“A Great Teacher” is what I want to be…

14 Friday May 2021

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Authentic, Character, Culture, Education, Educational Leadership, Effective, Encouragement, Engagement, Heart, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Legacy, Memories, Passion, Purpose, Reality, Reflection, Servant, Sincerity, Teacher Appreciation, Teachers, Value

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Do you ever wonder if you make a connection with your students? What will they remember about you? With teaching being as much about classroom psychology as it is knowing your subject matter, how students remember us lasts forever in their minds. In a previous blog Memories so thick…, I mentioned the idea of how educators/leaders can create an atmosphere where students make memories, but today, I wanted to take a different look at the same idea.

One of many joys I have as an educator is being able to adjunct teach at the college level. One of my running statements is that I try to “positively corrupt” future educators on how the educational world actually is. It’s harder than you think, by the way. And then there are those current teachers who are working on an advanced degree in education… more than anything else, I try to convey to them the much-needed characteristic of being a servant-leader.

With saying all of that, I have to be minded of the educator I am as well. In my own mind, I think I know what type of educator I am. However, the students throughout my career are the ones who can testify as to what type of educator I actually was.

I love how movie snippets that can say exactly what you are wanting to say, and I have one for us. I highly encourage you to watch the Emperor’s Club with Kevin Kline, if you have never seen it. I believe it should be required of all educators. There is one scene near the end of the movie that sends a message for the type of educator I hope I am and the type of educator I want to be. The message sent is what I wish all teachers/leaders in education would strive to become and be. Not only for themselves but for their students as well. I believe this one clip to be so powerful; I show it at the end of each semester to the class of future educators in hopes they will understand the passion I have for teaching and educational leadership.

Please take 2 minutes and 4 seconds to watch what I am talking about… Maybe get a tissue ready?

Emperors Club – “A Great Teacher” Clip

Here it is in print…

“A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives.”

This is about as good as it gets for me. This is the type of teacher I hope I am. This is the type of teacher I want to be. I have been very fortunate to have some teachers and mentors like this and they have had an ever lasting influence in one way or another on my life. This is the type of teacher education needs, now more than ever. As we begin to wrap of this school year, make an effort to be this type of teacher.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Valentine’s Musings…

11 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Family, Heart, Listening, Love, Relationships

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Valentine’s…

The day we are told to celebrate our love for others…

Chocolates, flowers, and cards… Priced much higher than usual, just to show how much more we love for only one day? It is amazing to me how the price suddenly drops on February 15.

Those chocolates taste the same, you know, and they are 75% off. You can truly get an assortment of assorted flavors. Also, you don’t feel bad about not liking a particular type and spitting it out. Paying full price makes you eat the ones you don’t care for.

And the flowers… aka ROSES. Yes, the ones that will die, even if you do use the plant food packet that comes with it… don’t we know they are dead already when they are cut? I tell Heather, “I’ll buy you a rose bush… that way we can plant it, and you can have roses anytime you want, all year long. You pick out the spot, and I’ll dig the hole.” Now that’s what I call love.

And the cards… You know the ones that bring the response, “Oh, that was so sweet of you.” The funny thing about cards… Someone else is really doing the talking for $7.95, and three days later… the garbage can. And if it is not a Hallmark, well… you just didn’t “…care enough to send the very best.”

I know… but you are saying, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Yes, the thought… Where is that same thought for the other 364 days of the year?

The thought… Why don’t we ever say, “It’s the action that counts.” Is love not suppose to be a verb, the action of doing? I can think a lot of stuff, but if action is never there, then what good is the thought. It just falls on deaf ears, mine and yours alone.

So, what does love look like in action? I cannot answer that for you, nor can you answer that for me. What works for you might not work for me and vice versa. But I do have some ideas…

Love…
Makes the bed, picks up in the house, does the laundry, feeds the dogs, bathes the dogs, sacrifices their time for others, watches an action-killing movie instead of a chick-flick (or the other way around), goes to the grocery store, takes walks, rides bikes, drives the vehicle because you don’t like to drive, plans meals to make sure we eat healthy, empties the dishwasher, holds your hand, brags on you, provides a Godly example to our daughter, prays for the family… Love will even read your blog on Thursday nights to make sure it is all in order.

Love can also listen, laugh, and even cry. But more important than all of the above…

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8b, ESV).

Happy Valentine’s Day

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Pause and Reflect…

20 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Gratitude, Heart, Reflection, Thankful, Thanksgiving

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Pause and Reflect

Gratitude and the heart, 
A clear connection... 
Existing between the two.
 
Authentic, sincere, personal...
Truly felt - open.
 
The impact of gratitude...
More than "I'm thankful because..."
 
Less about what you do,
More about what you are.
 
Gratitude transforms lives.
Recipients of things we do not deserve.
 
Attention directed to what we already have...
Of the good things we possess.
A value we can own - never cheapened.
 
Eyes turned away from discontent,
Fostering thankfulness in our hearts.
 
Hearts open to a meaningful life...
One that provides an understanding.
 
Gratitude in your heart... 
A decision, not a response.
Take time to pause and reflect.
 
…Happy Thanksgiving…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

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Reaching a Student’s Heart…

14 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Encouragement, Heart, Leader, Leadership, Purpose, Relationships, Servant, Teachers

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Never to miss an opportunity to write about the seasonal theme… Happy Valentines.

Does the door of your classroom describe happiness? Or does it create doom and gloom? Just like the entryway into your classroom, the same can be said for the entryway into your students; their heart, and you are the doorkeeper.

We do not always know what students bring when they walk into our classrooms, but we do know that we have them for an allotted amount of time each week. We must know their name, listen to their stories, and answer their questions. In return, odds are, they will do the same.

Reaching a student’s heart is not an easy task. As educators, we are more psychologists than we are anything else. The world we live in is moody, fickle, and most often stubborn. If we are the same, then why would we expect our students to be any different? I realize our job is to teach our subject, but more than that, we are to encourage students; build them up. They are already being torn down in other areas… We need to try to summon the best out of them. We might not reach them all, but the effort, on our part, should not be denied. I find it amazing what a little bit of affirmation does for a student.

As a leader, teacher, whatever your role is… Do you distribute happiness for a student’s heart? Or are students left forgotten in the back of the class? Are you willing to reach out? When you do, respect takes on a whole new dimension. Respect is just being mindful of others. A simple hello and acknowledging a student shows intention on your part; why would you not?

Reaching a student’s heart… small endeavors by you could mean something huge for a student. I would dare say that most young people want a sense of belonging. Help them find that with you. Nothing more than a kind word is the purest of all gestures. Odds are they will not recall a whole lot of the subject matter you teach, but they just might remember how you made their heart feel.

Each of us has this opportunity every day. Make good on it… and tell your students Happy Valentines today.

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others

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