TRANSCRIPT: 3 Tips for Building Agency as a Teacher (feat. Anne Perez from Michigan Virtual)
1:50PM Apr 6, +0000
Speakers:
Nikki
Anne
Keywords:
teachers
students
agency
classroom
papers
moment
thinking
due date
reflect
learning
day
recognize
teaching
practices
iced coffee
michigan
question
reading
educators
podcast
A student, she was sitting along the side windows, I still remember where she was sitting. She just blurts out, and she says, You just live your best life, Miss Perez, go get that iced coffee. And I kind of laughed. And then it's, it struck me like I was like living my best life by not grading my papers and getting an iced coffee and going to a playground with Charles, in between practices and feeling chaotic. And what I realized at that moment was, it was a decision I made. And it was a change in my mindset, like I was happier that evening that I had time with my little guy on a beautiful evening. And what I realized in that moment that carried on a little later with my students was, I recognized what I needed. And I articulated that to my students at that time. And by doing that, I started to see change in myself and in my mindset, but I think more importantly, my students started to see some change for me, and as well I started to see some moments of agency from them and it did lead to a very powerful experience.
And Nikki Herta in this is bright stories of hope and 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 a chat with Anne Perez, a former English teacher who was in the classroom for 15 years before joining the Michigan Virtual team is a senior professional learning specialist. And shares how she defines agency tells a story about when she first realized the full importance of agency for herself and her students in the classroom, and offers three strategies for how you can build this important skill as a teacher. And it's such a pleasure to have you on the right podcast. Thanks for joining me today.
Well, thanks for inviting me, Nikki, I'm happy to be here.
We're starting off the season asking everybody if they can tell us what the most interesting thing they're doing professionally is right now. So how would you answer that question?
So on Monday, perhaps the most interesting thing we we've been supporting a group of teachers through through informal conversations since the fall, but we had a culminating workshop on Monday. And it was a design thinking workshop. So it was it was really fun. And it was a pivot from what we'd been doing with them. But it was born out of a place of kind of hearing needs that kept surfacing in our informal conversations and learning that we had throughout earlier the year. And kind of using this idea of design thinking and leveraging teachers experience and showcasing a process that can kind of help them recognize some control they might have or at least ability towards working towards a solution. So it was a it was a lot of fun. That's really cool. Well, I
want to dig obviously into it into agency and that's clearly where we're headed. But I do want to pause for a second and just have you tell me about a time that you vividly remember falling in love with education. So just going back to your roots and what really led to your here
Yeah, well I mean if I'm honest Nikki I education and my love for it is always been a part of my memories. I had a chalkboard in my garage and would I just remember always wanting to teach my siblings or like somehow even getting my neighbor friends
involved and like everybody in
pulling everybody in and teaching and giving homework so like playing school, although I don't think I was playing it felt very real to me, but like school was very important to me and teaching. And my love for education, like I said has been a friend My earliest memories, but when I your question about when I vividly remember, like, recognizing those moments of like, I am so glad I'm in this space, or in this moment, probably stems and I've, I've had the opportunity to have several of those moments over my 15 years as a, as a high school English English teacher, but probably stems from the moments when I wasn't teaching. But I was the one listening and learning and walking around the room, while my students were doing the hard work of connecting with the content, and connecting with each other. So I may have facilitated or orchestrated the lesson, but watching witnessing my my students kind of work through it. And whether it was in their book clubs, where they were generating questions and trying to make connections to something we were reading, or if we were analyzing a poem, and they were trying pictures, trying to make deeper connections to the imagery or listening to song lyrics and trying to see if we could take something they heard on the radio, and how does that connect to the character that we were reading, but all of those moments where it was them, and I was watching it, I would, I would just kind of like walk around or after a conversation with a kid or a group, I would just have this moment or this feeling like how cool that I that I get to see this happen right now. Right in my room. You know, you just think of how I would just think like, how many people aren't getting to see these kids hard at work, but I had the ability to do that. And so those, those were the moments that just reminded me of why I why I loved teaching and and now
that I was wondering, like, because now you're teaching teachers in a way Yeah, right. So like, and I know you'd mentioned, you told me something before you said, like, you knew at a pretty young age, you wanted to teach teachers, I just wondering, yeah, if you can unpack that, because it's specific,
it is very specific, I can't even explain it. So just like I, as a young kid was always teaching. And I knew I wanted to do that. Even before I was while I was in college and going through my courses, and I was just working with my advisor and my mentor, and I just they're prepping me to be in the classroom. And I was already trying to think of when I would be out of the classroom. But working with teachers, it was really interesting that I was thinking that way. But I can think back now and realize that, and kind of stemming from my moments of the classroom. Although I loved working with my students, I had a huge passion for the lesson design and the strategy, and finding ways to meet students where they're at. And I think I've always had that. And I think I've recognized in the way that in college when my mentor, my advisor worked with me, I liked what they did. And I was like, Well, I want to be a teacher. And I've done all this work. And I want to I want to do that work. And I think that work is important to that eventually work with teachers. So it was a matter of me figuring out well, when when does that transition happen?
