Every kid needs a champion
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0:01 - 0:04I have spent my entire life
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0:04 - 0:09either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse,
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0:09 - 0:13or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.
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0:13 - 0:15Both my parents were educators,
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0:15 - 0:18my maternal grandparents were educators,
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0:18 - 0:22and for the past 40 years I've done the same thing.
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0:22 - 0:25And so, needless to say, over those years
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0:25 - 0:28I've had a chance to look at education reform
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0:28 - 0:30from a lot of perspectives.
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0:30 - 0:32Some of those reforms have been good.
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0:32 - 0:34Some of them have been not so good.
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0:34 - 0:36And we know why kids drop out.
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0:36 - 0:38We know why kids don't learn.
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0:38 - 0:41It's either poverty, low attendance,
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0:41 - 0:45negative peer influences. We know why.
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0:45 - 0:47But one of the things that we never discuss
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0:47 - 0:49or we rarely discuss
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0:49 - 0:54is the value and importance of human connection,
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0:54 - 0:56relationships.
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0:56 - 1:00James Comer says that no significant learning
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1:00 - 1:02can occur without a significant relationship.
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1:02 - 1:05George Washington Carver says all learning
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1:05 - 1:09is understanding relationships.
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1:09 - 1:12Everyone in this room has been affected
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1:12 - 1:14by a teacher or an adult.
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1:14 - 1:20For years, I have watched people teach.
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1:20 - 1:23I have looked at the best and I've look at some of the worst.
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1:23 - 1:25A colleague said to me one time,
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1:25 - 1:27"They don't pay me to like the kids.
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1:27 - 1:29They pay me to teach a lesson.
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1:29 - 1:30The kids should learn it.
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1:30 - 1:34I should teach it. They should learn it. Case closed."
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1:34 - 1:36Well, I said to her,
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1:36 - 1:39"You know, kids don't learn from people they don't like."
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1:39 - 1:47(Laughter) (Applause)
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1:47 - 1:51She said, "That's just a bunch of hooey."
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1:51 - 1:54And I said to her, "Well, your year is going to be long
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1:54 - 1:56and arduous, dear."
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1:56 - 1:58Needless to say it was. Some people think
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1:58 - 2:01that you can either have it in you to build a relationship
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2:01 - 2:03or you don't.
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2:03 - 2:05I think Stephen Covey had the right idea.
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2:05 - 2:09He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things,
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2:09 - 2:11like seeking first to understand
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2:11 - 2:13as opposed to being understood,
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2:13 - 2:16simple things like apologizing.
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2:16 - 2:17You ever thought about that?
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2:17 - 2:21Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock.
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2:21 - 2:24I taught a lesson once on ratios.
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2:24 - 2:27I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it.
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2:27 - 2:31And I got back and looked at that teacher edition.
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2:31 - 2:34I'd taught the whole lesson wrong. (Laughter)
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2:34 - 2:36So I came back to class the next day, and I said,
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2:36 - 2:38"Look, guys, I need to apologize.
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2:38 - 2:42I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry."
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2:42 - 2:43They said, "That's okay, Ms. Pierson.
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2:43 - 2:46You were so excited, we just let you go."
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2:46 - 2:51(Laughter) (Applause)
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2:51 - 2:55I have had classes that were so low,
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2:55 - 2:59so academically deficient that I cried.
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2:59 - 3:02I wondered, how am I going to take this group
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3:02 - 3:03in nine months
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3:03 - 3:06from where they are to where they need to be?
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3:06 - 3:09And it was difficult. It was awfully hard.
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3:09 - 3:13How do I raise the self-esteem of a child
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3:13 - 3:16and his academic achievement at the same time?
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3:16 - 3:18One year I came up with a bright idea.
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3:18 - 3:20I told all my students,
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3:20 - 3:23"You were chosen to be in my class
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3:23 - 3:25because I am the best teacher
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3:25 - 3:26and you are the best students,
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3:26 - 3:28they put us all together
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3:28 - 3:31so we could show everybody else how to do it."
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3:31 - 3:33One of the students said, "Really?"
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3:33 - 3:35(Laughter)
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3:35 - 3:38I said, "Really. We have to show the other classes
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3:38 - 3:41how to do it, so when we walk down the hall,
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3:41 - 3:43people will notice us, so you can't make noise.
