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56: Listen to Students (feat. Ayush Chopra, Cody Lees, & Meghan Kestner)
10 Plays5 years ago
In this podcast, we're focused on student voice: how to engage students, what it means to share power with students, and the possibilities that can occur when we truly let students speak.
It's obvious that this true, just a quick glance at the news and Greta Thunberg demonstrates how powerful young people can be if given the opportunities to be successful. Our job as educators to not hamper that motivation to learn and change the world, and help open up new experiences for students to be interested and engage in.
And it's just just Thunberg or Malala or any young person doing amazing things - it's small scale success and purpose as well. The more people we unite with their purpose, the better society we will build. Sometimes those purposes aren't global reaching, but building a happy, motivated world is a giant, yet legitimate goal we can reach. What else really matters in the end?
However, we all know that school is not a place where many students are engaged in this kind of work. Sure, there are pockets of teachers doing amazing things - and they're often doing these things in spite of the systems and structures they find themselves in. We need to engage students in conversation and take their ideas legitimately, leaving out judgment aside, to truly find ways to transform our classrooms and schools.
GUESTS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Ayush Chopra, a 17-year-old student out to change the world with his organization, SDGs for Children. Ayush has written Shaping a Fairer World with SDGs and Human Rights and hosts the podcast, Shaping a Fairer World.
Cody Lees, a recent high school graduate who was actively involved in leadership activities in school, who highlights his 3rd grade experience in “Action Club.”
Meghan Kestner, a special education educator and Upward Bound advisor whose students share their stories, and who reflects on the need for more human-focused approaches to the classroom.
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Transcript
Intro and Supporter Appreciation
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This episode is brought to you by our Patreon supporters.
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For as little as $1 a month, you'll know that you're keeping this endeavor afloat, and plus, you'll receive our professional electronic magazine.
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A few of our patrons who supported this podcast are Aaron Flanagan, Carolyn Weisereck, and Skylar Prim.
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You can learn more about our Patreon page, as well as find everything out about the Human Restoration Project at humanrestorationproject.org and on Twitter at humrezzpro.
Empowering Student Voices
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Hello and welcome to Season 3, Episode 14 of Things Fall Apart, our podcast, The Human Restoration Project.
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My name is Chris McNutt, and I'm a high school digital media arts instructor from Ohio.
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In this podcast, we're focused on student voice, how to engage students, what it means to share power with students, and the possibilities that can occur when we truly let students speak.
00:01:05
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It's obvious that this is true.
00:01:06
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Just a quick glance at the news and Greta Thunberg demonstrates how powerful young people can be if given the opportunities to be successful.
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Our job as educators is not to hamper that motivation to learn and change the world, and to help open up new experiences for students to be interested and engaging.
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And it's not just Thunberg or Malala or any young person just doing like these singular amazing things.
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There's also a lot of small-scale success and purpose being built as well.
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The more people that we unite with their purpose, the better society that we will build.
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Sometimes those purposes aren't global reaching, and sometimes it's just building a happy, motivated person.
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But yet, that's a giant yet legitimate goal we can reach.
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I mean, what really matters in the end outside of
Teacher Challenges and Student Support
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that?
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However, we know that school is not always a place where people are engaged in this kind of work.
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Sure, there are pockets of teachers doing amazing things, and they're often doing these things in spite of the systems and structures that they find themselves in.
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We need to engage students in conversation and take their ideas legitimately, leaving out judgment aside to truly find ways to transform our classrooms and schools.
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In this podcast, I will be reading excerpts from Megan Kessner's students in the Upward Bound program.
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You'll meet Megan later during this podcast.
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She asked her students what they wish their teachers knew about them.
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Here's one of those.
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I wish that you fluently knew my name.
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I wish you knew I'm a bit shy, but I would put the effort to participate in the assignments.
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I also like to have fun and joke around, but I still get my work in on time.
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I wish you knew I'm an active person and I'm outgoing.
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I play sports.
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It's my favorite, but I can also be calm and I can dance.
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I wish my teachers knew I'm not a fan favorite for art, so they don't need to always push me to be perfect in that subject.
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I can take math and I'm really good at it.
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I can teach people that are a lot older than me and what I'm doing right now.
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I'm a fast learner, so please be a good teacher, because I don't learn much from those that aren't.
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I wish my teachers knew I want to become a mechanical engineer, so they can support my dreams and help me get there.
