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A Grade Level's Perspective
35 Plays4 years ago
An entire grade level comes into the podcast and shares various perspectives and thoughts. The 2nd grade team from Tyrone Thompson goes live with thoughts on distance learning, building a team, communication, and who inspires them. Listen and follow along as you will benefit from engaging with the hosts and guests as they discuss different ideas and viewpoints on all educational topics as they provide their insight and “perspective” in hopes of having a greater understanding of their profession. Join administrator Robert Hinchliffe and teacher Abigail Peterson as they examine different educational topics from various points of view. Take the challenge of looking at a topic from another side and see if your opinion may change. In the end, no matter what side you are on, it’s all about perspective. What’s yours?
In this episode, the hosts and guests discuss:
- thoughts on how to build a cohesive team
- the worst parts of distance education
- welcoming a new member into the group
- sharing ideas and learning from each other
- making all members feel valued
- the time commitment it takes to be an educator
- two rapid fire questions for all four teachers
Connect with Abbie and Robert
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ItsAllAboutPerspective2021
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Its-All-About-Perspective-102961565105781
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItsAllAboutPer2
Abbie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kindergarten_chaos/’
Robert on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pryncypalwithay/
Robert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertHCCS
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
Welcome! You are listening to It's All About Perspective with your hosts, Abigail Peterson from Kindergarten Chaos and Principal Robert Hinchliffe. Join us as we discuss education from various points of view. Take the challenge of listening to see if your opinion changes. But no matter where you stand on the issues, remember, It's All About Perspective.
Meet the Hosts
00:00:33
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome back to It's All About Perspective podcast. My name's Abigail Peterson from Kindergarten Chaos and my podcast partner is...
00:00:43
Speaker
I am Robert Hinchliffe. I'm the principal of Tyrone Thompson Elementary School.
Second-Grade Teachers' Perspectives
00:00:48
Speaker
And today we have four very special guests. They are the second grade grade level from Thompson. I thought it would be great to have an actual grade level on the podcast and get four different perspectives all at once to see if they align or if they do not on certain topics. So on that note, ladies, go ahead and introduce yourself to the podcast.
00:01:09
Speaker
Hi everyone. My name is Stephanie Rosenthal and I'm going into my 11th year of teaching second grade. Hi, I'm Kayla Bovaro. I'm going into my third year of teaching and I've taught second and third grade. I'm Angie Brown and I've taught for 12 years now. One of those was in second grade. The others were in first grade and I'm excited to come back to second.
00:01:34
Speaker
Hi, I'm Andrea Roach. I'm going into my 14th year of teaching. 11 of those were in special education and I'm on year three now of second grade.
00:01:46
Speaker
Awesome. Thanks ladies for introducing yourselves. So I wanted to start, I wanted to get your perspectives on grade levels. In your opinion, why do grade level groups work well? And anybody can start, I guess we'll start with Stephanie since she went first on introductions.
Understanding and Collaboration
00:02:02
Speaker
Stephanie, in your opinion, what makes a grade level work well? I think in order to like work well with any team, not even just in the school system, you have to understand where people are coming from.
00:02:14
Speaker
and kind of be empathetic to their life situation. We all have lives outside of school. I have two toddlers, Andrea and Angie, you have older kids and Kayla, you're starting out in your career and we have to just kind of understand where everyone's life is because you have different amounts of time and different time commitments and you have to kind of respect and honor that. And when you account to like working together with the team.
00:02:39
Speaker
I think that you need to be pretty cohesive like ideas and be willing to compromise in order to best benefit the students too. Awesome. Now, Angie, you're coming into the grade level this year. The other three worked together in the past year. How do you intend to kind of get into the grade level and become a part of the team?
00:03:00
Speaker
Well, it's been fun to kind of get to know everybody. I think that summer school has really kind of helped me learn the way that everybody teaches and just kind of have some conversations. And it's been nice to kind of sit down and plan together. And I think that what Stephanie brought up was important to note that we're all kind of in different walks of life right now in our careers.
00:03:22
Speaker
And so, you know, seeing that somebody might have these fabulous ideas, they might have all the extra time to do those things. Whereas somebody who, you know, maybe has extra curricular activities with kids might not have as much time. So, what I'm learning through coming into a new grade level, because it's been a while for me is to really just kind of take in ideas and.
