The Primacy of Relationships

Our season closes with a conversation with Rick Joseph. Rick is a National Board Certified Teacher and has taught 5th and 6th grade at Covington School in suburban Detroit since 2003. He previously served as a bilingual educator (Spanish) and trainer for nine years in the Chicago Public Schools. Rick is the 2016 Michigan Teacher of the Year. In our conversation we touch on literacy, STEM, equity, and more.

Links:

Food Deserts
USDA Data on Food Deserts
Share Table Programs
Benefits of Audiobooks for All Learners
Episode with Gary Abud Jr.

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biede1aj@cmich.edu

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Transcript

Ashley O'Neil: 0:23

One of the things that I like most about this job is I've gotten to meet so many different people in education. Every time I find myself fascinated with their stories, their passion, their history and the incredible impact that they're making on their community. The conversation you're going to hear today is with Rick Joseph, we connected with Rick through a project that we did with the Michigan Teachers of the Year. So I was going into this discussion thinking that we're going to hear about a teacher who's practiced and advocating for students in education locally and beyond. If you listened to the episode with Gary Abud, Jr, linked in our show notes, you'll know a little bit about the work that the MTI group does. What I didn't realize is that I had spend our our phone call falling back in love with parts of teaching that I don't always think about anymore, because a way of sharing experiences and talking about his learning that invites you to get excited with him. This conversation focuses on equity in the classroom, embedding projects that are grounded in problems and application, jab, embedded PD, and how audio books can change student learning. It's a lot, right. So buckle up for a fast-paced and exciting conversation with Rick Joseph. The conversation is mainly our interview. But I'll jump in a few times to provide a little context as we make our way around.

Rick Joseph: 1:38

Actually, I grew up in, in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, in suburban Detroit. And, and so then...(fades)

Ashley O'Neil: 1:45

So Rick his wife met in college and her grad school plans led them to Chicago. Rika just returned from working as a Rotary Foundation scholar in Mexico. And he was able to be a bilingual teacher in Chicago for nine years before they all moved back to Detroit so they could raise their children closer to family. And his last year in Chicago, Rick worked at a Chicago Academy and was part of a mentor program that connects individuals switching careers to teaching with mentor teachers,

Rick Joseph: 2:09

I got into education, because of reasons related to equity, I was - I was aware of what we then called the achievement gap back in the in the early 90s. And I wanted to do something about it because I was aware that I, I had this Spanish language ability and that there was an achievement gap, you know, as there still is today to an extent, between students who are Latinx and then and students who are white. And so being mindful of that is really what drove me into education in the very first place. And then, after earning my national board certified certification, I realized the power of job embedded professional learning and the extent to which teachers teaching each other in cohort settings, over time was a very sustainable approach. And a very meaningful way for people to learn and grow professionally. So that was, that was a key component of what I was always interested in what continues to drive me today. And then the final sort of aspect of my practice has to do with literacy. So I was an English major in college, but I wasn't in the School of Education, it was liberal arts, but then I earned a master's degree at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in a special program through the DeWitt Wallace Reader's Digest, foundation that enabled people in areas of greater need to keep their jobs and work on a master's degree and use their employment, their existing job as their student teaching. Working in conjunction with a mentor at, in this case, the University of Illinois Chicago, so I pursued a master's degree and earned a teaching certificate, because I started teaching in a provisional certificate. And, and so that kind of completed the third sort of overarching motivation, if you will, or what, what has grown into what I call my arms, my platform, in terms of what I read literally drives me which is equity, job embedded professional learning and literacy. So so I've always been very interested in and reading initiatives. And that being said, in 20 2015, I was named the Michigan Teacher of the Year. And then that was an opportunity for me to sort of continue on with this. The pursuit of, of these three areas of interest, which again, were equity, literacy and job embedded professional learning, but I was able to tour 35 different schools around the state of Michigan. I was on the board of the state, the state board of education in Lansing as a non voting member for a year which is what all teachers of the year in Michigan able to do, and I was I had the opportunity to study at the postgraduate level for free. So I'm currently working on a doctorate in literacy, and my research centers around the use of audio book technology to encourage reluctant readers to be to develop lifelong independent reading habits. And so just over the course of the last couple of years, I've, I've really immersed myself in the use of audio book technology. And it's really transformed my practice. As a classroom teacher.

