Brenda and Mrs. Duncan

“I can remember she’s the one who helped me fall in love with reading because she would read novels to us out loud in class. I can remember having my head down on my desk and it was like being in another world with her. As she read out loud to us, I would be lost in the story.

That is the year I told my parents I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up because I wanted to help students fall in love with reading like she did for me.

While I was in college, I actually went back to my old elementary school and she was still there. I wanted to tell her what an influence she had in my life and that she was one of the reasons I was going into teaching.

And it was funny. She looked exactly the same to me. She was still there and I could tell it meant so much to her that I made the effort to go back and find her and thank her for her influence on my life.

What is the heart of a teacher?

“When I think about the heart of a teacher I think of someone who just really cares for her students so deeply and not just for their academic abilities. But also wants to make a difference in their lives—in every area of their lives also.”

How do you create “expectancy”

I just remind teachers. That if you are going to capture the heart of a student you have to start off with bringing something interesting into your lesson to capture their attention. I always call it, “the hook” of the lesson. Because if you don’t pull them in with you from the very beginning, they are just not going to be listening to you when you get to the “meat” of the lesson.