September 2, 2025 • 47 mins
In this energizing conversation, Dr. Tami sits down with Laneshia—math coach, curriculum designer, and host of Make Math Happen—to unpack what equitable math instruction actually looks like day-to-day. From combating deficit narratives to designing joyful, rigorous lessons, they explore why Tier 1 planning is urgent, how instructional coaches serve as “knowledgeable others,” and practical ways teachers can build classroom belonging, agency, and discourse. You’ll hear actionable strategies for the first weeks of school, embracing “productive messiness” during new curriculum rollouts, and how a simple “Power Hour” can transform your productivity and peace. If you support middle school math—or care about equitable learning anywhere—this episode is your blueprint for planning with purpose and leading with joy.
- Why equity starts at Tier 1—and why you can’t “small-group” your way out of weak whole-group instruction
- What effective instructional coaching looks like (and why every pro needs a coach)
- Practical back-to-school moves: planning, anchor charts, discourse questions, and organization
- How to replace deficit narratives with assume positive intentions and better family communication
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr (00:00):
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Equity
Hour with me your host, Dr.
Tami.
I am so excited to bring to youLaneshia.
She is a math coach, curriculumdesigner, and the voice behind
Make Math Happen.
Podcast.
I am so excited to have her onthe podcast today.
(00:20):
She helps educators bridge, thegap between what we say we
believe about students and whatwe actually do in classrooms.
Her work centers.
Belonging agency and joyful,rigorous math instruction.
I don't know anyone who doesn'tneed some joyfulness when
they're doing math, but welcome,welcome to the podcast.
Mrs (00:42):
Thank you so much, Dr.
Dean.
I'm excited to be here.
Dr (00:46):
I am so excited to have you because I mean, honestly, I got
to be on your podcast and if youguys don't know, I'm gonna link
the, I'm going to link.
The show that I was on withLaneisha so you can listen to
both of these once they drop.
Mrs (01:05):
Look at that reciprocal relationship.
Dr (01:07):
Look, I love it.
But that's all about communityand I talk about that all the
time on this podcast like it isall about community.
So welcome to the show.
Welcome to the show.
Now you're back to school.?
Mrs (01:18):
Yes, we are back.
So this is actually our secondweek with teachers coming back
into the building.
So we're preparing for kids tocome back tomorrow.
We have open house for ourstudents who are new to middle
school.
So our sixth graders are comingin with their families and we're
gonna kind of take them throughsome things.
And then the next day is openhouse for everybody else.
So fortunately, my districtgives us two weeks where we can
(01:41):
kind of get ourselves together.
We can kind of get some trainingdone, get our classrooms
together.
Uh, get some lesson planningdone before those kids come
back.
So I, I like that structure.
Dr (01:51):
Oh, that is glorious.
'cause there's always thattension right at the beginning
of the year between, we need toget information into teacher to
teachers.
We need to have, you know, we dothe professional development and
then the educators are justsitting in the space like
itching and dying to get intotheir space to get it, ready for
students.
So snaps and shout out for yourschool district.
(02:13):
I, I love that.
I love that.
That's just such a perfectbalance and.
Also, okay, first of all, middleschoolers get a bad rap.
That's my personal opinion.
I used to be a middle schoolteacher way back in the day
Mrs (02:27):
they get?
Dr (02:29):
that they're just so difficult and no one wants to,
you know, work with them.
And how do you work with, youknow, middle schoolers?
Like you hear people say like,oh, I wanna work with the
littles.
Or they're like, oh, I need the,the big kids.
And to me, the bad rap is theyfeel like middle school is like.
Purgatory for a lack a betterword.
Mrs (02:49):
Yeah, I think the teachers that work in middle school love
middle school, like the, theones that have been there.
But I think like if it's someonethat's like passing through, I
think if, if.
I think it's easy for them toget turned off from it because
it is a very challenging age forthe kids.
Like they're figuring themselvesout, they're smelling
(03:10):
themselves.
They want to be grown, but theyalso want to be nurtured and
wanna be coddled.
You know, they, they, they don'treally know what they want.
So it, it's a very interestingage.
Dr (03:20):
It is, but you know.
Okay.
So.
That's actually my favoritething about middle schoolers.
And now I've taught the littleslike first graders.
Like I always, I'm like, don't,kindergarten is not my jam.
Bless you.
Kindergarten teachers,'cause Icannot do that.
First grade is the lowest.
Like I've taught the firstgraders, I've taught the middle
schoolers, I've taught the highschoolers.
But what I love, love, love,loved about the middle schoolers
(03:40):
is exactly what you're saying,right?
They're really trying to begrown or they think they're
grown, but then they realizethey're not and they love.
Things they love just being kidsstill.
And then you still see that sideof them.
So, I don't know.
I just think it's such a joy anda privilege to teach middle
school and kind of watch kidsemerge into themselves.
(04:02):
Almost kind of like thebutterfly coming outta the
chrysalis, right?
Like they're really starting tofigure out who they are.
Um.
I don't miss the, thesmelliness, like of them not
quite understanding, you know,how their bodies are changing,
but you know, that's just parfor the course.
(04:23):
But yeah, I just love thatlittle, like, where's the swing?
Mrs (04:28):
in, I've only worked in middle school and high school.
I will say, well, when I was inhigh school, it was ninth grade,
so that's kind of middle too.
'cause it's right there at thebeginning.
So it was pretty close.
But I really do enjoy middleschool.
Now, I won't say it's notwithout its challenges, but like
you, I enjoy, I enjoy middleschool because I feel like I am
(04:50):
early enough to have an impact.
Uh, I, but, but not early enoughthat they're all over the place.
So it's kinda like a sweet spotfor me and I, I need that sweet
spot.
Dr (05:02):
I love that.
The sweet spot.
The sweet spot.
And it, I, I just like that youwere mentioning that they were
giving the sixth graders sometime to come and get acclimated
because it is, it's a whole newworld.
Is your building six througheight.
Mrs (05:14):
Six eight?
Dr (05:15):
Yeah, see, and then also by the time they get ready to leave
and they're eighth graders, likejust their whole trajectory.
But anyway, we we, your eyes, wecould talk about middle school
like all day, but I wanna, I'mgonna bring us back'cause I
wanna talk about, you know, thework you're doing in middle
school.
Um, and, you know, supportingeducators, supporting teachers,
(05:38):
and how we think about equityand education.
I love this idea about joy'causeI believe education should be
joyful.
I just posted about this, right?
Like that's where the learninghappens and the mess that we
were just talking about inmiddle schoolers, like embracing
the.
That's where the joy comes, youknow, oftentimes in the mistakes
we lit up laughing.
So I'm curious, and I always askall my guests to kind of ex tell
(06:03):
me a little bit about yourjourney into equity, because
really equity work is a marathonand it can look so many
different ways, um, depending onwhat it is you're doing.
So I would love if you wouldshare a little bit about, um,
your work and your journey.
Mrs (06:21):
So funny because I, I just told this story at a conference
recently and, and I always startwith, I always have a little bit
of apprehension with introducingmyself because everybody that
I'm surrounded by in educationbecause of the work that I'm
doing.
Because of the rooms that I'min, they always say, I've been
teaching, I've been in educationfor like 20 plus years, or
(06:42):
however many, like just thislong period of time.
Okay.
Listeners, that is not my story.
Okay.
So education was my secondcareer and I started out after
graduating from college inaccounting and finance, and I
was a supervisor for severalyears.
But it came a point that thatwas not, it didn't feel me.
Okay.
I wasn't feeling.
I wasn't feeling filled up byit.
(07:04):
It wasn't, it wasn't waking meup in the morning and, and
getting me excited.
So I decided I had some savings.
I decided I was going to go outand find myself.
Okay.
I don't even know if people saythat anymore, but I decided I
was gonna go out and findmyself.
I started volunteering inclassrooms and people started
seeing things in me that Ididn't yet see in myself.
So I had some.
(07:25):
Some awesome experiences withsome middle schoolers.
Okay.
I was in my mom's classroom atmy mom's school, and her
principal was like, have yourdaughter ever thought about
teaching?
And it crossed my mind, but Ididn't think that I was patience
enough.
I didn't think that I was theeducator type, so I didn't know
if that was for me, so anyway,long story, less long.
(07:46):
Because she asked the question,I said, well, let me, let me do
some research.
Maybe I can sub, I can stick mytoe in and see how things will
go and I'll kind of build fromthere.
Well, when I went to CentralServices to figure out about
substituting, they let me knowthere was a math position open
at a high school.
They saw my resume.
I had the finance background.
They set me up for theinterview.
I interviewed, I got hired onthe spot.
(08:06):
So that started, and that wasonly eight years ago, eight.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 yearsago.
And so, so in that time, in thattime, I have, I obviously I've
created the, finished the, thebeginning teacher program.
I was beginning teacher of theyear.
I was department chair whilestill being a beginning teacher.
(08:28):
Like it was very interesting.
It's a very interesting journeybecause the person that was my
mentor told me that I wasmentoring her more than she was
mentoring me.
it wasn't because.
I wasn't mentoring her from aplace of experience in
education.
I was mentoring her from a placeof experience just with
developing people.
(08:48):
Because as
Dr (08:49):
Yeah.
Mrs (08:49):
supervisor, you have that experience of developing people.
You're wanting them to grow, toget from one place to the next,
and that's exactly what we'redoing in education.
The differences that we have,content standards that we're
focusing
Dr (08:59):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (09:00):
So.
In those first three years, Iwas digital model classroom
teacher.
Like the, the technology was myjam.
I was department chair.
As I mentioned, I worked withstudent council.
Like I was so active.
I was bringing teachers togetheracross my district as a vt,
teachers together across mydistrict to have conversations
about how can we impact studentoutcomes.
(09:23):
Well, through all of that.
I was still kind of frustratedbecause the middle, the, the
middle school students werecoming to me as their ninth
grade teacher, and there was somuch that I felt like they
didn't know.
It was surprising to me to gointo the classroom for the first
time and these students had somany unfinished learning.
I was like, this doesn't looklike the classroom that I was in
(09:45):
whenever I was growing up.
It was just so different to meand, you know, just having
conversations with, with myfriends about.
current, the landscape ofeducation.
At that time, I just realizedthat the students needed a lot
more, and I wanted to be able toimpact them earlier in their
math journey.
So that's when I applied for aposition at a middle school.
(10:06):
Now, my, my high schoolprincipal was sad to see me go,
but you know, I had to dosomething for me,
Dr (10:11):
mm-hmm.
Mrs (10:12):
I, I went to the middle school and literally I was at
the middle school for a year.
