Tag Archives: teaching

Jul17

What Do Great Teachers Do?

Posted on July 17, 2014 by daunaeasley

Krista Ramsey

I belong to a Writers’ Group at my local, Midpointe Library in West Chester, Ohio. This past week I was especially excited to attend because we were going to have a guest speaker – a lady I have admired for quite some time. Our guest was Krista Ramsey from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Not only does she write beautiful thought provoking articles, but she frequently writes about issues involving education which is a subject near and dear to my heart. (As all my readers of this blog are aware).

During Krista’s talk about her writing she shared with us how her writing dream began. She was in elementary school when a teacher, Mrs. Moomaw, required all the students in her class to write a poem. She chose Krista’s poem and asked her to read it aloud in front of an auditorium full of people. It was as simple and yet as significant as that…a vote of confidence from her teacher. It was that very day that Krista began to think of herself as a writer. “If my teacher thinks I am a writer, then I must be good at it,” she shared her childhood rationale with us.

“I believe a good teacher wills you into your gifts.”

Krista Ramsey

I couldn’t agree more. Ms. Ramsey worked on her writing craft for many years but she confessed she didn’t always have the confidence to call herself a writer aloud. She became an English teacher first. And yet that one day with Mrs. Moomaw and one act of recognition by a teacher influenced her life in such a way that the writing dream never went away. She steered herself as directly as possible toward that target that her teacher had revealed to her. Now all her readers and fans can enjoy her written insights regularly. As a fan of Ms. Ramsey’s writing, I personally want to thank Mrs. Moomaw.

I was struck by the life experiences that I shared with Ms. Ramsey. It was a similar event in my life that fueled my dream of writing. I always knew I wanted to teach, but I also harbored a secret dream of becoming a writer. That dream was not encouraged by anyone for many years. In fact all evidence pointed to the foolishness of harboring such a dream. But just as in Krista’s case it was one teacher and one particular day in a classroom that gave me the courage to continue to allow my dream of writing to percolate until its time. Without that one particular day and classroom experience, I doubt if I ever would have written the books that I have authored.

As Ms. Ramsey continued to talk with us about writing, an audience member posed the question, “How do I ever get the courage to call myself a writer? When am I a writer?”

I loved Ms. Ramsey’s response.

If we told ourselves we have the gifts we want to have, how much more of an impact could we have on the world?

BINGO. That, in a nutshell is the premise of my entire second book, TEACH…To Change Lives. A great teacher does reveal talents to their students, but they do so much more. They teach students how to discover, nurture, and have the courage to develop their own talents. Ultimately that is the foundation on which to build long term success in life…not just inside the classroom….but in life.

In today’s world we change, not just jobs, but frequently entire professions, multiple times if we want to continue to grow and succeed. Careers will exist within the next decade that are not even on the horizon today. We can’t possibly train our students for those careers currently. They aren’t in our textbooks or even measured on current standardized tests. But we can train students to recognize their talents and give them the courage to pursue those new careers as they emerge. THAT is precisely the most important job of an effective teacher.

I consider myself a teacher first. But that is not my entire identity. Sometime during my life path I became a professional speaker and then a writer. In truth, my ability to speak to and encourage a group of people is probably my greatest talent and yet I didn’t recognize that until I was in my forties. Thank goodness I had the courage to embrace that skill rather than deny it as something for which I didn’t have a college degree.. At the time I entered college I had never heard of a professional speaker. I didn’t know they existed. My books happened because audience members asked for them. They willed me to write my first book.

Back at the library someone asked Krista if she had written a book. Her reply? “Not yet.”

Whether or not a book exists, there are some things I know for certain after being in Ms. Ramsey’s presence for only about an hour. Krista Ramsey is an author. Her non-fiction books are already written, she just hasn’t put a book cover on them…yet. She could write marvelous fiction if she so desires. She is also an effective speaker and something of a philosopher. She could be a counselor if she made that her choice. The teaching profession lost a great teacher when she moved into journalism. I’m sorry for the students who didn’t get to have her daily influence. She certainly would have been a gal who would have taught in such a way that she would have changed lives in the process. She would have been just the kind of teacher who discovered multiple talents within her students and willed them toward those gifts.

Sometimes you feel a kinship with a person from across a room. I felt myself nodding in agreement at every statement she made. When I mustered the courage to speak she was nodding my way too.

And so it is with great teachers and their students. We learn from one another.

