Falling for Learning Podcast
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Falling for Learning Podcast
Believing in Brilliance: Advocacy and Antiracism in Education | Episode 33
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So in 2020, I stopped battling with myself in my voice. And I finished putting the words together. I remember watching protests, in particular, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Washington, DC. And my students, students that I had taught, were leading those protests, or informing others of how to respond. And I thought this is the power of a see that when we build every student for the brothers that lives in them, when we find ways for them to advocate for themselves, first in the classroom, and then in the world, that that will be the message that is under guarding the power of Universal Design for Learning. It is advocacy, it is expert in learning, it is shifting the world for yourself, and having others come alongside to shift with you.
TD Flenaugh:Hi, thank you so much for joining the Falling for learning podcast, I am TD Flenaugh. We have this podcast to help parents and caregivers with having the resources, strategies, and tools needed to make sure that their children are on track for learning and to stay on track for success. Thank you all for joining us on the Falling for Learning Podcast. Today, we have Andratesha Fritzgerald, and she is the author of anti racism and universal design for learning. And we're so excited to have her she's a dynamic speaker, and educator, and parent. And we're so glad to have her to give us the insights that we need to make sure that our children are on track for learning and stay on track for success. Thank you so much for joining us.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:Thank you so much for having me. Glad to be here.
TD Flenaugh:Yeah, so we really want to start with thinking about yourself, and what drew you into education as a child or into learning and the learning process.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:I feel like what drew me into education as a whole was that there's something about seeing learners clarify a path for themselves. That brings me joy and great passion. So I think that education satisfies my intellectual curiosity, but gives me the space to be a designer of learning, and then transfer that design to learners who then get to go through that same process for themselves. As a child, I think what drew me fully into education is legacy. Went to a school and I have mostly black teachers. But my kindergarten teacher in particular, which I talk about her often in my book is also my mom's kindergarten teacher. She went on to become the principal of the school where I went from kindergarten through eighth grade. And this woman believed that every child has both the capacity and the ingenuity to do anything. And so when I would see her every morning, she would kind of mind for the gem of brilliance that she felt like was inside of me. She wanted to know, what do we do? What do we learn? How do we practice, and she was always on this treasure hunt to find the best in each of us. The last time that I saw her she passed away in the last few years, the last time that I saw her. She knew exactly who I was. And she I was just saying hello. Something about saving your kindergarten teacher makes you kind of turn into a kindergarten herself. Because she's like, Hello Andratesha. And then she invited me to sit down. And she asked me a question. She said, what great things are you doing. And there was still this assumption after all of these years, and all this time, and all of this space, that there were great things inside of me that were happening each day. And she said with this great expectation. And so it's teachers like her, there really is in their footsteps that I follow on their shoulders that I stand that really believes in the brilliance of every child, and then a mind for their brilliance, support their brilliance, until that gem of brilliance shines.
TD Flenaugh:All right. I love it. Wonderful. So thinking about your book, Antiracism and the Universal Design for Learning. Tell us about how this book came about and your work on it.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So Universal Design for Learning is a framework that comes from 30 years of brain research on how humans learn, and then it informs how we teach. So I started writing the book in 2017. This is a framework that I love. It is one that I feel like I have used throughout the years and I've learned to Got it. And I wanted to inform the field on how we can use it as a tool for liberation. And so I started writing this book in 2017. And I kind of struggled along the way to clarify, clarify my voice to find the angle or the pathway that I wanted to share. And I struggled along for three years and the 2020. We have some cataclysmic events that took place, right. So in 2020, it was the weekend that George Floyd, he was murdered. And there were protests breaking out all over the country all over the world. And I sat and a wheat. And I mourned, and I grieved, but I knew that I needed to respond. And I didn't want my response to be just a post that people argue back and forth on, I didn't want it to be one conversation that was here today, and then forgotten tomorrow, I decided that I wanted my response to be this book, to change the trajectory of education and educational practices for black and brown students forever. And so in 2020, I stopped battling with myself in my voice, and I finished putting the words together, I remember watching protests, in particular, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Washington, DC. And my students, students that I had taught, were leading those protests, or informing others of how to respond. And I thought, this is the power of a see that when we build every student, for the brothers that lives in them, when we find ways for them to advocate for themselves, first in the classroom, and then in the world, that that will be the message that is under guarding the power of Universal Design for an army. It is advocacy, it is expert in learning, it is shifting the world for yourself, and having others come alongside to shift with you. And so that's how the book came into existence. And with the message of Universal Design for Learning and championing championing kids, right where they are. So mario Rice, who is the mother of Tamir Rice, wrote the foreword to the book, she shares such powerful words and powerful questions. And I'm in awe of her always because she's taken what has been a terrible tragedy, and turn it into a triumph in many ways. And she's pushing for this and triumph. In many ways. I'm so honored to have her partner with me, and for cast to publish this book.
