EP15: How Do We Sustain Healthy Environments for Teachers?

School Psychology Consultant Dr. Amy Hawtin of Oakland Schools joins our hosts for the final episode of season one to talk about how we can support and sustain teachers and their mental health and well-being. From emerging practices after the COVID-19 pandemic, to supporting teachers through the daily challenges of the classroom, this episode is rooted in the possible - the supportive systems and the inspiration necessary to sustain the great work that teachers do every day in the trenches. 

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 0:14

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever you happen to be listening to this. This is the one and the only, and might I say, with great privilege, this is the last episode of the Teaching Tomorrow podcast with JKD and Steven. But just season one, the last of the season. Let's not be canceled. We have been renewed. We have been renewed. We've been renewed for a gun. There is a second season coming, but we are going to take a little break for a while from recording. So we are very excited about today's topic. But before we get into that, who am I? I am just.3333333% of your host, Dr. Stephen Sneed. I will let my esteemed and great hosts introduce themselves.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

I'm Jay Hafner, Oakland Schools Literacy uh consultant.

SPEAKER_04 1:02

Hi everyone. Katie Morrison, math consultant with Oakland Schools.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

And you know we call this the Teaching Tomorrow podcast, right? Like it is about teachers. So it's only fitting that today's episode is about teachers and how we sustain educators so that they can create healthy learning environments students need. Like how can we sustain the education? Because in a lot of our work, of course, we're talking about the students. What do the students need, right? And and that's why we're employed and paid to meet students where they are and to help them grow. But in order to do that, we have to take care of the adults. And so how do we create that system? Because if we don't sustain our educators, how can they do great work with kids? So it's it's not an either or, it's a yes and. And so I'm of course really excited to talk about this topic with one, well, with our guest today, uh, who is a close associate of mine and and all of us, but but I like her more than y'all. So, you know, I do have a competition. It is a competition to compete. If I quantified my professional aberration for her, it would have no end.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Um, but we'll get to our esteemed uh uh uh guest here in a minute. Um but as always, we kind of enter the fore with our own thoughts. Let me start with Katie. Like, Katie, like in this realm of like sustaining educators and and mental health, which is so important, yeah, and probably still a little stigma round, like what do you say? What what angle are you approaching today's conversation with?

SPEAKER_04 2:45

Yeah, so I feel really thankful that this is our final episode because I hope it's the one that leaves the most lasting impression, because I think it's something that's so incredibly important and so personal for me, and I'm sure for everyone at this table, as well as all of the people and educators listening. Um, I think that coming out of COVID, which I cannot believe was six years ago around this time, like it blows my mind when I thought about it. But I think coming out of COVID, right, there was so much isolation, so much of feeling like this work felt impossible. And then this term learning gap was presented to the world. And it felt like it fell on the backs of the educators and more specifically, even the teachers, to solve that problem that was created by a systematic global problem. And yet now teachers and educators are the ones meant to fix all of the challenges that came out of COVID. Um, and so I don't think we talk enough about what happened when we all came back as adults into the system. I don't think we talk enough about like the traumas and lack of supports that existed when the students came back and how much pressure that fell on educators. So if we think about what the answer is for that, I think it comes back to like making systems feel possible and making them feel doable for the educators that we ask to create inspiring spaces for students. Well, we also need to ensure that our teachers feel inspired to create those spaces. Um and I think it's about having leaders who believe in the capacity of the educators in the system and are providing the supports necessary for them to feel inspired and grow.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Man, that was that was so monumental, Katie. I'm still buzzing and resonating on what you just said. Uh Jay, let me bring you in here. What do you say about this this topic?

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yeah, well, if you're buzzing, come to me for the buzz kill. Oh, that's that's what you're saying here. We all know. Set them up for a joke in the later. There we go. There we go. Um yeah, really, really important topic, especially when we consider almost where we are with the, you know, it's like a crisis within teacher turnover and teacher burnout and teachers who are leaving the system. And, you know, I've having a lot of conversations with a lot of colleagues. I I reflect back. I I may have said this in previous, you know, podcasts, but uh my my grandfather played a really integral role in my growth and development and raising me, and he was a teacher, he was an educator for 60 years. That's incredible. You know, yeah, which is talk about sustaining work. Yeah, when I grew up, you know, growing up with my grandfather and and his colleagues, there there was he always filled me with this idea that like when I was gonna become a teacher, that like if you just get through your first three years, you're gonna get over that hump like most teachers do, and you will sustain within this profession and be able to work as long as I did. And I think there was that like prevailing thought for a long time. I don't know if it was COVID that accelerated this idea that like if you've made it three years, five years, seven years, we were we're we're losing people in this profession at a very serious rate, at a very concerning rate.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