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I wish they knew I was a leader, and I like to help others, and I love working independently and not necessarily with groups.
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I like a challenge, and I like successful instructions, and I wish my teachers would acknowledge what I do and understand my personality more.
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Andersen.
Ayush Shapra on SDGs for Children
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Our first guest is Ayush Shapra.
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Ayush is 17 years old.
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He's the founder of SDGs for Children, which is an advocacy site for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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He has served as the Indian youth delegate to the United Nations.
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He wrote the book Shaping a Fairer World with SDGs and human rights.
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He's given speeches across the world, and he hosts his own podcast, Shaping a Fairer World.
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So I'm Ayush.
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I am 17 years old, and I'm currently a great old student in New York Hanson.
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And I'm from India and currently living in Canada.
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When I was first exposed to the Sustainable Development Goals, I got the feeling that this is the only time to act or to be too late to live in the agenda, 20-30.
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And we are already in 2015-2016.
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So me being just 14 years old at that time, I had like really no clue where to begin.
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So I discussed it with my friends outside school.
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My family, my teachers, my friends in school.
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No one had an idea what I was talking about because like the STDs were not known by every person at that time.
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I realized that we are far from our target and we have to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
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And we need to definitely involve children and youth because I think youth is the future of our world.
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And the Sustainable Development Goals are a fascinating lens to look at education that's really taking hold in classrooms across the world right now.
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And you mentioned in your writing that you were brought into this work during a school exhibition.
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Yeah, basically I got to know about Sustainable Development Goals.
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through my school exhibition in the year, I think, 2015 or 16.
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And the exhibition was based on the projects that students have created related to the Sustainable Development Codes that were released in that year only, like Life Underwater, Life on Land, Quality Education.
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So most of the projects were based on that.
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And it was a turning point in my life.
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I was the official photographer of that event and I was just like,
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I used to collect a lot of photographs of the students working on it and that's how I got to know about these goals and United Nations and human rights.
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The exhibition was not just based on sustainable government goals, they had some human rights also.
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I know my favorite part of SDGs is that they have real-world relevance.
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I mean, they are literally the most major issues facing our collective society.
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And I love that you got involved in these ideas through project-based learning, which in my opinion, that's essential, learning by doing.
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What are your thoughts on the best way to learn about the Sustainable Development Goals?
Project-Based Learning and SDGs
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According to me, the practices that educators should use in order to explain SDGs are the projects or videos because if we work on hand, as you said, we learn better.
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That's the way I study also.
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After I do something, I try to write it down myself.
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So yes, I strongly believe that projects in the school
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schools are life changer for every single one.
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I shared my own example only like that I started this journey from my school only and it was all related to the projects that we're doing and I also agree that not all students who are part of this get impacted but even if we achieve 50% of our mission if we say so I think it will be a big achievement like these 52
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percent of children impact many around them, including their friends.
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And then this number keep on increasing to 50, 60, 70.
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That's an excellent point.
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I always feel like if we're doing anything that's going to spark life-changing events for students, even if it isn't that dramatic for everyone, even if one or two students honestly go on a journey like what you're doing right now, it's more than worth the additional planning and creativity it takes to make or design spaces like this.
Overcoming Apathy and Engaging Students
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I know something that I struggle with when talking about big concepts like this, though, is apathy.
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The world is a very demanding place.
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There's a lot of hardship in the world.
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And we're calling attention to it.
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And a lot of students don't necessarily see a solution to solve the challenges of the SDGs.
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How do you inspire people to push past that apathy?
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For me, nothing is impossible.
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And if you break the word impossible, it will be like, I am possible.
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So I always advise students and my friends to take one step at a time and change one life at a time.
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So I started my own journey from being a bullied child and having just one camera in my hand.
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So I'm really small in height.
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So like many of my friends used to tease me on that.
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So I just remained focused and kept on working hard.
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Nothing is impossible to achieve if young heart determines it to achieve.
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What advice would you have for teachers who are attempting SDGs in the classroom?
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Any student can understand it.
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So like, for example, I also had this problem, like, the small children, like, around four or five years, don't actually know what's wrong happening in this world, climate change, poverty.
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So that's why I created my work on Shaping a Fairer World with SDGs and Human Rights.
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So in this book, I have talked about STDs in the language for small children and I have activities alongside it so that once they're studied, they can practice it in real life and see what happens.
