How to Choose the Right Back-to-School Speaker

Are your teachers excited to return to the classroom after summer vacation?

Are they looking forward to getting back with their students and getting them motivated to learn?

Believe it or not, a great back–to–school speaker can deliver those results. That’s why selecting the right speaker is so important. Your back-to-school convocation or event sets the tone for your school or district for the rest of the year. It’s extremely important that your teachers leave feeling inspired, motivated, and excited to start the year.

The next question, then, is how do you choose the right back-to-school speaker? There are three important steps to take during your search.

1. Visit the Speaker’s Website

You’ll want to research the speaker in question to gather as much information as possible. From perusing the website, you can hopefully identify the message or perspective the speaker portrays.

Is this message one that is in sync with your message? View the videos on the website to see the style of delivery the speaker uses. Does this style work with your audience?

2. Read Reviews and Follow Up with References

Read the references on the website and even email or call a few of the references with critical questions you would like answers to.

If a speaker did a good job, people are willing to share this information with other educators because they understand the challenge of finding a good speaker.

3. Schedule a Call with the Speaker

Call the prospective speaker and have a conversation. You can learn much about a speaker this way.

You can pick up on their tone and their perspective and get a feel for their level of comfort in addressing the theme you want delivered.

 In addition to the above three steps, there are four things to keep in mind when searching for a speaker and conducting your research.

1. Is the Speaker Relatable?

Will your teachers feel that the speaker has walked in their shoes? Look for someone that has spent time in the classroom. The length of time isn’t necessarily important, but teachers are more likely to listen to someone who has been there. They want to listen to someone who understands the challenges, idiosyncrasies, and nuances of the classroom. 

2. Is the Speaker Engaging?

 You don’t want a speaker that will bore your audience. Regardless of how relatable a speaker is, teachers don’t want to be bored out of their gourd, so to speak.

 Check references to see if words such as inspiring, up-tempo, or engaging are used to describe the prospective speaker’s presentation. My belief is that you cannot inspire people by boring them to death. You do not have to look for a standup comedian by any means, but a little humor and levity goes a long way towards keeping the attention of your audience.

3. Does the Speaker Have Credibility?

 Make sure the speaker is thoroughly familiar with the topic and can provide new insights that complement your theme for the year. The speaker should be someone who has experienced success with the material, can document that success, and show your audience how they, too, can have that same type of success with the topic.

4. Does the Speaker Involve the Audience?

 People love it when they or a colleague is involved in the presentation. Actually, this models what teachers need to be doing in the classroom with their own students!

 This engagement makes the audience pay closer attention and helps the group make a connection with the speaker. It doesn’t have to be a very long interaction, but should be interspersed at critical and appropriate junctures.

 A speaker who stands and reads an entire speech from their notes or who relies on overheads as the major connecting point won’t have the same impact as a speaker who can involve the audience in the presentation. Keep this concept in mind as you read the reviews or references of the speaker. 

It is sometimes a challenge to find a speaker that can deliver your message and energize and inspire the audience. But this should be the standard for all back-to-school events. Our teachers deserve no less and our students will reap the benefits!

Simple But Effective Motivational Techniques for Teachers

A great motivating activity that worked well for me as a teacher was to simply have a one-on-one discussion with each of the students.

Take a moment to sit and talk to one or more of them about life. Let them do the talking. Listen as they discuss the challenges and obstacles they face in everyday life. Listen as they talk about things that we as teachers may not know they face.

Encourage them to talk about their hopes, dreams, and goals. It will very quickly remind you how much you can help inspire and guide them. This discussion will reveal how badly they need you. When I did this with students I had, I kept thinking to myself as they were talking, “I can help with that!” It almost always got me motivated once again.

Another simple strategy that worked extremely well for me was to drive through the neighborhoods where some of my students lived. Choose a safe but challenging neighborhood and experience again, or for the first time, where your students are literally coming from.

Every once in a while, I would see a young child in the neighborhood while I was driving around. I would always wonder if that child knew that they were just as capable and deserving as any child anywhere. Seeing that child and seeing those circumstances usually helped reignite a spark in me that said, “Go back and work harder”. Another benefit of taking that drive was that it reminded me of how blessed my family and I are and caused me to want to pass on those blessings.

