What makes a first-year teacher not just survive, but truly thrive? Michelle Cummins, author of "The First Year Teacher Survival Guide: Fifth Edition" and education advisor at Brisk Teaching, brings decades of wisdom to this question while exploring the evolving landscape of education.
Michelle's remarkable journey from childhood teacher (complete with a playroom chalkboard at age six!) to high school educator, principal, and educational leader provides the perfect backdrop for our wide-ranging conversation about teacher development. She addresses head-on the crucial misconception many new educators face – that teaching is primarily about delivering content rather than building relationships. "You have to teach your students first," Michelle emphasizes, "and the content is a vehicle for that relationship."
The episode overflows with practical strategies for building authentic classroom communities. From greeting students at the door each morning to creating projects that invite students to share their personal narratives and family stories, Michelle outlines actionable approaches that transform educational experiences. A particularly moving example involves multilingual learners creating artwork and poetry based on family interviews – work that helped students see themselves and their cultures in a powerful new light.
We also dive deep into the revolution of AI in education. As Michelle puts it, "AI literacy is not just for our students, it's for educators as well." She explains the "80-20 rule" – how AI tools might handle 80% of task creation, but a teacher's expertise with their unique students provides the critical 20% that makes learning meaningful. Through her work with Brisk Teaching, Michelle has seen how these tools can free teachers from overwhelming workloads while enhancing their creativity and effectiveness.
Regardless of whether you're just starting your teaching journey or are a seasoned educator looking for fresh perspectives, this conversation offers both practical wisdom and heartfelt encouragement. As Michelle reads from her book: "May the encouragement you find in these pages give you the courage and confidence to teach in a way that uplifts all of your students."
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Episode Transcript
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Chris Colley (00:14):
So here we are, welcome everyone.
Another episode of Shift Edpodcast coming to you.
We're up in northern Montrealtoday and enjoying some
beautiful sun finally Littletouches of warmth coming through
, which is great.
And I have such a wonderfulguest today, Michelle Cummings,
(00:38):
coming in from New York andshe's going to share.
She wrote this.
Well, she updated and added tothis great book called the First
Year Teacher Survival Guide,the fifth edition, and we're
going to talk about that.
But Michelle also works on AIthrough Brisk Teachings.
(00:59):
Is that correct, michelle?
Michelle Cummings (01:01):
That's correct.
I'm the education advisor atBrisk, teaching.
It's an AI-enabled Chromeextension.
That's right.
That's correct.
I'm the education advisor atBrisk.
Chris Colley (01:07):
Teaching.
It's an AI-enabled Chromeextension.
That's right.
That's right, and you werepreviously teacher, pay teacher,
also CAO as well.
Michelle Cummings (01:15):
Yes, the chief academic officer at
Teachers Pay Teachers yes, formany years working with the
teacher authors and the catalogthere.
Yeah, Cool.
Chris Colley (01:26):
So lots of great insight and information that
Michelle will share with ustoday.
And please go and check thisbook out, particularly if you're
a first, second, third yearteacher.
It's a daunting task and we'llkind of get into that a bit, but
this book is just full of greatstrategies and ideas and ways
to support yourself as youbecome a teaching professional.
(01:47):
So, Isha, before we begin here,tell me a couple of poignant
moments in your educationallandscape so far.
What were some turning pointsor some moments that really
stuck out for you?
Some turning points or somemoments that really stuck out
(02:08):
for you as you were coming intobeing an educator and supporting
educators consulting, etc.
Michelle Cummings (02:12):
Chris, good morning, and I'm delighted to be
here having this conversationwith you.
My origin story as an educatorgoes back to childhood.
I am one of eight children andin a big family I had a
ready-made class of students.
I had my first chalkboardinstalled in the playroom when I
(02:33):
was probably six or seven.
As a sixth grader, I asked myteacher, ms Beck, who's still a
close friend of mine throughoutmy lifetime.
I asked her if I could go teachthe first graders how to read,
and she set me up with aninternship.
As a sixth grader.
In high school I had readeverything Ted Sizer had written
(02:56):
and chose to go to college, toBrown University, to study with
him.
I got to work in the essentialschools.
He introduced me to ElliotWasher, who was then co-founding
the Big Picture LearningSchools.
These were all kind ofmileposts for me, signposts
(03:16):
along my journey.
That said, I was headed in theright direction.
I became a high school Englishand social studies teacher.
I taught in Boston, I got toteach in the international
schools in Switzerland, I taughtin Oregon and then decided that
I could help more teachers andmore students as an
(03:36):
administrator, and so from thereI became a principal, both at
the elementary level and then atthe high school level.
Chris Colley (03:45):
I was an assistant superintendent and got to
create entire programs and K-12educational opportunities for
students to improve outcomes forall the students in the
community and I think that thethrough line in my work, in my
(04:21):
career, has been that desirethat, regardless of where a
child happens to be attendingschool, to improve their
educational outcomes and upliftthe teachers that are working
with them.
Absolutely Wow, I meanbeautiful journey so far and so
much happening too.
Like it always seems to you'reat the forefront of these
innovative practices that arecoming out and, um, what great
opportunities to kind of seeinto the future of education a
bit well, sure I.
Michelle Cummings (04:41):
I was a curriculum director during the
teachers pay teachers movementas it was starting, and so I
could see from my teachers theirneed to have supplemental
curriculum and the gap that theyfelt between the adopted
curriculum and the students thatwere in front of them.
And so to be able to be thechief academic officer at
(05:17):
Teachers Pay Teachers and workwith that incredible team and
teachers around the world toshare collective wisdom, you
know during of AI and generativeAI in education to help
teachers not just with theefficiency and saving time in
their work but with real studentengagement and realizing the
promise of personalizinglearning and differentiating for
(05:41):
students.
Chris Colley (05:42):
Absolutely which teachers tend to struggle with
right that differentiation.
We just did a bunch of worklast year on it and I was
surprised at how it's just.
You know it, this idea that Ihave to create like eight lesson
plans is just not the case.
It's little tweaks here, littletweaks there, so that you can
widen your walls a little bit,so that everybody feels like
(06:05):
they can achieve.
But getting beyond, you know,like the differentiation of what
it is, yeah, it was alwaysseemed a little bit of a
struggle, but I totally agreewith you.
