[Music]
forty-five minutes that’s the amount of
time it can take to change somebody’s
life forever it happened to me I’m gonna
take you back to Maryland and me as a
seven year old I grew up in Perry Hall
Maryland and I’m sitting on a carpet
square on this particular Tuesday
morning an elementary school and I was
on the edge of the carpet square and my
friends and I were all on the edge
because there was a guy who was coming
to visit our school on this particular
day it was known as Ranger bill Ranger
bill worked for the Maryland Department
of Natural Resources and Ranger bill was
an environmental educator and he brought
with him that day a turtle when a snake
and an owl and a hawk and a vulture and
he came in and this guy was looking
snazzy he had this great-looking uniform
on all these animals and he had you
tained us it wasn’t just teaching he was
entertaining us he had us on the edge of
that carpet square and I watched this
guy teach this day and I remember 45
minutes is the amount of time he spent
with us and then he left and I
remembered thinking to myself I want to
be like that guy I want to be like
Ranger bill the way he looked the way he
was teaching everything and the animals
he was using all these animals had
injuries and they had stories and they
were ambassadors of the messages that he
was sharing well I went home that day
and told my parents about and I guess I
kind of became a ranger bill groupie
because I went out and I started
following this guy around me probably
wondered what is this little kid
the seven or eight year old kid doing in
the back of the room watching me
everywhere I go he’d go to the library
we go up there and see him all these
things that picture there with Little
Nicky there Ranger Nick with the uniform
holding the eastern kingsnake you know I
finally got the courage to go up and
talk to Ranger bill even after doing a
junior Ranger program with Ranger Bill
I’m about eight years old at the time
and I ended up saying is there anything
that I can do to be around you more to
shadow you to help you and I tell you
what he said yes are you sure Ken and I
ended up for about the next eight years
cleaning a lot of cages out all right
and the owls and hawks are not the
cleanest animals in the world but I got
a chance to be around this guy and watch
the way he was teaching and I’d go out
with him on the stages in different
places and watch him teach and after a
little while maybe I was 11 or 12 he’d
said Nick why don’t you hold this turtle
and stand up and talk about it a little
better and it why don’t you hold this
Eastern screech owl and tell the
audience about it a little bit I did
that stuff and I turned 16 and Ranger
bill says to me I’ve been doing this
eight years going out and talking and
Ranger bill says that Nick this is all
you’ve ever known is watching me teach
and want to teach with animals so why
don’t we offer you a job so I was the
youngest guy working for the state of
Maryland the Department of Natural
Resources little 16 year old kid with my
ranger uniform and everything and I
would start going out there and using
animals to teach with now you had to be
18 to drive a state vehicle so I had to
drive my old Chevy Blazer
I’d put the seats down in the back I’d
put those carriers the birds in there
and we’d go out and I’d talk and I
couldn’t teach a bunch of high school
kids I was younger than they weren’t
even gonna listen to me but I could go
out I could teach younger kids and I
visit camps and things and use animals
and teaching I remember one day it was
in November sometime I was at an event
and I was holding an owl on my glove
over here and I remember a news guy came
up to me and he had a camera there and
put it my face and he said I’m standing
and when he said that I felt like I had
really made it you know my whole life
this is all at him my great grandmother
used to say you really called me her
little preacher boy and if I didn’t do
this Ranger thing I’d probably become a
preacher and people say well maybe you
ought to think about doing it but I
didn’t and I that guy called me that and
it was a profound moment
well I continued to teach him with those
animals for a number of years and that
led me down a path to college and
graduate school and at the University of
Georgia now for 10 years teaching
students how to do wood ranger bill did
31 years ago still talking about it and
he was there for 45 minutes profound
impact Ranger bill wasn’t just
presenting information he was teaching
it and there’s a difference I want you
to think for a second about a great
teacher in your life what would you put
in that blanket
great teachers what think about it I’ll
give you seven and a half seconds no
cheating keep it to yourself I’m gonna
come back to it in a couple of minutes
we’re gonna talk about that because I
have my own thoughts about what great
teachers do the first thing that I think
great teachers do is they celebrate
mistakes errors things that happen that
weren’t planned that we have a choice as
an educator whether to capitalize on
this or ignore it Bob Ross that
television artist that paints things on
TV call some happy accidents it’s a
