so I’ve always been a huge basketball
fan I grew up with parents who were
teachers and my dad was a high school
basketball coach so pretty much the
early moments of my life were spent
inside a school or a gymnasium as I got
older and started playing competitively
I remember my dad coming down to be
really really hard about always making
sure I was in the triple threat position
I’m pretty sure there are numerous tears
shed in the process because let’s face
it every kid knows more than their dad
especially if they’re a coach about how
to be successful playing hoops now from
those of you that don’t know much about
basketball the triple threat position is
the only position where you can
positively engage them any path you
choose to go whether you decide to
dribble pass or shoot is set you up for
success it triggers energy and
confidence and allows you to create a
better overall experience for everybody
involved now a few years ago I decided
to pursue a doctorate in leadership
studies and as I was going through the
process I was tasked to read a lot of
books and articles and figure out what
everything meant in my life and I kept
coming back to this moment with my dad
and really starting to think about what
is the real life triple threat position
and more importantly for me as a teacher
what does that actually mean in
education so I started asking myself
questions like how am i engaging my
students every day what type of
experience am i creating on the other
side of me and ultimately how am i
triggering the energy I needed to do
this every single day so as a doctoral
student where every great researcher
goes when they have a question Google
and as I sifted through the millions of
articles and tried to figure out what
this actually met the real life triple
threat position started to become a
little bit more clear for me in my life
figure out how to add value to other
people utilize that value to build solid
relationships and genuinely build those
relationships – autumn leek reate
unbelievable opportunities for those
around you now my wife might tell you I
think about this stuff often like I am
obsessed I think about how I can create
the most engaging opportunities for my
students absolutely try to do things
we for them every single day my goal
tonight is to tell you about a story
that happened to me in my classroom
twelve years ago that is pretty much the
reason why I’m standing in front of you
today hopefully get you thinking about
what your real life triple threat
position might be and how you’re getting
the energy you need to get in that
position every single day because I
absolutely believe life is 100% about
sincere engagement I just think we have
to figure out how to get in position
first to do that now like I mentioned
earlier my parents were both teachers
and I feel extremely blessed that I got
to grow up watching them give their
lives to engaging students my mom was
the crazy math teacher turned guidance
counselor turned back math teacher who
every night I would come home for
practice and she would be seated at the
table with a piece of paper and a pencil
beyond excited for me to pull out my
precalc homework so that she could help
I think part of her energy triggers were
even the sweater and earring combos that
she used to rock she had the craziest
ones for all the holidays sorry for the
pictures mom my dad on the other hand
was a phys ed teacher and I remember
when I was little we would go and meet
him for bowling Fridays when he took his
classes to the lanes that happen to be
situated next to the school and I always
was astonished how he engaged with
everyone students staff and even the
bowling alley manager that seemingly
became part of our family he even used
to rock these old school while they were
new school then Reebok polyesters zip
ups and I remember putting them on and
dressing up like a phys ed teacher there
was always this energy that was super
present so when it was time for me to
start to consider what my next steps
might be I always do that I most likely
was going to enter into the family
business now when I started college and
I went through the process I’ll be
honest I switched my content a lot of
different times because I didn’t really
care about teaching I just wanted to go
impact some kids the problem was I had
never really thought about what I wanted
that experience on the other side of me
to be and the energy I would actually
need to move forward in that process so
when I started my teacher student
teaching experience I struggled big-time
for calling my mom almost every day
crying and literally even had a note
card on my computer that would cross off
the day it’s just praying I would make
it through and as it got closer to
graduation time I was like no way can I
do this so I decided to pursue a
graduate degree outside of the field of
education but somehow two years later an
opportunity arose for me that have my
own classroom I spent all summer
prepping for it for that opportunity in
in room 227 I had scaffolding notes on
transparencies on how to overhead
projector I had visa Vee markers I was
ready to rock but again I didn’t know
what I wanted that experience on the
other side of me to be now I really
don’t remember much of that first day
it’s pretty much a massive blur except
for ninth period a nice period I had a
class that was made up of every kid who
had ever flunked ninth grade history
some multiple times for a first-year
teacher you could probably know that was
a disaster they hated they didn’t
believe in me they didn’t trust me I
could not connect with them in any way
possible and three weeks later I had a
back injury flare-up from college I went
down to the principal’s office and asked
him if I could wear tennis shoes for a
little while after he gave me the
approval he said hey man you just need
to make sure that these are clean so I
went home and I pulled out the cleanest
pair of shoes that I have Nike my mid
1990s Nike Air Max tempo lows still have
me my truck I walked in that next day
and I didn’t really feel any different
kids didn’t really notice until ninth
period when I walked in tonight period a
hand went up in the back corner and it
was by a kid who had honestly never said
an entire word the entire three weeks
we’ve been together and I honestly
didn’t even know what to do so when I
