Zach Diamond 0:00 Hey everyone. This is Zach. This episode is a very special episode, guest hosted by Avery I'll let him explain what's going on as soon as we get into it. But I did just want to let you know that we had some audio issues with the recordings here. Unfortunately, I did the best I could with the Edit, and I'm pretty sure everything is understandable and listenable. So I am going to obviously publish it. There was no way I was going to not publish this one. It's very good, but I did want to let everyone know up front. Anyway, let's go ahead and get into it. I'll let Avery introduce himself and his guests. 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. Avery Balasbas 0:58 Thank you, Zach, for that wonderful introduction. Everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of the modern classrooms project podcast. My name is Avery Balasbas, he him pronouns, a partnership manager here at modern classrooms, and today we have a special episode for you featuring some of my old students who are now freshmen in college. Just before I have everyone introduce themselves. A little context for those of you that don't know me, you can hear more about my pedagogical and curricular practices on Episode 139 teacher and learner reflection practices, where Tony Rose and I talk about the importance of reflection in the classroom for our students and ourselves as we advance through our teaching careers. So again, my name is Avery Balasbas. I was the former English department chair and an English teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School in the San Francisco Unified School District. I was also a DMCE and implementing the MCP model over the last few school years, and I was fortunate enough to have a cohort of students who were willing to experiment alongside me and help me become the teacher I am today. So everyone that's here, thank you for being here today and saying yes to the podcast. It's exciting to share a space with you all once again, because we used to do that every Thursday. So without further ado, we have a large group today comprised of what my students used to call themselves, our little Thursday crew. So if you guys can introduce yourselves, name, pronoun, major in school, we'll start off with, uh, Alex. Alexander Cai 2:19 Hello. My name is Alex, or my full name Alexander Kai. I use he, him pronouns. I'm a first year data science major at University of California Davis. Brandon Buerger 2:28 My name is Brandon. You can also call me burger. My pronouns are he, him. I am an economics major at Community College of San Francisco, and I plan to transfer to UC Davis under managerial econ in two years from now. Eva 2:43 Hi, my name is Eva. I go by she her. I'm a statistics major at UC Davis right now. Jimmy Chen 2:48 Hi, I'm Jimmy. I'm a freshman aerospace engineering major at Cal Poly Pomona, and I go by him. Julian Paradise 2:59 Hi, my name is Julian paradise. I am a studio arts major at City College, and my first year and I go by, he, him. Kelly Chan 3:08 Hi. My name is Kelly. I go by, she, her, pronouns. I am a first year undergrad student at UC Davis, majoring in environmental engineering. Matthew 3:15 Hi. My name is Matthew. I go by, he, him, pronouns. I'm a first year statistics major, and I go to UC Davis, Avery Balasbas 3:22 wow, I didn't. I was not aware of, like, any of your majors, for some reason. And I'm very surprised. Thanks everybody for introducing yourselves. That was really cool. I don't know. I feel so happy hearing all that. I hope your winter breaks and holidays went well. Folks. Just want to share out something like, what's something that brought you joy during this winter break? Something for me was my brother and I were able to go hit the slopes in Tahoe, go skiing, and I was also to able to spend some time with just family and my girlfriend. And it was just, it was just all around a nice time, very relaxing, Alexander Cai 3:58 the people I love. I think the biggest thing for me was I got to go on a three day vacation to San Jose with friends. It was really nice, because basically we just, like, went to like, all, like, these different food spots, these malls and like other, like, kind of like well known spots in San Jose. And overall, it was just, like, really fun time. Because it's like, you throw like four teenage guys in like a hotel, and you basically get chaos. It was great. So yeah, also went on a lot of, like, hikes, and just basically went sightseeing around San Francisco. Avery Balasbas 4:27 So cool. I think I remember seeing that. Brandon Buerger 4:30 Something I really enjoyed over this winter break was I was my first long first of all, first, like, month winter break. I'm still on break, and this was my first winter break with my license, so I was able to drive around. And when all my friends finally came back to see me, that was really great, because then I had a bunch to talk to and go around. And one of like the highlights of seeing all my friends was when I went ice skating with Matthew and Max. And that was really fun, because it was basically all of our first times. And. Um, was just wanted to go through trial and error and, uh, try not to die. Avery Balasbas 5:05 That's so funny. That's all you guys first times. Eva 5:07 Um, for me, I when I first when we started college, I was like, kind of, I was pretty happy, because I was like, Oh, wow, so much freedom. But then, like, after like, a month or a week or so, I started, like, getting really homesick, and I started to miss home. So