April 24, 2024 • 21 mins
Are you ready to uncover the true power of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports and how it's reshaping education? Join me, as we peel back the layers of MTSS, revealing its core as an invaluable tool for keeping students on track and minimizing the leap to special education. We'll explore the real success stories of MTSS and why identifying and addressing skill gaps across all subjects—including those beyond reading—can change the trajectory of a student's academic journey. Plus, we dive into the necessity of behavioral supports within the MTSS framework, crucial for navigating today's educational challenges and fostering an environment where every student can succeed.
This episode isn't just about student support; it's a call to arms for a collaborative teaching revolution that can transform our schools into thriving educational communities. As we discuss, MTSS isn't a platform for critique but a springboard for teacher growth and satisfaction. We're tearing down the walls of isolation in teaching, showcasing how a united front can lead to a healthy school culture and retain passionate educators. Open your ears and your minds to a discussion that questions, enlightens, and advocates for an educational system where teachers are empowered and students flourish—all through the lens of MTSS.
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Links Mentioned in the Show:
https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com
5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Last week on the podcast we talked about what
even is MTSS.
So this week I wanted to touchon what the purpose of MTSS is,
and I know for a lot of peopleeducators out there you're
saying, jessica, duh, this ispretty obvious, right?
But honestly, if you reallythink about it, is there more
(00:25):
purpose to MTSS than just tocatch kids up?
That's what we're going to talkabout today.
Hi, I'm Jessica Curtis ofTeaching Struggling Learners.
I'm a boy mom and a veteranteacher.
(00:46):
You're listening to theReaching Struggling Learners
podcast, where we talk all abouthelping students succeed
academically, socially andbehaviorally.
Thank you so much for tuning inTo my educator friends out
(01:08):
there.
Whether you're a teacher or anadministrator, I want you to
really think for a minute andreally process.
Yes, we say we give a lot ofwhat's the term?
Lip service, I guess, to saying, yeah, mtss is there to bridge
the gaps, to bring the kids upto speed, to get them on grade
level, to get the kids moresuccessful, catch them up.
(01:32):
But at the end of the day,underneath it all, a lot of us
sit in those MTSS meetings and Ihave had those meetings where
it's kind of slipped outmeetings and I have had those
meetings where it's kind ofslipped out on in the back of
our mind, maybe subconsciously,sometimes consciously.
We kind of have to admit toourselves that for a lot of
(01:52):
schools, a lot of administrators, a lot of teachers, mtss isn't
about catching kids up.
It's about identifying the kidsthat should be in special
education.
Let's be honest, I have sat inmeetings with fantastic, amazing
(02:13):
teachers who were doing amazingthings with RTI and MTSS in
their classrooms Don't get mewrong Really, really good
teachers and talking about, youknow, the students that they
were working with and all theprogress that they were making.
Many times over the years thosewonderful, amazing teachers
(02:36):
talked about, very quickly,about a child that, yeah, the
kid's, yeah, kid's a little bitlow, we're working on it, but
that child doesn't need MTSS.
That kid doesn't, she doesn'tthink that that child needs
special education.
And every single time I wentwhoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.
Stop, hold up.
That's not what this is for.
(02:58):
It honestly shouldn't be asurprise.
It shouldn't be a huge shockerwhen we sit down with our data
for MTSS and the kids are makingbig improvements.
That should be honestly run ofthe mill.
That's what we should beexpecting.
(03:19):
We should be expecting that thekids are going to make
improvements, because we havechosen some really great
interventions and progressmonitoring and we're hitting
those gaps that the kids have sothat they can make progress and
they can catch up, so that theydon't need special education
(03:43):
services.
And those students that are kindof on the back burner because
the teachers are thinking andagain, wonderful, amazing
teachers but the focus has beengiven to them subconsciously,
unconsciously, subliminally,whatever it is, the thought
process has been given that MTSSis just the process that we go
(04:07):
through for the kids that needspecial education to get them
the help they need.
No, no, special education isnot the goal.
The goal is getting the kids ongrade level Now.
If they need special education,okay, on grade level Now.
(04:28):
If they need special education,okay.