When did it for you? When was the like Helen re in the classroom? Well,
15 years. So I guess, if I'm honest with myself, and maybe it just comes from an assumption I made that I would teach for 30 years, and then maybe move on. And maybe this is that agency part. I remember having a conversation with my husband and and another friend who was a principal. And I just started to think like, this was nagging at my heart. This was something I wanted to do. Why would I keep putting it off? I don't have to be in the classroom for 30 years to then move on to to do something else that I also want to do. Yeah. So I think that answered your question. That's really cool. answered the question. Yeah.
Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that story with us. I think it's so cool to hear what led teachers to education and then specifically, I thought it was so interesting when you told me that you know, You knew pretty early on that you wanted to teach teachers so, and I can see it in just the way we're talking about agency. And like you said, the strategy behind teaching and instruction to, you know, foster a love of learning and those aha moments and students that you so love, you know, so that's pretty cool. And we are going to be talking today about three strategies for building agency as a teacher. But first, I just wanted to unpack the wire a little bit. So how would you define what it means to have agency as a teacher? Why is it so important to you? And why is it so important just to this particular profession of teaching,
when I think of agency, I use probably a very basic definition when an individual or a person, you know, has the ability or power to think for themselves, and make a decision or act in a way that will then shape any experiences or a trajectory, you know, that that they go on. And essentially, it's a moving forward. Something I'm book I'm reading right now, in atomic habits, by James clear, I would say it's kind of like, turning motion into action. You know, so. So when I think of agency, I just think of it, okay. It's, it's a, it's a decision I making, towards in my case, or I would say in most people like towards improvement towards wanting to change something, generally for the better. When I started to do some reading about agency, in particular, for teachers, and I, my team, we were reading a book called rebound. The pillars that they began to put with agency, or that influence agency, in particular, for teachers, there were four, there was efficacy, which is a teacher's the extent to which a teacher believes that he or she has the capacity to impact students performance. There's the need for collaboration, the need for feedback, and success, right? Our experiences of what what has worked, why. And so when I started to, like, put all that together as for agency and agency for teachers, I just know, especially when I was in the classroom, and perhaps just challenges were surfacing. Or too many papers were piling up, you know, things began to impact my sense of control, right. And I would sometimes get lost or set in a certain way of perhaps doing things. Because that's what I had figured out. Well, this is how I can kind of manage this. But I kind of lost sight of this sense that maybe I just needed to take a step back and kind of see like, what decision can I make that I have some control over, that might help improve this or move this forward? In in a way that I would like to see it move forward. And so I think for right now, and for teachers, I think kind of helping to reestablish that it's important right now. And if if I were to think back of just all that teachers have been through in the past two years, and just people in general, but the pandemic has been isolating. And I know, even pre pandemic, teaching can sometimes become, you know, isolating, right? If my workday if I didn't get to the lunch room, because I needed to take care of something or whatever was happening. If that collaboration element got lost, or I, you know, maybe I tried something out and I saw it go a certain way, but I'm not quite sure how else you know how the kids responded to it or, you know, that that little bit of feedback or any of those things, those pillars right that influence how I think things went? I think right now it's important to help kind of remind or reengaged teachers to consider again what what they have control over and or how those actions have collaboration and seeking feedback and even just reflecting on what what's working, those moments of success can help move. Other decisions and other things that you wouldn't think are connected. And I think it's important for teachers, then when you begin to do that work, it inevitably shows up in your work and in your classroom. And I think that's something kids need to see. You know, to know that it's important for them to, to know themselves to know what they need, and maybe what they need to ask for, when things aren't working for them.
