Restart Recharge Podcast

208 - Imparting Joy in 30 Seconds

April 26, 2022 Forward Edge Season 2 Episode 8
Restart Recharge Podcast
208 - Imparting Joy in 30 Seconds
Show Notes Transcript

Restart Recharge has previously discussed different ways to create a positive culture on your campus with teachers and administration alike. Today’s episode will reach for the small spaces in our day where we can add a smile, create a positive moment, or impart joy to those around us. From the coach perspective to the teacher role when we engage in these small moments, we are able to help continue the positive culture.

Links mentioned in the show:

Forward Edge Coaches Camp Registration - RRPODCAST for $50 off.

Follow Jill DuBois on Twitter

Follow Annamarie on Twitter

Explorer.org

Hosts- Katie  Ritter & Justin Thomas

Editing Team- Michael Roush & Mark Gumm

Social Media/ Promo Team- Annamarie Rinehart, Lisa Kuhn, Maggie Harris

Creative/Content Team- Brooke Conklin, Emily Cowan, Tracee Keough

Producer- Justin Thomas

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Justin Thomas:

Calling all technology coaches join for an edge this summer for a two day coaches camp packed with high quality professional development exclusively for you. Attendees will work with like minded coaches on creating strategies for teacher relationships, executing coaching cycles and building a culture of coaching and tech integration within their school district. There are two opportunities to attend coaches camp this summer. Join us either June 25 and 26th in New Orleans prior to iste 2022 or in Cincinnati on July 28, and 29 please visit For and hyphen edge dotnet slash coach camp to reserve your spot today.

Katie Ritter:

Aloha I'm Katie Ritter.

Justin Thomas:

I'm Justin Thomas. And this is the restart recharge podcast a podcast by coaches for coaches. We bring you the tips and tricks to help you in your everyday work as instructional technology coach or whatever they call you, your school district.

Katie Ritter:

So hopefully you're gonna leave this episode with us today feeling just a little bit less on your own coaching Island.

Justin Thomas:

Hey, just a friendly reminder, you heard that coaches camp promo to start things off for this episode. If you use the code, our our podcast in all caps, you're gonna get $50 off of your registration. So make sure that you head over there, register and use that our our podcast in all caps. Today we have an awesome episode. We previously discussed different ways to create a positive culture on your campus with teachers and administration alike. Today's episode is going to reach for the small spaces in our day where we can add a smile create a positive moment or impart joy to those around us. So from the coach perspective to the teacher role we are when we're engaging in these small moments, we're going to be able to help you continue to create a positive culture. So we have two awesome guests on today I have the honor of introducing Jill DuBois. On for the first time Jill is an invested elementary educator in Clearwater, Florida. She has taught littles for over 20 years and is passionate about infusing the joy of learning into the daily routine. She uses her authentic voice to foster hope and celebrate equity and empathy. Joe is also a published children's book author and illustrator of several books, and is the founder and optimistic originator of imparted Joy LLC. She believes everyone has a story to tell and enjoys guiding others to spark their stories with confidence. So welcome in Jill.

Jill DuBois:

Wow, thanks. That was quite the introduction. I appreciate that. It's kind of like wow, like it sounds important. But you know, I'm just a regular human being.

Justin Thomas:

That. Yes. Important regular

Jill DuBois:

human being was with extraordinary people. So this is great. Thanks.

Katie Ritter:

And Jill for all of those books just so we can give you a shout out and we can link to them in the show notes. Will you will you say for our listeners the names of all the books that you have authored and illustrated? Sure.

Jill DuBois:

Let's see. The first one was lives seashells and the second one was road to awesome a journey for kids. The next one is look at you Piper, Lou. And the last one is destinies, amazingly different dreams.

Katie Ritter:

There we go. We should have warned you. I don't think I could tell you my full name on the spot. Nervous. So and I feel like we have a little celeb in the room because I know the Piper Lou inspiration is just right next to you. Right? Yes,

Jill DuBois:

she is fully knocked out asleep.

Katie Ritter:

Oh, well, we are glad to have you deal and I have the pleasure of introducing to you. Anna Marie Reinhart who you have heard on the podcast with us before. Anna Marie was an intervention specialist for five years where she worked with elementary, middle and high school students and had to teach all four content areas with a very wide variety of learners. She is now an instructional design coach here at forward edge where she serves a pre K through eight building and one of the largest school districts in the state. She was placed in the school building after the building was awarded a grant for one to one iPads for their fifth through eighth grade students. And now they are excited that the entire building is one to one and she's able to support all staff and students in the building. She is also a Google certified educator, trainer and coach and she serves as a mentor coach for both us here at forward edge and the Verizon innovative learning schools program. So Anna Marie, we are super excited to have you back on the podcast. I feel like it has it feels like it's been a while.

Annamarie Rinehart:

Oh, I'm so glad to be back. It does. It feels like it's been forever.