But we should be doingeverything within our power,
providing the interventions thatthe kids need with the
intensity that they need andfocusing on the skill gaps that
those students have so that theydon't need special education,
so that they don't have to betaken out of the general
education classroom, so thatthey can get on grade level and
(04:48):
they can make progress and beindependent students without the
additional services,accommodations, that are under
the special education umbrella.
So yeah, the fact is, thepurpose of MTSS is to help kids
fill in the gaps so that they'resuccessful and that those gaps
(05:11):
don't get so wide that the onlyrecourse is special education.
Mtss is supposed to be.
That's why we have we call themearly warning systems.
Right, that are the triggersthat will say, hey, uh-oh, this
kiddo's starting to slip, let'sget them into a tier two program
(05:34):
and get them caught up so thatthis gets fixed, so that they
don't need tier three or downthe line special education,
something that also kind of getsbackburnered.
You know my take that math isbackburnered.
Let's face it, most schoolsfocus on reading and math kind
(05:57):
of takes to backburner.
I know that in one school thatI worked with we had something
like 200 kids getting receivingMTSS services and something like
six of those kids had math andthat just doesn't make sense.
You know, you know that therewere way more kids in that
school that needed math support,but the focus for many years
(06:23):
has always been reading andwe've talked about that in
previous episodes.
I will not beat that down intothe dirt anymore.
But math is definitelysomething that gets backburnered
.
You know, writing does.
I think that over the yearsI've seen one, maybe two that I
can think of students and I'veworked with entire districts for
(06:45):
MTSS, entire middle schools,entire multiple elementary
schools in a different district,and it is, writing is just not
something, whether it'shandwriting or actually
composition writing it's notfocused on, and that's
unfortunate.
But the other thing that is kindof backburnered but is actually
(07:10):
a purpose of mtss is to providesupports for behaviors and
let's be honest, in this day andage we're looking at a certain
tiktok trend that's going aroundright now.
We have some behaviors thatneed to be addressed, some
really, really destructive,aggressive behaviors that need
(07:35):
to be addressed, and MTSS thatprocess, the tiers of support is
a wonderful, it is a greatframework to use, to get in
place, to prevent the hugedisruption for students and
peers in the classrooms, nomatter what the grade age,
(07:57):
whatever.
Mtss is, I truly believe, afantastic framework to use when
dealing with behaviors, whetherit's disruptive behaviors or,
quite frankly, if you're talkingabout a child with a lot of
absences, we don't really thinkof that as a behavior.
But depending on what's goingon, it could very much be a
(08:21):
behavior If the child isavoiding school due to anxiety
or due to stress at home orwhatever it is.
There's a lot that can be donefor high truancy rates when you
start thinking of that in thebehavior MTSS framework.
But I will say, with all ofthat, kindergarten, my
(08:46):
kindergarten teachers are justshaking their heads in absolute
wonder at all of it.
Kindergarten is a littledifferent.
I kind of feel like withkindergarten, especially the
first few weeks when we startfiguring out what's going on in
kindergarten, you know, you have, you have.
(09:09):
They're the babies.
The kindergartners are thebabies Every year and you get at
least one.
You get one kiddo who justmakes every kindergarten teacher
either want to quit or reallyglad that that student isn't in
(09:29):
her classroom.
Don't get me wrong.
We love all of our babies,that's absolutely correct.
But there is one that is goingto give their teacher Forest
Whitaker Eye every year.
It's just going to happen andevery single administrator in
the building is going to haveForest Whitaker Eye for at least
a month.
A lot of times those studentscalm down and we get them to
(09:51):
learn how to control theirbehaviors, to control themselves
, their emotions, all of theabove.
But they are a prime example ofhow quickly and amazing MTSS
can make a huge difference if weget the right interventions in
place in a timely manner rightinterventions in place in a
(10:18):
timely manner, again later yearsyou can see the behavior
starting to get worse and youcan really prevent big
disruptions.
Kindergarten is the one yearthat I kind of feel like you
just got to be ready to jump inwith everything Because, again,
you don't know what you'regetting.
With the kindergartners youhave absolutely no idea.
(10:38):
Every other year after that thechild has some history.
You know a little bit aboutlikes, dislikes, other things
that are going to set the kiddooff, and you can work with that
student a little bit easier.
