Latest / Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast / Dr. Catlin Tucker | Rethinking Modern Teaching through Blended Learning, UDL, & Student Autonomy
Transcript
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- 0:25this. Hey, welcome to the integrate this ed tech
- 0:28podcast. I'm David Berner joined by co -host
- 0:31Jeremy Nickla. And today we have a special guest
- 0:34with us, Dr. Katelyn Tucker. Very excited to
- 0:37have Katelyn with us and talk about all the different
- 0:40things that she speaks about and works on, including
- 0:44a number of different books on station rotation,
- 0:47UDL, blended learning, gives us a lot of different
- 0:50talks and at speaking engagements. So Katelyn,
- 0:53welcome to the podcast. We're happy to have you
- 0:55with us. Yeah, thanks for inviting me. I'm thrilled
- 0:58to be here. And to kind of kick things off a
- 1:02little bit, can you tell us? So maybe prior to
- 1:05where you're at today with a lot of your different
- 1:07speaking engagements and in the books and things
- 1:09like that, where did you start off in your career
- 1:12with teaching? Yeah, I'm actually shocked. I
- 1:16like wound up in this profession. I'm not going
- 1:18to lie. I thought I was going to be an attorney
- 1:19until my senior year at UCLA. And then went on
- 1:23a trip where my girlfriend and I worked as baristas
- 1:27in Ireland. And I thought, you know what? I want
- 1:30a job where I can travel and I can write. And
- 1:32then I was like, what can I do with this English
- 1:33degree? Wandered into education almost like by
- 1:38default. And the first five years were. awful.
- 1:43Um, I almost quit. I just felt like in credential
- 1:47school, you know, I'd gone and got my credential,
- 1:49my master's at UC Santa Barbara. I had all these
- 1:51very elaborate fantasies about what my future
- 1:54classroom was going to look like. Um, I, you
- 1:56know, imagined kids being excited to like bound
- 1:59through the door and like, let's, let's get learning
- 2:01together. And those first five years were rough.
- 2:05I just could not. actualize this classroom I
- 2:08had dreamed about. Like kids did not seem excited
- 2:10to be there. They were not engaging with me,
- 2:13with each other, really with the content. And
- 2:15I just remember thinking like, I cannot do this
- 2:17for my entire life. Like maybe I have made a
- 2:20huge mistake going into education. And I was
- 2:24at this moment of career crisis and actually
- 2:26press pause on the decision to like stay or leave
- 2:29this this field and had my first child. And when
- 2:33I was home doing a kind of a year at home with
- 2:36my my daughter, I taught online college level
- 2:38writing courses. And it was in that mode as an
- 2:41entirely online professor where my interest in
- 2:45technology was started to be piqued. So when
- 2:48I was thinking about going back to the classroom,
- 2:51I figured, you know what? I'm just going to give
- 2:52it one more year. I'm going to treat this classroom
- 2:55like a laboratory or just try a whole bunch of
- 2:57stuff, see what works, ask my students for feedback.
- 3:00And if I can't turn this around, I'm going to
- 3:03leave the profession anyway, so I don't really
- 3:04have anything to lose. And it was in that almost
- 3:07unlearning everything I thought I knew about
- 3:10teaching where I was able to create this classroom
- 3:14that I had dreamed about. And I did not have
- 3:16a lot of technology. I was in a low tech school.
- 3:18It was like 2008. I was capitalizing on the devices
- 3:22coming through the door in my kid's pockets.
- 3:23And at that point, there were not that many of
- 3:25them, but it didn't take much tech and it didn't
- 3:28take much experimentation for me to totally fall
- 3:31in love with. teaching and also to really appreciate
- 3:35how incredibly capable these young humans were.
- 3:38And so I taught in a high school English language
- 3:41arts classroom in a public school in Northern
- 3:43California for 16 years. I began coaching and
- 3:47working with teachers and teaching part time.
- 3:50Eventually decided to get my doctorate. And now
- 3:53I teach teacher candidates at Pepperdine University
- 3:56and get to travel all over the world, working
- 3:59with teachers, designing customized workshops
- 4:01and trainings for them to experience the very
- 4:04things I want them to do with students in their
- 4:06classrooms. So I feel very fortunate. So yeah,
- 4:09and it sounds like a lot of the things I liked
- 4:11what you said about like unlearnings everything
- 4:14like you had to kind of start from scratch again
- 4:16and figure out like how the what's going to work
- 4:19for you to approach it. So with looking at some
- 4:22of your work now and you know your speaking engagements
- 4:24or just looking at the books and things like
- 4:26that was was some how many of those different
- 4:30experiences early on sparked different ideas
- 4:34for the various books that you have. Yeah, I
- 4:37remember. So there are a lot of very incredibly
- 4:40inspiring folks in education, but I would say
- 4:42if I have like a superpower, it is taking things
- 4:46that feel complicated and breaking them down
- 4:48into strategies and steps and protocols and routines
- 4:52that feel doable for educators. So when I was
- 4:55kind of blundering my way through integrating
- 4:59technology in the early days into my classroom
- 5:01and also leveraging my students tech at home
- 5:04and reimagining the kinds of tasks they did once
- 5:06they left the room. I started blogging and sharing
- 5:10what I was doing online. My blog started to get
- 5:12a lot of traffic and I decided to write my first
- 5:15book on blended learning. And again, it was very
- 5:18much early days for me of just trying to kind
- 5:21of share what I had learned through a lot of
- 5:24like. trial and error, quite frankly, as well
- 5:27as all of the resources I was designing to support
- 5:30my students in doing this more successfully.
- 5:32So I think everything Whenever I'm learning something,
- 5:36the best way for me to internalize it, make sense
- 5:39of it, and really like cement it for myself is
- 5:42to write about it, whether that's a blog. And
- 5:43then often my blogs kind of spiral into books.
- 5:47I also, I work with so many teachers where I
- 5:50get to hear firsthand, what are the pain points?
- 5:53What are the things they're struggling with?
- 5:55What are they seeing in classrooms? I go in and
- 5:57out of tons of classrooms every year. And that
- 6:00also really inspires me because I want to help
- 6:02design things for teachers that allow them to
- 6:06spend their finite time and energy in spaces
- 6:09that are more rewarding and enjoyable and kind
- 6:11of, you know, light them up instead of drain
- 6:15them. So is it then from that, you know, you
- 6:19talked about the one year that you had where
- 6:21you were teaching online. and then you have the
- 6:23experience with the traditional classroom and
- 6:25then when you come back again is that where you
- 6:28really started to pull together these ideas on
- 6:31blended learning you know like and and maybe
- 6:34you know i'd like to hear what you say blended
- 6:36learning is you know because i i i may be my
- 6:40version of it where you combine a little bit
- 6:42of digital online with the real life in person
- 6:46uh work that students are doing maybe isn't as
- 6:48accurate as what you might portray it to be Yeah,
- 6:51so I define it pretty simply as active engaged
- 6:55learning online combined with active engaged
- 6:58learning offline with the goal of giving students
- 7:01more control over pace, place, path. in time.
