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. 

Zach Diamond  0:28  
Hello, and welcome to episode number 137 of the Modern Classrooms Project podcast. My name is Zach Diamond and I'm a middle school digital music teacher in Washington DC. And of course a modern classrooms implementer and mentor. And tonight I am joined by Maureen Delgado, the principal at Clinton Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. Welcome Maureen. Welcome to the podcast.

Maureen Delgado  0:51  
Hi, it's great to be here.

Zach Diamond  0:53  
It is great to have you tonight, we are going to be talking about going school wide with modern classrooms. And Maureen is the principal. So this is going to be really interesting to hear about. You know, I've I've talked a little bit about how there are several modern classrooms teachers at my school, but we're not school wide. So I'm really excited to hear from you about sort of how that has played out what sort of supports are in place, how it looks for students, and, and all that kind of stuff. So let's get into that. But before we dive into the topic, why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself, Maureen, tell us who you are, how you became principal, and how you started your modern classrooms journey to the point that you went school wide with modern classrooms?

Maureen Delgado  1:31  
Sure, I'd be happy to. So I have been the principal here at Clinton elementary since 2016. I have the unique privilege of having taught at Clinton many years ago, predominantly seventh and eighth grade ELA and social studies. So I really ingrained in the community. And I've just really enjoyed kind of seeing our community grow and thrive. And one of the ways that I've been able to continue our progress and move our school forward is through modern classrooms. And I'm really excited to talk about it. This process has been great for our school and really transformative.

Zach Diamond  2:14  
How did you discover modern classrooms?

Maureen Delgado  2:16  
So the way that we learned about modern classrooms is through our work on personalized learning. Back when I first became principal, I realized that one of the things we needed to do was to meet the needs of all of our students. And we have a very diverse school with many different languages spoken. And so in order to meet the needs of all of our multilingual students, we realized that we needed to differentiate more than we had been doing in the past. And in order to do that, I started investigating personalized learning, okay, and so I attended a lot of different professional learning communities, and attended a lot of professional development on personalized learning before embarking on that in our school. And so one of the ways that we did that is through our Chicago Public Schools office of personalized learning, and attending different PDs. One of the ways that I found out about personalized learning was one of our teachers had been just Googling different ways of integrated blended learning into their classroom and a few resources from modern classrooms appeared. And he was really excited about it and share that with me. And then I started hearing about it more and more through our professional development. And we were fortunate with the Chicago Public Education Fund in order to receive a stipend so that teachers could take on the professional development training over the summer.

Zach Diamond  3:45  
That's awesome. And modern classrooms is definitely like the perfect blend of blended and personalized learning. Right, that's like two of the big three things that make modern classrooms what it is, that's perfect. That's fantastic. Cool. So So let's dive into this topic. I'm really curious to hear about this. Going school wide with modern classrooms, the principle taking modern classrooms school wide, I guess to just frame the discussion. Can you describe broadly what that means at your school? Like are all of the teachers using MCP? Have they all taken the training? Is it like opt in? Is there structured support? What is school wide modern classrooms look like at Clinton.

Maureen Delgado  4:26  
So school wide is that there are different pockets of our school that have taken the training and really have begun to implement it fully in their classrooms. There are other pockets of the school that have just taken the training and starting to get their toes wet a little bit in terms of being able to take a little take aspects of it and implemented in certain subject areas. And then there are other people that are just being able to be part of a PLC internally within our school and the led by people that have already taken modern classrooms. And they're just kind of walking them through it before they decide to take the entire PD through modern classrooms. So they're getting to learn from their colleagues first and foremost. And then there's other people that are just kind of waiting on the sidelines to see where this all goes. So we have all different aspects within our school, but I will say that the students are probably the ones that are moving our teachers into this way of learning. They really enjoyed the classrooms that have implemented modern classrooms. And through them, teachers are starting to kind of become more curious about it, and have opened their minds into possibly changing the way that they've done things in the past. So the students have really kind of started to move us forward. And more so than me doing that and pushing that through.

Zach Diamond  6:01  
How cool that's so cool to hear. You know, yeah. Okay. So my next question, actually, for you was what the impetus was for rolling this out school wide. And it sounds like the students were part of that push.

