MMSD Voices

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Latest Episodes:

I Can Relate! Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

"I've never met a parent who doesn't care about their children's education. It's the assumptions we make when families don't show up to school in the way we might traditionally expect they would."

Last year, some volunteer tutors in Madison public schools were having trouble relating to some of the students they were tutoring.

In response, we developed a three-part training series to help the tutors become more aware of who they are as they move throughout the world and become aware of their biases and assumptions so that they can limit the assumptions they act upon with kids.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

Other music by Ryan Aranda.

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Thank you to Laura Whitmore, Eric Kestin, and Lachele Greenlee.

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Resources:

Zaretta Hammond's Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

It Takes a Village (to change school start + dismissal times) Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

In today's episode, former MMSD Chief of Schools Dr. Mike Hertting, with the help of Hywania Thompson, answers some of the top questions from families about school start and dismissal times.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

Thank you to Hywania Thompson and Dr. Michael Herting.

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Resources:

mmsd.org/changing-start-times

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

Building Trust, Breaking Through Dec 11, 2018

Show notes

Listening, caring, building trust, and knowing each student individually. These are among the pillars of "culturally responsive teaching." In this piece, we take you inside a classroom at O'Keeffe Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, to see how these strategies, and more, are helping students break through to become independent learners, prepared to succeed and defy the achievement gap. *** Credits: Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious. Other music by Ryan Aranda. Thank you to 8th grade teacher Tracy Warnecke. Resources: Zaretta Hammond's Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain *** Transcript: (musical intro with mash-up of different voices) my main passion is robotics engineering. I kind of feel like we're on the radio. This has been my dream like forever. It makes you want to be a better student inside the classroom. I want to be a astronaut go outerspace. Try to understand where I fit in a society that doesn't always cherish my presence. (end of musical intro) 0:00:43.219,0:00:47.460 hello and welcome back to the MMSD voices 0:00:45.930,0:00:48.960 podcast where we will go into our 0:00:47.460,0:00:50.520 public school community in Madison 0:00:48.960,0:00:52.199 Wisconsin and hear directly from the 0:00:50.520,0:00:53.610 voices of our students staff and 0:00:52.199,0:00:56.100 families I'm Ryan 0:00:53.610,0:00:57.539 a Memorial High School 2009 graduate now 0:00:56.100,0:00:58.890 I work for the School District I 0:00:57.539,0:01:00.780 graduated from as a bilingual 0:00:58.890,0:01:02.609 communication specialist at our central 0:01:00.780,0:01:04.019 office I'm here to introduce today's 0:01:02.609,0:01:05.670 episode we're heading to Georgia 0:01:04.019,0:01:07.530 O'Keeffe middle school to hear from a 0:01:05.670,0:01:09.479 teacher known for being great at getting 0:01:07.530,0:01:11.310 kids to push themselves academically and 0:01:09.479,0:01:12.920 achieve a high levels by relating to 0:01:11.310,0:01:15.090 them connecting to their lives 0:01:12.920,0:01:15.540 understanding them and gaining their 0:01:15.090,0:01:17.460 trust 0:01:15.540,0:01:19.110 it's a story on culturally responsive 0:01:17.460,0:01:21.659 teaching we'll hear from eighth grade 0:01:19.110,0:01:23.610 teacher Tracey Warneke and we slice up a 0:01:21.659,0:01:26.820 few clips former students to sharing 0:01:23.610,0:01:29.549 their insights we hope you enjoy it is 0:01:26.820,0:01:33.030 my 21st year being a public head teacher 0:01:29.549,0:01:35.369 so it's the journey to get to this point 0:01:33.030,0:01:38.700 and it's a journey by making a thousand 