Becoming a Generational Teacher

What's up PE Nation!

MJ vs. Lebron- It's not even close!!! We explore the concept of becoming a "generational teacher" - an educator whose impact extends beyond a single academic year to influence generations of students through meaningful connections and holistic teaching approaches.

• Go big with your ideas - don't be afraid to rock the boat for a greater cause
• Help make great human beings, not just athletes - focus on developing character alongside skills
• Build relationships that matter - learn names, have fun with students, and show genuine interest
• Leave a legacy of impact - teach from the heart and care about your students as your own

Happy teaching,

Dave

Be a Generational Teacher-article

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Super Size for Zed
• 1:44 Debating "Generational" Talent in Sports
• 4:55 Four Ways to Become a Generational Teacher
• 6:34 Make Great Humans, Not Just Athletes
• 8:21 Building Relationships That Matter
• 11:41 Leaving a Legacy of Impact

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:11

Hello and welcome to the Super Size for Zed podcast. My name is Dave and today let's talk generational talent, more specifically, being a generational teacher. What is it and how do we become it? Well, let's find out Without further ado. Here we go. Welcome in PE Nation.

Speaker 1: 0:45

So first off, again, I appreciate everybody listening in. When I've been looking recently at some new places and just countries that have been listening to this podcast, I again I'm blown away. I know I've said that a little bit recently, but I really do mean it. I think I'm listening, or people are listening, from 99 different countries and I need that hundred. Come on, come on, spread the word, spread the word, let's go. But I really do appreciate it and I don't take that lightly. My goal is always is to provide hopefully good, positive, you know teaching strategies and tips and maybe inspire you in some way, and that's what I'm going to do today. I hope, hopefully. So this one is definitely more of an less tactical and more just how we live our lives, I guess, as teachers, and so this made me think about this generational thing I'm going to talk about today how to be a generational teacher.

Speaker 1: 1:49

Well, my son cracks me up. He's funny, he's 15 and a half. He's big into sports now, especially the NBA and the NFL. I am not really an NBA fan. I used to be. I mean I watch it a little bit because of him, but definitely more I'm definitely NFL and he's just funny. He always talks about these generational players and I've never really heard that term until I don't know past five years, I don't even know. And him and I debate all the time about sports. It's kind of funny, even know, and him and I debate all the time about sports. It's kind of funny.

Speaker 1: 2:28

So, first of all, he thinks that anyone who played basketball or football in the, I guess in the eighties or seventies or whenever he calls them plumbers, he's like oh, they were just plumbers. They weren't you know these tremendous athletes, they were just it was like a part-time job for them, like you know. I mean you're talking about like Hall of Famers like Will Chamberlain and some of these guys 60s, 70s, 80s I guess and he's like, well, compared to today's players and the competition wasn't as strong and everything like that. And of course he's wrong about that. He just won't listen to it. He's a good kid but he's very hard-headed when it comes to this. And we debate the Michael Jordan and LeBron thing constantly and I like to get under his skin actually. So I mean, come on, michael Jordan's the greatest of all time. Just let's stop right there. And he gets really upset about it. So I'll send him these Instagram or whatever YouTube clips and things like that to back it up with stats and things. And I've seen Michael Jordan play in person just once, but I mean he was amazing and so it's just kind of funny.

Speaker 1: 3:31

We go back and forth on this. So, anyways, recently we've debated the term generational. So what is a generational player? And that's really what we've been debating. I would think that a generational player only comes around once in a you know, generation, right? Um, and I came up with some from the sports world um, definitely wayne gretzky in the in hockey, michael jordan, nba I'm saying there's different positions, but tom brady in the nfl, uh, clayton kershaw in baseball, I'd say mike trout, there's other, there's a. I mean there's a lot in different sports, different positions. Lionel Messi in soccer, and I don't know much about soccer, so you can debate me or whatever, I don't know that much about soccer, but I know he's the one right now and these players change the game and we're the best at their positions. But I hear this generational term a lot nowadays. Not every player can be destined for greatness. Only the best of the best should hold this title.