00:03:42
Speaker
just kind of pick and choose the things that can work for me and the things that I'm kind of able to handle and contribute as much as I can. And Andrea, what do you think about all three of those ladies answers? Oh, I think, I think they all are great. Also too, you know, communication is probably a big part of being a team and they've all hit the nail, you know, on the head with
00:04:05
Speaker
everything that they've said, you just need to work as a team, you need to communicate, you need to speak up because you're probably with your coworkers more than your own family. So you've got to be able to get along well and learn how to work together.
00:04:23
Speaker
I think that's interesting, Andrea, that you say that because having worked on teams with different people in years past, I do find it hard when I'm obviously a very vocal, outspoken, speak my mind kind of a person and teacher. And when you have people on your team,
00:04:45
Speaker
who are not as vocal, it's hard sometimes, and I know oftentimes people will be intimidated by the person who speaks up the most.
00:04:58
Speaker
I had struggled with that. How do you get somebody to speak up and not be afraid to share their thoughts and their perspective? A lot of times they would just sit there and I would be, I call it the awkward silence of like, you're all just looking at each other and you're waiting for them to speak up. So Andrea, being that you have a lot of experience and this is a newer grade level with your school, how do you get somebody who is
Encouraging Colleague Participation
00:05:28
Speaker
not as talkative or not as opinionated to give their input. No, that's really good. And I think last year was really tough because we were a new school, a new building, new people all kind of thrusted together and it made it really hard. And I think going forward, obviously meeting and making sure everybody puts in their input together
00:05:55
Speaker
But there's still even then a lot of times, you know, people in, you know, your grade level meetings don't want to speak up. And so I think you take into account the personality of the teacher and sometimes you just might need to go to them individually and see, you know, what's going on. Is there something that you
00:06:16
Speaker
want to do or try that you don't feel comfortable bringing up in the grade level, but you want to try to make sure that it's a comfortable setting that even the shyest of people who don't, you know, put forth or can't speak up a lot or don't want to really can put forth the effort and feel comfortable.
00:06:35
Speaker
you know, giving their ideas. And because, you know, we are the four of us, we are a very eclectic group of girls. We are very vocal. We can be quiet. We've got a lot of personalities and we want to make sure that we're all in it together. So I think we do a very good job, though, of making sure that we all give our ideas of what we want to do.
00:06:57
Speaker
And Andrea, it's interesting you said that because I'm having known all four of you literally for two years at Angie, just me and you. You are four different people and Kayla, you're full of ideas but you're also the person that kind of sits back a little bit at times and then when things become important to you,
00:07:16
Speaker
you know, then, then you speak out then Andrea, let's just be honest, Andrea is out there, she's, she's gonna say what she needs to say. So, Kayla, what do you think about what Andrea said? And how do you, you know, as someone who has great ideas, but, you know, is looking to find the right place to speak? How do you feel about, you know, finding your way?
00:07:35
Speaker
Well, and I also want to add before you answer, Kayla, I also want to add that you're, you're a fairly new teacher as well. You're going into your third year. And so how do you approach that with the teachers that not only are more outspoken, possibly more outspoken than you, but also have more experience? I think for me, it's kind of a pick and choose, like Robert said, what's important to me.
00:08:01
Speaker
this whole team has a lot of really great ideas. And so it's nice to kind of sit and listen and learn. And then when it is important, that's when you know, I get a little more outspoken and kind of push some of my ideas. But right now I'm really just enjoying learning from every outlet and applying what I learned to what I've already got going on with my stuff. So I'll kind of jump in right now to one thing like working with Kayla,
00:08:27
Speaker
And having her just starting out in her career, even though she already has three years in, it's been a rocky couple years with distance education. It's been really refreshing to have someone with new ideas and just kind of fresh view and mindset of education. And it's because we all start out our careers, hopefully like really excited and ready to take on the world and make a difference and
00:08:52
Speaker
Over time and life changes, sometimes that can get a little jaded. And so working with someone who's on the newer side of the career, it's very refreshing to kind of get that fresh view again and perspective and motivation. For me, I think it was important to, I think what helped me kind of in this team and just kind of find my place here too was we
00:09:16
Speaker
Um, the four of us hung out at a happy hour before I officially started and we started meeting the plan. And I think that that was helpful because it kind of helped me learn each of these girls as a person. And, you know, we, we learned about each other's personal lives. And so I think that that really plays a part in the success of a team as well is not only are we a team professionally at school, you know, trying to get through all the same standards together and picking and choosing things that work,
Team-Building Outside School
00:09:43
Speaker
but
00:09:43
Speaker
We really get to learn who we are as people as well. And I think that personalities kind of have a lot to do with that. So I know that after we left that, that time that we, the four of us got to just kind of chat outside of school, it helped me feel better as kind of the new kid coming in, not only to a new school, but to a new grade level and just to a new team. So I think that that doing something outside of school was helpful in that sense, also for me anyways.
