We Need To Do Better 2.0 - Teacher's Edition: Changing the Mindset of Children Through Family, Community, and Education

By Paul Miller

Dr. Paul Miller shares proven insights and methods on how to transform outcomes for disadvantaged Black and brown youth. Beginning with a personal exploration of lived experience, historical context, and cultural messaging, he clearly outlines the methods that have delivered a 95% graduation rate for his schools year after year. This acclaimed s

• Language: English
• Publisher: Urbane Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798986220802

Book preview

-

WE NEED TO DO BETTER

We Need to Do Better 2.0

Copyright © 2022 Dr. Paul Miller. All Rights Reserved.

No rights claimed for public domain material, all rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Violations may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.

Library of Congress Number:

ISBN:

Dr. Paul Miller

We Need To Do Better 2.0

Changing the Mindset of Children through Family, Community, and Education

Table of Contents

FORWARD

INTRODUCTION

SECTION 1

BACKGROUND

WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD MY VOICE MATTER?

How I Grew Up

Professional Journey

Where I Am Now and Why You Should Care

SECTION 2

WHY ARE WE FAILING?

The Curse of Willie Lynch and Its Systemic Effects on the Black Family Structure

Community

Misplaced Priorities by Educational Stakeholders

SECTION 3

HOW DO WE CHANGE OUR COMMUNITIES?

Building Family Structures and Values to Tackle Rot

Separating Reality from the Fantasy of the Entertainment World

The Unity of Schools and Communities

Changing Our Mindsets

SECTION 4

EDUCATION IS THE NEW FORM OF CIVIL RIGHTS

The Learned Helplessness Theory

SECTION 5

RITUALS AND ROUTINES FOR RUNNING EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS SO CHILDREN DON’T FAIL

Strategies for Running Effective Schools

Aligning Goals to School Mission, Vision, and Values

Effective Classroom Leadership

Safety, Security and Academic Development

Implementing a Result-Oriented Approach to Education

Remove All Zeros Effectively (RAZE-UP)

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Resources

Lesson Plans and Instructions

Lesson Plan Instructions

An Essential Question Quick Guide

Lesson Plan 1- Introduction

Lesson Plan 2- Identity

Lesson Plan 3- Past and Present

Lesson Plan 4- Learned Helplessness

Lesson Plan 5- Family and Community

Lesson Plan 6- Champion Mindset

FORWARD

This foreword was written the day after there was a mass shooting in Buffalo, NY, an hour away from my hometown of Rochester, NY. There were 10 people killed, 3 more wounded, in a heinous, senseless act of racism and violence. Godless and may their souls rest in peace. Prayers and love to all their loved ones and the community of Buffalo, NY. The 18-year-old man pulled up and started shooting Black folks like he was playing Call of Duty, he even apologized to a White man who was on the ground in fear. I re-share this because he drove over 3 hours to get to Buffalo, yet he was 2.5 hours away from Albany where I currently live and 2.5 hours from my hometown of Rochester. I don’t know why he chose Buffalo, but the reality is he could have chosen another city with a lot of Black people residing, such as Albany or Rochester. The scary part of it, being so close to home is that it could have been me and my kids, or my loved ones at the grocery store. This 18-year-old took innocent lives due to hating someone because the color of their skin is different from his.

Such tragedy shows that too many people in this country have the wrong mindset. Their mindset is not one of growth, tolerance, and love. Rather, they have made a conscious decision to stay stuck, stuck in a mindset that views Black people’s lives as irrelevant and unimportant. We Need to Do Better 2.0 is so important because it provides the insight and opportunity for people to change their mindsets. The ultimate goal is for specifically young Black children to improve their own mindset so they can then go and help others as well. Change your mindset and change their perspective of who they think you are. They won’t have a choice but to see you differently because you will be in a place where they have to listen!

In 2016 when I wrote We Need to Do Better, it unfolded because of a conversation with a friend who charged me with creating products that would help me become well known in the education sector. His conversation was the push I needed to do more. I began writing and thoughts started to flow about my educational journey, personal journey, and how I had to change my mindset, helping myself, so I could help others. I had only written my dissertation at the time and wanted to turn that document into a product as well, however l was stagnant until that conversation; already burnt out from the day-to-day grind, completing a doctorate. I wanted to become a household name synonymous with education, but not quite sure how to make it happen.

I have always had two goals in life as long as I can remember back to being a youth raised in poverty and struggle. As I say this out loud, and on paper, I worry that it may come off wrong, but it is my truth. My two goals have always been and still are to find a way to become WEALTHY, and secondly to HELP PEOPLE while I do it. Usually, when you think of education you don’t think about becoming wealthy. Wealth and schools do not go well together, but why can’t they? Just because most urban school districts struggle, am I supposed to be okay with struggling, while at times I give more to other people’s kids than I have left to give to my own? Truthfully, I don’t do what I do for money, because if you know me, you know I currently have not met the goal of being monetarily wealthy yet. Conversely, I give blood, sweat, tears, and the little brain power I have daily to helping children and changing communities.

God gives everyone a gift and we all have unique talents that are associated with our gifts. My gift hugely circles around the word perseverance. Perseverance has made me realize that I am not the biggest, strongest, fastest, or smartest, but God’s discernment has given me the ability to not give up and always find a way to DO something BETTER, a way to outwork people. If I get thrown into the deep end without a life jacket, I will learn how to swim, but then part of God’s task for me is to now help others learn how to swim. This gift at times is not always easy to accept.

