Beyond My Years

Teaching is listening, starring Patti and Rod Lloyd

• Amplify Education • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres takes you to the northernmost region of Alaska to sit down with Patti and Rod Lloyd. Patti and Rod are longtime educators in a rural school district where caribou outnumber people, the village is only accessible by plane, and the indigenous culture of the Iñupiat people goes back 10,000 years. They teach Ana about how they make the content matter by connecting it to student life outside of the classroom, the honor of teaching where children are the most valuable part of the community, the importance of listening more than you speak, and they offer advice for teaching responsibly as an outsider. They also share stories of how the first week of every school year is spent connecting to the land and having the village elders teach about their culture, emphasizing the joy to be found when you open yourself up to what your students have to teach you. Throughout the conversation, it is clear that despite teaching in a unique landscape, the lessons that Patti and Rod have learned are applicable to teaching any student anywhere. Taking all those lessons back to the classroom, Eric and Ana discuss the benefits of building genuine community relationships, making learning culturally relevant, and the importance of focusing on effective teaching methods.

Show notes:

Quotes:
“I wish I could go back and tell myself, ‘Don't be so concerned with what you're teaching but how you're teaching it.’ Really get into the community.” —Rod Lloyd 

“We’ve just got to be quiet enough, long enough to hear what our students are saying—or not saying.” —Patti Llloyd 

“I know teaching now is a very high-pressure situation. There is so much pressure on us and so much to do, but we can't forget to take that time and enjoy it because if you enjoy it, your kids will enjoy it.” —Rod Lloyd




Rod Lloyd: (00:00)
The 31, 32 years I've taught have just blown by and I haven't always taken the time to enjoy. Take that time. Take time to enjoy your job.

Ana Torres: (00:14)
This is Ana Torres, and welcome to Beyond My Years From Amplify. On each episode, I speak with longtime educators who share chronicles from the classroom and some lessons they like to pass on to newer teachers. My primary teaching experience has been in urban Title 1 schools, specifically in New Orleans, LA, and Austin, TX. And I've often wondered about teaching in rural communities and the unique experiences that come with that. That is why I am thrilled to connect with Patti and Rod Lloyd. As you're about to find out, they are longtime educators in one of the most remote districts in the country, y'all. All the way up in northern Alaska. For any teacher out there in rural communities, I know you are going to gain so much from my conversation with Rod and Patti. But I honestly think that all educators are going to benefit from their insights about fitting into a new community. And please don't forget, stick around until the end to hear from Classroom Insider, Eric Cross. But now what you've been waiting for. Here's my conversation with Rod and Patti Lloyd.

Ana Torres: (01:36)
Patti and Rod, we're so happy to have you both here. Something that I know we've talked about, you know, in our pre-call together is kind of the premise of this show. We know that there's a lot of teacher turnover, other issues. Not all educators actually have access to experienced educators, especially in these rural areas that you have been teaching in. You're coming to us from one of the most remote districts. And actually, I first learned about both of you on the I Am a Rural Teacher podcast. Talk about making that name hit home, right? Adn we're gonna link that information in our notes. So, thank you so much. Welcome. Welcome. Tell us, where are you right now?

Rod Lloyd: (02:21)
We're Zooming in from a small community on the road system in Alaska called Salcha. And it's 50 miles out of Fairbanks. We spend our summers here and may eventually retire here.

Patti Lloyd: (02:33)
Right. But where we teach, we teach on the North Slope Borough School District. That is up north.

Rod Lloyd: (02:40)
On the top of Alaska.

Patti Lloyd: (02:41)
It is 88,000 square miles. That's our school district. It's the size of Minnesota. The size of Minnesota is our school district. And it's the very top of Alaska. We're the farthest North school district in Alaska. And it covers eight villages.

Rod Lloyd: (03:04)
Eight villages. And then, then the hub ...

Patti Lloyd: (03:06)
...is Barrow. They've changed it. Utqiagvik is Barrow. We taught there for 10 years. And now we are in a small village called Atqasuk. And that's about 60 miles south of Barrow.

Rod Lloyd: (03:20)
There're only two inland villages. The rest are all coastal, that practice whaling and the subsistence lifestyle of whaling. We are inland, so we are more into reindeer and fish.

Ana Torres: (03:32)
So, talk about talking with two amazing veteran teachers who are literally the epitome of teaching and living. Then the ruralist community, right? You said you are at the top  of Alaska. And, just for those of you who are listening, we're gonna get into the backstory and their trajectory of how they ended up in Alaska. So, stay tuned, y'all. Okay. So how many years have you been in the classroom, Patti and Rod? How many years?

Patti Lloyd: (04:02)
Well, I was originally a social worker. So when we came to Alaska, I was not a teacher. I said I wouldn't be a teacher. My parents were teachers, my husband was a teacher. I said, "No way, no how." Though, I got a job at the high school. So, I worked in the high school, I worked at the alternative high school, and then they say, we need teachers. And so then I became a teacher. So, I've only been teaching for--only--18 years.

Ana Torres: (04:31)
Only 18 years. . And I love it Patti, where you're like, "Eh, you know, I'm one of those that didn't wanna be a teacher." . So actually, I like the words "I became a teacher." But you're a veteran teacher at this point, Patti. So, it's not only anything . So, let's talk about how many years you've been in the classroom, if you could, Mr. Lloyd.

