Recently I finished up the second embedded module of a teacher training series. After the first module there was one particular teacher who was not happy to be in the room and was not buying anything I was saying. From her body language, it was obvious that she though I was wasting her time.

On the second day, her attitude was a little better, but not by much. She was polite, but probably more out of respect to her principal than to me. After her session, she left without a word and I continued training staff for the rest of the day without giving her another thought.

Then as I am walking out of the school at the end of the day, she happens to walk out of her room at the same time. She looks at me and the following exchange occurs,

“Sean.”

“Yes ma’am?”

“That stuff you’ve been talking about.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It actually works.”

“Thanks for giving it a shot.”

“You’re welcome.”

Right there, in an already eventful year, that was one of the top ten conversations that I’ve had this year. Helping a rookie teacher is fine, but when you can help a veteran teacher become even more effective, then you know that what you are doing is worth while.

I’ve trained a lot of teachers this year, all I ask is that you just try a little bit. The job that gets easier will be your own.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…