It’s easy to see a child’s education as a path determined by grades, test scores and extracurricular activities. But genuine learning is about so much more than the points schools tally. MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators are helping all children succeed.
How Finnish Education Inspires U.S. Schools, Still
How Finnish Education Inspires U.S. Schools, Still
MindShift Team
Ki Sung
Podcast host/Senior editor
Ki is the senior editor of MindShift. Prior to joining MindShift in 2014, she was a digital news trainer at NPR, where she gained valuable lessons about how people learn and the support needed to implement change. She cares deeply about finding solutions that help children and loves meeting educators who create meaningful learning experiences for their students. At KQED, she leads diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and spearheaded our first source audit. She makes incredible kimchi, writes fiction and dreams of hiking the Camino de Santiago.
Nimah Gobir
Podcast host/Writer
Nimah is a writer and producer for MindShift. She has worked with young learners in many capacities including teacher, curriculum developer, and youth media producer. Each role offered a window into the different ways caregivers and educators strive to meet children’s needs and promote meaningful learning experiences in and out of the classroom. Nimah is committed to exploring stories about how to make learning more equitable, accessible, and magical for all students.
Chris Hambrick
Editor
Chris is an editor for KQED Podcasts and loves holding the big picture vision for shows. Previously they were a producer for Spooked Podcast from Snap Judgment Studios, host for The Tracklist on KGPC, as well as White Rabbit Story Hour podcast. They have contributed to KALW, KQED’s Bay Curious, and facilitated for national oral history project, StoryCorps. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can catch her telling stories on the Mortified, SFLitCrawl or Moth stages.
Seth Samuel
Sound Designer
Seth is a six-time Emmy Award-winning composer and sound designer. He is the score composer for PBS and KQED’s video series Deep Look, composer for the podcast Against The Rules With Michael Lewis; and the sound designer for podcasts from KQED, KALW, CPR, Radiotopia, Mother Jones, and Al Jazeera. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his brilliant wife, his brilliant son, his brilliant Australian shepherd, and their latest foster cat (the intelligence of which varies from cat to cat).
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Support for MindShift is provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, sponsors and the members of KQED.
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, Rita Pierson, a middle school teacher from Texas, walked onto a stage, wearing a bright red jacket, to deliver an unscripted speech to TED Conference attendees. The video of that speech would become one of the most viewed TED Talks at that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In just under eight minutes, she made a simple, unforgettable argument: kids don’t learn from people they don’t like. The talk, titled \u003ca href=\"https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion\">Every Kid Needs a Champion\u003c/a>, is often the first time people hear someone describe teaching not just as instruction, but as a relationship. The video has become a staple of teacher professional development sessions across the country in staff meetings and college classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a decade later, the message lands in a very different educational climate. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/what-new-survey-says-about-teachers-plans-leave-their-jobs\">Teachers report high levels of stress\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/overview-teacher-shortages-2025-factsheet\">staffing shortages are common\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cps.northeastern.edu/news/teacher-burnout-crisis-addressing-compassion-fatigue-and-the-impact-of-praxis-shock/\">burnout remains a major concern\u003c/a>. Exploring her presentation today raises important questions: What does it actually take to be the kind of teacher Pierson described? And is it sustainable?\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2909467136\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The teacher behind the TED Talk\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before her talk went viral, Rita Pierson was already well known among educators in Texas. She came from a family of teachers and spent decades working in classrooms and advocating for students who often felt overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her daughter, Kristin Pierson Forrest, remembers that relationships were at the center of everything her mother did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She helped remind teachers that it’s okay to say ‘I love you.’ It’s okay to let the kids know that they are loved,” Forrest said. “There’s so many kids out there who don’t know that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That idea shows up clearly in the talk. Teachers, she said, have the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60094/strategies-for-building-deeper-relationships-with-students-through-academic-content\">power to build relationships\u003c/a>, even with students who struggle in school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her daughter said Pierson also understood the emotional demands of that kind of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reminded me quickly [during] my first year teaching that I’m no good to my kids if I’m exhausted,” Forrest said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/SFnMTHhKdkw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A message passed from teacher to teacher\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For many educators, Pierson’s talk appears during professional development at the start of the school year. That’s how Melissa K. Stanley encountered it when she was teaching in K–12 classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really resonated with me,” Stanley said. “I felt like I was meeting someone who viewed education and viewed the role of a teacher the same way that I did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today she trains future teachers of secondary social studies education at Central Michigan University, where Pierson’s message is still part of the curriculum. Before her students begin their pre-service teaching placements, Stanley asks them to watch the talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video helps her introduce students to what educators call \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60112/learning-from-students-families-as-a-step-toward-equity-in-literacy-instruction\">asset-based pedagogy\u003c/a>, an approach that focuses on students’ strengths and experiences rather than what students lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/new-focus-strength-based-learning\">Studies\u003c/a> have found that students often show stronger engagement, greater belonging and better academic outcomes when teachers build on students’ strengths and experiences rather than focusing primarily on deficits. Instead of asking what students lack, teachers focus on what they bring to the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for some future educators, Stanley said, this approach is new and they don’t know where to start. This video helps her pre-service teachers start talking about what it means to build relationships with students so they can start to apply asset-based pedagogy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re about to step into classrooms for the first time and they’re nervous,” said Stanley.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>When caring becomes exhausting by design\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The kind of relational teaching Pierson described requires emotional labor. For teachers already juggling large class sizes, administrative demands and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59748/how-perspective-taking-can-improve-classroom-behavior-and-teacher-student-relationships\">behavioral challenges\u003c/a>, that energy can run out quickly. Teacher burnout has been a major concern in recent years and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/09/27/a-dwindling-number-of-new-u-s-college-graduates-have-a-degree-in-education/\">fewer people are entering the profession\u003c/a>. Surveys consistently show high levels of stress among educators and \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-increase-the-retention-of-early-career-teachers/\">many teachers leave the profession within their first five years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers like professor \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.unc.edu/people/fellows/ganga-bey/\">Ganga Bey at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u003c/a> are looking more closely at the emotional dynamics of teaching and how educators can sustain themselves while still showing up for students. Bey studies how people respond to stress and why similar experiences can affect individuals differently. “Not everyone who is exposed to stress will deal with it in the same way,” Bey said. “Dealing with it has a lot of implications for how that stress will impact people’s health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teaching provides plenty of opportunities for stressful encounters. Examples may include a heated argument with a student or a classroom moment that spirals unexpectedly. According to Bey, the way teachers interpret those moments can influence how stressful they become physically and emotionally. For instance, if a teacher interprets a student’s outburst as a personal attack, the body may register the encounter as a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the teacher understands the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66347/ross-greene-what-if-bad-behavior-isnt-the-problem\">behavior as a sign the student is struggling\u003c/a>, the response can shift. “You wouldn’t be treating someone badly like that if you yourself weren’t suffering in some way,” Bey added. That reframing doesn’t mean ignoring harmful behavior. Instead, Bey said it can reduce the intensity of the stress response and make it easier to stay grounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bey describes this mindset as part of what she calls a \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-increase-the-retention-of-early-career-teachers/\">vitalizing identity\u003c/a>, which is a way of understanding yourself and others that emphasizes connection, compassion and shared humanity. At its core, she said, it’s about expanding the boundaries of who we include in our circle of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burnout often occurs, Bey said, when educators consistently place students’ needs above their own without receiving the support they need. “One would hope that because teachers give up so much of themselves that others would pour so much into them to sustain the work that they do. And that does not happen,” she said. Instead, many teachers are left trying to set boundaries that school systems often do not support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Love, to me, is the idea of opening our ego boundaries to include everyone else,” Bey said, and teachers have to include themselves in their own circles of care. In other words, caring for students cannot come at the expense of caring for yourself, which is the lesson Pierson emphasized with her daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rita Pierson’s continued legacy \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Stanley’s college students, Pierson’s talk often becomes a reference point throughout their training. They return to it when they’re thinking about classroom management, lesson design or how to respond to difficult moments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a discussion about what that looks like and how do we keep our enthusiasm for teaching when things are hard—when things don’t go as well as we want them to, despite best intentions or despite support that we provide for students,” said Stanley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/jc95sq/if_i_have_to_sit_through_that_rita_pierson_ted/\">fatigue that comes with repeated views\u003c/a> of the TED Talk during professional development, Pierson’s message continues to resonate with educators. Stanley believes that’s because the talk gives them a license to teach the way they want to. That doesn’t mean the work becomes easy; building relationships with students takes time, patience and emotional effort. But Pierson’s legacy reminds educators that those relationships are not separate from learning. They are what make learning possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many teachers, that idea still feels worth holding onto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2909467136\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> It’s summertime. School hasn’t started yet. The hallways are still quiet, and the kids are still sleeping in, but teachers? They’re back in school early to attend mandatory professional development sessions. Also known as PD. These might include discussing new protocols, hashing out curriculum and getting inspired for the new school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> If I asked teachers ‘What’s the one piece of PD you just know is coming?’ A lot of them would say the same thing: “Every kid needs a champion.” A TED Talk given by a teacher named Rita Pierson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rita Pierson:\u003c/strong> Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In our last episode, we talked about how teaching is harder than ever – and how schools tend to focus on supporting kids while overlooking the adults who make learning possible: teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In this episode, we take a look at Rita Pierson’s viral talk and what it tells us about how relationships shape learning. We’ll meet the people who knew Rita best, the educators who carry her philosophy forward, and the researcher studying what happens to our bodies and minds when we lead with love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Every time somebody finds out I teach middle school, they’re like, ‘Oh bless you.’ Like that’s the that’s the first reaction. And I’m like, Yeah, I know, because everybody remembers middle school is such a hard transition\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Beth Jarzabek teaches English in Ludlow, Massachusetts. She works with the kids who struggle the most with reading and writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I have all three grades. So I teach sixth, seventh, and eighth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Since her students need more support, there’s a stigma about being placed in her class\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Like, ‘Oh, you have to go to Mrs. J’s class.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> These are kids who often mask academic frustration with misbehavior. They might act out. They shut down. But Beth sees through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek\u003c/strong>: Their other teachers may not see them the same way I do. So I try to make those connections and and try to be their champion\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The idea of being a students’ champion comes straight from Rita Pierson. Like many teachers Beth first watched her TED Talk video during professional development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> There were people like, you know, who were kind of rolling their eyes and whatnot. But it resonated with maybe when she talked about the kids that she had that, you know were the kids that were struggling, that the and the fact that she said to them, they put us all together to show everybody else how it’s done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Here’s the clip from Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, you were chosen to be in my class. Because I am the best teacher and you are the best students. They put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> And I was like, oh, I love that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> So Beth decided to bring that same energy into her own classroom, especially for kids who rarely get encouraged by adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I started, you know, just trying to be that hype person, you know, when I go when I would go into my neighbor’s classroom, I would be like, Oh, which kids can I steal from you? You know, I’m like, oh, or if a kid got transferred in, I was like, I found out how cool you were, and I told them that I want, wanted you in my classroom. And it gave the kids like a little boost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Or I’ll say to them, you know, like, hey, I’m telling all these people how awesome you are. I’m like, you gotta show them how awesome you are. And they’re like, okay, well, for you, I’ll do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> she’s tapping into something we know from decades of research. A positive relationship with even one caring adult is one of the strongest predictors of: better attendance, stronger academic performance, and improved social-emotional skills\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Several studies find that students with strong teacher relationships can gain the equivalent of up to an extra year of learning — especially those who struggle the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And here’s something else: supportive teacher–student relationships protect teachers too. Studies show that educators who feel connected to their students report significantly lower burnout and higher job satisfaction, even in high-stress environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I don’t have to be your favorite, but I’m still gonna go to bat with you. You are still going to know that you’re safe with me. You are still going to know that you have a valued place in my classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She reminds herself of that, even on the hardest days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I try to remember when everything is falling apart I’m here for them to be that person in this tumultuous time in their life is really such an honor. Sometimes it’s easier to remember that than others. And there’s definitely days that I I go home and I like I’m under a weighted blanket. But I try to bring myself back to that, you know, what an honor it is to be the safe place for these kids because some of them don’t have it otherwise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Up next, we’ll explore why Rita Pierson’s message still resonates — who she was, how teachers are putting her ideas into practice, and what it takes to care for students without burning out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita Pierson’s TED Talk reached millions of teachers, but behind the scenes, the story of how it even happened is almost as special as the talk itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I joined Ted working two days a week to try and help them figure out whether or not they could make TV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And I said, Of course you can do TV, it’s SNL for nerds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet Blake , was the head of television for TED in 2013. She was producing a TV special on education — it included John Legend, Bill Gates, Sir Ken Robinson… big names. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> Through YouTube and I came across Rita. And the video that was that existed online wasn’t great, but I could see she had this enormous personality and that she was so authentic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After seeing clips of Rita giving teaching tips, she spent months trying to track her down\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I was getting a bit desperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita wasn’t a celebrity educator at the time. She was a longtime teacher and administrator in Houston who came from a family of educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And eventually I was calling different school districts in Houston. And I left a message for her at a school\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Then one evening Juliet’s phone rang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I got a call one evening, and she just went, ‘Hello,’ and I went, ‘Rita, Rita Pearson?’ And she went, ‘Sure am.’ And I went, ‘I have been looking you for you for months.’ She said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m producing a show for Ted.’ And she said these magical words that made me fall in love with her immediately. ‘Who’s Ted?’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> From there, they talked on the phone almost every night—once Rita got home from teaching. They were trying to figure out what she might talk about for her presentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> She would talk to me about her mother and her father being educators and the schools that she’d worked in\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita could move seamlessly between heartbreaking stories about students and cracking jokes about the realities of teaching. And slowly, through those late-night phone calls, the TED Talk started to take shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And then she said, I need to write this, don’t I? I said, Yes, this is how it works. You not only have to write it, you have to learn it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But when Rita arrived in New York for rehearsal…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And she goes, ‘Honey, I didn’t learn it.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet was panicking… Rita was not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And she goes, You sit here and I’ll be on the stage and give me, tell me when I’ve got to wrap up, do this, and I’ll bring it to a close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And I just thought, you know what? I just trust this woman to be brilliant. I just know that she’s going to do it and it’s gonna be great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> That talk given live and mostly off the cuff and it is the one millions of teachers know today. Rita, on stage, speaking straight from the heart about how relationships are important for learning\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection…relationships]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet remembers her as one of the most authentic speakers she’s ever worked with. And Rita’s daughter, Kristin Pierson Forrest says this all makes sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> My mother’s never written down a speech in her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> there might be maybe some bullet points, but she always knew exactly what she wanted to say and how she wanted to get it across.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir\u003c/strong>: Kristin says her mom’s taught elementary and junior high students for over 40 years. Her entire philosophy came down to one lesson:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> It’s okay to say I love you. It’s okay to let the kids know that that that they are loved, because there’s so many kids out there who don’t know that, who don’t inherently know that they are love. And so to explicitly tell kids, I care about you, you know, I’m here for you. I love you, and I’m gonna work my butt off for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kristin spent 15 years teaching in Houston herself, and she says her mother’s approach shaped her own practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> her work was centered around relationships. It was centered around relationship building and that was the central part of who I got to be as a teacher because I got that from her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But she’s also quick to point out that her mom wasn’t naïve about the realities of teaching. Rita loved her students fiercely, but she knew that caring deeply for students wasn’t enough to protect her from burnout or from a system that often asks too much with too little support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> And she reminded me quickly, my first year teaching, that I’m no good to my kids if I’m exhausted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: When Kristin had an especially hard day in the classroom. Rita would say, “You get 5 minutes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> It just means that you know, your sadness, there’s an end point to it. So whatever that five minutes is, it might be a day, it might be a week, it might be a month. But just know that at some point there’s going to be an end to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kristin says those lessons from her mom took on a very different meaning not long after the TED Talk was filmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> After you know, they shot that TED talk, she she passed about three months later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kirstin isn’t in the classroom anymore, but she still works with educators. she brings her mom’s presence with her everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> I think about my mom every day, and it’s been close to 13 years since she was gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> And even the day she passed, I had to remind myself, okay, you get five minutes. I don’t know if my five minutes is over yet. I really I really don’t know. But I I haven’t stayed in a sad place clearly, but but it’s definitely reminded me to pick myself up, dust myself off, and and what’s the next thing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> More than a decade later, Rita Pierson’s talk is still finding new audiences – not just among teachers, but among the people learning to become teachers. And that’s where Melissa Stanley comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> I am Dr. Melissa K. Stanley and I am the director of secondary social studies education at Central Michigan University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> I teach social studies methods courses to help prepare them to be social studies teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She first saw Rita’s talk back when she was teaching in K–12 classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> And it really resonated with me and resonated with the way that I taught. I felt like I was meeting someone who viewed education and viewed the role of a teacher the same way that I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And once Melissa became a teacher-educator at Central Michigan University. The talk became part of how she teaches. It’s a required video during the semester that her class does their pre-student teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> They’re pretty nervous. And that is the semester that they do their pre-student teaching. It’s is the first real experience that they’ll get with students in going into classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Melissa uses the video to introduce students to asset-based pedagogy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> It’s looking at the whole student and it’s valuing what they bring and building relationships with them when the history of education has traditionally been kind of a deficit approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> That means seeing students through their problems rather than their potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Studies show that when teachers take an asset-based approach, valuing students’ cultural strengths, community knowledge, and lived identities, students show stronger academic engagement, better attendance, and improved well-being. And teachers themselves experience more purpose and lower burnout because relationships feel reciprocal rather than adversarial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> That really helps us have conversations and then use it as a gateway into conversations with students about how we adopt an asset bit based pedagogy and how we value the whole student and we value the strengths they bring to the classroom, the diversity they bring to the classroom, and how we work with that to build relationships and then also help them grow and meet their goals and their dreams for their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> for some preservice teachers, this is a brand-new idea. Their own schooling may not have included teachers who championed them. So imagining themselves as that kind of teacher can be hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> It generally generates a lot of questions about okay, how do we do this? This is great. I would love to get there. That’s kind of an end goal for me. But what are the steps along the way? What does that look like in practical application?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They also discuss Rita’s line about joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk:\u003c/strong>Teaching and learning should bring joy.