Rod Lloyd: (04:52)
Mine's simple. I've been a teacher for 31 years. It was a second career for me. I worked in grocery stores, managing grocery stores, and I worked for Unical in a fertilizer plant. But I always felt to a draw to kids and to teaching. So about 31 years ago I started in my classroom. It doesn't seem that long because our state requires us now to take a ... we're really pushing reading in our state, and so they reeducated a lot of us. And it still feels like I've got a lot to learn. I mean, I've done the game a long time, but there's always so much new we. My wife and I have both been fascinated with all the brain research coming out, and we truly have tried to be lifelong learners because it seems like I've often just scratched the surface of what it really takes to teach kids. And I've been doing it for a fair bit. So, I think the word veteran works well for us with connotation that we've just been at it a long time, but , boy, sometimes it feels like we got a long way to go.

Ana Torres: (05:48)
Aren't we all lifelong learners, especially in this field? So, what I wanna say, and I just did the math: There's 49 years of teaching on this call, 49 years of wisdom on this call. And I can't wait to kind of have this amazing conversation with you. So, what's been your secret and what has been the best part of becoming a more experienced educator? And, you know, we started with you, Patti. We're gonna start with Rod this time, if that's okay.

Rod Lloyd: (06:19)
I think the most amazing part for me is that we have found, when we've taught in different areas that kids are all the same no matter where they're from. And the amazing part for me is the energy that I can draw from the kids. I mean, I'm getting a little older and always wonder if I maybe should move up to higher grades, 'cause I teach primary kids. I teach kids to read in kindergarten, first grade. But the amount of energy that you can draw from them and the true learning that they have taught me, I mean, I've really found that the stage on the stage is not the best way to teach. That our kids--especially in the culture we're in--that my kids, even though they're coming to me at five and 6 years old, are coming with a lot of rich knowledge that I don't have.

Rod Lloyd: (07:01)
And that if I remain open and work with them, I've got a lot to learn. Stuff comes in and it kind of refreshes you. And then after a while you begin to see that, I wish I'd had known this 20 years ago. So that's the big thing for me, is the energy, and even our older kids--I've taught fifth and sixth grade kids and into middle school--just the love they bring and the energy they bring to your life is just phenomenal. It's the times we should be paying them for what they give us.

Ana Torres: (07:26)
Oh, that is a bumper sticker, right? Like, the kids give us joy. Mm-Hmm.  Like how much we actually learn from them. And I heard Patti. . So, I'm gonna go ahead and let Patti bring in her flavor here. But just that joy piece resonated so much with me, Rod, because I do go into classrooms. I still continue mentoring, newer teachers, and that is an aspect sometimes that we're missing. Patti, what would you say is the best part of becoming an experienced teacher and what's your secret?

Patti Lloyd: (08:03)
I think that all kids can learn if you listen to them and if you teach them how to learn. I have always felt, especially because I taught the younger, if you just learn to love school, if they could learn to love school, they're gonna learn anything you teach 'em. If you can just teach 'em how to think, how to learn and to love school, that's the key. To me, that's the key.

Ana Torres: (08:38)
More than just the how-to, but having them want to learn, having students be critical thinkers and seeing that what they're learning is of value.

Patti Lloyd: (08:47)
Yes.

Ana Torres: (08:48)
I love, love, love where we're going here. Let's talk about the community that you teach and how that community really has embraced you and you've embraced it, but how that has been kind of transformational in you becoming seasoned educators, right? Tell us a little bit more about your community and where you teach.

Rod Lloyd: (09:08)
We live in a small village in rural Alaska, of about 250 people. The only way to get in there is to fly in with the exception of the winter when it freezes hard, they bring trucks across the tundra. If you traveled every road we have, there's probably two miles of road that you can drive. Everything runs on diesel. Everything is self-contained there. Probably 90 kids go to school total. We start 'em at three-year-olds through the high school. And it's an Inupiat community, which is Inuit people, and the group that they associate with is the Inupiat, and that's who lives across the top of Alaska and even down into the Dome. It's a hundred percent village, the exception will be teachers that come in and some of the professional people or people that have been married into that culture.

Ana Torres: (09:58)
Mm-Hmm.

Rod Lloyd: (09:58)
So it's, every kid we have is a Inupiat kid. But kids are kids. I mean, if you were to ask me now, when I taught in the lower 48, I taught in Idaho and there were kids of all nationalities and races and there. But I can't say it's any different. When I looked across my classroom, all I see is kids. But that is unique to that place as the people that have lived there, have lived there for 10,000 years. They know how to live in the Arctic. So they have a lot to teach us when we come. It's a very warm and accepting community. Especially in lieu of when people come in, oftentimes they're very hesitant because it's so different and you're coming into people that they speak English, but they also intermix it with a lot of the Inupiat language.

Ana Torres: (10:51)
Mm-Hmm.

