council on Teaching and America’s Future:

One third of all new teachers leave within 5 years
Forty-six percent are gone within five years.
This figure has grown by 50% in the past five years.

These figures are staggering and yet I know that they are true. I supervise college level student teachers and stay in pretty close contact with the students I taught in a Teacher Academy program. I’m watching the truth of these numbers unfold day by day.

Forbes Magazine estimates that teacher attrition costs America 7.3 billion dollars a year!

Why? I can give you lots of reasons, but I will save that entry for another post. Please be patient with me.

Today I want to focus on what school secretaries and teacher co-workers can do to help stop that stampede away from a profession that is so worthy.

First, think about this. Who do we turn to when we are struggling in our job?

Look at this picture. Study it.

It illustrates what we do when we are hurting about our job. Who DON’T we turn to? Our bosses. We don’t want them to know how stressed we are. We don’t want a superior to know how we are struggling. Our bosses don’t usually figure out the level of our frustration until we are already gone. Look at this picture again. When we are hurting, we reach out, but we only reach laterally or downward. It doesn’t matter our age, culture or profession. We reach out for help laterally. We complain and vent to our peers. We look for their support. So what can we do to support one another? Everything.

We can listen. Sometimes that is all a frustrated person needs, just a SAFE place to vent.
We can encourage.
We can remind each other of our strengths.
We can extend a kindness. Write a note. Bring in a treat.
We can laugh together.
We can be approachable. It is so important to have someone who will welcome questions.

In my experience school secretaries have played all those roles for me. They have been the glue that made me stick to a job when I wanted to bolt. They have made me better at my job. They’ve showed me the ropes when I was floundering.

School secretaries aren’t just the heart of the school, they are most times also the face of the district. They are the one person most visitors meet. Most visitors don’t ever see the superintendent or even the principal of the building. I am in and out of schools all the time in my role of a university supervisor of student teachers. Visitors judge a school district and its climate by their first contact with the school secretary. School secretaries are the public relations department of the district without the commensurate compensation. These days they also have become a school district’s front line protection against terrorists. When I showed this picture yesterday, it got a great laugh. One secretary said, “Oh, I NEED that picture.” So I’m reprinting it here.

When Did I Enlist?

The smart teacher who wants to succeed in the profession will recognize the wonderful ally in a great school secretary.

Secretaries are the Heart of the School

The face of the school,

The heart of it too

Secretaries impress us

With all that they do.

They find us the form,

And answer our questions

The skills that we lack

They don’t even mention.

They listen to troubles

And give us a tissue

They fix up our errors

Never making an issue

They explain the new software

Keep our secrets inside

They smile at the visitors

And open arms wide.

They make everything easier

We cannot be fooled

Our secretaries truly

Are the heart of the school.

On a personal note: My apologies to my readers who have continued to read my blog loyally these past few weeks, even when I have been too sad to write, I thank you. The statistics on my blog site show me that you have been checking in and waiting for me to heal. Thank you. Your loyalty to my words touched me. I’m feeling better every day and plan to get back into my post on Mondays. Thank you for your patience.

Also I had a very dear former student named Michelle write to me on my blog site. I was so happy to hear from her and wrote right back to her. However, her email address she provided was not current. Michelle, please contact me again. I want to communicate with you! I need your current email address.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Jan19

Change that Hurts

Posted on January 19, 2014 by daunaeasley

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In the last week my husband of 32 years has died. Two days later the pipes in my house froze, burst and flooded my home. Part of me is in great sorrow. Another part of me is numb, but going through the motions of planning a funeral and a eulogy. My blog posts have been missing for the past two Mondays because I needed to regain some equilibrium.

I’m living the truth of this quote in front of you right now. Change IS the only constant we can count on. The status quo is non-existent.

In anyone’s life there are two different kinds of change.

1. There is the change we want to make for ourselves. Frequently these changes of choice occur at this time of year. We evaluate our lives and decide to lose weight, or exercise more frequently. We decide to do a better job of saving money. We may step up to a dream we’ve had or a risk we have been afraid to take.