I was inviting everybody in myclassroom, everybody from the
district to come in, give mefeedback, look at the, the
things that were going on, helpme get better, help me support
my kids.
Um, I had already, I was alreadyon the pathway of meeting growth
(10:33):
and exceeding growth even in myBT years.
Um, but.
I exceeded growth.
I had high proficiency.
I helped my school exceed growthas well.
Like we worked really hard thatyear and I just specifically
remember a parent saying, I knowmy daughter is not gonna be
proficient.
She's never been proficient.
I just want her to do as bestshe can.
(10:55):
She had a a 5 0 4, so she hadsome accommodations that she
Dr (10:59):
Yeah.
Mrs (10:59):
She worked at a a slower pace.
And I told the mom, I was like,you know, I don't want us to
count her out.
I'm going to do everything thatI can to make sure that your
daughter has the tools to besuccessful.
Do you know how excited I was atthe end of the year to call that
mama?
Tell her that her daughter wasproficient?
Dr (11:14):
Oh, snap.
Mrs (11:17):
so excited.
Dr (11:18):
I, I love this story and I love it because the power of
believing in your.
The potential of your students,right?
And then your students believingin their own potential.
Like I think that is a missingthread in a lot of, you know,
(11:40):
quote unquote equity work or howwe're thinking about how we're
individualizing instruction, Wespend a lot of time in education
right now, looking at data,talking about data.
Where are we moving?
But are we really getting downto where does the rubber meet
the road?
And if we don't believe in setup systems that allow students
to believe.
Where we're allowed to believe.
(12:00):
And if we're consistentlypassing a deficit narrative,
Mrs (12:05):
Yeah.
Dr (12:05):
you know, of a student, or they then now own that, or a
parent now owns that becausethat is the narrative we've keep
sharing, whether intentionallyor unintentionally sharing, it,
it sets up a certain pathwaylike.
We have a voice.
You have a voice.
Use your voice.
Use your skills to be aninterrupter to that pathway, to
(12:28):
forge a new path.
Mrs (12:29):
Yeah.
Dr (12:30):
that says to me.
Mrs (12:31):
I mean, and, and you are a hundred percent and I think, you
know, parents, that particularparent, you know, we never think
that we are limiting ourstudents or
Dr (12:42):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (12:43):
We just like, I don't wanna put too much pressure on them,
or this is what history hasshown, or, I just want'em to do
the best they can, but.
The best they can do might beeven better than what they've
shown over these past years.
If they're in a classroom with ateacher who is willing to do
what needs to be done, like towilling to scaffold, willing to
meet them where they are andtake them to the next level.
(13:05):
And I have so many stories likethat from that year.
So with inviting people into theclassroom, people.
me, they saw my passion, andthen I was tapped on a shoulder
to go into a coaching role, andthat is literally what my path
has been.
So I spent three years as adistrict coach supporting
(13:27):
between two and four schools,and now this year I transitioned
back to a single school as amulti classroom leader.
So I'm super excited about thisposition.
I'm gonna be able to reallyfocus, uh, I won't be split
between several schools.
And so for me, when I thinkabout equity, I think about a
lot of providing equity for kidsto me comes from the planning.
(13:49):
So if you listen to the episodesof my podcast, you're gonna hear
me talk about planning a lotbecause I feel like people love
to improvise.
And I don't think that where weare right now with our students
things, it is too urgent.
For us to go in there andimprovise, like, I think we need
to have a plan.
(14:10):
It needs to be well thought out,and we need to consider where
our students are, the thingsthat they own in terms of
content knowledge, and how canwe meet them there to get them
to where we need them to be.
And planning is a critical partof that.
Mm-hmm.
Dr (14:24):
okay.
I'm so glad you said thatbecause it is right, like and I
used to be a professor ofteacher ed.
And that was one of the thingswe talked about a lot, like, you
have to plan, you have to plan,you have to know who are your
students, where are we going?
Da, da, da.
And then sometimes they would gointo classrooms and they'd be
like, oh, my teacher doesn'thave lesson plans.
And doesn't know.
Like, I get, I get it.
Like I'm, I've been on bothsides.
(14:45):
And it is time consuming.
But what you're also saying,right, like what is there saying
about a plan?
Like, uh, you know, somethingabout a wish, you know.
Whatever.
You know what I'm talking aboutthat, that wish, that's
something, not a plan.
I'll think of it, it'll come tome, but where I'm going is we
have a tier one problem rightnow in education.
(15:07):
We have a tier one problem andwe have a tier one problem
because we're missing exactlywhat you're talking about.
Like we're talking about allthese intervention students
need.
And I keep wanting to say topeople, if you have 50 plus
percent of your students needingtier two and tier three
intervention, you don't have anintervention problem.
Your students aren't having aproblem.
We have a tier one instructionalproblem that we're trying to
(15:28):
place on students, and we're notgonna tier ourselves out of this
challenge until we address thistier one.
You know?
And.
So I love to hear this ideaabout planning because it's
intentional planning andhonestly, and tell me what you
think about this.
To me, I feel like the more youintentionally plan and get to
(15:50):
know, like how to scaffold theseappropriate pathways, the easier
right it becomes to do that, um,on the fly as you need to now
that you wanna, you don't, doyou know what I'm saying?
Like, you're exercising thatmuscle.
Mrs (16:10):
I could see that.
I could see that.
Um, I'm also thinking about howpeople interpret planning.
Like when you talk about lessonplanning, what do you envision?
what is that experience for you?
Because I think a lot of peoplethink.
Lesson planning is I'm fillingout some type of document that
I'm gonna submit toadministration.
I think some people look atlesson planning as, okay, let me
(16:32):
look at, let me look at thiscurriculum.
Okay, boom, I'm gonna teachthis, this, this, and this.
Okay, got it.
Boom, I'm ready to go.
And then some people look atlesson planning as, let me sit
down'cause I'm a math coach anddo the math.
I need to think about whatquestions I'm gonna ask.
How am I gonna engage studentsin discourse?
How am I gonna consolidateeverything?
How am I even going to launchthe lesson where I'm connecting
(16:53):
to prior knowledge?
That's the planning that I'mtalking about and I think, I
think that there is a, adifference between what we
submit to administration andwhat we do personally.
make sure that we can facilitatethat tier one instruction at a
very high level.
As you were mentioning, wecannot fix in small group.
(17:14):
What didn't happen in wholegroup small group is generally a
smaller amount of time.
So if you didn't, if it didn'tcross, if it didn't get through
in the 60 minutes that you had,why do you think that the 15 or
20 minutes is gonna make adifference?
And that's really what I wantpeople to.
Themselves.
Does it make sense for me tothink that I can fix all of this
in small group?
(17:35):
No, it doesn't make sense'causeI have less time and the
majority of my class needs it.
So no, it doesn't make sense.
So it is definitely a tier oneproblem
Dr (17:46):
I think this scenario also brings up like.
How important instructionalcoaches are to the learning and
support of educators?
So to me, there's a lot.
I feel like sometimesinstructional coaches are the
first people to go when they'relooking at budget cuts, which.
(18:08):
To me is unfortunate.
There's a lot of thingsunfortunate about that, but
mostly because, like yes, youhave a set of professionals.
One, we need to trust educatorsto be professionals.
But professionals, like allprofessionals need to learn and
grow and like collaborate andsupport each and so you have a
guide, you have someone who'shelping you, like coaching,
everyone gets a coach, likeprofessional athletes have a
(18:31):
coach.
Like high school, like look atall these spaces.
We have coach business, verysuccessful business people.
Have a coach like coaches helpus see something.
Kind of what you were talkingabout earlier, right?
See something that you might notsee in yourself.
And it doesn't mean like a coachhas, like, I am like this, you
know, big egghead of knowledge.
(18:51):
It, it just means I have askillset to help grow and
develop where you have theability to already go, but I
might just help you see adifferent way to get there or
find the path to get there.
Mrs (19:02):
Absolutely.
Yes, a hundred percent.
As you were talking, I wrotedown, uh, other.
This is a, a phrase that one ofmy friend uses, uh, Natasha
Kirkland.
She's also a coach in the DMV ARarea, and she uses knowledgeable
other all the time to describeher relationship with teachers.
So I don't think that this meansthat you know everything, but as
(19:23):
you were stating, it's kind oflike.
We can be seeing something fromdifferent perspectives and you
never know what I may say thatcould spark something in you or
vice versa.
when I think back to likewhenever I first started
teaching, I didn't have aknowledgeable of other, I just
had myself.
And then I was building networkswith people virtually trying to
(19:44):
create my network so that Iwould have somebody to bounce
ideas off of.
I would have done anything tohave a coach with me because I
could have
Dr (19:52):
Hmm.
Mrs (19:52):
better.
Dr (19:53):
Right.
Mrs (19:54):
that's the, that's the way I think about it.
But I think sometimes coaches ineducation get a very, very bad
rap.
Um, one of my teachers wastalking to me today.
She was like, you are sodifferent from the coach that I
experienced previously.
She said, you're so hands-on.
Like you're, you, you are soknowledgeable.
Like you just seem sosupportive.
And I'm thinking, you know.
(20:16):
I thought that's what a coachdoes, but obviously I'm sure
that there are coaches that donot do the same things that I
do, and I think unfortunatelybecause have those experience,
we all kind of get lumped intothat same
Dr (20:28):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (20:29):
of a waste of position.
You should just go back to theclassroom.
Dr (20:33):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mrs (20:35):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (20:35):
Well, you know, I think that could be like anything you
might've been, and this can betrue.
There are people that might be.
Fabulous teachers and they moveinto a coach role.
But that is a differentskillset.
Like coaching and working anddeveloping people is a different
skillset in some ways.
Working with an adult learnerversus a child learner.
(20:58):
So it's similar and different.
Like how do you approach anadult learner different than a
child learner?
Um.
Some people are justuncomfortable with that.
They might feel like thatconversation is confrontational
even though it's not..
So maybe that's not the role forthem.
Just like a really great teachermay become an administrator or,
you know what I mean?
Like there's lots of people thatgrow into positions both inside
(21:23):
and outside of education thatmight not be the best fit.
We've all had a not so great,you know, a doctor with not so
great bedside manner or youknow, whatever it is.
So.
That just to me, speaks to thepower of like humanity and like
stereotyping and like, I've hadthis experience with this one
type of person or this group,and now I think they're all,
(21:47):
they're all this way.
So I think what's that bringingme to is like I want you all to
be open, right?
Open to your coach, open to, youknow, the possibility for a
coach.
And if you're a coach listening.
How can you build your networkwith other coaches to support
how you support others?
(22:07):
Because a coach, even a coach,needs a coach.
