Latest / Live in the Lab Schools / Ep #18: Season Two is Going to be "Unique"

Transcript

Ep #18: Season Two is Going to be "Unique" · Live in the Lab Schools

• 0:11
  Ben Webb: Mr.
• 0:11
  Andy Goveia: Govay.
• 0:12
  Andy Goveia: Mr.
• 0:12
  Andy Goveia: Webb.
• 0:13
  Andy Goveia: We're back.
• 0:14
  Andy Goveia: Season two, man.
• 0:15
  Andy Goveia: We got renewed.
• 0:16
  Andy Goveia: Yes.
• 0:17
  Andy Goveia: We I should say we didn't get canceled.
• 0:20
  Andy Goveia: It might be more accurate to say we didn't get canceled or yanked off the air yet.
• 0:25
  Ben Webb: Okay.
• 0:26
  Ben Webb: So right now it is towards the end of September.
• 0:29
  Ben Webb: Yep.
• 0:30
  Ben Webb: And this episode's coming out on October 1st.
• 0:32
  Ben Webb: Yes.
• 0:33
  Andy Goveia: How has your school year been so far?
• 0:35
  Andy Goveia: It has been a really decent start to the year.
• 0:38
  Ben Webb: Okay.
• 0:39
  Andy Goveia: Um, I've got a great set of students.
• 0:42
  Andy Goveia: And, you know, when you've done the same job, this is year 14 for me.
• 0:47
  Andy Goveia: And I've been teaching the same two grades the entire time.
• 0:50
  Andy Goveia: And so uh the beginning of the year, it's kind of like riding a bike.
• 0:55
  Andy Goveia: Once I get on the bike and the bike gets moving, my brain and my whole body just snap back into it.
• 1:00
  Andy Goveia: And it's like, yep, this is who I am and what I do.
• 1:03
  Andy Goveia: And so it's been a pretty smooth start to the year.
• 1:05
  Andy Goveia: What about you?
• 1:06
  Ben Webb: It's been it's been different, but also good.
• 1:08
  Ben Webb: I feel like there's been some elements that it's like, okay, I know what I'm doing.
• 1:12
  Ben Webb: I know what I want to do in terms of my pace and my structure.
• 1:15
  Ben Webb: And I've got all the little things here and there that are already in motion or already set up.
• 1:20
  Ben Webb: There are some new things that I'm still working through, yeah.
• 1:24
  Ben Webb: Or just the ones I'm just like, okay, how am I gonna adapt this?
• 1:28
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 1:28
  Ben Webb: So it's been it's been new and different.
• 1:30
  Ben Webb: Um, but overall, classes have been great.
• 1:33
  Ben Webb: I'm doing a different theme with my freshman classes, so it's all Formula One themed this year.
• 1:38
  Ben Webb: And what's kind of been fun is seeing them.
• 1:41
  Ben Webb: We we used to have these uh essential qualities of a UHI learner, and I've kind of adapted that into there's points now at each table and on each team.
• 1:49
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 1:49
  Ben Webb: And so really try to build that camaraderie and also build up the okay, these behaviors matter.
• 1:54
  Ben Webb: Shared sense of responsibility.
• 1:55
  Ben Webb: Yeah, and you get bragging rights from that too.
• 1:57
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 1:57
  Ben Webb: Oh, love that.
• 1:58
  Ben Webb: Yeah, so it's been a pretty good start, but super, super different.
• 2:02
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 2:02
  Andy Goveia: Have you found that like, and this is okay, let's why don't we reintroduce ourselves really quickly?
• 2:07
  Andy Goveia: Wait, who are you?
• 2:08
  Andy Goveia: Yes.
• 2:09
  Andy Goveia: So yeah, if you're like, wait, what was this podcast?
• 2:11
  Andy Goveia: Uh, this is my name, Andy Govay.
• 2:14
  Andy Goveia: I'm the seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher at Metcalf, our pre-K through eight laboratory school here on the campus of Illinois, Illinois State University.
