1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,519 Welcome to the Teachers Need Teachers Podcasts, the podcast for teachers who don't want 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:08,960 to just survive teaching but actually thrive. One aspect of teaching that pretty much 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,599 every teacher struggles with is being able to reach all learners, especially when you 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,519 have learners that are on grade level, learners that are ahead, and definitely 5 00:00:17,679 --> 00:00:23,000 learners that are behind or frequently absent. Parents and administrators and districts and the 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,280 states. They all want us to somehow create individualized learning plans for all of 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,439 our students and differentiate for all of the multiple levels that sit in front of 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,119 us every single day. But how are we supposed to do that? Which 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:40,439 is part one of a two part series about differentiation and the Modern Classroom Project. 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,119 I'm interviewing Kareem Farah about how to set up a modern classroom where all 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,039 students needs are met. Yes, all students needs are met. Not only 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:57,399 has his method with the Modern Classrooms Project been tested by tens of thousands of 13 00:00:57,439 --> 00:01:02,399 teachers across the country and the world, it also has been studied to have 14 00:01:02,719 --> 00:01:07,439 actual improvements in student learning and outcomes. It helps to build student teacher relationships 15 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:12,120 and definitely closes learning gaps. If you've just been struggling with trying to reach 16 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,480 all of your learners and feel like a failure, then this episode is definitely 17 00:01:15,519 --> 00:01:21,799 for you. The Modern Classrooms Project is a model where teachers are no longer 18 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,280 standing in front of their students and just being the gatekeepers and information. It's 19 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,719 not just us that delivers the information in front of students in real time. 20 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,480 Rather, it's sort of a flipped model, where can we deliver the lessons 21 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:38,680 via video lessons. Sometimes we record it, sometimes we use other people's recordings, 22 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,159 like on YouTube or something like that, and then students are going to 23 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,879 watch that video either in class or on their own time, and the great 24 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,560 part is that they can rewatch it if they didn't understand it. The model 25 00:01:49,599 --> 00:01:56,000 also allows you to create supplemental videos for students that are behind and also extension 26 00:01:56,159 --> 00:02:00,200 videos for students that move pretty fast or already ahead of level and need to 27 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:05,319 be stretched and challenged. The main part of the Modern Classrooms Project is the 28 00:02:05,359 --> 00:02:09,159 fact that this is a student centered model meeting that is not based on teachers 29 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,680 and on what we need to teach and in terms of what we need as 30 00:02:13,719 --> 00:02:17,000 teachers, but rather it's going to meet the needs of every single student, 31 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,439 no matter where they're at, and I think that this is something that pretty 32 00:02:21,479 --> 00:02:23,840 much every teacher hopes that they can do. Kareem Vera, who is a 33 00:02:23,879 --> 00:02:29,080 former math teacher, co founded the Modern Classrooms Project as a way of sharing 34 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,960 his model with teachers because he knew that this was the future of education. 35 00:02:32,199 --> 00:02:36,639 So, if you want to know more about how the Modern Classrooms Project actually 36 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,360 works, and I encourage you to check out our website, modern classrooms dot 37 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:44,560 org, which I'll link below so that you can learn about the actual model. 38 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:49,080 But today Kareim and I are going to be talking about how to reframe 39 00:02:49,319 --> 00:02:53,680 our mindset as teachers, especially when we've been teaching in a traditional lecture based 40 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,000 classroom, so that we can embrace this model that really benefits our students. 41 00:02:58,159 --> 00:03:00,639 Here we go, Well, thanks for being on the show, Cream, 42 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:05,560 I really appreciate you taking the time to do this or turn your busy schedule. 