Clarity, Connection, Momentum with Jenelle McClenahen

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This week’s episode is a little different, and I am (as my dad loves to point out) super excited about it. I was joined by the incredible Jenelle McClenahen, the CEO and founder of Symplifyed.

Jenelle’s story is amazing. She was a teacher who, after her son was diagnosed with autism, saw the power of breaking down big milestones into tiny, measurable steps through his ABA therapy. She had a lightbulb moment and thought, "Why aren't we doing this in the classroom?" She started revamping her entire curriculum with "I can" statements, built a spreadsheet (you know I love a good spreadsheet), and accidentally created a startup.

Learn more about Jenelle McClenahen at www.symplifyed.com

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Connect with Jenelle McClenahen
Email: jenelle@symplifyed.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jenelle-mcclenahen-67a75570/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563494914023
https://www.instagram.com/symplify.ed/

Connect with Jessica 
Email: jess@data-informedimpact.com 
X: @informedimpact
Instagram: @informedimpact 
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/informedimpact 

Transcript

Speaker 4 0:50

Welcome to Data and Education. Today is a very, very special, exciting episode. Um, and I am just, I don't, su just super excited. I know I say super excited so many times. Like my dad listened to the podcast a few times and so my other podcasts and he's like, you say super excited a lot. And I'm like, yeah, dad. I know. Okay. I just, I can't help it. I'm always excited. Um, anyways, I am, uh, very, very, very excited to have Janelle here with me. So I'm gonna have Janelle actually introduce herself. This episode's going to be a little bit different for a few reasons, but, um, this, we'll, we'll start it now. Janelle, give us, give us your background.

Speaker 3 1:36

Okay. Well thank you Jessica for having me. I am just as excited, maybe a little more excited. I doubt you.

Speaker 4 1:46

Excited,

Speaker 3 1:48

ecstatic. There we go. Um, so I am Janelle McClenaghan. I am the CEO and founder of Simplified. Um, where to begin? I started this whole process about three years ago when as a teacher, I taught third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade elementary school. And I was in the classroom and our district was undergoing essential standards work. So we were breaking down. Um. Core common core standards. Right. And at the same time, um, my son was diagnosed with autism and, um, we started a BA therapy. And in a BA therapy, we learned, um, so many, so many valuable, valuable skills. But one of the biggest things that I took from it was we actually downloaded this app. And we started tracking his behavior. But the way that we did it, and for those of you, um, who are, who have, you know, kids with special needs, um, you know, he wasn't reaching his milestones, right? And so we started to break those down really into really small measurable steps, right? Um, for example, you know, saying yes to a question, we actually taught him to say yes by, you know, prompting him and like having him repeat.'cause he would repeat everything after us. He would say, we'd say, say hi Kate. And he'd say, hi Kate. And so we would say, we'd like, do you want this? And he would say yes. And he would copy us and then we learn, we taught him how to do it independently, which was just, you know, as a parent with special needs, you would know like, you know, every accomplishment is so, so big. And, um, and so we saw this amazing, amazing progress with him. And I just thought as a teacher, wait, like we have to have a better way of tracking student progress, just the way that we tracked my son's behavior and his goals. And so I became so inspired and obsessed with I can statements, which is breaking down those standards that I revamped our entire reading, writing, and math curriculum, um, to have like small checkpoints for the standards or skills. And it created a spreadsheet, which I know that you've done as well. Right. And the kind of like that skills-based grading then, um. So I started working with some clients, like doing, you know, that kind of work and consulting. So I was teaching part-time and consulting part-time, and I joke around that I accidentally created a startup because my cousin who was advising me was saying, you need to get off of Google Sheets and you know, get this on a platform. And so it really wasn't until the platform was done that my developer said, congrats on your first startup. And I was like, oh. Is this what a startup is? Because I'm in the world of education. I don't know startups. I do live in the Silicon Valley, but I'm not, that's not my background at all. And so in the midst of that, we were actually developing, um, the great book, right? But then I was actually prompted by you, um, when I came up with that behavior spreadsheet. So I created, I, I always wanted to track behavior, but academics is so much easier, right? So like, you know, breaking down the steps for academics is way easier, um, than behavior. But I wanted to, you know, try it out, right? And I also wanted to understand like teacher perspective, because that's such a huge part when measuring behavior. So anyway, I created this like spreadsheet and I remember showing it to you and you're like, post it on Facebook groups. So I did, I wasn't even like a part of those Facebook groups. And I posted on it and got it like blew up. And I had all these people, I had over a hundred pilots for. Um, for the tracker. So we actually shifted and went toward behavior. Now our platform, um, officially tracks behavior IEP goals or goal tracking individuals and then grades too. So one through four skills-based grading. So yeah, that's how we got stuck. Yeah,

Speaker 4 5:48

that's, um, such an amazing story. I love hearing it every single time. Uh, what grade were you teaching?

Speaker 2 5:53

I

Speaker 4 5:55

remember third at the time. Third grade, right. Um, uh, cool. So were you always part-time teaching or were you full-time teaching to begin with?

Speaker 3 6:01

No, I was full-time teaching. Um, I've kind of bounced between part-time and full-time when you have kids and you know.

Speaker 4 6:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Makes sense. Cool. And, um, and so I wanted to touch on a few things. So number one, the Facebook group thing. They are so hungry for tools to collect that tiny data, and I know we talk a lot about this, this whole concept of tiny data. Um, and, and we'll probably talk about it more in this episode, but that whole idea of like finding that data that that's going to give you that, that quick win, right? Finding that data that's going to give you some kind of hope that things are changing and that you have some kind of, um, control over the impact that you're having on student success. And, and so I've experienced the same thing in the, in those Facebook groups. They, um, I don't know if any of my listeners are coming from those groups, but, uh, we're talking about like the principals desk, uh, principals, PR principals. Principals I think is one assistant principals desk. Um, there's an MTSS group that's really awesome and, um, a lot of engagement in there. And it's, uh, you learn so much about what. What the pain points are in education right now, even beyond the experiences that we've had because you've worked in schools, obviously I've worked in schools, like we both have a pretty good idea of what's going on in those schools, but we also acknowledge the fact that every school is different and every school has their own pain points, right? Their own, their own struggles or own, uh, way of doing things. So I think it's so valuable to be in those groups and, and really, uh, get, get the feedback on what we've put out there, but also, um, just, just as a space to listen to, um. What's going on in, in schools all over. And, um, I wanna go back a little bit in your story and, and talk about, uh, when we were first introduced, because you, you mentioned you're in Silicon Valley and I'm in Cincinnati, so we are not neighbors. Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's over there. We do have Trader Joe's. But the closest one to me, I think is like, I actually just looked it up a few weeks ago because I'm like, when are they gonna start building them closer to me? It's like on the other side of the city, it's like 30 minutes away, which I guess would probably be worth it if I ever felt like driving, but we all know that's a pain. That's my pain point. Um, but, um, so, so yeah, we're not neighbors. Um, and actually the person who introduced us, um, is not a neighbor to either of us technically. Um, and, and you've met, have you ever met Kristen? Um, no. In their life. So it's really funny'cause the person who who introduced us is Chris Graves and he lives in Chicago, which I did live in Chicago, but I didn't meet him until I was back in Cincinnati. Oh. And so, yeah, we never met in person either. Yeah. Uhhuh. Um, but I connected to him through LinkedIn because he was doing a lot of the same work that I was in terms of like, uh, making data useful in schools. And he, he's a principal in Chicago, but he also was just kind of like putting his ideas out there through blogs and then LinkedIn and Yeah. Um, and so I, uh, one of us reached out to each other. I can't, probably me because I love talking to people, especially now that I don't talk to people all day. Like we've talked about this a million times, but it's so hard to go from working in a school to working by yourself. So I'm constantly reaching out to people and just saying like, let's just talk about this stuff. So we connected. And then a little while later he sent me an email and he's like, there's this lady in California who's doing standards-based grading. And um, and she's got it on a spreadsheet and I think it would be a really great connection. Uh, so we connected through Chris Graves, so not neighbors, not lifelong friends, but we've known each other for probably like

Speaker 3 10:01

two years now. Yeah. Yeah. It has been a couple years now. Yeah, it was back in the beginning. And it's interesting'cause this is, this is his shout out. I don't think we've even told him. I haven't, I haven't officially told him that. I

Speaker 4 10:12

know I sent

Speaker 3 10:12

him that.

Speaker 4 10:13

Oh. Told him what? We

Speaker 3 10:14

haven't said anything yet. Well, I haven't sp like, you know, that we've been connecting and, uh, yeah, so he, he did, it's funny because, um, I also connected with him in the same way.'cause he was PO posting, you know, blogs about, um, uh, data and, and, um, and him and I were just, you know, brainstorming about it, talking. We had a Zoom call and it was funny'cause after he goes, have you ever heard of Jessica Lane? I'm like, who's this Jessica Lane? Like, I was like, you know, but I'm like, new to the data realm. So I was like, Jess, I go, oh. I was like, no. And so it was just such an amazing connection though, because, you know, we'll go into more like, of just how, how much our work really aligns. It's, it's pretty crazy.

Speaker 4 10:58

Yeah, definitely. So we connected, I, I created, um, kind of like a, a Google Looker studio dashboard for your standards scrapbook. Mm-hmm. Um, so we did a little bit of like bouncing ideas off of each other and everything and, and stayed connected, um, throughout that time. And, and I think, uh, what you're hitting at is exactly the reason why, like we both just have a, a passion for taking data and making it useful. Um, and not only making it useful, but making it useful in a way that, um, that. Validates, uh, and empowers the teachers that are using it. Yeah, I think a lot of times we have people coming into our schools and talking about data, um, but they're talking about it from a very high level and not really getting down to that nitty gritty, tiny, tiny data that helps us, um, create that change in the classroom. So, uh, definitely same kind of ideas, visions, um, and also a lot of other similarities just in our lives that we probably won't talk about here because we could go on three years, but definitely an instant connection. And, um, and so we stayed connected. You, um, came and presented at my virtual summit and, uh. And you were building this app and I was like, oh, this is really super cool. And then this summer we decided, you decided to approach me about joining you. So this is where I'm throwing up the confetti. I'm gonna add a little, for those of you that haven't picked up, you know, looking fe, for those of you that haven't picked up on all the Easter eggs that I've been dropping, because, you know, I'm, I'm very Taylor Swift. Uh, I'm, uh, I'm as important as Taylor Swift these days, you know, on your

Speaker 12:51

album.

Speaker 4 12:55

Um, which is funny'cause I'm not even a swifty. Like I enjoy her music, but I'm not. Yeah. Who is your favorite musician? I don't think we've ever talked about this.

Speaker 3 13:03

I love r and b Reggae. Um, yeah. Before my gym. I like Taylor. Taylor Swift. Don't like Swifty. Don't, yeah. Same. But, um, all your swifty pants, but, but, uh, yeah, I like RB reggae kind of, yeah. That kind of vibe. Yeah. Yeah,

Speaker 4 13:21

yeah. Um, anyways, tangent. So I've been dropping hints all over for the past few weeks. Um, but it is official. I am joining simplified as a director of analytics and integration, which is so exciting. Um, and you know, it's funny because I've had so many conversations with, um, people throughout the past few years while I've been doing consulting with schools and, um, people that are just like, you should really start a platform. You should really start a platform. You should really start a platform. You should do this, you should take this outside of Google. And I'm like, no, no, no.'cause like, I felt like it was, um, pulling away from the connections that I was making with teachers, and I felt like a lot of the, the technology meant for schools these days was not made with. Teachers in mind. It was not made for, it wasn't made to make things easier. Yeah. It was made to check. It's, it's all being made to check boxes. Yeah. Not all, I shouldn't say all, but a lot of it is made to check boxes. And so I didn't wanna become another thing to check a box. Like I'm not here to check your data use box. Yeah. Um, but when you approached me and we started talking about, uh, what was possible, I, uh, felt as though it was very much like I already knew that your vision was aligned to my vision. Like I already knew we connected on that point. But, um, also hearing about the platform and what you were thinking for the future of it, I felt very much though that it was, uh, in line with what I've been doing and in line with, uh. With the, the core values that I've been kind of centering my work around within data informed impact. So, um, it was a very quick, yes, let's do this. Um, and not because I'm impulsive, although sometimes I can be, but again, because it's, it's very much aligned to, um, to the vision that I have. And so that's coming from my end why I thought it was, uh, an immediate yes. So I wanna hear a little bit from your end why you decided to ask me to join. Just so that you can brag about me for a little bit. No, just so

Speaker 3 15:37

honestly, I've thought about this even from the moment we met, so maybe it was love at first sight for me, but it took you some time because, um, when we connected, and I'm gonna go into your, your, your phrase of tiny data, because that's like a really key part. Yeah. But before I, I remember when we connected, I was like, wait a second, like, where you are. And like, we just like meet, like your work and my work, we actually don't overlap. That's what Right. Right. Um, like we're in the same field, but what you do is more from an admin level. And what I do is definitely the teacher level. And so, um, I always kind of thought, I'm like, huh, that's interesting, right? Like that, like that we connected. But as we developed this platform, as I developed this platform, I was thinking I, and then we talked more about that tiny data and, and when you said that phrase to me, and I'm sure your, you know, followers like know this, is that I was like, oh, I'm tiny data. Like that's exactly what simplified is. And so, and at the same time I feel like understanding, um, was is is definitely my blind spot. And so I needed your, your expertise and your vision and your, um, work and experience to also compliment, right? Because you can't. If we're gonna expand to whole schools, when we wanna make an a even larger impact, I obviously need to understand the perspective of administrators, of coaches of, you know, um, all the admin at the district level. That's a really important part to really making the, the biggest impact. I do understand very much how teachers need like to what they need to grow and to support their students and to use data. Um, but again, having that admin buy-in and understanding, and I feel like your perspective, I think we align on so many different levels. And the, the biggest one I think is our humanistic like approach. Like we care about, um. The person, we care about the people in the school. And so I, I love that. We've actually never really, like we've, we talked so much, but we, we haven't really quite said that. And, um, about, you know, how you haven't wanted to, you know, build a platform before or join other right. Platforms and, and that, as you say that, that makes so much sense to me as I now have gotten to know you so much better. Uh, because I wouldn't either, I wouldn't, I, you know, I think we have a similar, you know, feeling about platforms as we both worked in the classroom too, where we're like, you know, man, these people have never been in a classroom before to know that, you know, and, and there's some really great, there's, we've talked about this endlessly. There's some really awesome platforms out there, some really cool features. And I'm sure a ton of, you know, things are gonna come out. But I think what's really important that me and you both understand is that teacher perspective and that educator perspective. Like what, you know. What's happening in the classroom really needs to be represented in that platform. And so I know that you have really stayed true to that and that you understand, um, my vision of like simplicity, um, not overload, you know, making connections, right. Uh, with like within the school, with your students, like all of it. Right. Um, working with teachers is really important to me too. Um, and just someone who gets it and understands. Um, obviously there's a ton of value and I've worked with many different people at this point, um, and in different fields and I love learning about different people. But I think you and I, um, also we've, we've had such in-depth conversations about growth, about understanding what it means to grow. Um, and so it's not even just a platform, right? It's not even just, even just education. It's like. The perspective. It's kind of crazy that we like met too. I think about this a lot because it's like, it's not too often you find somebody who like thinks deeply about those kind of things, you know? Um, you obviously have the business perspective, right? Like you have your own business running a business. You have to think about like your market and you know, your clients and things like that. But it's also like just a holistic view of like, huh, why do people choose to change? Why do people choose to grow? And I think that's a very like, common, um, vision and mission that you and I both have.

Speaker 4 20:04

Yeah, yeah. I agree. Ah, I don't wanna start crying. Um, but it's so true. And, and that's like, that's really what's at the center of it is the fact that like we both have witnessed that growth, whether it be in the classroom, um, most recently for you or me witnessing the growth on like the, the bigger, like school improvement scale. It's, um, it's just so. It's that dopamine shot that we talk about, right? Like it's, it's that feel good. Mm-hmm. Um, and I'm not like a, a super like emotional feel good kind of person, but when it hits, it hits. And, and when I see that growth in the students and the teachers and the schools, like that feels good. And to know that we are providing the support for others to make that change. It's just, that's why I do what I do. I'm not, I'm not going to sell it to some platform because I want to make bank or I want to, um, become famous. I'm already famous. You guys, Taylor Swift, clearly. And you keep saying it because it comes true, right? Um, uh, no, but it's be, it's because I like that impact. And over the past year or so, I've really been experimenting with ways to increase that impact, whether it's working with schools on creating, um, helping them build systems that work, um, with their data in a very customized way. Because as we both know, it's, it's gotta fit whatever you're doing in the classroom or whatever you're doing in your school in order for you to use it. Um, or working with educators to, um, to kind of build that skillset of being able to be those data, data, data champions in their own schools. Um, and so I went through that kind of like spectrum of increasing my impact and was feeling really great about that. And then you approached me about this idea and I was like, this is perfect. Like, how. How else can I move forward from here to make a larger impact? Yeah. Um, and I think this was the, the perfect answer to that question. Um, so I am so excited. So we've already talked a little bit about, uh, kind of what, what we're getting at with our, um, what our core values are, but we've, we've actually like put the words to those core values in the past few weeks, which I'm really proud of and I know you are too. And I, uh, um, so I want to kind of talk about the, the clarity, the connection, and the momentum, which we have decided we're going to center our work around. Yes. Go.

Speaker 3 22:51

Before we get into those words, which we absolutely love, um, uh, I do wanna say just a side note, that when I used to talk to my husband or my family about you, and I would say Jessica Lane, uh, my husband would be like, she sounds like a superhero. And I would always use both. Like, I would say Jessica, Jessica Lane, every single time. I wouldn't just say Jessica. And then my cousin was finally like, um, have you told her that you finally dropped her last name? Like I just say Jessica, now

Speaker 4 23:18

there's so many Jessicas in the world. Like it was a number one name for like six, five or six years consecutively. So I don't blame you and Jessica Lane is, I mean, I, I, I'm pretty sure I told you this, that is not my maiden name, but when I got divorced from my ex-husband, I kept it.'cause I'm like, I'm not going back to Jessica boy so much.

Speaker 23:41

Yeah, so

Speaker 4 23:41

many letters. I

Speaker 3 23:43

can't do it. Jessica Lane's so easy. No mine to Elaine Len. Um, when I got married, my students were like, um, miss Ms. Mack, they call me Ms. Mack instead. Yeah, Ms. M got married and her last name is something like McChicken. It's hard to say. Not a bad association for most people. Right. Okay. Back to clarity or or words. Yes, yes. Clarity, connection, momentum. You said them already. Yeah. Um, yeah. Do you

Speaker 4 24:18

wanna go into the, you want me? Yeah, let's talk, uh, let's just, let's just go through all three of them in order. So Clarity, um, I'll ask you what does clarity mean to you? And then I'll, I'll join in if I need to.

Speaker 3 24:31

So, um. Clarity was a word that definitely sparks when I see our platform and that I've gotten from our clients too. And I'm like, what, what's the benefit? Like, I wanna hear from you, like, what's the benefit for you? And they were saying clarity, because when it comes to behavior and academics, um, there's so much chaos and confusion. Um, I think sometimes I was just talking about this, it takes like, we waste so much time in the year just trying to assess our students and see where they're at. And we have so many assessments that you would think that we should know. Like, oh, this is exactly, you know, where the student is and yet we don't. Right? Like, we take all these diagnostic assessments, we take, you know, our reading level type, like all this stuff, right? And it still doesn't give me a full picture and understanding of exactly where they're at now. And, um. It's not just a test, right? Like there are tests and there's definitely value we've talked about in those diagnostic diagnostic tests, right? Um, but I think for the teacher perspective, understanding that I can do this right? I can sit at the carpet for five minutes, I can sit at the carpet for 10 minutes, right? That tells you more about a student than, you know, a satisfactory or, or needs improvement or an A, B, C, or D, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know what that means, but when it comes to like the very specific I can statements, uh, from the teacher perspective at least, I think that clarity is everything. So that's what it means, yeah. To me.

Speaker 4 26:07

Yeah. Yeah. I agree. And then, um, to build on that, even thinking about as we, because as, uh, Janelle mentioned, I'm gonna kind of, um, help with the administrator, the school-wide portion of this platform. And as we start to build that out, which we'll talk a little bit more about in a minute. Um, I think clarity too is, is really just like pinpointing the exact data that you need to look at, making sure that you are not being overwhelmed by, um, you know, I like to call it, uh, the, uh, just in case data versus the just in time data, right? Like a lot of platforms these days are putting out all of the just in case data, like just in case you wanna see something about your attendance, just in case you wanna see something about the domains of this last diagnostic, just in case you wanna see this, this, this, this, and this. And what happens is you get a, a screen full of all these like data visualizations and cards and buttons and filters, and it ends up just really. Clouding the space and clouding your brain. And what happens, and I've learned this firsthand because when I first started making dashboards, I started putting everything on them. I was like, this is so fun. Let me add this weird waterfall and scatter plot. And let me pick this, this graph that doesn't even have a name that someone just invented yesterday. Like that means they were all on there. And then guess who looked at it? Nobody. Only me. Yep. Because the second you look at something like that, your brain shuts down and it, it is just like the cognitive load of it is just too extreme. Um, so I really want to make sure that we focus on providing that just in time data, that data that's like, Hey, by the way, um, your attendance dropped down lower than usual for this month of the school year. Flag. And, uh, um, just providing those flags. Unless, and of course, you know, we wanna, we wanna create a space where people, if they want the data, they can go look at the data, that's fine, but we're not throwing it all in your face all the time. And I think that's going to be one of my biggest, um, things to consider when I'm starting to build out the administrator side of things. I don't want to push all the data out in front of them. I wanna give that just in time data. And I think the way that we'll end up doing that is through the use of ai, which again, we'll talk about a little bit later. That's kind of,

Speaker 3 28:34

yeah, I'm out with clarity to pick, to piggyback off of that, because, um, the, just in time data, it makes me think of our daily behavior tracker. Um, when I developed that, I thought of, and I was currently using it in my classroom, I was collecting, um, check-in, checkout sheets for a student and just paper after paper every week after week. Great. And like, you know. Rating them and whatnot. And I was like, why are we col like, to help me as we develop like a, a key thought that I have is what is the purpose of this? What are we trying to do by collecting all this? Right? Um, at some points it's kind of, you know, we give rewards to students if for behavior or whatnot. Um, sometimes it's to give to parents to check, but, but overall, the purpose of those check-in checkout sheets or that daily monitoring right, um, is actually to identify patterns. And so our daily tracker only collects, um, the day, the behavior incident if there was one. Um, and then it asks two follow-up questions, which are, what is the behavior type? Um, so if it's like physical aggression, off task, um, distraction, right? Or, and then also what the trigger or the reason is behind that, which, um, you know, could be, um, sensory escape attention or tangible. And so. The reason why tho those questions, and that's it, that's all we're collecting. Like it takes every like entry to log in takes like less than 60 seconds. And I do that on purpose because number one, teachers don't have the time to do it. Right? And if they do make the time, it's to make it valuable, right? And so after even just one entry of that, it automatically populates. Like when the most common time a behavior happens, um, the behavior type, the most common type of behavior and, um, the, the reason for the behavior because those are the things that we need to know, right? When I was in the classroom, um, I had students that had a hard time in the morning. It was easier for me to implement a strategy again, that clarity, oh, now I know. Um. We should have a soft start in the morning, right? It's this very simple fix to what otherwise is a very overwhelming problem. Like every morning I'm coming in and it's like chaos, right? So again, it's that clarity of seeing, right? Everything that we design is to see, it's for a purpose. It's like what do we want to gain from this? And it's not about adding all these features, but it's about adding the features that make the most sense and that identify the biggest pain point for us.

Speaker 4 31:09

Yes, exactly. And really keeping that, that decision fatigue to a minimum for the educators that are using it. Um, because that's another problem right now is like, we have all these tools, we have all these, these ways of collecting data and these ways of looking at data. And it becomes just like, again, going back to that dashboard or going, you know, and. Into the, the data that you're collecting. It's just decision fatigue. There's so much in front of you. Um, so, okay. So as we move from clarity then to connection, um, I'll talk a little bit about what that means because I think connection hits at, hits at a few different points for us. Um, I think for one, we wanna make sure that we're staying connected to, to what's going on in the schools. Mm-hmm. I think that's like a big, I mean, as, as we've already talked about, that's a big thing for us is making sure that we are, we are not, um, so far removed from the classrooms and the school environment that we can't, um, really. Support our teachers and, um, our administrators the way that we want to. Um, but I think we're also, uh, uh, kind of hitting on connection by giving, uh, them this platform to, uh, keep themselves connected when it comes to those team meetings. When it c meetings, when it comes to, um, looking at data together and collaborating, there's a ton of connections there. And then we go to another layer where we're trying to, uh, kind of brainstorm how to, um, create these connections from, uh, with educators from all over. So whether that's some kind of Facebook group, which we're kind of dipping our toes in now, or some other kind of forum, eventually whatever we end up landing on, we wanna make sure that we're providing a space for, um, for people to connect and collaborate and bounce ideas off of each other. Because that is a huge part of change, right? Is being able to, to discuss and get different perspectives. And, um, and it takes me right back to those Facebook groups that we were talking about at the beginning, that the, the place for everyone to, to share ideas is just so valuable.

Speaker 3 33:22

Um, I, I think both of those things make a lot of sense with connection. It makes me think of, um, my classroom as an inclusion teacher. I work with paras and aides and, um. A common issue that we would have is if someone was absent and para is absent and they now need to step in with a student, um, you know, who had autism and there are certain triggers or certain things, right. And I was like, we need to eliminate the time because the teacher does not have the time. And this is again, what platforms other platforms don't understand is I don't have the time to like stop and tell you know exactly what the student needs when I have to now, you know, manage everybody else. Right. Um, but it needs to be done right. Like that need, that connection needs to happen in order to best support our students. Right? And so I was thinking like there has to be a way that we can all. Just get instant clarity and connection within, you know, the platform that it just communicates. This is exactly what the skills, what they're working on. And you don't need, there's no time of do. All you need to do is check it out, look to see, you can see their IEP goals, you can see, um, their behavior goals. But everything is listed out there so you can jump right in. And, you know, for those of you who have worked in education, you know that we literally have no time. There's just so much a million things going on in the day that there's literally no time. And so if we can, um, really minimize that, that. That disconnect, right? Like when we can kind of really connect everybody very seamlessly is what we aim to do. And it's been really, really cool to see so many, um, users be able to like have, you know, have insight right away into exactly what their students need. We have paras logging their, you know, their students' data. And that's again, like really building that community because we're all, you know, they say it takes a village, right? That this is building that village. We need to all be on the same page. It's the same thing when my son, um, when, uh, we got the app, he, his, his father and his wife and my husband and I were all on the app, right? And so when we're all, you know, on the same page, that is so, it's so powerful, right? And then you think about, you know, the students and like all their needs and knowing exactly what everybody needs and everybody's just on the same page and connected is like, just so powerful. It's like, you know. Um, and then, and then you talked about the Facebook groups, and I think this is again, that bigger. More, you know, broad understanding of people, right? Like a human connection, wanting, connection is a human need. It is not just, you know, um, a like a want. It's a need, it's something. It's not just, you know, like we all need it right? To, to at least some capacity. And so, um, mean you have talked extensively about like what drives people to grow and connection is a big part of that, right? When we see that someone is successful, we see that someone's doing what, like we've all heard, you know, as educators, like, oh, what are you using? Oh, what's that? Right? And like, you learn and you trust other people because you know, like, you know this teacher, you know this person if they, you know, believe in this, um, or whatever they're doing or whatever awesome technique that they're doing, right? Um, that's something we've also talked about is having this connection to be able to share ideas. So, um, freely, right? And, and. Um, be able to replicate all the success because I think that, um, too often in education, everything, it's gotten a lot better. But we work in silos, right? Uh, we're all just working individually and like meanwhile, you know, I'm struggling with this one thing and this teacher's just amazing at that thing. But again, the time to, you know, learn that skill and like implement that skill. But it could all help us. And I think we, that's why people are in those Facebook groups too, is like, you often see people, you know, um, PO posting and saying like, Hey, I have a student that's like this. How do I do? You know, and people have great advice and like we should. Capitalize on that, right? Like, we should really like be, um, using each other's expertise. I tell people, I just spoke at a conference and I was saying, I'm not a beha, I'm not the behavior expert. Right. I don't know every single behavior and Exactly. That's not, you know, that's not my expertise. I know a lot about behavior through my experience as a teacher, as a mother, but, um, the expertise is in your school. There's so much expertise in your school. And I, I hate to say that I didn't utilize that until the very end of my teaching career because I was afraid to ask for help. Especially in the beginning. You're like, I don't want anybody to know. I'm not, you know, you know, like I don't know what I'm doing.

Speaker 4 37:58

But meanwhile I was like crying to everyone, like, please help me.

Speaker 3 38:04

Yeah. And we should, we should reach out to each other because there's so much, I mean, you know, schools have access to A, B, CBA. We have behavior and richness. We have, you know, we've seen so much. That's what's the, the beauty of like schools, right? Is like we see all ends of the spectrum and I think that's a, a wonderful thing and that shows that we have, like, we all have so much collective experience together that we shouldn't be struggling alone. Right, right. Yeah.

Speaker 4 38:30

Yeah. I totally agree. Um, there are two points that I wanted to hit on from that one. You were talking about time and, and that's something that we, we talk about all the time. All the time. All the time. We're talking about time. Um, and something that we, uh, that we've said a few times and that we kind of use as another guiding principle is really, um, trying to focus the list as opposed to adding to the list and really using data as, as kind of like, um. The way there, right? Like using data to create that focus so that you can more strateg like strategically assess your actions and make sure that you're working on the things that matter as opposed to just adding to the list and creating more chaos. Yeah. And um, something else too that you reminded me of was, uh, the, um, research behind collective teacher efficacy. And I've talked about, I've talked about this a lot, probably on the podcast a few times, um, and especially by Jenny Donahue and, and how she says that one of those, those things that, uh, helps increase that collective teacher efficacy is the ability for teachers to see other teachers having success, but. The other teachers have to be in similar situations as them. Mm-hmm. So it has to be someone who is a peer to them or someone they see, even if the schools look the same or they have the same demographics or whatever, it doesn't matter unless they are there witnessing that teacher having success and it, they can feel a connection to the experiences that that other teacher has. And I think that's probably why, uh, uh, we want to kind of create those, those spaces for that connection is so that again, we can kind of foster those experiences where people can, can chat about different perspectives. And if they're looking at, I just lost one, my earbuds. I told you I hate earbuds. And, um, if they're having similar experiences with the app, you know, they might be able to show each other how they do it and, and stuff like that. Okay. Um, that also kind of, uh, segues us perfectly into momentum. And this is a big one for me. I mean, I love clarity and connection too, so I don't know if I can even say that, but, um, from my experience over the past several years, I've noticed that the schools that I've worked with in terms of creating systems for them, creating dashboards for them, the ones that have the most success are the ones who are using that system. For some kind of cycle, for some kind of, uh, I'm going to look at this data, I'm going to, um, take it and use it to come up with some kind of action plan or, I mean, that action plan doesn't have to be formal. Maybe that action plan is, oh, I'm gonna reteach this tomorrow, whatever. And then looking at the data again. And I think the reason why schools that succeed, the reason why schools that are using that cycle are often experiencing the success is because they get so much momentum from having that way of connecting what they're doing to the impact that they see in the data. So when I'm talking to school leaders, I often say. You know, they're like, we looked at the data. We did, we did it. We had this, this meeting where we pulled out the diagnostic data. I had them look at it. They even, I even asked them questions like, strengths and weaknesses, dah, dah, dah, dah. Um, but nothing came of it. And I said, okay, what was the follow up? Like? What, what was your next step? And they said, well, the next step is looking at the data again and doing the same thing again. I'm like, you're not, you had to have some kind of cycle where you're coming back, you're creating some kind of action plan, and you're coming back to look at that same data. Because otherwise, and I've been in this situation, I've talked about this situation a million times. That data that they're looking at, uh, it's probably digital these days, but when I was a teacher, I looked at it on paper, it was so long ago that tell you, I'm just kidding. Um, but it was on paper and I sat it on the corner of my desk and I said, okay, I'm gonna, you know, use that to inform my instruction. And then the next time I looked at it, it had dust on it. Like there it was gone. And that's because there was no follow up, there was no action plan that was created. And then a time for us to come back together to look at the data and determine whether or not what we are doing has made a difference. On the other end of that, if you are having that action plan, then you are taking that time to look at that data and say, I did this and this is what it led to. Yeah, I had this action lead to this impact. And one that makes your teachers and your staff, whoever it is that's looking at the data, feel so much more in control. And a lot of times we're feeling very out of control these days. It's giving them that control back. And if it's a positive impact on the data, if they are getting those quick wins, which usually happen from that tiny data, by the way, if they're getting those quick wins, that's where you get that momentum. That's where you get that, that dopamine shot, that like, oh, I did it. I wanna do it again. And that's when they start coming back to it.

Speaker 3 44:09

I couldn't agree more. I think, um, from a teacher perspective, and, and you've touched on the teacher perspective a lot there too, is meeting where the student is at is so important. And with our checklist, like we've talked about, you wanna start with at least a couple of points that you are already doing because that is already building that momentum immediately. Like that immediate, you know, um, buying, right? Yes. Um, I, I think that when we look at two broad of data, like the large data, it sometimes doesn't, it doesn't connect enough where it feels like it matters what I do. You know, you need to feel, it's really important that you feel that what you do every day matters. And that, that sounds like, you know, it's kind of a broad statement, but it really is important because, um. If I know that I am. So for example, we looked at our reading data and um, we wanted to improve our reading scores and we were using, uh, literally at the time. And, um, being that I was already in this like crazy, you know, I can statement, obsessive cycle, um, I ended up creating, um, a level up. Um, program. So like I made these slides and, um, we practiced, you know, fluency and comprehension because those are the two things that they were being assessed on, right. And we mimicked like, in some ways like how they were going to be assessed on that, but also like building those key skills, like, of learning how to answer questions of like, you know, where's where, you know, where does this take place? Who are the characters, right? Like kind of building those skills. Um, and we actually went from 58% of students reading on level to a hundred percent reading on level being by the end of the year that was showing me. And it gave me the momentum, right? Like to know like what I'm doing matters and working with these students matters. And it doesn't just feel like another thing. It feels like the thing I should be doing, you know? And I think that's what momentum does. It, it really takes, there's so much noise, there's so much things that we need to do, but if you're using data effectively and you're finding quick wins. You are going, that's gonna come, that's gonna become like your priority as it should be. Because what, you know, our whole purpose in education is to help kids grow, help. We're helping students grow. We're, you know, that, that is like the, the foundation I think of like, you know, of what we do. And so if I can do that and I know that something I did makes that happen, I mean, we all have those moments, those are the moments that keep us going where you're like, oh, those aha moments, those moments are like, the students really got it. I mean, it just feels really good because, um,'cause that's why I'm there, right? That's, that's why I'm here. And so I really, you know, I, I always say I do have an internal belief that every teacher, every person, um, you know, who works in education really does wanna help. I really believe that. Um, I know that we've all, you know, had different experiences and, and even, and many negative experiences. A lot of people have like education, you know, trauma. Right. But I really believe that if we knew how to help, we would help. You know, people don't go into education for the money. We all know that. So,'cause you wanna help that decision. Yeah. You made the wrong choice. Yeah. So, you know, you, you, you really do go in with that, that wanting, you know, that desire. And so I think what we do at Simplified is to really like, make that happen, you know? And make it happen faster, like, like way faster. So. I, I'm gonna tell the kindergarten story because I think it's a good one. Yeah. So, you know, I'm working with a kindergarten team and building their narrative units. And, um, a great question that came to me is, you know, Janelle, how can our students, you know, write a narrative story when they, they can't even hold a pencil. So literally, like, we created their checklist, right? And again, different platforms just go straight to the standard, but what about all the skills, the tiny data that needs to happen beforehand, right? So we literally have,'cause it's all customizable and we build it for the teacher again, you know, putting them at the forefront. I can hold a pencil, I can draw a line, I can draw a curve, I can write, like write my name. You know, so it's like, so you feel successful knowing like, oh, at least they're doing that. You know what I mean? Like, because that is a prerequisite. They need to know how to do that versus jumping to this unattainable standard, right? Like, we need to have those small steps to get that momentum going.

Speaker 4 48:52

Yeah, absolutely. And it, it goes right back to, like you said, that oh, they're doing, they're doing something and making that, that change, making that impact visible. Um, which is another, another phrase we like making the impact visible. Um, okay, so we, we talked about clarity, connection, momentum, and so, uh, the last thing that's, that's kind of on my list for this podcast is, is to talk a little bit about where we see this platform going in the future, um, because we are just getting started. So, um, all that you talk a little bit about, uh, the, uh, we kind of already mentioned it a little bit, the AI integration and how that's going to, uh, potentially have an impact on the teacher side of things, and then I'll, we'll talk about administrator after that.

Speaker 3 49:43

So, I think what's important about AI and, and we've discussed this before too, um, is that we don't wanna just throw AI in. Just to have ai, right? Like, um, a search engine. Yes. I was just thinking that like how many, you know, apps that I have that like, there's an AI feature and it really just feels like Google, but like, just in mm-hmm. And you know, where, where we're developing AI is really, um, you know, pain points that we currently already see, right? Like within our, um, consulting with working with clients as teachers, as admin. Like there are certain, um, pain points and different like conversations that we have that we really wanna integrate our voice and our experience as a guide through the platform. And that's how we wanna use ai because it's really important to us as we've, you know, started this off with having that human element that, um, we don't, we want to like. Really understand how to support them, um, very carefully, right? Like, and how we do that, um, but to also help streamline things for them. Um, and I think that just being very responsible with how we develop, um, I think our, our newest, like, you know, our first AI rag model, I hope I'm saying that correctly. Um, we are, um, I wouldn't know is actually taking, breaking down. It's a very simple right way, but it's actually breaking down those IEP goals or any goal, right? And so you break it into measurable steps, right? And it's us training AI with our expertise, with our voice, um, with our knowledge. Because for many of you who have used like, you know, Chachi PT or different like, um, Gemini. You have to train it. Like it's not just going to understand, right? Like exactly what you, how you need to assess and how you do that. And so it's really training with our experience. Do you wanna add to that?

Speaker 4 51:43

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, I, I agree with everything you're saying in, in the sense of like, we are definitely putting, using AI as a way to put our, our consulting voices into this platform. Not as a way to, you know, provide an, an additional search engine, so to speak. Um, and I think as we start building out the administrators side of things and as we maybe start pulling in other data sources, I really wanna use AI as, um. As a guide through action planning. So, hey, I mentioned earlier, you know, like, uh, we noticed that your attendance dropped, or, um, or would you like to create a goal centered around literacy? Um, and then here are the suggested, um, action steps that you could take. Here are some suggested progress monitoring measures that you can look at and being able to house that, that action plan on the platform. Because one of the biggest pain points that I've seen schools have, um, is, is that we have data everywhere. Every time I get on a consulting call with a school leader, it's, oh my goodness, I have data over here and over here and over here and over here, and I wanna have a meeting. But we spend the entire meeting pulling up 5 million different data sources and figuring out how to work all these different platforms. And so, um. We are hopefully going to be able to create, um, a, a way to aggregate all that data, to pull all that data together to solve that pain point. But again, going back to the schools that I see that are, are using data with success, um, are using IT centered around some kind of data cycle. So really taking AI to, to look at those data sources, um, in combination with the tiny data that we're collecting on the platform and, um, and help come up with some kind of action plan so that whether it's a teacher's using it, the administrator's using it, they're able to, um, to get those, those quick wins and feel that momentum and, and continue to, to be on that path toward school improvement. And uh, and I think in order to use AI to do that, we also wanna make sure that, um. Like you said, that we're doing it strategically in a way that represents how we think about these things. Um, with a little bit of flexibility, of course, because like, as we talked about before, every school has different, has a different problem, um, or different barriers or, um, different, uh, strengths and weaknesses. So, uh, the, the benefit to AI is that there's a little bit more flexibility, but, um, we really are going to be incredibly strategic about how we make sure to train it so that it, it really captures the essence of what we want on the platform, which is not just data to data, data to data, but also like people, people, people, people, people. Um, and especially educators. Educators, educators. Which then leads to the students. I won't say students five times. We, we know how important they are.

Speaker 3 55:00

I get it. I get the pattern. Thank you. I think what you're talking about really covers two big pain points. Um, I think we want to integrate AI where it solves one issue. It alleviates the mental load and decision fatigue, you know, that you've talked about earlier. Um, and we wanna use AI to save time. So I think those are our two guiding pain points to help integrate ai. Um, I think, like you said, there's just so much going on day to day for an administrator, for a teacher, um, that. Alleviating some of that, you know, mental load is, is really the key in, in education especially. And then saving time like we've talked about, how can we streamline supports, streamline logging, like even, you know, being able to log a behavior incident by just talking about it, which we all talk about the different behaviors in our classroom and then it automatically, you know, logs for you and even gives behavior suggestions, things like that. Um, again, us using our lens as educators, as putting people first and understanding what, how AI can be used to help, um, help navigate those two biggest pain points, I think.

Speaker 4 56:16

Yeah, absolutely. Um, but, okay, cool. We've talked about a whole, a whole lot, um, but there's still a lot more that we could talk about, I'm sure for another like million hours. I say that in every episode because I just. Enjoy having these conversations, but this one's especially important. Um, is there anything that you think we haven't touched on that we should?

Speaker 3 56:42

I don't know. I think we've talked about, you've talked for so long, who knows? Oh, I know. I think those are like the key. I think we've covered like, you know, how we, our key words, you know, I think the essence of like why we're working together, you know, um, yeah,

Speaker 4 57:00

yeah, yeah. Makes, um, yep. And I, you know, I, I am of course super excited, um, about where we're going with this, with this. Um, I can't say it now without thinking about the fact that I say it all the time. Thanks, dad. Um, but I, I just, I see a lot of impact coming from the work that we're doing already, and I am so. So incredibly excited. I can't say super excited, um, to see where it goes. And I'm so grateful that you asked me to join in. So

Speaker 3 57:42

I am honored that you have chose to join us and our platform. Um, it means a lot.'cause I know that you do take a lot into consideration with, you know, making a, a big move like that. And so I'm really, I really am. I know we keep saying excited, but I, I feel like we have, um, such big aspirations and I feel like together we can make a lot of those things, um, come true. And so it's, it's gonna be an exciting adventure. Yay.

Speaker 4 58:12

Okay, well thanks so much for coming on and, um, doing this, this hard launch with me. I said hard launch the other day, and someone's like, of the app, and I'm like, no. Of our relationship. Of course. And then they're like, wait, what? They're like power couple. Our professional relationship, you guys, but thanks. So thanks so much for coming on and um, I will end it by saying more to