Thought of the Week 4-18-2008

Thought of the Week 4-18-2008

“I touch the future. I teach.”

-Christa McAuliffe

Inspiration of the Day:
Ron Clark used to be an elementary school teacher in North Carolina -- but after watching a program about a New York City school that had a hard time attracting qualified teachers, he decided to head to New York with the goal of teaching in one of its toughest schools. Clark eventually landed a job doing just that -- in Harlem. He asked if he could teach a class of fifth-graders who had been performing at a second-grade level. The school's administrators wanted to give him the gifted class, but Clark insisted on the underperforming students. In one school year, Clark's fifth-grade class outperformed the gifted class. Clark became Disney's teacher of the year, a best-selling author, and an Oprah guest. This Business Week article shares Clark's thoughts on how managers can use his techniques to motivate their own teams. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Make use of one of Clark's tips in your own work with other people.

This week’s thought rings home with me for three reasons:

1.      I remember Christa McAuliffe

2.      I believe that life isn’t worth living if you aren’t able to both be a student and a teacher.

3.      My mom’s a teacher. She taught me in Kindergarten. And I was a tough kid! HAHAHAHA! (Hey Mrs. Hedrick!)

I also want to challenge us this week to take a moment and…

1. Say thank you to a teacher – educator and let them know we appreciate their time and effort. You never can tell, maybe your encouragement will motivate even a bad teacher to do better.

2. Implement a couple of Clark’s points from the attached and aforementioned article.

3. Take a moment and be a student of your: life, culture, community, family, nature and religion. Just spend a few seconds and be silent, listen, observe and learn.

Remember, every living thing is GROWING, LEARNING & ADAPTING. The only things that don’t learn, grow and adapt are things that are inanimate, dead or dying.

Have a Great Weekend!

dh

 

 

 

Dustin Hedrick

Operations Manager