43 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,919 Happy to be here, excited. So, as I mentioned in the 44 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:15,800 introduction, you were a math teacher and you started the Modern Classroom Project, 45 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:21,080 which I'm really really excited to talk to my audience about. Can you briefly 46 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,039 explain the concept and principles behind it? And how it's different than just like 47 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:31,479 traditional lecture style teaching. Yeah, I mean you started the explanation for me 48 00:03:31,599 --> 00:03:36,520 by saying that this is an alternative to sort of a traditional lectured approach based 49 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,199 to instruction. I actually think where it's most different, it's that it's a 50 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,400 way to transform from a fixed based learning environment to a self based learning environment 51 00:03:44,439 --> 00:03:49,680 that's competency or mastery based. So the way that it essentially works is that 52 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,680 instead of educators standing at the front of the room and delivering live lectures in 53 00:03:53,719 --> 00:03:57,919 many ways the way that we all probably learn when we were students, but 54 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,360 also the way that you're often taught to teach, educators replace those live lectures 55 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:09,439 with bite sized instructional videos that they actually create and or leverage other digital resources 56 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:12,960 when appropriate. Right, not every single lesson needs to start with a kind 57 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,120 of instruction done through a videos. So once you've gotten into those live lectures, 58 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,560 that is the bottleneck that forces fixed based learning. So then you can 59 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,000 actually let students work at their own pace, but in bursts one or two 60 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,040 weeks at a time, be usually given a game board or pacing structure allows 61 00:04:28,079 --> 00:04:31,319 them to know what they need to accomplish over a set of days or weeks, 62 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,000 and then it's mastery based grading. So you got that kind of blended 63 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,000 component, which is the getting rid of live lectures. You got the self 64 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,120 pacing component allowing students grow based in Chunson. Then finally that mastery based grading 65 00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:47,160 component, which is really determining that a student should move on from one skill 66 00:04:47,199 --> 00:04:49,160 to the next, not based on the day of the week, but based 67 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:55,399 on their understanding of the skill. So this what I like is that there 68 00:04:55,399 --> 00:04:58,519 are two deems that I struggle with every year. One of them is that 69 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,759 as a secondary t I'm tired of teaching the same lesson five times a day. 70 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:08,120 So the idea of just like prerecording it and having the students watch it 71 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,199 it means that I don't have to do that. And then, of course, 72 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:16,199 you know what your model leaned itself to is that I feel like I'm 73 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,040 leaving kids behind. But at the same time, I also feel that kids 74 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:25,040 are bored, you know. But the thing that I'm struggling with wrapping my 75 00:05:25,079 --> 00:05:29,279 brain around is the fact that I part of what I do when I'm lecturing 76 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:30,959 is I have a lot of interaction with the kids. It's how they get 77 00:05:30,959 --> 00:05:36,160 to know me, and I really like that aspect of it. So, 78 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,439 you know, one thing that I'm sure a lot of people who want to 79 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,560 do something like this in terms of especially with differentiation, is they're used to 80 00:05:44,879 --> 00:05:50,240 lecturing. What are some challenges that they might face and trying to transition and 81 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,800 how can they overcome those? Well, I mean, I think you talked 82 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:59,279 about one in your question. I mean the first thing to keep in mind 83 00:05:59,439 --> 00:06:01,959 is just because you're not lecturing doesn't mean you're not doing whole group activities and 84 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,720 discussions. It's a frequent kind of misconception about the model. Just because I 85 00:06:06,759 --> 00:06:11,040 don't talk at students and they take notes does not mean that I don't open 86 00:06:11,079 --> 00:06:14,920 class with an activity, that we don't have a discussion about how you maximize 87 00:06:14,959 --> 00:06:17,079 your time and built twenty first century skills, or that I don't stop the 88 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,680 class at any point in time and say let's talk about this. I've seen 89 00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:24,519 six kids already struggle with this, let's do a quick discussion about that. 90 00:06:25,439 --> 00:06:29,519 So there's a lot of opportunities to have that kind of whole group experience. 91 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,360 But the key is using whole group experience for connection and conversation and not just 92 00:06:33,879 --> 00:06:36,639 I talk at EU take notes, right. So I think that's the first 93 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,519 thing to keep in mind. The second thing is, you know, our 94 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,079 whole idea and the data shows, is that when you run a modern classroom, 95 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,120 you have increased interaction with students. Those interactions are now going to be 96 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,639 in one on one in small group settings as opposed to whole group settings. 