But with those kindergartenbabies, when they a lot of them,
a lot of them, the first timethey get off that bus the first
(11:02):
day of kindergarten, that's thefirst time they've been in a
classroom, that's the first timethat they will be asked to ask
to go to the restroom or standin a line or sit for any length
of time, to go to the restroomor stand in a line or sit for
any length of time, and youreally don't know what you're
getting until the second orthird week of school.
Honestly, uh, and again, I feellike with kindergarten, with
(11:25):
those kinds of things.
You just gotta have your wholetoolbox ready and don't wait
toolbox ready and don't wait tostart interventions.
If you see something going onand you you see that that child
is starting or in the middle ofhaving having an episode, you
got to just jump in and you gotto deal with it and you have to
(11:45):
start working with the, with thechild, and all that everywhere
else.
Yes, the framework works awhole lot more appropriately, I
should say.
I guess at the kindergartenlevel, you just gotta kind of
speed up because, oh, it can gofrom zero to 60 in negative
three seconds.
It is something else.
(12:07):
Now the final thing, final,final purpose, I guess for MTSS
that is rarely.
Possibly I don't know that I'veever had a school-based
discussion.
I've had these discussions atthe district level and with
(12:27):
administrators, on more of atheoretical basis, on more of a
theoretical basis.
But the fact is that MTSS, asit was designed and as a
framework that is usedappropriately, can be and should
(12:51):
be an immense support forteachers.
At its root, mtss is meant tobe a way for teachers to openly
come forward with challengesthat they're having whether it's
in their classroom, with theacademics or maybe the behaviors
and learn new ways or betterways to deal with it, learn new
(13:11):
strategies, learn the tricks ofthe trade right All those things
that it took us years and yearsthe more experienced teachers.
It takes you a while you got tolearn these things and we learn
them through blood, sweat and awhole lot of tears.
Mtss is the perfect place, if weset it up right, to support
(13:34):
each other and share our tricksand share and say, oh, you're
having a really hard timeteaching these kids about
fractions.
Let me tell you I lovefractions.
This is how I introducefractions.
I noticed that you have likethree or four kids here who are
really struggling withmultiplication.
Here's how I introducedmultiplication last year.
(14:03):
There's ways to share and reallybuild the teacher community,
because the fact is, teaching islonely and we used to joke
about it.
We used to say, yeah, you nodyour head at your administrator
and then you shut your door andyou teach the way you feel like
you should teach.
But that's not working.
It's not.
(14:23):
Our schools and our studentsare failing.
And as much as I want to saythat and I do say teachers are
amazing, but we can't do italone.
We've been trying to do italone and we have leaned on
things like TPT and Khan Academyand there's a lot of different
(14:49):
resources out there that we havebeen leaning maybe too heavily
on, and we've been leaning maybetoo heavily on and we've been
trying to go it alone.
We shouldn't have to.
Teachers should not have to goit alone, and if we want to
share the burden and haveteaching be enjoyable again and
(15:09):
have fewer TikTok challengesthat we're concerned about, we
have to start working together awhole lot more.
And MTSS, that framework, isthe perfect way for teachers to
start leaning on and learningfrom each other so that we can
benefit the kids and we canimprove our own craft.
(15:32):
We know that the first year ishorrible.
The first year is horrible andthe second year is not a whole
lot better.
If you make it in, your thirdyear is a little bit better, but
you still just oh, it's justrough.
And by the time, if you make itto the fifth year and let's be
honest, there's a lot ofteachers, most of them, aren't
(15:53):
making it to the fifth year atthis point it's so hard.
We could really improve all ofour lives as teachers if we
could come together through andagain, I think the MTSS
framework is the perfectenvironment to do it in.
(16:13):
We can come together and shareresources, share knowledge,
share understanding and getthese kids and ourselves back on
a track that is moresustainable.
The problem with MTSS is it hasbeen used as a way to kind of
scapegoat teachers Again.
(16:35):
Another way.
I have seen, unfortunately,some MTSS systems used as a way
to judge, and not in a good way.
Teachers and certainadministrators have been known
to sit there and go oh well, youknow, jessica, that, jessica,
(16:55):
she brought so many kids to MTSSthis year.
