Closed Captions
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[Music]
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I want to welcome our audience to this
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learn podcast. It is in these podcasts
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that learn wants you to meet experts
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that can help you in your work as school
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leaders or perhaps partners in the
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education landscape. The topic for this
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podcast is tailored learning
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experiences. And our guest is Shannon
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Burke, founder and CEO of Engaged
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toLearn. On the learn website, you will
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find on the research page under the COE
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of innovation and the element of
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tailored learning experiences, research
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in this area being discussed along with
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potential resources to access. Shannon,
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I want to welcome you again to the learn
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podcast. It's good to have you here to
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speak to us about this important topic.
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I know you have an extensive research
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and work background in the area of
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tailored learning experiences, have been
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recognized by many for your expertise,
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including the organization Women We
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Admire, who recognized you as a top 50
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CEO in 2022, and you are also recognized
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with the 2022 Enterprising Women of the
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Year award. Would you please share with
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the audience some of that background
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experience that has resulted in that
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award, especially around tailored
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learning experiences? Thank you, Dave.
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Thanks for having me. And this is my
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favorite topic.
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Because as much as I love adult learning
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and everything that goes around, you
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know, along with professional learning
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experiences, the reason to revamp
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professional learning is really to get
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to the heart of the student learning
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experience. And this is why I went into
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education. I became a teacher because um
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my sister and I who are 15 months apart
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in age um I loved school. School worked
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for me perfectly. I graduated
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validictorian. She was a high school
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dropout. we're only two IQ points apart.
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So, it had nothing to do with IQ. It was
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literally that we needed different
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learning experiences in school to
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thrive. And so, that that really
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prompted me knowing, you know, the
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creativity she has, the curious mind,
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the brilliance she could, you know,
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bring to the world if her gifts had been
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utilized, the uniqueness of her had been
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utilized in school. Um, and knowing that
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there had to be many, many more people
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like that out there, that's what
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prompted me to become a teacher. And so,
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um, that background and experience and
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passion for this topic, um, has really
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driven my 32-year career in education.
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And so, I'm excited to talk about it
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today. And I think that, you know, the
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value of learn specifically is that
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there are so many trends in education
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that have tried to get at this. The
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value of learn is that it's based on
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what is the real research out there,
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right? and what is actionable out of
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that research that can be applied in
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different districts and you know
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classrooms. And so I I think that's
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that's an important differentiator in
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this particular topic because
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it feels like to me again in in being in
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education for 32 years that we've that
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we have tried to address this in a lot
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of different ways over the years. um
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because of the the foundation of
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education, it uh public education in
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this country wasn't was built to be
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mass-produced and it wasn't really built
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to tailor to individual students. And so
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for the 32 years I've been in education
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anyway, we've been trying to figure this
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out. You know, we've been trying to
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address it because we know um that that
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every learner needs uh kind of a
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customized
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learning experience based on their
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unique needs. And and Shannon, boy, you
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couldn't have said that any better. And
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it's interesting you talked about your
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experience and your sister's experience
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of school and how really schools have
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been tailored to individuals like
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yourself and and to a large degree even
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like myself and and we we've done that
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for a reason obviously in the past, but
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the economics and the realities have
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changed and the opportunities have
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changed frankly with technology and and
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and such. And so, you know, I'm excited
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to hear that you are looking down this
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path very seriously working with the
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clients you work with. And I know you
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spent a lot of time really researching
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this, but not just researching it,
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putting it into practice and seeing how
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it works. And so, you know, could you
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right now just kind of talk to us a
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little bit about the research and the
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work experiences you've had around this
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um uh tailored learning experiences and
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how to help districts get to this space.
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Absolutely. So, one thing that's
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interesting is in my very first year of
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teaching when I was 22, I was teaching
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uh seniors who had not graduated yet,
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but they had failed the exit exam four
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or more times. And I used a method
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called learning styles. I don't know if
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you remember learning styles, but in the
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60s there was some research around
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learning styles that um Reed and Kenneth
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Dunn had done out of St. John's and it
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uh the researches now some of that has
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been debunked um but it was about 21
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different elements that essentially said
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it was it was it was landmark because it
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was the first time that someone had kind
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of quantified these might be the
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different ways or different aspects of
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the physical learning environment um and
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the sensory learning environment that
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you might need to adjust for different
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learners. And so that was just
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conceptually was really uh pretty pretty
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groundbreaking at that time to say well
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not everyone should sit in a desk in a
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row and listen to a lecture. maybe
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there's some other ways to do this,
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right? And so I think that was really
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important. And then I'm sure I mean the
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audience is familiar with the work
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research out of Harvard with project
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zero that was all around multiple
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intelligences and you know that and that
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work and then kind of from that point it
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it began to explode and there have been
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many trends in education around you know
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problem based learning project based
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learning uh when employers started
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getting involved and saying we need this
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different kind of skill set and so that
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impact on education and there have been
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trans you know challenge based learning
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brainbased learning and there's all you
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know you could go on to name uh all of
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the different trends. And I think what's
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really important is to is to say we now
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have the research. What's really
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exciting is when we built public
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education in this country, um you know,
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decades and decades ago, we didn't have
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the research that we have on the brain.
