TRANSCRIPT: 3 Tips for Engaging Students in the Post-Pandemic Classroom (feat. Janet Swarthout from Caro High School)
8:18PM Jun 22, +0000
Speakers:
Nikki
Janet
Keywords:
students
pandemic
teaching
teacher
classroom
learning
lessons
year
today
building
learn
future
world
engaged
education
communication
socialization
diplomas
tools
important
I don't know that my classroom will ever look like what it did pre pandemic years. And I'm okay with that. Yeah, I'm I'm looking for ways to make it better. If you're not getting better. Ben, you're stagnant and stagnant doesn't help anybody. So I'm always looking for ways to make my classroom better. I think that my high expectations that I had before the pandemic, I still have those. I think that's key to being a good teacher is having high expectations for students. So that did not change. But how I approach reaching those goals has definitely changed.
I’m Nikki Herta, and this is BRIGHT: Stories of Hope & Innovation in Michigan Classrooms, a podcast where we celebrate our state’s educators and explore the future of learning.
BRIGHT is brought to you, in part, by Meemic Insurance Company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. Teachers and school employees, visit Meemic.com/Quote to see how much you can save.
In today’s episode of BRIGHT, I chat with Janet Swarthout, a speech, drama, and debate teacher at Caro High School, who was honored as a 2021-22 regional teacher of the year, representing her geographic area in Michigan’s Thumb.
Janet shares her experience teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic, explores how she’s changed up her instruction to better meet student needs, and offers 3 strategies for keeping students engaged in the post-pandemic classroom.
Well, Janet, thank you so much for joining me on the right podcast today. It's awesome to have you.
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
We're kicking off the season asking everybody if they can just tell us about the most interesting thing that they're doing in their classroom right now. So how would you answer that?
Well, we're near the end of the year, but we just completed a unit on group discussion, where students worked in groups of four to create news broadcasts, where they reported on the local news state national international news, along with sports and weather. So each team had to research and they had to write scripts, they had to create visual backgrounds. And then they videotaped their news program in a very professional manner. And it's a fun project where they get to use their interpersonal their written their oral communication skills to showcase what they learned this year. And I found them to be very creative, and quite entertaining to watch because they all wanted to be get the top rating from their audiences, just like the regular news network news does. So it was an amazing experience. I'm very proud of what my students were able to accomplish.
That's so cool to hear. So it sounds like you just saw a lot of different creative and very personable, yes, in some of this research that they did. Very exciting. All right, next question. Can you tell me about a moment you vividly remember falling in love with education?
Wow. I would have to say I fell in love with education as a first grader. Greater. Yes, because I learned the power of a good book. I had an amazing first grade teacher who allowed me to read things. And when I wanted to read more advanced books, she encouraged it. And I discovered that a whole new world out there when you read. And so that's when I started loving education because I could, it just opened up new things to me. And I loved learning new things. And I still do, which I think is an important key for a teacher. So as a teacher, though, I feel like I keep falling in love over and over again with my job. Every time students grasp a concept, they get something new, they learn it, you see the light bulb turn on. It's so exciting for me and I just think yes, this is why I do this. I truly love my job, which is why I've done it for 40 Some years and still plan to keep doing it.
My cheeks already hurt from smiling. So today we are going to talk about three tips for engaging students in the post pandemic classroom. First, before we dig into what those three tips are, I just like to pause for a second and unpack the why and set a little bit of context. So first off, and I know some of these are big questions, but bear with me and just you know speak from the heart I suppose from what you've seen and experienced. But Would you mind sharing your perspective on how the pandemic has affected our students and their relationship with learning?
Well, when we began the fall of 2020, we were using the hybrid model, where half my students came Monday, Tuesday, the other calf came Thursday, Friday, and the three days they weren't in class, they were online. And they would watch me doing videos and the lessons I created online. And then I would hold Google meats every day where students could ask for help, or if they had questions, I could answer them. And while I feel I created some very high quality materials, many of my students were not successful. They were home alone, they had no supervision, they were not very motivated. And so it took a negative toll. And I teach mostly freshmen, so they just didn't have the tools to and the maturity to make themselves learn a little bit on their own. And parents, they're working, they came home tired at night. So they couldn't necessarily make their children do the work. And the other really noticeable impact was the time of night when students would do their work. In school, we're here from eight to 330. But when they were home, I noticed that most of my students were doing their work about one o'clock, three o'clock in the morning, their nights and days were totally turned around. And so many times they were playing Xbox or fortnight or whatever, until the wee hours and then they kept the books. And, or they would prefer to watch Netflix or tic tac videos, whatever, anything besides what they were supposed to be doing with those Chromebooks. And that change in their working hours still have an impact today in the classroom, because students still want to stay up late at night. And then they come to school, so tired. And, and they get very little sleep. And tired students find it difficult to get involved in their own learning processes. Right?
