S10E1 NTHF Class of 2024
S10E1 NTHF Class of 2024
(music playing) Host - The Teachers College at Emporia State University presents How We Teach This a podcast where we talk with experts and educators. Welcome back to the podcast as we start Season ten. You won't want to miss a single episode because we have some great guests joining us from the National Teachers Hall of Fame to project based learning. You won't want to miss it. Today we are meeting with the six new inductees for the Class of 2024 into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. These educators have been recognized for outstanding service to their profession, and it's an honor to be able to learn from their expertize. Would you please introduce yourself and tell us where you teach and what subject or grade level that you teach?
Bramson - I'm Jen Bramson. I'm the NEA Educational Support Professional of the Year for 2024, and I am a specialized para educator who teaches preschool in Park City, Utah.
Host - Welcome.
Truesdell - My name is Joel Truesdell. I'm a retired Hawaiian culture based educator from Hawaii. And I teach 10th graders
Host - Awesome.
Ballard - My name is Keith Ballard I'm from San Diego, California. I teach at Southwest Middle School, and I'm a middle school music teacher. I teach mariachi, steel drum band and African drum ensemble.
Host - Well, that sounds amazing.
Krajacic - Hi, I'm Shelley Moore Krajacic, I'm a high school English language arts teacher from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin at South Milwaukee High School.
Host - So a lot of secondary ed here today.
Thorpe - Yes. Then I will follow with secondary education. I'm Keishia Thorpe from Maryland and I am a former English teacher and now assistant principal.
Host -Okay.
Kaldhusdal - I'm Terry Kaldhusdal . I teach sixth grade history in the Cavalry school district, which is in southeastern Wisconsin.
Host - Would you share a story about a student who inspired you to be a better teacher?
Kaldhusdal - I have a tough story. I taught fourth grade for 20 years and then the last ten years of teaching middle school. And it was my first year in middle school and Alex had a an IEP He had some emotional issues and there was times when he would literally curl up in a ball in the corner if he was having a tough day. And one day we would learn about the fall of Rome,, and each day I would bring in a different source. And by the end of the unit, the kids would have to choose what was the primary reason for the fall of Rome and could that happen to us? And Alex was really engaged on this day and I was really proud of him. And I was telling him, you know, this is great, really proud of it. And each student from each source would get up and give a small presentation to the class. And I asked Alex if he was comfortable doing that and he said, yeah. And so I had him go last so he could see how it worked for everybody else because he had never spoken to the class before. And when we got to him, his head dropped. He was just looking at the top of his shoes and he wouldn't talk. And this sweet young girl next to him said, You know what, Alex? Let me let me do it for you. And then the class ended and everybody left. And I said, Alex, come here, let's have a talk. So we left the room and I said, What happened? You know, you were doing so well. And he said. That was stupid. That was a waste of time. I said, What do you mean? I don't get it. Why are we doing this whole thing about Rome? I said Oh You know what? I didn't explain the why and why we're doing this. We're doing this because this happened to the greatest empire on the planet. And, you know, we should learn from our history and see if that could happen to us. And he said, Oh, well, that makes sense. And so, I mean, it sounds silly now, but I was doing it because I understood what the way was. But Alex didn't know what the way was. And I feel like there's too many times when we teach, when we assume our students know what we know. For example, when I when I taught English, I may have read a book five, six, seven, maybe even ten times. The kids haven't read it ten times. So I have to assume every day that they're coming in as a blank slate. And so that that moment made me a better teacher.
Host - And you're right. The why. Anyone else?
Truesdell - Yeah. And I have a story, about a student in 11th grade. He had incredibly low verbal scores, really, with reading level scores, math scores and and grades. And, you know, teachers really some of them said he's just not teachable. So he came into my class, you know, I talked to him, identified the barriers, but I worked with him, you know, and I helped to and to identify the strengths and barriers and worked with him all year long. And he ended up getting a B in chemistry. You know, has his PHD. and is really prominent in the Hawaiian community.
Host - Wow.
Truesdell - That one sticks with you.
Host - Oh, my.
