Small Slow & Stupid: A Teacher’s Perspective on Connecting with the Next Generation of Adults

By Stephen Hlaudy

Discover meaningful and entertaining ways to connect with teens. Explained through the lens of a veteran high school teacher, the analogies in this text offer a unique perspective on the lives of young adults. They illustrate both who they are and why they are that way. Getting teenagers to realize they are not who they’re gonna be yet is only half the struggle of the current generation of adults on this planet. More importantly, the revelations within these sections offer a glimpse of who we can all become as human beings. Therein is the rest of our challenge. How do we get the next generation of adults to understand where we’ve been, why now looks like it does, and where they’re headed? First, they must understand their capabilities beyond what’s right in front of them—something they’re simply not used to fathoming. The messages and answers can be inspirational, comical, and motivational. Indeed, Small, Slow, and Stupid is an important life perspective for all high school teachers to both consider and share.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728318684

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Copyright © 2019 Stephen Hlaudy. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  07/11/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1870-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1869-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-1868-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019909349

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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One of six children, Steve was born and raised in Warren, Ohio, and always knew he wanted to teach. He is a proud product of the Howland Local School System and Youngstown State University, both in northeast Ohio. He is married, has three children, and resides in the same wonderful community in which he has taught and coached for twenty-five years, Canfield, Ohio, very near the town where he grew up. His course load is physics and AP physics, but he has also taught chemistry, technology in science, and general science.

Steve’s background includes experience at the postsecondary level in teacher education as well, where he taught methods and assessment courses at the same university from which he has two degrees. He has facilitated dozens of workshops on best-practice science teaching and effective incorporation of technology in the classroom. Over the years, Steve’s ultimate passion has been changing the lives of young adults and the teachers who educate them. His perspective on connecting with young adults is a positive, humorous, inspirational message that can transform the lives of both educators and students. He currently serves as a teacher, education consultant, teacher trainer, and a motivational speaker but is contemplating a move to a business career. Visit www.stephenhlaudy.com for more information.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

In Memoriam

Thank You

Foreword

Section 1

You’re Not Yet Who You’re Going to Be

The Hierarchy of the Hand Raise

The Altitude of Life

Intelligence

Love

Questions to Ponder

Section 2

The Loudest and the Brightest

Communication

Strobe Lights

Briefcases and Filing Cabinets

Storytelling

The EHI Score

Questions to Ponder

Section 3

The Four Fs

Faith

Family

Friends

Fun

An Analogy

The Message

Questions to Ponder

Section 4

We Have No Choice

Truth

Me, Me, Me, Me

The Fifth and Sixth F

Questions to Ponder

Section 5

Small, Slow, and Stupid

We’re Small

We’re Slow

We’re Stupid

Go the Distance

Questions to Ponder

Final Thoughts

References

Notes

IN MEMORIAM

Larry Davis (1950–2018)

One of the greatest mentors imaginable, Larry taught us all how to be a great husband, father, and friend; how to live and even how to die. His career as a teacher and coach was an inspiration to two generations of teachers and thousands of students in northeast Ohio.

THANK YOU

When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to be just like my biology teacher, Mr. King. I just knew that would be my career. I was certain what I wanted to do. I mimicked his behavior as I studied for tests and quizzes, acting out his mannerisms in my bedroom at night when no one was watching. I know that sounds strange, maybe even creepy, but it’s how I learned. I performed the course content through the lens of my great teacher’s behaviors.

Sadly, as a sophomore, I decided that I wasn’t going to teach biology anymore. You see, I had a new teacher, Mr. Brunstetter, who was another great motivator. Then, I was sure I was going to teach anatomy. That was the class for me! Again, I would act out his behaviors as I studied, and I imagined myself teaching the same lessons he had. About a year later, my almost-certain career path took another turn, as I was lucky enough to have yet another awesome teacher, Mr. Kelly, for chemistry. As you can imagine, I again was sure that I would be a chemistry teacher and be just like him. (Sorry, biology. Sorry, anatomy. It was chemistry for me.)

By the time I got to my senior year, I was still trying to be just like every science teacher I had encountered, and Mr. Poese convinced me that I would teach physics without his ever asking. There was no way I wasn’t going to be just like him and have that much fun every day. Good teachers had a sort of power over me that went way beyond the content. These four teachers never knew that I had imitated them, over and over, as a means of studying for their courses. These great teachers didn’t know the impact they had—or that I would become a teacher as a result of their passion.

A routine visit to my guidance counselor for college planning produced the most amazing and career-defining moment of my high school time. My counselor, Mrs. Cuff, had a unique and genuine way of talking to kids. When I told her that I wanted to teach science but had changed my mind repeatedly about which specific topic I liked best (and yes, I did tell her that I would to act out my teachers’ instructional styles), she smiled warmly and said, Steve, you are going to make a great teacher. I can tell this because you can tell who the great teachers are.

That stuck with me. She then said that I should not concentrate on any one science but go for all of them—so I did.

I have come to realize that I took a lot from my four high school science teachers—more than they knew at the time, I’m sure. I still use some of their techniques. But I learned from my counselor that the way I had viewed my teachers—scrutinizing their moves and methods—made me who I would become in my own classroom. I discovered that I didn’t just want to teach; I also wanted to have the same effect on others that my teachers had on me. To this day, I attribute my becoming a science teacher to those five people. More than that, however, my insight into how teachers teach and how kids learn was the real take-away. I didn’t know it at the time, but my entire life path would be toward those ends.

It is my passion to talk about teaching and learning techniques, and it is my mission to show teenage students who they are, why they are, and what they can become. I want to be remembered for having done so, and I dedicate this book to the several adults who did the same for me. Thank you.

FOREWORD

Throughout my career in education, I have taught and presented to several different age groups. I have spent time with middle school, high school, and college students as an instructor and have presented to student bodies and classroom-teacher groups at both the high school and middle school levels. This book, however, is written about the vast range in growth and ability from around seventh through twelfth grade. Simply put, if you teach at the high school level, you get to watch kids grow up right before your eyes. This age group has become my passion and these formative years need to be of significant interest to us all.

Beyond academics there is a hidden curriculum that all students need to hear.

Our kids don’t know what they don’t know. In particular, they don’t have a grip on who they are or who they will become. I suppose none of us does, and that’s the main point of this book. Yet teens are at an age when finding themselves is more important to them than just about anything else, so they are searching hard for answers on who they could become and how they should behave. That being said, it is our job as adults to illustrate to them the opportunity that lies in front of them and to model for them their behavioral options, given their place in this world; it is a world that changes drastically from one generation to the next. Indeed, offering perspective to a young mind is the job of all educators. Yet beyond academics lies a curriculum that all students, no matter what age, need to hear.

Every generation needs to know that their world is viewed through very different lenses as a result of time and technology. Any perception