Ashley O'Neil: 5:16

We wanted you to hear a little bit about Rick because he does such a great job of articulating how his background and education contributes to the lenses through which he views education, equity, job embedded PD and literacy. We'll get back to those other areas, I promise, but I wanted to arrange this interview to follow the flow of those tenants. So we'll talk about equity first.

Julie Cunningham: 5:37

That's great. Thanks Rick. Ashley, it's your turn.

Ashley O'Neil: 5:42

We don't always take turns nicely. Rick, we're practicing- sometimes one of us want the conversation.

Julie Cunningham: 5:47

I'd like to get several more questions. Just so you know. (laughter).

Ashley O'Neil: 5:51

I go back and forth. My ears perked up a little bit when you were talking about one of the reasons you got into education was because you saw an equity disconnect from the start. And I think that for some teachers, it takes getting into the classroom, to really see that because oftentimes, we're siloed into our own experiences. And then we get into the classroom and, and we see communities and stories that are unlike our own limited experiences. And so I think it's really great that you had your eyes open before getting into teaching. But so to a two pronged question, can you share a little bit more about what equity means to you, because I think that that is a umbrella term, that means something a little different to everybody. And then in your classroom, what are some guiding principles that you use to address that with your students?

Rick Joseph: 6:45

So what equity means to me is that it's sort of everyone gets what they need, that people have the opportunity to learn in a way that that is fair with the understanding that fair does not mean equal, of course, and that equity looks different for different people, depending on individual's needs, whether it's their interpersonal needs, their emotional needs, their academic needs, but essentially, equity is about differentiation. So from, from a pedagogical perspective, it's about figuring out what it takes to teach and learn. I mean, to me, that's what equity is, it's about making it work for everybody. And that's what makes education so incredibly challenging, you know, to do, teaching, right is really, really hard. Because Because we now in 2021 are doing our best we are aspiring to equity every day, we're trying to meet the unique needs of all the learners in front of us, whether they're students in in pre K -12 settings, or whether at the university level or adult learners, you know, everyone brings a unique skill set, and everyone brings a unique personality and a background that impacts our ability to learn. So equity is about meeting people's needs and meeting meeting them where they are, but at the same time, having common standards that, that sort of establish an expectation, knowing that there are varying sort of levels of performance, and and there are varying ways in which people can can meet those expectations. So, you know, equity exists, both in terms of an awareness of meeting learners needs, but also understanding that as educators, we need to have a number of tools in our toolbox, and we need to have a number of approaches to meet the needs of the learners we serve. And then the, the way that I sort of teach my students that is, is by helping them providing them with with the explicit tools and strategies that they need in order to make equitable learning or reality. And so it really has a lot to do with STEAM education, because we talk in STEAM, and it will be about about what we call C4, which is familiar to most people who have done any kind of collaborative, collaborative work with anybody and that of course, is is in order to really effectively learn and grow around in some kind of area of inquiry or problem of practice. People have to, they have to collaborate, they have to work together. They have to communicate effectively so that they are able to effectively speak and listen actively when when they're engaged with other people. They have to critically think so they have to analyze the results that they that they acquire that when when they look they have to, they have to question and they have to wonder about what they find, too does it? Is it reasonable? Does it make sense. And then finally, they have to create something new. So So those four C's, collaboration, communication, creative thinking, critical thinking, and creativity are components of equity. And so each one of those four C's requires extensive, explicit teaching. So that my students understand what they look like, and how they sound. And when they have accomplished any and all of those, those four C's, so that they can learn and and so that everyone can learn. And so the challenge is for, in conjunction with, with the, with what we call C four, or the the four C's is the notion of Gardner's multiple intelligences that everybody no matter what has something to offer, based on the, you know, eight or nine multiple intelligences that that we get beyond this sort of binary approach and education of, well, if you're good at reading and, and you're good at math, then you're a smart kid. But there's so much more to it than that, as we all know, when you start to cultivate people's naturalist intelligence, their interpersonal intrapersonal, musical kinesthetic, visual, spatial musical intelligences, then then then people start to, they start to realize that they have a place at the table, they start to realize that they that their experiences matter that they have something to offer. And then if you consider what Buckminster Fuller says, which is that all people are born geniuses. But it's not until they get to school that they get D genius, that really equity equity is about really genius seen, the people that we serve, so help them get back in touch with their inherent, born in genius that always has existed, but that has been beaten out of them systemically or systematically, oftentimes that school in public education settings. And so part of equity is is reminding people of what they're capable of, by helping them access those parts of themselves, that have always existed, but are oftentimes unrealized. And so creating that level of awareness is kind of a first step. And so my partner, teacher and Warner, she teaches math and science to the same students that I serve teaching language arts and social studies. And so we remind the students of that, at least a couple times a week, because we have a class that we call science literacy, or cyber C for short, which is basically our time for project based learning. And that's when we get a chance to engage in these more interdisciplinary projects, that that reinforce this, this emphasis on a more holistic approach that utilizes people's talents and gifts in ways that are meaningful. And, and remind people that everybody, no matter what has something to offer, and everybody, no matter who you are, is, in fact a genius. But the but you have to work, you have to cultivate that genius, you can't just you can't just show up and expect to get things done if there's a lot of hard work. And of course, that speaks to the familiar expression that you oftentimes distributed Thomas Edison geniuses, nine tenths, perspiration and 1/10 inspiration. So really, it's about a lot of hard work. But that being said, our job as educators is to is to determine those strengths and help cultivate them and create a culture and a climate that fosters not only a love of learning, but but a safe and inclusive emotional space. So everybody feels like they have something to contribute.