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> But if you’re engaging in this type of teaching and this type of work with students, not every moment is going to be joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk: \u003c/strong>So teachers become great actors and great actresses. And we come to work when we don’t feel like it. And we listen to policy that doesn’t make sense. And we teach anyway. We teach anyway because that’s what we do. ]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> So we have a discussion about what that looks like and how do we keep our enthusiasm for teaching when things are hard, when things don’t go as well as we want them to, despite best intentions or despite support that we provide for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Melissa is naming something important. Teachers want to show up for kids the way Rita did, but the reality is that teaching is stressful. And not just the piles of grading or the endless meetings—interpersonal stress can hit teachers particularly hard. It affects their bodies and can leave them feeling emotionally exhausted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ganga Bey is a researcher at the University of North Carolina. She studies how stress affects the body and why stress hits some people harder than others. And one thing she’s interested in is how the way we think about other people changes how stress affects us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Love to me is this idea of opening our ego boundaries to include everyone else in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In simpler terms: seeing other people’s well-being as connected to your own. That can matter a lot in the classroom. Because when a student lashes out, a teacher can interpret that in different ways. They can think: This kid doesn’t respect me. Or: This kid is struggling right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And Ganga says that shift matters physically—not just emotionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> So because of that, I’m literally gonna process that in a less stressful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now to be clear—this is not the same thing as toxic positivity. This isn’t: ‘Just smile through abuse.’ And it’s not: ‘Teachers should sacrifice themselves for kids.’ In fact, Ganga says one of the biggest problems in education is that teachers are already being asked to give too much of themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Teachers are a particular group of people. Who encounter a tremendous amount of stressors and some of them are avoidable stressors right and part of the way that we organize our society teachers are undervalued um overworked and and live in a largely thankless space\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers are reporting record-high stress levels, elevated rates of depression, and many are leaving the profession within the first five years. Ganga says burnout often happens when teachers keep putting everyone else’s needs ahead of their own for too long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> I think burnout happens when you have pushed out, pushed through as much as possibly can because you have centered the needs of these children that you have been serving above even your own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> So her argument isn’t “love harder.” It’s that teachers have to include themselves in that care too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> It means that when my body is signaling to me that I am tired…we give equal weight to our needs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong>That balance—staying open to students without completely draining yourself—is hard. But Ganga says people like Rita Pierson matter because that care seem possible\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> I love to hear about Rita because I know that there are other people out there like that who embody this. And the more that we make them into real human beings and make them accessible, the more than I think we can convince others that it’s worth endeavoring to even be like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Regardless of what the world right now may make us think, that it is worth it for us to pursue a world and a society and hold on to the idea that being loving can be the norm.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, Rita Pierson, a middle school teacher from Texas, walked onto a stage, wearing a bright red jacket, to deliver an unscripted speech to TED Conference attendees. The video of that speech would become one of the most viewed TED Talks at that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In just under eight minutes, she made a simple, unforgettable argument: kids don’t learn from people they don’t like. The talk, titled \u003ca href=\"https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion\">Every Kid Needs a Champion\u003c/a>, is often the first time people hear someone describe teaching not just as instruction, but as a relationship. The video has become a staple of teacher professional development sessions across the country in staff meetings and college classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a decade later, the message lands in a very different educational climate. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/what-new-survey-says-about-teachers-plans-leave-their-jobs\">Teachers report high levels of stress\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/overview-teacher-shortages-2025-factsheet\">staffing shortages are common\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cps.northeastern.edu/news/teacher-burnout-crisis-addressing-compassion-fatigue-and-the-impact-of-praxis-shock/\">burnout remains a major concern\u003c/a>. Exploring her presentation today raises important questions: What does it actually take to be the kind of teacher Pierson described? And is it sustainable?\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2909467136\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The teacher behind the TED Talk\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Before her talk went viral, Rita Pierson was already well known among educators in Texas. She came from a family of teachers and spent decades working in classrooms and advocating for students who often felt overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her daughter, Kristin Pierson Forrest, remembers that relationships were at the center of everything her mother did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She helped remind teachers that it’s okay to say ‘I love you.’ It’s okay to let the kids know that they are loved,” Forrest said. “There’s so many kids out there who don’t know that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That idea shows up clearly in the talk. Teachers, she said, have the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60094/strategies-for-building-deeper-relationships-with-students-through-academic-content\">power to build relationships\u003c/a>, even with students who struggle in school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But her daughter said Pierson also understood the emotional demands of that kind of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She reminded me quickly [during] my first year teaching that I’m no good to my kids if I’m exhausted,” Forrest said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/SFnMTHhKdkw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A message passed from teacher to teacher\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For many educators, Pierson’s talk appears during professional development at the start of the school year. That’s how Melissa K. Stanley encountered it when she was teaching in K–12 classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really resonated with me,” Stanley said. “I felt like I was meeting someone who viewed education and viewed the role of a teacher the same way that I did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today she trains future teachers of secondary social studies education at Central Michigan University, where Pierson’s message is still part of the curriculum. Before her students begin their pre-service teaching placements, Stanley asks them to watch the talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The video helps her introduce students to what educators call \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60112/learning-from-students-families-as-a-step-toward-equity-in-literacy-instruction\">asset-based pedagogy\u003c/a>, an approach that focuses on students’ strengths and experiences rather than what students lack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/new-focus-strength-based-learning\">Studies\u003c/a> have found that students often show stronger engagement, greater belonging and better academic outcomes when teachers build on students’ strengths and experiences rather than focusing primarily on deficits. Instead of asking what students lack, teachers focus on what they bring to the table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for some future educators, Stanley said, this approach is new and they don’t know where to start. This video helps her pre-service teachers start talking about what it means to build relationships with students so they can start to apply asset-based pedagogy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re about to step into classrooms for the first time and they’re nervous,” said Stanley.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>When caring becomes exhausting by design\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The kind of relational teaching Pierson described requires emotional labor. For teachers already juggling large class sizes, administrative demands and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59748/how-perspective-taking-can-improve-classroom-behavior-and-teacher-student-relationships\">behavioral challenges\u003c/a>, that energy can run out quickly. Teacher burnout has been a major concern in recent years and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/09/27/a-dwindling-number-of-new-u-s-college-graduates-have-a-degree-in-education/\">fewer people are entering the profession\u003c/a>. Surveys consistently show high levels of stress among educators and \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-increase-the-retention-of-early-career-teachers/\">many teachers leave the profession within their first five years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers like professor \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.unc.edu/people/fellows/ganga-bey/\">Ganga Bey at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u003c/a> are looking more closely at the emotional dynamics of teaching and how educators can sustain themselves while still showing up for students. Bey studies how people respond to stress and why similar experiences can affect individuals differently. “Not everyone who is exposed to stress will deal with it in the same way,” Bey said. “Dealing with it has a lot of implications for how that stress will impact people’s health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teaching provides plenty of opportunities for stressful encounters. Examples may include a heated argument with a student or a classroom moment that spirals unexpectedly. According to Bey, the way teachers interpret those moments can influence how stressful they become physically and emotionally. For instance, if a teacher interprets a student’s outburst as a personal attack, the body may register the encounter as a threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if the teacher understands the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66347/ross-greene-what-if-bad-behavior-isnt-the-problem\">behavior as a sign the student is struggling\u003c/a>, the response can shift. “You wouldn’t be treating someone badly like that if you yourself weren’t suffering in some way,” Bey added. That reframing doesn’t mean ignoring harmful behavior. Instead, Bey said it can reduce the intensity of the stress response and make it easier to stay grounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bey describes this mindset as part of what she calls a \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-increase-the-retention-of-early-career-teachers/\">vitalizing identity\u003c/a>, which is a way of understanding yourself and others that emphasizes connection, compassion and shared humanity. At its core, she said, it’s about expanding the boundaries of who we include in our circle of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burnout often occurs, Bey said, when educators consistently place students’ needs above their own without receiving the support they need. “One would hope that because teachers give up so much of themselves that others would pour so much into them to sustain the work that they do. And that does not happen,” she said. Instead, many teachers are left trying to set boundaries that school systems often do not support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Love, to me, is the idea of opening our ego boundaries to include everyone else,” Bey said, and teachers have to include themselves in their own circles of care. In other words, caring for students cannot come at the expense of caring for yourself, which is the lesson Pierson emphasized with her daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rita Pierson’s continued legacy \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Stanley’s college students, Pierson’s talk often becomes a reference point throughout their training. They return to it when they’re thinking about classroom management, lesson design or how to respond to difficult moments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have a discussion about what that looks like and how do we keep our enthusiasm for teaching when things are hard—when things don’t go as well as we want them to, despite best intentions or despite support that we provide for students,” said Stanley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/jc95sq/if_i_have_to_sit_through_that_rita_pierson_ted/\">fatigue that comes with repeated views\u003c/a> of the TED Talk during professional development, Pierson’s message continues to resonate with educators. Stanley believes that’s because the talk gives them a license to teach the way they want to. That doesn’t mean the work becomes easy; building relationships with students takes time, patience and emotional effort. But Pierson’s legacy reminds educators that those relationships are not separate from learning. They are what make learning possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many teachers, that idea still feels worth holding onto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2909467136\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> It’s summertime. School hasn’t started yet. The hallways are still quiet, and the kids are still sleeping in, but teachers? They’re back in school early to attend mandatory professional development sessions. Also known as PD. These might include discussing new protocols, hashing out curriculum and getting inspired for the new school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> If I asked teachers ‘What’s the one piece of PD you just know is coming?’ A lot of them would say the same thing: “Every kid needs a champion.” A TED Talk given by a teacher named Rita Pierson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rita Pierson:\u003c/strong> Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In our last episode, we talked about how teaching is harder than ever – and how schools tend to focus on supporting kids while overlooking the adults who make learning possible: teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In this episode, we take a look at Rita Pierson’s viral talk and what it tells us about how relationships shape learning. We’ll meet the people who knew Rita best, the educators who carry her philosophy forward, and the researcher studying what happens to our bodies and minds when we lead with love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Every time somebody finds out I teach middle school, they’re like, ‘Oh bless you.’ Like that’s the that’s the first reaction. And I’m like, Yeah, I know, because everybody remembers middle school is such a hard transition\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Beth Jarzabek teaches English in Ludlow, Massachusetts. She works with the kids who struggle the most with reading and writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I have all three grades. So I teach sixth, seventh, and eighth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Since her students need more support, there’s a stigma about being placed in her class\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Like, ‘Oh, you have to go to Mrs. J’s class.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> These are kids who often mask academic frustration with misbehavior. They might act out. They shut down. But Beth sees through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek\u003c/strong>: Their other teachers may not see them the same way I do. So I try to make those connections and and try to be their champion\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The idea of being a students’ champion comes straight from Rita Pierson. Like many teachers Beth first watched her TED Talk video during professional development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> There were people like, you know, who were kind of rolling their eyes and whatnot. But it resonated with maybe when she talked about the kids that she had that, you know were the kids that were struggling, that the and the fact that she said to them, they put us all together to show everybody else how it’s done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Here’s the clip from Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, you were chosen to be in my class. Because I am the best teacher and you are the best students. They put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> And I was like, oh, I love that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> So Beth decided to bring that same energy into her own classroom, especially for kids who rarely get encouraged by adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I started, you know, just trying to be that hype person, you know, when I go when I would go into my neighbor’s classroom, I would be like, Oh, which kids can I steal from you? You know, I’m like, oh, or if a kid got transferred in, I was like, I found out how cool you were, and I told them that I want, wanted you in my classroom. And it gave the kids like a little boost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> Or I’ll say to them, you know, like, hey, I’m telling all these people how awesome you are. I’m like, you gotta show them how awesome you are. And they’re like, okay, well, for you, I’ll do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> she’s tapping into something we know from decades of research. A positive relationship with even one caring adult is one of the strongest predictors of: better attendance, stronger academic performance, and improved social-emotional skills\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Several studies find that students with strong teacher relationships can gain the equivalent of up to an extra year of learning — especially those who struggle the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And here’s something else: supportive teacher–student relationships protect teachers too. Studies show that educators who feel connected to their students report significantly lower burnout and higher job satisfaction, even in high-stress environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I don’t have to be your favorite, but I’m still gonna go to bat with you. You are still going to know that you’re safe with me. You are still going to know that you have a valued place in my classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She reminds herself of that, even on the hardest days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Jarzabek:\u003c/strong> I try to remember when everything is falling apart I’m here for them to be that person in this tumultuous time in their life is really such an honor. Sometimes it’s easier to remember that than others. And there’s definitely days that I I go home and I like I’m under a weighted blanket. But I try to bring myself back to that, you know, what an honor it is to be the safe place for these kids because some of them don’t have it otherwise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Up next, we’ll explore why Rita Pierson’s message still resonates — who she was, how teachers are putting her ideas into practice, and what it takes to care for students without burning out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita Pierson’s TED Talk reached millions of teachers, but behind the scenes, the story of how it even happened is almost as special as the talk itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I joined Ted working two days a week to try and help them figure out whether or not they could make TV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And I said, Of course you can do TV, it’s SNL for nerds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet Blake , was the head of television for TED in 2013. She was producing a TV special on education — it included John Legend, Bill Gates, Sir Ken Robinson… big names. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> Through YouTube and I came across Rita. And the video that was that existed online wasn’t great, but I could see she had this enormous personality and that she was so authentic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After seeing clips of Rita giving teaching tips, she spent months trying to track her down\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I was getting a bit desperate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita wasn’t a celebrity educator at the time. She was a longtime teacher and administrator in Houston who came from a family of educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And eventually I was calling different school districts in Houston. And I left a message for her at a school\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Then one evening Juliet’s phone rang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> I got a call one evening, and she just went, ‘Hello,’ and I went, ‘Rita, Rita Pearson?’ And she went, ‘Sure am.’ And I went, ‘I have been looking you for you for months.’ She said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m producing a show for Ted.’ And she said these magical words that made me fall in love with her immediately. ‘Who’s Ted?’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> From there, they talked on the phone almost every night—once Rita got home from teaching. They were trying to figure out what she might talk about for her presentation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> She would talk to me about her mother and her father being educators and the schools that she’d worked in\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Rita could move seamlessly between heartbreaking stories about students and cracking jokes about the realities of teaching. And slowly, through those late-night phone calls, the TED Talk started to take shape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And then she said, I need to write this, don’t I? I said, Yes, this is how it works. You not only have to write it, you have to learn it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But when Rita arrived in New York for rehearsal…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And she goes, ‘Honey, I didn’t learn it.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet was panicking… Rita was not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And she goes, You sit here and I’ll be on the stage and give me, tell me when I’ve got to wrap up, do this, and I’ll bring it to a close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And I just thought, you know what? I just trust this woman to be brilliant. I just know that she’s going to do it and it’s gonna be great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Juliet Blake:\u003c/strong> And it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> That talk given live and mostly off the cuff and it is the one millions of teachers know today. Rita, on stage, speaking straight from the heart about how relationships are important for learning\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection…relationships]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Juliet remembers her as one of the most authentic speakers she’s ever worked with. And Rita’s daughter, Kristin Pierson Forrest says this all makes sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> My mother’s never written down a speech in her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> there might be maybe some bullet points, but she always knew exactly what she wanted to say and how she wanted to get it across.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir\u003c/strong>: Kristin says her mom’s taught elementary and junior high students for over 40 years. Her entire philosophy came down to one lesson:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> It’s okay to say I love you. It’s okay to let the kids know that that that they are loved, because there’s so many kids out there who don’t know that, who don’t inherently know that they are love. And so to explicitly tell kids, I care about you, you know, I’m here for you. I love you, and I’m gonna work my butt off for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kristin spent 15 years teaching in Houston herself, and she says her mother’s approach shaped her own practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> her work was centered around relationships. It was centered around relationship building and that was the central part of who I got to be as a teacher because I got that from her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But she’s also quick to point out that her mom wasn’t naïve about the realities of teaching. Rita loved her students fiercely, but she knew that caring deeply for students wasn’t enough to protect her from burnout or from a system that often asks too much with too little support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> And she reminded me quickly, my first year teaching, that I’m no good to my kids if I’m exhausted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk\u003c/strong>: When Kristin had an especially hard day in the classroom. Rita would say, “You get 5 minutes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> It just means that you know, your sadness, there’s an end point to it. So whatever that five minutes is, it might be a day, it might be a week, it might be a month. But just know that at some point there’s going to be an end to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kristin says those lessons from her mom took on a very different meaning not long after the TED Talk was filmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> After you know, they shot that TED talk, she she passed about three months later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Kirstin isn’t in the classroom anymore, but she still works with educators. she brings her mom’s presence with her everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> I think about my mom every day, and it’s been close to 13 years since she was gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Kristin Pierson Forrest:\u003c/strong> And even the day she passed, I had to remind myself, okay, you get five minutes. I don’t know if my five minutes is over yet. I really I really don’t know. But I I haven’t stayed in a sad place clearly, but but it’s definitely reminded me to pick myself up, dust myself off, and and what’s the next thing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> More than a decade later, Rita Pierson’s talk is still finding new audiences – not just among teachers, but among the people learning to become teachers. And that’s where Melissa Stanley comes in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> I am Dr. Melissa K. Stanley and I am the director of secondary social studies education at Central Michigan University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> I teach social studies methods courses to help prepare them to be social studies teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She first saw Rita’s talk back when she was teaching in K–12 classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> And it really resonated with me and resonated with the way that I taught. I felt like I was meeting someone who viewed education and viewed the role of a teacher the same way that I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And once Melissa became a teacher-educator at Central Michigan University. The talk became part of how she teaches. It’s a required video during the semester that her class does their pre-student teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> They’re pretty nervous. And that is the semester that they do their pre-student teaching. It’s is the first real experience that they’ll get with students in going into classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Melissa uses the video to introduce students to asset-based pedagogy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> It’s looking at the whole student and it’s valuing what they bring and building relationships with them when the history of education has traditionally been kind of a deficit approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> That means seeing students through their problems rather than their potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Studies show that when teachers take an asset-based approach, valuing students’ cultural strengths, community knowledge, and lived identities, students show stronger academic engagement, better attendance, and improved well-being. And teachers themselves experience more purpose and lower burnout because relationships feel reciprocal rather than adversarial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> That really helps us have conversations and then use it as a gateway into conversations with students about how we adopt an asset bit based pedagogy and how we value the whole student and we value the strengths they bring to the classroom, the diversity they bring to the classroom, and how we work with that to build relationships and then also help them grow and meet their goals and their dreams for their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> for some preservice teachers, this is a brand-new idea. Their own schooling may not have included teachers who championed them. So imagining themselves as that kind of teacher can be hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> It generally generates a lot of questions about okay, how do we do this? This is great. I would love to get there. That’s kind of an end goal for me. But what are the steps along the way? What does that look like in practical application?