There's my there's my buzzkill. There it is. I told you, a little bit, but but I'm also we're gonna we're gonna sprinkle it.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah, we're we're gonna sprinkle it with a little bit of hope, I think, in the in the conversation we have today and understanding that like there is a path and there are ways to address this teacher turnover crisis. And I think it really comes down to humanity and understanding just who we are and how we interact with one another, and that there are pathways to build each other up and sustain each other throughout this really hard work. And this idea that, like, as educators, and the thing I'm most proud of, it's not a job, right, for any of us. It's an identity, it is what we do, it's who we are, it defines like how we like see the world and exists in the world. And that's a double-edged sword. When it's identity, we wear things with a lot more pain and emotion and challenges, but it's also the passion that drives us to be able to overcome a lot of the challenges we face. And, you know, talking to our guests today, I think we're gonna be able to work through some of the challenges that we face and and see a little bit of hope at the end that we can sort of get through this and stem the tide and keep teachers in the classroom where they belong for for six fifty, sixty years. I mean, that's the idea. I mean, I got to do it. You're gonna work till you're you're gonna work till you're eighty-seven.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Well well eighty-seven, Steven. Well, I mean maybe like sixty-seven. Okay. Whenever whenever Social Security is still good for me at that point, like hey, that's when I'll I'll it might be a good thing. Maybe to the grandkids, right? Like, um But but Jay, who is our guest today?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Who is this mystery person? Today, we are excited to welcome Dr. Amy Hotton, a school psychology consultant from Oakland Schools. Uh, in her role, uh, Amy works alongside districts to help strengthen systems of support for students and staff, focuses on mental health, trauma response practices, sustainable school improvement. I mean, she wears a lot of hats. Uh, she's worked in the field of education for almost 60 years, but we'll call it 23. That's a lot of math. We'll call it. We'll call it. All right, we'll go with 23. 23 as a uh school psychologist, uh, uh 23 years as a school psychologist in Oakland County. Over time, Amy's interest in educational leadership and educational policy implementation brought her back to Wayne State, uh, where she earned an ed specialist in central office and special education administration and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies. Uh Amy cares about people because she's a mom, she's a daughter, she's a friend, she's a colleague, a collaborator, all of those she brings to her work within her, it's her identity, it's who she is. And so we like to welcome Dr. Amy Haughton to the show. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

I'm doing good.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

I call her Hottina.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

I call it, but no, no, no. I call her Haughtina. You still have to call her Amy, but I'm not sure. Yeah. That's the name on her laptop.

SPEAKER_05 9:26

Because our laptops have Houghton in the case. Okay, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

You can call her Haltina too. It's not a good thing. That makes sense. That makes sense. So, uh, Dr. Dr. Houghton, Amy Hotina is 2026. We got a lot going on, right? We not gonna get into everything going on, but there's a lot going on that's weighing onto the consciousness of classroom teachers. Help us understand, because again, this the Teaching Tomorrow podcast, like things we can do tomorrow, what do we need to know about adult mental health and how can, let's say, an individual like teacher really support and grow their own mental health within their practice? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_05 10:15

So I I think that's a great question to start with. I'd like to kind of bring it into more into more of a system lens and kind of define sustainability or what I think of as sustainability when I think about educators. So when I think about educator sustainability, I think about the capacity for each of our educators to be emotionally regulated and present, right, physically well and able to um how do I want to say this? Able to um like professionally be engaged and effective within all of the different things that they have to do over time, right? And so I think mental health is a very big part of that. I think that healthy, um, responsive learning environments are built on educators that are not only regulated, but they are supported. And so I think that when we talk about things like mental health, we have to think about it within the system lens of that it's not just an individual's responsibility, it's that collective responsibility of the system. And how do we really bolster and support educators so they can walk into spaces to be the people that they need to be in that space?

