Creativity, Wonder, and the Author Experience with Dennis Mathew

What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and hosted the teaching champions podcast. And this week, we have Dennis Matthew stopping by. And he just dropped some unbelievable gems. And if you're not familiar with Dennis, he's a speech pathologist, a musician, and a children's author. And his books are highly recommended. And he travels all over the US giving his author experience. And in this conversation, listened to Dennis talk about embracing our creativity, leading with gratitude, embracing others as they are, and so much more. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. All right, everyone, I am super excited that we have Dennis Matthews today, Dennis, welcome to the teaching champions podcast. Thank you, brother. Thanks for having me on, Brian. Yeah, I'm so fired up. I've listened to several podcasts that you have been on. And you just have such a phenomenal message that you give out to the students, the children that you work with. But also, I think it's an important message for adults to listen to that we can incorporate what you bring to the table into our own lives. So I can't wait for the listeners to hear all the gems that you drop. And before we get started, could you share a little bit about who are you What was your journey? What brought you there? Yeah, so Dennis, Matthew, my claim Mustang Oklahoma as my hometown even though I was not born here in Mustang. I want to say Mustang Oklahoma is where I've kind of put my feet down for the longest period of my 40 years. I've now been in Mustang for maybe some 15 years and in big chunks and small. So I love this little town that I'm part of. I'm a speech pathologist. I'm an elementary school speech pathologist, I work for Mustang schools. This is my 10th year working for Mustang seven, a while back and now third, third year after being back in Oklahoma at this elementary school, love my school love my staff love the children that I get to serve. I am a husband, love my wife, we've we just celebrated seven years of being married. She's my rock, my anchor my pillar, you name it. We have a three year old daughter who keeps us young at heart. Lots of energy, lots of language. Yes, she has a lot to say she's we jokingly say she's three going on 13. Once try, she's trying to figure out in her own way how the world works. And then we've got a little pup who think turns five this year, a little multi poo. So that's our family. And then I also have the joy of networking with hundreds of educators like you, Brian, from around the country, as a children's author and songwriter as well. I'm getting ready to be in Oregon for a week next week. So when my school district is out for the holidays, for any reason or the other, I try to hit the road or jump on a plane or make some virtual author visits happen. And I've had the joy and honor of presenting my books and music to easily over 100,000 students I think now since 2019 When my authorship launched so that's a little bit of who I am. And we're expecting our second kiddo as well. He is supposed to expect it to make his arrival sometime early January. So we're pumped up about that. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. That is pretty exciting to bring in the new year my friend. Yeah. Now I was super excited when when we connected to be on this podcast. Because if you type in being a second grade teacher, every single year, I go in beginning of the school year, try and find some new books to bring into the classroom. If you type in like best children's books for the beginning of the school year, your book pops up. And you have three books and I've had the opportunity recently to listen to all three. They all have a beautiful message in them. Could you explain to the listeners what are your books? What's the message within them and your mission? Yeah, my my you know, and we were We're on our pre chat talk as we were getting ready for this call. One thing I kind of touched on is children have one of my favorite reasons for for working at an elementary school is, I feel like my children, my my students keep me young at heart they, they helped me to kind of have a young person's perspective on the world. little kiddos have a way of kind of teaching us to not take the world too seriously. And little children have a way of looking at the world like it's their playground like, like they're in their backyard. Because I know we were talking about how my daughter loves to go to the backyard, we have a decent sized backyard and the minute she steps on that backyard, you know that that backyard becomes you know her not just our playground, but it's a castle, it's a garden, Princess one moment, the next moment, she's a night, she finds a stick, it's her sword, you know, so I feel like little ones bring that perspective to school little ones have a way of looking at all of life as it's a playground, like it's a playground, they, they look at life, through playful eyes. So even when they are at work. They bring that playful heart and spirit to their work. And one of my goals with being an author is to kind of help children stay in that place of joy, wonder imagination, because, you know, there's a lot going on in the world, like we were saying earlier that that kind of pulls our kiddos away from that world of joy and wonder and lots of things going on in our world that gets our kiddos to, you know, look more seriously at life at a younger age, the more and more we live, even in ways that I don't think are developmentally appropriate. So you know it, there's there are too many realities in our world that kind of push our kiddos to mature up, even at a younger age, even before they're ready for it. And so I want I want my songs, my books to