Ashley O'Neil: 13:58

That's great. That's wonderful. Does that-do you find- I'm making a leap here? So if I'm wrong, correct me, but I hear a lot of passion in your voice about cultivating that curiosity and making sure that students, you hold them to a high standard because you presume that they're competent and capable, which I think is fantastic. Is your interest in can you talk a little bit about your research that you're doing with audio books as a way to make literacy available to a larger population?

Rick Joseph: 14:28

Absolutely. So as a lot of people may know intuitively on audiobook learn learning has been become easier than ever with smartphone technology with tablets and now with the access that people have that they never had in the past because in the old days, if you usually listen to audiobooks, when you're in the car, you listen to them, you know, on cassettes, and then CDs and But now everybody has a phone in their pocket so they can listen to audiobooks when they garden when they cook when they clean. In my case, when I'd do anything that doesn't involve any other kind of reading and writing, I can listen to audio books, and now you know, obviously podcasts, etc. But from a classroom teachers perspective, the opportunities are really significant because now the students who have dyslexia students who have ADHD or ADD or you know, for whatever reason have always hated to read or just felt that reading was just not for them, all of a sudden there, they can be completely liberated through the use of audio books. So in my classroom, we call it multi sensory reading. So you're listening with ears, and you're reading with your eyes. And so we talked about tracking the text. So when I do a read aloud everyday with my students, I insist that they practice their listening skills by tracking text, their eyes, I tell them, I'm watching your eyes, and I am watching you follow the text as you hear it, you're tracking it moving along. So people who listen to audio books can especially in you know, in, you know, in a classroom setting, can listen at two grade levels above what they can read, visually, and so that can really help make stories and information far more accessible than ever before. And so, from a practical perspective, from a pedagogical perspective, it's really about normalizing the use of audio books and figuring out ways to get that technology into classrooms. And so with the Public Library system in Michigan, you know, public libraries have access to, they promote access through through apps like Libby and hoopla, which everybody can can download for free and use for free. And so now now all of a sudden, we have 1000s of books that we can direct into, into kids hands. And so I've seen students who came into my classroom, actually loathing, the idea of reading, now all of a sudden, enjoy it, because they appreciate the power of listening. And, you know, we typically have a real, a real bias, kind of a real privilege around the use of traditional print reading as if that's real reading, without acknowledging the fact that, you know, for as long as humans have existed on the planet, largely, we've always been storytellers. That's how our histories are passed on. And that's how we have always gained information until writing systems were invented 7000 years ago, which is a relatively new phenomenon. So thinking about it in that way, and being very open and explicit about that, with my students, I think has been very powerful. And so I that is very central to this question of equity, the idea that, that students who don't think school is for them, because reading is has not been for them, all of a sudden, can appreciate new new ways new media, to gain, access. And so really equity is about access. And, and, and our job as educators is to facilitate access. And that requires professional learning. So again, you can see this, there's a lot of connections between equity literacy, and job embedded professional learning, of course, because as an equity minded educator, if I look at everything through an equity lens, then I'm going to do whatever it takes to to get my kids the tools that they need to learn and grow. And literacy is so foundational, obviously to every content area at every level. So once we figure out what we want to do, then we have to figure out how we're going to do it. And that's the learning piece. That's the professional learning piece, which is ongoing and never never goes away. I mean, that's what gets me out of bed in the morning is the realization that I have so much more to learn. I've been an educator for 27 years, but I feel like I've barely started like I've barely scratched the surface, I've so much more learning to have so much more growing to do.