Maureen Delgado  6:12  
Yeah, the students were allowed Part A were a huge part of that push. One of the things is, when I first became principal, one of the students told me that the one thing he didn't like about school was that school was being done to him instead of with him. And so that's when I started looking at this blended learning and personalized approach. So that we could figure out a way to really have the students have some ownership and what they were doing, what they were learning and how they were sharing that learning. And this has been like the perfect experience for our teachers and our students to really be able to showcase that and to be able to develop that ownership and agency.

Zach Diamond  6:55  
Yeah, that's fantastic. And it also sounds familiar to me, right? Like, I feel like, you know, agency, meeting students needs all the things that you're saying about modern classrooms, they really they ring true, right? Because that's the modern classrooms experience. That has been my experience. And it's language that I hear guests on this podcast using all the time. I guess I want to ask more about the impetus for going school wide like, that feels to me like a bigger, I guess, most teachers, who are most schools that push modern classrooms to their teachers, I hear about, you know, teachers read about an email blasts with PD opportunities and things like that. Can you talk more about like deciding to have this be our school like how, how that came about? Or was it just as simple as the students are really enjoying this. So we're gonna push it harder,

Maureen Delgado  7:43  
I think was a little bit about that the teachers that took the class, were really enjoying it and found it very useful, especially some of our more veteran teachers that can be a little bit a little bit more skeptical of new strategies and innovations. So they were pushing it, the students were pushing it. And then also, I also think that the whole system and the way it's set up, where there's a mentor from outside of the school, where if a teacher kind of feels a little self conscious or not sure about how doing some how to do something, they sometimes will thrive if that if they have a mentor and can ask those questions and not have to worry about how a colleague is viewing them. So I think that has helped also, additionally, we are fortunate to be in a district that has a $500 stipend. So once people have been able to successfully complete it, our teachers do receive credit for recertification and also receive a $500 stipend. That's sorry, I can't hurt motivator.

Zach Diamond  8:46  
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I also got a stipend for taking the training. I would have signed up anyway. But it certainly is a motivator. You're right. That's cool. One thing that you said that was really interesting was to have a mentor coming from outside of the school. And you're right, like, I guess there's like, the, I don't know about fear, but like, just the awareness of judgment by your colleagues and how you're seeing it your own school, I think also being professionally developed by your coach at school, there's a more gray area between like coaching and evaluation, which can I think, feel like pressure coming from administration, I say that as a teacher, right. But when the mentor is outside of the school, they're not evaluating you, right? They're not your coach, even there, they're just helping you. And I think that that's a really cool part of taking the training mid school year, because like, you can try stuff out, and then go back and forth with your mentor on how it went with your students. And there's, there's no fear of judgment by your colleagues. And there's also no sense of being evaluated professionally. It's just a very, like, we're on the same level. I am a mentor and I am a teacher. Like we're on the same level here. We're we're not evaluating you. We're just trying to help you develop this model. So let's really great point that you made. I wanted to ask you also more about the going school wide thing, but like, is it your goal that eventually all teachers will take the training? Or is that not your, your goal here? Are you shooting for that? Or is it more just just like have the culture of modern classrooms? At at your school?

Maureen Delgado  10:18  
My goal is that all the teachers do take the training, actually, where we are right now we have about 65 teachers on staff. And 50% of them have completed the training. But then we also have another 11 that are active right now that are in the current cohort, and we have another seven, that will be starting at the next cohort in May. So at the end of that, after everybody that has kind of like in the progress of doing it will have 77% of our staff, wow, that elite has gone through the program and has a shared language shared understanding of what it is, so that we can really start to implement it more fully.

Zach Diamond  11:01  
That's awesome. Yeah, and so tell me like how this went, like you've talked a little bit about how it's spreading through PLCs. And some, you know, these teachers are all taking the training. And that's, that's awesome. Like, but talk to me about how it has gone like at school, how does it feel? How was the rollout going? How has it gone?

