Voices from the Classroom: The State Teachers of the Year Podcast

In an effort to explore this shift in education and highlight how teachers are rising to the challenge, CCSSO is launching Voices from the Classroom: The State Teacher of the Year Podcast. Through the first series, My First Lesson of the Year, we hear directly from the 2020 State Teachers of the Year on what the return to school was like from an educators’ perspective.

Transcripts:

[ Music ]

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Hey everyone, Sarah Brown Wessling here from the Council of Chief State School Officers National Teacher of the Year Program. And I'm excited to introduce Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program provides a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and their students to expand their leadership roles and to inform policy and practice. I was named National Teacher of the Year in 2010 and since then, I've been committed to sharing the stories and elevating the voices of state teachers of the year. It is my hope that this podcast will give you insight into the incredible work they do. As we are very much aware, the 2020-2021 school year is so different from anything we could have imagined. Not only do the physical classroom environments look different for students, they feel different. As educators navigate responding to two radical changes in our society, the COVID-19 pandemic and the heightened awareness of institutionalized racism. Through this first series, my first lesson of the year, we hope to capture the true essence of the return to school from an educator's perspective. In these episodes, the 2020 State Teachers of the Year will walk us through the ways they are approaching instruction and maintaining a connection with their students in this new environment. You can join the conversation on social media too, by using the hashtag ntoy20 or by visiting us online at ntoy.org. That's N-T-O-Y.org. Let's begin. This is Sarah Brown-Wessling. Welcome Teresa Beilstein and thank you for joining me for this conversation today. So, let's jump right in. Can you just introduce yourself to us?

>> Teresa Beilstein: Hi. Yes. Thank you for having me, Sarah.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: My name is Teresa Beilstein. I am teaching in Maryland. And I am a third grade teacher here at one of our public elementary schools.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Wonderful. So can you tell me about one of your first lessons of this year and describe what it was like for you and your students?

>> Teresa Beilstein: Absolutely. So, especially for our youngest learners, I really feel the importance and the weight of building a classroom community from the very first moment of the very first day. And so, the best way that I know how to do that is with a shared experience that we can all have together. So, every year on the first day of school, I do something called a dry ice bubble. And so, it's a science experiment. And it's a demo because they're third grader.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: They can't handle ice. But I fill a bucket with water, and I put a cube of dry ice in it. And I tell them that the still water is like their brains when they're not learning. When you add the dry ice to it, it starts to bubble and starts to grow. And I explained that that's how their brains will be as they learn and as they take on challenges and really work hard during third grade. And so, then I take like a soapy shoelace, and drag it over the top of the bucket and they create a bubble that fills and fills and fills and then it pops and all the steam kind of drapes down and goes out and they all try to touch it and --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: And it just gets so much excitement going in the classroom. And from my first day of my first year teaching, that is how I have started every morning of first day of school. And I think that that small 10-minute activity sets the -- for the entire year.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Teresa Beilstein: And they know that they're in a place that's exciting. They're in a place that they're going to learn new things. And, you know, this year obviously, it had to look a little different because they weren't in the classroom.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: But, you know, through the magic of technology, we were able to, you know, kind of take the laptop and zoom it in on what was going on. And I could still explain it and they could still experience it together.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: And that was, you know, that was the key is that we have that shared experience that we can refer to and it's in our common language now. And that's really kind of how we kicked off our year.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: That is so amazing. I can just imagine like the drama of it.

>> Teresa Beilstein: Yes. Very dramatic. They're freaking out for you. And they're just like faces just jaws dropping. And as a teacher --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: So, it's so wonderful to see them buying so quickly.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah, absolutely. Well, it's something I'm sure they will never forget. They will always remember in third grade, right on the first day of school.

>> Teresa Beilstein: Always.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: I'm sure. I am sure. That's so neat. So you talked a little bit about how this lesson was different this year than usual, because you are fully online right now. Is there anything else that was different that you kind of had to take note of or you had to account for on that first day?