- 7:06So they're not going to control all of those
- 7:08things all the time, but the goal is to give
- 7:11them more control over those aspects of their
- 7:14learning experience. And I would say there's
- 7:17a ton of misconceptions about blended learning,
- 7:20especially since a lot of educators never even
- 7:23heard that phrase before COVID and nobody enjoyed
- 7:26COVID. So if you're associating blended learning
- 7:29with COVID, it's not a real strong sell for a
- 7:32lot of teachers. And I always kind of like, I
- 7:35don't know, I get so frustrated because I'm like,
- 7:37I wrote my first book on blended learning in
- 7:392010, right? Far, like way before COVID. I think
- 7:43I'd written like four books on blended learning
- 7:44by the time COVID came around. So unfortunately,
- 7:47COVID kind of soured people, I think on the phrase.
- 7:50And I think it's really interesting that we're
- 7:53in this moment right now, where there's all this
- 7:55pushback against technology in classrooms and
- 7:57people are like, oh, this tech, it's like, you
- 8:00know, it's ruining the learning experience. It's
- 8:02just a distraction. And I'm like, That's because
- 8:05the tech was never paired with strong pedagogical
- 8:08practices. Like blended learning created these
- 8:11pathways that would have allowed teachers to
- 8:14design with a high level of intentionality when
- 8:16it comes to technology, but instead we just gave
- 8:19them tech. We gave them no new teaching practices
- 8:23really. And so the tech just became this like.
- 8:25add on or like a substitute for things kids can
- 8:28do offline or maybe it like improves a workflow
- 8:31for teachers, but it might not even improve the
- 8:34learning experience for students. So I just,
- 8:37I think it's so interesting in this moment where
- 8:39people are pushing back against tech. And I'm
- 8:41like, I feel like if we had leaned into blended
- 8:43learning models and we had thought about how
- 8:46to use these kind of tech enhanced instructional
- 8:48approaches, we wouldn't be in the situation we're
- 8:51in right now. Is it, you know, I think back to
- 8:55when I was in the classroom and it's probably
- 8:57right around that time frame of, you know, I
- 9:00would say about 2009, 2010. And our school that
- 9:05I was teaching at went one to one with iPads.
- 9:08And we brought in someone to come in and see,
- 9:12I remember him starting with the very, very basics.
- 9:15This is how you turn on your iPad. This is how
- 9:17you. You swipe the screen to find different apps
- 9:22and select them. And then he went into, I swear,
- 9:25probably 50 different apps on the iPad that you
- 9:29can do stuff with. And that was kind of the introduction
- 9:33that our whole staff got to using that tool,
- 9:38right? And all of the apps that came with it.
- 9:42You know, and I feel like that's exactly what
- 9:44you're talking about here as we kind of transition
- 9:47or we have been transitioned into this age of
- 9:50AI. And I and I feel like that process has repeated
- 9:53itself, that we're replacing the tools in front
- 9:56of the skills or replacing the apps in front
- 9:59of the pedagogy. And, you know, that that just
- 10:02is that recipe for disaster. And I feel like,
- 10:05you know, as someone with a history background,
- 10:07I feel like we're you know, we didn't learn from
- 10:10the past or condemned to repeat it. No, I wrote
- 10:13this exact thing for an SDA, a CD blog where
- 10:16I was just like, basically, where are we going
- 10:18to repeat all of the mistakes of the EdTech boom,
- 10:21which was, to your point, here's the tool, here's
- 10:25all the functionality and how it works, but not...
- 10:28How do you weave this into a lesson in a way
- 10:32that is meaningful? And we are doing the exact
- 10:35same thing with AI. I literally released a kind
- 10:38of free K -12 skills before tools AI implementation
- 10:43guide for this exact reason, because I was like,
- 10:46we have to be teaching students long before they
- 10:48ever interact with AI, the skills that they will
- 10:52actually need to be responsible dynamic users
- 10:56of AI, but right now I agree. I worry that like
- 11:00districts are like, oh, we need AI. We're going
- 11:02to buy this big platform or whatever. The company's
- 11:06folks will come in, train teachers, but the training
- 11:09is going to be mostly focused on how you navigate
- 11:12the platform, how you use it, not necessarily.
- 11:17how do you design lessons where these tools are
- 11:21really allowing students more control over their
- 11:24experience, more personalization? I just feel
- 11:28like we're, again, yeah, we're totally doing
- 11:30what we did back when all the EdTech tools exploded.
- 11:34Right, and I feel there is a little bit of a
- 11:36place, a teacher does need to have a basic understanding
- 11:39of what the capabilities of the tools and the
- 11:43devices that they're working. Oh, for sure. So
- 11:44I get there is a place for that, You know, I
- 11:47think it's asking the wrong questions first.
- 11:49So like if you were if a teacher comes to you
- 11:53and says, hey, I want to purposefully integrate
- 11:56technology into what I'm doing and maybe it's
- 11:59a you know, what are the questions they should
- 12:02be asking first? Yeah, I think, well, when I
- 12:06work with teachers, I'm like. What are your pain
- 12:09points? What is challenging about your work right
- 12:12now? Is it giving timely feedback? Is it the
- 12:17grading trail? What is it that you're really
- 12:20struggling with? And what is it that you think
- 12:23students would really benefit the most from?
- 12:25And then let's let that just drive some of our
- 12:29decision -making. But for example, right now,
- 12:33I think that the potential for AI to allow students
- 12:38literally limitless amounts of guidance and feedback
- 12:42as they work and write is very exciting. However,
- 12:46when I work with teachers, I'm like, okay, what
- 12:49are we building around that experience? So students
- 12:53are staying the kind of cognitively engaged one,
- 12:57but also not just kind of shifting the thinking
- 13:00over the work over to AI, can we build kind of
- 13:03some metacognitive reflective process around
- 13:07that AI use? So something even as simple as like
- 13:10a spin on the classic like exam wrapper, right?
- 13:13So before you use AI, why are you using AI? What
- 13:16questions do you have? What are you struggling
- 13:18with? Where do you need support? Okay, now we're
- 13:21gonna interact with an AI tool that gives us
- 13:23feedback. And then on the back end, What did
- 13:26you learn? What went well? What surprised you
- 13:29from the interaction? How did you make sure that
- 13:31the work still remained kind of authentically
- 13:33yours? Simple kind of guardrails around use can
- 13:38help students to kind of stay engaged and make
- 13:42sure they're really thinking about how they're
- 13:43using it and how the use is impacting their thinking
- 13:46and their work and all of these things, but I
- 13:48don't. I don't even know if that's really happening
- 13:51at this point. It's just like, hey, go to this
- 13:53station or open your Chromebooks and basically
- 13:57interact with this AI tool to get feedback on
- 14:00what you're working with. Not like, hey, what
- 14:02kinds of questions should you be asking? What's
- 14:05the reflective practice we should build around
- 14:07this? It's interesting to hear you say reflection
- 14:11as many times as you just did right there. Do
- 14:13you think that? Because I completely agree. I
- 14:17think that's oftentimes, you know, in overlooked.