2. The second kind of change is forced upon us. It is outside our control, but change we must. It may be as simple as new software at work or more challenging… a new boss or business owner. Or it may be even more dramatic and sudden. Bam! Your job is gone. Yikes, someone walks out of your life. Or one day you may be packing away the Christmas decorations, pause to take your husband a cup of hot chocolate and find that he has passed away. That is what happened to me last week. My hubby has had a heart attack and two strokes this past year, but still the finality of this stunned me.

Fourteen years ago I had to say good-by to my sixteen year old daughter, Kelsey, who died of brain cancer. How did I recover from that? Slowly. And frankly you never fully recover from the loss of a child. However, only a couple of years before she died I read a magazine article that was quite a help to me after her death. I have since searched for this article to share it with others because it made such a difference in my life. (Oh, the power of writing our inner thoughts down). Unfortunately I don’t remember the title, the author or the magazine. I’m embarrassed to admit that. I only remember the message because it was so powerful. Maybe you read it too. Maybe you can help me find and thank that author. I know I read it before 1999.

The author was a woman. She had an older brother who was outstanding in every way. He was outgoing and popular. He was president of his high school class and an accomplished athlete. Everyone in town adored this young man. The author of the article was his younger sister. She lived in his shadow but she adored him also.

This star of a brother went off across the country to college. He fell in the shower and died suddenly. When the call came in to his parents his sister was also home. She watched her parents react to this phone call. She knew in that instant that she not only had lost her brother, but she had also lost her parents. She knew they would never recover from his death and they didn’t. She essentially lost her whole family on that day.

When I read this article my youngest daughter had already had one battle with a very serious kind of cancer. I always knew there was a chance that cancer would come back. I made a decision right then, that if the worst happened my remaining daughter may have to lose her only sibling, but she would not lose her mother at the same time. It was a choice I made right then. Some changes you don’t choose, but you always have the power to choose your reaction to those changes.

When the cancer came back and we lost our daughter, Kelsey, I had to live that choice. It wasn’t an easy choice. It took quite a bit of effort. But I I refused to be less of a mother to my remaining daughter, Jodi. I would also not be less of a teacher to my students. This was another difficult choice because Kelsey was a sophomore when she died. I taught juniors and seniors then. I had to live through all their proms, senior pictures, and graduations at the same time that Kelsey should have been sharing those experiences.

Almost everything about my life has changed. My immediate family included a husband and two daughters. Now two of these four are gone. What remains is the choice I made 14 years ago when we lost Kelsey. I will NOT be less of a mother to Jodi. I now also have a son-in-law and five grandchildren who need the full me, not a shell of my former self. And that is what they are going to get.

I also will continue to visit college level student teachers, my current role. I will encourage as many people as I can to enter the teaching profession because this role was so fulfilling in my own life. If I were teaching full-time right now, I would share this story and my commitment with my students. It is the way I always taught. Life lessons are as important as the lessons in the textbook…frequently more important if you ask me. When I have to face a difficult life lesson, it is the time I miss my full-time classroom most. My students and I have weathered many things together. Daily contact with young people can keep you optimistic and looking forward during the worst of times.

Please remember my husband, Wayne and our daughter Kelsey in your prayers. This is a photo taken of the two of them a long time ago. I can tell by how little hair Kelsey has that it was taken just following her first battle with cancer. Kelsey must be about 7 in this photo. She died when she was 16. I adore this picture because it shows the love between them.

Remembering Wayne and Kelsey Easley

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Dec30

Bright Ideas for Dark Days

Posted on December 30, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Twenty Tips for Motivating Yourself and Other Teachers

Throughout the Winter Months

When the memory of those beautiful fall days begins to dim, and spring still seems a lifetime away, we may feel our enthusiasm begin to take a dive. Many teachers begin teaching at 7:00 am and may arrive even earlier. During the winter months if there is an after school meeting, they may drive home in the dark also. What are some ways to keep yourself upbeat for your student? Remember: We can’t pass along what we don’t possess. Our students deserve committed and enthusiastic teachers. Try some of these ideas that have worked for me.