Show Your Work: Austin Kleon on the Art of Getting Noticed

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Apr27

Thank You Notes

Posted on April 27, 2014 by daunaeasley

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I love that section during the Tonight Show when Jimmy Fallon writes his thank you notes. If you’ve never seen it you don’t know what you’re missing. Tune in on a Friday night and watch him. I wish I knew how to add some tinkling piano music to my blog site to play in the background as I write my thank you notes to my blog readers and teacher friends.

Thank you…to my readers who put up with my absences to my blog site. You make me realize what I always suspected of my high school students. Sometimes you like it more when I just don’t say anything. I can’t believe how loyal my readers have been even when I have been missing in action.

Thank you…to my blog site for making me feel guilty every day of my life. When I can’t possibly think of one more thing to write about teaching, you are still there, lurking, nagging, proving to me why I was never able to run a marathon either.

Thank you…to the preschooler who called me Mr. Beasley all year long. You taught me about the importance of becoming gender neutral long before society became politically correct. Is that what you were trying to teach me?

Thank you…high school students who yearned to sleep through my class every day. You taught me how to handle rejection and keep on going. I can now listen to politicians and the media list the shortcomings of teachers and the educational system in America. I return to the classroom and keep on teaching in spite of the negativity. You turned me into one of those punching bag clowns that just keeps popping back up. for more punches.

Thank you…software and electronic boards that always malfunction with a classroom full of students and an administrator observing in the back of the room. You taught me flexibility and gave me the ability to BS my way out of any crisis.

Thank you…duties. I’m talking about cafeteria, hallway, parking lot and restroom duty. You taught me just how little a Masters Degree is worth in American schools. You taught me that duties are nothing but doodie. As a side benefit, you kept my advanced degrees from making me arrogant.

Thank you…copy machines that don’t work. You forced me to remember the pungent aroma of ditto machines with fondness and nostalgia. Because of you, I value my heritage.

Thank you…to the high school students who used to tell me my shoes didn’t match, my blouse label was showing, and I had bed head in the back. Because of your diligence in pointing out my shortcomings I could save the money I would have otherwise have had to spend on a personal stylist.

Thank you…to my teen students who made me feel I had the talents of a stand up comedian. I remember the time I described a fabric as seersucker and you laughed for five minutes. Who knew I could be so entertaining?

Thank you…classroom cheaters. Because of your ingenuity and the training you provided me, I could work for the secret service, homeland security or the IRS without listing anything but my high school teaching experience on my resume.

Thank you…emails from parents. You kept me from gaining weight as I used my lunch hour and break times to reply to your requests. You saved me the money I would have spent at Weight Watchers and I appreciate the savings.

Thank you…teen drivers who parked “illegally” in the teachers’ parking spaces in the school parking lot. You gave me wet hair on rainy days, frost bite in the winter and fewer papers to grade at home during the windy season.

Thank you…to all the students who used cell phones in my classroom and thought I didn’t notice. Let me just say it now. I always saw you! You taught me how to keep from screaming at rude people who are annoying the heck out of me. It was a valuable life lesson. You’ll need that lesson when you become teachers and are standing in front of a bunch of rude kids on cell phones. It will bite you in the butt.

Thank you…to the amazing number of former students who stay in contact with me through emails, invitations to lunch and kind notes. You make me feel that my teaching was valued in spite of the daily evidence to the contrary. You are the reason I still write a blog for teachers even when I run out of new ideas to share. I want you to know that you are truly one of my life’s greatest blessings.

Thank You!

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

Mar24

Advice for New Teachers

Posted on March 24, 2014 by daunaeasley

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Advice for New Teachers Where I live it is spring, finally. Over the past couple of days I have had a bird (the same bird) fly into my window over and over again. I’m not exaggerating when I say this bird has flung itself against my window hundreds of times. I thought certain it would die from its efforts yesterday. This morning it started again. I sought the advice of friends and one told me to place paper over the window. I’m hoping that helps. I suppose the bird sees the reflection of a tree or himself in the window. But seriously, you’d think after maybe fifty slams the bird would learn.

However, the teacher in me noticed a parallel between that battering bird and the young college students I observe as they do their practice teaching in a real classrooms for the first time. Again and again I hear them say the same things.

When I notice that a few of these fledgling teachers call on the same students to answer all the questions they pose in front of the classroom, I ask them why they don’t ever call on students who don’t have their hands raised. They pause and say, “Oh, I don’t want to put them on the spot if they don’t know. I don’t want them to think I’m picking on them.”

My answer is always the same.

If you use a more random way to ask for answers, no one will believe you are putting them on the spot. Pull names from out of a jar or use a computer program that mixes the names randomly. Whoever’s name appears will need to be ready to answer. Using that strategy you will automatically engage more students. They know before you even begin teaching that they will need to listen.

