The Accidental and Delightful Career of a Zestful Biology Teacher

WEBVTT

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host, Elise Cortes. In our

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program, we provide guidance and inspiration
from those people who have found deeper meaning

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and personal connection to their work life. It's beyond nine to five. It's

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working on purpose. Now Here is
your host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back

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to Working on Purpose. Thanks for
tuning in again this week. I'm your

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host of these Cortes joining from Dallas, Texas, which is home base for

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me. This program is all about
helping people more meaningfully connect with their work

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and equipping organizations to do the same
for their employees. I bring on guests.

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You have a particular perspective or experience
that I think expands the conversation about

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the workforce and often draw on the
meaning work research I've been doing over the

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past fifteen years with the work that
i do at Insydneum, which is a

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global management consulting firm. I'll get
to the program in just a moment,

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but first, a big thank you
to my media partner and sponsor, jobbing

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dot Com. They are leading locally
focused job board in the nation, and

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they're dedicated to helping employers find quality
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Secrets control of their search. The
can find work close to home. Great

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partnership. Thanks jobbing dot Com.
Last week, if you missed the show

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live, you can always catch the
podcast. We were on the air with

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Kim Olsen, who was a twenty
five year veteran of the Air Force,

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past school board founder and director.
She also found a Grace after fire.

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She is now turning her passions and
talents into running for the Texas Commissioner of

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Agriculture. We talked about the importance
of everyone eating a healthy diet of non

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processed foods to avoid the diabetes epidemic, and children, why school gardens work

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so well to educate kids about where
wholesome food comes from and involve them in

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its cultivation, and why expanding farmers
markets and other farmer co ops are good

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for everyone. It's a great conversation, very very inspiring. With us this

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week, I'm happy to tell you
that we have Miss Christy Wainwright with us.

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She is a well respected and loved
teacher at Bishop Lynch High School in

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East Dallas, Texas. She teaches
freshman biology both honors and regulars, and

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the ap Biology course offered to upperclassmen. In addition to teaching, Miss Waynwright

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also moderates the Medical Society student Club. She joins us today from Dallas,

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Texas. Miss Waynwright, Welcome to
Working on Purpose. Hi, thank you

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for having me. Isn't this fun? I have to tell our listeners just

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why you're with us? So this
show happens to be listened to across the

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globe. There are listeners from Japan
and China. Thank you very much listeners,

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and all over in India. It's
just incredible to get to connect with

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people like that. So I met
miss Waynwright because she happens to be my

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daughter's biology teacher. And I was
in student or excuse me, teacher parent

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conference night and when you told your
story of how you became a teacher,

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and just I saw the zeal and
the zest. And of course I've heard

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my daughter talk about how much she
enjoys you. I thought, you know,

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everybody has. I hope everybody has
a teacher who has made it profound

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difference in their lives, somebody who
turned them onto something and maybe that's why

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they got into the work that they
do, or maybe it made a difference

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in how they chose their lives.
And I thought, here, it is

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September, it's the beginning of the
school year for most of us, at

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least in the United States, and
I thought, why not bring you on

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and have you share your story.
So that's why. In case you're wondering

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why did she ask me to come
on the show, that's why. So

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welcome, Thank you, You're welcome. So yeah, So well, to

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kick us off, would you please
share that story that you shared with us

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on Parent and Teacher Conference night about
how it is that you became a biology

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teacher. Of course, growing up, every kid has a dream of what

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they want to do with their life, and my dream was to not become

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a teacher. I had no aspirations
of becoming a teacher. Obviously, this

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is where I was meant to be, so it's where I wound up.

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But originally I wanted to go into
the medical field. I was really passionate

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about helping people, and so I
felt that, well, maybe not necessarily

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a doctor, but I really wanted
to go into physical therapy. So I

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started going to college at Saint Mary's
University. I played softball there as well,

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and I was a vino major.
And then about halfway through that education,

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I did an internship at a local
hospital here in Dallas, Baylor Garland,

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and we were interacting with people,
which was great. I had a

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lot of fun interacting with people.
It was the actual physical care of people

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that I had an issue with.
I didn't like the blood, the guts,

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the taking care of people, and
so I kind of had to take

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a step back and rethink what I
wanted to do. I was three fourced

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to the way through with a biology
degree and I no longer wanted to go

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into the medical field. So I
kind of had to sit back and figure

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out what to do. And honestly, it didn't come quickly. I had

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no clue. I graduated with got
a job, didn't know what I was

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going to do. I had a
friend who worked in skincare and managed to

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get me a job at the mall. So I worked at the mall selling

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skincare for about three and a half
years, and then one day I came

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up to my alma mater, which
happens to be Bishop Lynch, so I

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teach my alma Mater to visit a
teacher who was going through a little bit

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of a rough time. I was
bringing her a sonic tea because sonic tea's

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fixed everything. And I walked in
and we got to talking, and I

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told her that I still didn't know
what I was going to do, and

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she was like, you should teach, and I was like, no,

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I don't have the patience for that. There's no way I'm going to be

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a good teacher. I don't even
know how to teach. And she's like,

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just go talk to the principal.
So I did, and I walked

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in, and I left with a
teaching position. I was a substitute teacher

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for a ironically enough, my former
biology teacher here at Bishop Lynch. She

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was pregnant and she was due pretty
much any minute. So I started watching

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her and coming to class just like
a student would, and I sat in

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the back room and I saw how
she taught and the way she was teaching.

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And I got a phone call one
day that said, all right,

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you're it. She went into labor
and so I started teaching, and honestly,

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I haven't looked back. I have
been here ever since I've been at

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Bishop Lynch ever since, I've done
a couple of odd jobs here and there.

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I've taught biology obviously, I've taught
chemistry, I've taught anatomy, and

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I've taught theology. So I've kind
of, you know, dipped my toe

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in as many different subjects as I
could before I found the niche that was

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biology. But I can tell you
I'm putting that biology degree to good use

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now, even though I thought I
would never be a teacher. But it's

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been a fun ride. Love the
story, miss when right, I love

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the story. And what I want
to call out for our listeners that is

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so important about what you said there, among many things, is that this

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whole notion that you know, you
thought you were pretty secure that you were

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going to go into the medical field. I mean, that was the idea,

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that was the ticket, that's the
train, we're on, the train

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we're going, and then you get
you actually experience it, and you realize

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that's not for me. So what
I really like to reinforce to people,

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and I mean anybody, especially students
who are out there dipping their toe trying

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to figure out what they're going to
be when they grow up, and that's

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so hard, is really getting as
much experience and exposure to different kinds of

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work as they possibly can. Go
shadow your parents, go shadow their friends.

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Right. It's just so important to
be able to get those experiences because

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then you can figure out pretty quick
before you actually do the whole entire degree,

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right that ooh this is for me
or it's not for me exactly.

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You get backed into a corner,
and I honestly, when I got back

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to the corner, I shut down
for a little while and then I figured

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out this is where I needed to
be, and it's just everything opened back

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up so well. So you clearly
have a passion for teaching. I mean,

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it is abundantly obvious. And I
was like, I want to be

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in her class. I told Yabia, I said, you know, how

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do I come to her class?
What if I behave myself? Can I

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come? So what is it that
you love about teaching? It's going to

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cliche, but I really do love
hanging out with the kids. So I

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started out teaching just freshman level kids. So it's fourteen and fifteen year olds.