called on him I said yeah he was like
mr. Grint and the words that came out of
his mouth absolutely changed my life
forever he goes there’s some sweet kicks
where’d you get those things and I saw
the rest of the students nodding and
engaged and then I became so energized
because they plugged into me for the
first time and I told myself I will
absolutely do anything to add a little
value in your life in their lives and I
remember looking down and thinking
that’s all it’s gonna take so I went out
that night and bought every stupid color
pair of shoes you can imagine and I’ve
won of every single day since that time
with those kids and it absolutely has
become a symbol for what I want to be as
a teacher thinking about recreating the
way that we do things engaging with
students in a different way and those
students gave me the energy trigger to
pretty much become my pathway for
student engagement my ties in tenis
story now for those of you if you think
about your teachers and the other people
that you interact with on a daily basis
and you think about there’s usually a
way that they connect with you every
single time it’s how they engaged and
created memorable experiences with you
you often remember that more than any
content they ever tried to teach you now
as you consider this further I really
think it just comes down to clarifying
two main elements as you search for your
triple threat position first and most
importantly you have to define what you
want your branded experience on the
other side of you to be now you guys
probably know what branding is or you’ve
heard it before but the word may not
have resonated with you because people
talk about this stuff all the time
organizational branding personal
branding I’ll be honest I think they
make it way too hard I have a friend who
was also a TEDx speaker last year quite
Cooper and he he made the statement one
time he said branding is all about
building positive energy now think about
it from your perspective if I went to
your place of employment and maybe I go
to where you go to church here I go to
your friend group and I ask them tell me
a little bit about the experience that
this person creates on the other side of
it what do they like there’s going to be
a conversation that occurs all right
it’s describing your consistent branded
experience that you create every single
day of the actions the question is if I
go to you and I say hey man what do you
think the conversation
if you can’t tell me hey yeah this is it
and it’s positive that I have the
question why aren’t you figuring out
what you want it to be and absolutely
every single day deciding you know what
I’m going to add value build
relationships and create opportunities
for other people now number two I think
you have to absolutely find ways to
trigger your positive energy every
single day because this is the key to
finding your triple threat position I
think some people just assume people
create energy on their own but I think
the majority of us have to have visual
triggers every single day to get it
rolling now when I think about this in
educational terms there are two guys
that constantly inspire me one
this is mr. Dwayne Reed he’s a public
school teacher in Chicago and his love
for sincere engagement music allows him
to create these music videos for his
students in his classes like welcome to
the fourth grade which went viral or the
morning song that he sings daily with
them to get rolling you can’t help but
be inspired almost like get excited for
those fourth graders going into his
classroom wishing you were one of them
or a parent of one that was or take
principal Brewer a friend Lynne middle
school in Virginia also known as the
skateboarding principal who zooms
throughout his district on his boards
spewing more energy than you can even
imagine every single interaction he even
gives the board’s away to students that
add value to the district he’s
absolutely changing the game from an
experience and engagement standpoint now
some of you might be sitting there
thinking well I don’t really know what
my branded experience is I definitely
don’t sing there’s no way I’m getting on
a skateboard and I really don’t have any
unique energy triggers other than maybe
a massive amount of morning coffee and
honestly that’s okay because I think
these become most visible when we least
expect it the problem is I think that
wouldn’t you absolutely find these
things you have to amplify the heck out
of them because every single day you
have to have these visual reminders of
what your pathway for positive
engagement is all about because I truly
believe it’s hard to help others find
their best lives when we lose
of ours and here’s why I wholeheartedly
believe this works so I’m standing up
here with a pair of tennis shoes on that
we’re a surprise gift this summer from a
group of students that I was blessed to
these kids were some of the most amazing
people I’ve ever been around because
absolutely every day they added more
value built stronger relationships and
created incredible opportunities for one
another they braided their experience
together as the Euler 10 and they
literally continue to inspire tons of
people I read a book recently by Matthew
Kelly entitled perfectly yourself and
there’s a piece of it I want to share
with you tonight says our greatest
strength as human beings is our ability
to make a difference in the lives of
other people and yet is the most
unemployed of all human abilities here’s
the thing I don’t think it’s unemployed
because it’s unwanted I think it’s not
employed because most people haven’t
figured out what they want the
experience on the other side of them to
be and the energy they are going to
utilize to get that rolling I want to
leave you something that my mom told me
that she probably doesn’t even remember
during that crazy time of student
teaching that literally helped me make
it through and I’ve changed it a little
bit to fit tonight for you
she said Scott you need to understand
that you only get one August 15 2018
ever in your life so you better make
sure that it is awesome for you and
those around you my hope tonight is that
moving forward this day and every day
from here on out your energy and
experience focus on adding value
building relationships and creating
opportunities with other people go be awesome today
