Zach Diamond  0:03  
Welcome to the modern classrooms project podcast each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self paced and mastery based learning to better serve their students. We believe teachers learn best from each other, so this is our way of lifting up the voices of leaders and innovators in our community. This is the modern classrooms project podcast. Hello and welcome to the modern classrooms project podcast. My name is Zach Diamond, and I'm a high school media production teacher in Washington, DC, and, of course, a modern classrooms implementer. And today I'm joined by Candi Williams, a first grade teacher in Louisville, Kentucky. Welcome to the podcast, Candi it's great to have you. 

Candi Williams  0:47  
Thank you. Thank you. It's great to be here. 

Zach Diamond  0:50  
Yeah, I'm super excited to have you, and thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Today, our topic is the mentor and mentee relationship in the modern classrooms, virtual mentorship program. But before we get started, because you are a mentor, I assume that you have had a modern classrooms journey up until now. Can you tell us more about it? Tell us who you are, where you're at in your education journey, and how you started your modern classrooms journey?

Candi Williams  1:16  
Yeah. So I have been a teacher for 20 years. This is my 21st year. Wow. And up until covid, I taught third grade in kindergarten for just a couple of years when I first started, and then I moved to first grade, the year that covid, like all started. So that was my very first experience in first grade was about three fourths of the year in school, and then a fourth at home. And so it was daunting to have to teach from a computer to first graders on their computer. You know it was, it was so complicated. It was not just teaching, but I'm having to also instruct them on how to use the applications we're using. And, you know, they can't read, so I can't hold up a sign necessarily that says, you know, don't do this or do this if they're if they're muted, or things. So it was very complicated, yeah. So as so as we were going and we got back into school from covid, there was a flyer that went out in my district about the modern classroom. And as I'm reading it, I'm like, oh my god, I just went through that. Like, I literally just made videos and taught them, but I just couldn't be there to do small groups, which is my, you know, my biggest pet peeve of the whole thing. And so I was like, Well, I have to do this. I already, I already feel like I know what I'm doing partially. So if I could just combine it and actually do it in the classroom. And so that's when I got started and went through the training.

Zach Diamond  2:54  
That's awesome. And I guess you were hooked, right? Because here you are. Now, you're a mentor, and I assume you're a DMCE as well, yes, if you're a mentor,

Candi Williams  3:02  
yes, yeah, yeah. It's been amazing. It's been amazing to be able to put the things that I did during covid back into play, but then also meet with those kiddos who I just missed out on when they were in covid, right?

Zach Diamond  3:18  
Wasn't that interesting? Like going back into the building and meeting the kids I had, I had, so I actually have two short little stories based on what you just all the stuff you just said. My daughter took zoom first grade, and I can only imagine, like I, you know, I mentioned I'm a high school teacher. I was teaching middle school at the time. I can't imagine the amount of stuff that you just can't take for granted. So props to you. That must have been a very rough couple of years. The sixth graders though my other story, I remember going, we did this, like, weird hybrid thing at the very end of the of, like, the full covid year, the full zoom year, we went back into the building for the last like six weeks, and I got into the building, and I was like, You kids are also short, like I imagined you being taller. You know, I don't know why, but what a strange experience that was. What a strange time.

Candi Williams  4:11  
Strange it was. It was wild, because it really, it really felt like I was connected to those kids. What was so strange that I never saw them, or didn't see them very much, like in person, but because I was in their home right with them every day, and they were in my home like when we got back to school, suddenly it was like we I felt more connected to them than I think any other class I'd ever had.

Zach Diamond  4:35  
I think so. Yeah, I agree. I had a I had a homeroom of sixth graders that year, and that was the group of kids that I first met with, I was like, I feel like, I know you all really, really well. I know you, in a way, but it was weird, like, I guess I was assuming you were all taller. You're little sixth graders, you know, your little kids. And we've been doing this, like, very adult thing to do, to get on a, you know, virtual meeting, right? You. Yeah, what a time. Okay, I want to say also, I read the bio that you sent us, and you said that you have fostered 100 cats, yes, since covid, yes. How? Tell me more about that.

