Beyond My Years

Discovering your own teaching style, with Neysa Olivares-Torres

• Amplify Education • Season 2 • Episode 6

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Our guest this week, Neysa Olivares-Torres, breaks down the process of finding and developing your own personal teaching style. Neysa details how she landed on her “firm-but-fair" approach before sharing tips for other educators trying to develop their authentic teaching style. Neysa and Ana also discuss how finding—and embodying—your teaching style can reduce classroom behavior challenges. Our beloved Classroom Insider, Eric Cross, then joins Ana to share how he carved out his personal teaching style, “the warm demander.”

Show notes:

Quotes:

"Understand that a teaching style is not just [something] you find once and then that's it, right? It's ever evolving; it's always in progress; and its not one size fits all." –Neysa Olivares-Torres

"Great teaching is just like cooking, right? You never really stop learning, adjusting, and reflecting because our students keep evolving. And so we should, also." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"My style came, really, with experience, with time, and with observing other teachers." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"It's important to make sure that it feels like a partnership with your students, that we are equal partners in learning." —Neysa Olivares-Torres

"When I did show up as my authentic self, it made such an impact in my classroom." —Ana Torres

"Look at your strengths, your personality, and your values, and then build your classroom approach based on that." —Eric Cross

[00:00:00] Neysa Olivares-Torres: A teaching style is not just [something] you find once and then that's it, right? It's ever evolving and it's not a "one size fits all."

[00:00:11] Ana Torres: This is Ana Torres and welcome back to Beyond My Years from Amplify. On Beyond My Years, we bring you tried-and-true tips, incredible stories, and research-backed strategies from seasoned educators and leading researchers. And I am here with my beloved Classroom Insider, Eric Cross. How are you today, Eric Cross?

[00:00:34] Eric Cross: It's good. And I'm beloved, so that's great. It's a great way to start the day. It's good to see you.

[00:00:38] Ana Torres: Yeah. I'm going to give you new adjectives as we do this this season. How about that?

[00:00:42] Eric Cross: I love it.

[00:00:44] Ana Torres: So today we are joined by an educator who has recently overseen some amazing English language arts results in her district. Her name is Neysa Olivares-Torres—and I love it because she has my last name—and she is the 6th to 12th English language arts program specialist at Lake County School District in Florida. I'm so excited to be having a conversation with her, Eric.

[00:01:09] Eric Cross: Yeah, I've been reading about some of her work. And you know I'm a science teacher so I like data. And a lot of episodes we do are about different things and different moves you can do. But when you actually have data to back it up, that's what's really crunchy. It's real. And so the quick version is that she supports about 25,000 students and she recently oversaw her district staff shift towards the Science of Reading, which meant overseeing the implementation, ensuring the professional development was there, checking in on the curriculum, how the teachers were doing. And the results of that were that more than half of the students in each middle school grade achieved gains in ELA. So that's pretty impressive.

[00:01:43] Ana Torres: And we're going to link all of that information to that district success story in our show notes. But know that Neysa Olivares-Torres said it was the first year that they've seen growth in every single grade level in all schools. Pretty impressive.

[00:01:58] Eric Cross: Yeah. And I'm really excited to learn from someone who has this track record to get some things that I can apply to my students at our school.

[00:02:05] Ana Torres: So Neysa is going to help us unpack a big topic today. And as you know, listeners, we are taking on big challenges and the topic of today is how to find your personal teaching style. I know it took me about three years to find mine.

And how valuable that is going to be for reducing student behavior challenges. I'm so excited to hear more about this. Eric, do you feel you have a teaching style?

[00:02:32] Eric Cross: I think so. I think early in my career I read an article about the warm demander, and that's something that I've always strived to be. It, it's like my grandmother. Like she wouldn't play, but she made sure you were fed.

It was both; you held high expectations, but then you were also extremely supportive and caring. And so I try to make sure that I am that for my students. And I think, you know, one of the things that helped with that was working with kids before I was a teacher.

[00:02:54] Ana Torres: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:02:55] Eric Cross: You know, because in those situations you have to hold the line and sometimes you have to be able to have that endurance where you have a standard or you have an expectation, and if kids don't always fulfill it, and they push back, you've got to be okay with that. That's just part of it. And the end result is you see students really achieving things they couldn't achieve before. So I would say the warm demander is what I strive for.

[00:03:14] Ana Torres: Well, I'm going to bring Neysa Olivares-Torres now on the show, and then we're going to check back in later and unpack it all. How does that sound?