kind of encourage little ones to linger a little longer in that place of childlike faith, childlike wonder, imagination, Joy. Magic, I want I want kiddos to stay there because I feel like that's where beautiful things are born, whether it's the idea for a book or the idea for a song, the most beautiful memories that we have, of our of our lives as a whole come from those places of innocence, joy and wonder those those days we had as children, you know, the days of our childhood. So my I want my books to kind of inspire awe and wonder and liberal ones and kind of continue to help children look at the world through the eyes of color, magic, art, music, imagination, et cetera, et cetera. So below the cello was the very first book that I wrote a story about a little cello, finding his song, finding purpose. And then the book that you are referring to about the first day of school bellow. The cello has some aspects of the first day of school, but it's really it's a story, it's about, you know, it's a book that invites you to have some introspection, look within, right, so I because I'm a strong believer that you can have hard conversations with our little ones, in ways that are palatable for them in ways that still keep them looking at the world through their young, innocent eyes of beauty and wonder. So below the cello is a book that examines what is my purpose? Why am I here on earth? What am I good at that kind of a thing? And believe it or not, I'm 40 years old, and I'm still, you know, trying to figure that puzzle out? What is my purpose? What am I here for? And I think so that that message of what is my song is not just something that kindergarteners and second graders ponder upon. They are questions that we all ponder for all of our lives, right? And as we go on that question, as we are on that journey, we discover a little gems, one of those gems for me being my authorship, right, my other gym, being my wife, and other gem being my daughter, right? So as we try to figure life out, things are revealed to us. So that's what Bella is all about life's purpose. The book that you're referring to was my is my wild first day of school. It's it's a book where I told myself I just want this book to be positively and inspiringly crazy. I just wanted it to be a book that had no reins on it. I didn't want I wanted this to be a book where I got to write with no limitations on myself. And so I asked myself, what would it be like if animals went to school and these animals could do whatever they wanted to do? A school were unhindered. To unbridled on an inhibited, you know, joys and imaginations and wonders take place. So that's kind of the question I asked myself question I asked myself when I wrote my wild first day of school. Obviously in the real world, that's not how schools work. There are boundaries are our rules. But the message here is, hey, little authors through the lens of an author once you pick up that pencil or that pen, when you start to write a story, all limits are off as an author, you get to create explore, wonder to whatever extent you want to. So this is a book that encourages little ones to explore. Explore creativity, and imagination without any limits. Do not be afraid as you write. Don't be afraid. Don't put limits on yourself. As you write, just write as that story or narrative comes from your heart. That's that's the message I'm exploring with my wild first day of school. While first day of school is also a message to children who find the first day of school, nerve wracking. Hey, guess what, there are support systems for you at school within those support systems within those boundaries that are available. Take small risks. If you're, if you're nervous about the first day of school, embrace boldness, embrace courage, go for it, make a new friend, get to know somebody you've never had the chance to hang out with before try new things. So my well first day of school is all about encouraging kiddos to take healthy risks that are good for them that are positive that can push them in the right direction. My wild first day of school is actually the book for read across Oklahoma. 2022. So awesome. That is such a huge honor for me. And I'm always humbled when educators like yourself, say, man, your book book popped up on the beginning of school, you know, suggested a recommended list, who would have thought Who would have thought I remember, I remember sitting, this was even before bello came out, I remember sitting on my wife at an airport, getting ready to board a plane and I was just like, Man, I wish I could just write a book. That's just all about fun silliness and humor. That's when the idea for my while first day of school popped up in my mind, and all I could think about is a character. You know, just boasting about these pair of shoes that they like. And that's in fact, the hippo that you meet in my wild first day of school. So I find myself, you know, just always going about my life with open ears, open eyes, an open mind always looking for ideas, because you never know. And I tell this to my little ones, too, as I presented them, man. If a 37 year old could have an idea for 37 at the time, about a cello, finding a song, a seven year old can definitely have a beautiful idea. And I always tell my little ones when you have that idea. Don't don't tuck down the idea. Don't say I'm but I'm a seven year old. What could my idea mean to this world, I always tell my little Don't, don't say that to yourself. Don't, don't put that idea on the shelf and ignore it, write it down and take a note. You know, maybe you have a diary or a journal write down the idea that you had, maybe that idea will become something in the future. Maybe that's the idea that will change the world. I always tell my littles about that, as I