Writing is Expression: Author to Teacher with Jasmyn Wright

In this Author to Teacher Episode: Conversations with published authors about writing, teaching, and how we can support our students,  our host Martha speaks with author, teacher, speaker, and SEL curriculum developer, Jasmyn Wright. The two discuss the importance of letting our students express themselves through writing, how to encourage students to take risks, and how Jasmyn's work as an author and a speaker has impacted her classroom for the better.

You can find Jasmyn's book I'm Gonna Push Through on Amazon or wherever books are sold. You can also learn more about Jasmyn and her Push Through Organization on her website.

If you're a teacher who teaches writing, or really any subject, this is a helpful, insightful, and important listen filled with interesting, real life anecdotes and useable advice you can apply to your classroom today.

Listen along and learn how we can help our students find their passion and voice as writers.

Transcript

Martha (00:00):

Hi. I'm Martha from Primary Paradise Teaching, and this is Author to Teacher conversations with published authors about writing, teaching and how we can support our students. During each episode, I'll chat with some amazing authors about their experiences as students, their journeys as writers and their insights into teaching and learning from their unique perspectives. My hope is that these conversations will give teachers usable insight into how we can inspire our students to find their passion and voice as writers. Let's get started.

                Hello and welcome to this episode of Author to Teacher. Today I have the honor and privilege of speaking with someone who is an author, a speaker, also a teacher and all around an amazing human being. And of course, I'm talking about my guest, Jasmyn Wright. Thank you for joining me today, Jasmyn.

Jasmyn (01:12):

Thanks, Martha. How are you? I feel like this is our first time really talking.

Martha (01:17):

I know. I know. When Jasmyn went viral with her Push Through affirmation, what was that? 2016?

Jasmyn (01:24):

Yes, 2016. About five years ago.

Martha (01:28):

I saw it because it went viral and I cried. It was so good. And still now, sometimes when I'm having a moment, I might pull it up. And then you had your Gap  campaign and you've been doing all kinds of stuff. I'm going to give you a minute to tell us whatever you want to tell us about yourself, and then we'll get right into the conversation.

Jasmyn (01:44):

All right. For those who don't really know me, I am Jasmyn. I just finished my 11th year teaching in a classroom, 11 years. And people still think I'm like 21 but I'm not. I'm 32. But I finished my 11th year teaching. I've taught in Philadelphia, Tennessee, Delaware, and I did some things abroad as well. 

                In addition to being a teacher, I also have a nonprofit called a Push Through Organization and I do... I wear many hats with that. Let's put it that way. From keynote speaking to curriculum, building, to consulting, to author visit to a lot of many things, and that's that.

Martha (02:21):

You are a busy, busy woman. The reason I wanted to have you on is on top of the teaching and all the other things, you've also written a book, which is a really great picture book, with your really unique perspective. I have some questions, so I'm going to hop right in. The first one is, did you always want to be an author or is that something that was an unexpected part of your journey? 

Jasmyn (02:42):

I've always loved writing. I love poetry, I love spoken word, but I am the girl who will, well before iPhones or phones came out, I would just write random notes and leave them all around the house around my mom's house. I've always loved writing. I don't know if I wanted to be an author, but I always wrote poems or short stories and things like that. It actually wasn't until Push Through when viral that I realized, I think I'm want to be an author now. I think I want to make a book out of this to have a legacy that outlives the verbal mantra itself.

Martha (03:13):

Which is such a cool thing about writing that I think, and I'm sure we'll probably get in to this more, but leaving something bigger than yourself. When we give our kids the understanding that writing something down is going to outlive you, I think that's really powerful.

Jasmyn (03:29):

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I wanted something that outlives me. Push Through is audio, it's visual and you're in the world technology now and everyone can see it, but I wanted something that kids can hold in their hands. That can inspire them outside of the basic or the mainstream. Not everyone, some kids are, everybody's diverse. Some people may be hard in hearing or their deaf or mute, but is just something that's in your hands that you can physically hold to inspire yourself is what I wanted to have. A legacy is what I wanted.

Martha (04:04):

And I think you created that with all of the things that you've done. What experiences in school impacted your journey as a writer? Were there any things that stand out good or bad?

Jasmyn (04:15):

Yeah. As definitely the kids, I will say my kids and spirit have influenced everything that I do, everything. I would say it's more so the kids than it is administration. The conversations that I have with them and their parents and their own experiences, everything I've experienced with kids have influenced me in my writing, hearing their stories. I think a lot of times as educators we're teaching something academic and we're teaching, reading, math, writing, but we're not really learning our kids, from my experience and I learn my babies. 