I think AI is opening thosedoors for differentiation big
time right now, because it's allavailable.
I mean just simply having toinput a text and having a couple
(06:28):
of different reading levels,just that alone is just wow.
It really helps teachers a lot.
Michelle Cummings (06:34):
Yeah for sure .
Changing reading levels is one.
Changing languages forcomprehensible input you think
about.
You know, I got to work withCarolyn Tomlinson and all of her
differentiation strategies andcreating learning contracts or
rafts for you know, englishinstruction.
It is so easy.
(06:55):
Now we talk a lot about the80-20 rule in generative AI that
there is yeah, no, there is noreplacement for teachers
expertise and their knowledge oftheir students, and so AI will
get you 80% of the way tocompleting a task.
But that expertise of a teacheris so important, but yeah.
(07:17):
So I brought all of that intothe writing of the first year
teacher survival guide and I wasjust so delighted to be able to
support new teachers in thisway.
Chris Colley (07:31):
Absolutely yeah, we work a lot with pre-service
teachers and it's an interestingclientele.
And I guess one of my questionsI wanted to ask you about
first-year teachers again, inyour experience and what you
think is did first-year teachersgo into their teaching
(07:51):
profession and tend to alwaysteach the way they were taught?
Michelle Cummings (07:59):
That's a great question.
I think that, like musclememory, that the experiences we
have with our teachers are verythe profession and experienced
teachers to really intentionallyidentify how their education
(08:33):
has informed who they are as ateacher and to be able to say
these are the things that workwithin the classroom for my
students today, and these may bethings that had worked
previously for me as a studentbut no longer are effective
strategies.
Chris Colley (08:52):
Right, right, and in the fifth edition.
So this is the one that youwere updating and the latest,
one of the first year teacher'sguide survival guide.
When do you determine to likedo an update of it?
Like when would a new editioncome?
Like what would inform thatthat?
Okay, we need to do someupdates on on this, because when
(09:15):
was it originally published?
This the first edition, do you?
Michelle Cummings (09:19):
the first edition was published in 2002 by
julia th, a high school Englishteacher, and she has since
retired, and Josie Bass invitedme to update her work.
The most recent edition hadbeen 2018.
(09:40):
And, of course, much haschanged since then, um and so so
I was able to talk with Julia,while she wasn't involved in the
writing of the book.
I, I feel like we accomplishnothing alone, um, whether we
are in a classroom or or writinga book, and so I benefited from
(10:03):
talking with her, frominterviewing 65 teachers who are
currently in the classroombefore writing the book, and you
think about all that we havelearned from the pandemic moment
whether it's digital tools andgenerated AI or I think we've
(10:23):
gotten much more sophisticatedabout social emotional learning
and the behavioral needs, thebehavioral support needs of
students, and so I really workedhard to infuse all of those
learnings into the book as well.
Chris Colley (10:39):
Great, great.
And what are the biggest youthink misconceptions about those
first years, like teachersgoing in thinking one thing and
then quickly realizing that,okay, I got to think about
management or my relationshipbuilding or how am I going to
(11:01):
keep developing as aprofessional?
I know that you talk a lotabout those within the book
student engagement as well.
Do teachers come in to theirfirst years teaching with
certain misconceptions about howto do these things?
Michelle Cummings (11:17):
Yes, it's a great question, chris, and I
don't think that we can paintwith too broad a brush.
There is a idealistic impulsethat brings teachers to the
profession.
I feel it to this day.
(11:55):
It is a way to change the livesof children one by one,
classroom by classroom, schoolby school, and that that drives
them, and when you talk to agroup of teachers about their
(12:16):
why, they're really great atarticulating it.
I think that, um, that someteachers come to the profession
to teach a subject and theyrealize that there's a shift in
paradigm, and in order to besuccessful as a teacher, you
have to connect with yourstudents and you have to teach
your students first, and thecontent is a vehicle for that um
(12:40):
, for that relationship.
And so I think that there is areal need to think about
classroom management differently.
Of course, you asked aboutclassroom management, and that
is the number one subject thatpeople want me to speak about,
(13:03):
but you can't talk aboutclassroom management without
talking about the relationshipdevelopment and talking about
the ways in which you connectstudents and connect with
students and connect studentswith ideas.
Chris Colley (13:20):
Yeah, my pre-service work with teachers.
I have them do this activitywhere I give them a prompt right
and I ask them what does yourideal classroom look like, feel
like?
And they can make somethingvery concrete.
They have to make a littleprototype with dollar store
stuff, just so that there's arepresentation, and then they
have to speak to it and over andover I hear I want it to be a
(13:44):
welcoming class, I want them towant to come into my class and I
want to be able to support them, help them grow and I'm like I
love it.
And then I ask how are yougoing to do that?
And those front ideas, thosefirst initial, like you know,
welcoming, know, welcoming, warmclass, they trust me.
(14:05):
But to go beyond that, like,how do I start establishing,
what are strategies that youwill use to start building that?
Um, can you offer somestrategies or suggestions for
that, because it is so crucial,those relationship building
building?
How would a first year student,a teacher, start to kind of get
(14:27):
that vehicle running?
Michelle Cummings (14:30):
Sure To move from the hope and the goal and
the big idea to practice.
Chris Colley (14:36):
Reality.
Michelle Cummings (14:37):
For sure, for sure.
Larry Ferlazzo recently asked mewhat was an underutilized low
prep strategy that teacherscould use for this, and I said
relationship development canstart at the door.
You know, it takes a lot to beable to greet students at the
door students and to give them afist bump or a high five and
(15:08):
greet them by name and check inon how the game went or how a
sick parent is feeling.
All of that matters, and if youcan greet students at the door
and welcome them to their day ifthey're in elementary school,
or to their class period, itgoes a long way to setting the
tone and getting students readyto learn.
I think that there are thingsthat we can do within the way
(15:31):
that we design curriculum toinvite students' voices and to
invite them to share themselves,and so, whether it is in the
(15:54):
early days of the school year,making sure that there are
everybody knows everyone's name.
There's four corners exerciseswhere you are asking students to
vote with their feet and choosea corner to go to, based on
whether or not they like 80smusic.
If they like it, they don'tlike it.