Lastly, remember that teachers are professionals. Every doctor, lawyer, business person, and all other professions got their start with a teacher.  I frequently hear fellow educators describe themselves by saying “Oh, I’m just a teacher.” Remember it all starts with teachers. Every hope, dream, and goal gets filtered through a teacher. You provide the tools to make those dreams come true. You have the power to encourage and enhance those dreams.  You have the power to be their greatest inspiration. Be that for all those that enter your classroom!

How Teachers Can Stay Motivated During Difficult Times

It’s often difficult to do your best work and stay motivated with so many things pulling at you every day. However, you can make it through challenging times and inspire your class to love learning!

The first thing to do during difficult times is to stay focused on why you became a teacher in the first place. When it’s hard to function, think of one thing: your students. Sometimes they may even be the problem. What that tells you, though, is how very badly they need you. Remember that on your worst day on the job, you are still some child’s best hope. Focus on your students.

Another strategy to stay motivated during challenging periods in your life is to stop and take a step back. Think back over another tough time you went through and how you were able to persevere. In other words, keep in mind the old saying that trouble don’t last always.

As you think back to a prior time, remember and think about a success you were able to achieve against the odds. During tough times, take a step back and reflect on the good you have already done. Let it inspire you to continue doing good even if things feel difficult right now.

Another strategy you can try when life feels overwhelming is to get some exercise. It doesn’t have to be strenuous, just to get out and walk even if it’s just around the building or inside the building. A little exercise every day seems to help keep negative thoughts away. Even a short daily walk during tough times can change your whole outlook.

A final method for dealing with tough times is to have outside interests. In other words, don’t forget that you need to have balance in your life. When one area gets out of balance, it can throw your whole outlook off. Use your hobbies such as biking, gardening, art, reading a good book, or just enjoying chocolate to help bring you back to where you need to be. During difficult times stay balanced!

As a teacher, putting your best foot forward every day can be a challenge in itself. When you’re dealing with other things in your life, achieving and sustaining a balance through self care and reflection can help you be your best not just for you, but for your students as well. You got this!

Motivating Unmotivated Students: Part Two

Many teachers struggle with feeling as though their students just aren’t motivated. The advice “Don’t wait on a blessing, be one” is a perfect way to approach students who seem unmotivated.

Besides making excitement a part of your lesson plans as we discussed in Part One, another element of an inspiring lesson plan is engagement.

By engagement, I mean having the students constantly involved in doing something. I recommend that 80% of the lesson be comprised of the students actively doing something. The first 10% or less of the lesson involves you getting the students started and the last 10% involves you closing out the lesson. The remainder of the time, your role as teacher should be to circulate, guide, and encourage.

There are numerous ways to keep students engaged during that 80% time block. First, you can have them work in groups of two and create a product that they share with the class or turn in to you for a grade. Also, consider occasionally having students work in groups of three or four to get more done but give them roles so that everyone has to do their share. Having students do group work is a tremendous way to ensure that there is hands-on learning. Students are more likely to be excited and engaged when they’re involved in the lesson.

One overlooked method of getting students excited through engagement is through a strategy known as call and response. Call and response is an effective method in getting students engaged and excited because they get to show what they know. For those that may not be familiar with this strategy, the teacher will ask questions frequently as he or she presents information to make sure students are engaged and listening. The class answers as a whole. This way, if a student doesn’t know the answer, then they’re not embarrassed but get the answer quickly. This method also helps to keep the presentation from being boring or monotonous.

Getting your class excited about your lesson and engaged in the learning process are excellent methods for helping your students to learn and achieve their best. As a teacher, you play an instrumental role in getting students fired up about learning. You can do this!

Our Words Matter

Have you ever read a joke and laughed out loud?  Have you ever read a quote and truly thought about it’s meaning? Have you ever read a book that you could not put down?  Words matter. Words are powerful. They can shape the future of a child.