And so, kind of back to that, motion to action idea that, as I said, I got from that reading. I just know, I spent a lot of time wanting and thinking about how I would like things to change. And I, like I said, but I got, I think, lost or trapped or caught in a habit that I think developed out of, well, this is just how I do it, I collect these papers, and I agreed this way or that way. And and I think I want to change, but that was the motion part. And and going through and kind of remembering that I have agency and then practicing that. Actually, that was the action part. And when I did that, I can say that I started to see the the trajectory change.
Yeah, yeah, I find this so fascinating. And we, you know, we talked about this a little bit before, too, so I kind of knew, but the kind of parallel I think about is I feel like there's a lot of conversation just happening in you know, culturally about, I see it a lot, especially in like women's movements and stuff with like claiming your power, you know, and like, what you have the it's that's feels a lot like what we're talking about with agency to and like what you have control over, like taking control over those aspects. But I can also see how, especially in the profession of education, just hearing, you know, hearing from educators and talking about, you know, feeling burnt out by just all the responsibilities that they're asked to do, I feel like it probably feels like you're juggling, right, you're juggling all these things. But I think at some point, you start to feel like it's not you juggling it, it's like, you're beholden to all these things that you're juggling, and they're pulling you in different directions, you know, socially when your to do list is so long, so. And I think I think I got this from atomic habits, I can't actually remember. But I remember, this intuitively makes sense to me that under stress, we do tend to fall back in our old habits, you know, our traditional ways of doing things, rather than thinking creatively or innovatively or, you know, reflecting on our agency, and it's very easy to just fall back on that versus like, you know, it's not your first go to when you're stressed, you have a million things to do always to think about, you know, oh, what's my agency in the situation, because usually too busy, you think you don't have time to write but just that, that, when you actually do pause and pull up, you know, lean on your agency, it can give you back a lot more than you think it will
for sure. And it sometimes surfaces and moments that you wouldn't expect that that would be a moment for it to play out.
Yeah. So will you tell us that story? This is something you mentioned to me kind of in the lead up to this interview. But you had mentioned that there's a specific time when you were an English teacher, where you like kind of had an epiphany about agency. So I was wondering if you could just kind of set the scene for us on what what that moment was?
Yeah. And it's it's kind of a funny moment. I don't know, I think back at it. And right now, it makes me laugh that that's the moment I would turn to but it was that, like, pivotal for me, was an October day. And I believe it was in 2018. And my my husband was out of town for a week. And I have three children. My two oldest had sport practices, and my littlest guy was five at the time. And anyway, I come home from teaching school and got the kids home and I just collected a stack of honors 11 papers, and I'm cooking dinner and I've got to get the kids to their practices and all of this like I'm troubleshooting, how, you know, I've collected these papers I'm, you know, my my normal process is I'm going to start reading some I've got to turn these around. And you know, but I'm getting I got to get the kids here and what am I going to do? How am I going to do this? All of this is happening right? The brain is currently trying to figure out how its how it's going to you know, make it all happen. And I'm you know, I pack up my bag with my papers. I'm like, Yeah, I have some time in between and maybe Charles and I'll hit up a Park Hill play. I'll sit at the bench and read the papers and Okay, so I get in the car and I dropped my oldest off Joshua and I take Sophia to her practice and getting ready to go to the park with my papers and Charles and we're passing a coffee shop. And it's a beautiful October afternoon, and I'm like, I could really use a coffee right now. And I'm like, you know, at the moment where I could turn into the coffee shop and get it? Or do I just continue on and for whatever reason, I went in, got my iced coffee. I think Charles probably got a treat. We go to the playground. I decide it is a beautiful evening. I've got this iced coffee. Charles is having a great time. I'm going to watch him. I'm going to enjoy this moment. But then, I still had these papers that I didn't grade. And, you know, that was a choice I knew I made and at the time, I was like, yep, well, now what did I you know, now, I've just got to grade more tomorrow. Where this is going, though, is the next day. You know, these were my 11th graders in a question. I maybe they were asking it to be funny. I don't know, Miss Perez? Did you start reading those papers? Yeah. Do you have those papers done? And, you know, maybe it's because it was a stressful week of what I was saying before, but I just was like, I'm, I'm gonna be honest with them. So I said, You know what? No, I didn't get those papers read, you know, yesterday, I had every good intention. Right. But I said, you know, I had to take my kids to their practices. And, you know, I said, Actually, my husband was at a town and I decided I was going to get an iced coffee and go to the playground with Charles. And it was it was great. But I said, I will I will get those papers. You know, I'm going to start reading those tonight. And a student. She was sitting along the side windows, I still remember where she was sitting. She just blurts out, and she says, You just live your best life, Miss Perez, go get that iced coffee. And I kind of laughed. And then it's, it struck me like I was like, live my best life by not grading my papers and getting an iced coffee and going to a playground with Charles, in between practices and feeling chaotic. And what I realized at that moment was it was a decision I made. And it was a change in my mindset. Like I was happier that evening that I had time with my little guy on a beautiful evening. And what I realized in that moment that carried on a little later with my students was I recognized what I needed. And I articulated that to my students at that time. And by doing that, I started to see change in myself and in my mindset, but I think more importantly, my students started to see some change from me. And as well I started to see some moments of agency from them and it it led to a very powerful experience. Post that October afternoon.