• 2:23
  Andy Goveia: Um, this for context, also, this podcast started as a result of mine and Mr.
• 2:28
  Andy Goveia: Ben Webb's professional development plan we do, which we'll talk about that here in a second.
• 2:32
  Andy Goveia: Um, it's become a labor of love, and we're very excited to be here for season two.
• 2:37
  Andy Goveia: But yeah, who are you?
• 2:38
  Ben Webb: Uh my name is Ben Webb.
• 2:39
  Ben Webb: So I am a high school English teacher over at University High School on the campus of Element State University.
• 2:44
  Ben Webb: Uh, I teach mostly freshman English, but I've also got a section of sophomores and a section of high school seniors uh who are with me this year.
• 2:52
  Ben Webb: I'm also the the assistant technology coordinator over here at UHI and the chair of our shared governance leadership team.
• 2:59
  Ben Webb: So I get to wear several hats over here, uh, and also the theater teacher as well.
• 3:04
  Ben Webb: So I uh and work on the Tech Direct uh for our three show season.
• 3:08
  Ben Webb: So again, many hats, but that's a lot of extra hats.
• 3:11
  Ben Webb: I mean, I'm I'm getting I I said this thing no to things and uh.
• 3:16
  Andy Goveia: Meanwhile, I'm just doing less.
• 3:18
  Andy Goveia: Um proud of you.
• 3:19
  Andy Goveia: I let things fall off my plate, which is good.
• 3:21
  Andy Goveia: But back to where I was at before we took this introduction.
• 3:24
  Andy Goveia: Do you find that like the things at the beginning of the year that throw you off are never the teaching side of things?
• 3:32
  Andy Goveia: It is always the random sessions we have, meetings or an initiative.
• 3:40
  Andy Goveia: That's what th can throw you sometimes off of your game.
• 3:43
  Ben Webb: I would say yes.
• 3:44
  Ben Webb: And I would also say part of that is a blessing because we are so different.
• 3:49
  Ben Webb: I am involved in a lot of those meetings, a lot of those different things um outside of just my normal nine to five, this is my teaching job.
• 3:59
  Ben Webb: Uh, so whether it's the shared governance piece, whether it is setting up a grade book and a new SIS system, like there's there's a lot of those things that I would always call the duties, the duties not assigned or the other duties that will be assigned.
• 4:14
  Ben Webb: Uh, because as teachers, we have a wealth of different you know, talents, but also things we're really good at.
• 4:22
  Ben Webb: And so with that, I would say yes.
• 4:25
  Ben Webb: I to answer your question, yes.
• 4:27
  Ben Webb: It's always the other thing besides teaching a group of 26 learners about reading comprehension or writing or speaking and listening.
• 4:37
  Ben Webb: Those are the things that either rattle my cage or just are the surprising piece that then I have to kind of have in the background, knowing as soon as I'm done with my, you know, 12 o'clock class, that other thing is gonna pull my attention or pull my focus.
• 4:53
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 4:54
  Ben Webb: Would you so similar with you?
• 4:56
  Andy Goveia: Similar, I what I find is like I always when I walk into our institute days at the beginning of the year, which are our just teacher work days before students come in.
• 5:05
  Andy Goveia: I always try to walk in with my room physically ready to go.
• 5:09
  Andy Goveia: So like when I show up on Institute Day, I'm not still trying to set up my classroom.
• 5:14
  Andy Goveia: I'm usually dodging around tasks that enrich my classroom.
• 5:20
  Andy Goveia: So I'm either finishing up my binder where it has class lists and seating charts when I have those, or I'm creating a 504 cheat sheet for myself to remind myself how to support students who need those accommodations.
• 5:33
  Andy Goveia: Or I'm getting pulled into a meeting because I worked on this thing last year and we're wondering what it's gonna look like this year.
• 5:38
  Andy Goveia: And so those are the things that can sometimes we just get pulled.
• 5:42
  Andy Goveia: I think you said it really well that you just kind of get stretched and pulled.