happy accident we made here okay in the
education world we call these things
teachable moments just makes it sound
better you make a mistake you call it a
teachable moment and and sometimes from
time to time I don’t know if y’all know
if y’all see this or not I know I’m not
supposed to leave the rug but
something’s going on over here I hope
they forgive me I’m gonna come over here
talk about a teachable moment look
what’s going on right here
this you’re not you’re not gonna hang
what are you doing what you’re not gonna
believe this not that this was planned
or anything but all of a sudden I look
over there and there’s our state reptile
a gopher tortoise we’re talking about
teachable moments I had a choice to make
right now I could have either ignored
that and continued on or it could have
become a distraction and so I thought
let’s capitalize on it’s a teachable
moment so let’s talk about if you don’t
mind and dogs me first let me tell you a
little bit about Shelby okay let’s show
and look at the face I mean is that not
the cutest so Shelly is 12 years old
she’ll get almost a hundred years old
when she’s at her max on life span
she’ll get about three times the size
Shelly is a gopher tortoise a state
reptile people didn’t know George out of
state reptile that’s pretty cool she is
a keystone species man that sounds
important and it is just like an archway
has a bunch of stones on it and there’s
one stone at the top that holds all
those other stones in place if you take
that key stone at the top away all the
other stones fall down you take this
little lady out of an ecosystem keystone
species all these other animals are
going to be impacted because she digs
these gigantic burrows in the ground
that are the size of a school bus and
when fires come through in South Georgia
and North Florida all the animals that
the fire would otherwise burn up these
animals go into her burrow so she is
essential in an ecosystem and she is a
species of concern right now these guys
and gals are a whole lot out there
anymore so we got to do what we can to
help them so I’m so glad that she
decided to make a little entrance every
once a while she’ll kind of wet our luck
she’s waving at EULA
you do that to kids and the kids
everybody’s waving back you know that’s
just something else all right lady well
I tell you what I’m Aliyah this
breakfast is gonna come out here a
turtle herder thank you back I’m gonna
give her back to you look at that she’s
frisky now be careful yeah celebrate
mistakes next time you make a mistake
call it a teachable moment you’ll feel a
whole lot better about yourself and
other people it’s a teachable moment
first thing great teachers do is they
celebrate mistakes second thing I think
they do because they appreciate
differences and I don’t need to tell you
that as a professor at UGA I got a lot
of different kinds of students in my
classes everybody’s different and that’s
great because they bring all these
different perspectives and levels of
experience into that classroom but every
one of them has something in common and
every one of them has something in
common just like most of us do in this
room tonight everybody deals with public
speaking anxiety
sure communication anxiety and the
students that are in this class come
into this class with me that I call
teaching with animals and it is just
what you can imagine a class about
teaching with animals we learn about
public speaking but we integrate animals
like that animal in that picture and
help students overcome overcome anxiety
by handling an animal and teaching with
it and they’ll tell me they’ll say
Ranger Nick they’ll say when I’m holding
this turtle or this snake or this
alligator of the salamander I don’t feel
like everybody’s looking at me they’re
looking at the animal and I can relax
and I can be a better teacher and not
just a presenter appreciating those
differences is so important one of the
best things that I’ve ever done at the
University of Georgia through that class
is have those students come together
take those animals and go about ten
miles down the road to extra special
people if you’ve never heard extra
special people or ESP as we call it let
me tell you if you’re and that’s right
if you’re in need of a hug go on down to
ESP you will feel so welcomed and so
appreciate ESP is a place with literally
hundreds of folks with disabilities with
issues come together and they thrive
special needs they come together I get
my students with those animals and some
of those students are scared to death to
stand out in front an audience and give
a presentation and I get it but they go
to ESP and they see those faces just
like my student Dakota there and they
take that snake out or that turtle that
salamander they interact with those
special needs kids and they see this
difference that they can make those
participants look at my students like
they’re celebrities they come to ESP and
they want to take pictures together they
know the animals they know the animals
by name and my students visit there and
it builds their confidence appreciating
differences think about it yes P I tell
you what an incredible organization so