- 14:21Thing when teachers are you know like and say
- 14:24my pain point is you know ending the lesson and
- 14:27getting students to really internalize what it
- 14:30was from that lesson I wanted them to get out
- 14:32of it and and one great way to do that is to
- 14:35have some sort of a reflective activity where
- 14:37students are looking back or they're thinking
- 14:40about how could they apply what they've learned
- 14:42to a different door or new situation and is that
- 14:46do you think one small thing that teachers could
- 14:49use. AI to help them develop better reflective
- 14:53questions that they would have a big impact on
- 14:57student learning. Absolutely. I mean, the one
- 15:01of the books I wrote elevating educational design
- 15:03with AI is all about how we harness AI to. improve
- 15:08our design work so that we're better serving
- 15:10diverse populations of learners. And so whether
- 15:13it is, hey, help me create a guided note template
- 15:17that gets kids thinking about the content and
- 15:20interacting with it in dynamic ways during direct
- 15:23instruction, or hey, help me build a would you
- 15:27rather reflective option for the end of my class
- 15:29that gets kids thinking about what did they learn?
- 15:32What wonderings do they still have? Absolutely.
- 15:35But I think the reality we have to face is that
- 15:38the reason so often we don't see metacognitive
- 15:42skill building and reflected reflection in classrooms,
- 15:45even though we know those things are just have
- 15:48myriad benefits from executive functioning to
- 15:51self regulation to motivation and achievement
- 15:54is because we're so busy racing through content.
- 15:58We don't have time for it. Right. So it's just
- 16:00one of those things that's super easy to neglect.
- 16:04So as you kind of look at UDL and you look at
- 16:09blended learning, where do the two things meet?
- 16:13If you're looking at an outline for a lesson
- 16:17and you're wanting to get to all learners, you're
- 16:19wanting to provide a variety of different approaches,
- 16:21what would be your first suggestion for a teacher
- 16:24to start incorporating those things into a lesson?
- 16:27Yeah, well, I have to just say I my my path my
- 16:32path crossed with dr Katie Novak right around
- 16:36the beginning of kovat and I had been pretty
- 16:40like udl was on my radar, but it was really in
- 16:42working with Katie around this intersection of
- 16:46blended learning and udl that was so incredibly
- 16:49powerful for me because what I think these two
- 16:52do together that's really special is that UDL's
- 16:56like everybody's on, like most people are on
- 16:58board. You know, it's not hard to sell, hey,
- 17:01let's make learning accessible and inclusive
- 17:03and equitable. Like most educators are like,
- 17:06heck yeah, let's do that. Blended learning is
- 17:08a tougher sell, but the reality is UDL is. really
- 17:13wonderful, but it can feel hard to operationalize
- 17:17for teachers. Like, how do I do this every day
- 17:20in a way that feels sustainable? So when you
- 17:23pair UDL with blended learning, now you have
- 17:26much more flexible learning pathways that you
- 17:30can choose from, whether it's self pacing with
- 17:32a playlist, whether it is, you know, station
- 17:34rotation, so the teacher can provide differentiated
- 17:37direct instruction. So what was interesting about
- 17:40the pairing is I think blended learning without
- 17:42UDL can sometimes result in shallow technology
- 17:45integration. But without blended learning, UDL
- 17:49can feel really hard to implement in a way that
- 17:51is sustainable, which is why these two are really
- 17:53powerful. And so when I talk to educators, one
- 17:58of the things I tell them is, When we start thinking
- 18:01about universal design, one of the first things
- 18:04I emphasize when I work with groups is start
- 18:07thinking proactively about barriers. No matter
- 18:09what it is we're asking students to do in the
- 18:12classroom, we have to be, as the architects of
- 18:15that learning experience, trying to identify
- 18:18and proactively remove barriers. So even starting
- 18:22with something as simple as a would you rather
- 18:24option, At key moments in the lesson, how do
- 18:29you want to engage with content? What strategy
- 18:31would help you process and make meaning here?
- 18:34What option would you like to try to demonstrate
- 18:36and share your learning? Those simple would you
- 18:39rather options at key moments can be so kind
- 18:43of. Simple in terms of creating and AI is great
- 18:46for creating them But they also really help to
- 18:49remove those barriers for learners where learners
- 18:52might say, you know I think I'm gonna choose
- 18:53this option today. This feels more manageable
- 18:56doable for me personally So it seems safe to
- 19:00say that like blending blending learning is a
- 19:04bit of the key to allowing to reach UDL more
- 19:08more effectively. Is that fair to say? I definitely
- 19:12believe that. I think that if we're, you know,
- 19:14if UDL is really kind of grounded in the reality
- 19:18that learner variability is the norm, kids are
- 19:20just different from each other. And as a result,
- 19:22they learn differently. And the reality that
- 19:25if we want all students to reach firm standard
- 19:28aligned goals, then we have to provide flexible
- 19:32pathways for them to get wherever they're starting
- 19:35to that firm goal, right? Like the pushback against
- 19:38the word equity in the last few years kind of
- 19:41blows my mind because I'm just like. All equity
- 19:44is acknowledging is that individual learners
- 19:47need individual inputs to reach a particular
- 19:49output. So a single lesson for an entire class
- 19:53is unlikely to get everybody in that class with
- 19:56all their different skills and abilities and
- 19:58readiness levels and language proficiencies from
- 20:00wherever they're starting in their learning journey
- 20:02to the same destination. Kids are gonna need
- 20:05different levels of scaffolding and support,
- 20:08different amounts of teacher time and energy
- 20:09input. And that's really hard to accommodate
- 20:12when the only instructional model we have and
- 20:15are comfortable using is the whole group teacher
- 20:18led model. Yeah, and if you, so with the whole
- 20:23screen time debate that's going on too, do you
- 20:26feel like blended learning is something that
- 20:30needs to be considered as you're talking about
- 20:34screen time? Because, and the connection to UDL
- 20:37as well because, It's not we talked about this
- 20:41before, but it's like it's not as simple as just
- 20:43removing the screens because there are students
- 20:45that are going to be able to work with those
- 20:48to be able to achieve certain things that otherwise
- 20:51wouldn't have had that possibility. So do you
- 20:54feel like that belongs in there? Or if someone
- 20:57was to ask you, how does that connect to screen
- 21:00time? What would what would you say is like the
- 21:03best response for that? I would say the whole.
- 21:07focus on screen time feels like it's missing
- 21:10the entire point to me, right? The American Academy
- 21:13of Pediatrics released a policy paper in which
- 21:16they very clearly stated it's not really screen
- 21:19time. Like it's not like not its own metric that
- 21:22can be good or bad. It's what are they doing?
- 21:25on the screen that actually matters. And so I
- 21:30think the work we need to be doing in education
- 21:33is auditing the kinds of tasks students are doing
- 21:36online. And let me say, I am a huge advocate
- 21:40of balance. So when I talk about blended learning,
- 21:43I'm like, Our goal, regardless of the instructional
- 21:46model, the blended learning model we're using,
- 21:49is to balance the online with the offline, right?
- 21:52You have a whole group of like 30 odd kids in
- 21:55a room. Learning isn't part of social endeavor.