• 5:46
  Andy Goveia: And so that's what can throw you me off a little bit, is when the other things pop up and go, hey, it's almost like a if you have ADHD like I do in an undiagnosed way.
• 5:55
  Andy Goveia: It's like all those things that pop in your brain, you have to think about it once.
• 5:58
  Andy Goveia: That's what some of those days can feel like where you just get pulled in this direction.
• 6:02
  Andy Goveia: Oh, and then you see that person you didn't see since May and you want to ask them how their summer was, and you just you can lose a little bit of focus because of all those things that get you pulling.
• 6:11
  Ben Webb: We were talking before we hit the record button, uh, remembering back to COVID learning, schools are really good at pivoting.
• 6:18
  Ben Webb: So, like when the necessity is there, we can pivot, we can change to make sure that school still happens with all kinds of things in flux at the start of a school year, whether that's just as a part of a system or just part of our building.
• 6:33
  Ben Webb: We every year we do this cycle.
• 6:35
  Ben Webb: It's the new things that always just kind of like surprise you and just go, okay, how am I gonna, how am I gonna rectify or how am I gonna balance the scale?
• 6:44
  Andy Goveia: We I think we also as an institution here in the lab schools, and I if I'm speaking wrong for you, hi, please, we're good at adding things to the proverbial plate.
• 6:53
  Andy Goveia: We are not great about going what needs to come off of the plate.
• 6:58
  Andy Goveia: Um, and I uh does that the same for you all up here as well?
• 7:02
  Ben Webb: I I would say yes, uh, both as humans as well as teachers in a school system, which really part of our mission is to reflect schools in our local area as well as system as an educational as a as a educational system across an entire nation.
• 7:22
  Ben Webb: Like we're we're meant to both reflect that and also look at how is it going to change over time.
• 7:29
  Ben Webb: We have to be a mirror and a window at the same time.
• 7:31
  Andy Goveia: Yep.
• 7:31
  Andy Goveia: I love that one.
• 7:32
  Andy Goveia: That metaphor.
• 7:34
  Andy Goveia: So we're here in season two, and uh full disclosure to you all listening for this first episode.
• 7:43
  Andy Goveia: We can't tell you what's coming in episode two.
• 7:46
  Andy Goveia: And that's not us being coy or cagey or keeping a secret.
• 7:52
  Andy Goveia: We're today, as we record this, getting ready to also have a conversation about what this season should look like specifically.
• 7:59
  Andy Goveia: And you listened to the teaser last week.
• 8:02
  Andy Goveia: We talked about this being like a like we I use the Ted Lasso as a show if you're a fan of the show.
• 8:07
  Andy Goveia: Um and if you're not a fan of the show, very briefly, uh, football American football coach gets dropped in London, has to coach a soccer team, and the show is based around this man, Ted Lasso, and how he, his worldview of how he lives his life.
• 8:20
  Andy Goveia: And I talked about season one being the you met the characters, you met the world, and that's what we felt like our season one was like.
• 8:25
  Andy Goveia: Well, season two and every subsequent season of that show has been about fleshing out the detail and the richness of that world.
• 8:33
  Andy Goveia: And so we're hoping that that's what this season is.
• 8:36
  Andy Goveia: But Mr.
• 8:37
  Andy Goveia: Webb, we can't say what's coming next week because we are actively visioning and dreaming it out still.
• 8:45
  Ben Webb: Earlier today, I was talking to a student and I used a phrase and I was like, oh gosh, I'm becoming Mr.
• 8:50
  Ben Webb: Gove.
• 8:51
  Ben Webb: I said, My wonder is, I'm like, oh boy.
• 8:55
  Andy Goveia: I use that a lot in meetings.
• 8:57
  Andy Goveia: Uh-huh.
• 8:57
  Andy Goveia: I'm very good at it.
• 8:58
  Ben Webb: Uh-huh.
• 9:00
  Andy Goveia: So we don't know.
• 9:01
  Andy Goveia: We can't we can't tell you what's coming, but we do have a theme, we think, for the season.
