June 16, 2026 • 36 mins
What does it take to lead a modern high school while paving the way for the next generation of educators? In this episode of The Hope Table, host Erin Brinker sits down with Yvette Roman, the dynamic principal of Bloomington High School in Southern California. Roman shares insights into how Bloomington High—a PBIS Platinum and AVID National Demonstration School—is fostering an inclusive, safe, and academically rigorous environment for its 1,700 students through specialized pathways like business, engineering, and criminal justice (COPS).
The conversation dives deep into the evolving landscape of education, highlighting how the school responsibly integrates AI tools like Google Gemini and Notebook LM while maintaining a core focus on critical thinking and face-to-face collaboration. Drawing from her own upcoming doctoral dissertation, Roman also discusses the critical role of the "AVID Tutor Experience" in shaping professional identity and strengthening the teacher retention pipeline. Tune in for an inspiring look at applied learning, educational evolution, and what it truly means to serve with purpose.
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Erin Brinker (00:04):
You're listening to The Hope Table. I'm Erin
Brinker. I'm so excited to besitting down with the incredible
principal of Bloomington HighSchool here in Southern
California, Yvette Roman, soonto be Dr. Yvette Roman. Yvette,
thank you for joining me today.
Yvette Roman (00:21):
Thank you for having me.
Erin Brinker (00:23):
So, so tell me about Bloomington High School.
Tell me about yourself and kindof the work that you're doing
there.
Yvette Roman (00:30):
Yeah, so I am a product of Colton Joint Unified
School District. This is myfifth year as the principal here
at Bloomington High School. It'sjust been an amazing opportunity
to lead wonderful school site.
We have about 1700 students hereat Bloomington High School. We
also have three pathways (00:45):
we have the COPS pathway, the
business pathway, and theengineering pathway. We're also
an avid national demonstrationschool, which is very important
to me as well. And we also offerthe early college program, and
many of our students also arecoming in from our feeder
elementary and middle schoolswith the dual immersion program,
(01:05):
and so a lot of our students arealso earning the syllabi
literacy, so it's an overallamazing opportunity for our
students, and we are a PBSplatinum school, so this is our
second year earning the platinumstatus, so we're super excited
about that. Thank you very much.
So that's a little bit aboutBloomington High School, and you
know, as I mentioned, I'm aproduct of CJ USD, so I've loved
(01:27):
working for Colton, and have hada 21 year career here with
Colton in various positions.
Erin Brinker (01:32):
So, what is PBIS?
Yvette Roman (01:35):
So, PBIS is Positive Behavior Intervention
Systems, and so it's our tieredintervention systems to support
our students. We do a lot ofwork in our Tier One, which is
for all students, just to createa welcoming environment for all
our students. Share ourexpectations with them. Our
expectations here at BloomingtonHigh School is be responsible,
(01:55):
have respect, and stay safe. Andso we really do a great job of
sharing that with our students,not only in our expectations
assemblies throughout the schoolyear, but also in the
classrooms, and then justreminding them about those
expectations, rewarding them forall their positive behaviors and
things like that. In fact, thismorning I was out delivering
donuts to all the students whohad the top attendance for
(02:17):
period one and period two, andso outstanding, got rewarded.
Yeah, so wonderful, just things,just recognizing students for
doing the right thing andcreating a positive school
culture, so that students feelrespected, they feel safe, and
they feel welcomed in our schoolsite.
Erin Brinker (02:31):
So, so talk to me about some of your career
pathways. I know that you have aCOPS pathway, an engineering
pathway, a, you do Vapa, whichis Visual and Performing Arts.
You have AP, that's that isoffered there, NJ ROTC, that's
Navy Junior ROTC, all kinds ofthings going on. Talk about your
(02:54):
COPS pathway.
Yvette Roman (02:55):
Yeah, so our COPS pathway is a wonderful
opportunity for our students tolearn more about some of the
service industries, as far ascops, being a police officer,
military, or being in the FBI,things like that. So, we have a
criminal investigation classthat the students take. They
also can take a forensic scienceclass. They can also take you in
(03:18):
the law, and then the studentsin all pathways have an
opportunity to also go into thecommunity through various field
trips and just make thoseconnections with our community
members as well, so recently ourCops Pathway participated in the
UN the Law Day, and they had anopportunity to go down to the
courthouse and just see justdifferent things and connect
with the real life experiencesthat are within the profession.
Erin Brinker (03:41):
Wow, how fun for them. And do they have a model?
You not a model, you end, but awhat do they call it for the
model modeling the court? Oh mygosh, what do they call it? You
do
Yvette Roman (03:55):
have, yeah, we have, we have a like, they do
have mock trial here, firsttrial,
Erin Brinker (04:02):
that's what I was thinking of.
Yvette Roman (04:03):
Yeah, but that's a club for us here at our school,
and that's not necessarily tiedto the pathway, so you don't
have to be in the pathway to bein mock trial. But we do have a
simulation of a courtroom and alab, basically it's a lab that
allows for students to go inthere and simulate a courtroom,
but also they simulate crimescenes, so that's the wonderful
(04:25):
thing about those classes, is itgives kids an opportunity to
kind of have their investigationskills honed in on throughout
their time here at BloomingtonHigh School.
Erin Brinker (04:34):
Well, and that's got to be really fun. You think
about young people love escaperooms, they love these puzzle
games, they love, you know allof that, and that's what all
that's what forensics is, right?
I mean, it's it's down to thelittle tiny detail things that
you might miss, and they'rethey're looking for it, and
they're analyzing it, andthey're using science, and that
sounds like a lot of fun.
Yvette Roman (04:52):
Oh, yeah, it's great. It's wonderful when I
conduct some walkthroughs intothe classrooms, I get to see the
students having these hands-onengaging activities. And they're
just building on each other'sknowledge, really trying to
think critically about, youknow, who is the possible
suspect. So, sometimes they havethese kits where they pull out
all the evidence and they startanalyzing it and making
determinations on, you know, thebest way to go about solving the
(05:15):
crime. And so it's a wonderfulopportunity for them. And then
we have a lot of other pathwayexperiences and just amazing
teachers on our campus, andgreat students. So, it's great
that they get to build theseconnections with one another
too.
Erin Brinker (05:28):
So, I'm very interested in the Avid program.
Avid's been around for a longtime. I think people have an
idea that you, it takes kids whoare who wouldn't necessarily go
to college, and kind of getsthem prepared, so they, you know
that could you know maybe firstgen kids gets them prepared to
at least go through the processof applying to schools and
getting, doing their FAFSA andall of that, but it's more than
(05:49):
that, right? So, tell me aboutAVID.
Yvette Roman (05:51):
Oh yeah, AVID is something that's just really
dear to my heart. I was an AVIDstudent, and you know, AVID
actually started in for theInland Empire within CJ USD at
Colton High School with VivianShah. She was one of the first
teachers to offer that program,and I was within the first few
graduating classes for her. Andso it was a wonderful
(06:12):
experience. Avid has been aroundfor about 45 years now. I
currently was doing mydissertation on AVID tutor
experiences, so I have a strongbackground and knowledge about
AVID, the AVID program, but it'sa great opportunity for our
students to have the supportsystems that they need to have
access to second, you know, tocollege and career readiness
(06:34):
skills. So, since we are an AVIDnational demonstration school,
that means that all of ourteachers receive training and
Avid strategies, and theyimplement those Avid strategies
in their classroom, and it'sconsidered WICR, which is
Writing and Career CollaborationOrganization, and reading, and
so we really focus on, we havebeen focusing this year on
(06:55):
writing, so in our walk-throughdata, we're seeing a lot of our
students, our teachers usingwriting in the classroom, and
then, of course, the inquiry andcollaboration is key, right?
That's part of the Common Corestandards. We want our students
to be engaged, we want them tobe prepared for the careers that
are out there, we want them tobe able to work collegially with
their teammates and things likethat, and that's one of the
(07:16):
things that we're doing toprepare our students.
Erin Brinker (07:20):
So, WICAR is I've not heard that acronym before. I
love it, and I, and you know,I'm, I'm.. if you've never, if
you've never had anybody in yourfamily go to college, there's
nobody to help you prepare toremember that there's deadlines
coming up, to remember, or toknow what the process is. You
say FAFSA, what's that? I go tofill it out. Well, I need
information for my parents.
