Tag Archives: teaching strategies

Dec31

Bright Ideas for Dark Days

Posted on December 31, 2012 by daunaeasley

The Teacher Was Absent

I post a new thought for teachers every Monday at this blog site. However, on Monday December 24, my post was missing. My apologies. No, I wasn’t strolling on the beach as the photo seems to indicate. I only wish that were the case. My hubby was in the midst of a serious unexpected medical emergency. I was at the hospital with him where I needed to be. Yes, we spent the 10 days surrounding Christmas at the hospital, but our family came to see us there on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He continues to recover. Thank you for your understanding.

Twenty Bright Ideas for Dark Days

When the memory of those beautiful fall days begins to dim and spring still seems a lifetime away, we may feel our classroom enthusiasm begin to take a nose dive. Some of you may drive to school and/or even home in the dark. Do you need some ways to keep yourself upbeat for your students? Remember: We can’t pass along what we don’t possess. Try some of these ideas that worked for me.

Fake it till you make it. This isn’t phony. William James, the psychologist called this the “as if” principle. If you want to feel enthusiastic act ‘as if’ you already are. I learned this lesson clearly during a particularly tough time in my personal life. It was my job to be at the school entrance to greet young children when they arrived in the morning. No matter how down in the dumps I felt when I arrived, after 20 minutes of greeting one child after another with a big smile and a friendly observation or two, I felt better for the whole day.
Allow for spontaneity. Change your plans. Put a new twist on an old lesson. What is something you have never tried in your classroom before? Now is the time! When I was writing my two books for teachers I discovered something that surprised me. The stories I wrote about were almost always the first time I tried an activity in the classroom. If the activity was a success, then I would do it again in subsequent years. But it was almost always the first time I did the activity that was the “memory maker.” Fresh ideas spark our creativity and engage students in new ways.
Build an encouragement folder. Whenever someone writes you a positive note for any reason, pop that note into a folder. Pull out all those notes when you need to recharge your batteries. It will pump up your confidence and make you feel great.
Lighten up! When you find yourself getting really angry about something, step back and try to laugh about it. Mentally make it into a comedy routine if you have to. In our profession we spend way too much time lamenting about policies and new systems that have really nothing to do with teaching. Focus on your students and the teaching. That is what attacted us to this profession. Let the other stuff bounce off you like a kangaroo on a pogo stick.
Read motivational books or inspirational thoughts late at night or before work in the morning. The morning news depresses me. I have found that I can’t listen to how many murders, rapes and fires happened overnight and then teach teenagers during the day. But with the right music and uplifting thoughts in my head, I’m the best that I can be. Don’t my students deserve this?
Practice kindness. Kindness helps absolutely everything. It is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear. I’m far from perfect but I can tell you this: The times I haven’t been kind haunt me. Kindness lifts everyone, not just the receiver of the kindness, but also the giver too.
Take a class that will help you reflect on your job in a positive way. I teach future teachers, but still I take classes with the same titles as the classes I teach. I always learn new ideas and teaching strategies in every class in which I enroll. I can also be a valuable contributor to a class I’m taking. Every time I have taken a class I’ve come back to the classroom with fresh ideas to try with my students. I don’t care how experienced you are, there are always new things to learn if your attitude is in the right place.
Write down new ideas the moment they pop into your mind. Try to take some action on them within 24 hours. Someone invented sticky notes just for me. I’m full of ideas that are gone in an instant. The creativity of the sticky notes compels me to use them to organize my thoughts. There are arrows, tabs, neon bursts, and 4×6 inch sticky notes for more lengthy ideas. Use them to jot down ideas and then take action. Action will put you in a better frame of mind 100% of the time.
Improve your work space. Buy a new organizer or select a new picture. I work best when I’m surrounded by quotes that inspire me. If you don’t have an extra nickel to spare, clean your desk area. I’m very creative but my desk is always a mess. Every time I take the time to clear my desk it lifts my spirits. What is an added bonus? I find great things. I come across a new idea for teaching or writing that I only had time to jot down previously. When I discover it again, I run with it.
Purge. Don’t stop with just your desk. Clean out your files as though you were taking a new job. That happened to me once. On the last day of school I didn’t know that I would be taking a new job during the summer months. I left years of files and had to start fresh. At first it was scary, but it also felt great. I now had room to file all the new ideas and items I needed to do my job now. Purge as though you are moving.
Record uplifting music. Listen to it on the way to work and while you are grading papers. I always play music as my students enter the room. It feels as though something exciting is going to happen.
Compliment a co-worker. Better yet, put the compliment in writing. It will uplift the person receiving the compliment, but it will also make you feel great. Try to encourage and compliment at least one co-worker per day. Make it your own secret challenge.
Set goals that move and inspire you. Don’t choose hollow goals or goals someone else assigns you. Set goals that matter to you and move forward on them. When we feel great about ourselves we can better inspire and motivate others.
Create a new bulletin board or display in your classroom. Visually appealing surroundings encourage us and our students. Look at your classroom as though you are walking in the door for the first time. What strikes you?
Keep a gratitude journal. I record five things for which I am grateful every night before I go to bed. During the summer months I do this in the morning instead of at night. This activity will change the focus of your day. You will begin to look for positive events rather than focus on annoyances.
Solve a problem. Instead of complaining about how things ought to be, come up with a solution. Everyone will be grateful. You’ll be a hero and that feels terrific.
Attend an educational conference. You’ll rub elbows with other educators who are serious about improving their skills. You’ll return to school rejuvenated and ready to try some new ideas you discover. Better yet, become a presenter at a conference. Share ideas that have worked in your classroom.
Change your routine. Have a mental list of some things you’ve been wanting to do someday? We all have a list like this. Take a weekend trip to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Call up an old friend or drop them an email.
Share ideas. You have so much talent among your co-workers. Find a way to have each of them share their best ideas with the rest of you. I once ran a monthly professional development experience in the school where I worked. Each month I had a few teachers share their best ideas. Don’t overlook the teacher next door.
Most important tip of all! Don’t eat lunch with the crab apples. During this valuable time of day, surround yourself with people who speak highly of students and those who are excited about making their classrooms and your school a positive place to be.