the second thing great teachers do is
they appreciate differences the third
thing that great teachers do I think
there’s relay feedback now when I’m in
class I can look out at my students and
I can see if somebody might be having a
bad day or something’s on their mind and
I can ask him about it
hey how’s everything going there give
him a pat on the back and had a boy and
a girl fist bump a high-five everybody
needs that positive feedback
we’re so sometimes caught up on negative
things that we don’t take time to say
hey you did a good job on that well
students of mine know that I enjoy
grading grading my assignments tells me
how I’m doing as a teacher it’s a really
cool thing and my students know that if
you get a 90% or above on one of my
assignments I put a stamp on it and I
have friends of mine that know that I
teach college and they say Nick I mean
they’re not second graders you’re
putting this asset yeah you get a 90
percent or about I put a turtle stamp on
there and I write now I write X shell
that job I write it right on
all right so and I do I do that every
type you know oh come on and I look at
their faces when they get it back in
they’re comparing hey I got a turtle on
my novel but the one time that I thought
to myself I don’t know Nick you know I
maybe I could just grade them in hand
the back it doesn’t really matter what I
tell you it does I was teaching at a
school to the south of here as a
graduate student and it’s a it’s a big
university it starts with an F ends with
Laura de I know I’m not supposed to talk
about it in Athens Georgia but I did go
school down there there is credibility
to this talk all right there really is
let’s get out of here this guy so I’m
down there at that big university to the
south of us and I’m teaching a big class
as a PhD student down there’s a big
class a couple hundred students and a
lot of football players would take this
class and they would all sit down in the
front down there and I’m day I was
handed back assignments in class and I
got done doing that went back to my
little cubicle as grad student and I’m
sitting there at my cubicle and there’s
a knock on the door of the grad student
office and I’m kind of back in a corner
of this big office in my cubicle and I
look around at the door and there’s one
of the football players a linebacker and
he’s literate he looked like a
refrigerator I’m in the guy he’s taking
up the whole door and and he’s standing
there and he’s looking at me and he’s
got this assignment in his hand and it
looked like a post-it note in his hand I
mean that’s how big the guy
and he’s standing there and he says
Ranger Nick can I tell I love they call
me arranging that Ranger Nick can I talk
to come on in come on in he says I got a
91 on this and I didn’t get a stamp and
I he handed it to me and he this guy
walked all the way across campus you
know and I’m looking at it I’m sure
enough I must have forgotten so he hands
it to me
and I can still see this like it was
yesterday hands it to me I reach him to
my desk and I had an owl stamp in my
desk I still use today my students are
here know this owl step it’s a
legitimate owl it is a good al and I
took this little owl out and I inked it
up and I stamped it on his page and I
and I handed it back to him and you know
he walked out of there just as proud
smiling but he was gonna go show his mom
Ranger Nick I earned an owl stamp and I
said to my friends who get on me about
Nick you know you give steps I said let
me tell you if that big tough football
player could walk all the way across
campus with that assignment to tell me
he didn’t get a stamp weight to give me
one I’m gonna do that until I retire
from teaching it matters it matters it
matters hey guys
relay and feedback you got it you gotta
tell people how you feel man you’re
doing a good job and that motivates them
and they can’t wait to do the next
assignment what other stamp will he use
I’ve got a leaf unbelievable work if
you’re having some problems I’ve got a
paw positive improvement these kind of
things great teachers relay feedback I
think that great teachers also and this
can be tough they evaluate themselves
it’s easy to take it personally it’s
easy to look at that as I I don’t know I
don’t think they like me part you know
but you look at what students are
telling you and you got to be willing to
change what you’re doing if something’s
not working you got to look around the
room at those facial expressions you got
to look around the room at that body
language do I need to change what I’m
doing it’s important evaluating
yourselves in your environment is really
key and I am sure that you’re wondering
what is this blacc table doing here with
this black bag on top which by the way I
know that you all can’t see it but my
wife gets me these bags and it says
Ranger Nick on the front of it – it’s
kind of nice she’s here tonight so
inside of this bag is something that
does a really good job at evaluating its
environment and it uses multiple census
to do this you know multiple pieces of
data so I’m gonna reach into this bag
and take this thing out and I promise
I promise it won’t get away from me okay