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They also discuss Rita’s line about joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk:\u003c/strong>Teaching and learning should bring joy.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> But if you’re engaging in this type of teaching and this type of work with students, not every moment is going to be joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[\u003cstrong>Rita’s TED Talk: \u003c/strong>So teachers become great actors and great actresses. And we come to work when we don’t feel like it. And we listen to policy that doesn’t make sense. And we teach anyway. We teach anyway because that’s what we do. ]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Melissa K. Stanley:\u003c/strong> So we have a discussion about what that looks like and how do we keep our enthusiasm for teaching when things are hard, when things don’t go as well as we want them to, despite best intentions or despite support that we provide for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Melissa is naming something important. Teachers want to show up for kids the way Rita did, but the reality is that teaching is stressful. And not just the piles of grading or the endless meetings—interpersonal stress can hit teachers particularly hard. It affects their bodies and can leave them feeling emotionally exhausted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ganga Bey is a researcher at the University of North Carolina. She studies how stress affects the body and why stress hits some people harder than others. And one thing she’s interested in is how the way we think about other people changes how stress affects us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Love to me is this idea of opening our ego boundaries to include everyone else in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In simpler terms: seeing other people’s well-being as connected to your own. That can matter a lot in the classroom. Because when a student lashes out, a teacher can interpret that in different ways. They can think: This kid doesn’t respect me. Or: This kid is struggling right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And Ganga says that shift matters physically—not just emotionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> So because of that, I’m literally gonna process that in a less stressful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now to be clear—this is not the same thing as toxic positivity. This isn’t: ‘Just smile through abuse.’ And it’s not: ‘Teachers should sacrifice themselves for kids.’ In fact, Ganga says one of the biggest problems in education is that teachers are already being asked to give too much of themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Teachers are a particular group of people. Who encounter a tremendous amount of stressors and some of them are avoidable stressors right and part of the way that we organize our society teachers are undervalued um overworked and and live in a largely thankless space\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers are reporting record-high stress levels, elevated rates of depression, and many are leaving the profession within the first five years. Ganga says burnout often happens when teachers keep putting everyone else’s needs ahead of their own for too long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> I think burnout happens when you have pushed out, pushed through as much as possibly can because you have centered the needs of these children that you have been serving above even your own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> So her argument isn’t “love harder.” It’s that teachers have to include themselves in that care too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> It means that when my body is signaling to me that I am tired…we give equal weight to our needs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong>That balance—staying open to students without completely draining yourself—is hard. But Ganga says people like Rita Pierson matter because that care seem possible\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> I love to hear about Rita because I know that there are other people out there like that who embody this. And the more that we make them into real human beings and make them accessible, the more than I think we can convince others that it’s worth endeavoring to even be like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ganga Bey:\u003c/strong> Regardless of what the world right now may make us think, that it is worth it for us to pursue a world and a society and hold on to the idea that being loving can be the norm.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Rebecca Rogers, a kindergarten teacher at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, California, wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep teaching. She was dealing with a mysterious immune reaction that doctors couldn’t explain; and she was losing weight, struggling to eat and constantly exhausted. At the same time, she was teaching a classroom full of 4 and 5-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was probably crying most days coming to school,” Rogers said. “Like, how am I going to do this? I have no energy. I’m exhausted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, every morning, she still showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to be there for these little people who were learning how to do school for the first time,” she said. “I was a hot mess in education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers’ experience reflects a challenge facing schools across the country. National surveys have found that teachers report \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teacher-stress-declining\">high rates of stress and burnout\u003c/a>, and many districts continue to struggle with educator retention. Researchers have also found that teacher wellbeing affects more than the adults in the building. Teacher stress can influence \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10421665/\">classroom climate, student engagement and disciplinary practices\u003c/a>. Yet while schools have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/mental-health/the-landscape-of-school-based-mental-health-services/\">increasingly invested in student mental health supports\u003c/a>, that same level of consideration hasn’t been extended to educators. Oakland Unified School District, where Rogers teaches, is\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/02/12/ousd-budget-plan-cuts-central-office-50-million-deficit/\"> facing a $103 million deficit and is \u003c/a>projected to experience significant cuts to the district’s central office, as well as teaching and support staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite these challenges, Redwood Heights school leaders are trying something different.\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6877718515\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Moving Beyond Burnout\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, Redwood Heights principal Cynthia Bagby began looking for ways to better support her staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always wanted to have a program that would take care of the teachers and help them have balance,” Bagby said. When she learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.theteachingwell.org/\">The Teaching Well\u003c/a>, an Oakland-based nonprofit focused on educator wellbeing, she felt the organization’s approach aligned with her own beliefs about leadership. “It matched my philosophy on taking care of the human that does the work,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Teaching Well was founded around the premise that supporting educators requires more than helping individual teachers cope with stress. The organization works at three levels: individual, interpersonal and systemic. Depending on a school’s needs, The Teaching Well may provide therapy or mentoring for individual educators; facilitate professional development sessions for school staff; coach principals and district leaders on workplace conditions and school culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only want to recruit a diverse workforce,” said Lindsey Fuller, executive director of the Teaching Well. “We actually want to retain and sustain them, because when educators are well, kids thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization’s staff, including the clinical therapists, is entirely made up of former teachers and administrators who understand the realities of school life firsthand. “We all have a burnout story,” Fuller said. “We’re all building the organization we needed to have stayed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Supporting Individual Teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, who currently teaches first grade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53875/how-reflective-supervision-sessions-help-teachers-cope-with-the-stress-of-the-job\">one of the most meaningful supports\u003c/a> came through one-on-one mentoring. “It’s a space for me to talk with someone about what’s happening in my life and in my classroom,” she said. In conversations with her mentor, Rogers found herself talking about the difficulty of leaving work at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these children I hold in my brain when I leave here,” she said. “I’m showering and trying to go to sleep and eat, and I’m like, how can I support this kid better? How can I show up in a way that supports what they need?” Researchers sometimes refer to this as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66329/want-to-lighten-your-mental-load-first-let-go-of-these-gender-myths\">emotional labor,\u003c/a> which is the work of managing not only your own emotions but also responding to the emotional needs of others. For educators, that work often extends far beyond the school day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers also participated in therapy through The Teaching Well. Research suggests that therapy and mental health support can reduce stress and symptoms of burnout among educators, but access can be difficult because of cost, insurance barriers and long waitlists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller argues that teachers face additional challenges because their work involves absorbing students’ struggles and trauma. “A lot of why people are leaving is burnout or because there’s a tragedy or school community violence and there’s no real outlet to process it,” she said. Because the organization’s therapists are all former educators, teachers are able to move more quickly into meaningful conversations, according to Fuller. “It just cuts to the chase and gets them directly to the service that they need to be able to be retained.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Building a Culture of Support\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, I attended a Teaching Well session held in the school library. Teachers were seated in a circle with their snacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facilitator Marc Anthony Robinson started a session with a simple question. “How are y’all feeling?” he asked. Teachers called out numbers to rate their energy levels between one and five, with one being low energy and five as high energy. Several reported twos and threes.The session began with a somatic exercise designed to help participants notice what was happening in their bodies. “We can’t silence stress,” Robinson told the group. “But we can turn down the volume.” Teachers closed their eyes and placed their hands on their chests and stomachs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, educators discussed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58702/is-it-ok-for-teachers-to-cry-in-class\">warning signs that stress was building\u003c/a>. Teachers colored in worksheets with car dashboards printed on them, identifying the emotional and physical signals that told them something was wrong. The goal was to help educators recognize stress before it became overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, the sessions helped normalize conversations about wellbeing that rarely happened in schools. “It gave me this opportunity to think about myself and my practice,” she said, “and me as a human in the context of teaching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Improving Schools Through Systems\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Teaching Well’s leaders are careful not to frame burnout as an individual problem that teachers can solve through breathing exercises alone. Fuller says lasting change requires attention to the conditions teachers work within. At Redwood Heights, that meant coaching and support for principal Bagby as well, who says the work has helped create a shared language around relationships, stress and conflict. “What I appreciate about The Teaching Well is they’ve given us practices to maintain that human element—the compassionate element— of how we relate to each other,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teaching Well partnerships typically last 3-5 years. The organization posits that quick wellness initiatives often fail because they don’t address underlying causes of burnout. “We love to invest in Band-Aids,” Fuller said. “We are reticent to invest in root-cause strategy and sustained support.” The model also depends on buy-in from school and district leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Redwood Heights Elementary, teacher retention rose from 75% in the 2022–23 school year to 91% in 2024–25, \u003ca href=\"https://dashboards.ousd.org/t/HR/views/RetentionDashboardPublic/TeachersatSites?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowShareOptions=true&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no\">a 16-percentage-point increase\u003c/a> during the school’s partnership with The Teaching Well. Across its partner schools nationally, the organization says it retained 85% of participating educators. While individual teachers can benefit from mentoring or therapy, broader cultural changes require administrators willing to examine policies, expectations and workplace conditions. In other words, supporting teachers is not just about helping them become more resilient. It’s also about changing the systems in which they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research increasingly suggests that teacher wellbeing affects students as well. “We’re seeing a direct correlation between a dysregulated teacher and elevated rates of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65836/strict-rules-can-foster-calm-classrooms-but-some-students-pay-the-price\">exclusionary discipline\u003c/a>,” Fuller said. “When a teacher is unwell, they’re more likely to kick a kid out of class.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, the changes have shown up in smaller moments. When she notices herself becoming stressed, she now uses some of the same \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53306/how-mindfulness-can-help-teachers-and-students-manage-challenging-situations\">somatic practices\u003c/a> she learned through mentoring and professional development. She has also introduced breathing exercises into her first grade classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever we come in from lunch or recess, before we do anything, it’s time for breath work,” Rogers said. The experience has changed the way she interprets \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59748/how-perspective-taking-can-improve-classroom-behavior-and-teacher-student-relationships\">student behavior\u003c/a>. “It’s allowed me to view my students in a different way [by] thinking about a trauma-informed response and what they might need,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years after she considered leaving teaching, Rogers is still at Redwood Heights. Recently, she found herself looking around her classroom and reflecting on how much her students have grown in a school year that seemed to fly by. “They’re doing it. It’s happening. Like their brains are growing” she said, “I’m like ‘Look at you reading.’”\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6877718515\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was probably crying most days coming to school like ‘How am I going to do this? I have no energy. I’m exhausted.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, kindergarten teacher Becca Rogers thought she might have to leave teaching altogether. She was having serious health issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was like having this immune reaction that Western medicine could not figure out. I was losing a ton of weight, I was having these really reactive experiences with food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And every morning, she still had to walk into a kindergarten classroom full of five-year-olds. Little kids who needed help opening snacks and learning how to stand in line. And while she was trying to care for all of them, she was barely holding herself together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>That’s what was going on. I was a hot mess in education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> When I was little, I thought teachers lived at school. A lot of kids think that. But I think even adults can forget that teachers are carrying entire lives and struggles into the classroom with them. Increasingly, many are burning out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>National surveys have found that teachers report higher rates of burnout than many other professions. And in recent years, schools across the country have struggled to retain educators. That stress doesn’t just affect teachers, it can shape classroom climate, student relationships, and even disciplinary outcomes. In this episode, we look at what happens when schools start treating teacher wellbeing as essential — not extra — and what it takes to support the people who care for kids. People like Becca Rogers\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> It’s easier to show up with a cold and be sick than call the sub.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Calling out sick can sometimes create its own kind of stress. Teachers might need to prepare another lesson plan or be worried about how the day will go without them. For Becca, it was just easier to push through\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I’m someone who says yes, right? Like I’m a teacher, I’m a union rep. I sit on the board of my child’s preschool. I’m a runner, I am a mom. Like, I have a hard time saying no.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At one point her colleague pulled her aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> And was like, how are you doing? You don’t look good, you don’t sound good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was like yeah, I’ve been hiding that I don’t feel good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We are hemorrhaging educators across this country\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This is Lindsey Fuller, executive director of The Teaching Well. The Teaching Well organization works with schools and districts to support educator wellbeing as essential to helping teachers keep teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> We not only want to recruit a diverse workforce, we actually want to retain and sustain them, because when educators are well, kids thrive\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Schools are often asked to work with outside consultants and organizations. But teachers can sometimes feel like the people trying to support them don’t fully understand what classrooms are actually like. At The Teaching Well, the staff are all former educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong> So we get it. That is one of the things that makes us really stand out as an organization. We all have a burnout story. We’re all building the organization we needed to have stayed and we will always fight for kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Their team is made up of 13 facilitators and therapists and they approach teacher wellbeing on multiple levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>The individual, interpersonal, and systemic level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In practice, that might mean they provide therapy for one teacher, lead professional development sessions for an entire staff, or coach district leaders trying to improve working conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For some teachers, conversations about “wellness” can feel disconnected from the realities of overcrowded classrooms, staffing shortages, and impossible workloads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> A lot of folks hear wellness and they think it’s all woo-woo, like yoga, Lululemon on the beach. That is not what we’re talking about. There’s rigor and strategy in workplace wellbeing initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, the school where Becca works, principal Cynthia Bagby had been watching teachers struggle under increasing pressure. Around the same time Becca was burning out, Cynthia decided to bring in The Teaching Well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby: \u003c/strong>I’ve always wanted to have a program that would kind of take care of the teachers. And like help them to have balance, but also focusing on how they can manage themselves as teachers. And so when I heard about this organization, I thought, oh it matches my philosophy on taking care of the human that does the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She says many teachers enter the profession with deep care for children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> They really want to make a difference in the world. And then when they get in the classroom, it’s challenging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teacher stress is closely tied to high turnover rates, especially in schools serving high-needs communities. Cynthia hoped The Teaching Well could help sustain teachers by giving them the tools to care for themselves and each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> When people feel supported, of course they could show up differently. And then you’re not teaching out of fear, but you’re teaching out a love you’re teaching knowing that someone has your back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Partnerships with the Teaching Well are designed to last 3-5 years. In these long term relationships with schools they’ve been able to retain 85% of teachers they work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lasting change usually depends on whether school and district leaders are willing to shift the conditions teachers are working in. Cynthia was willing to work directly with teaching well staff to be more responsive to teachers\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> I also receive coaching with them too. I get to hear their perspective from the like general feedback they get, maybe from the teachers, kind of keep me to see if I’m aligned with what I believe about leading a school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Improving teacher wellbeing involves buy-in from administrators and a long term commitment. But there is more that can be done to help teachers thrive. We’ll get into what happens at the group and individual level after the break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Each month the Teaching Well comes to Redwood Heights to do professional development after school. Executive director Lindsey Fuller greets people at the door. About twenty educators come in to sink into chairs arranged in a circle. teacher Becca Rogers is there and so is principal Cynthia Bagby\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>How y’all feeling? One to five, as five being high, One being a low, can I get a number? I just want to see what I’m dealing with today. Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson:\u003c/strong> I’m seeing some twos, threes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At the front of the room is facilitator Marc Anthony Robinson Robinson. He starts the session with a somatic practice – These are breathing and movement techniques designed to help regulate the nervous system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>We can’t silence stress, right? But we can turn down the value. So the intention today is to find the knob for the volume. How do we turn that down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>He asks teachers to close their eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>Place one hand over your heart if you have your hands available and your belly\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson:\u003c/strong> Now take a slow, steady breath in release. Take another one in through your nose this time and exhale through your mouth like a soft sigh. Now we’re going to begin to notice, starting from the top, going down. Start at your forehead, your jaw.….”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Around the room, shoulders drop. A few teachers lean back in their chairs and exhale deeply. For a couple minutes, nobody is redirecting behavior. Nobody is answering emails or prepping lessons.They’re just paying attention to their own bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>See if you could turn the volume down just one more notch….