Rod Lloyd: (10:51)
A push for our district is to get the language back in our community. So they're even more accepting to people like that. And they're even more welcoming when you're walking down the street, the advantage is, you know, everybody that lives in that village, you know when somebody gets a new four-wheeler. You watch it come off the plane. People go out to meet the plane just to see what's coming in. But they realize that it may be overwhelming to you, but they're so accepting, they'll stop you on the road and talk to you, "Oh, you're new. I don't know you. Who are you and why are you here?" And if they find out that you're a teacher, they're just even more welcoming because they are very thankful that people come up to try to help them with their children. Because the thing I have learned about the Inupiat culture is they hold children as their most prized possession.

Ana Torres: (11:36)
Anything you wanna add, Patti, to that?

Rod Lloyd: (11:38)
Well, and I'm interested to kind of hear what she has to say here, because my kind of in to the culture and the place is I'm kind of an outdoor person. I love to hunt. I love to fish, and that is very much the lifestyle there. So I gained a lot of friends by joining in those activities in a, in a culturally appropriate way. And so I'm kind of interesting to hear what Patti, because she kind had a different past to it.

Patti Lloyd: (11:59)
Well, as I told you before, you know, I didn't want to , I didn't wanna move to Alaska .

Ana Torres: (12:08)
So Patti, you had some resistance.

Patti Lloyd: (12:11)
Oh, definitely. I didn't wanna move to Alaska. Hey, it's cold, it's dark. I didn't wanna leave Idaho. I had elderly parents. I didn't wanna leave my kids. Of course, they were in college, but , they were my babies. I didn't wanna leave my babies. So I didn't wanna move to Alaska. And I says, "I'll give you nine months. Nine months. And if I don't like it, I'm outta here." And so when we moved to Barrow ... alright nine months, and I'm outta here. And it's like, I just, I fell in love. You know, I might have moved away from my babies, but I gained 300 when I moved to Barrow and started working at Barrow High School. And I still have those 300 babies, and I gained more babies along the way. And then when we had the opportunity, the turnover was so great of teachers, because as hard as it is in Barrow, well, I call it Barrow, but they've changed it to Utqiagvik, back to the name that it had originally. So I keep on calling it Barrow, sorry. But the turnover is in Barrow High because it's not for everybody, but the turnover is even higher in the villages. So they asked us to go, they asked some of the teachers that had been there for a while to go out to some of the other villages.

Rod Lloyd: (13:31)
Commit for two years to go out.

Patti Lloyd: (13:32)
To commit to two years, and then we could go back to Barrow. And so we says, we'll try to go out to Atqasuk or to some of the other villages. So we went out to Atqasuk, we says, we'll give it a year or two, and then you can go back. And we went out to Atqasuk and they just welcomed us with open arms. And it was, I don't know, we just fell in love with Atqasuk and the people. Yes, it's a plane fare and 400 miles round trip, but it's only a 20-minute plane ride.

Ana Torres: (14:04)
Okay.

Patti Lloyd: (14:04)
But they just welcomed us with open arms, we fell in love with it, and that's home. It's home. And it's like, we keep on saying, "Oh, we're gonna retire. We're gonna retire." And it's like, "No, 'cause those are my ... I'm teaching my kids' kids.

Ana Torres: (14:17)
You are a part of that community.

Rod Lloyd: (14:19)
To this day, kids she taught when she was in Atqasuk, will ride their snow machine from Barrow to come out just to see Patti, because of the way she touched their lives.

Ana Torres: (14:32)
And this is coming from Patti, who didn't wanna be a teacher, from Patti who didn't wanna move, and I know one of the things that folks that are tuning in and listening really wanna know too, is how is it different teaching in the community that you serve? I know you mentioned a little bit, Rod, about the community is, you know, you have to kind of adapt to what the community is as far as their culture, their traditions. Right? But how has it been different for you teaching in this community?

Patti Lloyd: (15:02)
I would say the best part that we have is we're going back to culture. We're going back to language. And we can write, we have an Inupiat department where we have written culture-based curriculum and lessons. And it goes back to ... I'll use this for an example: I had a student, we'd been counting, I've been trying to teach this sweet boy counting. We had counted dinosaurs. We had counted the calendar. We had done this. And we'd been working on counting for so long. Now this is three- and four-year-olds. And we'd been working on counting. And we could not, and then I was also doing bus duty. We didn't have a bus thing, and I was doing bus duty and we'd pick 'em up in the afternoon. And all of a sudden... and we have caribou around in our community. And he had spotted one. So we started counting as we were going around on the bus, and we started counting. And so we were counting caribou. So I wrote a whole unit on tuttu. Now tutu is the Inupiat name for caribou. And so we wrote a whole unit on counting caribou. Getting names. We did lessons on why is it important on keeping the caribou...

Rod Lloyd: (16:18)
Why do you gotta count 'em?

Patti Lloyd: (16:19)
Why do you gotta count 'em? To keep the herd healthy and strong. Anyway, we did the whole unit on that. All of a sudden, you know, he could count. He, and it could count. And it was because it was important to him! We got these little caribou counters.

Rod Lloyd: (16:34)
But also with these cultural units, we're blessed to have people that know the culture far deeper than us, that help us create these.

Patti Lloyd: (16:42)
So we have the elders come in and teach this.

Ana Torres: (16:46)
Talk about making a curriculum relatable and applicable, right? To where it really resonates.