Katie Ritter:

I know. Well, this is going to be an awesome episode talking about joy and bringing joy because I think we have two of the friendliest faces that we have ever known here and I don't I don't know anyone who is not just gravitate like gravitates to both of you because you're both so kind and always smiling. And I know that gives you a lot of fun stories to tell because people just open up and want to be around yourself. You guys are perfect to be here with us talking about this today. So let's dig in if you're ready. Let's do it. All right, here we go. So an old colleague of mine, I think, for those loyal listeners, you've probably heard me say this before, but her name is Debbie Houser, she is the Assistant Superintendent currently at Middletown City Schools. And she has this saying that I just love so much when we're talking about culture. And I try to remind myself of this, and she says, culture is every interaction with every person, every minute of every day. And I just, I think that is so important to remind ourselves that, and so we know like Anna Marie, from your perspective, one of the biggest responsibilities of a coach is honestly to help shape the culture of the building, right and get people to want to pursue lifelong learning and be excited about what they're doing. And then we also know that imparting joy is something that's not just done by the coach, right, that whole every person from Deb's quote there, but also by teachers as well. Right, Joe? So we'd love to hear from both of you about some ways that you are imparting joy throughout your building in the different roles that you serve.

Annamarie Rinehart:

Sure, well, I can speak to something that kind of happened super recently. So our school culture, I would say is really great, actually, where where I am, but you know, the last two years have taken a toll on everybody, teachers, students, families. And so I was actually really happy when the principal asked me if there was anything I could think of, for our most recent staff professional development day, just to kind of, like you said, bring a little bit of joy, like, remind everybody why it is like why we do what we do. And so that's always fun when he asks me to do something like that, because then that means I get to just like, focus on working with kids for maybe a couple of hours that week. And so what I ended up doing was just kind of, like, sneakily pulling kids out of class. And I just told the teachers like, Don't worry, like, what, I'm just going to borrow them for, like five minutes in the hallway, we'll be right back. And I asked them, like three questions. First, I asked them, what they love about their school. Then I asked them, what they love about their teachers. And then I also asked them, what are some of the things that their teachers say? Or do that make them feel really good? And in order to kind of keep it anonymous, you know, I just scrubbed the video, and I just kept their voices, which was really, really cool. Because then, you know, nobody felt like, oh, my gosh, she only talked to this grade level, or, you know, of course, she picked that kid or anything like that. And it was totally anonymous. Nobody knew what grade level these kids were from, because I went all around the building. And I made sure to keep it pure, like, Kid also because it like if a kid goes on if there was one student that's like sticking out of my mind that I'm like, you know, when your teachers do X y&z Like, how does that make you feel? And he's like, happy, happy, happy, just happy. And so like, I kept I also knew I was gonna go back and and add subtitles. And so like typing that out, just seeing it come across the screen was so funny, and it made everybody in the cafeteria laugh just that one part. But I just think it was a really good reminder for teachers of all the things they do that their kids love, and that means so much to them, even if it's just like, you know, a kid wrote a story. And the teacher stopped in the middle of class to let us all hear it, you know, like that teacher may have forgotten that that even happened. But that was one thing that I thought was a pretty late lift on my part and really, really impactful and just kind of brightened everybody's day a little bit. Now they can watch that whenever they want. I love that

Katie Ritter:

so much. I didn't even I should have known myself. I should have known I was maybe gonna get a little weepy I was funny stories. I love happy tears.

Justin Thomas:

Subtitles that would have been fun to

Katie Ritter:

chill. What about you

Jill DuBois:

know? Well, you think about you know, your own culture of your school. And I know you guys see so many different schools and when you are in the same school day after day after day after day for the 170 of the day in a row, right? I mean, it's like you've got to shake things up a little bit. It gets pretty routine, pretty mundane and it really at this point of the year. I mean, you think So we're in the fourth quarter, we're almost to the end. But you know, everybody's tired. Everybody's frustrated. This is always my very favorite thing. And I've done this for the past 10 years, and it has worked like a charm every single year. But I go on explorer.org. And there are a pair of bald eagles, there's a male and a female. And they have a live webcam from Dakota, Iowa on these eagles, and eagles come back their mates for life, they come back to the same nest every single year. And it's about February, which is perfect timing. Because that's, you know, when we're all just so tired, right? And everybody's so like, I want to say like, negative but yeah, I'm gonna say negative because everybody's just negative. Everybody's just like, ready. You know, for the end, we've been with the same kids, the same people, the same colleagues, the same peers anyway. So anyway, you can watch this webcam 24/7, we call it nest flicks. I know isn't that. So we call it Netflix. And I send out just a mass email to everybody. And I'm like, hey, the Eagles are back. Mom and dad, they're here, they're going to lay their eggs, approximately February 25. You guys keep watching. And it is a process it you start from when you first see them, get back to the nest. And they're so loving just watching their relationship and watch how they interact with each other and build the nest together and fluff it back up and put all the things in it that need to be in it to keep those eggs warm. And then I mean, then they lay their eggs, they lay between one and three eggs. Well, this season, they've laid two. So this season of Netflix, we are watching you two eggs, right. And I mean, we just make a big deal out of it. And I kind of update with emails every once in a while. But yesterday, the first egg pit, so it means it got a little crack in it has a little hole in it, it's getting bigger, and within 15 or 30 hours, they're going to have a new little baby. So we've talked about it, everybody is so excited about it. And we each poker heads, I mean, we've got spare computers, everybody's got either an iPad or computer and everybody's got a monitor up watching these birds. And it's fascinating because not only is it something we're doing as a school, but it's something that we're doing with the kids. And there is so much to teach them. There's so much to teach them about birds of prey and about what they're doing and how they mate for life. And they come back to the same nest and they lay their eggs and why do they sit on those eggs? How do they not break? How does you know why is it so deep? Those I mean, those nests are eight feet wide. And it's just fascinating. So, you know, we're all so excited today, like this is just the perfect example. Because today, we were so excited. And we were on pins and needles hoping that this little egullet would hatch and it didn't happen. So I you know, we've said Alright, go watch it at home, because there's going to be babies. And everybody's just so excited. It's so come Monday, right? It's our state testing week. But uh, well, we're excited about the Eagles. And there's something very calming about them, you know, my students are second grade. But whenever they see, you know, they Eagles change places, the mom and dad, they shift and one goes and hunts and one comes back with food and you watch them drop their crop. And I mean, it's just amazing the things that we've learned scientifically. And you know, the kids will all just stop. I mean, if I'm in the middle of a lesson and something happens, I'll just be like, Oh, everybody stop. And it's quiet. And we watch and it's almost like there's an instant calm in our classroom. So not only is it educational, that it's classroom management,