Well, maybe they don'tunderstand what it is, or maybe
(07:42):
they don't want to give up theirpersonal information for this
application. Or I don't knowwhat the deadlines are for
applying for schools. I don'tknow what the deadlines are.
What with the schedule is fortaking the SAT or the ACT, and
AVID kind of helps you throughall of that. Yeah, that's
Yvette Roman (08:01):
an amazing thing about the AVID program. I know,
for myself, being the first onein my family to go to college,
it was so pivotal for me,because I remember there was a
point in which my dad said, ifyou want to go to college, you
have to figure it out yourself,and you know, being a little
ninth grader, 10th grader, whohad these dreams of going on to
school. I was so thankful tohave the AVID program, because
(08:25):
really, my coordinator, she madesure that I took the right
classes, that I took, you know,four years of Spanish, four
years of math, four years ofscience and English, and
everything that I needed, youknow, more than what was needed,
but it gave me all of theopportunities to be admitted,
have you know, a guaranteedadmission, even, and even some
(08:45):
opportunities to take collegelevel classes at different
times, so they really justhelped, you know, not only guide
me but advocate for me to havethese opportunities and
experiences, so the AVID programreally does that for our
students, it just gives themthese deadlines, these
timelines, but also the skillsthat they need to be successful.
I remember when I was a freshmanin college, looking around in
(09:07):
some of my lecture classes, allthe students were taking notes
and just writing down everysingle thing that the professor
was saying, and I rememberthinking that's really not
important to write down, becauseI had four years of training in
the AVID program of takingcopious notes and really looking
and listening for the intonationthat my professor was using, the
(09:28):
repetition that they were using,writing things down on the
board, and so I felt veryconfident in the skills that I
had learned as a student and ascholar to be able to thrive at
the at the UC level, so yeah,great for our students too to
have those opportunities,
Erin Brinker (09:47):
indeed. And I'm thinking, you know, so AI is a
great tool. I use AI everysingle day. It helps me, I may I
have to say something out loudor write it down to kind of
think it through, and AI. Reallyhelps me with that. It's a great
tool, however, if I, if I, ifI.. so I'm sitting here taking
(10:07):
written notes as we're having aconversation, because it helps
me think things through, and ithelps me remember, and you know,
go back to it if I have to ask,you know, a different kind of
question. But, but I've had lotsof training, you know, I've got
master's degrees, I have lots oftraining on how to do that, kids
don't, and then there's AIthat'll do a lot of that work
for them, or so they think, andwhat they're missing is the is
(10:28):
is making those mental and youknow neurological connections
that teach you how to do thiswork, and it's not only going to
school and being successful, butyou'll need it in whatever job
you have, whatever you decide todo, you'll need that ability, so
that's got to be a new anddifferent kind of challenge for
schools, and you know, I thinkAbbott specifically, because
(10:49):
you're already teaching thoseskills. But how has that
impacted your school?
Yvette Roman (10:55):
Yeah, so I mean, we are very much focused on the
focus note taking, right, thatis what is a key component for
Avid, and our students. We'vehad opportunities in which
they've transitioned to digitalnote taking as well. So we know
that sometimes students,especially because they have the
one to one Chromebooks, thatmight be the most efficient way
(11:17):
for them to take notes. A lot oftimes, too, most of the teachers
are using Google Classroom now,so they're able to just take
notes directly onto PowerPointpresentations and slides, so
note taking has changed andevolved in that way, that it's
not, it's no longer just theCornell notes, where you know
you're writing on a hard pieceof paper, but you can make
(11:38):
comments on slides, you can addhighlights, you can interact
with it, and that's the key,right? For retention is
interacting and allowing forthem to be able to recall that
information later is isimportant. So that interaction
is really what the key is,whether you're writing it down,
which we know writing is a greatskill as well, but they can also
(12:00):
do that digitally, and so AI hasallowed for some of those
things, as far as theinvolvement technology, and
then, of course, we are seeing,you know, the use of like chat
GTP and all of those differentAI components, and we are
encouraging our - we have a anAI policy in our district, so we
are encouraging our staff toutilize AI to help them with
(12:25):
enhancing their lessons, sowhether it's taking a current
lesson that they have now andadding it into an AI generator
to try and include opportunitiesfor additional structured
engagement, right, becausethat's what we want to see in
the classroom, or making surethat it's aligned to the skill
sets that are needed to meet thestandard. Those are great ways
(12:46):
for our staff to utilize AI. Andthen we're also, I know, at the
university level, what Iexperienced is that the
professors are now giving you ascale of whether or not you can
use AI in certain activities,and it'll say no AI used some AI
used, or like, and the specificways in which you can use it
(13:06):
appropriately, and so we want toprovide those opportunities for
our students too to learn how touse it responsibly, to know
whether or not the informationthey're attaining is credible,
and we also want our teachers touse that information to help
make their lives easier, becausethe job of the teacher nowadays
is so robust and complex, right?
It's, it really is an art, andit continues to evolve every
(13:29):
day,
Erin Brinker (13:32):
you know. It's think about Chat GPT, and I
actually stopped using Chat GPTbecause it hallucinates a lot,
because it just kind of goes outto the internet and grabs things
that may or may not be true, andI'm sure that will get better as
it, as you know, it continues towork, but you know, if I were,
if I were writing a paper andI'm pulling down data, and we've
(13:53):
seen this, like they've heardstories about people like
attorneys writing briefs wherethey cite cases that don't
exist, you know, and, and youknow, if a presumably they've
had training where they wouldlearn how not to do that, but
you know, our, our students, ouryoung people don't have that
frame of reference. Are youfinding that, I mean, as you're
(14:14):
kind of navigating these brandnew waters, are you finding that
students are relying too heavilyon AI? Are they learning how to
balance that. Are they beingchallenged beyond what the AI
using the Socratic method oranother method? Are they being
challenged in the classroom tothink beyond the AI? What does
that look like?
Yvette Roman (14:33):
Yeah, so we are a Google district, so we use
Gemini, which is great becauseit does allow for some
parameters there, where it's notnecessarily pulling everything
from every source. We also havebeen exploring notebook LM in
our district, which means thatyou're able to bring in specific
sources and references. So we'reworking through that process of
(14:57):
supporting our students throughthat. One of the things. Things
that you know, with all thetechnology and all of that, is
that our teachers are able touse something called Go
Guardian, which allows them tomonitor what the students are
accessing on their Chromebooks,and so you know the teachers put
on these parameters on what theycan do in an assignment, but we
(15:19):
are really focusing on, youknow, being an avid school and
using that Socratic seminar,those skill sets and
philosophical chairs, and juststructured engagement and
opportunities for collaboration,that person to person, you know,
those interactions. So, yes,students can use technology for
different activities, but we'rereally wanting them to learn how
(15:42):
to engage with one another,that's something that is key to
their success in their future,is knowing how to hold a
conversation, knowing how tobuild on each other's thinking,
and to work collaboratively. Sowe're really focusing on a lot
of that, and at our school.
Erin Brinker (15:56):
Excellent, I love that. I mean, it's, it's the
wild wild west, right? I mean,AI is really new at this level,
and are really new in general,and we have to interact with it,
so you can't, you can't ignoreit and pretend it doesn't exist
and be working in a completelyanalog world, it's there, and
so, How do you, how do you teachpeople how to think around it,
because you know, with, with AIbeing able to do so much kind of
(16:19):
the work, the grinding work inthe workplace. I'm not even
thinking about schools. Thechallenge then becomes for the
humans is, how do you, how doyou visualize the workflow? How
do you think about the end, whatyou're trying to achieve, and
then think backwards of what,how you want the AI, just how
you want that structured. Youknow, it becomes really how to
(16:41):
think becomes more importantthan what you're thinking about,
right? You know, yeah. And
Yvette Roman (16:47):
that's why a lot of times you see it in the
writing process, right? So maybethe students will create their
drafts, and then because we haveother programs that we also work
with that we contract with,where it helps students to gain
a better skill set on theirwriting abilities, things like
that, and so just differentplatforms. I won't go into all
(17:09):
those now, just because of, youknow, because of time and time
as well, but those are somethings that the teachers are
able to use to help the studentsunderstand, like what is
appropriate. Can you use thosethose platforms to help refine
your writing? Right, so it's notnecessarily inventing your
writing, but it's helping you tobecome a better writer through
(17:30):
helping you choose precisewording and being concise or
well organized, things likethat, looking at the flow of
your writing, and so those aregreat ways and that you can use
the tools to enhance your skillset.