                I've learned them, their ins, their out, their who, what, when, wheres and why's. They're them. I know them as individuals, as people. Not even just as students, as people. And I think their experiences are what influences me in my writing or even how I move or what I write about or what I do in my work right now. They definitely inspire me.

Martha (05:11):

I can see that for sure, because it seems like you feed off of each other. They inspire you and probably in turn you inspire them. 

Jasmyn (05:19):

Oh, yes. We're a big family. We are a big family inside of the classroom.

Martha (05:24):

Which is awesome. That's the way it should be. Let's talk about Jasmyn as a student. When you were a student, how did you feel about writing in school? 

Jasmyn (05:36):

I loved it. I loved it. I was a teacher's pet, Martha, believe it or not. I know, but I didn't do it on purpose. I wasn't like the teacher's pet where I would try to suck up or... I was just me. I loved learning. I loved writing and I just loved everything academic. I was a geek. You guess you can say that.

                But with school and writing, I loved it now, to be honest with you, but I really, I just started a doctoral program. I start like in two weeks, but to be honest with you, I'm actually a bit nervous with the writing because I'm such a free writer. My writing is poetry, my writing is freedom, my write is expression, my writing is Jasmyn. And so now, I'm afraid my first time in my writing career, to embark on this new journey  because it's, I'm about to get engaged in scholarly writing. With the citations and things like that. 

                I say that to say that I've always loved writing. However, I'm about to embark on a new journey right now, that's going to cause me to step outside of my comfort zone and push through.

Martha (06:42):

Yeah, it's definitely going to push you.

Jasmyn (06:45):

I'm like, yeah, scholarly. What? I just want to write like me.

Martha (06:47):

Yeah. And it's hard. And actually, last week I talked to Jarrett Lerner and we talked a lot about how he felt like the creativity part was lacking when he was growing up. But I think for you, you give that to your students because you model that. But yeah, it's almost like this balance because we do need to, and our students do need to be able to write expressively but also scholarly-

Jasmyn (07:09):

Scholarly as well. Mm-Hmm (affirmative). Definitely, it's a skill, it's a skill. But I'm excited for the journey. [crosstalk 00:07:17]

Martha (07:17):

Well, best of luck. I'm sure you're going to do an awesome job. 

Jasmyn (07:20):

Thank you. Thank you. We'll see. I'm a push through.

Martha (07:26):

I know you are really big on affirmations and spoken word. Do you think that has any impact on your students' writing? That spoken word use and the affirmations that you do? 

Jasmyn (07:40):

Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely. I teach in the inner city intentionally. Because I feel like that's where my impact is the biggest. And a lot of times children will say things like, I don't like writing, or I don't like reading, or this is stupid or I can't do this. And what I want them to know is that writing, again, it's expression. 

                They do a lot of reflective kind of writing in their journals. I love journals. I love journals. And my rules with the journals are, I don't check your journals. I don't check them for grammar. I don't check them for punctuation. I don't check them for thought completion. The only thing I'm going to do is monitor the room as you're writing and make sure that you're actually writing. Because I think it's really, it's powerful, the art of reflection, period.

                And I will say that there have been, like my students, the ones who were really opposed to writing, have gone from writing three words in their journals to saying things such as, "Hey, Ms. Wright, I need two more minutes. I need two more minutes." Because they're writing and because they're loving the art of expressing themselves and reflecting. And I think that's poetry right there. That's affirmation right there. 

                Poetry isn't, there's no restriction there, there's no rule with that. There's nothing there. It's you. It's you, your thoughts and your brain and your emotion, and you put it on paper. And I think kids don't know that they love it until they start engaging in it. My kids, I'm talking the ones who, I got to sharpen my pencil every two seconds, but it's really, really sharpened already, but they really want to sharpen it again because they don't want to really wright. They want to get up, they're writing, writing and they love it. They love it because I'm not there over their shoulder being a nit picker. All I care about is, did you express yourself? 

Martha (09:26):

And that's exactly-

Jasmyn (09:27):

And they're telling me, I'm not done yet. Yeah, it's expression and they love it. My babies love it. 

Martha (09:31):

And that's exactly the whole thing that's sparked these conversation I wanted to have, is that I think that the technical piece of writing is actually pretty simple. It can be complicated but really, you put a period at the end of the sentence, you only want one subject and one predicate. Okay. But I think that sometimes in teaching our students those technical things that we feel like they have to learn for the test, we talk out that creativity and that joy from it and just giving them a space even if you also have to teach those other things, because of course you do. But giving them the space to journal and express themselves, however.

