SUMMER HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL NETWORK MEMBERS! :)

[Scott Habeeb]

Summer is here! Understandably, most teachers aren’t all that interested in thinking about the classroom this time of year. However, I want to encourage all members of the Freshman Transition Network to begin thinking about something very specific for next year:

How will you inspire and motivate your students next year? How will you get them to learn about life beyond the content of your course? How will you teach them the attitudes and beliefs that they will need to succeed?

Most teachers I know say that they would love to be inspirational and motivational. I think that many of us, though, get caught up in the day-to-day and don’t find the time to actively incorporate motivation into our daily classroom activities. So here’s the idea – let’s try to come up with ideas together over the summer. Let’s use this forum to share things that can be done in class to inspire kids. Share movie clip recommendations and how to use them. Share quotes. Share motivational songs. Share lessons and activities.

I’m planning on regularly adding to this discussion, but I really hope I won’t be the only participant. Imagine if this summer every member of the network added even 1 idea to this discussion. What an amazing list of ideas we’d have! Then when the day-to-day is getting the best of you, you can simply come to this discussion, find an idea, and use it to motivate your students.

So come on, folks – let’s see what you’ve got!

[Scott Habeeb]

Kids respond to quotes. Try starting off your class with a quote about once a week or once every other week. Put the quote on your board or overhead and have students write a short reflection (1 or 2 sentences to a paragraph in length) about the quote. Then give students a chance to share their reflection. The whole activity might take 5-7 minutes but will provide you with an opportunity to share new ways of thinking with your students.

I've shared one of my favorite quotes below. Feel free to simply leave a favorite quote as a reply. Doing so will complete your summer assignment!

"The reason most people fail instead of succeed is that they trade what they want most for what they want at the moment."

[Nic Storr]

"Education is that which remains after you have forgotten everything else you have been taught... "

[Scott Habeeb]

Here's a good quote to teach your students:

“If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.” - Tom Watson

Our students are afraid to fail. As a result they don't even try. This leads to failure - but at least in their minds they can say they didn't even try.

We need to teach our students that it's ok to fail if you're trying to succeed. In fact, you can't really succeed without first failing - or messing up - along the way. The goal with this quote is to give students a completely different outlook on failure.

Here's a website with more Tom Watson quotes.

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/if_you_want_to_increase_your_succes...

[Ray Moore]

This year, I started using Glory Road in my classroom. The students really liked it, but the best part is that it has such good examples of the blocks of the John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. One of the cornerstones is Industriousness. Don Haskins' players ran and ran - even when they doubted they would have success.

It has great examples of some of the less emphasized blocks. Alertness is a block that is hard to get across to students. However, when Don Haskins has the good sense to see that black players could play, contrary to the prevailing attitudes of the day, he began recruiting those players when others in the south would not. He also had the initiative (another block in the Pyramid) to see the moment in history and decide to play only black players in the National Championship game. He said that he was only playing his best players, which may well be the truth. However, he did what no one else had done before him.

As the same scene continues, one of the white players (Jerry Armstrong) says that he wants to play, but he gives his support to the coach's decision. That is a great example of Team Spirit as well as Alertness to the moment. He also showed the Intiative to get up and say what needed to be said just at the right time to say it.


If you have not seen Glory Road, check it out. If you have already seen it, watch it again looking for the values that you would like to teach your students. Be sure to check the features that have interviews with the actual players.

[Justin Halterman]

Like many of you have already stated, I enjoy using quotes to inspire my students. My favorite person to quote is Winston Churchill. He has a lot of inspiring words, and he is covered in my SOLs. I also take input from my students on quotes they would like to see (ex. One student wanted a quote from Gandhi.). My favorite Churchill quote is, "We are tired, and we are bloody, but we are not done yet. It is a great one to use at the end of the year, or after a difficult test like the SOLs.

[Scott Habeeb]

Good post, Justin. It's always a good idea to try to find people that relate to your content to share about - whether it's a quote they said or the example of their lives. For example, Science or Math teachers might use the example of Isaac Newton. As a former World History teacher (like Justin), I always like to share about Martin Luther's life. It was a great example of standing for what you believe in and impacting the rest of history.

By the way, for those of you not from Virginia (Justin and I are both from Salem, VA) it might be good to explain what SOLs are. In Virginia, our end-of-course state tests - the ones that are also used for NCLB/AYP tests - are called the SOL tests. Here, SOL stands for Standards of Learning. We're aware that in other parts of the country SOL stands for something else... :)

[Scott Habeeb]

Here's a quote - actually a short story - that you can share with your students. It's from Portia Nelson and the 1993 book, There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk.

Chapter 1:
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It is not my fault.
It takes forever to find my way out.

Chapter 2:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in…It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5:
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk down another street.


I first heard this story in a marriage class my church put on. Then I saw it in 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. When I shared it with my students I wondered if they'd be able to get it. I had it on the overhead for their Do Now assignment. I asked them to read it and reflect on it. (By that time in the year I had done a lot of quotes and my students had learned how to reflect on them.)

Bottom line - they got it and could apply it to their lives. I taught them that if you are in Chapter 3 you are ok because you have realized that your problems are your problems and that you need to fix them. The bad place to be is in Chapters 1 or 2 because you're blaming others and not ready to fix things in your life.

