Episode #303: Ari Gerzon-Kessler
Ari leads the Family Partnerships department for the Boulder Valley School District (Colorado). He is also an educational consultant working with school districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships and author of the book On The Same Team: Bringing Educators and Underrepresented Families Together (Solution Tree, 2023), which won the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2024 IPPY Gold Medal for outstanding education book.
Ari Gerzon-Kessler has been an educator since 2000, having served as a principal and bilingual teacher. His educational experiences range from working in predominantly low-income minority schools to working in more affluent and high-performing schools. Ari is a certified Integral Facilitator and has led several courses at the intersection of family partnerships, SEL, and cultural responsiveness.
In 2006, Ari was a recipient of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund. During his work as principal, his school received the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award in 2013. His leadership efforts to strengthen partnerships with underrepresented families and dismantle unjust practices was featured in Education Week in 2015. Ari regularly presents at national and international conferences on Families and Educators Together teams and other innovative family partnership best practices.
Ari is the author of Money Fit: Six Steps to Financial Well Being (Amazon, 2019) and coauthor of Have No Career Fear (Natavi Guides, 2005). He was a contributing writer to The Five Dimensions of Engaged Teaching (Solution Tree Press, 2013). His writings have been featured in a variety of educational publications, including Educational Leadership and Principal Magazine.
Ari received a bachelor’s degree in African American studies from Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in instruction and curriculum from the University of Colorado.
His writings on education have been featured in a variety of publications, including ASCD Express and Principal magazine.
Trench story: 3 yrs ago, was 4 yrs into his current role. He had a yr of best work. It was midst of pandemic. He coordinated book, food deliveries. At the end of the year, decision was made to go from year-round director to coordinator. role. Was challenging. He felt like he’d found his sweet spot. This was abrupt. He’s now grateful. It allowed him to pivot & focus on work that was most impactful. Was no longer a director so he didn’t need to go to as many meetings. 90% of his job is now cultivating teams. Took 1 ½ yr to realize this is a sweet spot. It’s like his “bullseye”. He has freedom to develop the role now.
Talk about your Family Partnerships role for the Boulder Valley School District he left principalship 7 yrs, ago, Was born out of prev. supt. strategic plan. BVSD created the role 1 yr. prior. Predecessor moved after 1 yr. Surrounding districts – a few have similar roles. It helps educators learn best practices. They send reps to Colo Dept of Ed mtgs. Schools are pulled in dozens of directions every day. He cultivates teams to bring together underrepresented families. How do we learn from families to better partner w/ them? Most of the families are immigrant families.
What do you work with schools on? Most schools don’t have that as part of their UIP. His work is going to schools supporting staff & parent leaders. Will go to all levels day or evening gatherings. How to keep the momentum. How to launch family/educator teams. Works w/ school across the district, regardless of SES. He’s learned to not convince schools to do the work- but they realize they need it. As principal, he was passionate about family partnerships. In retrospect he wishes he could have known the best practices. Anthony Brick’s research on schools moving from good to great says family engagement is one of pillars. It has a ton of links to academic gains. They meet monthly and are focused on collaboration and
Talk about your most recent book- Solution Tree- published in Dec: On The Same Team: Bringing Educators and Underrepresented Families Together. The book is like a guide. Teams pop up in different communities. Read it in June/July, there’s chapter on building foundations, 10 main elements for a great team leader. Usually family liaison & admin hold this work. How do we cultivate parent, staff, team leadership? What are benefits he wished he’s known as a principal? Case studies on how schools utilze teams on a monthly basis to drive transformative change? Now they’ve built in some schools texts to get news out to parents about grades.
It’s a proposal he put forward to Solution Tree. Teams he write about in book have become 90% of his job. In the 5th yr of his role, he discovered 4 new teams were thriving. They were implementing all the lessons learned. Many schools had felt like they were on the outside.
During your 24 yrs in edu, how has reaching out to parents shifted? was working on a presentation he’s doing later this month. We’re learning as we listen more to families. Make it common practice to ask each family how do you prefer to be communicated w/. More to what really serves families. It’s more texts- like Talking Points. Is in 30 of 56 schools.
What are some insights you’ve learned?