You also are saying, “I know you can learn the material. I believe in your ability to learn.” More students will listen. More students will learn. More students will be engaged in the learning process. You aren’t putting anyone on the spot. You are saying “I believe that everyone in this classroom has the ability and the right to learn this material.” If they are slow to answer, give them the time to think it through. Experienced teachers call this “wait time.” Encourage and assist them. You only put students on the spot when you ridicule them if they don’t know the answer. Teach them. Walk them through the steps with no condescension. Allow no other students to make impolite comments. If you do this routinely they won’t automatically disengage when you begin to teach.

And while I’m still perched up here on the side of my nest looking down on my fledglings, let me address another common error in thinking. (Lest you think I’m lecturing, remember I speak from experience. I happened to have made ALL these same mistakes myself. I have the stories to prove it and I share them openly).

If you have a behavior management system in place, use it. If you don’t have a behavior management system in place, get one!

“Oh, but I feel bad making them switch their green light to red, or have them put a check next to their name, or worse, serve a detention!” I hear my baby birdie teachers say all the time.

Guess what? Even preschool-age students can quickly size up a teacher who is fearful of enforcing consequences. And when they do, you… are… toast. They then will do anything and everything to force you to set limits. They will push and push and push until you blow a gasket or collapse. The faster you enforce a consequence, the faster your entire class will come under control. Students will be learning instead of inventing ways to stir the pot just to get you to react. Your classroom will be safer and more learning will occur. Enforce the consequences early, fairly and without anger, and the situation won’t ever spiral out of control.

Side note: Since I taped paper over my windows this morning the bird has stopped ramming them.

Negative Action + Consequence = New Result

Sorry. I’m a teacher. I see a lesson in every event. It’s a disease of the profession.

I wonder what my neighbors think of my new window treatments? I’m a recent widow and they probably think I’m afraid of peeping toms. 🙂 Only my blogger friends will know the truth.

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

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

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

Sep9

How to Encourage Teachers

Posted on September 9, 2013 by daunaeasley

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In every school (or business or neighborhood) there are people who spread gossip. We all know who they are. But of more significance and greater impact are the people who spread compliments. Those are the people to whom professionals are most attracted. They make us feel good. They make the day seem more positive no matter what the challenges may be. Here is the great news. You don’t have to be a supervisor to encourage fellow teachers. In fact in my career I have been most encouraged by other teachers who I admire who notice and mention to me something that I do well. Who have you complimented lately? Why not set a goal of complimenting two teachers per day for every day this week? Take the challenge.

What can make this a little easier? I’ve been in a couple of teaching environments where there was a small stack of notes in the mailroom near teacher mailboxes. These might be Pat-on-the-Back notes, Applause cards, or have a smiley face theme…whatever suits your school theme. When you see them lying there, you can just write a quick note and slip it in someone’s mailbox. When we make it handy we eliminate having to search for a note card or hiking it down to the mailbox area. Any teacher in the building can start the ball rolling. Why not you?

I’ve also heard of building supervisors or district administrative staff members who carry thumbs up sticky notes. They leave these anywhere they see a nice bulletin board or a creative display within the school. It can be a post it note with their name on it or imprinted with a positive theme of any kind. What about a thumbs up sticky note. I currently supervise student teachers at the university level. I like to carry a camera into buildings and take photos (with permission) of wonderful bulletin boards and displays. I take the time to find and compliment the teacher and ask her if I may photograph the board. Teachers are always very complimented that someone noticed and took the time to stop and comment.

Don’t forget to help a young teacher. I had already been a teacher for seven years when my principal asked me to move into a first grade position that became available. I had been teaching third grade since I graduated from college. First grade scared me, but I didn’t really want to mention that to my principal. At that time in my career, teaching very beginning reading seemed like a mystery to me. How did you start from scratch and create a child who could read?

There was a wonderful lady in my building named June Hutzelman who became my mentor. It wasn’t any kind of “official” assignment. My principal thought I could handle this job and didn’t think I needed anyone to help me. Ha! I didn’t want to admit otherwise. June guided me through the first two months. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this now, but what she taught on day one, I taught on day two. Her day two assignments became my day three classroom work. By about mid October, I had the swing of things and I could maneuver on my own. I will be forever indebted to June for taking me under her wing. As a wonderful side benefit, first grade became my favorite grade to teach. I’ve taught preschool through high school seniors and like them all. But that thrill of teaching very beginning reading is matched by no other thrill in teaching in my opinion.