They're neutral on the topic andthen they can talk to other
(16:16):
students in the classroom whoshare that same opinion and you
can build a community oflearners.
It's not just the relationshipbetween the teacher and the
student, it is the wholecommunity of learners.
I had a health teacher at thehigh school, where I was a
principal, and she would alwaysask students to write on an
(16:38):
index card what she needed toknow to be their best teacher,
and it revealed so many things.
When you make that invitationto students to be in
relationship.
You can find out that they needglasses, you can find out that
they live in their car.
There are all kinds of insightsthat you can get, but we must
(17:03):
have strategies to ask.
Chris Colley (17:06):
Yep, yep, and I like that.
You said too that therelationships, the content will
come through.
That, like it seems, thisfixation on oh, we have all this
stuff, we got to cover, got tocover, got to cover, and we kind
of forget about the humanitythat exists within your
community.
And I like it's not a class,it's a community yeah, and, and
(17:28):
you're working together yes, Ihave.
Michelle Cummings (17:30):
I have a wonderful example of this uh
teacher who's now in his secondyear of of the profession.
He teaches multilinguallearners and he really has a
value he brings to theprofession of being in
relationship with students.
(17:51):
He sets this very high bar ofwanting all trip with students
to visit a local college artexhibit.
The students then modeled theirartwork and their poetry and
(18:13):
writing off of this exhibit thatshowed silhouettes of people
with their stories pulled inpoem format inside those
silhouettes.
And the students, he said,dived into this project,
interviewing their familymembers and community members to
hear their narratives.
(18:34):
And the students worked harderon this project than anything
all year and shared incredibleinsights about themselves, their
lives, their cultures, theirhumanity and they felt so
respected, so uplifted, so seenthat they he talked about how
(18:57):
they saw themselves and theirfamilies in a different light
after that experience.
And I think that's a greatexample of how a teacher uses
that relationship development toexplore the world of ideas and
to deepen students' academicstrengths and deepen their
learning, while inviting adeepening of the relationships.
Chris Colley (19:22):
Absolutely.
I love that idea too.
I often tell teachers that yougot to get their, their hearts
involved right.
They got.
You got to spark some kind oflike something inside them that
interests them or talks to them.
And then you also got to gettheir hands involved creating,
making, drawing, poem, but thenalso the cognitive as well.
(19:44):
And if you get those threethings running, you know you're
gonna have some good learning.
That takes place, or it's gonna.
It will stick with them.
You know, like I always havethis concept of letting getting.
How do we make it stick?
So it's not like in one ear atthe other, um, and we, through
our our work with teachers,we've noticed that.
(20:04):
Think about those three partsas you're designing something,
and I think it's very similar towhat you're saying about that
example you gave, where allthose three components are
involved and it's just likehumming, learning happening, um,
so fascinating.
Well, that's a great story too.
You know we don't talk enoughabout these great, positive,
amazing stories that mean theyhappen all around us.
(20:27):
Sometimes we get so fixated onthe issues rather than the
beauty of what's alreadyhappening and what happens daily
.
Michelle Cummings (20:53):
That is so true.
You know, I had a really greatquestion from a first year
teacher recently and I was ableto to give her some, some, some
good strategies.
She was really taking on a bigquestion and that was around how
do we create a classroomcommunity where civil discourse,
where respectful discourse,occurs and so layering onto
those relationships and the highexpectations for students being
(21:14):
able to really unpack for themhow to have respectful
conversation.
How to have respectfulconversation and I had observed
a fourth grade teacher who wasreally great at providing
sentence stems that focused on Istatements for students, things
like I suggested that or I'dlike to add, or I respectfully
(21:42):
disagree because you know, or Irespectfully disagree because
(22:07):
you know and literally laminatedthose things on the table for
students can have conversationsand add on to each other's ideas
and respectfully disagree andprovide evidence for their
claims.
And I thought that this was amoment where a first-year
teacher was really bringingforward something important that
experienced teachers needed tohear as well, and so I've
started adding thoserecommendations.
(22:28):
I have a section in the bookabout teaching for civil
discourse as well, and I thinkthat's also an example of a
moment when a first-year teacherbrought their fresh impressions
and their fresh perspectives ina way to a whole faculty that
(22:53):
could improve teaching andlearning across the school.
I think that's one of thethings that I encourage
principals and cooperatingteachers to do is to share those
fresh impressions and thatfresh energy of new teachers to
improve practices across theirdepartments and across their
(23:17):
schools.
Chris Colley (23:18):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Let's shift gear a little bit.
We're going to connect this,though, but with your new work
with AI, are you finding that?
And we can even apply it tofirst year, second year, third
year teachers.
Are they understanding AI?
Like are the misconceptionsabout AI interfering with the
(23:42):
tools being used?
Absolutely.
Michelle Cummings (23:46):
That's a wonderful question.
Ai literacy is not just for ourstudents, it's for educators as
well.
Do you know that March 28th isAI literacy day?
And there are going to beactivities all across the world
for AI literacy day.
Of course, it's not just oneday, but it will bring attention
(24:09):
to the topic.
So new teachers, experiencedteachers, are often all in the
same boat when it comes togenerative AI.
Administrators who are tryingto lead their districts in
emerging technologies can have apretty steep learning curve,
and so it is vitally importantthat we know what AI is and what
(24:32):
it isn't, what the capabilitiesare.
I think that, as I said before,teachers are able to use AI for
all kinds of efficiencies.
We know that's happening acrossindustries.
We know that teachers can createlesson plans, can create
(24:54):
behavior support plans, cancreate high-quality
instructional materials toengage students, and that frees
them up to have more time forthose interpersonal interactions
with students.
We know that it is criticallyimportant just as we want AI to
(25:16):
be a tool for students to usefor learning, not to replace
their learning we need to makesure that that's true for the
professionals as well thatteachers are not creating a
resource and not reading it, orgiving feedback and not reading
(25:37):
it.
One of the reasons that Briskhas such an incredible feedback
tool is that it will put inlinecomments on a student's Google
Doc, but the student will not beable to see them until the
teacher has read them, revisedthem, clicked comment to make
sure that they are appropriateto the learner that 80-20 rule.
