Tag Archives: students

Oct12

Teachers: What Life is All About

Posted on October 12, 2014 by daunaeasley

I was talking with a wise friend a few days ago and I heard him say, “Life is all about big people helping little people become big people.” He didn’t take credit for the quote. He said he had heard it somewhere. But the simplicity and the truth of that statement has been resonating in me for several days. That one sentence defines teaching, parenting, mentoring, coaching, and a wide variety of other professions and important roles we play.

When I wrote my first book for teachers, I was working with a publisher who kept sending me book cover ideas seeking my approval. But none of the covers seemed to speak to the message the true classroom stories in the book conveyed. I was embarrassed to be taking up so much of their time, being picky. I sat down in a preschool classroom with preschool scissors and construction paper. I cut and pasted a design in 20 minutes sitting at chair and table suitable for a 4-year-old. I sent it off to the publisher with a note that said, “I’m seeing something more like this.” I’m not an artist of any kind. I expected them to take my hastily made sample and design something professional. But they made the front of the book by simply scanning my 20 minute design onto the cover and adding the title. At first I was embarrassed about it because I have no artistic skills. But then I realized it did convey a message. Why was it effective? Because it says, in simple graphic fashion almost exactly what my friend said to me. “Life is about big people helping little people become big people.” (Throw in an apple to make it teacher specific).

Yes, teachers teach academics. Yes, teachers work to raise test scores and reading comprehension. But too frequently the media and other outside critics forget one of the most important roles a teacher fills. We teach little people how to become big people. We teach about living life with character. We teach about ways to problem solve and adapt in times of change. We teach tolerance and acceptance. We teach little people how to use positive self talk to push them forward toward a dream when they are no longer in our classroom. We teach them about the rewards of utilizing initiative and perseverance and also the consequences of procrastination.

Of course the real truth is that the words big and little are relative. Some people who are big have much to learn from little people. I have learned some of my life’s most important lessons from my students. Some of the ones who have struggled the most with academics have taught me the most about teaching. They taught me that until I can explain something in a way that they can understand it, I am not teaching. Others with behavior challenges have taught me to continually hone my skills of patience. I can de-escalate the hairyiest of situations. Still others have been happy to point out my shortcomings, not always inaccurately. They helped me learn some uncomfortable truths about myself. Usually it is the littlest ones who best understand both enthusiasm and tolerance. Little ones have taught me the most about unqualified acceptance and the simple joys of living. My teens remind me to continue to fight injustices. They possess the optimism of youth. They believe they can change unfair things so they go out and fight battles I have long ago given up as impossible. One time, with zero encouragement from me, a group of them took on an impossible battle on my (and their) behalf. And they won. I’ll never forget it.

Life IS about big people, helping little people become big people. And vice versa. We are all in this together. It works best when we use one another to learn life’s most important lessons. But using test scores as the only measurement of success for the teaching profession is like writing a fairy tale and only saying, “Once upon a time…” and stopping there.

Let’s get clear about this. Test scores alone will not make our students live happily ever after.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available 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

Aug7

Those Little Moments

Posted on August 7, 2014 by daunaeasley

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Just before this new school year begins I was reminded of something important. Something I need to share with my readers…especially teachers getting ready to return to the classroom or those ready to enter the classroom for the first time.

This important reminder happened at a wedding. I was honored to be invited and was there to witness a beautiful bride and her groom beginning their new life together. The bride was a former student of mine, Kaitlyn. I taught this young lady in high school in a Teacher Academy program. She was a gal who was always fun to have in the classroom. She was friendly, upbeat and creative. Today she has just finished her second year of teaching and is half way through her Masters program. She is an intervention specialist in an elementary school who also wants to become a school administrator. Last Saturday she was a bride.

At her gorgeous wedding reception her dad walked past me. I recognized him easily because he was one of those great “go-t0” fathers you could count on whenever you were up to your ear lobes with a project that needed a father’s touch. He once helped the kids turn a grocery cart into a fabulous float “they” had designed for the Homecoming Parade. As he passed me at the wedding reception I put my hand on his arm and joked, “Hey, I have another school project I could use some help with.”

