morning good morning everybody thank you
so much for coming out here today my
name is Ryan McHale and I am an educator
I am a doctoral student and I am the
host of an education based podcast and
what I’ve seen lately as an educator
worries me you know original freedom
writer
Manny Scott has said on numerous
occasions that schools today are really
good at measuring the things that don’t
matter
unfortunately the things in life that do
matter
they’re immeasurable you can’t measure
them and yet in our schools we are so
focused on data and test scores now I’m
not fully against data at all I do it
every day and I use data to drive my
instruction every day but that is only
one piece of the puzzle and what we need
to do to ensure that our students are
making success and they will find more
success in the 21st century workplace is
to instill within them and strengthen
some key traits and as an eighth grade
teacher I see kids every year leave me
in June and they go off to high school
and I like to send a little video
towards the end of the summer to get
them excited about the possibilities
that exist in high school and last year
I sent a video out and it was called be
great today now I know that’s a overly
simplistic and cliched statement to make
but what I did was I took great and I
turned it into an acronym standing for
the five traits that I believe that
combined with academics will allow our
children to find success in the future
and it starts was number one grit we
need students to understand the
importance of being gritty Angela
Duckworth has defined grit
as passion and perseverance towards
achieving a longtime goal and what we’re
seeing today are kids that are easily
defeated when things go wrong they stop
they consider themselves a failure and
there’s no attempt to right the ship but
the truth of the matter is that this
life is going to knock us down more
times than we can count and it’s how we
get back up that defines us and right
now we have a young generation of
children who believe that if things
aren’t perfect the first time oh well
too bad I have to move on I have to find
something else but that is not the case
so how as educators can we help foster
grit and I think the first thing that
comes to mind is the teacher standing in
front of them I believe that teachers
need to strengthen their relationships
with students they need to open up
themselves they need to show their human
side and they need to show that we’re
not perfect that there are things that
knock us down and that we have had to
pick ourselves up and that is how you
find success you know just the other
week I had applied for an assistant
principal job I had done 500 hours of
internship master’s program I’m in a
doctoral program I have the podcast I’m
feeling pretty good go in for the
interview felt great I did not even make
it to the final three I was devastated
but I had to pick myself up I had to
move on I had to realize that there are
other opportunities out there and I had
to go
get up not worry about it and look for
the next opportunity I say this because
I told my 8th graders this story I had
no problem sharing that because what
they need to see is that there is an
adult that cares about them who is also
going to find trouble in life that they
are going to have times where they are
knocked down but they’re going to get
back up dust themselves off and go get
it
we need our children to have that grit
and once they do have that grit and they
do decide to get back up what do you
need next you need to be reflective you
need to take a look inward and look at
what you’ve done and what could have
been better too often we see children
and adults blame everything on somebody
else they didn’t get the job they wanted
well must have been the interviewers
fault it happens all the time we are so
quick to blame everybody else for our
fear of our failures and disappointment
that we’re not doing the most important
thing we’re not taking the time to
figure out what we could have done
better and so how do we do that as
educators well there’s a couple of
things one reflective journals are
fantastic in the classroom have kids
write down their responses what went
well what didn’t what could be better
add it to your assignments make it part
of the rubric that they peer review and
they self edit and they write down their
remarks
once they’re reflective they are able to
see where they can improve
the next thing that our children need to
be successful in 21st century workplaces
empathy we need kids to be empathetic
and that’s what we struggle to see today
we struggle to see kids that understand
where other people are coming from
they’re so stuck in their bubble and
it’s not that they refuse to get out of
the bubble they just don’t know how
whether they’ve been sheltered or
they’ve been lucky enough to not witness
different hardships in life they just
don’t understand how can we make them
empathetic how can we make them
understand the thoughts and feelings of
somebody else somebody different from
them well I’m a firm believer that we
need to open up and expand our minds
when it comes to literature in the
classroom right now we are so focused on
the classics but some of them are
outdated and it makes it very hard for
our students to understand and relate to
and connect with that it doesn’t serve
the purpose that we’re hoping it does I
believe that there are books and there
are poetry out there today that haven’t
been brought into the classroom that
could truly help but it takes risk and
we need to make a seismic change there
one of my favorite books of 2017 was the
hate you give by Angie Thomas absolutely
loved it it’s a book that I believe can
change lives and should be read at the
middle level and above that book has
been banned by a number of districts
across the country because there’s some
swears in it we need to take risks
poetry poetry stuff for kids a lot of a
lot of kids don’t like poetry
a lot of it is because it’s outdated the
language is tough I get that and it’s
hard for them to make a connection two
years ago I brought in spoken word
poetry and it changed the game
when it came to poetry in the classroom
all of a sudden we were reading
contemporary poetry that met the
standards of our common core but in a
relatable way the kids connected to it
they connected to the performance of it
there are so many wonderful spoken word
poets out there today
Olivia Gatewood Sarah Kay Clint Smith so
many wonderful spoken word poets with
messages that can reach our kids I say
