Victoria Thompson | Beneath the Water

Florida-based technologist and professional learning specialist Victoria Thompson joins us for a lively discussion about her views on equity and diversity, her experiences around it, and the way she uses data to teach students about social justice.

 This episode was recorded during ISTE 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

Check her out on LinkedIn: Victoria Thompson

Buy her book here: Elevate Equity in Edtech: Expanding Inclusive Leadership Through the ISTE Standards - Victoria Thompson

Please subscribe to this channel and leave a 5-star rating to help others in leadership find a place to belong.

Join BTW Slack Community: HERE

Email us with any questions, comments, thoughts, or feedback: beneaththewaterpod@gmail.com

Follow Beneath the Water on Instagram: @Beneaththewaterpod

-------------------

Find Diane's latest adventures (podcasting, fishing, and beyond!): LinkedIn

Follow Friends of Friends Recording: Instagram

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

People always call it like the career ladder. Yes. I don't believe in that because it's never a full step. Like I think it's more of like a career jungle gym. It's like you're over here and then you're down here and then you're over here and then you're over here.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Yes. Hi, it's me, your teacher-turned CTIO friend, Diane Dirsch. And this is Beneath the Water. Well, hi there. We are here with my friend Victoria Thompson. Hi, thank you very much. I'm so happy you're here too. Yeah, happy to be here too. Yes, yes. And you know, I think about when I um first saw you, um, and that was that's been at conferences for years, right? But I've always loved your friendliness, the enthusiasm you brought. It's interesting that when I would see you like in the hallway and things, you'd always be hugging people and you'd always be welcoming. And your smile, your smile, if you're not watching and you're just listening, she's got the most beautiful smile.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

That is inviting in, and you know, it just smiles bring people in as well. And I think I've always seen you as a person who's able to bring people in, and I love that about you.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Thank you. Thank you. Such a nice compliment to like start off my day. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, and those were great um impressions because when you see people like that, you're like, I want to be their friend, I want to know more about them, right? You you you pulled me in uh with that smile and that warmth. Yeah, thank you very much. So happy that you're here and that we can chat about things. Oh, absolutely. Yes, yes, cool. Okay, well, um, do you remember the first instance when we met or just how that ecosphere?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

I know we had seen each other in passing at like lots of different conferences because we run in the same circles, you know, like the ISTEs, the TCEAs, the F E T C's, all that stuff. Yes. But the first time that I had a face-to-face interaction with you, I want to say was like three years ago at CoSin in Miami. Oh, yeah when it was in 2023, and I attended the Women in Technology breakfast. Oh, awesome. And you were one of the presenters. And then afterwards we had a conversation and realized that we had a lot in common. Yes. And that kind of kickstarted like our friendship and like our professional networking, and and that was a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

So I I do love that. And you know, I love those events that bring to you know, people together, and then also having the time to actually network. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Because it's one of those things where we don't really get a lot of time to do that. Right. You know, they always say that at conferences the best PD that you get if you're listening right now and doing air quotes. Like the best PD that you get is when you're like in the hallway. Right. But when you're constantly going from room to room, place to place, it's like when do I actually get to talk to people and meet people?

SPEAKER_03 3:03

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Like even this morning, I was going through and in between a couple of meetings, and I have people that I would waive at that I know very, very well. But because I'm within two minutes of a meeting, I can't really stop and I can't connect with them. So then I have to deliberately make time, which I have no problem doing. I I love talking to people, but like for me at my stage of my career now, I can't do hallway PD because I always have somewhere to be. Right. Right. So it is really nice to have those um conversations and those spaces that are deliberate for you to say, okay, we're here, we're gonna be focusing, we're gonna be talking, we're gonna be connecting. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Yeah, that's a really good point. That whole networking and taking the time to do that. Um, yesterday I was at the ISTI Author um reception. Okay. And when I walked into that room, I didn't know many people. You know, there I didn't know anyone. I knew um Carolyn Habig, who comes from Wisconsin. Yes, right. And so um we kind of hung. But then uh there was a table that that went free. It was a stand-up table. So we walked on over there, and I'm like, okay, now we can put our drinks down and I see this guy over, you know, uh by the bar, and he's struggling with his drink, he's got his food, he's standing. It was a horrible situation. And I just said, hey, we've got a table, come on over here. And suddenly our table grew, right? I'm in the food line. It's like, hey, do you need a place to put your stuff down? Here, we've got a table for you. And suddenly we have four new friends, right? And so it is, it's taking that time, it's inviting people in, and and and I'll bet you would do exactly that same thing. 100%, yes, yeah. So that's what makes you so so magnetic, I think. Well, tell tell me about your career. I mean, how how did you start out? Um, it sounds like you were a classroom teacher before that, but or before this, but yeah, how'd you start?

