Nurturing Curiosity, Equity & Social Change in the Classroom

Episode Transcript
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Tami (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the

(00:03):
Dragonfly Rising Podcast with meyour host, Dr.
Tammy Dean.

Gabriell podcast (00:06):
I am

Tami (00:07):
like beyond excited today for our podcast guest.
Today we have with us GabrielleGator.
She is the

founder and CEO of

Tami (00:17):
innovative learners.
they're an amazing tutoringagency that helps students with
reading, writing, and mathembedded with culturally
relevant instruction.
So we know we love that.
We're excited about that.
And I cannot wait to dig intowhat she does and what has she,
she has done and is doing andall the great things today.

(00:37):
So welcome Gabrielle.

Gabriell (00:39):
Thank you.
It's so nice

be

Gabriell (00:41):
here.
I'm very excited to

about

Gabriell (00:44):
that.

Me

Tami (00:45):
too.
Me too.
Y'all, you know how I

about diverse tags and Gabrielle

Tami (00:49):
is also a

a fan.
So I'm

Tami (00:51):
dig into that a little bit.
Here today as well.
But, um, Gabrielle, I reallywanted to start at, you know,
cause I start every episode withmy guests wanting

hear a little bit

Tami (01:01):
about your equity journey,

because I believe it's a

Tami (01:06):
marathon, right.
Versus a sprint and we all startsomewhere and have this unique
trajectory.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour personal equity work
journey.

Absolutely.

Gabriell (01:18):
And I love how you.
Kind of started off as equitywork because, um, that's an
essentially what it is, but mymother was a teacher, and I
always still to this day thinkit's such a sacred position to
be in front of students and beable to pour into them.

(01:39):
It can change the trajectory oftheir lives, either for the
positive or the negative.
So I take it very seriously.
And I finally got theopportunity to, you know, Pursue
that.
And so I was teaching.
Um, I've lived a lot of places.
I'm originally from Texas, andso I started teaching in
Houston.
I didn't want to tell anybody Iwas a first year teacher, you

(02:00):
know, any stigmas and thingslike that.
But, no lesson plan, no coach.
It

just, they

Gabriell (02:06):
threw me in there.

Um, that's what

Tami (02:08):
they do.

unfortunately.
That's what they do.
You,

Gabriell (02:10):
That's how they do you, but, I loved it.
I

actually

Gabriell (02:14):
loved it because I got the, I had the ability to be as
creative.
And so because I had nobackground,

I,

Gabriell (02:21):
I had, you know, tutored and things like that,
but

I

Gabriell (02:24):
led with me wanting to

the teacher

Gabriell (02:27):
that I never had as a black girl growing up.
In Texas, where all my teacherswere white, and me and my friend
was the only two black girls inthe

class.
Um,

Gabriell (02:36):
so I led with that, and so, I've just consistently
let that lead my decisionmaking.
Um, so, from Houston, I, Ialways want to push things and
do things to the max.

I was like,

Gabriell (02:49):
I want to go to New York, I want to live in Harlem,
I want to work in Harlem, so Ican be a better teacher, and
everybody thought I was stupid.
Crazy.
Um, I don't have any family inNew York.
I just moved out there.

and, uh, yeah, right.
We love a little crazy, youknow, love it.
I love it.

Gabriell (03:07):
Crazy.
My mama was like, don't smile atnobody.
But it was amazing.
I was, I'm so glad.
And also I went to, I taught ata school, Harlem Children's
Zone, where it's a, it was aholistic teaching

method, right?

Gabriell (03:20):
Everybody was black.
The, you know, The owner wasblack.
I had never experienced thiswraparound kind of the way the
charter system works, you

know, so they would provide

Gabriell (03:30):
like health care and things like that.
However, I still founddiscrepancies within the
curriculum because it didn'treflect the students that I was
giving it to.

Um,

Gabriell (03:40):
And my favorite example of this is I was
teaching a child and he's like,Miss, what's a lawn?
You know, because he lives, helives in New York and they
don't, they don't have lawnsthere.
And I explained to him what itwas, but if I wasn't there in
that classroom, he would havegot that whole passage wrong.
And I can imagine that that hashappened in many other
situations in many otherclassrooms.

(04:03):
And as a teacher, there's justno time to teach how you want
to, what you want to, the booksyou want to, what you know your
kids need, especially if youhave a curriculum that's given
to you.
Um, or if you decide to createyour own curriculum, there's no
space for you to actually dothat and be a successful
teacher.
So, um, I kind of led withfrustration into my equity work.

(04:23):
I was like, I can't get it inthis classrooms.
I'm

get

Gabriell (04:25):
it for myself.
You know,

Yeah.

Gabriell (04:27):
And that the, my tutoring agency wasn't supposed
to be this grand business thatit is now.
I just saw an old white man at alibrary tutoring somebody.
I was like, I could

that.
Right?
Yes!

Gabriell (04:39):
and, on Craigslist, you got to make an icon to list
your services.
So I just made a little quicklogo.
So I could be on Craigslist andit

took

Gabriell (04:48):
off from there,

Tami (04:49):
On Craigslist.
Oh, we're going way back.

Gabriell (04:51):
way back.

Tami (04:53):
so I'm curious.
Is this

same

Tami (04:54):
icon you have now?
Like, has it stuck the wholetime or have you innovated it?

Gabriell (04:58):
I kept

it

Gabriell (04:59):
for like two years.
I innovated it for a year andnow we got

Yeah, I love that though, like the trajectory
of growth, right?
Yeah,

Gabriell (05:07):
yeah, yeah.
But the name was the same,

you know, the name has been the

Gabriell (05:10):
same.
Um, so from there it just grewinto this beautiful.
I didn't realize how muchautonomy and agency I was giving
to myself.
And because that I couldcontinue to lead with being the
teacher for black and brownstudents that I know they need
and may not

getting.

Gabriell (05:29):
So now I was able to do that.
For nationwide, reallyinternationally as well.
And so it

grew from

Gabriell (05:37):
there.
And 2022, I made the decision tomove to Chicago so I could
pursue with a business fulltime.
And 2020 happened.
We went a hundred percentvirtual.
So we have a, a team of teacherswho are, they are like, if
you're, I was going to put thisin an Instagram post, but
they're, I feel like if you're aparent and you feel like your

(05:59):
child's favorite teacher leftthe classroom, they're probably
in my program.
Okay,

Tami (06:04):
You should make

make that

Tami (06:05):
post.
Totally, like, come back andfind your kid's

favorite teacher.
They

Gabriell (06:10):
come here, they come here.
Okay.

