Teaching Tip #49

Teacherscribe’s Teaching Tip #49

Another key takeaway from Lee Cockerell’s interview on the Entreleadership podcast is this – “everything matters.”

Lee tells the story of how – before Disney – he worked for the Marriot hotel chain.  One day the owner, JW Marriot told Lee to go across the street and clean and polish the US Post Office box that was grimy and dirty.

Lee said, “But it’s not ours!”

Marriot said, “Yes.  But it’s next to our hotel.  Clean it.”

And he did.

Everything matters.

I think we often forget this as the year starts rolling.

What ways do we make everything matter?

One way I try to is through my room.

I put a significant amount of time and effort into my room.  It’s a reflection of my personality.  It’s entertaining.  It’s busy.  It’s wild.  It’s a reflection of me. It’s my freak flag, and I’m not afraid to let it fly.

That’s why on open house or at conferences, I always have parents comment on it.  Sometimes it’s parents whose children I don’t even have in class.  They just stick their head in and say something like, “Now, I would like to be in this classroom.”

Everything matters.  I put up things my students have given me, letters they have written me, artwork they have done for projects.

My room matters.  Nothing sucks the life out of me as a high schooler as a boring room.  What does it say?  It says, I’m just putting in my time.  I really wish I was somewhere else.

Everything matters.  I don’t want my students thinking that.