Educator Inspiration!

This link is designed to provide encouragement to fellow educators with quotes, stories, and general support in the field of education. Every educator can enjoy a quick ‘fix’ and smile when they have a free moment here. Please use my contact box if you’d like me to include something that would be appropriate in this link!                 
                                                  Thank you and enjoy.

The mediocre teacher tells. 
The good teacher explains. 
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires.  
                                                     ~William A. Ward

"It is more than just a game. It is a dance.  The teacher provides the beautiful music (the language) and the kids dance to it. When the kids are busy dancing, you have classroom discipline."                                                                                 
                                                                                         - Ben Slavic

Taylor Mali is a very interesting man. He says, “I want to reform education in America from top to bottom. I want to be the individual responsible for making an entire generation of college graduates consider teaching before business or law school. I want to make it easier for smart, successful, and qualified people in their 30s and older to become teachers as well. I want to get America ready for an Education Tax if that's what it's going to take. But most of all, I want to be the spokesman for teaching's nobility, the poet laureate of passion in the classroom.” His website is very captivating and inspiring!

What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, then began... )
"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental... You want to know what I make?"

(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe. I make my students stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?"