I just think everybody needs acoach.
That's just my philosophy.
Like I love a good coach, right?
Like, I need to work onsomething.
Please help me.
Like, you know, a littleaccountability, a little, you
know, thought partner.
I mean, heck, I have a podcast.
I like thought partners.
I like collaborating, like Ilike talking to people.
But I think we all benefit fromthat because that is humanity.
(22:28):
Like we are meant to communicateand talk and, and like have a
community to help us be betterhumans in whatever it is.
We're trying to be better at.
Mrs (22:37):
absolutely.
I agree with that.
I'm thinking about, um.
I'm thinking about theimportance of building
relationships in that coachingand teacher relationship or
that, that, that situation andit's just so important.
One of the things, because I'mat a, a new school, I was at the
school four years ago, but I'mstill calling it new'cause I'm
(22:58):
just coming back.
One of the things that's superimportant for me is for us to
communicate because.
personality is, I'm veryorganized, very, I guess you
consider it type a, I don'tknow.
Maybe some people might evenconsider it OCD, I don't know,
but I'm, I'm very methodicalwith the way that I do things.
I wanna have a plan.
I wanna know what we're going tonext.
(23:19):
I am not as much a cushy, cushy,phily, phily feely, so I'm
always gonna smile.
I'm always gonna ask you howyou're doing, but I'm probably
not gonna spend 15 minutes.
Doing SEL activities.
So it was very important for meto let the teachers that I work
with know who I am, so theywould know what to expect when
working with me.
(23:39):
I don't want you to expectsomething that I'm not, and then
all of a sudden now there's notsuch a a good relationship
between us because I'm notmeeting those expectations.
I wanna let you know straightoff who I am, and it's important
that we communicate whenever.
There's something that, that's,that's wrong, right?
So when teachers are feelingstressed out or they're feeling
(24:01):
overwhelmed, because it seemslike there's a lot of things
being thrown at you.
Communicate and let someone knowversus allowing those things to
kind of build up.
then, because once they buildup, Say something, the way that
you say it.
Everything is just gonna be somuch bigger than it would've
been if you would've justcommunicated from the beginning.
(24:22):
So it's so important for me withthe relationships that I'm
building with teachers, is thatwe are communicating openly.
I have to create that space forthem so that they feel safe.
Tell me what's up.
Dr (24:33):
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
We all need to feel safe.
And so I feel like this is likeyou're supporting your teachers
in your building, but you alsohave your podcast.
So I wanna talk a little bitabout what you do in your
podcast, who it's for, and whatsome of the things you are
sharing with teachers andeducators.
(24:55):
As you know, everyone's comingback into the school year.
I love back to school season.
It's like so exciting.
You know, it's, you know, it'sjust a great thing.
But yes, so.
To me, you're like expandingyour sphere of influence with
your podcast.
So tell us about your podcast.
What can people go find there?
Mrs (25:12):
Sure, sure, sure.
So on the Make Math Happenpodcast.
I drop an episode every week,and right now we are in that
beginning of the year buzz whereI wanna put out, or I am putting
out episodes that will supportteachers as they're getting
started.
Obviously, all over the worldare starting school at different
(25:33):
times, but these episodes arethings that you can consume
implement them in your classroomwith, you know.
Low risk, I guess you can say.
Um, and there's not a lot ofthings that you need to do to
kind of put them in place.
So for example, in August wetalked about getting better
faster.
So if anybody has ever heard ofthat book, even though it
features or it's focused on newteachers, I think all of us can
(25:56):
benefit from it.
Just making sure that we have.
basic foundational things inplace.
Then I went into planning, likewhat does that planning look
like?
Just like we were just speakingabout what does that planning
look like for you to bepersonally ready to get up there
in front of your students?
And then we talked about makingthinking visible with anchoring
charts.
And then I'm gonna talk aboutsome organization.
(26:17):
So the reason why I'm sharingthese things in August is
because I wanna provide teacherswith the things that they need
right now.
As they're welcoming thosestudents back into the
classroom, and that'sessentially what I do with the
podcast.
I want to provide the listenerswith things that make sense, PD
on the go, 30 minutes, sometimes60 if I'm interviewing somebody.
But I try to keep it short whereyou can consume this information
(26:39):
and it is something to, to, toinspire you, to spark some
action within you, for you tounderstand just how much the
moves that you make.
how much of a message they send,because if you show up in all of
your, your awesomeness, you'regonna inspire your neighbor,
your teammate, your grade level,and then hopefully your whole
school will be positivelyimpacted.
Dr (27:01):
Oh, yes.
I am a firm believer in thepower of what I call it, the
snowball.
Mrs (27:07):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (27:09):
Right.
Because if you're willing to trysomething and you're doing
something and it's working, andthen people see your students
are engaged and they're making,you know, the growth, like you
were talking about earlier, youknow.
Whatever that is that they see,then they're like, Hey, how'd
you do that?
What did you do?
And then they're trying it,right?
So I always tell people, don'tbe afraid to be the person that
(27:29):
tries something.
The person that goes and doessomething.
Because at the end of the day,you're still probably gonna
learn from it.
Just like we want our students,right?
I to go try something.
Like it is better to moveforward and it's a little bit
messy.
And you've tried it, and thenyou can reflect and you can
refine, and you can do all thosethings then to wait for
(27:51):
perfection.
And I think of all, like, Idon't wanna stereotype, but I'm
gonna do a small stereotyperight now.
Teachers are so passionate abouttheir students overall that
there is this.
Almost need for perfection thatI sometimes see.
Like they want to make sure itis all right and good and I
(28:16):
always wanna like there is spaceagain for the messy, for the,
the trying it out.
So I dunno, that's kind of justwhat I see.
Like I think of all the hundredsof teachers that I know, they
wanna do right by theirstudents.
And it's.
It can be scary to do somethingnew if you're not sure how it's
(28:40):
gonna work out.
Do you have tips you share forthe teachers that, get them to
try something or how do youYeah.
Mrs (28:48):
I think it's I'm, I actually wrote down as you were
talking, I was like, okay, it'sokay for things to be messy, so
right now in my district, we aretaking on a whole new
curriculum.
We have all of this new stuffthat's going on, right?
So the thing that you have totell yourself is it's not gonna
be perfect.
Dr (29:06):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (29:07):
is new for everybody, it's not possible for it to be
perfect.
So right now I need to just.
Teach myself how to be flexibleso that I can adapt to whatever
situation presents itself.
Now, obviously we're gonna havea plan, so we're gonna plan and
try to be proactive, but thereality is things are gonna show
up and things are gonna happenthat you didn't plan for.
(29:27):
So you just have to be flexiblein those times and just be
willing to make the tweaks asthey need to be made.
So.
And I'm thinking back to RaquelHopkins.
She's another person that I liketo follow.
She talks a lot about capacity,and I think when things are
perfect, are not always, or whatwe, we perceive as perfect.
(29:49):
We're not always or operating atoptimal levels.
I think sometimes it takesthings to be new.
It takes risks, it takes thingsto stretch us for us to really
expand our capacity or build ourcapacity.
So I want everybody that'slistening to be okay with just a
little bit of chaos.
Just a, just, just a hint, justa hint of risk.
(30:12):
Um, because I think from that,we all grow, we all
Dr (30:15):
Yeah.
Mrs (30:15):
learn to adapt and become better.
Dr (30:18):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes.
So I wanna challenge you likefind the one little piece,
right?
Like what is the one pieceyou're willing to try something
new and bring in that little bitof chaos, and then it's like
gonna roll down the hill,?
And then a little somethingelse.
Oh, that's working.
Now I can add a little somethingelse, right?
Um, yes.
Yes.
(30:38):
I love that.
Mrs (30:40):
one thing I also want to share with your listeners is.
As you're moving into this newyear, it's gonna feel like you
need to do so many things atonce, because it's not too
chaotic, right?
We just want one little, onelittle piece of chaotic.
You are gonna feel like there'sso many things that you need to
do at one time.
Okay?
(31:00):
One thing that I want to sharewith you is the power in the
power hour.
Okay?
So taking 60 minutes of yourtime and devoting it to one
thing that you wanna knock offyour to-do list, that is one
thing that you can incorporateto kind of help your
productivity, to help you managesome of the chaos that can be
coming, helping you manage someof the newness.
(31:21):
It's just finding time to reallyjust focus on the one thing.
Okay.
Um, another thing that, that Iwanted to share with your
listeners is that it's okay ifthings aren't perfect.
It's okay that if things aren'tperfect, and just be okay with,
again, being flexible and thenleaning on your teammates
(31:42):
because I think a lot can happenwhen we're working together as a
team and we're putting thoseheads together.
However many people on yourteam, there's something
beautiful that can really comefrom that.
So leaning in the fact, leaningin on the fact that I may not
have all the answers, but if Ikeep moving forward, something
positive is gonna happen fromthat.
So just keep moving forward.
Dr (32:02):
Yep.
Yep.
You gotta keep moving.
Like Dory says, gotta keep, justkeep swimming.
Like, just, just keep swimming.
And, you know, I also thinkthat, that it's really important
right to.
Find time as you're planning andyou're building these systems
for students, like what is yoursystem for yourself?
Mrs (32:23):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (32:24):
you cannot, you know, there's a reason why put your
oxygen mask on first is a thing,right?
Because you cannot help anyoneelse if you are not pouring in
and taking care of yourself.
And I think people try to, youknow, share this narrative that
if you're not.
(32:44):
24 7 with your educator hat on,that somehow you are less, you
know, you know, you're not,you're not all that you can be
as an educator no, I'm sorry.
I'm just gonna say it likethat's crap.
Okay.
Like you are a whole person witha whole life and.
You are Yes.
In a service career and you'rehere'cause it's important to you
(33:07):
and you care about kids andfamilies and all of these
things, that can be true.
And you also take the time totake care of yourself, to pour
into yourself, to pour into yourfamily, to spend time with your
friends.
Like it isn't a, but it is anand
Mrs (33:23):
Hmm.
Two things can be true, right?
Dr (33:26):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (33:27):
So I'm gonna poke the bear just a little bit.
Dr (33:31):
Ooh.
Okay.
Mrs (33:33):
I agree with you.
have to always take care ofourselves first.
One of the things that kind offrustrates me sometimes when I
am on social media or I'm inconversation with educators is
that they will say that they'regoing to go home at a specific
(33:53):
time.
It's the end of my contracthours, or they will talk about
how they're going to do this forme when they haven't really done
anything.
For the students or they haven'treally fulfilled any obligations
at work.
I think sometimes we listen topeople saying, I'm gonna take
(34:15):
care of me.
