Who is Patti?
Patti Albright, of Baytown, Texas, has been a professional educator since 1975. She has been at the elementary school level serving in multiple capacities, including classroom teaching, curriculum writing, new teacher mentoring, staff development provider, and serving as the language arts team leader at several campuses. Patti provides training through aha! Process in A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Researched-Based Strategies, Motivation, and Academic Coaching for teachers/students. Patti has been with aha! Process since 2006.
Patti’s credentials Degrees and certifications
- Associate of Arts degree from Lee College in Baytown, Texas
- Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
- Kindergarten Certification from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
- Reading Specialist Certification from University of Houston – Clear Lake
- ESL Certification from GCCISD in Baytown, Texas
- Higher Level Questioning trainer certification
Work history
- Classroom teacher from 1975–2006 for GCCISD in Baytown, Texas
- Language arts team leader from 1990–2006
- Consultant/trainer for aha! Process from 2006–present
Patti’s aha! moment
I met Ruby Payne approximately 20 years ago when she came to my school district as an administrator. She met with a handful of teachers from our district and shared her research on poverty and its impact on student achievement. I was teaching at a school with a 90% low-SES population of students. After hearing Dr. Payne explain the impact of navigating through life/school with limited resources, I began to understand the quotation I had read from Stephen Covey: Seek first to understand! That day with Dr. Payne changed the way I saw my students, the way I taught my students, and the way I spoke to my students. It truly was an aha! moment that has lived with me for more than 20 years!
Patti’s passions
Teaching at the elementary level for 31 years allowed me to watch amazing transformations take place in my students as they began to think outside the limited world they inhabited. Their “I can’t” turned into “I did it!” I believe that every student has that passion inside to learn, to think, to achieve. It has been my passion to help them realize, through education, that the world can be open to them. As a reading teacher, I loved seeing the reluctant reader become the reader who couldn’t wait to turn the page! Now it is my honor and passion to share with educators all over the United States the work of Ruby Payne that demonstrates we can and will impact the lives of people living in poverty all over the world.
Patti’s best training
Many trainings stand out in my mind, but one in particular stopped me in my tracks. Five years ago I was training about 500 people in California using AFrameworkfor UnderstandingPoverty. I noticed several times during the training that an elderly custodian would periodically stand in the back of the auditorium. After the training was over, he made his way to the front to talk to me. He asked for a copy of Dr. Payne’s book, and I told him that I would find him a copy. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I am 76 years old. I am raising my sixth grandchild, and I don’t want him to have to wait 76 years to understand himself. For the first time in my life, I understand myself after hearing you.” I can say that his tears were not the only ones that day!
What does Patti do for fun?
My husband and I bought a small condo in the Hill Country of Texas about 10 months ago. And it just so happens that our first grandchild was born in the Hill Country of Texas 10 months ago! We spend as much time as we can spoiling that precious little boy and enjoying the beautiful Texas hills. We float the Guadalupe River, shop in the quaint little boutiques (well, I do!), and entertain our friends and family who love to come visit us in our little piece of heaven!