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And that's how I want to bring a change in this world to spread awareness, basically.
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So if they...
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If children need to understand in, like, easier language, we should do so.
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That's a fantastic point.
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And I think that anything that we can do to push real-world solutions to real-world problems in the classroom makes perfect sense.
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Keep on bringing the change in this world.
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And if you, like, spread awareness about this, that's also a way you can bring the change in this world.
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You don't need to, like, actually work on the ground.
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And if you're at home and helping others, making your surroundings the
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a place for better climate, that's how you can help and keep on spreading love in this world.
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Dear teachers, I would like you to know that I get irritated easily, but I've learned to control it most of the time.
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I would like you to know that I'm focused most of the time, but there's times where I just daydream.
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And I always do my work.
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Sometimes I do forget to bring it, but it is done.
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I want to go to college, and these habits might keep me from getting in there.
Balancing Responsibilities as a Student
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Daydreaming is my biggest issue because it causes me to fall asleep.
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My class productivity isn't well because I do get distracted.
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And I want my teachers to know that I have difficulty with this and some students have a harder time understanding.
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Some people need more time for clarification than others and they might need more support.
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I want my teachers to understand that students have lives outside of school and they might have a job.
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And some have to miss school just to help support their families, like babysitting or having to go somewhere to look for a job.
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And they might have a hard time at home, so they should be understanding.
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Sincerely, Diego.
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Next, we have Cody Lees.
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Cody is a recent high school graduate who did a ton of student leadership activities in school.
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And I reached out, so it's actually funny.
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My third grade teacher and I have stayed in touch since
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I was in third grade and he saw it and sent it to me because he's been involved in all my leadership stuff since I was in elementary school.
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And I know leadership has been a huge element in your life, particularly growing up in school.
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What sparked all of this?
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In third grade, I tried out for the PE club at my school and I didn't get in.
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I was not athletic enough, unfortunately.
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And so that third grade teacher, Mr. Chad Hyatt,
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He said, you know what, Cody, I have this great idea and I think that you'd really like it.
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We can start a club called the Action Club where we can get the school and the other students in this club involved in leadership and community service.
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And
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Being in third grade, I didn't know much about community service, but I was all in because that was my favorite teacher I've ever had.
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Great guy, still is one of the favorite teachers I've ever had.
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And he kind of took the reins on it and showed me how to be a leader and get involved in leadership.
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And then from there, the impact that that held on me and the impact that I was able to bring to the club and the other students kind of drove me for future high school leadership and leadership afterwards.
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And what exactly was the Action Club?
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It was basically a community service club within my school where we worked with community outreach.
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So small scale doing things like canned food drives within the school or beanies for babies.
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And then one of the coolest things we did, I think, was for Valentine's Day, we had a lot of students whose families were active duty military members and were overseas.
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That was when Afghanistan was at the heat of everything.
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I remember one day in third or fourth grade, my third grade teacher and I, he pulled me from class and we went out onto the field in our third grade recess area and we had bought a mailbox and we spray painted it red, white, and blue.
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And we had the school write letters for active duty military members to send out for Valentine's Day.
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And I think that was the coolest thing that we did in the action club just because of the impact it had.
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I mean, we got mailed a flag back and just,
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Seeing how happy it made these active duty service members, it really made me happy and it caused a big impact on my life and I'm sure on the lives of other students in the school.
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It's really cool.
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I love the fact that the active learning experience has such a fundamental impact on you even though you were very young.
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it's really interesting and amazing how much helping others and making an impact can happen and change the trajectory of our lives, even when you're only in elementary school.
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And shifting to a topic that you really want to talk about, which was ensuring that students have these kind of opportunities.
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What suggestions do you have for educators who want to instill these types of values?
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So one of my biggest things, and I want to be an educator, I want to be a
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in a classroom as I progressed through life.
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And so this is something that I've thought about a lot is I feel like the more tenured teachers, they, and those are great teachers, don't get me wrong, they've been doing it for a long time.
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There's a reason they've been doing it for a long time.
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But teachers get so set in their ways and so set in their practices.
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And it really can create a negative impact on a student because the way I see it, I feel like curriculums should be built around your students.
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You know, you have six periods a day.
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Sure, they're all going to need to learn the same thing, but the way you teach it can be different six times a day because you need to do what's going
Education vs. Real-World Skills
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to be best for the students.