Tami (06:12):
I love that

though,

Tami (06:14):
because what that means is right, and I think this is
really important because I thinksometimes people think teachers
leave the classroom becausethey're not passionate about the
work, and I actually think a lotof times it's because they're so
passionate about the work andwhat they believe is best for
kids, and there's so many otherpolitical pressures, business

(06:34):
pressures, right?
Coming down on educators, wherethey're not seen as the
professionals able to make all

these

Tami (06:42):
great decisions that you're talking about, like

the right text, like, and especially

Tami (06:46):
right now, because this pendulum is shifting so far
towards like, scriptedcurriculum, and That really just

away

Tami (06:54):
the ability for educators

respond

Tami (06:57):
in the way that kids need, and to really differentiate and
support their needs.
Like, I mean, I'm, I know I'mpreaching the choir here, but
like,

yes.
So

Tami (07:06):
back to, right,

teachers

Tami (07:08):
don't always leave the

classroom because they don't

Tami (07:10):
want to be a teacher.
They're just trying to findother ways

Yeah.
to do what it

Tami (07:15):
is that matters for kids.

Gabriell (07:17):
Exactly.
And be a human, you know,

Yeah.
That's what teachers are, human.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.

Gabriell (07:23):
whenever people ask me, I'm like, I can go to the
bathroom whenever I want now.
So.
You know, when you teach, you,you've got three minutes in
between passing periods, youknow, so it's

like

Gabriell (07:35):
little things like that.
It's so freeing.
And like you said, the way thatpolitically it is, I, they, I
would not have made it, youknow, I don't, I teach middle
school, but my, my mother is acollege professor and she talked
to us like adults, you know, I,I'm not good at sugarcoating
things like this is whathappened.
And I can explain it in a waythey understand, you know.

(07:58):
Um, but yeah, I, I can't, it'snot fair to them, you

know.
Yeah, absolutely.

Tami (08:06):
Absolutely.
I agree.
I agree.
I agree because

I

Tami (08:11):
just feel like there's such a deficit mindset around.
Kids and their ability

and

Tami (08:20):
their agency.
And, you know, when we thinkabout, I'm going to

jump

Tami (08:24):
for just one second,

but you

Tami (08:25):
know, when you think about right.

And diverse

Gabriell (08:27):
tax and they represent all this life.
And like, I feel like peopleoften think that students.
Don't live in the world andexperience the world and have
things happening in their lifeand things, right?
They don't walk around in alittle bubble.
We're not like they they are apart of it and They things are
happening to them and they havefeelings and they have family,

(08:51):
you know, and when we

ignore

Tami (08:54):
all of these things

We're missing out like we're missing

Tami (08:58):
the opportunity

right like I, agree,

Gabriell (09:02):
it teaching, you're not teaching your, you're doing
a monologue, you know, like I'vebeen in classes where they're
like to a job and I taught and Idid a demo lesson and they're
like, the lesson was great, butwhy didn't you read the script?
I was like, I'm sorry.
I thought

wanted

Gabriell (09:17):
me to like, no, like some schools really just want
you to be there and read whatthey say and they train the
children to respond and sitlike,

you

Gabriell (09:25):
know, cross legged and.
I mean, call and response iscool, but also like, you know
what I'm saying?
These, these

do.
That's why I'm laughing rightnow.
I know you all can't see

Tami (09:35):
me, but I'm laughing right now.
Yes.
Because,

well, when it's an

Tami (09:40):
authentic call and response,

right?
Like, Hey, like at church, you

Gabriell (09:44):
know, that's cool.
You know, respond how you wantto respond, but they're like,

or even

Tami (09:50):
students are really excited and engaged in a lesson
and they're like, Oh my God, Dr.
Dean.

That's,

Tami (09:55):
you know, that made me think of this and this, like

the

Tami (09:59):
ability to, yeah.
For students to bring inconnections, like

their,

Tami (10:03):
bring in their funds and knowledge, bring in the
connections.
Like that is how we learn ashumans.
We are not robots.
We are not assembly lines.
And I am concerned how

Gabriell (10:18):
Yes.

how

Tami (10:19):
we're moving in that direction.

This,

Tami (10:22):
this idea of.
You know, fidelity, and talked alittle bit about this with Dr.
Katrina Linder from, UW

UW

Tami (10:29):
Oshkosh, where we were talking about the scripted,
literacy curriculum, and howit's taking away the ability for
people to have culturallyresponsive instruction, and to
be creative.
In their instruction, like allthese things that you were just,
just talking about, I want toempower educators with, in spite

(10:54):
of, right, I want to think of itlike this way, in spite of these
things that are coming at you.
You still have a voice andagency to try to integrate some
of these components and piecesas best you can,

right?
Yes.
I

Tami (11:12):
I mean, this work is important to me because to me
it's advocating for educators,which at the end of the day is
advocating for students.

Yeah,

Gabriell (11:22):
And it's a calling on you and I feel like you're not
moving in your purpose if youare trying to read from a script
and it also when you are able tobe vulnerable with students when
students feel seen in yourclassroom, and that doesn't mean
hip hop in the ABCs.

(11:43):
I'm talking about students feellike authentically able to be

themselves.

Gabriell (11:48):
You cannot teach that child if they don't trust you.
So in order for them to receivewhatever academic instruction
you're going to give to them,you have to, to make them feel
like this is a safe space forthem.
And we use that term a lot, butthat's how you create those
spaces.
And so then they also feel safeto make mistakes.
At the beginning of all of mytutoring sessions with my

(12:10):
children and other teachers aswell, we always start the first
10 minutes.
We're not teaching.
We are checking in withstudents.
We are building that rapport.
We are following up because ifsomething is on that child's
mind, if you don't acknowledgethat, that's the only thing
they're going to be thinkingabout.
If something in the lesson couldtrigger what happened that you
didn't cover because you didn'tuncover it in the first place.

(12:31):
I tell you what, when I used toteach in Harlem.
You know, I, I'll teach inHarlem.
You know what I'm

Tami (12:35):
saying?
We would start,

Gabriell (12:38):
I started every, I started second semester.
I started every class, I wouldturn the lights off and we would
meditate because I even want youto shed anything that happened
in the last class or anythingthat happened in lunch.
So it's kind of like a reset,you know?

So

Gabriell (12:53):
it's, it's very important and necessary because
once you do that, forget thebell, forget your bell ringer.
You only have 45 minutes inorder to make that time.
impactful, you have to rememberthat you are teaching human
beings, you know?

Tami (13:10):
Yes.

They are human

Tami (13:13):
beings.
Absolutely.
And absolutely.
I think that's

important.
And I,

Tami (13:18):
And I

think.