do these assemblies, nationwide. The third book is the one that just came out. It's now been out for a little over a year, how grizzly found gratitude. It's a book that in in subtle ways, in ways that are palatable to little ones kind of drives home the message that gratitude can help us get through seasons of trauma. And the book was timely and it's released, especially because of the pandemic. The pandemic was traumatic to our little ones in so many ways, and our families too. And I always ask the question, What can we be grateful for even if even as we go through hard times in life, and so that's a message I drive home through how grizzly found gratitude, and students will ask me, you know, well, who does the grizzly represent in the story? And I'll say, Well, it's the grizzly in the book that's reading the book to you the the grizzly in the book was Mr. Dennis, the person who wrote the book and you know, I always talk about talk about a season in my life where I was going through so many changes, and it was a hard season because I don't do well with changes and you know, if I'm doing an assembly with 1000 kids in front of me, I'll ask them, Is there anybody else like me, that does not like change? And sure enough, half the half the, you know, Jim will raise their hand, right? And guess what? As a grown up, I don't like change either. Changes are hard transitions are hard. But as Mr. Dennis was going through that season of transition, the one thing that got me through that tough season was learning to be grateful for what was working from. And so we talked about the power of gratitude and how it's important to take an inventory of the things and people that we're grateful for every day and to make that a daily practice. So those are kind of my three books, brother. And those are the messages, simple messages that are profound, that are powerful. And then during the pandemic, as everything was shut down as when these and I think it was, it was a coping mechanism was a therapeutic thing for me. That, I think was my subconscious way of dealing with everything being shut down, that I started writing songs. And I realized, man, these songs that I'm writing to kind of cope with what's going on in the world. And the songs that I'm writing to kind of be messages to myself, my gosh, I think these would be great messages to students to, before you knew it, an album was out in, I think, in a matter of two months. And now when I go to schools, kiddos love my books, but they like, they love my songs more. And they're like, can you please, you know, you know, in and I love the honesty of little ones, where they're like, well, they'll say the book was great. Now, can we go back to singing your song? Again, another thing that I just stumbled upon, right? So yes, the music is a big part of what I do as well. And now I'm in I'm in a place where the books and the songs kind of walk in tandem, like they kind of feed off of each other. Like, for example, kind of goes with what's bothering you. And you know, why worry is a song that goes with the gratitude book and a place to belong kind of goes with both belo and the gratitude book, I'm in fact, I'm in the process of writing a song called be wild. to kind of go with my wild first day of school, I incorporate all kinds of styles into my music. So I have a song called Let's roar that has a rap component to it. My be wild song also has a rap component to it. Because that's kiddos are into rap these days. Right? And so absolutely, I want again, no limits with creativity, right, as long as it's positive, and building people in an encouraging people. So I want to challenge children, to not put limits on themselves when it comes to artistic things, for the purpose for for the explicit purpose of building themselves up and building up those around them as well. So no, that's fantastic. And that's why, you know, my favorite part of the day is the read aloud when you get to sit with your students, and you get to share with the stories. And I think a lot of adults will be so surprised at how many wonderful messages there are in children's books. And you know, when I'm listening to Bello, the cello, and, you know, bellows, finding her voice and understanding that everyone has a song to play that hits home, or when you're talking about like that wild first day of school, and you're talking about small risks, taking the risk and bracing your creativity, we lose that sometimes. The older we get, sometimes we put barriers, and we talked about that in the pre chat that the younger ones, they don't always have the same, they don't constrict themselves as much, they're more willing to take those risks. But as we get older sometimes, whether it's worried about other how others are going to perceive us, or other things, we stop stepping outside of our comfort zone maybe. So I you know, I love that reminder. And just grizzly found gratitude in the message that you had within that, that gratitude piece, how we approach the day, the things that we look for in gratitude. It doesn't always have to be the big things is that you know, that morning cup of coffee, or having that conversation with a kid seeing the excitement inside of them, the more gratitude that we bring into our own lives. And I love how you're planting seeds, the message that we give to the kids and how now you're bringing that musical piece. Because being in the elementary classroom into the second graders, they love music, and sometimes when they're writing, you know, or just doing another activity, you can just step back and you can listen to Him and if it's a song that they have, they'll just start singing or yes amuse. Absolutely. So I love that you're bringing that and incorporating that and exposing that to to all your students. Now. What