His face broke into a wonderful smile. We talked about how beautiful his daughter looked as a bride. Then he delivered the message I want to share with you. This is what he said.

You are the lady who changed my daughter’s life. My wife and I have talked about it for years. We are so grateful to you for changing her into the wonderful confident young woman she has become. And you did it with one phone call. Did I ever tell you that? One single phone call from you and she became a completely different person. We can never thank you enough.

One Phone Call ??

Here’s the important point teachers. Listen carefully. I have no memory of that phone call. NONE! Not… one… word. That is the way it is in the teaching profession. This has happened to me enough times that I swear to you that this fact is true.

Frequently you will be making your greatest impact when you are completely unaware of it.

The first time this happened to me it was mind-boggling. I couldn’t believe it. But by now, after decades of teaching, I know to trust those words and their sincerity. I cherish and appreciate the moment when it occurs. We teachers frequently never know about the ways we change lives. But if you are passionate about teaching and making students feel valued, it will happen to you. I hope you are committed enough to the field of teaching to stay with the profession long enough to allow this to happen in your life. The satisfaction it will bring you defies description.

Later on during this special wedding evening, the mother of the bride approached me and repeated the words her husband had shared. The bride even stopped by and told me in person while her groom verified her words.

While I still have no recollection of that phone call the dad gave me just enough details that I can imagine it. He said something about she didn’t show up for an event and I called her.

Perhaps she registered for Teacher Academy and then got cold feet about it. I often invited students into my classroom during the summer months to meet me. I’d have snacks and let them come in and help me put up bulletin boards or we’d just sit around and talk.

It was just a casual event when they could meet some of the other students who wanted to be future teachers. If she didn’t show up, I know I would have called her to reassure her. She may have thought she needed a 4.0 GPA to be a teacher. I would have listened to her fears and reassured her that many students profit the most from teachers who had their own challenges in school. All of us feel like we don’t fit in somewhere from time to time. I would have stayed on the phone until she and I had built a rapport. I know I would have done anything possible to make it easier for her to enter my classroom for the first time. And so Kaitlyn joined my class.

In her second year of Teacher Academy Kaitlyn wrote, filmed and created a video about a program we had in our school called Firebird Link. This was an initiative that planned activities throughout the school to help all students feel valued. I wish you could see how creative this film was. She started her film by showing just the feet of all the students (thousands of them) walking in the hallways of our school. Her words were poignant. “Where do I fit in?” Kaitlyn won the national first place award from Future Educators of America for making an effective video to promote the teaching profession. I was so proud to see her and her film shared up on that national stage.

Would she have been just as valuable a student if she hadn’t won an award? Of course! My classroom was an eclectic mix of brains, athletes, band members, theatre kids and students without any identifying labels at all. We built a community in our classroom and supported one another. We had one thing in common. We wanted to help other students learn.

Some of my best “teaching”, my “change-your-life” moments didn’t happen in front of the classroom. They happened in those private moments when I had one-on-one conversations with students. One might show up before school just needing to talk, or hang back before leaving my classroom at the end of a bell. Some dropped me notes as they left class. They’d find me at lunch time or come up and chat with me after I went to see a game or a play they were in. In Kaitlyn’s case it was one phone call that gave her the courage to walk toward a profession she was meant to pursue. One single phone call.

My hope is that this story will help you start your school year with the goal of making the most of those small moments you have to make a student feel valued.

More Good News!

The boomerang kid got a job! If you haven’t “met” the boomerang kid, scroll back a couple of entries and read the blog post about Michael.
Congratulations to all my former students who have landed their first teaching jobs this year! You make me so proud.
I have been booked by several school districts to speak to their teachers and administrators during this school year. I love to inspire educators face to face and this excites me.
A couple of districts are considering my latest book for educators TEACH…To Change Lives as a year-long book club project for their teachers to discuss and reflect on throughout the year. What a great idea.

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

May19

The Boomerang Kid

Posted on May 19, 2014 by daunaeasley

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One of the unexpected joys of my teaching career is that I have had the opportunity to teach students of all age levels. I have taught preschool through high school seniors, and now even supervise college level students doing their intern teaching.