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At the end of the day, the teacher is getting their paycheck no matter what.
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What those students walk out of the bear with is based on what that teacher is giving them and the information and the way that they're delivering it.
00:14:49
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Are there any particular classes that you felt were useful or I guess vice versa as a recent high school student?
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Were there any classes that you wish you had taken?
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Rather than having to have a student take a pre-calculus class, I mean, I didn't learn how to do taxes until this past tax season.
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That's something that I would have loved to learn in high school.
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I never had a home ec class in high school.
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I can cook top ramen just fine, but if you ask me to make a meal, it's going to be kind of difficult.
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And so I feel like if we
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trying to prepare our courses for students outside of school rather than this is what you need for college because college isn't the route for everyone.
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I mean, I'm, I personally am a college dropout.
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I went to school for three weeks after high school and I, I hated it.
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I couldn't do it.
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And so, and it's, I feel like it's because while I learned valuable things in high school, not a lot of it translates to outside of the real, outside in the real world.
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I'm sorry.
00:15:41
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And so, and so it's, it's a catch 22 because like I said, I mean,
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I loved high school.
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I want to go back to college, but once you're out of high school, you have so many other things going on.
00:15:53
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You know, I was working full time.
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I had a long distance relationship at the time.
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When you're in high school, you don't have all those things going on.
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And so I feel like high school preparing you for college needs to also prepare you for the outside world outside of college, you know, everything else going on in life.
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I mean, I have bills today.
00:16:10
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I have
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all these things going on and trying to balance it all when all high school taught me was this is how college is going to be.
00:16:17
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I find it interesting that, you know, you said that you were all about school and you loved high school and you had a lot of positive experiences.
00:16:23
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You live school, yet you also said that high school wasn't very good at preparing you for the real world and you dropped out of college.
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Could you share a little more about making that decision?
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In high school, it's all kind of central, like everything's all in one spot.
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But once you get into college and you
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And like I said, I built relationships with staff members and other students.
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You build those relationships and then everything branches out and everything becomes more difficult as a real world situation.
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So it was just personally for me, it was a lot on my plate.
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I kind of had to decide what was most important to me.
00:16:58
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And at that time school wasn't, you know, I had, I had car insurance to pay.
00:17:02
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I had to get to, to and from work.
00:17:04
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I had to get around the places.
00:17:05
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So my job came first before anything.
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It pains me to say it because, like I said, I'd love to go back to school.
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I plan to be an educator and I plan on getting back into a classroom.
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But at that time, it just wasn't for me.
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And maybe I jumped into it too quick because I know people that can go from high school to college and make the transition seamless.
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And it all depends on the student, really.
00:17:26
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That's very true.
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I love talking to recent graduates like you, Cody, because I think it's important as educators that we just hear it straight.
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We hear it from someone who's going through it right now.
00:17:39
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I wish my teacher knew how difficult it is to focus on my work at home.
00:17:43
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There are seven people living in my house, plus my two dogs, so there's basically nine residents in our home.
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It's always very noisy, and I can't really concentrate.
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And it's mostly the baby, which is my little nephew, who is three.
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He is very noisy, and he can be annoying sometimes, but I love him, even though I don't really show it.
00:18:02
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I wish my teacher knew how much potential I have, but I'm just not able to do it.
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By potential, I mean being able to do many things, but I have anxiety.
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I wish I wasn't like this because I want to be able to do these things, but there's a lot holding me back.
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Now I'm just trying new things that I haven't done before, but I'm still working on it, and I need a little bit more encouragement.
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Sincerely, Alejandra.
Upward Bound and College Readiness
00:18:36
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I hope you're enjoying the podcast thus far.
00:18:38
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I sincerely appreciate you listening in.
00:18:40
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And if you enjoy the work that we're doing, head on over to human restoration project.org to find our free resources and wealth of writings.
00:18:48
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And then if you think that we should keep going, take a look at our Patreon page for $1 a month, you'll receive a professional print ready electronic magazine of our works every two months.
00:18:58
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But as always, all of our work is available for free online.
00:19:10
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And now we have Megan Kester, whose students are writing the excerpts that I've been sharing.
00:19:14
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Megan is a high school special education educator.
00:19:17
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She worked this summer in the Upward Bound program.
00:19:20
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And for those who don't know Megan, what is Upward Bound?
