Read (and Rap) Across America with Dwayne Reed

Transcript

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Dwayne Reed (00:02):

Being able to transform a lesson or transform a piece of curriculum by way of rap is a superpower. And so many teachers out there I think, fail to realize that they have their own superpowers. I'm using rap. What are you using? Are you using, maybe you do poetry, you do spoken word, maybe you do line dancing. Maybe you can sew and do crochet, or whatever it is that you feel talented at or good at. Bring that into the classroom and see what wonders it can create.

Natieka (00:37):

Hello and welcome to School Me, the National Education Association's podcast dedicated to helping educators thrive at every stage of their careers. I'm your host, Natieka Samuels. Today our guest is Dwayne Reed, a Chicago educator, author, rapper, and viral sensation who's made a name for himself as America's favorite rapping teacher. His book, Simon B. Rhymin' is the December pick for middle grade readers on NEA's Read Across America calendar, which is NEA's year-round program to celebrate reading and diverse books. Stay tuned to learn more about Dwayne's journey and the power of Read Across America's mission of inclusion and representation in the books our students read. Let's start off with just a little bit of info about you. Can you tell us about yourself, where you're currently working, your position, and how you decided to become an educator?

Dwayne Reed (01:26):

My name is Dwayne Reed. Yes, Dwayne Reed, like the Dwayne Reed stores in New York, but spelled differently. I'm from Chicago, Illinois, born and raised. I decided to become an educator because I really like being around kids. I felt like I'm my best self whenever I'm around kids. They allowed me the freedom to be a kid at heart and they're just really funny. So I was like, man, I can get paid to be around little comedians all day every day. Let's do that. But no, I also took a couple aptitude tests that communicated that service was the industry that I should go into, and I did not disagree.

(02:00):

In 2012, 2013, I went back to school after having dropped out for business administration at Purdue and got my degree from Eastern Illinois University to become an elementary teacher in middle school as well. And then in 2016 I just got the ball rolling, came out the gate with a music video and everything and introducing myself to my students and staff mates and the world and been doing the dang thing since 2016. And I currently teach in Chicago public schools, the south side, and I teach a specials course which is set to help children recognize who they are, their identity, but also appreciate others' identities and belonging and to fight for justice in their own particular contexts. So that's what I do. It sounds like a whole big to do, but it's really me just teaching kids how to be a decent human being.

Natieka (02:52):

And you mentioned a video or you referenced a video very briefly, and I'm going to go deeper into that. So you are Welcome to Fourth Grade video went a bit viral while you were still student teaching, right? So can you talk a little bit about that video, why you decided to make it and how that shapes your career and your relationship with your students, even today?

Dwayne Reed (04:05):

When I was student teaching a professor at my college, Eastern Illinois University, Miss Fay, she was a gym professor actually. So she taught us how to do physical education for our elementary students. And in that gym class, he played a video of a teacher introducing himself to his students. It was this guy who was just rapping, and I thought, "Wait, hold on a second. I'm me. I rap, I do this, I does this." So I was like, "I'm going to do this when I student teach." So I went and then I had a friend who shot the music video. We shot it in one day with one camera with terrible lighting. It was just, "Hey, let's just see what happens." And the magic of it is people who gravitated towards it. "Hello, I'm your teacher. My name's Mr. Reed and it's very nice to meet ya. I'm from Chicago. I love eating pizza and I dress to impress, but I still rock sneakers."

(04:55):

And I go on to tell more and more about myself as an introduction, but also letting my future scholars know this is what you're going to be getting yourself into when you come into Mr. Reed's classroom. This is the craziness that is Mr. Reed. This is the smiley up in your face on top of a desk. "Hoorah. Hoorah. Let's go." Chanting Mr. Reid. And I wanted them to get a little sample of that before they even stepped foot into the classroom that I was going to be teaching in. And the reaction was just wild. I mean, Good Morning America. Literally the day after I released the Welcome to the Fourth Grade music video, there was a Good Morning America Chicago producer because they're based out of New York, Chicago producer knocking on the door of the school that I was student teaching at.