[00:03:24] Eric Cross: Sounds good. I look forward to listening.

[00:03:27] Ana Torres: Today's guest is a former classroom teacher, just like myself, but she is now the English language arts program specialist, grades 6-12, y'all. Woo-woo! I'm so excited for Lake County School District, Florida, for grades 6-12, guys. That means Neysa Olivares-Torres supports about 25,000 students in her role. You heard me right. 25,000. That is a big job. And you're going to hear that Neysa is exactly the right person for this gig. But as a theme with nearly all of our guests, Neysa has faced some challenges early in her career. Haven't we all?

And so for Neysa, something that really helped her on her journey, was discovering her true teaching style. And I can so relate to navigating that in my early years. So on today's episode, she's going to share that story and she's going to offer some really amazing advice for helping newer educators, and even those educators that have been in the game a while, to really either find your teaching style or continue to explore what is best for you.

So let me welcome Neysa Olivares-Torres. Welcome to the show, Neysa.

[00:04:49] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Thank you so much for having me, Ana. What a privilege to be here.

[00:04:53] Ana Torres: So how did you like those flowers? I know a lot of my guests can't sit still for that.

[00:04:57] Neysa Olivares-Torres: That was beautiful and I wish that you could come with me everywhere. Every time I go somewhere, I'm leading learning or I would be like, "And here is Ana," to just do that amazing intro. So kind. Thank you.

[00:05:11] Ana Torres: Wow. Our listeners are in for an amazing treat. Now, how long have you been in the education arena, Neysa?

[00:05:19] Neysa Olivares-Torres: This is Year 15 for me.

[00:05:23] Ana Torres: Wow.

[00:05:23] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I know.

[00:05:24] Ana Torres: Would you consider yourself a seasoned educator at this point, Neysa?

[00:05:29] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So this, I don't know why this made me laugh. I've seen this phrase before, "a seasoned educator," and it just made me think of cooking. Like how sometimes I've messed up a recipe along the way and how much practice goes into that. But after 15 years, I think I would consider myself pretty seasoned. But keeping in mind that great teaching is just like cooking, right? You never really stop learning and adjusting and reflecting, because our students keep evolving, and so we should also.

[00:06:01] Ana Torres: I love that you're throwing out analogies already. You're such a teacher. Aren't we like always throwing out analogies at every turn, right?

[00:06:09] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yes. It's the English major in me. I cannot help it.

[00:06:11] Ana Torres: Now, you had a moment where you found yourself almost like cycling through different teaching styles that you could try to adapt for yourself. And I think many of us early on in our careers are trying to find our stride and find our way. But you came to kind of a crossroads, right?

[00:06:30] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yeah.

[00:06:31] Ana Torres: Let's set the scene for our listeners.

[00:06:34] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So teaching was never on my bingo card.

[00:06:37] Ana Torres: Oh!

[00:06:38] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I started off in college as pre-law.

[00:06:40] Ana Torres: Okay!

[00:06:41] Neysa Olivares-Torres: And then, you know, circumstances happened and I was like, "Okay. Hmmm." I had a lot of friends who were going to the teaching field, so I was like, "Okay, let's try education." And again, circumstances just didn't happen for me to continue that program.

So then I'm like, "Okay." I was spinning. "What do I wanna do with my life?" And I realized that I have always [had] the love of words, the love of literature, the love of diverse texts, of just learning and being able to read and talk about things that I read. I was like, "Oh, they have an English literature major? That is the one."

So after I graduated, I was like, "Okay, so now what do I do with this?" You know, there were so many different careers and I had started substituting at that time just to kind of figure out, you know, maybe this might be a path. And then I had a friend who reached out and told me that they were hiring for a teacher at, actually, the high school that I graduated from. But it was midyear, so I was like, "Oh my gosh." I was scared, but I applied anyway.

[00:07:44] Ana Torres: And let's reiterate. You said it was midyear?

[00:07:47] Neysa Olivares-Torres: It was midyear. So I think I interviewed probably right before winter break. I had no idea what I was stepping into. I was super nervous. I'm like, "I don't know anything about the teaching world, specifically academics." But because it was at the high school that I graduated from, and actually the principal who interviewed me was my principal...

[00:08:12] Ana Torres: oh, wow!

[00:08:12] Neysa Olivares-Torres: ...When I graduated. So we were reminiscing and we were talking and he was like, "Neysa, I think this is going to be really good for you."