SPEAKER_01 11:31

So you're using this word, you've used it two or three times here, regulated. Unpack that for us. What is what does that mean to be, you know, emotionally regulated? I mean, immaturely when you say that I think of like Warren G and I start rapping, regulators. So I know you're not talking about that.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah, no, you just lost Katie on that reference there. She's gone.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Regulators Warren G. Okay, never mind. Okay. No idea. Amy, Amy's with you. Amy's not it.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

I'm in the age band. I feel like we're re-bringing up the charger like in an all-in-regues. So moving on.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Moving on. Yeah, regulation. Regulate. What what is that?

SPEAKER_05 12:15

So I mean I think that regulation, again, it's I'm it's just my I'm just gonna kind of say what I think when I think about regulation here. But I think it is having the um awareness of our emotions and being able to um well let me back up. So I think that it's important to understand that when we as educators or as any person, um we are contagious. We are we are exquisitely kind of contagious to each other.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 12:45

And so when we as we know the educator or the teacher in the classroom is the most important factor, most important thing in that room. And so what we want what we when I think about regulation, it is the ability for the educator to be aware of that responsibility, I think. Um understand their emotions, and be able to develop a sense of calm so that they can be able to share that calm with our students who may need it. Um I think that we have to understand that in order to build those that healthy learning environment where we really want students and educators to thrive, um, we have to be able to create the psychological safety and the physiological safety. And we do that through co-regulation. So in this room together, right, there is a calm and a comfort, right? I was nervous coming in and so my nervousness could have been contagious to you guys. But through our talking and through my awareness that this is, you know, these are I'm around comfortable people that I I adore so much and that um, you know, that I admire so much, it is something that you were able to share your calm with me. It was like this is gonna be great. And so now we're just having a conversation, right? And so I think that when we want to bring the best out in our students, we have to think about um how what are we doing in terms of the climate of the building, in terms of the support that we're giving to educators so that they can, you know, because we live in a world that's really loud right now. There's a lot of things going on, right? So we can just walk in to the building in the morning and we are dysregulated due to so many things. And so the the climate and the culture of the building really help and that support that we receive really help to bring us down into that space of regulation so that we can share it and be that safety to our students.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

Yeah, yeah. So as you engage in this work across Oakland County, then where what are you seeing right now that's actually working?

SPEAKER_05 14:48

So I mean lots of wonderful things. I think that um one of the most important that I'm seeing is that districts are s really starting to talk right now about things like burnout, um, things like um secondary trauma and and and trauma-informed practices and things like that. And not just for students, they're really really having more of a um of an eye on what educators need. And so I think that like um so professional learning is one thing. I think that districts are also starting to really begin to gather data from their educators around what they need. So, because I I want us to think about sustainability, not just the mental health part of it, but I want us to also think about it as like an ongoing capacity building that we are we are really fortifying and and building within our teachers that capacity to meet the increasing complexity of student needs, right? To to um to weather the concerns around um understaffing, right? And the future of the profession. So I think that it's important that when we're when we're looking at when I mentioned like professional learning around trauma and and well-being and stuff like that, we're also thinking about what are those initiatives that are coming through that we also need to build the capacity of. And so we're kind of balancing professional learning in not only the instructional things like PA 146. So we have to do a lot of professional learning about that, but we're also thinking about the the well-being professional learning and professional learning around trauma and things like that. I think another thing that we're doing is uh or that districts are doing really well is they're understanding the importance of protected time. So when we say protected time, it could be things like making sure that all of my people that I really collaborate with, we have a we have a shared planning time. And that's not taken away. That gives us uh that time to be able to work together, um, to be able to plan together, to be able to problem solve. I think another thing that we're seeing is that districts are starting to really apply a tiered approach to student or to staff needs. So for example, you know, they come to Oakland schools and they get really wonderful, you know, a professional learning, a one-day, you know, or or in their districts, they they utilize a wonderful expertise to provide professional learning in their district. That really builds good awareness. We need to make sure, and districts are districts are starting to do this, think about like what is that ongoing learning? Because right, that one-time learning builds that awareness. We keep on doing that, we keep on, we keep the skill building going. We're build building that capacity. We build in also some problem solving and mentoring for our new teachers and um coaching needed. That's an additional layer of ongoing support for our staff. Then you have the individual, that individual instructional coach that may meet with people one-on-one, or you may have small group learning pods. And so it's almost like a tiered approach to not only like building capacity, but also understanding the that that is a really wonderful way to support the overall well-being and mental health of our staff. Right. When I feel supported, like I'm not just expected to go to something back in August and just know it, right? There's that ongoing learning that makes me feel like I can I can do this job. I think one more thing I would say that districts are also starting to understand, and this gets to like um culture and climate, is that as they understand more about and they're they're gathering the voices of teachers and uh all educators around what is needed, um, I think that that allows them to be able to um build a culture and climate that really honors physiological and psychological safety. So getting back to to regulation because we want to be able to create spaces where there is interpersonal risk taking that is not doesn't feel like risk taking. And what I mean by that is that I'm able to voice concerns when something's going on in my building. I'm able to make mistakes and be able to talk to someone about them. I'm able to ask for help and know that it's not gonna be met with humiliation or some kind of retaliation or some kind of consequence or be, you know, something that's gonna go directly on my Danielson uh evaluation, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:20