Which makes sense, you know, as adults, we can probably relate to that as well.
And we were mature enough to know "Oh, it's midnight, I probably should get a few hours sleep before the next day." My students haven't grasped that yet.
Well, thank you for sharing that. I was wondering if you could tell me about a moment that it really sunk in that you were going to need to change up your approach to teach and to reach them. In the post pandemic classroom. Like when the students came back? What did you see that made you realize that you were going to have to do something a little bit different.
This fall this past fall in 2021, when students came back, I realized that very first week, but the students weren't necessarily there, their bodies were sitting in their desks. But they they were not engaged. They they were tired all the time. They weren't focused on education. They did enjoy talking with other friends whom they hadn't been with laughs The year before. So they were they would get engaged when they were with other people, but not necessarily in the, in the actual lessons or the structure of the school day. They really wanted to spend far more time talking with their neighbors than they did learning about how to write an introduction, for example. So I realized pretty quickly that even though we were back to business as usual, I had to make a lot of adjustments to how I was instructing and teaching. Because they weren't into the mindset of learning. So the very first concept that I was trying to teach children was the importance of communication, that it's something that we all need. And of course, as a speech drama debate teacher, I'm passionate about communication. And then it connected with me that they are interested in communicating with their friends. Yeah. So if I can build that into my lessons, I'm going to get them engaged in what I'm teaching and provide them that opportunity to to talk and discuss things with their friends. So I had to change how I was going to teach the spa and I found it to be fairly successful throughout the year and I tweaked it You're long to make it work. We had a lot of discussions about what it was like the year before, when they had very little face to face contact. And we talked about how they can handle it and what they wish they could have done. So we did try to pull in the past experiences, and see how our communication skills that we're learning in my class, if they had had those skills, then how might it have helped them get through the pandemic years. So by relating what we were teaching to what was happening in the pandemic, I started building relationships with my students. And my students started building relationships with each other because they didn't all know each other. And it just was it a learning time for students and for me, and I realized that then I'm going to have to do this all year long, I'm going to have to adjust the way I've been teaching to meet the needs of the students today,
Is this something that you see as like a lasting change? Do you think it's going to keep going after the pandemic?
Yes, I do. Because I see a lot of value in those changes that I've made. It changed all of us, from the way we in many different ways. I don't know that my classroom will ever look like what it did pre pandemic years. And I'm okay with that. Yeah, I'm, I'm looking for ways to make it better. If you're not getting better, Ben, you're stagnant and stagnant doesn't help anybody. So I'm always looking for ways to make my classroom better, I'm experimenting with how I use my class time. You know, sometimes you flipped classrooms, and you, you create more videos, and certainly through the pandemic, my video, I've always loved making videos, but you know, I've got myself a green screen, starting to do all sorts of creative editing with my videos, and and I find that as I get more engaged in what I'm doing, the students get more engaged in what they're doing. And when they realized I wasn't just there to teach that I cared about them. So they're more willing to work. For me, I think that my high expectations that I had before the pandemic, I still have those, I think that's key to being a good teacher is having high expectations for students. So that did not change. But how I approach reaching those goals has definitely changed.
I appreciate the perspective that you're offering. And I really like what you said about you know, how communication and your your communication teacher you said yes, right. drama, drama. Yeah. So how you recognize the shift in the in students, you know, that, yes, they too wanted communication. And that's what you're teaching. And so you kind of just changed things up to give them, you know, help fill that need that they have for socialization. And also, you know, use that as a grounding point to talk about the value of communication and why it's so important in our lives. And so I think that makes a lot of sense. And really fascinating. In
Every field they go into, doesn't matter if they're going to be a doctor, lawyer, or garbage collector, they're going to need those skills.
And what I also really appreciate about your story is that you're modeling learning for your students. You're saying like, Okay, what I used to do, it's not working as well as it used to. And so I'm going to change and you're modeling that behavior forced. All of that is such a good, little like microcosm of what learning is supposed to be. And even though it was over, you know, there was a lot of negative things that came from the pandemic. There was this positive side in the sense of Absolutely, you to impact your classroom for years to come. I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit. And I know this is a big question, but just you know, your belief in your heart of hearts. What do you think the post pandemic classroom can look like at its best?
