It’s Spring Break and I’ve had the privilege of spending it
at home with my loves. I’ve cooked a
lot. I’ve given my closet a spring
makeover, cleaned my classroom, and had the pleasure of spending time at the
2017 Teacher Blogger Retreat.
I was so excited because Principal Gerry was scheduled to be
there. I drove the beautiful country
drive to French Lick listening to a Jerry Archer book on my I-Phone. (Seriously, if you haven’t tried audio
books, give it a try. It’s
addictive.) I arrived, found a parking
spot and began to search for the correct entrance. The place is both beautiful and enormous. As I was wandering around, I decided to make
a stop in the restroom while I wasn’t surrounded by noisy crowds. As I made my way inside, I noticed a gentleman
sitting down the hall from where I was standing. I immediately recognized him as the one, the
only, Principal Gerry! I immediately
text my teacher friend (on vacation in Florida) and sent her my sneaky pic of
him. She answered right back just as
excited as I was. I mustered the courage
to walk up to him. He was, at that
point, sitting with his back to the hall, trying to get his zen on before his
lecture. Even though I totally
interrupted his quiet time, he was super nice and posed for a picture with
me. I quickly made an exit not wanting
to steal any more of his quiet time and found my way to the crowded area of the
retreat.
Principal Gerry...Trying to get his Zen on.
I stood in line to register and received a super neat tote
bag filled with cool goodies! The
organizers sure know the way to a teacher’s heart. The Scentos company was super cool and
donated a ton of goodies for the retreat.
I met some super friendly bloggers while waiting for the doors to open. I sat with one of my fourth grade teacher
friends and settled in for the hilarious Principal Gerry. Guys…you have to understand. He is my salvation sometimes on cranky
days. I sit during prep and listen and
laugh with him and readjust my attitude on those days.
A teacher's dream! Scented markers galore!
He took the stage and I was in for a surprise. First his name isn’t pronounced Jerry…his
name is Gary…I know, right? He has zero
accent. Zero. I have more of an accent remaining from
living in Arkansas than he has.
Zilch. Nada. I listened to him and was surprised to find
him…not just funny, but inspirational. I
was prepared to laugh until I cried and to feel like I’d been to a comedy
show. Yes. He was still hilarious, but he was warm, honest,
and made me feel like he was an old friend.
When he left the stage I felt a renewed sense of hope for my profession. He reminded me of the importance of loving
kids, not just worrying about test scores, but truly loving them. I’m an even bigger fan after listening to
him.
He was followed by Hope and Wade King. They are a husband and wife that both teach
at the Ron Clark Academy. Their subject
was student engagement. They began their
segment walking around the ballroom and standing on chairs to talk to us and
keep our attention. They were high
energy and seemed to care about teaching.
Don’t get me wrong. They were sweet, genuine people. I just
wasn’t feeling the connection. Hope talked about
being high energy, creating room décor that would engage students, playing
games to excite them, and Mr. King got out his electric guitar to show us how
to turn popular songs into cheers.
Beautiful people, but again, I just wasn’t buying it. I finished my day learning a lot and enjoying
myself, but I left with this nagging sense of…something. I wasn’t sure what.
I got home and shared my day with my husband, who is also a
teacher, and tried to relay to him that feeling that I had. I got online and researched Hope King. I also researched the Ron Clark Academy. They spend an average of $18,000 per
student. They interview, literally
hundreds of students to fill spots of less than fifty. Their parents have to commit to a grand
number of hours of volunteer work within the school to keep their child’s
place, and the work load for students is mind boggling. No doubt, it is a success. No doubt, their formula works. They have trampolines, slides, and music
blaring as you walk into the school.
Each room is elaborately decorated in themes to engage the
students. One room even has a car inside
of it! Trying to compare the money they
spend turning classrooms into an Alice in Wonderland, or a Mario Brothers Video
Game just isn’t feasible to a public school teacher. We are already underpaid and overworked. Now I have to stand on chairs, play an electric
guitar, and make my classroom look like a video game. WHAT!?
Here's what I learned from all of this. While Wade and Hope King were inspiring and
incredibly talented, they don’t have all the answers. No one does.
We are all the same. We are all
just people doing the best that we can. There
is no “one size fits all.” Principal
Gerry is just a person who wanted to inspire his teachers during testing time
so he made silly videos that went viral.
Ron Clark is just a person who found himself in a hopeless teaching
situation and wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids one step at a
time. We are all just people and we can
all make a difference in our own way. A
wise teacher, Mrs. Peggy Stark, once said, “It’s easy. Just make them love school.” That’s really the root of it all. Love our students, and give them a love of
learning. If I tried to be Hope King it
would appear manufactured and false. I
have to be me and love my kids to the very best of my ability. This retreat inspired me to go back and be
the best I can be. I want to engage my
students with my own love of learning and pass that along to them. I want to inspire my students to be lifelong
learners. That’s what it’s all
about. People inspiring young people to
go, grow, and do.
It’s been a fantastic spring break and I feel renewed and
invigorated. A big thanks to all the
organizers of the 2017 French Lick Blogger Retreat. We’ll be back!
http://scentos.com/