TD Flenaugh:Oh, wonderful. So much there. I just Yes, just that makes you, you know, have a voice of a mother who had this loss. And just thinking about, you know, how education can be liberation, right, and how we're giving our students you know, that agency, right, they already have their voices, but showing them how to use it. So amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about your education path, you know, from, you know, that brought you here, right? We know about your wonderful kindergarten teacher, but you tell us about like, your high school in your college studies.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So there's a funny thing about our paths, we can have them planned out and think that we know the direction that we're going to go in, and then oh, life just throws you those wonderful curveballs. And so I thought from the time I was a little girl, I had some dreams of being a writer, but my grandmother told me Listen, girl writers. She said, they don't make any money, you got to pick something else. So, so funny. I said, Okay, well, I have a love for math and a love for science. So I'll maybe I'll be a scientist. And so when I was a very young girl, I decided I wanted to be an astronomer, not an astrologer, but an astronomer, to study the stars and the weather patterns. And I really took a liking to all things in that area of science. And as I got older, when I was in the seventh grade, they saw that I had this capacity for math and science. So they say you should be an engineer. And I was like, okay, so I started participating in programs geared toward engineering from the seventh grade all the way through the 12th grade, participate as biochemistry for the first time when I was in seventh grade, I loved it. Just learned a lot about how chemicals work and chemical reactions and how they fit into our everyday life. And so for from seventh through 12th grade, really focused in on engineering to all the courses in high school, around engineering. And I actually I went to college on a full scholarship for engineering, chemical engineering. And it was in my internship at NASA that I was on the advanced communication technology satellites on learning all of this about telemetry and acquiring our station, their research. And it was really one of the first satellites to move for our understanding of high speed internet connectivity in that way. And this was in the late 90s. Okay. And so I had a wonderful time learning, but I felt so very isolated in the field of engineering. And my classes, I was one of very few African American people, I was one of very few women at the university that I attended. I was one of very few people from America who were actually in the program, and others will come here to this country as a cohort, and then matriculate through together. And so this overwhelming sense of isolation, and loneliness and not having community is probably why I'm not an engineer today. Okay. At some point, I just felt like, I love this work. I love engineering, my grades were fantastic. But I just didn't have community and community is so important. That's the theme I've come back to over and over as a parent, as a teacher, as an educator, as a consultant. Community is the difference maker. And so I changed my major to English, which people look at my transcript and they're like, I miss chemistry two and three. Emily Dickinson seminar, my brain was one of those brains where both sides I love English and writing Social Studies learning, but I also love math and science. And I think I brought all of that math and science skill over to the English world. And it helps with the analytics and the writing. So I got a degree in English, a minor in women's studies, a master's in curriculum instruction. I have my certificate as a principal, and my superintendent license as well. I am a lifelong learner, I love to learn, no matter what the topic, if there's a webinar available on it, if it's an astrophysicist, and I think my dad would always tell me know a little bit about everything so that you can enter into any conversation intelligibly. And so, right, that's my life I, that's I love to learn. I've always been a learner. And as I look at my children, I have two children, 116 and 117. They are both lovers of learning, my oldest loves learning languages. So I always say that my oldest baby is a lingual file. When my when my baby was little, we went into the nail shop, and they had been studying Korean on their own. And I was like, okay, when we go, do not try to speak the language, don't try to interact. But I can see it kind of overwhelming. And next thing you know, are you ever say Oh, and they were off conversing? And, but that's, that's the theme of our household, we love to learn, well,
TD Flenaugh:why didn't you want them doing it? Because
Andratesha Fritzgerald:I don't want them to assume the language that they were hearing wasn't one that they knew. But I was wrong. They were right. They knew what they were doing. And it didn't stop them anyway, she had the whole conversation. And that's, that's learning, you're actually you can't stop it. Be respectful of the environment, and allow the ear to be trained, but they were like jumping in. So that's what we do.
TD Flenaugh:Oh, wonderful. So I wanted to talk about, like, maybe some events that you have coming up or Where you've been Where you're going to be speaking because I had the pleasure of seeing you and our anti racist instruction microprudential and really doing a speech that I felt like was so inspiring, and it was over to zoom to a big room. So I think, you know, you got those skills. And I love it, what do you have coming up?