Candi Williams  5:14  
So when covid hit, we were all stuck at home, and there wasn't a lot to do. I mean, there was a ton to do, but you couldn't go out and be in public. And so I told I have twins, and they were in first or kindergarten when it first started. And I was like, Well, why don't we just try fostering a couple kittens? You know, just give us something to do so that we're not bored all day when we're not doing school stuff. And it just transformed to every time we would get done with those, we'd go pick up a new pair, or a new set or and, you know, sometimes it would be two kittens, and sometimes it'd be five or six kittens. At one point, I think we had 21 kittens in the house, because some were leaving and some were coming. And, yeah, and so it's just been this continuous. We just when one leaves, we bring some more in. 

Zach Diamond  5:57  
Wow. And you have cats of your own. Do? I would assume, yes, yes, we do three cats. Yeah, that's incredible. Do they like, do they are they together, all these cats with your cats? Or do you keep them separated?

Candi Williams  6:09  
No, they all are together. And the the our own cats are older, and so they just, like, take care of them. They teach them how to be cats while we're, you know, just taking care of and playing and teaching them how to be, you know, friendly with the other, with their, hopefully, their new family.

Zach Diamond  6:27  
Wow, that's incredible. That's a lot of cats. I am impressed. We have two cats. I We just, we just adopted a kitten. She was born in January. She's very young. I should say, I guess it's August of that year, it's September. Oh, my God, it's September of that year school has started. So she's about nine months old now, but she, I mean, she was quite a handful, so I can't imagine, but that's awesome. Love to be a cat family. I'm gonna leave that in that. I forgot that it was September already. Oh, my God, this year is just like, who's flown it is idiot. It's been quite a year. Okay, so let's talk about the mentor, mentee relationship. And I guess I wanted to start off this discussion talking about your relationship with your mentor when you took the program. I think it's, you know, it's good to when we teach, we often replicate, you know, the models that we had as teachers, right? And so I'm curious what kind of a relationship you have with your mentor, and how that has informed your mentorship.

Candi Williams  7:28  
Yeah, I really enjoyed going through the mentor process. I my mentor was amazing. She was a first grade teacher as well, which really helped to connect. She actually used the same math program that we used, which really helped. But, you know, yeah, that's not necessary, but it definitely was like a somebody else is doing this, and they're doing the thing I'm doing. So it was, it was a nice, like feeling, but she was just so it was great to have somebody that was able to give advice, give feedback on what I was doing, so I knew if I was doing it right or if I needed to change things. So it's hard to know, like, I know the process can be done. You know it's it's meant to be done on your own. But that mentor part, really, it helps to make you to to allow you to know that you're on the right track or you're not, and it needs to be adjusted. And I think that's the biggest thing, is, is that feedback component of of, okay, I'm doing this right? Or, oh, okay, give me, give me ideas on what I can do better. And that is really such an important part. And my mentor was amazing. She, I don't even think she's a mentor Calla, she's, I don't think she's I don't think she's a mentor anymore. I think she's even further up in into the modern classroom, but she was quite amazing, and she had some great ideas. And in my mentor group, we met, we met like weekly. And so I also got to meet the other people that were going through the program that I was going through at the same time. And so it was kind of nice to get bounce ideas off of them as well.

Zach Diamond  9:04  
Yeah, I think that's a huge part of the benefit of having a mentor, right? Is especially like a one on one mentor, and we'll talk more about this, but like, you get a thought partner, yeah, right, yeah. What an incredible experience, though, to have a thought partner who was almost in the exact same context as you, right? 

Candi Williams  9:21  
Yes, it was really awesome.

Zach Diamond  9:23  
Yeah. Okay, so tell us, I guess, for listeners who are unfamiliar, can you sort of describe the role of the mentor now that you are one, describe the mentorship program and what you do as the mentor for someone who is taking it and the specific supports that you that you provide for them, yeah?

Candi Williams  9:41  
So a lot of times I meet, I do coaching calls, and so I'll actually do a zoom or a Google meet meeting, and we'll get to face to face, you know, talk about, what are their goals and what are the some things that they're struggling on or or even problem, you know, shoot some or troubleshoot some of the problems that they're having a. The computer. I've had many where I've had a pop up meeting because they're not they're unsure of how to download something. And so we get on and we work it out together. It's a great having that mentor is is wonderful to be able to show their work and then also say, Here, I have an example. If you'd like to see it, I've already problem solved this. So if you want to see an example of this way, in addition to what the program offers, you have more access to that as well.

Zach Diamond  10:29  
And then there's also an aspect of like, they submit work to you and you review it, right?