I think by setting those high expectations and letting students know where they, how important they are to us, and not just not just me as a teacher, but to our world. These are our future leaders. They're our future politicians. They're our future doctors, our lawyers, our future, everything parents, and so we have to get them to see how important their education is to them. And to the world. We're a global community these days. And they have to see that even though they're one person, they have an impact on everything that goes on in our world. And they need to get that glimpse. And so I'm hoping and as a as a post pandemic classroom, we take a look at how we view our students, and set goals for them to be the people that we as a country as a nation as a world need them to be.
I’m Nikki Herta, and you’re listening to BRIGHT: Stories of Hope & Innovation in Michigan Classrooms. BRIGHT is brought to you, in part, by Meemic Insurance Company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. Teachers and school employees, visit Meemic.com/Quote to see how much you can save.
Today, I’m chatting with Janet Swarthout, a speech, drama, and debate teacher at Caro High School, who was honored as a 2021-22 regional teacher of the year, representing her geographic area in Michigan’s Thumb.
Up next, we dive into Janet’s top three tips for engaging students in the post-pandemic classroom.
All right. So let's dig in. What are your top three tips for engaging students in the post-pandemic classroom?
The first step to engaging students today is getting to know them and where they are at. And they need to get to know us as teachers. They need to know that they can trust us that we have their best interests at heart, that we are concerned about them as people. When students know that you care about them. They care about their education. And one of the ways that I've done that is one of the first activities we do it and it's not graded, they just get they get points for participating is they have to talk about themselves for a minute. That's not very long. And it can go over a minute, but they have to tell us as a whole class things about themselves, so that we get to know them and I get to know them helps me remember their names, if I can connect them with something that they say. And I started out by giving the first one because they need to know who I am. To trust me with their education, they have to know that I am a concerned, caring person. So I talked about my hobbies. I talked about how much I love teaching. I talk about my miniature horse that I hitch up to a cart and go driving down the road. I let them know some tidbits about me. And it's funny how those things through the year, they'll come back and ask me questions like how's bumpkin this weekend? Did you take him out for a drive the weather was nice, and because they know I care, they care about me as well. And those relationships are a great way to start getting your students engaged. And during this time, letting them know your expectations. I have a reputation for being maybe a demanding teacher. Because I do set high expectations. But I let them know right off, I'm not expecting anything that they are not capable of. And I let them know, where are they might be now is not where they're going to be at the end of the school year. And that I'm on this journey with them. To get them where they need to be. And if they can trust me, I will get them there.
I am wondering, how do you feel that your relationship building with students? And you know setting that context for the beginning of the semester? Did you feel like you had to shift that quite a bit after the you got back to the classroom?
I think I've always done this with my class, but maybe not so vocally.
More explicitly?
Now I remind them weekly, I'm here. You know when to find me. And I probably didn't do that in the past like I do now. I want them to know that. I think it's also important that they see me in other places besides the classroom. They need to see me. I run the computer for that track and cross country meets and I've done swim and wrestling and they can see me outside of the classroom too. And I think that's important in that relationship building that they know I don't just care about them academically. I care about their social needs. I care about how they're doing academically. I like to be able to say you did a great job in that solo with the choir concert last night, those are all key in building those relationships with students. And they know I set high standards for myself that I expect myself to do these things and and then when they see me reach those expectations, they can see that they also can set high expectations and reach those.
Yeah. Yeah, I appreciate the theme of, you know, having the high expectations, but then also building their efficacy, you know, and saying, I believe in you, I know that you expectations, that seems like a critical, you know, second piece to those high expectations.
Students know they can come get help. For example, I had a student public speaking as a scary subject for students. And most of my students experience anxiety when they have to get up in front of people. And even though we do it in small amounts, and we build their confidence, sometimes they suffer from crippling anxiety. So I had a student who just wouldn't give speeches. Okay, I'm here in the morning, you can give that speech to just me. Yeah. So she came in for like, three different mornings and gave her speech each day, she got better. Okay, now bringing three of your friends. And now you're going to do that speech with me and your three friends. A week later, she was up in front of the class giving her speech her presentation, because we took the time to build that confidence. That's relationship building. All that time I spent with her was well worth it, because she can now get up and have confidence when they realize that you'll meet them where they are, they will come through.
And that ties in really nicely to just this whole, you know, first tip with what you said about one of the marked differences after the pandemic is just really everybody realizing the importance of socialization and relationships. And so recognizing that need and responding to it. Absolutely. Yeah, thank you for your work there. It sounds like it's had a big impact. Would you like to lead us into your second tip for engaging students in the classroom?