fan I grew up with parents who were
teachers and my dad was a high school
basketball coach so pretty much the
early moments of my life were spent
inside a school or a gymnasium as I got
older and started playing competitively
I remember my dad coming down to be
really really hard about always making
sure I was in the triple threat position
I’m pretty sure there are numerous tears
shed in the process because let’s face
it every kid knows more than their dad
especially if they’re a coach about how
to be successful playing hoops now from
those of you that don’t know much about
basketball the triple threat position is
the only position where you can
positively engage them any path you
choose to go whether you decide to
dribble pass or shoot is set you up for
success it triggers energy and
confidence and allows you to create a
better overall experience for everybody
involved now a few years ago I decided
to pursue a doctorate in leadership
studies and as I was going through the
process I was tasked to read a lot of
books and articles and figure out what
everything meant in my life and I kept
coming back to this moment with my dad
and really starting to think about what
is the real life triple threat position
and more importantly for me as a teacher
what does that actually mean in
education so I started asking myself
questions like how am i engaging my
students every day what type of
experience am i creating on the other
side of me and ultimately how am i
triggering the energy I needed to do
this every single day so as a doctoral
student where every great researcher
goes when they have a question Google
and as I sifted through the millions of
articles and tried to figure out what
this actually met the real life triple
threat position started to become a
little bit more clear for me in my life
figure out how to add value to other
people utilize that value to build solid
relationships and genuinely build those
relationships – autumn leek reate
unbelievable opportunities for those
around you now my wife might tell you I
think about this stuff often like I am
obsessed I think about how I can create
the most engaging opportunities for my
students absolutely try to do things
we for them every single day my goal
tonight is to tell you about a story
that happened to me in my classroom
twelve years ago that is pretty much the
reason why I’m standing in front of you
today hopefully get you thinking about
what your real life triple threat
position might be and how you’re getting
the energy you need to get in that
position every single day because I
absolutely believe life is 100% about
sincere engagement I just think we have
to figure out how to get in position
first to do that now like I mentioned
earlier my parents were both teachers
and I feel extremely blessed that I got
to grow up watching them give their
lives to engaging students my mom was
the crazy math teacher turned guidance
counselor turned back math teacher who
every night I would come home for
practice and she would be seated at the
table with a piece of paper and a pencil
beyond excited for me to pull out my
precalc homework so that she could help
I think part of her energy triggers were
even the sweater and earring combos that
she used to rock she had the craziest
ones for all the holidays sorry for the
pictures mom my dad on the other hand
was a phys ed teacher and I remember
when I was little we would go and meet
him for bowling Fridays when he took his
classes to the lanes that happen to be
situated next to the school and I always
was astonished how he engaged with
everyone students staff and even the
bowling alley manager that seemingly
became part of our family he even used
to rock these old school while they were
new school then Reebok polyesters zip
ups and I remember putting them on and
dressing up like a phys ed teacher there
was always this energy that was super
present so when it was time for me to
start to consider what my next steps
might be I always do that I most likely
was going to enter into the family
business now when I started college and
I went through the process I’ll be
honest I switched my content a lot of
different times because I didn’t really
care about teaching I just wanted to go
impact some kids the problem was I had
never really thought about what I wanted
that experience on the other side of me
to be and the energy I would actually
need to move forward in that process so
when I started my teacher student
teaching experience I struggled big-time
for calling my mom almost every day
crying and literally even had a note
card on my computer that would cross off
the day it’s just praying I would make
it through and as it got closer to
graduation time I was like no way can I
do this so I decided to pursue a
graduate degree outside of the field of
education but somehow two years later an
opportunity arose for me that have my
own classroom I spent all summer
prepping for it for that opportunity in
in room 227 I had scaffolding notes on
transparencies on how to overhead
projector I had visa Vee markers I was
ready to rock but again I didn’t know
what I wanted that experience on the
other side of me to be now I really
don’t remember much of that first day
it’s pretty much a massive blur except
for ninth period a nice period I had a
class that was made up of every kid who
had ever flunked ninth grade history
some multiple times for a first-year
teacher you could probably know that was
a disaster they hated they didn’t
believe in me they didn’t trust me I
could not connect with them in any way
possible and three weeks later I had a
back injury flare-up from college I went
down to the principal’s office and asked
him if I could wear tennis shoes for a
little while after he gave me the
approval he said hey man you just need
to make sure that these are clean so I
went home and I pulled out the cleanest
pair of shoes that I have Nike my mid
1990s Nike Air Max tempo lows still have
me my truck I walked in that next day
and I didn’t really feel any different
kids didn’t really notice until ninth
period when I walked in tonight period a
hand went up in the back corner and it
was by a kid who had honestly never said
an entire word the entire three weeks
we’ve been together and I honestly
didn’t even know what to do so when I
called on him I said yeah he was like