There it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:20

And so I think districts are really, you know, there's so many intentional administrators that are starting to see this and starting to really um work towards, you know, kind of making sure that that is really how how our employees, our our educators all feel. Um, because it shouldn't be risk-taking that it should be that we're able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Yeah, and it's yeah, we shouldn't normalize that process of being able to reach out when the I as an educator, as a professional, when I need help in having thinking through these conversations, there should be things, I think, within the system that are very clear to me that I can grab onto. And also I think what what Amy's uh getting at is being seen. Sometimes before I'm the one that's even asking for help, that I'm seen in a really authentic way. And some of that help is embedded within the system to come to me and help me as an educator. I think when you have those two things working, you can get through a lot of the challenges that we feel and and really grow to some like sustainability within the career. I'm I'm thinking about, and I want to talk a little bit more around things that are within the system that are in place to help people because I'm thinking about as a teacher, we join the profession almost with this like understanding that we're gonna have to sacrifice. We're gonna have to make sacrifices in our career. We've been asked to sacrifice in all kinds of ways. I think we understand that as teachers, and I think in many ways, I know I, you know, sometimes I even take pride in the fact that I've had to sacrifice certain things to do this job. I think there's a difference between sacrificing and being sacrificial. I don't have to, I can sacrifice time, I can sacrifice money, I can sacrifice those things. I shouldn't be asked, or we as teachers shouldn't be asked to sacrifice our mental health at like the altar of the egigods. Like, oh, I'm just gonna join this profession as an expectation and I'm gonna give my mental health over and sacrifice that. That is unacceptable and should never be the reality. And I think it's the reality a lot of teachers feel. That's why they're leaving the system when you feel like you have nothing else to do uh but sacrifice your mental health. So I want to talk about some things that within the system that might be uh opportunities uh for people to like look into and how we can address and identify when teachers are feeling that pressure and things we can do to sort of help support them and get them through those challenging times. To do what they do with kids that they believe.

SPEAKER_05 22:01

Aaron Powell Yeah. So I think one thing that's been coming up for educators or that that we've been asked to talk about more recently is like the experience around secondary trauma, um, compassion fatigue, burnout. Um so that is something that has um in these last few years, we have seen a lot. Like you mentioned COVID in the beginning, you know, and in 2020 we all had like, you know, signs on our lawn. That's right. Right?

SPEAKER_02 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:26

And then the it's swung way over where like, you know, educators are are are being told things. Investigated. Exactly. So you know, I think that there is um there's a lot that's happened in that time. And so I think that the fact that you know things like secondary trauma, um, compassion, fatigue, burnout have been kind of bubbling to the surface, I think is is something that's important to talk about. When we think about secondary trauma, um it's really described as like a like um trauma-related, you know, stress stress reactions and symptoms that are the result of another individual's traumatic experiences and not through something that a traumatic experience that we've directly experienced, right? And so I think we as educators, um, just through our job, um, through the through the way that we show up every day, we are vulnerable to that type of stress because our job requires our and and and we live into these deep and empathetic relationships with our students and with our staff members, with our school community as a whole. And so I think that's a a really important thing to think about when some signs and symptoms, and again, this is never uh non-exist, you know, it's a these are not all the symptoms, just give you a few of them just because of time. But when we think about something like secondary trauma symptoms that we want to kind of think about with our with our colleagues and and it for administrators to be very well aware of, but for all of us for the collective good, um things like um, you know, chronic fatigue and physical ailments, um, things like irritability and impatience with our colleagues or and or our students, a feeling of professional inadequ inadequacy or a withdrawal from that, feeling like I have to protect myself. So those are some symptoms that we might see. And so that is why the system itself is so important. Um burnout is not an individual problem. That's right. And it I want to make that very clear. It is a system problem. And it is when you have when you have when you have things when you are thinking about things like turnover um and or burnout, um, it is a very specific data piece for you to look at in terms of your system. Educators and and leaders need to understand it's not a passion problem. As Jason meant as Jay mentioned, like we go into this all in. Yeah, like this is a so it's not a passion problem. It's the protection of capacity problem. That's what it becomes. And so I think that, you know, there's there's just this compounding um amount of stress, you know, and and we can call this cumulative stress or or whatever it might be. But I think that the system, you know, for leaders to think about that, the system has to understand that when when we think about burnout, it is a very important data piece for understanding us understanding that the system is is not um I don't want to say failing, but I'm gonna say failing, is is failing to really protect the capacity of our educators.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