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And we all know that fourteen and
fifty year olds have their special little

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character, right, They're not quite
mature enough yet and they like to crack

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in appropriate jokes, which works.
It works a lot great with my personality

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because I like to laugh at inappropriate
jokes. So we kind of feed off

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of each other. But it also
gives me a chance to give them more

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of a framed learning experience while letting
them grow into their own learner. For

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a long time, they're told take
notes this way, do it this way,

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do it that way, study this
way, and I'm more about what

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works for you. You have to
know this material. Does it help if

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you learn it as a dance,
Does it help if you learn it as

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pictures? Does it help if you
learn it as an outline? So we

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do a little bit of each to
allow the students to say, oh,

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you know what this outline thing,
it really works. Or you know what,

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I can't do an outline, but
these pictures, these mind maps,

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I can totally wrap my brain it. So I really like working with the

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kids to help them figure out who
they are as a student. Wow,

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you know, as an identity researcher, you know that completely moves all of

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my dials. You know that,
right? Yeah? I love that because

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really if that is okay, So
that's so powerful. And here's what's great

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about that is that everybody, we
generally each manufacture our own meaning individually,

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and that's what it is. We
create our own meaning. It's not just

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hanging out there someplace. We create
it. So the fact that you see

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your role as a way to help
these people find themselves and who they are.

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I don't know one answer I was
expecting, but that wasn't it.

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Well, I'm glad I could shock
you, surprise you. It's wonderful.

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It's wonderful to be dazzled. Yes, true, I mean it truly is

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it truly is about I mean,
at the end of the day, I

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know the biology material. At the
end of the day, I'm not the

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one taking the test. I'm not
the one trying to move on to chemistry.

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I know the material. My job, My goal is to maybe not

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necessarily get the kids to like biology
as much as me, maybe not to

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have them all major in biology later, but them to at least understand how

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they got from A to B.
So if that's what I can, if

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that's the success that I can get
out of them, that's my goal.

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So that's what I strive for.
Okay, I love the endgame. Now,

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what I also know is that.
You know, it doesn't matter how

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much passion and zest and motivation we
bring to our work. Sometimes there are

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challenging and hard days. Right,
That's just all there is to it.

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So you are a very energetic person
from what I could tell, and that

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just at this one meeting. So
where do you get your energy from?

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I like to feed off the students. However, when they take it upon

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themselves to become the teacher and they
talk to each other and they shout things

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out, it kind of gets a
little chaotic, and it weighs on me

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a little bit because as much as
I like to be loud and have fun,

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like to be loud and have fun
in a structured kind of way.

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So when the the rough patches of
the down days, sometimes the kids can

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tell the kids are like, mis
win, right, what's wrong? And

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I'm just like, you know what, It's just one of those days where

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I'm off. But I do still
try to add fun to it. And

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I do still try to laugh at
myself and crack jokes with the kids,

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even if I'm not my normal,
bubbly self. I want to make sure

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that the kids still get the same
amount of information out of it. I

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mean, everyone has a down day, everyone has a hard day. I

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had a hard day on Monday,
and I literally I went home and I

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had a bunch of works that I
needed to be graded. Sorry, guys,

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your tests did not get be graded. I apologize, and I just

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kind of sat there and I had
to turn on something that would just numb

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my brain. I had to just
you know, deflate. So I turned

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on the Hallmark Channel because that's my
go to. I turned on the Hallmark

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Channel, and then just life just
kind of chills out and gets better,

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and so I just kind of had
to deflate mentally. And then Tuesday I

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woke up, I got here is
hereing to go? And we just start

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a new day. So the Hallmark
Channel. So part of what must recharge

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you is relationship or positivity. Yes, I am one hundred percent a relationship

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person. I am one hundred percent
a positive person. I do not function

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well in a situation where there's a
lot of negative or complaining. So I

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don't think I could ever be like
a therapist, like an actual therapist,

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because when other coworkers come to me, your students come to me and they're

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complaining, I'm like, nope,
check it out. The door. I

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can't. That negative just weighs on
me. I can't. I can't handle

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your negative. I'm sorry. So
yeah, I really get that. And

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so it's just so interesting to see. Part of the reason I asked the

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question about what would refuel you is
it tells me a lot about who you

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are and where you get your motivation
and your sense of connection from. So

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when you said the Hallmark Channel,
I'm like, I got to totally get

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that. The kids WI what makes
fun of me for it? And I'm

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like, you don't even understand how
amazing the Hallmark Channel is. You have

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to give it a try. Oh
well, I my daughter or teases me

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because I'm a sap. I'm one
of the first person to cry in a

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movie. And you know, at
anytime there's anything like soft about a movie,

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my daughter will look down the way
and see, what is mama crying?

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Yet? Okay, good, We're
on track. That's how it is.

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That's where I am in my family. Okay. Well, So when

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you're teaching your students, as you
say, you've got a job to do.

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You they got to get this stuff
about biology. So when you think

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about that, what is most important
to you in teaching your students, what

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are you really trying to affect in
them besides that sense of identity relative to

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biology, what are you really trying
to get them to get well? I

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think the most important thing for them
to understand about biology is honestly, how

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important it is to everything. I
actually had a student today we were studying

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chemistry, and I told them I
was like, guys, chemistry is not

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my strong point. I can do
this, this and that, but as

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far as in depth questions are going, these are all great questions. I

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don't know the answer to them,
and I can look them up and get

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back to you. And one of
my student is like, well, why

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are we learning chemistry if this is
biology class? And I said, that's

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a great question, because biology is
the foundation of every other science. Biology

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is how life interconnects. Biology is
how the brain functions, so it goes

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to psychological things and physical things,
and it's how you move, it's how

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you groove, it's how you know
you pass on information. So biology is

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the foundation of all sciences. And
whether you know the intriccies of how a

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muscle contraction works, I need you
to know that your brain is controlling your

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bicep when you raise your hand to
ask you a question. So my interconnectiveness

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and showing them just how important biology
is, whether they choose to major in

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it or not. Biology is a
part of their everyday life, and biology

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is a part of every other science
that they're going to study. So laying

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the foundation for them is very important
to me as far as understanding goes.

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And I want to crack into that
a bit more after when we get into

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the next segment, because I really
want to bring that to life for our

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listeners too, as to you know, what do we get from biology in

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our everyday life. But before we
get there, I do want to address

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the fact that when I think about
the role that you play, the work

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that you do, it seems to
me that you have three major audiences to

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deal with. You have, you
know, the school staff, the principal,

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et cetera, and your other teachers, well, and you have which

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and your boss. You have parents, and you have kids. So and

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I heard you just easily, you
know, go back and forth between the

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parents and the kids when I was
there. So first I want to understand

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what is your approach to working with
parents. I'm told this can be one

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of the hardest groups for teachers to
actually navigate well, I personally don't have

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any children, and so I will
never As of right now, I do

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not know what it feels like to
trust another person with my child. However,

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I've been a child and I have
learned from my parents, and I

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think the most important thing for parents
to understand with teachers is you can't make

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an enemy of each other. You
have to understand that your partners, your

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teammates, because at the end of
the day, what is both of your

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goals? Your goal is for your
child to be successful. Now I get

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a lot of I wouldn't say like
negative attitude, but I get a lot

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of questioning when it comes to grading
sometimes because although I like to have a

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lot of fun and I like to
learn a lot of things, I do

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not accept late work. I am
drop dead if it is not here by

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the deadline. I'm not going to
grade it for X, Y or Z.

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I don't care the reason. I
gave you plenty of time to get

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it done. You didn't contact me. It's a zero. And so I

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get a lot of parents that are
like, well, why did they get

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a zero? And you know that's
not fair? And I go listen,

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Yeah, it's not fair. But
they've learned their lesson. Now they learned

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that they can open up a conversation
with me. Now, they learned to

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prioritize their homework. Now they learned
to make sure they check their backpack in

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the morning for their homework. So
it's kind of a tough pill to swallow.

