Ready to set the tone for a successful school year? Join Compass PD's Dr. Carrie Hepburn as she talks with esteemed educator Dr. Natalie Fallert about things to be on a teacher's radar and predictable problems they will face at the beginning of the school year. This episode will arm teachers with the tools to navigate their teaching journey, striking a balance between teaching style, district expectations, and the evolving requirements of students.
Remember planning a road trip before GPS? Think of this episode as your roadmap to a successful school year, albeit with some welcome detours. With Dr. Fallert’s insights drawn from a 17-year teaching career, we'll decode the art of curriculum mapping and lesson planning. The duo underscores the importance of redesigning lessons each year to cater to the new batch of students, shifting focus from just filling time to meaningful, student-focused teaching.
As we wrap up, we touch on the importance of teaching with empathy and genuine care leading to significant progress. How do you make learning inviting? How can we alleviate pressure off teachers and students alike? We cover all these pressing problems with practical solutions. And remember, sharing this episode with your fellow educators brings us closer to our goal of impacting one million students! Buckle up and enjoy this enlightening conversation and start your school year on the right foot!
Ready to set the tone for a successful school year? Join Compass PD's Dr. Carrie Hepburn as she talks with esteemed educator Dr. Natalie Fallert about things to be on a teacher's radar and predictable problems they will face at the beginning of the school year. This episode will arm teachers with the tools to navigate their teaching journey, striking a balance between teaching style, district expectations, and the evolving requirements of students.
Remember planning a road trip before GPS? Think of this episode as your roadmap to a successful school year, albeit with some welcome detours. With Dr. Fallert’s insights drawn from a 17-year teaching career, we'll decode the art of curriculum mapping and lesson planning. The duo underscores the importance of redesigning lessons each year to cater to the new batch of students, shifting focus from just filling time to meaningful, student-focused teaching.
As we wrap up, we touch on the importance of teaching with empathy and genuine care leading to significant progress. How do you make learning inviting? How can we alleviate pressure off teachers and students alike? We cover all these pressing problems with practical solutions. And remember, sharing this episode with your fellow educators brings us closer to our goal of impacting one million students! Buckle up and enjoy this enlightening conversation and start your school year on the right foot!
Hello, dr Carrie Hepburn here from the Compass PD podcast, and today I am excited my colleague, dr Natalie Fellert is joining me for our podcast today. Welcome, natalie, hello, welcome, it's so good to have you. Every time we have you come visit, we receive these amazing reviews from educators. Those are some of our most downloaded and liked podcasts that are out there, so people really relate to you and feel comfortable with you.
Speaker 1:I've been talking the last couple of weeks with our audience about how, at Compass PD, we've been really working hard to find different ways to support educators. We have a big goal of impacting the learning of 1 million students this year for the 2023-2024 school year, and our preferred method of professional development obviously is in-person, but we also offer things like our podcast, our blogs and our on-demand courses to help hit that 1 million student mark. We were talking as a team. How can we help teachers, how can we help administrators? How can we help coaches? Everyone has a different role to play and different things that need to be on their radar at different times of the year and different predictable problems that we're facing, and so we try to work really hard to think about the school as a system and as a team.
Speaker 1:We've been talking about the system that's happening within schools, and you've heard from Dr Brenner, who's talked about getting you ready for the beginning of the school year, for coaches, and you've heard from Dr Meadringhaus, who's talked to administrators about things to have on your radar and getting ready for the beginning of the year. And Dr Feller is going to be joining us the next two weeks to speak to teachers teachers of all levels, from early childhood through high school and I'll be jumping in occasionally with maybe some different thoughts or things like how to tweak it a little bit more for a different level. But know that I am really excited because today we're going to talk to you teachers about what you need to be thinking about at the beginning of the year. So what do you think about that so far, dr Feller?
Speaker 2:So I guess, just I am. I'm super excited because the beginning of the year always brings about those butterflies and that nervousness, but then there's a lot of anxiety and stress that is tied to it and there are those personal expectations that you have as a teacher. But then you have these district expectations that maybe sometimes I'm always aligned with what you think is important. So I can't tell you how many times we have worked with teachers at the beginning of the year and they don't want to be sitting in PD, all they want to do is be in your classroom. And for 17 years I was in the classroom and I really wanted those first couple days was let me get in my classroom, we get my classroom prepared, but then I was being called to these meetings and so if there's anything that we can do or offer to help alleviate some of that back to school stress that happens whether you're a first year teacher or a seasoned teacher, then I am all for helping teachers in that process.