When your scenarios, yoursituations might be completely
different.
There's one person, probablyyou, Dr.
Dean, who has done so manythings for your students to make
sure that they are taken care ofso that when you go home you
really can unplug.
You really can say, I'm takingthis time for me.
Right?
But then there's another personthat's hearing that they're
(34:36):
relating to you because you'realso an educator, but during the
day, they ain't did nothing.
They have not planned nothing.
They have not taught anything.
But because we have the sameposition, right, because we're
doing the same thing, I am goingto use what you're saying and
relate it to me, and then we getput in the same boat when our
situations are day to day arenot the same.
(34:58):
That's the only, that's the onlything about it.
So I have to be, I've, I'velearned that whenever I'm
talking to educators, I have tobe really careful because I
wanna make sure.
What I am trying to relay isclear that, that they can't take
it and apply it to them.
If it doesn't apply, if itdoesn't apply, we, we gotta
deny.
Dr (35:22):
Yes, I agree with, I don't even know if that's poking the
bear.
'cause I agree with thatwholeheartedly.
Mrs (35:27):
Okay.
Dr (35:27):
Right.
You know, yes, you got, yougotta show up and show out what,
what you're supposed to,
Mrs (35:36):
Yeah, yeah,
Dr (35:37):
And if you're not, then maybe you gotta be doing some of
that other stuff.
You, you gotta get that takencare of, right?
Because ultimately that is yourresponsibility, you
Mrs (35:45):
Yeah.
Dr (35:46):
and it is your responsibility for what happens
and the learning that happensinside your classroom.
That is your responsibility.
That is not the parent'sresponsibility.
That is not a family'sresponsibility.
That is not society's.
You know what I mean?
Like you are responsible for thelearning.
And I don't know if you've readany of Lisa Del's work.
Mrs (36:08):
I'm gonna look it up.
Dr (36:09):
Okay.
She talks in there about howit's really easy to blame
students, families, poverty.
Um, on why students aren't beingsuccessful, because it takes the
blame away from the educator andthe educational system and puts
it outside of it.
And what I'm saying is that isnot where the blame belongs,
(36:32):
right?
Like, look, I'm not gonna get ona whole soapbox about homework
and expecting parents to teachstuff, but I'm just saying like,
that's, that's a subset of thiswe are responsible for the
learning that happens.
That is our job, our job aseducation and teaching students.
So we need to take our jobseriously.
Mrs (36:51):
Uh, I'm about to pass out on this floor because yes, this
is exactly what, this is exactlywhat is what I'm thinking about
when I made the statement.
It is.
Please don't be the that isalways blaming the kids.
It's not always the kids, right?
It's not always the kids.
(37:12):
have been people, there havebeen educators who have taken
students who had several yearsof unfinished learning, and
guess what they did?
They helped those kids besuccessful.
It doesn't matter what you comewith, like you can come with
whatever you come with, but if Ifigure out what you know and
what you understand, I can meetyou there and I can take you
further.
I don't like the whole blamingthe kids thing.
(37:32):
I don't like that.
So you have, you got my, my, my,my, my, my blood pressure is
rising.
Dr.
Dean, I'm hot over here becausethis
Dr (37:41):
Look.
Mrs (37:42):
it.
Dr (37:43):
Look, this is, I, I will be on that soapbox every day about
kids because that is my leastfavorite thing, like, and just
like I said, the majority ofeducators are here because they
wanna do right by kids.
Families are doing their bestand doing right by kids.
And just because their familydoesn't look like what yours did
or what you think it should,doesn't mean it's wrong or bad
(38:06):
so this is where we have tothink about.
What am I in con control?
What am I in control of?
I'm in control with how I'mteaching and educating students
in my classroom.
That is what I'm in control of.
I'm in control of how do I getto know students as individuals.
So that I can make theseimportant scaffolding decisions
to relate to them to build aspace of psychological safety
(38:28):
like all of these, building acommunity in my classroom of
learners where it's safe to takerisks, the little risks that
we're asking you to take, weneed students to feel
comfortable taking them
Mrs (38:40):
Yes,
Dr (38:41):
right.
So how are you building the safespace?
The safe space in yourclassroom?
How are we building, you know,and then it just builds right
within our grade level, withinour school, within our district,
how are we acknowledging thepositive things instead of this
deficit narrative?
(39:01):
Like I will go to, mm, I will goall day talking about we ain't
blaming no kids of like, no.
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (39:07):
Thank you for saying that.
So I wrote down one of the normsthat we have whenever we do
system-wide professionaldevelopment or any type of POC
meeting.
One of them is assume positiveintentions, because I think
sometimes we judge situationsand, and really maybe it's a a,
a bias, I don't, it's a bias.
I don't know.
when you mentioned earlier aboutparents are doing the best they
(39:29):
can, sometimes we make judgment.
And we think that this childprobably doesn't have X, Y, and
Z or at home.
This child may not have thesetypes of supports.
You have to assume positiveintentions.
What parents are doing is notalways to negate the things that
are happening in your classroom.
Like you stated, the parents aredoing the best that they can, or
(39:51):
I'm gonna assume that they'redoing the best that I can.
I'm not gonna waste time.
Complaining about parents,because that's not in my
control.
I can't control how they parent.
But like you said, the thingthat I can control is what
happens in my classroom when Ihave them for those 60 to 90
minutes a day.
And so that's, that's all that Ican, that's all that I can do.
Dr (40:10):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (40:10):
That's all that I can do.
So I will.
Mm-hmm.
Dr (40:13):
I can control how I wanna build relationships with
parents,
Mrs (40:16):
Oh yeah,
Dr (40:17):
How?
How am I reaching out toparents?
Am I only reaching out whensomething bad is going on?
Because what kinda relationshipare you establishing if that's
all you do, right?
Like, oh, I don't wanna hearfrom the school because all
you're gonna do is complainsomething about my kid.
These are things you need toreflect on.
Like what are you doing that maybe setting up the very thing
that you are complaining about?
Mrs (40:39):
What are you doing to set up the thing that you are ooh,
complaining about?
That's something to think about,listeners.
That's really something to to,to let resonate in your spirit.
'cause sometimes, sometimes Ifeel like we get, you know what?
As a matter of fact, this isanother thing I wanna say.
If you are new to a school, oreven if you are existing at a
(41:02):
school, please do not get caughtup in the negative groups
Dr (41:06):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (41:07):
because I think too often we allow other people's visions
and values and beliefs to comeon us.
We, we take them on.
We shouldn't.
As soon as I get into a groupand they start talking negative,
I'm gonna attempt to redirectthe conversation and make it
more positive.
But if that doesn't happen,guess what I'm doing?
(41:27):
I'm out.
I'm leaving.
And I, and I wish that morepeople would do that because I
think that sometimes that iswhat opens the door.
To stress, frustration, andneeding mental health days.
Because if you're surrounded bypeople and all they're talking
about is the negative thingsgoing on, kids can't do this,
these kids can't do that.
This parent, this, this parentthat you, you, you are probably
(41:51):
gonna need a break from that.
Where's the
Dr (41:53):
Yes,
Mrs (41:53):
at?
Dr (41:54):
yes,
Mrs (41:54):
positive?
Where's the good?
Dr (41:56):
yes.
Mrs (41:56):
please, if you are in a workplace and you hear some
negative, please insert thepositive or remove yourself.
Dr (42:05):
Look, I, that's something I did like, I, I stopped eating
lunch in the teacher's loungebecause I just couldn't be, I
couldn't be surrounded by it.
Right.
And like, and to be honest, myexperience with these same kids
they were talking about was notthe same.
Mrs (42:21):
It is
Dr (42:21):
I,
Mrs (42:21):
same.
Dr (42:22):
I, it's just not.
And they're like, well, well,one, uh.
I'd be approaching them.
Like people, they're people,they're just smaller people.
Like, and this is one thing, Iused to say this to my
pre-service teachers all thetime.
I'm like, I just need you toremember.
That children and kids and youngare just smaller humans.
So the things that you like andenjoy, they do too, right?
(42:45):
Like you all cannot sit still inthis class for an hour and you
all are in your twenties.
So you think a 6-year-old isgonna sit still for 50 minutes?
No.
You know, like these are like,these are just logical things
that just.
Chap, chap my butt a little bit,but, um, like we have
expectations of kids that wedon't, adults can't meet.
(43:07):
So let's stop doing that too.
Okay.
Mrs (43:08):
So on that note, okay, teachers, I'm interested to know
you're in your classroom and youdon't want kids to be on their
cell phones or on otherwebsites, you don't want them to
be distracted, right?
Because you're teaching, youhave something that you wanna
share with them.
What do y'all do that when y'allgo to pd?
Why do y'all do that.
Dr (43:32):
That's a great question.
That's a great question.
Oh my gosh.
So that's something for y'all toponder.
Just, just something to thinkabout.
The things that you do that youask your students not to do, you
know, like, and you be doingthem.
Like again, I'm gonna, we arehumans, right?
So these are things we do.
So I want you to just, justreflect on that.
Just reflect on that.
(43:52):
Oh my gosh.
I, I feel like I could just keeptalking because this has been
just such a wonderfulconversation.
I'm super excited for the thingsthat you guys can think about.
Our little nugget of chaos we'regonna use, and I know we've
already given a few tips in thelast like 10 minutes of this,
but like, what's your one?
(44:12):
Like this is what I want you allto leave here thinking about to
do or go.
Like, what is your tip as worththinking about building a more
equitable learning environment?
Mrs (44:24):
I want teachers to be encouraged.
building an equitableenvironment is challenging.
Teaching is one of the hardestjobs I feel like there is.
It's one of the hardest jobs.
So I want you, as you're goingthroughout this year to be
encouraged.
You're going to encounter speedbumps.
You're gonna encounter hurdleswhen you're trying to create a
(44:47):
more equitable class for your,your students is going to take
time.
It's going to require planning,but I want you to be encouraged
because when you invest time onthe front end, it usually pays
off on the back end.
It usually does.
So if, if there was anythingthat I could leave your
listeners with, it is, there'sgonna be days when it feels
like.
(45:08):
Everybody has their hands outfor something from you there are
numerous deadlines that you'retrying to meet.
I just want you to findsomething good in what has
happened in your day, and justbe encouraged because what
you're doing is needed.
The position that you have isneeded.
The kids that are in your class,they need you.
(45:28):
even though we joke about thethings that teachers do, you
guys are the backbone
Dr (45:33):
Yes,
Mrs (45:33):
of our society, and I appreciate all of you.
So if nobody has told you yettoday, I love you and I
appreciate you.
Stay encouraged.
Dr (45:44):
yes, yes.
I love that.