promise I’m gonna hold on to this thing
okay it’s inside of a bag cause it’s a
really good way to transport it plus
nobody knows what’s in here
so when I’m at work over there at UGA
and I’ve got a bag with me in a meeting
and the bag starts moving people most
people don’t know what’s he got going on
there somebody reaching here might take
a I’m I introduced her she’s called
snowy
is her name snowing she is a sweetheart
she’s a sweet girl she’s home she’s all
warmed up and ready to go
now I know what you’re thinking and I
appreciate that nobody jumped up Randall
you know there’s football players were
the first ones to run away when I take a
snake out tough guys I know you’re
wondering first thing isn’t a poisonous
snake first of all there are no
poisonous snakes they’re only venomous
or non-venomous this is a corn snake
this is totally they don’t pay me enough
to mess around with venomous snake so
it’s a non venomous snake it’s not
venomous
snowy is a corn snake snowy is a snow
corn snake it’s what she’s called
beautiful a little lady now this begs
the question though how do you tell if a
snake is venomous or not you know people
ask mister what do you do
well if you look it up in some of these
textbooks here’s what they tell you
first thing they say is look at the
shape of their head a non-venomous
snakes head is an oval shape and a
venomous snakes head is to try and give
a shape because of the venom glands back
there you got to get kind of close to a
snake to tell what shave had about right
all right
proceed with caution the next way and
get the laughing about this right I get
to laughing about this yeah the next way
they say in the textbooks the scientist
is this what they take look at the shape
a non-venomous snakes pupils are round
and a venomous snakes pupils are
vertical slits like a cat’s eye but can
you imagine it
Bobby get over here Ranger Nick said
look at the shape of their eyes is this
thing venomous or not by that time the
things bit you on the nose you know so I
always say when you see something as
beautiful as this out in the wild wave
at it say hey thanks for what you’re
doing don’t get a shovel don’t jump up
down and scream appreciate what you’re
doing and walk away from it they are
doing incredible stuff out there to help
us here in Georgia and all around the
world deal with rodents and things Snowy
evaluates her environment just like all
snakes do that tongue is flickering in
and out tasting the inner wondering if
anybody down in the front row has a
mouse or a rat in their pocket I hope
you don’t she’s about to eat again here
soon she’s tasting the air her belly
senses vibrations so when she’s on the
ground she can feel things she’s got
this gland on the roof of her mouth that
sense his heat because they hunt a lot
at night so all of these senses she puts
together to determine her surroundings
where’s food what’s safe what’s not same
way a great teacher evaluates themselves
with multiple points of data to make a
decision about how we’re doing Snowy is
really really cool lady and she lives at
home with us in an aquarium it’s not
loose but she lives at home and those
students at ESP know Snowy very well
when I go to ESP they asked me about
snowy did you bring snowy today she’s a
great one I’m gonna ask miss Becca come
back out snake Wrangler she was a turtle
herder
now she’s snake Wrangler can I give you
a snowy thank you ladies so much we’ll
give her a round of applause for taking
okay think about what you put in that
blank a couple minutes ago great
teachers what I imagined that not too
many of us in this room wrote down that
great teachers are the smartest person
in the world or know everything there is
to know about their subject the four
points we talked about to me are really
important celebrating mistakes
appreciating those differences relaying
that feedback and evaluating yourself I
think the bottom line is really that
and that I tell you that is the coolest
part of my job I get to act like me just
like tonight with these animals which is
apparently unheard of for this TED talk
stuff to have animals and but this is me
this is Ranger Nick you know and to be
able to do this stuff and empower and
inspire folks with great teaching it’s
incredibly Ranger bill 31 years ago 45
minutes he spent with me that set me on
a path that I’m standing here tonight
talking to you about I’ve never ever
wanted to do anything else in my life
but this tell you about animals and
nature and inspire you by being me it’s
empowering I want you to leave tonight
and think about the difference that you
can make my title is an educator you
know that’s what I do I’m an educator
but even though most of us in here might
not be educators every one of you is a
teacher alright so the next time you’ve
got 45 minutes with somebody or even
four minutes with somebody what are you
gonna do to show them that you care I
think that Maya Angelou said it best she
said people will forget what she said
people are gonna forget what you did but
they’re not gonna forget how you made
them feel
I hope this made you smile tonight I
really appreciate you listening to me [Applause]
forty-five minutes that’s the amount of