Fake it till you make it. This isn’t phony. William James, the psychologist called the the “as if” principle. If you want to feel enthusiastic, act “as if” you already are. I learned this lesson clearly during a particularly tough time in my personal life. It was my job to be at the school entrance to greet young children when they arrived in the morning. No matter how down in the dumps I felt when I arrived at school, after 20 minutes of greeting one child after another with a big smile and a friendly comment or two, I felt better for the whole day.
Allow for spontaneity. Change your plans. Put a new twist on an old lesson. What is something you have never tried in your classroom before? Now is the time! When I was writing my two books for teachers I discovered something surprising. The story I wrote about was almost always the first time I tried a new activity in the classroom. If the activity was a success, then I would do it again in subsequent years. But it was almost always the first time I did the activity that was the “memeory maker.” Fresh ideas spark our creativity and engage students in new ways.
Build an encouragement folder. Whenever someone writes you a positive note for any reason, pop that note into a folder. Pull out all those notes when you need to recharge your batteries. It will pump up your confidence and make you feel great.
Lighten up! When you find yourself getting really angry about something, step back and try and laugh about it. Make it into a comedy routine if you have to.
Read motivational books or inspirational thoughts late at night or before work in the morning. The morning news depresses me. I have found that I can’t listen to how many murders, rapes and fires happened overnight and then teach teenagers during the day. but with the right music and uplifting thoughts in my head, I’m the best that I can be. Don’t my students deserve this?
Practice kindness. Kindness helps absolutely everything. It is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear. I’m far from perfect but I can tell you this: The times I haven’t been kind haunt me. Kindness lifts everyone, not just the recipient of the kindness, but the giver too.
Take a class that will help you reflect on your job in a positive way. I teach future teachers but I still take classes with the same titles as the classes I teach. I always learn new ideas and teaching strategies in every class I take. I can also be a valuable contributor to a class I’m taking. Every time I have taken a class I’ve come back to the classroom with fresh ideas to try with my students. I don’t care how experienced you are, there are always new things to learn if your attitude is in the right place.
Write down new ideas the moment they pop into your mind. Try to take some action on them within 24 hours. At my age, I need sticky notes to survive. I’m full of ideas that are gone in an instant. The creativity of the sticky notes compels me to use them to organize my thoughts. There are arrows, tabs, stars, neon bursts, and 4×6 sticky notes for more lengthy ideas. Use them to jot down ideas and then take action. Action will put you in a better frame of mind 100% of the time. Go for it!
Improve your work space. Buy a new organizer or select a new picture. I work best when I’m surrounded by quotes that inspire me. If you don’t have an extra nickel to spare, clean your desk area. I’m very creative but my desk is always a mess. Every time I take the time to clean my desk it lifts my spirits. What is an added bonus? I find great things. I come across a new idea for teaching or writing that I only had time to jot down previously. When I discover it again, I run with it.
Purge. Don’t stop with just your desk. Clean out your files as though you were taking a new job. that happened to me once. On the last day of school I didn’t know that I would be taking a new job during the summer time. I left years of files and had to start fresh. At first it wa scary, but it also felt great. I now had room to file all the new ideas and items I needed to do my job now. Purge as though you are moving.
Record uplifting music. Listen to it on the way to work and while you are grading papers. I always play music as my students enter the room. It feels as though something exciting is going to happen.
Compliment a co-worker. Better yet, put the compliment in writing. It will encourage the person receiving the compliment, but it will also make you feel great. Try to encourage. Try to compliment at least one co-worker per day. Make it your own secret challenge.
Set goals that move and inspire you. Don’t choose hollow goals or goals someone else assigns you. Set goals that matter to you and move forward on them. When we make progress it builds our self-esteem. When we feel great about ourselves we can better inspire and motivate others.
Create a new bulletin board or display in your classroom. Visually appealing surroundings encourage us and our students. Look at your classroom as though you are walking in the door for the first time. What strikes you? We spend way too much time in our classroom to overlook the way it makes us feel. Imagine how your students react to your room. Think of an idea that would engage them. Not artistic? There are wonderful posters available.
Keep a gratitude journal. I record five things for which I am grateful every day. Guess what? This simple activity will keep you focused on what is positive in your life. You will begin to look for positive experiences rather than focus on the daily annoyances that creep into all our lives. Don’t discount this activity until you’ve given it a fair try. I think the outcome will startle you.
Solve a problem. Instead of complaining about how things ought to be come up with a solution. Everyone will be grateful. You’ll be a hero and that always feels terrific.
Attend an educational conference. You’ll rub elbows with other educators who are serious about improving their skills. You’ll return to school rejuvenated and ready to try some new ideas you discovered. You learn as much from the attendees as the presenters. Better yet, become a presenter at a conference. Share a few ideas that have worked in your classroom with other educators. It will grow your professionalism and theirs.
Change your routine. Do you have a mental list of things you’ve been wanting to do someday? We all have a list like this. Take a weekend trip to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Call up an old friend or drop them an email. Read a book you’ve heard everyone talking about. Start a new hobby or reignite an old one. Do something different!
Share ideas. There is so much talent among your co-workers. Find a way to have each of them share their best ideas with the rest of you. I once ran a monthly professional development experience at the school where I worked. Each month I had a few teachers share their best ideas. I was amazed at how much I learned. Don’t overlook the teacher in the next classroom.
Don’t eat lunch with the crab apples. This may be the most valuable tip of all. Hang out with positive people. Spend time with other professionals who speak positively about students and those who are excited about making their classrooms and your school a positive place to be.