Oh novels because that is the prime
example of something that can really
pull in a kid can really make them see
the world differently and through the
lens of somebody who’s not like them so
after we have empathy what do we need to
do we need our children to be ambitious
we need our children to never stop to
keep going for that next goal when you
have ambition you are working tirelessly
to achieve a goal but what we need them
to see is that there is no room for
complacency once you reach a goal it’s
time to set another one once you reach
that goal you set another one and you do
not get complacent
because the truth of the matter is there
is always going to be somebody else
behind you looking to take over in the
second you stop fighting and the second
you stop learning
somebody’s going right by you and that
could be crushing
we need to make sure that our children
become lifelong learners that they
always strive to improve that they
always set new goals you need that fight
in that fire in order to find success
out there in the workplace how do you do
that in the classroom well it’s all
about growth mindset we need to make our
children in our classrooms understand
that they can do more it doesn’t matter
how well they’re doing there could be
more gains made too often we have this
fixed mindset where someone doesn’t do
well well I guess that’s not where I’m
gonna go in life I’m gonna have to move
on and find something else we need to
make sure that our children are seeing
the yet you’re not good at that yet
you’ve struggled with that but it’s okay
you will get it we’ll work harder never
lose that goal that you have you want to
be successful make it your goal fight
for your goal you’ll reach that goal but
then you need to find another one and
keep going sustained success is very
hard in 21st century workplace and you
cannot have an extended amount of time
in that successful job unless you have
that ambition so once you have that
ambition you find that job that you’ve
always wanted
you’re in that career that you’ve always
aspired to be it what’s the last thing
you need to do I believe it’s that you
need to be thankful thankful for the
opportunities that you’ve been afforded
thankful for the job thankful for your
family
as I’ve said there’s always going to be
someone there behind you wanting to take
over never stop my father-in-law passed
away just two weeks ago and that really
brought home this idea of thankfulness
and understanding that we only have one
shot at this life and our children need
to understand that we only have one shot
at this life I appreciate everything you
have but keep fighting for more that’s
gonna help you find success now as I
look at these five traits that make up
the great I always say again be great
today
but there’s a line in a brand new song
by Jason Mraz that I love and he says
that may the best of your today be the
worst of your tomorrow and as educators
isn’t that what we want for our students
today’s a great day but don’t worry
tomorrow’s gonna be even better the day
after that will be better than the day
that’s what we need to do as educators
and my hope is that my students will
grow up not just believing in the be
great today motto but that they believe
they will be great every day thank you [Applause]
so much for coming out here today my
name is Ryan McHale and I am an educator
I am a doctoral student and I am the
host of an education based podcast and
what I’ve seen lately as an educator
worries me you know original freedom
writer
Manny Scott has said on numerous
occasions that schools today are really
good at measuring the things that don’t
matter
unfortunately the things in life that do
matter
they’re immeasurable you can’t measure
them and yet in our schools we are so
focused on data and test scores now I’m
not fully against data at all I do it
every day and I use data to drive my
instruction every day but that is only
one piece of the puzzle and what we need
to do to ensure that our students are
making success and they will find more
success in the 21st century workplace is
to instill within them and strengthen
some key traits and as an eighth grade
teacher I see kids every year leave me
in June and they go off to high school
and I like to send a little video
towards the end of the summer to get
them excited about the possibilities
that exist in high school and last year
I sent a video out and it was called be
great today now I know that’s a overly
simplistic and cliched statement to make
but what I did was I took great and I
turned it into an acronym standing for
the five traits that I believe that
combined with academics will allow our
children to find success in the future
and it starts was number one grit we
need students to understand the
importance of being gritty Angela
Duckworth has defined grit
as passion and perseverance towards
achieving a longtime goal and what we’re
seeing today are kids that are easily
defeated when things go wrong they stop
they consider themselves a failure and
there’s no attempt to right the ship but
the truth of the matter is that this
life is going to knock us down more
times than we can count and it’s how we
get back up that defines us and right
now we have a young generation of
children who believe that if things
aren’t perfect the first time oh well
too bad I have to move on I have to find
something else but that is not the case
so how as educators can we help foster
grit and I think the first thing that
comes to mind is the teacher standing in
front of them I believe that teachers
need to strengthen their relationships
with students they need to open up
themselves they need to show their human
side and they need to show that we’re
not perfect that there are things that
knock us down and that we have had to
pick ourselves up and that is how you
find success you know just the other
week I had applied for an assistant
principal job I had done 500 hours of
internship master’s program I’m in a
doctoral program I have the podcast I’m
feeling pretty good go in for the
interview felt great I did not even make
it to the final three I was devastated
but I had to pick myself up I had to
move on I had to realize that there are
other opportunities out there and I had
to go
get up not worry about it and look for
the next opportunity I say this because
I told my 8th graders this story I had
no problem sharing that because what
they need to see is that there is an
adult that cares about them who is also
going to find trouble in life that they
are going to have times where they are