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Um, so so my first, I call it like big girl job, right? Like when I graduated from undergrad, so I went to a college of Charleston, go cougars, uh, for my undergraduate degree in elementary education. Oh, yes. But I'm from New Jersey originally. So this was definitely like a destination college for me, if that makes sense. Um seasonal affective disorder was not really a thing like when I was growing up, but I feel like I definitely had it. Like even growing up when I was in high school, I would do like all these weird challenges during the winter to try to get me through like December to March, because for me, March 1st started spring. Like it wasn't March 21st, it was March 1st. So I knew that I needed to get out of the Northeast. Smart girl. Right. Like I knew that I needed to have a sunny location, a warm location. I knew that I wanted to be in a city because I grew up outside of Philly. But you know, Philly is is different. It's good, different, but it's also different. Um, I also wanted to be somewhere where I knew that I could be warm year-round. So that's why I chose College of Charleston. And I loved my experience there. So then after graduating from uh CFC, College of Charleston, um, I taught there for about four and a half years. So I was fifth and sixth grade math and science in Berkeley County, South Carolina. And I loved it. Like, and I was at the same school the entire time. Like all the kids knew me, like their siblings wanted me as a teacher. Oh, they were and I was also kind of on that track to becoming like a coaching lead, you know, like an instructional coach, all that stuff. I was already doing professional development for technology-related things within the school because Berkeley County at that time, they were going through like a one-to-one initiative. And in that one-to-one, you know, at Berkeley County at the time, those districts are like dirt roads, one stop light. Wow. Like you might be lucky if you see a paved road in like the downtown area, but for the most part, it really was very, very rural. Yes. So, what do you do when 10,000 Chromebooks like drop into your lap? Holy cow! And these kids, this is their first time having a Chromebook or any piece of device. Yeah. So, and also, there wasn't really a lot of technology support at the time. I think that the district, to be very candid, kind of like led into that digital native thing. And they're like, oh, well, you know, their kids are gonna figure it out. I'm like, uh we're in rural South Carolina, baby. Like, like, but there's no way they're gonna be able to figure this out. Um, and of course, it didn't, you know, it became more developed, and they have a Walmart now, which is cool. They have McDonald's, which is also really cool. Because I go back pretty frequently and the area is really built up. But at that time, it was mostly mom and pop shops and dirt roads and one stoplight. So I was leading the way for a lot of the school-led professional development. And I was, you know, doing all that. I got my master's in curriculum and instruction. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna apply for jobs, like, this is gonna be great. And then my then girlfriend, now wife, who was former active duty Air Force, got the call to move to Seattle, Washington. Oh, wow. So when the Air Force tells you to go, you have to go. So, of course, I'm crying, like I'm freaking out because I left the Northeast because I didn't like cold, I didn't like rain, I didn't like gray skies. And now we're moving to Seattle, which is notorious for that. Um, and I still hated it there. And we that that's another conversation for another podcast about how we felt othered, you know, as two black women in a very primarily like white space. Sure. Um, however, what I did appreciate about that was it really springboarded my career. Oh. Because as much as I appreciated my time in South Carolina and still do, the infrastructure isn't there to support leadership. Oh, it's very good old boy, it's very who you know, what you know. It's like, for example, one of the ladies that I used to work with, wonderful woman, but like her mother was like assistant superintendent of something, something, something in the state. She was able to get whatever job she wanted. She had her pick of the litter. Sure. Whereas, like, you know, when you're not from that state, or if you're not from that county, or you know, whatever, it just becomes much harder for you. Like, even when I student taught, I student taught in Charleston County. I could not even get an interview in Charleston County. I had to go one county over to Berkeley County, which still very fine county, they're all fine counties. But in Charleston County, it was like, oh, well, like this person knows this person, and like this person's daughter needs a job, or this person's son wants to be the football coach, right? So yeah, it was very insider. And coming from New Jersey and Philadelphia, like we value community, but we also value, you know, if you want to be part of us, you can be part of us, and we're gonna let you in. Yes. This was kind of my first instance of well, you weren't born here, you didn't grow up here, you like we value you, but we have we already have somebody else waiting in the wings. So that that was my first instance of that. So then moving to Seattle, where it's a much bigger community, much bigger city, you know, all these other things, and also a booming tech scene, I was pretty much able to do whatever I won. So my first job right at the gate, I actually worked for a tech company. So I was a technology strategist. I only lasted for six months. Not because I didn't want to be there, but because this was before remote work and hybrid was a thing. Sure. I was commuting four hours round trip. Oh my god. If you could believe it. So like I was losing my, it was NPR and a prayer. Yeah. NPR in a prayer. And I was getting so mad because I like the same ways. The stories I was listening to in the morning were the exact same stories, and I was like in the car, like, I'm good, I jumped out in the car. I've heard this before. So I was so angry, and I was going to my doctor again, because my back was hurting, like my mental health was in shambles, and they were like, you need a different job. So I went from four hours round trip driving to an eight-minute walk. Oh, which was like the best ever. So um, then I worked at a private independent school and I was there for about a year. So I taught math and I also built up their math curriculum. This was also during COVID, and because it was private, independent, and also a boarding school, all of our kids scattered. Sure. And that's when I started my remote learning blog, where I was just like, all right, like here's here's what's happening, here's what I'm seeing. And it took off, like all across. I'll bet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Because people were looking for stuff at that time. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