97 00:06:51,959 --> 00:06:55,879 The idea is it's in those small group settings and in the one on one 98 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,120 settings when you're engaging in data driven instruction, which are also just getting no 99 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,240 students, that that's actually where you're building the strongest relationships. That's where you're 100 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,680 moving students across the continuent mastery. So I think that addresses one just kind 101 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:10,439 of related question, which is when you kind of think about, oh, 102 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,240 no, am I gonna lose this kind of community based feeling when I'm at 103 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:15,399 the front of the room, Am I gonna lose some of that kind of 104 00:07:15,399 --> 00:07:18,800 fun performing developments, It's like, no, it just looks a little different, 105 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,120 and you're going to use that time differently. I think the other things 106 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:28,040 that folks struggle with is first, releasing control. I think it's you know, 107 00:07:28,279 --> 00:07:31,319 being at the front of the room is both convenient and it's an easy 108 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:38,079 way to create a very rigid learning environment where you are in control of every 109 00:07:38,199 --> 00:07:41,519 minute, and it's very difficult, and I was I can be the first 110 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,720 to say this, to release that control, to wake up and suddenly go 111 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,879 wait a minute. Students are have enough agency to be the driver's cy of 112 00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:51,120 the learning experience. They are going to be the folks that decide, you 113 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,480 know, how much kind of urgency they put into the next steps. And 114 00:07:55,639 --> 00:07:58,319 my job is to help facilitate and support them to that journey. And that 115 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,319 really freaks educators out in there, actually, and I get it. But 116 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,439 it's also such an important skill for students to build, so it's critical. 117 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,399 The other piece is just the lee orientation of time. I mean, one 118 00:08:09,439 --> 00:08:13,319 of the things we've seen now that we've trained thousands of teachers is some edvocators 119 00:08:13,399 --> 00:08:16,040 totally knows to do when you unlashed in the classroom. They totally think, 120 00:08:16,079 --> 00:08:18,759 immediately, I'm going to go into this kind of teacher station. I'm gonna 121 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,079 be pulling students in small groups and individually, we're gonna be talking about their 122 00:08:22,079 --> 00:08:26,279 mastery checks, figure out where they've understood the skill. We're gonna be building 123 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:28,399 relationships. Other teachers are like, what do I do with all this time? 124 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:33,200 Because you teach your prep programs, they don actually teach you how to 125 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:37,000 run a classroom that's students entered, a classroom that's kind of designed through the 126 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,360 leves of differentiation. They teach you how to run a classroom from the front 127 00:08:41,399 --> 00:08:43,639 of the room usually, and so you know, figuring out how to use 128 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,360 that time effectively conceal uncomfortable And then there's obviously a plain in component. I 129 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:52,600 mean, you're planning differently and in some ways you have to add a little 130 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,120 bit more on the front end for the gains in varying the classroom from a 131 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:00,960 much less stressful, enjoyable and data driven classroom experience, and always poses a 132 00:09:01,039 --> 00:09:03,519 challenge because it's a new skill to plan this way, and there's also a 133 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:09,399 little bit more upfront work well. And I think that for teachers that are 134 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,519 already seeking out your model, it's sort of self selective. These are teachers 135 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:16,360 that are open minded about it, and you know they already see that there's 136 00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:18,840 something that they need to change in the way that they teach. But I 137 00:09:18,879 --> 00:09:22,480 can also see that it can be difficult for a lot of teachers, especially 138 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,559 veteran teachers I mean I've been teaching. This will be my twenty second year 139 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:31,360 to shift from a I am. I mean, no one wants to admit 140 00:09:31,399 --> 00:09:35,559 that they are the center of their classroom. But a lot of time teachers 141 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,600 see themselves as like, you know, the center of the classroom around which 142 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:46,879 everything revolves. But now it's student focused. So have you had a lot 143 00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:50,720 of teachers that had to grapple with that and how did they get past? 144 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,840 I mean it's almost eco eccentric. I hate to say that, but you 145 00:09:52,879 --> 00:09:56,720 know, we're just so used to being about us, like being the gatekeepers. 