Twenty tips may overwhelm you. But I believe if you try even a few of these ideas you won’t be just counting the days until spring; you’ll be doing things that make every day count. Welcome 2013 into your life and your classroom.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

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

Dec17

Hope

Posted on December 17, 2012 by daunaeasley

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Teaching Hope

The holiday season helps us remember that teaching our students to hope is our most important job. While you enjoy your holiday break, take time to reflect on the important role that hope plays in your classroom. How can you instill hope in your students in the new year?

Why?

Hope accelerates learning.

Hope is the lubricant for all future successes.

We need to sell hope harder than we push our subject matter.

Without hope winning in life is impossible.

Hope will help steer your students through all of life’s challenges.

We need to instill hope first before we assign any project.

A Dozen Ways to Build Hope

Building hope

Look for ways to make your students shine. Everyone has some kind of special talent. Find it and then find a way to capitalize on it.
Describe in detail the successes you see in a student’s future. Hope may first come from someone we admire visualizing our success and describing it to us.
Make one-on-one eye contact with a student. Don’t just glance or teach over their heads.
Describe to your students a time in your own life when you may have felt hopeless. Then recount how the situation resolved itself.
Point out progress. Don’t save all your accolades for perfection.
Bring your own enthusiasm to the classroom. Not feeling it? Fake it.
Sit down next to a student at their desk and chat.
Be approachable. Let students know how they can find you for a private conversation.
Listen!
Hear them out as they describe all the reasons why they can’t win, be accepted, or succeed. Then YOU make them listen to all the reasons why you know they can. Support your opinions with stories, facts and observations.
Reflect. Think about specific students while you aren’t with them and brainstorm ways in which you can build hope within them.
Let them know you were thinking about them. Be specific. “While I was driving to school, I was thinking about you. Here’s what I was thinking…You have no idea how talented you are.” (It is so powerful to know that a teacher cares about us and thinks about our well-being even when we aren’t in the classroom).

TEACH…To Change Lives
Available at Amazon.com

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

Dec10

The Power of Quiet Words

Posted on December 10, 2012 by daunaeasley

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Can You Hear Me Now?

A few years back I spotted a small hand-made pillow at a craft fair which had wonderful words embroidered on it. I purchased it and put in on the seat of an old-fashioned school desk that I kept in a corner of my classroom. I used it as a reminder for me and all the future teachers that I taught. What did the embroidery say?

“Words that soak into the heart are whispered, never yelled.”

Since I have retired from full-time teaching, that little pillow sits in a small child-sized wicker rocker that I have in my home for my grandchildren. What powerful words those are.

Just this last week as I traveled from school to school to observe future teachers in training, one of them complained to me. “My voice doesn’t travel well in the classroom. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to control my students because they won’t be able to hear me.” I explained to that young aspiring teacher that a soft voice can be an asset, if you know how to use it well. I quoted my pillow.

When to Yell

Never. Alright, maybe if there is a tsunami wave on the beach right outside your school building and you quickly enter your noisy school cafeteria. You must get them to listen to immediate emergency directions. THEN you may yell…once.

But in every other teaching situation, to speak effectively, speak quietly. When someone yells at us, we freeze. Our survival instinct kicks in and we desperately try to separate ourselves from the environment. We feel like a raccoon caught in bright headlights. Unfortunately students usually cannot just get up and leave a classroom when a teacher yells at them. But they flee mentally or emotionally when someone raises their voice. The teacher may be yelling, trying to make a point, but the student isn’t really “there” at all. And yet there is some kind of instinct we too often develop while growing up watching our parents. Why is it we think, “If they don’t get it, we should just say it again…only louder.” ? We repeat the same explanations in the exact same way only with more volume, then they’ll understand. Right? Wrong.

Quiet words sink in. Words spoken softly don’t shut us down. Quiet words encourage us and help us breakthrough to understanding. They reassure us of our worth. When you sit next to a student and give them kind, quiet, reassuring directions and compliments it opens a student to learning heights they may have previously doubted they would ever achieve. Quiet words invite us into the learning process. They break through our resistance to new ideas and thoughts.