• 9:06
  Andy Goveia: And the theme we're gonna go with, and hopefully you can come with us on this journey because you're all great listeners, is season two is gonna be unique.
• 9:15
  Andy Goveia: And there's multiple layers to that.
• 9:18
  Andy Goveia: There's a simple layer of we are a lab school, and that makes us a unique institution.
• 9:23
  Ben Webb: We are changing, we are always not just iterating, we are as a as a school system, we are meant to be innovative.
• 9:32
  Ben Webb: We are meant to be changing, reflecting education as a whole, but also we want to be better than we were last year.
• 9:41
  Ben Webb: So I think uh there's a number of things this year that are different in our school system that for transparency, like we're gonna talk about those because we are as a school, you you we are unique.
• 9:52
  Ben Webb: We are kind of evolving in a way.
• 9:54
  Ben Webb: And change is not always easy.
• 9:56
  Ben Webb: Sometimes change is really difficult, especially when you are a school that has tradition and how they're going so far this year.
• 10:04
  Andy Goveia: Change number one, if you weren't aware, we are currently directorless.
• 10:08
  Andy Goveia: Um, Dr.
• 10:09
  Andy Goveia: Anthony Jones, who you met in episode two last season, uh left us and took a job in the DeKalb area.
• 10:15
  Andy Goveia: As uh, I believe he is working on the teaching and learning side of their elementary schools there.
• 10:20
  Andy Goveia: So hello to Dr.
• 10:21
  Andy Goveia: Jones if he's still listening.
• 10:23
  Andy Goveia: Um, so we don't have a director.
• 10:24
  Andy Goveia: Our dean, Dr.
• 10:25
  Andy Goveia: Brian Zugelder of the College of Education here at ISU, has been leading in an interim capacity, but has been very clear he did not take on the full job.
• 10:34
  Andy Goveia: And so there are pieces of that we are kind of working through as a system.
• 10:40
  Andy Goveia: Um, and so our hope is this season, you hear a conversation with Dr.
• 10:45
  Andy Goveia: Zugelder about what leadership and the work of the lab schools is gonna look like from that kind of central level.
• 10:51
  Andy Goveia: Um, we're working to determine that now as a system.
• 10:55
  Andy Goveia: And we're hoping by mid-October there are some updates that we can hopefully share and help spread the word about what's coming and what that's gonna look like.
• 11:02
  Andy Goveia: But we are currently directorless and operating in a way that flattens organizational structure a little bit, but is also presenting some interesting questions that come along with that.
• 11:14
  Andy Goveia: So that's a unique situation we're in currently.
• 11:18
  unknown: Yep.
• 11:18
  Ben Webb: And last season we had uh Molly Allen on the show to kind of talk about how we are unique in the eyes of the ROE.
• 11:26
  Ben Webb: And uh now as superintendent of ROE 17, we're continuing to have those conversations of well, what in school code applies to us versus where do we have the latitude to maybe do something slightly different, just think different about how our schools operate.
• 11:40
  Andy Goveia: And I think if you if you are a member of our community as a parent or a teacher or just some other connection, you already have run into one specific issue of that, which is we didn't start school on our first day like we were supposed to due to the downburst event that happened the middle of August.
• 11:55
  Andy Goveia: Um, if you haven't heard, we're not making that student attendance day up at the end of the year.
• 12:01
  Andy Goveia: And so why?
• 12:04
  Andy Goveia: We don't have to necessarily follow the school code when it comes to calendar.
• 12:08
  Andy Goveia: And so hopefully, like Mr.
• 12:10
  Andy Goveia: Webb just said, there's an episode that explores the weirdness and uniqueness of our position within and without of the school code.
• 12:19
  Andy Goveia: Mr.
• 12:19
  Andy Goveia: Webb, you said you're an assistant tech coordinator here.
• 12:21
  Andy Goveia: Yes.
• 12:22
  Andy Goveia: So in the tech world is something have we done something different with tech that's unique this year?
• 12:26
  Ben Webb: I mean, several things, I would think, at least at UhI, but then also a system wide.