Andratesha Fritzgerald:I am actually going to be in Los Angeles. In let's see, at the end of the month, so I think the 23rd or the 24th at Lewisville High School. And I will be in Canada, at Humber College shortly thereafter. But for more events, and to kind of follow and keep up with what's going on. I tried to stay active on one social media which has shifted just a bit so learning the ropes, here and there but Instagram, Facebook, whatever Twitter is doing. I'm in those places as well. Building Blocks of brilliance building blocks of brilliance.com is my website.
TD Flenaugh:Okay, great. We will be putting your links in our summary for our program so that you Wonderful. I'm in Los Angeles, I don't know if I'll be able to see it, whatever. But yes, that's where we are. But yeah, it's great. It's wonderful. So can you tell those parents out there, we have parents that might just really be really helping their children at home, even though they're not homeschool. And then we have some homeschool parents. So if we could talk about like, what are some things that they should be doing or thinking about to help their children, when it comes to Universal Design for Learning, I would say that parents most likely have the antiracism down, because it's their culture, but not necessarily because you know, various things. It's
Andratesha Fritzgerald:a learning process for all of us. As a parent, I will say that we have educated our children in a number of settings, and homeschool was one of them. It wasn't a permanent one. But we did. We put our son, our youngest for a period of time, when we saw that, systemically, he was just having a hard time embracing himself as a learner. And as a parent, our number one job is to advocate from the inside out that the way that you learn is a good way to learn. And that we can add tools to that and we can add some a little bit of razzle dazzle here and there before, for the most important part of what we believe our role is at home is we aspire to be a dream springboard, if you will, that means that whatever it is that you dream to do, and even if that dream changes, then we want you to be equipped fully with whatever it is that you need to be able to attain that in the first thing that you need, in order to attain that is a belief that is matched with strategy. And so there is a belief that I am a learner, a belief that I can learn, and that I can utilize the skills that I have to acquire skills that I do not that if there is anything in the system of learning at home or otherwise, that is oppressive, then it is our job to lock arms with our child to find their voice to fight for themselves, knowing fully that we are committed to fighting with them. And so we prepare our children for five years down the road. I remember when my son, he started this program. He was about six years old, seven years old. And the lady who was running the program said, Oh, it was like a summer camp that he will go through his day. But she had a question for the parents in the orientation. Do you pack your child's book bag every day? And proudly, you know many of us are like, well, yes, we do to make sure they have everything. And when I tell you she went off, she was like,
TD Flenaugh:you went up?
Andratesha Fritzgerald:What was the most effective redirection of my energies? She say you are preparing today for five years down the line. Do you want to be packing the book bag in five years? I was like no, she said then allow them to pack the bag themselves. So they forget something Oh, wow, that helps them to act more efficiently the next day. And I was like, I didn't know I didn't think about this.
TD Flenaugh:Minus four well educated Wednesdays every Wednesday on Instagram Live at falling for learning. It is a free parent question and answer session where parents can ask questions, learn about resources, strategies and tips to make sure their children are on track for learning and stay on track for success. That's every Wednesday on Instagram Live at falling for learning, we look forward to seeing you and helping the next generation thrive.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So I share that little nugget of wisdom with each of you today that we prepare today for five years down the line, maybe even 15 We believe fiercely in our children's ability, not our ability to do it for them. Right, but their ability, and then they figure it out. And the last piece of advice that I think that is important on this journey of parenting is as we teach our children to believe that they have enough the way that they learn is welcome. Then as a parent, we have to know that we know enough. We are able and we are capable to be the most amazing and accurate advocate for our child. That is not something that we farm out. What universal design for learning does for us it says that there are many ways that we can accomplish one goal. And so we think about what that goal is for our children. And then we think about how many on ramps, how many expressways how many supports, and how will we show we know, to the world, we get to decide that. And then we come alongside educational professionals, teachers, and leaders and tell them, these are the things that are successful for my child. Here's what I'm wondering that I'm asking for your feedback on. But what is not negotiable is that this child is brilliant. And it's up to us to mine for that gem of brilliance until it shines. And that's what we call our company building blocks are brilliant.
