Eric Thomas - The Secret to Success

CHAPTER

20

Miracle Territory

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen – Hebrew 11:1

I was driving through campus one day during my lunch break and I noticed the president of the university, Delbert Baker, standing on the curb by the Physical Plant building. I pulled over and asked him if everything was okay. He said that his car was in the shop and he needed a ride to the mechanic. What were the chances that the President of the university is standing on the corner needing a ride just as I am passing by? I knew God had placed me in Miracle Territory again. He told me his wife had been telling him about the impact I had on their youngest son Jonathan. Jonathan was deep into the Bible but struggled with the content of certain textbooks. I decided to use some of the religious materials he enjoyed to teach him the lessons as opposed to asking him to learn it in the traditional way. Not only was his interest in school rekindled, our relationship grew. As we drove on President Baker asked me why I hadn’t finished my degree and I responded that it was because of financial struggles. A few minutes later, he made a phone call and I had a full, all expense paid scholarship to finish the rest of my degree. He hooked me up with a workstudy position in the office of Recruitment. My job was to travel to high schools throughout the country and recruit students to Oakwood. I was truly in Miracle Territory, and this time I had no plans on leaving.

The thing I love about Miracle Territory is that it is always so random. It usually happens when you least expect it. One day I was in church enjoying service when Mrs. Pressely walked up beside me and asked, “Eric, can I talk to you after church? The school is interested in having you speak to the student body sometime next week?” I didn’t have any other commitments so I told her I would love to do it. The session went very well and the following week I met with the principal, Mrs. Fryson about taking a position as a substitute teacher. She explained to me that the English teacher had broken her ankle and they needed a replacement until she recovered. I was originally told the teacher would be out for about five to six weeks. Two months had passed and she still hadn’t returned. Mrs. Fryson eventually hired a new English teacher and offered me a fulltime position as the speech and drama teacher for the remainder of the year and the following year. I gladly accepted.

Oakwood Academy

I am a firm believer that good things do happen to good people; it’s just a matter of timing. Those four years in the projects helping high school dropouts get their G.E.D. paid off in a major way. It gave me over five years of experience in the classroom. Even though I didn’t have my college degree at the time I was still hired by Mrs. Fryson because of that experience. She told me when she reviewed resume that she based her decision on several factors. One factor was the impact I had on students. In less than half a year I was able to help a number of failing and borderline students regain the confidence in their academic abilities as well as get them excited about learning. Another was that fact that I was back in school and only a few semesters from completing my degree. After all those years of working primarily for free, I could finally tell De that I had my first real job with benefits!

Those few years at the academy were huge. For one, Mrs. Fryson’s decision to hire me elevated my confidence in a major way. Oakwood was a small community so it was no secret that some of the more influential members of the school board disapproved of her decision to hire me. That made me work that much harder for her. She pushed me professionally and personally but she never tried to box me in. Instead, she created a structure that harnessed my creativity and supported my unconventional teaching style. I will always be indebted to her for believing in me and giving me a chance when others were not willing to do so.

The love and support I received from my students also helped shape me as an educator. They trusted me enough to embrace my untraditional instructional style and respected me to the point that they made every attempt possible to reach the standards I set. We cried together, we traveled together, we laughed together, and more importantly we grew and matured together.

It would be impossible to share my entire teaching experience in this book. But there are some specific reasons I was able to experience a high level of success working with my students.

Tip 1: Build a relationship

After struggling early with some of the more challenging students in my class, I sought advice from a mentor who had been working with troubled youth for a number of years. The advice was simple yet game changing: “They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” It’s not uncommon for these students to be abandoned by one or more parents, and that often leads to a mistrust of adults. I decided to take a personal interest in my student’s life. I stayed after school a day or two a week and got to know them. Sometimes we would play a little basketball or I would simply ask questions about their life at home. How are your siblings doing? How did your basketball game go the other day? Simple questions like that allowed the student to see that I cared about them not only academically but personally as well. I saw how demonstrating that type of interest went a long way not only in my relationship with the students but its affect on their academics.

Tip 2: Remember each student is different

While it is important as educators to use our past experiences to deal with future situations, remember that no two students are the same. Early in my career I was guilty of placing certain expectations on a student because I recognized similar behavioral patterns from previous students that I struggled to reach. For example, if I had two students with anger issues that failed to thrive in my class the previous year, the next year I automatically assumed that there was no possible way to reach the student who demonstrated similar personality characteristics. By making that assumption, I often failed to make a legitimate attempt at maximizing the students learning potential, instead choosing to focus on the students who “had a chance to succeed.” My thought processes were quickly redirected through a number of “success stories” (including my own), and from that day forward, I treated each and every student as a unique individual.

Tip 3: Find a balance

Like so many new teachers, I made a critical error. That error was trying to be the “Cool Teacher.” Being young and naïve I figured I would waltz in the classroom with my hiphop approach and the students would automatically respond to me because of my swag (although back then it wasn’t swag, it was…fresh). While it was true that the students loved being in my class, it wasn’t because of my depth of knowledge and intellectual creativity, it was because I was a pushover. By refusing to discipline students in fear that they may not think I was a cool teacher, the students ran circles around me. However, I observed teachers with the exact opposite style, yelling and screaming at the students, writing referrals and sending students to the office, and they too failed to positively impact their students academically. By the second semester, I discovered a balance that is still effective to this day. I set the tone in the class. I was the teacher and they were the students. I made the rules and they followed the rules. I set high expectations and they did their best to reach them. I acknowledged their accomplishments and affirmed them every opportunity I had. There were some casual moments in the classroom but I also made sure there were tough and focused moments.