Julie Cunningham: 18:51

Well, it sounds to me like you have a very lucky classroom of students, for sure with between the equity lens and the recognition that we're all learning and growing. So, Rick, I'm wondering, so sometimes I think when people listen to us or listen to others, they think they get excited because you're really passionate about what you're talking about. And they could get excited about project based learning or steam projects, or anything else really, that you're talking about. But I'm wondering if we could share or if you could share an example of maybe one of your favorite project based learning examples are your favorite steam examples so that listeners can understand when you say that, that builds in equity in your classroom. And that's a way to organize the different to demonstrate that there's a real world application to what they're learning in the classroom if you could give a tangible example.

Rick Joseph: 19:52

So one of the things that I've really enjoyed in the last couple years is we have a share bin at my school and this is something that anybody in any institutional environment can do. There's an acknowledgement that in institutional settings where food is served, there is a tremendous amount of food waste, because students are given food that they don't want. So I was reading about schools around the country who have a share bin where essentially, food that is unopened can be placed into a container of bin, a crate, plastic container, and the lunchroom so that instead of it just being tossed into the trash, it can go into a bin and then it can be eaten later, it can be refrigerated and eaten later in the day. Or it can be taken to a food bank or, or what have you. So initially, we would basically put, we would educate the students...

Ashley O'Neil: 20:42

Okay, so when Rick is talking about educating students here, he's doing it through the lens of a project based learning setup or STEM project. So education is really focused on awareness, helping students to understand the why or the context for this project,

Rick Joseph: 20:55

...Local problem, and the local problem is food waste. But if obviously, it's an international problem, but it's, it's a first world problem. And in the United States, we waste more food than anybody. So I think a third of all, food produced in the United States ultimately gets thrown out a third, which is staggering, really, especially given the hunger issues that exist in food deserts that exist in in urban and rural communities.

Ashley O'Neil: 21:21

I've linked a few articles in the show notes if this topic is of interest to you. But just some quick numbers. According to the USDA, more than 53 million or 17% of Americans are considered low income and have little or no access to supermarkets or similar large food stores. According to 2019 data in the Detroit Warren and Dearborn area of Michigan, where Rick is from 19.1% of the population has limited access to food in this way.

Rick Joseph: 21:47

And so it begins with an awareness, it begins with a problem and then that morphs into education, and learning. So the question is, what's essentially the harm? What's the problem? And then why is it why hasn't it been solved yet? What's the inherent barrier? Why is there still an issue. And then we talked about how people just don't think people just just think I don't want this, so I'm just gonna get rid of it, I'm just gonna throw it away, because that's the easy thing to do. And we're conditioned to living in a disposable society and a consumer driven throwaway society, we're very accustomed to just discarding things we don't want. But when we understand that they can be reclaimed, then then maybe that gives us pause. And so then we consider the solution to the problem, which is to collect the food, and then we distribute the food. And so this is all student driven, and student run. So I have students who, at my school, in particular, we have three lunch periods. And at the end of the third lunch period, I have students who, they just get up at 130, they I used to set an alarm on my phone. So in the middle of class, it would beep and my students would get up and go, but now they just they know at 130, they get up, they go to the cafeteria, and they have this, this this large plastic bin, and all the stuff that needs to be refrigerated like milk and juice they put into a refrigerator in our in our in our office. And then at the end of the day after the very last period of the day, then someone goes into the office and gets the food and takes it and puts it on a table in the hallway. So when people are leaving to go home, they can take food with them and eat it. And we typically get rid of all the foods that way. And we've saved 1000s of pounds of food from from landfills by just reclaiming it. And this is not unique to my school. Obviously, there's other schools that do this, but there are a lot of schools that don't do this. So there's lots of opportunities for this to occur.

