WEBVTT

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Are you ready to get started?

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(Audience) Yes, we are.

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Don't need to do that again.

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I've been teaching for over 26 years.

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Long enough to have moved from,

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"Ms Lee, you're like my favorite auntie"

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to "Ms Lee, you're my second mom."

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Then it became, "Ms Lee, 
you're like my grandma."

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I didn't mind so much,

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because I already played one 
in real life, right?

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Well recently, 
you know where this is going,

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I met the family 
of one of my new students.

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The next day, she came in -

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I love Photoshop, this picture.

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(Laughter)

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She came in and said,

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"You know, my parents said

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you remind them of my great-grandmother."

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(Laughter)

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So, after I picked myself up off the floor

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I said, "Um, why?"

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And she said, "Well, 
she lives in Louisiana."

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I'm like, I'm from Georgia, I get that.

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"And she plays tennis."

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I'm obviously in great shape, 
so, I get that.

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"She's really funny."

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Not as funny as me, 
but OK I'll go with that.

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"And she lives on a gator farm."

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I suddenly realized 
I can relate to that too,

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because I teach middle school.

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(Laughter)

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Yes, for the last 11 years

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I've been a teacher 
of what I call, lovingly,

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hormones with legs.

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(Laughter)

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And I taught, before that,
elementary school for many years

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and never planned on my shadow
darkening the doorway

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of a middle school classroom.

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So, I was asked as a favor, 
to interview for my first job.

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And I got there and the principal said,

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"I don't know why HR sent you;

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you're not even certified 
for middle school."

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I said, "I know, right? 
And I don't even like them!"

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She laughed, kind of, and then I said,

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"I think you should 
pepper spray them once a day,

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they'll need it sooner or later."

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And, after she picked herself up off
the floor from laughter, she said,

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"You're going to be perfect 
for my students."

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But, really I disagree with her,

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because they turned out 
to be so perfect for me.

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(Applause)

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I know there's lots of people
like educators, teachers in the audience -

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show me where you are, 
people that work with kids.

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Thank you for being here.

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I know some of you are still pretty new

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and maybe you haven't even lived 
as long as I've taught.

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But I realize there are young people here.

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I have a secret 
I don't usually tell people.

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Have you figured out
there's a lot of meetings in education?

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I often say to myself -

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but not out loud -

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I hope I pass on in one of those meetings,

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because the transition would be so subtle,
I wouldn't even know it had happened.

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(Laughter)

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I don't say that very often.

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But, I do truly believe
that what we are doing

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is the most important thing in the world.

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John Steinbeck writes
about teachers, and he says:

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"I have come to believe 
a great teacher is a great artist

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and that there are as few 
as there are any other great artists.

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In fact, teaching is - not may be - is
'the greatest of the arts'

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because the medium is 
the human mind and spirit."

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(Applause)

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And then Steinbeck writes:

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"Three real teachers in a lifetime
is the very best of luck."

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I'm here to tell you that I know
the importance of those real teachers.

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And not just because I'm standing
in this position as a teacher today

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but because of what teachers meant to me.

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I grew up in a small Georgia town,

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where your Sunday school teacher 
was likely to be at school the next day

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as your social studies teacher.

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And, in that little tiny southern town,

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there walked the most
fine group of educators

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that have ever lived on this planet.

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>From my early years on,

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those men and women
taught me so much.

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Mostly outside the curriculum.

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They taught me 
that I had value as a person

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and that I mattered.

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They saw me as an individual,

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and they saw something in me
that they believed in

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and made me believe in as well.

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Their classrooms were places 
of safety and security.

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When I was a junior
in high school, my mom died.

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And the evening after her funeral,

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I was sitting and reading
her obituary, over and over.

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The reality of a life without my mom 
was just starting to sink in, hard.

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The door opened

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and my math teacher walked in.

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This is another secret 
I don't usually tell my students,

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but I was I really rotten math student

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and that didn't matter.

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She didn't see me as a number or a score

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that would increase her overall rating 
somewhere down the line.

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She saw me as a person.

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And she came over
and she just held me in her arms.

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It was teachers who took me 
to grocery shop for my family,

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when I didn't have any idea 
how to do that,

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because I was the oldest.

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They took me to buy my prom dress.

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I went on family vacations with them.

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I was welcomed in their homes, 
through college, past college.

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And today lots of them 
are my Facebook friends,

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because we're still cool like that.