Jasmyn (10:09):

Yes. And it's even more beautiful than that. Not even the journaling piece. My babies love to, I always say my babies, not even my kids. But they love to share. That's a bigger skill as well, to share their writing. That sharing encourages them to even write more, if that even makes any kind of sense. Because they're not used to sharing what they write down. And so once we write and we engage in this reflection piece and they share, it encourages them to... Sometimes they're like, okay, wait, wait, wait, nevermind, I want to write more. I'm sharing but I want to write more. I'm not done. 

                That's beautiful. Writing is intimate to me. It's personal. Because people have their own insecurities with the writing or things that they're doing. When kids step outside of that, their comfort zone and they just express, you have no idea what doors are opening up for them when we do that. 

Martha (10:56):

That was actually my next question. I was going to say, do you have them share? Because like you said, when you're showing your writing, that's such an intimate thing and such a personal thing and it, especially if you're writing about yourself and your feelings. But like you said, when you say it out loud is when you're like, oh, this is really good or, oh this needs some work.

Jasmyn (11:18):

Yeah. We love to share. We share. We share. And it's weird. I have to push them. In the beginning I had to push them to share because it's a safety zone. You have to create that. I always model first which I have no problem being vulnerable with my kids. They know just much about me as my parents do. They know everything, but I feel like that's something we have to model, but I want them to see that it's okay to express. 

                And so I model first, and then they share or if they're too shy, I call on them a little bit. I push them a bit to share. But once they do that, they love it. I'm telling you Martha, I'm talking about the toughest of toughest students standing up reading their work and sharing and safe doing it. And it's kind of rewarding, if I may say, a little bit. 

Martha (12:09):

Yeah [crosstalk 00:12:09].

Jasmyn (12:09):

It's very rewarding.

Martha (12:12):

And the fact it's a Testament to you as a teacher that you have been able to create a safe enough space for your students that they're okay with doing that, I'm sure it takes some time into the school year to do that.

Jasmyn (12:22):

Oh it takes time. They hate me in the beginning. They hate me. They don't hate me. They're just like, this lady is crazy. This lady is weird. Or no, no, no, this lady is just different. But we learn each other as we go. Yeah, they're used to it. They're used to it. 

Martha (12:37):

How connected, and I know you already mentioned a love of reading. How connected do you feel like it is to inspire students to love reading in order to help them improve their writing? Do you see a connection there?

Jasmyn (12:49):

I do. I'm going to play a bit of a devil's advocate a little bit. But for me, reading has made me love writing even more. I can get inspired by anything. However, not however, and, whatever, whatever the word is, the conjunction is. But I just know some kids who haven't found the text yet that makes them realize that they love to read. 

                Kids will tell you real quick, "I don't like reading. I don't like." But they haven't found the book yet, that really matches or piques their interest. However, I will say that I know some kids or even people where I feel like everybody has a book in them. Everybody, everybody has an experience that he or she has encountered. Everybody has gone through something that worthy of text. And in my opinion, whether it's children text or whether it's a young out or teen, everybody has something in them that the world can benefit from.

                I just know some people, just frankly speaking and honestly speaking, I have a cousin right now. He is smart. Very, very close. He's incarcerated. He's a good guy. He just made a mistake. Really good guy, made a mistake. He has never probably read a book a day in his life, Martha. But when I speak to him, and when he expresses himself and he... and we speak often, and he talks about his story or says something, it it draws me in. 

                The way that he articulates his words or the way that he paints that picture, I'm like, "Man, you're going to write the hell out of a book look one day." Seriously, and he he's like, "I'm not a writer. I'm not a writer. I'm not writing a book." I say, "You have no idea what you have inside of you." But he is a writer. And I think that a lot of times people think, you don't have to be the best reader to be the best writer, is what I'm saying. But when I hear him speak, I hear nothing but books, I hear nothing but bestsellers, I hear nothing but New York Times, listen, Amazon. I hear nothing but something that somebody else can benefit from. He's great. 

                And that's how I see some of my kids as well. Some of them aren't the best readers or writers or mathematicians, and they're annoying, and I love them to death. But they have a book in them. And when they express themselves sometimes I'm like, "Wow, that will make a really decent book." Did you ever think about that? And they're like, "No, I don't like writing." I'm like, "You don't even know what you have inside of you."

                And so, I think reading is very fundamental to be a great writer. It's extremely fundamental. But at the same time, I want people to know, you don't got to be the best reader to be the best writer. It's some best sellers out there that's living inside of you right now, but we are afraid of grammar. And I'm like, you could pay people for that. You can do audio, you can just talk to the, what is the voice recorder?