Did you notice that?
You notice?
None of her kids can read, noneof her kids know phonics and
you know what is she doing inthere.
That's not what MTSS is for.
That is abusive, quite frankly.
The reality is we have to takethe ego out of MTSS.
(17:20):
It requires a shift in.
First of all, mtss should be ajudgment-free zone.
It should never be a place ofjudgment.
It should never be a place ofjudgment.
It should never be a place ofwhat are you even doing?
No sarcasm.
It should only be positivevibes only.
However you want to say it, itshould absolutely 100 be a
(17:44):
judgment-free zone and when youdo it that way when teachers can
come in and know that, nomatter what is going on, no
matter how tough a situation is,they're not going to be judged,
they're not going to be thoughtof as in a negative light in
any way, shape or form, butthey're going to come and
(18:06):
they're going to learn new tips,new tricks, new strategies.
Several times I have looked at ateacher and said oh oh, sweetie
, here, here's this better wayto collect your data.
You are doing too much.
Do this.
This is so much simpler, it'sgoing to save you so much time.
That's what we need to be doingin MTSS judgment-free zone, and
(18:31):
when you do it that way, when weactually use the MTSS framework
as it was meant to be and how Iwould like to see it done, we
can hugely improve not just ourstudents' performance, but we
can improve school culture andteacher satisfaction in their
(18:54):
jobs, which, let's be honest,right now we have to do and I
guess right now I'm reallyspeaking to the administrators
we have to do everything withinour power to keep the teachers
that we have and help them toimprove their craft, not only
(19:15):
because we want to see thestudents improve, but because we
want to see them have higherjob satisfaction rates, because
that's part of what drivesteacher retention.
We also want to help them withbehavior and we want to prevent
certain TikTok challenges thatare going on, and we want to
(19:38):
support them in theircommunication with parents their
honest and open communicationwith parents.
We have to improve our schoolculture.
We have to improve our teachersatisfaction in their jobs,
because that's the way you keephigh quality teachers, so you're
(20:00):
not having to train newteachers and watch new teacher
after new teacher after newteacher every single year just
hit that brick wall and not beable to come back, not be able
to move forward.
So I really do think that weneed to put a higher emphasis on
(20:29):
how we do MTSS in our buildings.
We have to improve thejudgment-free zone of those MTSS
meetings and there are just somany benefits out there if we
follow the MTSS framework as itwas actually meant to be, and
(20:53):
we're going to talk about someof those benefits next week.
So I hope you tune in.
Until next time, may yourcoffee be strong, your students
calm and, as always, may yourstudents be progressing.
Bye.
Last week on the podcast we talked about what
even is MTSS.
So this week I wanted to touchon what the purpose of MTSS is,
and I know for a lot of peopleeducators out there you're
saying, jessica, duh, this ispretty obvious, right?
But honestly, if you reallythink about it, is there more
(00:25):
purpose to MTSS than just tocatch kids up?
That's what we're going to talkabout today.
Hi, I'm Jessica Curtis ofTeaching Struggling Learners.
I'm a boy mom and a veteranteacher.
(00:46):
You're listening to theReaching Struggling Learners
podcast, where we talk all abouthelping students succeed
academically, socially andbehaviorally.
Thank you so much for tuning inTo my educator friends out
(01:08):
there.
Whether you're a teacher or anadministrator, I want you to
really think for a minute andreally process.
Yes, we say we give a lot ofwhat's the term?
Lip service, I guess, to saying, yeah, mtss is there to bridge
the gaps, to bring the kids upto speed, to get them on grade
level, to get the kids moresuccessful, catch them up.
(01:32):
But at the end of the day,underneath it all, a lot of us
sit in those MTSS meetings and Ihave had those meetings where
it's kind of slipped outmeetings and I have had those
meetings where it's kind ofslipped out on in the back of
our mind, maybe subconsciously,sometimes consciously.
We kind of have to admit toourselves that for a lot of
(01:52):
schools, a lot of administrators, a lot of teachers, mtss isn't
about catching kids up.
It's about identifying the kidsthat should be in special
education.