Teachers are the backbone.
Teachers are the only careerthat make all the other careers.
That is facts.
That is facts.
Well, thank you so much Laneishafor joining me today.
Thank you listeners forlistening to another episode of
the Equity Hour.
I am going to put a link in theshow notes to my episode on Make
Math Happen.
I am going so you can go checkout Follow Her podcast.
(46:07):
Follow this podcast pleasepodcast like share rate with
your friends and remember to useyour voice today.
Thank you so much.
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Equity
Hour with me your host, Dr.
Tami.
I am so excited to bring to youLaneshia.
She is a math coach, curriculumdesigner, and the voice behind
Make Math Happen.
Podcast.
I am so excited to have her onthe podcast today.
(00:20):
She helps educators bridge, thegap between what we say we
believe about students and whatwe actually do in classrooms.
Her work centers.
Belonging agency and joyful,rigorous math instruction.
I don't know anyone who doesn'tneed some joyfulness when
they're doing math, but welcome,welcome to the podcast.
Mrs (00:42):
Thank you so much, Dr.
Dean.
I'm excited to be here.
Dr (00:46):
I am so excited to have you because I mean, honestly, I got
to be on your podcast and if youguys don't know, I'm gonna link
the, I'm going to link.
The show that I was on withLaneisha so you can listen to
both of these once they drop.
Mrs (01:05):
Look at that reciprocal relationship.
Dr (01:07):
Look, I love it.
But that's all about communityand I talk about that all the
time on this podcast like it isall about community.
So welcome to the show.
Welcome to the show.
Now you're back to school.?
Mrs (01:18):
Yes, we are back.
So this is actually our secondweek with teachers coming back
into the building.
So we're preparing for kids tocome back tomorrow.
We have open house for ourstudents who are new to middle
school.
So our sixth graders are comingin with their families and we're
gonna kind of take them throughsome things.
And then the next day is openhouse for everybody else.
So fortunately, my districtgives us two weeks where we can
(01:41):
kind of get ourselves together.
We can kind of get some trainingdone, get our classrooms
together.
Uh, get some lesson planningdone before those kids come
back.
So I, I like that structure.
Dr (01:51):
Oh, that is glorious.
'cause there's always thattension right at the beginning
of the year between, we need toget information into teacher to
teachers.
We need to have, you know, we dothe professional development and
then the educators are justsitting in the space like
itching and dying to get intotheir space to get it, ready for
students.
So snaps and shout out for yourschool district.
(02:13):
I, I love that.
I love that.
That's just such a perfectbalance and.
Also, okay, first of all, middleschoolers get a bad rap.
That's my personal opinion.
I used to be a middle schoolteacher way back in the day
Mrs (02:27):
they get?
Dr (02:29):
that they're just so difficult and no one wants to,
you know, work with them.
And how do you work with, youknow, middle schoolers?
Like you hear people say like,oh, I wanna work with the
littles.
Or they're like, oh, I need the,the big kids.
And to me, the bad rap is theyfeel like middle school is like.
Purgatory for a lack a betterword.
Mrs (02:49):
Yeah, I think the teachers that work in middle school love
middle school, like the, theones that have been there.
But I think like if it's someonethat's like passing through, I
think if, if.
I think it's easy for them toget turned off from it because
it is a very challenging age forthe kids.
Like they're figuring themselvesout, they're smelling
(03:10):
themselves.
They want to be grown, but theyalso want to be nurtured and
wanna be coddled.
You know, they, they, they don'treally know what they want.
So it, it's a very interestingage.
Dr (03:20):
It is, but you know.
Okay.
So.
That's actually my favoritething about middle schoolers.
And now I've taught the littleslike first graders.
Like I always, I'm like, don't,kindergarten is not my jam.
Bless you.
Kindergarten teachers,'cause Icannot do that.
First grade is the lowest.
Like I've taught the firstgraders, I've taught the middle
schoolers, I've taught the highschoolers.
But what I love, love, love,loved about the middle schoolers
(03:40):
is exactly what you're saying,right?
They're really trying to begrown or they think they're
grown, but then they realizethey're not and they love.
Things they love just being kidsstill.
And then you still see that sideof them.
So, I don't know.
I just think it's such a joy anda privilege to teach middle
school and kind of watch kidsemerge into themselves.
(04:02):
Almost kind of like thebutterfly coming outta the
chrysalis, right?
Like they're really starting tofigure out who they are.
Um.
I don't miss the, thesmelliness, like of them not
quite understanding, you know,how their bodies are changing,
but you know, that's just parfor the course.
(04:23):
But yeah, I just love thatlittle, like, where's the swing?
Mrs (04:28):
in, I've only worked in middle school and high school.
I will say, well, when I was inhigh school, it was ninth grade,
so that's kind of middle too.
'cause it's right there at thebeginning.
So it was pretty close.
But I really do enjoy middleschool.
Now, I won't say it's notwithout its challenges, but like
you, I enjoy, I enjoy middleschool because I feel like I am
(04:50):
early enough to have an impact.
Uh, I, but, but not early enoughthat they're all over the place.
So it's kinda like a sweet spotfor me and I, I need that sweet
spot.
Dr (05:02):
I love that.
The sweet spot.
The sweet spot.
And it, I, I just like that youwere mentioning that they were
giving the sixth graders sometime to come and get acclimated
because it is, it's a whole newworld.
Is your building six througheight.
Mrs (05:14):
Six eight?
Dr (05:15):
Yeah, see, and then also by the time they get ready to leave
and they're eighth graders, likejust their whole trajectory.
But anyway, we we, your eyes, wecould talk about middle school
like all day, but I wanna, I'mgonna bring us back'cause I
wanna talk about, you know, thework you're doing in middle
school.
Um, and, you know, supportingeducators, supporting teachers,
(05:38):
and how we think about equityand education.
I love this idea about joy'causeI believe education should be
joyful.
I just posted about this, right?
Like that's where the learninghappens and the mess that we
were just talking about inmiddle schoolers, like embracing
the.
That's where the joy comes, youknow, oftentimes in the mistakes
we lit up laughing.
So I'm curious, and I always askall my guests to kind of ex tell
(06:03):
me a little bit about yourjourney into equity, because
really equity work is a marathonand it can look so many
different ways, um, depending onwhat it is you're doing.
So I would love if you wouldshare a little bit about, um,
your work and your journey.
Mrs (06:21):
So funny because I, I just told this story at a conference
recently and, and I always startwith, I always have a little bit
of apprehension with introducingmyself because everybody that
I'm surrounded by in educationbecause of the work that I'm
doing.
Because of the rooms that I'min, they always say, I've been
teaching, I've been in educationfor like 20 plus years, or
(06:42):
however many, like just thislong period of time.
Okay.
Listeners, that is not my story.
Okay.
So education was my secondcareer and I started out after
graduating from college inaccounting and finance, and I
was a supervisor for severalyears.
But it came a point that thatwas not, it didn't feel me.
Okay.
I wasn't feeling.
I wasn't feeling filled up byit.
(07:04):
It wasn't, it wasn't waking meup in the morning and, and
getting me excited.
So I decided I had some savings.
I decided I was going to go outand find myself.
Okay.
I don't even know if people saythat anymore, but I decided I
was gonna go out and findmyself.
I started volunteering inclassrooms and people started
seeing things in me that Ididn't yet see in myself.
So I had some.
(07:25):
Some awesome experiences withsome middle schoolers.
Okay.
I was in my mom's classroom atmy mom's school, and her
principal was like, have yourdaughter ever thought about
teaching?
And it crossed my mind, but Ididn't think that I was patience
enough.
I didn't think that I was theeducator type, so I didn't know
if that was for me, so anyway,long story, less long.
(07:46):
Because she asked the question,I said, well, let me, let me do
some research.
Maybe I can sub, I can stick mytoe in and see how things will
go and I'll kind of build fromthere.
Well, when I went to CentralServices to figure out about
substituting, they let me knowthere was a math position open
at a high school.
They saw my resume.
I had the finance background.
They set me up for theinterview.
I interviewed, I got hired onthe spot.
(08:06):
So that started, and that wasonly eight years ago, eight.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 yearsago.
And so, so in that time, in thattime, I have, I obviously I've
created the, finished the, thebeginning teacher program.
I was beginning teacher of theyear.
I was department chair whilestill being a beginning teacher.
(08:28):
Like it was very interesting.
It's a very interesting journeybecause the person that was my
mentor told me that I wasmentoring her more than she was
mentoring me.
it wasn't because.
I wasn't mentoring her from aplace of experience in
education.
I was mentoring her from a placeof experience just with
developing people.
(08:48):
Because as
Dr (08:49):
Yeah.
Mrs (08:49):
supervisor, you have that experience of developing people.
You're wanting them to grow, toget from one place to the next,
and that's exactly what we'redoing in education.
The differences that we have,content standards that we're
focusing
Dr (08:59):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (09:00):
So.
In those first three years, Iwas digital model classroom
teacher.
Like the, the technology was myjam.
I was department chair.
As I mentioned, I worked withstudent council.
Like I was so active.
I was bringing teachers togetheracross my district as a vt,
teachers together across mydistrict to have conversations
about how can we impact studentoutcomes.
(09:23):
Well, through all of that.
I was still kind of frustratedbecause the middle, the, the
middle school students werecoming to me as their ninth
grade teacher, and there was somuch that I felt like they
didn't know.
It was surprising to me to gointo the classroom for the first
time and these students had somany unfinished learning.
I was like, this doesn't looklike the classroom that I was in
(09:45):
whenever I was growing up.
It was just so different to meand, you know, just having
conversations with, with myfriends about.
current, the landscape ofeducation.
At that time, I just realizedthat the students needed a lot
more, and I wanted to be able toimpact them earlier in their
math journey.
So that's when I applied for aposition at a middle school.
(10:06):
Now, my, my high schoolprincipal was sad to see me go,
but you know, I had to dosomething for me,
Dr (10:11):
mm-hmm.
Mrs (10:12):
I, I went to the middle school and literally I was at
the middle school for a year.
I was inviting everybody in myclassroom, everybody from the
district to come in, give mefeedback, look at the, the
things that were going on, helpme get better, help me support
my kids.
Um, I had already, I was alreadyon the pathway of meeting growth
(10:33):
and exceeding growth even in myBT years.
Um, but.
I exceeded growth.
I had high proficiency.
I helped my school exceed growthas well.
Like we worked really hard thatyear and I just specifically
remember a parent saying, I knowmy daughter is not gonna be
proficient.
She's never been proficient.
I just want her to do as bestshe can.
(10:55):
She had a a 5 0 4, so she hadsome accommodations that she
Dr (10:59):
Yeah.
