Webspiration Wednesday

I learned about Guy Doud in one of my education courses in college.  We listened to a tape of a keynote speech he gave and read his book as part of the course.  Guy Doud was the Teacher of the Year in 1986.  He is an inspiration in education, even today.  I had the privileged of presenting at a conference where Guy was the Keynote speaker.  He is still an incredible voice in education.

Unfortunately I can’t offer you a full view of Guy’s speech (I have it on DVD only), but this clip should give you a look into this teacher of the year, and will, perhaps, encourage you to pick up his book: Guy Doud Molder of Dreams.

Guy Doud speaks about the focus of education: children.  When we get right down to it, isn’t that what we are all in this for?  He talks about the challenges that children face before they even step foot in a classroom.  He speaks to fostering the heart of children before we try to foster learning.  A child who is being abused, is hungry, is grieving the loss of a parent, has failed at life, really isn’t interested on your perfectly tuned lessons on superlative adjectives.  Whether we like it or not, we are in the heart business.  Teachers are called to be all things to the hurting kids who walk through our door.  Sometimes we play nurse, other times counselor, and sometimes even social worker.  Guy has an incredible rapport with his students and each of them leave his classroom knowing that they are important, that they matter, that they aren’t failures.  Watching Guy renews my spirit and gives me the inspiration to love those students who are hard to love.  To remember to get down on their level.  Many of our students have already been convinced that they are failures.  It is up to us to be their cheerleaders and let them know that they are uniquely gifted for a special purpose.  Our job is not just to teach and grow learners, our job is to assure students that they matter.

Motivation for your Friday

Today I spoke at the ACSI conference in Colorado Springs, it was a great experience and I really enjoyed connecting with other educators and sharing some technology resources that they hadn’t seen before.  (Wix site for conference)

The highlight of my day was hearing keynote speaker, Guy Doud.  In one of the education courses that I took in college we watched the video about Guy Doud called “Molder of Dreams”.  Guy was the 1986 National Teacher of the Year awarded by President Ronald Reagan.  Listening to Guy today, it is clear that he deserved the title of National Teacher of the Year, but really, he has been Teacher of the Year many years to those whose lives he has reached through teaching.  He is certainly an inspiration to me and reminded me exactly why it is that I started teaching.  I encourage you to enjoy some of Guy’s motivation for your Friday.  You can read Guy’s story here.  You can also download an mp3 audio version (outstanding because you can hear his story the way he tells it…very funny!)  If you are interested in Guy’s book, Molder of Dreams, or in his video, Molder of Dreams, check them out here.   (VERY reasonably priced and believe me well worth every penny!)   Do you have students in your classroom that reminds you of a young Guy Doud?  What teachers in your life formed your life and the way that you teach and relate to students?  Thank God for teachers like Guy Doud!