146 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,200 How do we release that need to be the gatekeeper? Yeah? Well, 147 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,200 I mean the interesting fat So you know, we put fifty three thousand 148 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,799 teachers to our free course and ten thousand through Verture Mendership program. The average 149 00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:13,159 educator who opts into a virtual mendership program, and it is an opt and 150 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,240 only program, meaning no one's being forced to do our model. Everyone's choosing 151 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,600 too. The average educator who joins our virtual Menadership program is fourteen years of 152 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:26,559 classroom experience. So this is actually a model that generally is first most attractive 153 00:10:26,799 --> 00:10:31,919 to veteran teachers, and the reason why it's often first attractive to veteran teachers 154 00:10:31,039 --> 00:10:35,480 is I think veteran teachers over time really do want to shift the learning experience 155 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,919 to the students. Right. It's both exhausting to be in the driver's seat 156 00:10:39,919 --> 00:10:43,919 as the teacher, but it's also something you learn over time that that's not 157 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:46,159 what's best for students. That they're going to leave you the classroom and leave 158 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,039 the school building and suddenly like they have to engage in a lot of self 159 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,799 directed behaviors to navigate the real world. And if we don't create those conditions 160 00:10:54,840 --> 00:11:00,440 early on, then they get blindsided by those realities. So I think one 161 00:11:00,639 --> 00:11:05,360 thing that is critical going into a modern classrooms experience is to have that first 162 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:11,399 to shift a large percentage of responsibility from educator to student. If you aren't 163 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,080 built, if you haven't bought it on that vision, you shouldn't do our 164 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,759 model right, because it's core to what we do. The second piece is 165 00:11:18,799 --> 00:11:24,120 to really understand and internalize that when a student isn't using their time effectively, 166 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,759 the solution isn't then to take freedom away from them, it's to teach them 167 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,720 how to use that freedom effectively. And that is really hard for folks. 168 00:11:33,799 --> 00:11:37,039 I often say a phrase to the ad and we support where we need to 169 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:43,639 spend less time focusing on disengagement and more time focusing on re engagement. A 170 00:11:43,639 --> 00:11:48,120 lot of educators will become obsessed with this idea that seven students are disengaged and 171 00:11:48,159 --> 00:11:50,200 we just need to get them back to being engaged, and a lot of 172 00:11:50,399 --> 00:11:54,639 techniques we use is to actually either call them out or kind of come up 173 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,799 with systems and structures to get them to be engaged instead of giving them the 174 00:11:58,919 --> 00:12:03,279 time to re engage and then building that skill so that students can self regulate 175 00:12:03,639 --> 00:12:07,120 on their own, and that piece. I think that's probably the hardest for 176 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,440 veteran teachers because often veteran teachers create incredibly structured classrooms with super high levels of 177 00:12:13,639 --> 00:12:18,399 students on task. But they're on task and somewhat reliant on the teacher to 178 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:24,120 be on task, and suddenly when that teacher is no longer going to withhold 179 00:12:24,159 --> 00:12:28,200 that much structure for them, they will go off to task a little bit 180 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,679 and need to self correct. And that's a little freaky, that's true, 181 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:35,639 because I think there's also the fear of you know, if one student isn't 182 00:12:35,919 --> 00:12:41,480 focused, then it's like a domino effect. So if you know, all 183 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,600 of these students are kind of doing their own thing and we can't control every 184 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:50,720 single step, then if one student falls out a line, then automatically everybody 185 00:12:50,759 --> 00:12:54,240 else will. And I think that's a fear, especially with the I don't 186 00:12:54,279 --> 00:12:58,039 know if you've heard horror stories about last year's student population where there was just 187 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:03,519 a lot of behavior your problems. I think it seems like it would be 188 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:09,159 easier to have everyone at the exact