He's like, "You know, we're here to help." And I felt supported immediately. So he told me I was hired. I came in January; they gave me the my keys to my portable—way in the back— my roster, and they were like, "All right! Have a great rest of the year."

[00:08:35] Ana Torres: And we wish you well!

[00:08:37] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yes!

[00:08:37] Ana Torres: We wish you well!

[00:08:38] Neysa Olivares-Torres: And I was like, "Oh, that's it. Like you're just going to leave me alone with these students who I'm only like five or six years older than, and you're going to trust me with them all day? Okay." And all I knew was that I had not come from the school of education, but leaning into any teaching experience came from teaching dance and coaching cheerleading.

[00:09:00] Ana Torres: Okay.

[00:09:01] Neysa Olivares-Torres: All of those best practices that we know now, I knew that I was doing them in a different capacity, I just didn't have the language for it, like the gradual release model.

[00:09:09] Ana Torres: Sure.

[00:09:09] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Or skill-based learning and mastery came naturally to me because that's what I did as a dance teacher and as a coach.

And I had some really amazing colleagues who shared all of their resources and teaching tips with me. I felt like I was always being coached. Also, as I kind of went through those really challenging and tough times, I thought about the teachers that I loved that I had when I was in high school. And it made me think, "Why did I love and appreciate them so much? And what was it specifically about their classroom environment?" So I pulled from so many different teachers. So, my service learning teacher, Miss Robb, we called her Mama Robb. She really influenced the way that I cared about students and my community and believed in students working collaboratively together and really leading and taking ownership of their own learning. She was just kind of the facilitator.

[00:10:09] Ana Torres: So you're already giving your shout out.

[00:10:11] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I have to. Have to.

[00:10:13] Ana Torres: Obviously they had kind of different styles, right? So what are those different teaching styles that you obviously were exposed to and gravitated to in your early career?

[00:10:25] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So the teaching styles that really, I think, influenced and impacted me were teachers who were firm but fair. They led their learning with humor, empathy. They respected us as students. I really feel like they were really good listeners when it came to asking students to share their thinking and to be in a safe learning environment. I felt like they knew at what moments of our learning they needed to be direct; they needed to have a different approach. It was just so seamless, the way they could transition in and out of different ways of delivering their learning and interacting with us. And I'm like, "How? How do they do it? It's like magic. It's like magic that they just know how to do this." So I guess that becomes the art of teaching.

[00:11:26] Ana Torres: Yes.

[00:11:26] Neysa Olivares-Torres: And so I wanted to be that. I wanted to pull all those different pieces from each of my teachers that I had, and then the colleagues that I worked with, to kind of figure out what worked best for me.

[00:11:39] Ana Torres: You were literally brainstorming. You had the great privilege of having folks mentor you. You were able to actually witness some of these various teaching styles. So tell me a little bit about how you landed on, I guess what I'm hearing you say, that "firm and fair." Not too loose—right in the middle. Fair, but firm, yet loving. That would kind of describe me a bit. Like I did want my students to know that I cared about them, but there were going to be boundaries. And it took me Year Three to land there.

So you tell me how you landed on your style and kind of how you developed it.

[00:12:17] Neysa Olivares-Torres: This question really challenged me. It really took some thinking because I really never thought of myself as having a teaching style, per se. I just kind of show up as who I am. But I did do a lot of substituting, right?

I kind of mentioned that earlier. I did all of the grades. Because I knew that I wanted to see what was the best fit for my personality. Like I am loud and full of energy.

[00:12:40] Ana Torres: Yes!

[00:12:42] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Right? And I just knew that my personality and who I am was better suited for high school students.

[00:12:48] Ana Torres: Okay.

[00:12:48] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So as soon as this position became available, I was like, "High school is it for me." So from day one, I knew that taking a more direct approach and having a very structured and consistent learning environment worked for me because that's just who I am naturally as a person. But I also believe in balance, right? Like, you have to have both. So I made sure that students felt valued and respected and was very intentional about interacting with them every day.

And that brings me to some past memories of when teachers would mispronounce my name and I would just die a little inside. And I knew they were coming to my name on the roster because never had anyone asked me how to pronounce it before they mispronounced it. And so I would come back home and just felt like crying. I'm like, "Hey, my name! Why did you name me that?" You know? And it didn't take me until I was an adult to fully appreciate that, so I never wanted my students to feel that way.

[00:13:49] Ana Torres: Sounds like you had a couple of aha moments in that, meaning you knew that high school would probably be better suited and you knew what type of teacher and how you wanted to show up every day with your students.

So that's really great advice. Like just kind of knowing where you fit and what's going to work with your personality, your group of students, and again, we're calling it the "firm-fair" kind of style or what we call also, I think you've even mentioned in previous conversations, kind of like that tough love style, right?

[00:14:22] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely. And so that tough-love style, I think it also fits into that having really high expectations for my students, because I feel like my background and my upbringing really influenced how I teach. You know, my parents came to this country without knowing the language and having any resources, and they did incredibly well for themselves.

And so I saw how hard that they worked to give me opportunities and things that they didn't have, and they made it very clear that having a degree and being a professional was the expectation. And so there was no other option for me. And so I brought that same energy: "As a teacher, I have high expectations for you and I am going to demand greatness and excellence from you because I know that you can. And maybe you can't yet, but that's the power of "yet." That's why I'm here and we're going to do this together."

[00:15:13] Ana Torres: And...I don't know if you hear me snapping. I used to snap in my classroom and this so resonates with me as it relates to high standards, right? And keeping the rigor high and allowing students to see that they are able and capable of that. So I really appreciate you saying that. My heart just jumped out of my chest as you said that. My first name is really Anayansi. I literally cut it short because no one could really pronounce it properly. And so as I'm older...I identify myself and say I embrace my whole name.

[00:15:50] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yes.

[00:15:50] Ana Torres: And people are a little bit more conscious of asking, "Would you prefer me to call you Ana?"

[00:15:55] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:55] Ana Torres: Or Anayansi?

And I say all of that to say that is what you didn't want your students to ever, ever feel, like it wasn't an inclusive environment. So we appreciate you sharing that now.

[00:16:07] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely.

[00:16:07] Ana Torres: Let's go back to this tough love, fair-firm teaching approach, right?

[00:16:15] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Sure.

[00:16:15] Ana Torres: Let's be clear, we are here, especially Season 2, guys, to talk about challenges that we have.

[00:16:22] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yes.

[00:16:22] Ana Torres: And to give you some inspiration along the way, and some research along the way of best practices. But in those early days when you were challenged and you said you cried, I think a lot of us have cried.

[00:16:33] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Oh, yeah.

[00:16:33] Ana Torres: A lot our first couple of years.

[00:16:35] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Sure.

[00:16:36] Ana Torres: When did you find that right style? Like, what happened? And what differences did you see when you evolved into this style?

[00:16:43] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So I think my style came really with experience and with time and with observing other teachers. We didn't have podcasts back then, and, and social media—well, not the way we have it now, but a lot of YouTube videos and really, I had to think, I'm like, "So what, what works for me?" And it's the relationships. The relationships that I have, just as a person, with my family and friends are super important to me. So it just made sense to do that when I started teaching. I wanted my students to know that I cared about them and their success in and out of the classroom.

[00:17:23] Ana Torres: Yes, very important.

[00:17:24] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So when they would start opening up a little bit throughout the year and telling me, "Oh, I have a soccer game," or "I have a band concert," and they would ask, "Miss OT, are you coming?" "Yeah, yeah. I'm going to show up. I'm going to show up." So I would go to their quinceaneras. I would go to their games and to their concerts because I started realizing that my students would interact differently with me when they saw that I would take the time to be at something that they truly cared about.

And that was like, eye-opening. And then I started noticing that I had strengths that I could bring to not just teaching in the classroom but organizations. So I became the junior class sponsor. I helped co-sponsor the Student Government Association. I became the dance teacher and the cheerleading coach.

And I'm not, again, I'm not saying anyone needs to do that. This was like when I had the time. Right?

[00:18:21] Ana Torres: The extra time, yeah.

[00:18:22] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Students who were not even in my class would come and you know, "Can we have lunch with you?" Or, "You know, I'm having trouble in this class." And I'm like, "You sure you wanna talk to me? I'm not your teacher. You don't wanna go ask your teacher?" And they're like, "No. I want you to help." So I just realized that being in different environments with my students really helped me as a teacher see them and speak to them differently, and move with them differently, if that makes sense, because I could see when they would light up, what they cared about, and so when I would bring in, you know, learning and content and skills, I'm like, "Okay, so this is going to be about, you know, fishing. And I know that this student loves this, so I'm going to be super intentional about giving them an option to show they're learning this way.