0:01:35.369,0:01:40.770 mistakes first and just constantly 0:01:38.700,0:01:44.220 reflecting upon my practice and knowing 0:01:40.770,0:01:47.970 what I can do better the next day I have 0:01:44.220,0:01:51.420 no control over the kids reaction to me 0:01:47.970,0:01:53.850 I have control over me and my reaction 0:01:51.420,0:01:56.719 to them I have control over my 0:01:53.850,0:01:59.640 curriculum and how I present it to them 0:01:56.719,0:02:01.890 it's also through thousands of hours of 0:01:59.640,0:02:04.079 grad school and professional development 0:02:01.890,0:02:06.630 that I just take what I learn and I 0:02:04.079,0:02:09.780 apply it here in the classroom I play 0:02:06.630,0:02:11.560 some days it goes well some days it 0:02:09.780,0:02:15.160 completely bombs 0:02:11.560,0:02:16.750 I reflect on that I ask students for a 0:02:15.160,0:02:19.930 reflection what can we do to make it 0:02:16.750,0:02:22.030 better so with that what I've learned 0:02:19.930,0:02:24.510 over the years is behavior comes first 0:02:22.030,0:02:28.030 academics comes second and I think as 0:02:24.510,0:02:29.920 teachers we get that especially math 0:02:28.030,0:02:32.440 teachers where they have that crunch of 0:02:29.920,0:02:35.500 they have to cover certain chapters by 0:02:32.440,0:02:38.410 certain dates and you know you have to 0:02:35.500,0:02:40.930 reach certain goals in the curriculum by 0:02:38.410,0:02:45.519 a certain time we flip that in our head 0:02:40.930,0:02:48.010 and so I spend the first week of school 0:02:45.519,0:02:49.959 doing nothing but behavior teaching my 0:02:48.010,0:02:52.239 expectations teaching my classroom 0:02:49.959,0:02:54.670 routines teaching and building community 0:02:52.239,0:02:58.000 and I teach absolutely everything and 0:02:54.670,0:03:01.810 assume nothing so we agree every morning 0:02:58.000,0:03:02.310 and I teach them why and the purpose and 0:03:01.810,0:03:04.540 all of that 0:03:02.310,0:03:05.950 all right ladies during our greeting to 0:03:04.540,0:03:22.720 our mindfulness meditation get this day 0:03:05.950,0:03:25.450 started are you done 0:03:22.720,0:03:27.190 you are amazing human beings thank you 0:03:25.450,0:03:29.829 so very very much would you guys like a 0:03:27.190,0:03:33.150 piece of gum for helping me out or just 0:03:29.829,0:03:33.150 like a piece of candy for helping me out 0:03:39.720,0:03:45.700 one thing I live on was 20 live she's 0:03:42.579,0:03:49.150 very open about herself and like she's 0:03:45.700,0:03:52.030 like she is not afraid to tell people 0:03:49.150,0:03:53.020 who she is like she openly told us that 0:03:52.030,0:03:55.630 she was 0:03:53.020,0:03:58.180 okay and I actually really liked that 0:03:55.630,0:03:59.980 because when this morning he was telling 0:03:58.180,0:04:01.450 us all about her I got to know her 0:03:59.980,0:04:04.930 better and like know what kind to 0:04:01.450,0:04:07.810 specialize in she showed me that like I 0:04:04.930,0:04:10.660 shouldn't be afraid to like show who I 0:04:07.810,0:04:12.190 really am she's a really cool teacher 0:04:10.660,0:04:15.220 and I feel like I can just trust her 0:04:12.190,0:04:18.250 with anything like earlier today when I 0:04:15.220,0:04:19.959 was mad and I was I did not want to get 0:04:18.250,0:04:21.610 in trouble with my other teacher because 0:04:19.959,0:04:23.800 I did not want to do anything stupid I 0:04:21.610,0:04:25.810 just went to her classroom and she gave 0:04:23.800,0:04:29.100 me a piece of gum and let me draw in her 0:04:25.810,0:04:31.480 classroom calm down and it really helped 0:04:29.100,0:04:35.080 she's good in that way and she 0:04:31.480,0:04:37.240 understands us you know my name is Lily 0:04:35.080,0:04:40.030 I'm in this morning he's morning class 0:04:37.240,0:04:41.830 for homeroom class and I've just always 0:04:40.030,0:04:43.900 noticed since the beginning of the year 0:04:41.830,0:04:45.850 that she always tells her students that 0:04:43.900,0:04:48.280 they're smart and that they shouldn't 0:04:45.850,0:04:50.290 like cut corners and that they're better 0:04:48.280,0:04:52.300 than what they think that they are and 0:04:50.290,0:04:54.370 that they are smart and stuff like that 0:04:52.300,0:04:56.740 and I think it's really helped a lot of 0:04:54.370,0:04:58.510 the students in our class