same spot, because all you have to 189 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,840 do is just see someone who's not in that spot to catch the person who's 190 00:13:13,919 --> 00:13:18,720 you know, not in line, as opposed to well, maybe they're not 191 00:13:18,759 --> 00:13:22,159 in line because they didn't understand, and so now they're going to check out 192 00:13:22,159 --> 00:13:24,840 for the rest of the lesson. But it sounds like with your model, 193 00:13:26,039 --> 00:13:30,720 because they didn't understand, if we teach them how to self direct, now 194 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,399 they go back or we redirect them. Okay, you didn't understand this step, 195 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,919 watch this video, or we work together in this step so that every 196 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,279 and everyone else just keeps chugging along and it's just that one or maybe five 197 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,639 students that they have to worry about rather than trying to range all the cats. 198 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,559 Yeah, I mean, I think there's a couple really important points in 199 00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:54,559 that. So the first is, I think the most high risk model of 200 00:13:54,639 --> 00:13:58,840 teaching is one where one student can disrupt the entire learning. I found live 201 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,360 lectures to be so tense because it took one student to get really frustrated and 202 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:11,279 then everything stops, and if other students jump on board with them, then 203 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,200 you got a real problem on your hands. And your only solution at that 204 00:14:15,279 --> 00:14:18,600 point is to get more stern And if the students aren't responding to that, 205 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:22,559 well you're in big trouble, right, And that's when like you start sweating 206 00:14:22,639 --> 00:14:26,679 and your art starts racing, and you're like, this is a disaster, 207 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,960 right, there's no out there. It really is disasters. In our model, 208 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,960 students have greater control over their learning and less control over their peers learning. 209 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,840 You could actually have a total crisis happened in your classroom and the rest 210 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,200 of the learning will not stop. That happened to me frequently. I mean 211 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:46,159 I taught an environment where certainly there were a lot of challenging discipline circumstances, 212 00:14:46,159 --> 00:14:48,320 and the year that we've built this, there was a lot of violence that 213 00:14:48,399 --> 00:14:52,279 year in the community, And I mean you could have a situation where a 214 00:14:52,279 --> 00:14:56,200 student is literally actively getting removed from the classroom for a reason that you know 215 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:00,320 is really tough to deal with, and the rest of the students you're just 216 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,799 working. Sure there maybe a little bit more distracted because something's going on, 217 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,960 but it doesn't stop the learning experience, and it certainly doesn't mean that when 218 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,440 you have to go take care of an issue, no one else can keep 219 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:16,399 move And I think that that's really really hard. I think the second thing 220 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,879 to keep in mind is a lot of times when you're working on de escalating 221 00:15:20,919 --> 00:15:24,399 a challenging behavior issue, you're always real solution if you want to achieve any 222 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,879 level of success is to kind of shrink that problem to a one on one 223 00:15:28,879 --> 00:15:31,960 interaction. The only way you can do that is if you're afford of the 224 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:39,159 time too. If you're busy delivering some sort of performative lecture, you don't 225 00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:41,200 have that option. The moment you go choose to make it a one on 226 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:46,720 one interaction, it's a one on one interaction that the whole group is watching. 227 00:15:46,279 --> 00:15:50,159 Right. That's a terrible way to de escalate, right. So I 228 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:56,720 think it's really key as well for teachers to kind of internalize the fact that 229 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:02,440 de escalation is really hard and it's nearly impossible when you're doing it in a 230 00:16:02,559 --> 00:16:06,039 whole group setting. So when we think about a lot of those behavior at 231 00:16:06,039 --> 00:16:08,919 shoots, they frequently stem from the student who needs to be de escalated, 232 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,519 and you don't actually have the time or the capacity to do the steps necessary 233 00:16:14,559 --> 00:16:17,120 to de escalate them, so you resort to what you would normally do in 234 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:21,559 an old group setting, and frequently it has the reverse effect and escalates the 235 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,200 situation and makes it much more challenging to deal with. That's a good point 236 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,279 