Speaker 1: 4:29

So I was thinking about this in education. I mean, do you want to be a generational teacher? Do you want to inspire a legion of students for years and years, helping them reach their highest potential? Do you want to be known as the goat in your field, the greatest of all time? Well, I do, and here's our plan on becoming generational. I'm going to give you four ways to become generational and let's make this a boomer. Here we go.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Number one is go big with your ideas, and I'm an idea guy. That's the good news. The bad news is I'm not always the best at the details. I've had a lot of great ideas that hit and a lot of it missed. I've hit with my grant writing, some of the equipment I brought to my school. You know other things like that, my chute ball tournament. That's been a big hit. I've missed with trying to implement some new things into my program. That didn't work or the administration was like, yeah, no, um.

Speaker 1: 5:23

The key is to keep going, and I actually I'm not kidding you. Yesterday I said this to my principal because I'm trying to get my um and I'll I can look this in the show notes my next level leadership program going where I do like almost like a martial arts system where it's like belts but it's really wristbands, and I literally said that to her yesterday. I'm like I'm a big idea guy and I'm sorry Sometimes I miss the details. That's me, but I'm going to keep going and she appreciates that. She said well, I want people to think outside the box, I want new ideas and I appreciate her for saying that.

Speaker 1: 5:59

But I will say this don't be afraid to rock the boat for a greater cause. If you know what you're doing will benefit your students, in the end it's worth it. Your students will always remember what you did for them. You know way after you left your school and you know you can be a bit of a troublemaker. I'm not saying in a really bad way, I'm just saying like a you know, rock the boat a little bit, try some new ideas, try some new things. Sometimes it's better asked for forgiveness than permission. It's worth it to go big with your ideas. Just don't tell them I put you up to it. That's number one. Number two is help make great human beings, not just athletes, and this is my mantra. I don't really have a mantra, but if I had one, this would be it.

Speaker 1: 6:42

As a PE teacher, it's my job, it's your job, to teach skills and instill knowledge. You know, of course I want my students to know about healthy food choices, how to ride a bike, how to throw and catch, how to kick a ball. You know we do all this stuff, of course, the skills, the strategies, the tactics. But if that's all I'm teaching, I'm missing the point. I want to help children become better people. I mean, that's just the bottom line. To make mistakes, learn from them, to apologize after they hurt somebody, to say please and thank you, to resolve conflicts with their peers, to win and lose with grace Of course that's a big one. To help others on their team, to be a kind human being. That's it, I mean. It's, of course, more than that. Our job is everything included, but that's that's the biggest thing.

Speaker 1: 7:26

You know, I've said this a lot to my students in the past. By the way, I've I've said to them you know, if one of you becomes a famous athlete, I'll be just ecstatic, I'll be so happy. I'll watch you on TV, I'll root for you every game. The odds are really slim. No, I didn't say that to them. I don't think. But I always tell them to reach for their dreams. So not everyone's going to become a famous athlete, but everybody in my class can become an amazing adult, an amazing human being, and I'm not saying it's all me. I'm just saying I can help facilitate the process. Of course, their parents, their friends, their mentors in their lives. I'm not saying it's all me, but I'm saying I can facilitate helping them become an amazing person, an amazing adult that contributes to society. Well, contributes is a hard word to say Contributes to society. You know I will root for them always in that way, and that is number two.

Speaker 1: 8:21

Number three is build relationships that matter, and one of the things that I struggle with the most is knowing students' names, and I know it sounds terrible, but how can you build a relationship if you don't even know their name? And I struggle with this always. I always struggle with this. My school has almost a thousand students. My former school had more than that.

Speaker 1: 8:45

As a PE teacher, I see them all and you know I don't see them like one class at a time. I see three to four classes at a time, so my brain doesn't have room to fit a thousand students' names on a rotating basis. You know, yearly I get, I lose my fifth graders, I gain new kindergartners. It's hard and I try my best. I play games that we do, like name games. I study the yearbooks. I ask students to remind me. I'm like hey, what's that kid's name? Again, he's new this year. You know that kind of thing and a lot of times I mean it sticks, but sometimes it doesn't. I work really hard at it, but one of the key things is to know their names and start connecting with them. So here's some things I'm focusing on.

Speaker 1: 9:22

Yes, learning their names is number one. Number two is having fun with them. Just have fun with the kids. Play the games with them. Don't just stand there and say, hey, go do 10 jumping jacks. Do the jumping jacks with them. Have fun with them. Unless you physically can't, I get it, but if you can physically do it, you know walk the walk, show them. You know silliness. Have fun, ask them questions. You know about their lives. You know go go to functions and you know little league games.