Patti Lloyd: (16:53)
Exactly.

Ana Torres: (16:54)
I love the story that you just shared, Patti, about, "I couldn't get 'em to count!" When do students ever count? Dinosaurs. Mm-Hmm. . Right? I'm just saying like, what is relatable is the animal that actually lives in their community. Let's talk about counting that. I love those stories that you're sharing. And now on that note, Patti, I know that I wanna make sure that I talk about your role at a local college. Right? That's very near and dear to your heart. I know it's very important that we talk about this in our conversation today.  Do you wanna share a little bit about that local college and why it's so important to you and why you wanna share this with our audience?

Patti Lloyd: (17:34)
I'm on the board of trustees for Iḷisaġvik College. Iḷisaġvik College is in Utqiaġvik, and I am the representative for Atqasuk, on the board of trustees. And it is the only tribal college in Alaska, which I'm very proud of. But it's amazing that we are the only college. I mean, there's other colleges, APU is working towards that. But what's near and dear to me is we have 1400, well, just this last year we served over 1,450 students for this little itty bitty college at the top of Alaska. Our campus is over 70 years old. It's the old NARL, which is the Naval Arctic Research Lab.

Rod Lloyd: (18:19)
So the Navy built it as a research lab. And that they were down there and turned it over.

Patti Lloyd: (18:24)
Its a 70-year-old building. And so we have a bunch of old buildings that we're working out of. So we're working towards getting a new campus. I keep on having my sons, when it gets up into the billions, I have, my sons in Florida, my son in California buy lotto tickets. So I'm trying to win the lotto to get...

Ana Torres: (18:41)
You're trying to win the lottery.  Hey.

Rod Lloyd: (18:44)
To fund the new campus.

Ana Torres: (18:46)
Hey, we're all crossing our fingers.

Patti Lloyd: (18:47)
. What my passion is, is we have one four-year degree, and that's in business, but what I'm working for is a four-year degree in education so that we can get homegrown teachers, so that our local people will get teachers. And that's what I'm working toward. Right now, we do have a two-year degree, but then they go on to other schools to get a four-year degree. And that's been my passion, is to get homegrown teachers. Because that's what I want. I want our students to see their own people be teachers. I want our students to become teachers and teach. That's near and dear to my heart.

Rod Lloyd: (19:28)
That will solve all of our ... the main problem we have is recruiting teachers. And it will also reduce the couple of years lag time to pick up the culture to where you can use it in the classroom. Because they walk in with it. They're already realizing some of that, because we have our new superintendent, David Vadiveloo, is very big on turning the schools back over to the communities they're in. Mm-Hmm. . And that means culture and language. And he is already expanding the Inupiat department that teaches the language and the culture. We've already had some local people become those instructors, the state's working with them to get certification that they're teachers. They're not just paraprofessionals working in a teaching job. But we wanna move it even farther. We wanna move it out of just a cultural end, but to teaching the reading, teaching the math, because bringing that culture in, like we talked about it, is so important.

Ana Torres: (20:20)
Yep.

Rod Lloyd: (20:20)
When we read a story about a farm down in Kansas, which is very important, that's where our food comes from--but we can relate that to being the same kind of farm that's out on the Nuna that we raise our caribou and raise all the medicinal plants they use, it becomes so much more relevant. That's so important for our kids, because most of our kids live there and stay their whole lives there. So building background is such a huge part of learning to read and reading. So if you can even help them by connecting it a little bit to what they already know. Mm-Hmm. , it's so big. But Patti is right, and it has been a passion. She could take your whole half hour  in telling you how important this is. And she's right.

Ana Torres: (20:57)
So this particular podcast is really to spotlight people like yourselves, because really it is becoming a lot more difficult to have access to people like yourselves. What advice would you give yourself, and what advice could you give to those newer teachers, specifically heading into a rural community like yours, right? Where there might be outsiders to a certain extent. What advice would you have for them?

Rod Lloyd: (21:25)
My best advice I could give them, and I wish I could go back and tell myself is, don't be so concerned with what you're teaching, but how you're teaching it. Really get into the community. And it's so hard, it's so scary when you come to, to take the big step to get in the community, but they're so accepting. To learn what you can, listen. Listen, listen, listen. That's a problem we have, is we find that when people come, they speak much too quickly. And they speak much too much. Because as teachers, we're stages on the stage. We wanna talk, we wanna impart our wisdom to you. But it's so much more important to listen. But how you teach is really more important than what you teach. Because it's new, you're so intent on getting to the end of the book, you know, getting all that knowledge to 'em. You're gonna get there. You're gonna get that knowledge to them.

Ana Torres: (22:10)
I like that.

Rod Lloyd: (22:11)
And I don't know what Patti says, but I could guess what Patti's gonna say because the one thing Patti has taught me is you should see how she greets kids in the morning. Now we go to school quite early. We go to school sometimes two hours early to get ready. So we're tired and we're a little cranky, you know? When the sun doesn't come up for 60 days, we get can a little cranky. But the second Patti's kids come in, she is just so overwhelmed with joy to see them. They come in, they're tired, it's dark, you know, they've stayed up too late. But the joy with which she greets her kids, teaches me that lesson that how we teach them is so much more important than what we teach them. They each get a big hug and they hug her and they turn the corner to come in her room and they run because they know this person above all others is very excited that I'm here. She's taught me that, that love is so important. So Patti, I'm really interested to see what you say.