Speaker 1:You have a heart for teachers and your passion is supporting teachers in the hard work that they're doing, and they are in for a treat today, so let's get started. My first question here we are in July. Teachers are getting ready. They either start school in August and some of our schools that we support start in September. They're gearing up for their new school year, preparing their classrooms, the return of students and all the changes that we know a new school year brings. What are some things that they need to be preparing and planning for?
Speaker 2:So I guess, for those of you who don't know, I want you to understand that I am a secondary teacher by trade. I spent 17 years in the high school English classroom and so a lot of my answers might really stem towards that secondary level, but I do think that they are universal and Perry is definitely going to help out. If there is a tweak that ties a little bit better into elementary and speaks to that elementary brain, I hope that she will interject. So when I think about the beginning of the school year, there are kind of two things that every teacher should consider, and that is looking at your planning and what that's going to look like for that first semester, if not the whole year I think the whole year is a little too much to think about but at least that first semester and the routines and I know that I'm going to come back next week and talk about routines, but I do want you to understand that the two kind of coincides a little bit, but today we're going to focus a little bit more on the planning side.
Speaker 2:So in my very first year of teaching, the district that I work for meet me create. So I'm first year out of school, and they were like you have to create a curriculum map, is what they call it, and I had no clue what this was. I didn't. I was just like what do you? What is a curriculum map? And some people might call it a curriculum calendar or a planning calendar, like it might be called something different. Ultimately it was. I took, I went into Word and I printed off a calendar that was August, september, october, november, december. They got me through that first semester and I, in pencil, loosely kind of wrote out what I was going to be doing for that first semester.
Speaker 2:And you definitely want to do it in pencil because it's going to change, it should change, and it was something that at first I thought how am I supposed to know what my kids are doing in December? I you know what I'm going to be doing the first day, and so it did seem a little far fetched, but after I did kind of put everything out in front of me, it was a tool that I used and I left that district after two years and I took that method with me every year and I used it for 17 years in the classroom, because it did give you a starting point and at any point and it gave you a framework. And just as my family just went on vacation, we drove to Florida from Missouri and then we drove all over the place. It was a lot of car and I, but we had a plan and we knew where we needed to be. On certain days we were going to universal. We knew that we had to be there by a certain time and so how we got there or the stops that we took along the way differed. Then it wasn't like extremely mapped out. There was a plan in place and and along the way at some points we had to adjust that plan.
Speaker 2:So that's kind of the first thing that I think about is creating this map, and if you are a content area teacher in that secondary level, then you might be looking at you know just one class like.
Speaker 2:You might only teach sixth grade English, and so it's going to be pretty easy. If you're an elementary class, you're going to have to do this, most likely for math or science, for social studies. You know all of those different content areas and and having different maps. At the high school level, most of our teachers teach ninth grade language arts and AP, lit and creative writing, so they're going to have three maps. Or if they're a science teacher, they might have an honors class and a regular grade level class and they might need two maps. So you just have to kind of think about what that is and it shouldn't take you a long time to create. You should be able to do it fairly quickly because it's the snapchat. Now. That's kind of the first step, but there's a layer to that. So I don't know if you have any questions or you want to ask anything based on that first part.
Speaker 1:Well, I was just thinking from maybe an elementary or early childhood perspective. A semester might be overwhelming when you think of creating. You know reading, writing, phonics, social studies, science, some do health, some do you know, like math, don't I don't forget math, I promise I don't forget math. That's all that can feel like a lot and sometimes, like Natalie spoke about, and we run into this probably more often than not is that teachers have to create this themselves. But check to see if your district has that created already and then you can use that as a starting point. So, just in case that's not available, be ready that you might have to create that, but if it is, it could be a really nice jumping or starting off point for you when it comes to that work.
Speaker 2:I think that that's a huge piece because I didn't really touch on that. But definitely, before you sit down and start recreating the wheel, like, go and ask your mentor or within your district, or look at your PLC, because if you work with a PLC of a group of teachers to say it's all second grade teachers, there might be this, the system that is already created, that it's like hey, this is where all of our second graders need to be by this point, and then you figure out how you get there or these are the units that we teach first semester and the order in which we teach them.
Speaker 2:So I know that I you know, in my own districts when I work or with districts that we worked with in the past A lot of times in English. We will align that to what's going on as social studies and so it's. It is important to kind of look at the big picture of how can we kind of utilize other content areas to create cross content delivery and Show our kids relevance and transfer, because we're working alongside other people. So you definitely want to. It's not something you want to do in isolation, unless you're the only person teaching it, but reaching out and figuring out what is already in place in your district and what those expectations are Now.