• 12:30
  Ben Webb: So, system wide, we have switched from our previous student information system.
• 12:34
  Ben Webb: We had three different products to do one job and then it all had to go to the state.
• 12:40
  Ben Webb: Now we've switched to a one size fits all, one SIS system.
• 12:44
  Ben Webb: And so we're working through those growing pains, a process that typically takes the uh admin and the institution and also the tech help of the SIS company almost a year to do.
• 12:59
  Ben Webb: Typically, a loadout of that kind of capacity doesn't matter the size of the district.
• 13:04
  Ben Webb: Usually you're looking about eight to 12 months to make make sure it works.
• 13:08
  Ben Webb: We did it on a much faster timetable because again, we had to start school.
• 13:13
  Ben Webb: And so we're working through those growing pains of all right, we've got gradebook, we've got attendance, we've got uh making sure that everything and all of our data from 504's IEPs are filtering into that uh one singular system.
• 13:26
  Ben Webb: And so we'll be talking a little bit about how, as a system, we don't always do the thing that every other district does because we have our rationale.
• 13:36
  Ben Webb: And so trying to then communicate that to the parties that then have to make the system work for us.
• 13:41
  Ben Webb: And then on top of that, I talked last year about uh the happy accident of the MacBook Neos being a product that we are gonna then pilot and use in our freshman classes.
• 13:51
  Ben Webb: And so we'll get to talk a little bit more tech with that because I've got an entire fleet of MacBook Neos in the freshman block classes and working through making sure those devices do what we want them to do, but also seeing what opportunities come from a new device, uh something a little more capable than the laptops we've had in previous years.
• 14:11
  Andy Goveia: Yeah.
• 14:12
  Andy Goveia: So that's another unique situation we're in.
• 14:17
  Andy Goveia: Before I go on to the next phase of this unique conversation, any other interim changes or things I've forgotten to bring up specifically in this context?
• 14:27
  Ben Webb: I think those are the ones to really start with.
• 14:29
  Ben Webb: I think there are there are other things that are just kind of ongoing.
• 14:34
  Ben Webb: And I think rather than just kind of like leave it as like a a little bookmark and say come back to here in a few months, I think we could probably spend some dedicated time on those individual things.
• 14:45
  Ben Webb: Um and just to kind of yeah, go at your own.
• 14:48
  Andy Goveia: And that's and that's actually where I was gonna go next is what we hope the you taking that unique angle.
• 14:52
  Andy Goveia: So we just talked about some systems things that we're looking at as a whole.
• 14:56
  Andy Goveia: I think if you picked up on the thread of how we try to approach this podcast last season, we try to focus on the real lived experiences of the people that are doing the work here and the people that are affected by the work happening here.
• 15:09
  Andy Goveia: And so as we build out that world, what we hope you hear this season is yeah, you're gonna hear episodes with us sometimes.
• 15:16
  Andy Goveia: Uh, we've got an episode we're working on about field trips and things we've done in our capacity just on field trips.
• 15:20
  Andy Goveia: You'll hear that this season.
• 15:22
  Andy Goveia: But like we have, for example, a one-two team at Metcalf that's doing a team approach to phonics and is seeing amazing results from that team-based approach where they're uh doing using data to strategically group kids.
• 15:36
  Andy Goveia: You have uh just at Metcalf, Britney Tarr doing forest school, taking kids out into nature and doing a full-on research project about students' ability to regulate with regular contact with nature as part of their school experience.
• 15:49
  Andy Goveia: Um, you have uh people like uh Christy Souter working across the College of Education to do some digital storytelling and look at how we bring connection to people.
• 15:59
  Andy Goveia: Um, I'm not saying all of these people are gonna end up on the pod, but they're friends, they might.
• 16:05
  Andy Goveia: We have people in the system doing amazing things, and our goal is always to highlight the great things happening.
• 16:11
  Andy Goveia: I also, I didn't tell you this yet.
• 16:12
  Andy Goveia: One of the Mr.