Mrs (10:59):
She worked at a a slower pace.
And I told the mom, I was like,you know, I don't want us to
count her out.
I'm going to do everything thatI can to make sure that your
daughter has the tools to besuccessful.
Do you know how excited I was atthe end of the year to call that
mama?
Tell her that her daughter wasproficient?
Dr (11:14):
Oh, snap.
Mrs (11:17):
so excited.
Dr (11:18):
I, I love this story and I love it because the power of
believing in your.
The potential of your students,right?
And then your students believingin their own potential.
Like I think that is a missingthread in a lot of, you know,
(11:40):
quote unquote equity work or howwe're thinking about how we're
individualizing instruction, Wespend a lot of time in education
right now, looking at data,talking about data.
Where are we moving?
But are we really getting downto where does the rubber meet
the road?
And if we don't believe in setup systems that allow students
to believe.
Where we're allowed to believe.
(12:00):
And if we're consistentlypassing a deficit narrative,
Mrs (12:05):
Yeah.
Dr (12:05):
you know, of a student, or they then now own that, or a
parent now owns that becausethat is the narrative we've keep
sharing, whether intentionallyor unintentionally sharing, it,
it sets up a certain pathwaylike.
We have a voice.
You have a voice.
Use your voice.
Use your skills to be aninterrupter to that pathway, to
(12:28):
forge a new path.
Mrs (12:29):
Yeah.
Dr (12:30):
that says to me.
Mrs (12:31):
I mean, and, and you are a hundred percent and I think, you
know, parents, that particularparent, you know, we never think
that we are limiting ourstudents or
Dr (12:42):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (12:43):
We just like, I don't wanna put too much pressure on them,
or this is what history hasshown, or, I just want'em to do
the best they can, but.
The best they can do might beeven better than what they've
shown over these past years.
If they're in a classroom with ateacher who is willing to do
what needs to be done, like towilling to scaffold, willing to
meet them where they are andtake them to the next level.
(13:05):
And I have so many stories likethat from that year.
So with inviting people into theclassroom, people.
me, they saw my passion, andthen I was tapped on a shoulder
to go into a coaching role, andthat is literally what my path
has been.
So I spent three years as adistrict coach supporting
(13:27):
between two and four schools,and now this year I transitioned
back to a single school as amulti classroom leader.
So I'm super excited about thisposition.
I'm gonna be able to reallyfocus, uh, I won't be split
between several schools.
And so for me, when I thinkabout equity, I think about a
lot of providing equity for kidsto me comes from the planning.
(13:49):
So if you listen to the episodesof my podcast, you're gonna hear
me talk about planning a lotbecause I feel like people love
to improvise.
And I don't think that where weare right now with our students
things, it is too urgent.
For us to go in there andimprovise, like, I think we need
to have a plan.
(14:10):
It needs to be well thought out,and we need to consider where
our students are, the thingsthat they own in terms of
content knowledge, and how canwe meet them there to get them
to where we need them to be.
And planning is a critical partof that.
Mm-hmm.
Dr (14:24):
okay.
I'm so glad you said thatbecause it is right, like and I
used to be a professor ofteacher ed.
And that was one of the thingswe talked about a lot, like, you
have to plan, you have to plan,you have to know who are your
students, where are we going?
Da, da, da.
And then sometimes they would gointo classrooms and they'd be
like, oh, my teacher doesn'thave lesson plans.
And doesn't know.
Like, I get, I get it.
Like I'm, I've been on bothsides.
(14:45):
And it is time consuming.
But what you're also saying,right, like what is there saying
about a plan?
Like, uh, you know, somethingabout a wish, you know.
Whatever.
You know what I'm talking aboutthat, that wish, that's
something, not a plan.
I'll think of it, it'll come tome, but where I'm going is we
have a tier one problem rightnow in education.
(15:07):
We have a tier one problem andwe have a tier one problem
because we're missing exactlywhat you're talking about.
Like we're talking about allthese intervention students
need.
And I keep wanting to say topeople, if you have 50 plus
percent of your students needingtier two and tier three
intervention, you don't have anintervention problem.
Your students aren't having aproblem.
We have a tier one instructionalproblem that we're trying to
(15:28):
place on students, and we're notgonna tier ourselves out of this
challenge until we address thistier one.
You know?
And.
So I love to hear this ideaabout planning because it's
intentional planning andhonestly, and tell me what you
think about this.
To me, I feel like the more youintentionally plan and get to
(15:50):
know, like how to scaffold theseappropriate pathways, the easier
right it becomes to do that, um,on the fly as you need to now
that you wanna, you don't, doyou know what I'm saying?
Like, you're exercising thatmuscle.
Mrs (16:10):
I could see that.
I could see that.
Um, I'm also thinking about howpeople interpret planning.
Like when you talk about lessonplanning, what do you envision?
what is that experience for you?
Because I think a lot of peoplethink.
Lesson planning is I'm fillingout some type of document that
I'm gonna submit toadministration.
I think some people look atlesson planning as, okay, let me
(16:32):
look at, let me look at thiscurriculum.
Okay, boom, I'm gonna teachthis, this, this, and this.
Okay, got it.
Boom, I'm ready to go.
And then some people look atlesson planning as, let me sit
down'cause I'm a math coach anddo the math.
I need to think about whatquestions I'm gonna ask.
How am I gonna engage studentsin discourse?
How am I gonna consolidateeverything?
How am I even going to launchthe lesson where I'm connecting
(16:53):
to prior knowledge?
That's the planning that I'mtalking about and I think, I
think that there is a, adifference between what we
submit to administration andwhat we do personally.
make sure that we can facilitatethat tier one instruction at a
very high level.
As you were mentioning, wecannot fix in small group.
(17:14):
What didn't happen in wholegroup small group is generally a
smaller amount of time.
So if you didn't, if it didn'tcross, if it didn't get through
in the 60 minutes that you had,why do you think that the 15 or
20 minutes is gonna make adifference?
And that's really what I wantpeople to.
Themselves.
Does it make sense for me tothink that I can fix all of this
in small group?
(17:35):
No, it doesn't make sense'causeI have less time and the
majority of my class needs it.
So no, it doesn't make sense.
So it is definitely a tier oneproblem
Dr (17:46):
I think this scenario also brings up like.
How important instructionalcoaches are to the learning and
support of educators?
So to me, there's a lot.
I feel like sometimesinstructional coaches are the
first people to go when they'relooking at budget cuts, which.
(18:08):
To me is unfortunate.
There's a lot of thingsunfortunate about that, but
mostly because, like yes, youhave a set of professionals.
One, we need to trust educatorsto be professionals.
But professionals, like allprofessionals need to learn and
grow and like collaborate andsupport each and so you have a
guide, you have someone who'shelping you, like coaching,
everyone gets a coach, likeprofessional athletes have a
(18:31):
coach.
Like high school, like look atall these spaces.
We have coach business, verysuccessful business people.
Have a coach like coaches helpus see something.
Kind of what you were talkingabout earlier, right?
See something that you might notsee in yourself.
And it doesn't mean like a coachhas, like, I am like this, you
know, big egghead of knowledge.
(18:51):
It, it just means I have askillset to help grow and
develop where you have theability to already go, but I
might just help you see adifferent way to get there or
find the path to get there.
Mrs (19:02):
Absolutely.
Yes, a hundred percent.
As you were talking, I wrotedown, uh, other.
This is a, a phrase that one ofmy friend uses, uh, Natasha
Kirkland.
She's also a coach in the DMV ARarea, and she uses knowledgeable
other all the time to describeher relationship with teachers.
So I don't think that this meansthat you know everything, but as
(19:23):
you were stating, it's kind oflike.
We can be seeing something fromdifferent perspectives and you
never know what I may say thatcould spark something in you or
vice versa.
when I think back to likewhenever I first started
teaching, I didn't have aknowledgeable of other, I just
had myself.
And then I was building networkswith people virtually trying to
(19:44):
create my network so that Iwould have somebody to bounce
ideas off of.
I would have done anything tohave a coach with me because I
could have
Dr (19:52):
Hmm.
Mrs (19:52):
better.
Dr (19:53):
Right.
Mrs (19:54):
that's the, that's the way I think about it.
But I think sometimes coaches ineducation get a very, very bad
rap.
Um, one of my teachers wastalking to me today.
She was like, you are sodifferent from the coach that I
experienced previously.
She said, you're so hands-on.
Like you're, you, you are soknowledgeable.
Like you just seem sosupportive.
And I'm thinking, you know.
(20:16):
I thought that's what a coachdoes, but obviously I'm sure
that there are coaches that donot do the same things that I
do, and I think unfortunatelybecause have those experience,
we all kind of get lumped intothat same
Dr (20:28):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (20:29):
of a waste of position.
You should just go back to theclassroom.
Dr (20:33):
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mrs (20:35):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (20:35):
Well, you know, I think that could be like anything you
might've been, and this can betrue.
There are people that might be.
Fabulous teachers and they moveinto a coach role.
But that is a differentskillset.
Like coaching and working anddeveloping people is a different
skillset in some ways.
Working with an adult learnerversus a child learner.
(20:58):
So it's similar and different.
Like how do you approach anadult learner different than a
child learner?
Um.
Some people are justuncomfortable with that.
They might feel like thatconversation is confrontational
even though it's not..
So maybe that's not the role forthem.
Just like a really great teachermay become an administrator or,
you know what I mean?
Like there's lots of people thatgrow into positions both inside
(21:23):
and outside of education thatmight not be the best fit.
We've all had a not so great,you know, a doctor with not so
great bedside manner or youknow, whatever it is.
So.
That just to me, speaks to thepower of like humanity and like
stereotyping and like, I've hadthis experience with this one
type of person or this group,and now I think they're all,
(21:47):
they're all this way.
So I think what's that bringingme to is like I want you all to
be open, right?
Open to your coach, open to, youknow, the possibility for a
coach.
And if you're a coach listening.
How can you build your networkwith other coaches to support
how you support others?
(22:07):
Because a coach, even a coach,needs a coach.
I just think everybody needs acoach.
That's just my philosophy.
Like I love a good coach, right?
Like, I need to work onsomething.
Please help me.
Like, you know, a littleaccountability, a little, you
know, thought partner.
I mean, heck, I have a podcast.
I like thought partners.
I like collaborating, like Ilike talking to people.
But I think we all benefit fromthat because that is humanity.
(22:28):
Like we are meant to communicateand talk and, and like have a
community to help us be betterhumans in whatever it is.
We're trying to be better at.
Mrs (22:37):
absolutely.
I agree with that.
I'm thinking about, um.