\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>When the exercise ends, teachers slowly blink their eyes open. A few nod quietly to themselves, almost like they’re saying: okay. I’m here now. The sessions are designed to help teachers recognize how stress shows up physically and emotionally. At one point, educators are handed worksheets with car dashboards printed on them. Lindsey explains what they’ll do with them\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna get to do some coloring today, um designing your own dashboard. So we’re going to do a little car metaphor play. Uh and then we’re, we’re gonna help you think about our stress management sequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The idea is to think about the warning lights going off internally. She says some stress signals are temporary — like a seatbelt alarm. Others are more serious. The kind you can ignore for a little while, but not forever. She tells the group what is going on in their bodies when this happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>The amygdala is a part of your brain that helps alert us when there’s a problem. It says, hey yo… something’s going off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna take about four minutes here, and then we’re gonna invite you a couple of folks to share out. Okay? So let’s get connected. Feel free to turn and talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers sit coloring in dashboards with colored pencils, They’re talking quietly with one another about burnout, frustration, and overload. For teachers like Becca, being asked how they’re doing — and being honest about the answer — was a major shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The group sessions are one part of The Teaching Well’s model. But teachers can also receive individual support through one on one mentoring and clinical therapy. Becca has used both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>It’s a space for me to talk with someone about what’s happening in my life and in my classroom and seeing what they can provide me. We do a lot of somatic practices or just thinking out loud or touching base what’s actually happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In one mentoring session, Becca tells Teaching Well’s Marc Anthony Robinson over a video call that it is hard to separate teaching from the rest of her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>It’s just nice to just sit for a moment. And it’s good for me because after this, I’m going straight to another thing. I’m gonna the new families event for kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>So you gotta be back on in a minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I do. I do have to do this back on again. I know, it doesn’t stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>All these children I hold in my brain when I leave here. And I’m like showering and trying to go to sleep and eat. And I’m, like, how can I support this kid better? How can I show up in a way that supports what they need\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong> I have to like, it’s okay. You do not need to like hold that when you leave, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>I’m really just honored to be doing this process and this journey with you because I’ve seen you maneuver through a lot and I’m excited for what this new year is going to bring for you school year wise. It’s like it’s going to feel different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In addition to mentoring Becca has also used the therapy services through Teaching Well. Therapy has also been shown to reduce stress and burnout in teachers, but waitlists and cost can make access difficult. Through Teaching Well, teachers can have up to 16 therapy sessions. And if a teacher needs more, Teaching Well helps them get a therapist through their insurance. Lindsey says that mental health services are becoming more available, but oftentimes they’re just for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> What no one is funding comprehensively yet, and we are looking for, is who is funding the mental health grants and programs for the educators that receive those students, that work with them day in and day out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Educators are often absorbing students’ trauma. This is called vicarious or secondary trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> A lot of why people are leaving is burnout or because there’s a tragedy or school community violence and there’s no real outlet to process it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The clinical therapists at the teaching well are also former educators. Which addresses a pitfall that is common in many free therapy programs for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>They’re spending so much time trying to explain the context of working in a school that they don’t get to get to the healing. It just cuts to the chase and gets them directly to the service that they need to be able to be retained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> When teachers are well students fare better too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re seeing a direct correlation between a dysregulated teacher and elevated rates of exclusionary discipline. In other words, when a teacher is unwell, they’re more likely to kick a kid out of class and refer them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Three years after Becca thought about leaving teaching, she’s still at Redwood Heights. And she says she no longer feels like crying before school every day. Having space to talk about teaching to her mentor and her colleagues helped her reestablish herself and her values\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> It gave me this like opportunity to be very meta and think about myself and my practice. And me as a human in the context of teaching\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, when stress rises in the classroom, she notices it earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>When I feel myself getting stressed in the class, I find that’s a time for somatic practice for me and I share that practice with my students\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>We also do a lot of breath work. Whenever we come in from lunch, recess, we know before we do anything, it’s time for breath work so we can help with that transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[breathing exercise]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I think it’s also allowed me to view my students in a different way, like thinking about a trauma informed response and like what I need, maybe what they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Becca has more empathy now. More capacity to stay present through hard moments with her students\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>They’re really navigating something too, right. They’re human, I’m a human and we’re having this experience together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Rebecca Rogers, a kindergarten teacher at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, California, wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep teaching. She was dealing with a mysterious immune reaction that doctors couldn’t explain; and she was losing weight, struggling to eat and constantly exhausted. At the same time, she was teaching a classroom full of 4 and 5-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was probably crying most days coming to school,” Rogers said. “Like, how am I going to do this? I have no energy. I’m exhausted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, every morning, she still showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to be there for these little people who were learning how to do school for the first time,” she said. “I was a hot mess in education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers’ experience reflects a challenge facing schools across the country. National surveys have found that teachers report \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teacher-stress-declining\">high rates of stress and burnout\u003c/a>, and many districts continue to struggle with educator retention. Researchers have also found that teacher wellbeing affects more than the adults in the building. Teacher stress can influence \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10421665/\">classroom climate, student engagement and disciplinary practices\u003c/a>. Yet while schools have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/mental-health/the-landscape-of-school-based-mental-health-services/\">increasingly invested in student mental health supports\u003c/a>, that same level of consideration hasn’t been extended to educators. Oakland Unified School District, where Rogers teaches, is\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2026/02/12/ousd-budget-plan-cuts-central-office-50-million-deficit/\"> facing a $103 million deficit and is \u003c/a>projected to experience significant cuts to the district’s central office, as well as teaching and support staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite these challenges, Redwood Heights school leaders are trying something different.\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6877718515\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Moving Beyond Burnout\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Three years ago, Redwood Heights principal Cynthia Bagby began looking for ways to better support her staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always wanted to have a program that would take care of the teachers and help them have balance,” Bagby said. When she learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.theteachingwell.org/\">The Teaching Well\u003c/a>, an Oakland-based nonprofit focused on educator wellbeing, she felt the organization’s approach aligned with her own beliefs about leadership. “It matched my philosophy on taking care of the human that does the work,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Teaching Well was founded around the premise that supporting educators requires more than helping individual teachers cope with stress. The organization works at three levels: individual, interpersonal and systemic. Depending on a school’s needs, The Teaching Well may provide therapy or mentoring for individual educators; facilitate professional development sessions for school staff; coach principals and district leaders on workplace conditions and school culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We not only want to recruit a diverse workforce,” said Lindsey Fuller, executive director of the Teaching Well. “We actually want to retain and sustain them, because when educators are well, kids thrive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization’s staff, including the clinical therapists, is entirely made up of former teachers and administrators who understand the realities of school life firsthand. “We all have a burnout story,” Fuller said. “We’re all building the organization we needed to have stayed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Supporting Individual Teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, who currently teaches first grade, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53875/how-reflective-supervision-sessions-help-teachers-cope-with-the-stress-of-the-job\">one of the most meaningful supports\u003c/a> came through one-on-one mentoring. “It’s a space for me to talk with someone about what’s happening in my life and in my classroom,” she said. In conversations with her mentor, Rogers found herself talking about the difficulty of leaving work at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these children I hold in my brain when I leave here,” she said. “I’m showering and trying to go to sleep and eat, and I’m like, how can I support this kid better? How can I show up in a way that supports what they need?” Researchers sometimes refer to this as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66329/want-to-lighten-your-mental-load-first-let-go-of-these-gender-myths\">emotional labor,\u003c/a> which is the work of managing not only your own emotions but also responding to the emotional needs of others. For educators, that work often extends far beyond the school day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers also participated in therapy through The Teaching Well. Research suggests that therapy and mental health support can reduce stress and symptoms of burnout among educators, but access can be difficult because of cost, insurance barriers and long waitlists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller argues that teachers face additional challenges because their work involves absorbing students’ struggles and trauma. “A lot of why people are leaving is burnout or because there’s a tragedy or school community violence and there’s no real outlet to process it,” she said. Because the organization’s therapists are all former educators, teachers are able to move more quickly into meaningful conversations, according to Fuller. “It just cuts to the chase and gets them directly to the service that they need to be able to be retained.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Building a Culture of Support\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Earlier this year, I attended a Teaching Well session held in the school library. Teachers were seated in a circle with their snacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facilitator Marc Anthony Robinson started a session with a simple question. “How are y’all feeling?” he asked. Teachers called out numbers to rate their energy levels between one and five, with one being low energy and five as high energy. Several reported twos and threes.The session began with a somatic exercise designed to help participants notice what was happening in their bodies. “We can’t silence stress,” Robinson told the group. “But we can turn down the volume.” Teachers closed their eyes and placed their hands on their chests and stomachs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, educators discussed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58702/is-it-ok-for-teachers-to-cry-in-class\">warning signs that stress was building\u003c/a>. Teachers colored in worksheets with car dashboards printed on them, identifying the emotional and physical signals that told them something was wrong. The goal was to help educators recognize stress before it became overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, the sessions helped normalize conversations about wellbeing that rarely happened in schools. “It gave me this opportunity to think about myself and my practice,” she said, “and me as a human in the context of teaching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Improving Schools Through Systems\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Teaching Well’s leaders are careful not to frame burnout as an individual problem that teachers can solve through breathing exercises alone. Fuller says lasting change requires attention to the conditions teachers work within. At Redwood Heights, that meant coaching and support for principal Bagby as well, who says the work has helped create a shared language around relationships, stress and conflict. “What I appreciate about The Teaching Well is they’ve given us practices to maintain that human element—the compassionate element— of how we relate to each other,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teaching Well partnerships typically last 3-5 years. The organization posits that quick wellness initiatives often fail because they don’t address underlying causes of burnout. “We love to invest in Band-Aids,” Fuller said. “We are reticent to invest in root-cause strategy and sustained support.” The model also depends on buy-in from school and district leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Redwood Heights Elementary, teacher retention rose from 75% in the 2022–23 school year to 91% in 2024–25, \u003ca href=\"https://dashboards.ousd.org/t/HR/views/RetentionDashboardPublic/TeachersatSites?%3Aembed=y&%3AshowShareOptions=true&%3Adisplay_count=no&%3AshowVizHome=no\">a 16-percentage-point increase\u003c/a> during the school’s partnership with The Teaching Well. Across its partner schools nationally, the organization says it retained 85% of participating educators. While individual teachers can benefit from mentoring or therapy, broader cultural changes require administrators willing to examine policies, expectations and workplace conditions. In other words, supporting teachers is not just about helping them become more resilient. It’s also about changing the systems in which they work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research increasingly suggests that teacher wellbeing affects students as well. “We’re seeing a direct correlation between a dysregulated teacher and elevated rates of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65836/strict-rules-can-foster-calm-classrooms-but-some-students-pay-the-price\">exclusionary discipline\u003c/a>,” Fuller said. “When a teacher is unwell, they’re more likely to kick a kid out of class.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Rogers, the changes have shown up in smaller moments. When she notices herself becoming stressed, she now uses some of the same \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53306/how-mindfulness-can-help-teachers-and-students-manage-challenging-situations\">somatic practices\u003c/a> she learned through mentoring and professional development. She has also introduced breathing exercises into her first grade classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Whenever we come in from lunch or recess, before we do anything, it’s time for breath work,” Rogers said. The experience has changed the way she interprets \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59748/how-perspective-taking-can-improve-classroom-behavior-and-teacher-student-relationships\">student behavior\u003c/a>. “It’s allowed me to view my students in a different way [by] thinking about a trauma-informed response and what they might need,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three years after she considered leaving teaching, Rogers is still at Redwood Heights. Recently, she found herself looking around her classroom and reflecting on how much her students have grown in a school year that seemed to fly by. “They’re doing it. It’s happening. Like their brains are growing” she said, “I’m like ‘Look at you reading.’”\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6877718515\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was probably crying most days coming to school like ‘How am I going to do this? I have no energy. I’m exhausted.’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> A few years ago, kindergarten teacher Becca Rogers thought she might have to leave teaching altogether. She was having serious health issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was like having this immune reaction that Western medicine could not figure out. I was losing a ton of weight, I was having these really reactive experiences with food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And every morning, she still had to walk into a kindergarten classroom full of five-year-olds. Little kids who needed help opening snacks and learning how to stand in line. And while she was trying to care for all of them, she was barely holding herself together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>That’s what was going on. I was a hot mess in education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> When I was little, I thought teachers lived at school. A lot of kids think that. But I think even adults can forget that teachers are carrying entire lives and struggles into the classroom with them. Increasingly, many are burning out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>National surveys have found that teachers report higher rates of burnout than many other professions. And in recent years, schools across the country have struggled to retain educators. That stress doesn’t just affect teachers, it can shape classroom climate, student relationships, and even disciplinary outcomes. In this episode, we look at what happens when schools start treating teacher wellbeing as essential — not extra — and what it takes to support the people who care for kids. People like Becca Rogers\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> It’s easier to show up with a cold and be sick than call the sub.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Calling out sick can sometimes create its own kind of stress. Teachers might need to prepare another lesson plan or be worried about how the day will go without them. For Becca, it was just easier to push through\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I’m someone who says yes, right? Like I’m a teacher, I’m a union rep. I sit on the board of my child’s preschool. I’m a runner, I am a mom. Like, I have a hard time saying no.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At one point her colleague pulled her aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> And was like, how are you doing? You don’t look good, you don’t sound good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> I was like yeah, I’ve been hiding that I don’t feel good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We are hemorrhaging educators across this country\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This is Lindsey Fuller, executive director of The Teaching Well. The Teaching Well organization works with schools and districts to support educator wellbeing as essential to helping teachers keep teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> We not only want to recruit a diverse workforce, we actually want to retain and sustain them, because when educators are well, kids thrive\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Schools are often asked to work with outside consultants and organizations. But teachers can sometimes feel like the people trying to support them don’t fully understand what classrooms are actually like. At The Teaching Well, the staff are all former educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong> So we get it. That is one of the things that makes us really stand out as an organization. We all have a burnout story. We’re all building the organization we needed to have stayed and we will always fight for kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Their team is made up of 13 facilitators and therapists and they approach teacher wellbeing on multiple levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>The individual, interpersonal, and systemic level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In practice, that might mean they provide therapy for one teacher, lead professional development sessions for an entire staff, or coach district leaders trying to improve working conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For some teachers, conversations about “wellness” can feel disconnected from the realities of overcrowded classrooms, staffing shortages, and impossible workloads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> A lot of folks hear wellness and they think it’s all woo-woo, like yoga, Lululemon on the beach. That is not what we’re talking about. There’s rigor and strategy in workplace wellbeing initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, the school where Becca works, principal Cynthia Bagby had been watching teachers struggle under increasing pressure. Around the same time Becca was burning out, Cynthia decided to bring in The Teaching Well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby: \u003c/strong>I’ve always wanted to have a program that would kind of take care of the teachers. And like help them to have balance, but also focusing on how they can manage themselves as teachers. And so when I heard about this organization, I thought, oh it matches my philosophy on taking care of the human that does the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> She says many teachers enter the profession with deep care for children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> They really want to make a difference in the world. And then when they get in the classroom, it’s challenging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teacher stress is closely tied to high turnover rates, especially in schools serving high-needs communities. Cynthia hoped The Teaching Well could help sustain teachers by giving them the tools to care for themselves and each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> When people feel supported, of course they could show up differently. And then you’re not teaching out of fear, but you’re teaching out a love you’re teaching knowing that someone has your back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Partnerships with the Teaching Well are designed to last 3-5 years. In these long term relationships with schools they’ve been able to retain 85% of teachers they work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lasting change usually depends on whether school and district leaders are willing to shift the conditions teachers are working in. Cynthia was willing to work directly with teaching well staff to be more responsive to teachers\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Cynthia Bagby:\u003c/strong> I also receive coaching with them too. I get to hear their perspective from the like general feedback they get, maybe from the teachers, kind of keep me to see if I’m aligned with what I believe about leading a school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Improving teacher wellbeing involves buy-in from administrators and a long term commitment. But there is more that can be done to help teachers thrive. We’ll get into what happens at the group and individual level after the break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Each month the Teaching Well comes to Redwood Heights to do professional development after school. Executive director Lindsey Fuller greets people at the door. About twenty educators come in to sink into chairs arranged in a circle. teacher Becca Rogers is there and so is principal Cynthia Bagby\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>How y’all feeling? One to five, as five being high, One being a low, can I get a number? I just want to see what I’m dealing with today. Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson:\u003c/strong> I’m seeing some twos, threes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> At the front of the room is facilitator Marc Anthony Robinson Robinson. He starts the session with a somatic practice – These are breathing and movement techniques designed to help regulate the nervous system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>We can’t silence stress, right? But we can turn down the value. So the intention today is to find the knob for the volume. How do we turn that down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>He asks teachers to close their eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>Place one hand over your heart if you have your hands available and your belly\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson:\u003c/strong> Now take a slow, steady breath in release. Take another one in through your nose this time and exhale through your mouth like a soft sigh. Now we’re going to begin to notice, starting from the top, going down. Start at your forehead, your jaw.….”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Around the room, shoulders drop. A few teachers lean back in their chairs and exhale deeply. For a couple minutes, nobody is redirecting behavior. Nobody is answering emails or prepping lessons.They’re just paying attention to their own bodies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>See if you could turn the volume down just one more notch….