• 16:13
  Andy Goveia: Webb's tech student workers popped by looking for him before he got up here and was like, Oh, you should interview students.
• 16:20
  Andy Goveia: It's one of our goals to get student panels on here to talk about the things that they value.
• 16:25
  Andy Goveia: And his exact specific suggestion was, well, yeah, you guys talked about traditions last year, but like, did you ask students what those traditions mean to them and how they carry them on and how they look at them differently?
• 16:36
  Andy Goveia: And I was like, dang, no, we did not.
• 16:39
  Andy Goveia: Thank you for calling me out like that.
• 16:41
  Andy Goveia: You're right.
• 16:42
  Andy Goveia: We didn't.
• 16:43
  Andy Goveia: But when we talk about the uniqueness, yes, there are systems issues here being an institution, but our work, and I think this is what matters most to both of us, is there are great people doing great things.
• 16:54
  Andy Goveia: And that's what we hope to highlight.
• 16:56
  Andy Goveia: So I would put a call out to our listeners of hey, if you've got things you know are going on, reach out.
• 17:02
  Andy Goveia: You can DM us on Facebook, you can DM us on Instagram, you can email either of us.
• 17:07
  Andy Goveia: Um, we welcome suggestions of what to do.
• 17:11
  Andy Goveia: And like I said, we're starting season two with a blank canvas.
• 17:15
  Andy Goveia: We know that the theme is unique and we want to tell unique stories and unique conversations because that's what this place is.
• 17:24
  Andy Goveia: Couldn't have said it better myself.
• 17:25
  Andy Goveia: It's that's just who we are, and we know that.
• 17:27
  Andy Goveia: Now, I think it's also worth saying to our listeners we are considered to be the official podcast of the Illinois State University Lab Schools.
• 17:38
  Ben Webb: Is there competition?
• 17:39
  Andy Goveia: I uh I I hope so.
• 17:40
  Andy Goveia: Someone can come for my job.
• 17:43
  Andy Goveia: Um, because of that nature of what we are, we do talk about things in a certain way and we do approach topics from a certain perspective because that is part of our existence.
• 17:59
  Andy Goveia: And so just because we aren't talking about a subject or don't bring up something that is happening, doesn't mean that it is not something we are either acutely aware of or are not standing in solidarity with people on.
• 18:14
  unknown: Yep.
• 18:15
  Ben Webb: I feel like that is that is presenting the th the place that we are and also acknowledging like we want to be a part of this entire system, this entire world.
• 18:29
  Ben Webb: Um and we just have to make sure we do so with kindness, with respect.
• 18:35
  Ben Webb: And also know that there are times where we as as people we're gonna try and do our best to say things accurately.
• 18:42
  Ben Webb: And sometimes we we misspig.
• 18:44
  Ben Webb: We do.
• 18:44
  Ben Webb: It's not like we're reading from a script.
• 18:46
  Andy Goveia: We're not.
• 18:47
  Andy Goveia: Quite literally, we rarely even have an outline if you must know.
• 18:52
  Andy Goveia: Except when we have guests, we do have really clear questions we ask.
• 18:55
  Ben Webb: That we send ahead of time.
• 18:56
  Andy Goveia: We do send ahead of time, and then we modify them as we're going because they always take us in a better direction than we could ever imagine.
• 19:03
  Ben Webb: I I frequently go off script because I just want them to feel comfortable and make them laugh.
• 19:07
  Andy Goveia: It should be a conversation, not a a scripted, regimented thing.
• 19:11
  Andy Goveia: I have a couple closing thoughts for this episode, but what do you got before we get to that point?
• 19:17
  Ben Webb: I mean, go with the closing thoughts, and then I will throw there's there's some things I could try and weave in there, but I think the big thing I would just kind of highlight from what you said is as a as a school, we are not always the best at change.
• 19:34
  Ben Webb: And I think for the listeners that are teachers or going to be teachers, I know we have a number of student teachers that listen to this from uh the College of Ed, change is not always easy.