are ways that you bring that into your own score into your own life, whether it's for yourself or bringing your knowledge and pushing that on to, to your own students as well. Yeah, so, um, I I'm big on seizing everyday moments to have the small conversations with my littles every day. Whether it's praising, speaking of gratitude, praising my kiddos for the little victories that they have, telling them, that I'm thankful for them, I'm thankful for the effort and the work they put into their speech sessions working on their goals. I'm a speech therapist, right. So I work with kiddos who sometimes don't feel seen, because of the things that they have to work on or whatever. And so I'm very intentional about the time that I spend with them past even beyond the goals that we have to work on, I get to know my children. And it's very important to me that they feel that Mr. Matthew sees them and that they're not just a student who's working on XYZ. It's important for me to get to know them, their families, I take so much pride in getting to know the families of my kiddos, relationships with these dads and moms, right, I keep up with them, check in on them from time to time to see how they're doing. So I think my heart of like, having that childlike heart, that childlike view of the world, I bring to the best of my ability, I tried to bring that purity and that innocence to my workplace in in the embracing the simple things. Whether it's saying hello to every child, I know personally, as I pass them in the hallway, beyond just the speech therapy that I do, like I get to, I get to I have the joy of greeting my students at morning drop off at 715 or morning, I also get to see them at they as they get on their buses at the end of the day. And man, I'm very if I know the child's name, got some 750 Kids in the building, but like if I know the child's name as they're getting out of their car, these little bodies are getting out of their car at you know, they probably woke up at 6am You know, and you know, not all of them are morning people right? Like, right, you know, and some of them go like, I mean, like my daughter would be the perfect example. She doesn't like to wake up at six in the morning to go to daycare or whatever. And so I can, you know, you read their faces and I always I always encourage my educator friends to read their children's nonverbals to really pay attention to their eyes, their their body language. So, you know, as they come out of their cars first thing in the morning, and if I know their name, I'll I'll shout it across from the parking lot. Hey, Joe. Hey, Susie. Good morning. Good to see you. Welcome, right, that whole thing and at the end of the day, I make eye contact as we're walking out of the building, given high fives fist bumps making eye contact saying by Joe by Suzy right? Because we don't know what realities these kiddos are coming from and what realities they go to right from school for a lot of them are some of them maybe school is the safest place that they have. And so but if I'm too complicated in my mind, right if I'm so complex and too grown up in my mind about gosh I gotta get back to that paperwork. I got to get back to crossing those T's and dotting those eyes. I've got to make sure I took data for the day and yadda yadda it's dear educators at the end of the day it's all about those children not even their academic achievements. There their care making sure that they are whole and well inside first as human beings right. But that is that right there. And and I have to work at it and it's so easy for me to get caught up in Kosh my to do list right? And forget the babies that I serve. And I have to like, constantly bring myself back to remembering it is about those children. Right and so but but that that view of valuing the simple. Yes, seeing the everyday things, right. That's the mind of a child. Right. I'm thinking of the example that you said bro and you are doing your duty of recess and this little child brings you a caterpillar on a leaf. She had the presence of mind to stop, pause, get it? Get the leaf with the caterpillar and bring it to you. She didn't have to bring it to you but she was so much in awe and wonder And when we are in awe and wonder if something human nature mean, why do we post our lives on social media, because when something great happens in our lives that we are so much in awe and wonder if we won the world, you know, we want to share, right? We want to share that good. And so that little child in her innocence, right? The little she had experienced, right, she wanted to share it, because that's what we want to do when we have good, we don't want to just keep it to ourselves, because that wasn't that would make us selfish people, right? But but we want to share it. And this little one wanted to share the good that she stumbled upon. That is a simple thing that she didn't have to do. But she did. And it made your day to write. And so those little things, those simple things, those everyday things, that's the perspective of the or that is the perspective or the outlook on life that our children have, right? And so I try to bring that childlike perspective into this grown up world. Right? Whether it's even checking up on a co worker, hey, you good. If I hear a coworker say, Man, I'm starving. I'll say, Hey, listen, can I go grab something for you? Right? Just letting people know that they're not just, you know, just a person here doing a job that they they're there, they're not a human doing, they are a human being. And that is care about the person, how are your kids doing? How are your grandkids doing? You know, or how's your husband like in his new job, like, those everyday simple things that we just kind of, over the course of time forget to do as we become more