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 an 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. Mr. Smith 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 in 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 and prepare, study and train, 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, reread, and how to write a minimum of 3-5 sentences up to a paragraph describing and explaining their thinking showing 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, which Mr. Smith defined as knowing the “How and Why”. Little did they know, they were developing a life skill called "practice to progress".
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 based on the bar graphs they did well. 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 mini-lessons he loves to share. A mini-lesson is a short explicit lesson focused on a specific concept and used as an introduction to the main lesson. Explicit means it is clearly stated and if necessary described and explained in full detail, leaving no room for confusion, doubt or misinterpretation. He gives us 4 out 5 mini-lessons with number 5 being a life-lesson.
Mini-Lesson #1 Practice don't make you perfect. Practice moves U towards self-improvement.
Mini-Lesson #2. When you practice and prepare, study and train, rehearse and repeat as much as you can each day of the week, you grow and become the very best of U.
Mini-Lesson #3 is the "TM-I-PPP" It stands our theme song titled, "The More I Practice, Practice, Practice" the better I become, the better I become. The more I practice, practice, practice, it turns into fun. It turns into fun.
Mini-Lesson #4 Practice is a choice. You don't have to start and stick with it. Just prepare for your consequences and get some bought sense.
Mini-Lesson #5 Finally MVP Character which stands for Morals, Values, and Principles is more than a mini-lesson. It is a life lesson. These are core teachings taught, practiced, and reinforced early at home, school, and church all throughout our lives. They work together as a team to shape a person's awareness, belief, and behavior from childhood to adulthood and parenthood. They guide our conscious and mentor our decision-making so much so it prompts our conscious to speak up to say such phrases as "I'm not doing that. That's wrong. I was wrong. I need to apologize because I offended you and I need to do better. We are wrong. They are wrong. God is watching. He sees and hear everything. I'm not with that and so on. To that point, never assume everyone has been taught the importance of morals, values, and principles in their house, at their school or where they worship. Secondly, high MVP teachings can lead to High MVP Credibility. Like a credit score, credibility is earned to create a credit report or profile reflecting who I am and how I behave financially so it is true with our character. We earn our credibility when people say such things as, "Oh that doesn't sound like him or her. I've never heard him or her use profanity. I've never seen him or her behave like that or put a person down." That's what High MVP Credibility sounds like. It is the highest form of respect given to us from children, adults, and seasoned mature adults who observe us in-person or on some social media outlet. Children and adults are watching and listening to how we talk to people, how we treat people in public and in private, and where we stand with our morals, values, and principles.
Leeson number 5 is the greatest example of what it means to Practice U, "the very best of you" so that you'll be able to Master a Higher Degree of Self, because it addresses the soul of who you are, the inner-child, the inner-man or the inner-woman to think and grow up. It challenges us to self-reflect. It speaks to our habits, beliefs, wisdom, patience, and so much more. Whereas some observers may say Practice U is for nerds or mature audiences only, we say, "Nope!" Practice U is for everybody because everybody wants to do better in some area of their life. As with anything, it takes a commitment to consistently practice towards your goal. Just like the 5th grade students taught by Mr. Smith wanted to succeed, it is also true with all of us from individual family members to friends to co-workers and beyond. We're all wanting better and to do better. We also want to look good.
We have to think of practice as a gift that keeps giving back, meaning when I put in the consistent work, the rewards and benefits I give back to myself are “I become better at what I'm working on”. And just like Kevin from the movie "Home Alone in 1990" you can say what he said after he rigged his parents' house with numerous contraptions to prevent the would be robbers from breaking and entering. After each successful contraption worked, Kevin said "Yes, I did it". Like Kevin, no one can take that feeling of success from you when it is you who has put in the effort. Seeing and feeling myself grow mentally, emotionally, physically, academically, scripturally to spiritually is a wonderful experience. It's refreshing and exciting because this is my experience. This is my work. This is what I did. I'm happy. I'm proud. And like Kevin, you will forever cherish the memory. Now wipe that exaggerated smile off your happy face and get back to work. The party is over and there's more to learn in every area of life. Practice is forever. We don't stop and we certainly can't run from practicing.