know that they 0:04:56.740,0:05:00.760 can trust her and I know that I can 0:04:58.510,0:05:04.360 trust her and I really enjoy being in 0:05:00.760,0:05:06.190 her classroom and I think I my ground 0:05:04.360,0:05:08.020 students in the purpose of why that we 0:05:06.190,0:05:09.280 do the things that we do and I really 0:05:08.020,0:05:09.970 establish by the fact that this is a 0:05:09.280,0:05:12.190 public school 0:05:09.970,0:05:14.740 we service the public that means 0:05:12.190,0:05:17.230 everybody from the public is here people 0:05:14.740,0:05:18.970 that we might not necessarily spend time 0:05:17.230,0:05:20.950 with in our normal everyday lives are 0:05:18.970,0:05:22.570 here in this classroom so I have the big 0:05:20.950,0:05:25.240 rule that we do not have to like each 0:05:22.570,0:05:26.310 other I have 26 kids in my morning 30 in 0:05:25.240,0:05:29.020 my afternoon block 0:05:26.310,0:05:31.210 we're not the expectation that we're all 0:05:29.020,0:05:33.100 going to be friends is ridiculous but we 0:05:31.210,0:05:35.020 will respect each other as colleagues 0:05:33.100,0:05:37.030 and then I spent a significant amount of 0:05:35.020,0:05:38.410 time talking about code-switching what's 0:05:37.030,0:05:40.450 the purpose of this class I was the 0:05:38.410,0:05:42.270 purpose of coming to school who are we 0:05:40.450,0:05:44.290 as a student who are we as a learner 0:05:42.270,0:05:46.600 were the difference between those two 0:05:44.290,0:05:48.280 things and why are we here who are we 0:05:46.600,0:05:50.410 going to be when we're in this room 0:05:48.280,0:05:51.160 because who we are in this room is not 0:05:50.410,0:05:55.410 who we are 0:05:51.160,0:05:57.760 hey buddy you tap out okay you all right 0:05:55.410,0:06:01.090 do you need to talk to me you just wanna 0:05:57.760,0:06:03.010 take a break okay who we are in this 0:06:01.090,0:06:04.300 room is not who we are would we're hold 0:06:03.010,0:06:06.110 their parents or hanging out or 0:06:04.300,0:06:08.480 grandparents or cousins or our 0:06:06.110,0:06:10.600 at the park so we do a lot of work on 0:06:08.480,0:06:15.470 identity in the beginning as 0:06:10.600,0:06:17.930 eighth-grade staff teaching American 0:06:15.470,0:06:19.790 history as our curriculum we kick it 0:06:17.930,0:06:20.480 also by diving into privilege and what 0:06:19.790,0:06:22.580 does that mean 0:06:20.480,0:06:25.040 and we put all the kids on a privilege 0:06:22.580,0:06:27.100 walk so the entire eighth grade in the 0:06:25.040,0:06:29.480 morning block and afternoon so it's half 0:06:27.100,0:06:30.890 hour standing on the blacktop and we do 0:06:29.480,0:06:32.450 a privilege walk we built to that we 0:06:30.890,0:06:34.970 don't just watch but by the third day of 0:06:32.450,0:06:38.030 school we did that activity you did a 0:06:34.970,0:06:39.380 privilege walk where we all lined up and 0:06:38.030,0:06:42.680 then took steps forwards or backwards 0:06:39.380,0:06:44.120 depending on if this applied to you to 0:06:42.680,0:06:47.750 show like the different versions of 0:06:44.120,0:06:50.900 privilege it was like have you ever 0:06:47.750,0:06:53.050 taken a family vacation and then people 0:06:50.900,0:06:56.090 who have done that took a step forward 0:06:53.050,0:06:59.810 do you feel like safe expressing 0:06:56.090,0:07:01.730 yourself in public like you do that and 0:06:59.810,0:07:05.420 then you could see where people say in 0:07:01.730,0:07:07.370 the line of the spectrum like with how 0:07:05.420,0:07:10.250 they feel and the privilege that they 0:07:07.370,0:07:12.230 have not because they earned it by just 0:07:10.250,0:07:15.620 like their race their gender their 0:07:12.230,0:07:18.440 sexual orientation stuff like that no 0:07:15.620,0:07:21.380 this was new to me and I think everybody 0:07:18.440,0:07:24.710 in there we weren't really used to like 0:07:21.380,0:07:28.460 talking about it like that it was but it 0:07:24.710,0:07:30.260 was good yeah we had like a whole unit 0:07:28.460,0:07:32.390 on privilege so for that we did a lot of 0:07:30.260,0:07:35.000 talking about privilege and the 0:07:32.390,0:07:39.200 different types of privilege so we made 0:07:35.000,0:07:44.270 posters there's gender there's racial 0:07:39.200,0:07:46.280 there's aesthetics social and it's 0:07:44.270,0:07:48.110 