Patti Lloyd: (23:09)


Ana Torres: (23:09)
But Patti's like overwhelmed too, because it's like, wow, a veteran teacher like yourself., 'cause you're the 31, right?

Rod Lloyd: (23:17)
Yeah.

Ana Torres: (23:17)
That he's actually learned from you, Patti, as far as what you bring to those students, 'cause I mean, even in this Zoom call, I feel she exudes just warmth. Lots of caring. Not that you don't, Rod, you do as well. But the fact that your own husband has learned a lot from you, Patti, in your 18 years, how does that speak to you? And what advice would you give to yourself?

Patti Lloyd: (23:42)
Well, I don't know, 'cause I was just going to say that that's really sweet because I think he's a master teacher. I think that he's always had the right answer. He's really always been helpful. He helps 'cause he hasn't been jaded. He hasn't, I know this isn't the answer to your question, but just to speak live to him, he's never--even though he says it over and over again to each new person from day one--every new person that he's ever spoke to, he's very patient with and helps every person. He never gets tired. I mean, we've had teachers that would say, "Don't even talk to me until you've been here five years." And that's not him. And he gives such good advice and such good help. And he even has good answers for counselors and social workers. . But the one thing that I would say, and he said it, is listen.

Ana Torres: (24:37)
Mm. Yes. Yes. Listening. Yes.

Patti Lloyd: (24:40)
We had a guy here that, well actually he was one of our students that graduated and we were on a boat. We were on, was it his boat or our boat?

Rod Lloyd: (24:50)
His boat.

Patti Lloyd: (24:50)
His boat. And we were going down...

Rod Lloyd: (24:53)
No, we were on our boat checking his net.

Patti Lloyd: (24:54)
Yeah. And we were going down and we ...

Rod Lloyd: (24:56)
We lived next to a river. The Mead River is a river, and so fish is big in our community.

Patti Lloyd: (25:00)
And he didn't say, "Go to the left. You're gonna hit a sandbar if you go to the right." He never outright said that. He just said, "If I were you, I'd go to the left."

Ana Torres: (25:12)
Okay.

Patti Lloyd: (25:13)
You have to listen to that. You have to be quiet and listen to that. I think that teachers don't do enough of that, especially as teachers, 'cause we're used to getting up at the front of the room and talking.

Ana Torres: (25:29)
Right.

Patti Lloyd: (25:30)
We have to stop and listen. We just gotta be quiet enough, long enough. And I have a bad habit. I'm a talker , as you can see, I'm a talker. But to be quiet enough to hear what our students are saying or not saying...

Ana Torres: (25:45)
Or not saying, Ooh. That one, or not saying, that one resonates. Huge, huge.

Ana Torres: (25:54)
We'll be right back with much more from my new favorite couple, Rod and Patti Lloyd. And please don't forget, after I hang up with the Lloyds, I'll be joined by my amazing Classroom Insider, Eric Cross. And he is going to give us some thoughts on applying these ideas to the classroom.

Eric Cross: (26:15)
When we are able to take our content and relate it to different groups, it's gonna make learning more engaging and more fun. Yeah. And this is an area where I've been using AI to do this, actually.

Ana Torres: (26:24)
Stick around for that. Now, back to my conversation with Rod and Patti Lloyd.

Ana Torres: (26:33)
As you made this trajectory to working in this very unique rural community, right? And I'm thinking about educators who might be heading to communities similar and they might be perceived as outsiders, right? Any advice you can give as far as how to do this job effectively and responsibly when you are perceived as an outsider? Because I know you, when you got there, I'm pretty sure you weren't embraced automatically. Right?

Rod Lloyd: (27:01)
Right.

Ana Torres: (27:03)
How do you do this and what advice can you give a newer educator in the field as far as how to do that effectively and responsibly, 'cause I know both of you had to kind of navigate that.

Rod Lloyd: (27:15)
Well, and we see it when new teachers come. The best advice that I would give, and we were kind of fortunate in the village, 'cause in the bigger village of Utqiagvik, you can be a teacher in something else, in a smaller village, you are a teacher 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Because you're looked at as, not on an elevator, but you have a very specific job and they expect you to be the best. They're giving you the best thing they have. They're giving you their gold and their treasures in their children. And they expect you to do that. And you're a teacher. You never leave that role. But I'd say the biggest thing that I found that, that we were lucky to do, or I at least, was where I enjoyed what the culture has to offer is to get out there and do something.

Rod Lloyd: (28:01)
And don't be afraid to make a mistake. They're loving, they'll laugh at you. I mean, we try to learn the language and use the language. You know, if you make a mistake, no one has ever come and chastised us. They'll laugh when you get it wrong and be so patient with you. And when you do make a mistake--'cause you're gonna make cultural mistakes, we have. Kind of own up to it and then ask for advice on how to fix it or how to not make that mistake. Because at least in the Inupiat culture, they're a very accepting culture. And they want you to learn their culture. They want to share it with you. Dancing is big in the Inupiat culture. Traditional dancing. We're terrible. But they love that we get up there and try.

