Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED

Summary

Rita Pierson passionately advocates for the importance of relationships in education, emphasizing that students thrive under the guidance of teachers who genuinely connect with them. Through personal anecdotes and experiences, Pierson highlights the transformative power of educators who go beyond the traditional teaching role to become champions for their students. She recounts moments of vulnerability, humor, and inspiration, advocating for educators to embrace empathy, understanding, and the simple yet radical act of building relationships with students to foster significant learning experiences.

Highlights

• Rita emphasizes the importance of relationships in education, stating students need a connection to learn effectively. 📚
• Her humorous anecdote about apologizing to students for teaching a lesson wrong highlights the value of humility. 😂
• Rita shares her strategy of positive affirmations to boost student morale and academic performance. 🌼
• The story of her mother's influence illustrates the lasting impact educators can have on students. 🌟
• Rita passionately calls for teachers to be champions for their students, advocating for their success. 🏅

Key Takeaways

• Human connection is crucial in education; students learn better from teachers they like. 💖
• Educators should embrace vulnerability and apologize to students when necessary. 🙏
• Positive reinforcement, even in failure, can motivate students to improve. 🌟
• Teachers should act as champions for their students, never giving up on them. 🏆
• Relationships leave a lasting legacy in students' lives, beyond academic achievements. 🌈

Overview

Rita Pierson opens her TED talk with a humorous recount of her extensive history in education, woven deeply by her family heritage and her own experiences. With a blend of wit and wisdom, she quickly addresses the significant yet often overlooked value of relationships in effective teaching. Her belief that no meaningful learning happens without substantial relationships sets the stage for her dynamic presentation.

In her talk, Rita shares compelling anecdotes from her teaching career, including a humorous tale of teaching a math lesson incorrectly and apologizing to her students, demonstrating the courage in vulnerability. Her innovative approach to boosting self-esteem through daily affirmations reveals her dedication to nurturing a growth mindset in her students. She narrates these experiences with warmth and respect, highlighting her unwavering commitment to her students' success.

Rita closes her presentation with a powerful message on the profound influence of teachers who act as champions for their students. By sharing the story of her mother's legacy and its impact on her former students, she illustrates the enduring power of connection and the deep satisfaction derived from teaching. With passion, she calls on educators to find joy in the teaching process and become relentless advocates for their students, ensuring every child has a champion.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Background The speaker introduces themselves and shares that they have been deeply involved in education throughout their life. They mention that both their parents and maternal grandparents were educators.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Importance of Human Connection The chapter explores the topic of education reform and the reasons why students fail to learn or drop out of school. It mentions common challenges such as poverty, low attendance, and negative peer influences. However, it suggests that there is an often overlooked but crucial element in education: human connection. The chapter implies that focusing more on building meaningful relationships could be key to addressing educational challenges.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Building Relationships in Teaching The chapter titled 'Building Relationships in Teaching' emphasizes the crucial role of human connections in education. According to James Comer, no meaningful learning can happen without a significant relationship, while George Washington Carver states that all learning is fundamentally about understanding relationships. The narrative acknowledges the profound impact teachers or adults have had on individuals, underscoring the importance of relationship-building in teaching.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Apologizing and Admitting Mistakes The chapter discusses the importance of liking students in an educational setting. It shares an anecdote about a colleague who believed that teachers are only paid to teach lessons rather than to like the students. This colleague held the view that students should just learn the lesson taught, regardless of personal relationships. However, the speaker challenges this belief by asserting that students struggle to learn from teachers they don't like, illustrating the importance of building positive relationships in teaching.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Boosting Student Self-Esteem The chapter discusses the significance of building relationships with students and emphasizes the importance of boosting their self-esteem. It reflects on a conversation about how some people believe one either has the ability to build relationships or not. The chapter argues in favor of simple actions that can help, referencing ideas from Stephen Covey. It highlights the importance of actions such as seeking to understand others before seeking to be understood and the impact of simple gestures like apologizing to students, which can surprise them and positively affect their self-esteem.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Creating a Positive Classroom Environment In the chapter 'Creating a Positive Classroom Environment,' the importance of honesty and enthusiasm in teaching is illustrated through an anecdote. The teacher recounts a personal experience where a math lesson on ratios was taught incorrectly. Upon realizing the mistake, the teacher returns to class the next day to apologize for the error. The students respond positively, highlighting that the teacher's excitement during the lesson made them overlook the mistake. This story underlines the significance of fostering a supportive and understanding classroom atmosphere where teachers can admit mistakes and students can embrace them with grace and humor.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Mother's Legacy and Relationships The narrator faces the daunting challenge of teaching a class that is significantly behind academically. They express their emotional struggle and determination to make considerable progress with the students over a nine-month period. A major goal is to simultaneously enhance the students' self-esteem and academic performance. In one unique instance, the narrator devises an innovative plan to address these challenges, beginning with a motivational speech to the students.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Challenges and Joys of Teaching The chapter opens with a teacher expressing confidence in both themselves and their students, declaring they were chosen as a team because they are the best. The teacher aims to set an example for other classes by exhibiting model behavior. The narrative is infused with humor, as demonstrated by an exchange where a student questions the teacher's assertion, evoking laughter. The teacher encourages the students by creating a sense of pride and collective identity, motivating them to act as role models when walking through the school halls.

Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse. (Laughter) Both my parents were educators, my maternal grandparents were educators,
• 00:30 - 01:00 and for the past 40 years, I've done the same thing. And so, needless to say, over those years I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives. Some of those reforms have been good. Some of them have been not so good. And we know why kids drop out. We know why kids don't learn. It's either poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences... We know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss
• 01:00 - 01:30 is the value and importance of human connection. Relationships. James Comer says that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. George Washington Carver says all learning is understanding relationships. Everyone in this room has been affected by a teacher or an adult. For years, I have watched people teach.
• 01:30 - 02:00 I have looked at the best and I've looked at some of the worst. A colleague said to me one time, "They don't pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it, they should learn it, Case closed." Well, I said to her, "You know, kids don't learn from people they don't like." (Laughter) (Applause) She said, "That's just a bunch of hooey."
• 02:00 - 02:30 And I said to her, "Well, your year is going to be long and arduous, dear." Needless to say, it was. Some people think that you can either have it in you to build a relationship, or you don't. I think Stephen Covey had the right idea. He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand, as opposed to being understood. Simple things, like apologizing. You ever thought about that? Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock.
• 02:30 - 03:00 (Laughter) I taught a lesson once on ratios. I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it. (Laughter) And I got back and looked at that teacher edition. I'd taught the whole lesson wrong. (Laughter) So I came back to class the next day and I said, "Look, guys, I need to apologize. I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry." They said, "That's okay, Ms. Pierson. You were so excited, we just let you go."
• 03:00 - 03:30 I have had classes that were so low, so academically deficient, that I cried. I wondered, "How am I going to take this group, in nine months, from where they are to where they need to be? And it was difficult, it was awfully hard. How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time? One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students,
• 03:30 - 04:00 "You were chosen to be in my class because I am the best teacher and you are the best students, they put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it." One of the students said, "Really?" (Laughter) I said, "Really. We have to show the other classes how to do it, so when we walk down the hall, people will notice us, so you can't make noise. You just have to strut." (Laughter) And I gave them a saying to say:
• 04:00 - 04:30 "I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress, and places to go." And they said, "Yeah!" (Laughter) You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you. (Applause) I gave a quiz, 20 questions.
• 04:30 - 05:00 A student missed 18. I put a "+2" on his paper and a big smiley face. (Laughter) He said, "Ms. Pierson, is this an F?" I said, "Yes." (Laughter) He said, "Then why'd you put a smiley face?" I said, "Because you're on a roll. You got two right. You didn't miss them all." (Laughter) I said, "And when we review this, won't you do better?" He said, "Yes, ma'am, I can do better."
• 05:00 - 05:30 You see, "-18" sucks all the life out of you. "+2" said, "I ain't all bad." For years, I watched my mother take the time at recess to review, go on home visits in the afternoon, buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat, and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good.
• 05:30 - 06:00 See, it's hard to teach kids who stink. (Laughter) And kids can be cruel. And so she kept those things in her desk, and years later, after she retired, I watched some of those same kids come through and say to her, "You know, Ms. Walker, you made a difference in my life. You made it work for me. You made me feel like I was somebody, when I knew, at the bottom, I wasn't. And I want you to just see what I've become." And when my mama died two years ago at 92,
• 06:00 - 06:30 there were so many former students at her funeral, it brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone, but because she left a legacy of relationships that could never disappear. Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely. Will you like all your children? Of course not. (Laughter) And you know your toughest kids are never absent. (Laughter) Never.
• 06:30 - 07:00 You won't like them all, and the tough ones show up for a reason. It's the connection. It's the relationships. So teachers become great actors and great actresses, and we come to work when we don't feel like it, and we're listening to policy that doesn't make sense, and we teach anyway. We teach anyway, because that's what we do.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Teaching and learning should bring joy. How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha. But it is not impossible.
• 07:30 - 08:00 We can do this. We're educators. We're born to make a difference. Thank you so much. (Applause)