always such a great eye opener kind of 0:07:46.280,0:07:49.730 breaks down those barriers of assumption 0:07:48.110,0:07:53.750 that people make about one another based 0:07:49.730,0:07:54.980 off of skin tone or hair texture a lot 0:07:53.750,0:07:56.120 of times it's the kids who are in the 0:07:54.980,0:07:57.470 back that we don't expect 0:07:56.120,0:07:58.850 and it's the kids in the front who we 0:07:57.470,0:08:01.160 don't expect so it's a great way to 0:07:58.850,0:08:03.230 start that dialogue of diving into who 0:08:01.160,0:08:04.970 where we are as a community and really 0:08:03.230,0:08:08.170 working on that sense of identity of 0:08:04.970,0:08:10.340 ourselves in a classroom with that I 0:08:08.170,0:08:11.720 most of my anchor charts have had to 0:08:10.340,0:08:13.460 come down because we don't need them up 0:08:11.720,0:08:14.810 anymore but I really build a lot of 0:08:13.460,0:08:16.820 anchor charts that Bruce and our 0:08:14.810,0:08:19.919 behaviors ruin our routines reserve our 0:08:16.820,0:08:22.860 expectations through all of that work 0:08:19.919,0:08:24.900 and listening because I run my classroom 0:08:22.860,0:08:27.960 on a circle was it sort of like a 0:08:24.900,0:08:29.849 lopsided circle but in the first week we 0:08:27.960,0:08:31.830 actually had tables against walls and a 0:08:29.849,0:08:33.180 circle where everything was kind of it 0:08:31.830,0:08:35.820 you know like a restorative such a 0:08:33.180,0:08:38.399 circle the kids to start to share you 0:08:35.820,0:08:40.229 just start to pay attention and you just 0:08:38.399,0:08:41.430 start to just ask you know you just get 0:08:40.229,0:08:43.440 to know you know you just start to 0:08:41.430,0:08:45.750 listen to who are your kids and how do 0:08:43.440,0:08:47.220 they react I greet my kids every morning 0:08:45.750,0:08:49.380 I mean I might not always be at the door 0:08:47.220,0:08:50.670 but if I mean here we're like good 0:08:49.380,0:08:52.529 morning good morning good morning how we 0:08:50.670,0:08:54.029 doin you read their body language I mean 0:08:52.529,0:08:55.589 the great thing about middle schoolers 0:08:54.029,0:08:56.160 is they wear their emotions on their 0:08:55.589,0:08:58.320 sleeves 0:08:56.160,0:09:00.690 they're full of hyperbole and they're 0:08:58.320,0:09:02.670 they just want to be said but like all 0:09:00.690,0:09:05.220 kids they want the structure they want 0:09:02.670,0:09:06.690 to know what they're supposed to do and 0:09:05.220,0:09:08.250 how they're supposed to do I think 0:09:06.690,0:09:10.740 that's just people I think people like 0:09:08.250,0:09:13.490 structure and so I do that I'm very very 0:09:10.740,0:09:19.019 clear on my expectations and I I 0:09:13.490,0:09:20.550 remember two of my morning students came 0:09:19.019,0:09:21.810 to me the first week of school said this 0:09:20.550,0:09:23.820 Marty you're a really really good 0:09:21.810,0:09:26.339 teacher thanks guys I really appreciate 0:09:23.820,0:09:28.260 that and kind of blew it off like no you 0:09:26.339,0:09:30.390 get kids who are normally pushed out of 0:09:28.260,0:09:34.589 the classroom and you keep them in the 0:09:30.390,0:09:37.380 room and I think that's the key is kids 0:09:34.589,0:09:38.670 blip in a classroom for a reason they're 0:09:37.380,0:09:40.680 not you know there's no such thing as a 0:09:38.670,0:09:42.959 bad kid there are kids who make bad 0:09:40.680,0:09:45.300 choices there are kids in bad situations 0:09:42.959,0:09:48.839 but there's no such thing as a bad kid 0:09:45.300,0:09:51.420 so community and I stress with both of 0:09:48.839,0:09:52.800 my classes that we are a community and 0:09:51.420,0:09:54.420 when the community is not doing well 0:09:52.800,0:09:56.339 when certain individuals are not doing 0:09:54.420,0:09:59.100 well in the community we're all in it 0:09:56.339,0:10:00.930 together I also start the year off by 0:09:59.100,0:10:02.820 telling them that I'm the dictator I'm a 0:10:00.930,0:10:05.850 nice dictator I'm a compassionate 0:10:02.820,0:10:07.800 dictator I will listen to you dictator 0:10:05.850,0:10:09.149 but the end of the day I'm the teacher 0:10:07.800,0:10:10.769 you're the student you have to do what I 0:10:09.149,0:10:13.560 say because I'm the teacher a student 0:10:10.769,0:10:17.0…