I'm Nikki Herta and you're listening to bright stories of hope and innovation Michigan classrooms. Bright is brought to you in part by Meemic insurance, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years, teachers and school employees visit meemic.com/quote to see how much you can save. If you're interested in earning some sketches, or taking steps to build your agency as a teacher, check out some of Michigan virtuals online PD courses on the subject. Three titles of interest include being a reflective teacher during a pandemic. Take care of yourself, of course and well being and self care and reaching your potential through self advocacy. Each of these courses take three hours or less to complete and earn you two to three sketches and are either free or cost $10. You can visit Michigan virtual.org/professionals to explore our course catalog educators. Today on The Bright podcast I'm chatting with Anne Perez, former English teacher was in the classroom for 15 years for joining the Michigan Virtual team as a senior professional learning specialist. Up next, Anna and I unpack the story she told him about that beautiful October afternoon, where she had an epiphany about her own agency in the classroom. Then she shares her top three strategies for building As important skill as a teacher. So I think it's really interesting that you were talking about the impact that I had on your students. And I was just wondering, you know, the rest of that year, what did you see in having those more honest conversations about our choices and all the different forces in our lives? And how did that affect your teaching that year?
Yeah, well, I would say almost immediately. I think like I said, when I communicated that, and my student shared back the live your best life, we ended up making a sign, because I was just so like, taken aback by that. I'm like, I want to, I want to say that we posted it up in the classroom. So it was something that all my students saw, but in particular, my 11th graders, they knew, you know, kind of that moment, well, shortly thereafter, it could have been maybe the very next paper that I had assigned. A couple days before a due date, a student raised a question and just said, you know, Miss Perez? Why is it that teachers seem to always plan things around the same time or the same day? I was like, tell me more what you mean. So he's like, Well, you know, that the paper we have on that that's due on, let's say, Thursday, you know, we also have for other tests and a project and I was like, Yeah, so my first response, my usual responses, you know, we never do that on purpose. Of course, I would never do that on purpose. I, you know, I think it just works. Because it's, you know, the units are maybe the same amount of time, or this or that. Because of my experience, though, and I wanted to hear a little bit more. I decided, or maybe it was, my perspective or mindset was impacted. I said, Can you can you tell me what you're asking for? And so he asked, What would it mean, if we had an extra day to turn the paper in? Or if we, you know, an extension, push the day back? And I said, One day? Well, yeah, at least I'd have my test done. And, you know, and so what could have been a question or, you know, a student who's asking me to change my schedule, right, I picked this day. And as I mentioned before, I mean, I had a system right to kind of keep on track. But because of that moment, earlier, I was listening with this student is bringing up a very valid point like this, no matter I could argue that maybe they had two weeks or however long to write the paper. But when when it comes down to it to know that the night before, their priorities are on other things as well, I want their best work. So I thought about it, and I asked, I opened it. And I said, Alright, if I were to push the due date back, you know, how many of you are okay with that? Well, of course, people were okay with that. All right. But you know, someone raise your hand, well, but I'm, I'm ready to turn it in. And I said, Well, okay, let's turn it in. You can choose to follow the date I gave you. The extended date of an extra day is open to everybody. It's kind of your choice. What I found, though, was that I had a handful of students that wanted to get it off their plate, they wanted to turn it in, it was done. They had all the four tests, they weren't worried about it. They just wanted one less thing to worry about. They turned it in. What was cool was I didn't have a stack of 30. So I actually went home that night on the original due date, and I graded those few that I had. And it was nice. I was like, Oh my gosh, I've already got some done. And the next day when I let kids pick, you know, the rest brought their paper in, graded them, you know, went through my usual process. After the fact I asked the kids I was like, you know, how did that work? And the feedback I got and the conversation we had that kind of informed my thinking was it wasn't a way you know, kids were talking about, well, you know, isn't this just another day for us to procrastinate and maybe it is for you know, a student, right? What I saw it as And what I was hearing from them, and the the choice that some students wanted to be able to turn it in and move their priorities to other things, and other students wanted to focus on the tests, and then be able to focus on the paper. It gave them some, it gave them some sense of control. And
I think it also showed that, you know, I was willing to listen to a need, right, in the same way that I showed up earlier. Back that day, when do you have those papers? No, I don't, because this is what I needed. I needed a night where I had to do these other things. And I think reciprocating that, and listening to this need of we have this this night of all these things that just happen to fall on it on the same day. And I did notice that I was beginning to think in that way, it definitely changed my mindset of how I was approaching, in particular due dates. And even I just think other areas where I'm perhaps wasn't always as flexible in, in the design of some tasks.