Katie Ritter:

that these eagles would be classroom management strategies.

Jill DuBois:

And it's just, it's just a beautiful thing. So you know, bringing nature into our classroom, really over the past 10 years in that district classroom, but it expanded now until into other classrooms and the office staff are now watching and you know, so it's just really cool. There's a cool time it's usually about a month or two time period. So I love that

Katie Ritter:

I love kind of like the two very different approaches like Annamarie you are really focused on like, Hey, let me remind you of like the good work that you're doing, which is like incredibly important. But then Joe, I love your approach to which is like hey, not there is more to life than just like testing and what we've got going on here at school so let's sometimes it's just fun to get everybody around on the same topic where we can have common conversation and like break bread together over this topic and different things. So I kind of love the two examples that you both shared that are both very different in their focus, but it sounds like both equally as powerful and just like giving a laugh giving a common thing to talk about and especially at a time of year when like Jill like you said it really you know, there's no beating around the bush. It's needed right like especially over these last couple of years. So awesome, thanks for sharing those awesome examples.

Justin Thomas:

Well, this I mean, that really was a how, you know, a small impact made a larger impact, I mean that you just take right over what to what we are going into. But is there any other larger impacts that your small actions of joy might have had on school culture? So you both gave really good examples? Was there anything else that maybe comes to mind that just kind of a small little segment turned out to have kind of an avalanche into a positive snowball effect?

Annamarie Rinehart:

Yeah, there's a couple of things that come to mind for me. You know, I think, as a coach, in one school building, I not only get to know the teacher super well, but I get to know the kids pretty well, too, which is awesome. And there are infamous children in every school building, right? Like the ones that are just kind of tricky, or that are like super duper chatty. And I know who they are, too. And so I always try to look for like really good things that those kids are doing. Because I think sometimes those kids that are just a little bit more challenging, you know, it's, it's easy to fall into a trap of just like feeling frustrated by them, like, I did it as a teacher, I think every teacher has been there. And so I always try and almost kind of seek out those kids. Like, if I go into a classroom for an observation, like, I'm going to sit next to them. And I'm going to like, help try and keep them on task. And then I'm going to go tell the teacher like how well they did just to try and, again, create a little bit of positivity, there's one friend that I'm thinking of who I ran into the hallway, probably like five or six times this week, and I'd be like, Fancy seeing you here. And he'd be like, great to see you, too. This kid is like eight. And then I was like, on my way up to the, you know, I was waving my badge in front of the elevator, he's like, You better go catch a ride. And like, he's so funny. And so I immediately like, texted his teacher and I'm like, he is just a friendliest kid, like I he just like, makes me smile. So just kind of trying to again, like highlight those kinds of trickier kiddos or maybe even give them a little bit of joy, because I'm sure sometimes they get frustrated if they're like, super impulsive, too, and have a hard time controlling their bodies or, you know, not talking too much. And then the other thing that I kind of wanted to mention is not something I've done, but Jill, what you said actually reminded me of it. One of the reading specialists that I work with, who also happens to be the testing coordinator for the school. So she's got a lot going on right now. She has tried superduper hard to prepare kids for the test, but also give them like an authentic audience for the test. Because she's like these, these kids are writing these pieces for for nobody like they don't they don't have a person to write to. So she asked me if I help her create a testing lady that they can refer to and have a visual of. So I used Canva to make a testing lady and we printed her out, we hung up on the board. And I even took like the state testing logo and put it on her laptop. And so now they have like an authentic audience. And it's kind of like a jokey thing with the kids. So I thought that was pretty cool. Just like something so small, so small, but it made a huge difference, because now the kids have an audience. And she's this real person.