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Now we now we have brain imaging
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technology. We have true um in-depth
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research on how the brain works and how
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um interests, passions, and aptitudes
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actually influence motivation. and
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therefore actually influence learning to
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a great degree. And so if if our endgame
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is to you know ensure that students are
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you know able to have agency over their
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own life and their own learning and and
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their ability to contribute to the world
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and all the things that we say about
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what we want from education then we we
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need to pay attention to that research
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to be able to tailor those learning
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experiences. So I think all those
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attempts all those you know based
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attempts have been basically trying to
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move from instructional models to
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learning models to you know move from
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the one sizefits-all to the uh ability
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to as you said differentiation is
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another one to differentiate or tailor
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to each individual student and that
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seems like a heavy lift unless you have
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a system and the tools to do it right
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like a teacher can't use like IEPs for
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every kid you and 35 students in a you
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know in a class or 140 students in a
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day. That's that's unreasonable. But
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there are tools today that can um
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facilitate this process and teachers can
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use um to make it work and to scale it
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and and for it to be feasible in the
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system. And so it's it's really an
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exciting time because of the research
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and the tools that are available to
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truly make this actually a reality. It
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strikes me as you're talking about that
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Shannon that it's really important to
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understand those elements of the child
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right before you even talk about how
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they have a different experience. You've
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got to actually understand the child
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better. And that's been the complication
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at least when I was a a teacher and I'd
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have 160 kids in a day. It was hard to
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understand every child um and much less
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a handful of children that I that I had
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in my classroom. Right. So that's one of
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the things. And the other you pointed
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out is we actually probably have to
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place more onus on the child in terms of
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controlling that experience because a
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teacher can't differentiate for that
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many students at one time. You can't
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create IEPs in that way. It's not it's
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not doable and that's that's really
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important for the listening audience to
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to hear from you. Do you want to expand
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on that a little bit more or Sure. So uh
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so yeah to address both the things you
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said. So I think that the tool set
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involves a set of competencies for the
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educator because as you mentioned we
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were both secondary so we both had you
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know similar like you know you go
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through that day of 150 160 kids you
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know to be able to do that
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differentiation you have to have some
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tools that feed that well fortunately
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the technology is available today to so
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IO is an example there's other examples
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out there of of tools that will allow
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you to do what we used to do manually as
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an interest inventory or you know some
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type of um aptitude tests, you know, all
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of those kind of assessments and surveys
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that have been out there. But like you
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said, the first the first thing is you
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have to gather information essentially
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about each individual student. But then
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what do you do with all of that, right?
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You can't then design individual
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lessons. And so then that next step is
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what are the tools that we can utilize
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as educators to design learning
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experiences that can truly be
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individualized for each child. And then
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what are the tools and there is a tool
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set for each of these and we'll have
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those on the website. Um what are the
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tools then that can allow the
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facilitation of that. So once you get
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into the facilitation of it, it's two
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parts, right? You have both the
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protocols and the tools for the educator
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and you have the protocols and the tools
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for the learner because as you mentioned
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not only is it um does it make it
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scalable for the learner to take agency
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and ownership over the experience but
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the research actually shows that then if
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they're setting their own goals etc. you
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know even according to Hadtie's research
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you know that could be the number one
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influence on students actually achieving
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is setting their own goals and owning
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their own learning. But in the past
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there haven't been tools to facilitate
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that. Now there are. So um those tools
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that will organize the experience and
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and ensure that it's actually
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productive. Um because in a
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standardsbased environment, one of the
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things that people are afraid of and
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rightfully so is you can't just have
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chaos and people can't just be doing
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anything they want. And so now we have
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the tools to organize it so it can still
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be standardsbased but also aligned to um
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those individual interests, aptitudes,
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etc. And folks can individual learners
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even as young as prek and kinder we've
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seen this happening where they can
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actually take control of their own
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learning. Fascinating to hear these
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students be able to articulate
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um what they're doing, why they're doing
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it, and how they're doing it. and every
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learner mastering standards but in in
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different ways. Um being collaborative,
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not just sitting on a computer because
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we do have adaptive software but we all
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have learned very clearly that it's not
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just sitting on a computer and letting
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the computer tell you what to do instead
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of the teacher tell you what to do that
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it's actually being able to have agency
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over that entire experience. So very
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exciting
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um fascinating to see in action what
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every educator has dreamed about from
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the time that they you know got into
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education was to be able to see a
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classroom where every learner's engaged
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doing things that they are enjoying but
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also benefiting from um being pushed in
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that you know zone of proximal challenge
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that they need um all of those things
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happening um and the teacher being a
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great coach and facilitator of that
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experience but it being you know
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different things at different times I
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that that's that's the key. That's what
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we've been trying to work towards all
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these years and and it's to me the most
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exciting time in education because we
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have the tools available today to make
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that happen. Well, you you answered that
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with so much vigor and and enthusiasm
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and obviously you're passionate about
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this. It it's interesting because my
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next question was what would be the
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predictable positive outcomes and I
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think you leaned into those pretty well
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u with with your answer but uh I guess I
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would ask then understanding those kind
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of positive things that we can be
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passionate about in the classroom that
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can really uh you know push into the
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students uniqueness. What are some of
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those uh potential barriers to this work
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that you have seen? And I know you've
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been working with districts and this is
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relatively new work, but you've been
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working with districts to try to do
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this. What what have been those
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implementation barriers you have seen
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that you would want to make sure
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districts were aware of as they went
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down this pathway?