I once watched a master teacher named Nancy McClimans demonstrate the power of quiet words. She always spoke to her first graders in a quiet, calm voice. When she really wanted their attention, she would speak quietly and with each sentence she would make her voice just a little bit softer. Within seconds the students were completely still, giving her total eye contact and even leaning forward to catch every important word. Try this strategy. You will be amazed at its power.

Quiet calm words are even more important when working with students from an ‘at risk’ environment. Too many of today’s children hear yelling in their homes. It also surrounds them on reality television. On TV students watch talk shows and opinion panels during which every participant over talks or even over shouts every other member of the panel. How do you effectively respond to a shouting out-of-control student? There is only one way… with quiet, calm words.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

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

An apology and a disclaimer. WordPress (my blog site) has made some changes which I’m finding difficult to maneuver. I usually post on Monday mornings, but last week on Sunday Dec. 2nd I apparently hit a wrong button and my article posted before it was finished. It didn’t have a conclusion or even any editing. At that point words were spelled incorrectly and some words were even missing. I fear some of my most loyal followers who subscribe to my blog got a far inferior version of my regular blog. My humble apologies. Please be patient with me as I learn the new twists and turns of wordpress.

Dec2

Gifts from the Classroom

Posted on December 2, 2012 by daunaeasley

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What is the best holiday gift you have ever received? From my childhood I remember a much wished for and cherished bike that sat in front of the Christmas tree, the only new one I ever owned. This was a stunning event in the household where I grew up, because we usually didn’t receive what we most wanted. However the elves must have been extremely busy that year because they didn’t do a good job of assembling this bike and it never actually worked just right. Oh, it looked very pretty, but sometimes when you turned the handle bars, the front wheel didn’t turn – not a reliable characteristic for a bike. I probably jumped more miles on my on my beloved pogo stick than I ever rode on that bike. Oh, could this gal pogo! I bounced everywhere. Yep, I’d have to say that my pogo stick was my all time favorite gift from childhood.

What I Admire About You

But as we mature we come to realize the truth of that adage, “The best things in life aren’t things.” They truly aren’t. The best thing in life is making others feel good about themselves. We all long to feel valued and appreciated. About two-thirds of the way through my teaching career I discovered an activity that helped accomplish this goal. I always planned this activity for sometime during the holidays.

As my students entered the classroom they received a stack of blank index cards…one for each of their classmates and one for the teacher. Silently I had them write the name of a classmate at the top of each card and then write one thing they admired about that student. I encouraged them to be as specific as possible. General statements like, “You are a great gal” are not as powerful as “I admire the way you always have something encouraging to say when someone in our class is down in the dumps.” They were required to write one about me (the teacher) also. Let me tell you high school teachers need their encouragement too. There were a few cautions and guidelines I voiced ahead of time. Absolutely no ‘put downs” would be tolerated, only positive comments were permitted.

A Confession

I admit that occasionally I had a group of students so at odds with one another before we began this activity, that I didn’t require that they write a compliment to every classmate. I might limit it to 10 or 12 compliments written using time parameters as an excuse. I wanted to make certain no one was ever hurt by this activity. But when you set limits like these, you always risk the omission of someone being complimented. I only used these limits a time or two. Here’s the real beauty of the activity. Each time I limited the number of compliments they had to provide, they always got half way through the activity and then THEY requested of ME that they be able to write something they admired about everyone in the class. That is how great is the power of writing positive words about someone.

Then Comes the Magic

At the end of our time limit, we circled our desks and orally read one card at a time. One student would read aloud to one other student a single comment while all others listened. Then the next person in the circle would read a comment about someone else. I encouraged them to keep changing the people who were being complimented. “Try and choose someone no one has yet read about,” was my occasional reminder. When it was my turn to read I always started by complimenting someone I felt was considered just a little outside the inner circle…the kids not quickly accepted by their peers. As we listened around and around that circle twenty or thirty revolutions, you could feel the climate of our classroom change. They smiled more easily, eyes moistened, shoulders relaxed, heads nodded as everyone agreed with a compliment being shared orally, and teens relaxed their armor. Kindness settled softly over our circle like a cashmere blanket. Friends became closer and former adversaries demonstrated tolerance. When others validate us, we are more likely to notice and appreciate positive traits in others. The students in my classroom became a family. There is no greater gift for a student who will be walking into your classroom every day for an entire school year.

Just before our time together ended, I instructed them to pass their cards out to one another. By taking the time to distribute their compliments in written form, everyone could carry the compliments away and read them again whenever they might need a morale boost. As dozens of students stood to distribute their cards to others, I anticipated it to be quite a noisy time. It never was. Why? The moment they received a card from someone, their eyes were magnetically drawn to the compliments written on those cards. They hungered for that validation from their peers.