More than likely twenty ideas overwhelm you. Some of these suggestions may feel way outside your comfort zone or sound just plain crazy. But I believe if you try even a few of these ideas you won’t be just counting the days until spring; you’ll be doing things that make every day count.

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:

Dec23

My Christmas Wish for Teachers

Posted on December 23, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Great teachers are a gift to our children, their future, and our country. I wish that were enough to keep our best teachers in the profession. However, the truth is sad. Forty-six percent of teachers who have spent a minimum of four years training to become teachers leave the profession within five years. (This statistic comes from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future). That is a staggering figure. Almost half of all new teachers spend as much time training as they do teaching and then they are gone.

What is even more sobering to me? I’ve been a trainer for future teachers for at least two decades now. I know my students well and keep in close contact with many of them. I find it very disconcerting that so many of my former students whom I know will make top quality teachers, are the ones who begin talking about leaving the profession the fastest. The teaching profession in its current state is driving away the cream of the crop. The best ones have options. They will be successful whatever path they pursue. The greater their confidence, creativity and initiative, the more likely they are to look for greener pastures. We are pushing away the wrong people. Is that our goal?

I know plenty of reasons why teachers are leaving the profession or thinking about fleeing. But that is material for another post. I don’t want to enumerate the obvious reasons to leave. I want to beg great teachers to stay.

Today I want to share my most fervent Christmas wish for teachers. I want you to continue to teach. I want you to stay in this profession. From my heart I want to share a truth with you. It takes time to reap the fruits of your labor. Often when you are making the greatest difference, you won’t know it. It takes sometimes decades of commitment for you to really understand what an impact you have created. The difference you make in your teaching career will outlive you. Great teaching creates a legacy that will span generations. I promise you this is the truth. I’ve lived it. I know it. I’m sharing only facts with you that I have discovered (sometimes painfully) during my own teaching career.

Please do me the honor of reading some true stories from my own teaching career. I know this is risky…providing links to my most meaningful stories. Many of you will stop reading before you click the first link; but I’m hoping most of you will take the time to read some of my true stories. If you do invest your time, these stories will inspire you. That’s a promise.

First read about a thank you letter I wrote to a high school teacher thirty years after I graduated from high school. Find out how this letter changed her life and mine.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/07/30/full-circle/

Now read about how a college teacher changed my life in ONE hour. She never knew the impact she had on me. Even now, she doesn’t remember my name and doesn’t know how she changed my life in one day.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/07/18/the-secret-dream/

Once I had a senior girl in my class who was planning to drop out on her 18th birthday. Her birthday was only two months away when she entered my classroom. See how that turned out.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/08/20/a-lesson-for-teachers/

I’ll be honest. Twice I almost quit the teaching profession. Once was in my second year as a teacher. I ran into some health problems which I hadn’t encountered before. I blamed them on the stress of teaching. I was off school for almost a month. But I stayed in the profession and I’m glad I did. The second time I almost quit was in my twenty-fourth year. I went from teaching in the elementary grades to high school and those teens almost ate me alive. Read about my toughest year ever.