\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>When the exercise ends, teachers slowly blink their eyes open. A few nod quietly to themselves, almost like they’re saying: okay. I’m here now. The sessions are designed to help teachers recognize how stress shows up physically and emotionally. At one point, educators are handed worksheets with car dashboards printed on them. Lindsey explains what they’ll do with them\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna get to do some coloring today, um designing your own dashboard. So we’re going to do a little car metaphor play. Uh and then we’re, we’re gonna help you think about our stress management sequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The idea is to think about the warning lights going off internally. She says some stress signals are temporary — like a seatbelt alarm. Others are more serious. The kind you can ignore for a little while, but not forever. She tells the group what is going on in their bodies when this happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>The amygdala is a part of your brain that helps alert us when there’s a problem. It says, hey yo… something’s going off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re gonna take about four minutes here, and then we’re gonna invite you a couple of folks to share out. Okay? So let’s get connected. Feel free to turn and talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers sit coloring in dashboards with colored pencils, They’re talking quietly with one another about burnout, frustration, and overload. For teachers like Becca, being asked how they’re doing — and being honest about the answer — was a major shift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The group sessions are one part of The Teaching Well’s model. But teachers can also receive individual support through one on one mentoring and clinical therapy. Becca has used both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>It’s a space for me to talk with someone about what’s happening in my life and in my classroom and seeing what they can provide me. We do a lot of somatic practices or just thinking out loud or touching base what’s actually happening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In one mentoring session, Becca tells Teaching Well’s Marc Anthony Robinson over a video call that it is hard to separate teaching from the rest of her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>It’s just nice to just sit for a moment. And it’s good for me because after this, I’m going straight to another thing. I’m gonna the new families event for kindergarten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>So you gotta be back on in a minute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I do. I do have to do this back on again. I know, it doesn’t stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>All these children I hold in my brain when I leave here. And I’m like showering and trying to go to sleep and eat. And I’m, like, how can I support this kid better? How can I show up in a way that supports what they need\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong> I have to like, it’s okay. You do not need to like hold that when you leave, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marc Anthony Robinson: \u003c/strong>I’m really just honored to be doing this process and this journey with you because I’ve seen you maneuver through a lot and I’m excited for what this new year is going to bring for you school year wise. It’s like it’s going to feel different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In addition to mentoring Becca has also used the therapy services through Teaching Well. Therapy has also been shown to reduce stress and burnout in teachers, but waitlists and cost can make access difficult. Through Teaching Well, teachers can have up to 16 therapy sessions. And if a teacher needs more, Teaching Well helps them get a therapist through their insurance. Lindsey says that mental health services are becoming more available, but oftentimes they’re just for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> What no one is funding comprehensively yet, and we are looking for, is who is funding the mental health grants and programs for the educators that receive those students, that work with them day in and day out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Educators are often absorbing students’ trauma. This is called vicarious or secondary trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller:\u003c/strong> A lot of why people are leaving is burnout or because there’s a tragedy or school community violence and there’s no real outlet to process it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The clinical therapists at the teaching well are also former educators. Which addresses a pitfall that is common in many free therapy programs for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>They’re spending so much time trying to explain the context of working in a school that they don’t get to get to the healing. It just cuts to the chase and gets them directly to the service that they need to be able to be retained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> When teachers are well students fare better too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lindsey Fuller: \u003c/strong>We’re seeing a direct correlation between a dysregulated teacher and elevated rates of exclusionary discipline. In other words, when a teacher is unwell, they’re more likely to kick a kid out of class and refer them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Three years after Becca thought about leaving teaching, she’s still at Redwood Heights. And she says she no longer feels like crying before school every day. Having space to talk about teaching to her mentor and her colleagues helped her reestablish herself and her values\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers:\u003c/strong> It gave me this like opportunity to be very meta and think about myself and my practice. And me as a human in the context of teaching\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, when stress rises in the classroom, she notices it earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>When I feel myself getting stressed in the class, I find that’s a time for somatic practice for me and I share that practice with my students\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>We also do a lot of breath work. Whenever we come in from lunch, recess, we know before we do anything, it’s time for breath work so we can help with that transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[breathing exercise]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>I think it’s also allowed me to view my students in a different way, like thinking about a trauma informed response and like what I need, maybe what they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Becca has more empathy now. More capacity to stay present through hard moments with her students\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Becca Rogers: \u003c/strong>They’re really navigating something too, right. They’re human, I’m a human and we’re having this experience together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ki Sung talks with clinical psychologist and author Ross Greene about why traditional discipline strategies often fail students, and what educators can do instead. Greene explains his \u003ca href=\"https://livesinthebalance.org/our-solution/\">Collaborative and Proactive Solutions\u003c/a> model, which shifts the focus away from rewards and punishments and toward identifying the unmet needs and unsolved problems behind student behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/4qsGTXLnmKs\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Welcome to the MindShift podcast, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Ki Sung. There’s been no shortage of stories about what’s troubling kids today, the outbursts, the apathy, the mental health concerns. We’re seeing some signs of progress through solutions like limiting screen time and having more in real-life social interactions, but there are still students who need help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Kids-Who-Arent-Okay/Ross-W-Greene/9781668203903\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"265\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg.jpg 265w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\">\u003c/a>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene developed the \u003ca href=\"https://livesinthebalance.org/our-solution/\">Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model\u003c/a> to help all students, and it requires a different way of responding to students’ behavior. He’s the author of the recently published book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Kids-Who-Arent-Okay/Ross-W-Greene/9781668203903\">The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> He’s also the bestselling author of several other books, including The Explosive Child and Lost at School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Welcome, Dr. Greene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Thank you for inviting me to do this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Thank you so much for being here. Let’s talk first about what you describe as concerning behavior, the stuff that gets kids sent to the principal’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> You say concerning behavior is how kids communicate that they’re having difficulty meeting a particular expectation. Can you tell us more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I do say that all the time, and I wish everybody knew that. We’ve, we’ve all become accustomed to the cliche “All behavior is communication.” Somehow, it doesn’t translate for a lot of people that concerning behavior communicates that a kid is frustrated or distressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Concerning behavior is a frustration or distress response, and almost always, what the student is frustrated or distressed about is an expectation that they’re having difficulty meeting. Um, if all we pay attention to is the behavior, then we’re gonna be kinda narrow in what we can do, or… ’cause when you’re focused on behavior, all you can really do is try to modify it, and that’s usually accomplished through some mix of rewards and punishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> But rewards and punishments, what a lot of people refer to as consequences, aren’t problem-solving strategies. So we have a lot of students who have experienced a lot of consequences and who are still doing poorly because the problems that are causing the behaviors that we’ve been busy consequencing often haven’t even been identified, let alone solved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, it’s kinda wild to hear you say that because I hear a lot of focus on the behavior. So what are you proposing we do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I am proposing that we de-emphasize our focus on behavior, and by the way, our focus on behavior Is all around us. We are, um… When we have a kid who’s struggling and communicating that they’re struggling through their behavior, we do behavior checklists, we do behavior observations, we do a functional behavior assessment all so that we can come up with a behavior plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> When a student is struggling in a classroom and communicate that through their concerning behavior, they get a discipline referral, and what the, the information that is mostly passed along to the people who are on the receiving end of those discipline referrals is the kid’s concerning behavior. And what they often do about it is give the kid consequences for their concerning behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> We need to instead, um, focus on the problems that are causing that behavior. I call them unsolved problems. The synonym for unsolved problem is unmet expectation. This includes things like stuff classroom teachers deal with every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Um, difficulty coming back into the classroom after recess, difficulty sitting next to Susie during circle time, difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math, difficulty agreeing with Billy on the rules of the four square game at recess, difficulty coming to school, difficulty coming to school on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I could go on forever. Those are not typically the things people are talking about when they’re talking about a kid who’s struggling. They’re often talking about the kid’s concerning behavior and what they’re doing to try to modify it, and maybe even the diagnosis that captures those behaviors. We would be so much better off if we have an instrument that helps us identify their unsolved problems, and we do in the collaborative and proactive solutions model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And if we were engaging students in the process of solving those problems, meaning collaboratively, and since we’re now out in front of those problems, having now finally identified them, the problem should also be proactive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I think there’s something huge in what you’re talking about solutions-wise in the word collaborative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It sounds like you’re talking about including the student as well in how to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> That is so what I’m talking about. But I think a lot of adults, um, both in education, in education but also everywhere else, think it’s their job to divine what’s getting in the kid’s way and to divine what the solutions should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> This is not that. Kids can be relied upon to help us understand what’s making it hard for them to meet a particular expectation. I’m often asked the question, “What makes you think the kid knows?” And my answer is, “i35 years of asking.” Kids can also be relied upon to, um, come up with solutions t- about what’s getting in the way of them meeting certain expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So this model is moving us away from being completely adult-driven. The adult is the facilitator of a process in which kid and adult are working toward solutions together. That is very different from what typically goes on now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> One thing I had to kind of work a little extra on to better understand is your concepts of collaborative and proactive solutions, because I realize a lot of why we continue to do what we’re doing, right, looking for behaviors, uh, trying to work in a behavior-focused model, I think a lot of why we operate that way is, is rooted in our communication, you know, how we communicate with young people, which is not necessarily open-ended, you know, which is thinking more about why have you not done this thing that I asked you to do already with the consequences in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, so can you give us some examples of how people can communicate to get to that state of collaboration versus maybe how we typically communicate now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, very interesting question. You know, solving a problem collaboratively starts with identifying the problem that you want to solve with the kid, and although that sounds like sort of a given, it’s not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Mostly because we’re so focused on behavior that we often haven’t even identified the expectations a student is having difficulty reliably meeting. So we’ve gotta start with that, and the instrument that I was talking about is called the Assessment of Skills and Unsolved Problems, and it helps us memorialize every single expectation a particular student is having difficulty reliably meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And we are now, for having done that, out in front of it, which means we don’t have to wait for the frustration response to occur before we intervene. So much of intervention, so much of what we’re training educators to do, so much of what we’re teaching kids is what to do once a kid is already becoming frustrated, and that’s late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> That’s crisis management. That’s not out in front of it. That’s waiting for the behavior to occur. Boy, does the game change when we proactively identify unsolved problems- That positions us to solve them proactively. Um, I’m always telling educators, being late is not a given. With some intentionality, with some commitment, with some imagination, we could be early instead of late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So identifying unsolved problems is where the whole thing begins. It then continues with prioritizing the unsolved problems you’ve identified, because you’re not gonna be able to solve everything at once. Often we encourage educators to prioritize unsolved problems that are causing safety issues, because safety is a big deal in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And then it’s time to start solving a problem collaboratively and proactively with a student. Um, what might that sound like? “I’ve noticed you’ve been having difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. What’s up?” The caregiver just got the conversation going. The caregiver is now facilitating a problem-solving process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> The caregiver is not thinking about consequences, because the caregiver should know that consequences don’t solve any problems. Now we’re looking to the kid to help us understand what’s making it hard. Now, sometimes kids say something that feel like a showstopper, like, “I hate it.” But one of the other things the collaborative and proactive solutions model provides is how to drill for more information, how to probe, and the drilling strategy, there are eight of them that I would use in that circumstances, is simple reflective listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> “You hate it. Tell me more about that.” “It’s stupid.” Sounds like another showstopper, but it’s not. “It’s stupid.” Um, “I’m sorry, I’m still not exactly sure what you mean. What do you mean when you say it’s stupid?” “It’s stupid how you make me do math I don’t know how to do.” Are we starting to get some traction here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> We are. Do we need to continue probing? We do, because we don’t yet know what’s making it hard for the kid to complete the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. But we do have a kid who’s now talking, and that is a wonderful thing. Um, eventually, and I’m thinking of a particular kid here, we learned that, uh, when the double-digit division problems in math were presented in words, as in word problems, they got completely stumped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> But when they could do it through, um, just doing out a division problem, they could do it just fine. Good. Now we know. That’s the first step of solving a problem collaboratively, curiosity, finding out what’s been getting in the kid’s way. The second step is the adult’s step. It’s their turn to say why they, um, think it’s important that the expectation Be met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And then in the third step, adult and kid are collaborating on a solution that’s going to address the concerns of both parties. Solved problems don’t cause frustration responses, only unsolved problems do. So when educators first hear about this process, and all I’ve given you is the basic outlines, the first thing they think about, and I completely understand why, is time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> They ask, “When does he think we’re going to do this?” But I could make a very persuasive argument for the fact that the reason we have no time is because we haven’t been doing this. We’ve been chasing after behavior day after day, same kids. It saves a lot of time to finally identify and solve the problems we’ve been chasing after all this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Who was it that said, uh, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I don’t remember who it was, but they had a good point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> All right. Um, can I ask, in that instance with the math problem, what is the unproductive way to respond that you may have seen or heard about in classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Oh, thinking that the student’s failure to do the math is due to poor motivation, and then thinking that what this student really needs is more motivation. And that could go in a few different directions. It could sound like this: “Uh, Billy, if you do not get that math done before recess, you are not going out for recess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Could be in the form of reward, “Billy, if you get that math done, you get XYZ reward.” Very common. Um, we still have no idea what’s making it hard for Billy to do the math. We’ve lost sight of the fact that we are not the first people who’ve tried to incentivize Billy to do things that are hard for him. Um, we’ve also lost sight of the fact that this is not the first time Billy’s had difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> It’s the 197th, which makes this an old unsolved problem. Um, if we punish Billy for something, for a problem that he is currently unable to overcome on his own, we heighten the likelihood that Billy will exhibit a frustration response. If we dangle a reward in front of Billy, and Billy is unable to achieve that award because Billy is not yet over, uh, uh, able to overcome that problem- We still run the risk of a frustration response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I’ve seen just as many frustration responses when a kid didn’t get an anticipated reward as I have in response to punishment. But the whole thing here is we still don’t have the slightest idea what’s making it hard for Billy to do the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. And until we do, Billy’s still gonna struggle with that unsolved problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It’s really fascinating to hear you describe the latter because that is far more common experience from my point of view than anyone having sat down and spent time identifying an unsolved problem. I like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Even when people sit down with the kid and talk to the kid, what they’re often talking with the kid about is their concerning behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Um, so you ran out of Mrs. Johnson’s classroom. Why’d you do that? And the answer that we most frequently get when people try to talk with kids about their frustration responses is, “I don’t know,” or the most primitive of defense mechanisms, “No, I didn’t.” Those conversations, generally speaking, go nowhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Conversations we have about helping kids understand what’s making it hard for them to meet an expectation, actually they’re the ones who are helping us understand, and working toward a solution that finally gets the problem solved so the frustration responses subside, that’s a beautiful thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So as you said, “I don’t know,” or, you know, other things kids say like, “I don’t care,” I imagine adults also have a frustration response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Does this help get at the root of how adults respond as well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, a lot of maladaptive adult frustration responses occur in the heat of the moment as well. Our goal is to get out of the heat of the moment. The heat of the moment, I can’t say this enough times, isn’t a given. I know the students are difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I get it. I know that there’s too many of them in a classroom. I get that too. But this would all be a whole lot easier, and it would be much better practice for both educators and kids if we were focused on the right thing. Now, that’s the heat of the moment part of educator frustration these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot of reasons that educators should be frustrated these days. Um, I think we’ve made it a lot harder to be an educator over the last two to three decades, and yes, high-stakes testing, I’m staring at you, but that is not the only thing that has made it harder to be an educator. I’ve had many educators say to me, “They’ve taken all the humanity out of my job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> They’ve turned me into a test prep robot.” Um, zero tolerance policies, um, made it more difficult for me to find out what’s really going on with a kid because zero tolerance policies just tightened the vice grip and gave us an algorithm for applying consequences to certain behaviors. Um, we’ve made a lot of things harder on educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Let there be no doubt they aren’t paid anywhere nearly enough. Um, they don’t have time. So there’s a baseline level of frustration for a lot of educators these days. They often don’t feel safe in their classrooms. Um, I find that when we implement this model, it’s not just the frustration of kids that subside, it’s the frustration of educators as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Although I will say this: there’s nothing about this model that will help educators get paid what they deserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that is the, a huge goal for so many people in order to better serve students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>we’re going to take a short break. We’ll be back with our guest Ross Greene, right after this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>So, you know, I’ve heard a lot of educators say, “Meet them where they’re at,” or, you know, a version of this is, “Teach the kid you have.” Um, but that’s not happening at a wide scale. Um, is it really hard to implement? Is it, uh, like what is it about schools that make it challenging to get to that point?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> You know, one of the other big focal points of the book is, um, the concept of developmental variability, which I don’t hear people talking about enough, especially in schools, but anywhere really. Um, developmental variability basically says what’s walking in the door is a bunch of individual differences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Developmental variability is just a fanciv- fancy way of saying every kid is different, and let there be no doubt that is what’s walking in every classroom. We’ve done kids and educators a tremendous disservice by saying, “Even with all that developmental variability, you gotta get every kid over the same line by the end of the school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> How ludicrous, and educators told us that was ludicrous 30 years ago, and it’s just as ludicrous now. One of the points I make in the book is that every kid should be their own reference point. Teachers should feel free to have every kid be their own reference point for progress. That tells you that there is no line that everybody has to get over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> There’s no line. There’s just making sure that every student makes as much progress relative to where they started at the beginning in every school year, and we need to free teachers up to be able to do that. Um, that’s what differentiated instruction is about. That’s what personalized learning is about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Unfortunately, those things frequently don’t embed themselves into our practice. Every kid is their own reference point. The goal of good teaching is defined as meeting every kid where they’re at. Um, we need to free teachers up to be able to do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> You know, one thing that I thought was really interesting about your book is, I, I think this is interesting because teachers are asked to do so much, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> They are, in many cases, social workers. Sometimes they’re stand-ins for parents. They’re just doing more and more all the time, and what you write is that you don’t want teachers to be diagnosing, to look at behavior and diagnose behavior. Um, can you tell me why that is? And, and I ask because there is so much emphasis on the behavior side of interacting with students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So why, why do you want teachers to, you know, not act in that way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, because diagnoses don’t really tell you very much. Um, not very much that you don’t already know. Diagnoses are sometimes the gateway for a kid to get services. Diagnosis can sometimes be the gateway for a kid to get funding for those services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I’m a mental health professional, and I don’t find that diagnoses give me much useful information about a kid. Um, what gives me the useful information? What skills this kid is struggling with and what expectations this kid is having difficulty reliably meeting, and I get that information from the assessment of skills and unsolved problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Here’s a, um, I was speaking at a, uh, autism conference in Denmark pre-COVID, and a mother in my audience raised her hand very tentatively and said, “Yeah, but I found my daughter’s autism diagnosis to be very useful.” I said, “That’s good.” Then she thought about it for a second, and she said, “But I think what you’re saying-” “Is that my daughter’s autism diagnosis really doesn’t tell me anything about her specific skills or the specific expectations she’s having difficulty meeting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I said, “Right.” She thought about it a little bit more, and then she said, “And I think what you’re saying is that once I identify my daughter’s skills and unsolved problems, I’m going to find that I have information that is far more useful than her psychiatric diagnosis.” I said, “Probably.” Um, focusing on diagnoses focuses on, makes us focus on behavior, because if we look at the diagnostic criteria for the vast majority of childhood psychiatric disorders, what we’re going to find is a long list of behaviors, frustration responses, distress responses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So long as we’re focused on the behavior, we’re gonna be late every time, because behavior occurs after a kid is already having difficulty meeting a particular expectation. We’ve been waiting for behavior to occur. We need to start anticipating, identifying, and solving problems instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me to do this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene is the author of the recently published book, The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools. He’s also the author of other books, including The Explosive Child and Lost at School, and is the founding director of Lives in the Balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The MindShift team includes me, Ki Sung, Nimah Gobir, Marlena Jackson-Retondo and Marnette Federis. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is our head of podcasts and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor in chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening to MindShift.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ki Sung talks with clinical psychologist and author Ross Greene about why traditional discipline strategies often fail students, and what educators can do instead. Greene explains his \u003ca href=\"https://livesinthebalance.org/our-solution/\">Collaborative and Proactive Solutions\u003c/a> model, which shifts the focus away from rewards and punishments and toward identifying the unmet needs and unsolved problems behind student behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/4qsGTXLnmKs\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Welcome to the MindShift podcast, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Ki Sung. There’s been no shortage of stories about what’s troubling kids today, the outbursts, the apathy, the mental health concerns. We’re seeing some signs of progress through solutions like limiting screen time and having more in real-life social interactions, but there are still students who need help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Kids-Who-Arent-Okay/Ross-W-Greene/9781668203903\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66349\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"265\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg.jpg 265w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/05/the-kids-who-arent-okay-9781668203903_lg-160x242.