To be a teacher, your lessons have to be for the student. And that may mean that you have to revamp and you have to pace your lessons differently than you've done in the past. When I first started teaching 40 years ago, it was a lot of lecture discussion, you take notes, I still do that my students still I modeled what I teach. So they still have to listen and take notes. But you don't do it for those long chunks of time. Now. And I think it's partly due to the pandemic, but the videos and their attention span, but short instruction piece, yep, I will give my presentation, I will have my PowerPoint, you take some notes. Now we're going to stop, we're going to do an activity that reinforces what we learned. Or maybe we're going to do some group work to cement a concept. I may have to repeat it. If I see that they didn't grasp it, then we move on. So it's revamping how you teach into maybe smaller chunks. And just doing it differently. Finding those things that you can do, I still find I cover the key points in my curriculum, I'm covering the same amount of content. It's just in a different way. And it gets the students more involved in the process of learning. I model what I want my students to learn and then I give them the opportunity to produce what they need to learn and to practice. So when you revamp and you revise and replace your lessons, you need to look at all the tools available to you. There are multitudes of tools out there. You've got coach, you got PowerPoints, you got video clips, yet think pair share, there's so many tools available to us. The list is endless, and sometimes overwhelming. But if you start using a few of those, and then vary them day to day, so the kids never know what they're going to do. They respond to that. They're used to quick changes. And they're used to having lots of action. So we have to adapt to their environment and the circumstance, while at the same time making sure that we try to expand their attention because they do need to learn that not all everything can be done in a 10 minute clip. But it's like gradual trying to pull them into longer attention spans.
So what I'm hearing is, you know, when you started first started as a teacher, this was pretty different, you know, Oh, yeah. Traditional, like, long lecture notes. Not as I guess interactive? Yes, that's an appropriate way to describe it. Is that true? And how does that change?
The thing I love about teaching is it's always going to change. Things had changed, you know, back when PowerPoint became a tool, totally revised, how I taught. And now with all the new tools, again, a teacher needs to constantly reinvent themselves and their material to meet the needs of the students that we have today. But the tools, everything's out there. And there's lots of people that will help you if you don't know how to do things. So you just have to teachers have to look for it, and not be shy about asking for it. And they may think it's so much work. But the end result is not. Some of these new tools have made my job easier. And I just had to learn how to do them. And as teachers, we need to, we need to be open to learning new things. That's what we expect of our students. So we need to be open to learning. I tell my students, I'm a lifelong learner. And many times, I will point out, Hey, I learned something new today. I learned I bought a new camcorder. And I learned how it works. Look at this look, but this one can do. And I try to be excited about what I'm learning so that they can see that learning. They're going to learn all their lives. It doesn't end when you get a diploma. So I try to model that for them. I think all that's something that we teachers need to do.
It's absolutely sounds like you model that for them, especially just hearing, you know, your reflection on how things have changed since you began your career and education.
Students have a hard time thinking about their futures. They don't know where they're going to be I have freshmen, they don't know where they're going to be. They don't know what they're going to do. But everything I teach, I try to relate to the future. So I think as teachers as instructors, we need to show students that what we are teaching has meaning. And even if it doesn't have meaning to them right now, it will have meaning to them. They have to apply their lessons to the future. So I try to explain why this is important, and how they're going to use this material this information in their future. For example, I teach basic researching. And I teach that so none of the other English teachers have to teach it. Because it's covered in my freshman course. Researching isn't always exciting for students. So hopefully they pick subjects are passionate about because that is a big key also. But I tell students, you need to know this information because Mrs. Cobb and Mrs. Tukey are going to expect you to know this next year. So you're learning this so that you're going to use it next year. And when your juniors Mr. Hot off is going to expect you to know this. And that helps them have a little more it has it gives that assignment or what you're teaching them a little more weight there, it's a little more important to them. I teach a job interviewing unit. And we learn how to interview. And yes, you're freshmen. But next year, when you turn 16, you might want to go for that job at a fast food place. So this is going to help you in getting that job. And when they make the connection that what they're learning is something that they're never going to see or they're never going to use this again. It helps them to remember it helps them get involved in learning it and they take responsibility for actually learning it and showing me that they can do it. When they see that they have that what they're learning is going to have an impact on their lives. They get involved in the learning process. And I think that's so important for them. We have to make their lessons relevant To them, even if they don't see it right now, we may have to explain that.
Have you found, you know, post pandemic that this was even more important than it was before?
Yes. A lot of students were afraid they weren't even going to have a future. And the world was they knew it had kind of shut down. So now we have to show them that yes, the world is going to go on? Yeah. Are we post pandemic? Okay, looks like we might be. And the world has continued. And so now you have to start thinking about your future, what are you going to do? Where do you want to be? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 20 years? So let's think about the future, you're going to have one? And it's giving them that hope that Yes. I do have a future. And yes, I'm, I'm going to make something of myself and do something.