Candi Williams  10:36  
Yes, yes. So give me that feedback, you know, I look at, you know, they'll, they'll do a component mastery check, or, you know, the the classroom, opposites, the, sorry, I can't think what it's called, but, and, and so we'll go through, and I kind of look at it and give some feedback, always good, and always some things to work on, just because it's always nice to be able to say, Okay, this is really great. And have you thought about this as well? Because I think as a you know, as a teacher, we sometimes know when things are working, but we don't always know what might not work, or what could work better or a different way. So it's kind of nice to have somebody there that that can also say, Okay, this is a great idea. And how about this too, or how about trying it this way? Or when it if it doesn't work out, how about thinking about it this direction? And so it's really nice to be able to have that thought partner to bounce ideas off of and give new ideas from someone who has done it and knows what works and what doesn't, and and things like that.

Zach Diamond  11:39  
Totally, totally. And as you know, as I was writing up the sort of outline for this episode, I was thinking about the parallels between the mentorship program and an actual modern classroom, right where, you know, the materials are there for our students, and we can sort of pop in as needed. We we provide that same kind of support like, on a, on a very individualized basis, right? Talk a little bit more about that. The value of this individualized support. I think this is really, like the crux of this topic, right? Like I was saying in a modern classroom with our students, we do that, right? We provide the support that they need when they need it. And I think that on an even like, higher level view, the fact that we're providing support as needed, and not just like making everyone do the same thing because we think it's the right activity or whatever, I think that it it, it gives us, it makes us seem more genuine, right? And I think that having that relationship with your mentor, if you're a teacher who is learning, is also really valuable. So, yeah, talk a little bit more about the value that you think is added by having a mentor who really gets to know you and your class and provides the supports that you need.

Candi Williams  12:51  
Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's so beneficial to not just to have somebody there that's gonna, you know, give you feedback on a submission, but also that can pop in. I mean, there have been many mentees I've had where I will get a panicked email. I'm working on this, and I just can't seem to figure and so we'll say, Okay, well, let's, let's set up a meeting. Let's get on and and I can help you. Before you get to that point, we'll, we'll start hashing out some ideas. I'll give you some ideas. You can tell me what you're thinking. I can tell you what I think would work. And so it's really nice to have, like, an actual thought partner right then, right when you're thinking about it, versus after you've already written it all up, performed it in the classroom, it failed, and now you're like, What do I do next? I give up. I'm right there as a mentor to say, no, don't give up. Let's just this, or, let's just change this, or, you know, it's, it's really having that mentor just really solidifies the work that you're doing and and gives you that, like, feedback, instant feedback, which I think definitely does help you to keep to stick with it. I know when there were times when I struggled, and I, you know, would be in the middle of it. And just like, you know, have a moment of, I don't, I haven't done this before, because, as a, you know, as a mentee, you You're, you're just learning it, so you haven't done it in the class. It's all like, you know, hypothetical, like, this is what I would do, kind of a thing. And you're, you're developing something you're hoping to put out into the classroom. But, you know, not everything we do works. I know my first unit I did, there were a lot of things that I had to go back and go, okay. That didn't quite work for first grade. I just did I need. And so being able to talk to her and say, Oh, you did this. Okay, that might be the solution that I needed. Let me try that. And and so it was really nice to be able to go back and say, you know, this isn't work. Can you help me figure out a way to just adjust it, not change it? 

Zach Diamond  14:44  
Yeah, I think that's a really interesting aspect of doing the mentorship program during a school year, is you get that immediate feedback from the kids too, right? When I was mentoring during the summer institutes, like we would you. It. It was really awesome to be able to have that, like, community of educators, because we would meet every week, right? Like the the 510, 15 mentees that I had would all meet on, you know, zoom or Google meets once a week. And that's awesome. I don't really recall getting much of that during the school year, but on the other hand, during the school year, you get that immediate feedback, and you have a person who's experienced in the modern classrooms, who you can, you know, talk to. You can have a coaching call. You could email with them and be like, this didn't work. Or, you know, celebrate this was awesome. Like, this worked great. Thank you for that advice. I got this email a couple times. Like, thank you so much for your advice on how to, I don't know format, a pacing tracker, right? That really worked. 