Tami (13:20):
we sometimes miss the boat in this conversation.
the focus on the academic,recognizing that you can't get
deep in the academic, like yousaid, if there's all this other
stuff happening.
And I try to remind adults,children are smaller, younger

(13:41):
humans.
So think about how challengingit is as an

adult to sometimes

Tami (13:50):
be in a space, maybe to go teach for the day.
Maybe something really powerfulis happening in your own
personal life.
The challenge going in to teachand trying to put that in the
back of your mind, that's hard.
That's hard as an adult person.

Yeah.

Tami (14:09):
So how do you think and make consideration for your
young, emerging, learninghumans,

Mm hmm.

Tami (14:18):
right?
The same.
And gosh, isn't meditation greatfor all of us?
Like, doesn't

that help as an adult person to, you know,
like, let me just

Tami (14:28):
reframe.
I love that how you said a freshstart.

Yeah.

Tami (14:33):
Each class is a fresh start.

Each day

Tami (14:36):
is a fresh

start.

Tami (14:37):
I think

that's

Tami (14:38):
really important with engaging in students because
it's really easy to try to holdon

to something that, you know, happened

Tami (14:48):
and,

almost expecting perfection

Tami (14:51):
out of children That our children number one, but number
two, they're human and none ofus are perfection

Gabriell (15:01):
Right, right, right.
And acknowledging that.
And I also want to make surethat people, when we say easy, I
don't want people to think thatI got up there and led the class
in meditation every day.
That's not what happened.
Okay.
It would be the same threelittle YouTube videos on
rotation.
Yeah, I played that.
And then kids get used to thestructure, so they're, they're

(15:23):
accused, you know, and humansare this.
We're the same way when I'm atmy desk.
I mean, it's time to work.
So I just

to preface.

Gabriell (15:31):
I don't want people

think

Gabriell (15:32):
like, Oh, I'm this, you know, holistic.
I would do a guided minute.
I ain't doing all of that, youknow, because sometimes I

need to sit

Gabriell (15:38):
at my desk reset.
Yes.

Tami (15:42):
tip right like build an comfortable system that you can
Use effectively, efficiently,repeatedly, and it builds
familiarity and comfort andcomes back to that safe space
you were talking about andbuilding, like, I can
anticipate.
I know what's.

coming.
Yes.

Tami (16:04):
and because I know what's coming and it's consistent,
maybe I can let some of my wallsdown and let you in a little
bit.
Let's talk some more about your,your tutoring, what you do in
your, your tutoring businessthere, how you

integrate

Tami (16:21):
culturally responsive teaching.
So tell me, tell me all thethings.

Gabriell (16:25):
Yes.
So everything I'm saying, like,that's exactly what we

in

Gabriell (16:29):
all of our sessions, whether I'm teaching them or
not, because it's built into thecurriculum.
so those brain breaks, thosewiggle breaks, the best part,
the most affirming part, andhonestly, the part that I feel
like makes students grow so muchis the fact that it is
culturally relevant.
And so it's reflective of them.

(16:51):
The kids are seeing images ofthemselves.
As far as kindergarten, we goall the way up to high
schoolers.
And it's sparking curiosity.
So in my program, students willgrow at least three rate reading
levels within 12

weeks.

Gabriell (17:06):
Some kids grow five.

And it,

Gabriell (17:09):
It is a transformative program, and I and I know I'm
biased because I'm the owner andfounder, but I'm the one I test
every single kid that comes intothe program.
I do a reading test with them,and then I test them every three
months.
And when I first started doingit.
I was like, okay, very nervous.
But even to this day, I have somuch data that shows that it

(17:33):
still doesn't like that's thebest part of it to see these
kids grow and to

able to

Gabriell (17:37):
read, read books and words that they were not able to
before.
And we're also instilling inthem self confidence.

because.

Gabriell (17:46):
now, I mean, you, once you have established it, I can,
I can just do somethingconfidently at that age that can
catapult you into so manypossibilities.
My first, my first.
Child my first student.
he was

uh, undiagnosed

Gabriell (18:04):
dyslexia.
He was in second grade readingon a kindergarten level, and
he's still in the program tothis day, and he reads better
than

almost

Gabriell (18:14):
everybody in the he's in a different class now,

um,

Gabriell (18:19):
And but it's beautiful because not only

does he

Gabriell (18:21):
have this self confidence, he wants to be an
architect.
He wants to do all of thesethings.
His parents are feeding thatinto him, but also it's he's
he's sharing his light withother kids that he sees are also
struggling just

like he was

Gabriell (18:36):
and verbalizing that there's so much.
emotion that goes into theclassroom.
Kids just say things withoutthem ever being prompted.
And I'm shocked every singletime.
And so I started recording it.
And like this last year, Istarted, like, putting little
snippets of it on my

Instagram.

Tami (18:54):
Yeah.

Gabriell (18:55):
oh, my gosh.
But the most

thing was

Gabriell (18:57):
I had a group of middle schoolers and they were
not You know, they're all kindof reading on

levels

Gabriell (19:02):
they were all male.
And the benefit of my programalso is that I don't group
students by, okay, this is afifth grade class, a fourth
grade class.
I group them by level

and age appropriateness.

Gabriell (19:15):
So Everybody is on

same

Gabriell (19:17):
level.
So there is this no stigma wheresuch and such is reading better
than such and such.
And, you know, kids feelcomfortable to, to, to practice
reading.
And we just got done with thesession and these kids are like,
they're 13 year olds, male, youknow, reading isn't cool.
You know what I'm

saying?
Oh, I do.
I used to teach

Tami (19:36):
middle school.
Mm

We're here.

Gabriell (19:39):
And so we're logging off and he's like, okay, I love
you guys.
And I was like, oh

gosh,

Gabriell (19:46):
that it just because that's how vulnerable and that's
how comfortable we made thisspace.
And

so

Gabriell (19:54):
that also is a part of being culturally responsive.
Right.

Tami (19:58):
hmm.

Gabriell (19:59):
Learning is a collaborative experience, and
we're able to create that inways that the modern classroom
is getting further and furtheraway from.
And once.
You have that child who's ableto feel comfortable.
It's kind of like you're, you'vegot the wound open

Now

Gabriell (20:16):
you can put the medicine in so it can heal, you
know?
So our medicine is our likereading methods and the texts
that we pick out and You know,kids are reading also not just
about things in the past, butthings that are happening right
now in the future, so they also

know that they're

Gabriell (20:33):
an active part of history, and we talk about, you
know, incorporating technologyand so like all of these topics.

so

Gabriell (20:43):
it is engaging for them, and they also it sparks
curiosity and they want to learnmore about it so I love it's
like the ideal classroom, youknow.