when winter break came, I just mainly wanted to spend a lot of time with my family, but we didn't really go out. We just kind of, like, watch movies at home and stuff. But I still really enjoyed it, because the break was really long. Um, Jimmy Chen 5:34 it was, it was nice getting a big break from all the assignments, but it did take some getting used to, you know, not waking up every day being worried that I have, like, 50 assignments too. Yeah, I got to spend a lot of time with my family. And that was, that was, that was much needed, I think, Julian Paradise 5:55 I mean, I would, didn't really do anything like, really eventful for winter break, I guess, like, something that brought me joy. I know I kind of said it earlier. My mom gifted me a Pepsi mini fridge. I'm really happy about it because, like, I've been talking to her, like, for like, so long. I'm like, I need, like, a mini fridge in my room. Because it's like, I have to, like, get up from my seat and I walk to the fridge, and I'm like, I don't, I don't, I just want to, like, have something available. And then she's like, everyone says, Oh, nope, I'm not gonna get you one. Sorry. I'm like, oh. And then she actually got me one. So, like, maybe a little bit nicer, Kelly Chan 6:30 um, I just stayed home. So I didn't really do much. I did go to work a bit, but mostly I just stayed home. Matthew 6:37 I think one of the biggest things that I enjoyed over winter break was just being able to go home after being away from my home and family and like home friends for so long, and just seeing everybody after a long three months, and just like reconnecting with everyone after kind of like a life away from home, I'm glad that you all had fun in some capacity. I know my freshman year well, you all know what happened with my freshman year, but wasn't that great or memorable? So I feel you on the homesickness and just kind of wanting to peer around, you know, the people that you love and care about. So thanks everyone for sharing that. Yeah, I just wanted to bring everyone here out of my own curiosity, because I've had folks ask about what it was like for students that I've taught. And now that you're all in college, and some of you kind of talked about the differences a little bit with college, what it's like after you have gone through my class and the MCP instructional model, and how that might have affected you later on, which I feel like is kid via like, a few and far between answer, because I know some of you were totally fine without it, and you just happened to be in my class like you were already doing very well as a student. So I don't know, curious to see what everybody has to say. Let's just transition us over into what we're here to talk about. And as a refresher, in case you forgot, there's three important parts to this model. There's the blended learning, which was those videos that you would all watch of me speaking to you about, you know, naturalism or realism and everything else in between. There was a self pacing part, where you go as fast or slow as you want through a given unit. And there was that a whole group tracker that was in the front of the room that showed you if you were on pace or behind pace. And I don't think any of you use the individual trackers. I didn't really implement those better until the following year, because I redesigned them. So I think everyone's feedback was like, Mr. B, this thing sucks. It's ugly. And I was like, Yeah, I don't know how to make this I need to figure out how to make it better. And then the third part is the mastery based grading, where you couldn't move on to the next thing until you really, like 100% or met, like a benchmark, like you got to be you met all the requirements of the assignment. And I'm like, Cool, you don't have to revise it. You can move on to the next lesson. So those are the three core things with that, before we kind of dive into the differences between what you experience in high school or in my class and what you're seeing in college, I want to start off with the first question, what kind of learner Do you feel like you are, and what did you figure out as you were going through this class, or my class, I guess, through the instructional model. So what kind of learner are you, and what did you figure out when you were going through MCP and Alexander, you're gonna start us off, curious if you have anything else to add on, because you were in my class longer than just the one year of implementation like you had me prior to Alexander Cai 9:25 personally, I'm a really big visual learner, and I found that, like when people try to, like, describe things to me, I always find myself, like, not fully understanding the I guess, for lack of a better terms, like the full picture, if you will. But then, like, when I was, like, going through, like, the modern classroom format and figuring out, like, oh, you know, not only am I going to get like, a document with all of these instructions, I'm also yet a video paired with this of instructions, like ran over through by my teacher. Miss philosophy. It was really unique, and it really helped me. I. Understand the assignment that much more to hear you say and speak about, like, all these little mini details that go into the assignment, it really helped me. Brandon Buerger 10:06 I am a auditory learner, so I learned best when people are speaking to me, and that's also how I review best is reading stuff aloud, but I'm able to focus and, like, learned it properly. I don't, I will. It didn't really