Well, to be willing to work hard and to be dedicated. If you are a hard
worker and if you are dedicated, I think that you will be successful. In
fact I have a student I taught many years ago, in fact my first year of
teaching, who is principal in Winston-Salem, a young man. This past year
was his first year. He was an assistant principal the last time I talked
to him and then I got a card from him saying that he had received a
principalship and he is a fine young man. I never will forget him. He
was in my tenth grade English class and he was a year older than the
other students but he was such an intelligent child and I wondered why
he was so much older--if he had failed or what. So I pulled his
cumulative record and I saw that he had failed first grade and I could
not believe it. So I asked him about it and he said, Mrs. Defreece, I
didn't go to school very much because I didn't have shoes to wear and he
wasn't the best dressed child at that time. He was from a very, very
poor family and then after he told me that well,
Page 11
it really touched me and I took up a lot of time with him. I brought him
home with me. I didn't have any children at that time and I would buy
things for him, take him to get a haircut and I just saw something in
him and he has done extremely well. I'm just really proud of him. I have
done that for a lot of children. I have students who come to see me
regularly that I have taught and called me and they say, Mrs. Defreece,
you were such a good teacher, hard teacher you know. They said but you
loved us. I believe that something is missing in the classroom now that
we don't--we love children enough. I think most teachers do. I'm still a
teacher and I think that is what makes me a good principal. But we are
so busy trying to cover those competencies until we have left the child
and I think it is important now because we have to pass those
end-of-course tests and all of that but I believe that students could do
better if you show them a little more interest in them as a person. When
I was teaching, on Fridays after our tests, we'd have 15 minutes to talk
about anything that you wanted to talk about. I gave students an
opportunity to tell me what I could do better then I would tell them
what they could do better. How I wanted them to improve. We talked about
manners, citizenship, all of those kinds of things, dressing, etc., but
I haven't heard anything when visiting classrooms and observing. I have
not heard teachers talking to students about citizenship or about
behavior and those kinds of things. I think mainly they are afraid to do
it. I was talking to the School Improvement Team the other day about
that and they said, Mrs. Defreece, you know, we are just so scared to do
anything that is not related to our subject matter because of these
tests we just want to teach, teach, teach. I said, but yes, you could
still take some time to talk to your children. You don't have to do it
everyday but at least 10 minutes out of the week to start with. I
believe that students will respond better to you and discipline. Kids
want attention. I do a lot of talking to students. Seldom will you see
my door closed in my office. I just think a closed door is a symbol that
I don't want to be bothered. I don't want students ever to think that I
don't want to be bothered because I am there for them. If I have parents
at the school, and a child is there to see me, I am going to see the
child before I see the parents. I am going to see the child before I see
the teacher unless it is an emergency. The children know that. It is
amazing how students will come down and tell you things about teachers.
You don't ask them but they come in and tell you what is going on in the
classroom. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not good. I have one
little boy, I call him little but he weighs probably about 250 lbs. He
comes in especially when the teacher writes him up in class. He wants to
get into my office before the write up gets there. He will say, Mrs.
Defreece, I wasn't doing anything. She just took my name for nothing. I
said, now Jim, I don't believe that. You had to do something. Well, she
didn't say anything to that other
Page 12 student. I said,
well, you should be concerned about yourself. If you do what you are
supposed to do, then you would not be in trouble and you wouldn't have
to tell on anybody else. I see Jimmy sometimes at least three times a
week just to talk with him. So one day, the teacher that he was having
so many problems with came in and told me, Mrs. Defreece, Jim made a 100
today on his test. I put it on the bulletin board. I said, that is
wonderful. I said I am going to my office right now. I was eating lunch.
I said I am going to stop eating lunch. I'm going to call Jimmy to the
office. So I called Jimmy to the office and he came and he was looking
mad. He said, Mrs. Defreece, I haven't done nothing. I said, Jimmy, I
didn't ask you if you had done anything. I said, let me tell you one
thing. I am fed up with you coming down here telling me about this
teacher and you hadn't done anything. Every time I see you you have a
complaint. I said, I am shocked that you didn't tell me about that 100
that you made in Mrs. Freeman's room. You tell everything else but you
didn't tell that. Why didn't you tell me that? He just broke out in the
biggest grin. Well, he was just precious. Now come back in here and tell
me some more about these 100's you are going to be making. You stop by
here with some good news. That was just so sweet and since then when I
see him in the hall, he just kind of has a little strut to his walk.