You know, I could see, right, like, it's very easy to get into the the mindset to with like, due dates, like, Oh, we're gonna teach them accountability, you turn into this deadline, but I could see a counter argument there, of like, what the gift that this policy that you gave them did, is it like, you know, a, like you said, it showed you care, you it showed them that you care, and that you're willing to listen. But also, I wonder if you'd reflect on like, it seems like it also taught them to kind of advocate for themselves, you know, and to, that seems pretty, equally important. Because in, you know, the workplace in life, you know, there are going to be times that you have to advocate for your own needs. And I think more than anything, and we're learning this, across the board, due to a lot of people struggling with burnout, like, it's so easy, that, you know, the world will ask a lot of you, your professional ask a lot of you. So learning to advocate for your own needs, and to set boundaries is a pretty important skill, too. And so I'm just wondering if that resonates with your experience? I mean, I know, you know, it's you get to see them only for like this much time, you know, in the scope of their lives. But do you think that there could be something there?
Oh, certainly. And I especially think if their prior experience has been one of maybe they've never thought they could ask or maybe they ask and it's generally, you know, no, this is the duty and there's definitely times that that might have to be but like I said, the approach that I started to take was, if there was the date that I needed it by, like I would try to plan it out, were turn it in, maybe just a little earlier, right, maybe so maybe I built in more time. I think what it also helped was with some time management, at least for some, most of my major papers, students did have maybe two weeks to work on it. So my prior thinking was always well, of course, you know, I'm pacing them so that they're working a little bit every night. So really, the due date is they're just turning it in. But that's as I know, and you know, and in real, like we know, that's not the case, even in our best efforts, even, you know, even students that do maybe plan out to work, things come up, things change and and so I realized to that, kind of by allowing just that little bit of flexibility. Students got to make the choice and kind of rethink some of their their time management as well. And I do think that that was a starting point for them to realize there are moments that I need to say what I need, or at least to mention it right, like I said, part of that agency is knowing what you need and how to ask for it. And having that conversation, right. And I think first for students, especially at that point, juniors in high school who are getting ready to, you know, go on to college, like that is an important skill to begin to recognize.
Yeah, and I imagine, you know, if you're listening to them, and, you know, giving them opportunities for agency that they were probably more receptive when you needed it as a teacher to you know, and it at least opened up a conversation. So, you know, if you're like, Well, I I actually need it to be this deadline, because I have XY and Z and I need time to do this, then at least it to it had a reason behind it. I think sometimes, you know, social on your student due dates can probably seem arbitrary.
100% Actually, I was gonna, what you brought out that it was clarity. And if I look back at my relationship with that particular class, I would say like, because we had built kind of that relationship and that ability, where it was trust. And I think maybe even they kind of began to recognize that, yeah, like, they, they knew that I had kids. And, you know, they know that teachers have a life outside of the classroom, but I think sometimes it is hard for them to realize life outside of the classroom for a teacher, right? Because that's not how they see us and teachers in the same way, right? Like, I see you in my, you know, you're in my class. So that's the world I see you in, right. And it's hard for me to think of that they're going to soccer practice, and that they're volunteering here, or that they have a job, right, all those things that I don't know, when I'm making, you know, plans. So it definitely opened up, and and I think strengthened our relationship.