Our class was always changed from that day forward. We became a community working together, a unit. As a side (but not unimportant) benefit, a bully has a hard time finding a foot hold in a community where everyone has your back.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

Oct29

The Magic Question for Teachers

Posted on October 29, 2012 by daunaeasley

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A Student I Will Never Forget

I was preparing my third grade classroom for the first day of school when I noticed an unusual name on the student roster. The name was Kim Hyangsil. The first name, Kim, was common enough. But I remember thinking the last name Hyangsil seemed like an unusual name and I wondered how to pronounce it correctly. It was early on the first day of school that I discovered only one of my assumptions was correct. The name did belong to a little girl. But her first name wasn’t Kim. It was Hyangsil. Kim was her surname. She was Korean and she didn’t speak or understand a single word of English.

Korea?

Even gathering this meager amount of information was something of a feat when you consider that neither of us could speak one word that the other could understand. Today, that might not be so unusual. Our schools are liberally sprinkled with students who do not speak English as their native tongue. But this story took place in the midwest about two decades before classes that taught English as a second language became commonplace. Korean children in our schools were more rare than kangaroos in a Mexican restaurant. When I questioned the school office personnel they seemed amazed and unaware of Hyangsil’s language barrier. They called home to gather more information only to discover that Mom, too, spoke only Korean.

What in the World Was I Going to Do?

I think that is when I first discovered the magic question. This one simple question has done more to make me a better teacher than any other single act I can recall. It will work in every classroom situation, no matter how diverse or how seemingly hopeless. It shapes and guides my relationship with every single student in each and every class, no matter what their age, learning style, cultural background or attitude of the moment. This question, if asked sincerely and with an open mind, will always point a teacher in the right direction. What is the question?

What one thing can I do to help create some success in my classroom for this student today?

Too simple? Re-read it please. Some of life’s greatest wisdoms are simple.

Ask the question, be still, and then listen for the answer. You’ll be amazed at how much expertise you have in areas in which you have received no training whatsoever. Try any idea that occurs to you. If it doesn’t work, adapt. Try something a little differently the next day. Let your student guide the way. Keep asking the question with sincerity every day. The results will amaze you.

Caution!

As soon as you utter the words, “I can’t do anything to help this student,” you and your student are both lost. Never give up on a student. Many times I’ve thought, “I don’t know if I’m making progress. I’ve never been trained to handle a situation like this. I don’t know what I’m doing.” But I never once uttered, “I can’t do this.” Can’t is a cop out. It is a refusal to try. For a great teacher this is not an option.

Twice, after months of effort, I’ve felt so guilty about not having enough expertise that I’ve called the parents in for a conference to tell them I was outside my teacher comfort zone. I’ve asked the parents frankly if they have seen their child making progress while in my classroom. I’m not certain if this was the right thing to do, but personally and professionally I just felt like I had to confess my uncertainty to the parents. Maybe an administrator wouldn’t have liked this approach, but in my gut I knew I was doing what I had to do. In both of those situations I was dealing with students with very different learning styles. Both times the parents reassured me that their child was making progress. They gave me examples to prove their observations.

But I’ve never once said, “I’ve not been trained to do this so I know I won’t be effective. I give up.” A great teacher must have a tremendous sense of efficacy. Try something, observe the results, try something else, adapt. Try again, and again and again. Not all students have the capacity to progress at a typical pace, but that doesn’t mean your efforts are without results.

What Did I Do with Hyangsil?

I found picture cards of familiar objects. Each night I made recordings of how to pronounce the objects in simple sentences. “Wagon. This is a wagon. Tree. This is a tree.” I attached the recordings to head phones where she could practice vocabulary whenever she had a free moment. I gave her partners within the classroom to help her with simple sight words (today called high frequency words) and sentences. She was a bright little girl and she learned the English language very rapidly. She was especially proficient in math and she made beautiful drawings. I found classroom activities in which she could highlight those skills. It wasn’t long before the other students respected her for her unique talents.

Predictably, because the more effort you put into anything the more you reap from it, she and I became extremely close. It was such a heartbreak when her family moved away only a semester later. By that time though, we had a wonderful bond. She and I were pen pals for probably ten years. I lost track of her when she was living in California, but I still think of her with great fondness and wonder how she’s doing. When the internet became more prevalent, I tried to find her again. I found a young lady living in Korea with the same name, but she was far too young at this time to be the Hyangsil Kim I knew from years ago.

As with many of my most memorable students, Hyangsil taught me more than I taught her. She taught me to never give up on any situation. She gave me courage and confidence as a teacher. But most of all she helped me learn to ask the magic question that guided me through the rest of my teaching career.

What is one thing I can do today to help create some success in this student’s life today?

Ask this question every day and then get busy. It’s the best gift you can give your students and yourself.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

Oct22

How to Help Students Succeed in Life

Posted on October 22, 2012 by daunaeasley

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Beyond the Textbooks

Good teachers teach the subject matter and they do it well. They know their academic area thoroughly. Their lesson plans are well thought out and hopefully creative. They are experts in their field. There are studies that prove that the best way to improve test scores is to thoroughly educate our teachers – to provide them with a deeper understanding of their subject matter. They then can pass this academic excellence along to their students.