00:10:12
Speaker
One of the things that I want to say is, you three, a lot of people can learn from you because having someone new and refreshing with so many great ideas like Kayla has, a lot of teachers who are experienced won't do that, but you three are willing and open to take Kayla's ideas and learn from that. I think that's a valuable lesson for a lot of teachers as well. I'm interested to see what your guys' perspective is on, is a brand new school this year.
00:10:40
Speaker
And the three of you, I guess I didn't realize that Angie, you're just coming into the grade level. I thought you were part of the grade level this last year. But the three of you being in a grade level, but it was 75% of the school year was distance learning. And then the very last little bit was in-person. And so
00:11:04
Speaker
Now going into the next school year, which will be 100% face-to-face, how do you envision what next year is going to look like, considering this last year you worked together as distance learning teachers and not in-building teachers?
00:11:27
Speaker
No, that's a great question. I think what we did though, we tried to work as much as we could together those last two months of face to face. And I think we did a good job as best as we could going forward. My word for the next school year is normal.
00:11:48
Speaker
I want to see just a normal school year as best as we can. And I think being in the building with the kids, with our coworkers, planning together is, I think, just the best that we can do as a grade level. And I think from last year with distance, it was our first year together. And we had that struggle of having to
00:12:17
Speaker
learn who each other were, and on top of it, be distance teachers. And I'll tell you, it was really tough. There was a lot of some rough times there at the beginning, I'll be honest. And it made it really, really hard. But I think the last two months of school, we got to really execute some really great plans together. And again, me coming out of my comfort zone of being
00:12:46
Speaker
you know, one of the older teachers, so to speak, and do some of the great ideas that, you know, Kayla helped implement in Stephanie and then going forward, being able to hopefully plan a whole year's worth of greatness together. So going along that we talked about what makes a grade level work well. I will start with Stephanie and then we'll go to Angie. What makes a grade level not work well together? Communication.
00:13:15
Speaker
And just like, there's no time for playing games. If someone makes you a pet or makes a comment or you're annoyed by someone, you just have to, you have to go be direct, walk into their room and let them know like in a nice way. You don't have to be rude about it, but if there's an issue, you need to address it because longer something festers.
00:13:32
Speaker
the worse it's going to get, the bigger it's going to get. And it's, a lot of them are non-issues that you just have to get off your chest because we're all learning how to communicate with each other. And I mean, talk about our situation, like, here, get to know your new grade level. By the way, wear a mask, stand six feet away from each other and don't like be in the same room. But please, by all means, collaborate. It wasn't an ideal scenario.
00:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I honestly feel like it is communication that can make or break a grade level for sure.
00:14:07
Speaker
you know, just not only when things are good, or I'm sorry, not only when things are bad, but I mean, even when they're good. And just like we talked about earlier too, like sitting in meetings and having everybody participate and making sure that everybody contributes and everybody's voice is heard, you know, in their opinions, not just kind of sitting back and just, you know, nodding and yup, you know, without sharing what they, how they really feel about something. And I think that that is important as well.
00:14:34
Speaker
because everybody has a voice that matters. And maybe a way that you feel about something might be a way that somebody else feels about it too, but they're just afraid to bring it up. So I mean, just in my experience, that's what I've learned. I think that communicating with your team about the good, the bad, and the ugly is really what helps it be successful. Do you guys plan like long range planning? Do you guys plan a month at a time? How have you guys planned for this upcoming school year?
00:15:05
Speaker
We have tried to do our long range plans and I mean past experiences are always very tentative. And so we're trying to collaborate and just be on the same page as much as possible. Maybe not doing like the exact same things all of the time.