Let's be honest, I have sat inmeetings with fantastic, amazing
(02:13):
teachers who were doing amazingthings with RTI and MTSS in
their classrooms Don't get mewrong Really, really good
teachers and talking about, youknow, the students that they
were working with and all theprogress that they were making.
Many times over the years thosewonderful, amazing teachers
(02:36):
talked about, very quickly,about a child that, yeah, the
kid's, yeah, kid's a little bitlow, we're working on it, but
that child doesn't need MTSS.
That kid doesn't, she doesn'tthink that that child needs
special education.
And every single time I wentwhoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.
Stop, hold up.
That's not what this is for.
(02:58):
It honestly shouldn't be asurprise.
It shouldn't be a huge shockerwhen we sit down with our data
for MTSS and the kids are makingbig improvements.
That should be honestly run ofthe mill.
That's what we should beexpecting.
(03:19):
We should be expecting that thekids are going to make
improvements, because we havechosen some really great
interventions and progressmonitoring and we're hitting
those gaps that the kids have sothat they can make progress and
they can catch up, so that theydon't need special education
(03:43):
services.
And those students that are kindof on the back burner because
the teachers are thinking andagain, wonderful, amazing
teachers but the focus has beengiven to them subconsciously,
unconsciously, subliminally,whatever it is, the thought
process has been given that MTSSis just the process that we go
(04:07):
through for the kids that needspecial education to get them
the help they need.
No, no, special education isnot the goal.
The goal is getting the kids ongrade level Now.
If they need special education,okay, on grade level Now.
(04:28):
If they need special education,okay.
But we should be doingeverything within our power,
providing the interventions thatthe kids need with the
intensity that they need andfocusing on the skill gaps that
those students have so that theydon't need special education,
so that they don't have to betaken out of the general
education classroom, so thatthey can get on grade level and
(04:48):
they can make progress and beindependent students without the
additional services,accommodations, that are under
the special education umbrella.
So yeah, the fact is, thepurpose of MTSS is to help kids
fill in the gaps so that they'resuccessful and that those gaps
(05:11):
don't get so wide that the onlyrecourse is special education.
Mtss is supposed to be.
That's why we have we call themearly warning systems.
Right, that are the triggersthat will say, hey, uh-oh, this
kiddo's starting to slip, let'sget them into a tier two program
(05:34):
and get them caught up so thatthis gets fixed, so that they
don't need tier three or downthe line special education,
something that also kind of getsbackburnered.
You know my take that math isbackburnered.
Let's face it, most schoolsfocus on reading and math kind
(05:57):
of takes to backburner.
I know that in one school thatI worked with we had something
like 200 kids getting receivingMTSS services and something like
six of those kids had math andthat just doesn't make sense.
You know, you know that therewere way more kids in that
school that needed math support,but the focus for many years
(06:23):
has always been reading andwe've talked about that in
previous episodes.
I will not beat that down intothe dirt anymore.
But math is definitelysomething that gets backburnered
.
You know, writing does.
I think that over the yearsI've seen one, maybe two that I
can think of students and I'veworked with entire districts for
(06:45):
MTSS, entire middle schools,entire multiple elementary
schools in a different district,and it is, writing is just not
something, whether it'shandwriting or actually
composition writing it's notfocused on, and that's
unfortunate.
But the other thing that is kindof backburnered but is actually
(07:10):
a purpose of mtss is to providesupports for behaviors and
let's be honest, in this day andage we're looking at a certain
tiktok trend that's going aroundright now.
We have some behaviors thatneed to be addressed, some
really, really destructive,aggressive behaviors that need
(07:35):
to be addressed, and MTSS thatprocess, the tiers of support is
a wonderful, it is a greatframework to use, to get in
place, to prevent the hugedisruption for students and
peers in the classrooms, nomatter what the grade age,
(07:57):
whatever.
Mtss is, I truly believe, afantastic framework to use when
dealing with behaviors, whetherit's disruptive behaviors or,
quite frankly, if you're talkingabout a child with a lot of
absences, we don't really thinkof that as a behavior.
But depending on what's goingon, it could very much be a
(08:21):
behavior If the child isavoiding school due to anxiety
or due to stress at home orwhatever it is.
There's a lot that can be donefor high truancy rates when you
start thinking of that in thebehavior MTSS framework.