00:19:24
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It is funded by the Department of Education, and it provides opportunities for students to have a success record in pre-college performance while getting a college experience.
00:19:35
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So they actually do live in the dorms for the summer program.
00:19:39
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for about six weeks.
00:19:41
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The Upward Bound does target low-income families and high school students that neither parent holds a bachelor's degree.
00:19:51
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So really getting them excited about that college experience is super huge.
00:19:57
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But we're also working on skills that they may need to
00:20:00
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either they didn't get or that's kind of front-loading some of the curriculum that they will get.
00:20:05
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It's a great program, and Upward Bound is deeply involved in our school, and it's been really positive for our students to take advantage and appreciate it.
00:20:13
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So they have, I think they have a target advisor, and then Upward Bound also provides them with tutors throughout the school year, so they constantly have that connection, which is great, and they also have
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some social opportunities tied into a college.
00:20:32
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And they also provide like personal support as well.
00:20:37
Speaker
What was it like for you as an advisor at Upward Bound?
00:20:40
Speaker
Like what was the experience like this summer?
00:20:42
Speaker
And one thing that I really like about Upward Bound and maybe it's the freedom of the summer, but it really allows us to focus on relationships with the students.
00:20:52
Speaker
And really it's, it takes the, I would,
00:20:57
Speaker
from a teacher perspective, takes the pressure off the academic focus.
00:21:01
Speaker
And it's that safe space, the being able to talk things out or write things out or whatever is created in that classroom is almost like this magical thing because of what students then are able to put into their work or willing to put into the work.
00:21:22
Speaker
A perfect example is I had them create board games from
00:21:27
Speaker
or a board game template from their favorite book.
00:21:30
Speaker
And I had, I would say the whole spectrum.
00:21:33
Speaker
They had to have a form of movement.
00:21:35
Speaker
They had to like a dice or a spinner.
00:21:38
Speaker
They had to have character pieces, types things.
00:21:41
Speaker
And then they had a board across a file folder.
00:21:45
Speaker
And all I gave them was a file folder, markers, crayons, tape, blue, and some index cards.
00:21:54
Speaker
Like it was on the back table.
00:21:56
Speaker
And they had to create it from there.
00:21:58
Speaker
And they had, I think, four or five days.
00:22:00
Speaker
It was amazing, like how creative they were, how innovative they were.
00:22:05
Speaker
Using these things, finding things.
00:22:08
Speaker
Some people use rocks as pieces, but then, you know, manipulated the rocks or added to the rocks, which was quite interesting.
00:22:17
Speaker
But like they had to go outside their comfort zone.
00:22:19
Speaker
And just to see that they were willing to do it,
00:22:22
Speaker
They were excited about it and they were really proud of what they produced.
00:22:26
Speaker
It was a really cool thing to see, I would say.
00:22:31
Speaker
This whole experience, I can't even, like, I don't really have a lot of words for it.
00:22:35
Speaker
It's just been so refreshing and restorative for me as a teacher as well.
00:22:39
Speaker
And maybe it goes back to relationships first and student voice and choice.
00:22:44
Speaker
Like, you know, maybe that is the key element that we're missing during the school year.
00:22:48
Speaker
That's a really fantastic point.
00:22:50
Speaker
And I agree that voice choice and agency are key to intrinsic motivation and therefore learning.
00:22:56
Speaker
And there's different degrees of having that happen.
00:22:57
Speaker
I mean, depending on the district, you might just have a few choices for your set curriculum, which is certainly better than nothing.
00:23:03
Speaker
And then we just keep pushing and trying to balance moving that decision making more and more to student led outcomes.
00:23:11
Speaker
As you continue exploring progressive education and these ideas, what suggestions do you have for teachers, especially meeting the needs of students that you work with?
Creative Classrooms and Restorative Justice
00:23:20
Speaker
Honestly, I would say don't be afraid of noise in your classroom and let go of control.
00:23:25
Speaker
Like, you don't have to be in control and it will be okay.
00:23:28
Speaker
You don't have to have all eyes focused on me type of thing.
00:23:32
Speaker
I know that for me was a huge lesson, believe it or not.
00:23:36
Speaker
I am a younger teacher and I hear all this stuff.
00:23:38
Speaker
I read all the books.
00:23:41
Speaker
actually being physically in the room, taught a geometry class this past year.