Tami (20:53):
Yes.
Yes.
I, I, I appreciate that.
And I, I hope one of thetakeaways people really hear is
that I think sometimes peoplethink culturally relevant needs
to be this like huge thing, butit really starts with building
that community, the safe space.

(21:13):
integrating meaningfulconnections with your students,
right?
Like I always say, be, be waryof like, I just picked the
person at this book becausethere's a Brown person in there

and

Tami (21:25):
it is, you know, do a little work around the
authenticity

around that,

Tami (21:31):
right?
Like it's more than just pickingthe book because there's a Black
or Brown person in the

book or an Asian person in the book or an
indigenous person in the book.
Y'all.
Okay.

Tami (21:41):
you got to go deeper than that.
Right?

Like, thank you.
Like,

Tami (21:45):
I appreciate if you've started there.
Now think about how do youreally go deeper and

ask the meaningful

Tami (21:50):
questions there?
So, oh, I love that.
I love,

no, Thank you.
and

Tami (21:57):
here's, here's what I think is, is super powerful.
When kids get to see themselves,As a reader, because I think,
especially when you get tomiddle school kids, they've
almost been told for so longthat they are not capable of
being a reader.
So I was a middle school teacherand I was working on my,

(22:17):
Master's degree and was doingaction research around
culturally relevant texts.
And I was, you know, my sixthgrade, we were all the way like
10th grade reading levels,second grade

level, like, yeah, yeah.
I get you.

Gabriell (22:32):
I was there.
I get

you a whole gamut, right?

Tami (22:35):
bringing in books, we actually read, like, Bud, Not
Buddy, this was part of my,

um, master's research,

Tami (22:42):
we read Bud, Not Buddy, and just the light from these
students when we, you know, didcommunity work, there was a lot
of scaffolding, but it, like,the power of a text,

People are like, where are more books?

Tami (22:57):
Like

this, Mm hmm.
Mm hmm.

Tami (22:59):
right.
And so when you see these kidstake this on, like I had kids
that I always think of this oneyoung man in particular, he was
always very hard on himself.
His technical reading level whenhe came was like a second grade
reading level, like, right, likehe jumped back up to grade level
by the time he left at the endof the school year.
And that's when the

goblet of fire

Tami (23:20):
came out.
Okay.
So this young man went from notreading to walking around
reading the goblet of fire.

Gabriell (23:28):
Oh my

gosh.
In

Tami (23:29):
his free

time.
Right, right.
This book is this big, like,it's like, oh

Gabriell (23:35):
my gosh.

Tami (23:36):
And just image just always

stays

Tami (23:40):
with me

he's

Tami (23:41):
just like one example of a student and the power of feeling
connection, being told you'recapable,

Yes

Tami (23:51):
being supported with ways to do that.

Gabriell (23:56):
Yes,

Tami (23:57):
I don't even know, I don't even know where this

man is.

Tami (24:02):
I did run into one of those students in his class
years later.
Um,

I

Tami (24:08):
was working with, my undergraduate alma mater, and
they had this Milano program.
So where they would partner,previous first gen college
students with new first genstudents.
And I was there and there wasthis guy who's doing his
internship for his master'sdegree, you

know, and there's just something

Tami (24:27):
about him.
Right.
And it didn't click.
I got home.
I had an email.
He was one of my sixth grade

Oh my gosh.

Tami (24:37):
and he had sent me this email about I just.
Enjoyed being in your class.
Like

oh, I don't, you may

Tami (24:44):
not remember me, but as soon as I saw his name written,
I was like, Oh my God, I knowexactly who you

are.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Gabriell (24:50):
Wow.
Enter his map.
That's amazing.
That's

right?
So amazing.
I just tell that

Tami (24:57):
story just because

it matters.
you just don't even know

Tami (25:03):
in what way it's going to come to fruition.

Gabriell (25:06):
And you have to be okay with sitting with the fact
that you may never know,

but this is true.
You You know, knowing that you

Gabriell (25:12):
planted a seed and you just trust the process and, you
know, hope that no one steps onthat seed after you planted it.
As well.

Um,

Gabriell (25:25):
and something else you said about but not buddy.
I think when we think aboutculturally

teaching,

Gabriell (25:31):
we always focus on the cultural part, but then the
responsive part.
So when you hearing that yourkids were like, we want more
books like that.
Okay, so then that's where werespond.
And it, it really is.
Even like in my business, goingto see what works and then
altering and adjusting andchanging

and being responsive

Gabriell (25:54):
is being okay to sit with change.
And I feel like as teachers weretaught, they give us a
structure, like 15 minutes forthis, then this, and then some
people are married to that andthey feel afraid to deviate, but
being responsive is being okayto, to sit with something and
say, you know what, I'm going tohave to put this aside because

(26:14):
this is something that we haveto address right now.
And I was going to share this inthe beginning but I will we talk
about.
Culturally responsive teaching.
I used to raise all hell aboutteaching these black books in
black history.
I mean, I was going hard.
I taught ELA for a long time,

but my last

Gabriell (26:33):
year teaching in

classroom,

Gabriell (26:34):
they're like, you know what, girl, we're gonna put you
in social studies since you gotso much to say.

And I

Gabriell (26:38):
I was like,

like, whatever, you know, they're
like, okay, fine.
You

Gabriell (26:42):
know, it's still reading.
That's cool with me.
And, one of my, uh, co teachersand friends and collaborative
now, I was reaching out to her.
I'd never taught social studies.
So she was like, we're going todo, I mean, and she goes hard,
you know?
And so she was like, we're goingto do this lesson.
Like the first month we're justdoing introductory, Like rapport

(27:03):
building, culture building,that's what we're

doing different from

Gabriell (27:07):
ELA, you get maybe a week of

that.

Gabriell (27:10):
So I was

okay, so the

Gabriell (27:11):
first lesson we did, we created, was this, gender
identity lesson.
Which is a very, I mean, I wasin New York,

you

Gabriell (27:18):
know, in the South, they would have kicked me out of
school.
And so, teaching differentgender identities, and, and we
made a gender person snowman, sopeople could know like how you
feel in your head, how youidentify.
Your organs, how

were

Gabriell (27:33):
at birth.
So we can give kids languagebecause even the, the black and
brown students that were in ourclass, everything is racist,
racist, racist, racist.

right

Gabriell (27:43):
about classism.
Um, they don't know aboutsocial, you know, so even when
it comes to gender identity,people use gay as a derogatory
word, you

know, just

Gabriell (27:53):
adults and children.
So let's, let's, let's, let'sgive some names to things.
So we understand what we'resaying.
And I was hesitant.
I was

I was like,

Gabriell (28:01):
you know what, let's do it.
Whatever.
And so they're not gonna fireme.
Y'all

need to

Gabriell (28:04):
teachers.
That was like

my mentality.