I think what you explained what just the world was on pause, you know, was this like, like a black hole of time? That's just strange experience that we all many of us collectively share? You know, you're showing, really, tangibly the impact that had on students, and the strategies to kind of like, take steps forward towards that socialization, towards that kind of future oriented thinking, towards taking their education seriously and taking agency over it. Yes. Yeah. That's just really neat to hear how you're really changing your instruction to kind of pull those aspects out and help them grow in those areas that aren't even all connected just to specific academic skills. I mean, communication, yes. Yeah. You know, but some of it is just Yeah. socializing, and no, probably mental health and competence. And there's so much right. They're all tied in together. Yeah, I think those were three great tips. And I really appreciate it. Before I ask you the last question, is there anything that you wanted to speak about that we didn't get to? I just
Teaching children is a privilege. And it's not one that should be taken lightly. And it's a tough job. And as, as I was preparing for this, of course, we had the the incident happen, the shooting happened, and I thought, how can I even make what I'm talking about today relevant, when two of my colleagues were killed in the line of duty. And so those teachers were with their students. And, you know, I don't know, a teacher around that wouldn't be there in that same situation, trying to protect their students. So, yeah, it's a it's a, what we the job that we have is so amazing, and so powerful. And I'm so grateful that I have this job and that I have 100 wonderful students every day that I get to work with. So I would be remiss in my duties, if I didn't just want to say how much how thankful I am to my students today, for all that they know probably made even listen to this. I don't know, I might share it with them. It's good for them to see me under the, you know, under the stress of having to give a public presentation.
Exactly. Yes. I didn't think about that with you being a Speech and Drama teacher. You might share it with your students. That's pretty cool. That makes me happy. So thank you for what you do, you know, and for just sharing that passion you have for it, despite everything, you know, just the power of your profession and how you are able to transform lives.
I truly have the greatest job in the whole world.
Can you tell me about a teacher who had a positive impact on your life?
I had a high school teacher and I was going through a very, very difficult time I had had some experiences that were not positive. And my English teacher Mrs. Peterson, took notice of that. And, and she said, what's going on? And I said I can't talk about it. But she made sure every day that she would talk to me, and she made me feel so welcome. That she invited me to her home one night, where I was able to finally spill everything out. And that teacher just showed me how powerful teaching is. That's what I remember her today. her strength, her kindness, the kindness she showed me that got me through that rough time. And I will forever be grateful for her because at that time, I had no clue I was going into teaching wasn't, wasn't for another, what, five, six years that I thought that I decided to go into teaching. But she had a really positive impact on me. So I hope that, that I can do that for other students.
Well, it certainly sounds like that you do. Thank you for everything you do. And I'm very glad that you had that teacher to help you through that rough time.
It's a great job. And sometimes your heart gets ripped out. And there's times when you go home and you cry, because you couldn't do everything that you wanted to do for a kid, or the kid still made a choice. Maybe they shouldn't have made in spite of everything you did. So it can be a heartbreaking at times. But next week, we have graduation and I'm going to watch students walk across that auditorium and get those diplomas. Students that when they were freshmen people didn't think they would make it. And that's the power of teaching. Because of some of the teachers at our school. Those kids are going to get those diplomas and they're gonna go on and do amazing things.
Without a doubt, it’s challenging work to adapt your instruction to meet the ever-changing needs of our students. But with leaders like Janet forging our path forward, if there’s one thing we’re certain of: it’s that the future is BRIGHT.
Do you know someone who is an inspiring Michigan educator who should be featured on our show? Send us an email at bright@michiganvirtual.org to let us know who they are and why they should interview them.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of BRIGHT: Stories of Hope & Innovation in Michigan Classrooms. This podcast is produced by Herbie Gaylord, is hosted by me, Nikki Herta, and is shaped by many of our passionate and talented colleagues. Big thanks to Anne Perez, Kristen DeBrueler, Terence Wilkerson, Ana Aramberry, Sarah Hill, and Brandon Bautista for their contributions to this episode.
BRIGHT is brought to you, in part, by Meemic Insurance Company, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. Teachers and school employees, visit Meemic.com/Quote to see how much you can save.
The BRIGHT podcast is made possible by Michigan Virtual, a nonprofit organization that’s leading and collaborating to build learning environments for tomorrow. Education IS changing faster than ever. Discover new models and resources to move learning forward at your school at michiganvirtual.org.