Mikey is a boy I taught in preschool when he was three and four years old. He was the biggest boy in class even though some others were a year older than he. He was also friendly, affectionate and funny. You just had to love Mikey and everyone did.

Fast forward about twelve years. I was teaching high school juniors and seniors in a Teacher Academy program when I noticed a name just like Mikey’s on my class list. Could this possibly be the same boy? No way. I was in a different district than where I first met Mikey and I was teaching high school, not preschool. But sure enough on the first day of school in he walked with a big grin on his face. I didn’t recognize him at first. But then he spoke.

“Hey, Mrs. Easley, remember me? It’s Mikey from preschool!’

And just like a boomerang, Mikey was back in my life. It was evident pretty quickly that Mikey had become Michael. He was 6’4″ inches tall and weighed between 275 and 300 pounds depending on whether or not it was football or wrestling season. But his basic personality had not changed at all. He was friendly, easy-going and kinder than the average teen.

I remember one time I was lamenting about my students falling into a habit of arriving late to class. In walked Michael a couple of minutes late. I gave him my “teacher look” of disapproval. He didn’t say anything. He just came up to me later privately and apologized and told me every once in a while he might be a little late to class because he helped his friend Greg get from class to class in his wheel chair every day. I felt like a heel. For the two years Michael was in my class I watched him wheel Greg from class to class all day long. He shared lunch with him in the cafeteria too. This was not a task that was assigned to him. He wasn’t doing it to accumulate volunteer hours. Greg was his friend. Period.

Michael was kind to everyone, no exceptions. He was a behemoth on the football field and someone you wouldn’t want to meet on a wrestling mat or in a dark alley; but I always thought of him as my gentle giant. About a month before high school graduation Michael pointed out to me that I was the first teacher he had ever had when he walked into preschool when he was three. And then he mentioned that I would be the last teacher he would have in high school for the last bell of the last day as he finished his high school career. It choked me up when he shared that observation with me. I hadn’t thought of it, but he had. What a privileged teaching career I have had, to be able to influence this remarkable young man at both the beginning and closing of his school career.

But even that is not where the story ends. Mike went on to college to become an intervention specialist (special educator). I can’t think of anyone more suited for such a career. He won’t have to learn how to value all students; he always has. A couple of weeks ago, his name popped up on my email. He has graduated from college now. He is beginning his job search. He asked me if I would do some practice job interviews with him. So there we were last week, Mike and I, now a young man in his twenties meeting at the public library where I put him through a series of mock job interviews for a future teaching position. We worked together again for a couple of hours. At the end of that time we shared a hug and I told him to let me know when he had landed a teaching position or to call me with any tough interview questions and we would discuss possible responses.

Michael and I have been passing in and out of each other’s lives now for two decades. He doesn’t just make other students feel valued, he makes his teacher feel valued too. How gratifying it is to have a young man still believe that I have something of worth to teach him. I hope this wonderful relationship continues for decades more. When you’ve been hugged by Mikey these days, you KNOW you’ve been hugged. He can lift you right up off the floor, both physically and emotionally.

At the risk of repeating myself, I ask this question again. Where, but in the profession of teaching, can you influence lives so positively and for such a length of time? The rewards I reap from this career go on and on. So does my gratitude for all the students who have touched my life in such a wonderful way.

What a teacher writes

on the blackboard of life

can never be erased.

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

Mar17

When Did This Happen?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by daunaeasley

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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

Oct7

I Love Tony Danza’s Mother

Posted on October 7, 2013 by daunaeasley

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I’ve never met Tony Danza’s mother, but I can tell you I admire her. Why? I once read an article in a magazine about Tony in which he described his mother’s philosophy. I can’t remember or even find the exact wording of the quote, but like all thoughts worth remembering, it has stuck with me for years without having to memorize the exact words. She said, in essence…

Every child deserves at least one adult in their lives who is passionately and even irrationally committed to their success.