Each new generation of tweens, teens, young adults, and parents will learn that practice has always been and still is a life skill that builds confidence and dreams. It's the next step, after we have been taught and retaught or self-taught. When we are encouraged, we keep trying by applying the element called "effort". Effort means I have to put in the mental energy and/or physical energy to achieve a certain goal. I have to make a serious attempt to solve this problem or learn this new skill. Practice and effort go hand in hand. They work together. Think of it this way. Practice its the life skill and effort is the reinforcer of what we practice. Effort deepens our understanding, because we are applying ourselves to reach a specific goal. This is especially true in academics, athletics, the arts, my attitude being positive, having an appetite for clean nutrition, an appetite for a clean environment, and activism or being an activist for a cause. Everybody wants to do better and be better, but it takes effort energy. As a matter of fact when we take a look at the history of this country, we can see countless individuals and groups of people exhibiting effort in moving this country forward towards self-improvement.. Take for example "activism and effort" from the 1600's to the 1900's, when this nation of leaders saw people of color, women, children, seniors, the disabled and special needs as 2nd class citizens. As time progressed in America's unfinished story, a new generation rose up, became educated and aware and said what the leaders of this nation have been doing to people "is wrong." That new generation saw the need for change and worked hard to correct the sins of this country by speaking up, speaking out and getting elected into one of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives representing the people and getting elected into one of the 100 seats in the United States House of Senators. They learned in their research that 218 majority votes out of 435 U.S. House of Representatives PLUS 60 majority votes out of 100 U.S. House of Senators to overcome a filibuster is how we write new laws to eradicate the old laws. They learned with a commitment to putting forth the element of effort or mental energy to achieve a certain goal, this is the place where we move the country forward. Thank goodness for those who spoke up with their consistent voices of reason and staying committed to the idea of right versus wrong at the Federal Government level. That took effort.
Fast forwarding to today, thanks to the invention of the internet being released to the public on April 30, 1993 and the creation of Google launched on September 4, 1998, MySpace unveiled on August 1, 2003, Facebook commenced on February 4, 2004 YouTube introduced on February 14, 2005, Twitter debut on March 21, 2006, Instagram rolled out on October 6, 2010, and many other social media outlets, our world became smaller. Young people began to see other people from all over the world as equal people. To live in a world where segregation is a common practice didn't make sense to them. They saw nothing wrong with integration, children playing with other races, teens dating other races, and young adults intermarrying other races. This normal way of thinking led to a more humane way of thinking, speaking up, and speaking out loud for diversity, equality, inclusiveness, and acceptance. Gradually, because of the right to protest which led to the Civil Rights Movement of 1964 outlawing segregation in public accommodations, banning employment discrimination, and protecting voters from unequal registration requirements followed by another protest which led to the Voting Rights of 1965 enforcing the 15th amendment which prohibits denying a citizen from voting based on race or skin color to many other protests to a women's movement with progressive values from Portland Oregon in late 2016, America has been transitioning forward to becoming a nation of sensible, selfless, mature young people, NOT the copy cats of selfish, insensitive, and immoral people.
The women and men from Portland, Oregon and creators of "In Our America" yard signs planted in front of countless homes, printed on many window signs, buttons, t-shirts, vinyl stickers and on their website https://www.inouramericalovewins.org/ has been a fighter for promoting unity over division, a teacher for equal opportunity, and another leader in grassroots activism. Their work is just one of many examples of a new generation of young Americans pushing older Americans towards the words we read in the Declaration of Independence where Thomas Jefferson wrote, "All men are created equal..." Today we say, "All men and women are created equal" because from one human to another human we all need one another. In time, we as a country will get there with stronger bipartisan leadership where the majority of individual congressional members are working together because they have High MVP Credibility, experience in leadership, a proven record, and understands what it means to help people from the bottom on up. As it was said earlier, Lesson number 5 is the greatest example of what it means to Practice U, "the very best of you" so that you'll be able to Master a Higher Degree of Self.