It just made the classroom so much better. It didn't feel so heavy where I felt like it was always my responsibility to make sure that they were learning, but they were willing to do more of the work because they saw that I was putting in effort into them outside of the classroom. So if I asked them to work collaboratively, I didn't get a lot of pushback. If I asked them to get up and go to the auditorium to practice reading the balcony scene from Shakespeare, I didn't get groans and like, "Oh, that's so dumb." They would go do it.

[00:19:43] Ana Torres: How exciting.

So it sounds to me that this approach, [quote, unquote] "teaching style," is who you are.

[00:19:51] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely.

[00:19:51] Ana Torres: Sounds like you were able to get really great outcomes in your classrooms. Again, bowing down to anyone who proceeds and is brave enough to do high school, and I know sometimes our newer teachers out there specifically also are challenged with behaviors in classrooms, right? Challenging behaviors.

Do you feel that having that teaching style blended itself, or any advice you can give about how using your particular teaching style can create less behavior challenges in classrooms?

[00:20:21] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely. I think I can count maybe on one hand how many referrals I had to write, which was not many, and that was almost 10 years in the classroom. And so not to say that, you know, my kids were all angels, because we had our moments. To say that, you know, students didn't use profanity or didn't act out in my classroom would be untrue. However, I also made sure never to embarrass or humiliate or call out a student in front of other students because I knew I had that power and I never wanted to go there with a student.

I had experienced that being a student myself and seeing that happen to other students and how that just makes them feel so small and I never wanted to do that. So those relationships, interacting with kids every single day and noticing when something is off. And then, you know, because [of] my classroom environment, I was able to release students to work and then if I noticed a student there was something going on, I was like, "Hey, can you come just talk to me really quick in the hallway? What's going on?"

And they would tell me about something personal or whatever it is. I'm like, "Okay, so what do you need me to do?" And they're like, "I just...can I just work independently by myself or can I be alone?" "Absolutely." So I feel like I provided a safe space for students to share if there was an issue, but that only came with respect.

And I don't feel like my students needed to earn my respect. I want them, and I hope that they would say that I respected them as soon as they came through my doors and how they showed up. How they showed up. And I tried not to make assumptions about my students and knowing that when they came to me that there was going to be structure and consistent routines and that I was always prepared with a plan A, B, C, or D. Very, very rarely did they ever see me in a position where I wasn't self-regulating, if that makes sense.

Yes. No, it makes a lot of sense.

I kind of modeled that for them. I'm like, "Okay, I am about five seconds away from losing it. This is what I need. This is what I'm asking you and I'm sharing how I'm feeling right now, so I'm just going to need a moment." And they respected me enough to give that to me.

[00:22:36] Ana Torres: Well, and that speaks to how you ran your classroom and the trust that they did have.

[00:22:41] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely.

[00:22:42] Ana Torres: And it sounds like you built mutual trust, Neysa, right? Like you said, the moment they walked in trust was pretty much there already, and it sounded like every day was a clean slate. And because you showed up for them in the way that you did outside of the classroom too, also spoke volumes to them. So I appreciate you sharing that.

[00:23:03] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yeah. I just think it's important to make sure that it feels like a partnership with your students. That we are equal partners in learning. I used to tell them, "In this classroom, we are all teachers and we are all learners, and we're doing this together." But also making sure that I'm setting boundaries and there are consequences. But also being supportive and encouraging, but being firm and fair. Again, it's that dance and knowing when to step in and when to step out and when to lean in and when to let go.

And the only way to be able to do that is by being so present in your classroom. And when my kids were working, I wasn't sitting at my desk doing my emails. I had to be facilitating and present.

[00:23:51] Ana Torres: Because it sounds like you were very in tune with your students. And I know that our topic for the episode is really looking at teaching styles and also integrating that and seeing the importance of having your own teaching style and how that can also impact learning in the classroom.

So tell us why you think [for] new educators specifically, why is it important for them to find their teaching style, and what are some styles that you've seen that are effective?

[00:24:20] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I think it's important first for any teachers, especially new teachers, to just really understand what are their strengths first. Just separating yourself from teaching. Are you super organized? Are you really creative? Do you really like an interactive classroom? Do you love yourself a really good PowerPoint to help guide your teaching? So knowing your strengths first because you're going to develop them. And then understanding too, that a teaching style is not just like you find it once and then that's it, right? It's ever evolving. And it's always in progress and it's not a "one size fits all." I know sometimes well-meaning seasoned veteran teachers offer suggestions and advice to our new teachers and they tell them, "This is how I do it. Just do this." And because new teachers trust their colleagues and they want to learn, they want to know, they're like, "Well, she's been teaching 25 years. Obviously something is working right?" Or, "This teacher next to me, he never has classroom management issues. So, yes. I'll do that." And then realizing that those suggestions may not work for their students because it's not authentic in who they are.

If you are the teacher who's going to come with the sternness and the unforgiving approach, that might work with another teacher with their students, but for you, your students are going to pick up so quickly that that is so inauthentic and not genuine, and they're going to feel like you're playing them.

I just really want teachers to understand that with time and with experience—and a lot of mistakes, because we all make them—teachers will be able to develop their own style that is authentic for them and sustainable.

[00:26:12] Ana Torres: Ooh, I like that.

[00:26:15] Neysa Olivares-Torres: And that it's consistent. And to help create meaningful learning experiences for your students.

[00:26:22] Ana Torres: That is some real, you know, we call these what you just did, we call them "wisdom nuggets." So Neysa just dropped one nice wisdom nugget. And again, I appreciate you saying it takes time, right? Also that consistency. And it has to fit you. So if I'm a new teacher, I'm trying...I'm figuring out my style. What are some signs that I'm doing it right? Like what are some things that I need to be on the lookout for that I'm, like you said, kind of honing my craft in the way that I need to? And maybe what are some signs that I'm doing it wrong? What signs did you have?

[00:27:00] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I think one of the best things that my literacy coach did for me in my earlier years was allowing me to go visit other teachers outside of my discipline and in my discipline. So I feel like observing other teachers and asking to do that, I think that that was really powerful to see, "Okay, so there are so many different things that I can try. And I feel like when I realized that I was on the right track, it was the consistency in my expectations. My students, after a couple of probably weeks, were not asking me, "What are we doing today? What's going on? I don't know where we are." It was like a well-oiled machine. In my entire years of teaching, I'd only ever had like two substitutes leave me notes about some of my classes that didn't behave. So they knew you better act right when Miss OT is not here

[00:28:03] Ana Torres: Or even better than better; I should get a marvelous report. Because that is a reflection of me too.

[00:28:10] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Absolutely. So when I was seeing the consistency in my students, when I would see that they were authentically engaged, not just compliant, I would ask them, "Okay, do a turn and talk with your shoulder partner."

And they wouldn't just talk about what they saw, you know, on Snapchat. I felt like when I could be flexible and responsive to the needs of my students, like I knew when I had to pivot quickly, because whatever I was doing it was not sticking. Right? It's not them, it's me. Because if it's the majority of them, I did something that didn't transfer for them.

[00:28:46] Ana Torres: And I appreciate you saying that because we do have to pivot and take ownership at times. When it is what we're not doing correctly. And I think for newer teachers too, like realizing that there will be times that you have challenges and there'll be times that you call them "mistakes." I call them "challenges" because if we don't have those occur, we don't learn how to pivot. So you learn how to pivot. So thank you so much for sharing all of your wisdom and giving all of this amazing advice, not only about finding your teaching style, but also giving us a lot as it relates to student behavior. You know, kind of how to engage students and how to actually decrease those moments of maybe not-so-great student behavior by really showing up for kids and having an authentic teaching style. So now, before we go, because believe it or not, we're almost getting to the end of this now.

In Season 2, we're doing what's called a "rapid-fire wisdom nugget segment." And so we're going to see how many of these questions we can get to in about two minutes.

[00:29:54] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Let's do it.

[00:29:55] Ana Torres: All right. If you weren't an educator, what would you do for work, Neysa.

[00:29:59] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I would be a lawyer or a makeup artist.

[00:30:02] Ana Torres: "Or a makeup artist." And her and her makeup looks fab, by the way. Ding, ding, ding. 10 out of 10. She is absolutely on it.

[00:30:08] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Thank you!

[00:30:09] Ana Torres: You're welcome. What's one resource that you would really recommend to educators?

[00:30:14] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So, Better Learning for Structured Teaching by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey. I'm literally holding it up.

[00:30:20] Ana Torres: She's actually literally holding it up.

[00:30:23] Neysa Olivares-Torres: This transformed my teaching practice, right? Coming into teaching. It was that, "I do. We do. You do." And this just transformed it, turned it all around for me. Made it so clear and really helped me in my role that I'm in now with coaching teachers.

[00:30:37] Ana Torres: I want to pick that up. Now, you mentioned a couple of mentors.

Is there any mentor in particular that you want to shout out still? And what is a quality that they had that made them a great mentor to you?

[00:30:48] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So one that comes to mind is Seth Edwards, and he was my mentor at Leesburg High School in my first—probably my second year—of teaching. He would take the time after school, what I affectionately call a "Seth School," and he would have me sit in his classroom and show me best practices, show me some strategies.

He cared that deeply.

[00:31:12] Ana Torres: That's good.

[00:31:13] Neysa Olivares-Torres: So shout out to Seth Edwards who I still work with. He left, went to district and I followed him. And we are two peas in a pod.

[00:31:21] Ana Torres: Love that. What's the most unusual item you had in your classroom?

[00:31:25] Neysa Olivares-Torres: A Raven. A stuffed Raven, because Edgar Ellen Poe is my favorite author.

My daughter is actually named after Lenore in one of his, actually in "The Raven," the poem. But I would tell my students that the Raven would be watching them so they better act right.

[00:31:41] Ana Torres: And then finally, I just love to always ask this one. On tough days, which, sounds like you had a bit, and we never will ever get away from those, right? But on the tough days, what reminds you of why you're passionate about education?

[00:31:58] Neysa Olivares-Torres: I go back and I look at all of the notes or cards or messages that students have ever sent me to remind me of the impact that I had that I didn't even know I was having at the time because I was just living in the present and making sure that they had what they need to be successful, not realizing that years later I would be officiating some of their weddings, be invited to their baby showers, that they would send me messages about "thank you for being the one Latina teacher I've ever had that represented my culture and understood where I came from." And so all of those moments that you don't realize are happening in that moment, but then they come back and they tell you and they want to talk to you about their life. That is what is most important to me, and what keeps me going, is the kids.

[00:32:46] Ana Torres: Student centered all the way.

[00:32:48] Neysa Olivares-Torres: All day.

[00:32:48] Ana Torres: So I could literally...and every guest is going to say, "Ana, you say this to everyone," but I would love to have a Part 2. But before we go, the last thing that I ask of every guest is to shout out their home district or any district that's close to their heart. Would you like to do that?

[00:33:07] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Yes. This district is so close to my heart because I'm a product of this district, which is Lake County Schools. We—I'm so proud to say—that we earned an A in our district for the 24–25 school year, the first time since 2008. So shout out to the teachers, the admin, the support staff, our community, and most importantly, our students for this incredible achievement.

Go Team Lake.

[00:33:33] Ana Torres: Thank you, Neysa.

[00:33:34] Neysa Olivares-Torres: Thank you.

[00:33:36] Ana Torres: That was Neysa Olivares Torres.

Check out the show notes to learn more about the success Neysa and her team have been seeing in Lake County. But now it's time to bring back Classroom Insider Eric Cross. Well, all right, Classroom Insider Eric Cross is back—my beloved Classroom Insider.

You're beloved still.

[00:33:57] Eric Cross: That was great.

[00:33:58] Ana Torres: So Eric, what did you think about the episode?

[00:34:01] Eric Cross: This was a unique one because essentially what I was hearing is teaching and feeling comfortable in your own skin and we're all so different. And there's a lot of principles that you can apply that's good teaching, but it looks differently based on who you are.

And I really love that she validated that.

[00:34:15] Ana Torres: Yes. You know, just showing up as your authentic self was really important to her. But you know, now it is time for...Takeaway Time.

[00:34:24] Eric Cross: Yeah. The first one is, kind of like what I was saying, is teach like yourself for finding your authentic teaching style. That's super important.

Not to force yourself into someone else's teaching style, but look at your strengths, your personalities, your values, and then build your classroom approach based on that. When it's authentic, it's powerful, and students can tell when it's not. And there's research on this. Culturally responsive pedagogy talks about how when we're authentic and it aligns with our practice and our identity, it builds a lot of trust.

They could feel it out even if they can't articulate it or say it. And in classrooms where teachers are authentic, and their personalities come out and they're not just imitating somebody else—which I also wanna say sometimes in the beginning, that's okay to do. You're trying on different styles to figure yours out.

It's like different outfits. But eventually you want to find your own. And when you do that, you're authentic and real and your students will resonate with that. They'll connect with it at a deeper level.