Yes. So because it took off, then a school district in Washington, they picked me up as a STEM coach. Um so my focus was on uh not only just science, technology, engineering, and math, but making it super equitable for our students. Because what I was realizing was when we were pulling in these industry professionals for career days and, you know, having these types of conversations, they were always software engineers. And I'm like, not every kid wants to be a software engineer. Like, I'm I'm an adult, I don't want to be a software engineer. But I also look, you know, um, and I'll talk about this later, because prior to joining my previous or my current role, I was at Microsoft for two years. So like I know people at Microsoft that are graphic designers, they work in the legal department. So many things with yeah, they work in the gaming department. So I'm like, we have to diversify what this looks like. And then also in the STEM realm as well, we can't just always be pushing STEM without the humanities component as well. Yeah, there's no equity if we don't have that. Because I went to college with people who I'm still very close friends with that I've flipped their mindset on, where they're like, well, I love a Victoria. Well, right, because they're like, I'm gonna be a data scientist. Why do I need to learn psychology? I'm like, Are you kidding me? Like, do you really think that you can just go through life learning calculus and not know how the data interacts with the people that you're directly talking to? Right. Like, like, let's have a conversation about this. Um, so in the district that I worked with, a lot of them thought that STEM was truly just science, technology, engineering, and math. To the point where I had a principal tell me, Well, we have math classes, this is a STEM school. And I'm like, no, baby, this is not a STEM school. This is not a STEM school. And also, living in the Pacific Northwest, the same that you can talk about any place, you know, there like there are ways to bring what we are doing and what's happening in our world to STEM. So, like, for example, there's a reason why Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are only located in certain areas of cities and states. So, like in the Pacific Northwest, I'm talking Seattle specifically. So, like, there's no Walmarts in Seattle. Okay. You have to go to Renton. Yeah, you have to go to Renton in order to go to one, which is about 30 to 45 minutes outside, depending on the day. Um, if you are living in Tacoma, there are no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods because Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, they have a very specific socioeconomic and bachelor's degree cut off. Oh my goodness. Yeah, so the median salary needs to be around $90,000 a year per family. And they also look for a certain amount of bachelor's degrees.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

Yeah. So like this is on record. They've gone on record saying this. So, in order for me, because I lived in Tacoma, if I wanted to go to um Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, I had to go to University Place, which was a 20 to 25 minute drive, you know? Um, so we would incorporate these into our lessons when I was coaching with teachers, and I'm like, okay, let's talk about redlining. Yeah. You know, like let's talk about what redlining looks like. Let's talk about why there's certain stores in certain areas and not in other areas and so wrong.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

So wrong. Yes, yeah. It's it's crazy, but like ridiculous. But a lot of the work that I did there also led me to being on like the district um leadership and also state leadership for incorporating.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

You were asking those hard questions, weren't you?

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Yeah. So like like equity studies and African American studies into curriculums. Like I've been on curriculum boards and all that stuff. So then Microsoft saw all the cool stuff that I was doing and said, okay, well, you know, you do really cool things for this district. Do you want to come work for us? And I was a little on the fence because my whole life has been schools and teachers and cabs, and now I'm I'm like three degrees removed from that. But I decided to take the leap and say, okay, let's do it. So I actually led their educator programming. Um, and it was all about like you know, the Microsoft Innovative Expert Program. I also served 23 states, so from the Dakotas to Florida in their technology implementation, but again, all with that equity lens. So, like what does it look like to take kids from point A to point B? Like you can give a kid a device, fine. But what are they doing with it? What kind of tools and technologies can help? Yeah. So a lot of the professional developments and also meetings that I led were all about what equity looked like, not only for kids and their families, but also for faculty and staff. Yes. I think that's also just as important. Right. And then um, in my current role at CDW, so they stole me. So they called me up and they said, Hey, you do cool things for 23 states, you want to do it for five. And so there you go. So there you go. So now I just have the southeastern United States, which is really nice. And I know I'm rambling at this point, but but that's kind of how I got to where I am.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

I love no, I I love hearing all the different stops in your journey, right? Because again, we never have a straight line.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Never seems never and people always call it like the career ladder. Yes. I don't believe in that because it's never a full step. Like I think it's more of like a career jungle gym. It's where it's like you're over here and then you're down here, and then you're over here, and then you're over here. Yes. So for me, it's more of like a career jungle gym for sure.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

I I love that part too, where you started incorporating, and maybe it's just who you are, incorporating those lessons, those social justice less lessons. Was there something in the past? Have you always been a person like that who loves to, you know, show the data and talk about it?