- 21:58They should not just be staring at screens all
- 22:00class long. That makes literally no sense. This
- 22:03is their opportunity to have discussions, to
- 22:06collaborate, to debate ideas, to work together,
- 22:09to solve problems. let's not ignore that, but
- 22:13also like when we put them on the screen, what
- 22:16on earth are we asking them to do? Because what
- 22:18I observe in a lot of classrooms is that the
- 22:21technology work is isolating learners, right?
- 22:25They are asked to go on the computer and play
- 22:28a... educational game, or work through some personalized
- 22:31adaptive software, or watch a video and answer
- 22:34questions, right? Very rarely is the technology
- 22:38a catalyst for students to work together, to
- 22:42do something, to communicate, collaborate, think
- 22:45critically, creatively problem solve. I don't
- 22:48understand that. I think that's a total missed
- 22:50opportunity. And I think actually my origin story
- 22:53of my own integration of technology in my class,
- 22:58I credit not having tech for every kid, because
- 23:01I realized one group of four kids collaborating
- 23:05around a phone, an iPad, a Chromebook, could
- 23:08do incredible things. And they had really meaningful
- 23:11conversations. I almost think in classrooms today,
- 23:15when everybody has a computer open, It creates
- 23:18that barrier to human connection. And if all
- 23:21kids are doing are those isolating tasks or essentially
- 23:25digital worksheets or even taking notes on computers,
- 23:28which we know from the research is not best practice.
- 23:32Yeah, then I totally understand the pushback.
- 23:34But I do think if when we had all this tech going
- 23:38into classrooms, we trained teachers on instructional
- 23:41models like station rotation that is designed
- 23:44to allow teachers to work with small groups.
- 23:47balance the individual, the collaborative, the
- 23:50online, the offline. I don't think we would be
- 23:53having the same situation, the same pushback
- 23:56happening. I think it's the poor use of technology
- 24:00and the abundance of low quality screen time
- 24:02that is the problem. Yeah, and that's how we
- 24:09view it as well. It's like the... And it's consistent
- 24:12to like what is the foundational level that needs
- 24:14to be there before you start introducing tools
- 24:17and things like that It should serve the purpose
- 24:19of the of the design and especially when it comes
- 24:23to like collaboration and those type of things
- 24:25I want to shift just a little bit because Jeremy
- 24:27and I we both often do professional development
- 24:30for teachers as you do as well and I'm wondering
- 24:33if you could just take kind of those same concepts
- 24:35and explain to us like what would be As you shift
- 24:39from students in pre -k to 12, what does this
- 24:45look like at the adult level with adult learners
- 24:47in that perspective? It's a different audience.
- 24:52What do you find as different there in terms
- 24:55of how you might use UDL and blended learning?
- 25:00Well, adults are very different from teaching
- 25:04teenagers or younger students. And teaching educators
- 25:09is a different experience. Like we sometimes,
- 25:14we show up for professional learning in ways
- 25:18that I'm like, we would not be okay with our
- 25:20students showing up in the classroom this way.
- 25:22And that I remember like feeling like that was
- 25:24a really big adjustment for me. But I will say,
- 25:28In my graduate classes with my teacher candidates
- 25:31or with teachers in trainings, I am using the
- 25:36exact strategies. I am modeling the exact things
- 25:39that I am asking them to do. So when we get together
- 25:43in the beginning of a training, we start with
- 25:45a welcome activity that is designed to allow
- 25:48them moments of connection, relationship building,
- 25:51because I'm like, I think every single class
- 25:53that we teach should start that way. I don't
- 25:55think we should launch right into to content
- 25:58before kids have a chance to turn and say hello
- 26:00to somebody, right? Like I don't think community
- 26:03building should be relocated to the first week
- 26:05or month of a school year, but it needs to be
- 26:07threaded through every single day that we have
- 26:09human beings in our classrooms, especially human
- 26:11beings who increasingly struggle to make eye
- 26:15contact and have conversations because they're
- 26:17on little devices all the time. Right. Then when
- 26:19we're, you know, depending on the instructional
- 26:22approach and I train teachers on, you know, multi
- 26:25-tiered systems of support, like ways to kind
- 26:27of present tier one, tier two in that's more
- 26:31effective, then I'm employing all those. Or if
- 26:34I'm coming into a district and we're learning
- 26:37how to design the station rotation model and
- 26:40I'm talking about differentiation. I want them
- 26:43moving through a station rotation. I want to
- 26:47group students based on their subject area and
- 26:49provide instructional strategies at the teacher
- 26:52led or Tucker led station that are going to really
- 26:55work for math and science or English or history,
- 26:58right? So for me, it's really about. weaving
- 27:02all of those pieces into my own training sessions
- 27:07with teachers, I want those to be hands on, I
- 27:09want them to be practice based. If they're engaging
- 27:12with content, I want to give them like a would
- 27:14you rather read this blog or listen to this podcast,
- 27:18read this blog or watch this video, right? How
- 27:21do you want to interact with information? Or
- 27:24if I want everybody to watch a video on a topic,
- 27:27like maybe I'm trying to help them understand,
- 27:29like, what is an AI video look like? So I'm gonna
- 27:32actually take something that I would present
- 27:34normally myself, have AI create a video, and
- 27:37I'm gonna actually have you work in groups to
- 27:40use reciprocal teaching, to unpack the video,
- 27:42pausing it every two minutes. So I want them
- 27:45to have those experiences. And the reason is
- 27:49I think the more they experience in training,
- 27:52the more likely they are to actually implement,
- 27:54and we get over that implementation gap. But
- 27:56I also... Totally recognize that at the end of
- 28:00one of my training days teachers are like I'm
- 28:03so tired like you made us work so hard and I'm
- 28:06like Just my like my TED talk was all about student
- 28:10-led learning and when I design learning It doesn't
- 28:12matter who the audience is teachers leaders grad
- 28:16students. I want it to be student -led I'm push
- 28:19I'm putting you in the position to drive this
- 28:22experience and you are gonna get as much out
- 28:24of it as you put in So I think a good example
- 28:28would you rather listen to the integrate this
- 28:32podcast or Watch the integrate this podcast on
- 28:35exactly right exactly your only two choices So
- 28:41you station rotation, you know, you've written
- 28:43a book on it. You've mentioned it here several
- 28:45times already. Like, what exactly do you mean?
- 28:48What does that look like in practice? And why
- 28:51is that a good entry point for teachers into
- 28:54designing learning that's going to be beneficial
- 28:56to all learners? Yeah, that's a great question.
- 29:01A station rotation model is by far the most popular
- 29:05blended learning model of the rotation models.
- 29:08So blended learning is like a pretty big spectrum.
- 29:10And over on one side are the rotation models.
- 29:13And that includes station rotation, the playlist
- 29:16model, whole group rotation, flip classroom.