(25:58):
But I believe that generativeAI is having a powerful impact
on teachers feeling like theirjob is doable, that the
overwhelming workload is nowdoable with an AI assistant,
that having a brainstormingpartner to think about how you
(26:22):
want to approach a particularunit of study or a lesson is
powerful for provokingcreativity and thought.
But it cannot replace thatteacher's expertise and their
knowledge of their students.
Chris Colley (26:37):
Right, that's what you have to bring in.
That's your 20.
And also making sure that itfits within the context.
Michelle Cummings (26:47):
Yes, your professional judgment matters.
Your leadership in theclassroom matters.
Yes, your professional judgmentmatters.
Your leadership in theclassroom matters Absolutely.
Chris Colley (26:54):
Right, and what do you think the uptake is right
now, Like percentage wise, withteachers using AI tools?
Do you do you have a feeling ofhow many in the U?
S are you know dabbling alittle bit?
Is it a high number or do youthink it's pretty low still,
Like we're just kind of startingoff?
Michelle Cummings (27:14):
Chris, from what I have read, you know
educators can be cautiousadopters of new technology Right
now, I know, at risk.
We have approximately one in sixteachers in the United States
are using our product.
I believe that there is a lot ofinterest and that districts can
(27:40):
often be cautious in theirapproach.
There are some that are veryinnovative and very
entrepreneurial in the way thatthey work and have, you know,
adopt multiple tools to exploreand do some research and
development, and others whoreally want to make sure that
they are clear about the youknow all of the policies and
(28:00):
guidelines and concerned aboutacademic integrity, of course,
and making sure that thosebuilding blocks are there before
they move forward with adoptingnew tools.
But I think that, in the sameway that we were talking about
differentiation, that one of thethings that administrators are
(28:20):
understanding is that highquality instructional materials
from publishers and theiradopted curriculum only go so
far and that there are needs ofthe students that are not met by
that, and that something likegenerative AI and brisk teaching
(28:41):
, used in conjunction with thosehigh quality instructional
materials, can really createunlimited potential for students
, create a situation where youcan infuse education with
students' interests andquestions and provide a 24-7
(29:03):
tutor for those students.
I was talking with an amazinggroup of students recently with
students for innovation, andthey are advocating for their
teachers to talk to them andteach them about generative AI
and they see the writing on thewall, don't they?
Well, they say we will.
This is a tool that we need tolearn how to use, or it's going
(29:27):
to use us.
This is a tool we need to usefor college and career readiness
, and if we don't get to learnabout it in schools, where are
we supposed to learn about it?
And they were using AI to learnabout things that were
interesting to them that maybetheir teachers couldn't teach
(29:48):
them.
Yet One student had created achatbot that was teaching him
all about nanotechnology.
It was fascinating.
Chris Colley (29:56):
Yes, that's cool that you make your own bot to
teach you.
You know, it's like the worldjust the doors just fly open
when kids can harness that kindof power open um when kids can
harness that kind of power.
Michelle Cummings (30:14):
Um, yes, students can learn from anyone,
anywhere in the world at anytime.
They can now learn with agenerative ai chatbot who has
access to a great deal ofinformation in the world, and um
and schools will be ummanifesting this and seeing this
implemented within theirclassrooms as a powerful tool to
(30:34):
unlock learning.
Chris Colley (30:37):
Yeah, for sure, we're working a lot with
teachers with the AI ideas andwe're still kind of waiting on
students a little bit.
However, I do encourageteachers to talk about AI.
You know, how are models made?
Is it ethical?
Is it like there's so much youcan talk about without them
(30:58):
having to interact?
And I'm talking just because ofage restrictions.
Up here in Canada, anyway, wehave certain age restrictions
that have access and others thatdon't, and teachers are like
well, they're too young.
What do I do with you?
Know, talk to them.
There's so many resources outthere that you can use that.
Get those conversationshappening and then multiply it.
You get to know your kids more,what they think, how they feel
(31:20):
about it, where they think it'sgoing and those conversations
super rich, and also get to knowyour kids.
Michelle Cummings (31:30):
Yes, absolutely.
That is so true.
I think that one of the thingsthat I love about Brisk is that
we have a boost product that isstudent-facing, and so students
can experience that personalizedtutor that meets them where
they are and ask them questionsto help scaffold their learning
(31:55):
where they are and meet thelearning objectives that are
that are part of that experience.
But that can be a tutor, thatcan be a brainstorming, that can
be preparation for a debate,can be preparation for a debate.
I was in a classroom of 11thgraders who were working on
(32:15):
fine-tuning their argumentativeessays about a particular
article that their teacher hadgiven them and they were using
Boost to fine-tune thosearguments that they would then
write about.
And when you see thesemodalities that allow students
to really engage in criticalthinking and have those light
(32:38):
bulbs all turned onsimultaneously in the classroom,
it's very exciting.
Chris Colley (32:44):
Very special.
I mean, this feels like thisconversation light bulbs are
just firing off, michelle.
Your insights are just soamazing, like it's just really
been a pleasure talking with youand having this.
It's a fun conversation and Ilove that we're putting this
positive spin in finding thesegreat stories that fear should
(33:07):
never exist.
Go do it, give it a try, findyour supporters out there, find
your champions out there andkeep moving forward, cause the
world will.
We don't keep going forward tooyeah.
Michelle Cummings (33:23):
Yeah, I'm wondering if it would be okay if
I read just a little bit fromthe book to end because, excuse
me, I I so honor and respect andum, and I'm in awe of people
who are going into education nowand I want to um share with you
(33:48):
how I start the book the FirstYear Teacher Survival Guide.
It says congratulations on yourchoice of profession.
Every day that you are ateacher you will know you're
making a difference in the world.
Something will make you laughevery day and you will never be
bored.
Guaranteed Teaching can also becomplex and a stressful career.
(34:09):
My hope is that you will findin this extensive reference book
the strategies, tools andactivities you need not just to
survive but to thrive in a longcareer as an educator.
And because the word courage isnestled inside of the word
encouragement, my hope is thatthis book speaks courage into
the hearts of first yearteachers.
(34:30):
May the encouragement you findin these, this book, give you
the courage and confidence toteach in a way that uplifts all
of your students.
And that is my invitation tothose who have the courage and
the passion to join us in a longand fulfilling career as
(34:52):
educators.