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\">\u003c/a>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene developed the \u003ca href=\"https://livesinthebalance.org/our-solution/\">Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model\u003c/a> to help all students, and it requires a different way of responding to students’ behavior. He’s the author of the recently published book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Kids-Who-Arent-Okay/Ross-W-Greene/9781668203903\">The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> He’s also the bestselling author of several other books, including The Explosive Child and Lost at School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Welcome, Dr. Greene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Thank you for inviting me to do this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Thank you so much for being here. Let’s talk first about what you describe as concerning behavior, the stuff that gets kids sent to the principal’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> You say concerning behavior is how kids communicate that they’re having difficulty meeting a particular expectation. Can you tell us more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I do say that all the time, and I wish everybody knew that. We’ve, we’ve all become accustomed to the cliche “All behavior is communication.” Somehow, it doesn’t translate for a lot of people that concerning behavior communicates that a kid is frustrated or distressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Concerning behavior is a frustration or distress response, and almost always, what the student is frustrated or distressed about is an expectation that they’re having difficulty meeting. Um, if all we pay attention to is the behavior, then we’re gonna be kinda narrow in what we can do, or… ’cause when you’re focused on behavior, all you can really do is try to modify it, and that’s usually accomplished through some mix of rewards and punishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> But rewards and punishments, what a lot of people refer to as consequences, aren’t problem-solving strategies. So we have a lot of students who have experienced a lot of consequences and who are still doing poorly because the problems that are causing the behaviors that we’ve been busy consequencing often haven’t even been identified, let alone solved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, it’s kinda wild to hear you say that because I hear a lot of focus on the behavior. So what are you proposing we do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I am proposing that we de-emphasize our focus on behavior, and by the way, our focus on behavior Is all around us. We are, um… When we have a kid who’s struggling and communicating that they’re struggling through their behavior, we do behavior checklists, we do behavior observations, we do a functional behavior assessment all so that we can come up with a behavior plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> When a student is struggling in a classroom and communicate that through their concerning behavior, they get a discipline referral, and what the, the information that is mostly passed along to the people who are on the receiving end of those discipline referrals is the kid’s concerning behavior. And what they often do about it is give the kid consequences for their concerning behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> We need to instead, um, focus on the problems that are causing that behavior. I call them unsolved problems. The synonym for unsolved problem is unmet expectation. This includes things like stuff classroom teachers deal with every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Um, difficulty coming back into the classroom after recess, difficulty sitting next to Susie during circle time, difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math, difficulty agreeing with Billy on the rules of the four square game at recess, difficulty coming to school, difficulty coming to school on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I could go on forever. Those are not typically the things people are talking about when they’re talking about a kid who’s struggling. They’re often talking about the kid’s concerning behavior and what they’re doing to try to modify it, and maybe even the diagnosis that captures those behaviors. We would be so much better off if we have an instrument that helps us identify their unsolved problems, and we do in the collaborative and proactive solutions model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And if we were engaging students in the process of solving those problems, meaning collaboratively, and since we’re now out in front of those problems, having now finally identified them, the problem should also be proactive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I think there’s something huge in what you’re talking about solutions-wise in the word collaborative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It sounds like you’re talking about including the student as well in how to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> That is so what I’m talking about. But I think a lot of adults, um, both in education, in education but also everywhere else, think it’s their job to divine what’s getting in the kid’s way and to divine what the solutions should be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> This is not that. Kids can be relied upon to help us understand what’s making it hard for them to meet a particular expectation. I’m often asked the question, “What makes you think the kid knows?” And my answer is, “i35 years of asking.” Kids can also be relied upon to, um, come up with solutions t- about what’s getting in the way of them meeting certain expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So this model is moving us away from being completely adult-driven. The adult is the facilitator of a process in which kid and adult are working toward solutions together. That is very different from what typically goes on now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> One thing I had to kind of work a little extra on to better understand is your concepts of collaborative and proactive solutions, because I realize a lot of why we continue to do what we’re doing, right, looking for behaviors, uh, trying to work in a behavior-focused model, I think a lot of why we operate that way is, is rooted in our communication, you know, how we communicate with young people, which is not necessarily open-ended, you know, which is thinking more about why have you not done this thing that I asked you to do already with the consequences in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, so can you give us some examples of how people can communicate to get to that state of collaboration versus maybe how we typically communicate now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, very interesting question. You know, solving a problem collaboratively starts with identifying the problem that you want to solve with the kid, and although that sounds like sort of a given, it’s not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Mostly because we’re so focused on behavior that we often haven’t even identified the expectations a student is having difficulty reliably meeting. So we’ve gotta start with that, and the instrument that I was talking about is called the Assessment of Skills and Unsolved Problems, and it helps us memorialize every single expectation a particular student is having difficulty reliably meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And we are now, for having done that, out in front of it, which means we don’t have to wait for the frustration response to occur before we intervene. So much of intervention, so much of what we’re training educators to do, so much of what we’re teaching kids is what to do once a kid is already becoming frustrated, and that’s late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> That’s crisis management. That’s not out in front of it. That’s waiting for the behavior to occur. Boy, does the game change when we proactively identify unsolved problems- That positions us to solve them proactively. Um, I’m always telling educators, being late is not a given. With some intentionality, with some commitment, with some imagination, we could be early instead of late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So identifying unsolved problems is where the whole thing begins. It then continues with prioritizing the unsolved problems you’ve identified, because you’re not gonna be able to solve everything at once. Often we encourage educators to prioritize unsolved problems that are causing safety issues, because safety is a big deal in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And then it’s time to start solving a problem collaboratively and proactively with a student. Um, what might that sound like? “I’ve noticed you’ve been having difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. What’s up?” The caregiver just got the conversation going. The caregiver is now facilitating a problem-solving process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> The caregiver is not thinking about consequences, because the caregiver should know that consequences don’t solve any problems. Now we’re looking to the kid to help us understand what’s making it hard. Now, sometimes kids say something that feel like a showstopper, like, “I hate it.” But one of the other things the collaborative and proactive solutions model provides is how to drill for more information, how to probe, and the drilling strategy, there are eight of them that I would use in that circumstances, is simple reflective listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> “You hate it. Tell me more about that.” “It’s stupid.” Sounds like another showstopper, but it’s not. “It’s stupid.” Um, “I’m sorry, I’m still not exactly sure what you mean. What do you mean when you say it’s stupid?” “It’s stupid how you make me do math I don’t know how to do.” Are we starting to get some traction here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> We are. Do we need to continue probing? We do, because we don’t yet know what’s making it hard for the kid to complete the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. But we do have a kid who’s now talking, and that is a wonderful thing. Um, eventually, and I’m thinking of a particular kid here, we learned that, uh, when the double-digit division problems in math were presented in words, as in word problems, they got completely stumped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> But when they could do it through, um, just doing out a division problem, they could do it just fine. Good. Now we know. That’s the first step of solving a problem collaboratively, curiosity, finding out what’s been getting in the kid’s way. The second step is the adult’s step. It’s their turn to say why they, um, think it’s important that the expectation Be met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> And then in the third step, adult and kid are collaborating on a solution that’s going to address the concerns of both parties. Solved problems don’t cause frustration responses, only unsolved problems do. So when educators first hear about this process, and all I’ve given you is the basic outlines, the first thing they think about, and I completely understand why, is time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> They ask, “When does he think we’re going to do this?” But I could make a very persuasive argument for the fact that the reason we have no time is because we haven’t been doing this. We’ve been chasing after behavior day after day, same kids. It saves a lot of time to finally identify and solve the problems we’ve been chasing after all this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Who was it that said, uh, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I don’t remember who it was, but they had a good point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> All right. Um, can I ask, in that instance with the math problem, what is the unproductive way to respond that you may have seen or heard about in classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Oh, thinking that the student’s failure to do the math is due to poor motivation, and then thinking that what this student really needs is more motivation. And that could go in a few different directions. It could sound like this: “Uh, Billy, if you do not get that math done before recess, you are not going out for recess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Could be in the form of reward, “Billy, if you get that math done, you get XYZ reward.” Very common. Um, we still have no idea what’s making it hard for Billy to do the math. We’ve lost sight of the fact that we are not the first people who’ve tried to incentivize Billy to do things that are hard for him. Um, we’ve also lost sight of the fact that this is not the first time Billy’s had difficulty completing the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> It’s the 197th, which makes this an old unsolved problem. Um, if we punish Billy for something, for a problem that he is currently unable to overcome on his own, we heighten the likelihood that Billy will exhibit a frustration response. If we dangle a reward in front of Billy, and Billy is unable to achieve that award because Billy is not yet over, uh, uh, able to overcome that problem- We still run the risk of a frustration response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I’ve seen just as many frustration responses when a kid didn’t get an anticipated reward as I have in response to punishment. But the whole thing here is we still don’t have the slightest idea what’s making it hard for Billy to do the double-digit division problems on the worksheet in math. And until we do, Billy’s still gonna struggle with that unsolved problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It’s really fascinating to hear you describe the latter because that is far more common experience from my point of view than anyone having sat down and spent time identifying an unsolved problem. I like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Even when people sit down with the kid and talk to the kid, what they’re often talking with the kid about is their concerning behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Um, so you ran out of Mrs. Johnson’s classroom. Why’d you do that? And the answer that we most frequently get when people try to talk with kids about their frustration responses is, “I don’t know,” or the most primitive of defense mechanisms, “No, I didn’t.” Those conversations, generally speaking, go nowhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Conversations we have about helping kids understand what’s making it hard for them to meet an expectation, actually they’re the ones who are helping us understand, and working toward a solution that finally gets the problem solved so the frustration responses subside, that’s a beautiful thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So as you said, “I don’t know,” or, you know, other things kids say like, “I don’t care,” I imagine adults also have a frustration response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Does this help get at the root of how adults respond as well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, a lot of maladaptive adult frustration responses occur in the heat of the moment as well. Our goal is to get out of the heat of the moment. The heat of the moment, I can’t say this enough times, isn’t a given. I know the students are difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I get it. I know that there’s too many of them in a classroom. I get that too. But this would all be a whole lot easier, and it would be much better practice for both educators and kids if we were focused on the right thing. Now, that’s the heat of the moment part of educator frustration these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> There’s a lot of reasons that educators should be frustrated these days. Um, I think we’ve made it a lot harder to be an educator over the last two to three decades, and yes, high-stakes testing, I’m staring at you, but that is not the only thing that has made it harder to be an educator. I’ve had many educators say to me, “They’ve taken all the humanity out of my job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> They’ve turned me into a test prep robot.” Um, zero tolerance policies, um, made it more difficult for me to find out what’s really going on with a kid because zero tolerance policies just tightened the vice grip and gave us an algorithm for applying consequences to certain behaviors. Um, we’ve made a lot of things harder on educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Let there be no doubt they aren’t paid anywhere nearly enough. Um, they don’t have time. So there’s a baseline level of frustration for a lot of educators these days. They often don’t feel safe in their classrooms. Um, I find that when we implement this model, it’s not just the frustration of kids that subside, it’s the frustration of educators as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Although I will say this: there’s nothing about this model that will help educators get paid what they deserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that is the, a huge goal for so many people in order to better serve students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>we’re going to take a short break. We’ll be back with our guest Ross Greene, right after this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>So, you know, I’ve heard a lot of educators say, “Meet them where they’re at,” or, you know, a version of this is, “Teach the kid you have.” Um, but that’s not happening at a wide scale. Um, is it really hard to implement? Is it, uh, like what is it about schools that make it challenging to get to that point?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> You know, one of the other big focal points of the book is, um, the concept of developmental variability, which I don’t hear people talking about enough, especially in schools, but anywhere really. Um, developmental variability basically says what’s walking in the door is a bunch of individual differences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Developmental variability is just a fanciv- fancy way of saying every kid is different, and let there be no doubt that is what’s walking in every classroom. We’ve done kids and educators a tremendous disservice by saying, “Even with all that developmental variability, you gotta get every kid over the same line by the end of the school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> How ludicrous, and educators told us that was ludicrous 30 years ago, and it’s just as ludicrous now. One of the points I make in the book is that every kid should be their own reference point. Teachers should feel free to have every kid be their own reference point for progress. That tells you that there is no line that everybody has to get over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> There’s no line. There’s just making sure that every student makes as much progress relative to where they started at the beginning in every school year, and we need to free teachers up to be able to do that. Um, that’s what differentiated instruction is about. That’s what personalized learning is about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Unfortunately, those things frequently don’t embed themselves into our practice. Every kid is their own reference point. The goal of good teaching is defined as meeting every kid where they’re at. Um, we need to free teachers up to be able to do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> You know, one thing that I thought was really interesting about your book is, I, I think this is interesting because teachers are asked to do so much, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> They are, in many cases, social workers. Sometimes they’re stand-ins for parents. They’re just doing more and more all the time, and what you write is that you don’t want teachers to be diagnosing, to look at behavior and diagnose behavior. Um, can you tell me why that is? And, and I ask because there is so much emphasis on the behavior side of interacting with students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So why, why do you want teachers to, you know, not act in that way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Well, because diagnoses don’t really tell you very much. Um, not very much that you don’t already know. Diagnoses are sometimes the gateway for a kid to get services. Diagnosis can sometimes be the gateway for a kid to get funding for those services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I’m a mental health professional, and I don’t find that diagnoses give me much useful information about a kid. Um, what gives me the useful information? What skills this kid is struggling with and what expectations this kid is having difficulty reliably meeting, and I get that information from the assessment of skills and unsolved problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> Here’s a, um, I was speaking at a, uh, autism conference in Denmark pre-COVID, and a mother in my audience raised her hand very tentatively and said, “Yeah, but I found my daughter’s autism diagnosis to be very useful.” I said, “That’s good.” Then she thought about it for a second, and she said, “But I think what you’re saying-” “Is that my daughter’s autism diagnosis really doesn’t tell me anything about her specific skills or the specific expectations she’s having difficulty meeting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> I said, “Right.” She thought about it a little bit more, and then she said, “And I think what you’re saying is that once I identify my daughter’s skills and unsolved problems, I’m going to find that I have information that is far more useful than her psychiatric diagnosis.” I said, “Probably.” Um, focusing on diagnoses focuses on, makes us focus on behavior, because if we look at the diagnostic criteria for the vast majority of childhood psychiatric disorders, what we’re going to find is a long list of behaviors, frustration responses, distress responses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> So long as we’re focused on the behavior, we’re gonna be late every time, because behavior occurs after a kid is already having difficulty meeting a particular expectation. We’ve been waiting for behavior to occur. We need to start anticipating, identifying, and solving problems instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ross Greene:\u003c/strong> My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me to do this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Dr. Ross Greene is the author of the recently published book, The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools. He’s also the author of other books, including The Explosive Child and Lost at School, and is the founding director of Lives in the Balance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The MindShift team includes me, Ki Sung, Nimah Gobir, Marlena Jackson-Retondo and Marnette Federis. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is our head of podcasts and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor in chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening to MindShift.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For 30 years, Bellevue Elementary in Santa Rosa has relied on AmeriCorps services to support their students that need extra help. But when federal funding was cut, and later reinstated, that programming stalled, leaving some students behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this episode, principal Nina Craig explains how the loss of tutors affected instruction and student relationships, while new AmeriCorps members, Maya Nurse and Elena Zeoli, describe stepping into classrooms with limited time and resources. We learn how even a few missed months of literacy support reduces how many students can be served.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1557384124\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marlena Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Mind Shift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Marlena Jackson Rotondo. It’s almost Winter break at Bellevue Elementary in Santa Rosa, California, and tutoring sessions for the school year have just begun. The schools to AmeriCorps tutors have gone through a crash course of training to prepare for the reading and writing support they’ll provide for the rest of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>AmeriCorps is an independent government agency whose volunteer members provide educational support and services to schools across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>On this morning, a small group of fourth graders reluctantly file into the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>They’ve been pulled out of their classroom to spend 30 minutes with the tutors, Maya Nurse and Elena Zeoli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maya has the students get straight to work reading a story out loud from a workbook In unison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mya Nurse:\u003c/strong> We’re gonna start with our choral style of reading today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mya Nurse:\u003c/strong> Ready? Go!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>All reading:\u003c/strong> My mother says to me, I choose a pretty paper fan with a picture of leaves and fireflies. I will keep my fan forever. When I grow up I will look at it and remember this night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The tutors stop the students every couple of sentences to ask about vocabulary in the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> So what happened?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> What unexpectedly happened? The wet… they were warned about the weather. They thought the waves were only gonna get to how tall? Do you remember from the first page? Student: mmmm….\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The students seem timid, and when they do speak up, it’s very quiet. And sometimes the students don’t answer the questions at all, but Maya and Elena, unfazed by the silence, move on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> This is normal student behavior for the first week of tutoring at Bellevue Elementary, but what isn’t normal is that the first week of tutoring has been delayed this year by more than two months. Tutoring was supposed to start in early fall. Last April, all AmeriCorps funding was terminated by the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong> This ended an almost three decade long collaboration between Bellevue Elementary and AmeriCorps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cuts happened immediately and without explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> It was shocking how quickly it happened. Um, uh, literally felt like overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> so it kind of felt like the rug was pulled out from us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> That’s Nina Craig Bellevue, elementary’s principal of 10 years. Before that, she was a fifth grade teacher and she recalls working with AmeriCorps members then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> As a classroom teacher I remember them coming into my room and working with some of my students and having that partnership as a teacher\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And because the AmeriCorps members were such an integral part of the school community, the cuts were difficult for Bellevue students too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> The relationship with the kids that was established and for the kids to all of a sudden have these people gone that are such a vital part of our school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> was really sad and really hard to explain, because they really do become a part of our school culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong> Through lawsuits. AmeriCorps funding cuts were reversed in June of last year, but by that time, schools like Bellevue Elementary were already behind for the next school year’s cycle of tutoring. Some schools across the district opted not to continue with tutoring and mentoring support from AmeriCorps members for the next school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> This is because they had to make decisions about their funding and without the certainty of AmeriCorps services, they had to go without. And because programming was delayed, Bellevue students didn’t start tutoring until December instead of October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> there hasn’t been any tutoring offered for our third through sixth grade students until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> So without AmeriCorps, those students aren’t receiving any type of tutoring or intervention. And unless the teacher’s able to carve out time within their day to provide that,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> AmeriCorps members provide one of Bellevue elementary’s only forms of tier two support. That’s targeted support in a small group setting. In this case, it helps students who are struggling with reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> In years past, we’ve had literacy paraprofessionals that could support our tier two. Um, however, with budget cuts, this is our first year without having them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> And so, um, we have one instructional aide. For the entire school\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> But yeah, we’re very limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The two AmeriCorps tutors contribute greatly to Bellevue’s tier two manpower, but it’s still not enough. The school reduced the kindergarten day by one and a half hours so that kindergarten teachers could provide extra support for Bellevue’s first and second grade classrooms. On short notice, and with no wiggle room in their budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Bellevue Elementary had to make some hard choices. We’ll find out how they’re doing right after this break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***Midroll Break***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>When I visited Bellevue Elementary back in December, I spoke with Fonzi, a fourth grader, receiving small group literacy tutoring for 30 minutes per day, four days per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Fonzi: \u003c/strong>Dog Man and then I Survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fonzi’s telling me about the books he likes to read at home.,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> What was that one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> I Survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> What’s that one about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> It’s um, there’s like different books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Fonzi:\u003c/strong> There’s, um, a Titanic book that, um, sunk in the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> So you read about different survival stories? Whoa, that’s pretty cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> He feels like there’s less reading time when he’s in his classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> The things that are different is, um, we don’t like read a lot of books,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> But when he’s in his tutoring sessions, reading time, one of his favorite things to do, is extended\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> At AR time, we um, read, we read books for 15 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Fonzi is part of a small group of fourth grade students who have been identified as needing extra support with reading. During a normal year, there’s enough time for two groups of students to cycle through tutoring support from AmeriCorps members. But this year, since tutoring at Bellevue started late, AmeriCorps members only have time to help half of the students that they normally would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> At sites like Bellevue, the AmeriCorps tutors have become a staple in the school community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> There’s so many ways AmeriCorps impacts because of the tutoring, the recess playtime, the mentoring. It’s so much connection. You guys probably know more of the kids’ names than I do, um, at this point. And you just started\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And for Maya and Elena who are just starting their careers, the program offers them a glimpse into their professional future\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I know I want to do a job where I’m helping people and so I thought this was a great opportunity to, yeah, like, get some real life experience where I’m like serving others and I’m thinking of maybe doing something with social work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> The opportunity to work with students in a school setting also offered Maya something new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I’ve never worked with kids, and so I was kind of like, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, I don’t know if I..