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Taylor Mali

Taylor Mali is a former teacher and classically trained actor who now makes his living as a professional poet. One of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, he is a veteran of the poetry slam and the author of What Learning Leaves and several spoken word CDs and DVDs. He lives and writes in New York City. For more information, visit www.taylormali.com"


“Certainly teachers themselves can do a better job of letting the world know how hard their profession is, but frankly, they have real work to do and a lot of it, so they don't have a whole lot of free time on their hands.”
Taylor Mali
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“The only thing that surprises me is the characterization of teachers as lazy and greedy. Only someone with very little understanding of what teaching requires would say such a thing.”
Taylor Mali
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“Teachers shouldn't make the mistake of always thinking they're the smartest person in the room”
Taylor Mali
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“Everything I do is kind of a lesson, even if I am the only person who learns it.”
Taylor Mali
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“That's what teaching is, the art of explanation: presenting the right information in the right order in a memorable way.”
Taylor Mali
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“By the time these students enter the workforce, many of the jobs they will apply for ill be in industries that don't even exist yet. That's a hard future to prepare someone for. Teachers have their sights set on the real goal: not to produce Ivy League graduates, but to encourage the development of naturally curious, confident, flexible, and happy learners who are ready for whatever the future has in store.”
Taylor Mali
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“Great teachers will never be able to make up for bad parents, nor should they be expected to.”
Taylor Mali
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“Simply put, the best teachers are the ones you work your tail off for because in the end you just don't want them to think any less of you. You want and need their approval.”
Taylor Mali
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“Here, let me break it down for you,so you know what I say is true:Teachers? Teachers make a difference! Now what about you?”
Taylor Mali
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“You see, I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking, which is, if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.”
Taylor Mali
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“Because once upon a time, we grew up on stories and the voices in which they were told. We need words to hold us and the world to behold us for us to truly know our own souls.”
Taylor Mali
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“Read to your children all of the timeNovels and nursery rhymesAutobiographies, even the newspaperIt doesn't mater; it's quality timeBecause once upon a time We grew up on stories in the voices in which they were told We need words to hold us and the world to behold us For us to truly know our souls”
Taylor Mali
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“Suzy smiled and the whole class laughed at me, but when she spoke, I heard a new sound, not the song of an angel, but the words of a woman on a pedestal, coming down.”
Taylor Mali
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“We're the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since, you know, a long time ago!”
Taylor Mali
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“How can you study geometry and not believe in a god? A god of perfect points and planes, surrounded by angels and angles of all different degrees...”
Taylor Mali
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“Falling In Love Is Like Owning A Dog.Throw things away and love will bring them back,again, and again, and again.But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.And in return, love loves you and never stops.”
Taylor Mali
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