Chris Colley (34:53):
Absolutely One of the best professions in the
world, in my opinion, becauseyou never know what's going to
happen in a day.
But there are tears, there aresmiles, there's laughs, there's.
You feel it all.
Michelle Cummings (35:07):
Isn't that the?
Chris Colley (35:08):
truth.
Yeah, yeah, and I mean thefuture should hold all that as
well.
We're hoping.
Well, michelle, thanks so much.
Go and get this book people,particularly teachers.
I think it's like, even ifyou're an experienced teacher,
there's so many nuggets in thisbook the First Year Teacher
Survival Guide.
(35:28):
Get the fifth edition becauseit's the most up to date, so
you'll have all the nuances in.
There is the 2025 that we're in.
So, thanks again.
So much fun, so much fun.
Michelle Cummings (35:40):
Thank you.
So here we are, welcome everyone.
Another episode of Shift Edpodcast coming to you.
We're up in northern Montrealtoday and enjoying some
beautiful sun finally Littletouches of warmth coming through
, which is great.
And I have such a wonderfulguest today, Michelle Cummings,
(00:38):
coming in from New York andshe's going to share.
She wrote this.
Well, she updated and added tothis great book called the First
Year Teacher Survival Guide,the fifth edition, and we're
going to talk about that.
But Michelle also works on AIthrough Brisk Teachings.
(00:59):
Is that correct, michelle?
Michelle Cummings (01:01):
That's correct.
I'm the education advisor atBrisk, teaching.
It's an AI-enabled Chromeextension.
That's right.
That's correct.
I'm the education advisor atBrisk.
Chris Colley (01:07):
Teaching.
It's an AI-enabled Chromeextension.
That's right.
That's right, and you werepreviously teacher, pay teacher,
also CAO as well.
Michelle Cummings (01:15):
Yes, the chief academic officer at
Teachers Pay Teachers yes, formany years working with the
teacher authors and the catalogthere.
Yeah, Cool.
Chris Colley (01:26):
So lots of great insight and information that
Michelle will share with ustoday.
And please go and check thisbook out, particularly if you're
a first, second, third yearteacher.
It's a daunting task and we'llkind of get into that a bit, but
this book is just full of greatstrategies and ideas and ways
to support yourself as youbecome a teaching professional.
(01:47):
So, Isha, before we begin here,tell me a couple of poignant
moments in your educationallandscape so far.
What were some turning pointsor some moments that really
stuck out for you?
Some turning points or somemoments that really stuck out
(02:08):
for you as you were coming intobeing an educator and supporting
educators consulting, etc.
Michelle Cummings (02:12):
Chris, good morning, and I'm delighted to be
here having this conversationwith you.
My origin story as an educatorgoes back to childhood.
I am one of eight children andin a big family I had a
ready-made class of students.
I had my first chalkboardinstalled in the playroom when I
(02:33):
was probably six or seven.
As a sixth grader, I asked myteacher, ms Beck, who's still a
close friend of mine throughoutmy lifetime.
I asked her if I could go teachthe first graders how to read,
and she set me up with aninternship.
As a sixth grader.
In high school I had readeverything Ted Sizer had written
(02:56):
and chose to go to college, toBrown University, to study with
him.
I got to work in the essentialschools.
He introduced me to ElliotWasher, who was then co-founding
the Big Picture LearningSchools.
These were all kind ofmileposts for me, signposts
(03:16):
along my journey.
That said, I was headed in theright direction.
I became a high school Englishand social studies teacher.
I taught in Boston, I got toteach in the international
schools in Switzerland, I taughtin Oregon and then decided that
I could help more teachers andmore students as an
(03:36):
administrator, and so from thereI became a principal, both at
the elementary level and then atthe high school level.
Chris Colley (03:45):
I was an assistant superintendent and got to
create entire programs and K-12educational opportunities for
students to improve outcomes forall the students in the
community and I think that thethrough line in my work, in my
(04:21):
career, has been that desirethat, regardless of where a
child happens to be attendingschool, to improve their
educational outcomes and upliftthe teachers that are working
with them.
Absolutely Wow, I meanbeautiful journey so far and so
much happening too.
Like it always seems to you'reat the forefront of these
innovative practices that arecoming out and, um, what great
opportunities to kind of seeinto the future of education a
bit well, sure I.
Michelle Cummings (04:41):
I was a curriculum director during the
teachers pay teachers movementas it was starting, and so I
could see from my teachers theirneed to have supplemental
curriculum and the gap that theyfelt between the adopted
curriculum and the students thatwere in front of them.
And so to be able to be thechief academic officer at
(05:17):
Teachers Pay Teachers and workwith that incredible team and
teachers around the world toshare collective wisdom, you
know during of AI and generativeAI in education to help
teachers not just with theefficiency and saving time in
their work but with real studentengagement and realizing the
promise of personalizinglearning and differentiating for
(05:41):
students.
Chris Colley (05:42):
Absolutely which teachers tend to struggle with
right that differentiation.
We just did a bunch of worklast year on it and I was
surprised at how it's just.
You know it, this idea that Ihave to create like eight lesson
plans is just not the case.
It's little tweaks here, littletweaks there, so that you can
widen your walls a little bit,so that everybody feels like
(06:05):
they can achieve.
But getting beyond, you know,like the differentiation of what
it is, yeah, it was alwaysseemed a little bit of a
struggle, but I totally agreewith you.
I think AI is opening thosedoors for differentiation big
time right now, because it's allavailable.
I mean just simply having toinput a text and having a couple
(06:28):
of different reading levels,just that alone is just wow.
It really helps teachers a lot.
Michelle Cummings (06:34):
Yeah for sure .
Changing reading levels is one.
Changing languages forcomprehensible input you think
about.
You know, I got to work withCarolyn Tomlinson and all of her
differentiation strategies andcreating learning contracts or
rafts for you know, englishinstruction.
It is so easy.
(06:55):
Now we talk a lot about the80-20 rule in generative AI that
there is yeah, no, there is noreplacement for teachers
expertise and their knowledge oftheir students, and so AI will
get you 80% of the way tocompleting a task.
But that expertise of a teacheris so important, but yeah.