- 29:19These are all strategies or models, instructional
- 29:21approaches that work beautifully in a traditional
- 29:24classroom. And so that's where I tend to spend
- 29:27probably like 80 % of my time when it comes to
- 29:30working with schools and districts who are interested
- 29:32in blended learning. As you move down the spectrum,
- 29:36then you get to instructional models that tend
- 29:40to rely more and more on the online learning
- 29:42component, right? So you have like the flex model
- 29:44where kids are self -pacing through usually like
- 29:47a pre -planned online curriculum. And you have
- 29:50like all a cart where a kid taking normal classes
- 29:52might do credit recovery for a class, or they
- 29:55might be so advanced in a class. school doesn't
- 29:58offer that they take an online class to complement
- 30:00their traditional schedule. So there are lots
- 30:02of different models on that end of the spectrum
- 30:04that I don't spend as much time on. And I would
- 30:07say even of the rotation models, there's just
- 30:09something about station rotation that is like
- 30:14understandable enough, like relatable enough
- 30:16that teachers are like, okay, I get it. I'm going
- 30:20to try it. I think there's there's two misconceptions
- 30:24about station rotation. And first, the biggest
- 30:27one is that this is an elementary model, right?
- 30:30And I think that is really born out of this idea
- 30:33that, you know, this is something they do in
- 30:36elementary, not something we do in secondary.
- 30:38And I think it's really a result of the fact
- 30:40that secondary teachers have like an expertise
- 30:43in some subject area. And so as the experts,
- 30:46there's a lot more of I'm going to be at the
- 30:48front of the room. I'm going to be explaining
- 30:49things, lecturing, what have you. I also think
- 30:52that when we start to talk about small groups,
- 30:55there is this assumption that somehow this is
- 30:57like an intervention thing, not a traditional
- 31:00classroom thing. But the reality is station rotation
- 31:02is a K -12 model and the biggest benefit, I believe,
- 31:08of station rotation is the opportunity for teachers
- 31:11to differentiate instruction for small groups.
- 31:14So if we are collecting pre -assessment data
- 31:18and the data tells us, whoa, kids are in really
- 31:21different places of readiness in terms of or
- 31:24in relation to this concept or skill, why would
- 31:27we teach a whole group and then clean up the
- 31:30mess in small group and double the time we spend
- 31:32on that instruction, right? Why not start the
- 31:36instruction differentiated in small groups so
- 31:38we can make specific teacher moves at that small
- 31:42group station with six to eight kids that is
- 31:45going to hopefully make that instruction much
- 31:47more accessible for learners. And then at the
- 31:50other station, so there are three types of stations.
- 31:52There's the teacher led and differentiation is
- 31:55definitely whether it's instruction, modeling
- 31:57sessions, what you that's like the biggest benefit.
- 32:01Then you have an online station or stations and
- 32:04offline station or station. So right in the design
- 32:07is that nod to balance, right? We're not having
- 32:10kids at every screen at every station. They're
- 32:12getting instruction with the teacher. They have
- 32:14an online station at an offline station. The
- 32:17total number of stations totally depends on the
- 32:19length of your class period or how many days
- 32:21you're running the rotation or how many kids
- 32:23you want in a station. So I think it's a pretty
- 32:27simple design to understand. I think the biggest
- 32:32resistance, if I'm being quite honest with you,
- 32:35against this model is one, like teachers who
- 32:39are scared of the classroom management component,
- 32:42right? So if you, your method of classroom management
- 32:45is I control kids by having them in a group and
- 32:49kind of. making them comply with what I'm asking
- 32:52them to do, then releasing more control over
- 32:56students by having them in the other stations
- 32:58where they have to be a bit more self -directed
- 33:00or they have to collaborate with peers to navigate
- 33:03a task, that becomes very, very scary for some
- 33:06teachers. And I will say the transition from
- 33:09whole group, one lesson for the entire class,
- 33:12which is often not accessible, definitely not
- 33:15equitable, often not inclusive, to station rotation
- 33:19where you are designing differentiated instructional
- 33:22sessions and designing online and offline tasks,
- 33:25that feels like a big ask in terms of the time
- 33:29it takes to design. I will say AI has really
- 33:32made that so much more doable because I love
- 33:36the design part of this work. I'm like a total
- 33:38curriculum design dork. Like I just think it's
- 33:41so fascinating, like a little puzzle of like,
- 33:43how do we create something for this particular
- 33:45group of students to learn this particular thing?
- 33:47But I get that that's not the necessarily the
- 33:49norm. However, I think if we truly value like
- 33:54equity, inclusion, access, then we have to take
- 33:57a good look at our practices and ask, do our
- 34:00instructional practices align with our values?
- 34:03And I think station rotation is a really beautiful
- 34:05pathway to do that. Yeah, you mentioned a couple
- 34:09of the things that popped into my head as my
- 34:12maybe misconceptions or fears about them. Number
- 34:14one was it's an elementary thing. And I think
- 34:19you you hammered home the reasons why it's not
- 34:21I think very effectively and I think the other
- 34:23piece that you talked about was classroom management
- 34:26and you know I to me yeah I know as a as a new
- 34:30teacher I definitely would have would have struggled
- 34:33with some of that but at some point that when
- 34:35I hit my stride or whatever and I felt more comfortable
- 34:39with the students that were in my class and I
- 34:43was able to kind of turn over some of that and
- 34:49me not having to look over their shoulder 24
- 34:51seven in the classroom. And when I was able to
- 34:54do that to give up, I think a little bit of that
- 34:56control and combine that with establishing some
- 35:01routines of what are the expectations when you're
- 35:05gonna be working in that station that is, you
- 35:09know, non teacher directed and not. interacting
- 35:13with other students where you're going to be
- 35:14dealing with the online stuff. And then what
- 35:16are your expectations when you're having a discussion
- 35:19group with with your peers? You know, and I think
- 35:22kind of establishing some of those routines can
- 35:25definitely make it even more worthwhile and beneficial
- 35:28in the long run. Well, and why would we start
- 35:31something new without establishing those expectations?
- 35:34Right. Like, that's the piece that gets skipped
- 35:36over that I don't understand, because I'm like.
- 35:39Talk to your class, like, co -create norms for
- 35:43station rotation lessons. What are we going to
- 35:45agree to as a group that we think is going to
- 35:48help this run really smoothly? And what are we
- 35:49going to try to avoid? Because it might actually
- 35:51derail this lesson a little bit or distract the
- 35:53teacher. And teachers, like, tell them why you're
- 35:56doing this. You want to support small groups.
- 35:58You want to be able to meet their specific needs.
- 36:01also have a clear path of consequences, right?
- 36:05I think one of the biggest issues with power
- 36:08struggles I see in classrooms are teachers who
- 36:10also haven't like outlined, hey, if you distract
- 36:13me or you are clearly off task. This is the first
- 36:16thing you can expect. Maybe it's a verbal redirect.