Erin Brinker (17:43):
Excellent, I love that. Now you are almost
finished with a PhD, right?
Yeah, my
Yvette Roman (17:50):
coursework - it's a doctorate, it's an EDD, and
from San Diego State. And so I'mreally proud of that. And yes, I
just am waiting to defend somegoing back and forth with my
chair right now, and that's theprocess for those of you who are
not familiar with it.
Erin Brinker (18:05):
That's, that's wonderful. So, you did your,
your tell us about yourdissertation. I know that
you're, you're doing, you, theresearch that you've done has
been in the AVID program, soeager to hear about what that's
all about.
Yvette Roman (18:17):
Yeah, so I was an AVID tutor prior to becoming a
teacher, and I really felt likethat experience solidified my
understanding of what it meantto be a teacher. It helped me to
know different classroommanagement techniques,
instructional strategies, andjust I felt like I didn't feel
(18:38):
like a first year teacher. Andwhen I got hired, there was
about 17 of us, and there wassignificant turnover. There was
only a few handful of us thatmade it after the first year,
and so my dissertation is myproblem practices on teacher
retention, and we know thatteachers are leaving the field
at high rates in the state ofCalifornia and across the
(18:58):
country, and so thisdissertation really focused on
the experience that AVI tutorshave and how that shapes their
professional identity, and sothe data shows that when someone
has a strong professionalidentity they are able to remain
in the profession despite allthe challenges and they are more
(19:19):
prepared for the role and sothis avid tutor experience
really does help teachers,prospective teachers gain a
deeper understanding of what'sexpected in the role, and
learning the soft skills of howto navigate and form
relationships with students andcolleagues, and so it's, it's a
(19:39):
great, it was a great researchstudy, and I loved it all the
way through to the end, and I'mexcited to see how the data is
used to support the teacherpipeline.
Erin Brinker (19:50):
What surprised you in your research?
Yvette Roman (19:53):
Oh, wow, you're preparing me for my defense. So,
I love this. Some things thatsurprised me was I. So some
things that surprised me werethat I did, there's a lot of
data on mentoring, and so I didthink about how the assigned
teacher that's that works withthe Avid tutors serves as a
mentor in an unofficialcapacity, and data shows that
(20:15):
when you have mentors in as aneducator, you feel connected,
you feel like you have supportsand things like that, and it
does help you help withretention, but what I was
surprised by was the fact thatother avid tutors serve as
mentors, so the veteran tutorsserve as mentors to the new
(20:37):
tutors, and that was somethingthat was very prevalent in the
data, and so a lot of themmentioned feeling like they knew
they weren't by themselves inthis experience, that they had
one another, and they alsochecked in with each other and
saying, "Hey, did you rememberto register for your classes
today, just small little things,or hey, do we want to form a
study group for this, thesetests, and whatever it might be,
(21:00):
whatever finals they're comingup on, because obviously the
Avid tutors are attending localuniversities, so a lot of them
attend the same university, soit created this secondary safety
net for them. So that wasawesome.
Erin Brinker (21:15):
Yeah, I'm sure it was an Avid tutors are like
they're undergraduates, that's1819, 20 years old, 2122 in
that, in that range, and so youknow it's one thing for an old
person, and when you're 1825, orup, or 27 or up is old, so it's
one thing for an old person tobe telling you what to do, but
these avid tutor, these, thesepeople who are more seasoned
(21:37):
tutors mentoring you is a whole,just enough to be, you really
believe them, you think thatthey're going to understand and
feel, know what you've beenthrough. It is a whole different
ball of wax, slightly older thana peer, but still young enough
to be able to relate, and that'sthat's a great model.
Yvette Roman (21:54):
Yeah, that's what a lot of the data also showed,
that that because the tutors arecoming in, you know, straight
out of graduating high school,they really learned about
building their professionalboundaries and confidence as
well, so that was great to seein the data, and I think that
really a lot of them spoke tothe fact that that helped them
(22:14):
to transition more easily intothe classroom and having a
stronger foundation forclassroom management, so there's
a lot of great things that cameout of the data, way too much to
be able to put into onedissertation, but it's exciting,
and I hope that you know there'svery few studies out there on
the Avid tutor experience. Mostof the studies relate to the
Avid students experience, andyou know it providing access for
(22:38):
students to have to removebarriers to the higher
education, so I'm excited. Ihope that more individuals study
about the Avitude or experienceto try and create opportunities
to make build awareness andmaybe change some policy around
giving them credit forconducting this, you know, and
(22:58):
serving in this role, becausethey're in the classroom three
days a week, multiple years.
Most of the AVI tutors had fouryears of experience or more, and
so in that process they'rereally getting hands-on learning
experiences and opportunitiesthat even supersede what you
would normally get in thestudent teaching experience, but
currently they're not receivingcredit for that, and so I think
(23:19):
it would be a great way tochange some of the policy around
that. Yeah,
Erin Brinker (23:26):
you know, so you see there's on social media, on
TikTok, or whatever, you seevideos of people, oh, I'm done
being a teacher, I.. it's, youknow, it's not what I expected.
At the discipline is so hard,and very often it's people who
they graduate, they go throughstudent teaching, which there's
varying qualities of studentteaching, depending on the
(23:46):
quality of the student teacherand the support from the school,
and there's so many things, but,but largely, what it seems like
is that the people, these peoplehave been really ill-equipped,
they don't know what they'regetting into, and you know, kids
are kids, they're going to testtheir boundaries, and they're
going to, you know, they comefrom various home experiences,
some good, some not, withvarious structures, some good,
(24:08):
some not, and, and learning howto manage all of that is really
tough, and a lot of teachers, Ithink 50% of of new teachers,
and maybe that number has goneup, but at one point it was 50%
of new teachers quit within thefirst five years, and it sounds
like that this kind of avidtutor experience is is really
prepping young people who wantto become teachers on how to do
(24:31):
that, and what that, you know,what the classroom actually
looks like, classroom managementactually looks like, and that
gives them the confidence to beable to manage their classrooms
better, because I really wonderhow much of this is a real
confidence game for being ableto handle classroom discipline.
Is that fair?
Yvette Roman (24:50):
Yeah, that's that's so true. You know, the
data for teacher attrition ratesis high, we're less than 50%
because they've done a lot ofwork. Up over the last few years
with some legislation to helpprepare teachers and also to
create opportunities to bring inteachers into the profession as
(25:12):
well, but yes, that hands-onclassroom experience is really
pivotal in shaping educators'understanding and knowing, like,
what to expect, and I think alot of times the student teacher
experience is not long enough.
In some ways, it does give thema foundation, but if they
haven't served as aninstructional aide or an avid
tutor, or been on a classroom ina classroom other than their own
(25:35):
experience as students, theyhave this mindset of what they
expect, right, a classroom tolook like, and education, just
like every field, is alwaysevolving and changing. The
nuances are changing, obviously.
We just talked about thetechnology, the evolution of
technology in the classroom, andso what happens in the classroom
when you're a student versuswhat happens in the classroom
(25:57):
when you become a teacher couldbe completely different
dynamics, right. And every dayand every period, kids come in
with different mindsets anddifferent challenges, different
needs, and the same student thatcame in thriving yesterday is
now facing different challenges,because whatever happened over
the course of the last 24 hours,they're coming in with something
different, and so as a teacher,you really have to be able to
(26:18):
adjust, you have to be able toknow your students, you have to
be able to anticipate and planaccordingly, so that they can
have access to the content, soyou're really serving as lots of
different roles, wearing lots ofdifferent hats in that one hour
period, or all day period, ifyou're an elementary teacher,
right? So this experience reallydoes prepare them,
Erin Brinker (26:36):
you know. I think people wrongly believe, oh, I
was in high school, and that'swhen they usually remember. I
was in high school. How hard canit be? Like, you know, I, we had
these lessons, I could do that.
