thank you very much
how’s everybody all right
all right all right all right thank you
thank you mister Balzer I’m your teacher
tonight and the title of our lesson is
there’s never been a better time to be a
teacher all right that’s not fun you
don’t laugh please all right listen up I
need everybody to take out their reading
from last night please take it out yes
thank you
can you please take it out look at that
awesome where’s yours
sure so you don’t have it forgot it
you weren’t here you were absent that’s
all right okay I got it up here all
right now this is what you were supposed
to read last night the title is what
LinkedIn taught me about being just a
teacher I wrote this last year and it’s
a story it’s my story
it’s also the story of tons of teachers
that I know actually they helped me
write it and so it’s also the story of a
teacher in transition you see I taught
for ten years I was an administrator for
five years I was in urban schools for 15
years I loved it almost every minute of
it but you know what happens is just
like everybody else in any profession
you want to kind of move on you want to
do some different things but in my case
I didn’t want to leave education not
even close I loved it I wanted to kind
of move into different parts of
Education because there’s so many great
jobs there’s so many great ways to apply
what you do as an educator in different
ways and so that’s what I wanted to do
and you know what this article is also a
microcosm it’s a microcosm of what
teachers go through and how they’re
perceived and sometimes irrationally how
they’re perceived as inferior and how we
see things differently when it comes to
educators this is the story about
educators and you know what when I think
about this and when I think about this
experience I also think it’s a lesson
it’s a lesson that I think we can solve
it’s a lesson that I think we can we can
do something with you see
teachers we know that they don’t want to
we know that the youth of this country
right now they don’t want to be teachers
we see that colleges of education 10%
less less students want to be in the
College of Education they want to be
education majors we see this decline
across the country but in some states
it’s even worse if you look at Texas
California New York you look at the most
diverse States you actually see that
they’re losing tens of thousands of
teachers every single year if you look
at some colleges of education they’re
actually going away in many cases the
colleges of education are either being
folded or they’re being put into other
colleges of education in other cases you
see bachelor’s degrees that are going
away and this is having an effect on the
diversity of teachers it should be no
surprise that we only see 20% of
teachers of color in the classroom and
if you think this doesn’t matter you
better think again studies after studies
have shown that a teacher that comes
from the community of those students and
a teacher that looks like those students
can have the greatest impact on their
lives but see here’s the funny part I
don’t understand this I don’t understand
why people wouldn’t want to be teachers
I love being a teacher I’m a teacher
will always be a teacher but here’s the
really weird part the last four years
I’ve been doing research I was at Boston
University and when I was doing this
research I saw the immense growth of
this education market and you’re going
to be surprised when you see some of
these numbers you see teaching has
amazing potential once you learn how to
be a master teacher you can apply these
skills to school design athletics gaming
business there are thousands and
thousands of jobs millions actually in
fact in the last 20 years a hundred and
eighty-five thousand organizations that
didn’t even exist 20 years ago and not
doing business and education this is
because of the rise of the philanthropy
sector and giving we have 41 billion
dollars a year that goes to education
that’s 41 billion dollars that’s more
than any other sector more than any
other sector religion is the only other
thing that people give to more than
education in the last 20 years this kind
of money flowing into education has
created innovation it’s created new jobs
if you look at venture capital one point
four billion dollars last
here came into the education sector you
go back five or ten years ago that was
maybe like ten fifteen million dollars
we’ve seen 1,000% increases in education
so I just couldn’t understand with all
this money and with all this all these
new companies when I say 185,000 I say
organizations not not even jobs and this
isn’t future jobs these are current jobs
in the education sector so who wouldn’t
want to be a teacher I just don’t
understand this
I really don’t but you see there’s
something else about this as I wrote
this article and I thought about this I
thought this is about the perception of
the field this is about the perception
of teaching and this is something that
we can change
you see I started looking a little bit
more carefully and I was talking to my
friends and I was looking at these job
descriptions including the job
descriptions in those jobs that are in
the k-12 space so let’s say a school
design company or a company in EdTech I
started looking at those job
descriptions and I was like man that wow
that looks like an incredible job and it
would say something like the ability to