- 36:19If that's good, great. If it's not, then you're
- 36:21gonna have a physical move to a floater desk
- 36:23on the side of the room where you're working
- 36:25by yourself. Happens three times, we're getting
- 36:27a parent or a family member on the phone and
- 36:29we're gonna talk about what's going on with you
- 36:30in here, right? And then that way they always
- 36:32know what to expect because consistency builds
- 36:36trust. It's when teachers act different on. a
- 36:40friday when they're tired and exhausted versus
- 36:43a monday when they're caffeinated and feeling
- 36:45rested that students are like i don't know what
- 36:47to expect i can't even make an informed decision
- 36:50about my behavior because the teacher always
- 36:52responds kind of differently so it's like yeah
- 36:54put those very basic guardrails in place before
- 36:58you try a station rotation but i can tell you
- 37:00i only taught at the secondary level and i use
- 37:02station rotation all the time and it was literally
- 37:05magical to be able to be like huh Kids have this
- 37:09particular need. I want to be able to work with
- 37:12them. And instead of thinking, can you come in
- 37:14at lunch? Can you stay in a break? Do you have
- 37:16to race out after school? When could I possibly
- 37:18meet your specific need? Now I have an instructional
- 37:21model where I can design to meet those needs.
- 37:25So when you're when you're designing your station
- 37:28and your station groups. Is it always best to
- 37:31ability group them or are there reasons why you
- 37:34would do it in an interest area or let students
- 37:37self -select? A hundred percent. Flexible grouping,
- 37:42that is the key phrase, right? I really worry
- 37:46about, and often when teachers are first trying
- 37:48stationary rotation, they're doing it for that
- 37:50ability to differentiate. And so their go -to
- 37:53is skill level groupings or readiness level groupings,
- 37:55which I totally understand. But if we always
- 37:58put students in ability level groupings, I personally
- 38:02worry about what that does to their confidence
- 38:05in themselves as a learner. That growth mindset
- 38:09of I can keep improving with practice. and support
- 38:11and all these things. I also like, I just worry
- 38:15it makes some of the other tasks that they might
- 38:17do at another station on their own more challenging
- 38:20if they're in skill level groupings, right? Often
- 38:23high level groups, you got a lot of like bulldozers.
- 38:26I am one of those people who take over and they
- 38:29don't work very well together. Then you get the
- 38:31lower level kiddos who might be feeling like
- 38:33they wish they had a little more peer support
- 38:35with some of those bulldozers. And so, Lots of
- 38:39reasons why we should just be flexible in our
- 38:42groupings. And when I work and train teachers,
- 38:45when we talk about the teacher -led station and
- 38:47the ways in which we can structure instruction
- 38:50at that station, if you use a very clear instructional
- 38:55strategy, like a gradual release or hook the
- 38:58group or concept attainment, you can actually...
- 39:02you see exactly where you can differentiate for
- 39:05a mixed ability group. It doesn't have to be
- 39:08a skill -based group for you to actually differentiate.
- 39:11So, for example, if I'm running small groups
- 39:13and it's mixed ability and I'm using an I do,
- 39:16we do pairs, do progression, like that gradual
- 39:19release, the I do, I'm carrying the cognitive
- 39:22load. It's going to be the same for everybody
- 39:23and it's not that big a deal. The we do, I can
- 39:26even be subtle about what kinds of questions,
- 39:29level of questioning I'm using with different
- 39:31students. that group. And then when we get to
- 39:33the Pairs do, strategically pairing students
- 39:36at similar ability levels and asking them to
- 39:38work on practice within their zone of possibility
- 39:42is where the more kind of explicit differentiation
- 39:45is happening. And then I can spend time with
- 39:48a pairing who might be struggling a little bit
- 39:50more and need more from me as the teacher. And
- 39:53then sometimes to your point, it's interest -based
- 39:55groups. Sometimes it's I like to think of like
- 39:57strengths in a group dynamic, right? So if we
- 39:59have one of the stations, they're working on
- 40:02a STEM challenge together or something. I want
- 40:04a nice kind of blend of personalities and abilities
- 40:06in that group. So there's lots of different ways
- 40:09to group kids and I would encourage teachers
- 40:11just keep it flexible. And you touched on this
- 40:15is a little bit just with the you know if you
- 40:17have to check in with pairs or things like that
- 40:18but what's what is the best method for checking
- 40:23in with groups or conferencing with groups as
- 40:25as you know you've released them and the stations
- 40:28are kind of taking place what's the best ways
- 40:31for checking in with various groups in the different
- 40:35maybe there's different scenarios or things that
- 40:36you maybe could bring up but what what would
- 40:39you say is the best routine for that? Well, usually
- 40:42the teacher is occupied at the teacher -led station
- 40:44the entire time, unless they're using a strategy
- 40:48that I call the empty station strategy. So, one
- 40:51of the bigger, I think, design hiccups that secondary
- 40:54teachers face, particularly in classes where
- 40:58the curriculum is very linear like math, is the
- 41:01lesson. starts with the teacher instruction and
- 41:04then everything after it builds on that instruction.
- 41:07So then teachers are like, how do I reimagine
- 41:10my curriculum for a rotation where kids are starting
- 41:13at all of these other stations and only one group
- 41:16is starting with me? And so teachers who get
- 41:19kind of hung up in that hiccup, I encourage them,
- 41:23if you usually have three stations, if you can
- 41:25add a fourth, great. So that there's a group
- 41:27that starts with the teacher led. The next station
- 41:30is what I call the application station, and it's
- 41:32empty during the first rotation. So nobody starts
- 41:35there because nobody's going to apply before
- 41:37they've been to that teacher led station. Then
- 41:39you have your online and your offline stations,
- 41:41which are hopefully things like spiral review.
- 41:43Maybe kids are working on collaborative work
- 41:45or things that are not dependent on that teacher
- 41:47led station. So the first rotation, the teacher
- 41:51provides instruction. Then in rotation two, that
- 41:54teacher led station group goes to the apply station
- 41:56and now one of the other stations. is empty.
- 41:59So when teachers use that to make space for more
- 42:04of that linear, I'm going to teach you something
- 42:05and then I want you to apply it, the final rotation
- 42:08means that the teacher led station is empty and
- 42:11the teacher can move around the room to check
- 42:14in with students. So it might be observing students
- 42:17at work and kind of documenting what were that
- 42:21formative assessment data that we're collecting.
- 42:23It might be just that we know we noted that in
- 42:26an earlier lesson and students were struggling
- 42:28with something, so we wanna go check in with
- 42:30two students we're concerned about. So it's more
- 42:34of like an organic at that point, moving around
- 42:36the room, checking in, observing, documenting,
- 42:39which is all really, really valuable. Now, there
- 42:43are other instructional models, blended learning
- 42:46models like playlist model, where we do much
- 42:49more structured. conferencing, feedback sessions,
- 42:55things like that that are actually built into
- 42:57the instructional pathway so that when students
- 42:59hit that moment and say a playlist, they pause
- 43:02in their progress, they go meet with the teacher,
- 43:04and the teacher basically looks at kind of the
- 43:07work that's been done, has a conversation with
- 43:09the student, and they can make adjustments to
- 43:11the playlist as needed based on student performance.