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Yeah, I I'd say I'd all I've always been a person like that. So I come from two parents from like executive leadership. So my mom was an executive at IBM. Oh wow. Um, and and she recently retired. So she's living her best life. And I feel like every time I talk to her, I'm like, what did you do today? She's like, Well, I bake brownies. And then I went to yoga. Like her life is so soft. And she has earned and I love that for her because she is like raising three kids, working in big tech, she has earned it. Yes. Um, and then my father was the director of community affairs for the state of New Jersey. So he was like big government for the entire state. Sure. But I've learned a lot from the both of them. So like from my mom, I feel like it was a lot of resilience and being a black woman in a space where there were not a lot of black women at the time. Right. Because she got her her first role at IBM, I think she got in like 87 or 88. So it was like way before like the big tech boom and all that stuff. So she was she was really a pioneer in that space. And then for my dad, being the director of community affairs, you know, he's very community-minded and civic minded. Yes. So a lot of the stuff that we would talk about with our family around the dinner table really came from a lot of the stuff that he was seeing. Sure. And that was really formative in my instruction.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Wow. Yeah. And yeah, and the social justice pieces of it, I'm sure. Yes. It's like, I love the way you integrated the data though, and just with the whole food story, it's like so many things to learn about that.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

It can't just be data. Right. And it's things that people don't even think about either. Like, like, because sometimes we're adults, and being an adult is hard. So you just autopilot and, like, okay, I'm going to Whole Foods and I have to drive 20 minutes and I don't like it, but that's where it is. Right. It's like, do we think about why the Whole Foods is there? Like, do we think about why the Trader Joe's is directly outside of the city? Do we wonder why the big box store is not in certain areas? Yeah. But it's also in other areas too. Yeah. And it's also, you know, the reverse as well. Like, I've got a good girlfriend where the closest um like elementary school to where she lives, so her kids commute in and out 25 minutes. Sorry, sorry, 25 miles. So it's 50 minutes like round trip. Right. So it's hard for her to kind of conceptualize that, but I'm also like, okay, but you also live kind of in a rural area where it makes sense geographically and for the data for everything to be a little bit more spaced out. And this is a school district where, if you could believe it, there's only three schools there's one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. Yeah. For the whole district. So I'm like, geographically, they're gonna make the point that makes the most sense. Right. It's gonna be by the general store, it's gonna be by the gas station, it's not gonna be where you are. And I don't like that it's not where you are, but like mathematically it makes sense. And that's kind of like my math brain. Yes. You know, where I'm like, I don't like that this is happening to you, but but geographically and mathematically it makes sense. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Well, and yeah, I come now from a rural area in Wisconsin, and same thing. If I want to shop, I've got to go at least an hour away. Exactly. Yeah, that's the way yeah, country life is. Yeah, I hear you. Well, we're gonna take a break, um, and we'll come back in a bit. Thank you. Okay, we're back with Victoria. And you know, it's interesting that on the break we were talking about those stats, and I was always fascinated by data and how it relates. Um, one of my favorite books was called The Responsive City. It was written by a researcher who talks about how data impacts what goes on in a city, just like you're talking about with the Whole Foods and other things. So uh you said, Well, Diane, these these things are available online. How come?