The late Dr. Marva Collins, a consummate educator, constantly told her students, “You are brilliant honey!” And her students who grew up in one of the toughest and poorest parts of Chicago and who statistically speaking could very well have ended up in jail or on welfare or in some undesirable situation –thrived! They became lawyers, business owners, teachers and many other successful professionals. When asked what led to their success they said that when Dr. Collins told them every day that they were brilliant – they believed it!

What we say to students matters. How we as educators refer to our students matters.  Those of you who have heard me speak in the past know that one of my strategies for building a positive classroom culture is to call students positive names. “Wonderful Ones” has always been my favorite!. When teachers consistently and intentionally call their students encouraging names the students begin to believe. They believe their teacher believes in them and this in turn makes them believe in themselves.

This is one of the reasons why I have had a concern about the term “at-risk” when we refer to students. I am well aware that many students are “at risk” for failing or dropping out. Yet, these students are so much more than “at risk.” They are indeed “at promise.” They have the ability to be successful and productive members of our communities. What they need is support. With the proper support we know they can go far!

For this reason, in my presentations for the last 20+ years I have referred to students that could potentially fail or drop out as “at promise” students. I encouraged those I worked with to do the same. One organization that took my words to heart was SIATech a non-profit organization that has schools in several states including California that work directly with high school students that are indeed “at promise.” I presented at their conference many years ago and they told me that my message lit a fire in them that made them believe even more in their mission and their students. They adopted the term at-promise and promoted its use.

I returned this month to California to present again at the SIATech conference and they told me SIATech had encouraged the state legislature to ask California educators to begin using the term “at-promise.”  The California legislature agreed and passed ACR 197 a resolution that would “encourage the people of the State of California to recognize the potential and possibilities of our children, instead of focusing on their deficits.” This resolution encourages people to refer to the students as at promise – not at risk. This is a remarkable accomplishment for educators in California!  The people from SIATech also informed me that in the supportive literature for the resolution I was quoted on this issue describing it as a “paradigm shift ” that “encourages teachers to approach students from a positive place, one that keeps in mind the students’ promise not their failures.” (Assembly Committee on Public Safety, ACR197) I was so surprised and delighted to have heard this news. I am pleased to have been able to play a role in this amazing paradigm shifting movement.

We all have days when we wonder whether what we say and do actually makes a difference. I am here to tell you that what you say and do does make a difference. Your words to your students matter! Let’s work together to keep our words positive and encouraging in order to get the absolute best from our students!

Motivating Unmotivated Students: Part One

One of the most difficult things to do as a teacher is motivating students who seem unmotivated.

I don’t believe there’s any such thing as an unmotivated student. My belief is that every student who seems unmotivated is just waiting for their fire to be lit. Have you ever noticed that a student who seems unmotivated in one teacher’s classroom can be involved and engaged in another teacher’s classroom?

I want to give you one major idea to build around in your inspiring classroom lessons: excitement. When creating your lesson plans, include activities that generate some excitement. Music is a great tool to get students excited. It can be a song that you like that incorporates the theme of the day. Play the song and let the students sing along with it, then ask students if they know any other songs that relate to the theme. You can even give students extra credit if they write their own song that incorporates the points of the lesson.

Another way to get students excited is to get them talking about themselves. Ask students to verbally explain, write a paragraph, or even create a song or rap about how they may be familiar with the topic you’re teaching. In science when I talked about waves and oceans, I often had my students write two or three paragraphs about an experience they had interacting with waves or with any body of water. Then I would show them how they were impacted by waves and by the way oceans, lakes, or streams operate. This was a great segue to the discussion of the day.

There are other ways to build excitement into your lessons, such as using whiteboards with short impactful video clips that make your point about the day’s lesson in a dramatic and exciting form. Generate a lively discussion following the video by asking a series of probing, challenging questions. This can be enhanced even more when you put the students in groups of two or three to let them answer the questions together and then share with the class.

Finally, understand that motivating students is a mindset. If you believe you can motivate them, you will. As much as humanly possible, be motivated and excited when teaching. Be effusive with your praise when students have good answers. I’m not talking about overdoing it but just do it in a natural, genuine way. Motivating students is a state of mind. Be that which you expect of others. You can do this!