Candi Williams  15:44  
And it was nice that my mentee, my mentor, was a first grade teacher, so I I did never feel like I was going to her and she was giving me, oh, well, in middle school, this is how this works. Or in high school, this is how you know, like she was like, No, I know how first graders are. I know how much you have to add in to make them successful, but also that they can do it and they can be independent. And so it really gave me the drive to to when I became a mentor, to say, Hey, I do this. I do this every day. I promise it will work. You just have to make some adjustments. And you know, I can help you with those adjustments, if needed, totally.

Zach Diamond  16:21  
And so this is going to be one part of my next question for you. Have you mentored teachers who aren't first grade teachers?

Candi Williams  16:30  
I actually have, yes, I have mentored a lot of kindergarten. I've even mentored preschool who are starting to get into this, which is amazing. I have mentored special education. And just this last session, I had a middle school, a middle school teacher, because the process is the same. No matter what, which is good, there's just little adjustments. I mean, like, like, for a first grade teacher, when I make my tracker, my public tracker, I put pictures, their picture instead of names, because they can't all read each other's names yet, but they can identify each other by picture. So when they need to find someone to help them, they can find their face. So it was those little things that I was like, Oh, I'm doing the same thing. I'm just adjusting it for first grade,

Zach Diamond  17:15  
right? There's like, a fundamental level of modern classrooms that I think that's applicable all over, right? From preschool all the way up to adult education, obviously they'll look very, very, very different. I definitely mentored. I was a music teacher at the time, right? And I'm mostly mentored music teachers, but there just weren't that many teacher music teachers taking the mentorship program, right? And so I also mentored Spanish teachers. I mentored people who were in middle school, high school, teachers, college professors. I once mentored an eighth grade Latin teacher, and I was like, Well, I'm completely lost. Like, I don't know, I don't you know, but yeah, like, there's, there's the modern classrooms of it all, right, where you can help somebody else, sort of like, discover the model, how the model will, how the model will fit in their class, fit for them, right? Which, yes, which, I really, really think is an important part of implementing the model. There's not a cookie cutter way of doing it. Everyone's classroom is different. Even every first grade teacher's implementation, I'm sure is different.

Candi Williams  18:23  
Yeah, definitely. And I learn from my mentees, you know, every now and then somebody will produce and they and I'll think, oh my gosh, I never thought to do it that way. And I make sure that I let them know, like, how amazing. I never even thought about that. And can I borrow some of those features and, you know, so it's, it's not just me being their thought partner. Sometimes they're my thought partner as well, and can enhance my classroom.

Zach Diamond  18:47  
Yeah, totally. I mean that I wrote that question into our outline, because I think that it comes up so often when, when we talk about mentoring in the modern and I said this too many, many times I've said this, that I learned from them as much, if not more, than they learned from me. And these, you know, like we're mentoring great teachers. You're like a veteran teacher, and your mentor worked with you, and right? Obviously, you have lots of things that she could learn from you. And same for me, talk more about that. Talk more about the things that you've that you've taken of, you know, the how, how mentoring has provided value for you, and having those relationships with teachers has provided value for you. 

Candi Williams  19:23  
It was, it's really been amazing because, you know, I, when I went into teaching, I think my brain just automatically thought, I'm just sticking with kids. I'm just, you know, I just want people who are younger than me. But as I went through the mentor program, and I realized that this was also a passion of mine, like I love the process of, of having the kids be, you know, self paced, and it's mastery based. So I know they're gaining, and they're they're making the gains they need. And if they aren't, I know I can, I have time to help them get there, you know. And so by doing all that, it's really. Helped me to realize that I love teaching it to other people. So by going through that process myself, it's made me realize I love also helping adults be teachers, be better, you know, equipped to try the modern classroom or a different process, you know, and that way it they have the option or opportunity to learn a new process as well, which I have, I have absolutely loved, and have really enjoyed working with adults, which I have not had a lot of experience with until this. And so it's been really nice to be able to bounce ideas, have actual conversations. You know, it's hard to have a conversation with a seven year old. So, you know, it's been, it's been awesome to have a conversation with an adult and about how we're teaching and their ideas and my ideas, and how I can help, but how they are also helping me. And it's, it's just, it's amazing,

Zach Diamond  20:54  
yeah, and I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately on the podcast, but one of the lines in the intro that I say in the intro to the podcast is that teachers learn best from each other. And I'm always thinking about like going into another good teacher's classroom, or even not a great teacher, and like watching somebody else teach, it's just the best way to learn. And you know, the virtual mentorship program is kind of that, right? It's great for the mentee, because they're showing you their stuff, right? And you give them feedback on it. So it's sort of like, in a roundabout way, they get to kind of walk into your classroom, but it's, it's more evaluative than that for you. It's like, Oh, check this out. Maybe I could try that, right? 