>> Teresa Beilstein: Yeah, I mean, I think that, beyond even just that one engagement, it's been an exercise in patience. I think for a lot of teachers, I tell myself every morning to pack my patience, because it is, you know, it can really be a challenge to try to assist and support these young learners. And they're -- all their needs are different, you know, they have connectivity issues or, you know, I always remind myself that they are in a world that they did not create. So, you know, whatever their situation is, if they're late to the meeting, or if they have to leave early, or if they're not engaged, I just try to remember that they're not in my classroom environment where I have control over the situation.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Teresa Beilstein: But I always remember, they don't have control over it either. So to try to still kind of wrap my arms around them and make sure that they feel like I'm there for them, I understand them and that regardless of their home situation, our Google Meet, and our online classroom is still a place where they can feel safe and at home.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Teresa Beilstein: And taking the time to build that in and to connect with each student. I've been trying to do that even more than ever when we were in the brick and mortar classroom.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Is there anything that this first lesson taught you about your students or about yourself or about teaching right now?

>> Teresa Beilstein: You know, I think that it reminded me that regardless of where students are physically sitting, they're thirsty for knowledge. And they are fated to learn. They want to be with their classmates and their teacher, and they'll take it even if it's online. You know, that's not the ideal, but they want to be engaged with each other and with their education. And I think that their reactions were so similar online as they were in person. That it kind of reminded me that the format is not as important as the content and as the delivery. And I think that was a good lesson for me and for them that, you know, we can all see that even though it's not the same, that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be worse, or that it has to be ineffective. It's just a little different.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah. I think that's a good lesson for all of us for sure. This has been so lovely. I want to come be in your third grade classroom and see this happen that's for me.

>> Teresa Beilstein: Anytime. You can join us anytime.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: That would be awesome, well virtually, right?

>> Teresa Beilstein: Right. Exactly.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Exactly. And I am definitely taking this mantra about packing my patience. That is so beautiful, and something that I will be packing a lot of, I think in the days and weeks and months to come.

>> Teresa Beilstein: We all need it.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah, we do. We do. Well, thank you so much for participating in this and being so transparent about your experience this year. We are really looking forward to sharing these thoughts and insights broadly, and I know it's going to inspire a lot of teachers. So thank you, Teresa.

>> Teresa Beilstein: Thank you, Sarah.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Thank you for listening to the first series of Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Teacher of the Year Program. It's our honor to elevate the voices of educators across the country and provide them with a national platform to amplify their message and advocate on behalf of their students and colleagues. Please share these lessons on social media with the hashtag ntoy20. That's hashtag N-T-O-Y 2, zero. Let's keep the conversation going.

[ Music ]

In an effort to explore this shift in education and highlight how teachers are rising to the challenge, CCSSO is launching Voices from the Classroom: The State Teacher of the Year Podcast. Through the first series, My First Lesson of the Year, we hear directly from the 2020 State Teachers of the Year on what the return to school was like from an educators’ perspective.

Transcript:

[ Music ]

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Hey everyone, Sarah Brown Wessling here from the Council of Chief State School Officers National Teacher of the Year Program. And I'm excited to introduce Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program provides a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and their students to expand their leadership roles and to inform policy and practice. I was named National Teacher of the Year in 2010 and since then, I've been committed to sharing the stories and elevating the voices of state teachers of the year. It is my hope that this podcast will give you insight into the incredible work they do. As we are very much aware, the 2020-2021 school year is so different from anything we could have imagined. Not only do the physical classroom environments look different for students, they feel different. As educators navigate responding to two radical changes in our society, the COVID-19 pandemic and the heightened awareness of institutionalized racism. Through this first series, my first lesson of the year, we hope to capture the true essence of the return to school from an educator's perspective. In these episodes, the 2020 State Teachers of the Year will walk us through the ways they are approaching instruction and maintaining a connection with their students in this new environment. You can join the conversation on social media too, by using the hashtag ntoy20 or by visiting us online at ntoy.org. That's N-T-O-Y.org. Let's begin. This is Sarah Brown-Wessling. Welcome Linda Rost, and thank you for joining me in this conversation today. So let's jump right in. Can you just introduce yourself? Tell us where you teach? What you teach?

