The Secret to Success

When I started the G.E.D. class I did not have a dime to my name or any financial backing but it all worked out because there were only a few mandatory items I needed to get started. I had to have a G.E.D. book, some pencils and pens, some writing paper, scrap paper and a classroom with a few desks. The book, paper, pencils and pens would be the easy part, finding office space would be somewhat challenging. During my devotional time, I prayed to the Lord and asked for wisdom regarding the class space. A few days later my answer came to me as I was driving down University Ave. All of a sudden it dawned on me that there was a neighborhood community center in the complex. I knew there had to be at least a few classrooms that were not being used. When I made it home I called Black to see if he would roll out with me to the center just in case there were a few classrooms available and to find out what the requirements were to lease the space. As fate would have it there was plenty of available space and based on the type of program I was providing the neighborhood, the director was more than happy to accommodate me. Now that the facility was secure, it was time to check off the other items one by one. I bought my first G.E.D. textbook from Books a Million. I then asked one of my professors for writing paper and the center provided scrap paper and to my surprise they took care of all my printing needs. I had some extra pencils and pens lying around at the house, so I brought those from home. Classes were everyday from 12-4. I wanted to run the classes earlier but I knew it might affect attendance so I encouraged those that needed extra help to meet me earlier or stay after class. I had a gut feeling that this was not going to be your typical group. It was my guess that some of the students would have some mental and emotional challenges they would need to overcome before they ever dealt with their academics struggles. With that in mind, I divided my lesson plan in three segments. Before we did anything we discussed their goals for themselves and my personal goals for the class. The next 10 -15 minutes I read a powerful motivation speech and ended it with an electrical charge that summarized the points of the devotion. I figured I had a better chance of gaining their interest and getting them engaged in the learning experience if I made them feel good about themselves and made them believe that somehow their dreams could come true through hard work. Instead of designing my program with a traditional approach, I added some creative methods. Mainly, I used a team approach. Based on the strength of the students, I assigned each of them a day to teach and I divided my lesson plan with them according to their assigned day. The idea was to keep them as active as possible for the entire class period. I knew it was difficult for a number of them to concentrate on the lesson at hand. For some it was family challenges that kept them from giving me their undivided attention, for others it was the fear that their infants were not in the safest daycare facility. Mothers would repeatedly dismiss themselves from the classroom to call the daycare facility to make sure their child was safe. Had it not been a requirement to pursue their G.E.D. in order to remain on government assistance, there is a chance that many of the mothers would not have enrolled in the program. Then there were my most challenging students. They were either gang bangers or drug dealers who would have also preferred to be elsewhere but were required by the courts to get in a G.E.D. program or return to prison. Regardless of the challenge that prevented them from taking school serious, I felt compelled to find out what learning environment and teaching style most complemented their learning style.

“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.” - Mother Teresa

I learned early in my teaching career that you have to possess a unique set of skills if your plans were to teach students from low-income schools. However, I had no idea I was going to be a teacher, counselor, advisor, mentor, bus driver, motivator and to some, a father figure. Often times I had to veer from my lesson plan to address the real life issues my students faced. The effort I put forth daily to see to it that my students received a first-class learning experience was exhausting. By the time I straightened up all the chairs, picked up the last piece of paper off the floor, wiped the red ink off the eraser board, and counseled two or three of my students, I was ready to drop. I quickly discovered that I had to find a way to replenish myself. There was no way I could put forth that type of energy day in and day out without refueling. So like a star athlete, I added a pre-game warm up routine to my repertoire.