(05:37):

They man, they got to me. That, BBC over in the UK, just any and everywhere you could think it was really cool, but that's not the coolest part to me. The coolest part to me was that my fourth graders at the time, they were just jazzed to come to class and be excited about learning. And there's one story that will always stick with me. We had gone on a field trip to a play or something, and there were other schools at this field trip at this play. And one of my girls, we'll call her Cece, one of my girls, Cece, she's looking at all the other students and she's like, "Yeah, my teacher, he's famous." And just this sense of pride. And so that was the most important thing that came out of Welcome to the Fourth Grade to me.

Natieka (06:21):

So how has your career changed since that's happened? It must be interesting to start your career off with a little bit of notoriety as opposed to just getting through the first year of real teaching in a real classroom that's your own.

Dwayne Reed (06:35):

It's interesting that you bring that up because I don't know anything other than having hundreds of thousands or millions of sets of eyeballs on me as an educator. It's almost like a celebrity kid. They don't know any different. That's just dad or that's just mom. And that's what I feel like. I don't know anything different. It has had its pitfalls, though. You have people who look at you and want to bring you down or shame you for just doing you and being you. Or people think that I think that I'm better than them. And it's like, wait, what are you talking about? I get cussed out just like some of y'all be getting cussed out in the classroom. I got parents mad at me. So that's one thing I wish that I could have communicated more clearly earlier on, but it just come with the game. When you are built for something and you made to do something, it don't matter what the naysayers say, you just got to go out and do it. So that's been my experience this last eight, nine years, just man, I just got to go out and teach with love, and empathy and compassion to my students and their families and try to teach to the best of my ability for them kids.

Natieka (07:39):

And I think social media has given a lot of educators a platform now, so you're definitely not alone there. Teacher Talk, teacher Instagram, everything. But I wanted to ask about rapping in particular, your specialty here, aside from teaching, how has rapping as an art form influenced your approach to teaching? And what do you think it adds to your unique classroom experience for your students?

Dwayne Reed (08:09):

That's a really good question. I don't think rap or hip hop exists as just a single strand of something. I think rap and hip hop exists in a larger network of somethings. So when I bring rap into the classroom or I bring rap into my pedagogy, into my teaching, it's not me just putting words on paper and making them rhyme. It's me bringing a culture of who I am into. I'm bringing this culture of a Black man from Chicago into the classroom when I'm teaching White kids, Black kids, Mexican kids, etc., etc. So being able to transform a lesson or transform a piece of curriculum by way of rap is a superpower. And so many teachers out there I think fail to realize that they have their own superpowers. I'm using rap. What are you using? Are you using, maybe you do poetry, you do spoken word, maybe you do line dancing. Maybe you can sew, and do crochet or whatever it is that you feel talented at or good at. Bring that into the classroom and see what wonders it can create. And that's what rap has done for me.

(09:19):

Again, the personality that comes with me as a rapper. So me as a person, I'm real chill. I'm real low-key man. I'm smiling. I could be talkative, but me as a rapper, oh man, I'm in my spot. I'm in my zone. Can't nobody tell me nothing. It reminds me of little rap circles that I used to be in where we just used to spit. We just used to, when you're just walking down the street, minding your business, it's one thing, rapping to yourself. But when you see a big group of people standing around and they start bobbing from right to left and they, yeah, yeah. And somebody making a beat get, you just feel this fire like, oh, I'm finna spit something that's going to make everybody say, "Oh." And that's the experience when I'm teaching like, oh, I'm finna to drop some bars right now. I'm finna drop some heat right now, they're going to be, "Mr. Reed." I say, "Yeah, that's me. Mr. Reed." So that's the experience of what it's like for me to bring rap poetry, but also just the culture of who I am into the culture of my classroom.

Natieka (10:13):

Speaking of that, we're here also to talk about your book, your first book, right? Simon B. Rhymin' is your first book?