time it can take to change somebody’s
life forever it happened to me I’m gonna
take you back to Maryland and me as a
seven year old I grew up in Perry Hall
Maryland and I’m sitting on a carpet
square on this particular Tuesday
morning an elementary school and I was
on the edge of the carpet square and my
friends and I were all on the edge
because there was a guy who was coming
to visit our school on this particular
day it was known as Ranger bill Ranger
bill worked for the Maryland Department
of Natural Resources and Ranger bill was
an environmental educator and he brought
with him that day a turtle when a snake
and an owl and a hawk and a vulture and
he came in and this guy was looking
snazzy he had this great-looking uniform
on all these animals and he had you
tained us it wasn’t just teaching he was
entertaining us he had us on the edge of
that carpet square and I watched this
guy teach this day and I remember 45
minutes is the amount of time he spent
with us and then he left and I
remembered thinking to myself I want to
be like that guy I want to be like
Ranger bill the way he looked the way he
was teaching everything and the animals
he was using all these animals had
injuries and they had stories and they
were ambassadors of the messages that he
was sharing well I went home that day
and told my parents about and I guess I
kind of became a ranger bill groupie
because I went out and I started
following this guy around me probably
wondered what is this little kid
the seven or eight year old kid doing in
the back of the room watching me
everywhere I go he’d go to the library
we go up there and see him all these
things that picture there with Little
Nicky there Ranger Nick with the uniform
holding the eastern kingsnake you know I
finally got the courage to go up and
talk to Ranger bill even after doing a
junior Ranger program with Ranger Bill
I’m about eight years old at the time
and I ended up saying is there anything
that I can do to be around you more to
shadow you to help you and I tell you
what he said yes are you sure Ken and I
ended up for about the next eight years
cleaning a lot of cages out all right
and the owls and hawks are not the
cleanest animals in the world but I got
a chance to be around this guy and watch
the way he was teaching and I’d go out
with him on the stages in different
places and watch him teach and after a
little while maybe I was 11 or 12 he’d
said Nick why don’t you hold this turtle
and stand up and talk about it a little
better and it why don’t you hold this
Eastern screech owl and tell the
audience about it a little bit I did
that stuff and I turned 16 and Ranger
bill says to me I’ve been doing this
eight years going out and talking and
Ranger bill says that Nick this is all
you’ve ever known is watching me teach
and want to teach with animals so why
don’t we offer you a job so I was the
youngest guy working for the state of
Maryland the Department of Natural
Resources little 16 year old kid with my
ranger uniform and everything and I
would start going out there and using
animals to teach with now you had to be
18 to drive a state vehicle so I had to
drive my old Chevy Blazer
I’d put the seats down in the back I’d
put those carriers the birds in there
and we’d go out and I’d talk and I
couldn’t teach a bunch of high school
kids I was younger than they weren’t
even gonna listen to me but I could go
out I could teach younger kids and I
visit camps and things and use animals
and teaching I remember one day it was
in November sometime I was at an event
and I was holding an owl on my glove
over here and I remember a news guy came
up to me and he had a camera there and
put it my face and he said I’m standing
and when he said that I felt like I had
really made it you know my whole life
this is all at him my great grandmother
used to say you really called me her
little preacher boy and if I didn’t do
this Ranger thing I’d probably become a
preacher and people say well maybe you
ought to think about doing it but I
didn’t and I that guy called me that and
it was a profound moment
well I continued to teach him with those
animals for a number of years and that
led me down a path to college and
graduate school and at the University of
Georgia now for 10 years teaching
students how to do wood ranger bill did
31 years ago still talking about it and
he was there for 45 minutes profound
impact Ranger bill wasn’t just
presenting information he was teaching
it and there’s a difference I want you
to think for a second about a great
teacher in your life what would you put
in that blanket
great teachers what think about it I’ll
give you seven and a half seconds no
cheating keep it to yourself I’m gonna
come back to it in a couple of minutes
we’re gonna talk about that because I
have my own thoughts about what great
teachers do the first thing that I think
great teachers do is they celebrate
mistakes errors things that happen that
weren’t planned that we have a choice as
an educator whether to capitalize on
this or ignore it Bob Ross that
television artist that paints things on
TV call some happy accidents it’s a
happy accident we made here okay in the
