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Dana Goodier encourages educators to take care of themselves
52 Plays8 days ago
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-goodier-edd-98815815/
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Website: www.danagoodier.com
Music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction & Hosts
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Learner Centered Spaces podcast where we empower and inspire ownership of learning. Sponsored by Mastery Portfolio, hosted by Starr Saxton and Crystal Frommert.
00:00:14
Speaker
In each episode, we will bring you engaging conversations with a wide variety of educators, both in and out of the classroom. This podcast is created for educators who want to learn more about how to make the shift toward learner-centered spaces for their students, schools, and districts, or education at large. The Learner-Centered Spaces podcast is a member of the Teach Better podcast network.
00:00:40
Speaker
Get ready to be inspired as we dive right into the conversation with today's guest.
Meet Dana Goodyear
00:00:46
Speaker
Hello listeners. We are so excited to have Dana Goodyear on the show today. She is the host of Out of the Trenches podcast, also an educational consultant and speaker living in Lone Tree, Colorado. So 2018, a culturally and linguistically diverse teacher, leader and coach, middle school dean of students, and then before that she had 18 years as a French and English teacher in the World Language Department chair. She tutors in Norwegian, German, and French.
00:01:15
Speaker
When we asked her what about her passion, she says it is to support educators with their wellbeing to increase retention and help them explore growth opportunities. As mentioned, Dana speaks four languages, French, German, Norwegian, and English, and some Spanish. She also likes to run 10 Ks and half marathons since 2016. She is the current Colorado Congress for Language Teachers president. We are so excited to have Dana on the show today. Welcome.
00:01:45
Speaker
Well, thanks for having me on.
Dana's Educational Journey
00:01:47
Speaker
Thank you. So Dana, tell us about your education journey. How did you get to where you are today? um So you mentioned a lot about what I've done um you know in the past 25 years. A lot of those first 18 were focused on world like world language education.
00:02:04
Speaker
I did teach some English for multilingual learners and also I taught a little bit of English in there as well, English language arts. But I think just my passion was really getting ah you know kids to learn French in German and become passionate about the languages.
00:02:26
Speaker
and have the chance to travel over there and use the language in post-secondary choices. And um I became a department chair, so I got into leadership that way, um you know, learned about the inner workings of the instructional leadership team. And um yeah, and then I went into more leader slash coach positions after 2018.
Transition to Learner-Centered Spaces
00:02:52
Speaker
You know I've ah been consulting and speaking at conferences ah since around 2017 and we connected about two and a half years ago ah because we both have written books published by Road to Awesome. So yeah it's been a um ah windy road but I'm here and yeah happy to talk about learner center spaces and
00:03:18
Speaker
teacher resilience. We're so glad you're here. And I do love your book. It's just it's really inspirational to to hear the stories of other educators who have been through the trenches and and climbed out. um I found it very inspirational. So if you're an educator, I highly recommend it. But because our show is learner centered spaces, we do like to talk about what that looks like um to all of our guests. So to ask you, what does a learner centered space feel like, sound like,
00:03:48
Speaker
look like to you? Really, um you know I learned about that um over the course of ah the time I taught. I think when I started out like in the early 2000s, it was very much a teacher-centered space. right um I would stand in front of the classroom. I knew you know I needed to be in close proximity to kids if there were issues, but it was very much kind of like kids were sitting and getting, and I was a sage on the stage. um So you know after, I would say,
00:04:17
Speaker
probably at least seven or eight years
Strategies for Learner-Centered Learning
00:04:19
Speaker
in the classroom. That's when I realized, okay, well, you know ah you're hot you'll have less student ah management issues if you actually you know focus on learner center spaces. So um although you know at the beginning of my career, I used a lot of um you know student work. you know they They were ah learning French, so they did a lot of partner work and you know sometimes worked on grammar.
00:04:40
Speaker
uh, worksheets and things like that. I still wanted to make sure I focused on, uh, kids taking charge of their own learning. So I would say, um, you know, probably early 2010s, I started, uh, doing more project based learning, uh, more, I learned learned a little bit about which what we call TPRS storytelling, total physical response storytelling, uh, where kids were learning, um, you know, to say stories using the vocab through the stories.
00:05:06
Speaker
Um, and you know, project based learning, I think goes a long way. I, you know, I did projects from the, from the get go, but when you're also help, help having students like, uh, do, um, their own self-made rubrics for that. And also, uh, student peer rubrics would be a part of their grade for these projects, uh, doing more gallery walks, um, having students present, um, in terms of like dialogues in front of the class. Cause when you're learning a language, and even if you're in an English language arts class,
00:05:35
Speaker
it's really important to be able to get outside your comfort zone and and use what you've learned in front of the kids. um So also something I like doing is when we were getting ready for assessments, kids would um in small groups prepare like a review topic of what we'd learned during that unit. So that's something I like to do for learning so centered spaces. So I think really it looks like you know teachers kids are working together in groups kids or are taking charge of their own learning. um It feels like kids are being respected in how they learn and at the rate they learn.