Thorpe - I guess I'll go ahead and share. I can't say one particular student made me a better teacher. I just think if the collective of my students, because I teach international students from so many different cultures and language background and economic background, and I think I see a little bit of myself in all of them. And the way they make me a better teacher is, you know, having such a diverse classroom of kids who come from so many countries and culture. I feel like every time I walk into my classroom, I've traveled the world just to learn about their family, their background, their histories, and the ability to infuse culturally responsive practices in my classroom and just talk about social justice issues. I remember in Antigone there was push back in my school and saying, I'm thinking, it's such an old text, you know, we shouldn't be teaching that. And also English language learners, it's going to be so challenging for them. And it's so funny because I use and figure it in so many different ways to connect all of the students. We looked at, you know, women's rights. We look at the love of country or family. We looked at loyalty. There were so, so many things we were able to pull out of antigone's the role of men in society, the role of women in society, the religious aspects of how we look at higher beings, how we look at power structures in our community. And just to hear my Middle Eastern students connect with Antigone from a religious background, my Hispanic students connect with it in terms of patriotism, should you be loyal to family or country? You know, just so many different aspects of that allowed me to become a more globally competent and aware teacher and a more culturally responsive teacher because it taught me how to teach them. And I think a lot of times we think that some of these teacher preparation program should be teaching you those things. But really and truly, a lot of those are just authentic moments that you spend with your students and you learn so much from them. And I think that made me, over the year, a better teacher.
Host - Thank you.
Ballard - But here's the story for me. One of the people that I talked to at ABC ten News, she says, I know more about you, Mr. Ballard, than you think I do. How's that? And she goes, I was one of your students. Oh. Then she told me, she said, We will remember when we went. You took us to San Francisco. And she said, Well, you know, I walked around the city and since first time I've ever been out of San Diego. And she said I couldn't believe the lights. And I saw the big Fox News studio. And all the times we'd been on TV, I just was so inspired by that. And she ended up becoming a journalist. She'd won awards, and then she worked at the TV news station. And then last thing she told me, she said, I don't know if you remember this, though. My mom died and I was given to my grandmother. We didn't have any money and I didn't have a dad. And I said, Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know that. She goes to remember we were at that beach festival and I asked a bunch of the kids, would they give me some money? I wanted to buy this ring. And I'm like, No. And she said, I was just kind of scared. It come up and I asked you, I said how much it is. And she said, it's $10. And she said, I just gave her ten. And I walked away. I said, Don't worry about it. She said, You know what? I still wear that ring. The one. You don't know how much that meant to me. So I don't know if that made me a better teacher, but a little bit more empathy and thinking to yourself, you just never know how you're going to inspire You know a student. Right?
Host - That's right.
Ballard - That's my little story.
Host - We don't know our impact. Do you have a go to teaching strategy that works really well for you? Okay.
Krajacic - This is Shelly. And my go to teaching strategy is I listen. So the very first thing you have to do, I teach exclusively juniors and seniors. I teach English language arts. It's reading and writing. Now, I previously taught drama. But in all of these cases, I don't know how I could possibly expect students to get anywhere without having paid enough attention to know where they started. So in some cases, that's, you know, so early on the spot writing. But even then, while, yes, I'm paying attention to how they write and all that, I'm really paying attention to who they are. As I told one of my students who decided she wanted to be a teacher and was deciding, Do I want to teach English language arts or do I want to teach psychology? And I said, I've got to be honest with you. If you're teaching, you're teaching psychology because that's 90% of being a teacher is psychoanalyzing your students.
Host - Oh, yeah.
Krajacic - Well, I could talk all day about specific things I use to improve writing or reading or efficacy. In all of all of those things, the number one teaching strategy is simply to listen.
Host - I love that. Thank you.
Truesdell - I think the tough part of the question is that you really have to have all a lot of components to the strategy, which would take quite a while to explain . Mine some kind of having an Overview is I teach like a native elder where the storytelling give the kids some things that they have to investigate so that they always come into class as an active learner. And then what I do then is, is if they kind of get stuck on on what they're pursuing. I ask them to explain to me what they know and guide them before they're out there, always answering the question and pursuing it to kind of sum it up at the end. Their exit ticket for the day is to explain to me what a normal teacher would have lectured on. So they fully understand it. And so they're teaching me it's an inquiry, it's critical thinking. And then I build in the Hawaiian culture to it to the point of where you have great engagement. But when they're in class, they're explaining to each other in pairs and they can move on to the next step until they have the ability to explain it. And so my ongoing formative assessment is just listen to them explain.