When I left full time teaching to become a college field supervisor of student teachers I gave away all of my collected materials to young future teachers or beginning teachers. I mean I gave away absolutely every plaque, poster, desk item, magnet, bulletin board fabric or border, worksheet, EVERYTHING! At first I thought I couldn’t do it. But as the time neared, It felt better and better to give it all away. They carried away car loads full of items for their classrooms. Two unexpected side benefits came from this. I brought no additional clutter into my house; and when I visit them in their classroom, I can see my stuff still being used with students. It feels just right.

Here’s my favorite idea that I’ve seen in the past couple of years. A former student of mine, Erin Hunkemoeller, who teaches Spanish in the Northmont School District in Clayton Ohio, sent me a copy of a sheet that they call Inspirations. Two or three teachers create this one page sheet together. Every school is full of great teachers with creative ideas. Why not share them? Inspirations is one sheet with three creative ideas that come right out of their classrooms. They describe them briefly and include photos. This strategy affirms great efforts, shares and spreads wonderful ideas and encourages the entire staff. Northmont receives my blue ribbon award for this great idea that is well implemented. They are working together to 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

Dauna Easley is available to speak. Contact: dauna@cinci.rr.com

Aug26

My Toughest Year in the Classroom

Posted on August 26, 2013 by daunaeasley

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

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

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

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

Picture This

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

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

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

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

What My Students Taught Me

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

Teachers measure their worth by the lives that they change.

– Dauna Easley

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

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

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

Aug21

Happy New (School) Year!

Posted on August 21, 2013 by daunaeasley

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

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

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

Bulletin Boards Created by My Students

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

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

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

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com

Jul31

What Great Teachers Do in the Summertime

Posted on July 31, 2013 by daunaeasley

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The Myth

Every great teacher knows too many people who believe teachers only work nine months a year. Critics point to the calendar and talk about what a cushy job teachers have. What bunk.

Using this reasoning, baseball players work only half the year. Clergy work 52 days annually and players in the NFL work less than 20. Tax accountants work from January 31st until April 15. Construction workers work only on sunny days.

Why is it only teachers are singled out and accused of having an abbreviated work year?

I can hear the uproar from the professional football players. “Twenty days? What about all our training days?”

Exactly. What about all the teacher training days? Many teachers train all summer long. They take summer classes to get an advanced degree. They take classes in new technology or a new curriculum. They have to accumulate college hours to renew their teaching license. They have to accumulate in-service hours to fulfill their school district’s requirements. They pay for these classes out of their own pockets, by the way. How many professional football players pay for their own training? They are paid hefty salaries TO train.

Many teachers do home visits during the summer months. Some have Open Houses or accompany students to competitions during “their breaks. ” I’ve sanded school desks and painted my classroom in the summer time. I once worked for a school district that required teachers to scrape all the gum off the bottom of the school desks. No I’m not making this up.

Teacher Conferences that share new teaching strategies are held during “vacation” months. Textbooks are reviewed, discussed and adopted. Websites for student use are designed. The class syllabus is written. Guest speakers are contacted and learning field trips are scheduled. Some teachers teach summer school all summer long. I know a teacher who welcomed her students back to school today. (It’s July 30th as I write this). Hello Annie. I hope you have a wonderful year with your students!

A Great Time

Last week I had the chance to do something I love to do. I had lunch with a young lady who had just been hired for her first teaching job. She will be teaching first grade beginning in August. She was just bubbling over with enthusiasm. She simply can’t wait to get started. It made me think back to the very beginning of my teaching career. What a thrill that was to walk into my own classroom. Her enthusiasm had me reliving my love for the teaching profession.

What is she doing now? She is going to garage sales to buy books even though her teacher salary hasn’t started. She is grouping those books into skill levels so her students can make the best use of them. She’s looking for inexpensive ways to decorate her classroom. I put together four tubs of books for her to use in her classroom. I looked around my house for items she might be able to use to help her get started. I doubt that NFL players have to purchase their own helmets. If they did, they would have the resources to do so. Teachers spend so much of their own money simply to buy learning materials for their students.

It made me feel wonderful to pass along some tools this new teacher’s students might use to learn. Next week she’ll begin meeting with her teacher team to set learning goals and write lesson plans. Great teachers begin planning for their students’ success long before they walk into the room. And she is going to be one of the greatest teachers ever.

Before you throw things away, think about a teacher who might value your cast offs. Even better, purchase a gift card to a school supply store for your child’s teacher. And if you hear someone spouting off about how much time off a teacher has…educate them.

TEACH…To Change Lives

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

Also available at Amazon.com