Classroom Dynamics & Challenges
00:06:12
Speaker
So um really giving the kids the time they need to complete and or if kids are completing things
00:06:20
Speaker
quicker than others that you have other activities and and extension activities for them to do. And it sounds like, I mean, sometimes it is controlled chaos, right? Sometimes there is a lot of noise, but um it sounds like, you know, kids are talking about the subject matter and the the assignment that's at hand. And, you know, the support is being given from the teacher and and kids are asking questions about the ah what what the expectations are, but there isn't a lot of like, oh, I don't know what this is, right? the It's been given from the teacher, but a lot less time is spent by the teacher being this age on the stage, and it is more the kids taking charge and being the center of their own learning.
00:07:05
Speaker
I'm a monolingual person, but I've always thought it would be so fun to teach a language just because of the activities you can do, the projects you can do. so just There's so much room for creativity. I mean, same for math as well. I teach math, but I just feel like the whole world is open up to different activities. and projects you can do I remember when I was in middle school, we had to do a weather report in Spanish class and um it just you're incorporating a lot of everyday events into into the lessons. So um very cool. it Sounds like you're very creative in your classroom.
Teacher Resilience & Well-being
00:07:42
Speaker
And um you do a lot of talks and ah you talk a lot about and write a lot about teacher resilience. So how does teacher resilience play a role in learner centered spaces?
00:07:53
Speaker
Well, I think teachers really need to be able to take care of themselves and grow as a teacher um to be able to best support their students. Everybody can attest to in the five years since the pandemic, it has become increasingly challenging a lot of the time with classroom management or kids that don't have very long attention spans. right depending on ah you know if your school has a cell phone policy or not. But I think a lot of people, especially when I when i speak at conferences, they can attest to that i that kids are you know they're harder to stay on task. So the teacher really needs to be centered in their own
00:08:33
Speaker
um their own well-being, right? um They need to not take some kids distractions or misbehavors personally. I think um making sure that the teacher is using their planning period not only to, you know, plan for lessons and make copies, but they're taking time to um take a walk outside. I think, you know, I've done that since probably at least ah the past 10 years or more, like, I think since 2014, I um would spend about 10 to 15 minutes outside, right? Walking the perimeter of a school, ah it it really helps. I think another thing is making sure
00:09:12
Speaker
that if you're talking to colleagues hanging out with them during lunch that is not doom and gloom, right? That you're you're also focusing on positive things or you're focusing also on things that you do outside of school, right? Because I think it when you're talking to colleagues, it can quickly descend into complaints. And also I think when you're um ah making sure that you're you're continuing your learning professionally and this could be within your PLC, but it can also be taking different ah PD offerings within your district, going to state or regional conferences and also taking the leap to maybe present at conferences as well. So I think making sure that you're not just getting stuck in the same old same old as a teacher and
00:10:03
Speaker
really growing as an educator. Yes, I definitely agree with all of that. But I think it's you know it's hard when we work so many hours. Most teachers I know work so many hours. The walk idea in the middle of the day is a really great idea. And you know I'm thinking about, like I want to get hobbies outside of school, but I don't have the time and energy. Do have do you have any advice for teachers who maybe want to grow in this area?
00:10:30
Speaker
um I think it's really just making sure that you, you keep work at work. I mean, knowing I did have a lot of great grading to do, I would say, probably until around that point in 2012 2013 I I did take grading home, but I i realized that like there's going to be grading. um I wanted to get things back to kids, right but it's like you can spend your time during your planning period or before after school doing some that you don't have to grade everything. um you know I think ah being involved in things like I'm involved in ah two choirs. right I think those are other ways to fill your buckets. It might be pickleball, it might be
00:11:13
Speaker
being part of a like a cooking club or something, but whatever picture interest, right taking time to work out, to do things to keep your body healthy, go a long way. I think some people like to work out after work and it helps them disconnect from the work environment, especially if they had a difficult day.
00:11:33
Speaker
I like to work out before work because that'll put me in a good space before I get there.
Time Management & Stress Reduction
00:11:39
Speaker
um So I think like the time expands and you know for for how you basically for how you decide to spend it. right there's There's only 24 hours in the day, but um it depends ah how you're going to spend it. And you could spend four hours a day grading papers, but you could also say, hey, I'm only going to grade this and not that.
00:12:02
Speaker
Or, you know, I'm going to just check certain things. If it's an English essay, for example, I used to put red marks everywhere, right? But you don't have to, you don't have to do all that. Like, they're not the district or or your school admin isn't holding you to like, grading every single assignment. So I think it's really letting go of some of those things.
00:12:24
Speaker
I 100% agree with all of that. I um used to work with a therapist because I was feeling really overwhelmed and she had me make a list of things that I do that I don't really need to do. yeah It was such a helpful exercise. um And some of the things I really wanted to do or I thought I wanted to do, and some of them I masked as needed to do, but I didn't really need to do them. So sure um I highly recommend doing that exercise of writing down.