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3:43 - 3:46You just have to strut."
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3:46 - 3:49And I gave them a saying to say: "I am somebody.
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3:49 - 3:51I was somebody when I came.
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3:51 - 3:53I'll be a better somebody when I leave.
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3:53 - 3:55I am powerful, and I am strong.
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3:55 - 3:57I deserve the education that I get here.
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3:57 - 4:00I have things to do, people to impress,
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4:00 - 4:01and places to go."
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4:01 - 4:04And they said, "Yeah!"
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4:04 - 4:06You say it long enough,
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4:06 - 4:10it starts to be a part of you.
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4:10 - 4:16And so — (Applause)
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4:16 - 4:20I gave a quiz, 20 questions.
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4:20 - 4:22A student missed 18.
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4:22 - 4:28I put a "+2" on his paper and a big smiley face.
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4:28 - 4:31He said, "Ms. Pierson, is this an F?"
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4:31 - 4:34I said, "Yes."
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4:34 - 4:37He said, "Then why'd you put a smiley face?"
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4:37 - 4:39I said, "Because you're on a roll.
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4:39 - 4:43You got two right. You didn't miss them all."
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4:43 - 4:45I said, "And when we review this,
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4:45 - 4:47won't you do better?"
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4:47 - 4:49He said, "Yes, ma'am, I can do better."
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4:49 - 4:53You see, "-18" sucks all the life out of you.
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4:53 - 4:55"+2" said, "I ain't all bad."
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4:55 - 5:01(Laughter) (Applause)
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5:01 - 5:04For years I watched my mother
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5:04 - 5:07take the time at recess to review,
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5:07 - 5:10go on home visits in the afternoon,
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5:10 - 5:13buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers
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5:13 - 5:15to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat,
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5:15 - 5:19and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good.
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5:19 - 5:22See, it's hard to teach kids who stink.
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5:22 - 5:25And kids can be cruel.
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5:25 - 5:27And so she kept those things in her desk,
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5:27 - 5:31and years later, after she retired,
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5:31 - 5:34I watched some of those same kids come through
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5:34 - 5:36and say to her, "You know, Ms. Walker,
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5:36 - 5:38you made a difference in my life.
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5:38 - 5:39You made it work for me.
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5:39 - 5:41You made me feel like I was somebody,
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5:41 - 5:45when I knew, at the bottom, I wasn't.
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5:45 - 5:47And I want you to just see what I've become."
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5:47 - 5:50And when my mama died two years ago at 92,
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5:50 - 5:53there were so many former students at her funeral,
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5:53 - 5:56it brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone,
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5:56 - 5:59but because she left a legacy of relationships
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5:59 - 6:02that could never disappear.
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6:02 - 6:06Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely.
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6:06 - 6:11Will you like all your children? Of course not.
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6:11 - 6:15And you know your toughest kids are never absent.
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6:15 - 6:17(Laughter)
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6:17 - 6:20Never. You won't like them all,
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6:20 - 6:24and the tough ones show up for a reason.
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6:24 - 6:26It's the connection. It's the relationships.
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6:26 - 6:28And while you won't like them all,
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6:28 - 6:32the key is, they can never, ever know it.
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6:32 - 6:36So teachers become great actors and great actresses,
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6:36 - 6:38and we come to work when we don't feel like it,
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6:38 - 6:41and we're listening to policy that doesn't make sense,
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6:41 - 6:45and we teach anyway.
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6:45 - 6:49We teach anyway, because that's what we do.
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6:49 - 6:52Teaching and learning should bring joy.
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6:52 - 6:54How powerful would our world be
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6:54 - 6:58if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks,
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6:58 - 6:59who were not afraid to think,
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6:59 - 7:01and who had a champion?
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7:01 - 7:03Every child deserves a champion,
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7:03 - 7:05an adult who will never give up on them,
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7:05 - 7:08who understands the power of connection,
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7:08 - 7:12and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.
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7:12 - 7:17Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha.
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7:17 - 7:20But it is not impossible.
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7:20 - 7:22We can do this. We're educators.
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7:22 - 7:24We're born to make a difference.
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7:24 - 7:26Thank you so much.
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7:26 - 7:31(Applause)
- Title:
- Every kid needs a champion
- Speaker:
- Rita Pierson
- Description:
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Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:48
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for Every kid needs a champion |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 4/16/2015.