Yeah, there's always like the joke, you know, with in when you're a student, too, you know, like, you see the teacher at the grocery, the grocery store, and, you know, it's like, Oh, I thought you just like lived in the classroom. But you're, but no, you're like a three dimensional real living, breathing human. And I think, if anything, what we're learning right now from teachers is like, you know, I, this is a bit of a generalization, but we hear a lot that teachers are helpers of givers. And they obviously, so many teachers will give give give to their students. But it is good, you know, they do have needs and agency. And we're hearing more about like terms, like the whole teacher, the whole educator, like really, you know, honoring those needs and giving them agency. So hopefully, you know, some of the stuff we're talking about today will help lend itself to that. And it sounds like you know, in your experience, students respond pretty well, when given the opportunity to see your full humanity and to have theirs in turn be recognized. So all right, time for three strategies. Three strategies. Okay, so we're gonna dig into your top three practical strategies and building agency as a teacher. So can you kick us off with number one?
Sure, can. So my first tip or strategy would be to build in time for reflection. And I know that can be difficult. But a powerful way to start, even if it's just finding some time, like as a set time in the evening, or first thing in the morning is reflecting on just what's working for you. Right, and maybe what's not working, I think, when I go back to what agency means part of it is recognizing those those needs. And when we don't take a moment to pause and think about those things, those successes, but also maybe the challenges when we don't articulate those needs, I think that were kind of like we were talking earlier, the brain I think begins just to kind of auto automatically troubleshoot with Okay, well, I want to reduce this stressor. So let's just go about it the way that we always go about it. So when we build in a little bit of time for reflection, I think that helps to pull you outside of that maybe normal path that you take, and allows you to perhaps see maybe the trajectory you want to work towards, or at least begin to hear yourself, say, this is this is what's working for me, this is what I want to keep working on. And or this is where I'm struggling. And I think that is really important. Another way and something that I started to do back in that year was in order to know myself, I actually took a StrengthsFinder Yeah, the Clifton Strengths Finder. I mean, that's something that it's a book and you can pay for it. But there are even some of Um, simple ways that you can kind of think about what your strengths are. But I know that when I again, in that moment of reflection kind of took a step back to think of what my strengths are, will kind of help me realize a lot of things about myself, why I was really strong. And what I was strong in the strengths also kind of helped me realize maybe not necessarily struggles, but perhaps why some things might have been challenges for me, just for example, a strength of mine is focus, which is really good. Yeah, I mean, you give me a task, I mean, it's my focus, I will get it completely done. Um, you know, probably to the point where, you know, I'm nudging everybody else, and all those things, like, I'm focused on that. The other side of that strength, though, is I can very easily kind of get caught in the way that I have maybe decided, I want to go about it. And I sometimes need to take a step back. Well, I
was just gonna say, actually, that I could also see, you know, strengths. And also another term that I've heard use that there's slightly different, but would be values, you know, because I can imagine, I took your class on boundaries. And we talked a lot about values. And I think it's because, you know, that's what matters to you, you know, do you, right, and so as a teacher, if you know, connecting with your students, for example, matters too deeply, that's probably the part you're going to want the most out of, versus if some of the more you know, paperwork kind of stuff, it doesn't pull in your values as much, you know, that might be an area of tension to reflect upon and try to, you know, problem solve, but I was just thinking too, because you could be really, maybe not as strong at something but you highly value it, and versus like, you know, weaker at something, but you know that you are stronger at something that you don't value as much. So I was just thinking about that. And if you're going to get into this next part, and tip to just keep on moving, but I was wondering, like, if you had any suggestions for just like, the method to do this reflection, or, like, what time of day, just any practical little tips like, obviously, it's not, you know, universally applied just like things that you've seen either for yourself or for other teachers that have been effective.
For me, when I was I, it was daily. And what I did was, I did it first thing in the morning, and I put a book next to my alarm clock, and kind of back to this atomic habits, like it was there. Because I wanted to be intentional about really reflecting on these things that I was working through at the time. And, you know, I just built in that time. So for me, I would say the the, in trying to work on reflection. It's hard, I made it a daily habit. But I think even if you attempt to work on it at the end of a week, you know, building in some time, once a week, maybe it's on Sundays before, you know you get ready to start the work week, or maybe you want to do it at the end of a you know, a week. But I think having a set time of when you're going to do it. And like I said, I had a book and a pen that I wanted to write in kind of the materials for even finding a book of questions. There are all kinds of really good resources that have just different kinds of prompts to help you think through what it is you want to reflect on. But even just using those questions of what's working, what's not working, that can change every day. Right and so if I'm starting every day of what's what worked yesterday what didn't work yesterday, I'm starting to catalogue a list of to myself right of maybe things that I'm thinking and feeling but not necessarily fully recognizing but the reflection when I'm going back and looking at it is helping me helping me see and hear what it is that I that I need or that I wanting to work on? That's really helpful. Thank
you. Yeah, I've started just journaling at the beginning of my life before I start working too. Because I found with myself too, that that really helps. Just, sometimes you get it on the page to just if you are having a challenge that day, it does give you just that distance, you know, to maybe come up with some solutions to help at least mitigate it, you know, even if it's going to be present the rest of the day, if you're worried about something, you know, yeah, it can be helpful.