00:15:19
Speaker
But we definitely want to be able to plan like grade level activities together. Like Kayla, we've talked about her great ideas before. One of her passions is transformation rooms. And so at the end of second grade, our year last year, we based off her fabulous idea, did a whole Jurassic Park day. And so it's really fun when you can kind of all be on the same page. And then one day the kids all come to school and the whole second grade hallways transformed. So getting to be on the same page is fun for those moments.
00:15:50
Speaker
What are you guys looking forward to most next year? I guess, you know, yeah, we have normal, but what are some things that you kind of have planned for next year or tentatively have talked about to give ideas to other grade levels? You know, I, we talked about room transformations. Uh, we have room transformation rooms, but do you have any other plans for next year? Just having a whole full school year with them. That way we can really see where they are and where the gaps are. It'll.
00:16:19
Speaker
I think that's just a good indication being able to have them in the class for nine months. I'm personally really excited to get the kids
Reintroducing Hands-on Learning
00:16:29
Speaker
back into doing centers and hands-on activities because I know we lacked that a lot this year and just getting to have them interact with each other and learn in that sense is something that's got me really excited.
00:16:43
Speaker
I just have to say as somebody who is extremely passionate about little learners, and I know you guys teach second grade, but I recently just did some personal research on fine motor.
00:16:58
Speaker
and how devices and apps are affecting it. And it would be very interesting for most people to know that the most current research that I could find was done in 2017, 2018.
00:17:15
Speaker
And it was saying that actually the apps that are out there for practicing that basically are taking the place, so to speak, I'm doing air quotes, that are replacing what we would do in the classroom as like fine motor tasks and hands-on activities is actually not helping at all.
00:17:36
Speaker
I love to hear that you guys want to do more hands-on activities, and I hope that every school and every teacher implements that, because these kids have spent a year of being on devices hours and hours and hours a day without having those experiences to strengthen their fine motor.
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think I talked to second grade about this last year. One of their big concerns was writing over distance learning because of those type of things. I don't know if Stephanie or Kayla or Andrew want to talk about that, or even Andrew from a first grade perspective. But writing, I feel like next year is going to be a huge challenge for second grade and first grade.
00:18:16
Speaker
And the stamina is not there because if they were at home and they were not made to follow through, then that stamina has to be built. And again, we know that writing is one of the least favorite activities, tasks.
00:18:33
Speaker
You know, it's a non-preferred activity because you have to actually put the effort in and actually do it. You cannot daydream and write. It doesn't work. You know, you can't be playing with a fidget spinner and write. It doesn't work. So it'll be very interesting. You guys keep me posted on your journey with writing next year. So what, um, just real quickly, we'll go right down kind of the way you introduce yourself. What was your least favorite thing about distance learning last year?
00:19:05
Speaker
Oh my gosh, I have to go first. Let's see. I tried so hard to make it fun, but I just remember that first day of school thinking like I missed the interaction. I missed like feeling the joy in the room with them and just like the energy that little kids like we all are lucky enough to get to spend the day with little kids who aren't jaded by like negativity in the world. Like they're always, for the most part, so happy to just be there. And I miss
00:19:34
Speaker
All of that, I just miss their energy so much. Kayla? I really missed the connections, not even just me with the students. I mean, obviously, like if the student was upset, you couldn't give them a hug and you can't reach through the computer really to comfort them. You just have words when you've never met them, that's kind of rough. But the connection between students, that was really rough to see as well. They didn't get to play on the playground and
00:20:03
Speaker
form connections that way. A lot of them stayed at home in the whole duration of distance learning and didn't see other kids their age. And so I think that was the hardest for me to watch was their interactions
00:20:15
Speaker
via computer screen. And we did like lunch on the computer together sometimes. And watching them communicate with each other was just so good fun. For me, I really, I just miss teaching the way that I teach. Teaching first grade, I mean, it's not a deal to sit in a chair and yes, I can change my voice and I can be animated, but I'm a mover when I teach. And you know, so it was really hard to just sit in one chair and try to take everything that I used and have to make it digital and try to keep the kids
00:20:44
Speaker
not only engaged, but learning and wanting to participate and checking for their understanding through the screen was really tough, too. So there were plenty of moments where I pressed that end meeting button and just kind of felt like a failure, like, gosh, I don't know. I can't really tell you if the kids really got XYZ or whatever I was trying to teach them, because it's not the same as being in a classroom and looking over their shoulder.