Dwayne Reed (10:21):

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Natieka (10:22):

And it was released in 2021, which some may remember was a really tough time for students, educators, and pretty much everyone on earth, I think. So what inspired you to write Simon B. Rhymin'?

Dwayne Reed (10:35):

So I was inspired to write Simon B. Rhymin' for a number of reasons. Number one, representation. I want Black and Brown kids, particularly, to be able to go out and pick up a book that represents them, not only represents them in skin color, but represents them in experience. Simon Barnes is an 11-year-old from the west side of Chicago who's got a Puerto Rican best friend and another Black best friend who's into anime. So I wanted to be able to showcase different experiences from, in this particular situation, the hood, they live on the west side of Chicago, but also just to show kids a, it's not just stories of Caucasian kids with dogs. And now they got superpowers because they randomly came across this mine somewhere and boom, no, we can talk about you going to school, being an 11-year-old, bullying, friendships, community building, homelessness, etc. So representation was big for me.

(11:27):

Number two, Simon B. Rhymin' is like an ode to my younger self. I was the short kid who had a really big head who wanted to be a big famous rapper, but was nervous immediately, initially, really nervous to go out and express myself. And as is the same for Simon. Short, big head gets bullied and picked on, wants to speak up for himself and use his voice, but just is afraid to do so. Writing Simon B. Rhymin' was me writing a love letter to my younger self by saying like, "Nah, man, you are the big dog, not just in your heart. You need to actually show it." And I want other people who read Simon B. Rhymin' to feel that exact same way. Like, nah, I'm the big dog in whatever way, I'm the big dog.

Natieka (12:06):

Well, that is actually very apt because the December Read Across America calendar theme is Fostering Confidence. So the idea is to help students feel competent, valued, independent, and prepared to navigate all the life situations that come their way. So I guess you kind of just spoke about it, but to drive that home a bit, how do you feel like for students, not just for you and your fictionalized person of you, Simon, how do you feel that that book helps students with those values of being confident, and independent and prepared for life?

Dwayne Reed (12:43):

I think when you see someone who's doing something that you know you can do that encourages you and empowers you to try it for yourself, not necessarily knowing that you're going to succeed, but just when you see someone that's like, oh, wait, wait, wait. He's standing up for himself. He's really small, he's got a really big head. Where does he get that confidence from? That oftentimes will make you say, "You know what? If he can do that, if she can do that, then I can at least try to do that." And I think that's what comes through in Simon, but also Simon is all in his head all the time. And I think for young people, they can be in their head lots of times as opposed to talking it out or engaging in conversation about the things that are circulating in their head. So I think in reading Simon B. Rhymin', you'll be able to take a look inside of his head. And as a young person that will give them kind of more of an understanding of the things that are going on in their own head. So that's what they can look forward to as far as building confidence. And last but not least, when you hear somebody whose rap name is the Notorious D.O.G, you can't help but get that fire in your heart like, oh, he a dog. He a dog. I need to be a dog.

Natieka (13:59):

And Simon B. Rhymin' is a series, right?

Dwayne Reed (14:00):

So we've got Simon B. Rhymin', we've got Simon B. Rhymin' Takes a Stand, and then we've got Simon B. Rhymin' Gets in the Game. So we're talking about sports, we're talking about community level in school, politics, we're talking about homelessness, building community, friendship, bullying, but we talk about basketball team, and there's a lot in the series.

Natieka (14:21):

You're covering it at all. What role do you think that educators should play in promoting diverse books? There's been a lot of talk about banning books and how such a large proportion of the books that are getting banned or challenged in schools and libraries are by BIPOC authors in addition to LGBTQ+ authors. But what role do you think educators should play in making sure that representation is present in classrooms and in libraries?