(07:17):
So I brought all of that intothe writing of the first year
teacher survival guide and I wasjust so delighted to be able to
support new teachers in thisway.
Chris Colley (07:31):
Absolutely yeah, we work a lot with pre-service
teachers and it's an interestingclientele.
And I guess one of my questionsI wanted to ask you about
first-year teachers again, inyour experience and what you
think is did first-year teachersgo into their teaching
(07:51):
profession and tend to alwaysteach the way they were taught?
Michelle Cummings (07:59):
That's a great question.
I think that, like musclememory, that the experiences we
have with our teachers are verythe profession and experienced
teachers to really intentionallyidentify how their education
(08:33):
has informed who they are as ateacher and to be able to say
these are the things that workwithin the classroom for my
students today, and these may bethings that had worked
previously for me as a studentbut no longer are effective
strategies.
Chris Colley (08:52):
Right, right, and in the fifth edition.
So this is the one that youwere updating and the latest,
one of the first year teacher'sguide survival guide.
When do you determine to likedo an update of it?
Like when would a new editioncome?
Like what would inform thatthat?
Okay, we need to do someupdates on on this, because when
(09:15):
was it originally published?
This the first edition, do you?
Michelle Cummings (09:19):
the first edition was published in 2002 by
julia th, a high school Englishteacher, and she has since
retired, and Josie Bass invitedme to update her work.
The most recent edition hadbeen 2018.
(09:40):
And, of course, much haschanged since then, um and so so
I was able to talk with Julia,while she wasn't involved in the
writing of the book.
I, I feel like we accomplishnothing alone, um, whether we
are in a classroom or or writinga book, and so I benefited from
(10:03):
talking with her, frominterviewing 65 teachers who are
currently in the classroombefore writing the book, and you
think about all that we havelearned from the pandemic moment
whether it's digital tools andgenerated AI or I think we've
(10:23):
gotten much more sophisticatedabout social emotional learning
and the behavioral needs, thebehavioral support needs of
students, and so I really workedhard to infuse all of those
learnings into the book as well.
Chris Colley (10:39):
Great, great.
And what are the biggest youthink misconceptions about those
first years, like teachersgoing in thinking one thing and
then quickly realizing that,okay, I got to think about
management or my relationshipbuilding or how am I going to
(11:01):
keep developing as aprofessional?
I know that you talk a lotabout those within the book
student engagement as well.
Do teachers come in to theirfirst years teaching with
certain misconceptions about howto do these things?
Michelle Cummings (11:17):
Yes, it's a great question, chris, and I
don't think that we can paintwith too broad a brush.
There is a idealistic impulsethat brings teachers to the
profession.
I feel it to this day.
(11:55):
It is a way to change the livesof children one by one,
classroom by classroom, schoolby school, and that that drives
them, and when you talk to agroup of teachers about their
(12:16):
why, they're really great atarticulating it.
I think that, um, that someteachers come to the profession
to teach a subject and theyrealize that there's a shift in
paradigm, and in order to besuccessful as a teacher, you
have to connect with yourstudents and you have to teach
your students first, and thecontent is a vehicle for that um
(12:40):
, for that relationship.
And so I think that there is areal need to think about
classroom management differently.
Of course, you asked aboutclassroom management, and that
is the number one subject thatpeople want me to speak about,
(13:03):
but you can't talk aboutclassroom management without
talking about the relationshipdevelopment and talking about
the ways in which you connectstudents and connect with
students and connect studentswith ideas.
Chris Colley (13:20):
Yeah, my pre-service work with teachers.
I have them do this activitywhere I give them a prompt right
and I ask them what does yourideal classroom look like, feel
like?
And they can make somethingvery concrete.
They have to make a littleprototype with dollar store
stuff, just so that there's arepresentation, and then they
have to speak to it and over andover I hear I want it to be a
(13:44):
welcoming class, I want them towant to come into my class and I
want to be able to support them, help them grow and I'm like I
love it.
And then I ask how are yougoing to do that?
And those front ideas, thosefirst initial, like you know,
welcoming, know, welcoming, warmclass, they trust me.
(14:05):
But to go beyond that, like,how do I start establishing,
what are strategies that youwill use to start building that?
Um, can you offer somestrategies or suggestions for
that, because it is so crucial,those relationship building
building?
How would a first year student,a teacher, start to kind of get
(14:27):
that vehicle running?
Michelle Cummings (14:30):
Sure To move from the hope and the goal and
the big idea to practice.
Chris Colley (14:36):
Reality.
Michelle Cummings (14:37):
For sure, for sure.
Larry Ferlazzo recently asked mewhat was an underutilized low
prep strategy that teacherscould use for this, and I said
relationship development canstart at the door.
You know, it takes a lot to beable to greet students at the
door students and to give them afist bump or a high five and
(15:08):
greet them by name and check inon how the game went or how a
sick parent is feeling.
All of that matters, and if youcan greet students at the door
and welcome them to their day ifthey're in elementary school,
or to their class period, itgoes a long way to setting the
tone and getting students readyto learn.
I think that there are thingsthat we can do within the way
(15:31):
that we design curriculum toinvite students' voices and to
invite them to share themselves,and so, whether it is in the
(15:54):
early days of the school year,making sure that there are
everybody knows everyone's name.
There's four corners exerciseswhere you are asking students to
vote with their feet and choosea corner to go to, based on
whether or not they like 80smusic.
If they like it, they don'tlike it.
They're neutral on the topic andthen they can talk to other
(16:16):
students in the classroom whoshare that same opinion and you
can build a community oflearners.
It's not just the relationshipbetween the teacher and the
student, it is the wholecommunity of learners.
I had a health teacher at thehigh school, where I was a
principal, and she would alwaysask students to write on an
(16:38):
index card what she needed toknow to be their best teacher,
and it revealed so many things.
When you make that invitationto students to be in
relationship.
You can find out that they needglasses, you can find out that
they live in their car.
There are all kinds of insightsthat you can get, but we must
(17:03):
have strategies to ask.
Chris Colley (17:06):
Yep, yep, and I like that.
You said too that therelationships, the content will
come through.
That, like it seems, thisfixation on oh, we have all this
stuff, we got to cover, got tocover, got to cover, and we kind
of forget about the humanitythat exists within your
community.
