MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS
Loves NC because we can understand the way she talks 🙂
We’re going to celebrate about who we are and why we do what we do!
Ready for teachers to step it up and TAKE OUR POWER BACK!
Everyone is an expert on schools because “they went”
Debbie told her college students if they said “I’m just a teacher” she’d hunt them down…
“Why do you teach?”
- For the money of course…haha
- Debbie didn’t know she was going to be a teacher
- Some teachers DIDN’T enjoy school…but they still do alright
Not against standards…but against standardization…it’s not about regurgitating facts
It’s not about the art of teaching, it’s about the HEART of teaching
Teaching is not what you do, it’s who you are!
Can’t give someone the Heart for teaching…it’s those people telling kids to spit out their gum at Walmart, or chasing them down the aisles screaming “We don’t run in here”…they have the heart
Students wrote Debbie about what the State Teacher of the Year should be like
- Not one mentioned ability to test, anticipatory sets, etc
- Every one of them mentioned caring
Be a Teacher, Be a Hero!
- Because You Teach by Monte Selby
There is a distinct difference between elementary, middle, and high school teachers…Get down on your knees and thank the elementary teachers in the world…because as a middle school teacher you don’t want their job 🙂
Many times if someone is a “good teacher” but not successful they may be in the wrong grade level
Now standardization is causing the expectation for everyone to be the same
Every teacher has their own way to connect with kids…but we’re losing our autonomy in education today
I’ve got 30 years of experience…no you don’t, you’ve got 1 year you repeated 30 times!
Debbie wrote every student a letter during the year: things I value about you, dreams I have for you, etc…
Stay away from the Lounge Lizards…those that hang out in the lounge and complain
Teachers are the worst PR people on the planet…we need to stick up for ourselves and take a stand
That technology is nothing but a fad…I went and bought a laptop (etch-a-sketch)…erase? Shake it? reboot? Shake it. Save? Don’t shake it” – Debbie as Rhodina Cullsmucker (the lounge lizard)
When’s the last time you heard a teacher say “I think I changed a life today”?
Teachers are NOT talking…not letting folks know they’re spending their own money, spending time they don’t get paid for, staying late after school to help kids…
Pay It Forward
“I want you to look around your world, and find a way that you can improve your small part of the world.”
Teachers go after every single kid because it’s the right thing to do…
The children who most need your love are going to be your most unlovable kids…
The seeds we plant as teachers aren’t going to show up on the scores of the EOG…We send messages to a future we’ll never see.
Why Do You Teach?
I teach to pay it forward…what do you mean? I work with kids who go more in the morning than you go through in your lifetime…It’s not about the end of grade test…
TELLING A STORY ABOUT HER STUDENT JEFF…AMAZINGLY POWERFUL STORY…CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO TELL IT HERE…
“The letter that you made the time to write me when I was in your room…literally, saved my life.”
Every year those kids better be your favorites!
End of conversation with Jeff:
It doesn’t matter how rich you get, how famous you get…I owe this all to Debbie Pace P-A-C-E…Ms. Pace I’m not very rich, and I don’t think I’m gonna be famous…but I do owe it all to you.
I don’t think we cry enough, don’t think we tell people our stories enough, and don’t think we laugh enough…
How many teachers talk about “their kids” and people don’t know if they mean biological or school kids?
We must view young people not as empty bottles to be filled, but as candles to be lit.
www.debbiesilver.com
password: iamateacher
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