Candi Williams  21:40  
Yeah, yes, yeah. It's been really it's been really awesome. It's been awesome because in that this process, I've actually had in my district, I have I teach in a really large district, and inside that district there are quite a few modern classroom teachers. But I've also had districts that are just right outside of us, reach out and ask, can they send, you know, a couple teachers over to just watch a day, and that way they see it in action, to know if they're ready to take that plunge as well. And so it's been really cool to go from being a virtual mentor to then being a live mentor and be able to answer those questions. But it's, it's, I reach so many more people virtually. I mean, I've had mentees, you know, all over the country. I've even had in other countries that has been really eye opening and amazing and help them figure out ways. You know, if their technology isn't as not everybody has. It's not one to one with the Chromebook or with their devices. And so being able to help them figure out, okay, well, that's okay. It can still work. Let's just think about a different way. And so it's been really eye opening to to become a mentor and and to to work with so many different types of teachers.

Zach Diamond  22:58  
Yeah, it helps you grow to problem solve like that, right? And obviously it opens your minds to the different contexts that people are teaching in throughout the world. I'm wondering, of those teachers who have been able to observe you, were any of them your mentees? Have you ever had the opportunity to meet a mentee in real life?

Candi Williams  23:16  
Yeah, actually, two of them came and they observed, and then they signed up for the program and requested to be have for me to be their mentor. And so then I was, which was really kind of neat, to be able to watch that process of them deciding if they wanted to do it, and then deciding they did based on, you know, what I was doing in the classroom, which was very flattering. And then to be able to mentor them through the process for their classroom. That was, that was really awesome.

Zach Diamond  23:44  
That is awesome. That is awesome. And again, this another story that I tell a lot on the podcast. But like, the my first exposure to modern classrooms, besides the the like, the PD list thing that I signed up for it from, and the little blurb about it was going into Kareem classroom and seeing his tracker on the board and being like, Oh, why didn't I think of that? Like, yeah, let me just do that. And I went that that day. It was a Friday, the cohort that I was with went down to Eastern to visit, and we came back to school. School hadn't ended yet, and so I made a tracker on the drive home and, like, put it up on the board. Because I was like, Well, this is an obvious thing to do, right? Like, I had read it before, but I never, I never, like it, never clicked for me. I never really conceptualized how to make it live in a classroom. And so, yeah, that definitely amped me up to do the mentorship program. So that's awesome that seeing your classroom did the same thing, because, because, yeah, it's a lot with his a lot, like modern classrooms is, it's a solid model, you know? It works, 

Candi Williams  24:51  
yeah? And it is amazing. Like, why we never thought about this? Like, I know there have been pieces that I've always, you know, that I have thought of, okay, that would be great. That would be great, that. Great. But I've never thought, oh, put them all together, like, oh, that's, that's the puzzle. There it is. You know, that's, it's amazing.

Zach Diamond  25:08  
Yeah, that was the thing I feel like, as I think about the model, it's like, I the more that I sort of probe the idea of the model in my mind. I'm like, Oh, if you're gonna do blended, self paced. Like, if you're gonna do mastery based, it has to have a tracker involved, because otherwise the kids would just go through everything on their own. And like, you need to check for mastery. If it's gonna be self it's like, all the pieces fit. You're right. Like, it all connects. So, yeah, I wanna ask you if you've encountered any challenges as a mentor, and I obviously don't want you to, like, throw any mentees under the bus here, but like, what have been some challenges for you in mentoring?