Speaker 2:On that note, I think that there is another layer when I think about, like, language arts standards.
Speaker 2:There are a ridiculous amount of language arts standards, but you still, as a teacher, need to figure out what are your priority and if there you know, think about five things, like if there are five things I want my kids to know by December or by the end of the first quarter, what are those five things? And that also should help drive that curriculum map. Is that? Okay, I know I'm doing unit one, which might be over this particular concept, but what in there is the most important, that is going, that is needed, it's a foundational piece that's needed later, or it is something that we have to make sure that we typed on or that they master. And so there is a layer where you have to kind of get a little bit down and dirty and that first snapshot of like what does the big picture of like this is kind of where I want to go. And then you would start layering down we are not saying and create lesson plans for the entire semester.
Speaker 2:So, no, it's a. It's a brief snapshot of this is where I'm hoping to be at the end of the year or the end of the semester. I love this book it's 180 days by Penny Katelyn Kelly Gallagher, and it really breaks down the fact that you only have 180 days of your kids. What are you going to do with them in that 180 days? And it doesn't seem like a lot when you think about 365 days in a year. We only have 180, and then you add in field trips and pep assemblies and snow days and all those other things, and at the very beginning of their book they talk about when they start sitting down and planning.
Speaker 2:They shifted from their first years of teaching to filling time, to spending time, and filling time is less than focused and spending time is student focused, and that, I think, is one of the biggest pieces that I hope that all teachers who are listening take into consideration, that this is not just for new teachers.
Speaker 2:You've been in the classroom for five years or 10 years or 20 years. You should still be changing your lessons, because the kids this year are not the same kids that we had last year and they change and so your, the way you teach and the things that you teach should change alongside your kids. And so when I think about creating that map, if I sit down and I say these are the things I want to accomplish, you know, in this first semester, then stepping back and saying what's historically going on, current events, that could help Make this more relevant or timely. So if it's a year of an election, is there a way I can fold that in? If I'm a math teacher and there's the it's the census year, could I fold that in what is happening in our current reality, in our current world? That could be relevant and immediate things that I could tie in to help with the teaching of that content.
Speaker 1:A couple of things that you touched on I really appreciated.
Speaker 1:There is a difference between a curriculum map and a lesson plan, and I think that's something that people really struggle with when it comes to planning understanding the difference between a curriculum map, a lesson plan and a resource that supports that.
Speaker 1:So I think that could be a whole different podcast that we could just sit and dig into. And then another thing that I love, shifting from filling time to spending spending time. Am I saying that right? And that when we think about spending time with our students and that student focus and in teaching them, we make the curriculum, we make our teaching more current and relevant? That's what I was saying and that increases student motivation and increases engagement of students. And that's something that we do work on collaboratively, you and I in a district right now, building increasing student motivation and engagement and trying in the work that we do is teaching teachers how to make it more current and relevant, and we're seeing really nice gains and results from that. So thank you for pointing those two things out, because I think it's important for people to understand there's a difference in that language and that we need it to be student focused so that we have breath, we have space to make it current and relevant.
Speaker 2:And I was taking some notes on before you and I met because I knew what we were gonna be talking about. One of the things that I kind of wrote down is and this is speaking from experience as a seasoned teacher that sometimes we get in this like I've done this before. I'm gonna rinse and repeat, I'm gonna grab this lesson and redo it because it worked last year, or I've been doing this for seven years, I've been doing it for 10 years and I'm just gonna rinse and repeat this. Well, I caution you to stop doing that. If you are doing it, then you really need to be thinking about like reflecting and redesigning so it doesn't mean that you have to throw everything out, but reflecting on what it is that you did teach, and also taking into consideration the new students that you have in your classroom and redesigning whatever it was that you did before, because I've taught to kill a mockingbird and of my cinnamon for years and I don't think I've ever taught at the same rate once Every year.
Speaker 1:I was like let me try something different.
Speaker 2:Let me try something different. And each year my kids still had a really great understanding of the text, but I did it in a different way and it was also refreshing for me because I then was viewing a text from a different lens and I had to dig in as a student when I would look back at that text instead of just doing it because it was so easy and I'm like, oh, I remember this, I would forget how a kid could struggle with that text. And so when I taught it a different way, I had to look at it through a different lens and look at it from a student's perspective, and that kept me on my toes and kept me responsive to their needs.
Speaker 1:I love that. Dr Kari Hepburn here from Compass PD I am the founder and CEO of Compass PD. It is not uncommon for our organization to hear that we're different than other professional development organizations, and that's something that makes our hearts so happy. Because we are different. Our core value is relationships. We believe that at the center of all learning, it's critical for us to have trusting, positive, transparent relationships with those that we serve. Let's move on to question our next question. As we think about the beginning of the school year and being a teacher, what are some of the predictable problems that we know they're going to face because we face them year after year after year?