00:21:10
Speaker
You know, seeing that spark go off like, okay, I get this. We're hearing them help each other. So. For me, that part was really tough, you know, just not being able to be to be there to help really facilitate the learning.
00:21:26
Speaker
I missed being able to give immediate feedback. That was really hard. Not so much in math. That was a little bit easier, but reading and definitely writing. It's just so hard to look at like formative assessments and being able to give immediate feedback through a computer screen. So I think that was the most challenging. And to see if they were even doing it independently.
00:21:50
Speaker
I think that was the biggest struggle because we saw from when they were on the computer, the work that was submitted. And then when they did come back those last two months, the discrepancies between the work. So not on all, but some of the kids. So that was definitely a struggle to be able to give that immediate feedback and to see how they were doing in real time.
00:22:17
Speaker
But I will say that I do miss the mute button.
00:22:25
Speaker
So I have a question specifically for Angie, who's coming to Thompson and joining a new grade level and new colleagues. Angie, we did a podcast a long time ago. It was called Time for a Change Should You Resign, Retire, or Relocate. And it was all about which one of those three should you do. And so you, you obviously are transferring to Thompson.
00:22:50
Speaker
What advice would you give to someone out there in terms of transferring or, you know, if they're on the fence, if they're thinking about it or not thinking about it, what advice would you give them? My advice would be to make the change.
00:23:05
Speaker
You know, I'm a total creature of habit. I was the school that I was at. I was there from the beginning, from when the school opened. And my first year I was hired to teach first grade. And then I student taught in second. So I wanted to go back to second. And then after I went to second, I realized, no, I want to go back to first. And first is where I stayed for 10 solid years. And it was great. I mean, I loved first grade. I loved the learning in first grade. I loved that. Age of those kids.
00:23:32
Speaker
But, you know, after a while, you just kind of do what you do. And I started to think, you know, what else is out there? What else should I do? But like I said, I'm a creature of habit, so I kind of stayed put. And then, you know, the right opportunity just kind of came up. And it was like an internal struggle, too. Do I do it? Do I not? What are my pros? Here are the reasons why I should. Here are the reasons why I shouldn't. And it really was kind of a struggle.
00:23:58
Speaker
inside to decide, you know, do I do this? Do I not? Just because it's something new and it's different and changes hearts sometimes. But once I made that decision and it all fell into place, I mean, I haven't looked back since and it was scary, but it was worth it. So, you know, you just have to find what.
00:24:17
Speaker
What's going to drive your passion? What's going to bring that back? And for me, I feel like I was just kind of getting stagnant where I was. I feel like I wasn't challenging myself, which, you know, as we know, if you're not challenging yourself, and it kind of flows over into
Revitalizing Teaching Careers
00:24:30
Speaker
your classroom and into what you do. And I just knew that I could be better and I wanted to be better and.
00:24:36
Speaker
That was only going to happen if I made that decision for myself. And so here I am. Andrea, I have a question for you. Speaking of previous podcasts, we did one a few weeks ago about awards and about does everybody deserve a trophy? So I would love to hear your perspective on giving out awards.
00:25:01
Speaker
It's funny that you mentioned that. So my actual own personal philosophy is I don't feel that everybody should get trophies or awards. However, since it was kind of a different year,
00:25:15
Speaker
and there was a lot of kind of doom and gloom with distance learning. I wanted the kids to feel good about themselves in those last couple months that we had together. So I saw some cool words that I printed out.
00:25:33
Speaker
And I actually had the students themselves vote for their peers. So it took me out of the equation completely, because if I were to give these awards, then it would be me specifically giving those awards to those particular students. So instead of doing that, I decided, you know what? We're going to let the peers vote for their classmates.
00:25:59
Speaker
I'm just kind of laughing because it's like, it takes me back to when I was in school and it was like, who was most popular? Who had the best hair? And they weren't any kind of, it wasn't like, you know, the best, you know, highest reader award or bet, you know, they were just kind of fun superlative awards. And I thought they were fun and everybody, you know, did get one because they're, you know,
00:26:21
Speaker
they were voted on by each other. And they clap for everybody, everybody stood and clap for each other, which is kind of a fun way to end the school year. And by no means was it anything that was supposed to hurt anybody's feelings or anything like that, because everybody did get one. But I'm not one for making sure everybody gets something, because that's just not how the real world works.