They don't realize how much timeit takes on the back end to
prepare the lessons, and, andreally think through what
conclusion do I want my studentsto be able to reach for
(26:56):
themselves, and how do I, how doI get them there, so that they
understand, and they, you know,they can own and recall. I
actually just did. I do boardretreats for for nonprofits, and
the preparation took longer thanthe retreat itself, because it's
thinking back. Okay, where,where do they want to be? All
right, how do I get there? Whatquestions do I need to ask? What
(27:17):
activities are going to get themthere? Because when I leave,
they have to own it, they haveto understand it, they have to,
you know, it has to resonatewith them, and teachers do that
every single day.
Yvette Roman (27:30):
Yeah, they're doing that every moment to
moment, right? They're alwaysplanning and thinking about, you
know, how can they make thisexperience come to life for the
students, what connections canthey make to help it resonate
with the students, and whatassets do the students bring
into the classroom each day, sothat they can actually make it
relevant to them?
Erin Brinker (27:50):
Right, that's incredible. So, so you're about
to go on your school year, isalmost done, graduation is, I
think, next week, so it's rightaround the corner, right? You
know, what are your.. what areyour hopes for the next school
year? What do you.. what do youhave a theme for the school
year? How do you approach eachschool year?
Yvette Roman (28:10):
Yeah, so every year we do a kickoff, and
recently we started adistrict-wide kickoff, and so
we're excited to see what thesuperintendent has planned for
our district-wide kickoff. It'sa great opportunity for all of
our staff to come together,start the year off as a team,
and this last year was servingwith purpose one district, and
(28:31):
that's great. That was a great,that was a great theme for us
this last year, and so everyyear we come in with a new theme
for our staff and our Bruins, webuild off of the theme that the
district launches, so that wecan tie that together, so that
we're aligned with what thedistrict has for us. But just
knowing we use our CIPSA and ourWASC goals to drive what our
(28:54):
vision is for our school and ourstudents. So we recently had our
WASC accreditation last year,and so we're in our next year.
Congratulations, too. Thank youvery much. We got a six year
revalidation, which is great.
Yes, for those of you who knowthe WASP world, it's wonderful
because it just really doesdrive what you want to see on
your campus, and these areoutside visitors that are
(29:16):
experts in the field, teachers,principals, administrators,
different people that are comingin to view your school and their
outside perspective, right, andthey're seeing like what are the
needs for your students. Sowe're really going to be
focusing next year, we're goingto continue to focus on the
writing, because we know that'simportant for our students, and
our scores show that we need tofocus on that as well. But we're
(29:37):
really going to focus onformative assessment next school
year for our students, and soformative assessment is
real-time adjusting instructionbased on student understanding,
and so you know it's notnecessarily that quiz or the
exit ticket, it could be usingwhiteboards, thumbs up, thumbs
down, asking students to sharewith one another. The teacher
(29:59):
using proximity to listen to thediscussions, and then
determining, hey, the kids areunderstanding this, or they're
not understanding this, and thenwhat do I do now to help them
better understand this beforethey're leaving my classroom for
the day.
Erin Brinker (30:12):
I love that, and I know that there was a culture
for a while of teaching to thetest. Period. And you know, No
child left behind, which wasfrom what, 20 years ago, the
Bush administration brought inNo Child Left Behind, with, I
think, good intentions of kindof standardizing what kids were
learning, and then assessingbased on those standards, but
(30:34):
unfortunately it created anenvironment where they were
teaching to the test, teachingto the test, teaching to the
test, realizing that that wasn'tnecessarily the best way, things
swung back with Common Core,sort of thinking, teaching,
trying to teach how to thinkrather than what to think, and
moving in that direction. Whatis that? What is the overall
trend now? And are you, are youseeing good things ahead?
Yvette Roman (30:58):
Well, yeah, that's that's a great question, so I
can only speak to my school,because you know I'm conducting
walkthroughs in my own campus,and but I would hope that that's
very similar. We do get out toother campuses within CJ USD as
principals, secondary teams, wego to each other's campuses and
kind of see what's happening atdifferent grade levels to just
(31:20):
try to align and have somevertical articulation as well,
and so, yeah, we're seeing a lotof just the academic engagement,
right, the collaboration that'sreally what we want to see, as I
mentioned before, and so we'reseeing that that higher level
critical thinking students usingprimary sources and secondary
(31:42):
sources to really gain anunderstanding of the content, we
see that a lot in the socialsciences classes and in the
English classes as well. In themath classes, we're using
something called BTC BuildingThinkin Classrooms, where
students are working incollaborative groups and they're
rotating on whiteboards or indifferent groups and sharing
(32:03):
their knowledge with each other,solving the problems, and then
writing about the steps thatthey took to solve the problems,
and explaining that to theirpeers, so it really is a focus
on inquiry, right, it's a focuson working with one another, and
and just building your knowledgebased on sometimes what you're
(32:23):
learning from your peers, right,because as you mentioned
earlier, you sometimes you learnfrom your peers more than you
would from, you know, hearingsomeone speak for 45 minutes,
and we know that students'attention spans, it's just
unrealistic to be speaking for45 minutes, they need to engage
with the material, they need tohave an opportunity to connect
it to their lives, that it'srelevant, and that they can see
(32:46):
themselves using that in thefuture as well.
Erin Brinker (32:48):
I think that applied learning is, is
especially at that age, asopposed to, you know, university
students, that applied learningreally grounds that in
something, you know, often forme, learning the learning math,
when I was in high school, wayback when, I often felt like I
was swinging from a trapeze inthe dark. I didn't know where I
was going. I learned theconcept, okay, memorize it, but
(33:11):
what does it mean? What is itgoing to do for me? For me, that
didn't work. And I got tocollege and had to take what I
very lovingly called boneheadmath, because my, my math skills
weren't, weren't up to par, andI was in the class, and it was
a, an aerospace engineer who wasteaching this algebra one class,
and all of a sudden it clicked,because I could see what I was
(33:34):
using it, what it could be usedfor, and what its purpose was,
and then I realized we used, wedo algebra one all the time, if
you go to the grocery store witha budget, you're using algebra
one, but I didn't know that backthen. And so I love that you all
are doing giving time for kidsto connect what they're learning
to what they do in their lives,or what they could do in their
lives. And really, you know, I'mthinking about science,
(33:57):
specifically math and science.
Science is about discovery,right? It's about curiosity.
It's about, you know, look whatwe can do, and isn't it amazing,
as opposed to just memorize thisthing. Now, memorizing becomes
important, and I understandthere's a, there's a role for
it, but it's, it's, it'sconnecting the curiosities that
that ignites the mind. Now, I'mnot a, I'm not a, I'm not an
(34:19):
education expert at all, butthis is, you know, from my
outsiders of observation, Ithink it's fantastic.
Yvette Roman (34:28):
Yeah, it's really great to see the students.
That's one, just like mosteducators, right? That's the
wonderful moments when you getto see the students, those aha
moments that they say, you know,you get to see them really gain
an understanding, and they startto feel proud about their
ability to explain theirknowledge to their peers, right.
And when you see that in theclassrooms, it's just a
(34:51):
wonderful moment as an educator.
That's a lot of the reason whypeople get into education, is
that intrinsic enjoyment of theclassroom, right, and. So you
see the students being able tobuild on each other's thinking
and expand, right, and say, orare you, and articulate why they
believe it's a different way,right, and sometimes there's
multiple ways that you canapproach a problem, and there's
(35:13):
not always one right answer formany things, and so it's a great
opportunity for kids to havethat, that experience in their
classroom, and it is a testamentto our teachers who are planning
and thinking about how they'remaking this applicable for the
students and relevant.
Erin Brinker (35:32):
Well, Yvette Ramon, we are out of time. This
has been fabulous. Thank you forthe work that you do leading
Bloomington High School, andcongratulations on getting your
dissertation submitted, and goodluck on your defense. Thank you
so much for joining me today.
Yvette Roman (35:46):
Thank you so much for having me. I hope you have a
wonderful rest of the day. Andwe are enrolling right now in
Bruin country, so I want toshout that out and make sure
everybody knows, like, we'retaking enrollments right now for
next school year, so we hopethat you'll join our Bruin
family.
Erin Brinker (35:58):
Outstanding. Do can you give the website.