Rod Lloyd: (28:40)
And they've never once said, "You are just the worst dancer. You need to sit down." They'll call you up, with "Please dance with us." There's a little fear in putting yourself out there. And it's a big risk to you because you do not wanna seem foolish or wrong. And so we find that a lot of new teachers will, and that's probably too coming, try to pull inwards a little bit when you really should be pushing out, making those mistakes because well, we've taught in different cultures other than this up here, and they've never ever been upset because we've made a mistake. If it's, if it's a big faux pas in their culture, they'll let you know right away. But it's never in a chastising way.

Patti Lloyd: (29:20)
But we also need to also be careful. I think that people need to be careful. You can never assume.

Rod Lloyd: (29:32)
Don't make assumptions.

Patti Lloyd: (29:34)
Don't make assumptions.

Ana Torres: (29:35)
Absolutely. I was thinking the same thing. 'Cause even some of the things that you've mentioned could be applicable here in the U.S., you know. I live here in New Orleans and there are some children here that have never left their city. Right? So some of the things that you are speaking of are things that can be applicable really wherever you work. Right?

Rod Lloyd: (29:56)
Yeah.

Ana Torres: (29:56)
Be good listeners, understand the community in which you serve, don't be afraid to make mistakes, but do your research. Right?

Rod Lloyd: (30:05)
Yeah. That's perfect. Yeah.

Ana Torres: (30:06)
Understand the community that you're serving. So yes, you're giving us advice from, you, coming into community as outsiders. But I do feel that you have also built respect within that community, because you're open, you listen, you make your mistakes, but you understand and wanna learn more about the culture. Would you agree with that?

Rod Lloyd: (30:31)
Oh yeah. And I think, to go back to where I said, you kinda just forge in there, but you gotta tread lightly. We've had people come into our village, and hunting is a very big thing. It's a subsistence. It's part of a religious thing for them and the way they honor the animals and take care of them. And so we've had people come that say, "Well, you know, the state of Alaska says I can hunt on these lands." But there's a very traditional way to go hunting. So yeah, I guess my advice is to charge on in there and do it, but go with some information. Ask. There are leaders in the community that will tell you. So, yeah, I guess Patti made a very valid point, and you did, that ... go out there and advance forward, but tread lightly and ask a lot of questions. So just listen, but ask and listen to the answer. And if you're unsure, ask.

Ana Torres: (31:16)
And respect. Respect that community that you're serving, whether it's the community in the upper tip of Alaska . Or, just be respectful of the communities that you serve. So before we go, do you have any final words of advice you'd like to leave folks that are listening with? Any last little bits of wisdom you wanna share?

Rod Lloyd: (31:44)
On mine, it would just be--you know, you hear it all the time--enjoy the ride. The 31, 32 years I've taught have just flown by and I haven't always taken the time to enjoy. Take that time. It will go faster than you think. And chances to get that joy may never present themselves again. So enjoy the kids, take the time to enjoy your job. I know teaching now is a very high-pressure situation. There is so much pressure on us and so much to do, but we can't forget to take that time and enjoy it because if you enjoy it, your kids will enjoy it. Don't forget to enjoy the kids while you're there.

Ana Torres: (32:24)
I like that, Rod. Enjoy the ride. What about you Patti? Miss, "I didn't wanna be a teacher. I never wanted to go to Alaska." And you know, you have made such, from Rod's own words and his observations, you have made such an impact on students with your heart. With your heart.

Patti Lloyd: (32:43)
They are the ones that made an impact on me. You know, I love them so much. They are the ones that made the impact on me and I love them so much. Each and every one of 'em had just like, taken my heart and just rung it. Just rung it. But, I went to a conference an ECE conference quite a few years back in Fairbanks. And the lady there said, if I could give any advice and, would be what she said to me, well us was, "Leave your problems at home. When you walk in that door, you leave your problems at home. Your kids don't need to see or hear it. They've got their own stuff. They've got their own problems. You leave that at the door. If you're going through a messy divorce, if you had a flat tire coming to work or whatever, you leave that on the steps of that school. You walk in that door, your kids deserve happy teachers, excited teachers from the cooks to the bus driver to the secretary. You greet that. You don't know what your kids had to go through to get to school that day. And so they deserve a happy person when they get to school. So be that person for them. It makes a difference." I think all kids know their mom and dads love 'em. It makes a difference in that child's life, if they know that another person in this world loves them, I think that that makes the biggest difference. If they know that someone loves them other than their mom and dad. 'cause it's kind of like, "Oh, they have to .".

Ana Torres: (34:17)
Well, and especially too Patti, because they probably spend more time with us than they do their own parents. So showing them that you care and it's genuine. Right? And showing up and being present is very important. So you've heard from 49 years of seasoned educator advice here: Be good listeners, enjoy the ride, but always show up in your most positive and joyful space for kids. It's been an honor. Oh no. Patti has one more last little nugget here. No problem. Patti, what else do you wanna drop here?

Patti Lloyd: (34:58)
I've always got one more thing . But you also need to take care of you. So take care of you also. Teachers are taking care of the world. So now teachers, take care of you.

