Ken Rand

This question is for extra credit. (worth 5 points). Play along with me just for fun.



Who said: 

“Each day we are born with a gift and an opportunity.  The ‘gift’ is life itself. The ‘opportunity’ is to make a difference in someone else’s life”.?

Was it…..?

1. James Edwards Olmos (as Jaime Escalante, in ‘Stand & Deliver’)
2. Kim Thomas (Illinois Teacher of the Year)
3. Robin Williams (as John Keating in Dead Poet’s society)
4. Ken Rand (me)

The answer is at the end of this chapter.

 _______________________

    The paragraph below would usually be in an ‘Introduction’ or ‘Prologue’. However, too few of us read this important information.

    This chapter and the rest of the book is written by two award winning instructors. One of them, Ken Rand (me) was nominated as one of the top 100 instructors in the United States along with other numerous ‘Teacher of the Year’ awards. Ken’s forty-seven years of experiences include teaching on a variety of grade levels from Junior High School through four-year universities. The other author Kim Thomas, a junior high school teacher (29 years), has recently been awarded the honor of Illinois ‘Teacher of the year’, and was inducted to her Alma Mater Hall of Fame, and has been a keynote speaker at a variety of educational conferences.

   Our teaching philosophies of connecting and engaging our students are remarkably similar, and we have decided to collaborate with each other on what we hope to be the definitive book for ‘new’ (and old) teachers on everything they need to know about teaching.

    When you read ‘I’ or ‘my’ this is referring to contributions by me (Ken Rand) and we will make it obvious when you are reading the unique experiences of Kim Thomas.

    Though we are both math instructors, our pedagogical practices and techniques transcend any one particular subject, and we believe they are applicable to the teaching of students on every grade level and discipline. We have also decided to include some of our own personal experiences when appropriate and hope you enjoy the ride.

We have a question for you.

So…you want to be a teacher? Why? What is it that motivates you to teach? 

    Are you trying to make the world a better place? Did you get laid off from a previous job and now teaching is your last resort? Do you feel you have a ‘calling’ to teach? Were your parent’s teachers and it is in your DNA? Are you just a lost soul and have no idea what you want to do with your life so why not teach? Or did some teacher, inspire you so much that you decided that you too wanted to inspire others? 

    Well, one thing is for sure, it isn’t the high salaries that attracted you to the teaching profession. Regardless of your reasons, you have now made the decision to become a teacher.

    The question now is, are you ready? Are you ready for two to three hours of extra work every night including weekends when instead of going to the beach or riding a bike, you will most likely be grading papers? Are you ready to spend a daily 1 – 2 hours creating the perfect lesson plan which includes using multi-media and current technology only to see yourself looking upon thirty bored faces?

    And are you ready to spend extra hours a week creating meaningful homework assignments and tests? Are you ready for possible discipline problems from your students? And are you ready for possible conflicts with parents, family members, other teachers, supervisors, and administrative assistants? And it is very possible that these possible conflicts may just be enough to ruin your day (week, month, year).

Here’s are some examples from Ken’s personal experience about the unforeseen frustrations you may face.

     This first incident, though not overtly traumatic, yet still significant, happened in my first year (1986) as a full- time college instructor. I had been at this college for four weeks and the colored pens that I use in the classroom went dry. I unfortunately made the mistake of asking the departments administrative assistant if I could get some more pens. To my shock and surprise, she instantly barked at me, “didn’t I just give you some pens two weeks ago? I don’t have any more and now I have to order them.” Wow??? Why was she so upset? What I thought was a simple request turned into a useless confrontation. Not only that, but she lied. Frustrated by her response I performed a private and thorough search. And, yes, I found some more colored markers in the cabinet. Maybe it was just my New York accent? Ha! This sounds like a minor confrontation, but it was totally unnecessary, and I was young enough and new enough on campus to let it ruin my day.

