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7 Life Lessons I've Learned from My Students · The Daily Writer

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everybody to the Born to Create podcast.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm your host.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an author, musician, and teacher.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But most importantly, I'm a husband and a dad.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the show, we talk about practices, habits, and strategies that help us live out our creative calling.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is episode 34, and today we're going to be talking about seven life lessons that I've learned from my students.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the post that accompanies this episode, as well as all the links at kent sanders.net slash lifelessons.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I should apologize because I'm struggling a little bit with getting over a cold, so if I sound kind of congested, that's why.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get into the content, I want to invite you to send in your questions on creativity, productivity, art, or writing, and I'll answer those here on the podcast.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can send me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net, or you can shoot me a message on Facebook or Twitter at KentSanders.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: This month, April 2017, marks the end of my 13th year as a professor at St.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Louis Christian College in Florescent, Missouri.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Over these past 13 years, I've taught hundreds of students and have spent countless hours teaching and advising them.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: When I started teaching, I thought I had all the answers.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: I had two master's degrees and was fresh from leading a church ministry in my twenties, and I was ready to unleash my wisdom on the world.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I had no idea that I would learn as much, probably more, from my students as I would teach them.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And these seven lessons have reinforced key principles of success in my own life.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: They'll also serve you as you lead and influence others.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, his first impressions are sometimes wrong.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, time has a way of revealing someone's true character.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: For example, the student who comes across as confident and successful will sometimes end up on academic probation.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: The student who seems like a slacker will sometimes really surprise you with their discipline, kindness, and creativity.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: We tend to make snap judgments about people based on their appearance and a few scraps of knowledge about them.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes these impressions turn out to be wrong as we get to know the person and their story.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, relationships mean more than titles or positions.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: The irony of education is that teachers spend years earning degrees that give them the position.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: But degrees, titles, or positions don't guarantee that you'll actually change any lives.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: People may respect you for your accomplishments, but they will love you if you invest in a relationship with them.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: The old saying is true.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, feedback is critical to success.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of every semester, I hand out evaluations for each course that I teach, and I ask students to honestly answer questions like, what can I do to make the course better?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And how can I improve as a teacher?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Over the years, students have given me a lot of great ideas that I've implemented into courses and have therefore made those courses a lot better.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: For example, just last week, I was reading over my spring course evaluations, and one of the students made a suggestion that will greatly improve a course that I'm teaching this semester the next time that I teach it.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So feedback is really critical to success.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, however, we're afraid to ask for honest feedback because we think that we're going to hear something that we don't like.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: But if we can set aside our own insecurity, people will often give us great insights that we couldn't receive any other way.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Number four, it's okay to not have all the answers.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: The three hardest words for any teacher to say are I don't know.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: We're supposed to have all the answers, right?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: But true learning is not just about gaining knowledge, it's about having a curious mind and a willingness to change and grow.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's also about the excitement of searching for answers, not the security of feeling like you already have them all.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think honestly, people are tired of the quote unquote experts who claim to have all the answers to everything.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, people are looking for guides and coaches who can give feedback, direction, and motivation.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, success is more about persistence than talent.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: One time I had a student who was a really gifted guitar player, naturally.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: He thought his talent was a blessing, but actually it was kind of a curse because he assumed that he didn't need to practice.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, on the flip side of that, I've also had students who were only moderately gifted, but they showed up faithfully to lessons or to class, and they put in the required effort.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And most of them made really good progress in the end.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think when it comes to grades, a well-earned B is worth a lot more than an easy A.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: The people who put in the day-to-day work end up being more successful than those who are naturally gifted.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Number six, sometimes you need to show tough love.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I like to maintain a positive, relaxed atmosphere in the classroom.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have good relationships with students, and I don't really like personal confrontation, but sometimes it's just necessary.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Occasionally, I'll kick a student out of class for being disruptive or for sleeping.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I won't let a student turn in late work because they need to meet deadlines.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And those are just a couple of examples of what it means to show tough love as a teacher.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Being a leader and an artist isn't about doing what makes you comfortable, it's about doing what's needed.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that means showing grace to people, and other times it means showing tough love.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, number seven, you're never too old to learn.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: A few years ago I taught a course on spiritual development.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: One of the students in the class was a seventy-four-year-old woman named Barbara.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: She had suffered a lot of tragedies in life, including losing her husband and also losing one of her sons.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody would have blamed Barbara for wanting to coaster her life at her age.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yet every day when I came to class, Barbara was there ready to learn.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was always really impressed with her humility and her willingness to learn from a kid who was half her age.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Many times I just wanted to step aside and let her teach the class.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So these are seven life lessons I've learned from my students, and if I were to summarize all of them in one statement, it would be this you never graduate from the classroom of life.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: I know these seven lessons have helped me be a better man and a more effective leader, and they can do the same thing for you as well.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: What life lessons have you learned lately?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: You can join the conversation and find the post and the links that accompany this episode at KentSanders.net slash lifelessons.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: When you visit my site, you'll find all kinds of great resources to inspire your creativity.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also love to share a gift with you when you subscribe to my newsletter.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out and learn more about my books, writing, and services at KentSanders.net.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to connect and you can send me a tweet at Kent Sanders, and you can find me on Facebook and Instagram as Kent Sanders.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that you'll also check out our Born to Create Facebook group by visiting Kent Sanders.net slash Facebook group.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: What will you do with the time you have left?