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Spotlight 4 Success
Say Yes To Better Teaching With Tech
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Say yes first, figure it out together—that’s the spirit of this conversation with Tracy Phillips from Washington Parish, recorded live at LACUE 2025 in New Orleans. Tracy has taught nearly everything from fourth grade English to biology and civics, and she shares how a single decision to attend a tech-forward conference reshaped her planning, assessment, and classroom culture.
Website: spotlight4success.com
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I am Devin Pentosi, your host. We are here at LACU 2025 with our special guest here in New Orleans with Tracy Phillips. Tracy, welcome. Good to see you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Good to see you.
SPEAKER_00:I understand you're in Washington Parish, is that right?
SPEAKER_01:I am at Mount Herman School.
SPEAKER_00:At Mount Herpin School, wonderful. Well, uh, tell us a bit about what brings you here to Lacue today.
SPEAKER_01:Well, my principal called me a couple of years ago, and funny story, I couldn't hardly hear her, and she said, have you ever heard of LaPew? What I thought she said. And I'm like, Peppy? She said, she said, no, LaCue. And she told me about it, what it was, you know, told me what it was. And she said, it's time to get two teachers registered from every school, and I just thought about you first. Um, she said, you seem to want to learn about technology and integrating technology in the classroom, and she said it's a great conference to go to to learn about a very broad range of sources, software, technology. So I said, count me in.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's so awesome.
SPEAKER_01:So I I I did. I came a couple of years ago with another teacher from fifth grade. We had the best time. We learned so much. And then um several weeks ago, my same principal sent out an email to several teachers and said, It's time to register for a lacue. Who wants to go? And I'm like, Yes, count me in. And and um another friend of mine who works right down the hall from me, she also responded, and then she and I got an email about five minutes later and said, You two were the first to respond to, so you're going. Oh I was so I just sent her a text, by the way, that you know, um, thanking her for letting me come because it's it's just a wonderful atmosphere and meeting so many people who can help you in the classroom be a better, uh, I mean, like 1,000% a better teacher.
SPEAKER_00:That is wonderful. And um and so now that you're here at LACU this year, is there a particular strand or a particular area of interest um that you're pursuing here at the conference?
SPEAKER_01:Well, of course, I I noticed when I looked at the sessions last week, like, and I put it in our we have a group chat called the LACU crew, and it's like everybody that we knew who was coming. And like, and I said, there's so many sessions on AI. And so that's so big right now, yes, and so we've been going to a few, and I am just amazed at what it can do. There's there's one in particular you can share a link from say YouTube, and it will put the video in there, it'll put the transcript of the video in there, and you it will generate a multiple choice, true and false open-ended question test.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, look at that.
SPEAKER_01:So, you know, just a few clicks of the button, and and you have everything you need right there.
SPEAKER_00:Look at that, off to the races. Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_01:I'm with my tenth grade right now, I'm teaching Hamilton, the musical.
SPEAKER_00:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, yes, it's so much fun. And I I warned all the teachers in my hall, if you hear singing and dancing and clapping, I promise we are having class. This is what we are supposed to be doing. Um, but I can I can bring up one of the songs. Friday, we're gonna listen to Aaron Burser, and I can I can put that video in there, generate a test just to see if they can, you know, keep up with it. So I'm really excited for AI. Even I was kind of conflicted at first because I mean we we we are strongly against the students using AI for writing their their essays and everything. So I have to be really, really careful. Um so it it but I see as a teacher it's it can be useful to an extent.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah. Thank you for watching because I like your success. And I understand you have a big passion to uh to help students uh do better and and uh improve their achievement as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I have always taught a tested class, and I've been teaching for 26 years. Um and it's it's been a tested class. Usually it's been English, all grades. I mean, I've literally taught every grade from fourth to twelfth. And um, and I've also taught biology, I've taught U.S. history, I taught civics last year to my ninth graders. Um, so it it it it's been tested and when I I'm I'm actually retired from Mississippi. I live close to the Mississippi Louisiana line, so after I retired from Mississippi, I just drove down to Washington Parish and started teaching down there full time. Um but in Mississippi it was like you're teaching seventh grade English. Here's your textbook. You can do whatever you want to. And when I began teaching, that was really, really difficult without you know anything to go by, anything to go by. And actually I started looking for resources. I found I found ABC and I personally bought because that's what teachers do, we you know, we personally buy everything. Um I bought a couple of books for for seventh and eighth grade, and it was it was amazing the difference it made in my classroom to use as a supplement because it had the the multiple choice questions, leap, leap-alike questions that I could use in the classroom, um, just to just to supplement, because we had to use that textbook, but it was amazing the difference it made for the students to see questions like like they would see on leap. Wow. And it and I saw I saw a huge improvement in my test scores.