lead teams we’re looking for an MBA
we’re looking for someone in the
business community that can lead teams
and I thought man I know how to lead
teams this is me in New York City this
is me and probably millions of other
teachers is that leading a team all
right sometimes my team look like that
I’m not going to lie all right
definitely but what about working under
pressure is that working under pressure
take a good look at that face right
there all right
take a good look all right I’m going to
pressure I got that covered all right
these are my kids in New York City man
that’s leading the team and if it’s not
I wonder what what is you know but then
I looked at other job descriptions job
descriptions would say you know the
ability to reach diverse audiences we
always see this one you know is this
reaching diverse audiences 30 different
countries all these different languages
teaching them the constitution is this
reaching diverse audiences I think so
but yet I don’t know what about this one
creative out-of-the-box thinker you
always hear that one in job descriptions
and in this one I got to tell you you
know we’re learning American history – a
little John Cougar little pink houses
I think that’s pretty creative out of
the box but you see here’s the thing
that I found out and this is what
happened when I talked to my friends and
we all teachers veteran teachers it’s
not that we want to leave the classroom
we love the classroom we love it but
like everybody else you know you just
want to mix it up you want to but you
also want to be appreciated you also
want to be someone that is in a field
that is cherished and appreciated just
like all others you want to be in demand
and frankly if you want to raise teacher
salaries you don’t just arbitrarily set
a teacher salary which is what we do you
increase demand that’s supply and demand
101 that’s economics 101 but see here’s
what happened I started looking at this
and I started thinking you know what is
in demand these are the words that
define teachers these are the words that
define the education profession these
are proud words these are the words that
define an immense skill set as an
educator this is what defines me is what
defines my friends my colleagues
teachers in this room classrooms lesson
students teaching units counseling
curriculum we should be looking for
people that can do unit planning that
should be in a job description for a
fortune 500 company
because if you can unit plan you could
take a textbook like this and synthesize
it down so that a 14 year old can read
it understand it and they didn’t even
speak the language why aren’t we looking
for people that can unit plan or lesson
plan deliver lessons these are skills
and skillsets that we should value in
any profession you see you make these in
demand people are going to want teachers
you want teachers you’re going to
increase the pay naturally but you see
these aren’t the words that are in
demand it’s these words and I found
myself in an existential crisis I found
myself as a teacher an educator and a
passionate one thinking about whether or
not I should change the words in my own
LinkedIn profile to reflect these words
and I did I changed them a lot of them I
found myself tweaking how many of you
tweaked your LinkedIn profiles in the
last week all right
you tweak it a little bit you change a
few things and for educators we don’t
even have LinkedIn profiles and I asked
my friends about that I was like why
don’t you have
profile they’re like why it’s not that
they don’t want to maybe experiment out
there and see what jobs are there just
feel like they’re not respected their
answer is just teacher all right I don’t
understand that and so I think about
this but then I saw something even more
profound I started seeing that terms
were being replaced superintendent with
CEO or school counselors an engagement
coordinator or principals a director and
I thought okay some of this is wordplay
some of this is business business
tactics it’s fine I get that but then I
thought you know if we get rid of these
terms and the education profession is
proud it’s a hundred years old it has
its own philosophers and theorists like
John Dewey and Maria Montessori these
are great theoreticians these are great
scholars and thought leaders no
different than Stephen Hawking we get
away from these terms how are we going
to wonder at the end then how you have
that there is no education profession if
we’re eradicating the identity of the
profession and that’s what I wrote about
so here’s the thing we could do
something about it
I’m going to give you a quick quiz all
right it’s a pop quiz so you don’t have
to worry it’s true/false it’s a quick
one all right true/false this is what
most students see as the career path to
education you go in as a teacher it
certainly was the latter when I went in
you’re going as a teacher you become an
administrator somewhere along the line I
did five years loved it by the way but
it’s a thirty year track and pretty much
somewhere in there there might be some
middle management coaching job here
there all right
true or false this is what most people
think of as the career path all right
think about that true or false
thirty years is a long-ass time it’s a
very long time all right
now if you’re a kid who is seventeen
years old thinking about what you’re
going to major in you just did 17 years
in a school now I’m going to jump in I’m