Ana Torres: (35:10)
So you've heard that last one. And that has been something that, you know, as we've talked to other seasoned educators, one of the things that they do stress is self-care. So I think that's going to be a theme that we hear throughout. So make sure you listen. Make sure to take care of yourselves, and make sure that you show up. Now, I've had such a pleasure talking to both of you. You're always so much fun, but you do bring such a unique perspective. Thank you so much for, you know, being on my podcast today. Now before we go, because we do this with every single guest, we want you to shout out your home district, Rod and Patti.

Rod Lloyd: (35:51)
North Slope Borough School District.

Patti Lloyd: (35:53)
Woo!

Rod Lloyd: (35:53)
The best district in the world to work for. They support you. They love you. They take care of you. Without them, we wouldn't be as successful as we are. They have been a great district for us.

Patti Lloyd: (36:03)
Best place to go.

Rod Lloyd: (36:04)
Best place to go. Come on up. Come on up. Look it up on the Internet. Come on up. We always need somebody.

Ana Torres: (36:09)
They always need teachers. So thank you so much, the Lloyds! You guys, thank you so much for sharing your story and your love of teaching and I hope this is not the last time that we get to chat with you. So thank you so much.

Rod Lloyd: (36:25)
Thank you.

Patti Lloyd: (36:25)
Thank you.

Rod Lloyd: (36:25)
Enjoy your day.

Ana Torres: (36:30)
That was Patti and Rod Lloyd. I am actually gonna have to take a real trip to Alaska 'cause I took a virtual one, as you know. Don't forget to check the show notes for a link to the 2020 piece from the I Am a Rural Teacher podcast, where we first learned about the Lloyds. Now it's time for everyone's favorite Classroom Insider Eric Cross. Let's get Eric on the line now.

Ana Torres: (37:00)
Well, hello Classroom Insider Eric Cross.

Eric Cross: (37:06)
Hello.

Ana Torres: (37:07)
How's it going?

Eric Cross: (37:08)
It's good. It's good. The students have been great. Teaching's been fun and yeah, we're just rolling with it.

Ana Torres: (37:15)
You know, that's good news. I know, it's the beginning of year, you're kind of settling in, everything sounds good, you sound very optimistic. So we've had a couple of guests, Eric, right? So how has it been incorporating any of the guest ideas in the classroom?

Eric Cross: (37:33)
Well, I think one of the great things about it for me listening to the interviews is that it brings things to mind that I've heard or I've practiced throughout my career. But it brings it to front of mind in the beginning of my day when I come into the classroom. So it's been great for me because I think it's been keeping me fresh and it's reminded me of tools that I've used in the past or it's introducing new tools. I dunno, I look at it like, I grew up playing basketball and I have this coach that said, "If you want to be a good basketball player, you have to play with people that are better than you."

Ana Torres: (38:03)
Absolutely.

Eric Cross: (38:05)
In teaching, it's the same. You wanna be around teachers that are really getting after it, really pushing the limits, really, you know, applying strategies that are effective. And when you hear those people talk or you're around them, it makes you better.

Ana Torres: (38:16)
I like to hear that because I think it is important, and I think we're both learning a lot from the folks that I'm having conversations with. Is there anything in particular that sticks out that you've actually applied and tried in your classroom yet?

Eric Cross: (38:33)
Well, I think earlier the mini Magna Carta that Eric Jones did, that was one. And it's been great because when we're all held accountable to the same norms, there's a feeling of fairness in that, and students had voice and input into that. And so there's a lot more buy-in. So that's been great. Phet's episode about sharing stories and relating to the students and actively recruiting students into, as a science teacher, some of the things that I'm doing in the classroom: coding and some of our science projects. Being intentional about really going after certain students and inviting them individually as opposed to assuming that just giving a blanket invitation is gonna be something that's gonna feel welcoming to everyone.

Ana Torres: (39:13)
You know, hearing you speak about both of those things, you know, Eric Jones and the mini Magna Carta, you've implemented that and to Phet also, I see this kind of thread of community building and making sure that students feel like they belong. So, you know I get excited about every single episode, Eric. So I had an amazing conversation with the Lloyds, Patti and Rod Lloyd.

Eric Cross: (39:39)
Yeah. They're great.

Ana Torres: (39:40)
What stood out for you with this conversation that I had with this amazing teaching couple?

Eric Cross: (39:47)
The first thing that , the first thing that stood out is, I didn't know about this district. That's where Santa Clause is, like way in the North . And one of the things that I thought that was really important that often gets overlooked, especially for those of us that teach in cities, is all of our educators that are serving students in these rural areas across, not just across the country, but across the world. And oftentimes we don't hear about the struggles or the victories that they have because it's so unique. And many of them are teaching multiple grade levels. They have students going massive distances. And the thing that stood out to me the most was Patti and Rod Lloyd love their community and they're humble and they really listen to the people that they serve. That resonated more than anything else in the interview. I did get the nuggets. I did get the nuggets.

Ana Torres: (40:38)
You got the nuggets. Okay.

Eric Cross: (40:38)
But I felt that when I was listening to them.