    This just reminded me of another obstacle that I unfortunately had to deal with in my very first year as a full-time community college instructor. To my California colleagues, I was a rookie, however, the truth was that I already had 16 years of teaching experience. And yes, even though I already lived in California for ten years, I did still have my New York accent.

     During a scheduled math department meeting the Dean of Math & Science gave all of us a problem to solve which was, how do we prevent the high failure and dropout rate in our math classes. There were just too many of our students and dropping out of college because they could not obtain their graduation requirements.

    The overwhelming consensus of my math colleagues (after two days of meetings) was that our students were just too lazy and that perhaps it was a good thing to weed out the weaker students. Their conclusion was unacceptable to me (and our supervisor) and I became the lone dissenter to their almost unanimous vote. It was almost repulsive to be that they thought there was nothing they could or should do to help these students.  I simply did not believe that I had a right to end someone’s dream and future without looking deeper into its causes.

    My previous teaching experiences taught me that there were so many reasons, other than laziness, that precipitated why students were having academic problems. My polite disagreement with their theory and my dissenting vote, however, put a target on my back that would take years to remove.

     There are many other stories (way too many to write about in this book) about my frustrating moments and the obstacles that I faced. These amazing experiences became the inspiration and motivation for my other book (One Student at a Time: A Teacher’s Journey) where you will read chapters such as, ‘He has a gun’, ‘The Intruder’, ‘Jacque Dawes’, ‘Sit Down, Sit Down’, and so many more.

The following stories from Kim Thomas are strikingly similar my experiences.

    My first-year teaching was a real challenge. There were several other teachers who made it too obvious that didn’t like me. Perhaps this was because my students loved me? When you start showing your love for kids, those who are not in the teaching profession for the right reasons will begin to alienate you and even be rude to you. Fortunately, there are those incredible teachers who are there for kids and because they are there for the right reasons these teachers tend to navigate towards you with unwavering support. One of these amazing teachers told me “Keep being you, don’t let the haters change you.” He was correct. And to this day, I tell the haters to kick rocks, and I will take those rocks and create a pathway of purpose for my students. Did you hear the mic drop? 

    At the end of my first year, there was a roast hosted by a teacher who didn’t like me. In fact, one of her students got moved to my room early in the year because he would not behave for her. You will learn why he succeeded in my class in the chapter about parents. Anyway, she handed me a bible and said, “this is for you because you want to save all the kids.” I replied “kids don’t need me to save them, they need us to give them whatever is necessary to reach their dreams to be successful, not to be saved. Also, you can keep the bible, I have my own.”

    Here's another story. One day I received a new student, and my message for the day was “I respect you!” At this time, I was teaching at my county safe school for kids who were expelled. This particular student was strangely very angry. She had a look of no one better get in my way. Her facial expression was saying leave me alone. When I said “Good Mathorning” she totally ignored me. I quickly noticed that she needed a pencil. This was the type of student that could definitely ruin your day. I had the message “I respect you” taped to my pencil jar. I asked her if she read the message on the pencil jar and in a very disgusted tone, her response was “NO.” I asked her if she would please read the message. She looked up at me and said “How can you respect me? You don’t know me?” I replied “I am looking forward to getting to know you, but you walked through that door into this classroom, so I give you respect. This class is all about being respectful. If I don’t show you respect, how can I expect you to respect me?” She asked with a, are you ready for this, a surprising SMILE, “You really respect me?” I replied, “Yes, and I will show you each day.”

    She said while still smiling, “I have never had a teacher tell me that. Thank you for the pencil.” We had a very happy year together all because of a note on a jar. It is the little extras that will be the most meaningful to kids, and ensure you continue to love teaching after twenty-nine years. 

    And one more. I remember a particular day that had me questioning if I should still be a teacher and trust me that even the best of us have had these days. Everything was going wrong. My lesson was off. I felt like no one was learning. Kids were testing me each second and add to that there were parents coming up to the school because of their child’s behavior. While I was speaking with a parent, another student was also waiting for me. After the parent left, I was exhausted, but I wanted to be there for my other student. She said “Mrs. Thomas, I have a problem “I have a field trip tomorrow.” I replied “That sounds like fun. You will have great time.” She responded “I don’t want to go because it is during your math class. I don’t want to miss your class.”