going to do that’s 47 years but now you
got to do it in college too and then you
know so that’s like 50
one years in school all right that’s not
a very compelling proposition in fact
the numbers show that fifty percent of
teachers bail in the first five years
all right
fifty percent now that’s five hundred
thousand teachers a year that are gone
out of the profession and we got to find
them from somewhere and so you know this
is just the way it goes now I don’t know
what fear II might be you’re bouncing
before you’re locked in is just a
teacher that is a five year mark I just
find that to be a little bit curious I
don’t know maybe they’re leaving because
the job won’t be there in the future you
know Oxford University just did a study
of the top 700 jobs that will be gone or
basically the top 700 jobs and
survivability of these jobs in the next
not 20 years 17 years so the next 17
years will these jobs be there now to
these 700 they rank them and they said
what’s the survivability rate all right
multiple choice on this quiz all right
bookkeepers telemarketers
what is the survivability rate all right
2% for a bookkeeper 1% for a
telemarketer all right
I wouldn’t go and want to be in the
business right now right think about it
market research analysts this is a
popular one definitely making a lot of
money well make it while you can because
38% survivability rate what do you think
the survivability rate is for a teacher
I had a friend recently tell me you know
classes going online you never know I
mean this is because this job might not
happen
I don’t know a university to study on it
I don’t know this but here’s what they
came up with you know what the
survivability rate is for a teacher 99.5
percent 17 years from now not even 20 so
if you’re a kindergarten are watching
this TEDx by the time you graduate high
school this is a great major all right
if you’re 17 19 20 years old by the time
you’re raising a family you’re going to
have a job so I just still don’t
understand what you don’t want to be a
teacher well awesome jobs
here’s another true/false question if we
gave this as a compelling proposition to
youth and said no you don’t have that
ladder that I showed you you actually
have these kinds of jobs would that
possibly make a difference if we
perceived our career path and our
options in this sector differently would
that possibly change how many people
want to go into education if we had
these skill sets and they were
transferable and we could take them move
them into different parts of a sector
over our lifetime 30 40 50 years not
just in a classroom but in classrooms
that are the world like I do today all
sorts of different jobs but it’s these
skill sets that matter master teacher
weren’t an information economy the flow
of information is probably the most
valuable asset and knowing that as a
master teacher how could it be more
valuable what could be more valuable I
don’t know and so I’m sorry to do this
to you but we got a little bit of
homework all right but it’s an easy one
this is what we call constructivism all
right it’s a reflection all right this
is my faith I as a teacher I didn’t I
didn’t give a lot of homework but we
reflected a lot so I’m going to ask you
to reflect number one is this a
compelling proposition the ladder going
up the ladder 30 years or is the other
one a proposition think about it which
one is a better proposition but more
importantly this is a reflection for the
education profession the colleges of
education including myself are we
preparing the next generation to enter a
radically different k-12 market are we
preparing the next generation with
skills and skill sets that are radically
different at the core is that yellow
that teaching pedagogy understanding how
to teach how to work with youth that’s
at the core and you need years in a
classroom to get that seven years to be
precise before you really master it but
beyond that you need to know as a
teacher partnerships community
involvement youth development marketing
public relations as colleges of
Education are we preparing the next
generation with these types of skills
that’s a question for the business
community I ask you this to reflect on I
ask you that next time that a teacher
who might want to apply their craft and
those great skills in a different
setting because I don’t care what
company you’re in people are learning
and that’s actually just massively
growing around corporations you name it
if a teacher ever applies for a job I
want you to think does this count as
leading a team does this count as
reaching diverse audiences does this
count as creative out-of-the-box
thinkers and if not why does that not
count and for all of us I ask you to
think about this one quote and it
doesn’t come from Maria Montessori or
John Dewey it comes from Lee Iacocca a
great business leader he said in a
completely rational society the best of
us would be teachers and the rest of us
would have to settle for something else
are we rational is the way we perceive
teachers and the education profession
today rational I want you to think about
that see I don’t think we have a
shortage crisis I think we have a
perception crisis and we can solve this
and if we do solve this I do believe
that we can change this if we solve this
we just might be able to convince the
next generation that there’s never been
a better time to be a teacher thank you
class dismissed