SPEAKER_00 20:43

They are, yeah. Uh so through all the work that I've been doing, you know, with STEM and equity and social justice, so advancement courses actually reached out to me, I'm gonna say about like four or five-ish years ago. Um, and I actually have three courses that are written directly on advancement courses. So I have those and I own those, and those are my words, which is really cool. Yes, yes, yeah, right. Like no AI, right? Like a human wrote these words. Yes, yes. Um, but the course that I'm the most proud of, because you can search my name and you can see all of them. Uh, but the course that I'm the most proud of is social justice and mathematics. So I'm the one that wrote that course, and it's all about bringing equity into the math classroom. I'm very passionate about this because as a former math educator, you know, that's kind of how I got my start with math and science. I can't tell you how many times I've sat in a room with math educators and oh, it's math, and we don't need to talk about that. Oh, this is numbers, and we don't need to do that. Yeah, people. Yeah, yes, people, just math. Right. And even if there is like a word challenge, I don't call them word problems, I call them word challenges. So, like even if there is like a word challenge, it's still very like Jimmy went outside and wanted to help his dad build a dock, and it's like, okay, how many kids know what a dock is? You know, like if you don't Live in an area that's close to water, or if you live in an apartment, like any of those things, you don't know what a dock is. That's a good point. You might not even have kids that know what a deck is, you know, depending on whether or not the area has like ample outdoor area. So it was one of those things for me where I was just seeing a lot of gaps in the instruction and also a lot of gaps in like the need to understand and comprehend all of this stuff. Because I feel like when we were growing up, and still very much so for a lot of our students, math was numbers. Like there was some practical application, but for the most part, for the most part, math was numbers. Yes. So like bringing in those applicable situations, I think is super duper helpful for students. But that comes from finding topics that they're passionate about. Right. So that's why I created the social justice and mathematics course.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

I I love that part because yes, there's always the classic question. I probably said it in high school as well.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

What does that have to do with when am I ever going to use this? Yeah. But like a lot of the conversations I was having with students about math came from, you know, when am I going to use this? So, like, if we're doing maybe like a budget analysis on Excel or something like that, like that's a little bit more concrete because we're all adults and we want to make sure that we stretch our money. Um, but they would be asking, well, for example, I had a student where like they got all their groceries from like the bodega down the street because it was the most convenient and it was right there, and they didn't have to go to like hop in a car or get into a new door in a lift or do it. So we actually did like cross comparison analysis for okay, like what is like a box of cake mix, right? Like at the CBS or the bodega down the street, versus if you went to like, you know, like a Winco, because we were living in the Pacific Northwest. So like Winco, Safeway, all that stuff. Um, so we actually did like cross comparison analysis and we sat and saw, you know, what you're paying for in convenience, you're kind of losing out in your budget. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And this was a family that also had a car. So like things were a little bit different, but also it's if it's five minutes walking versus 15 minutes driving, it's a different story. So then now we get into conversations about how do we want to spend our time. I get really frustrated when I hear people, especially like really wealthy people, say, Well, we all have 24 hours in the day. And I'm like, your 24 hours are not the same as my 24 hours. Right. Because I don't have a chef. I don't have like maintenance people on my lawn. Like, my wife is the one that mows the lawn. And that's when she's done with her shifts as an ER nurse, you know? Like I am the cook and I love to cook, but like, those are hours that are taken out of my day. So then we kind of get into what that looks like as well. And again, it's all social justice and it's all figuring out how we can best support our students, but it's helping them figure out things that they didn't necessarily know before. Because when you're a kid and you're told to become an adult, you kind of have a model and role models of what you think that looks like. But then of course, you know, when we're adults, we were like, no, nobody knew what they were talking about. We're all just kind of figuring it out ourselves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah. Yeah. Well, hey, speaking of that, and adult role models and things, what trait do you think defines your leadership and the way you um grew up? Um, you know, did something from the past impact the way you are now?

SPEAKER_00 25:18

So my saying is I don't want to be defeated before I'm defeated.

unknown 25:22

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

That's that's what I've always said. And I feel like sometimes we get caught up in a spiral of, oh, this might happen to me. Um, like I'm I'm not even gonna apply for this because I don't know if I'm gonna get risk averse. Right, like very risk averse. I've always been the kind of person where I'm not going to get defeated until I'm actually defeated. So I'll I'll always throw my hat in the ring. I'll always advocate for myself. I'll always advocate for others, I'll bring other people to the table. You know, we we need to build on each other because community is how we grow. Right. And sometimes you don't feel that if you don't have people in your corner. Yes. So like I've always been that type of person where I always try to keep people in my corner. Sure. Eve even if they're kids. So like my wife, um, and she talks about this while I feel comfortable saying it out loud. Like, she was the kind of person where like she'd come home and there was no food in the cabinets. Her parents were constantly in and out of jail, rehab, jail, rehab. Um, so what we do together as a couple is we will call around to local schools and we'll pay off student lunch debt. Oh. So we'll call up and say how much is left? Yes, yes, we're gonna wipe it clean. Wow. Because we we know and she knows especially what it's like to learn hungry, and she doesn't want any other kid to you know to live like that. Yes, and we also go volunteer at a lot of schools and things like that. So, you know, the kids know who we are and everything. But it's one of those things where like they already feel defeated and they're already children. So just taking that one step to alleviate something, that way they can do their best, right? That's important. And as adults, that's also important too. It doesn't stop when you're when you leave K through 12.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