I thoroughly agree with this strategy. BUT…if you want to become something beyond a good teacher I think there is so much more than academic excellence required. Great teachers don’t just teach academics, they teach people. The student precedes the subject matter. Great teachers don’t just teach an academic field. They must teach many things beyond the text. They teach concepts that help students live a life full of successes that they learn to create through experiences and activities that begin in the classroom.

How?

The truth is I’ve written a whole book about this and it’s not easy to describe briefly. Also,even as I write this I can hear many good teachers saying,

I don’t have time for anything other than the academics!

I can’t cover all the material even now.

How can I add more?

And technically they are right. We don’t have extra time for unimportant concepts. But what I’m describing is important and effective teachers will realize it and integrate it into their lessons. Great teachers will custom braid success strategies throughout all of their teaching. weaving them over and under the academics they cover, strengthening their students’ learning path into a cord with triple the strength of mere facts.

Think Differently

We have to be honest and admit that we don’t know the world our students will be facing. Changes in our country within the past decade have resonated that message. We must prepare our students for an economy we can’t even predict. They will change not just jobs but careers. We must teach them entrepreneurial skills, creativity, perseverance, problem solving, and how to set goals and adapt when the ground under their feet begins shifting in a new direction.

Six Tips for Getting Started

Read orally to students no matter what their age. We do this when they are young, but we give it up when they need it most. By carefully selecting short oral readings you can engage their minds using words from the greatest inventors, entrepreneurs, leaders, thinkers, and doers. You can expose them to the best advice given by the greatest minds in less than 5 minutes per day. Carefully choose, then read a 2-3 minute selection. Then have them orally reflect. Cap the reading and discussion with a challenge to apply it to their lives immediately. Check back on the results.

Model initiative by talking about ways you are trying to improve your life. Talk about personal goals and share your progress toward a goal. List the steps toward your goal and check off progress as they watch. Challenge them to do the same. Have them identify a goal, write it down, list their steps and check off progress as a classroom challenge. Support one another. You must walk your talk on this one or it will have no impact. As teachers we are FIRST role models.

But also share your failures with students. I don’t mean to air dirty laundry that is inappropriate for students, but I DO mean to reveal a time in your life you have faced a failure. This is uncomfortable for adults. We want our students and children to think of us as a success. They need to know we have faced failures and survived. If they never hear that, when they face failures in their future (and they will) they will feel like losers. They need to know we faced failures, what we learned from those failures and how we persevered. How much did it hurt? How did you recover? Is there success after defeat? What got you through it? Tell them. This is a life skill they need.

When you reveal your vulnerabilities, as a side benefit, they will be more apt to approach you when they have an issue they need to discuss with someone. When this happens, don’t over react. No matter how large or shocking their problem, initially you must under react. If you over react, they won’t approach you again. They may never again approach anyone with a situation they need to discuss. This is a time for problem solving with them.

Verbalize a student’s strengths at every opportunity. Always look for talents and verbalize them whenever you notice them. Young people often undervalue their skills. If they are good at something, they may think everyone does that well. It’s no big deal in their mind. They often FIRST see their future careers and successes through the eyes of someone else whose opinions they value. My grandson had to write a sample college essay in high school listing and describing his strengths. Once he described his athletic skills he stopped. More slowly he knew he had a sense of humor and admitted some leadership skills. But what he didn’t know was his greatest strength. He has a wonderful talent for making other people feel valued. When I told him this he said, “What do you mean?” I give him a dozen examples. It was a revelation for him. Why had I not pointed that out to him yet? Shame on me. He didn’t even know he had this unique and valuable skill. He will never forget this conversation. I’m sure of it.

Choose activities and readings that make students aware of their self talk. The truth is we say more hurtful words to ourselves than any bully has ever directed at us. But usually students are unaware that they do this to themselves until you make them aware of it. I have my students carry a small notebook and record the internal messages they give themselves for a week. I share mine too! I think it is important to participate in the activities you assign your students. We have to take it further. We have to turn it around and replace it with positive self talk. I attended a small high school with a graduating class of only 81 students. Mike was a student in that class. He was not the valedictorian nor the salutatorian in a class of only 81. And yet he has made a huge success of his life (more about that in my book). Do you know what his self talk is? He was embarrassed to admit this and he says he NEVER says it out loud, but he continually says to himself internally, “Somebody has to be first. Why not me?”

I’m passionate about this topic and hate to stop here.

But I know if this post gets any longer, no one will want to read it at all. My book describes 100+ such strategies. I think the greatest gifts we give our students are the ones that go beyond the text books. I’m a career teacher and I’m sure of it. I belive great teachers TEACH…To Change Lives.

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

Sep10

TEACH…To Change Lives

Posted on September 10, 2012 by daunaeasley

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Life Changers

They sneak up on you. Life changers come from out of nowhere. You wake up in the morning expecting a typical day, but you meet someone new, or something unexpected happens on that day, and it changes the course of your life. Sometimes you figure it out on the very day it happens. You say to yourself

Wow. I’m going to remember this day forever.