Isn’t that a perfect thought? Isn’t that what every child really needs and deserves? The truth is my own mom believes I’m smarter and more capable than I am. Her belief has gone a long way to build my confidence and create any courage that I have. It encouraged me to personally push toward success. She is the first person I want to tell about any of my triumphs. She is also the person I go to when I feel deflated by the world. When the world hurts me she is mad at the world and she hurts too. She believes the world is wrong because she is committed to seeing the best in me.

I even like Mrs. Danza’s son. He values education and teachers. He is infectiously enthusiastic in every role he plays. I credit her.

But I’ve taught long enough to face other realities. Many, many of our country’s schools are filled with students who do NOT have even one adult who is passionately and or irrationally committed to their success. Not a parent, nor a relative, coach or even an adult friend. No one.

This leaves teachers with a tough and tall order to fill. But we must step up to the challenge especially when no one else does. Somehow every student needs to feel like we are committed to their success, yes even irrationally committed… even if all the sign posts point in the opposite direction. That is when our commitment is most important, most needed. Every one of our actions needs to demonstrate, “I’m on your side. I see your talents even when you haven’t yet discovered them. I know you have the ability and/or persistence to succeed. Whatever the evidence I am committed (irrationally if need be) to your success.

Tony Danza’s mom would expect no less of us. We shouldn’t either.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Sep2

Building a Relationship with the Parents of Your Students

Posted on September 2, 2013 by daunaeasley

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The students are back. Your bulletin boards are up. You are beginning to feel like you are in the swing of things. Though the general public claims that teachers have three months of vacation every year, I know very few teachers who aren’t teaching in August and June. And my experience is that the Labor Day holiday in America is really a weekend when most teachers are still laboring away in their classrooms or getting caught up at home from the long hours they have put into starting back to school.

Building a Positive Relationship with Parents

But there are still more steps to the process. If you are going to be successful with students, you also need to have a positive relationship with their parents. Often that starts even before you meet them face to face with a summer letter. Open Houses and Curriculum Nights also tend to be scheduled at the beginning of the school year. In this post I’m going to talk about making the most of curriculum nights. Those are the times when the parents come to school to walk through their child’s school day. In the early grades this can sometimes be handled in one classroom, but as children grow older, often the parents move from room to room following their child’s schedule for the school day.

What Teachers Tell Themselves

Sometimes the messages that administrators and teachers tell themselves aren’t the whole truth. We tell ourselves that parents come to Curriculum Night to learn about classroom policies, supplies needed, and how much time their child should spend on homework. We believe parents want to learn about classroom projects and the expectations of the teacher.

Wrong!

When parents come to Curriculum Night they really have only four (or five) burning questions in mind. They care very little about your preplanned presentation or your beautifully prepared class syllabus. Here is what they are really thinking.

Will my child like this teacher?
Will this teacher like my child? Will s/he be fair to my kid?
In this classroom will my child learn? Will s/he have the opportunity to succeed?
I wish I had the chance to ask or tell the teacher about this burning issue on my mind…
In the junior and senior year of high school there is a fifth burning question. What are you going to do to help my kid get into college? This is unique to these two years. If you don’t address that on curriculum night, the parent will leave frustrated. Think about it ahead of time and address it on curriculum night.

I promise you those four (or five) questions are what is really on the parent’s mind. And they’ve already made a preliminary decision on questions number one and two.

The Real Truth

Like it or not…

Fair or not…

Accurate or not…

This is how the conversation goes when a child gets home from school on the first day…

Parent: “Hi honey. Did you have a great first day of school?”

Possible answers.

“No. My teacher is mean. She doesn’t like me. And school is boring.”

“Yeah, It was great. My teacher is funny. She likes me.”

Whether we like it or not, it is the child’s first perception of school on the very first day that most influences a parent’s point of view about the teacher and the school year. Smart teachers figure that out quickly and are very careful about the first days of school. Fearful teachers say, “Don’t smile until Thanksgiving. That way the students will know who’s boss.”