TD Flenaugh:That's, that's wonderful. That's so that's so good. So much, they're like, so much like, preparing our children for five years down the line, and believing that they can do it right, they might make some mistakes, but believing that they can do it will
Andratesha Fritzgerald:make some mistakes, too. Yes, right. And as you know, as parents, as educational professionals, we will make mistakes. But when we craft community, and again, that theme of community keeps coming back that is filled with grace, that is filled with in my book, I talk about the difference between power and power dynamics. And they honor honor says that I see you where you are, you didn't come into any space empty handed, that I value. And I honor the gifts that you bring into this community. Now we'll make room so that what you need, and what I need, will call mingle in a space where learning is possible, because it's safe, is welcoming, and is designed for your success.
TD Flenaugh:Wonderful. That's so beautiful. As a great lender, and so. So thinking about that, like what are some maybe some mistakes that you made, that maybe other parents can avoid or or look out for when you were like working with your, your child or advocating with them?
Andratesha Fritzgerald:Well, I'll share one that I was packing his bag every day. And really, in that pack in the back, what I was communicating to my son is that I don't believe you have the capacity to do this for yourself. When I took my hands off, what I learned is that he's more than capable. And I was actually holding him back. In fact, he packed better for himself because he knew what he needed and what he wanted throughout the day. And he had insight into what the ins and outs of the classroom ebb and flow look like? Yeah. And so taking your hands off of ritual and routine, may be a way for you to find out just how much your child is capable of another mistake that I made along the way was I thought, as a parent, that my greatest tool for getting things done in the home was the neck fist. Did you put your cell phone did you get in touch to put it out. And so I have the gift of my pastor calls it the spiritual gift of irritation. Sometimes I can have the spiritual gift of irritation for the children. Maybe for my husband to I don't know, I don't ask him. But what I learned, though, is that when we had a framing conversation about here's what the issues are. So let's say for instance, I want to make sure that you are placing your clean clothes in the appropriate place for you to know that they are clean. If I have the conversation, this is how will you know if everything is on the floor, what is clean and what is dirty? And then have them to explain their logic and then walk through it. And then say what are some things that you could do to ensure that when the clothes are clean and washed, that you can put them away quickly. And so then they get to come up with strategy we get to discuss, and then they get to put a plan into action, that plan into action can be driven by reminders that they put maybe on a device, or maybe a visual schedule that they put on their mirror or in their room. And then it is not driven by Hey, did you do this? Did you do this, but there's an appointment time for check in that appointed time for check in then leads us back to discuss strategy that that strategy worked for you. What strategy would you like to shift or do differently? And then how will you move forward? If this is working, then we'll check in on it and maybe a week or so. And see, there is a trust that you have the capacity to take care of yourself. And in those areas where you have to learn. Then we put those scaffolds in place that says I honor you. I don't have to nag you or be annoying to you. Because that's not helpful to you or to me and it erodes our relationship. But I can trust you and treat you as a human being and you can respond to me as one as well. And we have solved so many Many of our morning routine, our cleanup routine by simply having conversations and matching problem with strategy, and doing the same thing over and over again, our mornings used to be super hectic. And our kids pointed out to us that mornings feel like roller skates and like all the things rushed. And so we talked about what can we do as a family to ensure that mornings are a place of joy. We got to this, I'll share just a short story. I was dropping the kids off at school, they were in maybe the second and third grade. And so we left the house late. My kid had their book bag, but it was open mismatched socks, random things on and you know how you don't really look at him until they're getting out the car. And so we pull into the parking lot is 730 in the morning, like, where's your bookbag? Where's your stuff. So it was like they were on campus and they're digging in the car. And it was just like, insane. And there was a car that pulled up next to me that I didn't even see a man got out with his son that I didn't even notice. And he had a son like this at his face like, Hey, buddy, just focus on me, you're going to have a good day is going to be a great day. And that was a message to me like, there is so much chaos over here in this car that we need to stay focused over here. And once we had that conversation with our kids, our morning routine was driven by them. And so they may, one gets up 30 minutes earlier by choice. The other they stagger their routine so that they're not bumping into each other in the bathroom. They identify what they need in the evenings, and their clothes are set out for themselves in the morning. That routine. And as I think about it, they're 16 and 17. Now, the tenants of that conversation really still in place to this day, mornings have never been chaotic. Again, we have enjoy peaceful days. And so parents, if mornings are ridiculous, if you feel like you are flying by the seat of your pants, and by the time you get to work or you sit down to do the tasks that are assigned to you, if you feel overwhelmed and overrun, meet with the children, meet with your family, and come up with strategy, identify the issues, because sometimes was the issue for me, it's not an issue for them. But when we come together, and we talk about how it impacts us all together, then we come up with strategy. And we work their strategy and we come up with something that's
