"The classroom Remix" Utilizing The Modern Classrooms Project Model & Framework

One of the most valuable teaching insights we've heard recently is surprisingly simple: if learning only happens while you're lecturing, a single interruption can bring the entire class to a standstill. In this conversation, I sit down with Toni Rose Deanon to explore the Modern Classrooms Project and discuss how educators can redesign instruction so students continue learning, thinking, and understanding expectations—even when the teacher isn't leading from the front of the room.  

We break down the three pillars blended learning, self-paced learning, and mastery-based learning with concrete classroom signals to look for. TR shares why instructional videos are often misunderstood, how mastery checks and revision shift grading from punishment to progress, and why self-pacing actually requires stronger backward planning and tighter alignment. You’ll also hear how the must-do, should-do, and aspire-to-do structure supports differentiation, letting advanced learners deepen their work while freeing time for small groups and real-time feedback. 

The conversation stays grounded in the human side of teaching: relationship building, brave spaces, student confidence, and teacher burnout. TR points to the value of community support through the Modern Classrooms Project podcast, free courses, and collaborative spaces for teachers and school leaders, so nobody has to implement alone. 

If you’re looking for practical strategies for personalized learning and a healthier way to run your classroom, press play, then subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review. What’s the first small change you want to try?

Resources: 

• Modern Classroom Project
• MCP Podcast
• MCP Facebook Group
• MCP (Virtual Mentorship)
• Instagram

Thanks for listening! 🙏🏼 If you picked up a new idea or felt inspired by today’s episode. Please take a moment to follow the show and share it with another educator who’s passionate and let’s keep the conversation going!” I’d love to hear from you and if your interested in being a potential guest on the show; email mahperdpodcast@gmail.com 

Transcript

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Welcome And Guest Background

Jake 0:13

Hello, and welcome to Voices from the Field, a MAHPERD podcast where we talk with educators in the field to hear about their perspectives and experiences. My name is Jake Bersin, Advocacy Chair for MAHPERD, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Toni Rose Deanon. Welcome to the show, TR.

TR 0:28

Oh my gosh, Shake, I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited to be a guest because you know I do a lot of hosting on podcasts. This is gonna be so fun.

Jake 0:37

Yeah, I can't wait, TR. So before we get started, I'm just gonna give a little background. Toni Rose has been an educator since 2010 with experiences ranging from a middle school English teacher, adult ESL teacher, and instructional coach for technology. Toni Rose strives to be the educator they never had growing up. So they focus on more inclusive practices and aspire to create a brave space for everyone around them. TR joined the Modern Classrooms Project in 2019, leading community engagement initiatives, organizing educator events, facilitating webinars, and hosting the Modern Classrooms Project podcast. TR's work amplifies underrepresented teacher voices and supports educators in adopting blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning. As a queer Philippinex, they understand the importance of being represented, valued, and feeling a sense of belonging. To stay grounded and at peace, they practice yoga, write, get lost in stories, and go on two-mile walks with their dogs. Roller skating brings them so much joy. In this episode, we're going to focus on the modern class and project model and what it actually takes to create classrooms where both teachers and students can thrive. If you've ever wanted where there's a different way to teach and learn in today's world, this conversation is for you. Let's get into it, TR. What first drew you to education, and how did this path lead you to the modern classroom project?

TR 2:04

I think I was trying to rebel against my parents. My mom told me that I should not be in education because I would not

TR’s Path Into Teaching

Speaker 1 2:11

get a lot of money, and that I should do something more prestigious, like being a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. And so for me, that drew me to education, right? I've always loved learning as a kid, and I've always loved being the teacher's assistant as well. I was really close to the majority of my teachers growing up, and I was just so curious about how everything worked in the world. And so I just knew that I wanted to be an education. And when my parents were like trying to get me to not be an educator, that kind of stamped my like want and desire to be an education because I wanted to do my own thing. I didn't want to listen to anybody. And I'm so glad that I did not listen. This was something that actually worked out really well for me. And it's really interesting because I always thought, Jake, that I would be in the classroom forever, that I would be a lifetime teacher, right? That was something that I've always wanted to be. And I really love the kids. Middle schoolers are just the right amount of toxic that I need in my life. And they kept me on my toes and they kept me humble. And they also just continued to expand my brain every single day. And so I was approached on my 10th year of teaching to implement this model that highlighted, or not even highlighted, but it was a model that really implemented and broke down blended self-paced and mastery-based learning, right? When we think about innovative learning, I was already pretty much dedicated to using technology in the classroom, but I wasn't utilizing it in the most effective way. And that was because I didn't have proper training. It was just kind of like I needed to figure it out myself, right? So I've heard the terms flipped learning, I've heard the terms blended learning, using instructional videos, self-pacing, mastery-based learning. And I read so many things about it, but I still didn't know how to implement it. So I could tell you what those three pillars and those three phrases meant word for word, but I couldn't tell you how it actually worked out in the classroom. So my 10th year, Jake, my 10th year of teaching, co-founders Kareem and Rob came to our school and was like, hey, we want to pilot this model. We want to pilot this program. Do you have any teachers who are interested? And of course, I was like, Me, I'm interested. I want to do, I've always wanted to do these things, right? Mastery-based learning. I've always wanted to do self-pacing and blended as well, but I just didn't know how. And so when modern classrooms and Kareem and Rob came in and they shared with us what they've been doing at their school, I was like, this is it. This is what I want to do in my middle school English class. And then realizing too that I was already doing it in my adult ESL classes. Mind you, I was the computer lab literacy teacher. And so I was teaching adult ESL learners English and how to use a computer. And so, and we had to make that so relatable for adult learners so that it's something that they can utilize in the outside world, right? So I used NearPod. So there was already self-pacing that was happening because I had students who spoke English pretty well, but didn't know how to use a computer. They've never touched a computer before. And so coming into this space, knowing that, like, oh man, my learners are everywhere, right? I needed to make it a little bit more accessible for my adult ESL. And so I was already toying with this idea of everyone's working on their own pace, you know, really trying to get them to figure out what the keyboards are used for, how to use the mouse properly, how to check your email, how to order food online. And so when I came across MCP, or when MCP came to me actually, because I wasn't even looking for it, I was like, this is what I want to do. This is what I want to do. This is how I know I'm going to change my instruction. And I know that student outcomes are going to be through the roof. And the learning experience is just going to be so much better for everyone involved in this kid's education.

Jake 6:18

Wow, that's quite the story. And you have a unique situation, or Rob and Karima, the founders, right? So they came to your school. I don't know how common that is, but I don't think it's too common to have the founders come into your school and then offering the training. So you went through the training, obviously.

The Moment Traditional Teaching Broke

Jake 6:31

So now you're speaking about it daily. So was there a specific classroom moment that made you rethink traditional instruction? Was it the ESL folks you were working with? Was it the students? Or what made you think differently?

TR 6:43

Yeah, I think for me, I never even realized that what I was doing was traditional instruction, right? It was just something that like I taught the way that I was taught. And so all of my teachers taught this way. So I figured, and even my college professors during my teacher education program was a lot of lectures and being in front of the classroom. And so for me, I was like, oh, this is just the norm. This is how we do it. When I started implementing this model, you know, we know the importance of backwards planning. But by year 10, I'm gonna be honest with you, I wasn't doing any kind of planning. I was just going in there being like, you know what? I think this is what we're doing today. And my relationships with kids were already so beautiful that they just went along with it, right? I didn't have to worry about classroom management because again, year 10, I already knew what I needed to do, right? To get the learning to happen. But when I started implementing the model, mind you, Kareem was my mentor, Jake. So Kareem would come in and give me feedback. And the thing that I really loved that I didn't know, I didn't even know was an issue was that I never minded people coming into my classroom at all. Like, cool, come in, talk to the kids, observe, do what you gotta do. But something that I kind of struggled with was when people would come in, guests would come in and they wanted to speak to me. And I couldn't give them that time because I'm trying to teach, right? Like I'm in front of the classroom, I'm trying to teach. I can't talk to you right now because then everyone's just gonna be off, off task and not focused anymore because there's this interruption. And so when Kareem started coming to observe me and we were implementing self-pacing where students had access to everything that they needed, I felt really good talking to him. Right? Like the learning was still happening, and I still could give Kareem five minutes of my time. Five minutes is a lot, right? So I could give Kareem five minutes to debrief about what he's seeing in the classroom, what he's hearing from the students, and I didn't feel stressed. So then I was like, wait a minute. Okay, the learning still continues, even though I'm gonna step out of the room, have a conversation with an adult, use a restroom, whatever it is that I need to do, the learning was still happening. So then that was when I started thinking, Jake, this is my 10th year of teaching, right? What did I do the last nine years?

Jake 9:13

It does make you think about what have I been doing? When where did this model come from? I'm so happy it's here. So that kind of leads me to my next question. Those unfamiliar with this model, how would you describe the model in simple terms? Just the three pillars. Is there a way to do that?

TR 9:28

So this is something that I should have been working on forever, right? Like I needed to have my two-minute spiel about what Modern Classrooms Project

The Three Pillars Explained Simply

Speaker 1 9:34

is. Simple terms is that is it's three pillars, right? Blended, self-paced, mastery-based learning. It is truly how to differentiate and personalize learning, how to be intentional with the time that you have with students, and how to go from passive learning to active learning and getting students excited about what they're actually learning. Something that this model does that beautifully is that when you walk into any classroom who's implementing this model effectively, right, and you ask a student what they're doing, they're able to tell you exactly what they're doing, what they need, like what they need to do, when they need to do it by, and then what they're gonna do after they're finished mastering that skill or content that they're learning about. And so there's this clarity that students have. There's no more, I don't know, I'm just waiting on my teacher, or my teacher hasn't told me what I'm supposed to be doing. There's this sense of ownership, a sense of accountability as well, right? Accountability of this is my teacher has laid it out so beautifully beautifully for me, so that now I'm not stressed because I know exactly what the expectations are. I know how to engage with my peers and my teacher in a way where it's not going to interrupt anybody else's learning. And then again, it just makes learning that much more accessible for students. So, simple terms, it is the three pillars, blended, self-paced, mastery-based learning. Overall, we're here to teach teachers how to differentiate and how to personalize learning because we are aware that students come in with all kinds of experiences and knowledge and gaps. And this model allows and encourages and invites for all stakeholders to be a part of the learning and teaching moment and teaching experiences, as opposed to it just be the teacher all of the time.

Jake 11:28

Well said. And the thing I really like about the model TR is if you're not there, that doesn't matter. You can still catch up on the videos. If you have a student who's kind of a quote unquote elite athlete, there's something for them. If you have a beginner who's never touched the ball, there's something for them. And that's where this model is so unique with their lesson classification system, the must-dos, should do's, and aspire to do's. And then, like you mentioned before, the students are accountable. They know what's going to happen next. When they get their mastery check, they know maybe they need to revise it, right? Or maybe they need to go back and redo something, but they don't fail. It's just a constant learning, right? And then once they get that mastery check, they move on to the next lesson or skill, whatever it might be. That's what I really love about this model. So well said.

TR 12:09

Yeah, and it really pushes for educators to also be held accountable, right? Like we self-pacing, we gotta have backwards planning to a T. We need to know how many lessons there has to be. We need to provide feedback in real time and not weeks later. This is what I love. It's not just holding students accountable, it's also holding teachers accountable, right? So that it's clear for all parties involved. And I love that so much because, you know, to be clear is to be kind. I like that um to hear from Brene Brown, I believe. And so it's just one of those things of like, let's, you know, learning it think when things are transparent, when things are clear, people are excited, people are more motivated to to do what they have to do when they understand what is expected of them.

Jake 12:54

Absolutely. And it really forces the teacher to prioritize what the content is, the standards and whatever it might be. And and the backwards planning, like you mentioned, that's huge. You're not just sitting back and letting it happen. We there's a lot of forethought involved and a lot of planning involved. Kudos to all the teachers that are implementing this. It's a lot of work on the back end, but once you implement it, the system works itself, right? So, TR, you've interviewed, I don't know, over a hundred guests, probably more. How many episodes are you at now? But have you noticed any trends or findings from the guests that you've interviewed about modern classrooms?

Speaker 1 13:29

I I have to go back to the excitement

What Teachers Report After Switching

Speaker 1 13:31

piece, right? Of you know, anecdotes and stories of teachers saying, I know my students, I know how to differentiate, I know how to lift them up and elevate them and provide them the space to be. And I think teachers and my guests really appreciate the humanizing part of this model. There's a lot of opportunities for students to showcase what they already know, to fail over and over again because failures are part of learning. And then to create again this brave space for students to ask questions, to collaborate, to prioritize. And so I think there's, you know, if and when folks have a chance to listen to our guests, there's so much joy and so much passion into implementing this model. They all say, like, yeah, it was hard work in the beginning, right? Um, because I had to shift my mindset. When we're thinking about mastery-based learning, we're no longer grading for attendance, for participation. We're not taking points off for late work, right? So there's a shift in the mindset and the beliefs of our students when you're implementing this model. And so it just brings so much joy for anyone involved in implementing this model. You know, we've had teachers and guests just talk about how they were planning on retiring or at least quitting teaching, right? They don't want to do it anymore. It's too much, it is overwhelming, and not downplaying that at all. And then they were like, and then this model came up, and wow, I can breathe. Like I can actually enjoy teaching again. And so I think that in itself is the most powerful testament for me, anyway, because it's like we're inspiring teachers, right? We are empowering teachers, we're getting teachers to remember how joyful teaching and learning actually is. And our students actually, our students also have the opportunity to show up that show up however they need to show up, right? If they need a break, they can go take a break. If they're having a moment where they're breaking down, cool, it's not interrupting anybody else's learning. And that that student can just pick up where they left off. And I think that that's beautiful. It's beautiful. It is challenging. You will hear time and time again, oh my goodness, the videos take so long. I had to figure out what worked in the beginning. There's a lot of iterations that happen. And even if you're a six-year implementation, Jake, right? There's still things that you're iterating. And that's just education. It's not just the model, it is just education because we have different students in the class, different environments, different expectations and guidelines. And so you're always going to have to iterate no matter what. And I think teachers love that part about education as well, right? The iteration, you're never bored. There's if anything, you're just overstimulated.

Jake 16:24

Well, you're always learning, right? And it's not going to be perfect the first time. And maybe it'll never be perfect, but you're always improving and you're always getting better. I know when I first started making the videos, they were way too long, eight minutes, nine minutes. I have to cut this down for the students. So now they're at three, four minutes. Just get the essential standards they want, get the objectives in there, and all the animations and whatnot, and it's just a lot better than it by first go-around. And so that's where if the free program they offer, right? They have an online class, the modern class and project, and they have the mentorship program. Those two things together, I highly suggest for anybody interested in implementing. I also highly suggest our listeners listen to the podcast. That's how I got hooked on it. There's a lot of stuff you can learn from the podcast. So, TR, thanks for answering that question. Are there any misconceptions about the model that have come up?

TR 17:13

Um, there are two that I want to bring up. One is that students aren't learning, you're not teaching them. And that stems

Misconceptions About Videos And Pacing

TR 17:22

from the instructional videos piece. The teacher is no longer in front of the stage and lecturing. And so people are not used to this type of learning and teaching. There's the assumption that it's not happening anymore. And in actuality, it's happening a lot more because now that lesson can be taken anywhere that is in your student's pocket, right? They can go to the bus and watch it on their phones. Or if they're at a game, like you said, and there's some downtime, they can watch a quick video and figure out like what did I miss in class? And so that's a misconception that students are on their devices all day long and that they don't have conversations with people, and there's no collaboration happening, and there's no learning happening. It's all on the computer. That is a misconception. We have teachers who have class sets of laptops where the videos are really the only thing that students have access to on the devices, and then everything else is collaborative work or everything else is independent work on paper. We also have some teachers who have low tech, where it's like, you know what, we'll watch the video together as a class first. Pause, let's let's reflect, let's talk to a neighbor, and then the collaborative piece is happening, right? So that's a misconception. Another one is that self-pacing, you just let students go. Like, oh well, no guidance. Yep, no expectation. Self-pacing, go for it. Like, do whatever you want to do, what you can do. And in actuality, there's so much more planning that happens when it's self-pacing. Because, like you and I have mentioned before, the backwards planning. You need to know what your summative assessments are so that you can break it down per standard, per skill, so that students know how to access it by the time they get to the summative assessment. Our teachers plan per unit, some plan per month, per semester, whatever it is that you have capacity for. But self-pacing actually requires so much more planning. And there's way more guidelines for self-pacing than there is regular or not self-pacing. So I wanted to just say those two pieces of like instructional videos is actually great. They're great for families to watch, they're great for your co-teachers to watch, for your substitutes to watch, for your pair pros to watch, alongside the students so that everyone is receiving that same message. The learning is still happening, right? And then the self-pacing is like, no, you really have to be intentional and plan. Like you said, hey, my videos were eight minutes long. I needed to take that down to two minutes. And so now we're thinking about how many words are we using? We have to be really concise and be super intentional with what we're creating so that everything is aligned with what the students need to learn that unit, that lesson, that semester.

Jake 20:13

Well said. I think align is a key word there. That alignment is so important. Tell me if you agree. Once you do a unit or two, you get it under your belt, it becomes easier with time. It starts off a little bit challenging, but then as you do more and more, you get used to it, you know what to focus on. And that's really key, I think. So I also like that you touched on every context is different. Some people might not have a one-to-one Chromebook. I know I don't, and I can't have Chromebooks in the gym because they're gonna break if the ball hits the screens. So I have to adapt a little bit. But if I'm still implementing the model with fidelity with the different pillars and whatnot, but again, every context is a little bit different. So that's an important note. What do you think about struggling versus advanced learners? Why is this model so good for all students?

TR 20:56

Yeah, because if you think about it, right, a lot of the times we teach, we focus and prioritize

Meeting Advanced And Struggling Learners

TR 21:03

our students who are struggling. And we forget the students who are advanced. That's happened to me in my own K-12 experience, has happened to me as a teacher, and it's happened to my sisters, right? Like everyone I've talked to who are considered and labeled advanced, they're forgotten, right? And so with self-pacing, it's like I'm not holding you back. If you already got this, keep doing the thing, right? Like you have your should do, you have your aspire-to-do. To make it even more engaging, you invite students to create their own aspire-to-dos. So then there's that buy-in, and then that there's motivation that, like, oh, this is something that I created to showcase what I've learned. And so students are way more excited about it as opposed to me creating it. And it's also less work for teachers, right? Like I don't have to, I don't have to create it. And so our learners who are more advanced, they can just keep going. They're not waiting on anybody, on the teachers, on their peers. They just keep learning, they keep deepening their learning. And if they're interested, they could also teach their peers. I always told my middle schoolers that if you can talk about it and you can, then you can be about it, right? If you can get a classmate to understand what we're learning, then you've mastered it. Honestly, right? And a lot of the times, peers are going to learn a lot more from each other than they are going to learn from me. So if you can understand it from your classmate, cool. My feelings are not hurt. We just want you to understand and feel comfortable with the content and the skill that we're we're learning.

Jake 22:30

That's a great point.

TR 22:31

And so, yeah, and so for the students who are struggling, now there's more time, more small group time for students who are struggling. There's more one-on-one time. Let's check in with each other. Like, hey, why is your head down? What's happening? There's more time for again that human piece to check in with the students to see what their needs are and to make sure that their needs are met before we can get them to even start learning, right? Because if a student is hungry, if a student is mad, if a student is going through something, they can't learn right now. We don't want to force them to learn at that moment, right? Because it's just not going to happen. And so with students who are struggling with either content or emotionally or mentally or physically, there's so many opportunities for teachers to create those learning experiences in smaller group settings. And I love that much better too because I get overwhelmed with large groups. And so I'm not going to speak up if it's a large group. But if you put me in a small group, then it's smaller. We can really gain each other's trust. You know, we can set the conditions for our students to feel brave and successful. And so, and a lot of the times too, when students are struggling, it's because their confidence is low in the content, right? They've already been labeled. And so they're just going to continue going with that label. And so when you spend a lot of time with students who are struggling, you can understand what are the barriers, right? And how can I get them to feel confident in learning the things that we're learning in class? And there's more time for that, right? There's more time because you're not lecturing in front of the classroom anymore. And I'm not saying to spend 15, 20, 45 minutes with just that group of kids. Y'all, like 10 minutes of smog group makes a huge difference. Even five minutes of like checking in makes a huge difference. So it really just allows for our more advanced students to continue deepening their learning and then provides us to be able to support our students who are struggling, whatever it is that they're struggling with.

Jake 24:37

Well said. And the other thing too is no students falling through the cracks, not with this model. Because you have you have something really to meet every learner's needs. Um, so that leads me to my next question. What role does relationship building play in the modern classroom?

TR 24:51

Oh my goodness, this is such a good question because I think in any kind of model, in any kind of classroom, in any kind of grade content,

Relationships As The Real Foundation

Speaker 1 25:01

whatever, relationships are top priority. You know, there's a saying, and I'm forgetting on who said this, but if a student knows that you don't like them, they're not gonna learn from you, right? And so there's this understanding we gotta know our students, we gotta know where they're coming from, we gotta empathize with them, we gotta connect with them, we gotta make things relatable to them so that learning can happen. Like, y'all, life is hard. As an adult, I'm struggling, right? Life is just hard. And can you imagine our youth also struggling? It's different struggles, but it's still struggles. Like as an adult, I know how to cope with a couple of things, but sometimes our students don't know how to cope. And so it's like, hey, let's get to know our students. Relationships are really important. Let's build this trust and let's collaborate with one another. Let's really create a community in this space that we're in because students are spending majority of their time in the school, right? And being in community with their classmates. And so it's like, how do we as a teacher continue cultivating and nurturing those relationships so that we truly believe that our students can succeed? And I think again, the humanizing piece that I want to keep iterating, right? Like we're all human beings doing our best, right? And for and I truly believe, Jake, that if you want to be innovative and if you want to do something different in the classroom, you have to actually believe that your students can do it.

Jake 26:31

Right.

TR 26:32

And for you to believe that your students can do it, you have to get to know your students, right? So that we are taking away our biases, we are taking away all of the assumptions and the misconceptions and the hearsay that people have said about each and every student that are coming into our classrooms. And so we gotta, yeah, relationships. There's no learning happening if you don't have a relationship with your kids. That is my opinion. I don't know if I have facts to back it up. I have lots of anecdotal from my own experience to back up that relationship piece, right? That is so, so important. If you think about it too, Jake, it trickles down too, right? Like teachers also want to feel that relational, relational experience with their leaders, with the school leaders. Um, and so that that relationship piece is so important because again, we're just all human beings just trying our best.

Jake 27:25

Well said. I couldn't agree more. What are some tips for someone interested in learning about this model? I know we talked about the online course that you all have, but what are some other ways that someone could learn about this or get involved?

TR 27:38

Yeah, like you said, the podcast, we have a Facebook group with over 20,000

Getting Started With MCP Support

TR 27:41

teachers who are constantly sharing their resources, answering questions, even sharing their um challenges, right? Asking questions like, hey, this is happening, what can I do? I also say find your teacher bestie. And I hope that teacher bestie is someone who teaches the same content, same grade as you. So then you too can create the videos, you too can figure out what self-pacing looks like for your students and for yourself as well. Um, and start small, right? Just peep in. We have so many resources here at modern classrooms that if you're like, hey, I want to create this thing, we probably have already created it, right? So like just take it, make some changes, make it your own, and implement it in that way. But I would start off with finding that teacher bestie so that you two can learn and process and reflect together when you're implementing this. Reach out to the community because we never ever want you to be by yourself. And then start small. If you have time and capacity and you're really strong-willed, you can implement all three pillars right away. But if not, start small. I always say, let's move pebbles before we move boulders so that we don't get overwhelmed and we don't get burnt out and we don't get discouraged.

Jake 28:53

Great tip. I like that. And also, like you said, have a colleague. You can bounce ideas off each other. And it's definitely easier to implement something when someone is like that thought partner with you, right? Does this work? You know, what are your thoughts on that? So it's good to just bounce ideas off each other and be in the trenches together. So that's a great tip, great strategy. What type of training or PD do you offer district leaders and administrators?

TR 29:15

Yeah, we do. We actually just had our leadership collaborative. So it's a one-day virtual summit that we do every year with school and district leaders,

PD For Leaders And Admin Buy In

TR 29:23

and that's where they showcase what they've done to scale the model or even to help their teachers or support their teachers in implementing the model. And so that's a one-day virtual summit that happens in June. And I'll share with Jake as well the link so you can get the on-demand resources for that as well, since it just happened this week actually on June 20. And so we have that. We also have quarterly meetups for school and district leaders. Again, there's a space for them to have conversations about what worked well, what didn't work well, what are they struggling with, or to gain insights from other school and district leaders who are doing the same work as them. Again, MCP doesn't want you to do this by yourself, right? If you have questions, we probably already have somebody who can answer all the questions who's in a similar situation as you. And so it's really nice that we have that for leaders so that they can know how to better support their teachers who want to implement the model.

Jake 30:20

That's great. I wanted to catch that sum up, but it was my last day at school, so I wasn't able to, but I'm glad we can get the recordings or something like that. So that's awesome.

Speaker 1 30:27

Yeah.

unknown 30:28

Yeah.

Jake 30:28

So you have another group that I was a part of. I forget the title of it, but it was for educators.

Speaker 1 30:33

Um I'm talking about the implementer meetups.

Jake 30:36

Yeah, maybe that was implementing meetup, but it was people from all around this the country, really, and just talk about what they're doing and how they're doing it and sharing ideas.

Speaker 1 30:44

Yeah, we actually rebranded that to the collab.

unknown 30:47

Oh, okay.

TR 30:48

So that means that teachers, again, from all over the world can come in and share their challenges. It's more of a troubleshooting, problem-solving kind of space. And so we have Dr. Gillam, who's actually hosting that every month. It's on the second Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. Eastern time, uh, where we have a topic based on what we're seeing in the group. And Dr. Gillim answers questions or shares resources that we have created. And so, again, it's just a space for we don't do a lot of sit and get, Jake, right? Like we will, for example, have like out of the 60 minutes that we have together, it's five minutes of me talking. And then the rest is really breakout rooms. Let's have whole group conversations, go explore, go check out this resource that we created. But again, I really want to model active learning that's happening within those 60 minutes. Time is precious. So I don't want to waste people's time by me just talking at them because I could do that all day. But I know that is not the best use of time. And so we really wanted to create a space, the collab, where our teachers or people who are interested in implementing and teachers who have been implementing to share all of the things with each other because again, community is really important to us. We don't want you to do this alone. We want you to feel supported, empowered, and excited about doing something different.

Jake 32:13

No, that's great. I could attest to that. I know the times I was on those meetings, it was really powerful and valuable. So thank you for that. So, TR, how do you see this model growing in three to five years? How old is it, was it 10 years, 12 years, the model?

Speaker 1 32:25

Uh, I've been with them for five years. And I think they started maybe in 2018.

Jake 32:30

2018, okay. So there's been thousands of educators

Where The Model Goes Next

Jake 32:33

trained, right? I mean, it's been TD all over the country, all over the world. So this is really exploding and it's gonna continue to get bigger and better, right? As more implementers and folks like yourself spending the good word.

TR 32:46

I was gonna say, I know that we're shifting to math education for right now because both of our co-founders are math educators and also math education in the US need that we need a lot of help, right? So we're like, hey, the model is really good for student outcomes, right? Let's work with the curriculum that people are working with and let's figure out how to deliver it in a way that is effective and um and will give you the outcomes, the student outcomes that you want. And so we're shifting to math education to help with the trajectory of math education in this country. I know that we're also shifting to more leader work as well, because again, our teachers are fire, right? Like we love the teachers. The teachers are spreading the news, they're sharing the love, they're doing all the things. And then sometimes they get stuck because their admin doesn't know what this is about, right? Like admin is like, wait a minute, how do I align this with teacher evaluation? How do I align this with standards? How do I align this instructional model with blank, right? So now we are also focusing on getting leaders more involved and so that they have a better understanding of what this instructional model is. So because prior we were really focused on teachers. Teachers were excited, we were excited. Um, and then we were coming up with that challenge of like, okay, school leaders also need this training. They also need to have conversations and community to exchange ideas and collaborate and share their challenges. And so we are trying to be in spaces where school and district leaders are just so that that with that we can help them with whatever it is that they need. Um, and also just like have a better understanding of what those needs are.