Maureen Delgado  11:22  
I think if you look at the different development of our teachers, so we have some people where the entire team are the majority of the team has taken modern classrooms. And I have been able to give those teachers release time so that they can plan and that they can share the workload. In those classes, you really see it moving beautifully. Kids have ownership, they know how to articulate what's happening in the class, when we have visitors that come in, they know how to articulate how, why the class is set up the way it is, what they're working on how they achieve mastery, and how they're doing as individuals as well as like how the entire class is kind of functioning. So those classes are moving exponentially faster than some of our other groups. In some areas where you only have maybe one teacher at a grade level, that is completely finished the program, it's a little bit more difficult, just because there is a lot of planning that's involved, there's a lot of front loading that's involved. And those teachers are kind of trying to start it off with, let's say math, for example, or something like that, before they start integrating into ELA. And in there, it can be a little bit difficult for those teachers because they don't have the support system. And so that's one of the reasons why I'm really pushing people to go through the training so that everyone can kind of have a partner to be able to and worked

Zach Diamond  13:04  
with their mentor. 

Maureen Delgado  13:06  
Yeah. And so it's, it's rolling out. I would say it's really not the way I think will work for our school in order to sustain it like it's small progress in some areas. But I think that the progress that we're making is very sustainable. And the things and the things that they're putting in place are those in their classrooms, I think will continue to be able to really work for us in the years to come. So I think that the practice, it's not like a one and done type of thing. It's more intentional. Okay. And I think that that's part of what is really drawing me to kind of push our school forward in this.

Zach Diamond  13:53  
So did you get pushback from your teachers, like you talked a little bit about, like you mentioned that it was a little bit more difficult for some than for others. But actually, I'm curious to hear about pushback more generally. So this could be from teachers, parents, students, any other stakeholders. I mean, did you receive pushback at all, but also from those teachers specifically?

Maureen Delgado  14:12  
Yes. So of course, there's pushback. Right, even though I've been at the school for a very long time, and I have a really good rapport with our staff and our community. Whenever you want people to change and do something that was working for them, and you want them to try something new, there is going to be pushback. And so with some of those, especially with the teachers that have been successful and their traditional methods, they didn't see the need to kind of move into this new way of teaching. Sure. They didn't see why they should be doing that when they have successful test scores and successful observations and students really like being in our class and students surveys are positive parents surveys are positive. And so those were probably some of the more difficult ones to move forward. I will say that in some areas, the kids helped to push that through. Sure. And so at the end of last year, one of the things that we did with that pushback is, when people were moving on to a next grade level, and let's say a teacher was more resistant, or was more unsure of kind of moving in this way, we had the students share with them like a learning profile, and kind of talk about how they learn best. And really being able to articulate that to the new teacher, I think really helped that new teacher realize that the students did have that they did understand how they learn and how they needed to be able to express their learning. And so that opened their eyes a little bit. In terms of parents, I've been fortunate to really not have pushback from parents, I think the biggest pushback that we have from our community is we have a very traditional community, we get a lot of immigrants and refugees, that think about school in a traditional sense, probably the biggest pushback we have is that they want their kids to have more homework. And since we've moved to this method, there really isn't homework. Students work at their level. And some of them do do extra projects or things, you know, continue their work at home, but it's not mandated. And I think that the parents, we really had to go over that with them, and understand what their student their child is learning in the classroom and how that looks. A way of starting that is by really having a lot of student led conferences, instead of the teachers leading those parent teacher conferences. And so that's been helpful. In terms of our district approach, since we were kind of really already on the path for personalized learning. It's been supportive there. And so we haven't had any pushback from that aspect of it.

Zach Diamond  17:01  
Sure. Can you talk a little bit more about the student led conferences, my school actually also does student led conferences, and I really liked them. But can you talk more about how they go at your school?

Maureen Delgado  17:12  
Sure, again, that's something that we're starting to push more and more. And so we do have some grade levels to do a really great job with this. And so all students have a learner profile that they continue to update, and add their goals and add other things to throughout the course of the year. And when we have parent teacher conferences, or what's historically known as parent teacher conferences, our students prepare ahead of time, how they're going to showcase their learning, and what what how they can show their parents that they've either met their goals, or are working toward them. And so the students practice with one another, they practice with another adult. And then when the parent turns, the student kind of is able to articulate that to them. We want to grow that next year, so that we do that more frequently within the year and utilize our support personnel within our stat within our schools or our paraprofessionals, to partner in that so that students can present to a variety of adults, and not just their parents or their teacher, but also some other adults we have in the building. So we're trying to think of a way to be able to do that intentionally within our school.

