Teaching is NOT an easy job.  It takes a lot out of you and you must have a great capacity to give.  You find yourself giving so much of yourself and so much of your time that you can burn out easily.  In 2016, I left Pittsburgh, PA and headed back to my home state of North Carolina.  I was exhausted and needed something new and yet familiar.  I ended up at Piedmont "You Know" Middle School in Charlotte, NC.  I loved what I saw when I looked at their website and I felt intimidated because they looked like a dynamic school.  I left Pittsburgh two weeks before the school year started and needless to say it was a looooooooooooooooot.  By the middle of the year I was going to work at 7am and not leaving until 7pm, four out of the five days!  I was ready to walk away.I sat down with my principal and prepared a speech to let her know that I was going to leave.  She looked at me and said, "James, you cannot come in early and stay late every day.  You are going to have to pick one.  Either you come in early and leave on time, or come in late and stay a little later.  You CANNOT DO BOTH!"  I sat with her words and I decided that I would give it one more year.  Over the summer I went to work and taught myself all the things I needed to know and redid all my answer keys and tightened up my mastery of content.  I reflected on a sermon by Pastor AD3 when he said, you didn't ask for easy, you asked for excellence!  That is how I approached the rest of my career.  Five years later I am the best teacher I have ever been.  Listen, don't give up if this is truly something you called to do.  You didn't ask for easy, YOU ASKED FOR EXCELLENCE!Thank you for listening!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

Let me tell you, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE TEACHING!!!!There are many reasons why I love this job and since today is LOVE DAY, I am spreading the LOVE TO ALL OF YOU!!!I love teaching because...I love interacting/building relationships with students.I meaaaaaaaaaaaan come on now.  These human beings are full of joy and laughter and the occasional "go somewhere and sit down".  I love it because NO DAY is the same!!!  Our relationship is a rollercoaster, but we ALWAYS land safely...well 99.9% of the time 😄.I live for the AH HA momentsLet's talk about those lightbulb moments!  I teach math and when students make those connections you talking about the room lighting up with brilliance!  They really shine and I live for these moments.I get to change mindsets.Math is a subject that has the most fixed-minded students.  They feel either they are born with the gift of math (passed down by their parents) or they are not.  And once a student decides they are horrible in math, it's almost impossible to call them back from the dark abyss.  Well, I am gifted to call them back.  I also get to show them what Black Male Excellence look like!  I know as I stand in front of my students, many of them have NEVER seen a black male in this role.  Black Male Educators (BMEs) make up 2% of the teaching population!  BMEs are rare but we are necessary!I get to be creative!I've always been a creative person and I've always loved the arts.  Teaching math doesn't give me the liberty to do some of those things but it does give me the liberty to be as creative as I want with my classroom environment!  My creativity shines in the things I use to motivate students.We get summers off!Don't get it twisted, we are 10 month employees.  Our checks are spread out over 12 months OR YOU SAVE!!!  But that time to refresh and get away is paramount to the success of teachers!Again, Happy LOVE DAY!!!  I love you and hope you enjoy this podcast!Thank you for listening!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

Black male teachers make up 2% of the teaching population.  It is imperative that we have more representation in this area!  I have been teaching for fourteen years and the lens that I have in education is unlike any other.  Our perspectives matter.  Our presence matters.  We matter!My entrance into a classroom is a statement that we belong here.  Throughout my time in the classroom, I have learned that my presence puts other black and brown students at ease.  I have been the only Black male teacher in one district in Pennsylvania and the only Black teacher in another district as well.  It has not been easy, yet I take great pride in who I am and who I represent.  This podcast today is just a peep into my journey.  I believe that it may offer some insight to what some of us face as the small minority in education.  I also understand what we signed up for when we step into the classroom.  I can emphatically say to every Black male teacher listening that you did sign up to be a father, mentor, expert, disciplinarian, confidant, big brother, and excellent teacher!  It's  a heavy load, but you can bear it with the help of those you surround yourself with and much prayer 😄.Thank you for listening!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