It was neat to see kids apply this quote throughout the rest of the year. I was able to say to students - "Why don't you walk around that hole?" and they understood what I meant.

[James T. Henry II]

I'm very new to this Freshman Transition business (and feeling very fortunate that I found this Network in the early phases of my research), so I'm not sure how typical my situation will be. I am actually scheduled to teach a transition "course" next year to hand selected students (who you may say have been labeled as being "at risk")- as opposed to being a teacher who teams w/ others to help all 9th grade students transition (although I hope that becomes the logical next step to my work this year). So, transition will be my content, you might say, for one period of my day.

Quotes, video clips, short readings... all of the above. I'm going to be reaching into whatever bag of tricks I can find this summer and utilized anything and everything. I hope to tailor my motivation both to individual students and to circumstances that arise.

I have a background in coaching (basketball), and one of my plans is to pull out some of the resources I boxed up a few years ago when I got out of that business (don't get me started). I have books by many great coaches that I think I can make use of, and that I would reccommend to others: Pete Carril's The Smart Take from the Strong; Mike Krzyzewski's Leading with the Heart; A biography I have about John Wooden that details the Pyramid of Success; and Phil Jackson's Hoop Dreams. I also have a number of stories, slogans, and inspirational ideas that I utilized in basketball camps. I found that all of those resources were useful in helping many of my players who weren't automatic starting five material.

For example: The Ultimate Success Formula. I used to ask for a kid to volunteer at camp to demonstrate something. I'd have the player put their toes up to a line on the floor. I told them to execute a standing long jump. The last thing I said to them was "Do your best." The player would jump. I'd ask if they did their best (they usually said yes, but if not, I'd have them go again). I'd send them back to the line, have them visualize a goal a couple of inches beyond what they jumped last time. Have them jump. I never had someone not meet or exceed the goal. Then back to the line, and I'd give them some instruction about how to jump further. They'd listen and jump, and, once again, I never had someone fail to jump further. Finally, back to the line. I'd get the whole camp to cheer for them. Have them jump, and they always landed further from their last jump. I did this in camps for about 15 years, and never once had a player who did not jump further in each one of the four successive jumps. Then I highlighted the four points of the success formula- 1. Do your Best; 2. Set Goals; 3. Get Teaching from those who Know; 4. Surround yourself with people who Care about you and Want you to Succeed.

My vision of this Freshman Transition course I will be teaching is that it will be more similar to my coaching work than my typical daily classroom work. I see the potential for being an "academic coach"- teaching and inspiring the development of academic rather than athletic skills.

So, that is the first place I will begin is with my new challenge for next year. I'm not going to plan to inspire my students in any particular way, but to utilize anything and everything to reach each individual student in the 20 or so I will have in the class. I will try to mach my motivation to their existing talents, interests, and needs. But I think I will be using my coaching experience as my starting point.

[Scott Habeeb]

Great post, James. I'll be interested to hear how your class goes. One thing I'd suggest you have as a long term goal is to find ways to help other teachers in the building incorporate into their classrooms the lessons you're teaching in yours. Doing so can benefit your students exponentially.

Glad to hear you're going to use John Wooden. You need to email/contact Ray Moore about the Pyramid of Success and about using John Wooden in the classroom. I'm trying to get Ray to start a series of blog posts on each block of the pyramid. You might also want to check out this DVD about John Wooden. Again, Ray could give you some good ideas on how to use it.

[Deanie Dunbar]

The most important goal I establish for my students and me to achieve is to learn the tools for successful collaboration. They will use these skills in every avenue of life: marriage, parenting, home, career, faith community, and neighborhood relationships. My statement at the end of every email is "We are all in this together." When I first said this, one of my colleagues said the line reminded her of High School Musical. I haven't seen it, but I do believe that WE is stronger than ME. I want students to think about ME/WE and how one can find both in the two letters just by flipping ME up or WE down. I want them to think about what happens when we think less about me and more about we. This can serve as a strong visual for students who need to understand why "teamwork works."

[Scott Habeeb]

As a parent of an elementary schooler, a middle schooler, and an upcoming high schooler I have to say that YOU HAVE TO WATCH HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! :)

Actually, I would encourage teachers of 9th graders to watch movies like the High School Musical series. For starters, our kids know them. One great way to connect with kids is to know what they know. Secondly, there are a couple things one could use. For example, in the first HSM movie there is a song called Stick to the Status Quo. It's all about breaking out of high school stereotypes and following your passion. Might be a good song to share with your students. They know the song but perhaps haven't thought about it in its full context.

[Cat Mejia]

I agree with Scott. Ninth graders will always think we don't understand them. When all of a sudden you can reference a song, show, book, movie, or band that they like, you will have captured their attention. I always try to connect with a student through one of these avenues. Last year I had several students reading the Twilight series, so I read the books too (and they were great!!). It gave me something to connect with them and I would come in and update them on what part I was on. Luckily I am a fast reader so I was able to keep the connection with students at the beginning of the series as well as the end. The point is that you have to look at the things kids are in to and find a way to talk to them about it. When you are on the same page, then you can talk to them about the values (or lack of) in those things. When they think that you do "understand" them, then they will listen to you.