Conrad’s philosophy about teaching is simple. We start with our commonality: we are all human beings first. He agrees with Madeline Hunter when she said, “Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care!” It’s not just kids. We cannot reach people as leaders until we first reach them on the human level.

Often the subject matter in our classrooms can’t compete with the drama in students’ lives. The main ingredient missing in a lot of our classrooms today is a “connection with kids.”

Dr. Martin believes teachers need to be given research based, proven, practical strategies and applications that teachers can start implementing immediately – without throwing out what is working in their classroom. He believes educators have the toughest job in America as they are asked every day to wear many different hats – mom, dad, nurse, counselor, teacher, advisor, judge, jury, lawyer – just to name a few. He believes that research is clear, when students know you value them as a human being, not just another student; they will work harder and challenge less. He also believes teachers don’t need any more theory and new, trendy programs with catchy names.

We understand that students come into our classrooms and schools with different backgrounds and cultures. Their cognitive abilities, assets and experiences are just as wide ranging.  Sometimes the only thing students have in common is their age! This is an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other if we could just allow for the opportunity. The “one size fits all” approach does not work anymore, and we should be grateful.

We know the biggest unchallenged assumption by many today (especially politicians) about education is that kids are coming to school willing and ready to learn. As educators, we know this is not the case. We have a generation of kids coming to our schools minimally socialized. Many students are learning behavior from influences that designed to make them consumers rather than having their best interests first.

There’s not much we can do from 4:00 PM until 8:00 AM but there is so much we can do from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Dr. Martin is dedicated to helping educators be successful through motivation, inspiration, humor and a common-sense approach to stress management. Most importantly, he leaves educators with as many proven, practical strategies as he can. Every student in a classroom deserves to be led by an enthusiastic, well prepared, loving teacher.