Teacher Fears about Curriculum Night

On Curriculum Night teachers are afraid that one or two parents will tie them up asking personal questions about their child. “Do you think Nikki has ADHD?” Answers to these questions are confidential and it would be inappropriate to address when other parents could overhear a private response. And, let’s me honest, the teacher is probably still trying to figure out if Nikki is the one with the curly brown hair or the glasses. Those kind of conversations should best be left to parent teacher conference conversations.

Tips for Curriculum Night

Smile! Even if you’re nervous, smile and joke a little. The parents will think, “Yes this teacher is friendly. My child will be able to approach this teacher with questions.”
Be wise and have a sheet listing conference times for which a parent may sign up. This will help you greatly when you begin to schedule conferences. ALSO it lets the parents know that coming up they will have a chance to discuss private issues with you.
Tell the parents how much you enjoy this class. The parents aren’t particularly interested in how busy or stressed you are. They want to believe you enjoy this class which includes their kid.
Don’t just spew off rules and deadlines. Describe the strategies you will use to help all students succeed. One of my own daughters had special needs. I left too many Curriculum Nights almost in tears. Teachers were quick to talk about how they wouldn’t bend the rules or make modifications in front of a room full of parents. Many of them did make wonderful and necessary modifications for my daughter. But on curriculum night I often felt like my child had no chance to succeed. (This was especially true in the upper grades). Think about every parent who might be sitting in your room.
Have the parents pick up an index card as they enter your room. In the front of the room have 3 questions on display. Invite the parents to write responses to these three questions.

1. What is your child saying about my class so far.

2. How can I help your child succeed in my classroom this year?

3. Do you have any questions or concerns you’d like to share about your child?

Collect the cards as they leave.

Don’t have them pass the cards to other parents. The contents may be private.

Follow Up

Don’t just have parents fill out the cards, read those cards as soon as possible. I read through them on Curriculum Night or at the latest, the next day. I put the most pressing concerns on top. For the next few days I called parents or emailed them and let them know I had read their comments. I would ask for further input in some cases. In other cases I would tell them what I was going to do to help them with their concern. My follow-up usually stunned and impressed parents, especially at the high school level.

This follow-up will help you enormously as a teacher. You will avoid inadvertent mistakes when you find out what is on the parents’ minds at the very beginning of the school year. The first weeks of school are crucial in developing a positive reputation in your school and community. Parents talk to other parents. The word will spread quickly that you are a caring professional, or the opposite. Do yourself a favor. Every interaction with the parent for the remainder of the school year will be easier if you make a positive impression from the beginning.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

Dauna Easley available to speak to teacher audiences.

Feb25

What is Important?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by daunaeasley

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School Rules

Today more than ever, our schools are filled with rules. Like it or not rules are necessary to keep students safe. We can’t tolerate guns or drugs in school buildings or their surroundings. We want bullies to know they are not in charge of our students. We have rules against discrimination and rules that demand modifications for students with learning challenges. In some schools you can’t wear hats, hoods or head-gear or even carry large book bags in the hallways. In other schools you have to walk up one stairway and down another in order to help students get to class on time. Most school rules are important. Some we just tolerate. And let’s be honest, some we ignore until they are taken off the rule list completely.

Life Rules Matter

Beyond the school rules, though, I believe it is most important to teach our students LIFE rules. This is not so easy, but vital for their future success. I like to start with the rule of 10-10-10. When I see students getting frustrated or overwhelmed I like to refer to it in the classroom. The 10-10-10 rule is simple. Look into the future, stop and think:

Is what I’m doing or worrying about right now going to matter ten days from now? Well is it?
Is what I’m doing or worrying about right now going to matter in ten months?
Is what I’m doing right now going to matter ten years from now?

Some teens stress out over something that isn’t even going to matter in ten minutes. “Look at this text message! What do you think he means by that?!” In ten minutes the bell will ring and you can ask him.

These three questions really help our students understand how to evaluate the ways they spend their time. They are also questions that need to guide our own lives. Isn’t that why we chose teaching after all? We chose a profession that would impact our student’ lives for more than ten years. (If we do it well).

