Fawn Nguyen
TMC15
Saturday Keynote
Claremont, CA
The Five F's
Fast
Fair
Friendly
Firm
Funny
Building relationships trumps content, pedagogy, common core, testing
Rita Pierson Ted Talk- Every Kid Needs a Champion
Relationships with Administrators
- realize that administrators care the same but show it differently -Glenn Waddell
- respect the position
- put things in writing
- invite them in the classroom
- never bad mouth admin
Relationships with Colleagues
- be willing to share ALL the lessons
- imagine YOUR kid in their class
- take care of each other
- speak well of them to students
Relationships with Parents
- the parent is always right
- parents are sending us their best
- do not judge
Relationships with Students
- be honest with them
- guarantee a safe environment
- respect them and get to know them, laugh with them
Fawn's Sayings
- 'That makes me fart'
- 'Figure it out and make it happen'
- Be solution oriented
- Be a risk taker
- Be powerful
- 'Nobody cares'
- Focus on what matters
- Giving kids time to talk and do math is more important than the pacing guide
- Family time is more important than homework time
- Focus on the positives
- Focus on YOU, let's stop looking for affirmations
- 'That's not a choice' (for students)
- Defining boundaries
- Teaching respect and tolerance
- Empowering students
- 'That's not a choice' (for educators)
- Providing equal access
- Giving students our best
It's ALWAYS about the students!
(insert crying emjois x 100 here)
I've twitter-known Fawn for a while and definitely read her blog- and sometimes not read it just to shield myself from the awesomeness. I used visualpatterns.org once a week this entire school year. And Friday at TMC Fawn-IRL came up to me, knew me IRL name, hugged me, and said it was nice to meet ME! And I said "Nice to meet you.....awkward silence....I don't know what to say." Smooth. But I recovered and asked her about sessions. So I'm already super pumped. On the last day, I ran to get a fangirl picture with her when she tells me that *I* was one of the first blogs she followed. *gasp* So anytime you feel like no one is reading your posts or tweets, just remember, you never know when and where a Fawn might be lurking!
Her keynote was super hilarious. I will let these tweets tell the story:
And then it went so fast to emotional that I didn't even have time to think about Kleenex. It was so touching to see a teacher of over 27 years that is still moved to tears over how much she cares about her students.
And in that moment, I saw myself in her.
I will never be bitter or angry. I will never stop caring. I will never stop changing and growing. I will never stop getting better. I will never stop loving my students.
That's what a teacher woman does.
It was WONDERFUL to finally meet you, Elissa. I was your original fangirl. I was asking Hedge already on Wednesday night [at game night] from a distance if that was you because I wanted to rush over to meet you and give you a hug!! But you were talking with others. Thank you so much for this post. You were part of the best audience any speaker could ask for. I'm truly blessed to be a part of this community. xox
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