Speaker 1: 9:51

And you know my, my kids play sports so I see a lot of my students out and about, you know, at flag football and that kind of thing. So you know it's it's nice to see them out there and talk to their families and just get to know them as people and not just you know students that come in and out for 40 or 50 minutes. Show them that you care about them as as people as well. Like you know again, ask them about their weekends, ask them what they did and I know you can't do that Like I can't do that with I don't know 90 to 100 students at a time, but you know I do try to connect with different students as much as I can in the hallways, you know, before class, after class, things like that.

Speaker 1: 10:28

Tell them what you're interested in. My students know that I'm from Buffalo, new York, originally, and Buffalo Bills are my team. The Buffalo Bills are definitely my team and all my well. The little students, the younger students, probably don't really get it, but you know my older students they know it, they'll be like Coach. You know we're going to play you tonight Because it was just recently the Miami Dolphins versus the Bills a couple nights ago and we won. But you know a lot of the students are Miami Dolphins fans, so it'll be like, you know, just fun rivalry stuff. You know, tell them what you're interested in and I'm interested in more than that, by the way.

Speaker 1: 11:04

And the last one is, you know, give them high fives, fist bumps, hugs. You know, just make them see that you care. You know, help them to see that you're not just there for the paycheck, you care about them as people. Kids are perceptive. They know, you know, my daughter she's in middle school now my son's in high school. They know the teachers that care and the teachers that are just there for, you know, summer's off, they know. So show them that you care. And that is number three. Number four is leave a legacy of impact.

Speaker 1: 11:41

Now, I waited to do this podcast because when I originally I wrote an article this is an article, I'll put the show notes and when I originally wrote the article, it was 9-11. It was last week. It was, let's see, today is the 20th, so it's been a little bit. So it's been a little bit. And, as everyone knows, thousands of people died 24 years ago from a senseless, violent act really more than one act of innocent Americans, and I'll never forget that day and the pain and the hatred I felt, and I'm ashamed to say that, but it's true.

Speaker 1: 12:17

So Charlie Kirk died September 10th and you know again, if people get mad at me for this, I'm sorry. I'm just going to say this I loved watching his videos. He always debated people with grace and kindness and, yes, he tried to prove a point, but he was always kind to people when he did it and gave them grace, showed them grace, and he was a loving husband and father. And he was assassinated and I wish I never saw the video of his death, but I did. I can't get it out of my head, by the way. I can't. It'll haunt me forever.

Speaker 1: 12:51

He was a good man who didn't deserve his fate and even if you don't agree with his politics, he had two little kids and a wife and millions of people who cared about him. Maybe we didn't know him, but you know, cared and you know whether you agree with him or not, it was a senseless, terrible act. And you know I wasn't even going to talk about all this because I know people again listen from different places, even in the world, and you might not agree with this at all even in the world and you might not agree with anything at all, um, but you know I his life was taken in like a split second. I mean, he, he was on, he was talking and all of a sudden he was dead and it was just like that's going to haunt me forever. Um, it still does. It's nine days later.

Speaker 1: 13:36

I still can't stop thinking about it. I think it's because I keep seeing the videos of him and his wife together and him and his kids together. So it's not even about the politics, it's about him as a person. So it made me think of you know, when I retire or die, first I want to be remembered as a kind, caring teacher who loved his students. I've made a lot of mistakes, a lot of mistakes, and I'll continue to do so until my time is up, but hopefully I'll learn from them and be the best person I can for these children. I also want to be the best husband and father to my children.

Speaker 1: 14:09

You know I can't tell you exactly how to leave this legacy of impact. I just know, if you teach from the heart and you care about your students and you love your students as your own, you can't go wrong, because your students need you and that's how you become generational. And I won't even do a cowbell tip of the day that. That is it. I just um, sorry on a little down note there, but that thing just really bothered me.

Speaker 1: 14:33

It's been bothering me for over a week now and I just really hope that you take time with your family, your friends and you know, reflect on what it is to be a generational teacher, what it is to be a great, just a human being. And, yeah, I'll leave you with that. I don't need to talk about my articles and links and stuff like that. Just be a generational teacher by being a great human being to others, and that is it. Have a great day, like I said, week, weekend, whenever you listen to this P Nation, I care about you. Whatever your politics are, it doesn't matter, I don't care, it's about humanity and I hope you have a great day, week, weekend, whenever you listen to this. And, yes, let's keep pushing our profession forward. Thank you.