https://daunaeasley.com/2013/08/26/my-toughest-year-in-the-classroom/

When you bring your own experiences into the classroom and share them with your students, you will absolutely change lives. How am I sure? Read this.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/09/10/teachtochangelives/

So you think you can’t make a difference in someone’s life? Read this letter a student wrote to me. Her name was Sarah and she gave me permission to share this with you. It will take your breath away.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/11/26/dear-teacher/

In several decades of parent teacher conferences, there are about a dozen that were so memorable, I know I will never forget them. Here’s just one sample. It’s a great story.

https://daunaeasley.com/2013/03/11/a-parent-teacher-conference-ill-never-forget/

Someday you will be so excited about a lesson you’ve planned. Then that lesson will bomb and it hurts. Fear not. Someone will hear you.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/08/13/teaching-strategies/

Why teach? Why put up with the moderate pay, the long hours, the attacks from the media, the test score tunnel vision, and the inner school politics? A 17 year old girl in my class revealed her reasons and inspired even this veteran teacher.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/08/06/the-empty-truck/

Great teaching isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Here are some tips I put together to help the best teachers stay in the profession for the long haul.

https://daunaeasley.com/2012/10/15/teacher-for-a-lifetime/

Great teachers don’t just dump academic minutia into students or give them a list of facts to memorize for a test. They light a candle within them. They teach the skill to problem solve. They demonstrate the power of persistence and why to fear the comfort zone. They ignite their curiosity and jump-start their initiative. They role model the satisfaction derived from hard work. They encourage creativity and build their self confidence so that students will be able to find new paths to success long after they forget a certain algebraic formula or how to conjugate a particular verb form. Our students desperately need those greatest teachers. Please stay and make a difference. The very best teachers 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

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

Dec16

A School Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2013 by daunaeasley

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‘

By Dauna Easley

T”was the week before Christmas

And all through the schools,

It seemed that most people

Had forgotten the rules.

The noise in the hallways

Was louder than thunder,

The kids were all focused

On Christmas Day plunder.

Instead of note taking

The students just whined

Even the teachers

Were shopping online.

The days were just dragging

The clock ticked so slow,

The staff and the students

Were wishing for snow.

The cooks in the lunchroom

Served left over stew

The principal wondered

Just what she could do.

The spirit of Christmas

Was lost, don’t you see?

The spirit of Christmas is not about “me.”

She issued a challenge

No, this isn’t sappy,

She gave each class homework,

Make someone else happy.

One class made some posters

For kids who were sick,

One class made some cookies

And iced them all thick.

They gave them to seniors

Who were lonely and blue.

They kept thinking and scheming,

What else can we do?

They took food to the needy

Gathered toys for the poor

They noticed the sad ones

And knocked on their door.

They thought about homeless

Gathered mittens and gloves

They began to appreciate

The ones that they loved.

They sent letters to soldiers,

Mailed thousands of miles,

As they worked on each project

You began to see smiles.

They gave coats to the cold ones,

Spread hope to the blue

Worked faster and faster,

The time? It just flew!

They volunteered time

Complimented their friends,

But this is not where

The ‘good doing’ ends.

They made new year promises

To keep this all going

It made them feel better

When kindness was flowing.

They’d invite someone different

To sit at their table

Make them feel welcome,

Yep, now they felt able.

You see all those hurting

Aren’t outside school walls,

Some of the saddest

Are walking our halls.

Being kind to a classmate

Is where it begins,

Kids who aren’t like you

Make wonderful friends.

Making a change

Is no long distance plight.

To create the best difference

Look left and look right.

The students had learned this

The principal beamed

The results were much better

Than even she dreamed

Who makes a school better?

Not “others.” It’s you.

Start with a smile

And see all you can do.

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

Nov18

National Education Week

Posted on November 18, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Celebrate National Education Week now! November 18-22 is National Education Week. I personally have many reasons to celebrate. I think it is particularly appropriate that this week is so close to the Thanksgiving holiday. This educator has many things for which to be grateful. How about you?