    Did you feel the mathbumps? Oh, excuse me, goosebumps. I just hugged her and thought this is why I teach. My day was horrible, but then because of one thing a kid said it became wonderful. It is consistently amazing how one thing a student says can make or break our day. And the reverse is so true. One small compliment to a student can change a frown to a smile very quickly. Welcome to the majestic life of a teacher.”

More about, “Why Teach?”

    Teaching is exhausting, but it is the best type of exhaustion. At the end of the day, you will be tired, but you will also be exhilarated because of what your students have accomplished. This happiness is the fuel that will make you excited for the next day. It may sound weird, but it is true. There is not a perfect day. Each day is ‘perfectly imperfect.” It is inevitable that some negative things will happen. After all, we are working with kids and young adults, and you never know what to expect (except the unexpected). Each day we make it a point to remember a positive thing a kid said or did. You need to learn to take that joy home with you. Your students will be excited to know that they will learn something new each and every day they attend your class. One positive is greater than any number of negatives. It’s mathematical, so it must be true!

    To continue our list of obstacles, are you ready to design and give the perfect test only to have half (or more) of the class fail it? And because of this failure, you first blame it on your students, then you blame it on yourself, and now you’re confused, and doubt that you have chosen the wrong profession. After this myriad of feelings, you find that you become angry at yourself, your students, your family, your neighbor, and your pet, and not necessarily in that order.

    Are you ready to give up valuable time that you previously spent with family and friends? If you want to be a great teacher and I know you do, then get ready to make these sacrifices. Finding a balance between your attempt to reach the highest levels of this profession and simultaneously having time for yourself, family and friends is a key to help prevent burnout and the incredible frustrating challenges that may lay ahead.

A side note from Ken:

    Speaking about ‘burnout’. I recently received an email from a former math colleague and was saddened to hear that he just suffered a nervous breakdown. He is only thirty-three years old. He is dedicated to his family, his students and his community and simply tried to do much for too many people. He is, in fact, a gifted instructor and communicator, but perhaps this gift and desire to please everyone finally became overwhelming. He will recover but hopefully he has learned a lesson. I too, had to learn this lesson the hard way.

    Enough said. As a teacher, you will soon learn that you need to be able to wear many hats. Not only do you need to know how to teach, but you also may need to wear your ‘counselor’ hat, or your ‘I am the boss’ hat, and even your “entertainer’ hat and sometimes even a ‘confidant’ hat. Which hat you wear on which day is just another challenge that teachers must face each day.

    The whole point is that these are examples of how unforeseen and frustrating obstacles may ruin your day, (week, month, year?). in your classroom.

Here are Ken’s thoughts on “Why we teach”.

    Having written about all of the obstacles and frustrations, teaching is without a doubt, one of the most rewarding professions you can ever dream about pursuing. To have students come up to you, years later, sometimes many years later, and tell you that you inspired them to become a teacher, is a WOW moment. And when students tell you with tears in their eyes, that you that your motivational speech on ‘making choices’, that had nothing to do with math, literally changed their life, is another WOW moment. And when students come up to you after class and tell you that they now understand a specific topic for the first time in their life, is an incredibly amazing feeling. 

    And to have a student who failed a math course four previous times with four other instructors, and they now have you as their instructor for their fifth (and last) attempt, and then that same student deserved and received an “A” in your class is an indescribable feeling.

     There’s more. This same student also went on to graduate a four-year college and go on to teach that same course that they had failed on four previous attempts. And then they go on to become a supervisor of their math department. This incredible true story about Patricia Garcia is Chapter 38 in my other book, “One Student at a Time.”