When I take a break from my writing to pick up a grandchild from gymnastics or attend a baseball game to watch my grandson play ball, I’m doing something that will matter even ten years from now. I want my grandchildren to know they matter to me. I must do that now. In ten years, four of my grandchildren will be living away from home. This is the time I must build a permanent relationship with them. I am very aware of that. THIS is when they look forward to seeing me. I want them to remember that I was an important person in their lives I want them to know that they are important people in MY life.

However, when I’m writing I don’t answer the phone for a number I don’t recognize. I’ll finish my task and then listen to my messages.

Both of those responses honor the 10-10-10 rule. Recently while shopping I saw a little plaque that read:

I always have time to talk about how busy I am

Ouch. Aren’t we all a little guilty of that?

Using these three questions can make us and our students just a little bit more aware of how much time we spend on useless drivel. Teachers spend hours and hours doing things that will not matter one whit in ten days. So much minutia is thrust upon us. We have to learn to just say no to time wasters if we want to accomplish our bigger dream of helping our students become all that they can be.

Likewise students are completely inundated with electronics.

Technology has turned our teens and far younger children into electronic junkies. They stop any important project…driving, making eye contact with a parent or friend, or especially listening to a teacher, to respond to an endless barrage of text messages. Screening these interruptions and prioritizing what is really important is a skill that must be taught. What is our ultimate goal? Focus on what will still be important in ten years. Are our students working toward long-term goals or becoming a slave to trivial interruptions?

Making them aware of the ten-ten-ten rule will help them sort it out for themselves. Maybe they won’t even “get it” right now. But ten years from now, when they are trying to reprioritize their lives, they may understand the wisdom we were trying to share.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

Feb18

The Power of Optimism

Posted on February 18, 2013 by daunaeasley

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Ask the Students

Optimism is a quality that flavors everything all day long. We can expect the best in our lives and therefore give the universe an opportuntity to attract good things our way. Or we can worry and grumble about the bad things that always seem to invade our space. It is a choice we make every day.

Every year I ask students to identify great teachers from their lives. Then we write letters to them.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that they describe the teacher’s personal qualities more often than they talk about the academic material that they learned.

Again and again I hear these comments…

She’s fun.

He likes to make jokes when he teaches.

He is so enthusiastic.

She doesn’t treat us like we are kids.

She is interested when we have problems.

We want to spend time with people who make us feel good. Our students do too. They are attracted to adults, parent, grandparents and teachers who are optimistic.

The Money Jar

One of the differences I noticed between elementary aged children and teens is the lack of optimism that seems to prevail in the adolescent species. Sometimes it seems like being optimistic isn’t cool. When young children walk into your classroom, they are excited to see you and be in school. They ask right away, “What do we get to do today?”

However, when teens walk in and I say, “Hi Tyler! How are you this morning?” One hundred percent of the time they say, “Tired,” or “I don’t feel good.” It can be downright depressing if you let it get to you. I finally told my teens they had to give me a quarter for my reward jar every time they told me they were tired. Did it stop them? No. But it made them think. Now when I ask them how they are, they say things like, “I’d tell you, but it would cost me money.”

When I worked with teens on a daily basis, I had to listen to upbeat music on the way to school. I used motivational or inspirational CDs in the car. Do whatever it takes to remain optimistic for our students. They need it from us.

On a Personal Note

Every activity I write about is part of my personal teaching life. Every story I tell is true. On a rare occasion I talk about an experience with one of my children or grandchildren and explain lessons that they have taught me and ways they have changed me as a teacher.

Other than that I don’t mention my personal life very often. Today I’m going to break that silence just a little. In December my husband suffered a heart attack and a stroke. I was absent on my Christmas Eve post because we spent 12 days in the hospital including all of the holidays. This past Friday he had his second stroke. We came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Yes, it is a bit stressful and emotional. But there is always a choice in how we react. I’m focusing on the progress he is making every day as his language gradually returns to him. I’m feeling grateful that this stroke revealed a new heart issue that we didn’t know he had. I’m believing his situation is temporary. If I adopt a gloom and doom attitude, will it make anything better? No. It will rob us of the small joys we have everyday.

It is how we live our lives everyday that impacts our students (and children) the most.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Autographed copies and large quantities available: 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