But some life changers only reveal themselves over a long period of time. It may take decades before you know the full impact they have on you. Life changers can feel wonderful or horrible. The things they have in common are that they are out of our control and they change us profoundly. They are different from significant days that you plan like a wedding or a reunion. They appear suddenly and alter our lives in unexpected ways.

One of the things I love about teaching is that we get to experience so many life changers. Sometimes it’s a person, often a student, other times it’s an event or simply a tiny moment. Sometimes we teachers become the life changers and we may even be unaware of it. But in this wonderful profession life changers are possible every single day.

One of My Life Changers

This is my youngest daughter, Kelsey Easley. Her life was a life changer for me. This story isn’t mostly about Kelsey but it begins with her. When Kelsey was born I had already been a teacher for fifteen years. I believe I was a good teacher, creative and hard-working. But watching my daughter’s life and her experiences changed my teaching profoundly.

Kelsey was diagnosed with brain cancer at age five. She battled cancer off and on for eleven years until the disease took her life at age sixteen. When Kelsey had to receive radiation to her brain at age five, it saved her life but it also changed her life. Radiation kills healthy cells as well as cancer cells. As a result Kelsey’s intelligence plummeted. She went from being the top reader in her kindergarten class, to the lowest reader by the end of the first grade with the same peers. Now she didn’t just have a deadly disease to battle, she also was forced to enter the population we politely label special needs.

That experience put me (Kelsey’s mom) on the other side of the IEP conference table…the side of the table where no parent ever chooses to be. I learned a lot of lessons on the parent side of the table, most of them painful. I saw teachers and specialists in a whole new and often unflattering way. Too often I saw condescension or inflexibility. It changed me.

I also learned how naturally accepting and inclusive young children are. They’ll love you bald. It makes no difference. But acceptance changes at about junior high age. What Kelsey needed the most in junior high and high school were friends and there were very few. I watched her hurt and no one deserved it less.

How This Changed Me

It would be impossible to describe all the ways parenting Kelsey changed me; but for right now I’ll share one story. When I began teaching a Teacher Academy program at the high school level, I decided to begin a Friendship Club between my class full of academically talented future teachers and the students with special needs in our high school. Kelsey had taught me that friends were what the special population needed most. Instinct and my own experiences taught me that my future teachers would learn even more. My students knew all about Kelsey. She had passed away by then but I shared many stories about her.

We planned monthly activities pairing our aspiring teachers and their new friends from the special education department. The outcomes were wonderful. True friendships emerged. Simply a new friend to greet in the high school hallways was an improvement for the special population. Many of our new friends wandered into our classroom routinely before school and during breaks. My future teachers learned to plan appropriate activities that encouraged conversations and natural friendships. They also learned patience, tolerance, how to modify activities to feature all talents, a new respect for challenges our less fortunate friends encountered and a gratitude for our own gifts.

You’d think a win/win idea like this one would be greeted with positive reactions from all, but it had its challenges. Most of the special population didn’t drive and were quite dependent on school transportation specially equipped for their needs. This meant our functions had to happen within school hours. Some teachers were opposed to having students miss class, though we tried mightily to schedule these events during lunch hours. Locations were hard to schedule too. But the challenges were worth the effort. Relationships formed and barriers were removed.

Will You Help?

One day an unexpected email (a life changer) challenged all of us to examine just how sincere our intentions were. The email came from Steven’s mom. Steven was one of our new friends who was almost completely nonverbal. Steven’s mom wanted her son to have the opportunity to attend the prom. Would any of my students be willing to have Steven be part of their prom night? I read the question from the email aloud to my future teachers and waited. It was very quiet. No teens made eye contact with me. Here was Kelsey’s mom standing in front of them asking an uncomfortable question. PROM? A pretty sacred night for a teen.

After a somewhat lengthy pause Chelsea finally spoke up.

I’ll take Steven to the prom. I didn’t have anyone special I wanted to go with, and I couldn’t rationalize spending the money, but this gives me a good reason to go.

Her friends complimented her and told her they’d support her in her decision.

The Friendship Date

Prom night was a little more challenging than Chelsea had expected. Steven didn’t like the noise level in the room where the dancing was taking place. He mostly enjoyed standing at the front doors in the lobby watching the limos come and go as teens arrived. Chelsea, on that night, didn’t realize that she was right in the middle of a life changer. But she was.

Steven’s mom called Chelsea the next day and told Chelsea how much Steven had seemed to enjoy the evening. A friendship grew as Chelsea began to make sporadic visits to Steven’s house to hang out. She followed his lead into things that he enjoyed, basketball, wood working and equipment that digs. He learned to make an attempt at saying her name. He pronounced Chelsea’s name “Chs.”

Before long Chelsea went off to college to fulfill her dream of becoming a math teacher. But, as a true friend does, she took the time to visit Steven whenever she came home for breaks. When Chelsea was a junior in college she walked back into my high school Teacher Academy classroom to share some news with me. She grinned a little as she said these life changing words.

Guess what Mrs. E? I’ve changed my college major. I’ve decided to become a special educator.

