Value Adds Value!

On this episode we were joined by teacher and Chicago native Dwayne Reed! We were blown away by the fact that Dwayne just completed his first year in the classroom. We chose to call this episode 'significance of our words' because Dwayne is one of the most articulate and thoughtful people we've ever met. Dwayne took a nontraditional path to the classroom and he continues that path as and educator. He creates and uses original songs and chants with his class to get them into routines and refuses to accept the status quo. Prior to his first year of teaching he reached out to the parents of his students and was able to meet with many of them before the year began. He says this was a foundational piece to his classroom culture as the students and parents both knew he was on their side. Among many other pieces of advice Dwayne stressed the need for teachers to have a strong sense of purpose and use that purpose to provide validation and affirmation to their students as both learners and people. We hope you enjoy