And I like it's not a class,it's a community yeah, and, and
(17:28):
you're working together yes, Ihave.
Michelle Cummings (17:30):
I have a wonderful example of this uh
teacher who's now in his secondyear of of the profession.
He teaches multilinguallearners and he really has a
value he brings to theprofession of being in
relationship with students.
(17:51):
He sets this very high bar ofwanting all trip with students
to visit a local college artexhibit.
The students then modeled theirartwork and their poetry and
(18:13):
writing off of this exhibit thatshowed silhouettes of people
with their stories pulled inpoem format inside those
silhouettes.
And the students, he said,dived into this project,
interviewing their familymembers and community members to
hear their narratives.
(18:34):
And the students worked harderon this project than anything
all year and shared incredibleinsights about themselves, their
lives, their cultures, theirhumanity and they felt so
respected, so uplifted, so seenthat they he talked about how
(18:57):
they saw themselves and theirfamilies in a different light
after that experience.
And I think that's a greatexample of how a teacher uses
that relationship development toexplore the world of ideas and
to deepen students' academicstrengths and deepen their
learning, while inviting adeepening of the relationships.
Chris Colley (19:22):
Absolutely.
I love that idea too.
I often tell teachers that yougot to get their, their hearts
involved right.
They got.
You got to spark some kind oflike something inside them that
interests them or talks to them.
And then you also got to gettheir hands involved creating,
making, drawing, poem, but thenalso the cognitive as well.
(19:44):
And if you get those threethings running, you know you're
gonna have some good learning.
That takes place, or it's gonna.
It will stick with them.
You know, like I always havethis concept of letting getting.
How do we make it stick?
So it's not like in one ear atthe other, um, and we, through
our our work with teachers,we've noticed that.
(20:04):
Think about those three partsas you're designing something,
and I think it's very similar towhat you're saying about that
example you gave, where allthose three components are
involved and it's just likehumming, learning happening, um,
so fascinating.
Well, that's a great story too.
You know we don't talk enoughabout these great, positive,
amazing stories that mean theyhappen all around us.
(20:27):
Sometimes we get so fixated onthe issues rather than the
beauty of what's alreadyhappening and what happens daily
.
Michelle Cummings (20:53):
That is so true.
You know, I had a really greatquestion from a first year
teacher recently and I was ableto to give her some, some, some
good strategies.
She was really taking on a bigquestion and that was around how
do we create a classroomcommunity where civil discourse,
where respectful discourse,occurs and so layering onto
those relationships and the highexpectations for students being
(21:14):
able to really unpack for themhow to have respectful
conversation.
How to have respectfulconversation and I had observed
a fourth grade teacher who wasreally great at providing
sentence stems that focused on Istatements for students, things
like I suggested that or I'dlike to add, or I respectfully
(21:42):
disagree because you know, or Irespectfully disagree because
(22:07):
you know and literally laminatedthose things on the table for
students can have conversationsand add on to each other's ideas
and respectfully disagree andprovide evidence for their
claims.
And I thought that this was amoment where a first-year
teacher was really bringingforward something important that
experienced teachers needed tohear as well, and so I've
started adding thoserecommendations.
(22:28):
I have a section in the bookabout teaching for civil
discourse as well, and I thinkthat's also an example of a
moment when a first-year teacherbrought their fresh impressions
and their fresh perspectives ina way to a whole faculty that
(22:53):
could improve teaching andlearning across the school.
I think that's one of thethings that I encourage
principals and cooperatingteachers to do is to share those
fresh impressions and thatfresh energy of new teachers to
improve practices across theirdepartments and across their
(23:17):
schools.
Chris Colley (23:18):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Let's shift gear a little bit.
We're going to connect this,though, but with your new work
with AI, are you finding that?
And we can even apply it tofirst year, second year, third
year teachers.
Are they understanding AI?
Like are the misconceptionsabout AI interfering with the
(23:42):
tools being used?
Absolutely.
Michelle Cummings (23:46):
That's a wonderful question.
Ai literacy is not just for ourstudents, it's for educators as
well.
Do you know that March 28th isAI literacy day?
And there are going to beactivities all across the world
for AI literacy day.
Of course, it's not just oneday, but it will bring attention
(24:09):
to the topic.
So new teachers, experiencedteachers, are often all in the
same boat when it comes togenerative AI.
Administrators who are tryingto lead their districts in
emerging technologies can have apretty steep learning curve,
and so it is vitally importantthat we know what AI is and what
(24:32):
it isn't, what the capabilitiesare.
I think that, as I said before,teachers are able to use AI for
all kinds of efficiencies.
We know that's happening acrossindustries.
We know that teachers can createlesson plans, can create
(24:54):
behavior support plans, cancreate high-quality
instructional materials toengage students, and that frees
them up to have more time forthose interpersonal interactions
with students.
We know that it is criticallyimportant just as we want AI to
(25:16):
be a tool for students to usefor learning, not to replace
their learning we need to makesure that that's true for the
professionals as well thatteachers are not creating a
resource and not reading it, orgiving feedback and not reading
(25:37):
it.
One of the reasons that Briskhas such an incredible feedback
tool is that it will put inlinecomments on a student's Google
Doc, but the student will not beable to see them until the
teacher has read them, revisedthem, clicked comment to make
sure that they are appropriateto the learner that 80-20 rule.
(25:58):
But I believe that generativeAI is having a powerful impact
on teachers feeling like theirjob is doable, that the
overwhelming workload is nowdoable with an AI assistant,
that having a brainstormingpartner to think about how you
(26:22):
want to approach a particularunit of study or a lesson is
powerful for provokingcreativity and thought.
But it cannot replace thatteacher's expertise and their
knowledge of their students.
Chris Colley (26:37):
Right, that's what you have to bring in.
That's your 20.
And also making sure that itfits within the context.
Michelle Cummings (26:47):
Yes, your professional judgment matters.
Your leadership in theclassroom matters.
Yes, your professional judgmentmatters.
Your leadership in theclassroom matters Absolutely.
Chris Colley (26:54):
Right, and what do you think the uptake is right
now, Like percentage wise, withteachers using AI tools?
Do you do you have a feeling ofhow many in the U?
S are you know dabbling alittle bit?