But I will say, with all ofthat, kindergarten, my
(08:46):
kindergarten teachers are justshaking their heads in absolute
wonder at all of it.
Kindergarten is a littledifferent.
I kind of feel like withkindergarten, especially the
first few weeks when we startfiguring out what's going on in
kindergarten, you know, you have, you have.
(09:09):
They're the babies.
The kindergartners are thebabies Every year and you get at
least one.
You get one kiddo who justmakes every kindergarten teacher
either want to quit or reallyglad that that student isn't in
(09:29):
her classroom.
Don't get me wrong.
We love all of our babies,that's absolutely correct.
But there is one that is goingto give their teacher Forest
Whitaker Eye every year.
It's just going to happen andevery single administrator in
the building is going to haveForest Whitaker Eye for at least
a month.
A lot of times those studentscalm down and we get them to
(09:51):
learn how to control theirbehaviors, to control themselves
, their emotions, all of theabove.
But they are a prime example ofhow quickly and amazing MTSS
can make a huge difference if weget the right interventions in
place in a timely manner rightinterventions in place in a
(10:18):
timely manner, again later yearsyou can see the behavior
starting to get worse and youcan really prevent big
disruptions.
Kindergarten is the one yearthat I kind of feel like you
just got to be ready to jump inwith everything Because, again,
you don't know what you'regetting.
With the kindergartners youhave absolutely no idea.
(10:38):
Every other year after that thechild has some history.
You know a little bit aboutlikes, dislikes, other things
that are going to set the kiddooff, and you can work with that
student a little bit easier.
But with those kindergartenbabies, when they a lot of them,
a lot of them, the first timethey get off that bus the first
(11:02):
day of kindergarten, that's thefirst time they've been in a
classroom, that's the first timethat they will be asked to ask
to go to the restroom or standin a line or sit for any length
of time, to go to the restroomor stand in a line or sit for
any length of time, and youreally don't know what you're
getting until the second orthird week of school.
Honestly, uh, and again, I feellike with kindergarten, with
(11:25):
those kinds of things.
You just gotta have your wholetoolbox ready and don't wait
toolbox ready and don't wait tostart interventions.
If you see something going onand you you see that that child
is starting or in the middle ofhaving having an episode, you
got to just jump in and you gotto deal with it and you have to
(11:45):
start working with the, with thechild, and all that everywhere
else.
Yes, the framework works awhole lot more appropriately, I
should say.
I guess at the kindergartenlevel, you just gotta kind of
speed up because, oh, it can gofrom zero to 60 in negative
three seconds.
It is something else.
(12:07):
Now the final thing, final,final purpose, I guess for MTSS
that is rarely.
Possibly I don't know that I'veever had a school-based
discussion.
I've had these discussions atthe district level and with
(12:27):
administrators, on more of atheoretical basis, on more of a
theoretical basis.
But the fact is that MTSS, asit was designed and as a
framework that is usedappropriately, can be and should
(12:51):
be an immense support forteachers.
At its root, mtss is meant tobe a way for teachers to openly
come forward with challengesthat they're having whether it's
in their classroom, with theacademics or maybe the behaviors
and learn new ways or betterways to deal with it, learn new
(13:11):
strategies, learn the tricks ofthe trade right All those things
that it took us years and yearsthe more experienced teachers.
It takes you a while you got tolearn these things and we learn
them through blood, sweat and awhole lot of tears.
Mtss is the perfect place, if weset it up right, to support
(13:34):
each other and share our tricksand share and say, oh, you're
having a really hard timeteaching these kids about
fractions.
Let me tell you I lovefractions.
This is how I introducefractions.
I noticed that you have likethree or four kids here who are
really struggling withmultiplication.
Here's how I introducedmultiplication last year.
(14:03):
There's ways to share and reallybuild the teacher community,
because the fact is, teaching islonely and we used to joke
about it.
We used to say, yeah, you nodyour head at your administrator
and then you shut your door andyou teach the way you feel like
you should teach.
But that's not working.
It's not.
(14:23):
Our schools and our studentsare failing.
And as much as I want to saythat and I do say teachers are
amazing, but we can't do italone.