What are some continued struggles/barriers to parent communication? Newcomers/immigrant families, etc, regarding state assessments? Communicate info in multiple channels. Not just in a newsletter. Put it in straightforward language. Write for a 4-6th grade audience. Read aloud from the lens of a parent reading it. How can we find opportunities to discuss w/ parents the meaning of the test? There was a principal explaining what opt out means, it led to a 40 m convo on achievement & opportunity gaps. Spontaneous dialogue. He’d recommend to every principal to identify 1 parent who reflects the mainstream demographic and 1 other who represents an underrepresented demographic. They can proofread newsletters and have a more family
What are examples of how you’ve helped school districts shift their partnerships? He hopes to help other districts/esp. in diff. states, deepen their work. There are community schools doing this. IT’s not just districts. He’s attended over 900 gatherings the past 7 yrs. National issue- chronic absenteeism. Many districts it’s doubled or more. Teachers are leaving the profession so much. But if there are stronger family ties, t’s want to stay in the profession.
Out of everything: a relationship is built 1 effort at a time. One best practice is positive phone calls. Carve out time in August for welcome calls, neighborhood walks. Trust begins through regular outreach. Principals- carve out time every few wks for staff to make positive calls.
Where can ppl find you? LinkedIn @arigerzonkelzler, also on FB arigerzon@gmail.com Can do coaching support, presentations, to help other districts.
Website: The Families and Educators Together Project — Mediators Foundation Document to help w/ next steps: Ari’s School-Family Partnerships Resources to Support Your Next Steps – Google Docs
The National Family Engagement assembly is happening in Denver in Oct.
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/AgRCf2ajZYA
Episode #304: Mark Aaron Alsip
https://outofthetrenches.podbean.com/e/episode-304-mark-aaron-alsip/
Mark Alsip is a computer scientist. When he was a pre-med student, talk of evolution was denied. It was a changing point in his life. He wrote hospital pharmacy software. That’s how he got from computer to natural to computer science. former fundamentalist Young Earth Creationist. Indoctrinated at the age of 6, conflicts soon arose over his love of science.
Mark is alarmed at the intrusion of fundamentalism into all aspects of our society (especially government), believing it has led to book bans, science denial, anti-LGBTQ legislation, and denial of women’s reproductive rights.
His upcoming book, “Journey to Reason,” (April 15) describes how he broke free from fundamentalism, and offers a stark warning of its dangers to society.
Mark also writes the long-running Bad Science Debunked blog (https://www.BadScienceDebunked.com), where he does lighthearted takedowns of urban legends, science denial, and the abundance of misinformation available on social media.
Trench story: entire period of indoctrination. Held beliefs a long time because religious beliefs thought he’d be led to peril. Having been denied geology, age of the earth, learned radiometric dating during a biology class at college. Learned how scientists cross-check the earth. Looked at “nerdy” scientist fact. Was told he was in the true religion. It didn’t go away, learned there were other ways of seeing things. Was brought up in a public school but there were missionaries who did Bible reading every morning. Heavy pressure came not from schools but from fundamentalists who set the curriculum. He investigated Patheos in an article about a school who took kids using scholarship $ to the Ark encounter.
What triggered the book? He started his blog, started taking on myths you see in social media. Got more into science and how indoctrination encroached its way into Christian schools. At Ark Encounter, he noticed young children. As a young child, he was threatened into believing some of these exhibits. He realized there was material for a whole book. It has little chapters, short stories with morals of what Mark is trying to tell people. Very approachable, not anti-religious.
Writing for National Center for Science Education started following his blog: he visited the Ark exhibit – wrote about keeping things separate. He wrote an article for the Natl. Science Education Center. The Ark Encounter gives a conclusion even though science will say “I don’t know the answer yet”. Really easy to understand science of the earth, age of the earth and what some faith-based exhibits show. They will put whatever they want on the placards. Institute for Creation Research has an unyielding interpretation. 1 day= 24 hrs. As he learned about radiometric dating, he learned more about the chemistry of the earth. A good education helps one find out the answers for oneself.
What are some of the things that led you away from religion and toward atheism? He thinks the “Sermon on the Mount” in the Bible is one of the most beautiful pieces of literature. People argue Founding Fathers were Christian. Many were Deists. Being an Atheist doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in good things. People who are religious practice what they preach.
Do you see good in religion? Do you think it’s necessary? He does have some positive influences, he things some fundamentalists may object. He warns about sects that have beliefs who are trying to steer politics. He went to a secular school that was rather fundamentalist. Was taught that slavery “wasn’t bad”. Currently, Governor in FL, is asking teachers to teach slaves were taught a “trade”.