Well, I love that you in this conversation said burnout is a system, it's a system indicator, it's a system problem. Because I think sometimes people think of, well, you burned out like that's right. You weren't tough enough or you weren't sacrificial enough to stick it out and to burn out, but rather so I love that framing. So I want to want to ask you two things here. Uh we like to say to you know, in our audience, we got a bifurcated audience of people who are on the ground in the classroom doing a thing, and then like leaders. So, one, what can an individual teacher do to protect their peace and their calm? And then the second thing, what can a leader do from a systemic point of view to protect people's peace and their calm? So in the lane of teachers and then leaders, what what say you?

SPEAKER_05 26:28

So I would say a few things. So I'll I'll go with educators first. So educators meaning an ancillary staff, uh everybody. All every teachers, ancillary staff, everybody. So I think that um I think the first one is that we have to understand that we we we do have a stressful job. And so we have to understand that this this is a job that is is going to be something that is um stressful at times. The important thing though with stress is respite and recovery. And so I think that um it's both a system responsibility and an individual responsibility to think about respite and recovery and what works for individuals and then what works for the collective whole. So things like um, you know, Jay, you mentioned sacrifices earlier earlier in the discussion. Um there are we wear ro lots of hats. We have lots of roles, right? As a school psychologist, I was also on the playground, I'm working in the office, I'm doing all kinds of things, right? Subbing. Right. But those are my decisions. Subbing, exactly. Subbing. Those are my decisions, right? I want to step into those roles. And if and I have to also think about what um like where's my threshold and where can I say I really want to do that? I'm on I'm unable to coach that team this semester. I'm so sorry. You know, I can help you find someone, but I I can't do that. Um we have to make sure that our educators can say things like that so that they can leave and have that recovery to also fulfill all the roles that they have in their lives outside of education, being a part of the communities that made them, their families, their friends, and things like that. And so I think that we have to really give um educators that absolute and explicit permission to be able to live into boundaries that work best for them, right? And that's not prescriptive, that's different for everybody. I would say for leaders, um so that's just a real quick answer. I'm I'm I'm just scratching the surface there. I hope that's okay. Okay, okay. So for leaders, I would say that um there's many different things. I think that you have to champion the voice and the agency of your staff, of all of your staff. And not only that, um, so listen to them because like there's decision decisions that are being made in these next few months, like what professional learning is going to look like, what our calendar is, and things like that that directly impact your educators. So when you have their voices, when you when you take time to either survey them or focus group them, talk to them at um you know, if you gather many different pieces of data to be able to understand what they need, you can move forward in a way that champions them, to equip them, to build that capacity to live into the space that they need to. So I would say that's one thing. I also think that our administrators, we want them to model some of those um, you know, bound healthy boundaries, right? Like not sending emails at 8 p.m. or something like that. Sorry, guys. They both look different.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

We're shooting side out of here. Maybe I'll program it to send at like 8 a.m. the next day. Yeah, but that's also about like their health too. Absolutely. Yeah, we want healthy administrators to have the emails I'm gonna write at 9 o'clock tonight.