00:23:46
Speaker
And as another colleague had walked in and it was really loud, you know, I turned and I saw her come in and I apologized to her.
00:23:55
Speaker
I said, sorry, it's so loud.
00:23:57
Speaker
I come from a very traditional school, like the Catholic school method, where it was dead silence when you were working.
00:24:04
Speaker
It was a huge learning curve.
00:24:05
Speaker
So I apologized and she goes, Megan, what are you talking about?
00:24:09
Speaker
Everybody is engaged.
00:24:11
Speaker
And I took a step back and I looked around and everybody was pretty much having math conversations.
00:24:20
Speaker
They were getting stuff, they were measuring stuff.
00:24:23
Speaker
And I was just like, oh, I guess you're right.
00:24:26
Speaker
And so I think like flipping that for me was huge this year.
00:24:31
Speaker
And realizing that engagement is not
00:24:34
Speaker
you know, every hand raised in the room.
00:24:36
Speaker
It's, you know, having those conversations, it's interacting with the language, it's interacting with the material, it's doing something so that they can process it in their way.
00:24:49
Speaker
And I think that's kind of the huge thing for teachers is we need to realize that everybody has their own way of processing it.
00:24:55
Speaker
And we're just there to kind of facilitate that learning.
00:24:58
Speaker
And I think flipping the script is like a big
00:25:02
Speaker
realization that a lot of, especially special, special educators,
00:25:07
Speaker
me to realize is that it is grabbing it, it is experiencing it, it is moving it, it's manipulating it, it's talking about it.
00:25:17
Speaker
That can be nerve-wracking too, especially as a new teacher when it's hard to keep your head above water.
00:25:22
Speaker
I know I still feel like I'm doing a lot wrong, and I probably am, but much of that anxiety is due to fighting against that predominant narrative that you're alluding to, that the class should be quiet and the teacher's in the front of the room and
00:25:34
Speaker
And if the students are, you know, they're running around, they're having a good time, that might be a safety hazard, like all those things that are in the back of your head, et cetera, et cetera.
00:25:42
Speaker
Didn't love education growing up.
00:25:47
Speaker
And it was just a very rigid experience.
00:25:50
Speaker
And honestly, I feel like it stunted me a little bit because when I am given open-ended projects or thinking of open-ended projects, it's really difficult for me.
00:26:03
Speaker
It's like, where's the structure?
00:26:05
Speaker
Where's, where are all the requirements?
00:26:07
Speaker
Where are the boxes that I have to check?
00:26:09
Speaker
So it's been a process.
00:26:12
Speaker
I can't say that it happened overnight and not lie to you because it didn't.
00:26:16
Speaker
It's been a gradual process.
00:26:20
Speaker
And I would say it's kind of taken about three years to get in the place that I am right now because those routines and that rigidity is so ingrained in me.
00:26:32
Speaker
But it's been super helpful to reflect and know that that is part of my journey, but it's not part of my students journey.
00:26:42
Speaker
And I can make it better and I can make it different.
00:26:45
Speaker
So I just kind of little switches like, you know, having the students come out, come up and explain problems that you're teaching algebra.
00:26:54
Speaker
And that year I also had two periods of English support and I had one where I
00:27:01
Speaker
I had a restorative justice coach come in once a week and help me implement restorative justice practices.
00:27:07
Speaker
And seeing the power of the community, the classroom community that came out because of that was really inspiring for me and seeing the contrast between the two classes as well.
00:27:20
Speaker
One class didn't have the restorative justice influence and the other one did.
00:27:24
Speaker
And seeing how that space, the students thrived in more
00:27:30
Speaker
They felt safer to take risks.
00:27:32
Speaker
They felt safer to share their learning journeys.
00:27:35
Speaker
In that classroom, I also learned a lot about how students with special needs perceive information, perceive things from teachers as well.
00:27:47
Speaker
I had some great graphics.
00:27:48
Speaker
I actually kept them and framed them of what learning is for them.
00:27:55
Speaker
And it's really amazing to see.
00:27:58
Speaker
I have one of a faceless head.
00:28:01
Speaker
with, you know, actual information coming in one ear and then just kind of like these squiggles coming out the other ear and the eyes are spinning.
00:28:08
Speaker
Like they're just like almost from a top that you would see, you know, they're just spinning.
