In August, the summer of 2008, in his 20th year of 26 years teaching at "RADIANT" John Ritter Elementary inside the community of Watts, California, Mr. Troy Smith introduced to his 5th grade students on the first day of school a poem or affirmation he wrote 3 weeks before school began. The affirmation was simply titled, “The More I Practice, Practice, Practice” written specifically to inspire and prepare his 5th grade students for the entire year.
The poem had an extraordinary effect from PreK to the 5th grade causing students to believe in the power of practice will lead them to their academic success. Chanting the poem at the weekly schoolwide Monday morning assemblies led the students in grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 to improve their annual California Standardized Test (CST) scores. However, it was the 5th grade students that stood out the most, excelling 5 years in a row exponentially in language arts, math, and science from 2007 to 2012. He called his students from the community of Watts, the undiscovered hidden treasures in the greater Los Angeles community.
Mr. Smith's teaching routine was simple. He taught with a purpose, focusing on the how and why in each subject, daily. As the teaching became more intense with more details layered gradually into each subject, he gave his students time to study for their practice test scheduled for Wednesdays in language arts one week, math the next week, science the following week, and American history the final week to keep them engaged and prepared for the real test on Friday or Monday, pending on if the kids needed extra time to study over the weekend. On Thursday, Mr. Smith would return the practice test results to each student, discussed with them in small groups their results and showed each student what they needed to study for homework. This would give his students a 2nd chance to succeed on that Friday or Monday exam.
As each student took the message to heart to practice, prepare, rehearse, and repeat as much as I can each day of the week, they began to see and feel the results of completing their homework. They eventually began to recognize their own mistakes and held themselves accountable. They understood the benefits of sacrificing their time to study, read, and how to write a minimum of 3-5 sentences up to a paragraph describing and explaining their thinking in how they found the main idea in a text, draw inferences or summarize a text, with proof sentence(s) to support their point in language arts.
In math they were expected to show their math work, then describe and explain how they solved the math word problem and/or simple to complex math equations step by step in writing. Likewise in science they were expected to describe, explain, and illustrate taught science concepts in the branches of science; life, earth, physics, electricity, and chemistry. Finally, in American history they were expected to describe, explain, and draw pictures of maps and routes to strengthen their response to the American history questions. In some cases,, they had to support their answers with a fact by giving the definition of a term. Over time, their paragraph writing enhanced their communication skills and critical thinking skills, meaning knowing the “How and Why”. Little did they know, they were developing a life skill called "practice".
Prior to his inspirational poem and lessons taught, the class of 2006-2007 laid down the foundation. They were the first group where data was collected and studied. Based on that data, the 2nd group 2007-2008 were ready to take the annual CST in April and May. Their test results were encouraging and so was the class of 2009-2010. But then something happened in the summer of August 2010. Prior to the school starting up for 2010-2011, Mr. Smith looked at the data from the past 3 years from 2007 - 2010 and behold he saw a pattern of success.
He decided to show his incoming students the colorful bar graphs he created featuring the past 3 years. He converted the data into large 11×17 posters and posted them on the classroom bulletin board to remind his students and challenge them to outperform the previous class. The class of 2010-2011 went through the same intense teaching and man did they impress the success of their efforts. The following year, the class of 2011-2012, excelled even higher in the area of mathematics. Conclusively, throughout all 5 years from 2007 - 2012, the students proved that practice don't make perfect. Practice moves you towards self-improvement.
Our undiscovered hidden treasures in the community of Watts, California from the low performing students to the above average students excelled in language arts, math, and science for 5 years in a row led by Mr.. Smith and other 5th grade teachers from year to year. It was from that historical success that led to the birth of the company, Practice U in the summer of 2013.
In retrospect, after looking back at Mr. Smith's 26 years of teaching there were a number of success stories and lessons he says he will always remember. He has a number life lessons he loves to share. Life lessons are experiences that teach us how to think, behave, make changes, and apply oneself into doing better. Here are just a few.
1. Proactive practice is a choice. You don't have to start and stick with it. Just prepare for your consequences and get some bought sense.
2. Practice used in the form of a verb means I have to do the work. No one can do it for me.
3. Practice involves critical thinking. Critical thinking is knowing the "how and why"
4. Practice is evident in the way people think, talk, and present themselves consistently especially when they're under pressure or when they fall short. I cannot assume that every person has the same high Morals, Values, and Principles as I have when under pressure. I call these 3 pillars of strength high MVP credibility, because credibility is earned like a credit score is earned on a credit report. It takes time to see the real you especially when life isn't going well. Such an observation requires self-discipline and wisdom. That's what the Practice U Lifestyle is about.
The Practice U Lifestyle is an extension of the Practice U brand. It encompasses one's values, behavior, habits, and beliefs just to name a few. Some may say it's for mature audiences only. I say it's for everybody because moving towards self-improvement is something every person should experience. As with anything in life, it takes time to evolve and feel your growth. Just like the 5th grade students I taught wanted to succeed so it is true with all of us.
We have to think of the idea of practice as a proactive move that gives back. When I put in the consistent work, the rewards and benefits I give back to myself are “I keep moving towards self-improvement”. And just like Kevin from the movie "Home Alone in 1990" you can say what he said when he rigged his house with all sorts of contraptions to get the would be robbers out of the house. He said, "Yes, I did it". No one can take that feeling of success away from you when you reach your goal(s). Growing up and expanding oneself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and academically is such a wonderful experience. It's not new, it's just new to you.
Every generation from long ago, before you and I were born from the youth to the young adults to the seasoned adults, I'm sure many of them sought to do better in life. Today we can learn from their struggles and setbacks as well as our own personal struggle(s), successes, failures, and starting back over. The key will always start with me wanting to do better and working towards that goal. The more I practice, practice, practice, the better I become, the better I become at my practiced work. When I'm in that mindset, I cannot blame others, point fingers, make excuses or quit. When I blame others, point fingers or make excuses, I become an unbalanced and unhealthy individual mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and academically.
So stay focused and remind yourself of Ernie and Ernestine who's parents and teachers taught them, you earn your success when you practice, prepare, rehearse, and repeat as much as you can each day of the week. Let's get up and get ready to go.
In closing, Mr. Smith believes his message is such a powerful message that should be shared with the world all over. Just like celebrating birthdays and anniversaries are important, so it is true in celebrating the results of anyone's consistent practiced work. To help enhance his message, Mr. Smith decided to upgrade his poem written in 2008 to a video in 2018. The poem now serves as the inspirational universal theme song for Practice U viewers to share with their family and friends all over the world and hopefully our website and apparel. We truly hope you enjoy the video and more importantly the message. Thank you for visiting our page to learn more about us and we hope you continue to grow as a result of what you have read and wearing our apparel. Remember to Practice Up with Practice U.