I’m grateful that a wonderful teacher, Esther Waggoner taught with so much enthusiasm when I was in the third grade, that she made me want to grow up and join the teaching profession. Thank you Mrs. Waggoner from the Mason, Ohio school district.
I’m grateful that at age eight I chose the right profession for myself. What are the chances of that happening?
I’m grateful that so many of my former students honor my relationships that I built with them by staying in touch with me. What joy that adds to my life.
I’m grateful that my teaching path had its twists and turns that gave me such rich experiences. I never dreamed at the outset of my career that I would teach preschool, every elementary grade, high school and now work with college students. What a blessing this rich variety has been.
I’m grateful for the creativity a teacher can bring to the classroom. Great teaching is an art form and the classroom can be enriched by it.
I’m grateful that a favorite high school band, the Lakota West Marching Firebirds of West Chester, Ohio, will be marching in the Macy’s Day parade on television this Thanksgiving Day. Watch for them! They are not pictured above. All the photos on their website seemed to be copyrighted. However, watch for their red and white uniforms and their great sound.

Teachers March Together

However there are some things about the teaching profession that currently sadden me.

It saddens me that it seems to be so accepted to widely criticize the teaching profession in today’s media.
It saddens me that it seems so acceptable to vote against levies for education and our kids’ needs.
It is my dream that all the great teachers in the profession (and there hundreds of thousands of them) will work hard to reestablish the reputation of professionalism in this teaching profession that I love so much.
We do this by focusing on the students’ needs and their families.
We do this with commitment to our profession. Through our thorough preparation and creativity in our daily lessons we can re-create a respect for teachers.
We can’t capitulate to the single-minded obsession about test scores. We need to speak calmly and with reason until our voices are heard. Great teaching is so much more than testing. Yes, you heard me. Great teaching > test scores. Some of our hardest working and most committed teachers are being maligned because they are committed to working with a student population who are at-risk learners. That makes no sense.
We need to teach our students lessons about living life successfully in addition to the academics we teach. They need to learn about the value of risk taking, recovering from failures, thinking outside the box and the power of persistence. Some of our country’s greatest success stories were the brainchild of former students who didn’t test well.
We became teachers 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

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

Nov11

The Whisper

Posted on November 11, 2013 by daunaeasley

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I was sitting in a meeting recently surrounded by several people I didn’t know. One woman had to leave early. But before she left she leaned close to me and whispered, “I’m glad you came. It is so nice to put a name with a face. I want you to know that my students talk about you all the time when they are in my class. Of all of the (people who do my job), you are their favorite.

I don’t even know the woman’s name, but what a difference she made in my day. More than a day. From time to time throughout my days, I’ve been thinking about those whispered words ever since. The truth is I work hard to go beyond expectations for my students. But without those whispered words from a stranger, I wouldn’t know that my efforts were having such a positive impact. I’m grateful to her. It would have been so much easier for her to make a subtle exit from that meeting without taking the time to pass along a private compliment.

When I taught in the elementary grades I didn’t have to practice the art of whispered words so much. In the primary grades we’d compliment students more publicly. Young children crave a teacher’s admiration. Primary teachers say things like, “Oh I like the way Betsy looked back in her reading text to find that information.” “Look at Scott’s illustration he added to his writing. Isn’t his art work wonderful?” Elementary students love being praised publicly. They smile and feel validated and everyone else in the class works harder and hopes a future compliment will flow their way. A great teacher finds a way to compliment everyone. That isn’t fake. Every student has strengths. The talent is in the noticing and then giving voice to those observations.

It’s when I moved into the high school setting that I had to rethink that strategy. Older students yearn for more private praise. Public praise sometimes embarrasses them. It seems manipulative or can even make their peers jealous. You can best encourage older students when you sit down next to them and point out something that they have done that you admire. It’s the whispered words when you are having a one-on-one conversation that stay with them. It’s the quiet words when they seek you out before or after class that can become a lifetime memory. They pull those words out and hit replay in their mind for years. Most of the time you’ll never know what power your words have had. But occasionally you’ll get a letter or a compliment years later, and you will know for sure.

Here’s what I’d like to whisper back to the lady whose name I don’t even know. Thank you. You’ve made my day. You have no idea how much those words mean to me.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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