knocked down but they’re going to get
back up dust themselves off and go get
it
we need our children to have that grit
and once they do have that grit and they
do decide to get back up what do you
need next you need to be reflective you
need to take a look inward and look at
what you’ve done and what could have
been better too often we see children
and adults blame everything on somebody
else they didn’t get the job they wanted
well must have been the interviewers
fault it happens all the time we are so
quick to blame everybody else for our
fear of our failures and disappointment
that we’re not doing the most important
thing we’re not taking the time to
figure out what we could have done
better and so how do we do that as
educators well there’s a couple of
things one reflective journals are
fantastic in the classroom have kids
write down their responses what went
well what didn’t what could be better
add it to your assignments make it part
of the rubric that they peer review and
they self edit and they write down their
remarks
once they’re reflective they are able to
see where they can improve
the next thing that our children need to
be successful in 21st century workplaces
empathy we need kids to be empathetic
and that’s what we struggle to see today
we struggle to see kids that understand
where other people are coming from
they’re so stuck in their bubble and
it’s not that they refuse to get out of
the bubble they just don’t know how
whether they’ve been sheltered or
they’ve been lucky enough to not witness
different hardships in life they just
don’t understand how can we make them
empathetic how can we make them
understand the thoughts and feelings of
somebody else somebody different from
them well I’m a firm believer that we
need to open up and expand our minds
when it comes to literature in the
classroom right now we are so focused on
the classics but some of them are
outdated and it makes it very hard for
our students to understand and relate to
and connect with that it doesn’t serve
the purpose that we’re hoping it does I
believe that there are books and there
are poetry out there today that haven’t
been brought into the classroom that
could truly help but it takes risk and
we need to make a seismic change there
one of my favorite books of 2017 was the
hate you give by Angie Thomas absolutely
loved it it’s a book that I believe can
change lives and should be read at the
middle level and above that book has
been banned by a number of districts
across the country because there’s some
swears in it we need to take risks
poetry poetry stuff for kids a lot of a
lot of kids don’t like poetry
a lot of it is because it’s outdated the
language is tough I get that and it’s
hard for them to make a connection two
years ago I brought in spoken word
poetry and it changed the game
when it came to poetry in the classroom
all of a sudden we were reading
contemporary poetry that met the
standards of our common core but in a
relatable way the kids connected to it
they connected to the performance of it
there are so many wonderful spoken word
poets out there today
Olivia Gatewood Sarah Kay Clint Smith so
many wonderful spoken word poets with
messages that can reach our kids I say
Oh novels because that is the prime
example of something that can really
pull in a kid can really make them see
the world differently and through the
lens of somebody who’s not like them so
after we have empathy what do we need to
do we need our children to be ambitious
we need our children to never stop to
keep going for that next goal when you
have ambition you are working tirelessly
to achieve a goal but what we need them
to see is that there is no room for
complacency once you reach a goal it’s
time to set another one once you reach
that goal you set another one and you do
not get complacent
because the truth of the matter is there
is always going to be somebody else
behind you looking to take over in the
second you stop fighting and the second
you stop learning
somebody’s going right by you and that
could be crushing
we need to make sure that our children
become lifelong learners that they
always strive to improve that they
always set new goals you need that fight
in that fire in order to find success
out there in the workplace how do you do
that in the classroom well it’s all
about growth mindset we need to make our
children in our classrooms understand
that they can do more it doesn’t matter
how well they’re doing there could be
more gains made too often we have this
fixed mindset where someone doesn’t do
well well I guess that’s not where I’m
gonna go in life I’m gonna have to move
on and find something else we need to
make sure that our children are seeing
the yet you’re not good at that yet
you’ve struggled with that but it’s okay
you will get it we’ll work harder never
lose that goal that you have you want to
be successful make it your goal fight
for your goal you’ll reach that goal but
then you need to find another one and
keep going sustained success is very
hard in 21st century workplace and you
cannot have an extended amount of time
in that successful job unless you have
that ambition so once you have that
ambition you find that job that you’ve
always wanted
you’re in that career that you’ve always
aspired to be it what’s the last thing
you need to do I believe it’s that you
need to be thankful thankful for the
opportunities that you’ve been afforded
thankful for the job thankful for your
family
as I’ve said there’s always going to be
someone there behind you wanting to take
over never stop my father-in-law passed
away just two weeks ago and that really
brought home this idea of thankfulness
and understanding that we only have one
shot at this life and our children need
to understand that we only have one shot
at this life I appreciate everything you
have but keep fighting for more that’s
gonna help you find success now as I
look at these five traits that make up
the great I always say again be great
today
but there’s a line in a brand new song
by Jason Mraz that I love and he says
that may the best of your today be the
worst of your tomorrow and as educators
isn’t that what we want for our students
today’s a great day but don’t worry
tomorrow’s gonna be even better the day
after that will be better than the day
that’s what we need to do as educators
and my hope is that my students will
grow up not just believing in the be
great today motto but that they believe
they will be great every day thank you [Applause]
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