Full show notes at the publisher

Happy Coming Out Day! Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

On National Coming Out Day, we celebrate coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, (LGBTQIA+) or as straight allies. And as a school district, we celebrate our out students, staff and families and provide support to all of our queer youth. To do that this year, some LGBTQIA+ MMSD staff and community members got together to send our students messages of love, encouragement, and PRIDE. COMING OUT MATTERS. When people know someone who is LGBTQIA+, they are far more likely to support LGBTQIA+ equality, inclusion, and justice. Beyond that, our stories can be powerful to each other.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

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Resources:

mmsd.org/trans

mmsd.org/welcoming-schools

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

Where Have all the Scholars (of Color) Gone? Dec 09, 2018

Show notes

Advanced Placement courses. Our high schools offer lots of them, from computer science to calculus to micro and macroeconomics to French and Spanish.

Yet students of color are often underrepresented in our AP classrooms, something counselors like Andrew Stendahl are trying to change by encouraging more students to enroll.

We went to James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wisconsin, where the first Scholars of Color meeting of the school year was getting underway.

The group exists to give students of color enrolled in honors and AP courses at Memorial a space to come together every Tuesday over lunch to study, get help with assignments, take part in group activities, and host speakers.

Students talk about what it's like to be the only student of color in an AP class. They discuss applying to college, and they support each other through high school.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

You Snooze You...Learn Dec 08, 2018

Show notes

Why does it take so long to implement the new start/dismissal times? Why does the district need a whole year of planning? What's the rationale behind all the decisions that were made?

If you've wondered about the timeline for changing start/dismissal times, we offer this recording of Mike Hertting, our former Chief of Schools who is leading this work.

Dr. Hertting recently met with many of our after-school providers to discuss how complex this change is and all the different players it impacts beyond our students and families, including Madison Metro, after school programs and our Food & Nutrition Department.

Interested in learning more? Visit mmsd.org/changing-start-times for research, board of education presentations, frequently asked questions, the implementation calendar and more.

In part two of this episode, Hywania Thompson and Dr. Hertting will be answering questions we've received from our families and staff. Stay tuned!

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

Thank you to Elyse, Laura and Graham Whitmore.

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Resources:

mmsd.org/changing-start-times

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

"We Want to See Your Fullness" Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

We believe in the brilliance, creativity, capability of black youth in Madison. It is our responsibility to make sure that that excellence can shine.

The Madison School District historically has always known that it has had pretty horrific outcomes for African-American students. We don't hide from the data, but we want to reframe the conversation so that our students and their families know they are more than this. We see their brilliance. We know how much they have to contribute and we're going to support that.

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Credits:

Intro/Outro music by MicroSchool students Cheviest and Montevious.

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Thank you to Henry Sanders Jr., CEO and Publisher of Madison365.com.

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Resources:

https://madison365.com/

https://www.facebook.com/madison365.org/

Nichelle Nichols of MMSD talks to Vice President of Strategic Partnership & Reentry Services for Nehemiah and Executive Director of Focussed Interruption Coalition Anthony Cooper on how to best support and promote Black Excellence. WATCH VIDEO.

Nichelle Nichols of MMSD talks to MMSD Restorative Justice Coach Rudy Bankston about how to best support and promote Black Excellence. WATCH VIDEO.

Nichelle Nichols of MMSD talks to Madison365 CEO Henry Sanders about how best to support black excellence. WATCH VIDEO.

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To request a written transcript of this episode, please email mmsdnews@madison.k12.wi.us.

Introducing Voices of MMSD Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

"Voices of MMSD" (aka "MMSD Voices") is a brand new podcast (only in English for now, but we plan to produce some episodes in Spanish) that brings you authentic voices, stories and conversations (plus original music) from around our school district directly to you.

We've got several episodes queued up, with lots more to come after break.

Happy listening!

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