Ballard - I will kind of piggy back for what Joel said. You create a system, it's a multi system, but it's based on a lot of components. But if I can just. Talk about. One component that I think is incredibly underutilized is the classroom environment. And like in my school, these are very low performing kids, a lot of problems. It's one of the lowest performing middle schools in San Diego area, which would make it one of the lowest in all of California. Our kids read at a third grade level. And their middle school of 7 to 8. So it's hard to get their attention in many cases. And I've created what I call a mariachi Disneyland. We did it through fundraising and a lot of stuff. But when you walk into my place, most people go, Whoa, like they're blown away. I know Mattie was when she came to this, the nicest place I've ever been to the nicest classroom. But I intentionally set out to do that and also set out to make it very culturally representative of the kids that I teach. I've tried to encourage other teachers in my own school that complain about the kids. They don't have the discipline, they don't have the focus, they don't have the interest. And I tell them, but you say you've done everything. But when I go into your old classroom, it looks pretty darn boring to me. And that's not the answer they wanted to hear. But it's true. I said in my school. But it works. And again, it's just one of the components that make an effective classroom and everybody has their own way. You can be a very effective teacher without creating a mariachi Disneyland, but it's one of the ways that I it it really helps engage the kids, especially that I work with. Right. Because there's not a lot of motivation there.
Host - It sounds like they're able to turn off what's happening in the hallway and be absorbed in the environment.
Ballard - Exactly.
Host - Anyone else?
Bramson - This is Jen. I would say with my preschoolers, I meet them where they are every day. And every day is different. Every few minutes seems to be different with preschool. And I have to figure out what they're capable of each day, whether where they're going to be emotionally so that I can determine what they're capable academically. And luckily, a preschool. We have the flexibility to change our plans throughout the day. But I think really being in touch with them and knowing what they're capable of minute to minute really affects my ability to engage them and teach them.
Kaldhusdal - This is Teri in Wisconsin. And Jen and I felt we have a lot in common this week. One of them is similar to what she just said about her four year olds is that a middle schooler sometimes wants to be treated like a baby and sometimes they want to be treated like an adult and sometimes they want to be treated like an adolescent, and sometimes they want to be treated like all three within 60 seconds. As a teacher, you just got to take a breath. And just wait. And they'll come back and it's nothing that they can control. It's just called biology. That's kind of a teaching strategy, but a teaching history strategy. I always try to give the kids or reason either a historical question, the answer or a reason that they need to read the research. For example, when we study Ancient Rome. We don't spend a lot of time on the pyramids. We don't spend a lot of time on mummies, although we do at the local museum in Milwaukee, come in and talk about movies. But their focus is on the question Was the birth of agriculture good for human development? And there's no right or wrong answer, but there's poor evidence and there's even worse reasoning. And when we study ancient Greece, they compare the oligarchy of Sparta with the democracy of ancient Athens and decide which one was best for its people. And then we, of course, studied the fall of Rome and could that happen to us? And so it's not just this happened. This happened. This happened, though. Tell me what happened. It's like here's some sources. What do they mean and why do they matter?
Host - Very much.
Thorpe - And this is Keishia Thorpe from Maryland. So I think what everyone says is awesome and it depends on our population of students as well as Keith says, because I work with international students and for me it's very important that I embed culturally and linguistically responsive practices in everything that I do because I want to make sure that whatever I'm teaching my students is relevant to their lives. You know, I think Jen just said, you know, you've got to meet the students where they are. Some of my students are newcomers into the country. Some of them are first generation American. They've had some level off of language, but they're all coming in deficient in some ways, in English language, and they're at very different levels. And so we have to meet them where they are and figure that out. And because of the levels that they come in, some of them are going to have different pathways. You'll have some of them wanting to go to college. And then you know that there are some of them that will go through high school. And even at the senior year, they will not acquire enough English to be able to handle the rigors of college level academics. So then you have to figure out what those pathways are for those students. So you want to make sure that whatever you're teaching them is relevant to their lives, that they can apply to the real world, and just really thinking about mastering skills and not particularly content. And as we know, over time, information change. So content changes, right? How many history books have you thrown out? Right. But do we have the argumentative skills, analytical skills, synthesizing skills? Do we teach students those skills, that whatever information that they come in contact with, they're still able to apply themselves? And that's what I try to teach, is mastery of skill rather than mastery of content and making it's making sure that whatever it is that I'm asking them to apply those skills to are cultural and linguistically relevant to their lives.