Martha (15:24):

Yeah, going to [crosstalk 00:15:24].

Jasmyn (15:23):

Yeah. Just talk, let them write to press. That's your celebrities are doing now. Just talk. But I just feel like everybody has a book in them. Whether you read well or not.

Martha (15:37):

I think that's such a really good point because if we don't believe that of our students, then we're not in the right profession. If you can't look at every single one of the children sitting in front of you and like they have potential and that they have a story to tell... Again, I talked with Jared about this last week, about how everybody has a story in them and just life. Your life is a story. When my kids don't know what to write, I always just say like, "Well, what did you do this weekend?" And they start telling me, storytelling is a fundamental aspect of being a human.

Jasmyn (16:12):

Yes, definitely. Definitely. And I love your baby girls, by the way. They're so beautiful. 

Martha (16:20):

Beautiful. Thank you. 

Jasmyn (16:20):

They're beautiful. 

Martha (16:20):

Yeah, they're not the babies anymore. They're getting big.

Jasmyn (16:22):

I know, I know. The Push Through video I saw, that's my frame reference for them from those [crosstalk 00:16:27] video.

Martha (16:28):

Yeah. And you know what though, we have your book, we read it frequently. We are really all about working through the things we have to work through, because it's a human thing, you have to work through stuff. 

Jasmyn (16:42):

Yeah, thank you.

Martha (16:45):

Well, we talked about this a little bit already, but what impact has your writing and your speaking and all of the things you've done had on your classroom?

Jasmyn (16:53):

Okay. I told you, I've been teaching for 11 years. I just finished my 11th year, and people think that Push Through in 2016 was... But no, I've been doing that since like 2010. Push Through just happened to make his mark on the world but I was pushed through before Push Through went viral. 

                And since 2010, I've always had these things called mama moments. And my babies and I, that's what we do. My writing has helped us bond. It's helped them bond with each other. It's helped me connect with them. I don't know, I feel like everybody has a gift and that gift of mine has made me stronger in my professional work, and made me more effective in my work.

Martha (17:42):

I can definitely see that. I also feel like just your unwillingness in a good way, your unwillingness to let your students slide [crosstalk 00:17:52]. 

Jasmyn (17:53):

Yeah, I don't play that. I don't play that. No, the bar is high. The bar is high because I see them. I see them and I know that they have more than the mediocracy that they show and display. I know that they have more. The beauty of it all though, Martha, is that I don't only push them, they push me as well. That's where the accountability piece is and that's why we coexist so well and we push each other. We push the heck out in each other. But yeah. No, I don't let them slide. 

Martha (18:34):

I mean and we [crosstalk 00:18:34].

Jasmyn (18:34):

There's a thin line between empathy and sympathy, and I empathize with them, and I can meet them where they are in their emotion and I can feel with them. But I don't allow on the lack and slack at the same time. Empathy, but I don't enable them in any way. I'm like, "I understand you're going through something. Me too. I'm going to give you about 10 minutes to get together. I love you and I'm going to tackle you and push you. You're going to hate me right now. You're going to hate me probably tomorrow too and next week and the day after that. But I love you at the end of the day." So yeah, I hope there's a very high bar in my classroom. 

Martha (19:09):

As there should be, because of course at the end of the day, our responsibility is to prepare these kids to go out into the world and be adults who can function, and hopefully-

Jasmyn (19:19):

Definitely.

Martha (19:19):

... also feel like complete humans at the same time. Another Jasmyn as a student question. So tell me about your favorite teacher you ever had. It could be elementary, high school, middle school, college. 

Jasmyn (19:31):

You know I saw that question. I never had a favorite teacher. I can't think of that one teacher who was really transformation or just impactful in my life. But what I can think about is, it was not even really a teacher. He was an educator but he wasn't my teacher per se. But I remember when I studied abroad in 2009, I was in Ghana. I remember I was checking in... Or not checking in. What's the word? I don't know. I was registering for classes at the University of Ghana, and there was the check-in guy. What's the word? Registrar. I don't know.

Martha (20:06):

Registrar. 

Jasmyn (20:09):

And I still remember I was 19. I'm 32. I was 19. To this day I remember him. He said something like, he saw my ID, my student ID and he said to me, he was like, "Jasmyn Wright. Wright, are you related to the Wright brothers? And the Wright brothers I mean at the airplane and things like that." And I'm like, "No, no, I don't know them at all." But we laughed, little, little cheesy laugh. But then he said to me as I walked off. He said, "Okay." He said, "So what will you do to leave a legacy like them? What will you do to have an impact?" 