Katie Ritter:

It's like the test Elf on a Shelf. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Annamarie Rinehart:

And she's in all the classrooms that this reading specialist is in right now. So everybody knows the testing lady. She looks very friendly, too, which I think is helpful.

Justin Thomas:

You designed her? Well.

Jill DuBois:

That is awesome idea. Oh, my goodness, I might have to come up with that like before Monday. Wow. Yeah,

Katie Ritter:

I can share with you. Yeah. Awesome. We might need a link that we can put on the show notes. Yeah,

Annamarie Rinehart:

totally. I can do that.

Jill DuBois:

Well, what I think of, you know, kind of adding on to those things. Yeah, specifically, you know, in the classroom? Or let me let me I have two examples as well. So in the classroom, you know, I you always have those kids who are the kids that are bored. Because that are like, what do we do when we're done? That's like that vein question, right? And it just like you cringe when you hear it, what do I do when I'm done? Like, oh, and I, you know, I got to that point where I was so tired of saying, Go and go read a book, go draw, go do this, go do that. And since I have learned how to use so many new and fun and interesting and engaging tech tools, and credit to my edu badge, knowledge because honestly, three years ago, I wouldn't have done any of that. And now that I have all of those tools in my toolbox. I have never seen kids come more alive by being able to use some of those things that I've learned and I've been able to implement them into their own learning So one example is Book Creator, Book Creator is a very simple, easy to use platform where kids can actually make their own books digitally. So it's really interesting, because when I started, you know, this year, I'm like, I don't know if these kids are gonna get it, right. They're all over the place. But you know, we just have to have that patience, we just have to have that positivity. That optimism that, you know, all we have to do is show them, we just need to model it for them. Let's show them how to do it. And I wonder what they can do? Well, it didn't take but maybe two weeks into the first of the school year, before we started using Book Creator. And now when my kids are like, What do I do with it? They don't ask, right? They don't even ask, What do I do? When I'm done? They know that when they can get when they're finished, they have something that they're working on. And usually it's a book on Book Creator, or it's a video on Flipgrid, or it's something else, but their book creators are amazing. You've got kids, and um, they're like, Well, what do I write about? What do I make a book about? I'm like, anything you want? Or like, what anything I want? Well, that's appropriate for second grade. And they're like, oh, okay, so but I mean, I've got kids who write books about pets, about animals about with a rainforest, about roller coasters about the ocean. And it's like, I didn't give them those ideas, they had those ideas, they're things that they wanted to know more about. They wanted to research and investigate. And now they're making their own little books. And you really can do so much with that I send the links to the parents. I mean, they and they're so excited, and they are so confident and their, their level of just joy is through the roof, because they've done something by themselves. They're not sitting in a corner reading a book, they're putting their mind to use, they're putting their skills to good use, and they're excited about it. So and you know, at first we had the problem of them rushing through their work so that they could get to them. That's a learning curve. But you know, but they like to tattle on each other. So it's like, Ah, he's not done yet. But he's a Book Creator, like, okay, all right. Yeah. So they did, they became very accountable, very responsible in a respectful manner with each other. But that's just an example. Another example is, Joe, let

Katie Ritter:

me stop you before you share the other example. Because I just want to say to everyone listening to press pause, acknowledge this timestamp. Go back a minute or two to when Joe first started sharing this example. And if you missed it, when she said it, she teaches second graders. Okay, so for all of our primary teachers, or elementary teachers are folks who doubt what young kids can do. Jill just gave you a recipe for improving that classroom and embedding technology in a meaningful way. And you can share that clip with them somehow. So sorry. Thank you, Jill. Your second example,

Justin Thomas:

you're allowed to move on.

Jill DuBois:

I'll add on a little bit to that, because like, I was not an expert in any of those, right. I mean, I just had the basics, because I earned the micro credential. And I knew you know how to get them started. But believe me, like, they were the ones that figured out, Hey, you can change the font. How you can change this color. Oh, you can make it smaller. You can add pictures. You can add video. Oh, now you can add Bitmojis Oh, my goodness, you can add Canva I mean, like, they teach me what I can add to Book Creator. So yeah, give them I mean, you give them a little bit and boy, they'll run with it. So the other thing, okay, so I really try and not be like too serious around the school. And I feel like you know, when we have our kids walking in a straight line down the hallway, you know, get on the tight rope. Yeah, hands yourself hugs and bubbles, whatever you do with kids or even you know, I don't know, high schools, middle school. I'm sure it's a little bit different. But Elementary. I mean, it's always like teachers are always trying to keep their kids in a straight line. And you know what, who cares? Who cares if they're in a straight line? And I remember my kids in my classroom. I'm like, All right, everybody lined up. Okay, when you get in the hallway, you're going to walk like a ninja. And they're like, walking ninja. And so every day there's some different way we walk down the hallway, so that they don't you know, they've got some freedom. Let them be themselves. What other way to express a joyful attitude and optimism and positivity than letting IDs be who they need to be walking down a hallway. You Ha, they have to be quiet, right? They can't shout, he can't touch each other. They can't. But they can walk however they want to walk. If it's not in a straight line, it's okay. And I have teachers that go, that will look at us walking down the hallway. And they're like, why are they? They're quiet, what do you do, and I'm like, I just let them walk. However they want to walk, they don't have to walk in a straight line. They can skip. They can march, they can butt kick, they can do whatever they need to do right? themselves. But it works. You know, it's just things that you don't think or think you just got to be serious, and you gotta be like, they're not going to respect you. They will respect you, if you let them just have a little bit of space.