Kaldhusdal - And one of the common themes that seem like we're all talking about is meeting kids where they are and then pushing forward, which, by the way, was the state model in Wisconsin. But I think anybody anybody thinking about going into teaching, if you think you're going to, for example, teach sixth grade and everyone's going to committed a sixth grade level.
Thorpe - Yes,
Kaldhusdal - that's a dream or. Right. But that's part of the beauty of our job. That's part of the challenge of our job. You know, every year, all of kids coming in reading three years below grade level, what's the goal should be a year or more. And if I have kids coming in reading at a high school, okay, I got to challenge that kid as well. And that to me is called job security, because that's a challenge. And that's tough. And every every day and every year is different.
Thorpe - Just to add to what you just said, Terry, you know, one of the things that I've actually, from an administrative perspective now that I'm realizing is that, I mean, I've figured this out because, of course, I teach English as a second language learners. You automatically know that they're coming in with those reading scores and they're coming in at different levels. Right. But one of the things that I don't think that we spend a lot of time on is really analyzing that data that comes from state standardized testing, where our students are coming in as basic, as intermediate, as advanced when they get those math and English scores. And I had an opportunity to see some of those. And I'm like, why is that information not shared with teachers? Because. They're thinking that because our students are English speakers, that they should be able to match the rigor of whatever classroom that they go into. And it's not true. Those students need like they always say, you know, these strategies serve all students in special education strategies. They're all students because students are coming in with varying levels of ability. And we never really take time to think about it or to put strategies in place to make sure that those students are successful because they're English speakers. We think that they're all on the same level.
Kaldhusdal - Unlike our state test, where there's a simple bar, you know, are you proficient or aren't you? Every classroom should be based on the growth model. Here's where you are when you walk in the door. Here's where you should be.
Thorpe - Exactly. Yes. Agree. And also, when you think about teacher evaluation. Right. And also I tired of teacher evaluation being evaluated and based on the overall success of a teacher's class, how many students get A, B or C rather than. Okay, well, this student who still got a E in my class came in at a 20% and now he's at a 50%
Guest - percentage of growth.
Thorpe - Right. Rather than did you get A, B, C or D, did you grow.?
Kaldhusdal - Right.
Thorpe - Right.
Host - Wow that's a really good conversation. There's some really deep ideas there of wanting to change education. Thank you. A common problem is student behavior seems to be even more in the news about student behavior recently in the last five years getting worse. And it's a concern for teachers. We know it's important to build relationships. Right. That that makes a big difference. And we know that it's important the students know you care. So what other classroom strategies might you offer for our listeners regarding classroom management?
Ballard - Well, I'll chime in here, I see myself as a failure If I have to send kids to the office, all but just one kid went to the office and that same kid was a terror in all his classes. I probably had the best control of them. But, you know, knowing his family life and hearing about job or some crazy stuff, I've heard that people hear it happens at the house at night from some of my other kids. I thought I did pretty well. But that's that's one of the ways I kind of grade my own self. If I have to send kids to the office, really, I'd fail. So my whole idea is to try to keep them there. But again, having a system and building components around the system and what is the physical environment? Number two is consistency being consistent. Number three is having a plan from day one and staying with that plan. Right. You can manipulate that plan, but getting those kids into a very consistent start time, have your instruments out, have your materials there, the whole shebang. Right. And caring, right. But also being firm like, I don't know, every every teacher does it their own way. My way is, you know, I always tell kids I can be really kind to you, but don't ever take my kindness as a weakness because I can come down on you heavy and hard. and something. Some of the male kids, the boys, the tough kids, I mean, that's just at the end, you got to kind of talk to them that way because they don't have fathers. But to settle em' down, if that makes sense. But getting the classroom strategy component right, the right mix took a long time. You know, it took me. four or five years to actually try to figure that thing out. And that's just a little bit about how I do it.
Host - So those teachers that are still fairly new in the classroom, there's still hope for them. What other strategies does the group have?