TEACHING THROUGH A PANDEMIC!!!!Has not been for the faint of heart.  In this episode, I talk about some of the issues that I have faced in the past almost 2 years.  This pandemic has highlighted many inequities, mindsets, disparities, and intentions.  They have not all been negative, but this pandemic has put a strain on all of us in education!  Throughout this pandemic, I have learned to listen to my body.  I have learned when my body, mind, soul, and spirit, says you need a break, YOU NEED A BREAK!  There are no if, ands, or buts about it.  You have to take care of you!  Listen to me, YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!I've experienced many ups and downs through these two years, just like many of you.  I lost my mom the week before Christmas break and recently tested positive for COVID, knowing that I contracted it from school.  I have had so much emotional pressure on me throughout this season, that I was on the verge of breaking.  If not for a therapist, good friends, and JESUS, I would not be here in a good frame of mind, today!As I reflect, I really want to let every listener know that you are enough!  You are amazing and you are worth it!  Please take care of yourself and get help whenever necessary.  I love you!  And that's real.  I do this because I love this work and this work impacts those I love and that is you!Thank you for listening!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!  It is our day of service.  Eight years ago, I had the awesome opportunity to write a spoken word and present it as a tribute to this amazing pioneer.  I am so blessed and honored to live in the legacy of his dream.  As a Black American I benefit from the choices this man made as he sought for the advancement of all mankind.  His legacy yet lives on through me and it is my privilege to share this work with you today! May you continue to live a life well-lived so that death is a promotion for the live you lived here on earth!  Check out A King's Dream YouTube Video if you want to see the visuals 😄.  For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

Happy New Year!The saying, "It takes a village" is definitely true in education.  I am much more effective when parents are involved in their child's education.  Now, many times, parents confuse involvement with being content experts.  I am not asking parents to be content experts.  If that was the case, they should've went to school and got their Masters in Curriculum and Instruction like I did!  😄  I am the expert.  🤔 I just want my parents involved!I model this "It takes a village" mentality by calling my parents, partners!  I believe that I get to partner with parents to help raise an amazing human being that is not only proficient in math, but also a kind, persevering, and thoughtful person.  Hence, we are partners!!!!In this podcast I talk candidly about how when I first started teaching that I was afraid of parents.  I was told that either they are too overbearing or absent from their child's education. I have definitely seen both, however I understand the power of having a parent that knows that the teacher is on their side.   Many of these parents are former students who did not feel that school was an inviting place to be.  They carry a chip on their shoulder from the negative interactions they experienced in school.  I want to change that and remind them that my classroom is a safe place!As a result of building a dynamic relationship with parents, I have seen our partnerships thrive every year!  I get the chance to enter a child's life for at least a year, but this parent is with this child for a lifetime!  They are the "experts" in knowing their child so why not lean on them?!  I hope this podcast inspires both educators and parents alike, to build partnership that will yield successful scholars! Enjoy & Share!!!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

Growing up in the south and hearing about racism all the time became a norm.  I didn't know that I was being indoctrinated with the idea that "white" is better by simply being told all the time how things are and how things used to be.  It wasn't until I left and went to a school district that was predominately white that I realized I had internalized this narrative.  After proving that I belonged not because I was fulfilling the quota but because I was a brilliant teacher, I still felt like that because I was at a 97% white school, that they were better and something to show me.  I felt like I had nothing to offer and that I would be a student of their brilliance.  I soon found out that teaching in the areas that I had taught for over 7 years made me a better teacher because my muscle of creativity, discipline, and meeting kids were they were was stretched to the max.  I didn't know how good I was until I stepped into a space where teachers didn't have to exercise the same "teacher muscles" that I stretched.  Even with all of that, I still felt like an imposter and did not perform at the level that I knew I could perform.  It was after a "cuss out" from one of my good friends that I got my act together and went into the classroom with the idea that I am equal and I should love all these students no matter if they look like me or not.  That day changed my life and I am forever grateful to my friend Antuan for letting me know the hard truth of my biases.  Today I am glad I had this experience.  I learned a lot and it made me a better teacher.  We all have biases that handcuff us to lies that we have frame as the truth.  It's good to have people in our life who can tell us the truth and make us deal with what's negatively impacted our progress.  Whenever I share the plight of Black people in this country, I want the listeners to hear the overcoming power of a people who have chosen not to give up instead of the narrative of a people who deserve to be considered less than.  I hope by sharing this it opens you up to some things you need to dismantle in your thought life so you can love all students, all people, no matter their race!  For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