For many their gift is to play basketball better than others, be so good at it, they can make millions of dollars bouncing a ball. From my experience my gift usually comes with some type of struggle, NO before the yes, no glitz, no glamor, or no shoe contract. It’s like God has a sense of humor when it comes to me. He gave me this wonderful gift that not everyone has. The ability to be mentally tough, so tough, that I truly believe that anything is possible if I use my gift to figure it out. God’s sense of humor usually means that I am going to get dropped into something of his will, it will be harder than it is for most people. I will go through a form of struggle, but while struggling, I will develop something beautiful. To get to beauty it will take a lot of ugly. I will have to find the path below, over, and around. What I’ve noticed is that because God gave me a gift of Perseverance; while I’m following the path, and going through struggle without giving up, I have learned to recognize the beauty in struggle. Then I have taken those beautiful moments to develop beautiful things.

I never thought I was necessarily smart enough to write books that people would actually read. I didn’t necessarily think I was smart enough to finish a doctorate either! The short version of this conversation is that nothing ever seems to come easy for me, but my goal is to always make it look easy. Mentally, I don’t feel like I can lose, even when I’m losing. Each trial and tribulation are an opportunity to help me get better and learn something new that I wouldn’t have learned if had it come easy to me. While writing my dissertation (Book 1- Cyberbullying =: Breaking the Cycle of Conflict), I had to rewrite chapter one, 26 times, however, I won dissertation of the year for the entire college. I didn’t have the same struggles writing We Need to Do Better, but my struggle was to actually feel like I was good enough to do it. Then my struggle was fear of people reading my thoughts and thinking it was good enough. Interestingly enough, after completing We Need to Do Better it started to gain interest from people all over the country. It opened doors for me to get into places that I never thought I would be at. I started having speaking engagements all over the country. Most notable were with Bishop TD Jakes, The Roland Martin Show, as well as another TV-One Network National News show, and many Historical Black Colleges.

However, some of my own teachers were upset that they were given my book to read. They were even madder that I wanted my book to be a part of the curriculum for the 9th grade. When I say mad, I mean Big Mad. I heard all kinds of rumors that those contentious teachers thought the book sucked, wasn’t written well, poor grammar, self-serving to sell the books to the school. Again, that was my struggle, but I had to find beauty in it. I am a Black man that was in a position where I could actually require them to do it whether they liked it or not. The honor and privilege of being in such a seat is beautiful.

Most were White women who did not want a Black man saying they had to read his work and even more they didn’t want it dictated that they had to teach it. The one teacher said I don’t know how to teach it. Funny thing, because any other book without a guide……., she was able to teach just fine. It wasn’t that she couldn’t, it was that she didn’t want to. I could have backed off and said forget it, but I knew, even if I hadn’t written the next Shakespeare piece, I knew there were some very important pieces that students needed to hear and learn about in regards to identity, historical context, learned helplessness, changing their mindsets, etc. I also knew there were significant pieces teachers needed to hear, especially a teacher who self-proclaimed she came from a very racist family background, but she allegedly did not pick up any of those traits.

So, I went and created an outline for all the most important sections that a teacher should deliver when teaching the book. Thus, why we are here now. I am writing this foreword because I am re-releasing, We Need to Do Better 2.0. This updated version, courtesy of God’s Gift, Perseverance, which usually comes with obstacles, has turned into something beautiful. It has turned into an opportunity to help and affect more people with a new version of the book. It will come complete with a guide, including guiding questions, and seven already made lesson plans to deliver the material. I could have handled the situation differently and would have gotten a different outcome; had I had a fixed, closed, defeated mindset. Yes, I experienced negative self-talk as every human being does, however, I was able to use God’s gift to turn my hurt and struggle into a beautiful solution.

The solution has led me to adding to this book in a way that will make it so easy for teachers to teach this material. What I thought would be good for my 9th graders will now be made easy and accessible for all students in schools everywhere. The struggles don’t seem to stop, but every win makes me stronger. Recently, I wrote my third book, Good Me, Bad Me, Bettering Me: The Unstoppable Black Man. I kept going and had more to say because my struggles were not allowed to end my effort in getting to my goals. I have tried deeply to find an agent for the new book, but I haven’t been successful at getting anyone to pick up the project. Even though I truly believe it is my best work and will hopefully be my Oprah moment, because it should be on every coffee table, due to its ability to help, heal, and provide insight into the Black man being his best self. Even though an agent has not picked it up, I am creating my own press company, Urbane Press, a division of my consulting company Urbane Education Alterations. This press company will be used to help deserving authors who have powerful messages get their messages to the world.

Again, I could have stopped and let what was looked at as a failure by those teachers’ mindsets, end my journey as an author, but I decided to use it as my reason instead of my excuse. This version; We Need to Do Better 2.0, has all of the previous information which can be used to help mold and shape improved identity and mindset for all who read it. Additionally, this book has a guide and ready-made lessons for teachers who really want to help their students through using information provided by someone who empathizes and looks just like them. I am our Black male students and I really desire to see students succeed quicker in life because they were able to change their mindsets. If you purchased this book the first time around, I want to sincerely thank you. It means so much