Beyond Metaphors: Guaranteeing Opportunity for Every Student
Summary
The salient point of this episode revolves around the imperative to examine the systems, mindsets, and leadership strategies that must be embraced to ensure that every student perceives and experiences a realm of possibility. We engage in a profound discourse with a cadre of distinguished guests, all of whom have contributed to the overarching theme of this season: "Open Doors and Unlimited Possibilities for Each Student." Our conversation seeks to uncover the necessary mindset shifts and access points that facilitate the act of opening doors, as we explore the question of what specific doors require unlocking and the identities of those who possess the keys. This dialogue serves as a prelude to our forthcoming episode, where we will delve deeper into the implications of these discussions and explore the tangible outcomes that await students on the other side of these opened doors. As we navigate this critical examination, we reaffirm our commitment to transforming educational environments into spaces that embody equity, accessibility, and the relentless belief in the potential of each student.
This conversation features all seven of our amazing guests from Season 10: Dr. Dwayne Chism, Rich, Ognibene, Dr. Gretchen Oliver, Dr. Shervita West, Dr. Opal Davis Dawson, Terri Perez, and Dr. Keisha Chandler, along with The Wheelhouse Team: Kathy Mohney, Michael Pipa, and Dr. Alicia Monroe.
Additional Notes
The current episode marks the commencement of the two-part finale of Season 10, a season dedicated to the profound theme of 'Open Doors and Unlimited Possibilities for Each Student.' This installment serves not merely as a reflective moment but as a critical examination of the systemic frameworks, mindset transformations, and leadership strategies necessary to facilitate genuine opportunities for each and every student. Through engaging dialogue with a distinguished assembly of educators and leaders, we delve into the essential question: What does it truly take to open doors wide enough for every student to thrive?
Takeaways:
- The conversation centers on the critical need for intentionality in educational leadership to unlock doors of opportunity for all students.
- We must acknowledge the existing systemic barriers and actively work to dismantle them to create equitable access for every learner.
- Transformational leadership is essential; leaders must prioritize relationships and create a culture of shared vision and collective action.
- The mindset shift required is to recognize that supporting one student does not diminish opportunities for others; equity is a collaborative effort that benefits all.
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Transcript
What systems, mindsets and leadership moves must we open up so every student sees and feels possibility?
Speaker A:Let's find out.
Speaker A:A new episode of the Wheelhouse begins right now.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to give us a listen.
Speaker A:Season 10 features a team of four like minded friends and colleagues.
Speaker A:Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa, Dr. Alicia Munro and yours truly.
Speaker A:We've opened the conversation this season to think about empowering educators to cultivate open doors and unlimited possibilities for each student.
Speaker A:The Wheelhouse exists to create an inclusive community of empowered educators who believe that together we can disrupt the transactional herding nature of schooling to create districts and schools and classrooms where each student feels confident, optimistic, capable, well supported and emboldened to be and to become who they're meant to be.
Speaker A:Episodes of the Wheelhouse explore bodies of knowledge and expertise that align to this vision and these guiding principles.
Speaker A:Our team and our guests are committed to this fundamental challenge to realize what we want for each student to experience in school.
Speaker A:In today's episode, we welcome all seven of our fabulous guests from season 10.
Speaker A: Duane Chisholm, author of the: Speaker A:Dr. Shavita west, district administrator and founder of SL West Consulting.
Speaker A:Dr. Opal Davis Dawson, former building administrator, award winning consultant and co founder of the Best College Match foundation.
Speaker A:Terry Perez, ISTE and ASCD's inaugural Transformational Leader Award winner and and Dr. Kesha Chandler, an executive education leader, researcher and Advocate for innovative K12 learning and the author of the One Room Schoolhouse.
Speaker A:This is the beginning of our two part season finale.
Speaker A:Our theme this season has been open doors and unlimited possibilities for each student.
Speaker A:And in these final episodes, we're pulling together all of these amazing voices to remind us that opening doors isn't just a metaphor, it's a daily practice.
Speaker A:In this first part of the conversation, we'll look at what it takes to open those doors.