Candi Williams  25:46  
So I think some of the biggest challenges that I experience right now, and maybe it's, you know, just the times that we're in, but you know, the the signing up and then not following through, that's it's hard as a mentor, because you're excited and you want to share the idea, and then, you know, things happen, sometimes, family issues, or, you know, they just can't commit to it. And that's, that's totally understandable, but just, there is definitely a lot of big hopes, and then they just don't, it's not a follow through. So that's, that's a little frustrating, but it gets overshadowed by the amazing ones that do step up and do it and follow through all the way, because that's the tricky part. You know, each part builds on the next, and so I always try to introduce when I had that first meeting, is let them know like you're going through this process, just like you're going to expect your students to go through it, you're going to do a section, and then you're going to get feedback from me, and then you're going to do another section, and then you're going to, you know, and it's this constant process, and when you get to the end, you will have something you can actually put right into the classroom. And so, you know, I've had a I've had a couple mentees who have gotten so close they got right to the last section, and then they just, you know, the fire just went out or whatever. And you know, it was hard, because it was like I saw such a potential. But hopefully they went ahead and finished it later, when they had more time, or, you know, had the though a different experience with it. But, you know, just those little not showing up, signing up for something and not showing up, that's a little frustrating. But, you know, it happens,

Zach Diamond  27:26  
it does. I mean, definitely I remember it was kind of strange. There were like, no shows, right? But you never know. You never know someone who never connected with me at all by email, chat, phone, anything. I guess I remember also some who, some mentees who would be like, Why do I have to do this? Just another thing that teachers have to do, right? And I would always try to communicate what you were saying, like, the thing about this training, and the reason that I, I'm also, I'm generally very critical of of most of the PDS that teachers have to do. Because, yeah, let's be real. You know, 

Candi Williams  28:03  
they could be 

Zach Diamond  28:04  
very good, yeah, yeah. But the reason that I, I became so, I don't want to say obsessed, but like, I became so engrossed with modern classrooms as a training was because you are actually building something that you will use in your classroom in the module where you, where you make a self pacing plan, you build a pacing tracker, and you can use, you know, you used to be able to use the the like the self updating tracker. Now there's the wave video tracker. There's resources for you, but like, this is something that you're going to use in your classroom tomorrow, right? Like you could, you could literally make this now and use it tomorrow, as long as you have, you know, enough lessons for your students to self pace on, which is another part of the training. You build all the stuff. And I would always try and frame the training that way,

Candi Williams  28:52  
yeah, and I still use the tracker that I created during the the training. I actually use it now. It's been adjusted, and it's been, you know, there's been things that have added or changed, but that is still the original tracker that I use because I built it on my own. And it's like, I'm proud of it. And so, you know, I use it every, every time,

Zach Diamond  29:15  
totally me too, and I'm proud of it too. And I know it like I know how it works. Mine, I'll, you know, I've talked about mine before. I can link it. It's just a spreadsheet, right? But it does lots of like, formulas, and it counts things. And I, I know how it works. When I share it with others, they're like, What is going on here? But I'm like, I get it. It works for me. And my students get it, because the stuff that they see is simple, right? I it's funny because I, I've been mentioning this, like, I moved up from middle to high school, right? But I'm in the same school, and so I kind of, like, looped back around, and I have some of the same kids again, and I put my tracker up on the board, and it's, it's very, like, notoriously yellow, blue and green. And they're like, that thing again, like, Oh, I thought that I was done with that. Yeah, very sweet. Yeah, that is awesome. No, I totally feel you. It's my tracker. I get it like I made it. Yeah. So candy, what do you hope to see in the future, and what goals do you have? And this could, this question could be for you personally, it could be for you as an educator or as a mentor,

Candi Williams  30:19  
yeah, I think, I think for me personally, I definitely want to expand it more in my classroom. I use the modern classroom process for all my math instruction, except for the very first unit, because in first grade we have to kind of get them acclimated to school, and I use it for all of my phonics instruction and and my handwriting instruction. So I'd love to be able to even try to add it to another subject. And because once the kids get the hang of it, and they get going, they it really is easy to just move to another subject and say, Okay, we're doing the same process. It's just a different, you know, content. And so that's kind of like my own personal goal. I think, as a mentor, I would love to see the the meetings. I know when I went through the mentorship process, it was a little bit different than it is now, but we actually met, like once a month or something, and we kind of me the mentor and all her mentees, and we got a chance to bounce ideas off of each other, even. And I would love an opportunity to do something like that again, because I do really think I took a lot away from those, those meetings, any kind of meeting where I was with somebody and and having that meeting, you know, all my coaching calls, I feel like those are like the most important meetings you're going to have, because that's that opportunity where you get to ask all the questions. Ask all the questions you have, any question that's been, you know, you've been thinking or, or been worrying about, or, or you you know, you're stumped on, like, that's that, that's a quick response time right then, versus, I'll send an email later, you know? So I would, I love as many of those that I can possibly have. I would love to continue those,