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I would say the toughest pill to
swallow is when I give a zero

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to a homework assignment that doesn't have
a name on it, and I look

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at the student in the face and
I say, if it's not important enough

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for you to put your name on
it, if you're not proud enough to

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put your name on it, I'm
not going to devote my time to grading

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it. And that's one of the
real hot hot button topics of parents is

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they did the work. Why aren't
they getting any credit? Their name wasn't

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on it. At the end of
the day, it's homework grade. At

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the end of the day, it's
quiz grade. At the end of the

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day. You and I being the
parent, need to be on the same

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page as far as yeah, you
didn't put your name on it, it's

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a zero. Now. If things
escalate further, obviously the parent and I

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can have a conversation about it,
but as as far as that's concerned,

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I think teamwork is the most basic
way to describe our relationship the parent,

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parents and teachers. Both of them
equally forget that they are working for the

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well being of that child, and
I think that's where a lot of tensions

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form. It strikes me, Miss
Wayene, right that the fact that you

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are very clear about you know,
this is how I roll, this is

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how it goes, these are and
that that's communicated to the students and to

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the parent, and then you actually
follow through with what you said you're going

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to do. What I really like
about that, appreciate that is that that's

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life. There's consequences when you actually
don't do what is ask of you or

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what is expected of you, or
what has been communicated to you. And

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I personally very much appreciate that approach. So you got one parent that's with

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you, and many more, I
know, but this one for sure.

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And here we are already, we're
on. We're ready for our first break.

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The time flies so fast. I'm
your host, Alis Cortes. We've

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got on the air with Miss Christy
Wainwright, who is a biology teacher at

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Bishop Lynch High School in East Dallas, Texas. She joins us today from

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her school office. I believe we've
been talking a bit about just how it

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was that she got into teaching,
what she loves about it, and after

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the break, we're going to talk
a little bit about her approach to actually

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how she brings it to life in
the classroom. Stay with us. Friend

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00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:07.319
us on Facebook to keep up with
what's empowering the world. Voice America Empowerment

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00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:15.480
Alis Cortes is a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and delivers

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00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:21.240
professional development, leadership and engagement workshops
and can bring her expertise to your organization.

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00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:26.519
She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

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00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:30.599
performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite Elise to speak to

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00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:36.400
your organization, please visit her at
www dot Elisecortes dot com. She would

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00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:41.880
welcome the opportunity to help get your
employees working on purpose. Have you friended

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00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.319
us on Facebook yet? Why not? Just go to Facebook dot com,

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00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:49.440
forward slash Voice America or search for
the keywords voice America. Once you are

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00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:52.960
part of our Facebook network, you'll
receive daily messages about what's happening with our

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shows. This week's featured yes and
new happenings at the Voice America Talk radio

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00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:00.200
network, and you can add your
voice to the all always active discussions on

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00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:03.839
our wall. Just go to Facebook
dot com, forward slash Voice America or

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00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:12.680
search for Voice America. It's your
world, Motivate, change, succeed Voice

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00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:27.519
America Empowerment dot com. This is
Working on Purpose with Elise Cortes. To

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00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:32.599
reach our program today, please call
in to one triple eight three four six

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00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.559
nine one four one. Again that's
one triple eight three four six nine one

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00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.839
four one. You may also send
an email to Elise A. L i

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00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:49.680
Se at Elisecortes dot com. Now
back to Working on Purpose. Thanks,

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00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:52.799
thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to Working on Purpose. If

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00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.119
you're just joining us. My guest
is Miss Christy Wainwright. She's a well

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respected and loved teacher at Bishop Lynch
High School. You're in East Dallas,

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Texas. She teaches freshman biology both
honors and regulars, and the ap Biology

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course offered to upperclassmen. In addition
to teaching, she also moderates the Medical

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Society student club, of which my
daughter is actually a member of and I'm

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looking forward to learning more about that
myself. I'm your host, Alice Cortes.

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So before the break, we were
chatting a bit about just how you

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found yourself in this crazy career of
yours and how much you love it and

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what's important for you to be able
to impart to your students. What I'd

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love to do next is hear a
bit about your actual teaching approach. I'm

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going to guess that some of the
people that have tuned in are maybe aspiring

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teachers, or maybe they just love
their teacher and they want to know what's

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behind the curtain. So let's talk
pedagoguy. So I heard you say in

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your introduction when we had the Parent
Teachers Conference that you did not know how

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to teach when you came to bl
So first, how would you describe your

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teaching style today? So when I
first got here, I would say that

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I tried to drink from a five
hosts when I learned about teaching, and

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I was just like trying to absorb
everything and it became very, very overwhelming.

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And when it became overwhelming, I
kind of shut down a little bit

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and I just made sure that they
had the basics, and it wasn't necessarily

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fun like I perceived my classes today. So when I finally got the full

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time job, I went through a
program called ACT Accelerated Certification for Teachers,

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and they have several different branches of
ACT throughout the state of Texas like Dallas,

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00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.799
San Antonio, Houston. And it
was a concentrated course and it was

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meant to work on your own time
scale. So I became a student for

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two weeks and I learned everything there
was to know about teaching because I felt

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like I knew how to interact with
the kids, I knew the material.

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I think where I lacked or where
I was weakest when I started teaching was

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my ability to convey that information to
them because I would say something and I

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would only say about half of what
they needed to know, and I'd be

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like, well, why don't you
understand, and they're like, you didn't

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give us enough information. I'm like, oh, yeah, I didn't tell

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you half of that. I knew
it, but I didn't convey it to

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them. And that's sometimes where I
still find myself going, what are you

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missing? And they're like, oh, you didn't tell us any of these

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things. I was like, oh, okay, good to know. So

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when I first started teaching, that
was the hardest part. That was the

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hardest pill to swallow, was understanding
what my students did or didn't know,

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and how to relay that information to
them. But once I took the ACT

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programs, they taught me how to
create a lesson plan, They taught me

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how to convey the information. They
taught me how to set up a test.

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The first test I ever gave was
twenty five multiple choice questions and they

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were done with it in about twenty
minutes, and I was like, what

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do I do at the risk the
class period? I didn't plan anything.

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So it was basically I felt like
I was thrown into the deep end of

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a pool in a good way.
In a good way because I am a

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very big proponent of you learn from
your mistakes, And as far as I'm

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concerned, a mistake is only when
it happens more than once. If it

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happens once, it's a learning experience. If it continues to happen, it's

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a mistake and you need to rectify
it. But if you learn from it,

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how can it be a mistake.
It's just a learning experience. So

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I learned a lot that first year
of teaching. Last year was my first

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year to teach ap biology, and
if my parents were on the phone with

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us, they could attest to this. I don't know how many times I

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would go home or I would call
them and I would just cry. I'd

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be like, I don't think they
learned anything today. Class was a joke.

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I messed this up. The lab
didn't work, I didn't have the

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right paper copied, and it would
just be so overwhelming that I would shut

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down inside myself. And then I
had to realize and I had a bunch

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of students that reassured me. They
were like, we learned so much from

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your class. Yeah, it wasn't
perfect. It didn't go the way it

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was supposed to go every time,
but we learned what we were supposed to

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learn. So I'm kind of a
control freak. I like things to go

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perfectly. I like to roll things
out when I know things are going to

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work, and as a teacher,
can't. You can't be stuck on the

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perfection because it's the imperfections where you
actually learn the most. So I think

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that was one of the biggest things
that I had to learn when I first

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started teaching brilliant. I have two
things I got to say to that,

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So that imperfection, notion of that's
where you really learn the most. There

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is a fantastic book out called Black
Box Thinking. Have you ever heard of

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00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:21.640
it? I have not, but
I just wrote it down. Okay,

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highly recommend it. Here's why.
I mean in the business world, of

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course, that's the world that I
generally navigate in. Is what's great about

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that book is it's all about embracing
failure and what we learn from failure.

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That it's critical to fail in order
to learn. And yet so much of

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our society is about avoiding failure at
all costs, right, so now we

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miss all of these lessons. It
talks about how businesses can embrace and learn

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from failures, how individuals can do
so it's just fantastic. So to me

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00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:56.079
that echoes the point that you were
making about imperfections. And then the second

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thing I wanted to say is that
what you said about your experience of being

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00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:03.200
thrust into the teaching world with that
really much experience. I can remember when

399
00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:07.240
I started. I wanted to identify
back in I think twenty eleven or so

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00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:11.680
twenty ten that I thought it might
be kind of fun to actually teach in

401
00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:15.000
the college arena because I have a
PhD and I love all of the concepts,

402
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:18.640
et cetera. But I didn't know
how to teach either. So I

403
00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:23.640
actually opted to go to work and
start teaching classes at a night time for

404
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:27.519
the University of Phoenix. And the
reason I did that is because they taught

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00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.599
you how to teach. They gave
you, know, here is you're going

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00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:34.119
to use this textbook. Here is
your syllabus, it's already ready for you.

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00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.759
It's all uniform. Here's the general
lesson plan that you're going to make

408
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:41.200
that you're going to do. Now, you create all the activities of what

409
00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:44.160
you're to do in a classroom,
and they teach you how to do that,

410
00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:47.319
and then you go bring it to
life and you make these students learn

411
00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:51.039
something. And so for me,
it was like an easier way to access

412
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:52.960
the world of teaching because they taught
me how to do it. Now,

413
00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.279
of course, I teach at Southern
Methodist University, and I do it on

414
00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:59.960
my own. I know how to
create my own lesson plan, et cetera.

415
00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.079
But I really want to echo and
applaud what you did coming in to

416
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:07.640
teach not having that experience is Wayne
Wright. That is just it's phenomenal that

417
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.720
you did that and you got through
it and you still did There are some

418
00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.039
days where I didn't think it was
going to happen, but I did.

419
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.920
I did make it through it.
I learned a lot more than I thought

420
00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:18.680
I was going to. I probably
learned. I tell my students this all

421
00:27:18.680 --> 00:27:21.200
the time. I go, you
know what, I learn more in a

422
00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:23.920
day at school than you do because
I'm learning things about you. I'm learning

423
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.759
things that don't work. I'm learning
things that I need to change. So

424
00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:30.319
don't just assume that I know everything, which is kind of hard for them

425
00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:34.559
to wrap their brain around, but
I mean we're in the same boat.

426
00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:38.559
I learned something new from these kids
every day when I have a project that

427
00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:44.079
I, you know, have planned
out and then it totally flops and I'm

428
00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:48.240
like, Okay, don't need to
do that again. So it's just being

429
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:52.319
very versatile and learning from my mistakes. It's definitely the key to being successful.

430
00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:56.640
And I think in any type of
field, but teaching especially, I

431
00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.960
have a sense to miss, Wayne
Wright. I don't know this to be

432
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:02.559
true because I don't know you at
all. Yet. But I have a

433
00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:06.599
sense that part of what also makes
you so effective with your students is that

434
00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:11.359
you are authentically available. You you
know, you don't show up with all

435
00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:12.640
the answers and you don't try to
be something that you're not, and you're

436
00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:17.759
accessible and that you don't always know
everything, and that you you know,

437
00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:22.000
you can be a full human being
who has hard days. And I would

438
00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:26.599
I wonder if that's part of your
your your recipe for success. Well,

439
00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.079
thank you, I personally it has. It has served me well these past

440
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:34.839
these past four and a half years
being just I mean, it's almost kind

441
00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:37.599
of like grassroots all the kid will
ask a student ask me a question,

442
00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:41.279
and I'll say, yeah, I
don't I don't know the answer to that,

443
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:44.160
but I will tell you next class. I'll do my research and I'll

444
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.279
figure it out. And next class
I come back and I go, Okay,

445
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:48.839
you know, little Johnny, you
asked me this question. This is

446
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:55.000
the answer, so it get I
mean, it's it's asinine for teachers to

447
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:57.319
believe that they have to know everything
about everything, so that way when a

448
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:02.119
student answers their question, they can
sound intelligent. I'm not worried about stunding

449
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:08.079
intelligent. I'm worried about making sure
that everyone understands how important it is that

450
00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.680
we all have water in our bodies. I could care less about being perfect.

451
00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:17.440
I could care less about making sure
that I sound like the most intelligent

452
00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:18.799
person in the room, because you
know what, some days that's not the

453
00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:23.759
truth. I'll be honest with you. Some days, I have several students

454
00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:30.119
who are highly motivated in scientists in
different aspects. I have one particular student

455
00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:33.319
who loves chemistry, and he taught
me something today and I'm open to it.

456
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:36.359
I'm one hundred percent okay with that. And I told the kids,

457
00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:40.319
I said, if I close myself
off to learning something new from you,

458
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:45.079
I've shorted myself and I've shorted you
on that experience of teaching someone something.

459
00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:49.680
Because whether you're a teacher or not, you should be able to teach another

460
00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:56.079
human being something. Whether it's teaching
someone how to do laundry or teaching someone

461
00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:59.559
how to drive a car. You
have to be able to teach someone something

462
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:04.440
to allow you to interact socially.
So even in the most basic concept of

463
00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.680
teaching, I have to be open
to that teachable moment too, just like

464
00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:11.920
the students are you know what just
struck me as you were talking when you

465
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:15.519
said that you know, some little
John or somebody might ask you a question

466
00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:17.680
you don't know the answer to.
Wouldn't it be amazing? I bet you'd

467
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:21.440
do this already, But wouldn't it
be amazing just to say, I don't

468
00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.079
know the answer to that question,
Let's go find out right, Yes,

469
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:26.359
you do. You draw them in
and you're like, I don't know,

470
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.960
let's go find it out together.
How fun that is to be able to

471
00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:33.519
enroll them in the learning process with
you. I just I just had that

472
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.759
notion of that, the joy of
discovery that you can actually in gender you

473
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.160
have the power to engender in those
moments instead of feeling like, I don't

474
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:45.839
know, I'm a failure exactly,
let the students teach you, and it's

475
00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:52.359
it's doable, and its people relate
to you more. You're you're more of

476
00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:55.279
a human being when you go,
yeah, I don't know, let's figure

477
00:30:55.279 --> 00:31:00.000
that out together. It no those
characteristics to the forefront. I think that's

478
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:03.680
again part of your secret sauce.
I'm just going to go with that.

479
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:10.279
Well for I want to also not
just because you do teach my child,

480
00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:11.799
but for the sake of all the
listeners out there who want to go back

481
00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.279
to school. They want to relay
with the moment. They want to be

482
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.160
in the classroom again, tell us
what it's like a typical week in your

483
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.240
classroom. What might a student at
Bishop Lynch actually experience in your classroom.

484
00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:26.720
Let's just say biology. Okay,
So a typical student at Bishop Lynch.

485
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:32.920
We're on what we call block schedule. That means I see each student every

486
00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:36.279
other day for ninety minutes. So
if it's an A week, I see

487
00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:38.200
you three times, if it's a
B week, I see you two times,

488
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:41.279
and then the following week is either
an A or B week, depending

489
00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:45.519
on what the week before was.
So in a typical class, for me,

490
00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:52.400
let's do regular biology. We're doing
chemistry right now. So today was

491
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:56.680
the second time I saw all my
B day students. It just so happens

492
00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:59.960
that they took a test on Monday. But after they take a test,

493
00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:01.480
yes, we hit the ground running
and we move on to the next chapter.

494
00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:07.400
So today we talked about chemistry and
the way we do it is the

495
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:08.759
very first thing that they do when
they come into my class. If they

496
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:12.200
had a homework assignment, I go
make sure you tune your homework in,

497
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:14.759
put your name on it, and
staple it. There's a basket at the

498
00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:16.559
front of the room that's labeled so
they know where to put it. And

499
00:32:16.599 --> 00:32:21.400
then each one of my desks has
a number on it. It's on a

500
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.599
post it, and the post it
is colored. And then each post it

501
00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:29.440
has a variety of like four or
five different stickers on it, and each

502
00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:34.079
number corresponds with a place where they
put their cell phones. That's how I

503
00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:37.839
take attendance. So I make sure
that each desk that has a body in

504
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:42.359
it also has a cell phone in
the holder. If they don't have a

505
00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.759
cell phone, obviously they tell me
that and that's okay. And then the

506
00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:50.039
very next thing we do, get
out your planer. Let's go over homework.

507
00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:53.160
So that takes about the first five
minutes a class, ten minutes of

508
00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:59.240
class, and then we hit the
ground running normally. I love YouTube.

509
00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.119
I think you tube is one of
the greatest underused sources that a teacher can

510
00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:08.240
use because there is literally a video
on every topic in every subject, and

511
00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:12.160
it doesn't have to be a long
video. Sometimes we watch a little two

512
00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:14.920
minute video. Sometimes to watch a
ten minute video, it depends on the

513
00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:22.039
subject material. So today we watched
the Periodic Table song by Tom Lerr.

514
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:27.079
And it's literally a very I mean
it's quick, it's like three minutes,

515
00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:30.160
but it's all the elements of the
Periodic Table. I love music. I

516
00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:36.039
couldn't sing if you paid me,
but I love music. I prefer classical

517
00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:39.480
music, but in these cases I
make exceptions. I try to tie in

518
00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:44.440
at least one song, if not
two, to every topic that we learn,

519
00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:46.240
and the very first thing we'll do
when we study that new topic is

520
00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:51.119
we'll listen to the song. So
today for the first fifteen minutes, we

521
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:52.839
listened to the song. We read
over the lyrics, and then we tried

522
00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:57.000
to sing it together, which the
kids got a who out of, and

523
00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:01.039
then we applied the elements and the
periodic table notes. And the way notes

524
00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:05.119
work is I put a PowerPoint up
on the board. The kids don't write

525
00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:07.599
what the PowerPoint says. The PowerPoint
just backs me up and kind of validates

526
00:34:07.639 --> 00:34:12.119
what I say. And then we
draw on the whiteboard. Sometimes we draw

527
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:15.920
on the desktops. Sometimes we create
mind maps on posters. It just depends

528
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:21.599
on what we're doing. I'm a
very big visual person and This is where

529
00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:23.360
the drawing comes into play. The
kids are always like, I can't draw.

530
00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:25.199
I can't draw. I was like, I didn't ask you to make

531
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:29.679
me a masterpiece. I want you
to draw me a water molecule. It's

532
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:32.519
a ball and a stick. You
can do this, So I make sure

533
00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:37.719
that they can visualize, they can
write it out with words, something just

534
00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:40.880
besides the monotony of note taking.
And so we'll do note taking, and

535
00:34:40.920 --> 00:34:45.519
then throughout the notes or at the
end of class, depending on what topic

536
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:49.679
we're doing, we'll go over review
and sometimes they do it in a journal,

537
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.480
sometimes they do it on a worksheet
that they turn in, sometimes they

538
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:54.519
do it on a note card that
they leave as they exit. It just

539
00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:59.519
depends on what assignment it is and
how long we need to give to the

540
00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:04.519
notes. And then once we've gone
over the material and a student sufficially understands,

541
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:07.800
we basically will have a quiz over
it with my regulars class. It

542
00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:12.320
takes about two class periods, and
then we quiz with my Honors class.

543
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:14.880
I'll teach you to them one day
and then they're quizzed over at the following

544
00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:20.039
class period. So each week I
see kids like eight day weeks, they'll

545
00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:23.880
have at least one quiz and then
B Day week. Sometimes the regulars kids

546
00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:27.880
have a quiz, but the Honors
quiz, the Honor's kids definitely have a

547
00:35:27.960 --> 00:35:32.039
quiz on a B Day week.
So here's what I got out of what

548
00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:36.039
you said there. One. I
just I like how you just handle the

549
00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:38.239
classroom. You just handle it,
And I think that structure is good for

550
00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:45.639
effective teaching, for effective learning,
and I think it also sets up a

551
00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:49.880
mutually respective environment, respectful environment.
From what I could see, then,

552
00:35:49.960 --> 00:35:52.960
what I heard you say is that
you really I assume this is all very

553
00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:58.000
very intentional, but it seems like
you're really trying to activate all different senses

554
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:01.719
or appeal to all different senses when
you're teaching, so as to maybe be

555
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:07.880
able to enroll as many students in
various ways of learning as you possibly can.

556
00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:09.519
Is that what you're actually doing?
Or am my way off and left

557
00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:15.039
field here? No? No,
No, you nailed it right on the

558
00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:20.360
head. So the very first topic
that we learn about in biology class is

559
00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:23.840
we go over the scientific method,
which the kids are like, oh,

560
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:27.199
I've never heard of the scientific method, blah blah blah, and I'm like,

561
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:30.079
yes, you have you use it
every day? You use it every

562
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:32.559
day in the winter. When it's
cold outside. You walk outside and you

563
00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:36.159
go, oh, it's cold,
I'm going to wear a long sleeve coat.

564
00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:39.480
Scientific method, Okay, you've made
an observation, you've performed an experiment.

565
00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:43.760
You put on your sweatshirt. You're
good to go. And they're like

566
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:45.239
really, and I'm like, yeah, in its most basic form, you've

567
00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:50.239
performed the scientific methods. The number
one thing you do in a scientific method

568
00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:52.760
is you make an observation. And
I stress these kids. I say,

569
00:36:52.079 --> 00:36:54.639
how do you observe things? They're
like with my eyes? I go,

570
00:36:55.400 --> 00:37:00.800
how are you observing my voice right
now? And they're like with my eyes.

571
00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:02.400
I'm like, you're hearing me with
your eyes, Like, oh no,

572
00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:06.440
my ears too. And I'm like, you are using every single one

573
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:09.079
of your senses when you're trying to
make an observation. So my goal is

574
00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:15.400
to help them make those observations,
make those connections in class with every single

575
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:20.280
one of their senses. I am
a visual person. I am a kinesthetic

576
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:22.239
person. I like to move around
and I like to see things visually.

577
00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:25.840
You can say things to me,
you can make me read, but if

578
00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:29.639
I can create a mind map or
if I can physically write on it,

579
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:32.679
I learned so much better. So
I don't want to force kids into being

580
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:37.320
a visual learner or kinesthetic learner that
I like I am, but I want

581
00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:39.280
to give them a taste of it
so they know, oh, yeah,

582
00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:43.159
this is working a lot better for
me. So I make sure that I

583
00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:46.079
do use all those senses when they're
learning and settying, because I want them

584
00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:52.199
to be able to apply or see
things from all different perspectives. I'm so

585
00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:55.320
glad I asked that. That's just
really just yummy on all fronts for me.

586
00:37:55.440 --> 00:37:59.719
So and here we are ready for
our next break. I'm the least

587
00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:01.440
court as your host. We've been
on the air with Miss Christy Wainwright,

588
00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:06.039
who is a biology teacher at Bishop
Lynch High School in Dallas. She joined

589
00:38:06.079 --> 00:38:08.679
us today from her school. We've
been talking a bit about her actual approach

590
00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:12.440
to teaching, how she goes about
it. After the break, we're going

591
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:27.199
to get into how biology prepares students
for life and work. Stay with us.

592
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.760
Friend us on Facebook to keep up
with what's empowering the world. Voice

593
00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:39.760
America Empowerment. Alis Cortez is a
speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She

594
00:38:39.880 --> 00:38:45.679
designs and delivers professional development, leadership
and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise

595
00:38:45.719 --> 00:38:51.480
to your organization. She will help
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will

596
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:55.559
increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite Elise

597
00:38:55.639 --> 00:39:01.440
to speak to your organization, please
visit her at dot Eliscortes dot com.

598
00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:15.360
She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose looking the

599
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:22.000
stop like this bigger than get inspired, encouraged and connected on our Lively Award

600
00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:28.079
winning Healthy Living Power Hour Star Style
Be the star you are with host and

601
00:39:28.199 --> 00:39:32.880
empowerment architect Cindya Brian live every Wednesday
at four pm Pacific on the Voice America

602
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:37.639
Empowerment Channel. Tune into the Power
Party for positive, uplifting, life changing

603
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:54.440
talk radio. Visit Starstyle Radio dot
com to or you man follow us on

604
00:39:54.480 --> 00:40:07.760
Twitter for more great ideas at Voice
America Empowerment. This is Working on Purpose

605
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:13.000
with Elise Cortes. To reach our
program today, please call in to one

606
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:16.880
triple eight three four six nine one
four one. Again that's one triple eight

607
00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:22.039
three four six nine one four one. You may also send an email to

608
00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:30.079
Elise ali Se at Elisecortes dot com. Now back to working on Purpose.

609
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:36.280
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to working on Purpose. If

610
00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:38.320
you're just tuning in. My guest
is Ms. Christy Wainwright, a well

611
00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:43.159
respected and loved teacher at Bishop Lynch
High School in East Dallas, Texas.

612
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:47.039
She teaches freshman biology both honors and
regulars and the ap Biology course offered to

613
00:40:47.079 --> 00:40:52.440
upperclassmen. I'm your host, Elise
Cortes. So before the reak, we

614
00:40:52.440 --> 00:40:53.920
were talking a bit about just how
it is that you bring the material to

615
00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:58.719
life, your approach to teaching,
which was fun and I hope that was

616
00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:02.280
actually delightful for anybody else who remembers
their teachers fondly or is interested in teaching

617
00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:07.159
themselves. For this last bit together, Miss Waynwright, I really wanted to

618
00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:09.719
bring it home as to why in
the world do we study biology in the

619
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:14.039
first place. And so, you
know, beyond what you teach in biology,

620
00:41:14.039 --> 00:41:15.679
I'll bet there are at least a
few key lessons that you want your

621
00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:20.079
students to learn. So when you
think about what do you want your students

622
00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:24.360
to really know about life? So
one of the very first lessons that we

623
00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:30.840
do at the beginning of the school
year is we do prefixes and suffixes,

624
00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:36.639
so we learn what words mean.
And so when you actually take the word

625
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:40.840
biology and you break it down,
biomeaning life andology means study of we are

626
00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:45.840
studying life. And if you're a
living thing, that should interest you.

627
00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:50.960
We've been going over the characteristics of
life, what makes something a living thing

628
00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:55.079
and kids wrapping their brain around the
fact that a dead tree is still a

629
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:59.840
living thing even though it's not alive. They never realize that a living thing

630
00:41:59.880 --> 00:42:02.800
is classified as a living thing even
after it's no longer alive. So,

631
00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:07.840
just being able to apply what we
talk about in the classroom to real life

632
00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:12.480
experiences, I feel like that is
the most rewarding thing that a student can

633
00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:16.320
give themselves. I know, you
always get the you always get the students

634
00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:20.760
in math class and they're like,
there's a truck and it has four apples

635
00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:23.239
and eighteen oranges and all these math
problems, and you're like, when when

636
00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:25.559
is this going to be applied?
When am I going to use this in

637
00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:30.960
my life? I can't make that
argument for math, because sometimes they do

638
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.119
feel that way about math. I'm
like, what I don't understand. I'm

639
00:42:32.119 --> 00:42:36.800
never going to use this, but
biology, honestly, you use it every

640
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:42.960
day. You use it every day, and my goal, my job is

641
00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:46.679
to make sure that kids understand that
even if they hate biology, they need

642
00:42:46.719 --> 00:42:50.960
to understand that it's going on around
them. They are a part of a

643
00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:57.000
living entity and that they need to
take care of that entity on all aspects.

644
00:42:57.559 --> 00:43:01.480
Like we're fixing to study acids and
bay and kids are like, oh,

645
00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:04.880
I know what an acid, I
know what a base is, and

646
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:07.719
then we start talking about practical applications
of that. No one's going to go

647
00:43:07.800 --> 00:43:10.559
drink a vat of acid. I
understand that. However, orange juice is

648
00:43:10.599 --> 00:43:15.480
a pretty popular breakfast food and a
breakfast drink, right, So the kids

649
00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:16.960
are always like, yeah, and
it tastes horrible when you brush your teeth

650
00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:20.639
and drink orange juice, And I'm
like, why is that? And they

651
00:43:20.639 --> 00:43:27.199
don't understand that orange juice is a
cidic, toothpaste is basic and there's a

652
00:43:27.239 --> 00:43:31.639
chemical reaction happening in their mouths that's
causing that taste and being able to apply

653
00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:37.920
it to actually what we're talking about
and to understand why toothpaste tastes horrible after

654
00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:40.320
you drink orange juice. That's the
connection I'm trying to make students to make

655
00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:45.599
at the end of the day.
I know that not everyone's going to love

656
00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:49.599
biology. At the end of the
day, not everyone's going to like science.

657
00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:52.039
But at the end of the day, what I want them to take

658
00:43:52.079 --> 00:43:55.400
home with them is that it's important
that it's all around them and no matter

659
00:43:55.480 --> 00:44:00.960
what you try, it will follow
you for your entire life. And to

660
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:02.239
be able to interact with it and
to be able to be a part of

661
00:44:02.280 --> 00:44:08.239
it instead of just sitting back and
not participating. I loved biology growing up.

662
00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:12.480
I don't know why I didn't study
it further, but I absolutely loved

663
00:44:12.480 --> 00:44:14.920
it. And part of it maybe
was I did have a great teacher too.

664
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:17.639
But I'm interested to take this a
little bit further. I totally get

665
00:44:17.719 --> 00:44:22.119
In fact, I didn't know why. I did not know why toothpaste tasted

666
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:24.119
awful after drinking orange juice. Thank
you very much for that. I did

667
00:44:24.119 --> 00:44:28.320
not know there was a reaction happening
in my mouth. Now I get that.

668
00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:30.760
Thank you. I'd like it if
you could just share a little bit

669
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:34.679
more about just because this is the
love of learning, and this is the

670
00:44:34.679 --> 00:44:37.000
stuff like, oh man, that's
why we had to learn this stuff in

671
00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:43.599
life. So a couple more examples
of how learning biology gives competence and prepares

672
00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:49.119
students for life their practical skills that
they're going to get. Definitely one of

673
00:44:49.119 --> 00:44:52.760
my new projects, because you know, I don't have enough on my plate

674
00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:58.960
right now, but I've decided to
institute a school garden, and so I

675
00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:01.480
really wrestled in myself else what we
wanted to do with the garden and who

676
00:45:01.519 --> 00:45:07.280
we wanted to make the garden with, and ultimately my Honors biology class one

677
00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:10.000
because I only had two classes,
which was fifty kids as opposed to one

678
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:15.599
hundred and change with my regular classes. So what we are doing is we

679
00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:21.880
are designing a garden and we are
making it completely sustainable. And my kids

680
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:22.880
at the beginning, they were like, why are we doing this? Why

681
00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:24.559
are we doing this? And I
was just like, just do it,

682
00:45:24.840 --> 00:45:28.360
just do it, trust me,
just do it. And so we've learned

683
00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:30.519
how to compost, We've learned what
we can put in a compost file,

684
00:45:30.679 --> 00:45:34.679
we've learned how to kill a compost
file. Because the very first week we

685
00:45:34.679 --> 00:45:37.280
did it, I was so excited
and I threw all this stuff in and

686
00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:40.199
I killed it and we had to
start over. But they were like,

687
00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:43.079
where am I going to use this? And I'm like, how many of

688
00:45:43.119 --> 00:45:46.960
you had a salad today for lunch? And you know, a good five

689
00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:50.679
or six girls raise their hand and
they're like, oh, I had a

690
00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:52.159
salad. I'm like, where did
the lettus come from? Did the let

691
00:45:52.239 --> 00:45:57.360
us fery bring the salad okay?
Or did you actually have to work and

692
00:45:57.559 --> 00:46:01.159
grow the lettuce? And so what
we're doing is we're applying that oh I

693
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:05.639
can readily go down to the refrigerator
and get a glass of milk. I

694
00:46:05.679 --> 00:46:08.199
can go down and get lettuce for
a salad, but where does it come

695
00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:10.760
from? How does it thrive?
And so what we're doing in the garden

696
00:46:10.840 --> 00:46:15.079
is not only are we growing plants, but we're learning how they survive,

697
00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:21.679
why they survive, what purpose that
they serve. Flowering plants, most of

698
00:46:21.679 --> 00:46:24.039
my students have no clue what the
purpose of a flower is. They're like,

699
00:46:24.079 --> 00:46:27.519
it just looks pretty, and I'm
like, it doesn't just look pretty.

700
00:46:27.719 --> 00:46:35.480
That's the plant's way of communicating to
bugs and insects like butterflies that they're

701
00:46:35.480 --> 00:46:38.719
ready to be pollinated. So they
can make more plants. So the flower

702
00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:45.880
is there actually as a mating enhancer. And they're like really, and I'm

703
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:49.639
like, yeah, there's a purpose
to that flower. There's a purpose to

704
00:46:49.679 --> 00:46:52.119
that seed. Most of my students
this is the one that gets them all

705
00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:58.880
the time, the ripening of fruit. Most of my students go, oh,

706
00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:00.079
yeah, it's ripe, so I
can eat it. I'm like,

707
00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:04.079
but why is it ripe? And
they're like, I don't know. What

708
00:47:04.159 --> 00:47:08.440
just happens. I'm like, that's
actually the plant telling animals that the seeds

709
00:47:08.519 --> 00:47:13.440
can survive their intestinal track, so
it's okay to eat them now. And

710
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:15.480
they're like really, and I'm like
yeah. The whole point of a fruit

711
00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:19.599
ripening is to let you know that
the seed coat has formed. So if

712
00:47:19.639 --> 00:47:22.400
you eat that strawberry anywhere to defecate
in the wild, for some reason,

713
00:47:22.800 --> 00:47:28.360
all of those seeds would grow.
So being able to connect things that they

714
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:34.320
already do in life is more important
to me than them going off and becoming

715
00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:38.000
a biomajor. Don't get me wrong, bio majors are awesome, but for

716
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:43.440
a student who hates biology and wants
to be an English major, who can

717
00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:46.679
use those experiences and relate it to
back to what we studied. That's more

718
00:47:46.760 --> 00:47:52.000
valuable to me as far as learning
goes. I am totally turned on by

719
00:47:52.039 --> 00:47:55.239
this. I think this is just
so fun. I do not remember biology

720
00:47:55.239 --> 00:47:59.760
coming to life like this, literally
coming to life like this. But boy,

721
00:47:59.800 --> 00:48:01.800
if you can, you know when
you ask the questions why why does

722
00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:07.159
this stuff actually occur? Why do
these things actually happen? And you start

723
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:08.880
pulling back the veil like that and
you start thinking about it. It's so

724
00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:15.920
much about just ensuring that there's ongoing
life right, that that there's reproduction.

725
00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:19.519
I mean, and I don't know
what high school kid doesn't understand that,

726
00:48:19.559 --> 00:48:23.480
but or doesn't who'sn't interested in that? Right? I love that and I

727
00:48:24.119 --> 00:48:28.719
really appreciate how you brought that literally
to life for us. But I got

728
00:48:28.760 --> 00:48:36.079
to ask how to kill the compost
pile? So I literally read every book

729
00:48:36.119 --> 00:48:37.760
and they're like, whatever you do, you can't kill it. You can't

730
00:48:37.840 --> 00:48:42.639
kill it. And there are so
many different levels of composting like bacteria and

731
00:48:42.719 --> 00:48:45.639
funguses. And I threw a bunch
of fruit juice in there because I had.

732
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:49.440
It's all from the cafeteria and they
save it for me, and I

733
00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:52.039
was just like, dump it all
in, dump it all in, dump

734
00:48:52.079 --> 00:48:54.840
it all in, and all of
a sudden, it was just rancid,

735
00:48:55.239 --> 00:49:01.360
and it smelled and it attracted all
these insects and critters and it just it

736
00:49:01.480 --> 00:49:06.199
smelled like death. It smelled like
death. And so I went and researched

737
00:49:06.239 --> 00:49:07.440
and they were like, so,
what you've done is you put too many

738
00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:14.400
greens in your pile and there's not
enough browns, which are like dirt and

739
00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:17.800
carbon based materials, and it's not
breaking down and it's just sitting there and

740
00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:21.639
rotting. And I was like,
oh great, So I went and I

741
00:49:21.679 --> 00:49:23.000
took I didn't tell the kids this
obviously, but now they know. I

742
00:49:23.039 --> 00:49:25.639
went and took all the compost piles
and I went and took them and I

743
00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:30.039
dumped them in the field behind my
house, and then I restarted them one

744
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:31.079
weekend so the kids wouldn't find out
about it. And I was like,

745
00:49:31.119 --> 00:49:35.760
oh, yeah, they're doing great. And then I finally came clean.

746
00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:39.000
But I was like, yeah,
you have to balance out your greens and

747
00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:44.079
browns, which I thought I was
doing but I evidently wasn't. I thought

748
00:49:44.119 --> 00:49:46.320
there's no way a pound is going
to make a difference. It does,

749
00:49:46.800 --> 00:49:51.480
it does, So that's what I
would advice I would give. Make sure

750
00:49:51.519 --> 00:49:54.800
you measure out your greens and browns
when you're composting. I also appreciate that

751
00:49:55.039 --> 00:49:58.960
just the whole well well figured out
how that didn't work, right yep,

752
00:49:59.199 --> 00:50:00.440
like you know, and as soon
you figured out all the different ways of

753
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:04.400
light bulb didn't work until he finally
found the way it did. Okay,

754
00:50:04.639 --> 00:50:07.599
I'm glad we used that quote.
I use that quote all the time.

755
00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:09.480
Yay see, isn't this great?
This is kiss meant you were supposed to

756
00:50:09.519 --> 00:50:13.320
be on this radio show. I'm
just saying, yeah, Okay, we're

757
00:50:13.360 --> 00:50:15.719
getting close to being out of time
already, and so I want to ask

758
00:50:15.719 --> 00:50:20.079
you two more questions if we can
swing them. So, knowing that this

759
00:50:20.159 --> 00:50:23.400
show is really about helping people more
meaningfully and productively connecting with their work,

760
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:27.320
and then of course showcasing people like
you who are turned on by their work,

761
00:50:27.880 --> 00:50:30.639
I want to have you talk a
little bit about how you think studying

762
00:50:30.639 --> 00:50:36.239
biology helps students prepare for the world
of work. So biology is not necessarily

763
00:50:36.280 --> 00:50:38.880
all about numbers, but it's about
order. One thing leads to another leads

764
00:50:38.920 --> 00:50:43.440
to another. I have my class
design to where if you don't do your

765
00:50:43.440 --> 00:50:45.840
homework, you don't do well on
your quizzes, you don't do well on

766
00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:47.000
your quizes, you don't do well
on your test. And I feel like

767
00:50:47.039 --> 00:50:52.239
that's something at the most basic level
that a student understands. I think what

768
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:55.239
people kind of miss out as far
as high school classes go. In high

769
00:50:55.239 --> 00:50:59.320
school sub theres go, it's a
cascade. And at the end of the

770
00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:02.960
day, I'm not teaching my students
all about biology. I'm teaching them how

771
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:07.920
to interact with one another when they
do a lab. I'm teaching them how

772
00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:12.719
to take initiative and accountability for their
own grade by sending me an email instead

773
00:51:12.719 --> 00:51:15.880
of a parent sending me an email. I'm teaching them how to make sure

774
00:51:15.880 --> 00:51:19.000
that there's a name on everything.
I like to use the check analogy,

775
00:51:19.039 --> 00:51:21.920
but since no one hardly writes checks
anymore and it gets lost on them.

776
00:51:22.079 --> 00:51:23.960
But if you don't put your name
on it, how is anyone ever going

777
00:51:24.000 --> 00:51:27.480
to be able to give you credit. You need to make sure that your

778
00:51:27.559 --> 00:51:30.880
name is on it so people will
take you seriously. So it's just little

779
00:51:30.880 --> 00:51:34.559
things like that that they can recall
back in freshman biology and then be like,

780
00:51:34.559 --> 00:51:36.440
oh yeah, I remember that one
time as winter and gave me a

781
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:40.039
zero. This is why. So
it's about the little things, the little

782
00:51:40.079 --> 00:51:45.199
nuances and the little habits that they
are creating now that will apply not only

783
00:51:45.280 --> 00:51:49.079
to biology but all their subjects and
then later in life with their career.

784
00:51:51.159 --> 00:51:55.920
Wow, that is again so appreciated, given that I also appreciate responsibility,

785
00:51:55.920 --> 00:52:01.840
accountability, and even the approach that
you're taking by the way that you teach

786
00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:05.920
is I see it on the other
side, and I can tell you I

787
00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:09.320
appreciate that I love working with young
people who are just entering the workforce,

788
00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:14.599
and obviously you're now teaching people who
are about soon soon enough to enter the

789
00:52:14.639 --> 00:52:20.199
workforce. So thank you in advance
for that. No problem. So we're

790
00:52:20.199 --> 00:52:23.719
coming to the end of the conversation
and I like to be able to let

791
00:52:23.760 --> 00:52:29.039
you have pretty much the last word
to the show. And so when you

792
00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:31.800
realize that this is a show that's
heard really across the globe and we are

793
00:52:31.840 --> 00:52:36.639
focused on the world of work in
general and being connected and passionate to the

794
00:52:36.639 --> 00:52:38.760
work that you do in a purposeful
manner, what would you like to lead

795
00:52:38.800 --> 00:52:45.760
our listeners with today? Never underestimate
the power or the will of a teacher.

796
00:52:47.119 --> 00:52:51.960
I know when I first started teaching, I was like, teaching is

797
00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:53.800
so easy. All you do is
hang out with kids all day. My

798
00:52:53.840 --> 00:52:55.679
brother in law likes to throw it
in my face. He's like, you

799
00:52:55.679 --> 00:53:00.320
get an entire summer vacation off,
and that's a bone to pay with him

800
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:04.440
anyways, But never underestimate how much
work and how much effort that a teacher

801
00:53:04.480 --> 00:53:09.920
is putting into your child's education,
And never underestimate how much good a relationship

802
00:53:09.960 --> 00:53:14.079
with that teacher can do for the
child. I think, at the end

803
00:53:14.119 --> 00:53:16.320
of the day, it is all
about the child. I don't need praise

804
00:53:16.360 --> 00:53:20.360
as a teacher. I don't need
sayings as a teacher. What I need

805
00:53:20.400 --> 00:53:23.880
is for that child to learn and
to understand and to enjoy the learning process.

806
00:53:24.360 --> 00:53:28.920
So if I'm passionate about it here
at school, and you're passionate about

807
00:53:28.920 --> 00:53:32.079
it at home, us being passionate
together, that's going to make a difference

808
00:53:32.119 --> 00:53:36.519
in that child's life. So at
the end of the day, like I've

809
00:53:36.559 --> 00:53:39.159
been saying, it's all about the
kid for me. And if I can

810
00:53:39.199 --> 00:53:45.920
stress that to anyone out there,
find what you want to do with your

811
00:53:45.960 --> 00:53:52.440
life and make it about other people, make it about someone else. When

812
00:53:52.480 --> 00:53:55.119
you make it about someone else,
you tend to enjoy it more because it's

813
00:53:55.159 --> 00:54:00.320
not about the money. It's not
about the summer vacations. It's about working

814
00:54:00.360 --> 00:54:04.840
with the kids and actually seeing them
grow. Everyone has that passion that they

815
00:54:05.239 --> 00:54:09.960
love, whether it's underwater basket weaving
or watching the mating habits of banana slugs.

816
00:54:09.960 --> 00:54:15.079
Find out what you love and share
it with others. What a brilliant

817
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:19.119
way to close the show, Miss
Wainwright. That was just incredible, very

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00:54:19.239 --> 00:54:22.719
very wise for a young woman,
just a couple. You're welcome. I

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00:54:22.719 --> 00:54:25.679
really want to thank you for joining
me on the show, being willing to

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00:54:25.719 --> 00:54:30.000
be recruited as it were, and
saying yes, I'm game. So thank

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00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:34.239
you for joining us and sharing your
passion, your purpose, your approach,

822
00:54:34.599 --> 00:54:37.199
and your love for your field.
It's been delightful to have you on.

823
00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:40.639
Thank you. It's been a wonderful
experience, very very enjoyable. I love

824
00:54:40.719 --> 00:54:45.360
them. I'm glad. If you
want to learn more about miss Wainwright and

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00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:47.400
the work she does at Bishop Lynch
High School, you can visit their website.

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00:54:47.440 --> 00:54:52.559
It's Bishop Lynch dot org. Join
us next week when we talk with

827
00:54:52.599 --> 00:54:57.719
Austin Kremers and Ramund Mayo of Drivers
Select about the purposeful culture they are creating

828
00:54:57.760 --> 00:55:02.480
within this automotive sales company that literally
drives everything no pun intended. It drives

829
00:55:02.519 --> 00:55:07.079
their employee engagement, performance, customer
satisfaction, and ongoing success. See you

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00:55:07.119 --> 00:55:09.320
then, and remember that work is
at least one through of our life,

831
00:55:09.360 --> 00:55:20.119
So let's work on Purpose. We
hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be

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00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:23.719
sure to tune into Working on Purpose
featuring your host, Elise Cortes, every

833
00:55:23.760 --> 00:55:29.800
Wednesday at six pm Eastern Time three
pm Pacific Time on the Voice America Empowerment

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00:55:29.880 --> 00:55:32.360
Channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work