Speaker A:The mindset shifts, the access points and the kind of leadership that keeps opportunity from being locked away.
Speaker A:What doors need opening and who holds the key.
Speaker A:And now, episode 11 and a great conversation with our special guests and the Wheelhouse team.
Speaker A:You're not going to want to miss a single word.
Speaker A:Take a listen.
Speaker A:Good morning, I'm Grant Chandler and welcome to part one of the finale of season 10.
Speaker A:This is really cool because you can't see it, but there are amazing people all congregated together in the Wheelhouse today, many of whom have never met each other before.
Speaker A:They've only listened to each other right.
Speaker A:On the podcast.
Speaker A:So I'm super excited.
Speaker A:First to welcome my team, Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa and Dr. Alicia Monroe.
Speaker A:Good morning.
Speaker A:Welcome to the Wheelhouse again.
Speaker B:Good morning.
Speaker C:So good to be there.
Speaker A:We're gonna see how the guests do if they can do that, like that choir unison.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:As well.
Speaker A:So you've heard all of these amazing people individually join us in the wheelhouse.
Speaker A:And now we're gonna bring them all together in this great conversation.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna Welcome them all.
Speaker A:Dr. Shav, Dr. Gretchen Oliver, Dr. Keisha Chandler, Dr. Duane Chisholm.
Speaker A:Dr. Opal Davis Dawson.
Speaker A:And education Royalty, a member of the National Teachers hall of Fame, Rich Anya Metti.
Speaker A:Hello, everybody.
Speaker A:Good morning.
Speaker D:Good morning.
Speaker A:Good morning.
Speaker A:You guys did great.
Speaker A:That was unrehearsed.
Speaker A:Unrehearsed.
Speaker A:I want to welcome you all to the Wheelhouse once again.
Speaker A:It is an absolutely.
Speaker A:It's amazing for you to be here.
Speaker A:So good morning and thank you all.
Speaker A:In this part of the conversation, as we're dividing this conversation into two parts, we're going to look at what it takes to open those doors.
Speaker A:The mindset shifts, the access points, and the kind of leadership that keeps opportunity from being locked away.
Speaker A:My question, the big question for this episode, when we think about open doors and unlimited possibilities, what doors need opening and who holds the key?
Speaker A:And we'll start with.
Speaker A:I'm just going to throw a question out there for these geniuses.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:What does it take to open doors wide enough so that all students not only walk through the open doors, but they thrive?
Speaker C:So the first word that pops in my mind is intentionality.
Speaker C:That there has to be an intention from the onset that that is the goal.
Speaker C:That's the mission, to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn and in an environment that is safe and supporting.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was thinking as well, I think a desire to want the door open and to realize that it isn't always open in order for a child to know where they're going, to see what the opportunities are and to have access to those opportunities.
Speaker B:I believe that those individuals who are the doorkeepers, if you will, as opposed to gatekeepers, are the same.
Speaker B:Have to realize the potential that all children have and allowing them to approach the door, see it, approach it, and then ultimately work their way through it.
Speaker D:Yeah, I was just going to say we also have to be willing to admit when.
Speaker D:When the system is broken, I think we have to be open and honest about the opportunities that aren't there and come face to face with our current conditions.
Speaker D:I think sometimes we're not even willing to admit what the challenges actually are.
Speaker D:So I think part of it is we have to be honest and real.
Speaker E:With ourselves and because of those broken systems and in the current reality we have to be flexible in that approach.
Speaker F:So I work with pre service teachers primarily and one of the things that I am challenged to do is help those pre service teachers see those inequities in the system and help them to think about the ways that they can work from the very start of their entry into the profession to address those inequities and and help them to think about what can I do to fix the system and what type of teacher can I be to open those doors and invite students into these spaces.
Speaker G:I'm thinking of a quote attributed to Michelangelo.
Speaker G:Maybe it's apocryphal, but I like it.
Speaker G:I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free.
Speaker G:And when I think of equity, it's what do we need to do for each student and to set them free and you know, within the system that doesn't always allow us or we feel like we don't have that freedom.