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> …If I can do this, at first, you know, I was a little timid, but then you kind of just jump in and, um, you start connecting with the kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>When I spoke with the tutoring pair back in December, Elena was already feeling optimistic about her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> So far this job I feel extremely passionate about, which is, it’s just really nice waking up in the morning and I, I wake up early, like I wake up before my alarm clock ’cause I’m just excited to come to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> A couple months later, Maya and Elena felt comfortable in their roles,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I just like know what I’m doing a little more. I kinda have a sense of like, we have a daily routine. I have really like good relationships with students now, so I’m like so excited to see them every day and they’re excited to see me and yeah, it’s great. It’s really good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And the AmeriCorps tutors have also noticed improvements in their students as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> One of my students in sixth grade, in one of his tests, he was and like the 26th percentile for reading in like November. And now he is like in the 42nd percentile and I’m like, whoa, that’s so like rewarding and exciting that he’s like doing so much better and able to do that on his own now, like do it more on his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> But the reality of having to work within the school’s limited resources has also sunk in for Maya.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> Sometimes also it’s like really hard to see like how some students struggle so much in school or like, you know, and I can only do so much and help them so much in that 30 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> yeah, just doing the best you can every day with what you have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> Cat was going to wait the cat, and then this could change to hundreds of bugs in one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> He called his keys and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>I walked into the tutoring classroom in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> It felt like a transformed space with students who were relaxed and eager to learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Elena had also noticed a difference in her students too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> I feel like they’re a lot more confident in answering questions and what to write down. So I feel like that’s. That’s like the biggest difference I’ve seen is like their confidence in what they’re writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> So the door, what’s the door? Who does he know? What’s the door? It’s D, the OOR. Yeah. I thought it was E-D-O-O-O-R-H. What? All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Fonzi has also gained confidence in his reading abilities since December. He told me he’s reading three to four books a day and even tackling some chapter books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> When I first came in and reading groups, um, we started reading books and stuff and I kind of got into it and I started reading books every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> The benefits of extra reading support provided by the AmeriCorps tutors at school has extended into Fonzie’s home life as well. He and his siblings made up a reading game that they like to play at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> We guess, like, the book that they have. They don’t show the covers. And we, guess, and then if we get it right, the people that have the book that the people say, they’re eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Even though there won’t be enough time to bring in another group of fourth graders for tutoring this school year, Elena and Maya look forward to the rest of their time with the students that they are able to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Thank you to Bellevue Elementary’s faculty and staff who contributed their time to make this episode possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The MindShift team includes me, Marlena Jackson-Retondo, Nimah Gobir, and Ki Sung. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is head of podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s, editor-in-chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Mindshift is supported in part by the generosity of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED, some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio artists. San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marlena Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Welcome to Mind Shift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Marlena Jackson Rotondo. It’s almost Winter break at Bellevue Elementary in Santa Rosa, California, and tutoring sessions for the school year have just begun. The schools to AmeriCorps tutors have gone through a crash course of training to prepare for the reading and writing support they’ll provide for the rest of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>AmeriCorps is an independent government agency whose volunteer members provide educational support and services to schools across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>On this morning, a small group of fourth graders reluctantly file into the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>They’ve been pulled out of their classroom to spend 30 minutes with the tutors, Maya Nurse and Elena Zeoli.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maya has the students get straight to work reading a story out loud from a workbook In unison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mya Nurse:\u003c/strong> We’re gonna start with our choral style of reading today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mya Nurse:\u003c/strong> Ready? Go!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>All reading:\u003c/strong> My mother says to me, I choose a pretty paper fan with a picture of leaves and fireflies. I will keep my fan forever. When I grow up I will look at it and remember this night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The tutors stop the students every couple of sentences to ask about vocabulary in the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> So what happened?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> What unexpectedly happened? The wet… they were warned about the weather. They thought the waves were only gonna get to how tall? Do you remember from the first page? Student: mmmm….\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The students seem timid, and when they do speak up, it’s very quiet. And sometimes the students don’t answer the questions at all, but Maya and Elena, unfazed by the silence, move on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> This is normal student behavior for the first week of tutoring at Bellevue Elementary, but what isn’t normal is that the first week of tutoring has been delayed this year by more than two months. Tutoring was supposed to start in early fall. Last April, all AmeriCorps funding was terminated by the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong> This ended an almost three decade long collaboration between Bellevue Elementary and AmeriCorps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cuts happened immediately and without explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> It was shocking how quickly it happened. Um, uh, literally felt like overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> so it kind of felt like the rug was pulled out from us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> That’s Nina Craig Bellevue, elementary’s principal of 10 years. Before that, she was a fifth grade teacher and she recalls working with AmeriCorps members then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> As a classroom teacher I remember them coming into my room and working with some of my students and having that partnership as a teacher\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And because the AmeriCorps members were such an integral part of the school community, the cuts were difficult for Bellevue students too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> The relationship with the kids that was established and for the kids to all of a sudden have these people gone that are such a vital part of our school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> was really sad and really hard to explain, because they really do become a part of our school culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong> Through lawsuits. AmeriCorps funding cuts were reversed in June of last year, but by that time, schools like Bellevue Elementary were already behind for the next school year’s cycle of tutoring. Some schools across the district opted not to continue with tutoring and mentoring support from AmeriCorps members for the next school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> This is because they had to make decisions about their funding and without the certainty of AmeriCorps services, they had to go without. And because programming was delayed, Bellevue students didn’t start tutoring until December instead of October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> there hasn’t been any tutoring offered for our third through sixth grade students until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> So without AmeriCorps, those students aren’t receiving any type of tutoring or intervention. And unless the teacher’s able to carve out time within their day to provide that,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> AmeriCorps members provide one of Bellevue elementary’s only forms of tier two support. That’s targeted support in a small group setting. In this case, it helps students who are struggling with reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> In years past, we’ve had literacy paraprofessionals that could support our tier two. Um, however, with budget cuts, this is our first year without having them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> And so, um, we have one instructional aide. For the entire school\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> But yeah, we’re very limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The two AmeriCorps tutors contribute greatly to Bellevue’s tier two manpower, but it’s still not enough. The school reduced the kindergarten day by one and a half hours so that kindergarten teachers could provide extra support for Bellevue’s first and second grade classrooms. On short notice, and with no wiggle room in their budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Bellevue Elementary had to make some hard choices. We’ll find out how they’re doing right after this break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***Midroll Break***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>When I visited Bellevue Elementary back in December, I spoke with Fonzi, a fourth grader, receiving small group literacy tutoring for 30 minutes per day, four days per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Fonzi: \u003c/strong>Dog Man and then I Survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fonzi’s telling me about the books he likes to read at home.,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> What was that one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> I Survived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> What’s that one about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> It’s um, there’s like different books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> Fonzi:\u003c/strong> There’s, um, a Titanic book that, um, sunk in the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> So you read about different survival stories? Whoa, that’s pretty cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> He feels like there’s less reading time when he’s in his classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> The things that are different is, um, we don’t like read a lot of books,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> But when he’s in his tutoring sessions, reading time, one of his favorite things to do, is extended\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> At AR time, we um, read, we read books for 15 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Fonzi is part of a small group of fourth grade students who have been identified as needing extra support with reading. During a normal year, there’s enough time for two groups of students to cycle through tutoring support from AmeriCorps members. But this year, since tutoring at Bellevue started late, AmeriCorps members only have time to help half of the students that they normally would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> At sites like Bellevue, the AmeriCorps tutors have become a staple in the school community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nina Craig:\u003c/strong> There’s so many ways AmeriCorps impacts because of the tutoring, the recess playtime, the mentoring. It’s so much connection. You guys probably know more of the kids’ names than I do, um, at this point. And you just started\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And for Maya and Elena who are just starting their careers, the program offers them a glimpse into their professional future\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I know I want to do a job where I’m helping people and so I thought this was a great opportunity to, yeah, like, get some real life experience where I’m like serving others and I’m thinking of maybe doing something with social work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> The opportunity to work with students in a school setting also offered Maya something new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I’ve never worked with kids, and so I was kind of like, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like, I don’t know if I..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> …If I can do this, at first, you know, I was a little timid, but then you kind of just jump in and, um, you start connecting with the kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>When I spoke with the tutoring pair back in December, Elena was already feeling optimistic about her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> So far this job I feel extremely passionate about, which is, it’s just really nice waking up in the morning and I, I wake up early, like I wake up before my alarm clock ’cause I’m just excited to come to the school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> A couple months later, Maya and Elena felt comfortable in their roles,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> I just like know what I’m doing a little more. I kinda have a sense of like, we have a daily routine. I have really like good relationships with students now, so I’m like so excited to see them every day and they’re excited to see me and yeah, it’s great. It’s really good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> And the AmeriCorps tutors have also noticed improvements in their students as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> One of my students in sixth grade, in one of his tests, he was and like the 26th percentile for reading in like November. And now he is like in the 42nd percentile and I’m like, whoa, that’s so like rewarding and exciting that he’s like doing so much better and able to do that on his own now, like do it more on his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> But the reality of having to work within the school’s limited resources has also sunk in for Maya.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> Sometimes also it’s like really hard to see like how some students struggle so much in school or like, you know, and I can only do so much and help them so much in that 30 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Maya Nurse:\u003c/strong> yeah, just doing the best you can every day with what you have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> Cat was going to wait the cat, and then this could change to hundreds of bugs in one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> He called his keys and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>I walked into the tutoring classroom in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> It felt like a transformed space with students who were relaxed and eager to learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Elena had also noticed a difference in her students too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Elena Zeoli:\u003c/strong> I feel like they’re a lot more confident in answering questions and what to write down. So I feel like that’s. That’s like the biggest difference I’ve seen is like their confidence in what they’re writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ambi:\u003c/strong> So the door, what’s the door? Who does he know? What’s the door? It’s D, the OOR. Yeah. I thought it was E-D-O-O-O-R-H. What? All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Fonzi has also gained confidence in his reading abilities since December. He told me he’s reading three to four books a day and even tackling some chapter books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> When I first came in and reading groups, um, we started reading books and stuff and I kind of got into it and I started reading books every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> The benefits of extra reading support provided by the AmeriCorps tutors at school has extended into Fonzie’s home life as well. He and his siblings made up a reading game that they like to play at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fonzi:\u003c/strong> We guess, like, the book that they have. They don’t show the covers. And we, guess, and then if we get it right, the people that have the book that the people say, they’re eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Even though there won’t be enough time to bring in another group of fourth graders for tutoring this school year, Elena and Maya look forward to the rest of their time with the students that they are able to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo:\u003c/strong> Thank you to Bellevue Elementary’s faculty and staff who contributed their time to make this episode possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>The MindShift team includes me, Marlena Jackson-Retondo, Nimah Gobir, and Ki Sung. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is head of podcasts and Ethan Toven-Lindsey is KQED’s, editor-in-chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Mindshift is supported in part by the generosity of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED, some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio artists. San Francisco, Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jackson-Retondo: \u003c/strong>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>Randy Porter has been teaching music in the Oakland Unified School District for 40 years, but he never set out to become a music teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he was younger, he had his sights set on a professional music career as a guitarist. Then in the 1980s, he landed a long-term substitute teaching role in two very different schools within the same district: Hillcrest, which is in an affluent neighborhood in the Oakland Hills, and Whittier in East Oakland, which was an epicenter of the crack cocaine epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stark disparity between the two schools challenged Porter’s perception of his own impact on the students who weren’t receiving the education they deserved. So, he decided to continue on with his teaching career and eventually landed permanent teaching positions throughout the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66246\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of students\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Randy Porter and a group of students at Cazadero Music Camp from in 2019 hangs on the wall in Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These days at Roosevelt Middle School, his classroom stands out. When most middle schoolers are learning the classics, Porter’s students dive deep into the world of jazz, even going so far as to play avant-garde compositions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only middle school band in the Local Supercluster, as far as I know, certainly in the Milky Way galaxy, that specializes in the music of Sun Ra,” said Porter. Sun Ra was an American jazz composer and band leader, known for his experimental music style and cosmic philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter truly believes in the musical ability of kids of all ages. When he was Berkeley Symphony’s director of music education, he would have the orchestra perform pieces composed by 5-year-olds. And in years past, he’s created opportunities for his elementary and middle school students to record their own albums – something that he’s doing for his current middle school students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of newspaper clipping on a wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">News clippings of Randy Porter from 1994 hang on the wall in Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Porter’s the type of teacher who provides a safe space for his students to practice, hang out and have a snack after school. But this is Mr. Porter’s last year teaching because he is retiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this juncture, the future of music classes in Oakland public schools is uncertain because of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064579/oaklands-school-district-must-cut-100-million-its-proposed-plan-doesnt-get-close\">looming budget cuts\u003c/a> across the district. Porter does not want arts education to fall to the wayside so he started a \u003ca href=\"https://ebayc.liveimpact.org/fundraiser/li/7632/D/200582\">fundraiser for Roosevelt’s music program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66247\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Man holds repaired cello\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Randy Porter sets up a cello that he repaired with Gorilla Glue in his classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[The arts] is an absolutely essential part of a kid’s development. Music, art, PE, manipulating things with your hands – this is how kids learn,” he said. “It’s how a lot of people learn. And when you take them away, a certain portion of the population gets a little bit left behind,” Porter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many benefits for students who study and play music. Research conducted by the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that \u003ca href=\"https://today.usc.edu/childrens-brains-develop-faster-with-music-training/\">learning music enhances auditory pathways in the brain\u003c/a>, which could help with other learning systems affected by these neural pathways like reading and language. In 2022, policy caught up with science when California voters passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11934191/what-prop-28-funding-will-mean-for-arts-education-in-california\">Proposition 28\u003c/a>, requiring the state to provide additional funding for music and arts programs for public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For students like seventh grader Diego, Porter’s band class wasn’t a natural choice when he entered middle school. “It was so weird,” Diego said of jazz music. “I was like, ‘will people actually wanna listen to this?’ I didn’t even want to play it at first.” But, he marched forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hesitated and then I just stuck with it,” he said. “I like that there’s so many possibilities and different combinations so that you can make any different one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of Porter’s seventh grade students, Imani, who plays guitar, became interested in playing Sun Ra’s music in band class. “All the parts are so different and they all come together into chaotic bliss,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66245\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Student holding guitar\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Imani plays the guitar in Randy Porter’s music class at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of Porter’s former students have gone on to new heights, like 10th grade student Ryan, who comes back to Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt every Thursday to mentor middle schoolers. When Ryan arrived in Porter’s classroom about five years ago, he had experience playing violin and had picked up the cello. But Porter’s jazz-filled band class presented something new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt exciting to be in the music class…that’s when I started to think, ‘wait, I need to switch to an instrument that’s more suitable for jazz,’” said Ryan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, at the suggestion of Porter, Ryan picked up his third instrument – the trombone. “It really opened up a new world for me,” said Ryan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he plays a total of fifteen instruments, is a member of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Band, and has played in a youth orchestra for three years, all at the encouragement of Porter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Middle school students are in an age group that is notorious in schools and among teachers for their unpredictability, high energy, and increased social awareness. But if you can tap into their interests, the potential for growth is what Porter finds most exciting about this age group, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66248\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Man holding bass instrument\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Randy Porter tests an upright bass before the start of classes at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He plans on being an active member of the local music education community in his retirement, but the students are what he’ll miss most. “I wanna be helpful. I wanna mentor teachers. I want to do what I can just to see things continue to be successful,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he’ll also take time to tap back into the professional music world. This summer you can find Porter playing at one of his annual \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.chapelofthechimes.com/about-us/news-and-events/event-detail/58006-oakland-annual-solstice-concert\">gigs\u003c/a>, Chapel of the Chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6654357560\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Randy Porter has been teaching music in the Oakland Unified School District for 40 years, but he never set out to become a music teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he was younger, he had his sights set on a professional music career as a guitarist. Then in the 1980s, he landed a long-term substitute teaching role in two very different schools within the same district: Hillcrest, which is in an affluent neighborhood in the Oakland Hills, and Whittier in East Oakland, which was an epicenter of the crack cocaine epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The stark disparity between the two schools challenged Porter’s perception of his own impact on the students who weren’t receiving the education they deserved. So, he decided to continue on with his teaching career and eventually landed permanent teaching positions throughout the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66246\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of students\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-05_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Randy Porter and a group of students at Cazadero Music Camp from in 2019 hangs on the wall in Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>These days at Roosevelt Middle School, his classroom stands out. When most middle schoolers are learning the classics, Porter’s students dive deep into the world of jazz, even going so far as to play avant-garde compositions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only middle school band in the Local Supercluster, as far as I know, certainly in the Milky Way galaxy, that specializes in the music of Sun Ra,” said Porter. Sun Ra was an American jazz composer and band leader, known for his experimental music style and cosmic philosophy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Porter truly believes in the musical ability of kids of all ages. When he was Berkeley Symphony’s director of music education, he would have the orchestra perform pieces composed by 5-year-olds. And in years past, he’s created opportunities for his elementary and middle school students to record their own albums – something that he’s doing for his current middle school students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66244\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of newspaper clipping on a wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">News clippings of Randy Porter from 1994 hang on the wall in Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Porter’s the type of teacher who provides a safe space for his students to practice, hang out and have a snack after school. But this is Mr. Porter’s last year teaching because he is retiring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At this juncture, the future of music classes in Oakland public schools is uncertain because of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064579/oaklands-school-district-must-cut-100-million-its-proposed-plan-doesnt-get-close\">looming budget cuts\u003c/a> across the district. Porter does not want arts education to fall to the wayside so he started a \u003ca href=\"https://ebayc.liveimpact.org/fundraiser/li/7632/D/200582\">fundraiser for Roosevelt’s music program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66247\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Man holds repaired cello\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-04_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Randy Porter sets up a cello that he repaired with Gorilla Glue in his classroom at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[The arts] is an absolutely essential part of a kid’s development. Music, art, PE, manipulating things with your hands – this is how kids learn,” he said. “It’s how a lot of people learn. And when you take them away, a certain portion of the population gets a little bit left behind,” Porter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many benefits for students who study and play music. Research conducted by the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that \u003ca href=\"https://today.usc.edu/childrens-brains-develop-faster-with-music-training/\">learning music enhances auditory pathways in the brain\u003c/a>, which could help with other learning systems affected by these neural pathways like reading and language. In 2022, policy caught up with science when California voters passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11934191/what-prop-28-funding-will-mean-for-arts-education-in-california\">Proposition 28\u003c/a>, requiring the state to provide additional funding for music and arts programs for public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For students like seventh grader Diego, Porter’s band class wasn’t a natural choice when he entered middle school. “It was so weird,” Diego said of jazz music. “I was like, ‘will people actually wanna listen to this?’ I didn’t even want to play it at first.” But, he marched forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hesitated and then I just stuck with it,” he said. “I like that there’s so many possibilities and different combinations so that you can make any different one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another of Porter’s seventh grade students, Imani, who plays guitar, became interested in playing Sun Ra’s music in band class. “All the parts are so different and they all come together into chaotic bliss,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66245\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Student holding guitar\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-01_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Imani plays the guitar in Randy Porter’s music class at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some of Porter’s former students have gone on to new heights, like 10th grade student Ryan, who comes back to Porter’s classroom at Roosevelt every Thursday to mentor middle schoolers. When Ryan arrived in Porter’s classroom about five years ago, he had experience playing violin and had picked up the cello. But Porter’s jazz-filled band class presented something new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just felt exciting to be in the music class…that’s when I started to think, ‘wait, I need to switch to an instrument that’s more suitable for jazz,’” said Ryan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, at the suggestion of Porter, Ryan picked up his third instrument – the trombone. “It really opened up a new world for me,” said Ryan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he plays a total of fifteen instruments, is a member of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars Band, and has played in a youth orchestra for three years, all at the encouragement of Porter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Middle school students are in an age group that is notorious in schools and among teachers for their unpredictability, high energy, and increased social awareness. But if you can tap into their interests, the potential for growth is what Porter finds most exciting about this age group, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66248\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed.jpg\" alt=\"Man holding bass instrument\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/04/260313-RANDY-PORTER-RETIRES-MD-03_qed-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Randy Porter tests an upright bass before the start of classes at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland on March 14, 2026. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He plans on being an active member of the local music education community in his retirement, but the students are what he’ll miss most. “I wanna be helpful. I wanna mentor teachers. I want to do what I can just to see things continue to be successful,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he’ll also take time to tap back into the professional music world. This summer you can find Porter playing at one of his annual \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.chapelofthechimes.com/about-us/news-and-events/event-detail/58006-oakland-annual-solstice-concert\">gigs\u003c/a>, Chapel of the Chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oliver, an only child, was born in 2018, and he and his parents don’t live near family. When the pandemic hit, “it was kinda like a perfect storm” during such an important time in early childhood development, said Dan, Oliver’s dad.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oliver’s teachers noticed early on in preschool that he was having a hard time engaging with his peers and would keep to himself during group activities, Dan said. His parents initially brushed it off as shyness. “It really surprised us because we don’t see that at home at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But as his teachers brought up their concerns, Dan and his wife, who weren’t familiar with the special education system, began to learn all about it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They were prepared to send Oliver to the local public school for kindergarten. But when they found out about Copper Island Academy, they saw an opportunity for Oliver to experience a different type of school, one that reminded Dan of his own school experience, when class sizes were smaller and students connected with their peers and teachers beyond traditional academics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC6353911588\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1562\" height=\"1463\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" class=\"wp-image-66188\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg 1562w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-768x719.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-1536x1439.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1562px) 100vw, 1562px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n\n\nCalumet and the surrounding area are home to the highest percentage of people of Finnish heritage outside of Finland itself. But that didn’t mean schools in the area operated like their cross-Atlantic counterparts. For the Lahos, the Finnish model represented what parents and families in the area wanted most out of their children’s education: hands-on classrooms, real-world life skills and a focus on joy.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What’s so great about Finland? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n\n\nAnd for parents like Dan, Copper Island had the added benefit of an inclusive special education program. He said enrolling Oliver at Copper Island Academy “was the best decision we possibly could have made.”\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Special education, the Finnish way\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" class=\"wp-image-66186\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\nBut there isn’t necessarily a one-to-one application of the Finnish education model to the U.S. special education system.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early intervention and measuring student growth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n\n\nStudents at Copper Island Academy score very high on traditional indicators of student achievement. Most notably, they received a score of 99.03 in the 2024-25 Michigan School Index — a state-run public school accountability system that evaluates overall school achievement on a scale of 0-100 — placing the school in the top 3.5% of all Michigan public schools.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion first for special education students \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n“We frequently marveled that anyone was able to navigate through this system,” especially families without a stay-at-home parent, Willingham said.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Paraeducators and classroom staffing\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Classroom staffing can be an issue, according to Jarvi, and at previous schools he found himself spending a lot of time each week training paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\n\nSo far, Copper Island has had a positive experience with their paraeducators because of their willingness to go through the extra training and credentialing that the school requires outside of Michigan’s academic standards, according to Laho. The school’s paraeducators are trained on Orton-Gillingham or Morphology, which are touted for their detailed and unique approach to literacy education, especially for students who struggle. Laho said having paraeducators trained in these two methods allows for flexibility “to use multiple different people to attack a problem.”\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Trust in special education teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>In Finland, conversations between special education teachers and general education teachers happen on a regular basis, and pedagogical approaches to addressing all student learning are shared.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For a lot of teachers out there, especially in the United States — when they don’t have this type of [inclusive] model — it’s very easy for you to feel alone in your classroom,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>These types of experiences have roots in teacher training programs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And offering to help general education teachers with differentiating their work also benefits other students outside of special education.\u003c/p>\n\n\n“We don’t just teach to that middle student. It helps everybody,” Gervais said.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Brain breaks for everyone, outside\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edvF_AJXU5I&t=3s\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, kids in elementary school are encouraged to play with each other and throughout the various outdoor spaces, like their play structure, the perimeter of surrounding woods, in the garden or on the structure made of industrial-sized rubber tires.\u003c/p>\n\n\nSports balls are reintroduced during brain breaks for middle schoolers, who Laho said might need additional motivation to move their bodies and spend time outdoors.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Can Copper Island be replicated? It depends\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Laho, the diversity at Copper Island Academy reflects that of the surrounding area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There was something about COVID that broke many educators,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1262\" height=\"1618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" class=\"wp-image-66185\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-768x985.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-1198x1536.png 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for students, the school has put into place measures to encourage their belonging in the community. Students are grouped intentionally in classrooms, which gives them the opportunity to work and play with the peers that they may not organically gravitate toward, Laho said. This practice of belonging and empathy extends throughout the school culture, both in the classroom, outdoors and in the community, Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And when Dan is out in the neighborhood with his son, or at a local hockey game, all of the hard work that Oliver and his teachers have done to face challenging social situations has paid off. Now, when Oliver sees someone familiar outside of school, “[he] always points out, ‘Hey, there’s my friend from school’ or ‘there’s my teacher,’” Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He described enrolling Oliver in Copper Island as one of the best decisions he’s recently made and is glad he did it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that connection between the students and the students and their and their teachers is really great,” he said. “Really, really great.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-audio\">\u003caudio controls src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6353911588\">\u003c/audio>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oliver’s teachers noticed early on in preschool that he was having a hard time engaging with his peers and would keep to himself during group activities, Dan said. His parents initially brushed it off as shyness. “It really surprised us because we don’t see that at home at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>They were prepared to send Oliver to the local public school for kindergarten. But when they found out about Copper Island Academy, they saw an opportunity for Oliver to experience a different type of school, one that reminded Dan of his own school experience, when class sizes were smaller and students connected with their peers and teachers beyond traditional academics.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" class=\"wp-image-66188\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg 1562w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-768x719.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-1536x1439.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" class=\"wp-image-66188\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" class=\"wp-image-66186\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" class=\"wp-image-66186\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Classroom staffing can be an issue, according to Jarvi, and at previous schools he found himself spending a lot of time each week training paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In Finland, conversations between special education teachers and general education teachers happen on a regular basis, and pedagogical approaches to addressing all student learning are shared.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“For a lot of teachers out there, especially in the United States — when they don’t have this type of [inclusive] model — it’s very easy for you to feel alone in your classroom,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>These types of experiences have roots in teacher training programs.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And offering to help general education teachers with differentiating their work also benefits other students outside of special education.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Instead, kids in elementary school are encouraged to play with each other and throughout the various outdoor spaces, like their play structure, the perimeter of surrounding woods, in the garden or on the structure made of industrial-sized rubber tires.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Laho, the diversity at Copper Island Academy reflects that of the surrounding area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There was something about COVID that broke many educators,” he said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" class=\"wp-image-66185\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-768x985.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-1198x1536.png 1198w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" class=\"wp-image-66185\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As for students, the school has put into place measures to encourage their belonging in the community. Students are grouped intentionally in classrooms, which gives them the opportunity to work and play with the peers that they may not organically gravitate toward, Laho said. This practice of belonging and empathy extends throughout the school culture, both in the classroom, outdoors and in the community, Laho said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Finnish education model shot to global prominence in 2001, but has since fallen. But the lessons of Finland still resonate with educators and parents, so much so that some U.S. schools are modeled with Finnish best practices. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oliver, an only child, was born in 2018, and he and his parents don’t live near family. When the pandemic hit, “it was kinda like a perfect storm” during such an important time in early childhood development, said Dan, Oliver’s dad.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Oliver’s teachers noticed early on in preschool that he was having a hard time engaging with his peers and would keep to himself during group activities, Dan said. His parents initially brushed it off as shyness. “It really surprised us because we don’t see that at home at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But as his teachers brought up their concerns, Dan and his wife, who weren’t familiar with the special education system, began to learn all about it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>They were prepared to send Oliver to the local public school for kindergarten. But when they found out about Copper Island Academy, they saw an opportunity for Oliver to experience a different type of school, one that reminded Dan of his own school experience, when class sizes were smaller and students connected with their peers and teachers beyond traditional academics.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC6353911588\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1562\" height=\"1463\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" class=\"wp-image-66188\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg 1562w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-768x719.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-1536x1439.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1562px) 100vw, 1562px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n\n\nCalumet and the surrounding area are home to the highest percentage of people of Finnish heritage outside of Finland itself. But that didn’t mean schools in the area operated like their cross-Atlantic counterparts. For the Lahos, the Finnish model represented what parents and families in the area wanted most out of their children’s education: hands-on classrooms, real-world life skills and a focus on joy.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What’s so great about Finland? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n\n\nAnd for parents like Dan, Copper Island had the added benefit of an inclusive special education program. He said enrolling Oliver at Copper Island Academy “was the best decision we possibly could have made.”\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Special education, the Finnish way\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" class=\"wp-image-66186\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\nBut there isn’t necessarily a one-to-one application of the Finnish education model to the U.S. special education system.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early intervention and measuring student growth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n\n\nStudents at Copper Island Academy score very high on traditional indicators of student achievement. Most notably, they received a score of 99.03 in the 2024-25 Michigan School Index — a state-run public school accountability system that evaluates overall school achievement on a scale of 0-100 — placing the school in the top 3.5% of all Michigan public schools.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion first for special education students \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n“We frequently marveled that anyone was able to navigate through this system,” especially families without a stay-at-home parent, Willingham said.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Paraeducators and classroom staffing\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Classroom staffing can be an issue, according to Jarvi, and at previous schools he found himself spending a lot of time each week training paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\n\nSo far, Copper Island has had a positive experience with their paraeducators because of their willingness to go through the extra training and credentialing that the school requires outside of Michigan’s academic standards, according to Laho. The school’s paraeducators are trained on Orton-Gillingham or Morphology, which are touted for their detailed and unique approach to literacy education, especially for students who struggle. Laho said having paraeducators trained in these two methods allows for flexibility “to use multiple different people to attack a problem.”\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Trust in special education teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>In Finland, conversations between special education teachers and general education teachers happen on a regular basis, and pedagogical approaches to addressing all student learning are shared.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For a lot of teachers out there, especially in the United States — when they don’t have this type of [inclusive] model — it’s very easy for you to feel alone in your classroom,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>These types of experiences have roots in teacher training programs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And offering to help general education teachers with differentiating their work also benefits other students outside of special education.\u003c/p>\n\n\n“We don’t just teach to that middle student. It helps everybody,” Gervais said.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Brain breaks for everyone, outside\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/edvF_AJXU5I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/edvF_AJXU5I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Instead, kids in elementary school are encouraged to play with each other and throughout the various outdoor spaces, like their play structure, the perimeter of surrounding woods, in the garden or on the structure made of industrial-sized rubber tires.\u003c/p>\n\n\nSports balls are reintroduced during brain breaks for middle schoolers, who Laho said might need additional motivation to move their bodies and spend time outdoors.\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Can Copper Island be replicated? It depends\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to Laho, the diversity at Copper Island Academy reflects that of the surrounding area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There was something about COVID that broke many educators,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1262\" height=\"1618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" class=\"wp-image-66185\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-768x985.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-1198x1536.png 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho. (Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As for students, the school has put into place measures to encourage their belonging in the community. Students are grouped intentionally in classrooms, which gives them the opportunity to work and play with the peers that they may not organically gravitate toward, Laho said. This practice of belonging and empathy extends throughout the school culture, both in the classroom, outdoors and in the community, Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And when Dan is out in the neighborhood with his son, or at a local hockey game, all of the hard work that Oliver and his teachers have done to face challenging social situations has paid off. Now, when Oliver sees someone familiar outside of school, “[he] always points out, ‘Hey, there’s my friend from school’ or ‘there’s my teacher,’” Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He described enrolling Oliver in Copper Island as one of the best decisions he’s recently made and is glad he did it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think that connection between the students and the students and their and their teachers is really great,” he said. “Really, really great.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-audio\">\u003caudio controls src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC6353911588\">\u003c/audio>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"science-friday": {
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