Zach Diamond  32:01  
yeah, you know, it's funny. It didn't occur to me to even mention this, but actually, I think, I think that's where the idea for this podcast started, because I it was 2020 May of 2020 and I began mentoring. It was, you know, it had been like two months of covid at that time, and we were all like, well, what's next? Are we all just gonna be home forever now? Like, we didn't know what was going on, right? And so I was having all these incredible coaching calls with teachers. And obviously it was like a hard time, as you were saying before. It was a hard time to be a teacher, but these coaching calls where we were like, problem solving, and people were telling me about their classes, and we were doing all this stuff, right? I was like, these conversations are interesting. Like, there's, there's stuff to learn here. And so I emailed Kareem, and I was like, Do you think we could make a modern classrooms podcast? Because, like, people talking about modern classrooms, they have so much to say, and there's so much interesting insight into into MCP, and into teaching and into school, and all of it, right? And I agree, those coaching, those coaching calls, are just just incredible. I feel like, in the parallel to an actual modern classroom that's like you sitting down with the student who needs your help, right? Or if it's like a scheduled monthly thing that also is like, you making the rounds and making sure you check in with everybody and, and, like, the materials are there, they have access to you and, and, yeah, I want to ask you a follow up question. I'm curious, did you say you started with math, or did you start with math and phonics. I started with math. Why math? I feel like that's a very common thing that elementary teachers start with. And I'm not one. And so I'm not, you know, I'm curious as to why.

Candi Williams  33:52  
So I know, for my own personal experience during covid, I have a team. I want a team of five teachers, and for first grade, and I just happened to be the math person during covid, so I was the one making all the math videos, and is, you know, giving all the instruction. And so I was like, Okay, I already done I've already done this. Like, I've already done this for an entire year. I know I could do it. So that's the reason why I chose math. But I have noticed a lot of people choose math, and I think it's just because it is very conducive to to watching a video on an instruction of math. You know, I mean, you think about reading. You're having to read. You want to hear them read back to you. So it's a lot more personal. Whereas math, you can give an instruction on the computer, they can follow along, and then they can practice it on a piece of paper or on the computer and turn it in, and you can tell very quickly whether they mastered it or they didn't. So I think that probably just a little more conducive to it. But I think other subjects definitely work, definitely work, but math, it just was my comfort zone. That's why I started with it.

Zach Diamond  34:56  
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess that's interesting. Wonder like. I hope that this doesn't come across the wrong way. If this sounds mean, I'm sorry. I don't mean it to be that way. But like you said that another one of your goals is to expand into your other subjects as well. And I wonder, like, what's the barrier for you? Is it the front loading of content? Is it coming up with how to present the other subjects in MCP, or because, because math is the most conducive, right? And maybe phonics is more difficult, although it sounds like you've already done that with phonics, but like, what's the barrier?

Candi Williams  35:28  
So I think definitely time, I mean, and I tell all my mentees this, that it is a lot of work up front, and then it loosens up that, you know as you go, but you know, it's, it's starting from scratch with another subject, you know, and with first grade, a lot of our stuff is so hands on, you know, I think science would be amazing to do, because there's so many scientific videos and science that, you know, things that you could do on the video. But a lot of first grade, for me, science is hands on. Go and draw this or, or we're going to watch it. We're going to do this together. And so it's a little bit harder, because you have to then pick and choose, what could work, and then when, what do I have to have as a life lesson? So things like that. So there's, there are just some subjects that, at least for the littler kids, it's, it's a little trickier to put into a video form. But, I mean, I think it could work. It just, it's time consuming. It's time consuming. And, you know, in it for me, in my district, we just shifted a different math program, which is always fun, especially when you've already gotten everything created for the last math program.

Zach Diamond  36:35  
I was gonna say, does that mean new math videos? 