So we we always just try to be those people to do that extra step that way people don't feel defeated.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Right. And yeah, those early um impacts of like of your wife and the impact on her, how that called you to action then to do these things.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah, because it was definitely like when she met my family, it was an adjustment for her. Like she didn't know anybody that was college educated, you know, she didn't she didn't grow up in that kind of environment. Um, but she's also very educated herself, you know, like went through the Air Force, you know, is you know, ER nurse, like she's going, she she's like, Well, I want to get my doctorate. I'm like, well, I can't be the only one that doesn't have their doctorate in the house. So now this is like a doctor off. But like initially. Yeah, because I because I have my master's, and then now she's kind of going through the process of doing all the doctorate stuff. Um, but like it's one of those things where you really have to internalize your environment that you come from, and your environment can either make you, and I don't like to say break you, but it shapes you.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

It does. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

So like her the way that her environment shaped her was you know, we want to help people because she didn't get that help when she was growing up. She didn't have the adults that were able to provide those resources. And she talks about this all the time, which is why I'm comfortable saying it. And for me, like I was always in an environment where I had those resources, but I was always told, let's give back, let's bring people in, let's like showcase what we can do. So that's why I kind of like whenever we like. What a great combination, the two of you.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

I must meet your wife. Oh, she's awesome. She's gonna be here tomorrow. She's gonna be at Itsy tomorrow. Okay, yes, yes. Sounds like a wonderful person. Yeah, she's awesome. Well, what times in your career, um, you know, like I fish and I pull in these northern pike, and they're they're slimy, they're floppy. You look like a proud um Animal Crossing character. Yes, I'm holding it way out here, though. No, and the big eye is like this. I love it. Um, but uh you have to reroute with them because they're very unpredictable and things, and you know, you don't want them flopping around in your boat, and and you have to come up with another way to deal with it. Have you ever had those kinds of moments where you had to reroute or maybe there was a big mistake made that you had to fix?

SPEAKER_00 29:18

A hundred percent. Always, always. And the way that I kind of look at those moments where I'm like, oh man, I messed up, or like that didn't go the way that I wanted it to, is like if you're driving and if you're going the wrong way, or if you realize you're going the wrong way, you're either gonna commit to going the wrong way, or you can drive back and you can try again. Yeah. So I always try to drive back and go again and just kind of reroute, see where things went wrong, reevaluate the situation. And then if people might have been like hurt or you know, like if something happened, then I always try to rectify as best as I can.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Okay, well, I think we'll take a break now and we'll be back in a minute. Yes, yes, and and and the things you talking about um your past in the classroom and all those things. I'd I think I'd known you as the executive piece, but I didn't know you from the teacher piece. I love that part, you know, because that's those were my roots as well. I came from elementary, so you know, there's a lot, um, a lot of really cool things that can come from that. You know, because and I look at people who and and I love it that they do that, that have done the same job, you know, for 30 years. Right. Um, because that's where they feel comfortable. But um, I often wonder, you know, what does it take to move from the classroom out?