Zach Diamond  18:26  
Yeah, Maureen, and I just love how much like agency and voice you're giving to your students just in this conversation, but also like in the school, like, how much weight you give to their voice and how respected their voice is, and how they were part of the push to roll out modern classrooms. I mean, I can totally see how a student body that is that vocal and positive about modern classrooms would be the best ones to convince their parents in a student led conference if the parent were to push back on the model, right. That's so cool. I love that. I absolutely love that.

Maureen Delgado  19:00  
I had some seventh graders tell me today that they were going to take over, I'm like wonderful, so...

Zach Diamond  19:08  
Yeah, yeah, there's a there's a we have to compromise. It's a balance. It's a balance. So I'm curious to hear what supports are in place for teachers who are struggling with the model. Actually, what supports are in place in general? Like, what's what is the role of what's your role? And what's the role of the rest of your administration in supporting the teachers as they roll out modern classrooms?

Maureen Delgado  19:38  
Yeah, so that's something I've been thinking about a lot this year. Most of our students, we just started this process last summer. So it was last year around this time when we were given the opportunity to have summer learning on modern classrooms. So we've just been doing that for the school year right now. Okay, um, and I think I've been thinking a lot about how to support teachers better. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of free staff. The only freed staff we have are myself and our my two assistant principals. We don't have instructional coaches or like a freed person that could kind of coach people in the building. That's one of the ideal things that I would like to have eventually. But given those constraints, one of the things that we that I have done is really build on those teachers that are really excited about modern classrooms, and having them kind of mentor and work with teachers, as they go through the process. Because what we wanted to make, what I wanted to make sure is that after they take those classes, and they've successfully completed that modern classrooms, that when they're trying to implement it in their classrooms, and maybe they hit some snags are some rough patches, I wanted to make sure that they don't then give up on it. And they continue to persevere. And so in order to do that, really trying to set them up with mentors who have been through it, and have been successful in making some changes, and adapting it so that it could be successful with our classes. So that's something I want to do in a little bit more of a structured way for next year is to provide that mentorship within our school community. Sure, so we continue to grow that. As far as the admin is concerned, one of my assistant principals has taken the class already, and I am enrolled to take it right now. So I'm going through it and we really want to start looking at how we can do it for adult education, and how we can model this for our teachers. So that we're also in the process of kind of learning it and figuring out how we can adapt it for our learners. We happen to be our teachers.

Zach Diamond  21:58  
Yeah. Yeah. So it's like modern classrooms all the way down. Right? Yep. Our goal, learning how to do modern classrooms through a modern classrooms training on modern classrooms. Yeah. Well, that's great. Um, I was gonna ask you, I forgot to ask you is the training. So I know your goal is 100%. Is the training opt in? Like, um, I'm hearing that like, not all the teachers are taking it, while all have sort of familiarity with the model. But is the training going to be required at your school? Is it currently like how does that work? Like if a teacher doesn't want to is I guess what I'm trying to get at? So yeah, is the training often for them at the moment?

Maureen Delgado  22:37  
So right now, yes, the training is opt in, as I said, this is our first year, really kind of going through all the different sessions. And so we've had different times where people could have applied my encouragement for people that haven't gone through yet, is to really spend the summer in enroll in the summer sessions. Because if I understand during the school year can be difficult, right? So those teachers, I'm really kind of encouraging them to do that. Eventually, it might be something that we just factor into the school day somehow where then it just becomes more of a mandatories experience. But I'm hoping that as we kind of build the momentum, people want to do it of their choosing. Because I feel like that, then we'll have a more successful implementation if it's something that they chose to do.