Jake 34:28

That's interesting because you in one scenario you might have an educator bring their wants and needs to the administrator, but now you have the administrator going through this training and they could bring this system or this program to this the whole school, the whole district.

Speaker 1 34:42

Right.

Jake 34:43

So it's really it's really cool. TR, for our educators listening, for anybody listening, what's one nugget or one mindset shift or piece of information you want them to take away about the modern classrooms? And it doesn't have to be limited to one, but I know that's kind of an open-ended question.

Speaker 1 34:59

I think uh you can do it, right? You can do it. It may seem hard at first, but you can do it. I just want to say that that's it. Like you can do it. It is possible to do this model effectively, successfully, and beautifully in your classes, no matter the age, grade, content.

Jake 35:19

And who's ever in front of us, too, right? Doesn't matter what the student, whatever their needs might be, we can do it. I love that. So, TR, we have a new segment to this podcast. It's called The Rapid Fire Questions, and I'm really excited to ask you. Are you ready for this? I'm just gonna ask you a question and then you respond right off the cuff, right?

Speaker 1 35:37

Oh my gosh. Okay, this is gonna

Rapid Fire Teaching Takes

Speaker 1 35:39

be really great for my ADHD brain. Let's see.

Jake 35:41

Okay, so first question favorite teaching or learning hack?

Speaker 1 35:46

Retrieval practice.

Jake 35:47

Okay. How about a teaching trend you love?

Speaker 1 35:51

Do you remember the different handshakes that teachers would have for you?

Jake 35:55

Yeah, like a fist bump, this lap.

Speaker 1 35:56

Yep, yep. I really love that.

Jake 35:58

All right. Now, how about the teaching trend you wish would disappear?

Speaker 1 36:02

Back in the classroom, I hated seeing those really beautiful bulletin boards because I felt like I could never do that. It could, my bulletin boards could never look like that. And so I would just want, I just wanted them to get away from me, from my newsfeed, from anywhere. Because I was like, I don't want to spend my time doing that, but I felt the pressure to make my bulletin boards look that way. I don't know if it's a trend that has already disappeared. I'm not sure. That was something that I really did not like.

Jake 36:31

Okay, no, it's fair. How about the best piece of advice you received as an educator?

Speaker 1 36:37

Best piece of advice. The biggest thing that's popping up for me right now is to show up as yourself. Show your students that you are a human being as well.

Jake 36:47

Love it. And how about a book every educator should read?

Speaker 1 36:51

Honestly, anything by Elena Aguilar, start off with any any of her books. Amazing because even if you're not an instructional coach, the skills and the strategies that Elena talks about in any and all of her books are applicable in real life as well. So it's literally like just being a better human being.

Jake 37:13

That's awesome. And if I'm not mistaken, she was a guest on your podcast, right?

Speaker 1 37:17

Yes, she was.

Jake 37:17

What number are you at now? You in the 300s?

Speaker 1 37:20

Uh no, not yet. Not yet. We are, yeah, we are. And it's wild that I've been doing this since 2021. So we're at episode 281. So next hundred.

Jake 37:31

Congrats.

Speaker 1 37:32

Thank you.

Jake 37:33

All right. So, TR, as we come to a close, where can our listeners find you? Or resources can you share? You got the modern classrooms website.

Speaker 1 37:42

Yeah, modernclassrooms.org. You can find our free course as well, learn.modernclassrooms.org.

Resources And Closing Ask

Speaker 1 37:48

And the beautiful thing about this is that we also have the MCPU, which are other courses that specifically focuses on different content, you know, how to do small groups, co-teaching, and all that. We have so many courses that are free and available to anyone and everyone who's interested. You can listen to the podcast, Modern Classrooms Project Podcast, join our Facebook group. We are all on social media. And if you want to slide into the DMs, it's me who's responding.

Jake 38:15

All right, TR, thank you so much for sharing your work and expertise with us.

TR 38:19

Thank you so much for having me, Jake. I always love having conversations with you. So thank you for expanding my brain and inviting me in this podcast.

Jake 38:26

Thank you. So, listeners, we'll have this episode uploaded soon. Also, we'll ask our listeners to rate and share the podcast that has helped you in any way. Thank you all for listening. Have a great week, and we will be back soon.