Yvette Roman (36:02):
Yeah, so you're going to go to www.cj usd.net
and backslash bhs.
Erin Brinker (36:09):
Awesome, that's cj usd.net backslash b as in
Bloomington Hs as in high schoolbhs.
Yvette Roman (36:17):
Yes, thank you so
Erin Brinker (36:18):
much. Well, that is all we have time for today.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me. I'm Erin
Brinker. You've been listeningto The Hope Table. Have a great
week, everyone.
Unknown (36:28):
Bye.
You're listening to The Hope Table. I'm Erin
Brinker. I'm so excited to besitting down with the incredible
principal of Bloomington HighSchool here in Southern
California, Yvette Roman, soonto be Dr. Yvette Roman. Yvette,
thank you for joining me today.
Yvette Roman (00:21):
Thank you for having me.
Erin Brinker (00:23):
So, so tell me about Bloomington High School.
Tell me about yourself and kindof the work that you're doing
there.
Yvette Roman (00:30):
Yeah, so I am a product of Colton Joint Unified
School District. This is myfifth year as the principal here
at Bloomington High School. It'sjust been an amazing opportunity
to lead wonderful school site.
We have about 1700 students hereat Bloomington High School. We
also have three pathways (00:45):
we have the COPS pathway, the
business pathway, and theengineering pathway. We're also
an avid national demonstrationschool, which is very important
to me as well. And we also offerthe early college program, and
many of our students also arecoming in from our feeder
elementary and middle schoolswith the dual immersion program,
(01:05):
and so a lot of our students arealso earning the syllabi
literacy, so it's an overallamazing opportunity for our
students, and we are a PBSplatinum school, so this is our
second year earning the platinumstatus, so we're super excited
about that. Thank you very much.
So that's a little bit aboutBloomington High School, and you
know, as I mentioned, I'm aproduct of CJ USD, so I've loved
(01:27):
working for Colton, and have hada 21 year career here with
Colton in various positions.
Erin Brinker (01:32):
So, what is PBIS?
Yvette Roman (01:35):
So, PBIS is Positive Behavior Intervention
Systems, and so it's our tieredintervention systems to support
our students. We do a lot ofwork in our Tier One, which is
for all students, just to createa welcoming environment for all
our students. Share ourexpectations with them. Our
expectations here at BloomingtonHigh School is be responsible,
(01:55):
have respect, and stay safe. Andso we really do a great job of
sharing that with our students,not only in our expectations
assemblies throughout the schoolyear, but also in the
classrooms, and then justreminding them about those
expectations, rewarding them forall their positive behaviors and
things like that. In fact, thismorning I was out delivering
donuts to all the students whohad the top attendance for
(02:17):
period one and period two, andso outstanding, got rewarded.
Yeah, so wonderful, just things,just recognizing students for
doing the right thing andcreating a positive school
culture, so that students feelrespected, they feel safe, and
they feel welcomed in our schoolsite.
Erin Brinker (02:31):
So, so talk to me about some of your career
pathways. I know that you have aCOPS pathway, an engineering
pathway, a, you do Vapa, whichis Visual and Performing Arts.
You have AP, that's that isoffered there, NJ ROTC, that's
Navy Junior ROTC, all kinds ofthings going on. Talk about your
(02:54):
COPS pathway.
Yvette Roman (02:55):
Yeah, so our COPS pathway is a wonderful
opportunity for our students tolearn more about some of the
service industries, as far ascops, being a police officer,
military, or being in the FBI,things like that. So, we have a
criminal investigation classthat the students take. They
also can take a forensic scienceclass. They can also take you in
(03:18):
the law, and then the studentsin all pathways have an
opportunity to also go into thecommunity through various field
trips and just make thoseconnections with our community
members as well, so recently ourCops Pathway participated in the
UN the Law Day, and they had anopportunity to go down to the
courthouse and just see justdifferent things and connect
with the real life experiencesthat are within the profession.
Erin Brinker (03:41):
Wow, how fun for them. And do they have a model?
You not a model, you end, but awhat do they call it for the
model modeling the court? Oh mygosh, what do they call it? You
do
Yvette Roman (03:55):
have, yeah, we have, we have a like, they do
have mock trial here, firsttrial,
Erin Brinker (04:02):
that's what I was thinking of.
Yvette Roman (04:03):
Yeah, but that's a club for us here at our school,
and that's not necessarily tiedto the pathway, so you don't
have to be in the pathway to bein mock trial. But we do have a
simulation of a courtroom and alab, basically it's a lab that
allows for students to go inthere and simulate a courtroom,
but also they simulate crimescenes, so that's the wonderful
(04:25):
thing about those classes, is itgives kids an opportunity to
kind of have their investigationskills honed in on throughout
their time here at BloomingtonHigh School.
Erin Brinker (04:34):
Well, and that's got to be really fun. You think
about young people love escaperooms, they love these puzzle
games, they love, you know allof that, and that's what all
that's what forensics is, right?
I mean, it's it's down to thelittle tiny detail things that
you might miss, and they'rethey're looking for it, and
they're analyzing it, andthey're using science, and that
sounds like a lot of fun.
Yvette Roman (04:52):
Oh, yeah, it's great. It's wonderful when I
conduct some walkthroughs intothe classrooms, I get to see the
students having these hands-onengaging activities. And they're
just building on each other'sknowledge, really trying to
think critically about, youknow, who is the possible
suspect. So, sometimes they havethese kits where they pull out
all the evidence and they startanalyzing it and making
determinations on, you know, thebest way to go about solving the
(05:15):
crime. And so it's a wonderfulopportunity for them. And then
we have a lot of other pathwayexperiences and just amazing
teachers on our campus, andgreat students. So, it's great
that they get to build theseconnections with one another
too.
Erin Brinker (05:28):
So, I'm very interested in the Avid program.
Avid's been around for a longtime. I think people have an
idea that you, it takes kids whoare who wouldn't necessarily go
to college, and kind of getsthem prepared, so they, you know
that could you know maybe firstgen kids gets them prepared to
at least go through the processof applying to schools and
getting, doing their FAFSA andall of that, but it's more than
(05:49):
that, right? So, tell me aboutAVID.
Yvette Roman (05:51):
Oh yeah, AVID is something that's just really
dear to my heart. I was an AVIDstudent, and you know, AVID
actually started in for theInland Empire within CJ USD at
Colton High School with VivianShah. She was one of the first
teachers to offer that program,and I was within the first few
graduating classes for her. Andso it was a wonderful
(06:12):
experience. Avid has been aroundfor about 45 years now. I
currently was doing mydissertation on AVID tutor
experiences, so I have a strongbackground and knowledge about
AVID, the AVID program, but it'sa great opportunity for our
students to have the supportsystems that they need to have
access to second, you know, tocollege and career readiness
(06:34):
skills. So, since we are an AVIDnational demonstration school,
that means that all of ourteachers receive training and
Avid strategies, and theyimplement those Avid strategies
in their classroom, and it'sconsidered WICR, which is
Writing and Career CollaborationOrganization, and reading, and
so we really focus on, we havebeen focusing this year on
(06:55):
writing, so in our walk-throughdata, we're seeing a lot of our
students, our teachers usingwriting in the classroom, and
then, of course, the inquiry andcollaboration is key, right?
That's part of the Common Corestandards. We want our students
to be engaged, we want them tobe prepared for the careers that
are out there, we want them tobe able to work collegially with
their teammates and things likethat, and that's one of the
(07:16):
things that we're doing toprepare our students.
Erin Brinker (07:20):
So, WICAR is I've not heard that acronym before. I
love it, and I, and you know,I'm, I'm.. if you've never, if
you've never had anybody in yourfamily go to college, there's
nobody to help you prepare toremember that there's deadlines
coming up, to remember, or toknow what the process is. You
say FAFSA, what's that? I go tofill it out. Well, I need
information for my parents.
Well, maybe they don'tunderstand what it is, or maybe
(07:42):
they don't want to give up theirpersonal information for this
application. Or I don't knowwhat the deadlines are for
applying for schools. I don'tknow what the deadlines are.