because I'm you know, I hear about teachers who have a lot of problems 237 00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:34,360 with one student, especially who kind of sets everybody off. If the teacher 238 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,120 had the opportunity to have a lot of one on one time and have a 239 00:16:38,159 --> 00:16:42,759 lot of relationship building, which you obviously it's difficult to do in a whole 240 00:16:42,799 --> 00:16:48,639 class setting, they could probably knit that in the bud early on, you 241 00:16:48,679 --> 00:16:51,720 know, like if that student is testing them from the beginning of the year 242 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:56,879 and has been notoriously difficult, but there are previous teachers I could see that 243 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,559 just having that relationship that student, having a relationship with that at least one 244 00:17:00,639 --> 00:17:07,319 teacher in their day could that could also echo into their other classes as well 245 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,880 if they see that, like school isn't a threatening place anymore, and so 246 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:15,119 your model would actually afford them that time. I mean, I had students 247 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,799 come to my classroom when they weren't in my class period, just because it 248 00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:22,480 was a less tense environment. Right, Like when you walk into a modern 249 00:17:22,519 --> 00:17:26,599 classroom, if you're late to school, everyone isn't going to turn their head 250 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,839 and stare at you as you interrupt the lecture. Instead, you're walking in, 251 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,599 you're gonna be able to pick up where you left off if you want 252 00:17:33,599 --> 00:17:37,119 to have a conversation with the teacher because something really hard happened and you just 253 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:38,319 need to let them know that, Like you're going to do your best that 254 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,279 day, but you're probably gonna put your head down a few times. You 255 00:17:41,279 --> 00:17:45,240 can just walk straight up to the teacher and do that and the whole class 256 00:17:45,319 --> 00:17:48,200 isn't watching. So there's a lot of reasons why students are in going to 257 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:53,039 naturally feel much more safe and comfortable in a setting where it doesn't feel like 258 00:17:53,079 --> 00:17:56,960 there's constantly a spotlight on them. And there were a number of class periods 259 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,359 that I had when I was implementing this model. Implemented it for three straight 260 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:06,160 years before I left the classrooms around the organization, and a lot of times 261 00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:10,079 the students that struggled them most with behavior would just sit next to me for 262 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,359 the entirety of the class period. I don't sit on my desk anymore. 263 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,279 The desk has no purpose. I'm sitting in like a little table in the 264 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,279 middle of the in the middle of the classroom. And I might have a 265 00:18:18,279 --> 00:18:22,839 student just sit with me for two straight weeks, and you're gonna sit with 266 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,720 me until you can show me that you're using your time effectively. And you 267 00:18:26,799 --> 00:18:30,920 create this fascinating dynamic where now a student who was normally using their time ineffectively 268 00:18:30,079 --> 00:18:33,319 was eager to use their time effectively to show me that they didn't need to 269 00:18:33,319 --> 00:18:37,359 sit with me. There's a lot of kind of interesting techniques you can suddenly 270 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:44,400 introduce in the classroom when again, you're not your tool belt isn't like suddenly 271 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,440 restricted by this. I'm at the front of the room, and this is 272 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:52,119 where I deliver all the kind of disciplinary tactics that I've been taught. And 273 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,000 I can see since you mentioned that you are circulating in the classroom more that 274 00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:03,559 itself lends itself to fewer behaviors because they know that you're going to be over 275 00:19:03,599 --> 00:19:07,720 there and then you're gonna be over there, And we all know that presence 276 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,039 is like a big thing in terms of keeping the calm in the classroom. 