The More We Become - Create Your Own Insights On How to Transform Your World and Our World

Inspiration: The Starting Point

I remember reading this poem on a poster in high school and being so impressed by these simple, and yet profound, truths. I remember rushing to share Max Ehrman’s words with a high school friend who was also pretty spiritual. We enjoyed talking about life’s “truth” and “secrets.” For one reason or another, I’ve always been fascinated by these principles we uncovered. I wanted to better understand life. I wanted to comprehend what made people “successful,” “happy,” and “fulfilled.” In the process, I found myself wanting to make a positive difference to those around me.

In high school, I also watched a documentary that changed my life. The name of the documentary was called the Eye of the Storm. The documentary was about a 3rd grade teacher from Wisconsin by the name of Mrs. Jane Elliot. Mrs. Elliot wanted to teach her students about discrimination, so that they would not become prejudiced towards those who were different. The inspiration for her lesson was sparked by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Mrs. Elliot was distraught at how people could abuse, discriminate, or kill someone solely on the basis of the color of their skin. She was determined that her students would not grow up to hate others just because they were different. Mrs. Elliot was going to turn this tragedy into something empowering for her students. She told her 3rd graders, all of whom were white, that they will not only learn about discrimination intellectually, but they would experience what it felt like.

Mrs. Elliot first separated the children in terms of the color of their eyes. On the first day, she said that her blue-eyed children were superior to her brown-eyed children. She pointed out how well blue-eyed children did certain things. She gave specific examples of how brown-eyed people were rude, less intelligent, and, thus, inferior. Mrs. Elliot made the brown-eyed children sit in the back of the classroom. The brown-eyed students had to wear armbands (an obvious reference to Jews being forced to wear them in Nazi Germany), indicating that they were the “inferior” group. They were not allowed to get drinks of water like the blue-eyed children. Not surprisingly, during the course of the day when the students took their test, the brown-eyed children did much worse than the blue-eyed children. What was most fascinating, according to Mrs. Elliot, was the dramatic changes in the blue-eyed children. The blue-eyed children, who had been amicable kids and friends with the brown-eyed children just the day before, became power hungry, nasty, and egotistical. They pointed out ways that Ms. Elliot could control and put their brown-eyed classmates “in place.” Many of the “superior” students teased and harassed their brown-eyed peers.

On the second day, Mrs. Elliot reversed the roles. She made the brown-eyed children the “superior” group. As you may have guessed, the brown-eyed children reacted similarly as their blue-eyed classmates had the day before. Astonishingly, the brown-eyed children performed significantly better on a similar test than they did the day before. The blue-eyed students, now considered “inferior,” did worse than their brown-eyed counterparts, and significantly worse than the previous day. And these were the results after only two days! One can only imagine what it means for certain groups of people who have to deal with this prejudice on a daily basis. Wouldn’t this affect their self-perception and impact their ability to succeed in our society? Mrs. Elliot’s lesson also captured a small representation of what happens in history and in our society when those who have power and privilege keep other groups in lower positions.

A longitudinal study was done 14 years later on these same students. All of Mrs. Elliot’s former students noted how they appreciated people who were different. Some even had to deal with negative reactions from other whites, who were not so receptive to their less-biased treatment of blacks and other minorities. Incredibly, Mrs. Elliot has also done this lesson with adults and produced similar results. It’s a fascinating study of what humans are capable of, from both a positive and negative standpoint. To see this extraordinary documentary piece, I encourage you to go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html

The Ripple Effect

So, how did this documentary become the impetus for my decision to become a teacher, and ultimately lead to my inspiration to write this book? I had an epiphany, as I realized that if, like Mrs. Jane Elliot, I was able to make a difference with my future students, that not only would it help them, but that it would also benefit those that they have the privilege to encounter and impact. Indeed, Jane’s students will not only appreciate differences and treat others fairly, but they will also pass their lessons and values on to their future generations. I got excited about the notion of a positive ripple effect I could contribute to if I became a teacher.

When I first started, I found out teaching was tough! I had a rough time during my first year as a teacher in New Jersey. I had a difficult time controlling the students in many of my classes. There were three different courses I had to prepare for each day, with over 125 students. That’s a lot of papers to grade! I must have averaged about four hours of sleep during the week. After a few months on the job, I felt burnt out. Needless to say, the school did not hire me back at the end of the year. My supervisor commented, “Some people are born to teach,” inferring I was not one of them. How about that for encouragement?

I thought about quitting, but decided I needed to give myself at least another year. At the time, my brother had bought a series of tapes from Anthony Robbins called Personal Power. I was curious, so I started to listen to his tapes. I found the tapes to be quite practical and uplifting. As a result of listening to Tony’s tapes, when I got a teaching job in the Bronx that September, I entered my second year of teaching with a very positive mindset. However, at my new school, many of the veteran teachers were very negative and pessimistic, especially about the students they taught. I did the smart thing of avoiding those teachers. Instead, I looked for teachers who were producing results with students and picked their brains for ideas on how I could be a teacher of impact. This was one of the principles of success I learned from listening to Mr. Robbins’ tapes--if you want to produce results at a faster pace, model the beliefs and actions of those who have achieved what you are looking to accomplish. The other thing I did that kept me in a positive state of mind was listening to inspirational tapes on my car ride to work. Not only did I come into work feeling positive, but the tapes provided ideas I often thought about and drew from. I had a fantastic second year as a teacher and did a 180 degree turn around from the year before. I became a popular teacher with my students and was respected as one of the top teachers at the school.

Over the next 15 years as a teacher, I was able to get my students to accomplish what many of my colleagues were not able to. What made the difference? What I found working in the school systems for all these years, was that a major challenge that got in the way of our students reaching their potential was the way many teachers saw our students. Having some very challenging students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, including students arriving to America for the first time and children labeled “special”-- we had students who not only had to deal with their own issues that they brought to school, but were facing what we educators called the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” Too often students were asked to do less than what they could achieve. I saw that educators who were producing noticeable results not only pushed their students to do more, but they also provided the support they needed to achieve success. Without a doubt, if I had any one strength as a teacher, it was a strong and stubborn belief in my students’ potential; I believe they are no different than any children in terms of potential regardless of where they came from.

I took it personally to prove that my students can achieve and do more than what others were asking of them. For example, I would get my students to stay after school. I formed the Homework Club with a like-minded colleague of mine, where we invited student study captains to get their classmates to come after school. The Homework Club provided a space for our English as a Second Language (ESL) students to stay and do homework and get academic support from each other and the teachers. We went from less than one-third of homework completed to over 50 % completion in our 11th-grade team. I did a research project where I had students take research notes and write a paper, then use the information to create a pop-up book. Every student completed at least the research notes and the paper, and most students were able to complete the pop-up book in time to present it to the underclass students. Some of my students pulled all-nighters to get it done on time. To accomplish this, I borrowed over 40 books from suburban libraries in New Jersey, as there were only a handful of books I was able to find in the Bronx. I also stayed late with my students, often until 8:30 pm, for two weeks before the pop-up book was due.

Students were required to pass NY state exams called Regents in...