00:12:53
Speaker
whether you're a teacher or not, write it down. What do you do that you don't really need to do? ah A lot of what you're saying resonates with me as a teacher. And I'm curious, what advice would you give to an administrator to help their faculty and staff and even themselves to have more resilience in their work?
00:13:11
Speaker
um you know I think some of those things apply to administrators as well, making sure you get out of the building a little bit. like I've been a Dean of Students and there's always going to be unexpected things happen. right there's There's student fights, there's parents that show up, those types of things, but I really think you need to balance it. so um It's a little bit more unstructured when you're admin because you don't have the class periods that you teach and you're planning period at a certain time.
00:13:38
Speaker
But I think just making sure that you are taking that lunch break, um that you like have like ah set with your admin assistant where ah you're going to be at certain times, you know making sure that you get into classrooms. um Whether or not you're in a evaluator role, like especially if you're an instructional coach, it is necessary to really visit classrooms and see how the teachers you support are doing and and if they're implementing and the how how things are going with what you've talk to them about. But I think, um you know, setting aside that time during the day, there's always going to be administrative tasks, right? There's always going to be emails, there's going to be meetings, those types of things. But making sure you're you're you're getting out in the building, youre you're in those spaces where kids are the beginning of the day,
00:14:26
Speaker
During lunch and at the end of the day greeting students, ah you know students know who you are when you come into the room They know who you are when you're greeting them when they come off the bus I think that goes a long way in terms of making a school culture a healthy place And, you know, as admin, you are going to be privy to more information about some of the trauma some students are going through or, um you know, some some some difficult situations with either staff or students that might involve illness or, um you know,
00:15:02
Speaker
parents um custody issues, those types of things. So I think, um you know, not taking that like, as as something you have to worry about all the time, I think it's taking a little bit more of a disconnect as well. Because um educators, you know, their service people, they want to do what's best for their students, but also like, ah we can support our students in the building. But like, once they're home, like we can get some some community support as well for counseling and those things, but like they're only with us during the school day.
Empathy & Boundary Management
00:15:34
Speaker
So I think really not trying not to worry too much about some students who are going through difficult situations when they're not they're not at the school I think helps as well.
00:15:47
Speaker
I love everything you're saying about that, about how administrators can help themselves. It's so hard when you're so empathetic, because I think and educators are empathetic people generally, and we want to care deeply about our students and their home lives. And we take that on our shoulders, but um you offer some really great advice. I learned a tip from one of the best heads of school I've ever worked with. um When she would do her administrative task, like checking email or doing spreadsheets or whatever she had to do that was like quiet work at her desk. She would ask a teacher if she could just sit in the back of a classroom. And of course, she wasn't observing the classroom formally. She wasn't doing an evaluation. She was just kind of hiding in the classroom. room But she was visible and present in the classroom, but she could get uninterrupted work done because no one's going to bother
00:16:41
Speaker
the head of school while they're sitting in a classroom. yeah And I just thought that was such a ah great idea to get to knock out some of that email chore that you have to do. Our listeners have so much to learn from you. And if they follow you online, they probably would learn even more. So where do you suggest our listeners follow you?
00:16:59
Speaker
So um I have a website, danagoodier.com. um I also host my podcast, Out of the Trenches. um It comes out on any of the podcast apps, you know, Apple um and Spotify in those places. I have a YouTube channel channel at Out of Trenches PC. i Out of Trenches PC on Instagram and Blue Sky and at Dana Goodyear on the other socials, Facebook X go to those sites and send me a DM and maybe we can work together.
Acknowledgements & Closing
00:17:35
Speaker
All right. and Before we close out, is there anybody you want to shout out as a just someone who's shaped you along your journey?
00:17:42
Speaker
Um, really, I mean, there's, there's a lot of people that have shaped me along my journey. I think, uh, in, in recent years, I, I've, I've learned a lot, uh, working with, um, the teach better team. I do blogs for them. I think, um, our, uh, common publisher, Darren Peppard has taught me a lot about leadership and speaking and, um, you know, consultancy type tips. And, um, you know, I think Earlier in my career, a lot of it was some of the coaches and other world language teachers I worked with. So um i you know I can't name anybody it' specific, but I think that there are um a lot of educators out there within the state of Colorado and also that I know from online that are really doing great things to to support both teachers and admin.
00:18:35
Speaker
Well, thank you, Dana. This has been fantastic. And we will put all of your social media links in the show notes. um So thanks for your time today. Thank you. We hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as we did. If you'd like any additional information from the show, check out the show notes.
00:18:53
Speaker
Learn more about Mastery Portfolio and how we support schools at masteryportfolio dot.com. You can follow us on X at Mastery For All and linked to in our Mastery Portfolio page. And we'd love your feedback. Please write a review on your favorite podcasting app.