education world we call these things
teachable moments just makes it sound
better you make a mistake you call it a
teachable moment and and sometimes from
time to time I don’t know if y’all know
if y’all see this or not I know I’m not
supposed to leave the rug but
something’s going on over here I hope
they forgive me I’m gonna come over here
talk about a teachable moment look
what’s going on right here
this you’re not you’re not gonna hang
what are you doing what you’re not gonna
believe this not that this was planned
or anything but all of a sudden I look
over there and there’s our state reptile
a gopher tortoise we’re talking about
teachable moments I had a choice to make
right now I could have either ignored
that and continued on or it could have
become a distraction and so I thought
let’s capitalize on it’s a teachable
moment so let’s talk about if you don’t
mind and dogs me first let me tell you a
little bit about Shelby okay let’s show
and look at the face I mean is that not
the cutest so Shelly is 12 years old
she’ll get almost a hundred years old
when she’s at her max on life span
she’ll get about three times the size
Shelly is a gopher tortoise a state
reptile people didn’t know George out of
state reptile that’s pretty cool she is
a keystone species man that sounds
important and it is just like an archway
has a bunch of stones on it and there’s
one stone at the top that holds all
those other stones in place if you take
that key stone at the top away all the
other stones fall down you take this
little lady out of an ecosystem keystone
species all these other animals are
going to be impacted because she digs
these gigantic burrows in the ground
that are the size of a school bus and
when fires come through in South Georgia
and North Florida all the animals that
the fire would otherwise burn up these
animals go into her burrow so she is
essential in an ecosystem and she is a
species of concern right now these guys
and gals are a whole lot out there
anymore so we got to do what we can to
help them so I’m so glad that she
decided to make a little entrance every
once a while she’ll kind of wet our luck
she’s waving at EULA
you do that to kids and the kids
everybody’s waving back you know that’s
just something else all right lady well
I tell you what I’m Aliyah this
breakfast is gonna come out here a
turtle herder thank you back I’m gonna
give her back to you look at that she’s
frisky now be careful yeah celebrate
mistakes next time you make a mistake
call it a teachable moment you’ll feel a
whole lot better about yourself and
other people it’s a teachable moment
first thing great teachers do is they
celebrate mistakes second thing I think
they do because they appreciate
differences and I don’t need to tell you
that as a professor at UGA I got a lot
of different kinds of students in my
classes everybody’s different and that’s
great because they bring all these
different perspectives and levels of
experience into that classroom but every
one of them has something in common and
every one of them has something in
common just like most of us do in this
room tonight everybody deals with public
speaking anxiety
sure communication anxiety and the
students that are in this class come
into this class with me that I call
teaching with animals and it is just
what you can imagine a class about
teaching with animals we learn about
public speaking but we integrate animals
like that animal in that picture and
help students overcome overcome anxiety
by handling an animal and teaching with
it and they’ll tell me they’ll say
Ranger Nick they’ll say when I’m holding
this turtle or this snake or this
alligator of the salamander I don’t feel
like everybody’s looking at me they’re
looking at the animal and I can relax
and I can be a better teacher and not
just a presenter appreciating those
differences is so important one of the
best things that I’ve ever done at the
University of Georgia through that class
is have those students come together
take those animals and go about ten
miles down the road to extra special
people if you’ve never heard extra
special people or ESP as we call it let
me tell you if you’re and that’s right
if you’re in need of a hug go on down to
ESP you will feel so welcomed and so
appreciate ESP is a place with literally
hundreds of folks with disabilities with
issues come together and they thrive
special needs they come together I get
my students with those animals and some
of those students are scared to death to
stand out in front an audience and give
a presentation and I get it but they go
to ESP and they see those faces just
like my student Dakota there and they
take that snake out or that turtle that
salamander they interact with those
special needs kids and they see this
difference that they can make those
participants look at my students like
they’re celebrities they come to ESP and
they want to take pictures together they
know the animals they know the animals
by name and my students visit there and
it builds their confidence appreciating
differences think about it yes P I tell
you what an incredible organization so
the second thing great teachers do is