TD Flenaugh:a wonderful. One thing because you have your book, right, and you have your parenting experience, I wonder if I'm a parent that is really helping my child out or doing homeschooling? What might be a chapter to like, you know, is there a specific chapter to start with with your book? Or should they just go through the whole book prepping? What what's your what's your advice.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So when I wrote anti racism, universal design for learning, the tagline is building expressways to success. I wrote it with pre service teachers, parents, and even folks that are not educators, but wants to connect to the educational system in ways. So it's a very easy read with stories that you'll be able to recognize, I will say you can jump in at any point, it doesn't have to be linear. Take a look at the index the Table of Contents, think about what's most important for you. I find that parents who have used the book before there's a few parent advocacy groups that have used it as a book study and I wrote some questions to help if that's something that parents want to do. They find it helpful going into parent teacher conferences, when we're asking for the kind of instruction that meets the needs of our students, they find it helpful to really think about rituals and routines at home, whether it is showing what we know, or identifying supports, or multiple means of representation, which just means many ways of taking in the learning. And so for a parent who is thinking about university, designing some structures at home is a great on ramp to think about how do we give multiple ways for students to, for our learners for our children to reach a goal? How do we have multiple means of support, which in the book is called multiple means of engagement? So what is our role in supporting them? And how do they get to choose what supports they need or benefit from? And they how do they demonstrate mastery? How do they show us what they know, show us that they have mastered a routine or that they don't need any more support in a certain area? Or maybe how they advocate for themselves with the teacher that they're having difficulty with? The book helps you to navigate all of those questions. And so I will say start at chapter one. Use the index in the back to find out where your interests are and then just navigate from there. You're and so is a tool to help you think about how to structure and design for success, both for you and your attorney, but also for your chat.
TD Flenaugh:So wonderful. So what can we do you have any, like upcoming books or other books coming out, like coming in the future.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So there's a few resources that will be coming out soon, there is a guide on trauma informed learning and anti racism through the lens of universal design for learning that will be published by Brooks. And that will be out soon in the next few months. There is another book that I am working on to help schools think about what tenants need to be in place for anti racism learning to happen in the classroom. And so what does that support look like? For teachers, for administrators for systems, and there is a chapter that I wrote in a universal design for learning something like a textbook that is coming out soon. But for the best updates, I will say go to building blocks of brilliance that come. Those are the things that are coming up, our company is often helping school districts, colleges, institutions of learning, sometimes even preschools, think about how to engineer for solutions and engineer for success, which means that we take a serious look at the problems at the barriers that exist. And then we match those barriers to strategies that can be enacted and monitored to ensure that the barriers are decreased. And so that's our strategy. We are excited to work in a number of different districts over time, so that they can take a look at where they are and what they need to do to grow. And ultimately, we customize every solution to the place where we're working. So the solution cannot be crafted outside of yourself or your organization. But we just come alongside to support
TD Flenaugh:as you think about the shifting attitudes about anti racism or Dei, you know, diversity, equity and inclusion. Like, what are your thoughts on that? And, you know, how do you talk to people about it, who may have some negative thought process about it.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:So anytime the we're anti racism is used, and you're walking into a space, you never know how will be received. But on the other side of that is if we any barrier that is not spoken is unresolved. And in order to resolve the issue of racism, we need all hands on deck. And so Jay, Luke Woods, who is a scholar, he's the President of Sacramento State now, he used to be a San Diego State. One of the things that he says he talks about this taxonomy of learners of educators perspectives, and there are those who are refusers and those who are resistors. And many times in our human nature, we give so much energy and insight to those who are refusing or resisting the message. And he and he implores us to find those who are willing to collaborate. Those who are like minded, who have already embraced the message and move forward by locking arms with them. So in this work, I addressed the resistance, and addressed the refusing by reminding those who are on the other side of that, that racism is violence, their racism causes harm, their racism is a barrier to health care and education and wealth, and housing. It is racism, that is the barrier. And if we do not speak that, then it goes unresolved. And I can't stand in good conscience and in good teaching, and let another generation be marginalized because we don't take action. And so whatever action we take is a seed that will hopefully sprout and be nurtured by many generations to come. There's a Native American proverb that says, The wise man plants the seed for a tree under who che he will never rest. And so there's work that we do today that we will never see the fruit of until generations and generations down the road. But I understand that I stand on the shoulders of giants, that my great grandfather was one of the first professors at Tuskegee Institute in Bessemer, and Tuskegee, Alabama. And so the the seeds that he planted of education of be relentless toward learning in the face of racism, allow me to stand here today, to read to write to speak to advocate. And so I remember because that is all my life, I remember that even in a hostile environment, that any barrier that goes unspoken goes unresolved. And that if it ruffles feathers, if it makes folks uncomfortable, if the pendulum is shifting from in 2020, everybody was talking about anti racism. So now it actually being illegal in a number of states in the United States, with 38 states in the union considering legislation on divisive topics, then this work must continue. There are times where I'm comfortable, there are times where I am tired. There are times where I'm just downright pissed off. But I know that I have to keep going. Because for the next generation, what we do today matters. It matters what we do with our children. And this is the part that I always tell parents, they can ban anything that they want in the school system, we'll fight against that. But they cannot then what you teach in your home, my children know the truth. They know nothing but the truth, they can cite the source, they can pull the evidence. And if there are times in school where they feel that the truth is being conflicted with what they're being taught or offered is true, then they have my full support, to interject to interrupt, to disrupt, and to dismantle, because this work is family, they will do it as well. And they already have. And so we equip our children with how to advocate not only for their own learning and their own leading, but for truth that is being offered to them, and for false hoods to be rejected by them as publicly if they were offered. And so this is the work that we do as parents, as educators, as advocates, as anti racist.