                And I just did... We just really locked eyes. This was in Ghana. It was a really weird intimate, but strong and powerful moment and I was like, "I don't know yet." And he was like, "Think about it." And gave my ID back. I still remember him to this day. Even now with Push Through, I literally remember this. I don't know that man's name. I don't know anything about him. I forgot what he looked like, but I remember his words and the impact of it. 

                And that impact of the teacher, those seeds are so powerful. Martha, those lingering, it can be three words, it can be five words, it can be a sentence, it could be a conversation, but that's the power of a teacher. It's more than what you're learning academically. It's those moments. Are we taking advantage of those moments to be effective in our lives and in our roles? And in that moment, he was effective for me and I still think about that man to this day. Not like that, but you know. But I still think about that moment. It was just powerful for me. And so-

Martha (21:38):

I got goosebumps when you said that. What an amazing thing. And honestly, I'm so curious now, if he would even recall that. Because it sounds like he was probably the kind of person who just was walking around like, I'm going to just fill people's cups. 

Jasmyn (21:51):

Yeah. He filled my cup that day. It literally stuck with me. And I'm big on words, period. I love words and writing, author. If only he knew those words still stick with me. I just want to walk by him and be like, "Hey remember, hey guess what? I made an impact. I did something. Had the thing called Push Through." I don't want to walk by with this. It's just a marvel of everything to him, but I don't even know what that man looks like.

Martha (22:14):

The internet is everywhere, so for all you know, he's seen your Push Through. He's probably seen. Maybe he's cheering you on from Ghana.

Jasmyn (22:21):

Maybe, maybe.

Martha (22:24):

What would you tell, if you 10-year-old in front of you who said, "I want to write a book one day. What should I do?" What would you tell them?

Jasmyn (22:33):

Start. Just write. Literally, just write. A lot of times, and I'm speaking to a few people now who are interested in writing a book and they're asking, it's so interesting, Martha, people are asking me advice or what do I do? What's the process of writing a book? I'm like, "I don't know. Just write." And I feel like that's it. Just write. I think write without the restriction or hesitation or thought, or is this right? Does this make sense? Just write and your words will find you. You don't find them, they find you. Just write. 

                A lot of times, also I'm a dreamer, I tell my kids all the time. They're like, when we do our free writing and they're like, I don't know what to write about. I'm like, "What did you dream about last night? Did you dream anything last night?" Like the movie Alex in Wonderland is so whatever, but that's actually pretty decent to me. I'm such a kid. I'm so weird but thinking, because I'm like, "This man had to have a dream or something to write this movie, Alex in Wonderland. This is a really animated kind of movie."

                I feel like a lot of times, we can take an experience or a dream or something and bring it to life. Just write about it. That's it. Don't think about the characters or... That's how you work then, that's how you work, but don't think about the plot. Don't think about... Just write. Just write and as your thoughts go, you go with it. So that's my advice, just write. I would also tell kids to be careful who they share their writing with when they... Just be careful or be strong enough in your writing to not be discouraged by haters.

Martha (24:05):

Or people who have a vision that you have.

Jasmyn (24:07):

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Because not everybody's is going to have your vision. So be careful.

Martha (24:10):

Yeah. And that's so true because how many books would I pick up and then want to put down because it's not my thing. But it's a best seller. I love that. That's right. That's such great advice because that's the key. You write what you have and then give it to somebody else and find somebody who likes it and wants to publish it.

Jasmyn (24:27):

Exactly. And then he or she will help you hone in your idea and bring it to life. I think a lot of times we're scared of that leap of faith of just doing it. I'm talking to myself right now at the moment by the way. It's that leap is all it takes. But once you take that leap, everything else figures itself out. But a lot of time people are scared of the leap. I'm scared of leap.

Martha (24:49):

Yeah. A great example of that, not a book but I've had the idea for this, for Author to Teacher for more than six months. And I was like, "First of all nobody's going to want to watch this, nobody's going to want to listen to this, no one's going to care." And then I finally did it. I think a lot of times kids see the end product. Like they see, "Oh, Ms. Wright wrote a book." But they may not see the process in the work and the doubt that went into that went into that.

Jasmyn (25:16):

Yes. Yes.

Martha (25:16):

We think being honest with our kids is a big thing.

Jasmyn (25:20):

Well, I'm proud of you for Author to Teacher in your podcast. You go girl.

Martha (25:25):

Thank you. I have another question for you. So what keeps you going when you want to give up?