Krajacic - This is Shelley. I actually don't know how to fill out a discipline form. Similarly, every situation that happens can be dealt with in my classroom. But I work a lot as a trained mentor and one of our mentors for our district with our incoming teachers. And the number one thing I tell them is my way does not need to be your way. And my way is not necessarily the right way. It's the right way for me. And so the first thing is, don't think you have to do it alone. It's not a failure to call in an administrator or call in the teacher in the classroom next door. I used to be that like the teacher friend. And now I'm a teacher, mom. I'm going to take that as a compliment. 20 somethings who call me that, but it really is like you say that a lot, so don't be afraid to call us in. But also don't assume it's a failure, Whenever a relationship doesn't work out, we don't get along with every other adult. We don't even get along with every other person in our families. Why do we think we need to have 100% perfect relationships with every student? And I taught with a colleague this year who elected to leave teaching, which I think was the right choice, who'd been teaching for over 20 years. And she considered herself a failure because she couldn't create a relationship with this one student. But when I finally got her toward the end of the year to tell us what had been happening, she is our only educator of Indian descent in the entire school district and had been regularly subjected to racist, outright aggressions and microaggressions. She had some important religious icons in her classroom and elephants and Buddhas and the like. And one time this one student actually stolen, broke two of her religious icons, and she never said anything to anyone because she thought it made her a failure creating in that relationship. Like, I'm sorry that that student does not belong in your classroom and you do not need to be subjected to that. And you are not a failure. We are in this together or I can't create a relationship. Keith can or Joel can or Jen can or Keishia can or even Terry can I'm saying that affectionately. But no, I don't assume it's on you. We are in this together.
Thorpe - To follow up on what you were saying. You know, those relationships are very important. And like you said. One kid is always going to have that one teacher who is their special person. Yep. All of you. All of us are not going to be their favorite teacher. I cannot tell you. I teach. When I was in the classroom, I will have 90 students and only maybe 15 of them. I'm their favorite teacher. And that's okay. And some of them, when they're having bad days, they'll ask their other teacher, Can I just take a break in Miss Thorpe's class? They said, yes. There are kids in my class that says, I don't feel like being in here today. I don't take it personally because I'm not your favorite. Then you're probably not my favorite student. So go. I'm just kidding. But no, it's about that collective body of support. And I consistently say this one teacher cannot make any one student great. It is always a collective right. And I think about my history teachers and when I'm also teacher like and antigone and we have to talk about author study and the history of certain time periods. I'm like. My students are hitting it on the head. Why? Because they went to your history class and their writing and they're adding authors voice. And I'm like, Where did you get this from? We learned it in history class, right? So it's just those things. So your class complement mine your your structure in your classroom complement mine. I mean, and then you have the side with the teachers, right? We never, ever talk about the fact we always talk about students behavior. We never, ever talk about what teachers bring in and what they don't bring in. Teachers do not bring in a lot of training because classroom management, you go to education, college or a class and teach you classroom management on paper. They don't tell you the amount of personalities you have to deal with and the amount of trauma that comes with it. They have the level of students. They don't tell you any of the parents you have to deal with. Right. And so they expect you to come in knowing all of this and be able to manage all of these different children from different backgrounds. And so training is so, so important. Right. And when we think about teachers, especially after the COVID right, coming in the classroom with their own unresolved trauma, the truth and literally seeing teachers outside, standing in the hallway pulling their hair out because some student triggered them. They just cannot. That day is just not their day. Right. Teachers can have those days, just like students have those days. One of the things I like about my county is that even though teachers don't get it, they have a mental health day, right, where students get to take one mental health day from school. So today is not my day. I'm going to take a mental health day, but I get to be marked lawfully absent from school. And I think they need to do that for teachers, too. Like we we need that. Everybody needs that. That's a step in the right direction. Right. We really need to make sure that it is a collective and parent Engagement is so important and it coming from again. No, I'm sorry, I'm talking over time But coming from the admin perspective now is when you think about a lot of the behavior challenges that occur in school, social media, texting like we had, we almost had a massive group fight in the school. You know what came from? One girl had a birthday party. She invited her friends. And those friends are clique friends. And then she invited another friend who is not friends with that. So. And then she felt left out. They posted a meme on social media about her being left out. And then all of a sudden, they brought it to the school. And now they bring those challenges to school. Now it is a school issue? We realize a lot of those issues happen at the Mall , at the community. On social media. On text. On from middle school. They even brought even middle school beef. Right. And then you expect teachers to be able to navigate all of that. And it's not fair. So, yes, even though teachers may have some classroom strategies to deal with some of those, I think a level of collective support is what we need in order to deal with classroom management acknowledges. It takes all of us where never and none of us are failures because again, we deal with ours and we also have the unknown.
