Tag Archives: Teacher Inspiration
Teacher and motivational speaker Dr. Danny Brassell offers inspiration for the classroom
Many successful classroom teachers go on to become excellent motivational speakers and/or superb trainers of neophyte teachers. Dr. Danny Brassell, a former elementary school teacher, does both!
Teacher and motivational speaker Dr. Danny Brassell
Danny was born into a middle-class family in upstate New York. While he was growing up, his family moved frequently, but his parents always emphasized the importance of education. Danny was ingrained with a strong work ethic, and even at a young age he was a hard worker. He took many jobs as a youngster, including newspaper delivery, babysitting, sandwich making, and busing tables. As a young man, he worked as an attendant at a health club, a paralegal, an assistant to a US Congressman, an archivist at a homeless shelter, and a freelance journalist. In addition to being well-traveled within the United States, Danny has also traveled to over 50 countries worldwide.
Danny graduated from Durango High School in Durango, La Plata County, Colorado. He earned Bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Print Journalism from American University in 1994. In 1996, he completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Multicultural Education from California State University. In 2001, Danny earned his PH.D. in Education from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Danny inaugurated his career as a classroom teacher at an inner-city elementary students in Compton, California. In 1996, he began teaching at California State University. A tenured professor in the Teacher Education Department, he works with beginning teachers and administrators. He has taught courses in educational theory, reading, second language acquisition, and multiculturalism. Danny helped coordinate alternative teaching credential programs that served over 4,000 teachers in 150 schools throughout 14 school districts. In addition, Danny taught international students English as a Second Language at the American Language Institute at the University of Southern California. He is the founding director of a Master’d degree program offered by Loyola Marymount University’s, in partnership with Teach for America.
You can find out more about this amazing chalkboard champion at his website, dannybrassell.com. You can also view the short excerpt of one of his motivational speeches from March 6, 2017. Simply click below.
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Gifting for Teacher Appreciation Day!
Super Teacher!
Teacher Appreciation Day is just around the corner! When trying to decide just the right gift to give to your friends and family members that are teachers, or that special teacher that works with your child, consider copies of Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists.
Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.
In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.
All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this year on Teacher Appreciation Day!
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How To Not Be Hard on Yourself
As teachers, we set high standards for ourselves and for our students. After all, reaching for the stars is how one gets off the ground. But sometimes, when we reflect on our performance in the classroom or on our interactions with kids and parents, we tend to be overly critical of ourselves. I stumbled across this graphic yesterday, and decided to share it. It offers good advice for everyone who tends to be too self-judgmental, not just teachers. Enjoy!
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Teacher Haley Curfman Wears Her Students’ Artwork
Here’s a teacher who really knows how to celebrate her students. She’s Haley Curfman, a second grade teacher at Blackwell Elementary School in Blackwell, Oklahoma.
For the second year in a row, she brought a white dress to school and encouraged her students to fill the fabric with their art work. “This is something I’d seen on Pinterest a few years ago, and I fell in love with the idea,” she says. “I think every teacher should do this! It’s a great project and an even better keepsake.”
Haley says she purchased an inexpensive white dress, and pre-washed it before she brought it to the classroom. With fabric markers she purchased from Walmart, she set up an activity station that featured the dress, the markers, and pieces of cardboard to place between the layers of fabric. She reports that it took approximately a month to complete, because the students worked on it intermittently as time allowed. When the students were finished adding their artwork, she wore the dress for a class party, and then put it on display.
“It’s been pointed out that this idea has been around way longer than Pinterest,” discloses Haley. “Teachers have been sharing their dresses, aprons, quilts, T-shirts, etc. with me that they’ve been creating since the 1950’s with the same concept. Which is awesome, and I love that you are sharing them with me! Thank you all so much for your kindness and support!” she concludes.
For more of Haley’s classroom projects, check out her Facebook page at The Weary Teacher.