00:26:48
Speaker
So continuing upon this, now that we have so many guests today, we can ask about a former podcast and get some more perspective. So this one is for both Stephanie and Kayla, because one of you is well into her career. And then of course, Kayla, this is your upcoming your third year. We'll start with Kayla. In your opinion, both of you, is teacher burnout a real thing?
00:27:16
Speaker
Like you said, I'm only in my third year and after last year, 100%. Even my first year, I think I felt it. I think teachers have such unrealistic expectations and we wear so many different hats that it's almost impossible not to feel the burnout at some point in the year. But having a team you can kind of lean on and talk with and
00:27:40
Speaker
Personal support outside of this school is kind of nice to help balance it out. But this past year, it was unreal. And then of course, signing up for summer school didn't fully help. So I know I'm looking forward to this next month of summer and being pretty lazy.
00:27:58
Speaker
I think it has to do with your environment because I do feel like even in any job, my sister's a CPA and so she had her busy season and she was always rightfully so massively burnt out after that. And so I think there's peaks and valleys in every career. But if you surround yourself with a good environment and knowing when your surroundings aren't the place for you, maybe you need to move schools, maybe you need to move grade levels, whatever you need to do to take care of yourself because it's going to happen.
00:28:29
Speaker
and make sure it happens in an environment that supports you and helps it be as minimal as possible. Awesome.
Support from Spouses
00:28:37
Speaker
So I got one more question. This one's for all of you, including Abby. All of you are married to non-educators.
00:28:44
Speaker
Do they understand what it's like for you and your job? Because teaching is a full-time, all-the-time job. And I know all four of your husbands are supportive, but does anybody want to speak to that? Because I think it's important that when you are an educator that you marry someone or you find a partner that understands your lifestyle. What do you guys think about that? We'll just go with Abby and then we'll go down to anybody else that wants to chime in on that one.
00:29:12
Speaker
So I was married when I actually secured my degree or achieved my degree. So my husband, I took him on my, I was student teaching and of course I wanted to make an impression on the principal and the school I was at. So I was like, hey, my husband will paint a map on the playground.
00:29:35
Speaker
So I volunteered my husband to come and paint a United States map outside on the playground. So my husband is very used to the amount of work it takes, the amount of passion that I have for it.
00:29:50
Speaker
say that I have definitely a teacher family because it's a whole family ordeal. Back to school, my husband would come and hang things for me and paint things for me. And my kids would help in the classroom and cut things for me and laminate things.
00:30:08
Speaker
So for me, it's a whole family affair. And now that I have transitioned out of the classroom and into something else, it's still happening. It's still happening. They helped me set up things for, I just released a course and they helped me do that and they set up all the fun stuff. So I definitely think that it takes getting used to, especially for somebody who is not familiar with it.
00:30:35
Speaker
And it definitely takes a special kind of different breed of a person to be married to a teacher that is completely passionate about what they do. I mean, originally I went to school for hospitality and switched it up and decided my heart was with teaching. So I think it was a little bit of whiplash for mine.
00:30:56
Speaker
because you know hospitality you've got your things you have to do but a lot of it's not take-home work so he was definitely surprised by how much work I bring home with me and how much needs to happen kind of outside of the classroom especially when you're first starting off and you don't have all of your materials prepped it's also new
00:31:16
Speaker
but he's been super supportive and I'm really thankful for that. He tries to cut and laminate but I've told Robert I prefer when he doesn't because they end up redoing it all so but it's nice so that he's very understanding and hopefully as the years kind of continue on for me it won't be as much at home but yeah definitely nice to have that support. I agree I think that
00:31:43
Speaker
It's important to have that support at home. I know I have two boys that are going into middle school and I think from being married to a teacher, my husband has a, a stronger appreciation for teaching because he sees how much of it has to be done on my own time, which cuts into family time. Luckily he's really understanding and I mean, he's, you know, he's willing to help, but you know, like Kayla said, there's, there's specific tasks that I will trust him with.
00:32:13
Speaker
for some of the stuff that I bring home, but that support really is important because we know this is not like a, you know, eight to three job. You don't just sign out at three o'clock and that's it. You know, you're answering Jojo messages at seven o'clock at night. You are, you know, fixing grades for kids, you're reading papers, you're planning stuff for the next day. And so again, when you have
00:32:36
Speaker
Your family at home and it cuts into their time. I think it's important that you're with a partner who understands that and maybe can kind of, you know, tackle some of that so you can take care of the things that you need to. So, I know that I appreciate that about my husband, because I don't feel like I get a lot of guilt. I put a lot of guilt on myself.