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Right. You know. I know for so for me personally, like I got to a point where I knew I could either be like an assistant superintendent, a superintendent, and that was it. Like, because I was on my way to being like chief academic officer, but I didn't really want to do that. I didn't want to deal with the politics of it or anything like that. Right. And then I didn't want to be assistant super or super because I don't want the board to run my life. Yeah. Like I'm I'm very protective of like my personal life. Like, I want to be running around at Disney with my friends on the weekend. I don't want to be at like a million school functions. Yeah. Like the superintendent of Naples, who I love. So she like grew up in Naples, graduated from Collier County, like all the way through. She's now the superintendent. Her whole life is events on the weekends, and she's awesome. And like I can maybe get like 15 minutes with her to talk. And every time I have those 15, she's phenomenal. But I always ask her, I'm like, I just want to know what is your life like as a superintendent? Because sometimes I think teachers think that super is like teacher plus. Yeah. But you are basically the CEO of the school district, and that's what she described to me. And I was like, I don't know if I want to do that. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if I want to be answering calls at two o'clock in the morning. I don't know if I want to be like at like a pee-wee soccer game at like 8 a.m. when I could be sleeping in. Like, I just don't know if I want that for myself.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Well, what advice would you give to our up-and-coming leaders? Ooh, that's a really good question.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Um I have like three things that I normally say, but like I normally say them over like dinner or drink. So I'm trying to like compact it into like a certain thing. So um the first thing I want to say is that baby steps are still steps. I think sometimes when people um enter a leadership position, they want to just like flip the whole gamut and make all these big sweeping decisions. It's okay to really start small. That's the same thing. And I think that that's important to get to know people, know where they're at, understand where they at, you know, like where they're at. And that's okay. And that's really good. Yes. Um, so baby steps are still steps. That would definitely be my number one. Number two is when, especially in like my position of like leadership and also working with students, because I'm also an adjunct professor down here in Florida, which is awesome. Uh, just being open with the lines of communication and also being transparent about that, I think is very important. It's like I work with students uh that the way that my university deems it is like they weren't, you can't see me right now if you're listening, but I'm doing quotes, right? They were not traditionally successful in high school. Right. Or they're second chance college students. Um, so they were in the workforce and now they're kind of coming back for their associates or their bachelor's, which all of this is awesome, by the way. Like I love it. Yeah. But then the back end of this is like sometimes they don't have those skills that because they're either coming from a place where they didn't care to learn it when they were in K through 12. Right. Or because they're fully fledged adults, they've been so far out of the game. So like things like writing a professional email. Sure. Like making sure that things aren't just in the subject line, yeah, which drives me bananas whenever I get it. And I'm like, all right, like making sure that communication has a greeting and a salutation. Yeah. It's like little things that go a really long way. Right, right. So that's kind of like that piece. So when I teach those to my students and I work with people who also do those types of things, I feel like it's a professional courtesy on my end to also let them know when I'm available and when I can help. Because I have worked with leaders in the past where like they're out of office and we don't know. Right. Right? I'm I'm like, where are you? Oh, I'm at Disneyland. Oh, well, your out of office isn't on. Yeah. And your calendar isn't blocked off. Right. And there might be like a really pressing issue and we don't know where they are. So I always like to keep my calendar as open and honest as possible. And I also do office hours weekly with uh with everybody, where it's like, hey, if y'all just want to talk, I'm here to talk. Like if if you just want to vent, we can vent. Yeah. Like I'm I'm always open to be there for a resource for you. Yes. Because I think that a lot of times people think mentorship and leadership is like weekly one-on-ones or like coffee every other week. And it's not that. It's availability and it's dependability. Right. Like, um, one of the things that I do in in my workshops is, you know, there's been a lot of talk around equity spaces and professionalism and how it's rooted in like supremacy and like all this stuff. So for me, it's not necessarily professionalism, it's being a professional. Oh, I like that. Right. So like professionalism might mean like, for example, like I have you know, like my curly hair and I straighten it from time to time. But like, if I were to show up in dreads, somebody might think that I look unprofessional. And that was actually something that happened in the military not too long ago. So there was there was this whole thing that happened where officers were saying that people of color showing up in dreads and curly hair was considered to be unprofessional. There was a huge backlash against it because not everybody has straight hair. Right. Right. Right. Um, so it got to a point where there's actually a referendum in the military handbook where you can have curly hair, you can have dreads, um, they call it alternative hairstyles, which I'm still not a fan of that framing, but it's better than nothing. Right. Yeah. So like it's one of those things where they look at that as professionalism. For me, it's being a professional. Can you show up? Are you dependable? Like when you show up, are you giving your all? If you have a question, do you know where to ask for help? If you don't know where to ask for help, do you have people around you that can do that? So, like, I don't care about professionalism. And I've been called out for that a couple of times across various places. Because I'll show up on like a lollipop. Right? Like, like like you see me right now, I have on like a pink shirt, right? Like all these things. Like one time I was at like a district meeting when I was in Washington. You know, it's Washington, so it's different. Like everybody was wearing like gray and black, and I showed up in a pink and yellow striped sweater, bright pink pants, and pink heels. I love it. And they told me they were like, you don't look professional. I was like, I think I look the most professional in here. Right. Because every because y'all look like you just walked out of Dr. Frankenstein. And I think that I look really professional right now. But it's one of those things where like you like I read the room, but I'm also my authentic self. And I think that's my last tip. Thank you. I love that. You have to be your authentic self however you show up. I remember one of the first tips that I got from a leader when I stepped into like a leadership role, they were like, okay, well, they can't see you upset or they can't see you cry. And I'm like, well, that's gonna be a problem because I I'm a human, I get upset, I cry sometimes. Like I found out that my maternal grandmother passed away when I was at work and I was in sham bulls and I was crying in my office and I went home. Yeah. You know, like like the like what do you do when a family member passes away? You go home. Right. But you don't power through. No, you go home and you collect yourself and you take time off. Yes. You you explain the situation, but you let them know that you're gonna come back as your full self, but you need to take time off. But I have worked with people that will power through, and then they're complaining on the back end. Yeah. Like even when I worked a choice, right? Yeah, even when I worked at a different workplace where we had transitioned from like regular PTO structure, you know, to like unlimited PTO. I had people that I worked with that were extremely upset because they're like, well, now I'm not gonna get a PTO payout if I leave. And I'll say that. Right. And I was like, why do you not use your PTO? I never have days left over at the end of my and we do have unlimited PTO at my job, which I'm very thankful for. But before we transitioned to unlimited, I was like, I always take my days. I've never been in a situation where I felt that I needed to power through work. Like I always take time to rest and be myself. But I also realize, especially working in corporate spaces, and as you know, we do sometimes work with people where they just power through and they don't take time off. Yes. And for me, like that's not fair to me. And that's also not fair to the people that I work with. So like my authentic self is taking time to rest, being intentional about when I communicate with people. If I get an email at 6 p.m., which sometimes does happen, you're I'm not gonna get to it again until 7:30 in the morning. Because at six o'clock, I'm having dinner with my wife and we're going on a walk, and we might be running around Epcot, you know, like getting accepted. But like I'm not gonna be like intentional or thoughtful about responding to you because I'm not present. So that's what that means to me. So yeah, just be your authentic self.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

