Hey, everyone. My name is JB Makhani. I am an eighth-grade US history teacher and grade level chair at YES Prep public schools. I am here in Houston at Public Charter School network that serves low-income students of color. I graduated from Rice University in 2016, I’m a Teach for America core member. I’m here in Houston. And I was part of Duncan College at Rice. I’m also currently getting a master’s from Columbia, and I am in school leadership.

I wanted to just talk to you briefly today about the education industry and some of the core values that have helped myself as well as my colleagues get through, succeed, and thrive in the education industry.

So when I think of teaching, I think of some key words that have helped me guide my journey. And that’s commitment, motivation, passion, resilience.

I quickly realized that the two-year Teach for America commitment, first of all, was not going to be two years, and that the only way to survive was to have passion and resilience for the job. Now, there aren’t enough hours in the day, and the work is too difficult for teachers that do not have a passion for the work. I’ve seen this with my colleagues, and I’ve seen this with teachers every year who come into the industry, and who turned out to thrive and develop into really strong people because of the difficult work.

I think a great example of developing teachers and creating excellent teachers who are innovative is the current pandemic. Teachers are the first ones who are asked to go back. We’ve learned more and more how much we need teachers. If you know, parents who have tried to homeschool their kids right now, their first thought was that they want teachers to be back with our kids. We want to provide for our students because they deserve that, so let’s try and find a way.  We could easily just post videos and have students watch the videos, not really engage, do random assignments to check off boxes. But what I’ve seen, not just with the YES prep, but also across the nation, is going further, is innovating these uncharted territories using technology, for going one step ahead. We’re finding current events for engaging students in their homes. We’re trying to relate to them. We’re coming up with interactive tools to help them.

And all these different ways that are going beyond the status quo, I think, is just a microcosm of the education industry. Teachers go above and beyond every day. It’s not a nine to five job. And you can see this passion and this motivation that these teachers have that is contagious. It’s part of why I’ve stayed, and it’s part of why I joined the teaching industry.

Because one 13 year old kid is sitting there at their desk or across their laptop, which, unfortunately, I have to do now, and they’re wanting to learn, and they’re asking you questions about this and that and this and that. You have to have the answers. And those people push you to stay at school a little bit later to finish that lesson plan and they also encourage you at home during a pandemic to go that extra mile to engage them to find something that will be creative.

And maybe 10 years from now, when that student looks back on their schooling, they remember you and they remember that one lesson that you went above and beyond with their resonated with them. That’s the power that teachers have, that’s why innovation and a commitment to excellence is required. It is definitely a key pillar in the education industry. Thank you.

I think JB gave us an excellent insight on the position teachers are in during this pandemic. It has clearly brought out the innovative side of teaching because of the need to provide an interactive learning environment for the students. The same core values that he mentions seems to apply to both sides. Commitment, motivation and passion have become essential for students as well in facing the challenges of staying engaged with online classes, and building their resiliency along the way.