How do we know science, evolution, the big bang, etc., are true? Could go back to radiometric dating and how in college he looked at a splitting spectral- Edwin Hubble and how old the universe is. Took billions of years to get the light that way. The first chapter of his book begins with a story about a teacher bringing in a prism and how you can see a rainbow on the wall. His dad showed with water hose how you can make a rainbow. What he learned was that you can make rainbows by using physics. in astronomy class, you learned you can use spectra and absorption lines to split light. They appear in different places on how we see things in relation to the distance from us. It answered his theory that the Earth is billions of years old. If you tell an intelligent child something untrue it’s hurtful.
Out of everything: admit you don’t know.
Where can ppl find you online?
http://www.alsip.net- main landing site @MarkAlsup on FB his book’s on Amazon
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZOOplWYhhdg
Episode #305: Katie Kinder
Episode # 305: Katie Kinder | The Out of the Trenches Podcast (podbean.com)
Katie Kinder, author of Untold Teaching Truths and Hallway Leadership, is a highly sought after professional learning facilitator; she has been an educator since 2006. She brings her message of hope, fun, and real strategies to educators all over the nation. She believes that life is fun, and learning should most definitely be fun. A teacher of the year, top five district finalist, Speaker, Author, Professional Development Leader, a Mom, a Wife, a Fierce Advocate for Education, Katie has learned a trick or two in the classroom, so come on in, and have some fun, and hook your students from day one!
Trench story: had a tough yr in ‘16/17, physical fights that leaked into the hallways of the school. Took a mindshift of loving them no matter the trauma. Honed in on community school. Saw behaviors subside. Many of us have similar stories. Teachers all over still dealing with this.
Talk about current work: is FT consulting/speaking, 2nd year now; works with new teachers. Wrote her book in 2020. Was asked to do a breakout at a conference. Ppl asked her to write a book. Wrote book during pandemic. Got speaking contracts. Made the decision to leave the CR.
Talk about Going into schools to mentor the new teachers (within their first 2-3 yrs). We’re losing them at a rate of 60% post-pandemic. She will be doing training/speaking in the fall. Independent. She’s book contracts. Was an instructional coach, the newer teachers could come in & she had a model classroom. She was in the trenches with them. Katie had relationships with parents. You can get upset about stuff that’s not w/in your circle of influence. Those teachers are still in communication with her to text, DM. Alot of new teachers think they should come in & know everything. We’re getting a lot of 2nd career t’s. They don’t know the acronyms.
Talk about book Untold Teaching Truths (2021): is currently working on 2nd edition, she’s changing up the cover with her glasses. Ppl recognize her by glasses on slides. The glasses have taken on a life on their own. Headshot is w/ colorful teal glasses. Ppl recognize her from glasses. She leaned into it as her brand. At breakout sessions, she gives away fake glasses. Just got a shipment of 600 fake glasses for fall kick-off in the district. We get bogged down with test scores, we need to have fun.
In the updated version of her book, she’ll add some guiding ?’s and other new content. She named her company The Blue Wall. Second book- Hallway Leadership-directed to team leads, principals, superintendents. Talks about how they can be servant leaders. Some of them don’t look at their emails until st’s have left for the day. Every single staff member needs to be a visible leader. She’s a co-author on the book- 10 ppl wrote chapters.
Wants to highlight Keynotes/sessions she can provide- she’d love to kick off different districts in Aug/Sept. Can travel out of state. She leans into creating experiences that will be lasting for kids. It’s about having high expectations for our kids. We have to have the mindset about doing what is rights. Also does The Family Classroom-Setting up a Family Classroom is essential in providing students a safe place to express their thoughts, feelings, and fears. Teach students how to speak, how to disagree respectfully, and how to be a part of a classroom family where everyone is included and celebrated. She also does a Classroom Management PD.
Keynote: Do What is Relentlessly Right! Sometimes as educators we get bogged down with the everyday demands of the job that we forget to always show up and do what is relentlessly right for kids. Why relentless? Well, that is what it takes. Unyielding persistence to show up and do what is best for kids. Let’s laugh, cry, and get real together.