277 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:15,480 So the fact that you're kind of everywhere means it's harder to get away with 278 00:19:15,519 --> 00:19:18,240 things. I'm assuming totally, and I mean, in some ways, it's 279 00:19:18,279 --> 00:19:22,160 harder. In some ways. It's easier, right, in some ways when 280 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,359 the entire classrooms silent because you're at the front of the room, then maybe 281 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:30,000 it's all easier to get away with stuff. But it's harder in that you 282 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,240 know that the educator is going to actually interact with you every single day, 283 00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:38,720 yeah, and that they are paying very close attention to your progress. Like 284 00:19:38,839 --> 00:19:42,720 one of the things that you'll learn when you talk to a modern classroom educator 285 00:19:42,839 --> 00:19:48,960 is they feel very comfortable articulating what a student does and does not know in 286 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,359 the scope over learning sequence. Like they can almost tell you perfectly, like 287 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,000 that students on less than three they struggled with this skill they're working on a 288 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:02,680 next class period. Because the whole idea of data driven instruction that is a 289 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:07,440 buzzword that no one actually executes. Usually is or to what our educators do, 290 00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:11,680 because it's the rationale behind why they're spending time with certain students during class. 291 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,480 So I, as a student may have greater freedom over my time than 292 00:20:15,519 --> 00:20:18,319 a sixteen minute period, But what I don't have is a feeling like I 293 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:22,519 can just slip through the cracks and then bomb a test and then the teacher 294 00:20:22,599 --> 00:20:26,200 only realizes at the end of that unit the back student actually learned nothing, 295 00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:30,200 right, you know, I had a bunch of times it's it's like gut 296 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,480 wrenching to teach and you're like, I thought that kid was paying attention and 297 00:20:33,519 --> 00:20:34,759 then they take a test and they got a forty percent. You're like, 298 00:20:34,559 --> 00:20:41,200 you literally learned almost nothing, and I didn't really know that until the end 299 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:45,119 of this unit. That have word happens in a modern classroom. Um, 300 00:20:45,319 --> 00:20:48,519 it's just literally impossible based on the way that the model runs. So if 301 00:20:48,519 --> 00:20:52,960 a teacher wanted to just kind of like test drive it, their toes in 302 00:20:52,039 --> 00:20:56,680 it, what initial changes would you make if they're if they're not ready to 303 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,960 go, like, you know, head first into this. Yeah, I 304 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,279 mean it's hard to people ask this question all the time. I think it's 305 00:21:03,279 --> 00:21:06,359 really interesting. Sorry. I think first of all, it's about doing it 306 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,960 for just one unit or one little group of skills, right, So like, 307 00:21:10,079 --> 00:21:11,319 do it for three straight lessons. Say, hey, students, like 308 00:21:11,599 --> 00:21:15,599 these three lessons, we're gonna be learning self pace. I put a video 309 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,039 on your Google classroom or your schools or your canvas. I have your assignments, 310 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,000 you have this little exit ticket, and that's going to be your mastery 311 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:26,079 check. And you're supposed to complete these three lessons on Monday, Tuesday, 312 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,519 and Wednesday, and then we're gonna take a mini quiz on Thursday. You 313 00:21:29,559 --> 00:21:32,720 know, you don't really need that long as self pasting infect many of our 314 00:21:32,839 --> 00:21:37,119 educators. All is self pace for one week at a time. If you're 315 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:42,400 really anxious about building instructional videos, you can obviously pull videos externally. You 316 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:48,960 will find that generally speaking, that produces it's a more challenging engagement technique. 317 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,319 Students are going to be less engaged when they hear a voice. Stay don't 318 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,359 know a teacher, they don't know. They're gonna feel like there's this kind 319 00:21:55,359 --> 00:22:00,119 of gap between my educator and my learning experience. But it's not. I 320 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,200 mean, it's certainly a way to start testing it, but I encourage folks 321 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,400 to do that part right, to just build three solid lessons. It's not 322 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,519 that hard to create instructional video, you know, educators. We're doing it 323 00:22:11,559 --> 00:22:15,400 all through COVID. You just hit record on any screencasting software and you're done 324 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,039 and just kind of run it and see what happens. And I think the 325 00:22:18,079 --> 00:22:26,279 most shocking thing that educators frequently experiences they realize just how much less stressful the 326 00:22:26,279 --> 00:22:30,519 class period is and how much more time they have to connect with students. 