Speaker G:What do we do to get past the.
Speaker G:Help the student get past the barriers and you know, another big piece of opening door to equity in this challenging political moment.
Speaker G:There's this mindset.
Speaker G:Heather McGee did it in her book for the Sum of Us that like life is a zero sum game.
Speaker G:And so if I do something for student A, that somehow student B is being cheated out of something or getting lesser.
Speaker G:And I think we have to work really intentionally about backing away from that zero sum mentality and say, you know, when I have a student like I had Zach with the reading disability, he's going to the resource room.
Speaker G:The tests were not going well.
Speaker G:I asked him, hey, how about I redo the test in class?
Speaker G:We try that once.
Speaker G:He should have said no.
Speaker G:A 16 year old boy getting read to in class, there's a million reasons he should have said no.
Speaker G:He goes, okay, let's try it.
Speaker G:And we did.
Speaker G:And he started getting 70s and 80s on the test that detracted nothing from any other student in class.
Speaker G:That little bit of equity and I think we have to really work on that mindset about helping one person or one group of people does not detract from others.
Speaker A:Let's explore that mindset shift.
Speaker A:Duane Chisholm has written a whole book about that.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:How we need to shift that mindset.
Speaker A:Sir, what's going on.
Speaker A:What can you add, what brilliance can you add to this conversation about mindset?
Speaker D:Yeah, I was just, you know, I think someone Opal talked about, you have to have this willingness.
Speaker D:I think we all have blinders, and I think sometimes we're not willing to admit that there are things, quite frankly, that we can't see.
Speaker D:And I think part of what we have to do is really break it down to what looking at each individual kid.
Speaker D:You know, as much as we talk about differentiation and all these different types of things, I seldom walk into classrooms where I see it happening masterfully and well.
Speaker D:And I think we have to get to a point where we're really co creating experiences with kids.
Speaker D:So as much as we talk about these systems and about equity, I think we have to realize who are our schools actually designed for and making sure that we're delivering on that promise of designing it with each kid actually in mind.
Speaker D:And what voice do we need to give to them to actually empower them to help us create and shape the environments?
Speaker A:And what role does leadership play in all of that?
Speaker A:We've had many of you have been principals, you coach principals, you work with principals and teachers.
Speaker A:You know, and when I say, you know, leadership can be teacher leaders, it can be student leaders, it can be principal leaders, the leadership looks a lot of different ways in a lot of different parts of the organization.
Speaker A:But what does it look like when leadership becomes a door opener?
Speaker C:I think it's a combination of what Rich and Dwayne just said in terms of as a leader, I'm not necessarily focused on.
Speaker C:I'm focused on the collective.
Speaker C:But it's not all I see.
Speaker C:I'm asking myself questions about who is not being seen, heard, you know, valued in this space.
Speaker C:And then I'm making shifts and adjustments.
Speaker C:And that being a part of the professional support and learning that is happening with my school staff, that it becomes again that expectation that we are intentionally there to serve the needs of students, that's all students.
Speaker C:And that we are really looking at not only the academic, but the social, emotional welfare of students and how we make those adjustments and embed those supports to help.
Speaker A:We've been saying all students for about three decades now.
Speaker A:Many states have different laws and different, you know, I'm thinking about the requirements in the state that I live in, and they're all different and state to state, but, you know, everybody has continuous improvement plans.
Speaker A:Everybody has all this stuff.
Speaker A:And we say all students will, all students will.
Speaker A:All students will.
Speaker A:And for 30 years, we've met, we've really only met some.
Speaker A:Yeah, we're going to say all.
Speaker A:But you know, if we, if we increase reading by 10%, we're going to be thrilled, really.
Speaker A:I mean, you know, who we leaving in the dust?
Speaker A:So what fundamentally has to shift so that we stop talking about all until we really mean each and every one?
Speaker E:Well, if you think about it, when we look in classrooms or when we look at leaders, it's easier to teach.
Speaker E:It's easier to teach a certain Right.
Speaker E:We look at teachers who teach to the group they're most comfortable teaching.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:Or the student that they were.