Hook, Line, and Sinker – Engagement strategies in the classroom! How do we engage 21st century learners? How do we keep up with an evolving education sphere? Learn engagement strategies, delve into relationships and rapport in a digital world. Embed technology, music, staging, gamification, and passion in our noble profession! Life is fun; learning should be fun too! Earning Trust and Changing Lives; reduce suffering with consistency in your classroom– This session looks at practical strategies educators can use in their classrooms when it comes to students who suffer from trauma. Trust is the great multiplier. Come on in; let’s hash it out! Untold Teaching Truths-This session is all about the untold secrets she wishes she would have known when she started teaching in 2006. The secrets of a school building and a classroom, the hills that some teachers die on and burn out.
out of everything: we get 1 messy, beautiful life, drop the mic everyday. Go hard for kids & your co-workers. It’s too precious to be a passive educator. Make meaningful, fun learning
Where can ppl find you online: Katie Kinder – Education Consultant Sharing Untold Teaching Truths (katie-kinder.com) (11) Katie Kinder from OKC (@KatieKinder1) / X (twitter.com) google her! Look at the graph where she’ll be speaking on her website.
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0zUx2cNaZy0
Episode #306: Matthew Ebert
Episode #306: Matthew Ebert | The Out of the Trenches Podcast (podbean.com)
Matthew Ebert is a human-centered leader with 20+ years of experience in education, primarily focused on school leadership in urban settings. Matthew’s consulting is grounded in his experiences as a teacher, director of academic innovation, academy leader, and a decade of successful leadership as a public charter school principal. Throughout his leadership tenure, Matthew has developed teams that exceed expectations, consistently achieving strong results. He is committed to cultivating healthy work and learning environments in which individuals feel seen, heard, and valued.
In addition to helping team members consistently attain their personal and professional goals, Matthew has facilitated dramatic and consistent growth in student achievement in both Baltimore and Boston, in metrics focused on academic achievement and school climate.
Matthew’s leadership is based on the idea that we are all here to take care of one another.
Trench story: a time when the pipes in his school had broken. When it got really cold, alarms would go off. It started to rain indoors. It was really cold outside. School wasn’t attached to emergency services. They had to get out of an unsafe school. Physical “in the trenches”.
He could talk about his last few years as principal: we stay in the trenches of our work. Year 4- began to dig out of trench mentality in school. Created a culture that said, “you matter”. Focused on a culture of care. Had adult voice. After yr 10, he left.
New to the consulting world. Was principal for a decade at middle school. Coach in Boston. Has taken some time to figure out what he wanted to do next. He wanted to start writing about the work, not about how things are perfect. Has spoken about the culture of care. He wanted to bring what they brought to his school out to more schools. School’s a tough place to be. When he started as principal, ignored the kids- worked hard to have adults thrive. What went well in school changed over time. When he started speaking, he realized that was his message. Make school better for adults first.
Ted Talk- applied to them- got selected, it was recorded earlier this year in NYC. When he got into the Ted Talk program it was about “take better care of adults”. They named it “3 strategies to affect the teacher retention crisis”.
We can focus convo around rookie mistakes principals make the first 3 yrs. Esp. around PD planning, etc. He was surrounded by smart folks; common mistakes are being so reactive. Some things you can never plan for. There was a lot of change when he got there. We watched everyone work until they burnt out. Day before school started, basement had flooded.
Has always done writing, so got published 3 x’s in Edutopia. Ted Talk came in Feb. 2024. It comes out 4/11. It focuses on one-on-one meetings. Has published in EdWeek & Edutopia. 2 pieces are about leaving- telling an excellent teacher it was time to leave & knowing it was time to leave himself. Talk open & honestly about that.
Articles-first one is about Lessons Learned from 10 years of Principalship- operationalizing care. How much time do you get ppl? How many useless meetings do you have? Over time, you get it. His first 3 yrs were about getting used to the job. 2nd article- Why I told an Excellent Teacher it was Time to Leave- he was frustrated. It’s important to let t’s know when they’re times up. 3rd- How I knew it was Time to Leave- 2 yrs before he left- he knew he wasn’t excited about it anymore. He announced he was leaving early. He knew how to exit gracefully. His school had solid test results; focus remained on the adults. There wasn’t a high turnover rate. it was a good place to be- family-centered. He’s met ppl consulting & talked about burnout. How many ppl are leaving, even in first 3-5 yrs. Part of reason to leave is how we frame it. People change jobs. He was honest w/ team & not knowing what comes next. Job is impossible. He had 5 ppl to help him do his job. Question should be “why is the job causing people not to want to stay?” School has not evolved from factory model. It’s not a shortage. It’s about ppl wanting to do the job for the pay & the conditions. We should not have to give more than 100% of ourselves to the job. How do the “powers that be” change the conditions? He had more freedom at the charter school he was at.
