Engagement First

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AI is moving faster than school systems, and our students already know it. From the SCASA Conference in Myrtle Beach, we sit down with Kendra, an assistant principal from Windsor Elementary, to talk about what school leaders are seeing right now and what actually helps classrooms thrive.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to American Book Company Spotlight for
Success.
I'm your host, Danielle Pintozi,and today we are here at the
Skassa Conference at MyrtleBeach.
And I have my special guest,Kendra.
She joins us from WindsorElementary.
She is the assistant principal,and we are so excited to have
you on today.

(00:26):
Thank you for having me.
Of course.
So what brings you to SCASAtoday?

SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
This is a yearly, or I should say, an annual event of
like-minded individuals,administrators throughout the
state of South Carolina, and welook forward to coming every
year so that we can sharpen oursaw as administrators and go
back and lead well in ourschools.

SPEAKER_00 (00:48):
So how did you get started in your current role as
assistant principal?

SPEAKER_01 (00:52):
Okay, so I actually taught in the classroom for
about 15 years, elementary.
Well, I started in middle schoolas a seventh grade ELA teacher,
also an avid site lead in whereyou prepare students for college
and career readiness.
And then I ventured down to theelementary level, which I always

(01:14):
wanted to be a teacher, and Ialways thought about the
elementary level.
And so I taught third, fourth,and fifth grade for 11 years.
And then I became aninstructional coach in the
district office.
And so just taking what I usedin the classroom to help inspire
teachers was so important for meto, you know, just inspire the

(01:35):
next generation of teachers andto teach them engagement
strategies.
And then I went into adminbecause I actually missed being
with the kids.
So I decided to go back in thebuilding as an administrator.

SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
Wow, that's a lot of experience to take with you.
When you were a teacher, andeven now, is there a specific
strategy you used in theclassroom that helped drive your
students' growth?

SPEAKER_01 (02:02):
Absolutely.
So I've always been a promoterof high engagement.
Okay, even when I taught ELA ormath.
Growing up, sometimes I thoughtreading and writing was a very
boring subject.
So when I became a teacher, Icommitted to keeping it with
high engagement.

(02:23):
Because learning still has to befun.
It could be high-level thinking,but you want to make sure you
incorporate fun in learning andmaking sure that students are
engaged, keeping their attentionbecause through that engagement
is when you see students produceat their best potential.

SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Yeah.
So piggybacking off of that,what are some current trends or
issues you are seeing in theclassrooms that you feel like
need the most attention rightnow?

SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
AI.
That is on the cutting edgeright now.
A lot of people are afraid ofAI, but I think it yields a lot
of benefits that could reallyhelp us.
Believe it or not, technology isgoing to be the way of the world
soon.
The kids come out knowing how touse iPads, and so as educators,
we can't become afraid of it.

(03:11):
We have to embrace it, learnabout it, and how we can best or
effectively use it within theclassroom because the kids are
gonna use it either way.
So either we're gonna have tocatch up to the kids or kind of
get left behind.
It can be a powerful tool ifit's used in the correct way.
Um, and so we of course have toeducate ourselves on it so that

(03:33):
we can use it effectively in theclassroom.

SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
Well, thank you for that valuable insight.
Um I hope you enjoy the rest ofthe conference.
Thank you for joining us, and wewill see you next time.
All right, thank you.