No, such great words of advice. And and I I love that part, and I love your authenticity. I think that's what makes you so special, right? You you are definitely you. You wrote a book as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

I did, yeah. So um, as a lot of the things that I write and do, because I also write for Edutopia. So if you look me up online for Edutopia, you'll see my articles and things like that. But I wrote a book called Elevate Equity in EdTech. Uh-huh. Um, so that's the name of the book. And I wrote that again, just out of things that I was seeing. And and I was getting frustrated, but I like to turn anger into action. Yes. And I'm also a very big person with that. I turn anger into action. So I was getting angry at seeing all of these different inequities that were going on in schools with technology disparities, you know, with um with different types of care, with different levels of instruction. And we even see that happening now with a lot that's been going on with the anti-tech backlash. You know, we have parents who will give their kids full access to a phone or a device at home, but then suddenly once they get a Chromebook at school, then it's the boogeyman. Right. Yes. So elevate equity in ed tech is all about finding that balance. So, what does it look like to provide proper instruction with technology? How can we best support faculty, staff, and students? How do we keep families in the loop about how to also be tech minded? And then from the school leadership lens, um, using different technology standards to enhance learning.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Wow, it sounds like a great recipe book. Because it makes me think back when you talked about um, you know, all this technology coming to that little, little town um that had dirt roads. Did parents have experience with technology at that point?

SPEAKER_00 41:03

Zero. They were coming to me asking what the internet was. Yes, because you know, when this is like, you know, because you live rurally, if it's like a small rural town where they've never encountered this before, they don't really know how to handle this. Right. And this was also a decade-ish ago, where the internet for some places was still kind of a novelty. Yes. You know, like there were a lot of places that were still running on broadband or Ethernet. So when they were coming to me asking about these devices, they weren't even starting with devices. They said, What's the internet? What's this? Like, like they still had flip phones, like like Motorola Razor, which was my first cell phone. I had a pink Motorola Razor and I loved it. Um, like they were coming from a place where their kids were given technology that they didn't even understand. Right. So that's what this is all about. Like, if if we're in spaces where people don't understand, let's get everybody on the same page in an equitable way. Yes. That way nobody feels like an outcast.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

I yes, I I agree 100% because I believe that's where things kind of went off the rails, is that the internet came and the devices came, and the parents got into it kind of the same times the kid did. Right. And so, like when we were young, our parents told us look both ways before you cross the street. Yeah, and that's because our parents had experienced that, and so they taught us that. But parents and children were learning how to use technology all at the same time. Yes, yes, and I think that's how we got ourselves into this predicament in the first place. Yeah. So, you know, I have loved talking with you. I love talking to you too.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

And it's like, where can people find you out there? Great question. So I am on LinkedIn. I am still navigating LinkedIn as a platform. I don't know what I'm doing on there. I know I have 13,000 followers, though. I don't know how that happened, but yes, but I am on LinkedIn. I know how that happened. They love you as much as I do. It's also the pictures of my dog, I think. Oh. Because you know, sometimes my dog makes some special guest appearances. Just like my fish. Yes. Well, because LinkedIn is, you know, like a job thing. And my dog is a dog with a job. So he's a comfort dog. So so he goes into like all the reading with rover, you know, sessions for kids that struggle with the reading. So he loves it. I love that. Yeah. You often find me on LinkedIn. Um, it's simple. It's Victoria, no, LinkedIn.com slash Victoria Rose Thompson. Okay. Because my name is Victoria Rose Thompson, but I go by Victoria. Uh-huh. Um, and then I'm still on Twitter. I'm like one of like the few holdouts, but you can find me at Victoria the Tech. Yeah, so that's where you can find me there. Um, and then pretty much like at any conferences and also at Disney World, that's where y'all can find me. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Well, I love it, and thank you so much for taking time out from the ISTI conference today to join me. Yeah, thank you. And goodbye. Bye, everyone. This has been Thanks for joining.