Gabriell (28:07):
my whole

teaching.
That's spicy.
I

Tami (28:11):
I

like it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So

Gabriell (28:14):
it's a little problematic, but,

Tami (28:15):
Well, welcome to the club, girl.
Welcome to

Gabriell (28:18):
exactly.
So we do this lesson.
I'm teaching them veryresponsive, very respectful.
Um, because they understand thisis serious.
I tell you what I had in thatmoment.
A child raised their hand.
I had a couple of kids cryingbecause they were members in
their family that

that they, they

Gabriell (28:39):
had not been affirmed yet.
I had some students who werestruggling with their identities
had not been affirmed yet.
and, and they came to me inprivate and kind of expressed
that to me.
And, and, and

sixth

Gabriell (28:52):
grader let me know how thankful they were that we were
able to have this conversation

someone

Gabriell (28:56):
in their house identified and, you know,
wouldn't, wouldn't never know.
Also, I had a child raise theirhand.
It was like, well, what happensif you see, you know, just
asking me questions aboutsituations they had experienced.
So, we had to, Move away fromthat and respond and make it
kind of like an open discussion

because

Gabriell (29:18):
these kids have so many questions and so many
curiosities and as sixthgraders, instead of asking
questions a lot of time becauseit's not necessarily built into
the lesson, they'll take thatcuriosity, they'll take that
confusion and they'll turn itinto jokes on each other back
and forth.

If you don't

Gabriell (29:33):
address it about what it's supposed to be,

And

Gabriell (29:37):
I am so glad I did that in the beginning of my
classroom at the beginning ofthe year, because that set the
precedent that know where youcan come to me for so many
things late later on that thatsame child in that same class.
And I took her laptop from herbecause something was wrong with
it, so she gave it to me.

I

Gabriell (29:58):
opened up the laptop and it said, she, in her past
history, how to kill yourselfwas in her search bar.
And

I was

Gabriell (30:09):
like, did you mean to type this?
And she was like, I did.
And so we had a conversation.
I transferred it over

the

Gabriell (30:18):
counselor.
Her mom came in.
We had a whole,

uh,

Gabriell (30:23):
you know, I was

a school

Gabriell (30:25):
that was able to

wrap around her.
Yeah,

Gabriell (30:28):
But had I not had that

have to

Gabriell (30:31):
it in the beginning of the class at the beginning of
the classroom, that childwouldn't have felt comfortable
saying anything to me.
And that's not the first timethat has happened to me.

But it's just because

Gabriell (30:41):
as teachers, we kind of have to let go and be okay to
be responsive to what our humansare needing in that moment.
And it goes back to what youwere saying, if we were dealing
with something strong in ourlife, how effectively would we
perform in whatever career thatwe're doing in that moment.

(31:01):
So we have to remember that and,and focus also on that response
and being okay with change.
You know, I think type A peoplemake great teachers, but being
type A works only in certainsituations when you're in the
classroom dealing with 25

little kids,

Gabriell (31:19):
big kids, you know.

I,

Tami (31:22):
I do.
I do.
Wow.
That's

a powerful,

Tami (31:27):
powerful story.
I really appreciate you sharingthat with us because those are
just moments that you can't getback.
If you think of it that way,right?
And I know, like, for myself,I've never regretted spending
time getting to know

my students,

Tami (31:48):
and I know that can feel really challenging in the
current classroom environmentwith all of the pressures and
timelines.
And deadlines and talk offidelity.
It hurts my heart that we'veforgotten that this isn't about

(32:12):
a test.
And I know that they exist.
Right.
And I know we're navigating inthis unfortunate space around

the importance

Tami (32:22):
of them, but what happens there doesn't.
matter if we're

totally

Tami (32:28):
disengaging from the humans and the human element of
questioning and curiosity and,and critical thinking.
And you said something about thekids asking questions and being
curious.
And

and it made me think

Tami (32:48):
that I almost, I think that these current initiatives
are killing the curiosity in ourstudents, because they come to
us

naturally curious.

Tami (33:03):
Humans are naturally

curious

Tami (33:05):
beings, right?
I mean, y'all have been around atoddler.
I

why?
Why?
Why?

Tami (33:13):
Why?
Or maybe I could try this, or

I could do this, you know?
Yeah.

Tami (33:17):
And kids invent things.
They're

maybe I

Tami (33:19):
could make a da, da, da,

Yeah.
Or I could think of

Tami (33:23):
this and that, or right.

And we need space.
We need space for that.
Mm

Gabriell (33:31):
Mm hmm.

Mm

Gabriell (33:32):
Mm hmm.

Tami (33:34):
need space.

Gabriell (33:35):
The biggest thing, man, you're so right about that
curiosity piece.
And often as

teachers,

Gabriell (33:42):
we ask leading questions, you

know,

Tami (33:47):
Yes.

Gabriell (33:48):
And so

Tami (33:49):
Guess

what's in my mind, kids.
Exactly.

Gabriell (33:52):
And then, you know, when the kid, they kind of like
answering off the wall, youknow, it's shut down, so we have

make

Gabriell (34:00):
sure we're actually, we're actually asking genuinely
real questions.

And

Gabriell (34:07):
the best teaching advice I received was sitting in
the silence.

So when

Gabriell (34:13):
you ask a question, and oh my gosh, you just imagine
in your imaginary

brain,

Gabriell (34:19):
a thousand hands go up, you know, or the same kid
answers, raises their hand, butbeing okay with silence.
So kids can think, because ifthey're there, you don't even
give them that space to do thecritical thinking process.
And then you ask a leadingquestion, the kids are going to

(34:40):
answer in a way that matchesyour lead.
And so, They're just telling youwhat you want to hear, the right
answer, just because that iswhat gets affirmed.
Curiosity does not get affirmed.

Rabbit,

Gabriell (34:53):
rabbit trails don't get affirmed.
Constant questioning does notget affirmed.
What gets praised

is

Gabriell (34:59):
when you answer the question that the teacher wants.
Tell her what you want to hear,you know.

Tami (35:06):
And you do it quickly,

right?
Oh,

Tami (35:08):
that's so powerful.
Be comfortable in the silence.
This

a

Tami (35:11):
good, this is a good action tip from today, right?
Reflect on your wait time, thetype of question you're asking
and your wait time.
I was a professor and I workedwith pre service teachers
getting them ready to beeducators and this is something
we talked about a lot because,you know, they ask a question
and it's literally like 0.