• 19:45
  Ben Webb: And so acknowledging like we are gonna have changes to our system over this next year, that is gonna be difficult.
• 19:52
  Ben Webb: We're gonna be honest with how it makes how it makes us feel.
• 19:56
  Ben Webb: We're gonna talk about like why change is important.
• 19:59
  Ben Webb: Um and I think part of that kind of that can then transcend down to okay, in your classroom when you are a teacher, no, change is going to happen, but your kids are gonna be different every year.
• 20:10
  Ben Webb: They are changing as the year goes on.
• 20:13
  Ben Webb: But give that change and that process time, yeah, give it give it kindness, believe that it can happen if we're gonna use Ted Lasso kind of as the the component.
• 20:24
  Ben Webb: Um, but also know that you know, we we as people in this building or at the other building, like our goal is not to say this is how it is across the board.
• 20:37
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 20:38
  Ben Webb: This is just two individuals from two different buildings sharing their perspective and then bringing those other people to the table to the insective.
• 20:47
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 20:47
  Ben Webb: We are a here it's in one of the Ted Lasso episodes that I was thinking about.
• 20:50
  Andy Goveia: I think it is.
• 20:52
  Andy Goveia: Um, so some my couple quick thoughts.
• 20:54
  Andy Goveia: And that was beautiful, I will say that you took a lot of what I was gonna say.
• 20:59
  Andy Goveia: So way to go.
• 21:00
  Andy Goveia: That's my job.
• 21:01
  Andy Goveia: Love it.
• 21:02
  Andy Goveia: I would add two pieces.
• 21:03
  Andy Goveia: Number one, when we ask you for suggestions, we do mean it.
• 21:08
  Andy Goveia: We want to know what you want to what you want to hear.
• 21:10
  Andy Goveia: The second thing I'll say is to hearken back to what I just kind of talked about.
• 21:15
  Andy Goveia: There are some things we just won't go near, also, because of our what we are and what we're not.
• 21:22
  Andy Goveia: And so if we say, hey, thank you so much, we're not gonna be able to talk about that.
• 21:26
  Andy Goveia: That's just how it works sometimes.
• 21:28
  Ben Webb: Can I get can I throw an example out there?
• 21:30
  Ben Webb: Please.
• 21:31
  Ben Webb: Okay.
• 21:31
  Ben Webb: So I've been spending a lot of time lately working with our new SIS and the grade book.
• 21:37
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 21:37
  Ben Webb: And trying to think about how to make, in some ways, make round pegs fit into square holes.
• 21:44
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 21:44
  Ben Webb: And so one of the things, one of the simple one of the things I would just kind of highlight from this is one of the things I'm never gonna do is, especially when it comes to like the pedagogy or the philosophy, I'm gonna wanna understand things, yeah, but I'm not gonna.
• 22:00
  Ben Webb: To call it as wrong.
• 22:01
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 22:02
  Ben Webb: I think sometimes when we go to a podcast, we go to listen for like this is the opinion.
• 22:09
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 22:09
  Ben Webb: This is the definitive data point or answer.
• 22:13
  Ben Webb: And I think a lot of this, what we're going to like, if we if we do an episode on assessment, which I would love to do, just because I think there's a whole conversation if you're going to do standards-based grading versus traditional, it's going to be on a four-point scale.
• 22:24
  Ben Webb: What does a four even mean?
• 22:26
  Ben Webb: Like we could have that entire philosophical conversation.
• 22:29
  Ben Webb: I hope we do, but the thing we're not going to do is walk away saying if you do it this way, you're doing it wrong.
• 22:35
  Ben Webb: Yeah.
• 22:35
  Ben Webb: Unless somebody's feelings are being hurt, unless somebody is doing something that is harmful to others, we're probably not going to say what is the right way.
• 22:47
  Ben Webb: Because every school system needs to do what's right for their population, for their student body, for their teachers.
• 22:53
  Ben Webb: And so I think there will just be things we don't touch because we don't want to get judgy.
• 22:58
  Andy Goveia: Yeah.
• 22:59
  Andy Goveia: Or we don't want to make it seem as though we are promoting or suggesting one viewpoint over the other is the right way to look at something.
• 23:07
  Andy Goveia: Yeah.
• 23:08
  Andy Goveia: Um final thing is if you've made it this far in this episode, clearly you don't get tired of us.
• 23:20
  Andy Goveia: I want to we want to thank, we actually want to thank everybody for the really positive response we got in season one.
• 23:28
  Andy Goveia: Um it's been really fun to have random parents go, oh my gosh, I listen to your podcast every week.
• 23:32
  Andy Goveia: When are you guys back?
• 23:33
  Andy Goveia: Um to have some of my students go, oh my gosh, when are you getting back to this?
• 23:36
  Andy Goveia: I really enjoyed listening to you and Webb talk.
• 23:38
  Andy Goveia: Um, which no one ever says that.
• 23:40
  Andy Goveia: So it meant a lot, actually.
• 23:42
  Andy Goveia: Um we're just we're grateful that we've created something which, oh, we didn't come back to this.
• 23:48
  Andy Goveia: So this podcast started because when you're a tenured faculty associate in the laboratory schools, which is what our teaching staff are, you when you move currently into your tenured phase, you go to what's called a professional development plan and you identify some sort of goal action research, some sort of thing that you want to specifically explore to show your growth as an educator.
• 24:11
  Andy Goveia: Mr.
• 24:11
  Andy Goveia: Webb and I have been in the same space.
• 24:13
  Andy Goveia: We need to tell our story.
• 24:14
  Andy Goveia: And so this podcast was born.
• 24:17
  Andy Goveia: And so we're grateful that this kind of passion project for us, which is really an integral part of the mission of the lab schools, right?
• 24:26
  Andy Goveia: That domain four for us, which is service to the profession or connection outside of what you do in your classroom.
• 24:31
  Andy Goveia: This has been that for us, and to have a positive response to it from people who aren't even in our system, um, that are parents or colleagues in other places, go, hey, you're doing something really cool.
• 24:42
  Andy Goveia: Um, we're grateful for that.
• 24:44
  Andy Goveia: And so I want to end this episode on like a hey, you've made this worth it for us.
• 24:48
  Andy Goveia: So thank you.
• 24:51
  Ben Webb: I can't, I can't top that.
• 24:53
  Ben Webb: I'm not gonna try.
• 24:55
  Ben Webb: But thank you.
• 24:56
  Andy Goveia: Yeah.
• 24:56
  Andy Goveia: We're we're very grateful that this has met people where they are in different ways.
• 25:02
  unknown: Yep.
• 25:03
  Ben Webb: So season two, we're going to continue down the rabbit hole.
• 25:08
  Ben Webb: We're going to continue to look at how we as a school system operate, some of the people that are involved in this space.
• 25:17
  Ben Webb: And we're also going to kind of do further deep dives into how we as a system continue but also change.
• 25:27
  Ben Webb: We're unique.
• 25:29
  Ben Webb: Let's live into it.
• 25:30
  Ben Webb: I love it.
• 25:31
  Ben Webb: So, episodes for us every other week, typically coming out on Thursdays.
• 25:36
  Ben Webb: Thursdays.
• 25:37
  Ben Webb: And so if you haven't subscribed, I don't know how you found us, but please subscribe to this podcast.
• 25:44
  Ben Webb: Reach out to us.
• 25:45
  Ben Webb: We are on Facebook, Instagram.
• 25:47
  Ben Webb: You can also direct mail us through Buzz Sprout, which is our publishing platform.
• 25:52
  Ben Webb: And so, without further ado, folks, stick around.
• 25:55
  Ben Webb: This will be season two of Live in the Lab Schools.
• 25:57
  Ben Webb: We'll see you in two weeks.
• 26:11
  Andy Goveia: Recorded on the campus of Illinois State University.
• 26:14
  Andy Goveia: Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram at Live in the Lab Schools.
• 26:19
  Andy Goveia: We'll see you next time.