Candi Williams  36:38  
Yes. So last year I started, and I'm finishing this year, and it's having to recreate all of that again. So it was kind of one of those things where I had everything under my belt. I had everything prepared. The kids were, you know, everything was, was rocking and rolling, and then they're like, oh, let's do something different, yeah. So it's like, Okay, guess what, guys, we are going to start from scratch. So that's been, that's been, like, a lot of my time because, so that's been all my planning periods. So once that's finally taken care of, that's when I'm like, Okay, now what can I take on that's next

Zach Diamond  37:11  
totally. And, yeah, I really didn't mean that to be, like, an accusatory like, why aren't you doing science yet? Right? I was just curious. And, and, yeah, like the time, the time. Thing is real, you know? And it is something we needed to communicate to the to the mentees that we work with, because like that can, that can be one of the things that I think is demotivating to some folks who are like, I'm already a I already know how to teach. Why do I have to go and do all this stuff? Right? I per me personally, I I didn't see it that way. I was like, wow, this is what I've wanted this whole time. Let me go and do this, because I can see this working in my classroom from the get go. But I did have mentees who were who were not like that. And so, yeah, the time commitment is big.

Candi Williams  37:59  
It is big. And, you know, I think the thing that kept me going through that was the knowledge that I knew that teaching the other way, I was always missing out on wonderful opportunities to reach my lower learners and my higher learners. I was always teaching to the kids in the middle. That's that those were the kids who were the successful ones. I had a lot of kiddos who were bored because they already knew it, but we had all do it together, or the ones that just struggled and I couldn't get to them. And with this process now my videos are reaching the middle, I'm able to challenge the high by giving them extensions, or, you know, the challenge activities, the aspire to do activities, and then I now have the time and the freedom to say, hey, come and sit with me. Let's, let's work this out together with my kiddos that are struggling because they get me as long at any time that they need me, because I'm not in front of the class teaching anymore, at least not most of the time, and so I doing this and researching this process and and training in this process, that was the number one thing is I was like, I can finally do what I know I'm supposed to be doing when I teach a class. I'm supposed to be reaching everyone. And I can't this other way, but I can the modern classroom way. So that's why I fell in love with it immediately, and I have not looked back, and I've even had some pushback from admin. And I'm like, I think I can make it work. Can you just give me the opportunity and then you can come and observe me and tell me, You know what you think? But I really and they have, they have been generous enough to say, Okay, give it a try and come in and say, well, it looks like you did it, so that's fine.

Zach Diamond  39:42  
Yeah, yeah. If you walk up to the kids, they usually know what to do, because it's right there on the board, right, like the tracker. It says, what's next? Well, that's fantastic. That is awesome. Kenny, this has been amazing. Thank you so much. I just like the mentorship program. Um, I loved mentoring when I was mentoring a lot. It's, it's so rewarding. And, you know, again, much like teaching in a modern classroom and how it frees us up to work with kids one on one and do all that great teaching stuff, it also frees us up to build relationships with them and be authentic with them and be ourselves. And I think that that's true of this mentorship program as well. I think that, like you know, working with someone who genuinely cares about about your professional development, about you learning and getting to have a thought partner, it's just so valuable, and I really appreciate you coming on to talk more about it. So if our listeners wanted to connect with you, many of our listeners have not taken the mentorship program yet, so if they were curious to speak with a mentor, how could they connect with you?

Candi Williams  40:49  
Well, you can email me anytime. It's Candi, c, a, n, d. I dot Williams at modern classrooms.com, and I respond very quickly. I love talking to people who are interested. I love sharing my story and giving any information that I have out and sharing what I know with the public. So anytime,

Zach Diamond  41:12  
yeah, that has absolutely come across too. And thank you, certain that's what makes it, makes you such a great mentor. Well, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me this evening, Candi.

Candi Williams  41:24  
Thank you so much for having me. 

Zach Diamond  41:26  
Of course, listeners, remember, you can always email us at podcast@modernclassrooms.org and you can find the show notes for this episode at podcast dot modern classrooms.org We'll have this episode's recap and transcript uploaded to the modern classrooms blog on Friday, so be sure to check there or check back in the show notes for this episode if you'd like to access those. Also, we're asking our listeners to leave a review if this podcast has been helpful in supporting you to create a blended, self paced, mastery based learning environment, because that does help other folks find it. Thank you all for listening. Have a great week, and we'll be back next Sunday. Thank you so much for listening. You can find links to topics and tools we discussed in our show notes for this episode, and remember you can learn more about our work at www.modernclassrooms.org and you can learn the essentials of our model through our free course at learn.modernclassrooms.org you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @modernclassproj, that's P, R, O, J, we are so appreciative of all you do for students in schools. Have a great week, and we'll be back next Sunday with another episode of the modern classrooms project podcast. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai