In this informal motivational talk, Derek Cole shares a personal story about mistakenly calling his wife Jodi instead of Joanna when visiting her school, highlighting how that confusion stemmed from not meeting her where she was. He uses the anecdote as a springboard to stress the central teaching mantra for educators: meet each student where they are, recognizing the varied home lives, moods, and backgrounds that affect learning. Cole argues that personal connections are the catalyst for positive impact, and urges teachers to lean on the school's resources—especially the supportive principal, Dr. Joanna Cole—while emphasizing that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. A recurring theme is the primacy of clear communication; Cole claims that most problems, whether in the classroom, at home, or in relationships, boil down to communication breakdowns. He concludes by encouraging teachers to use support staff, build individual bridges with students, and start the school year with intentional, empathetic engagement.
Chapters
So one of the first times I met my wife at one of her schools, I was met with confusion, questions, and I began questioning, am I in the right place? So I, I went to visit my wife and I don't think I've ever been in before. Went to the front office, you know, checked in, followed the rules, just didn't go anywhere. But the front office had like, you know, a desk and a little swinging door where you can go back to the other offices, and she was back there. So I go up there and the lady said, you know, can I help you, or Whatever. And I say, yeah, I'm here, I'm here to see Jodi. And she looks at me very confused about what I just said. She's like, Jodi? I'm like, yeah, Jodi. And, and I see her office like right there with the— I think the door shut, but I said, I said, yeah, her office is like right there. I, I can see it. She said, oh, Joanna. I said, okay, Joanna it is. Um, so when I was met with that confusion, the realization is I didn't meet her where she's at, and I know y'all have heard that quite a bit with, you know, education and meeting somebody where they are. And that has a lot of truth to it because everybody's at a different place. Everybody has a different home life. Everybody has a different background. It is not the same. It is not the same for everyone. So everyone has to be treated— yeah, you can treat everybody similar, but, you know, everyone has their little nuance to what's going on. So that story kind of relates to the school year, and y'all have a great opportunity to affect the lives of so many young people. Y'all can affect it positively or negatively depending on how you approach it, how you meet them that day. Meet them where they are. Maybe they had a bad morning, they had a bad weekend, or they had a good morning, a good weekend. Kids are in different spots, right? So it's important to get good at that. To see where they are, to make that personal connection, because every time I've seen a personal connection with people, that is when you can start making a difference. So you guys have a great opportunity to do that. Take advantage of it. I hope you lean on all the resources you have. I think In my opinion, you have one of the best principals you could ever ask for. Dr. Cole, Joanna, is one of the best people you can have on your side. She knows the students, she knows the teaching, she knows the ins and outs of what needs to be done. So it is not a sign of weakness To ask for help. That is a sign of strength. If you need help, they're there for you. Communication, like I talk about in our office, our biggest problem here is always communication. Communication is the breakdown. I said, think about it, every day in every point of life, The problems are communication. You have a problem with your kid, communication is the problem. Problem with the wife, husband, whatever, communication is the problem. Whenever someone's not on the same page, communication is the problem. So communicate what needs to be done, communicate any kind of help you need, And they will be there for you. You definitely don't want that confused look on the face of kids, the same confused look I got that one day. You don't want that, and you don't have to have that. So take a moment, take it all in. You have some of the best support staff behind you. Use them, use the resources, talk to the kids, learn what needs to be done, and meet them where they are. You've heard it so many times, it's true. Meet them where they are, build that personal bridge so you know each individual, not just the collective of all of them. So till Joanna, Derek Cole. I call her Jodie, my wife. Hello from me. Have a great year.