- 43:14So that allows that particular model, I feel
- 43:17like allows for more of that kind of built -in
- 43:21conferencing about progress. And so you brought
- 43:25a playlist, so I want to touch on that a little
- 43:27bit. What is the ultimate purpose of a playlist
- 43:30and is there one design that works best or what
- 43:35are some effective ones that you've seen? Yeah,
- 43:39so the playlist model is like a self -paced learning
- 43:43pathway. So, ideally, everything students need
- 43:47is in the playlist, which means we're leaning
- 43:50hard on video and other multimedia resources,
- 43:53so students have on -demand instruction built
- 43:56into the playlist. I still really want teachers
- 43:59to have a really nice blend of online and offline
- 44:03activities, so I don't want, again, kids staring
- 44:05at the screen because everything in the playlist
- 44:07is online. I want the playlist to push them offline
- 44:10for, you know, pen paper tasks, discussions,
- 44:15collaborative work. But within the playlist,
- 44:18one of the things that they're really good for
- 44:21anything that takes students a real significant
- 44:25variable amount of time to complete. So for me
- 44:28in my English class, you know, writing an essay.
- 44:31Some students could sit down and write an essay
- 44:33in a couple of sittings. Some students, it was
- 44:36like a two -week slog to write an essay. And
- 44:40so I remember deciding to use the playlist to
- 44:42do things like create an argumentative essay
- 44:45playlist. And it didn't mean that we worked on
- 44:48that playlist nonstop over the course of five
- 44:50days or something, but it meant that we might
- 44:53work on it one class period. do something the
- 44:56next period, go back to it the period after.
- 44:59And what I really loved about it is it took a
- 45:01lot. Now that one definitely took a lot of time
- 45:03to design on the front end. And AI is so exciting
- 45:08to use for it because it definitely helps to
- 45:10kind of limit the amount of time it takes to
- 45:13design one now. That time investment on the front
- 45:16end allowed me in the classroom to conference
- 45:20with students to give them real time feedback
- 45:22as they were working. So they would hit these
- 45:25like bars in the playlist because I just built
- 45:27them in a Google doc. It was basically like a
- 45:29two column doc. Here's what you're doing. Here's
- 45:32where you capture your work. So you're the instructions
- 45:34and links and everything they needed was on the
- 45:36left hand side. All of the space for their work
- 45:39was on the right hand side. And there would be
- 45:41these like yellow bars that said Tucker time.
- 45:45And they knew when they got to one of these yellow
- 45:46bars, they had to pause and they had to come
- 45:49meet with me. And so I would look at what they
- 45:51had done so far. I would give them focused, actionable
- 45:53feedback, ask them if they had questions, send
- 45:55them on their way. So all of the time I used
- 45:58to spend giving feedback and grading student
- 46:01writing before the playlist became my go -to
- 46:04approach for, you know, extended writing projects
- 46:07was all of a sudden built into the classroom.
- 46:09So I wasn't taking any of that home anymore.
- 46:12And I was getting to sit one on one with kids
- 46:14and have these conversations. It was like totally
- 46:16magical. So one of the things too that has been
- 46:22coming up a lot is in AI has been like this idea
- 46:26of process over product and it seems like the
- 46:31process aspect could actually fit really well
- 46:33into the playlist model. One of the concerns
- 46:37that obviously comes up in well with AI in general
- 46:40but with with when you're letting go of the control
- 46:43and that kind of thing and you're letting students
- 46:45do the self -pacing how what kind of guardrails
- 46:49do you think we should have in place to still
- 46:51allow for student choice but with respect to
- 46:55okay well they can use ai for these things but
- 46:58with the with the process over product conversation
- 47:00and jeremy i have talked with others about this
- 47:03is that you're actually building in the ai use
- 47:06in a in a designed way and saying you can use
- 47:10it for these scenarios not for these scenarios
- 47:12and that kind of thing so as you look at that
- 47:15conversation with ai And with the playlist model
- 47:20and that, what do you think can help with some
- 47:23of the guardrails for teachers, especially those
- 47:25that are concerned, have significant concerns
- 47:27about releasing their students to AI? Yeah, I
- 47:31think we have to be explicit, teaching them to
- 47:35your point. What's okay in terms of AI use for
- 47:39different assignments, right? How much, what
- 47:42role should AI play in the work that they're
- 47:45doing, right? And they need to be able to cite,
- 47:50attribute the work that they basically might
- 47:53have co -authored or worked on together with
- 47:55AI. I think sometimes we almost treat AI use
- 48:00as like, let's just not talk. talk about it and
- 48:03let's hope they're not using it. And I'm just
- 48:05like, no, let's be let's have the conversation.
- 48:08Here's a what AI does. Well, here's what you
- 48:11know, it doesn't do so well. Here's the places
- 48:14where we're going to use it in this class. And,
- 48:16you know, I've even seen like I've chatted with
- 48:18Matt Miller around like, hey, maybe we just have
- 48:20like icons next to assignments that basically
- 48:23align with like, this is the level of AI you're
- 48:26allowed to use in this assignment. And maybe
- 48:29if you use AI, I want you to be able to explain
- 48:32what you learned, how it impacted your work,
- 48:35how you kept the thinking your own. I also think
- 48:38students need training around prompting if they're
- 48:43using AI, right? Like, what kinds of questions?
- 48:46If the goal is feedback, and you're working in
- 48:50an AI space, what kinds of questions should you
- 48:52be asking? What do those sound like? Like, even
- 48:55scaffolding it with question stems that students
- 48:57can use and lean on. I think we have to remember
- 49:01that this is a skill like any other skill, and
- 49:03we have to be explicit about teaching it and
- 49:06setting expectations. We have to model, and we
- 49:09have to be thinking about what supports in scaffolding.
- 49:11are going to help students be successful, right?
- 49:14This is just going to be part of their lives
- 49:17and it's going to increasingly be something we
- 49:20have to weave into our classroom. And that's
- 49:23not just using it. It's really the whole skill
- 49:27set that students need to use it. So Kevin we
- 49:31we've talked I think about a lot of different
- 49:33things here in the in the past 50 minutes or
- 49:36so that that time is just really really flown
- 49:37by But I want to kind of get us around to hear
- 49:41some valuable takeaways that both teachers and
- 49:45leaders or coaches could Start implementing here
- 49:48like right away. So as we think about it from
- 49:50like the teacher lens What's one small high -impact
- 49:54move that you would recommend? That a teacher
- 49:57try and I'm going to say because we're recording
- 49:59this it's very near the end of the school year
- 50:02but you know when they come back into that classroom
- 50:05and maybe it's something that they've given a
- 50:08little bit of thought to as they're preparing
- 50:10for that next school year and they want to hit
- 50:12the ground you know running and being successful
- 50:15from the get -go. Yeah, I mean, we've already
- 50:18talked about the would you rather and starting
- 50:20to be intentional about identifying where might
- 50:24there be a potential barrier that a would you
- 50:27rather would give students some agency around
- 50:29deciding how they want to complete a particular
- 50:31task. I also think our earlier conversation about
- 50:35reflection and where are those places that we
- 50:38can build in a pause. It doesn't have to be more
- 50:40than five minutes, but maybe it is that pause
- 50:44that follows instruction for kids to collect
- 50:46their thoughts. or to your point at the end of
- 50:48a lesson where we're asking them to kind of think
- 50:50about what they learned and kind of condense
- 50:52it for themselves or like, you know, capture
- 50:54it. Or maybe it is that that pause before and
- 50:56after AI use for that reflective practice. I
- 50:59think both of those are so simple, like initial
- 51:02moves that can have a huge impact. So putting
- 51:05that, you know, that teacher pause time like,
- 51:09well, students are thinking and allow that for
- 51:12yourself as well. Now think of it from maybe
- 51:17the like a building administrator or an instructional
- 51:21coach sort of lens here. What sort of conditions
- 51:24would you want to create for that start of the
- 51:26school year so that teachers are able to feel
- 51:30supported in doing some of the deep work that
- 51:33they need to and maybe even you know feeling
- 51:36empowered to add AI into helping them develop
- 51:41some of the the things that they're working on.