Coaching opportunities he offers: Talks about the fires principals put out. He’s happy to come out & check things out. He looks at the aim/goal of what a principal wants to do with their time? They need someone who they can complain to. Scheduling work, fixing/adjusting Sped, charter schoolwork. creating a school community.
out of everything: the person across the table from you is a person, they bring a lot with them. Do a lot to remember how to support.
Where can ppl find you online: Website: www.eberteducationalconsulting.com
Twitter (X): @ eberteducation
Instagram: @eberteducationalconsulting
Facebook: @matthew ebert
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/matthewebert1982 / https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebert-educational-consulting
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zVnRRmqLQjk
Episode #307: Mike Beyer
https://outofthetrenches.podbean.com/e/episode-307-mike-beyer/
Michael Beyer was an award-winning, National Board Certified K-12 teacher and principal. He transformed a school on the south side of Chicago, then led the merger of two schools, one being the wealthiest in Chicago and the other in the Cabrini Green housing development. Since leaving education he has worked as real estate broker, Chief of Staff of an environmental nonprofit, and currently a change management consultant. Mike served overseas in the US Air Force and has received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, two master’s degrees in Art History and Education, and a doctorate in Education Leadership. Mike is married to his wife of more than twenty years, with whom they have two children. Taught middle school self-contained 8 years, was an administrator PK-12 for close to 10 years. He still engages with educators through consulting. They reside in Oak Park, Illinois.
Trench story: Really was fired out of his job. Was covered by the radio, tv. He didn’t have a choice in the end. It was the best outcome. He wished he’d started his current work earlier. Different lifestyle now that he’s not in education.
Talk about your book, Pencils Down: Career journeys of educators who left the profession, and what we can learn from the crises in education: When he left, his career was in tatters. Thought he’d one day be a superintendent. Recruiter said he’d have to move out of state to get back into education. Wife had a good job, kids in schools, so didn’t want to leave IL. Reinvented himself several x’s. Even when he was in the midst of his legal battle- teachers & principals reached out to him about how to get out of education. This was pre-COVID. He hired a career coach who later became his co-author, Nayeli. After the 12th person, he realized it’s book material.
What was the writing process? He’d been out of education five years, kept getting calls, co-author and him got together to do the interviews. There are programs to help t’s transition that offer 100’s. His book offers good advice for less than $15. Also opportunity to highlight what is wrong & has gotten worse for decades.
When is the best time for ppl to leave education? in the book, you list categories of ppl who are 1) ready to leave or 2) not quite sure but are thinking about leaving: there’s no good answer. Leave when your health is so poor because your job’s affecting health. Leave when you get a job outside education. 1st job you might take a pay cut. It won’t take 10 yrs to get back to their similar pay. Govt. jobs. Superintendent-like salaries are easier to get in business world.
Of people highlighted in the book, how many of them were coached by you and Nayeli? They’d been reached out by 100 ppl. Looked on LinkedIn to get a good representation of careers t’s go into. Many sites want to peg ppl into low-income careers. He believes educators can do almost anything. Cold call ppl via LinkedIn, have coffee w/ neighbors.
How to network when your whole circle of friends/acquaintances are in education? Educators limit themselves that they have wider networks through church, community groups. They’re not used to tapping into a network. T’s are isolated in their day-to-day job. Daily and professionally it’s not a practice to network. It’s a win-win to network. In companies, they have a referral bonus. IT’s common to have a coffee. We have to change our mindset a bit so we’re not so isolated. We have to change the mindset so more t’s will come into the profession. We make it hard to become a teacher, thus we make it hard to leave. In business world it’s much more common to have coffees with people. Meet with them, learn about their job.
What would you advise educators who are burnt out or are constantly facing challenges in their role(s) but have no idea how to leave, i.e. they don’t feel like they have any transferable skills or don’t want to embark on re-education: Resumes can be reworded. Most ppl have an idea of what a teacher/principal does. You can call (children) customers. Curriculum= designing programs. They don’t need to invest in a new degree, can get a certificate. He has a PROCI change management cert. took 1 wk and cost $5K. Many certificates are low cost. His tip is networking. Research ppl in those other careers. Don’t need to completely reinvent. Jeremy Shipling- AI schools, has tools that will automatically reword. Going rate is around $500. It’s not rocket science. Rewrite it for key jobs. It can be exhausting process. Hire a coach/use online tool. Don’t pay more than $500-700 max. Nayeli & he met once a wk. She helped him understand what the business world was. Having a coach will help you get over the hump.