Speaker 2:So one, I kind of broke down a couple of different predictable problems that I would think about, and one is you create this map right and you get really focused on. I have to be on this lesson on this day and it made me think about the vacation that I just went on with my family and I can't tell you how many times that I was watching the GPS map on my car and I was trying to decipher the map on my car and I ended up taking the wrong turn or I got lost or not lost really you know what I mean, like, and you would miss a turn.
Speaker 2:And it really made me think about this as well is that you have this map that says this is where I want to be at the end of the year. But sometimes, if we're so focused on that map, we are missing the scenery and the opportunities that are going on all around us, and sometimes that's okay and sometimes it's not okay, and I think about that. It's like we get so focused on that map that we forget to pay attention to our own instincts and our own and trusting our own expertise that there were a couple of times that I was looking at the map and I'm like this doesn't make sense, like it doesn't make sense to be turning here. I don't know why we're doing this, and so I wouldn't follow the map because I knew number one, that it would redirect me, like it would get me back where I needed to go, but instinctually I was like I don't think that this is right, and so that is another layer. There is that you do have this map and it is there as a guide, but don't put so much faith in the map that you forget that you actually are educated and you know what you're talking about and you see these kids sitting in front of you and it's not working and being responsive to that and figuring out. You're going to get redirected back to the map, it's going to be okay, but sometimes that detour is necessary, thank you, thank you for that. So that's kind of one predictable problem and another predictable problem that I this is just something I kind of think about. It also kind of ties into routines.
Speaker 2:Is that when you are, when you're setting forth and you have this, let's say, the school district or your PLC or whatever says this is what you have to do. Right, that's kind of an outline of things you have to do. But you also still have to ask yourself like All right, I know I have to cover this unit or I have to do this concept, but what is it that you also want from your students? Is it that you want them to love math? Is it that you want them to be inquisitive scientists? Is it that you want them to be readers and writers? And so asking yourself, how can I still cultivate this environment in the parameters of that curriculum structure that the district or the PLC set forth?
Speaker 2:And so figuring out ways that you can still add in those pieces is really important, and don't lose sight of that, because that's where you're going to fall in love with teaching is whenever you're kids, those aha moments or when you have cultivated that mathematician or that inquisitive scientist or that reader and writer, and so I even tell people I don't know how much it is at the elementary level, but at the secondary level I know there was always this like formulaic thing on day one and it was like first hour teachers will read pages, blank link of the handbook and so you'd have to read it.
Speaker 2:You know, and I hated that because I think that from day one you should cultivate the expectations you have in your classroom if you want your kids to be readers and writers. Them have read right on the first day those rules. They're going to figure them out like we're going to. They haven't changed in years and we can filter them in. So maybe even on day one thinking about how can I make them love math while still teaching these policies and procedures? And so how do you marry those two together, like your teaching style and personality and your beliefs and values, with the confining that balance is important and necessary.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I'm not sure if you find this, but I know that I find this often is that when you speak with teachers and then administrators and then people at that, like the admin building curriculum, sometimes it people think that they're supposed to do something, but that's not always the same intent or the message, so maybe they think they're supposed to read the script as it is. But it's like here's your standard that you're teaching, here's something you can use to bring that, teach that, but I need you, the teacher, to bring that to life and you can't do that through a script or through a formulaic approach. Do you see that? I see that a lot In elementary. Do you see the same thing in secondary or is? Are they just different beasts?
Speaker 2:No, I do think you know it's like well, I have to teach this, and it's like, no, you don't have to teach that. Like we teach students, we don't teach curriculum. So the idea is that you want kids to understand the rules.
Speaker 2:Okay, as long as they understand the rules, then how you got them there shouldn't matter as long as it's legal, you know like, right, right, how you got them there doesn't matter, and you know that autonomy is that if I'm not good at juggling but I have to teach a kid you know something but you are good Like I can't say, do it a different way, Can't they show them a different way to get there? I don't have to use your same exact method, I guess. So, yes, I do agree that too often people hear something and they're like I'll have to do it with this one, Like no, you don't, you just have to get to that goal and there's different ways to get there. So, like another predictable problem that I want to quickly touch on and this could be its whole other, like a whole nother podcast and that is when you're looking at this curriculum map and you're planning it out, you're probably thinking like where am I going to be taking grades? What am I assessing? That type of thing and this is definitely something to it can become a problem, and it's because if you're grading something every single day, you're not going to be able to keep up.