Ashley O'Neil: 23:31

Listeners who are unfamiliar with school lunches and food waste, may be wondering how redistributing the food that would have been thrown away is helpful in any way. You're just giving them the same food later, right? So a few things. Students don't choose when their lunch hour is-because of start times and staffing lunch can be as early as 10 or as late as 1:30. Across the board students are given between 10 to 30 minutes to eat. And an elementary school, eating often cuts into their time outside for recess, so they have to choose finishing their lunch or going to play. When food is redistributed this way after school or near the end of the day. It also isn't assigned to anybody. So I can take two sets of carrots, I can have a milk and a yogurt for my 90 minute bus ride. Even if I already ate mine during lunch, to tide me over to practice to supplement my dinner or to get me through the weekend or to share with my siblings. There are many reasons students take food at a different time. But the bottom line is is that in Rick's experience. It works.

Rick Joseph: 24:25

... And it's interesting. Now students at 1130 who don't want to eat, well eat the throw, throw away, you know, some carrots or some you know, some peaches or some milk would very happily eat that four and a half hours later when they're very hungry. You know, at the end of the day.

Ashley O'Neil: 24:40

It goes on to talk about how this community problem-access to food because of food deserts and food insecurity and families-is happening at the same time as major food waste in their schools. So students see this disconnect is happening and they work on solving it. Rick points out the ways that this project pulls skills and content in a natural way. He brings up the science of food decomposition and Best Buy dates, understanding the transportation system and movements of food, geography and social factors that create food deserts, math to quantify the food saved and redistributed in their own school.

Rick Joseph: 25:13

And then there's a lot of art involved with marketing a project so that people understand what's going on. So there's very.....

Ashley O'Neil: 25:21

It's possible that your school or community has worked on a project similar to this one. One of the things that I like about it, and that Rick points out is that it is very accessible to schools.

Rick Joseph: 25:30

That's an example of a project that anyone can do. It's very cost effective, and they just need a box.

Ashley O'Neil: 25:35

I also though, like the passion and intentionality that Rick expresses in his design and approach, it's all grounded in that problem. He did a lot of legwork to bring that awareness to students and help them view it as their own, which it is, Rick was then able to see all the connections that this project has to literacy and math, etc, but allows the project to lead the way and then build those opportunities for students to engage in those contact areas in and authentically.

Rick Joseph: 26:00

And then it also transfers because now all of a sudden, people have a new consciousness, and they have a new mindset around food and food waste and food consumption. And the understanding that we want to do everything we can to get to sort of a zero waste setting, you know, whether it's in a school in an institution, or whether it's at home in our community. So now, wherever I go, I'm very mindful of what I eat, and how much I eat and how much is leftover and try and minimize food waste in every context

Julie Cunningham: 26:29

And I'm sure they go home and give their families those same messages rightly so I'm sure it doesn't. I'm sure it transfers beyond the students in your classroom as well.

Rick Joseph: 26:39

That's the hope I actually be a good project, we should we should really we should research the extent to which there's any kind of, you know, impacted in the home setting? Because I don't know the answer to that specifically. But I'm presuming...

Ashley O'Neil: 26:57

Yeah, you talk about just like a in such a, a holistic way with all those tendrils that you kind of would let students takeout, right? Like if students were interested in, well, how long can the milk stay? And what is the expiration date and what's our system and letting them explore and then seeing how it feeds into understanding packaging and seeing how it feeds into understanding the lunch times and if whether or not 1030 for middle school lunch, because I know that happens in a lot of our communities is an appropriate time for lunch, right? We have those conversations as well around food waste. So I like that you have this broad idea. But you let your students kind of take it in all these places. And then the follow through is on them because they're invested. And it's not you carrying the weight of this project, the students are doing the big left, because they're passionate about it.

Rick Joseph: 27:47

absolutely.