Self-care, amount of time put in, esp. in your experience as a principal when you merged the schools. He had an advisor who coaches aspiring principals who says they need to put in 12 yrs a day. The “wake up and grind” philosophy isn’t healthy. In Chicago, they had own HR, budgets, etc., lots on their workload. Principals come to the principal. You’re the one point contact who holds everything together and be there for everybody. Every day you make a choice about what to enforce. You can’t enforce them all. It’s a loose-loose. Mike couldn’t check every p and q at 3 campuses. He can talk about how traditionally only women went into education. It’s the least flexible job now w/ not being able to work from home. Ppl will now go into the business world. Some businesses are toxic and a “dog eat dog” world but the one he consults with now is great. T’s do everything in schools. Teacher buy things for their classroom. In education, you have limited district choices. All the self-care things you find in edu are about “you’re an educator, take care of yourself”. SEL programs are for kids. Most districts don’t do things for their staff.
Corporations spend a lot of $ to retain the employees’ well-being. It’s pushed down from above. it’s an organizational principle. In the book, there’s a list of “best businesses to work for”. In education there’s nothing they do about it. They invest $1-2K a year to invest into employees.
We’ve gone back to the same-old, same-old after the pandemic. No new strategies to help the behavior, engagement problems. This is why more families home school or do hybrid learning. He believes parents are to blame. F.ex. common core standards. Parents accept that schools are broken. To change anything in society, it’s constantly pushing a rock up a hill. With common core, there were so many parents complaining. Book How to Raise an Adult– how society has changed between Gen X/Y and today. Pandemic led to investments in SEL and counselors. Learning loss isn’t that big of deal. Now more focus on test scores than ever before.
Where do you think the future of education is going? Alpha school in Austin, TX uses AI instead of teachers. Guides can help the SEL, computers can teach. There are tools being developed to type in “teach me about….”. Will revolutionize schools from factory model. The AI can develop an entire curriculum, videos, and differentiation. Will be on the market soon.
How can HR dept’s schools, etc. be more effective in recruiting people to transition into teaching from other careers? Edu is as it is because it’s so isolated. You have to have an advanced degree. Public schools don’t easily take ppl from the business world w/out them getting new degrees. ”Grow your own” in Chicago- helps mom & dads of color become teachers. Alt. licensure program are still often hoops to jump through. Unions often oppose the 2nd career educators. IF all we end up w/ is long term subs, reduce the FTE in your budget.
Out of everything: Life is too short; you have to enjoy what you do
Where can ppl find you? Mike be reached via LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/mmccbeyer Mike is available for consulting, coaching, and speaking engagements.
co-author-Nallely Suarez-Gass- find her on LinkedIn
View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/12YWc49RgnE
Episode #308: Ken Burrows
https://outofthetrenches.podbean.com/e/episode-308-ken-burrows/
Kenneth Burrows-is currently an English learner coordinator and owner of the business Rap Opera for Kids that uses Hip Hop and rap music to teach language arts skills using song lyrics. He taught as an English learner teacher in Virginia for 12 years, and through my experiences in the classroom, he developed several strategies and methods based on English language instruction research and best practices combined with rap music to develop the lessons and activities he shares with teachers through Rap Opera for Kids, helping them achieve high student engagement with cultural relevance.
Trench story: currently works as a Title III coordinator, they went through an audit. Many things they had to do to improve the program & serve MLLs. They needed to increase the proficiency of their t’s. Dug out of a corrective action plan- first challenge was identifying all the MLLs, training to make sure ppl involved understood the process. They were able to get it done in 1.5 yrs. Huge step was going through understanding the needs of MLLs. CCI model vs. ELD for newcomers. They had to find out which program worked best for their students.
Your current role, and how that aligns with Rap Opera for Kids? Now as an admin, they’re 2 separate ventures. He can talk about how the language piece connects with music.
1 of schools with the largest MLL population needed morale boosted. How do we keep them motivated & moving fwd, esp during/after state testing? He worked with students to find out how they wanted to communicate w/ their peers? Quick turnaround- within 3 days. Great response from student body. Not just an adult telling them what to do. It resonated with them. The rap song lowered the affective filter- MLLs were able to understand the test taking. Lyrics- he wrote “Flex on the test”, = show & do your best. Reminders about eating a good breakfast. Don’t forget to keep a positive mind. Call & response with kids, put on a dance. Cut out the lyrics to remember when they went into the test. He will share video if he finds some. Violin teacher was involved.
Why Hip Hop belongs in the ELA classroom, can narrow down to reading comprehension & applying music/song lyrics to the text. When someone is writing songs, they build from the main idea. If you go back to hip hop’s history, it goes back to reaching students through giving them a voice. This is based on student knowledge, and how students learn the lyrics. Movements behind hip hop is about getting students connected w/ families. Block parties had often fundraisers. Hip hop is a taylor-made movement to get students involved.
Why educational rap songs don’t work, focus on the “corny” songs vs. what works: The question is, who is more relevant today? What type of music is more relevant? There are so many styles in hiphop & rap it has to be relevant. Don’t pay music they think is too old. Once when he taught, he asked kids to make a list of their favorite songs. there were at least 5-7 songs he could use. You could have this in the beginning or mid year surveys.2nd piece is relevant language. Using their L1 & building on that. Also dealing w/ culturally relevance, Ebonics, etc. 3rd part- relevant theme- what are they interesting in. F.ex. a video game rap. Could tell the history of video games.
Why are rap song lyrics the best reading passages? can bring out an example. He talks about Calderon’s research about building comprehension. He’s read a lot of songs based on what students have presented to him. “Kick push” -song about skateboarding. About how a student was over coming challenges as a skateboarder. “All Black Everything” -premise was what if slavery never happened. Song talks about Fred Astaire doing a back spin- even though Astaire didn’t do that really. If we close our eyes and approach ppl as ppl, we begin to connect with them.
How can educators bridge the cultural gap? look for strongholds in anyone’s culture that can be leveraged. Look at ELD learners for example. What he’s noticed is that hip hop has become a global language. F.ex. a student who speaks another language can have a strong visual understanding. Hip hop bridges background knowledge. It’s predictable. He may be drawn to acting b/c his culture is built on gestures. Students may not understand the word, but they understand the body language.
Is Hip Hop and rap music appropriate for kids? 50/50 debate among educators. You have to be able to separate the tool from the way it’s used. Hip hop started at a b-day party in the Bronx, it was about raising $ for kids to go back to school. Vulgarity is a result of mainstream media. Breakdancing/b boying dance is something that has so many “battle tactics” that are doing artistically w/o violence. Many of the best dancers are from countries throughout the world. Hip hop is about peace, love, having fun. You want rap music with hip hop. Corporation tends to get ahold of things & water it down, like McDonald’s f.ex. In 1974 hip hop broke apart from rap music. You can use a tool however you want. Rap music industry- fastest growing. Book written in 2016- hip hop, language arts, thematic analysis. It provides a good framework. LEsson on how to use hip hop to teach Lang. Arts. Ken’s written 5 different songs on hip hop’s history. He’s working on more resources on TPT site.
Out of everything: understand hip hop is the voice of youth. Understand what’s happening withthem. IT’s critical to give them a voice. What matters? Find meaning? Have a dialog w/ our youth. Allow them to innovate. They’re starved for positive innovation.
Where can ppl find you? mainly uses YouTube, TPT store (look on pod match for headshot & links). http://www.rapoperaforkids.com @rapoperacentral YouTube (not on other social) View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/G4RQhEXdtPc
Episode #309: “Coach” Carlos Johnson
Episode #309: Carlos Johnson | The Out of the Trenches Podcast (podbean.com)
As a professional speaker, trainer, and author, Mr. Johnson, AKA “Coach Carlos,” is locally bred, but his work and research on culture and engagement have taken him nationally and internationally. “Coach Carlos” and his team of consultants have utilized his experience and research to successfully turn around three failing public schools and one private Christian academy. In addition, his training and strategies have helped to change school culture and increase parental engagement, student enrollment, and staff and student retention.
His driving belief is: “After 20 years of research, all evidence confirms that a highly engaged school culture is the mother of High-performance!” His transformational philosophy and practice have recently been published by Solution Tree entitled Power Engage-Seven Power Moves For Building Strong Relationships To Increase Engagement With Students And Parents System And Philosophy. His online/on-site system trains thousands of parents, students, and instructional teams each year on the psychology and practice of engagement.Additionally, in response to young men’s worldwide academic and behavioral failure, he created the online tutoring, life skills, and coaching program for boys called Future Man Prep.