Dwayne Reed (14:53):

I think that we should be, as we are with just about everything else on the front lines of promoting diverse books, the same way that I pull up at school, eat a fresh apple every single morning, and I'm trying to promote healthy food choices is the same way that I feel like teachers need to do with literature, with books. I walk around with a book in my hand and my kids ask me all the time, "What you reading Mr. Reed?" "Oh, I'm reading da, da, da, da, da." I'd be like, "You want to read it?" "No, not yet." I'm like, "Okay, we're going to get there. We going to get there." But they're seeing it on display. And again, now that might make them feel compelled to even ask a question. And we know that if they're just asking questions and going off of their curiosity, it might be able to get them one day like, oh, you know what? My teacher used to read this.

(15:37):

So I think the responsibility is on teachers to definitely promote diverse books because if we're not, not only are we stifling potential learning that our scholars can have, but man, we're just getting in the way of all kinds of beautifulness and greatness that exists out there that if only we would've exposed them, life could be better in that sense. I want my kids to be able to read about diverse experiences. I want my kids to be able to become informed about things that they might not otherwise be informed about. And oftentimes that comes through literature.

Natieka (16:09):

Looking for more tips, resources, and opportunities to build your professional skills? Text POD to 48744 to have the latest sent straight to your phone.

(16:19):

I personally am a big book lover reader. So this question almost sounds silly, but I'm curious what your answer would be, which is why are books in particular so important? Because nowadays, people have movies, you have YouTube, you have social media, you have so many different ways of seeing how other people live their life in both fictionalized and quote/unquote, "reality" formats. So there's so many ways to maybe get your representation, let's say, but why do you think that books are so important for kids in particular to get their representation and sort of get that inspiration from that source, in particular?

Dwayne Reed (16:57):

Books force people to slow down. And when you're forced to slow down, more often than not, you're forced to think. And it's not just something that's microwavable, it's not just boom, push the 30 seconds and here we go, I got what I wanted. This might take three hours over time, and now I have to think about every second of what's going on. I have to think about every page and how page 1 is connected to page 37 and how page 37 is connected to page 419, if you're reading books that long.

(17:27):

So when we think about books, it's important for kids to read. I mean, it sounds so cliche and so duh, but it's important for kids to read books and get representation throughout books because you have to slow down. And everything about life nowadays has seemingly become so fast-paced, has seemingly become so microwavable as I want it right now. And what books do is they teach the reader to say, "Oh, I want it and I want it in a Crock-Pot manner over some time, because that's going to be so much better than just popping it in the microwave and getting it right then."

(18:02):

That's what a book is. A book is a Crock-Pot experience. We going to have to let this sit and steam and brew for 6, 8, 10 hours. Then when we finally get it, ooh, that's going hit. That's what a book is. And that's why we need our kids to be reading books so that they can get that hit of like, oh my gosh, cliffhanger, close the book. Here we are. And also think, lastly, if I can note quickly, books help develop patience. You can flip to the end of a 200-page book and say, "All right, I know what's going to happen." Or you can read and see the character development, see the buildup, and see the art that takes place and then see the climax. We're only selling ourselves short when we don't add reading literature to the mix of every other way we get entertainment or representation.

Natieka (18:50):

Yeah, there's no 2X speed on a book. I mean, you could just read it really fast, but you'd still have to read it. Okay. So when you read Simon B. Rhymin' or any of the books in this series allowed to your students, or when you get invited to do so at schools, how do they usually respond? Do you have any memorable experiences from reading that in person?

Dwayne Reed (19:15):

Oh, absolutely. Man, where do I start? One that comes to mind. I was in Detroit, a school that invited me. It was third through fifth grade, and this was primarily an all Black school. And I get up and I'm explaining how we all have our own superpower. Simon's superpower, as was Mr. Reed's, is using rap, and he navigates through the world through rap. And I asked the students out there, third, fourth, and fifth, I say, "What's y'all superpower? What's that one thing that you know is your thing? Can't nobody take it away from you?" And one of the girls, we'll call her Diamond. Diamond, raised her hand and she says, "Mr. Reed, my superpower is singing." Me, I'm the type of person that's going to challenge you. If you say that's your superpower, you're going to have to show us.

(20:00):

So I'm like, "Oh, what? Diamond, come here, girl." So she came over, whatever, and I was like, "Diamond, I am going have you sing something for us." She... "Nah." I said, "Diamond, come on now. We are not going to do that." "Okay, Mr. Reed." So I put the thing to her and she said, "What should I sing?" I said, "Sing whatever you want, girl." And she started singing. At first she was nervous. She was, let's say she was singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because she's Diamond. "Twinkle, Twinkle." And then her peers started laughing, making fun, poking fun. And she saw that and you saw the look in her eye. But at that point, something switched. And then she went into like, nah, I'm a dog mode. So she started singing. And when I say singing, I mean singing. It was one of the most beautiful displays of nervousness turned into bravery.

(20:46):

Diamond started singing, and by the time she was finished singing a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with her heart, her teachers on the side were crying, my wife was there and she was crying in the back. I was like, "Yo, I did not expect that Diamond. You surely twinkle twinkle like a little star." So just being able to have the opportunity for kids to show up and show out to the best of their ability, they just need the opportunity to do that. And that's what happens when I get to go and read Simon B. Rhymin' to them.

Natieka (21:16):

Okay, well, I will not promise a Twinkle Twinkle Little Star rendition, but I would like to hear an excerpt if you could share some of Simon be rhyming with us.

Dwayne Reed (21:27):

Absolutely. Let's get the party started. Chapter One, "It's Simon Barnes here, but everybody calls me the notorious D.O.G, because I might be little, but I've got a loud bark. Ruff. Okay, not true. No one calls me the notorious D.O.G yet, but they might One day when I'm a famous Chicago rapper like Kanye West or Chance the Rapper, everybody from The Shy knows about them. For now, I'm stuck with the nickname Rhymin' Simon, which my brother Deshawn gave me when I was five because I learned to rhyme and I went kind of crazy with it. Not too long after I did my first remix to the Itsy Bitsy Spider song, and my rhymes were extra basic. Okay, the Itsy Bitsy Spider was little like me, but he can make a web as big as a tree, climb to the top, then be so free because the Itsy Bitsy Spider was little like me.

(22:17):

Those rhymes was cool back then. But I'm ready for something a little more, especially now that I'm 11. The Notorious D.O.G is something I'm trying now. It feels more like the older me. I spent the whole weekend getting ready for fifth grade at Booker T. Washington Elementary School, where this year my class will be the oldest and the whole school, the first day is tomorrow and I don't really feel ready for all this. On TV commercials they show kids cheesing real hard, happy to buy school supplies and new pairs of jeans. But don't they know that school means sitting still for hours and hours while the teacher is just talking at you about boring stuff? Saying goodbye to playing Fortnite and having to give up watching weird videos on YouTube. Goodbye to heating up pizza rolls whenever I feel like it. And getting blue snow cones with Deshawn from the neighborhood ice cream truck when he feels like splitting time between me and his high school homies.

(23:08):

My mom is trying to give me a pep talk while we shop for some new clothes at Target. I usually wear hand-me-downs from my three older brothers, but my dad says, 'Every rising middle schooler deserves some fresh threads for school.' So while I'm in a tiny red changing room, putting on pairs of cargo pants among my big old pallet graphic tees and joggers, mom tries to boost me up with her mom knows best motivational speech. 'Come on, Simon. This year is going to be everything. All your brothers had a ball in fifth grade. Remember when Marcus won that invention convention? He was so excited. Plus, you're going to be one of the oldest kids in the school. Everybody will be looking up to you now.' Mom's voice sails over the tall fitting room door while other parents help their kids pull together outfits they won't have to fight about.

'Yeah, but I'll still be the shortest, Ma.' I grumbled noticing that the pants she picked out for me have about four extra inches of fabric bunched up at the bottom. 'Short is a mindset Simon. To me, you're a million feet tall.' Tall? Nah, me, I'm just small. Could short little Simon ever shine like a diamond? My mom thinks so, but me I think, no. Hopefully I can grow. Hopefully I can grow.