I, of course, was pleased but not even the tiniest bit surprised. Today Chelsea is in her second year of serving in the classroom as an intervention specialist in a school not far from here. It’s close enough that she can still be a friend to Steven; and that is exactly as it should be. Steven and Chelsea were life changers for each other. It was a particular joy for this teacher to watch this transformation take place.

I can feel Kelsey grinning down on all three of us.

Chelsea and Steven, Still Friends Today

TEACH…To Change Lives

Available at Amazon.com

Aug13

Teaching Strategies

Posted on August 13, 2012 by daunaeasley

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The Lesson

We were going to make a memory. I mentally pictured one of those warm and fuzzy moments between my students and me. Planning all the little details was giving me a great deal of pleasure. On our high school career campus where I taught at the time, all the buildings surrounded a courtyard. The landscaping in this opening was minimal, especially at this time of year. It was autumn and most of the trees had shed their leaves, but one spectacular tree was left. Its leaves shone a brilliant crimson in the sunshine. I decided to take my class outdoors under this single beautiful tree to make the moment memorable. I knew they would enjoy the break from our windowless classroom. this would alert them to the importance of the occasion and help cement the memory.

Why?

Something positive and significant had happened. It was an event of great importance to me; I had just had my first article published. Admittedly, it was published in a small local newspaper. Technically, I hadn’t sold the article. No money was offered or expected. Yet still I felt high on success. An article I had written had been published with my own byline. They even spelled my name correctly… a rare event. This had been a long-term personal goal and a sense of pride was flowing through me. I wanted to mark this milestone with my class.

Goal setting is something I try to model for my students. I didn’t realize until I started teaching teenagers how lucky I had been in my life. Setting goals was something my mother taught me at home. I was surprised and sorry to note that this skill was particularly lacking in many of my adolescent students. How fortunate for me that my mother had taught me all the steps. First dream. Then visualize your dream. Begin to make it real by finding a picture of what you want and displaying it. In my mother’s home, this meant the kitchen refrigerator. List the steps toward accomplishing this dream and take the first step. As soon as possible, take another step.

Role models are the best teachers, I believe. Sharing my dreams, my accomplishments, and my setbacks with my students is one of the most powerful things I bring to the classroom. My students knew that I wanted to be a published writer. My frequent failures and rejections I shared with them too. How better to make them capable of facing failures in their future than to admit my own and let them watch me continue working the steps toward a dream, even after a failure? They teased me about my dreams, but they humored me too. Naively, I visualized how excited they were going to be for me…how this tiny but significant event in my life would motivate them to set new goals and give them the courage to dream a little larger. I could mentally hear the song ‘I believe I can Fly’ serenading my soul. I looked forward to the last class of the day when this tremendous bonding moment would take place.

I Had Forgotten One Thing

Teenagers sometimes use automatic weapons to burst your bubble when a pin would do the job nicely. Oh, but it was a humbling experience. When I told them we were holding our class outside under a beautiful tree, amazingly but immediately the complaining began…

Why do we have to go outside?

It’s freezing out here!

Where are we supposed to sit?

There’s not enough room on this bench!

I’m not sitting on the concrete!

Why are we doing this?

This is soooo dumb!

And my personal favorite….

Do we get a grade for this?

Disappointed and through clenched teeth, I growled. I mean I really growled. (Clench your teeth and snarl when you read this). We…are…making…a…memory!

Though it wasn’t audible, you could feel the expletive at the end of that sentence. Some of the students quieted down, but several continued to grumble throughout the whole activity. I told them the about the significance of the occasion. I showed them my byline in the newspaper with my name on it. They were not impressed. I read the story aloud to them. It was a touching story about planting tulips with my daughter and about how the reappearance of those tulips each spring signaled that she had survived another year cancer free. They were not touched. I talked briefly about the importance of having meaningful goals and celebrating successes when they occurred. The exact moment I paused in my speaking someone said,

Can we go in now?

Totally deflated, I nodded. A few of them actually sprinted for the door. I had never before seen them run. They sure didn’t run when they were coming to my class. I walked back to the building slowly, feeling completely rejected. I made a mental note never to try anything which even remotely resembled this activity ever again. My self-esteem couldn’t survive it. My wonderful lesson felt like it had been ground through the garbage disposal.

The Revelation

About a year and a half later, Edie, one of my new graduates came to school to visit me. While we were catching up I shared some of my current good news with her. I had just received a book that contained an article I had written for A Fourth Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I showed her the book autographed by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. She gave me the most startled look and said something quite odd as she extended her arm in my direction.

Mrs. Easley, feel my arm.

I was puzzled but I wrapped my hand around her arm as she went on…

I have goosebumps. Can you feel them? You’ve given me goosebumps.

Then she said something even more surprising…

“I can remember the day you took our class outside into the courtyard to read us your article that was in the newspaper.” Her voice was full of awe as she continued. “You told us on that day that you wanted to have a story published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. I can’t believe you have accomplished this! I’m so proud of you.” She gave me a big hug and then sat down to read the story. I watched her read as I blinked back tears.