SPEAKER_05 30:00

I think we also um we want leaders to and and we want educators to live into this too, to um live into and and and have conversations that reduce the stigma around um any kind of mental health in terms of talking about well-being or or when things are hard. Like we have to be able to have conversations and have leaders lead conversations that bring people with them, right? And so I think that that that's one other thing that I would say. I mean, I could keep going, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:37

I mean, I think this conversation, going back to even the beginning, why it feels so important is because one, right, as educators, we wear it as our identity. Two, we know and understand that we are there supporting children. And that feels deeply, deeply personal and hard and challenging. And so I think part of like this conversation about burnout and sustainability has me wondering if part of that is coming from this belief around like the tension between like this is my identity, and I can't do it the way that it deserves or is being positioned or um it put into the air. Like, I think so much about this idea of like when a person puts a boundary in place that says, like, I got to work at 6 30 in the morning, and so no, I'm not going to do the after school club until 5 30, that boundary is seen as a resistance to the culture we're trying to create. And so I I just like come back to if our identity feels like this is the core of what we're doing, we're serving other people and more specifically children, and yet it doesn't feel like we even can put boundaries in place. How do we as educators, teachers, and leaders position ourselves that does protect the humanity of the work while also feeling like there will, I will reach a burnout point because I can't what I'm doing in what feels like being a good teacher is unsustainable.

SPEAKER_05 32:19

So I mean, I think that tension is really important. I think that tension of the passion and the identity that we see as an educator really, really drives us um to, you know, to be able to uh or gives us that meaning, right? That meaning and that persistence um to show up even in the hard seasons, even in the hard years, right? That same identity and and passion can also be a vulnerability, right? Because we we can sacrifice, we can do all those things. And so to your question around how do we kind of bring the humanity back into that, um I think that really requires administrators listening to their staff around what is needed and what what are those humanity pieces that are missing currently in our system. Because if the culture and the climate of the building is accepting to like, you know, you and I might have different operating systems where I might be someone who likes to work late and you want to be there early, there's real strengths in both of those, right? And so I think that if we can kind of create a culture uh in the building where we're all we have that shared responsibility, even if even if our roles and our times and our and the the boundaries that we have in place are different, we all have that collective goal. And collectively that shared responsibility can get us to that humanity.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

Well, collectively, I wish we had more time, but we we I mean we could take a course from you, uh, Tina, uh, on this so many great things. We're gonna transition to our hot take segment where each of us is gonna take a turn with a little hot take on this topic. Although our hot takes are like good takes. Maybe we rename that in season two, right? Yeah. Like they're not hot, like, oh, we're gonna get in trouble and fired or anything, but they're like things that we we we really stand in affirmation about. And so my hot take or good take here is we gotta model, we got a sachet down the runway with protecting our peace. And Amy, you talked about like that respite and and like reaffirmation of what that piece and that centering is earlier. Um, and so I think teachers, we should model that for our students and being transparent and even to a degree vulnerable about being in that space and what we do uh to be in that space. I tell my staff I play video games because the video games I play have lovely geography, and I just like looking at mountains. It's so nerdy. I like looking at mountains in video games, and that brings me peace. And I think we have to model those good, healthy behaviors uh for kids and encourage kids themselves to think about what are some healthy things that you can do if you're dysregulated, what are some things that you can do to center yourself? Leaders, we've gotta also model that for staff. So it's this trickle-down effect, right? Leaders are modeling, teachers are modeling, and ultimately we want that to get to the student core so that everybody's engaging in these healthy behaviors at work and at school. Jay, what say you? What's your what's your hot slash good take?

SPEAKER_00 35:29

Yeah, my good take is just finding some consistency and slowing things down in the work that we do. I know there's so much pressure in in our jobs, whether you're a teacher or district leader or principal, just feeling like it's just constantly coming from the outside that we have to adapt, we have to change, we have to add more into our system, we have to pull back from our system, we're constantly making adjustments. And I think sometimes that that constant lack of that instability, I think, can lead to uh a lot of anxiety within our teaching profession. And I think the fastest way to lose uh good quality educators isn't necessarily workload. I think we understand we're gonna have a lot of work in the what we do. I think it's the constant pivoting and and changing without having coherence. And you can't build psychologically safe classrooms on emotionally exhausted adults. And I think we are in it, like it's there, we're emotionally exhausted uh in a lot of ways. And so I think we address that by doing what uh Hatina, uh Dr. Hatina, uh said is talk with our staff, listen to our staff. Now is the time. I this is we're we're heading into March. Plans are being made for next year, professional development is being considered, minor adjustments within our system, that time is upon us. Let's, as teachers, have those open conversations with our with our leaders to really begin building. How are we, in even small ways, going to address our mental health, our ability to sustain our work going into next year? And let's really, really focus on it and see if we can maintain some consistency with how we address our emotional needs.