how’s everybody all right
all right all right all right thank you
thank you mister Balzer I’m your teacher
tonight and the title of our lesson is
there’s never been a better time to be a
teacher all right that’s not fun you
don’t laugh please all right listen up I
need everybody to take out their reading
from last night please take it out yes
thank you
can you please take it out look at that
awesome where’s yours
sure so you don’t have it forgot it
you weren’t here you were absent that’s
all right okay I got it up here all
right now this is what you were supposed
to read last night the title is what
LinkedIn taught me about being just a
teacher I wrote this last year and it’s
a story it’s my story
it’s also the story of tons of teachers
that I know actually they helped me
write it and so it’s also the story of a
teacher in transition you see I taught
for ten years I was an administrator for
five years I was in urban schools for 15
years I loved it almost every minute of
it but you know what happens is just
like everybody else in any profession
you want to kind of move on you want to
do some different things but in my case
I didn’t want to leave education not
even close I loved it I wanted to kind
of move into different parts of
Education because there’s so many great
jobs there’s so many great ways to apply
what you do as an educator in different
ways and so that’s what I wanted to do
and you know what this article is also a
microcosm it’s a microcosm of what
teachers go through and how they’re
perceived and sometimes irrationally how
they’re perceived as inferior and how we
see things differently when it comes to
educators this is the story about
educators and you know what when I think
about this and when I think about this
experience I also think it’s a lesson
it’s a lesson that I think we can solve
it’s a lesson that I think we can we can
do something with you see
teachers we know that they don’t want to
we know that the youth of this country
right now they don’t want to be teachers
we see that colleges of education 10%
less less students want to be in the
College of Education they want to be
education majors we see this decline
across the country but in some states
it’s even worse if you look at Texas
California New York you look at the most
diverse States you actually see that
they’re losing tens of thousands of
teachers every single year if you look
at some colleges of education they’re
actually going away in many cases the
colleges of education are either being
folded or they’re being put into other
colleges of education in other cases you
see bachelor’s degrees that are going
away and this is having an effect on the
diversity of teachers it should be no
surprise that we only see 20% of
teachers of color in the classroom and
if you think this doesn’t matter you
better think again studies after studies
have shown that a teacher that comes
from the community of those students and
a teacher that looks like those students
can have the greatest impact on their
lives but see here’s the funny part I
don’t understand this I don’t understand
why people wouldn’t want to be teachers
I love being a teacher I’m a teacher
will always be a teacher but here’s the
really weird part the last four years
I’ve been doing research I was at Boston
University and when I was doing this
research I saw the immense growth of
this education market and you’re going
to be surprised when you see some of
these numbers you see teaching has
amazing potential once you learn how to
be a master teacher you can apply these
skills to school design athletics gaming
business there are thousands and
thousands of jobs millions actually in
fact in the last 20 years a hundred and
eighty-five thousand organizations that
didn’t even exist 20 years ago and not
doing business and education this is
because of the rise of the philanthropy
sector and giving we have 41 billion
dollars a year that goes to education
that’s 41 billion dollars that’s more
than any other sector more than any
other sector religion is the only other
thing that people give to more than
education in the last 20 years this kind
of money flowing into education has
created innovation it’s created new jobs
if you look at venture capital one point
four billion dollars last
here came into the education sector you
go back five or ten years ago that was
maybe like ten fifteen million dollars
we’ve seen 1,000% increases in education
so I just couldn’t understand with all
this money and with all this all these
new companies when I say 185,000 I say
organizations not not even jobs and this
isn’t future jobs these are current jobs
in the education sector so who wouldn’t
want to be a teacher I just don’t
understand this
I really don’t but you see there’s
something else about this as I wrote
this article and I thought about this I
thought this is about the perception of
the field this is about the perception
of teaching and this is something that
we can change
you see I started looking a little bit
more carefully and I was talking to my
friends and I was looking at these job
descriptions including the job
descriptions in those jobs that are in
the k-12 space so let’s say a school
design company or a company in EdTech I
started looking at those job
descriptions and I was like man that wow
that looks like an incredible job and it
would say something like the ability to
lead teams we’re looking for an MBA
we’re looking for someone in the
business community that can lead teams
and I thought man I know how to lead
teams this is me in New York City this
is me and probably millions of other
teachers is that leading a team all
right sometimes my team look like that
I’m not going to lie all right
definitely but what about working under
pressure is that working under pressure
take a good look at that face right
there all right
take a good look all right I’m going to
pressure I got that covered all right
these are my kids in New York City man
that’s leading the team and if it’s not
I wonder what what is you know but then
I looked at other job descriptions job
descriptions would say you know the
ability to reach diverse audiences we
always see this one you know is this
reaching diverse audiences 30 different
countries all these different languages
teaching them the constitution is this
reaching diverse audiences I think so
but yet I don’t know what about this one
creative out-of-the-box thinker you
always hear that one in job descriptions
and in this one I got to tell you you
know we’re learning American history – a
little John Cougar little pink houses
I think that’s pretty creative out of
the box but you see here’s the thing
that I found out and this is what
happened when I talked to my friends and
we all teachers veteran teachers it’s
not that we want to leave the classroom
we love the classroom we love it but
like everybody else you know you just
want to mix it up you want to but you
also want to be appreciated you also
want to be someone that is in a field
that is cherished and appreciated just
like all others you want to be in demand
and frankly if you want to raise teacher
salaries you don’t just arbitrarily set
a teacher salary which is what we do you
increase demand that’s supply and demand
101 that’s economics 101 but see here’s
what happened I started looking at this
and I started thinking you know what is
in demand these are the words that
define teachers these are the words that
define the education profession these
are proud words these are the words that
define an immense skill set as an
educator this is what defines me is what
defines my friends my colleagues
teachers in this room classrooms lesson
students teaching units counseling
curriculum we should be looking for
people that can do unit planning that
should be in a job description for a
fortune 500 company
because if you can unit plan you could
take a textbook like this and synthesize
it down so that a 14 year old can read
it understand it and they didn’t even
speak the language why aren’t we looking
for people that can unit plan or lesson
plan deliver lessons these are skills
and skillsets that we should value in
any profession you see you make these in
demand people are going to want teachers
you want teachers you’re going to
increase the pay naturally but you see
these aren’t the words that are in
demand it’s these words and I found
myself in an existential crisis I found
myself as a teacher an educator and a
passionate one thinking about whether or
not I should change the words in my own
LinkedIn profile to reflect these words
and I did I changed them a lot of them I
found myself tweaking how many of you
tweaked your LinkedIn profiles in the
last week all right
you tweak it a little bit you change a
few things and for educators we don’t
even have LinkedIn profiles and I asked
my friends about that I was like why
don’t you have
profile they’re like why it’s not that
they don’t want to maybe experiment out
there and see what jobs are there just
feel like they’re not respected their
answer is just teacher all right I don’t
understand that and so I think about
this but then I saw something even more
profound I started seeing that terms
were being replaced superintendent with
CEO or school counselors an engagement
coordinator or principals a director and
I thought okay some of this is wordplay
some of this is business business
tactics it’s fine I get that but then I
thought you know if we get rid of these
terms and the education profession is
proud it’s a hundred years old it has
its own philosophers and theorists like
John Dewey and Maria Montessori these
are great theoreticians these are great
scholars and thought leaders no
different than Stephen Hawking we get
away from these terms how are we going
to wonder at the end then how you have
that there is no education profession if
we’re eradicating the identity of the
profession and that’s what I wrote about
so here’s the thing we could do
something about it
I’m going to give you a quick quiz all
right it’s a pop quiz so you don’t have
to worry it’s true/false it’s a quick
one all right true/false this is what
most students see as the career path to
education you go in as a teacher it
certainly was the latter when I went in
you’re going as a teacher you become an
administrator somewhere along the line I
did five years loved it by the way but
it’s a thirty year track and pretty much
somewhere in there there might be some
middle management coaching job here
there all right
true or false this is what most people
think of as the career path all right
think about that true or false
thirty years is a long-ass time it’s a
very long time all right
now if you’re a kid who is seventeen
years old thinking about what you’re
going to major in you just did 17 years
in a school now I’m going to jump in I’m
going to do that’s 47 years but now you