TD Flenaugh:Wonderful, I just want to highlight like, that's something I haven't really thought about, or really like, Brett, you know, really highlighted at on the, on our show our program, that you know, as parents, we also have to help our children advocate for themselves. Even if you know, I was a parent, I'm a parent who definitely worked extensively with my child, she never did homeschooling, but I really have worked for her to do over the summer. And you know, sometimes on the weekend, just to make sure that she was on point, as well, as you know, we have two parents who are doing homeschooling. But that's the part like, we really have to take the time to teach our children because other people both put messages in them and ideas and them. And, you know, even though you may not have time to do the homeschooling, but give them some type of lessons to impress upon your child, because that is, you know, racism is violence, right? And they start internalizing some of those messages that are being given to them. They don't know how to speak up against it. Or, you know, they may start adopting it. You know, sometimes kids soak in those negative messages, and what they believe are important. And
Andratesha Fritzgerald:we get a chance to even even when we are watching a television program together, pointing out, well, that's a bias there. Yeah, I wonder how they know that to be true. They're presenting that as fact, but teaching them how to question. And one of the things that we always do here in our home, is we turn on the Closed Captioning when we're watching a program together. And it helps us to be mindful of the vocabulary, this vocabulary this may use to describe people of color and contrast to the white counterparts. It gives us a chance to see for the programming the kind of advertising. So what does this say about the black community when these are the commercials on a show that is targeted toward us. And so you don't have to be homeschooling what you have to do is create awareness, ask questions, find out what your your child thinks, what they think is important, what they think is funny, Why dig into those things. And then they'll begin to align their thought pattern with truth with your family home values, and really truly with the message that you want them to go out into the world with that I have a brain I will use it that it doesn't matter what comes against me or what message comes to me as an offer. I get to decide what makes it into my heart is truth. Even if they tell me it's a fact. Yeah.
TD Flenaugh:So as we are finishing up our program together, is there any like last words or final thoughts you know, you want to impress upon parents who are listening about making sure their kids are on track for learning and stay on track for success.
Andratesha Fritzgerald:I would like to say to each parent, have grace for yourself. In doing the best we can we enter this learning journey as parents. I wish it was like a handbook that said like for this child, this is what you're gonna get. But we know that that's not the case. What I've learned as As a parent, particularly in the area of learning and teaching for my child, is that I had to believe in my own capacity, my own capability to really guide their learning journey to have grace for myself. In those areas I've told you about all the chaotic Frits moments, we have some good ones too. But to give myself grace to be imperfect, as a parent, I apologize to my children when I'm wrong, and to receive their apology when they disappoint me as well. This is the work of humanity and learning commingle that we are humans in this experience, imperfect in many, many ways, but still able to progress to help us support one another, to hear each other, to celebrate our wins. And to keep building for that excellence that lives in each child that lives in each of us as well.
TD Flenaugh:Wonderful, thank you so much for joining us and your teacher Fitzgerald. I'm so excited to have that you came on on our program. And you know, everyone, thanks again, have a good week. Thanks again for supporting the falling for learning podcast. New episodes go live every Saturday at 5pm. You can watch us on youtube.com at falling for learning or listen on all major podcast platforms such as Apple, Google, Audible, Spotify, and much more. For more resources visit falling in love with learning.com We really appreciate you have a wonderful week.