Speaker E:It's easier to lead the teacher that they, the principal or if you're a superintendent, the principal that they were.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:It's just easier to lead or teach the person that they were.
Speaker E:You gravitate to who you are.
Speaker E:We have to get out of our comfort, comfort zone to reach the all.
Speaker E:And that's everyone in society.
Speaker E:I'm speaking to myself, right.
Speaker E:We have to lean into discomfort in order to reach all.
Speaker E:And until society as a whole lean into discomfort, we're always going to fall short of the all.
Speaker E:And that's something that theory of teaching up or differentiation, it's something where we don't even truly plan for.
Speaker E:We don't plan.
Speaker E:We, we might write it or use chat GPT to, to, to, to, you know, fake it, but when you see it in practice, it's not there.
Speaker E:We do what's comfortable, we do what's uncomfortable.
Speaker E:We're not there.
Speaker F:I think that's a great point.
Speaker F:You know, we, we ask our students to engage in a productive struggle.
Speaker F:But are we willing to do that ourselves as educators?
Speaker E:Most adults are not, no.
Speaker G:So Grant, you mentioned the states have continuous improvement plans.
Speaker G:And there are these absolute, the last couple decades, these toxic rankings that come up from U.S. news and World Report of the top 400 high schools or this.
Speaker G:My principal used to say all the incentives in that ranking is towards what you do with your top tier kids, how many AP classes, how many this, how many that.
Speaker G:And he said, you know, we took great pride at Fairport and how we did with kids, you know, in some of the lower tiers and their special needs kids and our ENL kids and these kids and that kids.
Speaker G:And you know, we need some metrics that really value that and that recognize growth as well as, you know, meeting standards.
Speaker G:Standards are important, but sometimes growth is more important and we need, you know, we have to find a way to value that and honor schools and teachers and principals that do that.
Speaker C:And I Think that's an important connection, especially to what Kesha just said, that if we're cultivating a culture where growth is the goal, not only achievement and reaching those top tiers, we have to make it safe spaces.
Speaker C:We can't penalize teachers who struggle.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And then all of a sudden they become ineffective and we're moving them out the door without giving them the right supports to try to grow them into being better teachers.
Speaker C:It's the same thing that we equate to teachers and students in classrooms.
Speaker C:If we're not throwing away students per se because they're not achieving as fast as they should, shouldn't there be some type of parallel to what happens with teachers, especially new teachers who come into the classroom and we give them really a really short learning curve.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:We're talking about, you got a year or two to be what we consider proficient in the classroom.
Speaker C:And when they're not, we're looking at ways to get rid of them.
Speaker H:Shavita, that's the same for leaders.
Speaker H:You know, how do we support teachers if those leaders aren't in turn supported?
Speaker H:And then what does that look like at every level of the organization?
Speaker H:And then going back to Opal, mentioning that it's about that desire to want the door to be open.
Speaker H:So coaching individuals within the organization that do desire that can admit, like Dwayne mentioned, that there are some things that are broken.
Speaker H:So all layers of the system have to be working towards that.
Speaker H:Otherwise you're.
Speaker H:You're in this space of I'm going to do what I do within my classroom.
Speaker H:And then going back to what Kesha said about this, okay, as a society, which is just ginormous, what does that look like then?
Speaker H:To ensure that each layer of the organization is ready to do that work.
Speaker D:That's really good.
Speaker D:And I think one of the things I was also just thinking about is I think we also have to.
Speaker D:Thinking about the mind shift is stop treating the conditions that some of our kids go through like a death sentence.
Speaker D:I think we have to stop writing kids off, which is sometimes real easy, that we tend to do that.
Speaker D:We take a look at where we perceive that they come from, and it affects how we interact with them every single day.
Speaker D:And I think part of what systems have to do with is really drill down in the appropriate mindset of the people that we put in front of our kids every single day.
Speaker D:Because you hear kids talk about adults that don't understand and some things like that.
Speaker D:And I think in order to teach kids, you have to know them and so we have to really double down on getting to know who they are and some of the real things that they go through in our systems in order to reach them, in order to do better for them.