Bramson - I think in the beginning of your career, too, you have to be willing to try things, even if they. Sometimes I think with behavior, things seem counterproductive. And I have pushed back on trying things. And someone finally said to me, give me two weeks. What do you have to lose? And it ended up working out. So I always push others, my cohort, to do the same thing. You know, if you have a behavior , a district psychologist in your classroom and they're asking you to try something, try it. I get a lot of the district behavior kids at for and it's great to be able to give them skills as well and tools for them to manage their own behavior. But it's very last year I had a student that had big emotions and she was very articulate about it. At some point where I had to say, okay, we can talk about this for 2 minutes, but then we have to move on. But at the end of the school year, she had asked her mom to write me a note and she dictated it and she said, Thank you for teaching me that it's okay to be mad and sad and that it's okay to feel everything all at once. And I thought, Me too, girl.
Host - Yeah. You know,
Kaldhusdal - that's age four.
Host - That's awesome.
Ballard - If I could say one more thing. Like in our school, we used to have a uniform policy because we thought that was a way of dealing with troubled kids. And I always thought it was a stupid policy myself. Kids didn't like and they spent a lot of time on trying to make the kids comply with uniforms and breaking this little thing. And this was just a lot of teachers just complaining about nothing, right? Finally they decided because you charter schools and they don't have uniforms and kids don't like it, well, maybe we should just do kind of what the kids want to do. They all wear uniforms. And I never made it a big issue. But. But I did go, you know, to again, some of the 17 best countries in the world. I saw what they were doing and, you know, I didn't like it. Where in Finland. They weren't wearing uniforms in Estonia and Germany and they're doing quite well in the Asian countries. They are, but it seems more about control. So what I'm trying to say is uniforms don't seem to make much of a difference. And although some of my colleagues here might disagree with me, but I don't even think of what you wear as a teacher really makes much of a difference. We had a terrible our teacher, one of our teachers who wear a suit and tie every day, looked his profession, what kids hated and got right. I show up and flip flops. No, I'm not advocating for this. But this is how I come to school. This is me. I show up with flip flops, shorts and a t shirt. That's how I come to school most. It's no big deal. The kids serve. We're all cool. I mean, there's. There's no less respect. There is. So it's not about how you dress either on either side. It's about, you know, the things that you do to get that respect,
Kaldhusdal - Keith, doesn't on your feet, get cold when you're walking through the snow. February.
Ballard - No, no. I'm telling you, your sandals. I wear them all year around. They gave me an award for the Best Sandals Award in the last two years. But, you know, they just leave me alone, let me do my own thing. And, you know, like I said, parents don't complain about me. The kids aren't in the office, so let me be me. Don't try to control me. Right. I mean, if I was an administrator and you had somebody showing up in a clown suit every day, who cares? As long as they engage with the kids, let them be right.
Truesdell - This is Joel. I kind of directly address this all year long, but it really starts at the beginning on day one. First thing I do is I tell them my story. I open up to them telling my story, the struggles that I had then followed that up with the fact that I'm going to do my best to help you be incredibly successful. All of you do my best to remove the barriers. So from there, what I really tried to whenever a student would come into my class and I could tell her, was something wrong? They know this ahead of time. They said, like, you know, if you were up all night or you got back like in the middle of the night from a basketball game on the other side of the island, you may not be ready for a test or you may not be be up for it. And I know that a lot of you have problems, you know, at home or or just with whatever, just let me know. And so what I will do is and they'll also say, but I would like you to open up and let me know what's going on. And so if they're not really ready to learn, what I'll do is I've got this big question, chair. I'll just say, would you like to have it in here or would you like to be outside? And I'll just push it out. They'll be just out on the lanai you know, the patio out there and they can just sit and do whatever they need to do to get better centered or prepared to come in to learn, but also let them know that, you know, we'll figure out when you can come up and come back in and make up the work, whether it be lunch or school or tomorrow or next week. So with that, it kind of gets them to the point of where they understand that they're not going to be coming in, you know, after having had a fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend and just be really right on edge to to just lash out and be a discipline problem, we're going to help them, you know, kind of diffuse. So it's worked well with me. Yeah, I have it written a detention you know, in years
Krajacic - yeah we send people to the lanai in Wisconsin and Utah. Right? Yeah. Yeah, actually. So
Kaldhusdal - it's better to let a proactive versus reactive.