grown up, right. So that's how I that's how I try to bring my philosophy as an author into the into the workplace as well, I think and the goal is not to do a whole lot every day, do a little every day. And hopefully, just like the books over the last two and a half years like I I look back and go, Oh my gosh, if you do 1000 books can't believe it. Right? The hope is that if I can do a little every day in terms of being a good coworker, a good employee, a good speech therapist. Maybe over the course of time, I can look back and say, Okay, those little things are paying off, right? Yeah, bro. That's how I that's how I tried to bring my philosophy as an author into the workplace. I have a daughter now, because her daddy is a songwriter, and just on the fly will just grab his guitar and start making a song. I have a daughter now that walks around the house, and it's just as loud as she possibly can, is just making up tunes. And my wife is very intentional about praising her. We love that song. Oh, yeah. Girl, keep singing Oh, yeah, make make more songs. Right. That's also how I tried to carry it into the house, we try to not hinder or kind of restrict our daughter. We want her to be bold and courageous. Take those small risks. Like, like I kind of talked about in my Well, first day of school. So no, I absolutely love that what what we model for our kids? What we praise in our kids is so important. And like you were saying, what's the basic human needs? We want to be seen? We want to be heard we want to be valued. And that's just not the students. That's your teacher next door. And that doesn't take Yeah, that's my principal. That's my superintendent, right? human need? Yes. Yes, just taking a little 32nd One minute conversation where you take that interest, or, you know, their kid had a game last night, going next door and say, Hey, how that game ended up, you know, it make the difference in the world. And like you said, I love how you talk about reading the body language. What's that body language saying when they get out of the car? What's that body language saying when they're walking out of school, and that 1/32 That one minute conversation can change their day? So I absolutely love what you're bringing in there. And you're a creative and you talked about open ears open eyes, when you talk about your creative process when you're given talking to your audiences when you have, you know, a whole school watching you teach. Is there anything like a regular educator can do inside their classroom that you would recommend to foster creativity in their kids or anything that we can ourselves really grasp on to that creative process and then breathe life into it to put it out to the world? Yeah, I think Step one is to get to know your children and, and explore what modalities of creativity or creative expression Your various kiddos have. So find the artists in your room and have them create. This is just a casual example have a piece of visual art that goes with the story I've been talking about for the last week for your musically inclined child, encourage them to write a song about the message of that very same story for kiddos who thrive in in the team, context Parramatta, have them, let have them, you know, have a mini think tank in which they can create whatever kind of a small project that speaks to the message of that same story, right? Yeah, find find the areas or lenses through which your children bloom and blossom. And let them kind of stay there to kind of show you how they have learned from what you've been teaching them. Because I think a lot of times we can find students to show what they have learned in the one way that works for us, or or in the one way that works for the majority. 100%, right, how can a child how can children show us in a variety of ways and ways that they are wired to display that they have been learning while sitting in your room? Again, let me say one more time, let me say that one more time, set up your classroom to show you in a variety of ways, depending on how the child is wired, to show you how they've been learning, all this time, as they've been sitting in your class. Maybe Joe gets anxious when he stands in front of the classroom, to tell the classroom about whatever project Okay, is there another way that he can creatively show that he learned? Is it maybe he's tech savvy? Can you record a video at home include graphic effects and whatnot. And then maybe instead of having Joe stand in front of the classroom, maybe Joe is in a seat. But the teacher shows the video that he created where he in fact is presenting to the camera, the screen with all of his effects and soundtrack and whatnot, because kids these days are becoming more and more tech savvy than say you and I Brian, you know when we were at, you know, at these elementary ages, so long story short, have students show in the ways that they are wired that they know what you've been teaching them, and that they can show you what they have learned, right all this time. Because I'm I'm I'm a word words person. Sitting standing in front of an audience and talking is my thing. But and that's why that's why I related to that's why I brought up the example of Joe not being the one. That's right. And maybe he has another way of showing you dear teacher that he wasn't learning and said the same for Jane, you know what I mean? The same for Maya, the same for Rafiq, whoever, right? So that's how I think. We can inspire and stir on creativity to basically tell children embrace the nuanced way in which you show us that you are reading the room reading the world understanding what's going on in the world, the learning, right? I hope that makes sense. But no, I love that help them embrace who they are, and really celebrate that within your own