What with the schedule is fortaking the SAT or the ACT, and
AVID kind of helps you throughall of that. Yeah, that's
Yvette Roman (08:01):
an amazing thing about the AVID program. I know,
for myself, being the first onein my family to go to college,
it was so pivotal for me,because I remember there was a
point in which my dad said, ifyou want to go to college, you
have to figure it out yourself,and you know, being a little
ninth grader, 10th grader, whohad these dreams of going on to
school. I was so thankful tohave the AVID program, because
(08:25):
really, my coordinator, she madesure that I took the right
classes, that I took, you know,four years of Spanish, four
years of math, four years ofscience and English, and
everything that I needed, youknow, more than what was needed,
but it gave me all of theopportunities to be admitted,
have you know, a guaranteedadmission, even, and even some
(08:45):
opportunities to take collegelevel classes at different
times, so they really justhelped, you know, not only guide
me but advocate for me to havethese opportunities and
experiences, so the AVID programreally does that for our
students, it just gives themthese deadlines, these
timelines, but also the skillsthat they need to be successful.
I remember when I was a freshmanin college, looking around in
(09:07):
some of my lecture classes, allthe students were taking notes
and just writing down everysingle thing that the professor
was saying, and I rememberthinking that's really not
important to write down, becauseI had four years of training in
the AVID program of takingcopious notes and really looking
and listening for the intonationthat my professor was using, the
(09:28):
repetition that they were using,writing things down on the
board, and so I felt veryconfident in the skills that I
had learned as a student and ascholar to be able to thrive at
the at the UC level, so yeah,great for our students too to
have those opportunities,
Erin Brinker (09:47):
indeed. And I'm thinking, you know, so AI is a
great tool. I use AI everysingle day. It helps me, I may I
have to say something out loudor write it down to kind of
think it through, and AI. Reallyhelps me with that. It's a great
tool, however, if I, if I, ifI.. so I'm sitting here taking
(10:07):
written notes as we're having aconversation, because it helps
me think things through, and ithelps me remember, and you know,
go back to it if I have to ask,you know, a different kind of
question. But, but I've had lotsof training, you know, I've got
master's degrees, I have lots oftraining on how to do that, kids
don't, and then there's AIthat'll do a lot of that work
for them, or so they think, andwhat they're missing is the is
(10:28):
is making those mental and youknow neurological connections
that teach you how to do thiswork, and it's not only going to
school and being successful, butyou'll need it in whatever job
you have, whatever you decide todo, you'll need that ability, so
that's got to be a new anddifferent kind of challenge for
schools, and you know, I thinkAbbott specifically, because
(10:49):
you're already teaching thoseskills. But how has that
impacted your school?
Yvette Roman (10:55):
Yeah, so I mean, we are very much focused on the
focus note taking, right, thatis what is a key component for
Avid, and our students. We'vehad opportunities in which
they've transitioned to digitalnote taking as well. So we know
that sometimes students,especially because they have the
one to one Chromebooks, thatmight be the most efficient way
(11:17):
for them to take notes. A lot oftimes, too, most of the teachers
are using Google Classroom now,so they're able to just take
notes directly onto PowerPointpresentations and slides, so
note taking has changed andevolved in that way, that it's
not, it's no longer just theCornell notes, where you know
you're writing on a hard pieceof paper, but you can make
(11:38):
comments on slides, you can addhighlights, you can interact
with it, and that's the key,right? For retention is
interacting and allowing forthem to be able to recall that
information later is isimportant. So that interaction
is really what the key is,whether you're writing it down,
which we know writing is a greatskill as well, but they can also
(12:00):
do that digitally, and so AI hasallowed for some of those
things, as far as theinvolvement technology, and
then, of course, we are seeing,you know, the use of like chat
GTP and all of those differentAI components, and we are
encouraging our - we have a anAI policy in our district, so we
are encouraging our staff toutilize AI to help them with
(12:25):
enhancing their lessons, sowhether it's taking a current
lesson that they have now andadding it into an AI generator
to try and include opportunitiesfor additional structured
engagement, right, becausethat's what we want to see in
the classroom, or making surethat it's aligned to the skill
sets that are needed to meet thestandard. Those are great ways
(12:46):
for our staff to utilize AI. Andthen we're also, I know, at the
university level, what Iexperienced is that the
professors are now giving you ascale of whether or not you can
use AI in certain activities,and it'll say no AI used some AI
used, or like, and the specificways in which you can use it
(13:06):
appropriately, and so we want toprovide those opportunities for
our students too to learn how touse it responsibly, to know
whether or not the informationthey're attaining is credible,
and we also want our teachers touse that information to help
make their lives easier, becausethe job of the teacher nowadays
is so robust and complex, right?
It's, it really is an art, andit continues to evolve every
(13:29):
day,
Erin Brinker (13:32):
you know. It's think about Chat GPT, and I
actually stopped using Chat GPTbecause it hallucinates a lot,
because it just kind of goes outto the internet and grabs things
that may or may not be true, andI'm sure that will get better as
it, as you know, it continues towork, but you know, if I were,
if I were writing a paper andI'm pulling down data, and we've
(13:53):
seen this, like they've heardstories about people like
attorneys writing briefs wherethey cite cases that don't
exist, you know, and, and youknow, if a presumably they've
had training where they wouldlearn how not to do that, but
you know, our, our students, ouryoung people don't have that
frame of reference. Are youfinding that, I mean, as you're
(14:14):
kind of navigating these brandnew waters, are you finding that
students are relying too heavilyon AI? Are they learning how to
balance that. Are they beingchallenged beyond what the AI
using the Socratic method oranother method? Are they being
challenged in the classroom tothink beyond the AI? What does
that look like?
Yvette Roman (14:33):
Yeah, so we are a Google district, so we use
Gemini, which is great becauseit does allow for some
parameters there, where it's notnecessarily pulling everything
from every source. We also havebeen exploring notebook LM in
our district, which means thatyou're able to bring in specific
sources and references. So we'reworking through that process of
(14:57):
supporting our students throughthat. One of the things. Things
that you know, with all thetechnology and all of that, is
that our teachers are able touse something called Go
Guardian, which allows them tomonitor what the students are
accessing on their Chromebooks,and so you know the teachers put
on these parameters on what theycan do in an assignment, but we
(15:19):
are really focusing on, youknow, being an avid school and
using that Socratic seminar,those skill sets and
philosophical chairs, and juststructured engagement and
opportunities for collaboration,that person to person, you know,
those interactions. So, yes,students can use technology for
different activities, but we'rereally wanting them to learn how
(15:42):
to engage with one another,that's something that is key to
their success in their future,is knowing how to hold a
conversation, knowing how tobuild on each other's thinking,
and to work collaboratively. Sowe're really focusing on a lot
of that, and at our school.
Erin Brinker (15:56):
Excellent, I love that. I mean, it's, it's the
wild wild west, right? I mean,AI is really new at this level,
and are really new in general,and we have to interact with it,
so you can't, you can't ignoreit and pretend it doesn't exist
and be working in a completelyanalog world, it's there, and
so, How do you, how do you teachpeople how to think around it,
because you know, with, with AIbeing able to do so much kind of
(16:19):
the work, the grinding work inthe workplace. I'm not even
thinking about schools. Thechallenge then becomes for the
humans is, how do you, how doyou visualize the workflow? How
do you think about the end, whatyou're trying to achieve, and
then think backwards of what,how you want the AI, just how
you want that structured. Youknow, it becomes really how to
(16:41):
think becomes more importantthan what you're thinking about,
right? You know, yeah. And
Yvette Roman (16:47):
that's why a lot of times you see it in the
writing process, right? So maybethe students will create their
drafts, and then because we haveother programs that we also work
with that we contract with,where it helps students to gain
a better skill set on theirwriting abilities, things like
that, and so just differentplatforms. I won't go into all
(17:09):
those now, just because of, youknow, because of time and time
as well, but those are somethings that the teachers are
able to use to help the studentsunderstand, like what is
appropriate. Can you use thosethose platforms to help refine
your writing? Right, so it's notnecessarily inventing your
writing, but it's helping you tobecome a better writer through
(17:30):
helping you choose precisewording and being concise or
well organized, things likethat, looking at the flow of
your writing, and so those aregreat ways and that you can use
the tools to enhance your skillset.
Erin Brinker (17:43):
Excellent, I love that. Now you are almost
finished with a PhD, right?