Zach Diamond  23:34  
Sure. Yeah, definitely. I think modern classrooms really pushes that very hard. It's it's an it's an opt in training, right? Like, they believe very strongly that teachers will be more motivated to try out this pretty innovative model, when it comes sort of more organically from their own motivation to try. So yeah, I know, it's tricky, right? Because from your perspective, you're seeing and you're hearing from the kids like, there are benefits. It's good. It's working well. Right. And so, yeah, I can understand how that will be a tricky balance. I'm curious to hear also, what support you got from the modern classrooms organization in intentionally taking the model school wide. I know like there's, you mentioned the stipend. Of course, there were the mentors doing the mentoring. But what else like I know, modern classrooms has scholarships with certain districts, like what was the what was that? Like? How did you interact with modern classrooms? And what support Did you receive from the organization in rolling out the model school wide?

Maureen Delgado  24:42  
So I encourage teachers to sign up I have them see the video and you know, presented the information for them. And thankfully, we had a lot of teachers that were interested in it. And so I think just from the sheer number of people that were interested in it as they as modern classrooms wasn't Arcanine Chicago, modern classrooms then reached out to me, and was kind of like, oh, we have this huge interest from your school what's going on at your school? Can you tell us about that. And so since then I have worked with many different people in modern classrooms. Um, we've had several visits to our school, where we've had the leadership team for modern classrooms come out, visit our classrooms, provide teachers feedback, very supportive, very positive, when we've done a reflection with them, they have been hugely inspirational for our teachers to hear from. And I think that that has been one of the best things was, the different visits we've had, I think we've had them out three times now, where they've come on their own, or they brought different leaders from areas within Illinois or Indiana, to come see our progress. And just because they're always so supportive, I think that that has really made it more successful. So the support I've gotten from them is that as well as the different resources that they've given, like the look for tool and things like that, that we can implement in our school and develop kind of a shared understanding of what we're looking for, when we go into a classroom, that is utilizing modern classrooms.

Zach Diamond  26:20  
That's awesome. I mean, like, the look for tool in and of itself is useful for you as you're evaluating your program, right. But it's so cool to have like school, I've also had my classroom visited by modern classrooms, multiple times multiple school years, even before the pandemic, actually, when I was first rolling up the model, and it's really helpful. Again, I think that it's like, you, you're not exactly being evaluated, you know, in a in a, in a professional way. And so you can ask questions, and your teachers can give feedback, and they can be given feedback. Everyone's just looking to improve here, and I'm really happy to hear that, like modern classrooms is very hands on with that. I have also felt that way. Being a teacher who's, I'm just a teacher, but I mean, I'm pretty involved in modern classrooms. I'm posting the podcast here too, right. But like, you know, they've come to visit my classroom. They've also brought other teachers from other schools and in other parts of the country, to see my class and to see how it runs at my school, which is cool, right. But I think as an organization, what a cool thing to do, right? Like, let's share how this all looks in different places, and just all kind of grow together. I, that's awesome. And I'm glad to hear that it has been so great for you to I want to ask you one last question before we go to our break, which is to just sort of describe the benefits you've seen, like how it has gone for your students, obviously, they seem to be liking it, but like, can you explain Can you quantify or at least explain and describe the benefits of having rolled this model out to your your entire school or working your way towards that goal?

Maureen Delgado  27:57  
Yeah, I mean, I can I you know, just to give you a little bit of insight at in our school, we have over 1000 students that are preschool through eighth grade, we have over 40 different languages spoken. And so we get a lot of students that come as newcomers to this country after having been, you know, in refugee camps or other places. And so some of them have had a broken education, background. And so we really have a lot to kind of differentiate for given that background. And then we have other students that excelled that are in our gifted program, and are kind of moving on that track. So we have both ends of the spectrum here at Clinton. And I think that this has provided us a way for teachers to reach both ends, and for students to not feel frustrated. So students that may need a little bit more time are given that time, students that are ready to move ahead are also allowed to move ahead. I think one of the most unique things about seeing this is when we can have a first grade classroom that has three different math units happening at the same time, where students are able to move at their own pace, and they're just they know what to do and what's expected of them and that they have to earn mastery before they move on to the next skill. And so being able to see that differentiation really take place in multiple parts of our school has been probably the most transformative piece, and that every student feels engaged whenever we have visitors at our school, whether it's from modern classrooms or from our district or from outside, just in general, visitors coming by, they always comment on the engagement. And I really attribute a lot of that to this approach. Still Students are constantly engaged in what they're doing and in their classes. And that's every grade level where they've had this experience. And so I really think that that has been very transformative, especially coming off the pandemic and trying to be able to reach the needs of all of our various students.