327 00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:33,680 And if you've never done it, go ahead. It seems like then for 328 00:22:33,839 --> 00:22:38,559 new teachers, like because they don't have anything to fall back on because this 329 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,680 is their first time, it would actually be an ideal time for them to 330 00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:47,759 jump into this and test this out. Especially what I trick. I tell 331 00:22:47,799 --> 00:22:51,279 a lot of new teachers, you should practice things like practice routines, you 332 00:22:51,319 --> 00:22:55,319 know, as if it's actually happening, because that way you're not winging it. 333 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,759 But here I can deliver a lesson and if I mess up, I 334 00:22:59,759 --> 00:23:06,079 get a do over because I'm recording it. And I really like that the 335 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,359 idea that you can record it ahead of time, and then if I don't 336 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,799 like it, or if I find that video isn't working, then I can 337 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,599 just fix it. But I don't have to keep reteaching that same thing over 338 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,319 and over again. I mean, I totally agree with you. We have 339 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,480 had a debate internally of modern class motions some time now around this idea of 340 00:23:22,519 --> 00:23:29,200 new teachers and implementation, because on one hand, it's perfect. You don't 341 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,359 know the alternative of me, and aside from that's what you probably learned in 342 00:23:33,279 --> 00:23:37,599 so you're not on learning new methodology. You're not on learning a traditional methodology 343 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,559 of teaching and then relearning a new one. You can start out of the 344 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:48,599 gates. Alternatively, they don't know the limitations of traditional instruction. New educators 345 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,799 have not seen how hard it is to differentiate to an extraordinary diversity of learning 346 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,799 levels and social emotional needs by standing at the front of the room. So 347 00:23:56,839 --> 00:24:00,960 in some ways it might feel like why am I doing this? Like I 348 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:06,119 think we as educators who've been in the classroom for years, understand very very 349 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:11,680 clearly how limited we are and meeting every student's needs. You are teachers may 350 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,519 not truly understand that. So the driving force behind the why is a little 351 00:24:15,519 --> 00:24:19,799 bit less sticky, So there's some costs and benefits. One why that I 352 00:24:19,799 --> 00:24:25,720 can think of because I pay attention a lot to how new teachers are feeling. 353 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,400 I used to be a new teacher mentor, but a lot of times 354 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,599 there's a fear of having their contract not be renewed because they're not meeting the 355 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:41,759 needs or they're not hitting those standards and test scores. And this directly addresses 356 00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:47,640 that because if you know you're not fulfilling someone's IEP, or you're not catching 357 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:51,640 up these students that are behind, what better way than to have this set 358 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,880 up. Because it's actual built in differentiation. You can prove to your administrator, 359 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,559 yes, you should renew my contract because I'm one of the only teachers 360 00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:03,240 actually truly differentiating. There's no doubt about that. I also think when you 361 00:25:03,279 --> 00:25:07,039 think about the kind of broader supports that a school may have to offer MTS 362 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:12,160 at, special education supports, language supports, our educators just tend to be 363 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:17,759 much more coherent about making those requests because they have really clear understanding of the 364 00:25:17,839 --> 00:25:21,000 data. This student has only mattered for the last ten skills, they need 365 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,759 more support, they need after school support. All those things. So I 366 00:25:23,839 --> 00:25:29,680 certainly think when it's implemented correctly, any administrator understands that this is a way 367 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,599 to achieve some of those big buzzwords that we know are necessary and don't actually 368 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,640 get them right. So I hope that you guys can see how this could 369 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,960 really revolutionize your teaching. I am really excited to test this out. It's 370 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,039 been something I've been wanting to do, and now I have a clear framework 371 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,680 and a really good reason in terms of why I should do this. I 372 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,000 am really excited to give this a try, and I hope that you'll join 373 00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:56,200 me on this journey. Now, if you want to know how to implement 374 00:25:56,279 --> 00:26:00,759 this, and maybe you still have some reservations in terms of things like assessment 375 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:06,000 and collaboration and things like that, then be sure to subscribe to this podcast 376 00:26:06,039 --> 00:26:08,519 so that you can get notified for the next episode, where Kareem and I 377 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,759 dig even deeper into the Modern Classrooms project. Thanks for hanging out with me 378 00:26:12,799 --> 00:26:15,799 today, you guys, and have a great week.