How different were our memories of that day. I was certain that I had reached no one. Frankly, it was a horrible memory for me. And yet here was proof that my message had been heard. I have no recollection of telling my students that one of my goals was to be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. I’m certain I did, but only because Edie shared her memory with me. What an incredible lesson she taught me on that day.

In even our bleakest moments as teachers,

we may truly be accomplishing so much more than is apparent.

Edie taught me that. I will try and remember this forever. Quite by accident, I learned about the positive impact I had made on an afternoon I felt was a total failure. I had literally seen and felt the evidence. Goosebumps are not to be taken lightly.

A Celebration!

Just this week my second book for teachers, TEACH…To Change Lives has become available on Amazon.com. Woo-hoo! Purchase a copy to thank or encourage a teacher or future teacher.

It is full of classroom ideas and inspiring true stories.

Each MONDAY in August and up through September 10th, I will post an inspiring true story about teaching. Please pass the word along to all your teacher friends.

Thank you for reading my blog!

Aug6

The Empty Truck

Posted on August 6, 2012 by daunaeasley

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Are You Kidding Me?

All the prospective teachers in my classroom were angry. You could feel the tension hanging in the air within the classroom walls. I was teaching in a Teacher Academy program for high school juniors and seniors. I had just shown my group of high school aged future teachers an article that compared teacher salaries to the yearly income of a wide variety of other professions. But this activity backfired. The reality didn’t just inform them, it infuriated them.

Heated comments fueled by adolescent hormones were flying around the room. “Why should we work this hard to learn about a profession that pays so poorly”? “What makes accountants and salesmen more valuable than teachers?” “How come basketball players and sports figures are worth so much more than teachers who educate our country’s children?” They looked at me with indignation. They seemed to blame me as though I had written the economic reality of my own profession.

In that moment I sensed I was poorly prepared to answer them. I chose the escape route of a chicken. If you don’t know the answer, pose a question.

“Maybe it’s a good time to revisit the question I asked you on the first day of school,” I challenged them. “Why do you want to teach?”

I paused and waited for their answers. But they weren’t falling for it. They didn’t feel like sharing those touchy-feely stories again. If society didn’t value teachers were they preparing for the wrong career? Their body language said it all. They leaned back in their chairs and crossed their arms over their chests. They were daring me to defend a profession that was seemingly undervalued by our American culture.

I paused even longer, and not just because I know that an effective teacher gives students time to formulate answers. I waited because I knew I had to say exactly the right thing to this group at this moment. I couldn’t come up with the right words. I started to sweat.

Finally seventeen-year-old Chelsea began to speak. “My real dad is jealous of my step dad,” she began.

Every head in the room swung to look at her like she was nuts. Why in the world was she talking about her two dads at a time like this? But she read their body language and continued, “Wait, just a minute, hear me out. My real dad is jealous of my step dad. I know this is true because he told me so. My real dad said he is jealous for two reasons. First, my step dad gets to live with me. My real dad claims he’s jealous because my step dad gets to spend more time with me.”

“The second reason he says he’s jealous is because my step dad is an engineer who designs toys. He first designs a toy. If that toy design is selected by the big toy company he works for, he gets to watch the whole toy development process. He watches them produce the toy, choose packaging for it, and market the toy through ads and television commercials. He even gets to see his finished toy on the toy store shelf and watch kids take it home to play. My real dad thinks that would be such a cool way to make a living.

You see, my real dad drives a delivery truck. One day when we were having one of those kind of serious father/daughter talks, he told me that in his job at the end of a really good day all he has to show for it is an empty truck. He told me that he doesn’t care what profession I choose, but he wants me to choose carefully so that at the end of the day I will have something more than an empty truck.”

She paused to let that sink in and then she continued, “That’s why I want to teach. Because as a teacher, at the end of a day of helping students learn, I’ll feel a sense of accomplishment that will be so much more than an empty truck.”

I had a lump in my throat when she stopped speaking. I thought about the courage of her father. How tough it must have been to so eloquently admit his jealousy for her stepfather. He was so focused on his daughter choosing a career with meaning that he put his own self-esteem on hold to share an analogy she will never forget. She internalized his message so completely that she could pull it out and share it with others at just the right moment. It changed the whole climate of my classroom in an instant. My students sensed the complete truth in that story. I didn’t have to add a word.

Isn’t that, after all, why all of us teach? At the end of a day, a school year or even a career we will have so much more than an empty classroom. In this profession we build relationships that can honestly span a lifetime and touch generations to come. When we prepare a student to enter a profession with meaning because we have first helped him believe in himself, we help define not just his life, but the way he raises his family as well. As a career teacher, I admit not every day is easy. On those tough days I like to think about Chelsea’s story of the empty truck. I make myself stop, close my eyes, and actually visualize that truck. Then I take a deep breath and just keep on truckin’.

Today Chelsea is a teacher and has her own students in Hamilton, Ohio. I have written my second book for teachers titled TEACH…To Change Lives and Chelsea’s story is only one of the stories in it. It is now available at Amazon.com.