got to do it in college too and then you
know so that’s like 50
one years in school all right that’s not
a very compelling proposition in fact
the numbers show that fifty percent of
teachers bail in the first five years
all right
fifty percent now that’s five hundred
thousand teachers a year that are gone
out of the profession and we got to find
them from somewhere and so you know this
is just the way it goes now I don’t know
what fear II might be you’re bouncing
before you’re locked in is just a
teacher that is a five year mark I just
find that to be a little bit curious I
don’t know maybe they’re leaving because
the job won’t be there in the future you
know Oxford University just did a study
of the top 700 jobs that will be gone or
basically the top 700 jobs and
survivability of these jobs in the next
not 20 years 17 years so the next 17
years will these jobs be there now to
these 700 they rank them and they said
what’s the survivability rate all right
multiple choice on this quiz all right
bookkeepers telemarketers
what is the survivability rate all right
2% for a bookkeeper 1% for a
telemarketer all right
I wouldn’t go and want to be in the
business right now right think about it
market research analysts this is a
popular one definitely making a lot of
money well make it while you can because
38% survivability rate what do you think
the survivability rate is for a teacher
I had a friend recently tell me you know
classes going online you never know I
mean this is because this job might not
happen
I don’t know a university to study on it
I don’t know this but here’s what they
came up with you know what the
survivability rate is for a teacher 99.5
percent 17 years from now not even 20 so
if you’re a kindergarten are watching
this TEDx by the time you graduate high
school this is a great major all right
if you’re 17 19 20 years old by the time
you’re raising a family you’re going to
have a job so I just still don’t
understand what you don’t want to be a
teacher well awesome jobs
here’s another true/false question if we
gave this as a compelling proposition to
youth and said no you don’t have that
ladder that I showed you you actually
have these kinds of jobs would that
possibly make a difference if we
perceived our career path and our
options in this sector differently would
that possibly change how many people
want to go into education if we had
these skill sets and they were
transferable and we could take them move
them into different parts of a sector
over our lifetime 30 40 50 years not
just in a classroom but in classrooms
that are the world like I do today all
sorts of different jobs but it’s these
skill sets that matter master teacher
weren’t an information economy the flow
of information is probably the most
valuable asset and knowing that as a
master teacher how could it be more
valuable what could be more valuable I
don’t know and so I’m sorry to do this
to you but we got a little bit of
homework all right but it’s an easy one
this is what we call constructivism all
right it’s a reflection all right this
is my faith I as a teacher I didn’t I
didn’t give a lot of homework but we
reflected a lot so I’m going to ask you
to reflect number one is this a
compelling proposition the ladder going
up the ladder 30 years or is the other
one a proposition think about it which
one is a better proposition but more
importantly this is a reflection for the
education profession the colleges of
education including myself are we
preparing the next generation to enter a
radically different k-12 market are we
preparing the next generation with
skills and skill sets that are radically
different at the core is that yellow
that teaching pedagogy understanding how
to teach how to work with youth that’s
at the core and you need years in a
classroom to get that seven years to be
precise before you really master it but
beyond that you need to know as a
teacher partnerships community
involvement youth development marketing
public relations as colleges of
Education are we preparing the next
generation with these types of skills
that’s a question for the business
community I ask you this to reflect on I
ask you that next time that a teacher
who might want to apply their craft and
those great skills in a different
setting because I don’t care what
company you’re in people are learning
and that’s actually just massively
growing around corporations you name it
if a teacher ever applies for a job I
want you to think does this count as
leading a team does this count as
reaching diverse audiences does this
count as creative out-of-the-box
thinkers and if not why does that not
count and for all of us I ask you to
think about this one quote and it
doesn’t come from Maria Montessori or
John Dewey it comes from Lee Iacocca a
great business leader he said in a
completely rational society the best of
us would be teachers and the rest of us
would have to settle for something else
are we rational is the way we perceive
teachers and the education profession
today rational I want you to think about
that see I don’t think we have a
shortage crisis I think we have a
perception crisis and we can solve this
and if we do solve this I do believe
that we can change this if we solve this
we just might be able to convince the
next generation that there’s never been
a better time to be a teacher thank you
class dismissed
Please follow and like us: