EP3: How Do We Get Kids to Come to School?

Oak Park Schools’ Assistant Superintendent Shana Holden-Murphy joins Jay, Katie, and Steven Jay to tackle the challenge of chronic absenteeism. We explore the roots of student disengagement, the role of family and community partnerships, and strategies that help transform the school into a school house–a place where every student feels they belong and want to show up.

Hosts: Jay Haffner - Literacy Consultant, Katie Morrison - Mathematics Education Consultant, Dr. Steven Snead - Supervisor of Curriculum & Assessment.

This podcast is proudly brought to you by Oakland Schools Intermediate School District in the great state of Michigan. Oakland Schools is an educational service agency that offers support services to school districts that are best delivered regionally and provide cost, size and quality advantages to those we serve. Oakland Schools is an autonomous, tax-supported public school district governed by Michigan General School Laws and is one of 56 intermediate school districts (ISDs) established in Michigan in 1962.

If you are an educator in Oakland County, Michigan, check out www.oakland.k12.mi.us to explore the services and professional learning opportunities available to support you. 

Have feedback for the hosts? We'd love to hear from you! Email steven.snead@oakland.k12.mi.us to connect with us. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome back to Teaching Tomorrow, a podcast about everyday inspiration for everyday teachers. Yes, I love that. Educators. Yes. I am one of your hosts, Katie Morrison, and I'm joined by the amazing Jay Hafner.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Good afternoon. Happy teen here.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Stephen Sneed.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Good evening if you listen to this at night. Or good morning. Or good morning. Or good middle of the night. Middle of the day. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Whenever you're joining us. And Steven, I've heard you introduce yourself as Steve as well. So like we're throwing double name takes here. All of us. Yes. Yes. So today we are digging into a question that has sparked dialogue, debate, and even a little desperation, I think, for so many of our schools and educators.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

Did you hit us with the three D's?

SPEAKER_01 1:01

I did. I was really going for that, like a literature. English. Shane will join me too. Shayna's got that math background. We can do it all. We don't fit into the little boxes. We we could do it all. Yes. But really thinking about like how do we get kids to come to school? We know that just in the state of Michigan, MDE recently reached, uh released a report where 30% of students are chronically absent across our Michigan schools.

SPEAKER_04 1:35

Hurts my heart.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Right? And we know if they're not inside of the school, they're missing connections, they're missing opportunities to learn, opportunities to belong, opportunities to grow. You know, our first two episodes talked about how to get kids excited, how to start the school year off right. But if they're not there, how can we do all of those incredible things? So to help us answer our question today, we have the brilliant Shana Holden Murphy, who is a teacher, principal, data and assessment coordinator, and most recently holds the position of director of curriculum and instruction at Oak Park Schools. Her deep passion for education is rooted in her belief that school is more than a building, it's a schoolhouse, a genuine home and community worthy of being celebrated. So I just want to say, Shana, thank you so much for joining us. And we are so excited for you to help us answer a question and inspire all of the educators that are listening to our podcast today.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Okay, awesome. Thank you so much, team, for letting me join this amazing podcast today. So three of my favorite people on this side of heaven. We think combined. Everyone knows. We were JD. Yes. JD. And then of course, I know you call him Steven and Steve, but he is Dr. Double S to me, okay? You better know it. So I'm so happy to join you all today.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Well, we we're thrilled, thrilled to have you. And but to be honest, China, and keeping it real, this is one that that racks my brain. Like, how do we get our you know, I was a high school teacher. Um, my kids are now all in their 30s. They're always gonna be my babies. They're always my babies. I don't care how old you are, you're still my baby. I see you walking on the street with your family. Oh, they're gonna want my babies with their babies. And it always racked my mind like, how do we get kids to come to school? And at least from my vantage point, and kind of like thematic what we talked about the last two episodes, shout out to our subscribers, like, click, and subscribe. Teaching tomorrow. Um, we got to give them a reason to come to school, other than you you have to. You're required by law to attend blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we have to make school something that if you didn't have to come to it, you'd want to. Now I know that's a high bar. I know, I know. Teachers are are listening to this right now, like, Dr. Steve, how dare you? But but I truly believe um that's part of the magic sauce that's really difficult. Um, that's not a computer program, that's not a one-sized policy, that's not something you can buy off of Amazon or Etsy or Teachers per teachers, but it we really have to think about making it meaningful to kids. But Jay, what do you say? What's your idea before we get Shayna in with her genius?

SPEAKER_03 4:39

Well, I I don't I'm not sure I necessarily have the answer to this. What I do know is that what I do know is uh all of us here uh have been grappling with this for quite a long time. Shayna, uh all the way back to our time in Detroit. Uh many, many a year ago. Uh far too many a year ago.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

But not that long ago. We're not that old.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

Not that old. We're not that old. Speak for yourselves. Uh this is uh it's been something we've been grappling with, and we've a lot of different strategies that we put in place, uh a lot of different things that we're trying inside of the classroom uh year after year, and it still feels as if this is a uh a compounding problem is is moving these chronic absentee, uh, absentee numbers. Um I, you know, I I think it's a community issue, right? And you talk about school being a schoolhouse, and it takes all of us at the school, it takes us in the community, and it takes those that are living in that in the house to really work together uh around this understanding of of what we need to do to get kids to come to school. So I'm curious, can't wait to hear uh some of the things you're doing. Um, but you uh keeping that schoolhouse at the center of what it is we do uh might be able to move some of these numbers if we if we really think about it.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

So Shane, let's bring you into this. Let's let's tap into your brain. How do we get the kids? How do we get the babies to come to school? Madam Assistant Superintendent.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Listen, if I had the magic sauce, please know that I will probably not be on this podcast right now. I'll be somewhere in Bali with my jets flying in the wind. But since I have not figured it completely out, I do think I have some insight um into this. And as Jay alluded to um when I was a school building principal, and even now, everything is a schoolhouse. How do we take care of children? That's the basic question, right? Do children feel a sense of belongingness, care, and connection when they encounter us, when they come into our schoolhouses? Do they get excited to come to the schoolhouse? And I think those are all of the things that make up the magic sauce to getting kids to want to come to school. I know that um in our world of standardized assessments, common core state standards, no child left behind, all of those things. Um we kind of got away from just that joy of school. And I think that's been one of the largest detriments. I know as a country, we want to make sure that we're producing smart people, but we also got to produce happy and whole and healthy people. So a part of that is that joy element of schools. I don't care if you're in a preschool, a high school, an alternative school, if you're coming to the schoolhouse, we're gonna have fun. We're gonna have some joy. And um, I had an opportunity to go to uh participate in cognitive coaching PD last week with Steven and some, or Dr. Double S and some of the crew. And one of my new favoriteest people in the world, uh, consultant Carolyn McCander said something so amazing in that time. And I did tell her I was gonna steal it for our opening of schools this year, and I did. But her quote, she said, the most important things to support our students are free. That's relationships, that's caring, that's connection. And her keyword was we don't need a grant to do any of those things. So we focus on the connection, the community, and the care of our children. I do think that that will um influence them to want to come to the schoolhouse. Um, I recall being a principal in Detroit at Law Academy over there on Seven Mile Van Dyke, uh, which is uh Katie and Jay weren't there. They were in another school in the same district. Um, but we know what students we were serving, right? Um and I re I used to stand at the front door every day to greet all 500 of my students when they came in, whether that was a fist bump, a smile, a hug, a hemp, a hip bump, or something to let them know that I was excited for them to come. And I'll never forget it was a kindergarten student who I hadn't seen in like three days. And um, I said, Oh, you know, such and such. I'm so happy to see your face this morning. I missed you. I haven't, I don't think I saw you the last couple of days. And his mom turned to me and she said, Miss Marthy, he just didn't feel like coming to school. Oh, this is a podcast, they can't see my face.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yes, I was just gonna say, you just missed the quintal Shayna, like head flip, you missed it. It's once you meet her, you'll know.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Shoulder shade.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yes. What is that? But it was at that moment that I understood that and now kids hold the key. Back in the day, kids would come to school because parents said, you gotta go to school, you gotta do this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But that little five-year-old student dictated to his mom whether or not he was gonna go to school. And I didn't look at that as a negative thing, I looked at that as my power and influence that I could have and direct access I can have to the children coming into my schoolhouse. That if I can influence them, that I can love on them, if I can build a connection with them, if I can demonstrate joy with them, they're gonna want to come to school. And so yes, there are a lot of things we can do. I think um obviously a lot of systemic issues exist for our families, health barriers, transportation barriers. Uh, we have a lot of schoolish choice happening, which is not a bad thing, but that may present some challenges for families of getting to school. All of those things are true. And there are some things systematically that we do need to do. But I think when I think about my locus of control, I think about the power that I hold and educators hold to build connection, caring, and community with kids at the schoolhouse that makes them want to come and not miss a day of seeing you smile, of that fist bump, of that hug, of that hip bump, of that, you know, whatever secret sign you have with the couple kids. They look, they, they look forward to that. And um, I'm I'm gonna stop talking right there. I do have I have one other thing, but it's a conversation, so I'm gonna be quiet.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Okay. Yeah, no, no, no. I mean, we just love listening to you talk to us about all of the inspiring ways that you're making connections and that, you know, that energy that you're bringing to just like show kids when they come, like the care that you have for them. Um, so many of our listeners are teachers, right? And are thinking about like what role do I play, right, as a teacher in the classroom. And so I'm wondering if you can share with our audience mess, uh audience members who are teachers, what are some moves, like specific things that they can do to your point that are in their locus of control that get us back to the question of like getting kids to come to school?