    Then there’s also the student who upon your retirement, writes you a hand-written letter where they tell you that you are their CHAMPION, and that they hope that you do not retire but are there for them for all of their future educational challenges. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

    There is however, one more story in particular that I would like to share with you. The complete story about Michael is in Chapter One of my book, “One Student at a Time: A Teacher’s Journey.”

    Michael Hadley was a 13-year-old teenager who was transferred into both my seventh-grade homeroom class and my general math class. This transfer happened during the latter part of my first year of teaching—1967/68—at a junior high school in the Bronx, New York.

     Michael was a slender and lanky African American young man, weighing around 120 pounds and standing about 5’8”. That’s pretty tall for a seventh grader. He had a beautiful black complexion, pearly white teeth, and big bright eyes.

    Shortly after Michael was transferred to my classes, I found out that I was the fourth teacher to have Michael as a transfer student. He was also the sixth male student to be transferred to my classes in a six-week period. Michael had the reputation of being a major discipline problem who was on the safe side of ‘crazy’ and he was every teacher’s nightmare.

    The date was April 5, 1968. It was the day after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. I was with my seventh-grade homeroom class. Michael had now been in my class for about two months. Two months of me tearing my curly hair out trying to discipline Michael.

    Early that Friday morning, while we were still in our homeroom class, there was an announcement over the school loudspeaker. The assistant principal said we would soon have a moment of silence in honor of Dr. King.

    I clearly remember sitting at my desk in front of the room during the announcement. My head was down on my desk, trying to hold back my tears and emotions for the loss of the man I so admired. I was saddened by the death of this great man, and also feeling ashamed for being white. A white man, James Earl Ray, had killed Dr. King, and for some reason I just felt the guilt of a nation.

    During this moment of silence, as I was sitting at my desk with my head still down, I could hear many of my students crying. It wasn’t long before there wasn’t a dry eye in the classroom. All of my students—black, white, or Hispanic, it didn’t matter—were all shaken by the tragedy.

    During our grieving, while I was trying to focus on our collective pain, I heard a chair moving in the back of the room. I momentarily picked up my head, and saw Michael get out of his seat as he too often did. I remember thinking I’m not in the mood to deal with him. Not now Michael.

    I ignored him and immediately put my head back down, holding it in my hands with my elbows. Except for the sound of crying, there was a cold silence in the room. Through that silence, I could hear Michael footsteps as he slowly walked up to my desk.

    Without hesitating Michael came right up to my desk, looked at me and said, “What’s wrong Mr. Rand?” Now I’m thinking, Huh? What? This is not the disruptive Michael that I know. I told him, without looking at him, “Michael, there are no words to express to you how I feel right now.” And then Michael—crazy, uncontrollable Michael—surprisingly put his arm around my shoulder to comfort me. What’s he doing?

    He then said with a slight smile, “Don’t worry Mr. Rand, I understand. I know how you feel. You and me, we are the same color.”

    This was a “WOW!” moment for me. A black national hero just got assassinated by a white man and this black student, a too-often misbehaving black student, tells me, a white teacher, that he and I are the same color.

    To this day, what Michael said to me, has been one of the most beautiful and meaningful things ever said to me in my entire life. In doing so, he validated who I hoped to be as a person. If you take a minute to absorb what Michael said to me, you too will understand the beauty of his thoughts.

    So, why did I choose to before a teacher. Actually, I think teaching choose me (another chapter in my book). The better question is why did I stay in teaching? The answer is because of Michael, Jacques, Dorothy, Dirk, Patricia, and hundreds, if not thousands of other students, whom I was fortunate enough to learn from.

Kim’s “Why we teach.”

    Whatever your why is, it must be student-centered. All my students know they are the reason I show up to school. Each day I have a different message on the board for them to read. 

    A week before my scheduled trip to Texas where I was going to meet the other state teachers of the year, I received an email from a former student. This student and I hadn’t spoken within twenty years. She wanted to congratulate me on the Illinois teacher of the year award and was thankful that God had put me in her life as her favorite teacher. I had no idea I meant this much to her. She then asked for some help with finding a math tutor. Her email ended with “Love ya!!” 