- 51:44Yeah, I mean, one, and this is way easier said
- 51:49than done, but like create a culture on your
- 51:52campus of experimentation. and celebration, right?
- 51:57So maybe it's a staff meeting where you ask teachers,
- 52:00so you give them five minutes to share something
- 52:03that they did that either worked or didn't work,
- 52:05and what did they learn from it, right? I would
- 52:08love to see more, like let's tap into the incredible
- 52:12professionals on our campus who are trying things,
- 52:14and whether those things work or not, what are
- 52:16they learning from them that might be valuable
- 52:18to the rest of the staff? Second, just from a
- 52:22leadership perspective, given the conversation
- 52:25about screen time, instead of a knee -jerk response
- 52:28to whatever your stance is on tech in classrooms
- 52:31and screen time, start thinking about how you
- 52:34might facilitate an audit using coaches, using
- 52:38teachers with a self -assessment, or even putting
- 52:40PLCs on it to start thinking about how are we
- 52:43actually using screens? What is the impact? Is
- 52:46it improving learning? Start to have those conversations.
- 52:50to figure out what's the system in place for
- 52:52supporting those. Yeah, I think that's great.
- 52:59And I think it gives, you know, people a chance
- 53:02to kind of reflect where they're at at the end
- 53:04of the school year, like you talked about a little
- 53:06bit earlier, and also to start to make plans
- 53:10to either develop help to develop that culture.
- 53:12So when teachers come back or just be that teacher
- 53:16and ready to add, you know, would you rather
- 53:20into into their mode of teaching. So we're kind
- 53:24of reaching the end of our time here. And David
- 53:27and I like to end with a lightning round activity.
- 53:30So I know you've had a chance to look at some
- 53:32of the questions that are there and we'll start
- 53:36out alternating them going through. You're free
- 53:40to give just a short response or if you need
- 53:43to elaborate to explain yourself, you know, you
- 53:45know, the time for you is there. But I think
- 53:49David, you're going to kick us off with the first
- 53:50one. Yeah. So we actually had a little bit of
- 53:54a long weekend here. But what's what's a song
- 53:57or artist that never fails to reset your mood
- 54:00after a long week? I know this is controversial,
- 54:03but it is Taylor Swift, who literally has an
- 54:06album for every single mood I might be in. I
- 54:12should have a closet Swifty myself. So I am loud
- 54:16and proud. I get it. What's your go to comfort
- 54:22food after a long work week? Mexican is for sure
- 54:26my favorite comfort food, specifically vegetarian
- 54:29burritos with lots of guacamole. All right. If
- 54:34you could take a one week learning trip anywhere,
- 54:37not not work related, but a one week learning
- 54:40trip. Where are you going and what are you learning
- 54:42about? New Zealand, although that feels like
- 54:45a very far way to go for one week, but there's
- 54:48some really well, first of all, it's beautiful.
- 54:50I'd love to be there. And there was some really
- 54:52early research done in the field of blended learning
- 54:55that came out of New Zealand. So I just love
- 54:58to go like pick brains of researchers who did
- 55:01a lot of the work around blended learning. And
- 55:04that's your non work related trip. I get it.
- 55:07I don't think I take a trip where I'm not doing
- 55:10it. I'm either like writing or whatever. I love
- 55:14my work, so I tend to do it everywhere. That's
- 55:17awesome. That's when you know you've got that
- 55:19passion, right? Yes, yes. What's something that
- 55:23most people would be surprised to learn about
- 55:24you? Oh, I am really afraid of heights. So no
- 55:31mountains in I get well I climb Table Mountain
- 55:34in Cape Town But I don't want to get real close
- 55:36to the edge because my fingers start to tangle
- 55:38like even watching somebody else at the edge
- 55:40my fingers start to tangle Okay, what's a book
- 55:46movie or show that that you love right now? Oh,
- 55:49I love TJ Clune's The House in the Cerulean Sea,
- 55:53and now I am reading the follow up, which is
- 55:55called Somewhere Beyond the Sea. It's just like
- 55:58the sweetest stories. I love them. So if David
- 56:03and I were planning a conference and you were
- 56:05gonna be our keynote speaker and you know It's
- 56:08that moment where you're gonna be coming from
- 56:10backstage and out in front of the entire audience
- 56:14What sort of walk -up song do you want playing
- 56:16for you as as you're getting ready to face the
- 56:19crowd? I did have to think about this one, but
- 56:21I'm gonna go with high hopes from panic at the
- 56:24disco So I have very high hopes for education
- 56:28everybody Nice. Okay, and so this is our last
- 56:33one. This is there is just either or rapid fire.
- 56:36So Are you a notebook and paper person still
- 56:40or a notes app? notebook and paper Okay, and
- 56:45then while traveling podcasts or music music
- 56:48Okay Mountains or beach beach All right. We're
- 56:54increasing our beach people. We get a lot of
- 56:57mountain responses, so Text or call? Text. Okay.
- 57:04Early bird or night owl? Early bird. First to
- 57:09leave the party or last to stay? First to leave.
- 57:14Okay. And then big group hangout or one on one
- 57:17time? One on one time. All right. Cool. Well,
- 57:22that concludes our lightning round in this or
- 57:25that sections. We just want to give you a chance
- 57:28to also if there's anything that you have that's
- 57:32coming up that you want to plug talks and conferences,
- 57:36all that type of things. The books. Is there
- 57:37anything that you want to mention there to the
- 57:40listeners? I mean, my most recent book for anybody
- 57:43who's like kind of their antenna was. Dinging
- 57:49or their interest was piqued is the station rotation
- 57:51model and udl and I am currently in the middle
- 57:54of another book project But that one won't be
- 57:56out until next spring, but it's on multi -tiered
- 57:59systems of support tier one and tier two for
- 58:01classroom teachers Awesome. Sounds good. And
- 58:05we'll be sure to get in the show notes. You can
- 58:08access Catlin's work the website books all that
- 58:11kind of thing in there so Thank you for joining
- 58:15us. We appreciate your time and all the insights
- 58:17that you provided. So thanks for joining us.
- 58:20Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys for having me.
- 58:23Thanks for listening to Integrate This. Want
- 58:26to take your learning further? Head over to our
- 58:28YouTube channel for quick tutorials, deep dives,
- 58:32and more EdTech tips you can use right away.
- 58:35Don't forget to subscribe and catch new podcast
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- 58:45keep exploring, keep innovating, and keep integrating
- 58:49this.