Jasmyn (25:30):

I'm very spiritual. My spirituality keeps me going but deeper down it's the why, is the work that I do, my why? And that sounds so cliche because I can't stand cliche things. But it's the truth for me, the why. I really believe that everything we do is bigger than us. This is bigger. It's bigger than Jasmyn, is bigger than me feeling like I'm tired. It's bigger than you feeling like, "Oh, why me?" 

                It's not about me, it's not about you, it's not about any, it's about the work. And what keeps me going is the work, the assignment. And also I'm just trying to hear well done, [inaudible 00:26:07]. I want God to tell me well done. That's it. Well done. I want to hear the, you used everything that I gave you Jasmyn. You used everything that I gave you and you were affective. Well done. That keeps me going.

Martha (26:22):

I love that. And you do. You use your gifts so well. I know one of your big, big things is teaching every student, every person you come in contact with that we all have our gift, whatever that may be. So how do you draw that out of your students?

Jasmyn (26:42):

It's really hard, especially when kids... Okay. The classroom is interesting because you have, well, now it's like 11 kids but back in the day before pre-COVID, like 20 kids. And you got to think about each kid comes from a different background. A different background, different upbringing and different setting, a different home shocker. There're literally including myself, 21 different upbringings in the same four walls. And we're in these four walls. We spend the hours together within these four walls, literally hours together. 

                You have to try to get them to be on one accord or to eventually adopt a new, not a new way but a shared way of thinking. If that makes sense. Basically everybody's come from all over space however, in these four walls, we think this way. It's a challenge, but it's built through relationships and trust and all that good stuff. But once I built that common language amongst these four walls of these many different personalities, then it's easier for me to try to get them to see their gift or their own.

                Now I tell my kids a lot like, I don't know what you do well. I'm like, "If I see it, I'll call it out. But I don't know what your gifts are, I don't know why you're put here on earth, I don't know. But what I do know is that you're somebody and what I do know that you have a diamond in side of you, like you are a diamond inside of us. And then we might not know that diamond is right now." 

                But what we're going to do in this class is we're going to practice to just skills itself, to make your diamond that much shiner. So what does that mean? That means I'm going to teach you how to believe in yourself. I'm going to teach you how to encourage yourself. I'm going to teach you how to not quit unless you choose to [inaudible 00:28:27] because it's okay to quit. 

                But I'm going to teach you how to cheat them, I'm going to teach you how to manage these emotions. I'm going to teach you who you are, so that when it comes time for you to find out your diamond, you already packaged the skills to be able to shine it yourself. The kids in a classroom, I don't necessarily bring out their gifts, I will say. I don't necessarily... I'm not God. I'm not a magician. 

                But I do want them to know that each kid, whether you know that you're a great singer or you don't know what you're going to do in your life, that you know that you are somebody and that you're worthy. And that there's something inside of you that you're just as good as anybody else and that I try to remove imposter syndrome. And I do that by using myself as an example because I have imposter syndrome myself. 

                I use myself as an example to try to help them and what kids need to know a lot of times is that teachers, they are human beings. I tell my kids all the time, "I believe just like you. I believe just like you when I'm cut. I cry like you when I'm hurting, I eat when I'm hungry, just like you. I get irritated just like you. I make mistakes just like you. I'm just like, we're not different, we're the same." 

                I want them to, when they understand that and then, so now that they see me as a human, they also see me in my Push Through journey as well so they can... I feel like that's intentional with what I do, for them to see me as a human but also see me as a professional and Push Through so they can say, well, okay, so maybe you don't have to be a facade to be this way. Human beings, this is what a human being looks like. I can be a human being and then I can be professional at the same time. 

                I'm not sure if I'm articulating that correctly but I just want my kids to know that I'm not pushed through or this person who is, I ain't Oprah. I'm darn sure not Oprah. I'm not Michelle Obama. I am Jasmyn Wright and I love Jasmyn Wright. And Jasmyn Wright, you can still be yourself and still be elevated at the same time. I want my babies to know that no matter what they go through, who they're that they're good enough.

                You might got to work on some things as you need to be refined in some areas because they look a little rough, but they're a little rough. But I want them to know that you're fine. You don't have to be like this person or be like that person or your story is perfect for you. You're just because you had this experience doesn't disqualify you. It actually qualifies you even more because now you have more content, because you've been there and done that. So that's what I want my babies to see the human being in authenticity and that your you is enough, your you is enough and that's it.

Martha (31:14):

I think you just said so many great things in there, talking about number one, you being vulnerable and how it's good for our students to see that we are real people. I tell my kids all the time, "I make mistakes all the time and you can tell me." I'm going to spell words wrong, I'm going to forget that it's recess time and that's okay." But at the same time that means this is a two-way relationship. When you make a mistake, I'm going to tell you too, in a respectful way. 

