Shadowing Rita Pierson

Summary

Rita Pierson argues that strong relationships are central to teaching and learning. Drawing on decades in education and the example of her mother, she describes ways teachers can help children feel valued while continuing to expect progress. Her stories include admitting a teaching mistake, building confidence in a struggling class, and marking the answers a student got right rather than emphasizing every error. She ends by calling for every child to have an adult who remains committed to their growth.

Key points, in order

1. Pierson challenges the idea that delivering a lesson is enough on its own. She presents listening, understanding, and apologizing as practical ways to establish a relationship with students.
2. When she realizes that she taught a ratio lesson incorrectly, she apologizes to the class. The students’ affectionate response illustrates the trust that can exist when a teacher acknowledges a mistake.
3. A failing quiz receives a positive score for the two correct answers and a smiley face. Pierson still identifies the grade honestly but frames review as a chance to improve.
4. Her mother’s extra help, food, hygiene supplies, and home visits left a lasting impression on former students. Pierson acknowledges the difficulty of teaching while insisting that children deserve encouragement, high expectations, and a dependable champion.

Five useful phrases to practise

Choose a caption line to open Repeat mode. Listen, then say it after the speaker.

1. 2:17 He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand, as opposed to being understood.
2. 3:22 How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time?
3. 4:55 I said, "And when we review this, won't you do better?"
4. 7:00 Teaching and learning should bring joy.
5. 7:33 We're born to make a difference.

Based on the video’s captions. Original video: Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED · TED.

Everyday phrases from this video

• that's okay
• make a difference

• Level: B1
• Accent: American
• Length: 8 min · 108 lines to practise
• Speed: about 147 words a minute (an average pace)
• Words: about 1,090; the talk asks 9 questions

What to focus on in this talk

Practise the repeated first-person statements in the classroom example as a short sequence.

What this talk trains

Rita Pierson speaks for about 8 minutes: roughly 1,090 words in 108 caption lines. The pace stays fairly even, about 140 words a minute in the first quarter and 139 in the last. Overall it is faster than 17 of the other 66 talks on Sada. Its sentences average 10.6 words, no longer than the middle of the library (14.3), and 12.4% of its words fall outside the 3,000 most common English words (library middle: 12.9%). It asks 9 questions, so there is plenty of question intonation to copy. Phrases that fast speech often shortens come up again and again: “going to” (2 times) and “have to” (2 times).

Lines from across the talk, and what each one trains

One line from each quarter of the talk. Press a line to open it in Sada, ready to record. “Linking” marks words that run together: a word ending in a consonant sound joins the vowel that starts the next one.

1. 2:02 And I said to her, "Well, your year is going to be long and arduous, dear."

   “going to”: fast speech often shortens it to “gonna” when a verb follows. Listen for whether the speaker does here. Linking: say “And I”, “year is”, “long and” without a break between the words.

2. 3:43 One of the students said, "Really?"

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it.

3. 5:01 You see, "-18" sucks all the life out of you.

   “out of”: fast speech often shortens it to “outta”. Listen for whether the speaker does here. Linking: say “sucks all”, “out of” without a break between the words.

4. 7:10 who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion?

   A question: listen to where the voice rises or falls at the end, and copy it. Linking: say “not afraid”, “had a” without a break between the words.

Words that keep coming up

Words outside the 3,000 most common English words that Rita Pierson uses more than once. The number is how often each is said. Look up any you don’t know, then press it to practise the line where it first comes up.

• teach ×6
• lesson ×4
• schoolhouse ×3
• educators ×3
• taught ×3
• needless ×2
• reform ×2
• deserve ×2

How the pace changes through the talk

The fastest minute starts at 3:18 (about 183 words a minute): practise that minute once the rest feels easy. The slowest starts at 6:05 (about 120): a good minute to warm up with.

Measured from the caption timing, so the numbers are close, not exact.

How the talk opens: press any line to practise it

1. 0:13 I have spent my entire life
2. 0:16 either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse,
3. 0:21 or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse.
4. 0:24 Both my parents were educators, my maternal grandparents were educators,
5. 0:30 and for the past 40 years, I've done the same thing.
6. 0:34 And so, needless to say, over those years I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives.

How to practise this talk

1. Warm up on the slowest minute (from 6:05) or on the opening lines above.
2. Then take the chosen lines above one at a time: a shortened phrase, linked words, a question.
3. On each line, press Record and say it after Rita Pierson (Repeat) or along with them (Shadow), then open Compare and go again until every word is green.
4. Save the fastest minute (from 3:18, about 183 words a minute) for last.
5. At one minute a day you finish the whole talk in about 8 days, and Sada shows your first try against your latest.

More talks to practise

• Denzel Washington — Penn Commencement Address (2011) (B1 · 147 words a minute · same level)
• Oprah Winfrey — Stanford Commencement Address (2008) (B1 · 147 words a minute · same level)
• Angela Lee Duckworth — Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (B1 · 148 words a minute · same accent)
• Mel Robbins — How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over (B1 · 146 words a minute · same accent)

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