    Once I am your math mom, I am always for math mom. These relationships that last forever is another reason why we teach, Amelia and I set up a time to meet when I returned from my trip.

    At a banquet dinner in Texas, a representative from the University of Phoenix said she has a surprise gift for us. I would have never guessed this gift. The University of Phoenix gave each state teacher a pay it forward scholarship for one non-relative person in our lives! I jumped from my seat and began to dance and holler with joy. I have always wished I could pay for my students' college, and now I was blessed with this opportunity. All of a sudden, I froze, and thought ‘is this why God had Amelia get in touch with me’? 

    At my reunion with Amelia, she shared that she dropped out of school to raise her two boys. She continually talked about the importance of education and now wants to show this to her boys by going back to get her GED. Wanting to help her, I introduced her to a friend of mine that is in charge of a local GED program. 

    While Amelia was taking classes and passing her tests, I was praying about who of my thousands of students should receive this scholarship. My heart was led to Amelia. After she passed her GED test, I took her out to lunch to celebrate. During lunch I asked her “what is next?” She replied, “I wish it was college, but that is too expensive right now.” Amelia had no idea about the gift she was about to receive. I gave her an envelope and after she opened it, tears rolled down her face. “Is this for real? Nothing good ever happens to me.” We hugged, cried, and celebrated her new beginning where good things do happen. Soon after, I received this text from her: “Thank you for helping me make my dream come true!” On Mother’s Day I received a bouquet of flowers from my math daughter.

    So, why did I choose teaching? I choose teaching because I want kids to love learning. I want them to feel comfortable taking risks. I want them to know it’s okay to get something wrong, because that’s what makes your brain strong! I was that kid who needed to move around and speak to others, not just sit in a seat and be quiet. I choose teaching to create a safe place for all kids. My wish is that the time students spend in my classroom is one of the best parts of their day. Each student will remember you. It’s up to us as how memorable we are. 

       Another reason why I teach. As a teacher, I am living my dream so one day my students can live theirs. I put this saying on a huge poster in my classroom. Kids often ask, is “being in this classroom is your dream?” My answer is, “absolutely, each day with you I am living my dream.” Every teacher has their Amelia. We will all have students where we don’t know the impact we have had on their lives. More often than not, we will never know the difference we made. But we will always remember the difference kids made in our lives.

Are you inspired yet? 

    Whatever your reasons are in your decision to be a teacher, don’t really matter. You have chosen an honorable and noble profession filled with the challenges and the rewards mentioned above. But like everything else in life, you will get out of teaching exactly what you put into it. For me, it was my early and traumatic failures as a teacher that motivated me to become a better instructor.

    Have you heard the saying “Those who can’t, teach.”? It means those who can’t do anything else, should teach. This saying is too often misspoken. It should be “Those who teach, can.” Because great teachers can do anything! Never doubt your possibilities as a teacher. Each day you will reflect and make the next day better for your students. This is what we have both been doing for our entire careers.

    We have been fortunate to see many changes in the classroom from teaching with a chalkboard, then a white board, then an overhead projector (you may have to google it..LOL),then a smart board, then teacher desktop computers and now a Newline board. You are lucky. You are very lucky. You have so many on-line resources and books and workshops to attend, and a never-ending list of developing technologies to choose from, all of which will help you become a better instructor. When we started teaching, we did not have the resources that are now available to you.  We have seen many technological changes that have enhanced classroom teaching, however the one constant we have is the love that we share for each student that enters our classroom. 

    Though there is an entire chapter in this book about ‘Today’s Students’, let us briefly state the obvious. Today’s students are vastly different than students of 10, 20 and 30 years ago. They spend countless hours on YouTube, social networking, playing video games, and apps like ‘reddit’ and ‘Tik Tok’. The days of lecturing these students for 50 minutes, needs to be over, gone, dead. The days of filling up classroom whiteboards with endless information that is often confusing and not understandable also needs to stop.