Speaker I:I want to dovetail on that Dr. Shisum Grant in powerful student care.
Speaker I:One of the early challenges you make to readers is to understand the difference between all and each.
Speaker I:And when we think about the shift.
Speaker I:What I hear in your call to action, Dr. Chisholm, is to talk and to think about each other student, and to understand how the learner learns.
Speaker I:And a lot of the work we spend our energies as educational leaders on is instructional for good reason.
Speaker I:What are the instructional moves that are going to produce learning results?
Speaker I:But ultimately we have to get close to each learner to understand these aren't empty vessels who are coming into our space and sharing learning with us.
Speaker I:These are human beings rich with experience.
Speaker I:And how do we understand how this learner learns?
Speaker I:How do we help that learner develop the vocabulary so she begins to understand how she learns what she needs to learn?
Speaker I:That shift to me is what is so exciting and powerful about working with teachers, because when we put our focus there, it seems to then release intense amounts of highly productive and useful information that builds upon what that learner is already carrying.
Speaker I:And that requires a lot of work on the part of the practitioner going forward, because you may begin to understand some things, but you don't know them the way you'll need to.
Speaker I:And that's the journey that I'm hearing.
Speaker B:Over the past 30 years, I've been grappling this definition of all.
Speaker B:And all is not universally defined, unfortunately, in several cases in the educational spaces that I've occupied, that all has been subjective.
Speaker B:So as we look at the definition and common language and how we language together through communicative action, how do we develop common understanding words like all, each and every, so that we really are intentional, as Dr. West mentioned about our work, about our expectations, about our goals, and about student success.
Speaker G:I think dovetailing on Mike And Alicia and Dr. Chisholm just said, when I look at districts, school districts in the area that are on the in need of help list, typically there are schools at the elementary and the test scores aren't that bad.
Speaker G:They're doing okay because the student is with that teacher all day long.
Speaker G:And even if he or she sees it like little Mikey, Pipa is not great at math, but boy, we get to English, he's got that, and we start to see not just the deficits, but the strengths.
Speaker G:And I think when we get to know our kids.
Speaker G:When we have kids for that big block of time we know them, it's easier to tap in regardless of the life circumstances and the baggage they come in.
Speaker G:I think at the secondary level, for those of us to see 150 kids a day, one of the systemic changes we have to look at is say, how do we allow those teachers the time to get to know?
Speaker G:Do we do looping classrooms at secondary?
Speaker G:Do we reduce the class load?
Speaker G:Do we have another adult in the room?
Speaker G:And some of those things that will give the beleaguered 10th grade English teacher bringing home 125 essays that she or he can have the time on top of that to try to drill down, which is an essential part of teaching.
Speaker G:And I don't want to make an excuse, but when you have 125 kids in a day, it's a very different thing than when you're with 22 kids all day long.
Speaker A:So we really have to look at, when we look at the discomfort that Kesha was talking about, we have to look at that level of discomfort systemically as well as individually, because our system, none of us are old enough to have created it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Our system is.
Speaker A:There are lots of flaws in that system.
Speaker A:And if we're really going to be successful at this mission, we've really got to really think, rethink, right?
Speaker A:Rethink what this really looks like.
Speaker C:Can I add a thread there?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And not to let it go.
Speaker C:I do get that there is a fundamental difference between having a small group of students as opposed to the rotation of many students.
Speaker C:What I think becomes a common thread is relationship and connection that you don't necessarily have to from an academic lens.
Speaker C:In terms of how well I can differentiate and support 125 students, as well as how can I connect with 125 students to understand that in certain spaces kids don't regulate.
Speaker C:Well, you know, sensory learning is kind of my jam, what I'm passionate about, and that if I don't know that certain spaces dysregulate you, then it is hard for me to even tap into your academic potential.
Speaker C:Because you're not comfortable in this space.
Speaker C:You're not able to, to even discriminate in certain things in this space in order to really open up the door to learning.
Speaker C:And so I do think it's important that from a getting to know you standpoint, I may not know everything about you, but I do need to know some key things about you.