(24:25):

'Stop letting those fools touch you.' She says doing her best to put extra bass in her voice. I can't help but laugh to myself. I look in the mirror and think my favorite vintage Chicago Bulls t-shirt don't look half bad with the rolled up cargoes and new Nike Air Maxes we bought yesterday. Not all the way notorious, but hey, it's a start. I know they'll see me in this. I look into the mirror and all I see is fear because the first day of fifth grade is here. I feel all fly, but I'm still a small fry. I might be the shortest kid in the whole shot, nervous, but excited to see old friends, to laugh and to play and to learn again, got my supplies and I'm ready to go because tomorrow is on and that's for sure. Maybe I'll grow or just stay the same. Doesn't matter, this year they're going to say my name. People going to know about we oh me, not Simon, but Notorious D-O-G. Ruff. Ruff."

Natieka (25:17):

Thank you. Yes, that was great. Now that it's been a few years since you put that book out and it's out in the world, Diamond has heard the book, has read the book, how has your view of the character of Simon or maybe what the books can mean or do mean? Has that changed at all in your mind since?

Dwayne Reed (25:39):

I don't think it has. One of the very reasons I wrote the first Simon B. Rhymin' was because I had taken a group of my students downtown Chicago and we were going out ice skating. We went to grab some McDonald's and we had come across a person who, some might say unhoused, some might call homeless, but come across a person who was asking for money from my students on the first way by my students were rude, they were treating this person like he wasn't a human being. And I got so mad at them, irate. And after we passed, I said, "That's somebody's child that somebody had a mommy and a daddy just like every single one of y'all. That's somebody who might've fallen on hard times. How dare y'all treat him without dignity? How dare y'all treat him like he's a nothing?" And the moment we came back around the same individual this time, they had a change of heart.

(26:28):

And some were offering unopened cheeseburgers, going to McDonald's. Some was like, "Oh, I think I got a buck or two. I got you, bro." So just seeing that change is what Simon was all about from the very beginning. How can we lovingly and based on the relationships that we have with our scholars, communicate to them like, "Hey, it's all right to just be a decent human being because that's all we got in this world." So I don't think that message has changed whatsoever. And I think more so now we need that message more than any other time in life.

Natieka (26:58):

And for some educators who might be listening to this or have seen your stuff on the internet and they're thinking that maybe they want to incorporate music or more storytelling or other unconventional methods into their teaching, what advice would you give them on maybe ramping up to doing that or how to handle people who might not believe that it's necessary or good for them to do that?

Dwayne Reed (27:24):

I would challenge them, and if they've been listening from the beginning of this episode, I would challenge them to recall three major things I've said about teaching. But I would ask them to recall the story about Diamond singing in Detroit. I would ask them to recall the story about me walking with my students with a person who was asking for money. I would ask them to recall what it was like when I came out with my Welcome to the Fourth Grade music video. And I guarantee they'll be able to recall that fully. And not only will they be able to recall that fully, but the emotion and experience that they had when listening to that story. So that's why it's important for us to tell stories, not only through music, but also through just literally storytelling like word of mouth. And those are the kind of things that your kids remember. And we want our kids to remember ABC, 123, 2 + 2, absolutely. But we also want them to remember how they were made to feel in your classroom and in your space. And storytelling just brings them in and makes you feel connected, which is why it's gone on since the beginning of time.

Natieka (28:24):

And how has your outlook on your job, the way you do your job, has it changed at all over the years? You became viral at the very beginning of your career and now you're a little bit more seasoned. So how have things changed, if at all, with the way that you run your classroom?