(35:31):
5 seconds or one second andthey're like, no one knows.
Okay, well, what

about

Tami (35:35):
this?

Or

Tami (35:36):
we talked about this yesterday, right?
They jump in.
Y'all pause, just like, justreflect on that a little bit and
just take a few more seconds orjust keep waiting because here's
the thing, someone's going tofill the silence.
If you allow enough space in thesilence, somebody's going to

(35:59):
fill it.

Gabriell (36:01):
And

if it's a

Tami (36:02):
question for clarifying.

Gabriell (36:04):
that's what

I was about

Gabriell (36:04):
to say.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Gabriell (36:08):
So adjust for that.
Wait till they tell you theydon't understand what you mean.
Instead of you assuming, andthen that person was thinking,
thinking, thinking, be like,okay, well, I missed it.
You know?
So,

Yes,

Tami (36:22):
Oh my gosh.
Yes.
I love it.

Oh my gosh.
Right on the same page.
like Yes.
Yes.
You there too.
so, exactly.

Tami (36:29):
so I know we talked about a little bit about how you
choose texts and all thesethings.
I think this kind of connectswith curiosity too, right?
Because when I

myself

Tami (36:39):
now, I'm more curious.
So talk to me a little bitabout, choosing diverse texts,
using diverse texts, you know,all the things,

Gabriell (36:48):
Yes.
I, that is my favorite thing.
I know this is a podcast,

people

Gabriell (36:53):
can't see my background.
I know.
But I've got this bookshelfwith, with two lines of books.
I used to have bookshelves fullof books just because I am so
grateful for the time that we

live in,

Gabriell (37:06):
where more people are, more people who look and
experience life in differentways are telling their story.

I,

Gabriell (37:14):
and I would just.
I wouldn't buy them up.
I'd tell my principal, you needto buy this and we need to buy
this.
But it's so important.
And also as teachers, we don'tnecessarily have time to read
all the time, but something soyou can kind of know what
diverse texts are coming out.
I've used to watch a lot ofbooktube, like YouTubers talking

(37:35):
about diverse YA books that cameout.
Just so I can be in the know.

And

Gabriell (37:42):
that's important because it's bigger than you
purchasing a book and putting iton the shelf.
You gotta be able to introducethose books to kids when they're
shelving through, Oh, you wouldlike this one, you know?
It's almost like I talk to myparents to get them

like

Gabriell (37:58):
reading.
It's like how Netflix gets us towatch shows.

It

Gabriell (38:02):
has

be

Gabriell (38:02):
customizable.
Everybody likes something that'sspecially made for them, and you
can't recommend a book to achild if you just bought it
because the cover looked nice,you know?

Yes.

Gabriell (38:14):
So there is some work that you have to do on the back
end to put that story in thehand of the student

they

Gabriell (38:21):
can feel like it will match what they're going
through.
And I

you

Gabriell (38:25):
doing a good job of this, like putting like book
recommendations and on your,I've, I've seen you

So,

Gabriell (38:31):
So very important.
It's very important.

And

Gabriell (38:36):
with that, being okay with it, they're not going to
always love everything theyread, but, and it doesn't have
to be like this drillingsituation, like, Oh, what, what
happened in the book?
Did you even read the book?
Just, you know what I

just

Gabriell (38:52):
like, let them.

Tami (38:53):
I do.
Sometimes

books a DNR and

Tami (38:56):
that's okay.
Like didn't, oh, DNF did

not mean that's right Yeah, Not

Tami (39:00):
our, not DNR did not

Gabriell (39:01):
knew

what you were saying.
That's okay.
I know what you're saying.
Thank you.
Exactly.
Yeah.

Tami (39:06):
And that's okay.
Like, but why?
Okay.
Like,

that's a great question.

Tami (39:10):
What was it about this book

that didn't

Tami (39:12):
hold your interest?

Yeah, that's totally okay.

Gabriell (39:15):
Exactly.
And that's exactly when, whenNetflix recommends something and
we down it, they're like, okay,let me adjust and give you more
of this stuff you'd like.
And we got to do the same thingwith our kids.
So yes.
Diverse books that that that ismy jam and you asked the second
part of the question, but I gotso excited about talking about
books.

You know what?
I actually don't

Tami (39:36):
even remember what the second part of

the question is.

Gabriell (39:40):
you said curiosity and that's something else.
I made this blog post.
It was a while back

and

Gabriell (39:45):
I shouldn't have titled it this, but it was
called, having children readinappropriate books.
And by inappropriate, I meanbooks that are not for kids,

And

Gabriell (39:55):
I'm not talking about like romance novels and stuff
like that.
The best way to explain this is,when my, me and my, my mother
would take us to the library, meand my little brother, and that
was the only place where shecould say, y'all can get
whatever you want, as much asyou want, because everything was
free.
And so, I was old, I'm olderthan my brother, and so I was
allowed to go to the adultlibrary.

that downstairs to

Gabriell (40:16):
look at the adult books and he was so upset that
he was forced to be with thebaby books.
And so, my mom finally let himgo down there and, and when I'm
talking

about.

Gabriell (40:27):
Inappropriate books, I mean books where children don't
know what the word means, and

I'm, when I'm thinking about nonfiction books,

Gabriell (40:35):
they have a lot of pictures, a lot of diagraphs,
and, you know,

yeah,

Gabriell (40:41):
taking it away from them because they're like, Oh,
you're not going to

it.
This is

Gabriell (40:44):
kind of more your speed, you know,

Um, yes.

Gabriell (40:49):
So when she finally let him down there, he kept
gravitating towards the oceanbooks and the pictures with
fish.
And, you know, he was likeseven, you know, but

long story

Gabriell (40:59):
short, now he's a marine biologist

because

Gabriell (41:03):
We kept letting him explore and be curious.
So when I talk about the type oftext that we read in my tutoring
sessions, I'm not just talkingabout pictures with black kids.

I'm talking about.

Gabriell (41:15):
when I say culturally responsive, like we're reading
what they're doing on NASAtoday.
Did you know that

alligators

Gabriell (41:22):
can still be frozen underwater and be alive at the
same time?
Let's talk about lowering thebasketball hoop for men.
That's true.
And in women and NBA and WNBA,like, that's what I'm talking
about.
I pull articles and we got allthis AI and people scared of AI.
Let me tell you something.
I put, I copied the article Iput in AI and they take it to a

(41:42):
sixth grade reading level.
So we can still use thatarticle, but

Tami (41:46):
Mm

change it

Gabriell (41:47):
to the language that they need.