I'm thinking about theimportance of building
relationships in that coachingand teacher relationship or
that, that, that situation andit's just so important.
One of the things, because I'mat a, a new school, I was at the
school four years ago, but I'mstill calling it new'cause I'm
(22:58):
just coming back.
One of the things that's superimportant for me is for us to
communicate because.
personality is, I'm veryorganized, very, I guess you
consider it type a, I don'tknow.
Maybe some people might evenconsider it OCD, I don't know,
but I'm, I'm very methodicalwith the way that I do things.
I wanna have a plan.
I wanna know what we're going tonext.
(23:19):
I am not as much a cushy, cushy,phily, phily feely, so I'm
always gonna smile.
I'm always gonna ask you howyou're doing, but I'm probably
not gonna spend 15 minutes.
Doing SEL activities.
So it was very important for meto let the teachers that I work
with know who I am, so theywould know what to expect when
working with me.
(23:39):
I don't want you to expectsomething that I'm not, and then
all of a sudden now there's notsuch a a good relationship
between us because I'm notmeeting those expectations.
I wanna let you know straightoff who I am, and it's important
that we communicate whenever.
There's something that, that's,that's wrong, right?
So when teachers are feelingstressed out or they're feeling
(24:01):
overwhelmed, because it seemslike there's a lot of things
being thrown at you.
Communicate and let someone knowversus allowing those things to
kind of build up.
then, because once they buildup, Say something, the way that
you say it.
Everything is just gonna be somuch bigger than it would've
been if you would've justcommunicated from the beginning.
(24:22):
So it's so important for me withthe relationships that I'm
building with teachers, is thatwe are communicating openly.
I have to create that space forthem so that they feel safe.
Tell me what's up.
Dr (24:33):
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
We all need to feel safe.
And so I feel like this is likeyou're supporting your teachers
in your building, but you alsohave your podcast.
So I wanna talk a little bitabout what you do in your
podcast, who it's for, and whatsome of the things you are
sharing with teachers andeducators.
(24:55):
As you know, everyone's comingback into the school year.
I love back to school season.
It's like so exciting.
You know, it's, you know, it'sjust a great thing.
But yes, so.
To me, you're like expandingyour sphere of influence with
your podcast.
So tell us about your podcast.
What can people go find there?
Mrs (25:12):
Sure, sure, sure.
So on the Make Math Happenpodcast.
I drop an episode every week,and right now we are in that
beginning of the year buzz whereI wanna put out, or I am putting
out episodes that will supportteachers as they're getting
started.
Obviously, all over the worldare starting school at different
(25:33):
times, but these episodes arethings that you can consume
implement them in your classroomwith, you know.
Low risk, I guess you can say.
Um, and there's not a lot ofthings that you need to do to
kind of put them in place.
So for example, in August wetalked about getting better
faster.
So if anybody has ever heard ofthat book, even though it
features or it's focused on newteachers, I think all of us can
(25:56):
benefit from it.
Just making sure that we have.
basic foundational things inplace.
Then I went into planning, likewhat does that planning look
like?
Just like we were just speakingabout what does that planning
look like for you to bepersonally ready to get up there
in front of your students?
And then we talked about makingthinking visible with anchoring
charts.
And then I'm gonna talk aboutsome organization.
(26:17):
So the reason why I'm sharingthese things in August is
because I wanna provide teacherswith the things that they need
right now.
As they're welcoming thosestudents back into the
classroom, and that'sessentially what I do with the
podcast.
I want to provide the listenerswith things that make sense, PD
on the go, 30 minutes, sometimes60 if I'm interviewing somebody.
But I try to keep it short whereyou can consume this information
(26:39):
and it is something to, to, toinspire you, to spark some
action within you, for you tounderstand just how much the
moves that you make.
how much of a message they send,because if you show up in all of
your, your awesomeness, you'regonna inspire your neighbor,
your teammate, your grade level,and then hopefully your whole
school will be positivelyimpacted.
Dr (27:01):
Oh, yes.
I am a firm believer in thepower of what I call it, the
snowball.
Mrs (27:07):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (27:09):
Right.
Because if you're willing to trysomething and you're doing
something and it's working, andthen people see your students
are engaged and they're making,you know, the growth, like you
were talking about earlier, youknow.
Whatever that is that they see,then they're like, Hey, how'd
you do that?
What did you do?
And then they're trying it,right?
So I always tell people, don'tbe afraid to be the person that
(27:29):
tries something.
The person that goes and doessomething.
Because at the end of the day,you're still probably gonna
learn from it.
Just like we want our students,right?
I to go try something.
Like it is better to moveforward and it's a little bit
messy.
And you've tried it, and thenyou can reflect and you can
refine, and you can do all thosethings then to wait for
(27:51):
perfection.
And I think of all, like, Idon't wanna stereotype, but I'm
gonna do a small stereotyperight now.
Teachers are so passionate abouttheir students overall that
there is this.
Almost need for perfection thatI sometimes see.
Like they want to make sure itis all right and good and I
(28:16):
always wanna like there is spaceagain for the messy, for the,
the trying it out.
So I dunno, that's kind of justwhat I see.
Like I think of all the hundredsof teachers that I know, they
wanna do right by theirstudents.
And it's.
It can be scary to do somethingnew if you're not sure how it's
(28:40):
gonna work out.
Do you have tips you share forthe teachers that, get them to
try something or how do youYeah.
Mrs (28:48):
I think it's I'm, I actually wrote down as you were
talking, I was like, okay, it'sokay for things to be messy, so
right now in my district, we aretaking on a whole new
curriculum.
We have all of this new stuffthat's going on, right?
So the thing that you have totell yourself is it's not gonna
be perfect.
Dr (29:06):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (29:07):
is new for everybody, it's not possible for it to be
perfect.
So right now I need to just.
Teach myself how to be flexibleso that I can adapt to whatever
situation presents itself.
Now, obviously we're gonna havea plan, so we're gonna plan and
try to be proactive, but thereality is things are gonna show
up and things are gonna happenthat you didn't plan for.
(29:27):
So you just have to be flexiblein those times and just be
willing to make the tweaks asthey need to be made.
So.
And I'm thinking back to RaquelHopkins.
She's another person that I liketo follow.
She talks a lot about capacity,and I think when things are
perfect, are not always, or whatwe, we perceive as perfect.
(29:49):
We're not always or operating atoptimal levels.
I think sometimes it takesthings to be new.
It takes risks, it takes thingsto stretch us for us to really
expand our capacity or build ourcapacity.
So I want everybody that'slistening to be okay with just a
little bit of chaos.
Just a, just, just a hint, justa hint of risk.
(30:12):
Um, because I think from that,we all grow, we all
Dr (30:15):
Yeah.
Mrs (30:15):
learn to adapt and become better.
Dr (30:18):
Oh, absolutely.
Yes.
So I wanna challenge you likefind the one little piece,
right?
Like what is the one pieceyou're willing to try something
new and bring in that little bitof chaos, and then it's like
gonna roll down the hill,?
And then a little somethingelse.
Oh, that's working.
Now I can add a little somethingelse, right?
Um, yes.
Yes.
(30:38):
I love that.
Mrs (30:40):
one thing I also want to share with your listeners is.
As you're moving into this newyear, it's gonna feel like you
need to do so many things atonce, because it's not too
chaotic, right?
We just want one little, onelittle piece of chaotic.
You are gonna feel like there'sso many things that you need to
do at one time.
Okay?
(31:00):
One thing that I want to sharewith you is the power in the
power hour.
Okay?
So taking 60 minutes of yourtime and devoting it to one
thing that you wanna knock offyour to-do list, that is one
thing that you can incorporateto kind of help your
productivity, to help you managesome of the chaos that can be
coming, helping you manage someof the newness.
(31:21):
It's just finding time to reallyjust focus on the one thing.
Okay.
Um, another thing that, that Iwanted to share with your
listeners is that it's okay ifthings aren't perfect.
It's okay that if things aren'tperfect, and just be okay with,
again, being flexible and thenleaning on your teammates
(31:42):
because I think a lot can happenwhen we're working together as a
team and we're putting thoseheads together.
However many people on yourteam, there's something
beautiful that can really comefrom that.
So leaning in the fact, leaningin on the fact that I may not
have all the answers, but if Ikeep moving forward, something
positive is gonna happen fromthat.
So just keep moving forward.
Dr (32:02):
Yep.
Yep.
You gotta keep moving.
Like Dory says, gotta keep, justkeep swimming.
Like, just, just keep swimming.
And, you know, I also thinkthat, that it's really important
right to.
Find time as you're planning andyou're building these systems
for students, like what is yoursystem for yourself?
Mrs (32:23):
Mm-hmm.
Dr (32:24):
you cannot, you know, there's a reason why put your
oxygen mask on first is a thing,right?
Because you cannot help anyoneelse if you are not pouring in
and taking care of yourself.
And I think people try to, youknow, share this narrative that
if you're not.
(32:44):
24 7 with your educator hat on,that somehow you are less, you
know, you know, you're not,you're not all that you can be
as an educator no, I'm sorry.
I'm just gonna say it likethat's crap.
Okay.
Like you are a whole person witha whole life and.
You are Yes.
In a service career and you'rehere'cause it's important to you
(33:07):
and you care about kids andfamilies and all of these
things, that can be true.
And you also take the time totake care of yourself, to pour
into yourself, to pour into yourfamily, to spend time with your
friends.
Like it isn't a, but it is anand
Mrs (33:23):
Hmm.
Two things can be true, right?
Dr (33:26):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (33:27):
So I'm gonna poke the bear just a little bit.
Dr (33:31):
Ooh.
Okay.
Mrs (33:33):
I agree with you.
have to always take care ofourselves first.
One of the things that kind offrustrates me sometimes when I
am on social media or I'm inconversation with educators is
that they will say that they'regoing to go home at a specific
(33:53):
time.
It's the end of my contracthours, or they will talk about
how they're going to do this forme when they haven't really done
anything.
For the students or they haven'treally fulfilled any obligations
at work.
I think sometimes we listen topeople saying, I'm gonna take
(34:15):
care of me.
When your scenarios, yoursituations might be completely
different.
There's one person, probablyyou, Dr.
Dean, who has done so manythings for your students to make
sure that they are taken care ofso that when you go home you
really can unplug.
You really can say, I'm takingthis time for me.
Right?
But then there's another personthat's hearing that they're
(34:36):
relating to you because you'realso an educator, but during the
day, they ain't did nothing.
They have not planned nothing.
They have not taught anything.
But because we have the sameposition, right, because we're
doing the same thing, I am goingto use what you're saying and
relate it to me, and then we getput in the same boat when our
situations are day to day arenot the same.