Well, and when I, when I knew what my strengths were, like I said, when I started to identify what I was maybe a challenge or what was struggling, sometimes it was well, it's just because that's not how I work. But I at least I, I was understanding how I work. And maybe that is why it was a little bit more of a struggle. So in that way, again, sometimes that reflection was well, maybe it is because I'm getting too lost in my focus. Okay, like, let me step back now and how can I approach? What's not working? Recognizing that maybe it's my focus that is causing me to struggle a little bit? So? That does, yeah, yeah.
Kind of dual. The duality? They're the kind of the double edged sword, right? Or like, yeah, the coin, whatever metaphor you want to use. So all right, well, do you want to lead us into numbers? Yeah.
My second tip is all about communicating communication. And so here's where when you start to communicate to yourself through reflection, right? That's starting to tell yourself some things. But ultimately, like I was seeing, what was playing out in my classroom and or with my students, like, that's the motion part, right? That's what I'm thinking. That's maybe what my students are thinking. But to move towards action to move some agency was I had to tell people, right. But it involves on knowing what you need to ask for. So a simple strategy that Brene Brown uses.
And that I use is she calls it a square squad. And it's just your four people, right? Like you have on a square, and you put four names. And these are the people that you can talk to about anything. There's, you know, high trust, no judgment, right. And when I think about, you know, teachers, we often turn towards other teachers, but sometimes is, especially in this moment. And that year that I was kind of really working on my agency. I had people that were on my square squad were not teachers. And what was wonderful about talking to them, just about my needs was they could hear it in a way that was solely for what I was saying that it was, and they were also able to reflect back to me what I was saying, Maybe I was saying things or I made whatever it was, I was saying, but they could, like, mirror, back to me what I was saying, in a way that I didn't necessarily hear maybe what I was telling them, maybe in a way, just by journaling alone, right? And they gave me strategies or kind of just helped me recognize or talk me through, right. What I still needed to do it was it was kind of me, I wasn't looking for solutions from them. But I did find that when I heard myself talk to them, or even just heard similar experience different context, right? There was a lot of growth. I was able to also through my little square squad sometimes to be like, You know what? I have a friend who's a principal, I think you should talk to this person. And in my experience, I did I they connected me and I talked to a principal just about this was where I was like I wanted to start talking about what does it look like to teach teachers and to be out of the classroom and like networking, right, um, and kind of, again, talking to someone else who maybe knew what I was talking about had a similar experience. I think oftentimes and that's something that I'm kind of finding a lot. Now, just as you know, we work with people and teachers is just when we communicate, we often find that people have shared experiences similar experiences, learning and resources and books to read that we don't know about. And so when we start that communication, just with that one person who knows what book they might suggest, that might actually help send you down a path toward something you're working on, or a person they know that that they think you should talk to. And I just think that that level of communication is like the next step in that motion to action. Right? It's I now starting to realize what I need. I know what I need. But now I need to start telling someone what I need.
Hmm. I have questions, but I want to hear number three. Okay. If you may, you may answer my question.