                And often I think just you pouring into your students and letting them know that you believe with every part of your heart that they are someone, that they have a purpose like you always say, and that they're made for something, that gives them the confidence to try things-

Jasmyn (32:05):

Yes. 

Martha (32:06):

... so they can find their purpose. So that's so powerful.

Jasmyn (32:09):

Yes. Yes. I love that. It makes them want to try things. Kids are afraid to take risks more than adults are. They're so afraid of falling or they're afraid of making a mistake or they're afraid of being stuck. But yeah, I really encourage my kids to try different things.

Martha (32:25):

I have to say you've mostly... Well, I know you've taught kindergarten too, and I've always taught the younger guys for the most part. I've taught older too. But I think that in a way as teachers sometimes we're the reason they're afraid to take risks because my kindergartners and first graders, they don't care. I have a two-year-old.

Jasmyn (32:44):

You're right. You're right.

Martha (32:46):

He doesn't-

Jasmyn (32:46):

I know.

Martha (32:46):

... care. But my seven-year-old, we have to have a lot of conversations about, you can try this. It's okay to just try. I think sometimes and I think that's just life and being more self-aware. But I do think sometimes teachers suck that risk-taking desire out of kids because they want to get the good grade and they want to do the right thing.

Jasmyn (33:10):

Yes. Yes. Even when we meet with grading, I grade a little different Martha. I've grade a little bit, because I'm not really a stickler or anything standardized or traditional, period. That's just me, I'm rabble a little bit, just a little bit in a good away. Even when I grade assignments, I grade it and you get the grade you deserve. You fail, you fail. [inaudible 00:33:36] 

                But I'm commenting on everything. I don't care if there were 15 questions on the test and you got 13 wrong. But it also depends on the kid because I know if you didn't study on purpose and you go get the real Jasmyn. But I don't know, if you try your best and you have 13 wrong, I am commenting the heck out of those two that you got right. 

                It was like, "I'm so proud of you. You did your absolute best. I'm so proud of you. Next time you're going to get three right." But that's just me on my paper but you still got that F. Like oh no, you still failed it. [crosstalk 00:34:12] I'm not circling that, I'm circling the comment that I made instead so it's about the details of that. 

                I want my babies to know that, "I'm proud of you. And I know, I know you tried your best. I know you, and we spoke and I know you did, and I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you." And I think kids need to know that. And that encourages them to take more risks to hear, I believe in you. I'm proud of you. You can do it. Those four simple words will catapult or change somebody's life, period. 

                I was at the gym the other day and my trainer said to me the other day, "You got it Jasmyn." He had no idea how that hyped me up, Martha, of I got it, I got it. Like lift it. I got it. But even as an adult, you will be surprised how four words can really motivate you. Only takes four words. [inaudible 00:35:02] four words.

Martha (35:03):

It's like you said, earlier words are so powerful. I know, everybody likes to hear that they can do it like you said. Everybody likes to hear that they have potential. And what you just said about how you grade reminds me of a TED talk and I can't remember her name. But there was a teacher who gave a whole thing about basically motivating kids and kind of... I have to remember her name. Anyway, but she talks about if someone got 50 or 48 wrong out of 50, she writes plus two on the top of the paper. And the first time she did it a kid said, "But I failed." And she said, "Yeah, but you got two right, next time you'll get three." (See TEDtalk by Rita Pierson here)

Jasmyn (35:43):

What's her name? You don't know or you forgot?

Martha (35:46):

I forgot. I want to say it-

Jasmyn (35:47):

Okay.

Martha (35:48):

... it start the P maybe. I actually think she passed away. If you search, if you Google motivational education TED talk, I think hers might be first one that comes up.

Jasmyn (35:59):

Okay. Okay. I will, I will.

Martha (36:00):

It's a good one. As an author and a teacher, what do you think is one thing most teachers are missing in their classroom? What's one thing that in general teachers are probably missing the mark?

Jasmyn (36:14):

One or a million because I got a lot? But I'll start with the one. Now, I think representation is really important with books and the reading and writing or just, kids have to be able to identify with something, with the characters in a book or with the context of the text it self, or even a story period. Not even just the characters of race but as far as the story applies. I think representation in all aspects is missing from the classroom.

                I had a kid, this is when I'm teaching third grade and he told me he didn't like reading. I'm like "You don't like reading." But he was a really great reader. He was really quick. But he didn't love it and I'm like, "What do you mean?" He's like "I do I know? I just think books are dumb or books, they're not fun to read." 