classroom community. You know, I love that. Now. I have two questions that I always ask my guests. And you know, I'm a big book nerd podcast junkie, what is a book or a podcast that you would recommend? So I want to give a special shout out to my big sister in the kid literature world. Tolly Parkins she is a big reason why. Not a big reason why but she's she's one of my biggest inspirations when I first started out my authorship. I wanted to know if there were other Asian Indian authors out there and so I googled Asian Indian author blah blah Mitali Perkins His name is what came up. This is a well known author known around the world her books have been made into movies. She's a friend dear friend, I keep in touch with her I've had the privilege of meeting her in person. Just a beautiful soul. She had a new children's book come out called The Story of Us. I don't know if you can see that. Maybe not with the blurry facts. But yeah, that's what it looks like. There you the story. Excellent. So it's it's it's a it's a children's book with beautiful illustrations about being kind to the earth and things of that nature. So I just want to, I need to get caught up on my personal reading for sure. But I just wanted to use this moment to kind of give Natales book the story of us a shout out and then yeah, what was your next question podcast? Is that it? Yes. So here's here's where I'll also give a shout out to my dear sister in the education world. Laney I want to Laney role, I think is how you say, say her last name. But I want to give a shout out to her evolving with gratitude podcasts. I was just on it a few weeks ago, just just a brilliant educator and author. Yeah, so the story of us, but I'm totally Perkins and evolving with gratitude by Lanie roll. Yeah, those are two excellent choices. Now, if someone wanted to bring you in, and we were talking a little pre chat about you, you talk about how it's just not an author visit, that it's an author experience. And I haven't had the chance to see you in action. But I definitely hoping that I do someday, if someone wanted to bring you to their school for your author experience, what would be the best way to contact you. So going into my website, and reaching out to me to my website is a great, quick way to get to me books by dentists.com. That's books by dentists.com. I'm on Facebook, I'm friends with Brian on Facebook, Instagram is books by Dennis my handle. And then Twitter, my handle is at stories by Dennis. So those are all just quick ways to get a hold of me. And then yeah, they are author experiences, because each experience is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes long, where I'm switching things up every 15 to 20 minutes, you know, I open up with a mini concert of sorts where I teach my songs and kids saying, when there's just a lot of humor and silliness that happens during the experience too. And then I move on to reading my books. And that's that's a very animated thing I do as well. Then we do a short q&a, where students get to tell me what they thought about the book and asked me questions about you know, what it's like to be an author, et cetera. And then I take the last 15 to 20 minutes if we don't close off in song after that, because by the time we get to the end, kiddos are like, can you sing the song again, everything. But one of the last things I do is about do do spend about 15 to 20 minutes on the process of creating my books where students get to see my characters in the books being created. They get to see on video, my books being printed in China, the books being delivered on you know, on trucks to my house. So there is this global process that I kind of invite children into, to kind of show them what an independent author's life is like. And then, you know, they also get to see, I kind of walked them through the role that each person on my team plays. So we start with author, editor, Illustrator, then we go on and talk about the publisher, the printer, the shipper, the the end goal being when a child walks into their library and checks out a book I you know, I impress upon them, kiddos like when you check out a book from a library, I want you to understand the journey that that book has gone through to get to your hand. And I don't often say this, I say there are people around the world who you may never get to meet in your lifetime, who worked hard behind the scenes to get you this book in your hand. And this is why teachers tell you parents tell you principals and librarians tell you please take good care of your books behind yearbook. So there is this larger picture perspective vantage point that I always kind of communicate with my students. So it's much more than just a read aloud. There are you know, I just did a visit in Dallas where I passed out around 600 books, I think, or was it 1200 I want to say was 1200 books and I made sure to sign all 1200 I was with them for six assemblies. I was with them all day, this elementary school in the Dallas area. And that's a joy those are intentional. I didn't have to but I didn't have to do all that but I think I tried to think about it from the perspective of the child. Maybe this is the first author that a lot of those babies are getting to meet in person so that's that's what kind of keeps me going so that's what an author experience looks like. Yeah, when when it's when it's possible. I do try to sign books for children but yeah, I would love to come to your school if you if you are listening and Yeah. I love that and you know for the for the kids to see you live to have that physical book and then be able to go home to the There's love on and open it up and have your autograph in there. That's a, that's a beautiful thing. You know, I know they're fired up about them, I'm very grateful. They're