We've been trying to do italone and we have leaned on
things like TPT and Khan Academyand there's a lot of different
(14:49):
resources out there that we havebeen leaning maybe too heavily
on, and we've been leaning maybetoo heavily on and we've been
trying to go it alone.
We shouldn't have to.
Teachers should not have to goit alone, and if we want to
share the burden and haveteaching be enjoyable again and
(15:09):
have fewer TikTok challengesthat we're concerned about, we
have to start working together awhole lot more.
And MTSS, that framework, isthe perfect way for teachers to
start leaning on and learningfrom each other so that we can
benefit the kids and we canimprove our own craft.
(15:32):
We know that the first year ishorrible.
The first year is horrible andthe second year is not a whole
lot better.
If you make it in, your thirdyear is a little bit better, but
you still just oh, it's justrough.
And by the time, if you make itto the fifth year and let's be
honest, there's a lot ofteachers, most of them, aren't
(15:53):
making it to the fifth year atthis point it's so hard.
We could really improve all ofour lives as teachers if we
could come together through andagain, I think the MTSS
framework is the perfectenvironment to do it in.
(16:13):
We can come together and shareresources, share knowledge,
share understanding and getthese kids and ourselves back on
a track that is moresustainable.
The problem with MTSS is it hasbeen used as a way to kind of
scapegoat teachers Again.
(16:35):
Another way.
I have seen, unfortunately,some MTSS systems used as a way
to judge, and not in a good way.
Teachers and certainadministrators have been known
to sit there and go oh well, youknow, jessica, that, jessica,
(16:55):
she brought so many kids to MTSSthis year.
Did you notice that?
You notice?
None of her kids can read, noneof her kids know phonics and
you know what is she doing inthere.
That's not what MTSS is for.
That is abusive, quite frankly.
The reality is we have to takethe ego out of MTSS.
(17:20):
It requires a shift in.
First of all, mtss should be ajudgment-free zone.
It should never be a place ofjudgment.
It should never be a place ofjudgment.
It should never be a place ofwhat are you even doing?
No sarcasm.
It should only be positivevibes only.
However you want to say it, itshould absolutely 100 be a
(17:44):
judgment-free zone and when youdo it that way when teachers can
come in and know that, nomatter what is going on, no
matter how tough a situation is,they're not going to be judged,
they're not going to be thoughtof as in a negative light in
any way, shape or form, butthey're going to come and
(18:06):
they're going to learn new tips,new tricks, new strategies.
Several times I have looked at ateacher and said oh oh, sweetie
, here, here's this better wayto collect your data.
You are doing too much.
Do this.
This is so much simpler, it'sgoing to save you so much time.
That's what we need to be doingin MTSS judgment-free zone, and
(18:31):
when you do it that way, when weactually use the MTSS framework
as it was meant to be and how Iwould like to see it done, we
can hugely improve not just ourstudents' performance, but we
can improve school culture andteacher satisfaction in their
(18:54):
jobs, which, let's be honest,right now we have to do and I
guess right now I'm reallyspeaking to the administrators
we have to do everything withinour power to keep the teachers
that we have and help them toimprove their craft, not only
(19:15):
because we want to see thestudents improve, but because we
want to see them have higherjob satisfaction rates, because
that's part of what drivesteacher retention.
We also want to help them withbehavior and we want to prevent
certain TikTok challenges thatare going on, and we want to
(19:38):
support them in theircommunication with parents their
honest and open communicationwith parents.
We have to improve our schoolculture.
We have to improve our teachersatisfaction in their jobs,
because that's the way you keephigh quality teachers, so you're
(20:00):
not having to train newteachers and watch new teacher
after new teacher after newteacher every single year just
hit that brick wall and not beable to come back, not be able
to move forward.
So I really do think that weneed to put a higher emphasis on
(20:29):
how we do MTSS in our buildings.
We have to improve thejudgment-free zone of those MTSS
meetings and there are just somany benefits out there if we
follow the MTSS framework as itwas actually meant to be, and
(20:53):
we're going to talk about someof those benefits next week.
So I hope you tune in.
Until next time, may yourcoffee be strong, your students
calm and, as always, may yourstudents be progressing.
Bye.
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