Comments, Compliments and Everything In Between

You worked with Gaga??? Do tell!

Long, long ago, in a faraway land called New York City, I worked with a little-known artist named Lady Gaga. I went with her to various clubs and took pictures of her and her performances. I would also arrive at the venue early and set up posters, as well as a large silk-screened banner that said 'Lady Gaga.' She would take the same two dancers to each performance, and she would do club after club. Sometimes, it would be three or four clubs in a night.  A few weeks after I took the picture I posted on my page, her career blew up. She performed on So You Think You Can Dance, and from there, she skyrocketed.

J.S: Hi Laurence, I love the creativity and detail put into your video and I love the fun facts, especially the Ernest Hemingway one. I agree that classrooms are unpredictable so teachers must be flexible and that the process of learning is just as important as the goal. I like that you added it is important to stay curious and I like your comparison of you as compass and your students as stars because they are unique. I think essentialism and progressivism work well together especially your description of collaboration and hands-on projects to teach students about the traditional subjects of math, science and literature. 

 Hi Laurence I truly love how you have expreinced different things while being a flight attendee. I think it is very important to always be flexible in any career, but i feel it is very important especially with children because not only do lessons get side tracked, children come from different backgrounds and you are only aware of they lesson and the grade you will be teaching. So I absolutely agree with you that it is important to adapt and be flexible as much as possible as a person can be in any career! - Eli G.

Hi Laurence! I loved your presentation. You are so interesting and have experienced so many cool things. Throughout your career you have had to deal with so many types of people so your adaptability must be amazing. That will definitely prove useful in the classroom.  Also understanding from traveling, the different places you've been connect universally through learning, love, belonging and laughter. You focus on empathy and curiosity in your future classroom is super appealing to me because I feel the same as well. And to go off of that, I connect entirely to the mix of progressivism and essentialism in your teaching style! I think as you stated, learning those fundamentals but also focusing on the journey together and creating a community is so important. Also, your dogs are super cute! - Taylor Jameyson 

Hello Laurence, It's Ben Heider and I want to say your video is really creative and shows a good bit about how you want to be as a teacher. I definitely agree classrooms need to be flexible and classrooms can be hectic.

Hello Laurence, I am in complete admiration for all of your travels and life experiences.  I think it is in line that you are a progressive and essentialist as your travel experiences have taught you resilience and flexibility.  Additionally, you have experienced landmarks and historical sites firsthand, and you will be able to bring those experiences to life with your students.  If I could add one recommendation to your amazing visual and tech savvy slideshow, would just be to slow it down a little bit.  I had to pause everything to read each page.  I am extremely impressed.  - Kris Clayton

Hi Lawerence, I want to say that I really like how in your video you relate the adaptability that flight attendants have to the one that teachers need. I noticed that your teacher metaphor was a compass and how a lot of the information you put in the video relates to travel. I really liked your classroom image as you made it important for the room to be colorful, and inviting to the students as that is needed to facilitate enjoyable learning.- Madison Spurlock

Hi Laurence! I really enjoyed your presentation—you’ve had so many unique experiences that make you adaptable, which will be such a strength in the classroom. I also loved your focus on empathy and curiosity, and I agree that combining progressivism and essentialism is a great way to balance fundamentals with collaboration and growth. A. Lopez 

Hi Laurence! Your presentation was really detailed and creative. I admire your passion to teach your students empathy, to stay curious, courage, resilience, and to just be happy. Additionally, learning about how you're going to run your future classroom with a balance of a teacher and student centered learning environment. Essentialism and Progressivism are two educational philosophies that I had considered using for my classroom as well, I think as an educator it is important to incorporate hands-on and collaborative work in the classroom because children need to be comfortable with peers and use their fine motor skills. -Leanna Dozier

Hi Laurence! I loved your presentation and really enjoyed getting to know you!! I think it's amazing that you were a flight attendant and want to now become a teacher! That's amazing. I have always thought about how fun it would be to be a flight attendant and get to travel all over! - Tara Rodriguez