SPEAKER_00:Great.
SPEAKER_01:I saw less stress from the students because if they feel if I if a teacher teaches hard during the year, like like overly, then when it comes leap test day, those students are gonna walk in there and say, Oh, I know this. Oh, I I yeah, I can do this, you know, that and it's just gonna be confident. Yes, they're they are 1,000% more confident. So that you know, that's kind of my my mantra is to teach hard during the year so that when leap day comes, they can walk into that room, you know, having having that confidence that they need.
SPEAKER_00:That's so awesome. Well, I'm happy to hear that uh ABC was able to help you uh to get there and American Book with everything. Absolutely. That's great. Um, so uh uh tell me a little bit more about uh anything else you're planning to do with your career, or so what are the next steps?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I don't know. I I have been teaching in the parish for seven years. I am 60 years old. Um I honestly I know this is very personal. I was just in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, and but now since I got out, changed the medicine, I'm feeling 30 again.
SPEAKER_00:There you go.
SPEAKER_01:So I you know I might have another 20 years in the parish. Who knows? So I I'm feeling good. I love the students at Mount Herman are amazing. They are literally the best in the parish. Literally. They are precious. I have had my 10th graders since they were in seventh grade.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01:I've had them every single year, and last year I had them twice a day. Um and and I think I'm closer to that group. I I would love, I don't, you know, teachers year to year, we don't know what we're teaching. You know, the principal might come in and say, okay, this year you're teaching this, and I'm like, I'm never taught that before. But I really, really hope I can keep my actually my sophomores and juniors next year as seniors and juniors because I've also had the juniors since they were in seventh grade as well. Wow. So I would I would love to continue to have them until they're seniors and just to watch them grow and flourish and you know they're loving Hamilton right now. They really are, and I think it far Mount Herman, it it's just it's country. Um it exposes them to the Broadway musical that they probably wouldn't have watched ever. So I I'm I'm tickled about that right now.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. So I don't I don't know. I don't know what the future holds, but I'm loving Mount Herman. I want to stay at Mount Herman and just just be the teacher that that my students need.
SPEAKER_00:That is wonderful. Thank you. Um do you have a special message you'd like to share with the Lakew community?
SPEAKER_01:Get here. If you've never been and your principal asks you, would you like to go? Don't think about it, don't hesitate, just say yes. Just say yes. Next year it will be. Now, I I'm I'm gonna say I'm love I love being here in New Orleans. There's so many things to do. Next year's in Baton Roads at the Cane's River Center. Um just come. There's so many vendors here. You will learn so many things, and not just from the presenters. You will learn things from the people in the sessions because they will have questions or they'll say things. Yesterday we had a we had a guest in the room mention something that the presenter didn't even know that they could do on that on with that software. So you you just learn so so much, and you you have time to connect with so many other teachers who are interested. I mean, if you're here, you've got that common bond, and that is how can technology-wise, how can I be a better teacher?
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:And and so if if you're asked to come, don't hesitate, just say yes. You won't regret it.
SPEAKER_00:You heard it from Tracy. Just say yes.
SPEAKER_01:Just say yes.
SPEAKER_00:Tracy Phillips, Washington Parish, thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01:You are very welcome. It was nice to meet you.
SPEAKER_00:Nice to meet you.