So,

Gabriell (41:50):
things like that, that you don't expect kids to get
curiosity from it.
I mean, like, Just exposure willspark that and that desire to
learn and it's something that I,I now have the space to practice
as an adult.
I experiment with the, I startedsewing, you know, I started
growing, I started making bread,like you just have to, you have

(42:12):
to practice it as well, youknow.
So,

I do.

Tami (42:16):
The idea of exposure is so important.

Gabriell (42:18):
Mm-Hmm.

And

Tami (42:21):
the fact that you're, culturally responsive

relevant texts

Tami (42:25):
don't necessarily mean race.
That is not what it means.

Gabriell (42:28):
yeah, that's,

us.
There you go.

Gabriell (42:30):
Yes.

It does not

Tami (42:32):
mean race.
It means all kinds of And Ithink this notion about allowing

kids to

Tami (42:41):
to explore text is important, right?
Because and I would, I would saythis a lot I taught a lot of
literacy methods courses, right?
There's a purpose and an intentfor a reading level, and a text
level is a teaching

tool

Tami (42:59):
to help support their learning.
Do you as an adult look at abook and go, is this my reading

level?
You

Tami (43:07):
absolutely do not.
You get the book because it'sinteresting to you and you may
or may not understand all thethings that are in it, but you
gather from it, whatever it wasthat interests you.
So there's being mindful of thepurpose of engaging with
particular texts for aparticular purpose.

purposes.
Right?
Like,

Tami (43:31):
my heart used to break when I would take my kids, I'd

them

Tami (43:34):
to like Barnes and Noble or something, and

like, you can pick out

Tami (43:36):
one book, right?
And we're in the kids section,and then I would overhear,
another parent, and I, I believethey totally mean well,

right?

Tami (43:45):
You can't

that

Tami (43:46):
book, it's not in your reading level, and

so, yeah.

Tami (43:50):
I want us to be mindful as educators, what message are we
sharing about that when it comesto this idea around curiosity,
around texts, and when you'resaying let them explore your
story of your brother is agreat, great example, right?
Maybe he wouldn't have been amarine biologist

if he hadn't.

Tami (44:08):
That, you know, your mom hadn't allowed him the
opportunity to

engage

Tami (44:13):
with those things.
So, if you have book boxes inyour classroom, allow them to
just put some books in therethat they're interested in.

yes

Gabriell (44:21):
Ex.
I

love that.

Gabriell (44:23):
I love that.
Mm-Hmm.

they're still

Tami (44:25):
reading, y'all.
And actually, they get topractice some more complex
processes and tools withengaging with text and problem
solving independently, which iswhat the ultimate goal is.

Gabriell (44:39):
Ex.
Exactly.
Exactly.

exactly,

Gabriell (44:42):
Is there?
Yes.

because then they're

Tami (44:45):
going to ask a question.
They might be like, you know, Idon't, I don't really know.
What does,

Yeah.

Tami (44:50):
what does this mean?

Yeah.
And that's learning.
Wow.

Gabriell (44:56):
It's a

Tami (44:56):
a crazy concept.

Right.
Because that's what you do!

Tami (45:00):
Like, I mean, I always think about, like, think about
what you do as

adult

Tami (45:03):
when you are looking at something you don't understand,
you go and ask questions, or

you maybe

Tami (45:07):
you go Google it now, right?
It's okay if

go

Tami (45:10):
Google something that they want to learn

for, what does this

Tami (45:13):
word mean?
Right?
And, you know, always looking itup in the dictionary isn't
always very helpful, becausesometimes it just says the word,

so.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's like 2024.

Gabriell (45:24):
You know, kids need videos.
They need background, you know,um, that is so I love that.
And especially if

interested

Gabriell (45:32):
in it, you're going to want to know more about it.
And also on the flip side, Ihave parents come to me and
they're like, well, they

just

Gabriell (45:38):
read comic books.
I'm I want them to read realbooks, you know?
Okay.
I get, I don't know.

think

Gabriell (45:45):
we just have this image of our avid reader just
reading this big old chunk of

you know,

Gabriell (45:50):
you know?

we

Tami (45:51):
have a hierarchy of what we think is a, is a good text or
a not good text.
I absolutely agree with that.
Comic books and graphic novelsare really complex texts, y'all.

Gabriell (46:01):
Yes,

They,

Tami (46:03):
they have to, they have to infer so much information.

That

Tami (46:09):
isn't written

because they're interpreting

Tami (46:12):
the

multimodal ness

Tami (46:14):
between the text and the images.
So, it's actually a very complextext.

Thank you.

Tami (46:20):
it, so I just needed

say

Tami (46:21):
that because that drives me crazy.
Listening to books is also aform of reading books.

Gabriell (46:27):
That's how I read.

Oh my god! I love, I love

Tami (46:30):
me a, a, a, I love listening

to a book.
Especially when you have the

Tami (46:35):
right narrators.
I now

have favorites.
Readers

Tami (46:37):
that I like to listen to.

I know I'm like,

Tami (46:39):
Ooh, this is my favorite.
She does such a great

job.

Gabriell (46:42):
love that.
I love that.

So you can have

Tami (46:45):
multiple experiences, right?
I tend to listen more to fictionthan nonfiction.
Sometimes I'll listen to anonfiction book.
But I tend to like to write inmy nonfiction books.
But these are all things I'velearned about myself because I
was afforded the opportunity toengage with a variety of texts.

Gabriell (47:02):
Mm-Hmm.

Tami (47:03):
And I hope and want this for our students, right?
Engaging with these texts.
And I'm going to say anunpopular opinion.

Not

Tami (47:15):
everyone is going to love to read.

Just,

Tami (47:19):
just like not everyone loves math or history or, Or
doing

dishes or any

Tami (47:25):
of those things, right?
We, we have varying, varyingdegrees of love for certain
concepts.

But what I

Tami (47:31):
do think is important that everyone has the opportunity to
find and be exposed to textsthat they find interesting

Gabriell (47:40):
Mm hmm.
Mm

and engaging.
Exactly.

Gabriell (47:44):
And, and know how to seek information, whatever that
looks like and whatever modelthat is for them.
That is so important.
That is so important.
And when you do have those likecomic books, it's a good way to
create somebody who's an avid,they want to avidly consume

(48:04):
something.
And instead of like looking atthe phone that you are giving,
the comic books, they finishlike that, you know, so it like
be lean into that.
And now there are some comicbooks that are turning, they
turn into novels.

Um mm-Hmm.
that same child I was

Gabriell (48:24):
you about, my first child who was reading second
grader, reading on akindergarten

level.
Mm-Hmm.
He's doing great now.
He started, he,

Gabriell (48:31):
one of the books he started getting into was Dragon
Wings and

it's his comic book.