There is a HUGE myth out right now about "The New Math".  Well I'm here to say, and you can quote me (lol), "There is NO NEW MATH!  The why of mathematics is finally being explained!"  The explanations are NEW to us, because most of the time they were not explained or explained well when we were in school.  Today, students in kindergarten are learning about math and having ways to explain it before we give them algorithms to use.  These algorithms are useful, but it's more empowering when we know where they come from.  I was a junior in college before I understood the Pythagorean Theorem.  It's not like the proof is hard, it was just that NO ONE explained it to me!  And I mean NO ONE!  So today when I teach I show the students "why" a^2 + b^2 = c^2.  I've been honored to teach this locally on our school's television series, "Math Xtra".  We had a whole show dedicated to The Pythagorean Theorem.  You should check it out!!!Needless to say, everyone under the old system is now frustrated because we are being asked to articulate math in which we have no experience hearing and now parents are asked to help kids with the same articulation and everyone is frustrated!!!  I can honestly say the struggle is real, but it's worth it!  Do you hear me?  It's worth it!  Our brain learns/retains knowledge better when it is connected to previous learning and where that learning makes sense.  No longer is math it's own island and every "new" topic is a hard start and stop from the previous.  We are connecting ideas through the coherence of the standards :-).  I invite you on this journey to know "why" we do what we do. If this episode speaks to you, share it with a frustrated parent, teacher, administrator, just share it because it will bring comfort to the ears who hear!  For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

The truth is, we go into this profession to support as many children as we can.  The truth is, we can't save everyone!  We can try to help but even with that, sometimes we can't help either.  I know, it is something that we don't want to admit out of our mouths, but it is the truth.  In this episode I share my heart as a seek to try to help "Brandon" (not the student's real name) acclimate to the expectations of excellence in my classroom.  It has been a battle that has only gotten worse.  I've tried talking to him personally, appealing to his heart, talking to other teachers about their interactions, reaching out to his parents, and now I'm at the point where I have scheduled a Zoom with his dad, which was encouraged by his mother.  In the end of all my extending of help, Brandon may be a child that I just can't reach.  It is frustrating because I love him and want to see the best for him but at the end of the day I have to protect the environment of learning that I am exposing my scholars to.  Students can invite you out of your character.  It is up to you to step out.  I've honestly tipped my toe out there a few times (LOL) but now I know I'm at my wit's end.  It is real!  I, at the moment, have not found a way to help Brandon.  Will I give up on Brandon, no! However, I will give up on over-exhausting myself with a student that is not ready to receive this level of love and discipline.  I have to protect all my students and I have to protect me.  I encourage you to do the same!  Protect your "why".  For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com. Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll

This is my first episode and I am excited that you came to listen!  It is the spoken word that I have performed before thousands of people!  In this episode I introduce myself and talk about how I became a teacher.  Black male teachers make up 2% of the teaching population hear in America.  My matriculation through K-12 schooling was no easy feat but in 8th grade a teacher by the name of Mrs. Simmons changed my life.  Her expectations of me changed what I would be exposed to as a student.  This experience put me on the path that I am on today.  I am soooooooooooo excited to talk about the most impactful parts of this spoken word.  I have NEVER gotten a chance to fully unpack the meaning behind the words spoken from my journey.  This will be an intimate time as you seek to get to know who Mr. James O'Neal is.  I want you to feel empowered that your decisions and your actions make a difference!  I wouldn't be the teacher I am today without all those who contributed to my path, especially Mrs. Simmons!For booking and other inquiries please email me at [email protected].  To find other videos and more inspiration check out my website at www.mrjamesoneal.com.  Feel free to connect with me on any of the social media platforms:FB/IG: @mr.jamesonealLI/TW: @mrjamesonealI look forward in helping your students, teachers, parents, and any educational stakeholder reach mastery.  #MasteryForAll