For those who seek to continue moving forward and live in a space of time where everyone is treated with respect and given a fair chance to succeed they have to continue this fight because the job is not done. That means I have to put in the effort to practice. You have to put in the effort to practice. We all have to put in the effort to practice. I have to practice my communication skills. I have to practice my writing so I can see my thoughts on paper or my digital device. I have to practice exercising self-control and keep my foot on the gas pedal. I have to study and prepare myself on how to present my idea to my local representative intelligently. I have to rehearse and repeat before I share the purpose of bringing my thoughts to anyone who will listen. I have to understand, it's like going back to school all over again burning the midnight oil doing research, studying the data, and bringing people together with me to grow the number of like-minded voices into being more proactive and not always reactive.
When I'm all about improvement, and the next person is all about improvement, we work together and gradually we find ourselves being transformed into speaking up for the poor, the forgotten, the neglected as well as ourselves the underpaid. Eventually we wake up a number of communities of unaware people through peaceful, non-violent, mature people protest. As that number grows, so does the message and the meeting of the minds of voters who want to see the existing laws enforced or the signing of a new law with consequences for those who try to find loop-holes around the new law. We do this work because we want to be a better nation that seeks to move toward self-improvement and a nation that's fair and equal for all people, NOT just for an exclusive group of self-centered millionaires and billionaires.
Once that work is completed, we have to continue to stay aware of other issues that centers around greed, power, and control of rich and selfish people denying climate change, opposing free healthcare for all, opposing free childcare, and investing their monies into big tech companies to advance their projects such artificial intelligence. Only the rich who can afford it come together to build their data centers everywhere and anywhere in a community that is not aware. Data centers are the modern day polluting industrial revolution factories from the 1850's to today. They are known to pollute our air and affect climate change with nitrogen oxides particles released into the air we breath and increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Then there are those who use artificial intelligence to create false political ads, cause us not to trust, but rather force us to verify by researching what we hear and read. Unfortunately, this rich man's toy has already mislead our youth, seniors, and society of today, to believe what they read or see is the ultimate truth. What started out as fun or funny, reminds us of the philosophical phrase "Laugh now, cry later."
Practice U believes in order to overcome artificial intelligence it will take Authentic Intelligence and Common Sense Thinking (CST) to place limits on this rich man's toy. The work never stops. Each generation must stay aware, speak up, speak out, and remember what Mr. Smith likes to say, "Practice not only leads to self-improvement, it also leads to progress." Read what his 2 fictitious characters Ernie and Ernestine parents and teachers told them, "After I have taught you and retaught you, again and again, you (Ernie and Ernestine) earn your success when you practice and prepare, study and train, rehearse and repeat as much as you can each day of the week, so that you can grow and become the very best of U.
Now get up! Get out of your comfort zone and get seriously focused in, on working harder in presenting the very best of who you are, consistently with effort. And while you're working, "stay humble, ask questions, and keep learning." If you understand why Ernie (aka Ernesto from Mexico) and Ernestine's parents and teachers had such high expectations of them to be who they are today, then you can understand why they are always saying, "Practice is my brain food, because it has helped me in everything I have done, I do right now, and plan on doing in helping others and myself."
In short, Mr. Smith believes his message is such a powerful message that it should be shared with the world all over. Just like celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and successful events are important, it is also 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 followers to share with their family and friends all over the world. We truly hope you enjoy the video and more importantly the message. Thank you for visiting our About Us page to learn more about us. We hope you continue to grow as a student, student-athlete, artist, activist for clean nutrition, a clean environment, a better attitude, and a better nation of people as a result of what you have read. When you wear our apparel remember to Practice Up with Practice U, "the very best of you" so that you'll be able to Master a Higher Degree of Self, one day at a time.