Katie Ritter:

I love that. What an easy thing to do.

Annamarie Rinehart:

I know and now I want like, you have Netflix. Now I want like, walk in the hallway wine flicks, because I live footage. All walking, like different ways. I have this picture in my head and it's hysterical.

Katie Ritter:

I also want a video of to go back in time when you told the kids that they can make a book about anything they want to see their excitement.

Justin Thomas:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Especially because that gives them a you learn something to about them about what their interests are. And you can even build the connections and relationships that way too.

Jill DuBois:

We do a little bit of a, I don't know, like economic kind of classroom management, we have little economic thing, where they earn, they earn certain things and they trade them in Well, one of the little things they trade in their money for is our coupons and their coupons are showing towels. And believe it or not what they want to show and tell. Or their books, like they don't bring in things from home, they don't bring in, you know, whatever remote control car, they want to read their books to their friends. So they pull up the book on Book Creator, and they get to show it on the big SMART Board. And that's their show until they pay for that. So, you know, again, that's just something that is built up their self esteem and built up their confidence level in something that they can do. I have a one of my kids is he's kind of a lower level learner and he doesn't write very well. So he's like, can I talk text? And in my, in the words into my book, I'm like, Yes, please do. And he, you would have thought you would have given him a million dollars that he didn't have to sit there and write something out by hand because it was so hard for him. But he's got it's a great book on oceans and ocean life. So it's just fun. It's fun to see their personalities. It's fun to see what they are interested in. And then they share it with others. And yeah, it's been a great year.

Katie Ritter:

Here I am getting weepy out again, remember to

Justin Thomas:

keep the wheat the wheat count. As we go through this podcast, we flicks right we've got Netflix we got the walking down the hall flakes now we got wheat flakes here. But Jill talking a little bit more about Book Creator. And books. Obviously you got little authors here in your classroom, but you yourself are an author and your publishing company is called imparted Joy LLC. So how is your writing brought that impact of importing joy to your students and maybe other littles that aren't in your school district that are reading your books? And how did you come up with a name to for your publishing.

Jill DuBois:

It actually was the name for the publishing company was actually a hashtag that I just started using on Twitter. Okay. And I thought, you know, it just wanted something different. And it was like in part, and then Ed was in capital letters for education in part Ed joy. So and it was just, you know, you found your, we found a little group on Twitter that just kind of became my little community. And they were the ones that kind of, you know, kind of helped me build up my own confidence and my voice and to speak and to write and to do all the things and that's how that all started. But I do like to say that I don't call myself like an author and an illustrator. I like to say I'm a storyteller that writes and draws, because that's actually what I'm doing. I mean, the stories and when I read my stories to my kids or I read them to other schools or other classrooms, you know, I like to tell the process of how it all gets started. It's not just, Hey, I have an idea. Let's write a book. You know, no, we there's so many steps to it. You you do a heart dump, right you think about the things that are important to you, your family or your friends or experiences or you know, special things in your life or pets and, and then you kind of just, you know, you just put it all together. Eventually it all comes together doesn't have to there's no right or wrong in telling a story and sharing a message. But I think everybody, including children, especially I think have a message to share. Everybody's been through something different. Everybody has a day France story to tell. So it's just kind of like how do you want to get there? I love to model that for them share that with other even adults and aspiring authors who want to do that, because I think it's just so important that we use our voice.

Justin Thomas:

That is awesome. And if you were, you know, on Season One, the finale Michael said everyone's got a story to tell. So Mike Ross has tells you know, everyone's got a story to tell and Jill's telling your story through the illustrations and the publishing there, which is just awesome.

Katie Ritter:

Yeah, well in jail, I paraphrase it, I think it might have it was on our first seat or first episode of season two or FTTC recap when they were talking about Dr. J, the bus driver? Oh, yes, yeah. And his moments of joy. And so I paraphrase what you said at dinner, that very first night when you were talking about happiness, happiness, first joy, but I feel like coming straight from the source might be a little bit more powerful than my butchered attempt at trying to capture your sentiment. So would you would you mind? Do you remember what I'm talking about? Would you mind to share that real quick?

Jill DuBois:

It's kind of like my I call it my megaphone moment. Because that's like, what I like to really share is the difference between happiness and joy is happiness. Yeah, it's a feeling. But it's a fleeting feeling. It's not something that sticks around. Because there are so many things that can change our happiness within a few seconds, or moments, but when you have joy, joy is that internal satisfaction, of hope and peace that you have that's kind of in your soul and in your spirit. And it's not something that can be taken away, right? Even if you have the hardships and the valleys, you still are going to be able to find something that will give you that little spark of hope, or that little spark of something that can keep you going or pull you up out of it. And it's something that needs to be cultivated something that has to be it's a discipline, it's definitely not it's going to be there. Yeah, it's there. But you need to make sure that you are feeding it and helping it to grow.