SPEAKER_04 37:20

Yeah. So I first want to say thank you again to all the educators that are listening to our podcast. I hope you love you all. Yes. I hope if there's something that you gathered from this conversation is this belief that we believe your sustainability matters. We want you in the schools being supported inside of the classrooms with your students.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

For 60 years.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

I mean, that's a long time. I don't know if I'm committing. I don't know. I don't know if I'm committing to 60. Like when I think about what I can sustain for 60 years, I don't know if teaching is the one that comes to the case.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Make retirement possible after 20 years, right? With a pension and we can math. Then we can talk about sustainability. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 37:59

Yes, there you go. Yeah. Um, so I don't know. If I'm thinking talking to, I think probably teachers, but this probably could apply to building leaders too that are feeling um initiative overload or initiative fatigue, even from district. I think like I want to tell everyone to release the pressure of feeling when a new initiative or a new curriculum or a new program is handed to you, that it immediately has to be implemented flawlessly and perfectly from the moment because that's a lot of pressure. And I don't know if that's part of like the identity we wear as educators, this like ideal of perfection, maybe because part of our craft is like standing in front of others and like positioning us and performing in front of others, this idea that we know everything and we're perfect. But I want to release some of the pressure to say that when a new initiative is brought forward, that you deserve the support to implement that flawlessly later, and that there's an expectation that you will not be perfect and that you can't implement it with imperfection when you first receive that initiative. Is that spicy enough? Is that hot? That's pretty good. I'm digging that one. I was gonna say, I feel like our hot takes at the beginning of the season, like 14 episodes ago, were more spicy. Yeah. And we've sensed more mild in our hot takes.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

But maybe in the mildness, there's more opportunity to actually do and achieve, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:35

There's a beauty of forward momentum and we'll come back in season two and you'll see if we have still coined the hot take term.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Well, as always, we leave our esteemed guests with the final, whether you want a hot take or good take, or just the final word. But what say you, Dr. Amy Houghton?

SPEAKER_05 39:54

I mean, I I would say maybe two things. I would say that, you know, the research over the last few years is very clear that um that the majority of educators report a high amount of stress and feelings of overwhelm. Um, again, concerns around the increased complexity of student needs, around the future of the profession of education. Um and and also I think the other piece of research that we know is very clear is that educator well-being is directly tied to student outcomes. And so I think that what I my hot take would be that if you want to see something in your building and in your classrooms in terms of student outcomes, you must envelop those that are tasked with implementing the thing or doing the thing or or helping students to achieve those outcomes, you must envelop them with the support to be able to do that work. And we have to really uphold the dignity of our educators who walk into space every day with that intention. And I think that it is really, again, the timeliness of this podcast with thinking about um moving into the next year is a wonderful time if you haven't already to really think about gathering the voice of your educators in whatever way you decide to gather that data so that your system can be informed as to what they need. Um so I think that's what I would say. That's my hot take.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

That's a good final word, right? That's a good final word here at the last episode of the Teaching Tomorrow Podcast. So, Jay, take us out, bro.

SPEAKER_00 41:45

Last episode of the season. Let's be clear. This is not a series finale, it is a season finale. Uh yeah, just a special thank you to uh to Amy Houghton for joining us today. Uh and also for all you do. Uh, I think it's really important that we lift and elevate those who take time to address our mental needs. Also, they themselves uh deserve a shout out for you know lifting up their own mental health as well. Uh, I think that's important to recognize. So thank you for coming in and spending some time with us today. Uh, we hope that all of you listening found something here to inspire your own practice and spark new ideas for your classroom and school community. And we hope that you join us next time in season two. Season two, baby. Season two. Uh, so we're gonna take just a little bit of a break. I think we're going to uh see what we can do to develop content and new voices and all of the good work that's going on across Oakland County and elevating and lifting some of the great teaching uh that is happening in classrooms every single day. Uh we usually end this podcast uh by asking you uh listeners to like, uh follow or subscribe to the Teaching Tomorrow podcast. Smash the like. But I also think today's episode being a season finale, uh I hope uh I hope it also lifts the fact that we uh how much we care and recognize the work you're doing inside of the classroom. Uh and we want this podcast to ultimately be testimony for all of the work uh that that you are doing uh in in your spaces and in your schools. Uh so if you have a like button, we here at Teaching Tomorrow are pushing that like button as often as we can uh because you do matter and the work you do is making a difference. So until next time, uh keep teaching, keep learning, and keep building the tomorrow your students can believe in because here at Teaching Tomorrow, we sincerely believe in you.