                I said, "So what if I was to write a story right now that tells you, if I had a million dollars hidden in the classroom." I'm so random. "And I wrote a story or read a letter, I wrote a letter to you about how to find the million dollars in a class, would you read the letter?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Would you enjoy that letter?" He said, "Of course dah Ms. Wright." I said, "Okay. So it's not that you don't enjoy reading, you haven't found something that interests you yet." I think that's what kids, they need to learn how to love reading. 

                And it's not their fault. The texts in schools suck. They suck. They suck. To me they're good because I'm a teacher. I'm like, this is a good play, this is great. But for my babies, they have to connect, they have to connect it to the text and that's what's missing. I think schools should do a better job. Admin, schools, teachers, whatever, period, to do a better job of just bringing that diversity or representation into the classroom. And the kids will love it. They will love it.

Martha (37:59):

I totally agree with you. And I think it's something that it's so frustrating that like textbooks, especially are just so far behind. It's still nowhere as where it needs to be but it is nice that more and more, you're seeing better options for children's books but we're not there yet.

Jasmyn (38:16):

Were definitely better now-

Martha (38:17):

Were definitely not. 

Jasmyn (38:17):

With the pandemic, I feel like there is some positivity that's coming from it in the midst of it being crazy. I feel like people are learning now. This is the first time in the world, not even just U.S., in the world, where the entire world stopped at the same time. That's powerful. The entire world, the economy, the schools, jobs, everything in the entire world stopped at once, together, at the same time. I think there's so much to learn from that. 

                But I feel like schools know now, not know now because they don't, but they're learning now with the new rules are including diversity, equity inclusion, all that. I think hopefully that has taught them to revamp some things, especially in education. Hopefully things are revamped and they don't go back to, quote unquote, normal because normal wasn't working. It didn't work for-

Martha (38:17):

No-

Jasmyn (39:12):

... my babies at least, and ain't working.

Martha (39:14):

No. It's not. I do think slowly, slowly, there's more of an awareness and understanding of the needs of everyone and the need to include people. I'm teaching in an ID school now and we live in a global world. Something that happens in a country on the other side of the world can impact our students, all of our students so.

Jasmyn (39:39):

Hopefully schools, they just transition to innovation and creativity.

Martha (39:45):

I hope you're right. I'm scrolling through to see if there's any questions. I see a lot of people agreeing with things but I'm not seeing questions right now. I think one of your students is on here or was on here. 

Jasmyn (39:57):

Oh really? 

Martha (39:58):

Yeah. Someone said, "Hey, Ms. Wright."

Jasmyn (40:02):

My kids follow me on Instagram. That's cool.

Martha (40:06):

But thank you so much for taking the time. This was so informative. I feel like I learned so much and got so much from this. I know that all of the people who watched and all the teachers who watched and then people who will watch it in the future, will learn a lot from you as well. So-

Jasmyn (40:24):

Hopefully.

Martha (40:24):

... thank you.

Jasmyn (40:25):

Thank you for having me, Martha. I have to tell you man, this is outside of my comfort zone so thank you for getting me on live. I'm a little bit, believe it or not, I'm a behind the scenes kind of person. So getting on live was me taking a leap of faith in but thank you. And I think what you've had is beautiful. I'm excited to watch your next one and [crosstalk 00:40:43]- 

Martha (40:25):

Thank you so much.

Jasmyn (40:45):

... grow and to watch your Instagram Lives grow. So this is good what you are doing-

Martha (40:49):

I'm very excited. And best of luck with your doctoral program.

Jasmyn (40:52):

Thank you.

Martha (40:53):

I can't wait to hear how that goes.

Jasmyn (40:53):

Pray for me. Oh Lord pray for me.

Martha (40:57):

Just write it all in poet, just send them poetry and see what happened.

Jasmyn (41:02):

They'll go like, what is this? I'm like, it's me. No, we want scholarly, not poetry. Look, okay.

Martha (41:07):

Maybe you can open a whole new window into scholarly poetry. Just got to fight it. Just fight it and it'll be fine.

Jasmyn (41:16):

[inaudible 00:41:16].

Martha (41:18):

Well, thank you so much Jasmyn, for taking the time to speak to us and thank you for everyone who's tuned in and joined us. I will be back next week for episode three of Author to Teacher with another author. So have a fantastic night. 

                Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of Primary Paradise Teaching, Author to Teacher. You can find more engaging, effective and simple teaching ideas from Primary Paradise at myprimaryparadise.com and on Instagram and Facebook at Primary Paradise. Be sure to tune in next time for more engaging conversations related to teaching. Keep learning and teach on.