they appreciate differences the third
thing that great teachers do I think
there’s relay feedback now when I’m in
class I can look out at my students and
I can see if somebody might be having a
bad day or something’s on their mind and
I can ask him about it
hey how’s everything going there give
him a pat on the back and had a boy and
a girl fist bump a high-five everybody
needs that positive feedback
we’re so sometimes caught up on negative
things that we don’t take time to say
hey you did a good job on that well
students of mine know that I enjoy
grading grading my assignments tells me
how I’m doing as a teacher it’s a really
cool thing and my students know that if
you get a 90% or above on one of my
assignments I put a stamp on it and I
have friends of mine that know that I
teach college and they say Nick I mean
they’re not second graders you’re
putting this asset yeah you get a 90
percent or about I put a turtle stamp on
there and I write now I write X shell
that job I write it right on
all right so and I do I do that every
type you know oh come on and I look at
their faces when they get it back in
they’re comparing hey I got a turtle on
my novel but the one time that I thought
to myself I don’t know Nick you know I
maybe I could just grade them in hand
the back it doesn’t really matter what I
tell you it does I was teaching at a
school to the south of here as a
graduate student and it’s a it’s a big
university it starts with an F ends with
Laura de I know I’m not supposed to talk
about it in Athens Georgia but I did go
school down there there is credibility
to this talk all right there really is
let’s get out of here this guy so I’m
down there at that big university to the
south of us and I’m teaching a big class
as a PhD student down there’s a big
class a couple hundred students and a
lot of football players would take this
class and they would all sit down in the
front down there and I’m day I was
handed back assignments in class and I
got done doing that went back to my
little cubicle as grad student and I’m
sitting there at my cubicle and there’s
a knock on the door of the grad student
office and I’m kind of back in a corner
of this big office in my cubicle and I
look around at the door and there’s one
of the football players a linebacker and
he’s literate he looked like a
refrigerator I’m in the guy he’s taking
up the whole door and and he’s standing
there and he’s looking at me and he’s
got this assignment in his hand and it
looked like a post-it note in his hand I
mean that’s how big the guy
and he’s standing there and he says
Ranger Nick can I tell I love they call
me arranging that Ranger Nick can I talk
to come on in come on in he says I got a
91 on this and I didn’t get a stamp and
I he handed it to me and he this guy
walked all the way across campus you
know and I’m looking at it I’m sure
enough I must have forgotten so he hands
it to me
and I can still see this like it was
yesterday hands it to me I reach him to
my desk and I had an owl stamp in my
desk I still use today my students are
here know this owl step it’s a
legitimate owl it is a good al and I
took this little owl out and I inked it
up and I stamped it on his page and I
and I handed it back to him and you know
he walked out of there just as proud
smiling but he was gonna go show his mom
Ranger Nick I earned an owl stamp and I
said to my friends who get on me about
Nick you know you give steps I said let
me tell you if that big tough football
player could walk all the way across
campus with that assignment to tell me
he didn’t get a stamp weight to give me
one I’m gonna do that until I retire
from teaching it matters it matters it
matters hey guys
relay and feedback you got it you gotta
tell people how you feel man you’re
doing a good job and that motivates them
and they can’t wait to do the next
assignment what other stamp will he use
I’ve got a leaf unbelievable work if
you’re having some problems I’ve got a
paw positive improvement these kind of
things great teachers relay feedback I
think that great teachers also and this
can be tough they evaluate themselves
it’s easy to take it personally it’s
easy to look at that as I I don’t know I
don’t think they like me part you know
but you look at what students are
telling you and you got to be willing to
change what you’re doing if something’s
not working you got to look around the
room at those facial expressions you got
to look around the room at that body
language do I need to change what I’m
doing it’s important evaluating
yourselves in your environment is really
key and I am sure that you’re wondering
what is this blacc table doing here with
this black bag on top which by the way I
know that you all can’t see it but my
wife gets me these bags and it says
Ranger Nick on the front of it – it’s
kind of nice she’s here tonight so
inside of this bag is something that
does a really good job at evaluating its
environment and it uses multiple census
to do this you know multiple pieces of
data so I’m gonna reach into this bag
and take this thing out and I promise
I promise it won’t get away from me okay
promise I’m gonna hold on to this thing