all you know, there are plenty of times where I just kind of tell myself, I mean, this is the job that I get to do as an author, what I get to do an author is so big. And there are a lot of times I see myself as small in relation to the task at hand and in, in, in a humbling way. I always tell myself, I don't deserve this, like I, in the sense, I can't believe I get to do this. And it's hard, brutal work, you know, no doubt about it. But at the end of the day, when I hear from educators across the country, saying, you know, I saw a child walk out of their library with your book, or, you know, I saw your book sitting on a bookshelf at a store or something like that. Those children have not met me personally, but they have an extension of me, and they don't have to meet me in person, right? Hold this work that I created. That's, that's, that that brings me. That's, it's a great honor to get to hear a little messages like that. Yeah. Yeah. And that's pretty special to to know that people are reading your words, singing your songs, in your planting those seeds, right, of you know, hope, joy, gratitude, taking risks. That's pretty special. Now, for our listeners, if you could have them walk away with one thing from this episode, what would that be? Gratitude? Oh, my gosh, gratitude. All of us have something to be grateful for. Like, I am grateful that I'm on a podcast with Brian Martin. The weight of that is not lost on me. You know what I mean? Yeah, sure. This gets my message in my books to ears that I have not connected with before. But this is a moment that I get to share time with another soul. Right? And so like, this, this is a, this is a special moment. And so yeah, so I'm grateful for that. Right. And so that's a thing, gratitude is one thing that I would like for people to take away that that we can be grateful for little NVIC things. Yes. That gratitude, having this moment with you connecting with you having that gratitude, like that little girl that walked up to me, yeah, in the caterpillar, and they're just screaming her head off, was so much joy. You know, there's gratitude and magic all over the place. Now, Dennis, I just want to thank you so much. It's been such a joy, connecting with you and meeting with you. And in hearing all the gems that that you dropped in Steve Harvey, I was listening to Steve Harvey, the other day, and a lot of people just see him as being a comedian. You see, seeing him doing all this, but he's a pretty spiritual person, and pretty deep individual. And he was talking about I was listening to one of his podcasts the other day, and he said that your job is what you're paid to do. Your purpose is what you're made to do. And I know you talked about, you're still, you know, at a young, young 40 finding that purpose, but I see the message that you're putting out there, those seeds that you're planting. And it's a beautiful thing, my friend. So thank you, brother, I keep doing that important work. Yeah, thank you for allowing people like myself to come on your platform and kind of shout to the world what we were doing with our lives. So I really appreciate that. Thank you for taking the time for it. Absolutely. We're better when we can learn from each other, my friend. Yes. All right. Thank you. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate it. This was such a fantastic conversation with Dennis Matthews. And you can hear that authenticity in his voice when he speaks. It's so good. Now, this is a teaching champions tape, where I share three of my favorite gems from this conversation. And the first gem is when Dennis talked about not putting any limits on creativity, that we should approach the day with childlike wonder. And there's so much inspiration to be found. And like Dennis said, imagine what we can learn if we are approached today with open ears, open eyes, and an open mind. If we do that, what we can learn is limitless. And the second gem that I really enjoyed was when Dennis talked about connecting with students and seizing Every Day moment and having those small conversations. We always talk about the importance of relationships. And it's in those one minute conversations, though was every day moments that we can really look to strengthen the bond with our students and colleagues. And Dennis also talked about being really aware and paying attention to the nonverbals. Because body language tells us so much, how are our students coming into the building? What are the nonverbals that the students are giving, as they're heading out the door, we definitely want to pay attention to those. And the third gem that I truly enjoyed was when Dennis talked about embracing the day with a childlike perspective, the all the wonder that a child has is pretty special. And we often lose that as we age. So tap into that, see the amazing things that are all around you, and really make an effort to appreciate them. Because that's going to have such a profound effect on you. Now, I would love to hear what your favorite gems were from this conversation. So hit me up on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, and let me know your favorite takeaways. A big thank you to Dennis. And a thank you to all of you for listening for being part of the teaching champions community. We support we encourage we lift each other up. And if you think anyone would benefit from this message, please share. And always remember, it doesn't matter if you're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Spain to Bahrain. We're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission, and we're always better together. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as you go out into the week may step into your strength may step into your shop, and let's build our champions. Have a great weekend.