Speaker C:And that's intentional work for every teacher.
Speaker C:Whether they have 25 or they have 125.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:So as we prepare to wrap up this particular episode and get ready to move to the next one, my question is, as we take all of this great conversation, how do we move beyond simply managing this system and truly transforming it?
Speaker A:What do we need to do to truly transform this system?
Speaker A:And I want to start with the inaugural award winner of the ISTIA ASCD Transformational Leader Award winner.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker A:Terry Perez.
Speaker A:What do we do?
Speaker A:How do we transform it?
Speaker J:Well, I think we really have to focus on the culture of the organization within that system.
Speaker J:Right.
Speaker J:It's to what Alicia said, that collective action that we've got to move towards.
Speaker J:And it really happens with exactly what everybody's been saying, those connections that we make with students, but we have to make them with the adults who are doing the work.
Speaker J:You know, when we expect adults to connect with students, we need to be able to connect with the adults as well.
Speaker J:And so at an organizational level, it's about having a mindset shift, right?
Speaker J:This paradigm shift that people are important.
Speaker J:Yes.
Speaker J:The processes, the accountability, that all is extremely elevated.
Speaker J:However, the very first step is how do you create an organizational culture that has the same collective vision, the same shared vision, and that you make that vision be.
Speaker J:How do we reach each and every so that we can get all.
Speaker G:Every school has some really great teachers in it.
Speaker G:I think what we're not great at systemically is scaling that up.
Speaker G:So if you go to a particular school and, you know, this Mr. Pipa's English class kids are clamoring to get in, how do we take Mike's genius and then share it in a way that, you know, I teach in the room next to him for 30 years and we say hi at lunch, but I never actually watch him teach.
Speaker G:And so I think systemically, that's one step is scaling up the gifted people that we have so that we can all kind of learn from each other.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker J:I think it's about, you know, tearing down the walls and stop being competitive with each other.
Speaker J:And you said the right word, share.
Speaker J:Right.
Speaker J:That these.
Speaker J:That this knowledge and how Mike does his English class is valuable and it should be shared, and it can't be kept just within his four walls.
Speaker J:Right.
Speaker J:And how do we, at the building level, at the organization level, honor, you know, the work that he does and elevate him to the.
Speaker J:To the point where he feels comfortable sharing with his colleagues?
Speaker B:I was just going to say, as I'm thinking about what everyone is saying now, that whole idea of with leadership.
Speaker B:I can remember getting this set of keys when I first got my job back in the 90s.
Speaker B:And I'm like, okay, so what am I doing with all of them?
Speaker B:They're like 100 keys, no exaggeration, and you never know what door they open.
Speaker B:And so I realized that it wasn't for me to figure out every key, but to share those keys so we could then figure out what they open.
Speaker B:And so with that, that's what has to happen.
Speaker B:We have to.
Speaker B:You know, you all have talked about culture, but build a culture where those keys are shared and people understand the importance of wanting to open up, having access the doors, the belief that students can and will reach their fullest potential.
Speaker B:And that does start with will and skill of those individuals that are serving those students.
Speaker B:So is it the wheel of wanting to do it, not wanting to do it, belief, culture, you know, or is it the skill that they haven't been coached up enough yet to be able to do it in a way that.
Speaker B:That's proficient, if you will?
Speaker B:So it's not holding on to all the knowledge, is sharing it.
Speaker B:And I think that would make a big difference in the systems.
Speaker B:And you're chipping away at it one.
Speaker B:One piece at a time.
Speaker D:That's a.
Speaker D:That's really powerful.
Speaker D:And one of the things that popped up to me is the skill of listening and action.
Speaker D:I think we.
Speaker D:Sometimes we.
Speaker D:We get people's voice, but we don't always move, and we don't always take it in and do the right things with it.
Speaker D:So I think we have to also be skilled at continuing to get the voice of the voiceless and give power to their voice and actually shape things that actually speak to their needs and show value.
Speaker D:If we're going to transform it, we have to understand what their actual needs and what their challenges are.
Speaker D:So we have to continue to push for that listening and getting that voice so we can get to action that actually makes a difference and make sure.