Speaker 2:And so figuring out or being cognizant or you know of what are ways that I can take feedback or give feedback to students, that is quick and timely, but it doesn't necessarily always have to be a grade. And when am I going to do that grade? And I really am looking at this from kind of two perspectives. Number one is an English teacher, because when we collect essays it takes forever to grade them, and so what does that look like? And if I'm not getting it back within a week or two, then what's why am I writing all this feedback on there? So that's kind of one problem. If I was a math teacher and I'm grading work every single night so that I can give feedback to kids, like my entire evening is being spent grading papers, and so that is a predictable problem to be thinking about. When you're making that map Every day, you're collecting and you're you personally are going, your plan is to give it back to kids. That is unrealistic. You can't do that.
Speaker 1:And so again.
Speaker 2:That's a whole nother conversation. That could be another 30 minute podcast. So I don't want to go into the weeds, but I do want to put that on your plate. That don't go into the year thinking I'm going to collect something every day and grade it and give it back to kids, because that is, you will not have a life outside of school and you will end up painting teaching.
Speaker 1:Yep, thank you for that, because that is that is something that people don't, they don't think about and they set these expectations on themselves that they need to grade everything or they need to take grades every day, and it just isn't possible and that is a quick way to burn out.
Speaker 2:And I say that now because a lot of secondary teachers have to create syllabus that they give to kids on that first day of school and they'll say we're going to have this many assignments and this many points and I'm like, once you put that in writing, then you know that's, you're holding yourself to that and especially if you're a new teacher or if you're a teacher who has been doing this and you still are doing it and you still are struggling and stressed out about the fact that you know this grading to do like there are better ways to give feedback and to provide grades for kids that are is not so time consuming, but that ties into routines, which we will talk about next time, so for sure.
Speaker 1:And that's some of our favorite things to talk about ways to give kids feedback in the routine.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that.
Speaker 1:I love, I love your tips of you know you have your map and the purpose of the map is to give us a guide for what the quarter, the semester, the year looks like, to ensure that we're teaching all of the things that we need to teach, but that we need to be responsive when using using that map. Your other predictable problem was just to kind of keep in mind, like, what do you want for your students? We want them to fall in love with what we're teaching, and so to keep that like, how can we bring our teaching or curriculum to life so they fall in love with it as much as we do? And then, finally, to be thoughtful and intentional when you develop this plan, that you also have a life outside of the classroom and you would like to be able to live that life and have a really nice long career in education, because we need you and we want you there.
Speaker 1:Let's end with our final question today, which is, as you think about teachers. They're beginning the school year. This is really about you know personally, like thinking about the stress levels. What tip would you give them starting off the school year? And all the emotions, the things that they're feeling right now?
Speaker 2:I think this is something that I use every day pretty much, especially when we go in and we're coaching with teachers, and that is that you're not going to screw them up.
Speaker 2:When I'm working with teachers and I want them to try something new and be vulnerable and take a risk, and sometimes they're a little hesitant, I'm like what's the work that happened?
Speaker 2:Oh, they learned something or they didn't learn something. We know that in Hattie's research they say that just by waking up and breathing you're learning and growing just by doing that. So then if you show up and you have a teacher, you're going to be growing a little bit more and so you're not going to screw them up in this time that you have with them, that if you're loving and caring and passionate, then they're in good hands. And that's what you kind of have to step back and say I am not teaching a curriculum, I'm teaching students, I'm teaching human beings. I'm not teaching them of mice and men or writing, I am teaching humans, and some days the lesson is that you know, we learned it for deaf, and some days the lesson is you learn blend sounds. So I think that that is going up and showing them that you care and that you're human. You're going to be just fine.
Speaker 1:I agree. I agree we have to take the desire of perfection off of ourselves and off of educators and know that we're moving toward. You know, progress. We want to make progress over time. It's not going to happen in a single day. So thank you for that tip. Thank you for that tip.
Speaker 1:I think that that is thoughtful and something that people really need to take that weight, that pressure off, so that they can focus on the people in front of them rather than plowing through the curriculum, you know, open it up and make it inviting, and I want to thank you so much for joining us today, dr Fowler. This information is incredibly helpful for current and brand new teachers. Next week, dr Fowler is going to be back with us, as you know, and she's going to share more information and we're going to focus on routines. So if you found this helpful, we would love for you to share this with someone else. You know that we have a big goal of impacting one million students, and one way you can help us meet that goal is by sharing our podcast with a fellow educator. Thank you, dr Fowler.