00:32:55
Speaker
But I don't feel like he gives me a whole lot of guilt for the amount of time that my job takes. Well, all right. So we like to end our podcast with rapid fire, which you guys know, of course, because you listen. So we're going to ask each of you two questions and we'll just go right down. You know, the people that the way you introduce yourself again. So first question, what or who inspires you in education, Stephanie? I mean, I've been on a lot of Ron Clark kicks right now, so I will say
00:33:23
Speaker
Obviously Ron Clark and just his positive attitude and all of the things that he's been able to incorporate is absolutely amazing and definitely something to aspire to. I don't have anyone specific, but I would just say being on social media, every time I'm scrolling the amount of screenshots and notes that I take, there's just such an influx of ideas. And it inspires me daily every time I open one of my apps to try new things and get out of my comfort zone.
00:33:53
Speaker
For me, I would say, I mean, kind of like Steph, I'm on a Ron Clark kick right now, but along those same lines, when I first started teaching, I was really big into Hope King. And I mean, I still am, but I just remember she really inspired me when I first started teaching with all of her, you know, big ideas and just teaching outside of the box, which is what I really liked. So I'd go with her. I'm actually inspired by my team.
00:34:19
Speaker
The information and everything that I've learned from each one of them this past year and what I've already learned from Angie has been so inspiring and eye-opening. I've just gotten more from learning from my own team than I think I would get from any book or, you know, social media thing. So I would have to say my team. Thank you. Awesome. So we'll reverse it this time. We'll go. That's the way Stephanie is not first this time. So we'll reverse it.
00:34:50
Speaker
Andrea, if you could change one thing about education, what would it be?
Rethinking Assessments
00:34:54
Speaker
I would probably have to say standardized testing. I've seen year after year the amount of pressure put on kids for standardized testing. I think it's just become too much. I'd rather see some kind of change to maybe a portfolio.
00:35:10
Speaker
way of measuring progress, because in the end, it's just about progress, not a test score. These kids are, they're a kid, they have a name, they have a face. And I just, all I care about is progress. And that's what I would like to see changed, if that's ever possible. I would like to see
00:35:33
Speaker
a change in how decisions are made and passed on to schools. I think that it would be a lot more helpful to have people that are in classrooms or directly involved in education make decisions for educators and for kids, you know, rather than having decisions made and passed down by people who are disconnected from what the day-to-day life looks like in a classroom or in a school. Kayla.
00:35:59
Speaker
I would love to see more SEO and life skills put somewhere in curriculum or more time offered towards that. So I don't feel like I'm pushing standards aside to teach things that the kids need to be learning and skills that they'll take all the way into adulthood with them. I think that would be really fun to see one day. Stephanie, you get to wrap it up. I do. I feel like the
00:36:27
Speaker
Attitude and mindset towards the profession has shifted recently and over the past like decade, I would say I wish
00:36:34
Speaker
that the profession was respected like it used to be. And just we do so many amazing things and we all go above and beyond. I mean, we've talked about burnout. I feel like a lot of us, we put it on ourselves because we're trying to keep up with the monotony of paperwork and things like that. But yet we still pull off amazing things for the kids because that's what we're here for. And I just wish that was what was portrayed with our profession and not just the negative and the people who aren't there for the right reasons.
00:37:01
Speaker
Awesome. Well, I know that I appreciate you for especially appreciate you being on here, but more importantly, I really believe that you are the best second grade team in Clark County. And I look forward to watching you all do amazing things. And I want to thank you for coming on the podcast.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yes, thank you, ladies, for coming and being a part of this episode. We're grateful for all that you guys do and especially last year. It was just amazing to see. I mean, some of you guys I follow on social media and I saw the different ideas and things that you guys put out there just to try to keep the kids engaged and keep learning going forward. So as a parent myself, I would like to thank you because as
00:37:47
Speaker
One of you said it's an underappreciated field. So thank you. Thank you for joining us. And we want you to join us in saying what we always say when we end our episodes. No matter where you stand on the issues.
00:38:13
Speaker
Thanks for listening to today's podcast.
Engaging the Audience
00:38:15
Speaker
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