Ana Torres: (40:42)
And you know, not only did they form genuine relationships with folks, so it wasn't that they really strive to understand the community, but the community also strived to learn who they were. They love the community, they love those students, but the community also love them. Eric.

Eric Cross: (41:02)
They did. And I think they also understood what they represented in their city. It's easy to look at your job, and in some places this works, where you're nine-to-five and that's what you do. But then you go somewhere else and you're somebody else. But in many occupations, especially in smaller towns, you're that person 24/7 and that carries a weight with it. When you're the teacher, you're seen as the teacher wherever you go. Like people are watching. That kind of carries a weight with it and they really embrace that. And when that happens, the community is saying to you, "You are an important member of our group. We value you, we appreciate you." And so that's kind of the exchange.

Ana Torres: (41:42)
And more importantly, they were very intentional and purposeful about respecting the community as well. Was that something that stood out for you as well?

Eric Cross: (41:52)
Yeah. I think you have to have the heart to, again, that comes from their humility. Humility. You have to have the lens of wanting to be a learner and knowing that you're entering into another group that already exists and you're being accepted in and coming in with a knowledge of, I want to serve, but first I need to listen to the ways that I can do that best.

Ana Torres: (42:13)
So I hear you saying, building those genuine relationships with the community. What else stood out for you, Eric?

Eric Cross: (42:20)
Another thing that stood out was that they make learning relevant and relatable. Like that story about the kid who just wasn't interested in counting, but then he wanted to count the caribou, which I would've never known. But again, there are so many groups and so many different types of people around the world, like we have to be a student of our community. And when we are able to take our content and relate it to different groups, it's gonna make learning more engaging and more fun. And this is an area where I've been using AI to do this actually, where I've been using chatGPT and asking questions about, how can I make cells relatable to a population of 12-and 13-year-olds based on pop culture or a community of students from San Diego. What are some things that would be relevant to them based on the area they live?

Ana Torres: (43:03)
Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that and also how you are just applying that. You know, AI makes me nervous, but that you're applying that with AI in a very intentional and purposeful way with your seventh graders in your class. So anything else? 'Cause again, we had two dynamos here.

Eric Cross: (43:22)
I think something that's really practical that you can do is, they really focused on effective teaching methods and Rod had this advice where he said, "Concentrate on how you teach, not just what you teach" or "Listen more than you talk, "I think was one of his quotes. And going along with this theme, in addition to being a student of your community, you have to be a student of your students. And when you really understand who your students are, you become a better educator for them. But I have to be intentional about that. I have to make sure that I am studying who my students are and listening to them. Because I think Patti said this, "It's not just what's said, but is also what's unsaid that you have to pay attention to."

Ana Torres: (44:01)
Yes.

Eric Cross: (44:01)
Those subtle cues, that nonverbal, that body language. And when I stop and slow down, I had a mentor who once said, "You have to slow down teaching to speed up learning." And that resonated with me when Rod gave his advice on listening more than you talk,

Ana Torres: (44:18)
Listen more than you talk. That sounds like we should have that as a t-shirt.

Eric Cross: (44:22)
Education for a long time was just one teacher talking and then everybody listening. And now it's, I want to talk just long enough to give direction and then move throughout the class and support my students as they build their new knowledge. That's what I want to do.

Ana Torres: (44:37)
And I think that is what you do. It sounds like you just wanna do it better.

Eric Cross: (44:41)
Yes.  Depending on the day and depending on the lesson, my students might say otherwise , but yes. Yes. That's the goal. That's the goal.

Ana Torres: (44:46)
So Eric, just to kind of recap, so what I'm hearing you say and kind of your three classroom insider takeaways: Building genuine relationships with community obviously was a takeaway for you as well as, you know, the Lloyd's talked quite a bit about making learning culturally relevant, you know, as you kind of mentioned with that counting story with that student. And then lastly, focusing on those effective teaching methods. So thank you for sharing that. I feel like I'm giving you a little homework because I am going to be asking you about this. I think our listeners would love to hear how you're applying what I call these wisdom nuggets in your classroom today. Is that okay that I'm giving you homework, Eric?

Eric Cross: (45:30)
It's totally okay. I look forward to giving you an update on how this is going.

Ana Torres: (45:35)
I really appreciate you taking the time as always, my Classroom Insider. Have an amazing, amazing day with your students, Eric. Thanks for listening to this episode of Beyond My Years from Amplify. I am your host, Ana Torres. Our Classroom Insider is Eric Cross. Our music is from Andrew Smolin. So next time I have the honor and the pleasure of speaking with the 2024 National Teacher of the Year, Missy Testerman. She's from Rogersville City School District in Tennessee.

Missy Testerman: (46:11)
I was completely clueless when I started teaching. Luckily I had a fantastic mentor who didn't care to gently cajole me into what I needed to do, and she also absolutely did not care to call me out.

Ana Torres: (46:27)
Now that's next time. The best way to catch that episode is to subscribe to Beyond My Years on the podcast platform of your choice. If you are liking Beyond My Years, could you do us a solid and tell a few educator friends about the show please or consider leaving us a rating and a review? Our website is amplify.com/beyondmyyears. Until next time, remember to reach out and say thank you to a seasoned educator who has shaped your life. I am Anna Torres and I thank you so much for listening.