Is it a high number or do youthink it's pretty low still,
Like we're just kind of startingoff?
Michelle Cummings (27:14):
Chris, from what I have read, you know
educators can be cautiousadopters of new technology Right
now, I know, at risk.
We have approximately one in sixteachers in the United States
are using our product.
I believe that there is a lot ofinterest and that districts can
(27:40):
often be cautious in theirapproach.
There are some that are veryinnovative and very
entrepreneurial in the way thatthey work and have, you know,
adopt multiple tools to exploreand do some research and
development, and others whoreally want to make sure that
they are clear about the youknow all of the policies and
(28:00):
guidelines and concerned aboutacademic integrity, of course,
and making sure that thosebuilding blocks are there before
they move forward with adoptingnew tools.
But I think that, in the sameway that we were talking about
differentiation, that one of thethings that administrators are
(28:20):
understanding is that highquality instructional materials
from publishers and theiradopted curriculum only go so
far and that there are needs ofthe students that are not met by
that, and that something likegenerative AI and brisk teaching
(28:41):
, used in conjunction with thosehigh quality instructional
materials, can really createunlimited potential for students
, create a situation where youcan infuse education with
students' interests andquestions and provide a 24-7
(29:03):
tutor for those students.
I was talking with an amazinggroup of students recently with
students for innovation, andthey are advocating for their
teachers to talk to them andteach them about generative AI
and they see the writing on thewall, don't they?
Well, they say we will.
This is a tool that we need tolearn how to use, or it's going
(29:27):
to use us.
This is a tool we need to usefor college and career readiness
, and if we don't get to learnabout it in schools, where are
we supposed to learn about it?
And they were using AI to learnabout things that were
interesting to them that maybetheir teachers couldn't teach
(29:48):
them.
Yet One student had created achatbot that was teaching him
all about nanotechnology.
It was fascinating.
Chris Colley (29:56):
Yes, that's cool that you make your own bot to
teach you.
You know, it's like the worldjust the doors just fly open
when kids can harness that kindof power open um when kids can
harness that kind of power.
Michelle Cummings (30:14):
Um, yes, students can learn from anyone,
anywhere in the world at anytime.
They can now learn with agenerative ai chatbot who has
access to a great deal ofinformation in the world, and um
and schools will be ummanifesting this and seeing this
implemented within theirclassrooms as a powerful tool to
(30:34):
unlock learning.
Chris Colley (30:37):
Yeah, for sure, we're working a lot with
teachers with the AI ideas andwe're still kind of waiting on
students a little bit.
However, I do encourageteachers to talk about AI.
You know, how are models made?
Is it ethical?
Is it like there's so much youcan talk about without them
(30:58):
having to interact?
And I'm talking just because ofage restrictions.
Up here in Canada, anyway, wehave certain age restrictions
that have access and others thatdon't, and teachers are like
well, they're too young.
What do I do with you?
Know, talk to them.
There's so many resources outthere that you can use that.
Get those conversationshappening and then multiply it.
You get to know your kids more,what they think, how they feel
(31:20):
about it, where they think it'sgoing and those conversations
super rich, and also get to knowyour kids.
Michelle Cummings (31:30):
Yes, absolutely.
That is so true.
I think that one of the thingsthat I love about Brisk is that
we have a boost product that isstudent-facing, and so students
can experience that personalizedtutor that meets them where
they are and ask them questionsto help scaffold their learning
(31:55):
where they are and meet thelearning objectives that are
that are part of that experience.
But that can be a tutor, thatcan be a brainstorming, that can
be preparation for a debate,can be preparation for a debate.
I was in a classroom of 11thgraders who were working on
(32:15):
fine-tuning their argumentativeessays about a particular
article that their teacher hadgiven them and they were using
Boost to fine-tune thosearguments that they would then
write about.
And when you see thesemodalities that allow students
to really engage in criticalthinking and have those light
(32:38):
bulbs all turned onsimultaneously in the classroom,
it's very exciting.
Chris Colley (32:44):
Very special.
I mean, this feels like thisconversation light bulbs are
just firing off, michelle.
Your insights are just soamazing, like it's just really
been a pleasure talking with youand having this.
It's a fun conversation and Ilove that we're putting this
positive spin in finding thesegreat stories that fear should
(33:07):
never exist.
Go do it, give it a try, findyour supporters out there, find
your champions out there andkeep moving forward, cause the
world will.
We don't keep going forward tooyeah.
Michelle Cummings (33:23):
Yeah, I'm wondering if it would be okay if
I read just a little bit fromthe book to end because, excuse
me, I I so honor and respect andum, and I'm in awe of people
who are going into education nowand I want to um share with you
(33:48):
how I start the book the FirstYear Teacher Survival Guide.
It says congratulations on yourchoice of profession.
Every day that you are ateacher you will know you're
making a difference in the world.
Something will make you laughevery day and you will never be
bored.
Guaranteed Teaching can also becomplex and a stressful career.
(34:09):
My hope is that you will findin this extensive reference book
the strategies, tools andactivities you need not just to
survive but to thrive in a longcareer as an educator.
And because the word courage isnestled inside of the word
encouragement, my hope is thatthis book speaks courage into
the hearts of first yearteachers.
(34:30):
May the encouragement you findin these, this book, give you
the courage and confidence toteach in a way that uplifts all
of your students.
And that is my invitation tothose who have the courage and
the passion to join us in a longand fulfilling career as
(34:52):
educators.
Chris Colley (34:53):
Absolutely One of the best professions in the
world, in my opinion, becauseyou never know what's going to
happen in a day.
But there are tears, there aresmiles, there's laughs, there's.
You feel it all.
Michelle Cummings (35:07):
Isn't that the?
Chris Colley (35:08):
truth.
Yeah, yeah, and I mean thefuture should hold all that as
well.
We're hoping.
Well, michelle, thanks so much.
Go and get this book people,particularly teachers.
I think it's like, even ifyou're an experienced teacher,
there's so many nuggets in thisbook the First Year Teacher
Survival Guide.
(35:28):
Get the fifth edition becauseit's the most up to date, so
you'll have all the nuances in.
There is the 2025 that we're in.
So, thanks again.
So much fun, so much fun.
Michelle Cummings (35:40):
Thank you.
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