“Coach Carlos’s” purpose of transforming institutions and individuals is obvious, and his passion is infectious when he speaks or trains.
Trench story: has crawled out a few times. The most near & dear is taking over the Male Leadership Academy. He had a great team that was committed to working with young men. They were struggling with enrollment. He had to retrain staff on brain-based learning. Staff understood science behind the male brain.He helped parents understand boys could learn at a high level. Expulsions almost 0, suspensions down drastically. Teacher retention.
Talk about how you help schools w/ increasing 1) stakeholder engagement –getting them involved is one thing, getting them engaged is the next thing. Engaged= they’ve bought into the vision & mission. What he learned firsthand is that school culture transformation takes at least 2 yrs. 1st- evaluating current systems; 2nd yr- buy-in; 3rd yr- harvest from the seeds. With growth comes additional problems. Then they ran into problems but were prepared.
2) student retention (ask in separate ?’s) He’s been working w/ schools since before COVID, he knew schools needed great relationships w/ their families. When parents begin to exercise their ability to exercise school choice? Build healthy, performance-based relationships before trouble comes. School options become more appealing when problems occur. Have a healthy, performance-based relationship w/ that school. When COVID hit, they were able to test solutions in a lot better way.
What can parents get out of the online parent training “PowerEngage.net”? it’s asynchronous. Started 7 yrs ago. PArt of overall engagement strategies to partner homes w/ schools. Families weren’t always in sync w/ us when we wanted to get info out to them. He asked staff a basic ?- what did they need to know to be better partners w/ schools? Kept list down to 7 meaningful minimums or “power moves”. Some schools haven’t done a great job in building great relationships. Some schools, t’s don’t have the time to invest in parent relationships. This tool will help assist. When he implemented this, parent engagement shot through the roof. Such good traction from it-it’s been updated www.PowerParentingU.com it’s a set of modules. Takes about 3 hrs total. Can be done on site 7 weeks.
Principalship position to lead the Male Leadership Academy- talk about your work there (ask if still in this position, if not, was this a school he helped find, or turnaround?) He’s FT consulting, had some great gains. They pulled him out of consulting to operate the school. He’s been in consulting for 15 yrs total. Strategy he uniquely uses is transforming school culture under umbrella of parent, community, student engagement. All types of schools.
Talk about the next “tsunami” is what’s happening to our young male students, how to get them engaged? In lower ES, kids go through compliance stage. In MS, kids think more on their own. A lot of think tanks are gathering the data as to why this is happening. We haven’t changed school culture enough to address what our young men need. In MS- there’s more sitting, not the play we have in ES. If we don’t get them back, we’ll lose them. When they’re not engaged, they’re troublesome. They’re not interested in what’s going on. MAC attack- strategy he developed. Look at lesson plan to see if there’s movement, activity & competition.Teachers who are listening-kids needs to learn to compete in a healthy environment. Seasoned teachers who can implement this has got to be well experienced and can handle 20 kids moving.
Talk about your leadership course for boys called Future Man Success Prep: He launched when left the Male Leadership Academy, synchronous- is his crown jewel. Asks 7 Socratic questions to young men. They help them find the personalized answers. F.ex. “What type of man do you want to be?” They create a profile of who they look like 15 yrs from now. This goal can be a moving target. Tier 2 behavioral & life skills. It depends on the school’s audit. He sits down w/ them @ looks at their culture to see which level of support works best for them. The best is building capacity in the building. If the school has a few deans & need something that extends their reach, this works well. Can also be used at Tier 1. His team comes out if the school doesn’t have a dean team. If you loose 30 kids over a school yr due to OSS, expulsion, etc; it’s a good idea to get on the front end of the behaviors. Too many ppl have it go in one ear, and think we’re doing something bad to girls if we loose the young men. When he has convos w/ districts. Ever since 1972 girls have taken advantage of title 9 and never looked back. When he works w/ young men, he shows them interactively how the odds for becoming a prof athlete, influencer, etc. aren’t their favor. They do an organizational skills-executive functioning as well.
Out of everything: there’s a golden nugget- when he wrote the book Power Engage, they did a meta-analysis on high performing schools. in 20 yrs of research- no school that were high performing had low relationships w/ st’s. Read John Hattie’s work and see if you can achieve those effect sizes w/o healthy relationships w/ students.
Where can ppl find you? www.imageofsucess.com www.carlosjohnson.org FB: @coachcarlos View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Um4kV1lGuTY