Gabriell (48:35):
Oh yeah, yeah.
And they also have a novelversion.
And they've got some sort ofcartoon, so, you know, when you
can just marry all these, thismedia, like, I get so excited
when books that I've read becomenovels, because now it feels
like I'm You know, a part ofthis fandom, so you can create
that also for your child indifferent ways, too.

(48:58):
So, you know, give, give themthat comic book, y'all.
Let them read the comic book.

Let them read

Tami (49:04):
the comic book.
Let them read the graphic novel.

Gabriell (49:06):
Yes,

Absolutely.

Tami (49:08):
Absolutely.
I love that.
I feel like I could just keeptalking to

Gabriell (49:12):
I know.

Forever.
And I love it.
I love it.

Tami (49:16):
Y'all, I will drop in the show notes, just some folks to
follow if you, Because it'simportant.
You don't, you don't need toknow all the texts that exist.
There are some great people thatput out diverse text lists, new
book

lists,

Tami (49:31):
I will drop some of those

um,

Tami (49:33):
in the show notes for you to go follow these folks.

I promote them also on my

Tami (49:37):
Instagram page because I think it's so important

to

Tami (49:41):
just know what's out there and explore and

You

Tami (49:44):
can't know all the things.
So how do you use your resourcesto support your ultimate
outcomes for what you want tobring to your students?
So exactly like Gabrielle said,you can't read all the books.

There's

Tami (49:54):
no shame in that use your resources use your tools, but As
we get ready to kind of

Gabriell (50:00):
Mm

bring him

Tami (50:01):
bow on this today, I always love my guests to share a
pro tip, with our, listeners.
Just a tip for educators who arewanting to, or in the midst of
engaging with this work.

Gabriell (50:16):
Oh, I would say, Lean into

learning

Gabriell (50:22):
from the classroom that

going to

Gabriell (50:25):
be in, I would say,

Don't necessarily

Gabriell (50:29):
lead with this hard outcome of, I want to go hard
and be this, you know, grandactivists and all of this lead
with empathy.
And if you can lead with thatand teach into that and lean
into that.
Um, also giving yourself graceand not expecting.

(50:51):
Like you said, you don't have toknow all of the things, but
leading with empathy andlearning from the students like
that is the number one thing.
Okay.
The second part of that iskeeping in mind that you are
teaching and raising studentswith the goal in mind of how
they can be agents of change intheir communities.
Okay.

(51:11):
So almost every lesson

lead

Gabriell (51:14):
and like, be like, okay, how can you apply this in
the future?
So what I would do is and I wasteaching social studies, but if
you teach, reading and you'regetting lessons from books,
math, you have to make itapplicable to the real world.
So I would even put my kidsnames in their futures.
So I would say, When Rain wantsto become, when Rain is a lawyer

(51:37):
and she is working on X, Y, andZ, she'll have to remember this,
or for example, if I, evensomething as small as
vocabulary, I put my kids namesin vocabulary that is affirming
their futures.

So

Tami (51:52):
Yes.

Gabriell (51:58):
the goal.
And if

lead

Gabriell (51:59):
with that, and that's what we talk about passion and
best intentions for ourstudents,

take

Gabriell (52:05):
yourself out of the center.
You know,

yes, this is not.

Gabriell (52:11):
an audience for you.
And this is something I had totell myself, you know, because I
wanted to be a teacher I nevergot.
So I'm thinking about teachingto baby Gabrielle.
Yeah.
And it's like, No, get yourselfout of

Yes.

Gabriell (52:25):
be that teacher, but look at who you're teaching and
be okay to share

the mic.

Gabriell (52:31):
And if you have a problem doing that, change the
desk around like that audiencesituation we got going.
Hey, I used to change

desk up

Gabriell (52:41):
all the time, you know,

just because

Gabriell (52:44):
it decentralized

decentralized your

Gabriell (52:46):
classroom.
Okay, maybe that's what the word

That's good.
You know, and

Gabriell (52:52):
often our classrooms reflect the

capitalism that is oppressing us

Gabriell (52:58):
as teachers.
Don't get me started, girl.
I got a lot to

to say.

Tami (53:02):
Whoo.
You know, I mean, that's a whole

word right there.
yes,

Tami (53:08):
they are.
They are

Decentralize.
Decentralize.

Tami (53:12):
Because that brings the community piece that you've been
talking about.
Yep.
Absolutely.
It's not about you.
I've said that in previousepisodes.
I'm like, it's not about you.
It feels like it is becauseit's, it's quote unquote your,
you know, your classroom, butit's actually all of your
classroom.
It's a community and you are amember of that community.

(53:32):
Of the community.
You're the leader of thecommunity,

but

Tami (53:39):
the best leader empowers their team and your students are
your

Gabriell (53:43):
Yeah, yeah.
And they start to lead.

Tami (53:47):
Yes! Yes, they do.

they start to lead.
They will take it

Tami (53:52):
on when you give them the space to do it.

Gabriell (53:54):
yeah.
How can you see if it's workingif you don't give them a chance
to shine?

you know,

Gabriell (54:00):
I mean, really, y'all, we got to rethink our checks for
understanding.
Okay, we got, let's get creativewith that.
We got all this AI, chat GPT.
Okay, it's bigger than write anessay, answer the worksheet,
answer these questions.
I know it's easy, but now wehave something that can do that

(54:22):
level one work.
Let's get into the deeper work.
Okay.

Tami (54:27):
I will

will push back on that a little bit.

Tami (54:28):
Is it really understanding if you can just fill in the

blank?

Tami (54:35):
That, that feels like a whole nother

episode.
It is.

Gabriell (54:38):
it

It is.
It is.

Gabriell (54:41):
it

Okay, so we're gonna end,

Tami (54:43):
we're gonna end on that note,

y'all.
Remember,

Tami (54:47):
power your learners.
Build the community forengagement, critical thinking,
all the things.
Gabrielle, it has been such apleasure and I'm, I'm going to
put a link also to Gabrielle'swebsite in the show notes,
innovative learners, check herout to support your students,
your kids.
if you're in CPS, she's anapproved

provider.

Gabriell (55:08):
appreciate that girl,

Yes, I am.
That's amazing for my Illinois,

Tami (55:13):
Friends and colleagues and share this out.
So it has been such a pleasureand thank you all for listening
into the dragonfly risingpodcast.
If you are interested in, someone on one and learning more
about this, set up a freeconsultation with me, reach out
to Gabrielle, get some tutoringfor your kids.
And remember y'all use yourvoice for good today.

(55:37):
So thank you so much.

Gabriell (55:38):
thank you

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