Katie Ritter:

I love that. We'd count up to three I think a little bit but anyway, that will be perfect for the next question. I'm gonna ask.

Justin Thomas:

Oh, yeah, and Jill was two for two guys being put on the spot and just coming up yeah. Hey, we're gonna take a moment's break the listen from our sponsors, but we'll come back we'll have a little more on imported joy. Looking for a program that reaches all teachers in learning new tools to integrate in their lessons, and you badges is the answer. And she was in anytime anywhere badging program that is designed to take bite sized tools for instruction and teach teachers how to use them as she has received the SDC of alignment for Educator Standards. And each patch in our expanding library is aligned to the ISTE standards and the Samer model. Learn more about the program that teachers call addicting and for hyphen edge dotnet backslash and you badges. Instructional Coaches support teachers, students, administrators, and really everyone in the district. In fact, research shows instructional coaching is one of the most impactful forms of professional development that results in improved teacher instruction and student achievement. But who is supporting the coach Ford Edge provides multiple year long mentorship options recommended by the Google for Education certified coach program. To help you gain the valued support you need as an instructional coach, visit Ford hyphen edge dotnet to start getting PD to the ultimate PD providers.

Katie Ritter:

Welcome back. Thanks for sticking with us. We are here. Katie Ritter and Justin Thomas host of restart recharge. And we are here of course with Anna Marie Reinhardt and Joe Dubois talking about imparting Joy we're getting all up in our fields here. So we just ended before the break. And Jill was really sharing the difference and I love the way that you describe that Joe about kind of the difference between happiness and joy and I think that really does hit home that like happiness based on what happens right like you get one email that is just seems nasty you have one person not respond to you in the way you think that they should like in the hallway right like that can change your direct happiness that day, but that overall joy I love it so much so so kind of thinking like you guys have talked about all these amazing ways that you are sort of creating joy and these moments that are just really contributing to a really positive culture across your entire buildings. But so thinking about like, on the flip side, like thinking about how have you individually been impacted? To kind of help you have more of this like joyful spirit because I would very much describe both of you that way of just having like a very joyful spirit. You know, I think I think it's always so evident when you know, Matt, for both of you when you're in a room, everyone else is happy and everyone else is smiling and everyone else is in a good mood and I I would you know be remissed To think that it is not in part because of you know, you and the joyful presence that you both bring. So, but that's not to say that like you both aren't sad or angry or grumpy sometimes, right? Like you're human beings. So thinking about all of those things that kind of lead you to have that more larger positive outlook and being able to have the optimism and to see the bright spots throughout the day, and maybe where other people don't see the bright spots, or, you know, the bright people where other people don't see these people as, you know, bright people in the building. So, with your own experience, what are some things that have happened, whether small or big, that have really kind of changed your outlook, either on like, a long term scale, or just kind of in the moment?

Annamarie Rinehart:

I think for me, you know, it's all about perspective. Because, you know, yeah, like you said, Katie, I mean, of course, there are days that were like sad, or like, I don't feel my best. And I'm just like, really tired, and I don't really feel like I have all that much like, joy to give. Honestly, working in schools and being around, you know, just other people who, you know, like, everybody has their stuff going on everybody. And, you know, I feel like the the students that I get to work with have kind of an unfair helping have stuff going on at home. And, you know, of course, it's not the whole school, but just think that keeping that in mind really helps me and gives me that like, boost to try and stay positive. I also think that I am really lucky. And that teachers that I work with, recognize when I'm trying to kind of throw them a lifeline or like, give them a little bit of a boost. And they recognize that and thank me for it. Like, I got a text message yesterday from the teacher who had asked me to come in, like twice a day, every day this week to help her students with the project. And I was like, Yes, I would love to do that. i That's like one of my I love working with the adults. But when I get to work with kids, it's like, you know, just really great. So when in even kind of helped with projects that were ending, kind of overlapping the time I was supposed to be there. So I got to help with like social studies and language arts. And it was so fun. And she just took the time to send me a text message. Like, thanks so much for being here. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Like, your smile helps, you know, all this like wonderful stuff. And she did it because she was like, I know you're not normally here on Fridays, and I didn't get a chance to tell you. So like I know, I'm not going to get to see you before spring break. Like it was just so kind. And I think it is just like other people taking just a couple of minutes to do something like that, like that made my entire week like that was so nice for her to just say thanks. And then something that I think is really cool that our principal has done is he does like staff and students shout out so people can send in that they fill out a Google form of like a person that they've like caught doing something really great or that aligns with one of the school's kind of mantras and I remember one time someone filled one out for me and I was like kind of embarrassed because I don't really like that much attention. But it was really nice to hear my name, like shout it out over the announcements and like I don't know who did it, but it was so cool and so nice. But one thing that kind of came to mind as we were talking about all this was we were lucky enough to go to the McColl conference a lot of us last week. And everybody on the team knows how excited I was to see the keynote speaker from game may have talked about it a little bit too much. But he's just so funny. So he kind of talked about