Dwayne Reed (28:41):

Well, I got a little more gray hair, so I don't know if that counts for anything. But I think I'm more confident in the things that I know to be true. So if I ain't harming nobody, if I ain't hurting nobody, and look... So my first year of teaching, when I had the teacher coach, I remember her saying to me, "Hey, is everybody okay? And did the classroom burn down? And if you answer no to both of those questions, that's a successful day." So I feel like over the course of the last almost decade, I've been able to add to that, do your students feel loved by you? Is somebody going to leave with something that is going to encourage them or build them up? Did somebody grow in any way? Did I grow in any way? And I think I've just grown and matured more into those understandings like, "Hey, you didn't score an A on the test today, but that's okay because you were made to feel like you belong in this world. And that's what matters much more to me than if you scored an A on a test." And I've matured into understanding that, that's how life needs to go. That's how teaching needs to go. That's how education needs to go, and I'm going to continue to do it until I ain't doing it no more.

Natieka (29:51):

Okay. And you've been busy because you have a new book for educators. Can you talk a little bit more about the next book, which is not for children, but is for your peers?

Dwayne Reed (30:03):

Well, it is for children because when the adults read it, mindsets are going to shift, mindsets are going to change. And the way that they approach children, I'm hoping, will completely change and be revolutionized. So my book is called Be That Teacher: Rehumanizing Education with Unapologetic Authenticity. And the number one change that I think can happen is we bring our authentic selves into the classroom and into the school halls. Once Dwayne Reed brings his authentic, quirky, goofy, sometimes corny, authentic self into the classroom space, oh my gosh, watch that culture change. I don't care what the culture is, I don't care if it's all White from the suburbs. I don't care if it's Black and Brown in the hood. In rural man, I done taught some places where they had more cows than people. But when I bring my authentic self into that space, whole classroom culture changes.

(30:59):

And that's what readers can look forward to experiencing. And by way of that, students will be able to experience, talk about gathering data about our kids. And I know when we hear data, we're like, oh my gosh, numbers, no, no, no, no. When I say data, I mean, oh, Natieka. Now I need to know how to say Natieka's name. That's data about Natieka and oh boom, where did that come from? Oh, it came from there. Oh, your grandmama? Oh, tell me more about your grandma. And now I can use all of that information that you just gave me in 10 seconds, put it into my teaching, and boom, look at that classroom now.

(31:33):

Or I could talk about how sometimes you have to... The book talks about and be that teacher, we have to rebel against the norm. If the norm ain't working and kids are constantly coming up against that norm and being quote/unquote "disciplined." Then we got to change the norm. We got to change the stat quo because the stat quo is not working for everybody. It works for some people and they might not want to change it, but we are the rebels on this side. We're the ones that's going to get into some good trouble if it means helping and serving the people that are around us. So man, be that teacher. My book for teachers is a book that I'm hoping revolutionizes classrooms as we move forward in this new day and age.

Natieka (32:12):

So you've done a lot, you've been very busy for the last almost decade as an educator, an author, an artist. But what's next for you and how do you hope that your work continues to inspire your students, your fellow teachers, and everyone in between?

Dwayne Reed (32:31):

So I would love to get into consulting. So right now I do a lot of speaking across the nation at events, at schools, at different places. And I would love to be able to ramp that up because I feel like this message that I have and I'm bold about preaching, I feel like it can just change so much. Starting with changing mindsets. So best case scenario, I'm able to take my words and take my mission on the road and be able to be a consultant and speak as many places as I possibly can because I want people to experience the joy that I've experienced in the classroom. I want people to experience the students coming back after 10 years and saying, "Man, mister, miss, you made a difference. You did something that not a lot of other people have done for me." And I want to be able to give people a framework for how to do that.

(33:23):

And again, the baseline of it is just being a human, decent human being and treating people like decent human beings. But that's the foundation. But there are also other pieces, and principles and tenets that I wish I could just stand on top of a mountaintop and scream so that 300 million Americans could hear it and 7 billion people worldwide could hear it. So that's what I have. Perhaps I'll continue to write literature. Perhaps I'll just dive more into the music aspect of my education ministry. I mean, the world is kind of open and we're just going see what comes to be.

Natieka (33:56):

I am really glad that you were able to join us today. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

Dwayne Reed (34:01):

Yes, and thank y'all for having me.

Natieka (34:03):

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