Zach Diamond  30:23  
I love that. And that's how you framed the whole discussion. Right? That was what brought you to the model in the first place was meeting the needs of all the students. Exactly. That is fantastic. And I think that's a great place to pause for a sec, go to a break. And then when we come back, I have another kind of different type of question for you, marine, but we're gonna go to a break real quick. So listeners, hang on for a sec, there'll be an announcement, and we will be right back with Maureen.

Toni Rose Deanon  30:51  
Hi, listeners. This is Toni Rose Deanon. And we are now offering to scholarships opportunities available to educators looking to create blended, self-paced, mastery-based classrooms. One of them is the learning differences scholarship, open to special education and ELL educators. The other one is a Minnesota educators of color scholarship and open to all Minnesota educators of color. We'll we'll be linking the scholarships page in the show notes. So please check that out.

Zach Diamond  31:19  
All right, folks, we're back with Maureen to talk about going school wide with modern classrooms. And I thought that to close us out, it would be interesting, instead of asking you just more and more questions about the rollout, which it sounds has been pretty fantastic. I thought it would be interesting to have you describe or even shout out two or three all-star implementations of modern classrooms at your school. You know, we were talking about how sharing, teaching with teachers is a really great way to do professional development. I personally feel like observing other, you know, great teachers teaching. I like, I just take things from them and try them out myself. And so I really like observing others. And I would love to hear you describe modern classroom implementations that have gone really well at a school that is very dedicated to rolling out this model. So can you give us some examples of fantastic classes at your school?

Maureen Delgado  32:11  
Sure, I have a two to really highlight. The first is a teacher Rachel Huibregtse's she's been teaching probably over 20 years now and has taught at various grade levels. She's currently doing first grade. She took the program last summer. And she was one of my veteran teachers that reached out to me over the summer and told me how great and valuable the PD was. And she was greatly impressed with it. And one of the things that she really loved about it was that the work that was being done through going through the professional development was things that she could implement right in her classroom, when school started. And so that is one of the things that she really found valuable because a lot of times teachers go to professional development, and it's things that maybe don't pertain to them or things that they really can't implement in their classrooms. So she was able to see how this could start right in September. And she was implementing it in math. And she's the only teacher in first grade that was doing it. And so she really created the program from scratch. And she has created a game board. Students are super excited about learning. These are six year old seven year olds that are so excited about math and love the way that she's teaching. When I was in there doing her observation this year, one of the kids told me that it was a secret, because she said that Miss Huibregtse's must think that we're so smart, because this is how she teaches us. And we get to learn in a fun way. And that doesn't happen in all the other classrooms. And so when the student told me that, I was so excited to hear that and I had first graders being able to articulate what a mastery check was, and how they knew that they achieved mastery and could move on. So that is a gem in our school. And parents have been commenting to her and telling her that she does that they don't know what she does during math, but they know that kids come home and talk about it and how they love learning math. And so that has been really positive. Another one is more of teachers that are collaborating. So I have 3/6 grade math teachers that have spent a tremendous amount of time collaborating, and really implementing a resource that they did find out modern classrooms called the grid method. And so that is Miguel Melanchor, Alanna Henry and Ashley Danoff. They have spent so much time really creating engaging lessons that meet students needs from using different levels of work, to have kids being able to kind of go through the unit and They start with level one and go up to level five, which has different application and different ways that students can apply the math concepts in a very higher way than they had in the past. And so students are able to get really in depth with the content with the content, and be able to understand it. One of the other things, all three of them do is they all make videos and share the work. So students are able to see videos from all three math teachers, even though that one teacher might not be their current teacher. And so that helps kids really feel kind of connected and engaged because they're able to see, they're able to see how other teachers at our school are able to create those different videos and use that work together collaboratively, which really models that for the students. And they've done a phenomenal job, really creating units on their own, that are pulled from different resources. And students are highly engaged in the work that they're doing, and really excited about it. And it's not often you find sixth graders super excited about math.