Yeah, my
Yvette Roman (17:50):
coursework - it's a doctorate, it's an EDD, and
from San Diego State. And so I'mreally proud of that. And yes, I
just am waiting to defend somegoing back and forth with my
chair right now, and that's theprocess for those of you who are
not familiar with it.
Erin Brinker (18:05):
That's, that's wonderful. So, you did your,
your tell us about yourdissertation. I know that
you're, you're doing, you, theresearch that you've done has
been in the AVID program, soeager to hear about what that's
all about.
Yvette Roman (18:17):
Yeah, so I was an AVID tutor prior to becoming a
teacher, and I really felt likethat experience solidified my
understanding of what it meantto be a teacher. It helped me to
know different classroommanagement techniques,
instructional strategies, andjust I felt like I didn't feel
(18:38):
like a first year teacher. Andwhen I got hired, there was
about 17 of us, and there wassignificant turnover. There was
only a few handful of us thatmade it after the first year,
and so my dissertation is myproblem practices on teacher
retention, and we know thatteachers are leaving the field
at high rates in the state ofCalifornia and across the
(18:58):
country, and so thisdissertation really focused on
the experience that AVI tutorshave and how that shapes their
professional identity, and sothe data shows that when someone
has a strong professionalidentity they are able to remain
in the profession despite allthe challenges and they are more
(19:19):
prepared for the role and sothis avid tutor experience
really does help teachers,prospective teachers gain a
deeper understanding of what'sexpected in the role, and
learning the soft skills of howto navigate and form
relationships with students andcolleagues, and so it's, it's a
(19:39):
great, it was a great researchstudy, and I loved it all the
way through to the end, and I'mexcited to see how the data is
used to support the teacherpipeline.
Erin Brinker (19:50):
What surprised you in your research?
Yvette Roman (19:53):
Oh, wow, you're preparing me for my defense. So,
I love this. Some things thatsurprised me was I. So some
things that surprised me werethat I did, there's a lot of
data on mentoring, and so I didthink about how the assigned
teacher that's that works withthe Avid tutors serves as a
mentor in an unofficialcapacity, and data shows that
(20:15):
when you have mentors in as aneducator, you feel connected,
you feel like you have supportsand things like that, and it
does help you help withretention, but what I was
surprised by was the fact thatother avid tutors serve as
mentors, so the veteran tutorsserve as mentors to the new
(20:37):
tutors, and that was somethingthat was very prevalent in the
data, and so a lot of themmentioned feeling like they knew
they weren't by themselves inthis experience, that they had
one another, and they alsochecked in with each other and
saying, "Hey, did you rememberto register for your classes
today, just small little things,or hey, do we want to form a
study group for this, thesetests, and whatever it might be,
(21:00):
whatever finals they're comingup on, because obviously the
Avid tutors are attending localuniversities, so a lot of them
attend the same university, soit created this secondary safety
net for them. So that wasawesome.
Erin Brinker (21:15):
Yeah, I'm sure it was an Avid tutors are like
they're undergraduates, that's1819, 20 years old, 2122 in
that, in that range, and so youknow it's one thing for an old
person, and when you're 1825, orup, or 27 or up is old, so it's
one thing for an old person tobe telling you what to do, but
these avid tutor, these, thesepeople who are more seasoned
(21:37):
tutors mentoring you is a whole,just enough to be, you really
believe them, you think thatthey're going to understand and
feel, know what you've beenthrough. It is a whole different
ball of wax, slightly older thana peer, but still young enough
to be able to relate, and that'sthat's a great model.
Yvette Roman (21:54):
Yeah, that's what a lot of the data also showed,
that that because the tutors arecoming in, you know, straight
out of graduating high school,they really learned about
building their professionalboundaries and confidence as
well, so that was great to seein the data, and I think that
really a lot of them spoke tothe fact that that helped them
(22:14):
to transition more easily intothe classroom and having a
stronger foundation forclassroom management, so there's
a lot of great things that cameout of the data, way too much to
be able to put into onedissertation, but it's exciting,
and I hope that you know there'svery few studies out there on
the Avid tutor experience. Mostof the studies relate to the
Avid students experience, andyou know it providing access for
(22:38):
students to have to removebarriers to the higher
education, so I'm excited. Ihope that more individuals study
about the Avitude or experienceto try and create opportunities
to make build awareness andmaybe change some policy around
giving them credit forconducting this, you know, and
(22:58):
serving in this role, becausethey're in the classroom three
days a week, multiple years.
Most of the AVI tutors had fouryears of experience or more, and
so in that process they'rereally getting hands-on learning
experiences and opportunitiesthat even supersede what you
would normally get in thestudent teaching experience, but
currently they're not receivingcredit for that, and so I think
(23:19):
it would be a great way tochange some of the policy around
that. Yeah,
Erin Brinker (23:26):
you know, so you see there's on social media, on
TikTok, or whatever, you seevideos of people, oh, I'm done
being a teacher, I.. it's, youknow, it's not what I expected.
At the discipline is so hard,and very often it's people who
they graduate, they go throughstudent teaching, which there's
varying qualities of studentteaching, depending on the
(23:46):
quality of the student teacherand the support from the school,
and there's so many things, but,but largely, what it seems like
is that the people, these peoplehave been really ill-equipped,
they don't know what they'regetting into, and you know, kids
are kids, they're going to testtheir boundaries, and they're
going to, you know, they comefrom various home experiences,
some good, some not, withvarious structures, some good,
(24:08):
some not, and, and learning howto manage all of that is really
tough, and a lot of teachers, Ithink 50% of of new teachers,
and maybe that number has goneup, but at one point it was 50%
of new teachers quit within thefirst five years, and it sounds
like that this kind of avidtutor experience is is really
prepping young people who wantto become teachers on how to do
(24:31):
that, and what that, you know,what the classroom actually
looks like, classroom managementactually looks like, and that
gives them the confidence to beable to manage their classrooms
better, because I really wonderhow much of this is a real
confidence game for being ableto handle classroom discipline.
Is that fair?
Yvette Roman (24:50):
Yeah, that's that's so true. You know, the
data for teacher attrition ratesis high, we're less than 50%
because they've done a lot ofwork. Up over the last few years
with some legislation to helpprepare teachers and also to
create opportunities to bring inteachers into the profession as
(25:12):
well, but yes, that hands-onclassroom experience is really
pivotal in shaping educators'understanding and knowing, like,
what to expect, and I think alot of times the student teacher
experience is not long enough.
In some ways, it does give thema foundation, but if they
haven't served as aninstructional aide or an avid
tutor, or been on a classroom ina classroom other than their own
(25:35):
experience as students, theyhave this mindset of what they
expect, right, a classroom tolook like, and education, just
like every field, is alwaysevolving and changing. The
nuances are changing, obviously.
We just talked about thetechnology, the evolution of
technology in the classroom, andso what happens in the classroom
when you're a student versuswhat happens in the classroom
(25:57):
when you become a teacher couldbe completely different
dynamics, right. And every dayand every period, kids come in
with different mindsets anddifferent challenges, different
needs, and the same student thatcame in thriving yesterday is
now facing different challenges,because whatever happened over
the course of the last 24 hours,they're coming in with something
different, and so as a teacher,you really have to be able to
(26:18):
adjust, you have to be able toknow your students, you have to
be able to anticipate and planaccordingly, so that they can
have access to the content, soyou're really serving as lots of
different roles, wearing lots ofdifferent hats in that one hour
period, or all day period, ifyou're an elementary teacher,
right? So this experience reallydoes prepare them,
Erin Brinker (26:36):
you know. I think people wrongly believe, oh, I
was in high school, and that'swhen they usually remember. I
was in high school. How hard canit be? Like, you know, I, we had
these lessons, I could do that.
They don't realize how much timeit takes on the back end to
prepare the lessons, and, andreally think through what
conclusion do I want my studentsto be able to reach for
(26:56):
themselves, and how do I, how doI get them there, so that they
understand, and they, you know,they can own and recall. I
actually just did. I do boardretreats for for nonprofits, and
the preparation took longer thanthe retreat itself, because it's
thinking back. Okay, where,where do they want to be? All
right, how do I get there? Whatquestions do I need to ask? What
(27:17):
activities are going to get themthere? Because when I leave,
they have to own it, they haveto understand it, they have to,
you know, it has to resonatewith them, and teachers do that
every single day.