Truesdell - Yeah.
Kaldhusdal - Answer to your question, Kristy; And I just think about something I learned. I've done some documentary work outside of the classroom and one of them was two of them actually PBS documentaries, for on end of life care because I lost a brother to pancreatic cancer and I interviewed a doctor at the University of Washington in Seattle. And he was talking about his relationship with his his patients. And he said as soon as the patient comes in, I ask, what kind of a relationship you want to have? You want a relationship where you come in and you tell me what's wrong with you, and you tell me how I'm going to treat you. Or you come in and I and I diagnose you and then I tell you how we're going to treat the symptoms, or do you want to work together and figure it out? And he goes, You know, I get answers across the board that has really helped me in dealing with parents, which has helped me in dealing with discipline. And whenever I have a problem who's acting out and just can't quite get it together instead of call it a parent, said, hey, your kid's just out of control and this is what's going on. I'll contact the parent and we'll sit down and say. What do you want for your child? Tell me how I can best help. Versus just being accusatory. And of course, if you can build a relationship with the parents before you even have that conversation. And then I think we heard there was there's mentoring going on and I try to mentor and I that's when we have, you know, tradition has been, you know, study hall I mean with three kids. 10 minutes each for it's a 30 minute period. And we talk about school, we talk about things outside of school, we talk about their families. And I just try to get to know them as a full person versus just as a grade. And just those short ten minute conversations, maybe every three weeks makes a huge difference.
Guest - Piggybacking on that is focusing on what what they are doing right, what they hear and do want to see it. Yeah. You know, I tell my kids, I want to catch you being good, making good choices, and then that models for the other students what you do want to have. And that's made a big difference
Kaldhusdal - what you value.
Guest - Yeah. And then the other side of that I think is as a teacher being in control of our own emotions because they're those kids that get under your skin and you can feel it and it's just going to go downhill from there So you need to be able to check yourself as well.
Thorpe - Self Regulation.
Guest - Yes, regulate yourself.
Host - That's very good advice.
Truesdell - I have one other little thing that I do. You know, I build humor into the lessons. And so if I see somebody who really is going through and just really isn't laughing, you know, isn't really even amused, I just look at it as kind of a diagnosis. There's something going on there and then I'll pull them aside or her. So I just ask. And so because you have some kids that, you know, they can have the trauma or they can be angry and they just want to hide it.
Thorpe - I think one of the things that I know and I'll give props to my my former school International High School I think one of the things that we do well and they are still doing well at international high school is they're embedded of SEL in every day classroom practices. And before I left there, I was also on the SEL committee. And what we do is we ensure that every single classroom at the beginning of the school year in August, when all teachers are setting up their classroom, established an SBL corner and the field corner has widgets and, you know, just different things. And it has a nice comfy chair and it has positive thing. And any student at any time can say, I want to take a break. And we teach them that language of SEL. We talk to them about the five core competencies. And of course, research says that if teachers who are competent in school transfer those to their students, right, because you're going to be more empathetic, you're going to be more understanding, you're going to make better decisions for your students. You're going to manage your emotions better. That kind of just transfers, right? It's like a trickle effect. And the students see you modeling those competencies. They don't have a choice. But because if you talk to a students in a soft tone, do you think they're going to yell back at you 99% of the time they go, Yeah yeah, that 1% of the time they won't, right? So it's kind of like, how do you model those competencies for your students and also create an environment in your classroom that allows them to do that and show up in that way. And so throughout our whole entire school and the last two years I was there, we only had one fight. One fight.
Kaldhusdal - I'm always amazed how a kid can turn around just one when, just after having a conversation with the parents. And and we could just be talking about the weather. I mean, but it tells them that we as a team care and when they see that team approach. And
Thorpe - yes,
Kaldhusdal - that makes a huge difference
Thorpe - consistent across the board. And that's and that's important because every single classroom they went into, it's there. That level of support is there. And so they feel that sense of love. They feel that sense of care and support because, oh, Ms.. Thorpe is doing in our classroom. But when I go to this room, it's not there, but it's straight across the board.
Guest - We've started having students call home when they do something successful, and that's been great. And we and the parents love it as well, and it gives them something to talk about later in the day. But celebrating those successes again, instead of focusing on the negative, yes,
Kaldhusdal - note to self.