[00:35:14] Ana Torres: Well, and I liked what you said, because that's literally how I started out. I started out with not really knowing what my teaching style was going to be or what that was going to mean.

So I did try on different outfits. And when I did show up as my authentic self, it made such an impact in my classroom. But it's not always easy to do as you know, Eric, right? So I like that. You know, trying out different teaching styles that fit you is super important, especially as you're starting out as a new teacher.

[00:35:43] Eric Cross: Yeah.

[00:35:43] Ana Torres: I know you have another one.

[00:35:45] Eric Cross: Yeah. Another thing that I was hearing when she was talking was balancing high expectations with care and at times tough love. And students thrive when teachers combine firm boundaries, high expectations, and genuine care. And you need one and the other.

[00:36:01] Ana Torres: I liked what you said.

Genuine. Genuine care.

[00:36:04] Eric Cross: Genuine, yeah. Genuine care. I wrote this quote down, she said, "I have high expectations for you and I'm going to demand greatness. Maybe you can't yet, but that's the power of 'yet.'" And I love that. And so what this would look like is maybe a middle school math teacher insists that all students try a really challenging word problem.

And then the teacher's modeling strategies. They're celebrating effort. They're reminding students that they're capable of growth, and there's this balance between communicating the beliefs in the students and potential without lowering their standards. This kind of comes back to the question you asked me earlier...this is that warm demander stance.

I think when you have both of those, you really get to see the best in your students.

[00:36:44] Ana Torres: Yes. Both of those ingredients need to be in place to see those amazing outcomes. And I was always about when you literally tell students that they can, they will. They will own it and they will work so hard for you.

But it is a balancing act, right? So those two ingredients are important to really have a classroom of students that thrive, and I'm using the word that you used, "thrive." Not just surviving. They're thriving.

[00:37:11] Eric Cross: Thriving.

[00:37:12] Ana Torres: I know you have a third one, Eric. Let's hear it.

[00:37:13] Eric Cross: Yeah. The last one is one that I think is really, really important, and I think this comes down to when I used to play sports, but it's learn to adjust as you go.

[00:37:22] Ana Torres: Pivoting.

[00:37:23] Eric Cross: It is. It's a lot of that. When you would have different opponents in sports, you couldn't play the exact same way. You'd have to adjust, and as a classroom teacher, your kids are never the same. And so when we're teaching, when mistakes happen, like that's an opportunity for growth.

And let's be honest: It can hit our ego.

[00:37:39] Ana Torres: Yes.

[00:37:39] Eric Cross: But that's when reflecting, pivoting, looking for peer support, not blaming students or circumstances for why things went wrong. I have this mantra that everything is not my fault, but everything is my responsibility. And so I'm constantly looking at things and inviting people in to come see what I'm doing and give me feedback.

She was open-minded enough and willing enough to look at how her students were responding to her, and then pivoting and changing. And that's a mark of great teaching. There's obviously a lot of research on this. [John] Hattie, you know, who's well known for teaching practices, constant feedback and assessment loops are one of the most effective teaching practices, not just for our students, but for us too.

And so, you know, inviting people in. "Hey, come in. Come see what I'm doing. Come see how I'm supporting my students who have IEPs. Come see how I'm supporting students who are high-level students that I'm enriching. Come see how I'm supporting multilingual students and then give me feedback." I want to grow. I don't have it perfect. And if anything, I'm more aware of the things I'm not doing well than I am about the things I am doing well.

[00:38:37] Ana Torres: And as you grow in this profession, that is what we strive for, right? It's actually a positive for both for our students and also for ourselves. Thanks so much for helping me unpack today's episode. Good to chat with you as always, Eric.

[00:38:51] Eric Cross: You too. Thanks a lot.

[00:38:54] Ana Torres: Thanks for listening to Beyond My Years from Amplify. Next time we will explore how to effectively support students with learning differences in math. I'll be joined by Keri Brown.

She's an experienced K–2 educator, national presenter, and author of My Kindergarten Math Workbook.

[00:39:14] Keri Brown: I honestly think the easiest thing is putting more manipulatives in children's hands and just watching them work.

[00:39:23] Ana Torres: The best way to get all of our new episodes as soon as they drop is to subscribe to Beyond My Years on the podcast platform of your choice. While you're there, do us a favor and leave us a short review. I'm your host, Ana Torres. Our Classroom Insider is Eric Cross. Our music is by Andrew Smolin. Until next time, please remember to reach out and say thank you to a seasoned educator who has shaped your life.