00:28:13
Speaker
Like I'm so lost, but somebody else wrote, I think something to the effect of learning is different for everybody.
00:28:22
Speaker
And why are you trying to make it the same?
00:28:24
Speaker
Like asking me that question.
00:28:26
Speaker
And it's kind of like, you know, you're right.
00:28:27
Speaker
Like learning is different for everybody.
00:28:29
Speaker
everyone, you know, sometimes I really feel like everyone should be on their own IEP.
00:28:36
Speaker
It's true, though, like we all have our individual strengths, we all have our areas of growth, and it is different.
00:28:42
Speaker
And these students are, you know, they're so lucky to have you as a teacher, because because the learning that they're demonstrating and the care that you're showing them, it's so powerful.
00:28:51
Speaker
And taking that initial step, like, I just want to honor this for all the teachers out there.
00:28:57
Speaker
It is so hard.
00:28:58
Speaker
Like I will say it is so hard and especially for special ed teachers.
00:29:02
Speaker
Like I feel like we're under more scrutiny between the paraprofessionals or service providers or people in our classroom that might not always appreciate what's going on.
00:29:13
Speaker
And it's really hard, especially if you have that traditional idea of what school is supposed to be.
00:29:28
Speaker
To leave us off, I want to share a piece that Megan shared with me.
00:29:32
Speaker
Students were instructed to write a response to, if I knew I wouldn't fail, I would.
00:29:37
Speaker
And some of the responses included, be an artist, trust people, find true love, be an inventor, do my best, be a leader, go to college, be proud of myself, be a teacher, take risks, be more positive, be a model, try harder, and a whole host of specific careers that they'd love to go into.
00:29:57
Speaker
When we listen to students, we're reminded that every one of them is a human sharing our space.
00:30:02
Speaker
They're not gray numbers, they're not a problem student, they're not low or high or some form of label, and we only see a snapshot of who they are as individuals.
00:30:14
Speaker
But the more we build relationships and the more we open our classrooms and share our power with them and listen to who they are, we not only create a more self-directed curriculum, but a more caring and compassionate space.
00:30:27
Speaker
The more we learn about students, the more we can empathize and the more we realize that their perspective is shaping their learning experience.
00:30:34
Speaker
For example, I just spoke to one of my students the other day.
00:30:37
Speaker
He was concerned about all the stress he was going through in school because he was behind in everything and he wanted to reach out.
00:30:44
Speaker
And to be honest, the initial reaction for many of us was, well, you know, he also doesn't use any of his time in class.
00:30:50
Speaker
He spends most days watching YouTube.
00:30:52
Speaker
But I think we owe it to students to understand that there's so many variables that could be going on.
00:30:58
Speaker
Is he giving up?
00:30:59
Speaker
Is the stress overwhelming him?
00:31:01
Speaker
Does he not know where to start?
00:31:02
Speaker
Is something going on at home?
00:31:04
Speaker
And we had a conversation and it became clear that he just needs more help.
00:31:08
Speaker
There just wasn't enough structure there.
00:31:10
Speaker
And we are finding solutions to make that happen.
00:31:14
Speaker
If we don't listen to students and we aren't willing to learn from them and open up with them, if we just put them down and act like they need to meet expectations at all times, then we're never going to end up constructing spaces that let them flourish.
00:31:28
Speaker
Whenever we go down our own path and start judging students who basically disrespect our authority, we are effectively denying students of their potential aspirations.
00:31:37
Speaker
All those things that Megan's students named that they felt like were being denied to them in some way, shape, or form.
00:31:44
Speaker
Every student has goals like this that are left to be unlocked.
00:31:47
Speaker
And when I read through responses like that, I realize how much work I and likely many of us need to do to ensure that every student is heard and recognized.
00:31:57
Speaker
That's a massive goal, but every student deserves a school experience that respects them, hears them, and truly incorporates their ideas.
00:32:05
Speaker
It's up for us to listen, to learn, and to build that future.
00:32:21
Speaker
Thank you again for listening to Things Fall Apart from the Human Restoration Project.
00:32:24
Speaker
I hope this conversation leaves you inspired and ready to push the progressive envelope of education.
00:32:29
Speaker
If you have time, I'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes, Spotify, social media, or anywhere you see fit.
00:32:36
Speaker
Do us a favor and tweet this out, post it on Facebook, spread our reach as much as possible, and let's push forward and restore humanity together.