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Yes, absolutely. I'm I'm glad you asked that question, Katie Girl. Um as a district, some Oak Park schools and as a district, we are engaged in capturing kids' hearts. K through 12. And even if a district is not officially or you know, um calling themselves capturing kids' hearts, the basic premise is all about that sense of belongingness. How do I create community in my classroom? How do I greet kids? How do I show an interest in them, ask them about their day, um, ask how their weekend went, maybe visit a couple of their games if I have time? How do I find opportunity to build relationships with children? Not just in the presence of content, but in the presence of just human nature, human dignity, humanness that they all bring to us. So if I'm a teacher, I'm thinking about do I know all my students' names? How quickly can I learn them? Do I call them their names when they see me? Um, how do I engage with them? Is it with a smile on my face? Do I have a special greeting, a fiss bump, a high thigh, a hip bump, a hug? Um, how do I ask them about themselves? Not to pry, but to understand them and to build maybe a connection with them. Maybe some of them play football or go to dance class. And maybe I used to go to dance class or something to that effect. But how can I find points of connection with them? Know their names, demonstrate joy, um, and just uh just those basic premises of capturing kids' hearts, greeting kids daily, you know, um, providing a safe space in the classroom that makes them want to be there, and just um doing things that build a sense of belongingness and connection with me and with each other.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

If yeah, Shana, uh yeah, I you bring up some really good points here and just leaning into this idea. If a school is a house, no house is complete without without parents and guardians and families and the important role that they play in in establishing a foundation for kids to value school, come to school and and get the supports they need in order to get them to uh to to the school. So my my question to you is is while parents obviously play an important role in setting that foundation, we in the school play an important role of partnering with our parents. Right? So what what are what are some of the things, whether it's currently or that you know, over the course of time, that that you've been a part of that have really built this sense of community with families uh to be a big part of the work you do inside of these schools?

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Yeah, that's that's a great question, Jay. And I love that analogy of like if the school is a house, right? We got parents. I love that uh that good segue you made there. Um but I often say that um you know we have little humans which are kids, and then we have big humans, which are our stab and our parents, right? But psychologically, all of us want the same thing. Safety, love, a sense of belongingness, a sense of care. So how do I engage with my with my families? How do I demonstrate care to them? Right, and it may look different from family to family, but am I personable? Am I approachable? Do I reach out even when it's you know something that's not negative? How do I um break down barriers for them? So one easy one I did as a school principal, and um, and I I thought it helped my families to get to feel connected to me. So each week we had to do a weekly newsletter to our families, and I would read it like a podcast and attach the audio to the newsletter. And I would encourage families, you can listen to this while you're washing the dishes, while you're getting the kids ready for school for the week, while you're doing whatever. And I think just from them hearing my voice, and then when they came to the schoolhouse, they felt like they knew me. They felt like, oh, this is Mrs. Murphy. That's who I hear on my, you know, newsletter every weekend. Um, and just being visible. That is a world of a difference. Don't just stay in the back shadows in your office, in your classroom, be visible, be out during car line or arrival or dismissal, um, engage in conversation with parents. Again, they're just big humans that are seeking a sense of connection. So, how do I offer that? How do I provide space and opportunity for parents to connect with me and me with them, right? And and then when they knew that I knew their kids' names, oh, I had them forever. Okay. They, oh, you know my name, you know his name. Yes, I'm the schoolhouse mama. These are my kids. I know that.

unknown 16:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

So those little things that they know that we're taking care of their little humans help to build connections with them. And then, of course, offering family nights, like just the basic things, right? Times to connect, play games, have food, right? You know, food will get everybody together. But have food, whether that's little things or not, um, offer space and opportunity to um play games, build relationships, and and really it's just about being, honestly, being visible, right? Being accessible, um, not hiding, having conversation, all of those things.

SPEAKER_04 17:33

I'm sorry to interrupt Shanay, you you know this about me. I have to admit, as soon as you said schoolhouse, or Katie, you said schoolhouse, I have been saying It's Shayna's. It's Shayna's. Is it Shayna's or it's a little bit more?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

I when I knew we were bringing her on for this episode, I was like, Shayna is the person because she believes. Like she called her building a schoolhouse because she believes in the things that she's saying.

SPEAKER_04 17:55

Well, the entire time I have been singing Schoolhouse Rock? No, no, a different song in my head. Shane, you some of you even know this. Uh, you know, but you I make up the own my own little lyrics to it. But a schoolhouse is a house of love. You know, it's come on, sing to me now. Uh hopefully we didn't violate copyright on our podcast this time. Hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

But that wasn't a real group, Stephen. Dr. Double Edge. That was the fact.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

Like we copyrighted the fake group. But yeah, this concept of like the school being the house of love and support uh really, really resonates with me. Uh Shane, I want to get your reaction to this, uh, a study that I think is kind of tied to this. Because, you know, things are great when they're great, but when they're not great, when there's some sort of tear in the fabric in the relationship, that's when it kind of tests our system. Uh a 2022 research article suggests that reactive and disciplinary approaches to absenteeism, like suspending or even threatening kids and families with legal action, often exacerbates the problem, especially for vulnerable students. Restorative and supportive interventions are more effective in improving attendance. So talk to me about ways in which teachers and even school leaders can make classrooms and schools more restorative when there has been something that has, you know, gone like, hey, you've gotten five, ten, probably not more than that, but 10, 20 absences. How do we create that restorative environment as opposed to like a punitive environment?

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yes, yes, absolutely. I I agree with that study. Punitive things only, like you said, exacerbate the problem and make kids not want to come to school even more, right? Because we already know the other ramifications that come with that. I'm behind on my work, I feel like I can't keep up, I can't catch up, you know, all of the things. Um and so um thinking about it, it's really one of the things I think we don't do well enough is getting to the root of the problem and then identifying an aligned strategy. Right? I can do all of these pizza parties for perfect attendance. But if that strategy is not directly tied to the root of the problem, maybe I will have to interview my families or my kids to really, really figure out what is happening. Is it that you need an alarm clock because you can't get up to get to the bus stop on time? Um, is it because you are helping to um, you know, watch over and supervise your younger siblings because mom had to work nights? Like, what is the root of the problem? And being punitive and suspending kids, especially about things they can't control, even high schoolers. I tell people all the time, high schoolers, they're still kids. They're still minors, right? And me as a professional, as an adult, it's my job to uncover what's happening with this kid. Why aren't they coming to school? Is it a health issue? Do they have to help take care of a family member or help mom watch the younger siblings because mom and dad are working and trying to keep a shelter? You know, eggs cost $29.32 now. Okay. So, you know, they may they may have to go out to work. What is the root of the problem? And then from there, deciding, determining an aligned strategy of intervention and punitive natures like suspending kids, putting them in detention, you know, sending them home even more. Now, what sense does that make? I'm suspending you because you didn't come to school. Well, what is suspension? I'm sending you home, which means you're not coming to school still. What in the world?

SPEAKER_04 21:38

Yeah, yeah, I I I I have to admit, and and you know, I I will say, you know, all teachers, school leaders, superintendents, I I do believe in my heart that everybody's doing the best that they can, the best that they know how, the best that they think know. And and yet, though, what I see in policies, uh, yeah, if you're absent or tardy, you're gonna be suspended. I'm like, wait, the punishment for not coming to school is not coming to school more. Like it never made any any sort of sense to me. You know, and yet we do have uh students and families that that really, really struggle. Shannon, you hit the nail on the head. Because again, I I I you know, high school teacher, uh having to remind ourselves that they're they're still babies. And matter of fact, they are adolescents, so they are going through all the throes of puberty and wrestling with good decision making and risk taking. So we have to create the environment where, yeah, they're gonna make a mistake. They're gonna fall, they're gonna make a bad choice. How do we create an environment where mistakes don't become like a bottomless pit? And even out of that, that attendance issue not become a bottomless pit, but we actually get get to them early. Um this this idea of restorative, restorative practices. I feel like we kind of went in one direction in Michigan and yeah, we kind of went in the other direction. Like, like what I what I hear is that oh, restorative means we're not going to provide any consequences or punishment. What just kind of what's your take in that environment of like, oh, we're just babying kids if we just do restorative things with them.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

No, I think it goes back to I don't know, what was that old concept, conscious discipline? A little bit of that, right? Like do kids and humans need to learn that there are natural consequences to some actions? Yes, because science tells us that for every action there's a reaction, right? We got it. But in what ways, and and my colleague Brandy Norm said something wonderful during our opening of schools this week, and she really talked about when kids act up, because she's our district director of culture and climate and communications. And so she was letting staff know, okay, when kids act up or act out with, right, because all behavior is communication, whatever that behavior is, is this a moment of discipline or is this a moment of development? How am I teaching right what is appropriate, what's needed in this moment? How do I demonstrate human dignity? How do I honor that this adolescent or this kid still has a brain that's growing even until like mid-20s? Like they're still growing, right? And so how do I take this moment, not that I'm letting the kid off the hook, they need to know and understand every action has a reaction or that you know there are consequences, whether positive or negative, to what I decide to do, right? I decide my behavior. But how do I respond to that child, child again, either, you know, school age five to 18 sometimes, right? But how do I respond to them and ask myself, is this a moment of discipline or development? And and nine times out of 10, I'll probably say nine and a half times out of 10, unless you got, you know, the big three drugs, weapons, you know, whatever. It's a moment of development. Now, if I've now I've given you grace and I've developed you and I've given you boundaries and I've and I've talked to you about, you know, why this behavior yielded this action and you continue, then I might need to, you know, go a different route. But again, on behavior is communication. The question is, am I response? How am I responding to this behavior? And nine times out of ten, punitive is not the way.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Well, speaking of responding, now is time for you and us, Hilsa, stick on for us, stick around for us for a minute for our hot takes. Because we want to see uh how we all respond. Hot take. Now, the hot take could be uh it could be evidence-based, it might not be, but just speaking for yourself from the heart, but a wild and zany idea out of the box, thinking about how we can get kids to come to school. So my hot take is don't go to them. Home visits. Let's talk about home. Yeah, like that's an old idea. That's a whole episode. That's a whole home visits. But yeah, if if they're absent, you know, for for whatever, you know, uh a couple of days, a date, dah, dah, dah, dah, go to them. Go do home visits, develop some of those relationships to really help uh uh engage with the family in a meaningful, authentic way, um, to really learn more. Are there health challenges? Are there transportation challenges? Are there other challenges and how can the school partner? I feel like sometimes we just want it to be one-way, unidirectional, come to us. Sometimes we need to get in the car, yep, give uh record the mileage, give, give the central office the bill, like yep, like I did 10 miles round trip, give me my little couple dollars. But home visits, go to them, go to go go to the babies, go to their homes, uh, and so we can again develop those true, uh authentic relationships with the family and and work with them as partners, uh, not as sort of like government compliant thou must come to school. Right. Jay, what do you say, brother?

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Yeah, so uh I'm I'm gonna take what you just said about where they are in their home space, and I'm gonna lean into this, continue to lean into this idea of a schoolhouse. I think we need to take it upon ourselves to provide as many needs as possible for students, uh, all students uh inside of the school. And and we do our schools do a great job of providing for students that this is the safe space that they can come uh no matter what. Uh maybe it's what is the thing that's missing that we need to fill in? Is it maybe just a meal? Like getting and and legislators, if you're listening, if you're listening, the need to continue for free lunch and breakfast programs in our schools.

SPEAKER_04 27:50

Uh 10 out of 10.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

Yes, because we know the importance of just sometimes providing meal. Maybe it's a self-care products, it's trust, it's safety, it's things that go beyond all of the great work inside of the classroom. Can they come to the school and feel as if they have the safety that they get at home and the needs met uh that they're that they should that we want them to be getting at home? Uh that's my hot take. Find the one missing piece of puzzle in all of our students and just fill in one missing piece at a time. Not the whole puzzle, just one missing piece. How do we do that in the schools to make sure that they get what they need uh to be successful?

SPEAKER_04 28:32

Day's hot take. On to Katie.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Okay, so I have a hot take, and I'm hoping that I get a 10 out of 10 from Steven as well. Okay, so here we go. Hopefully the legislators are listening to me too. Uh advocate and hire for new school nurses at every building. I was at I was at a professional learning where they presented this data about the percentage increase in daily attendance when buildings had school nurses. And there was this idea that came out of COVID where COVID was a really scary place and we told everyone you can't go to school. Right. Right. And then coming out of that, there was even this murkiness of like, if you've got, you know, a runny nose, don't come to school. If you're sick, and that lingered in us, right? And so there really was this time where it's like parents are really grappling with like, is it okay to send my kid to school if they have a runny nose? Even now, out, what are we, four or five years out of COVID? And if we put resources and funding that we don't have right now, so legislators hopefully you're listening, uh, towards being able to hire school nurses at the building so that when parents drop off their kids, they know that there's someone there to like service that need and aspect of safety. Um, I say, yeah, 11 out of 10. 11 out of 10. That's 11.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

That's extra credit by the time. I know.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

And I was like, you know, my hot take isn't like teacher specific, but I'm like, it affects me. Oh, it works, yeah, it does. Right? Like teachers want their kids inside of Classroom, and if parents are saying, like, I feel better sending my kids knowing that there's a medical professional to support them, then that benefits.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

Everybody in the schoolhouse, we all we got. Okay, gotta work together. My hot take might have just been a nine out of ten, but that's nine, that's still an eight. That's still an eight. I'll take a seven out. C's equal degrees. I'll take seven out of ten. I'll take a seven if we need to.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

Well, I want to give the last uh word hot take to RS team guest uh guest, Sana. What what do you say? What do you say? Hot take. How do we get kids to come to school? Out of the out of the box thinking.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Um, I think you're onto something with your home visits, um, along with Katie Girl, um, talking about um the nurses, right? Because we know this is one of the barriers about health. But back to Steven, this comes to our GSRP programming.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Home visit.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

And one of the most important benefits of that process is for the teacher to understand, right, where our students are coming from. And to Jay's point, how do we best support them toward an intended outcome? So I think you're on to some. I think the whole group gets uh 15 out of 10. Y'all got all you know what?

SPEAKER_01 31:15

I I just have to say that I appreciate you brought all of our hot takes together into your own hot take. And also, my baby is about to start GSRP and they told me they're doing home visits, and I was like, oh my goodness. And you just put me at ease in a way. I'm like, you're right, it is about this like community that we're building around the educational support of my child. And so I appreciate you, Shayna. I've been nervous as heck about this home visit that's about to happen, and I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

It's gonna go so well, Katie Girl. You're gonna get to know that teacher, they're gonna get to know you and your husband, and y'all gonna be all sad. But this group right here, I'm so sad. I want to be able to be in in studio, but I want to say what the movie say, you are smart, okay? You are kind, you are important, okay. I love it.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

We will definitely have you in the studio uh next time. And again, we're in the lovely Every Media studios in downtown World. Shout out to Every Media. Jay, take us away, brother.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

All right. Well, thank you again to uh Shayna Murphy for joining us today, uh Assistant Superintendent of Oak Park Schools. Big time. We all all of us here in studio go way back with Shayna. So it's really uh really exciting to have you. Uh so that is going to do it uh for this episode of uh Teaching Tomorrow. Number three. Number three. Yeah, we're done. We're at an Oh, this is number three. Yes, it is. I agree. Three is the best number. Three is the best one. Agreed, agreed. And we're and we're gonna bring we're gonna bring Shayna, uh Shana Murphy back uh to this episode on a future episode. In studio. In studio.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Yeah, you better energetic was high enough. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

All right. We're gonna uh we we want to make sure that uh uh we put a little plug out for our fourth episode, uh, which is coming soon. Uh next time we are gonna be diving into a topic that really is shaping the future of education right here, right now. What do we do about AI? Um we are gonna be in for that one.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Yes, and we've got a great guest. We're excited.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

We do, we have a great guest. We're gonna be joined by Dr. Andrea Zellner from Oakland Schools uh to help explore artificial intelligence and how it's impacting classrooms, what it means for teachers and students, uh, and how we can actually use it to our advantage. Uh so join us for that. It'll be a be an exciting conversation. In the meantime, don't forget to follow or subscribe to Teaching Tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Smash the like. Click the like button, subscribe.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Leave us a rating or comment, and it will help other educators find these conversations that's uh similar to like what we had here today. Uh if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a colleague who's passionate about making school a place where every student wants to be. And until next time, keep teaching, keep learning, and keep building the tomorrow your students can believe in because here at Teaching Tomorrow, we really do believe in you.

SPEAKER_04 34:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Everyday inspiration for everyday teachers.

SPEAKER_04 34:24

Bye bye, y'all.