Zach Diamond  36:14  
Yeah, that's so cool. I like the idea of sharing the videos, too. It's like, we do talk a lot about how it's important for the instructional video to be made by your teacher, but also, that they aren't losing that opportunity. They're just being given to other takes on the exact same topic, which they might find very useful in actually understanding the concept. Right? That's very, very cool. I really liked that. And both of those examples are fantastic. It's so wholesome, I love I love hearing about little kids being all cute and successful in school. You know, I'm a middle school teacher, so it doesn't feel quite so cute and wholesome, when my students are successful. But hey, oh, that's fantastic. I really appreciate that. And, you know, props to those teachers. That sounds like it's fantastic. That collaboration sounds so cool. Amazing. Just amazing. So Maureen, what do you hope to see in the future? Like, I know, you talked, I asked you and you said that you do hope for all of your teachers to eventually take the training. But how else do you expect for modern classrooms to grow at your school? Do you hope for it to grow in your district? Like, where? Where are you think? Where do you think you're heading with modern classrooms.

Maureen Delgado  37:27  
So I do expect that we continue to grow it and to implement it. Again, as I said, this is like our first year implementing so we have a long way to go. And we have a lot of work to do as we continue to kind of fine tune the process. And so I am excited about it. I'm excited about moving forward and really getting deeper into this work. And also creating more pockets where teachers are working together collaboratively to create these units and really work on ways to implement this into their classroom on a more regular basis. So that's one thing. Secondly, like I talked about, I'm really excited about doing it myself, and really figuring out a way to make it successful in terms of adult education for my staff. I think that it'll be a great way for us to kind of move some of our other school wide initiatives and priorities. If we approach it in this blended method, because it'll allow us to have teachers learn the different things that we're trying to impart school wide and in different ways and so that we can probably be more successful on that. And then as terms of within the district, I'm excited that I think our office of personalized learning has met with modern classrooms. So I hope to see how that integration can happen. We're fortunate in our school in our district that there are some schools that are designated personalized learning school, and I hope to eventually earn that designation, okay. Yeah, on the work that we're doing with modern classrooms.

Zach Diamond  39:15  
I hope that you do I mean, I feel like yeah, being a modern classroom teacher is like personalized learning, and modern classrooms. It's like peanut butter and chocolate, right? Like, I can't think of a better match or a better way to implement personalized learning, right? Like I definitely, I hope, I hope that you do and my fingers are crossed for you. That's fantastic. So Maureen, how can our listeners connect with you if they want to learn more? I there might be some, you know, some principles out there listening to this who want to ask you more specific questions that didn't occur to me because I'm not a principal, thinking about this stuff at an administrative level. So if people wanted to get in touch with you to ask more about rolling out the model school wide, how could they connect with you?

Maureen Delgado  39:58  
Sure, and even you can email me my email address is mdelgado3@cps.edu. D E L G A D O the number three@cps.edu. And we're always welcome visitors. So if anybody's in Illinois, and we'd like to send teachers over to kind of see our program and action, be more than happy to accommodate that.

Zach Diamond  40:20  
That's awesome. That's awesome. Are there two other M Delgado's in CPS?

Maureen Delgado  40:26  
I think there are I've never met them.

Zach Diamond  40:30  
Maybe one day. Great. Well, Maureen, thank you so much. This has been absolutely fantastic. And I hope that the listeners have sort of gleaned some of the benefits that you've been seeing and also maybe some tips for, for spreading the model within their schools. Yeah, so thank you so much for joining me, this has been excellent.

Maureen Delgado  40:46  
Thank you for having me, Zach, of course,

Zach Diamond  40:49  
Listeners, remember, you can always email us at podcast@modernclassrooms.org. And you can find the show notes for this episode at podcast.modernclassrooms.org/137. 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. Thank you all so much 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.