>> Linda Rost: Sure, I'm Linda Rost. I'm the 2020 Montana Teacher of the Year. And I teach in Baker, Montana. I teach high school science, biology, chemistry, science research and anatomy and physiology.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Wonderful. That's a mouthful. That's a lot of different classes. You are one busy woman. So, I'm really curious about one of the first lessons of the year and I just would love for you to describe for all of us who are curious about what that looks like for you.

>> Linda Rost: Well, so I started out just over the summer reflecting on how, as a whole, we kind of had trouble with navigating science during this pandemic, and navigating like critical literacy and science literacy. And so, that's really what -- why I wanted to focus my start of the year on. And so, when I started students on is I had found some articles on different topics with COVID. So I found a media article, and then the matching scientific studies, what the media article has written about. And so I started with having them analyze those two articles and see how they were different and see how the media article is written differently from the actual scientific study. And then after that, I actually had them rewrite, the scientific study as if they were reporters. And they had to -- we learned about bias language and correlational [inaudible] language, and how to avoid causation language. And so they rewrote that article in a different way. And then we went into some other critical literacy stuff around COVID. And they also had the opportunity to design experiments, inquire experiments about the pandemic. And so a lot of them were like masks experiments, where they tested different types of masks in different ways.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: They also looked at like different hand sanitizers and looked at like biology of that. And so they -- They were really able to understand why are we doing these things to keep safe and why are we having to wear masks? And how do they work?

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: right.

>> Linda Rost: And they got to have their own masks and really evaluate some of these new normals that we have to experience --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Linda Rost: -- like in their own terms, so.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Linda Rost: That's where we start.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: I, you know, as a literacy teacher, I'm going kind of geeking out over here listening to this framing of how you are asking students to really embrace the literacy portion of science, right? But it is, you know, you're like looking at the whole big picture on what it means to be a scientist,

>> Linda Rost: Right. And what it means to be a citizen in this --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: -- state, how do we [inaudible] because all of us should be. We also looked at some data so they have some opportunities to analyze data from different countries or from different states and ask their own questions and then determine how to analyze the data and come to conclusions. So that when they're faced with data, and when people are making claims on social media or in the news, they can actually like, assess and analyze the data on their own [inaudible].

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right. That is so neat. That's just -- That's just really, really cool. Is this -- Was this lesson different than how you usually start the year? I mean, I heard you kind of talk about your reflection process in the spring, so it sounds like it might have been a little bit different, but I'm just curious about, you know, if this particular start of the school year is unique.

>> Linda Rost: So I've been doing this article analysis for a few years with my sophomores, but we would just use like fun articles, like fun studies that were not super technical, but something they could relate to. But I decided to shift that and go into just focusing on COVID.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Linda Rost: And I have -- I mean, I've done data analysis before with them and they do a lot of inquiry, open-ended experiments, but never with this lens. And I think what I told them at the beginning of the year was their job this year, is to help their family and community understand this pandemic, because there's a lot of misunderstandings. And so, what I was trying to do, and I was really frank with them, I was trying to equip them with the skills they needed to be able to communicate to their family and community, and keep our school doors open, because we're physically in person, and we needed them. They -- They're on the front lines, we needed them to do the things to stay safe, and they need to understand those things. So that was kind of my --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Wait, talk about talk about relevance --

>> Linda Rost: Right.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: -- and purpose and authenticity, you know, and I even hearing that, just the communication. It's not necessarily part of the assignment, but it's part of the purpose like, not just to learn this for class, but learn this for the conversations you have in your life. I love that.

>> Linda Rost: Make a difference in our world.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah. I love that. So what did you learn from doing this? Did you learn anything about your students, about your teaching, about teaching in a pandemic?