Katie Ritter:

Emery say his name again, just in case anyone

Annamarie Rinehart:

know Dombroski. So if you follow him on social media, it's Mr. D times three, like spelled out T im E S. Three. And so like brief background, he's a teacher turned comedian. He's kind of done both. And now he is like, mostly a comedian, but still subs every once in a while. And he's like, super passionate about recognizing the hard work that teachers do. And like how important teachers are just in general. So anyway, to kind of make a long story short, the, the school culture was something that like one of his sisters was really struggling with, particularly with behavior concerns. And so he talked about how he met with admin and they've really looked at when most of these like discipline referrals were happening. It was like tons of them were happening during lunch. And so he is a very like, fun, creative, outgoing person and he decided he was going to do something called lunchtime DJ or cafeteria DJ or something. And all it was is kids that were recognized for doing what they were supposed to be doing in the cafeteria. Were basically given a ticket or something that was put into a box. And then they pulled out a name. For a kid. I think it was maybe once a week to be the lunchtime DJ. I think it was Fridays. Yes, yeah. And so, you know, it started off with just like a laptop and a speaker. And then eventually a parent built him like a DJ booth with he said, like, LED lights. And it was crazy. Cool. And I just think, you know, sometimes doing things like that, that could maybe be like, kind of embarrassing. He was like, up there. I mean, he doesn't seem to get embarrassed, but he was like, up there dancing with the kids and stuff like that would be really hard for me to do. But I think sometimes pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone to just to kind of make someone's day a little bit brighter. Can can be a really cool thing. And I believe he actually talked about that. On his podcast, he has a podcast called the Social Studies podcast. So if you weren't at McCall, or you've never seen him talk, I'm pretty sure you can find that story on his podcast, it was really cool. And it turned things around really, really fast. So

Katie Ritter:

yeah, I loved it. And he talked about some like, bonus, you could also win like a dance party to have a friend up for a dance party. And he was like, little kids will do anything for dance party. And I'm like, so we'll lie.

Annamarie Rinehart:

Like, he was up there, like mimicking the dance moves of like a second grader, and she does a cartwheel. And he's like, oh, yeah, I'm not gonna do that. He didn't even know he was like, doing everything she was doing is so funny.

Jill DuBois:

What was the question again?

Katie Ritter:

How I know, right, lots of story. So we are looking for how have things that other people done impacted you, right? So maybe in your, like human moments where maybe you are upset or frustrated, what have been the little things that have made a difference for you to kind of bring you back to that focus and that joy,

Jill DuBois:

you know, I will have to say that it's my kids. They, if you know, your kids, they can read you like a book. So you know, it's not always we're so self contained, that sometimes we only see our kids throughout the day, or when we're transitioning, you know, we might see another colleague or appear. And that's just such a brief, you know, exchange, and it is great to see other teachers and administrators and to pass each other and say, Hey, how's it going fist bump. But there is nothing like your kids who know you and know you enough to when you are having a really down day, or they can see it in your face. Or they can just see it in your body language. And they came they come up to you and just put their hand on your back and say, Hey, are you okay? Are you alright, Mrs. Dubois? What can I do for you? I mean, to have a seven or eight year old do that is like, whoa, wait a second, it just makes you do a self check. You know, and like you say, like Anna Marie said, it's like, you know, we are all on our different journeys, we all have so much stuff going on. And we don't always know that we're expressing it or that we're projecting it out of our voice or body language or facial expressions. But when kids know, and then they respond that way. There is just nothing like that. I mean, you've just feel it down in your heart. So I have one little girl especially she kind of sits close up to the front because she needs to have some preferred seating, but she always

Katie Ritter:

liked that terminology. For seating. Yeah.

Jill DuBois:

She said preferred seating. And she sits up front and she, whenever she hears my voice change if I am like, they're feeling some frustration, my voice does change very often. She's like, speak in your English in your English accent. Like what? She goes, Yeah, speak with your British accent. Oh, and think about Piper, Lou. And think about shopping at Nordstrom Rack. Okay, yes, I think that I will. Thank you very much McKenzie, makes me feel so much better. And things like that this kid knows, my goodness, all I need to do is think about my dog and shopping and speaking in a British accent to make me feel better. So it's those little moments. I mean, my goodness, just like Mr. D, I'm sorry. I mean, it's the little things that make you mo snap out of whatever it is that you are feeling and break that break hold of whatever it is that's tying you down and just kind of go get it back in perspective, right? Life is not, you know, yeah, you've got a lot of stuff going on. You got a lot of ish, and you're gonna get home and deal with it too. But while you're here, and you're in front of these sweet Sweet bases, my goodness, just just let it go.