mr. Grint and the words that came out of
his mouth absolutely changed my life
forever he goes there’s some sweet kicks
where’d you get those things and I saw
the rest of the students nodding and
engaged and then I became so energized
because they plugged into me for the
first time and I told myself I will
absolutely do anything to add a little
value in your life in their lives and I
remember looking down and thinking
that’s all it’s gonna take so I went out
that night and bought every stupid color
pair of shoes you can imagine and I’ve
won of every single day since that time
with those kids and it absolutely has
become a symbol for what I want to be as
a teacher thinking about recreating the
way that we do things engaging with
students in a different way and those
students gave me the energy trigger to
pretty much become my pathway for
student engagement my ties in tenis
story now for those of you if you think
about your teachers and the other people
that you interact with on a daily basis
and you think about there’s usually a
way that they connect with you every
single time it’s how they engaged and
created memorable experiences with you
you often remember that more than any
content they ever tried to teach you now
as you consider this further I really
think it just comes down to clarifying
two main elements as you search for your
triple threat position first and most
importantly you have to define what you
want your branded experience on the
other side of you to be now you guys
probably know what branding is or you’ve
heard it before but the word may not
have resonated with you because people
talk about this stuff all the time
organizational branding personal
branding I’ll be honest I think they
make it way too hard I have a friend who
was also a TEDx speaker last year quite
Cooper and he he made the statement one
time he said branding is all about
building positive energy now think about
it from your perspective if I went to
your place of employment and maybe I go
to where you go to church here I go to
your friend group and I ask them tell me
a little bit about the experience that
this person creates on the other side of
it what do they like there’s going to be
a conversation that occurs all right
it’s describing your consistent branded
experience that you create every single
day of the actions the question is if I
go to you and I say hey man what do you
think the conversation
if you can’t tell me hey yeah this is it
and it’s positive that I have the
question why aren’t you figuring out
what you want it to be and absolutely
every single day deciding you know what
I’m going to add value build
relationships and create opportunities
for other people now number two I think
you have to absolutely find ways to
trigger your positive energy every
single day because this is the key to
finding your triple threat position I
think some people just assume people
create energy on their own but I think
the majority of us have to have visual
triggers every single day to get it
rolling now when I think about this in
educational terms there are two guys
that constantly inspire me one
this is mr. Dwayne Reed he’s a public
school teacher in Chicago and his love
for sincere engagement music allows him
to create these music videos for his
students in his classes like welcome to
the fourth grade which went viral or the
morning song that he sings daily with
them to get rolling you can’t help but
be inspired almost like get excited for
those fourth graders going into his
classroom wishing you were one of them
or a parent of one that was or take
principal Brewer a friend Lynne middle
school in Virginia also known as the
skateboarding principal who zooms
throughout his district on his boards
spewing more energy than you can even
imagine every single interaction he even
gives the board’s away to students that
add value to the district he’s
absolutely changing the game from an
experience and engagement standpoint now
some of you might be sitting there
thinking well I don’t really know what
my branded experience is I definitely
don’t sing there’s no way I’m getting on
a skateboard and I really don’t have any
unique energy triggers other than maybe
a massive amount of morning coffee and
honestly that’s okay because I think
these become most visible when we least
expect it the problem is I think that
wouldn’t you absolutely find these
things you have to amplify the heck out
of them because every single day you
have to have these visual reminders of
what your pathway for positive
engagement is all about because I truly
believe it’s hard to help others find
their best lives when we lose
of ours and here’s why I wholeheartedly
believe this works so I’m standing up
here with a pair of tennis shoes on that
we’re a surprise gift this summer from a
group of students that I was blessed to
these kids were some of the most amazing
people I’ve ever been around because
absolutely every day they added more
value built stronger relationships and
created incredible opportunities for one
another they braided their experience
together as the Euler 10 and they
literally continue to inspire tons of
people I read a book recently by Matthew
Kelly entitled perfectly yourself and
there’s a piece of it I want to share
with you tonight says our greatest
strength as human beings is our ability
to make a difference in the lives of
other people and yet is the most
unemployed of all human abilities here’s
the thing I don’t think it’s unemployed
because it’s unwanted I think it’s not
employed because most people haven’t
figured out what they want the
experience on the other side of them to
be and the energy they are going to
utilize to get that rolling I want to
leave you something that my mom told me
that she probably doesn’t even remember
during that crazy time of student
teaching that literally helped me make
it through and I’ve changed it a little
bit to fit tonight for you
she said Scott you need to understand
that you only get one August 15 2018
ever in your life so you better make
sure that it is awesome for you and
those around you my hope tonight is that
moving forward this day and every day
from here on out your energy and
experience focus on adding value
building relationships and creating
opportunities with other people go be awesome today
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