Talented

I am blessed to have two daughters who do well in school. In early grades, they were acknowledged with the educational marker of being Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG), a designation once referred to as Gifted and Talented. If you believe that nature is the reason, you could point to having two parents who were also blessed with that same designation in school. Or maybe nurture is your argument and you point out that both of their parents have advanced college degrees and education is highly valued in their home. Either way, we are quick to recognize academic talent in schools. If students are extremely hard-working and diligent, they might even earn a high enough GPA to get a scholarship or some sort of designation to speak at their graduation ceremony to formally recognize their hard work. While I'm extremely proud of students who have academic talent, this week gave me a couple of reminders of the many other talents that students have. These talents may never show up on a class rank and it probably won't earn any of them a single dollar in scholarships, but it can give you a glimpse of what kind of people these students have the potential to grow up to be. 

If you don't know David, you've almost certainly seen him in our school. David is Chinese and he is the only Multi-Language Learner in Mrs. Galue's ESL class that speaks Mandarin as a first language. David never misses school. Ever. He even comes on the exam makeup days. This week, as students brought chocolates to share with one another for Valentine's Day, David decided to give his classmates a different gift. He brought his violin from home and played for them. As I watched the video, I was so impressed with his confidence and pride in sharing his talent with his friends. This is not the same young man that was in our school just one year ago. 

That same day, our school hosted the annual Valentine's Day dance for our special needs students. It's hard not to smile watching these students have the time of their lives dancing in the gym. They are joined by teachers and students and Mrs. Duncan's class caters for the event each year with pride. And that's where Steve fits in. You may also know of Steve. He has a "colorful" discipline history and his associations outside of school have been questionable at best. He can be angry and sometimes volatile. He enjoys Duncan's Culinary class and has been a bit of a project for Coach Edwards this year. But despite his past, Steve also has talents. I could easily see them that day when he was caught doing the Cha-Cha Slide with our EC students, smiling from ear to ear. He is also not the same young man that was in our school one year ago.

Every student has a talent. While we formally recognize a few of those if they happen to show up on a standardized test or on an athletic team, it's fun to find the ones that don't always get recognized as easily. It's even more fun when we can find just the right moment to bring it out of them. And if they can't hold a full conversation in English, they may be able to share in another way. Perhaps the right opportunity can even make the toughest of students dance when a disabled class asks you to join. That's what teaching is all about; discovering how every student can be talented.

He Who Holds the Story, Holds the Power

Most of you know that I was a history teacher. Despite my affinity for math, I decided to teach history because I get caught up in the stories. Most of the recorded history we know is told by the dominant group, the most powerful culture, or the victor in the battle. We know their side and it isn't until many years later (sometimes never) that we learn more about the group that came up short. The winner, not the loser, gets to tell the story. And for that reason, he who holds that story, holds the power. 

For a little while now, I've been working with some other state leaders on this same idea. We have been advocating that parents and community members need to know the stories of our public schools. In a time when parents have more choice than ever before from charter schools or private schools, it is easy for parents to become overwhelmed and to look beyond the greatness that traditional public schools have to offer. And for that reason, we've been trying to advocate that school leaders do a better job of telling those great stories. Well, all of that talk got me thinking this week about the power of our personal stories. We all have experiences that brought us to where we are today and so many of those stories would be inspirational to the students that we teach and interact with. Your story as a person and as an educator is your purpose and your drive to show up and do the things that you do. But without telling that story, we can miss an opportunity to relate to students and to gain trust in them as someone who has perhaps shared some of the same experiences that they have. We do a lot to learn the stories of our students, and that part of teaching is vital. But along the way, be sure to tell yours as well. You never know who may be listening and who might just gain inspiration from what you have to say. That inspiration and those grounding moments are what build authentic interest between us as people and what give us the power to draw from one another. 

He who holds the story, holds the power. Are you telling yours?