>> Linda Rost: I -- So I did some things like structurally pedagogically different.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: Although, like collaborating on a Google Slide together, we're doing a lot of that more. And that's been really good. So I've learned some like little things like that, that I should have been doing all along. But, I think I learned, and I sort of knew this, but I didn't really put it into practice I learned but my students are really important members of our community, and that their voice can make a difference more than mine. And --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: -- they can also sort of be like the feet, like they can go out --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: -- and talk to their community and talk to their families more effectively than I can. So they -- they're actually teaching our community science.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: And it's exponential. It's contagious.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Linda Rost: And they're engaging community members and I don't think I realized the importance of that before. And that they can be really effective. And it kind of sounds dorky when I'm telling them this and when I'm giving them this charge, but they really own it. Like they really --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Linda Rost: -- get on to the fact that their job now is to help other people. And they know that they are better scientists. They know scientists better than most people in this country right now. And so, that's kind of --

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right. Right. Right. Yeah, yeah.

>> Linda Rost: That's what [inaudible].

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Well, you've set them up with that -- yeah, you've set them up with this confidence and this purpose, and it's just really, really cool. Really, really neat. So thank you so much for sharing, you know, your insights and your expertise. We are really looking forward to sharing this with teachers. And I know it's going to inspire a lot of people as well. So thanks, Linda.

>> Linda Rost: Well, thank you.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Thank you for listening to the first series of Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Teacher of the Year Program. It's our honor to elevate the voices of educators across the country and provide them with a national platform to amplify their message and advocate on behalf of their students and colleagues. Please share these lessons on social media with the hashtag ntoy20. That's hashtag N-T-O-Y 2, zero. Let's keep the conversation going.

[ Music ]

In an effort to explore this shift in education and highlight how teachers are rising to the challenge, CCSSO is launching Voices from the Classroom: The State Teacher of the Year Podcast. Through the first series, My First Lesson of the Year, we hear directly from the 2020 State Teachers of the Year on what the return to school was like from an educators’ perspective.

Transcript:

[ Music ]

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Hey everyone, Sarah Brown-Wessling here from the Council of Chief State School Officers National Teacher of the Year Program. And I'm excited to introduce Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program provides a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and their students to expand their leadership roles and to inform policy and practice. I was named National Teacher of the Year in 2010 and since then, I've been committed to sharing the stories and elevating the voices of state teachers of the year. It is my hope that this podcast will give you insight into the incredible work they do. As we are very much aware, the 2020-2021 school year is so different from anything we could have imagined. Not only do the physical classroom environments look different for students, they feel different. As educators navigate responding to two radical changes in our society, the COVID-19 pandemic and the heightened awareness of institutionalized racism. Through this first series, my first lesson of the year, we hope to capture the true essence of the return to school from an educator's perspective. In these episodes, the 2020 State Teachers of the Year will walk us through the ways they are approaching instruction and maintaining a connection with their students in this new environment. You can join the conversation on social media too, by using the hashtag ntoy20 or by visiting us online at ntoy.org. That's N-T-O-Y.org. Let's begin. Hello, this is Sarah Brown-Wessling. Welcome Liz Russillo, and thank you for joining me for this conversation today. So let's jump right in. Liz, can you just introduce yourself and tell us where you teach and what you teach?

>> Liz Russillo: Thank you, Sarah. So yeah, I'm Liz Russillo, and I teach high school science. So I'm teaching a mix of physical science, chemistry and engineering. And I teach at Smithfield High School in Rhode Island. And I am starting out year 19 of teaching this year.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: So exciting. You're almost at that two decade.

>> Liz Russillo: Yes. It's crazy.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: I know. It is crazy. That felt like a threshold for me.

>> Liz Russillo I don't know how it's possible, because I like still think that I'm 28.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah [laughs]. You still look 28. Don't worry [laughs]. So can you tell us about one of your first lessons of this year? Maybe describe what that's like? What you do? What your students do?