Yvette Roman (27:30):
Yeah, they're doing that every moment to
moment, right? They're alwaysplanning and thinking about, you
know, how can they make thisexperience come to life for the
students, what connections canthey make to help it resonate
with the students, and whatassets do the students bring
into the classroom each day, sothat they can actually make it
relevant to them?
Erin Brinker (27:50):
Right, that's incredible. So, so you're about
to go on your school year, isalmost done, graduation is, I
think, next week, so it's rightaround the corner, right? You
know, what are your.. what areyour hopes for the next school
year? What do you.. what do youhave a theme for the school
year? How do you approach eachschool year?
Yvette Roman (28:10):
Yeah, so every year we do a kickoff, and
recently we started adistrict-wide kickoff, and so
we're excited to see what thesuperintendent has planned for
our district-wide kickoff. It'sa great opportunity for all of
our staff to come together,start the year off as a team,
and this last year was servingwith purpose one district, and
(28:31):
that's great. That was a great,that was a great theme for us
this last year, and so everyyear we come in with a new theme
for our staff and our Bruins, webuild off of the theme that the
district launches, so that wecan tie that together, so that
we're aligned with what thedistrict has for us. But just
knowing we use our CIPSA and ourWASC goals to drive what our
(28:54):
vision is for our school and ourstudents. So we recently had our
WASC accreditation last year,and so we're in our next year.
Congratulations, too. Thank youvery much. We got a six year
revalidation, which is great.
Yes, for those of you who knowthe WASP world, it's wonderful
because it just really doesdrive what you want to see on
your campus, and these areoutside visitors that are
(29:16):
experts in the field, teachers,principals, administrators,
different people that are comingin to view your school and their
outside perspective, right, andthey're seeing like what are the
needs for your students. Sowe're really going to be
focusing next year, we're goingto continue to focus on the
writing, because we know that'simportant for our students, and
our scores show that we need tofocus on that as well. But we're
(29:37):
really going to focus onformative assessment next school
year for our students, and soformative assessment is
real-time adjusting instructionbased on student understanding,
and so you know it's notnecessarily that quiz or the
exit ticket, it could be usingwhiteboards, thumbs up, thumbs
down, asking students to sharewith one another. The teacher
(29:59):
using proximity to listen to thediscussions, and then
determining, hey, the kids areunderstanding this, or they're
not understanding this, and thenwhat do I do now to help them
better understand this beforethey're leaving my classroom for
the day.
Erin Brinker (30:12):
I love that, and I know that there was a culture
for a while of teaching to thetest. Period. And you know, No
child left behind, which wasfrom what, 20 years ago, the
Bush administration brought inNo Child Left Behind, with, I
think, good intentions of kindof standardizing what kids were
learning, and then assessingbased on those standards, but
(30:34):
unfortunately it created anenvironment where they were
teaching to the test, teachingto the test, teaching to the
test, realizing that that wasn'tnecessarily the best way, things
swung back with Common Core,sort of thinking, teaching,
trying to teach how to thinkrather than what to think, and
moving in that direction. Whatis that? What is the overall
trend now? And are you, are youseeing good things ahead?
Yvette Roman (30:58):
Well, yeah, that's that's a great question, so I
can only speak to my school,because you know I'm conducting
walkthroughs in my own campus,and but I would hope that that's
very similar. We do get out toother campuses within CJ USD as
principals, secondary teams, wego to each other's campuses and
kind of see what's happening atdifferent grade levels to just
(31:20):
try to align and have somevertical articulation as well,
and so, yeah, we're seeing a lotof just the academic engagement,
right, the collaboration that'sreally what we want to see, as I
mentioned before, and so we'reseeing that that higher level
critical thinking students usingprimary sources and secondary
(31:42):
sources to really gain anunderstanding of the content, we
see that a lot in the socialsciences classes and in the
English classes as well. In themath classes, we're using
something called BTC BuildingThinkin Classrooms, where
students are working incollaborative groups and they're
rotating on whiteboards or indifferent groups and sharing
(32:03):
their knowledge with each other,solving the problems, and then
writing about the steps thatthey took to solve the problems,
and explaining that to theirpeers, so it really is a focus
on inquiry, right, it's a focuson working with one another, and
and just building your knowledgebased on sometimes what you're
(32:23):
learning from your peers, right,because as you mentioned
earlier, you sometimes you learnfrom your peers more than you
would from, you know, hearingsomeone speak for 45 minutes,
and we know that students'attention spans, it's just
unrealistic to be speaking for45 minutes, they need to engage
with the material, they need tohave an opportunity to connect
it to their lives, that it'srelevant, and that they can see
(32:46):
themselves using that in thefuture as well.
Erin Brinker (32:48):
I think that applied learning is, is
especially at that age, asopposed to, you know, university
students, that applied learningreally grounds that in
something, you know, often forme, learning the learning math,
when I was in high school, wayback when, I often felt like I
was swinging from a trapeze inthe dark. I didn't know where I
was going. I learned theconcept, okay, memorize it, but
(33:11):
what does it mean? What is itgoing to do for me? For me, that
didn't work. And I got tocollege and had to take what I
very lovingly called boneheadmath, because my, my math skills
weren't, weren't up to par, andI was in the class, and it was
a, an aerospace engineer who wasteaching this algebra one class,
and all of a sudden it clicked,because I could see what I was
(33:34):
using it, what it could be usedfor, and what its purpose was,
and then I realized we used, wedo algebra one all the time, if
you go to the grocery store witha budget, you're using algebra
one, but I didn't know that backthen. And so I love that you all
are doing giving time for kidsto connect what they're learning
to what they do in their lives,or what they could do in their
lives. And really, you know, I'mthinking about science,
(33:57):
specifically math and science.
Science is about discovery,right? It's about curiosity.
It's about, you know, look whatwe can do, and isn't it amazing,
as opposed to just memorize thisthing. Now, memorizing becomes
important, and I understandthere's a, there's a role for
it, but it's, it's, it'sconnecting the curiosities that
that ignites the mind. Now, I'mnot a, I'm not a, I'm not an
(34:19):
education expert at all, butthis is, you know, from my
outsiders of observation, Ithink it's fantastic.
Yvette Roman (34:28):
Yeah, it's really great to see the students.
That's one, just like mosteducators, right? That's the
wonderful moments when you getto see the students, those aha
moments that they say, you know,you get to see them really gain
an understanding, and they startto feel proud about their
ability to explain theirknowledge to their peers, right.
And when you see that in theclassrooms, it's just a
(34:51):
wonderful moment as an educator.
That's a lot of the reason whypeople get into education, is
that intrinsic enjoyment of theclassroom, right, and. So you
see the students being able tobuild on each other's thinking
and expand, right, and say, orare you, and articulate why they
believe it's a different way,right, and sometimes there's
multiple ways that you canapproach a problem, and there's
(35:13):
not always one right answer formany things, and so it's a great
opportunity for kids to havethat, that experience in their
classroom, and it is a testamentto our teachers who are planning
and thinking about how they'remaking this applicable for the
students and relevant.
Erin Brinker (35:32):
Well, Yvette Ramon, we are out of time. This
has been fabulous. Thank you forthe work that you do leading
Bloomington High School, andcongratulations on getting your
dissertation submitted, and goodluck on your defense. Thank you
so much for joining me today.
Yvette Roman (35:46):
Thank you so much for having me. I hope you have a
wonderful rest of the day. Andwe are enrolling right now in
Bruin country, so I want toshout that out and make sure
everybody knows, like, we'retaking enrollments right now for
next school year, so we hopethat you'll join our Bruin
family.
Erin Brinker (35:58):
Outstanding. Do can you give the website.
Yvette Roman (36:02):
Yeah, so you're going to go to www.cj usd.net
and backslash bhs.
Erin Brinker (36:09):
Awesome, that's cj usd.net backslash b as in
Bloomington Hs as in high schoolbhs.
Yvette Roman (36:17):
Yes, thank you so
Erin Brinker (36:18):
much. Well, that is all we have time for today.
Thank you so much for spendingthis time with me. I'm Erin
Brinker. You've been listeningto The Hope Table. Have a great
week, everyone.
Unknown (36:28):
Bye.
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