okay it’s inside of a bag cause it’s a
really good way to transport it plus
nobody knows what’s in here
so when I’m at work over there at UGA
and I’ve got a bag with me in a meeting
and the bag starts moving people most
people don’t know what’s he got going on
there somebody reaching here might take
a I’m I introduced her she’s called
snowy
is her name snowing she is a sweetheart
she’s a sweet girl she’s home she’s all
warmed up and ready to go
now I know what you’re thinking and I
appreciate that nobody jumped up Randall
you know there’s football players were
the first ones to run away when I take a
snake out tough guys I know you’re
wondering first thing isn’t a poisonous
snake first of all there are no
poisonous snakes they’re only venomous
or non-venomous this is a corn snake
this is totally they don’t pay me enough
to mess around with venomous snake so
it’s a non venomous snake it’s not
venomous
snowy is a corn snake snowy is a snow
corn snake it’s what she’s called
beautiful a little lady now this begs
the question though how do you tell if a
snake is venomous or not you know people
ask mister what do you do
well if you look it up in some of these
textbooks here’s what they tell you
first thing they say is look at the
shape of their head a non-venomous
snakes head is an oval shape and a
venomous snakes head is to try and give
a shape because of the venom glands back
there you got to get kind of close to a
snake to tell what shave had about right
all right
proceed with caution the next way and
get the laughing about this right I get
to laughing about this yeah the next way
they say in the textbooks the scientist
is this what they take look at the shape
a non-venomous snakes pupils are round
and a venomous snakes pupils are
vertical slits like a cat’s eye but can
you imagine it
Bobby get over here Ranger Nick said
look at the shape of their eyes is this
thing venomous or not by that time the
things bit you on the nose you know so I
always say when you see something as
beautiful as this out in the wild wave
at it say hey thanks for what you’re
doing don’t get a shovel don’t jump up
down and scream appreciate what you’re
doing and walk away from it they are
doing incredible stuff out there to help
us here in Georgia and all around the
world deal with rodents and things Snowy
evaluates her environment just like all
snakes do that tongue is flickering in
and out tasting the inner wondering if
anybody down in the front row has a
mouse or a rat in their pocket I hope
you don’t she’s about to eat again here
soon she’s tasting the air her belly
senses vibrations so when she’s on the
ground she can feel things she’s got
this gland on the roof of her mouth that
sense his heat because they hunt a lot
at night so all of these senses she puts
together to determine her surroundings
where’s food what’s safe what’s not same
way a great teacher evaluates themselves
with multiple points of data to make a
decision about how we’re doing Snowy is
really really cool lady and she lives at
home with us in an aquarium it’s not
loose but she lives at home and those
students at ESP know Snowy very well
when I go to ESP they asked me about
snowy did you bring snowy today she’s a
great one I’m gonna ask miss Becca come
back out snake Wrangler she was a turtle
herder
now she’s snake Wrangler can I give you
a snowy thank you ladies so much we’ll
give her a round of applause for taking
okay think about what you put in that
blank a couple minutes ago great
teachers what I imagined that not too
many of us in this room wrote down that
great teachers are the smartest person
in the world or know everything there is
to know about their subject the four
points we talked about to me are really
important celebrating mistakes
appreciating those differences relaying
that feedback and evaluating yourself I
think the bottom line is really that
and that I tell you that is the coolest
part of my job I get to act like me just
like tonight with these animals which is
apparently unheard of for this TED talk
stuff to have animals and but this is me
this is Ranger Nick you know and to be
able to do this stuff and empower and
inspire folks with great teaching it’s
incredibly Ranger bill 31 years ago 45
minutes he spent with me that set me on
a path that I’m standing here tonight
talking to you about I’ve never ever
wanted to do anything else in my life
but this tell you about animals and
nature and inspire you by being me it’s
empowering I want you to leave tonight
and think about the difference that you
can make my title is an educator you
know that’s what I do I’m an educator
but even though most of us in here might
not be educators every one of you is a
teacher alright so the next time you’ve
got 45 minutes with somebody or even
four minutes with somebody what are you
gonna do to show them that you care I
think that Maya Angelou said it best she
said people will forget what she said
people are gonna forget what you did but
they’re not gonna forget how you made
them feel
I hope this made you smile tonight I
really appreciate you listening to me [Applause]
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