The Story Behind "Flip-n-Ricky"

Hi, I'm the Teacher.

Some of my titles include being a Teacher, a Coach, an Entrepreneur and many other things. But, this story is not about me.

This is the story of Ricky.

Ricky is a teenage boy. He loves sports, he loves playing outside, he loves spending time with his friends, and he loves his Grandpa.

Ricky is 13 years old and in the 7th grade.
His love language (meaning what he truly cherishes) is quality time with others.

But, Ricky doesn't love school.
Ricky doesn't really love to read.
Ricky doesn't really love to write.
Ricky even questions why he needs to be in school.

This is the journey of a few events (let's call them dots) that came together really quickly to form what is shaping up to be a "line".

This is the story of seeing if we can motivate Ricky to love writing, love reading, love school, and follow his natural, God-given, talents.

This is the story of three dots coming together to make a line.

Dot 1 - The Parent / Teacher Conference

While at a parent/teacher conference last week for Ricky, we all decided it was time to get creative with Ricky and see if we could get him excited about learning, reading, and writing. We didn't have any profound ideas at the time, but the seed was planted to explore ways to help motivate Ricky.

Seed 1 was planted

Dot 2 - The Sweatshirt Negotiation

The weekend after the parent/teacher conference, Ricky was traveling to an event with his family. He really wanted this sweatshirt and his parents wouldn't get it for him. So, Ricky went and asked the vendor if we could barter (aka work out a trade). Ricky started off by challenging him to a game and if Ricky won, he'd give him the sweatshirt. If Ricky lost, he'd pay him full price for it (bad deal in my opinion, but that's Ricky). The vendor obviously said no, but he started negotiating with Ricky and ultimately gave him a 45% discount off the price of the sweatshirt. The vendor congratulated Ricky on his negotiation skills and Ricky's parents agreed to buy the sweatshirt.

Seed 2 was planted

Dot 3 - Grandpa Needs Help

A few days later, Ricky went to his Grandpa's house to celebrate his 72nd birthday. After the party and everyone had left, Granpda pulled Ricky aside and asked him to help him sell his boat.

Ricky immediately agreed.

Seed 3 was planted

This is where I come in.

Ricky was so excited to tell me about the sweatshirt and even that he could make some money by helping his Grandpa sell his boat.

As we were talking, I asked Ricky if he was up for a challenge.

Let's see if we can sell the boat, take the proceeds, and turn it into $1 million dollars by the time your Grandpa turns 73.

Ricky immediately agreed and here we are...

But, there are some rules for Ricky

• everyday he must write about the adventure in his journal
• I will turn his journal entries into a daily blog (written in the voice of Ricky) that he must read each day to learn the style, the format, and the details.
• We both are not to use any writing aids to help us (only our original thoughts and writing style)
• We must document the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We may fail.
And there will be lessons in that too.

But, my hope throughout this journey is that we help show the value of reading, writing, and learning each day (whether we are a student, teacher, employee, or entrepreneur).

See ya tomorrow,
- The Teacher