Katie Ritter:

Oh, that is super sweet. So for all of our coach listeners that are like, I don't have these kids every day to remind me of my British accent. Go back and listen to Mark's episode we had Mark gum on and he was talking about student centered coaching and ways that he finds opportunities. As a coach to stay and get connected with kids and Annamarie I feel like you've given so many great tips on how you do that as well, in the coach role. I think it was the second or third episode from our second season. You know, it's called student centered coaching, if you go back and look for it, but he'll give you some more tips on top of all the things that Annamaria have given you. So then maybe you can have some of those go to kiddos, to help you bring you back like Jill is saying,

Justin Thomas:

Yes, let's go to kiddos are always so important. And talking about tips, as you very well know, we all did, he did a great job setting me up for that. As you know, we always finish our podcast episodes with our top three tips. So Anna, Marie and Jill, what are your top three tips for imparting joy?

Annamarie Rinehart:

Okay, so I would say the first one that comes to mind is like, lift others up, because that's going to probably make you feel better, to like I love tweeting about cool things that are happening in the school, it gives me joy. And I know that when those teachers see my entire Twitter feed on all those TVs, like shouting them out, that makes them feel really good, too. So that's, that's one way I would say like build up others, because it's probably gonna make you feel really good to. I mean, it's really hard not to talk about the kids. So I would just say like, say, remember, remember who you're doing this job for, I think it's really hard to kind of stay in a negative place when you think about the the students that you see every day, or maybe if you're a coach a couple of times a week, but just trying to focus on that I think really helps keep you positive. And then I would say like, just take care of yourself, do what you need to do to stay positive. If it's listening to a funny podcast on your way home are like, I don't know, like taking a walk with your dogs or something like take care of yourself. Because if you're running low on that positivity, it is going to affect others. It just is because like Jill said, even itty bitty second graders can tell. So I think, you know, a great way to impart joy is to take care of yourself so that you can continue to be that positive person for those around you. And especially little ones if you're around them too.

Katie Ritter:

Awesome.

Jill DuBois:

Oh, yeah, I like those, I want to throw one of those down. So I you know, for myself, I think probably my top three would be, be human, be approachable. And be funny, because, you know, kids love humor. But the first one be human, you've just got to be yourself. Being joyful is an attribute of being human. Let kids know you not just about you. kind of figure out your starting point, be approachable, let them know that they can come to you whenever they need you. And that kind of works. Not even just outside of the classroom to I think just in general in life, be human, be approachable, be funny. And you also throughout that you have to you've got to listen, you know, when we know we're not all naturally funny, I'm not funny. But I love to use ongoing dialogue, to invest in connecting with students. So sometimes it comes out funny, and I don't even know it and then they laugh and I'm like, Oh, I guess that was funny. So don't you make me laugh? I think you just you know, find out how human your classroom should be in order for your students to grow. So be human, be approachable, be funny.

Katie Ritter:

Love it good tips. And then, um, what both of you liked we don't normally do this. We always link it in the show notes. But I feel like maybe we should start actually having people say it on the podcast. Do both of you want to share like any social media handles or anything that like, you know, listeners, if they want to connect in follow you that they would like to do. Jill, we'll start with you and then you know where you can share too?

Jill DuBois:

Sure. I'm always on Twitter at Gil Dubois 22 And if you can't find me there you can seek me out on my website imparted joy.com

Katie Ritter:

Great and will you spell your Twitter handle joy or jail? Joy, Joy

Jill DuBois:

No, it's Gil. J. I ll DB Elias 22.

Katie Ritter:

Awesome. Thank you. And then Anna Marie.

Annamarie Rinehart:

Yeah, so you can find me on Twitter at Mrs. Reinhardt one and there are like 80 billion ways to spell my last name. So if M R S, R I N E H A rt t one.

Katie Ritter:

Awesome, thanks. So, when you're finished listening here in just a few minutes, be sure to hop over to Twitter to follow these wonderful joy for guests. And I can promise that they will bring you joy in your Twitter feeds when you see what they are sharing.

Justin Thomas:

That's a guarantee. Well, once again, thank you both Anna Marie and Jill for joining us here on imparting joy.

Jill DuBois:

Thanks for having me. Awesome.

Justin Thomas:

Tune in next time for goal setting to get results. So we're going to discuss how you can set coaching goals that will allow you to build success as an instructional coach that's coming in two weeks, so be sure to listen into that. And also you're the information at the beginning of this episode. But please don't forget that we have two awesome coaches camps coming this summer sponsored by great partners including Book Creator and connect hub, and Google for Education. You can join us either in New Orleans in June or in Cincinnati in July so make sure that you register today and use the promo code our our podcast in all caps to get $50 off your registration. You can also use the hashtag Fe camp 22 To find more information on social media as well.

Katie Ritter:

And be sure to subscribe to restart recharge wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at our our coach caste.

Justin Thomas:

And also be sure to reach out to us on social media if there is any topics that you wish to discuss or if you just want to import some joy

Katie Ritter:

we brought in with that press the restart button

Justin Thomas:

recharge your coaching batteries and leave feeling equipped and inspired to coach fearlessly with the restart recharge podcast

Katie Ritter:

A tech coach collective.

Justin Thomas:

Yeah, I was trying to do that.

Katie Ritter:

We're always trying to improve. It sounds really good. Like I know I hear that's why you're on the door.