Ashley O'Neil: 27:51

Totally, that's awesome. Um, I wanted to make sure that I had all of my notes, I'm just looking through them really quickly. We've said so many wonderful things. And your passion is really contagious. And I'm all fired up and like ready to go. Can you I am curious because we also. So we work with teacher students who are going to be teachers, but are not yet teachers or teachers who are early in their career. And Julie and I often talk about how our own philosophy of teaching, our practice changed over time. And it's still evolving, as we're still teaching. How would you say your teaching has changed over time,

Rick Joseph: 28:28

I think that I used to think I knew a lot. And I think as I get older with each year of experience, I realized how little I know, and how much more there is to learn. And there's a certain humility that I think effective educators possess because, if I really want to differentiate my instruction, and if I really want to effectively meet the needs of every child that I serve, I have to really get to know them well. And I think one of the things that has evolved in my teaching it first of all, is the primacy of relationships. And everybody always talks about how education is a relationships game and relationships, relationships, relationships, and I've always agreed with that, of course, but at this point in my career, I I I really try and live that like I really try and prioritize my relationships with my students and and the importance of getting to know them as people getting to know them as human beings, person to person human to human reader to reader writer to writer and and sort of acknowledging my role and responsibility as the the expert reader or the lead language artist in a classroom. And that responsibility that I have is so significant. I also am very careful with everything I do. saying how I say it, because my words carry so much significance in so much weight, that that literally students and parents hinge on, not just what I say. But how I say it. So another sort of component of my, of my pedagogy that's evolved over the years, is the primary emphasis on social emotional learning. And that, of course, is related to relationship building, and specifically the use of kindness, explicitly talking about the importance of being kind being kind in, in your tone of voice, how you sound in your communication with others, of course, kindness in your choice of words and kindness in your actions, not only behind toward others, which is the easy part, but how to manage conflict and how to navigate situations when people are unkind to you, which, of course is really about, it's about restorative justice, it's about restorative practices, it's about how do you restore relationships when things don't go well, and, and that, again, is predicated on effective relationship, it's important to stress that people's stories need to be told when they're when they feel that they're wronged and people who wronged others, they also need to be able to explain themselves in an express why they did what they did. And that approach, as opposed to just sort of a zero tolerance policy or just, you know, consequences, punishments, you know, whether it's time, after school, or suspensions, etc, those those who have their place, but what what oftentimes transforms student behavior is, is the opportunity to sort of sort of to sort of make it right. And, and that requires an overarching emphasis not only on on the importance of being kind, but the importance of navigating situations when people are not kind, which, of course, happens all the time. As we already talked, I think the use of technology has always been important to me, I've always embraced the use of technology as a teaching tool. And I've tried to find the balance between traditional, timeless approaches to teaching and learning and the embrace of modern technology. So that we, as educators are responsive to the realities of life in 2021. But also that we're judicious and thoughtful about how to use technology in ways that support students and promote teaching and learning. So that's something that has been ongoing, I think, in my practice. And, you know, I think, ultimately, I've appreciated the importance of going slow to go fast. There's so much pressure on educators to follow curriculum, especially in in math, there's this sense that I have to cover cover cover, instead of, you know, going deep, and I think, ultimately, especially at the K pre K level, it's processes that matter. as much or more than content, you know, that yes, once you get to high school content, obviously, is very important. But, but learning processes and dispositions habits of mind and ways of, of learning are, are what we really ought to be focusing on just as much as, you know, understanding, you know, when things happened, or you know what happened.

Ashley O'Neil: 33:28

So we've heard Rick talk about how equity shapes his classroom, listen to his ideas about literacy, and heard a specific project that he's done with students with a lot of success. We just listen to Rick talk about how much he has left to learn. And honestly, the show can be wrapped right here. His words are that powerful. I did want to share the last part of our conversation now, where we talked about job embedded PD, professional development, is it hot topic, teachers value learning, but that time for PD has to come from somewhere. So schools and teachers are constantly weighing the cost of benefits and looking for the best PD options that are relevant, and work with the competing demands for teachers time.