Well, and it kind of, again, is the I would say a third part of this process is to be open to growth, while you're working on practicing your agency, and so if I were to build on this idea of so I'm reflecting, and I figured out what it is I want to work on, I've now communicated to someone. And as I mentioned, maybe someone says, Well, you should read this book. I would say my third, this third suggestion of being open to growth is, give it a try. Read the book. Maybe Maybe it is the book that might just answer that question or that thought that you were thinking. Maybe talk to that person that they think you should talk to, like I said, I was, I was open to that. And through that conversation of this relationship that I had, with this principle that I didn't know before, I was really able to recognize that, at that moment, I was ready after 15 years to start working with teachers, right, versus what I thought my original path was like, I need to, I need to be in the classroom. And even though I loved being in the classroom, I still had discerned through the help of that person that I think this was the moment. And I had to be open to that. Because one that went against a little bit of my my focus at the time. Um, I would also say, being open to growth is maybe trying something that is a little outside of your comfort zone. In this case, for me, it's doing a podcast. This is me actively practicing my agency. But it might be trying that strategy that you're not sure how it's going to go with your kids in the class, right? Or when I tried that slightly flexible due date schedule. I mean, that really was me having to let go of some control of why like having all the papers right now, or what if kids are going to take advantage of that. And they all turn it in on the last day instead of the first day or all those things, right? The what is the what ifs, but I'm being open to that and just recognizing that it is a process. And you know, I won't know if I don't try. And so that's kind of where as I look back now, from that moment, and even in my current work, something that I'm I'm actively continuing, can you continually trying to work on is being open to growth. And for me, it's sometimes doing those things that I know are a little outside of my comfort zone, because what I have found is this, again, is I should just say maybe read atomic habits. And maybe that's all you need to say in this podcast. But what I have found is that by doing those things, it's helping to what he says cast a vote towards a particular identity and for me, the identity was agency just knowing that I'm making a small step towards someone that I would like to be or doing something that I would like to do I love podcasts, my natural inclination is I don't want to do one. But this is, you know, the invitation of, of, of doing one. And, you know, I'm like, Well, I want to cast that vote, I want to tell myself that I can do it. And, you know, the more that we try those things, we begin to build up those experiences that we kind of, can start to look back and say, I am that person who can do X, Y, or Z, right. And I think and then I'll stop. But I think, with my three tips, my biggest takeaway was I, I would do all three of those. But it really wasn't until I was doing all three in tandem, that I saw that, that movement towards change, and that trajectory that was leading me towards a place that I felt like I had more control, that would be my suggestion is, if you do reflect, or if you are open to growth, or if you do communicate, I would encourage you to begin to kind of work through those together. And kind of follow that that process along. To see what happens.
That's awesome. Okay, last question. Can you tell me about a teacher who's had a positive impact in your life?
This is such a hard question. Because, um, and I don't have just one. I will say if I narrowed down my my earliest memory as a my fifth grade teacher, she made real, she made learning real and hands on. And I can tell you, it was from that moment, that I started dreaming what my classrooms would be like, and how I would set them up and what I wanted students to do and angry. Yeah, and so my commitment to learning having to connect to kids, stems from my fifth grade teacher. As far as other teachers that have impacted my life, I would say, I've had the pleasure to work with fantastic teachers at the two schools that I worked at one in Virginia, and then one when we lived here in Michigan. And when I think back to everything that I did in those 15 years, I can honestly look at a lesson or a strategy. And I'd be able to tell you, which teacher I got that from, and it's a it's kind of like a beautiful tapestry quilt. Yeah, kind of like best practices. And I think that's kind of when I think about, you know, that positive impact is like, teachers or my teachers in that you're working with are doing great things. And, and I would just encourage anyone to, you know, check out your teacher neighbor and ask for a new idea, because the ideas that I got, from my colleagues, I was, I always had, they always had one. And so I just My teaching is greatly influenced by all the teachers that I've had the pleasure of working with.
It's challenging work, to pause to step back and figure out how to build your own agency when there's already so much on your plate. But with leaders like and forging our path forward, if there's one thing we're certain of, it said the future is bright. You're interested in earning some sketches, or taking steps to build your agency as a teacher, check out some of Michigan virtuals online PD courses in subject. Three titles of interest include being a reflective teacher during a pandemic. Take care of yourself for some wellbeing and self care, and reaching your potential through self advocacy. Each of these courses takes three hours or less to complete, can earn you two to three sketches, and are either free or cost $10. You can visit Michigan virtual.org/professionals to explore our course catalog for educators. You know, someone is an inspiring Michigan educator who should be featured on our show. Send us an email at Bright at Michigan virtual.org to let us know who they are, and why we should Interview them. Thank you for joining us for this episode of bright stories of hope and innovation in Michigan classrooms. This podcast is produced by Kirby Gaylord. It's hosted by me Nikki Herta and is shaped by many of our passionate and talented colleagues. Big thanks to Krista green, Holly beleskey, Anna Boyer, Sarah Hill, and Brandon Battista for their contributions. This episode. Right is brought to you in part by Meemic insurance, insuring the educational community for more than 70 years. teachers and school employees visit meemic.com/vote to see how much you can save. The broke 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 Michigan virtual.org.