Guest - we have the the assistant principals come up and they hand out their free movie tickets to the movie theater and then the high poverty district, like mind you can imagine. And so when they see one of my peers is quite the intimidating presence. And he comes to their room and and he says someone's name and his deep, burly voice. And they go up and he goes, Here's your ticket. You got caught doing something good this week, you know, way to be a rocket. And it's like you said, it's catching those those acts of good that aren't just academic. Yeah.
Thorpe - Yeah, that's more behavioral.
Truesdell - I like to call home and then the student arrives home not knowing. Yes. Yeah. And it's a big surprise, especially if I know that there are problems at home. That's big. Yeah.
Krajacic - So I always include the student on an email. That is a concern, but not on an email that's necessarily a positive so that they're surprised when the parent gets to deliver that. But I don't want them shocked to learn that I reached home about a grade or SEP or a test or something like that. I want you to know what's going on. I don't want anything bad to happen at home.
Host - Well, you guys have shared with us a lot of good wisdom, and I need to be respectful of your time. It's just about time to wrap up. So I would like to just give you one last opportunity. Do you have any hope for the future, for education that you'd like to share with our listeners?
Kaldhusdal - Education is the future.
Truesdell - Yes, indeed.
Krajacic - What is the phrase? The kids are all right?
Kaldhusdal - Yeah. I mean, I admire anybody willing to take on the most noble profession on the planet. I mean, you know, we've been talking this all week. I can't imagine doing anything else.
Truesdell - I'd like to share that, you know, becoming a teacher and it's a journey. And the teachers have to understand at the beginning, yeah, they will occasionally make mistakes, but it's part of the journey. But as long as there are people there to support the collective community, you will be a master teacher. It's just a question of when.
Krajacic - And a master teacher knows, most importantly, what they don't know at all. They can't do it alone, and they need a good team like this. And you can never stop learning.
Ballard - And one of my strategies, I think, that really helped me become a great teacher was I really sought out one of the best teachers in Arizona when I was there, Doug Akek and Google him. there's just pages of he's not just a great state teacher, he's a national model type of music educator. And that made a profound effect impact on my project. Without that, I'm not sure I would have gone in the same. So I think for those people out there looking, don't just take who they give you go to and really ask the questions, who are the best teachers and try to find and see if you can land yourself next to that person. You're going to learn a lot and probably it's going to make your life a whole lot easier.
Kaldhusdal - Mine was called Kathy Bean, and every time I had a spare moment, I jump in her classroom. And the first year teaching, there you go, pick her brain. If I had a chance, buy a beer and buy your beer after work. You know, whatever it was I learned so much from her.
Thorpe - I think the key thing is to just remember that you're not alone. You know, education is so broad, you're never, ever alone. And when you feel like you're alone, just knock on the door next door. And don't be gatekeepers of information, because I think a lot of people close their classroom door and think that the best teachers have it all. And they close the door because they think they know it all and they don't share that. And when you don't share that, then the rest of our students don't get it. Then you have one classroom in which they're going to be great, and then they suck in all of others. So like I said earlier, you know, one teacher can make any one student great. So don't be gatekeepers of information.
Guest - Stay away from those negative coworkers.
Thorpe - Yes.
Guest - You have to remember people all the time. Yes, y you're in it and you value out of the experience.
Thorpe - And don't look at our students from a deficit mindset.
Guest - Or your colleagues.
Thorpe - A deficit mindset? Yes.
Kaldhusdal - Protect your passion. Keep hope alive
Thorpe - and peace and goodwill to all men.
Host - You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your wisdom. I appreciate it very much.
(music) This podcast is for informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Emporia State University or the Teachers College. Any mention of products, individuals or organizations within this podcast does not constitute an endorsement. Listeners are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with appropriate professionals before making any decisions based on information provided in this podcast. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to like and subscribe. This podcast is sponsored by the Teachers College at Emporia State University. Featuring talks with experts and educators, we release new episodes every other Wednesday. Our guests provide more information on our website, www.emporia.edu/hwtt follow us and share on x with @hwtt_esu on Facebook and Instagram. Search for how we teach this. If you would like to be a guest on our show or want to provide feedback, please send us an email at hwtt@emporia.edu I'm Kristy Duggan your host and executive producer. You've been listening to how we teach this. Thank you.