(34:58):
That's the only, that's the onlything about it.
So I have to be, I've, I'velearned that whenever I'm
talking to educators, I have tobe really careful because I
wanna make sure.
What I am trying to relay isclear that, that they can't take
it and apply it to them.
If it doesn't apply, if itdoesn't apply, we, we gotta
deny.
Dr (35:22):
Yes, I agree with, I don't even know if that's poking the
bear.
'cause I agree with thatwholeheartedly.
Mrs (35:27):
Okay.
Dr (35:27):
Right.
You know, yes, you got, yougotta show up and show out what,
what you're supposed to,
Mrs (35:36):
Yeah, yeah,
Dr (35:37):
And if you're not, then maybe you gotta be doing some of
that other stuff.
You, you gotta get that takencare of, right?
Because ultimately that is yourresponsibility, you
Mrs (35:45):
Yeah.
Dr (35:46):
and it is your responsibility for what happens
and the learning that happensinside your classroom.
That is your responsibility.
That is not the parent'sresponsibility.
That is not a family'sresponsibility.
That is not society's.
You know what I mean?
Like you are responsible for thelearning.
And I don't know if you've readany of Lisa Del's work.
Mrs (36:08):
I'm gonna look it up.
Dr (36:09):
Okay.
She talks in there about howit's really easy to blame
students, families, poverty.
Um, on why students aren't beingsuccessful, because it takes the
blame away from the educator andthe educational system and puts
it outside of it.
And what I'm saying is that isnot where the blame belongs,
(36:32):
right?
Like, look, I'm not gonna get ona whole soapbox about homework
and expecting parents to teachstuff, but I'm just saying like,
that's, that's a subset of thiswe are responsible for the
learning that happens.
That is our job, our job aseducation and teaching students.
So we need to take our jobseriously.
Mrs (36:51):
Uh, I'm about to pass out on this floor because yes, this
is exactly what, this is exactlywhat is what I'm thinking about
when I made the statement.
It is.
Please don't be the that isalways blaming the kids.
It's not always the kids, right?
It's not always the kids.
(37:12):
have been people, there havebeen educators who have taken
students who had several yearsof unfinished learning, and
guess what they did?
They helped those kids besuccessful.
It doesn't matter what you comewith, like you can come with
whatever you come with, but if Ifigure out what you know and
what you understand, I can meetyou there and I can take you
further.
I don't like the whole blamingthe kids thing.
(37:32):
I don't like that.
So you have, you got my, my, my,my, my, my blood pressure is
rising.
Dr.
Dean, I'm hot over here becausethis
Dr (37:41):
Look.
Mrs (37:42):
it.
Dr (37:43):
Look, this is, I, I will be on that soapbox every day about
kids because that is my leastfavorite thing, like, and just
like I said, the majority ofeducators are here because they
wanna do right by kids.
Families are doing their bestand doing right by kids.
And just because their familydoesn't look like what yours did
or what you think it should,doesn't mean it's wrong or bad
(38:06):
so this is where we have tothink about.
What am I in con control?
What am I in control of?
I'm in control with how I'mteaching and educating students
in my classroom.
That is what I'm in control of.
I'm in control of how do I getto know students as individuals.
So that I can make theseimportant scaffolding decisions
to relate to them to build aspace of psychological safety
(38:28):
like all of these, building acommunity in my classroom of
learners where it's safe to takerisks, the little risks that
we're asking you to take, weneed students to feel
comfortable taking them
Mrs (38:40):
Yes,
Dr (38:41):
right.
So how are you building the safespace?
The safe space in yourclassroom?
How are we building, you know,and then it just builds right
within our grade level, withinour school, within our district,
how are we acknowledging thepositive things instead of this
deficit narrative?
(39:01):
Like I will go to, mm, I will goall day talking about we ain't
blaming no kids of like, no.
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (39:07):
Thank you for saying that.
So I wrote down one of the normsthat we have whenever we do
system-wide professionaldevelopment or any type of POC
meeting.
One of them is assume positiveintentions, because I think
sometimes we judge situationsand, and really maybe it's a a,
a bias, I don't, it's a bias.
I don't know.
when you mentioned earlier aboutparents are doing the best they
(39:29):
can, sometimes we make judgment.
And we think that this childprobably doesn't have X, Y, and
Z or at home.
This child may not have thesetypes of supports.
You have to assume positiveintentions.
What parents are doing is notalways to negate the things that
are happening in your classroom.
Like you stated, the parents aredoing the best that they can, or
(39:51):
I'm gonna assume that they'redoing the best that I can.
I'm not gonna waste time.
Complaining about parents,because that's not in my
control.
I can't control how they parent.
But like you said, the thingthat I can control is what
happens in my classroom when Ihave them for those 60 to 90
minutes a day.
And so that's, that's all that Ican, that's all that I can do.
Dr (40:10):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (40:10):
That's all that I can do.
So I will.
Mm-hmm.
Dr (40:13):
I can control how I wanna build relationships with
parents,
Mrs (40:16):
Oh yeah,
Dr (40:17):
How?
How am I reaching out toparents?
Am I only reaching out whensomething bad is going on?
Because what kinda relationshipare you establishing if that's
all you do, right?
Like, oh, I don't wanna hearfrom the school because all
you're gonna do is complainsomething about my kid.
These are things you need toreflect on.
Like what are you doing that maybe setting up the very thing
that you are complaining about?
Mrs (40:39):
What are you doing to set up the thing that you are ooh,
complaining about?
That's something to think about,listeners.
That's really something to to,to let resonate in your spirit.
'cause sometimes, sometimes Ifeel like we get, you know what?
As a matter of fact, this isanother thing I wanna say.
If you are new to a school, oreven if you are existing at a
(41:02):
school, please do not get caughtup in the negative groups
Dr (41:06):
Mm-hmm.
Mrs (41:07):
because I think too often we allow other people's visions
and values and beliefs to comeon us.
We, we take them on.
We shouldn't.
As soon as I get into a groupand they start talking negative,
I'm gonna attempt to redirectthe conversation and make it
more positive.
But if that doesn't happen,guess what I'm doing?
(41:27):
I'm out.
I'm leaving.
And I, and I wish that morepeople would do that because I
think that sometimes that iswhat opens the door.
To stress, frustration, andneeding mental health days.
Because if you're surrounded bypeople and all they're talking
about is the negative thingsgoing on, kids can't do this,
these kids can't do that.
This parent, this, this parentthat you, you, you are probably
(41:51):
gonna need a break from that.
Where's the
Dr (41:53):
Yes,
Mrs (41:53):
at?
Dr (41:54):
yes,
Mrs (41:54):
positive?
Where's the good?
Dr (41:56):
yes.
Mrs (41:56):
please, if you are in a workplace and you hear some
negative, please insert thepositive or remove yourself.
Dr (42:05):
Look, I, that's something I did like, I, I stopped eating
lunch in the teacher's loungebecause I just couldn't be, I
couldn't be surrounded by it.
Right.
And like, and to be honest, myexperience with these same kids
they were talking about was notthe same.
Mrs (42:21):
It is
Dr (42:21):
I,
Mrs (42:21):
same.
Dr (42:22):
I, it's just not.
And they're like, well, well,one, uh.
I'd be approaching them.
Like people, they're people,they're just smaller people.
Like, and this is one thing, Iused to say this to my
pre-service teachers all thetime.
I'm like, I just need you toremember.
That children and kids and youngare just smaller humans.
So the things that you like andenjoy, they do too, right?
(42:45):
Like you all cannot sit still inthis class for an hour and you
all are in your twenties.
So you think a 6-year-old isgonna sit still for 50 minutes?
No.
You know, like these are like,these are just logical things
that just.
Chap, chap my butt a little bit,but, um, like we have
expectations of kids that wedon't, adults can't meet.
(43:07):
So let's stop doing that too.
Okay.
Mrs (43:08):
So on that note, okay, teachers, I'm interested to know
you're in your classroom and youdon't want kids to be on their
cell phones or on otherwebsites, you don't want them to
be distracted, right?
Because you're teaching, youhave something that you wanna
share with them.
What do y'all do that when y'allgo to pd?
Why do y'all do that.
Dr (43:32):
That's a great question.
That's a great question.
Oh my gosh.
So that's something for y'all toponder.
Just, just something to thinkabout.
The things that you do that youask your students not to do, you
know, like, and you be doingthem.
Like again, I'm gonna, we arehumans, right?
So these are things we do.
So I want you to just, justreflect on that.
Just reflect on that.
(43:52):
Oh my gosh.
I, I feel like I could just keeptalking because this has been
just such a wonderfulconversation.
I'm super excited for the thingsthat you guys can think about.
Our little nugget of chaos we'regonna use, and I know we've
already given a few tips in thelast like 10 minutes of this,
but like, what's your one?
(44:12):
Like this is what I want you allto leave here thinking about to
do or go.
Like, what is your tip as worththinking about building a more
equitable learning environment?
Mrs (44:24):
I want teachers to be encouraged.
building an equitableenvironment is challenging.
Teaching is one of the hardestjobs I feel like there is.
It's one of the hardest jobs.
So I want you, as you're goingthroughout this year to be
encouraged.
You're going to encounter speedbumps.
You're gonna encounter hurdleswhen you're trying to create a
(44:47):
more equitable class for your,your students is going to take
time.
It's going to require planning,but I want you to be encouraged
because when you invest time onthe front end, it usually pays
off on the back end.
It usually does.
So if, if there was anythingthat I could leave your
listeners with, it is, there'sgonna be days when it feels
like.
(45:08):
Everybody has their hands outfor something from you there are
numerous deadlines that you'retrying to meet.
I just want you to findsomething good in what has
happened in your day, and justbe encouraged because what
you're doing is needed.
The position that you have isneeded.
The kids that are in your class,they need you.
(45:28):
even though we joke about thethings that teachers do, you
guys are the backbone
Dr (45:33):
Yes,
Mrs (45:33):
of our society, and I appreciate all of you.
So if nobody has told you yettoday, I love you and I
appreciate you.
Stay encouraged.
Dr (45:44):
yes, yes.
I love that.
Teachers are the backbone.
Teachers are the only careerthat make all the other careers.
That is facts.
That is facts.
Well, thank you so much Laneishafor joining me today.
Thank you listeners forlistening to another episode of
the Equity Hour.
I am going to put a link in theshow notes to my episode on Make
Math Happen.
I am going so you can go checkout Follow Her podcast.
(46:07):
Follow this podcast pleasepodcast like share rate with
your friends and remember to useyour voice today.
Thank you so much.
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