>> Liz Russillo: Sure. So, we are working here in a hybrid with some of our students being virtual. So -- And I am responsible for all of the students. So in order to ensure that all students are having a similar experience, I worked on creating my lessons in kind of a unique way. So, one of our first lessons that we're going to be doing as any science teacher probably is starting out with is the scientific method. And so, in order to work through the scientific method, I want the kids, no matter the setting that they're in, to be able to work through it on a hands-on approach.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Liz Russillo: So, what I decided to do was I did like a little flipped classroom for my students who were at home that I created, where I just kind of talked to them about some of the steps of the scientific method. And then when the students came in to my classroom, they had on their desk, a candle, a Petri dish, a flask, a little cup of water, and a ball of clay and some matches. And so I wanted them to come up with a question. And they had to use all the materials and to really to think about what type of question they would want to ask. And then, you know, through some guidance, and through some like trial and error, we end up coming up with a question of what would happen to a lit candle placed in a pool of water if a flask was put over it. So, we go through all the steps and we come up with a hypothesis and the students are really able to do a hands-on approach and be able to see what happens in that scenario. And rather than just me, you know, talking about the scientific method or whatnot, the kids are really able to experience it firsthand. And some of the things that I was doing to ensure that all of my students had, you know, access to this was I was partnering up my students who were in the 100% virtual setting with a student who was in the classroom.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Oh, that's really neat.

>> Liz Russillo: So yeah, so they were able to view and I actually had my students really work on their communication skills, because they have to explain, OK, so now I'm going to roll the clay into a ball. And so they really have to work on those skills of communication so that the student at home is able to really get a good understanding of what's going on in the classroom.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Absolutely. That is so neat. I think it's so neat that on that first day, you know, they truly are embodying what it means to be a scientist.

>> Liz Russillo: Yes. I also -- my job teaching freshmen science, is to just get these kids to love science.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Liz Russillo: Because they're going to have so much more time to really, you know, dive deep into chemistry and physics. And this is the year that I want them to get an experience of what it's like to work in science and love it.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah. That's fantastic. So is this lesson different than how you would usually begin the year? Or is this pretty similar to what you would usually do at the start?

>> Liz Russillo: So a little bit of both, actually, because in years past, I've done this lesson, but I've always had the kids work in partners, or work in small groups, and then kind of talk through all the steps together. So it's kind of a little bit more collaborative, where this year, I made sure that all of my students had individual buckets with their own materials that weren't going to be used again.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Right.

>> Liz Russillo: So they were able to, you know, have to work a little more on their own than, you know, having that more collaborative approach.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah, absolutely. So did this teach you anything? Did you learn anything about your students, about teaching in this really unique time, about the way students learn?

>> Liz Russillo: So, the students really love doing anything that's hands-on approach.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Yeah.

>> Liz Russillo: And it's so obvious now, I think more than ever. We haven't been with our students in person since March. And the kids feel like they just really want to be there. And they are so excited when we're doing these hands-on things like I feel like the students almost have more of appreciation for doing these hands-on activities with us.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: Absolutely. Well, for sure you are inspiring me. You're making me think about my own lessons and the ways that I can make sure to still create these hands-on experiences, even though we kind of are isolated sitting, you know, 6 feet apart from each other.

>> Liz Russillo: Right.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: So, I love that. Well, Liz, thank you so much for participating in this interview, for being so transparent about your experience. We are looking forward to sharing all of these insights broadly. And I know you're going to inspire others the way that you are to me. So thanks so much.

>> Liz Russillo: Thank you.

>> Sarah Brown-Wessling: [Background Music] Thank you for listening to the first series of Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Teacher of the Year Program. It's our honor to elevate the voices of educators across the country and provide them with a national platform to amplify their message and advocate on behalf of their students and colleagues. Please share these lessons on social media with the hashtag ntoy20. That's hashtag N-T-O-Y 2, zero. Let's keep the conversation going.

[ Music ]