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Well, I think and again um like you
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mentioned even as an assistant
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superintendent, this was a focus of
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mine. Um you know, we created a a a
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separate campus, you know, and I think
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sometimes this is how it starts. people
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go like, well, this classroom or this
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campus or this program um when this is
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really right for every learner and so
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scaling this as a system has been really
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the impetus of the work that we've tried
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to do um and been really successful with
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by putting systems in place for you know
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to scale it across a district. So it's
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not just you know every learner really
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deserves this type of experience. So I
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think the barriers are implementation
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right um changing practice and so there
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there are system level changes that have
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to take place in terms of always culture
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and mindset but then also how do you
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serve up curriculum you know um that's
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one of them you know you can't um have
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scripted curriculum and expect this to
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work right I mean those two things are
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in conflict um how do you do assessments
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how do you do your interim assessments
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you know how do and you have to have
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data and feedback
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um to be able to make sure that you're
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making progress, people are held
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accountable for the standards, the
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learners are too. So, that's important.
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But how do you do that in this type of
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system? Um and there are answers to all
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of those questions. Um and then of
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course, how do you support individual
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teachers as they transform their
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classroom practice essentially um and
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support the competencies that they need
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to move from um delivery of instruction
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to facilitation of learning. And that's
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a you know those are two different
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things. Um and the the beautiful thing
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is those those are barriers but you they
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really need individualized support. And
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it it is not just um analyzing student
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data that will get you there. It's
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actually literally instructional
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strategies but they're different
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strategies than what you use for a whole
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group. And so um the the exciting thing
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is that teachers as they move towards
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that and they start to see the outcomes
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for learners that is the reason why they
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got into education in the first place
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they get very encouraged in in that
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practice if they're supported along the
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way. Yeah. And I think with the use of
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adaptive technology, you talked about
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that earlier and and these mind shift
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changes and and putting the teacher in
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that position of facilitator or coach, I
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think it actually makes the job of being
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an educator that much more invigorating,
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that much more rewarding. Um, and uh
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they become less about assessment and uh
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instructors and more about educators.
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And so for me, that's really exciting.
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Um, now you've worked with a number of
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districts on this. Um, is there a story
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you'd like to share about a district or
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a school that's really done this? Well,
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wow, there are so many, Dave. Um, you
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know, we toured some together where I
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remember you saying something about,
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wow, the collaborative hum, right, in
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this building, you know, just, uh,
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seeing the culture shifts and the
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transformations. Um, we should we we'll
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list we'll let's put a list on the learn
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website because I I don't want to really
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call out one without being able to show
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um uh all of them because there are so
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many you know and and by the way the
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thing that I love about what we've seen
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with this is small districts very small
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districts um you know 500 student well
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we have one district that's 22 was 22
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kids when we started um and so small
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districts to very large urban districts
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suburban mid- urban everything in
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between the size of the district is not
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a barrier in this. Um, and the beautiful
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thing is, you know, Dan Pink said, if
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it's if it can't be automated, it will
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be. This is the kind of role that cannot
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be automated for teachers. When you're
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in this role, it cannot be automated.
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Um, but it can be scaled. And so, um,
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it's very exciting that we're in this
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time in education that we can be part of
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that. And so, with that in mind, if
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there is a district or partner who's
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interested in exploring this work more
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deeply with you, how would they go about
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contacting you, arranging for those
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conversations?
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Well, our website engaged tolearn.org.
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In fact, we put a lot of free resources
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around this up on the website um during
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the pandemic to help people think about
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it from that perspective and not just um
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you know, put kids on a computer. Um and
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then of course um my LinkedIn and
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Twitter um Shannon K. Burke and um
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people can reach out to me directly.
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Shannon atengagedtolearn.org
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in the book connect the dots that I
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published uh recently or in July. Um
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there's a whole there's a section on
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this and so there's um some information
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that way too. Wonderful. Well, thank you
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Shannon and thank you for being a part
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of the important work of supporting our
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students in schools and thank you for
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your participation in a learn podcast.
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Thanks for what you're doing.