Dear Colleague…
My name is Eric Jensen. Read closely to decide if I am the right person for your upcoming professional development event. But first, I thought you’d appreciate a story that speaks volumes about the problem you are trying to solve.
It goes like this:
“A teacher dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter welcomes her in and says he will show her the magnificent place in heaven saved for teachers. The neighborhood is lovely with park-like lawns, gorgeous homes, not a piece of trash anywhere, Bar-B-Qs are ready, there are new luxury cars, tennis courts and swimming pools. But no one is visible anywhere and the houses appear to be empty. “Well, here you are,” said St. Peter with a smile, “Isn’t this great?” “Yes it is, but I see no one here; not a single soul anywhere,” replied the disappointed teacher. “Don’t many teachers make it to heaven? “Oh sure, we get lots of teachers. Relax, they’ll all be back tomorrow. They’re in hell for their in-service day.”
Ouch.
Staff development has a terrible reputation, doesn’t it? I’m sure you’ve experienced professional development that was either weak on content, weak on excitement or, on a really bad day, BOTH. Aaaaghh! There’s nothing worse than exposing busy, stressed-out teachers to another boring, irrelevant, time-wasting day of professional development. Maybe I can help you out of this jam.
How can I make that promise to you?
Three reasons.
- Experience… you get a staff developer who has worked internationally for over 20 years. You get the confidence knowing that your staff is in good hands.
- Passion… you know that passion is contagious and you’ll get a passionate (never “canned”) presentation every time.
- Research-based… you can rest assured that I am fanatic about getting the facts and getting them right.
Your staff gets quality information every time. I have been (and I still am) in your shoes. I have to pick speakers for my own conferences. I can guess that you are very, very picky. You want current research and you want it to be coherent, easy to understand. You want to help your staff or district boost student learning, raise achievement scores and become more excited about teaching again. Guess what? That’s what I do for a living.
I can make it a great day for you. If you’re an administrator trying to get your school moving up, continue reading. I have experienced brain-based success like few others. You can get effective staff development, in fact, nearly instant staff development with tools for engagement every staff can use. I am about fierce teaching; the type that brings a driven, mission-focused, passionate teacher to school every day. No, teachers aren’t born that way; they are developed. Here’s an example:
“Having you as a lead-off speaker for the National Speakers Series at Harris County Department of Education was a stroke of genius! I knew that first timers… would be bowled over and your faithful followers would be grateful. The evaluations bore that out… Your evaluations were among the highest we have received for presenters.” – Mary Lynn Johnson, Consultant, Harris County Department of Education
Quality teaching matters not just a little; it is the single greatest ingredient that you have influence over. You have very little influence over the student’s nutrition, the student-parent interactions, the quality of the student’s living conditions, their neighborhood or their peers.
BUT, you do have influence over the 30 hours a week that the student spends in school. That’s why so much of the success of a child can be traced to good teaching.
Get a Pioneer and Leader in the Education Field
Long before the big brain “bandwagon” began, way back in 1983, I was the co-founder of the most innovative academic enrichment camp in history (SuperCamp). Featuring a brain-compatible curriculum, it has been held in 16 countries and boasts over 45,000 graduates from 80 countries. This innovative program has been featured in hundreds of newspapers, magazines and media from The Wall Street Journal, USA Today to Good Morning America. Thousands of schools around the world have made changes in their teaching, environment and curriculum based on the new brain research.
Today, years after the mudslinging criticism of brain-based education, it’s appropriate to say, “We were right.” In fact, because of the efforts of the brain-based community to inform educators, thousands are currently using this knowledge appropriately to enhance educational policy and practice. There are degree programs in it, scientific journals, conferences and the peer-reviewed brain-related research now supports the discipline. There are countless neuroscientists who support the movement and they demonstrate their support by writing and speaking at educational conferences.
How Relevant is the Brain to Your Teaching Staff?
The big picture is that our brain is involved with everything we do at school. The brain is the most relevant feature to explore, because it affects every strategy, action, behavior and policy at your school.
New journals explore essential topics such as social conditions, exercise, neurogenesis, arts, stress and nutrition. A school cannot remove arts, career education and physical education and at the same time, claim to be doing what’s best for the brain of their students. Yes, we are in the infancy of brain research–there’s so much more to learn that we don’t know. But dismissing it is not only shortsighted but also dead wrong.
Three Ways to Save Money on Eric Jensen
Hiring top-tier staff developers who “practice what they preach” is not cheap. I make no apology for the price I have to charge to bring world-class experience, credibility, relevancy, engagement and professionalism to your event. A one-day event often means four days of time for me (travel, workbook prep, presentation prep, research, etc.).
Here’s how you can save money when you bring me to your area.
- Involve others in the process. Include other schools, even opening up the event to other districts that can share the daily fee to help reduce your costs.
- Grants can make it happen. There are hundreds of potential sources of funding IF you plan ahead. Multiple days can cost less per day.
- Get a price break on two to five days of work. More days embed the learning better.
- Be flexible: ask for a date that can share the expenses with another.
Nothing is more relevant to educators than your brain or the brains of your students, parents, or staff. Scientific teaching, passionate teaching and brain-based education are here to stay and I can bring it to your staff like no other.
Are you are ready to bring me to your conference, school, district or business? If so, email my wife: diane@jlcbrain.com.
Yours in learning
Eric Jensen
President, Jensen Learning
P.S. The organizing genius in my life is my wife, Diane.
Simply contact her at (808) 552-0110 – 9-5 (PDT) or better yet,
email her at diane@jlcbrain.com, she’ll do her best to find
the dates you need. I look forward to working with you.
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