Hello my wonderful (and patient) readers.

I really didn’t plan on a three-week hiatus. I really didn’t.

My writing was spotty, but wow, three weeks?? Good grief! And people kept reading! 🙂

Anyway, today in class, we watched Angela Maiers’ “You Matter” TED Talk from 2011. First of all, 2011??? What the ever-loving hell is going on here?? It cannot be 14 years old! Dang! That means *gasp* I’m old!

#heehee #duh

Oh, you are back too? Ugh!

This is the “remastered” version, and honestly, it hits just as hard now as it did back then. I will say, I appreciate this one more because it took out some of the video issues and showed Angela with kids and the teachers that she’s who she’s met along the way.

It hit hard for me as well because I keep coming back to the idea that our kids need something like this in their lives. They deal with the idiocy of social media (this class is 90% with cell phones and some sort of social media on their phones), the bullying, the peer pressure to be perfect at all times, or the pressure to not be a “try hard”. The stress of living right now is hard for adults, but honestly, it has to be worse for kids. Myself? I stress over how I perceived in a “new” (this is my third year) school and my old one.

#yikes

I know! In 2011, it was a fun phrase and weight behind it. In 2025, this phrase packs a punch. And all her talk about the genius work that kids are doing resonates so much today. Kids are so unsure about how to do so many things, they forget that they HAVE genius in so many other areas. Not good at math? We can work on it, but wow, your voice in the choir was amazing. Can’t shoot a basketball? No problem, you can run like the wind! We have so many students who think that because they are “bad at school,” they have nothing, which is so far from the truth!

#preachmyfriend

So, what do next? We start with our mantra:”I matter. I am a genius. I am a genius and the world needs my contribution.” I’d love to give someone credit for this because I am as creative as a rock and could never come up with something this awesome. I’ve forgotten who gave me this, so if it looks familiar, thank you! We’ll start in class tomorrow, just repeating it. It will be good fluency practice too!

#Iseewhatyoudidthere

Next, writing emails/sticky notes to teachers, students, random people, just telling them that they matter. Sometimes, we’ll write about why, but for the most part, we’ll just let them know they are awesome. The kids love doing stuff like this, and it makes an impact, especially for the kids/teacher who get something like this on their locker or their desk!

The message is meaningful, both for adults and students. Look at me, after 14 years, I’m still showing the video and keeping the words close to my heart. Imagine if this impacts one student to make a positive change? I would count that as a HUGE success.

So, you matter. Each of you reading this, interacting with it, or just giving it the once-over. The world needs the genius you have to offer us, so I hope that you can get out there and make a difference, wherever you are!

#yougotit #youmatter