Rick Joseph: 34:06

Through an organization that does teacher trainings called stem revolution, I went to the United Arab Emirates, along with another Michigan Teacher of the Year, Laura Chang, who's from davisburg in southwest Michigan. She's been there actually, a couple times I've been there once. And we went all the way to the UAE and taught for about a week we train teachers there on Steam initiatives. And so that, you know, the aspect of theme and project based learning has always been a key component of my pedagogy and the emphasis on making sure that that students understand the connection between what they do in a classroom setting and what happens beyond the walls of a school building so that they make connections between what they study and the application into the real world. And oftentimes, it's theme based activities and projects that utilise steam methodologies that really helps kids understand why learning matters, why School Matters why they should care. And, and so. So steam and you know, stem have been important to me, even though I've taught language arts and social studies really, for the past 17 years before that I was more of a generalist. I've taught all subjects at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade level, but most recently, it's been specifically language arts and social studies. So I'll pause there, because I've talked a lot, but I don't know if you have questions at this point. At the same time, I am one of the facilitators for what's called the Oakland the Oakland County, Java embedded professional learning network, which is it's comprised actually, of educators from five different counties, mostly instructional coaches, and curriculum coordinators who get together four times a year, and talk about their practice and the ways in which they they teach teachers and coach teachers, and even though as a classroom teacher, I I'm still a full time classroom teacher, but I've also, for the last 10 years or so, facilitated Rico facilitated what we call teacher Labs, which is, is again, it's the opportunity to gather a group of educators together around a content area or around a process some kind of problem with practice, and, and get people to sort of look at some research and then observe people work, teach, and then debrief and then you know, sort of talk about the opportunity that they just had, and, and then to do that over over at least at least a year, if not longer. So there's a number of people in the building where I am now coming to school who've been part of this teacher lab group for a number of years, and it's been very transformative for the practice,

Julie Cunningham: 36:45

Rick, If there are educators listening to this, is there any way they can be involved or find out more information about the Oakland group that you're associated with the teacher labs group? Where you look at problems of practice? Is that Is there a way for others to get more information or to be

Rick Joseph: 37:03

associated? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And so one way is just to contact me directly, so they can find me on social media. My Twitter handle is @RJoseph852. So I'm on all social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. But But that's one way. The other way is we do have a website. So if they were to just search, job embedded professional learning network of Oakland County, I can also send you the link to our, our websites.

Ashley O'Neil: 37:43

Yeah, I think we'll probably develop a link a link list for the show notes. And we can direct people there, which would be great. So we'll be sure to put that in there. Because I was like, Hey, that sounds really interesting.

Rick Joseph: 37:56

Right. And, and so essentially, the work evolved from Dr. Lauren Childs, who was at Oakland schools for a number of years as a consultant, and now she works at Oakland University. And she has left the the job embedded professional learning network, but she founded it. And she cultivated it. And so now it brings people together, as I said, from five different counties, but but we're always looking for opportunities to sort of expand the work and invite new people in. Because as I said, it's very cost effective. It's very sustainable. And it just requires people that are willing to figure out new and creative ways to get into each other's professional spaces. To learn they actually just started a basically a principles network that that gives administrators the opportunity to get together and learn from each other to watch each other work and to observe each other's practice. And that was just in its first year. So there are two consultants from Oakland schools currently Samantha Keesling and Megan Courtland, who run it from the ISD side. But then there are three of us as educators, Stacey Angel from Berkeley public schools, and Krista parents from Waterford and myself, I'm all from Metro Detroit. But But again, we're always looking to grow to grow the network.

Ashley O'Neil: 39:21

And believe it or not, that's a wrap on season two. This podcast has been made possible because of the work that teachers, faculty and other educators are doing. We're tremendously grateful to everyone who has helped make this a reality. Great things are coming in season two, and there are a few ways you can help. If you found an episode interesting or valuable, please rate our podcast or share it with a friend. It's quick for you and it helps other listeners connect with us. Second, if you have a topic or individual that you'd like to hear about or hear from email us, we want to make sure that the episodes that we're sharing connect and work for you. You can email me at biede1aj@cmich.edu- we'll also link it in the show notes. We'd love to hear from you. Our season two trailer will be coming out before the end of the year and season two starts in January. Teach Wonder is brought to you by the Center for Excellence in STEM education. Thanks for listening.