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(Laughter)

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Steinbeck says many things about teachers,

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but this one little phrase resonates 
with me more than any other:

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"If you are very lucky,
you may find a teacher."

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Well, I was a recipient 
of so much good fortune then.

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And guess what?

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It's continued on in my children,

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for 26-plus years.

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I have learned one thing:

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no matter who I teach, the age,

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children are children,

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and they teach me more every day
than I could ever hope to impart to them.

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For instance:

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(Applause)

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You wanted to hear that, right?

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For instance, they've taught me

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that show and tell is important,
regardless of the age.

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It could be a missing tooth 
or it might be a new piercing

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that the parents 
don't even know about yet.

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But it's important,

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because they're seen as individuals 
and who they are.

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I've learned from my children

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that dramatic play

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can be just as important to an 8th grader
as it is to a kindergartner.

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Because, I think, it's really a safe way
of figuring out who they are in the world.

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And let me tell you something, 
if you don't believe this, then...

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Humor!

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I've learned about humor from my children.

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I have learned when I ask a kindergartner
to flip off the projector,

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middle schoolers do something different.

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(Laughter)

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Firsthand!

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I have learned that when a kindergartner
writes me a little note, saying,

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"Ooh, Ms Lee,

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you're the best teacher in the world!"

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It's the same thing 
as a middle schooler saying,

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"Man, Ms Lee, you are the beast!"

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It means that they know I see them.

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I've also learned that praise matters,
regardless of the age.

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I have some students, 
who'd be mortified with much attention,

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so a thumbs-up is enough.

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I have others who, when I say this, 
they stand and cheer with me:

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"G-O-O-D J-O-B,

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good job (Clap, Clap), 
good job (Clap, Clap)."

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You know you want to do it 
with me, ready?

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G-O-O-D (Audience repeats)
J-O-B (Audience repeats),

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good job (Audience repeats),
clap clap (Audience claps).

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Oh good, I thought 
you were going to say it.

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That's a good audience, 
a gifted audience - good job!

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Now together: G-O-O-D J-O-B,

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good job (Clap, Clap),
good job (Clap, Clap).

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Thank you. Good job!

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Steinbeck writes about his three teachers.

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He says:

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"My three had this in common:

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They all loved what they were doing.

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Under their influence
the horizons sprung wide

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and fear went away

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and the unknown became knowable."

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I realize that there are people listening
and in the audience not in education.

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Bless your heart. I feel so sorry for you.

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I truly do!

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But in spite of our differences,
we have that one common denominator:

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the Common Core.

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You know that's the buzzword 
in education today:

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the Common Core.

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But it's 2013, people!

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My students have taught me 
about the common core since 1987.

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They've taught me that 
if I reach the common core first,

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the Common Core 
is much more easily taught.

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I believe we all as humans have that need

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to be valued, respected, and accepted,
and seen as who we are.

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That common core 
that we all have, every one of us.

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So yes, we do stand alone 
in our uniqueness,

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but we're part of a team.

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Sometimes we're the star,

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sometimes we have a supporting role,

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other times we're in the audience.

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But regardless of our role,
the important thing

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is that we are seen and valued 
for who we are and what we do.

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Education reforms 
are going to come and go.

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Common Core is likely to be called
something else in ten years.

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But the common core 
has been here since time began.

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And I'm here to tell you people,

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that is why, after 26 years of education,
teaching in education,

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I am still thriving!

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(Applause)

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And that is why you young teachers 
can thrive for 26 ahead of you -

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I'm looking forward to a whole lot more.

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Because I am able to see 
that core in my students

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and they find it in me every time.

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Now, I'll leave you with this.

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And, at the risk of sounding like
a Hallmark card with a southern accent,

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I want to tell you, 
I believe this is true with all my heart:

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every single person has the capacity
to make a difference.

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Now, won't you do this with me?

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Touch here,

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and I'm a middle school teacher,
I can wait if you're not all doing it.

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I have lots of patience.

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Now, just look around.

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Every single person in this room 
has that inner core, y'all.

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And when we remember that,

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when we remember that inner core 
of everyone around us,

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that is when real change, acceptance, 
and learning can occur.

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Life and learning 
doesn't start here [head];

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it starts right here [heart].

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You try it. I dare you.

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Are you ready to get started?

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(Audience) Yes, we are.

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Thank you. Love you.

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(Applause)