Speaker B:That all the right voices are seated around the table.
Speaker A:And as we think about each student and we think about where we are as a country, many of our students, many of our.
Speaker A:And it's a growing number every single day.
Speaker A:Many of our students speak a language other than English and at home.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so, Gretchen, how important is language as a doorway to this work as well?
Speaker F:Yeah, I think it's really important to celebrate bilingualism, to send the message that bilingualism is a superpower.
Speaker F:And it's really incredible when a student is able to read, write, and speak in More than one language.
Speaker F:We want to celebrate that.
Speaker F:We want to send the message that, you know, your home language is very valued.
Speaker F:We want you to continue to cultivate that language, use it as a resource and, you know, whatever, whatever we can do to help you to continue to develop it, we want to support that as you continue to learn English as a new language.
Speaker G:Gretchen, when I listened to your episode, I thought of a Vietnamese student of mine, Minh, who was esl, enl, and it wasn't until pandemic and we were in lockdown maybe the third week, and I was roaming my house like, you know, Jack Nicholson and the Shining, trying to find people.
Speaker G:I decided I was going to start texting students to see how they're doing.
Speaker G:And when I got to Min, he was always very good in physics, could do the math, did not say a lot.
Speaker G:He turned like verbose into this Chatty Cathy through text.
Speaker G:And I realized he had much more vocabulary than I had given him credit for.
Speaker G:I just had not yet given him the mode of communicating.
Speaker G:Like, this kid knows language structure.
Speaker G:He is really impressing me.
Speaker G:That was an epiphany.
Speaker G:I'm not an ESL ENL teacher.
Speaker G:And recognizing that we have to give kids opportunities to communicate in ways that show their strengths in whatever way that might be.
Speaker F:Absolutely.
Speaker F:I love that story.
Speaker F:That's great.
Speaker A:So today we've heard that equity is a mindset, language is a doorway, and transformational leadership is the hinge that holds the door open.
Speaker A:But here's the real question, and these amazing people are going to answer it in the next episode.
Speaker A:Once those doors swing open, what do students find on the other side?
Speaker A:That's where we're headed in part two where we'll talk about creating spaces that affirm their identity.
Speaker A:Spaces filled with belonging, humanity, and love.
Speaker A:Don't miss it.
Speaker A:We'll see you next week in the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:And that's a wrap of season 10, episode 10 of the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:A special thank you to these amazing guests and the wheelhouse team, Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa and Dr. Alicia Munro.
Speaker A:We're back in the studio next week with part two of this two part finale of season 10.
Speaker A:Today we heard that equity is a mindset, language is a doorway, and transformational leadership is the hinge that holds the door open.
Speaker A:But here's the real question.
Speaker A:Once those doors swing open, what do students find on the other side?
Speaker A:All seven of our season 10 guests return to the Wheelhouse space together to explore the answer to this question.
Speaker A:Don't miss next week's exciting conclusion to to season 10 we also hope you'll join the Wheelhouse community.
Speaker A:Are you a like minded educator who's committed to open doors and unlimited possibilities for each student?
Speaker A:Then follow Students Matter, LLC on Instagram or LinkedIn, or follow any one of the four of us who are also on LinkedIn.
Speaker A:Subscribe to the Wheelhouse Chronicle on Substack.
Speaker A:Michael's waiting to hear your comments and we're all really excited to continue this conversation with you.
Speaker A:That's thewheelhouse.substack.com or join the curated community, the Wheelhouse Forum, only available at Student Matter's very own Learn Harbor.
Speaker A:That's learnharbor.thinkific.com the Wheelhouse is a production of Students Matter, LLC.
Speaker A:Our show's theme music, Off We Go, was written and performed by Cody Martin and obtained through soundstripe.com stop by our website.
Speaker A:Find out who we are and what's important to us at www.ourstudentsmatter.org.
Speaker A:together, our goal is simple.
Speaker A:Prove to each student and to each teacher that they are both distinctive and irreplaceable.
Speaker A:Until next time.
Speaker A:Remember, we got this.