struggle in English. I mean, I definitely over quarantine my first year of English. It definitely wasn't like the smoothest sailing. But what I got through MCP, more than anything was just really learning how to bond with other people, because compared to the lecture based and the kind of like individualized English classes where you sit there and you do English work by yourself, modern classroom kind of opens up the workspace to allow you to communicate with other people, and just just implements a sense of community throughout a classroom that other classes can't really do exactly Eva 11:15 I feel like I'm the type of learner that's Like, good with studying by myself, so the self pacing was very helpful for me, and I really liked it, and I see a lot of it in college right now too. Jimmy Chen 11:28 I don't know if being a physical learner is a thing, but I like to just do things like through trial and error. I guess that can also apply to like concepts where I just keep going at it until I get it down. And I guess MCP really offered that when, like, you know, I learned about the whole mastery concept, I was able to kind of take my time with it and then really going at it, until I have the concept down. And also I feel like I the the main thing I got out of it was just better time management skills. Julian Paradise 12:17 For me. It like the way I learn. It's like, I think it's like, I think it's like a little bit of like everything, like, I like, just doing things on my own, like being told what to do. Like, it's kind of like you're almost like, seeing things and visualizing stuff. It's like it was like a little bit of everything, kind of like, similar to Brandon. It's like, when I was in like, covid, I kind of struggled with English a bit, just because, like, it was something like I wasn't used to, plus also it was like it was covid, so it was, like, a, like, a big change, I feel like, MCP really, like, changed my view on how, like, not only how English works, but how, like, you know, work can be. It was flexible. Like, I could, like, do things, like, in an available time. I didn't have to stress over one thing and multiple other classes. I could just do things at my own pace, complete work that's satisfactory, instead of, like, turning in something like last minute that's like, really bad. Like, it allowed me to just, like, give my best without like, pressure and without worrying. For me, Kelly Chan 13:20 I think I learned by taking notes and just rereading things, and then, if it's for math, I just learned by just doing it. So again, trial and error, something I figured out as I was going through this it would definitely be time management. You have to manage your own time like there's deadlines due, but you don't have to do it on the day of, but you know what's due on that day. So it'd be time management. Matthew 13:43 Um, I think the biggest thing that I know about myself is that I'm a very big visual learner, and most of the time, like, especially during college, big lectures and things like that, you can't cater to every single student's special or like, the way they learn. So tying that into high school learning, being able to, like, watch videos and like, especially going through modern classroom type of learning, it really helped me be able to go back and review what I was watching or what I was learning, and if I didn't understand it, I can go back instead of just being in, like, a big lecture and can't really ask the teacher to go back and repeat what they said, or, like, ask specific questions without using up the time. Avery Balasbas 14:28 Thanks for bringing that up, Matt. I'm gonna jump ahead a little bit in this list of questions, just because I think you already tying it into what you've experienced so far. But what were your feelings when you first encountered, like, some of you mentioned it already, but you know, just for folks who aren't in this call right now, what were your feelings when you first encountered, like, your first big college lecture, and I guess, kind of recalling what you were all just saying about this instructional model, how, like, you were able to go back and review, but then, like, I don't know, college. Here's a totally different environment. So what were your feelings when you first experienced that, even if it was just like a thing of, like, maybe 30 people or 200 people, I know it's different for every school. Alexander Cai 15:12 Honestly, it was really shocking. Just like walking for the first time, you know, walking to my first lecture, it was short calculus. So a math class nonetheless. So you're, you know, there's going to be, you know, majors from all the woodworks coming out to take this class, because probably a class everyone needs to take. And walking in and seeing like, 300 people is kind of eye opening. It's like, Wow. This is like, the size of, like, maybe our high school auditorium, all packed into one class. So it was really eye opening. And while taking the course, I really realized that, like, Oh yeah, you know, it's or, like, college courses in general. It really made me realize that all of the skills that were implemented in MCP kind of were also implemented into college investments. Like, I'm pretty sure a lot of people mentioned here already, the self pacing stuff is very evident in college. You know, no one's going to tell you what you need to do and you're Miss. You're basically almost always going to be on your own, unless you want to attend office hours or reach out to other peers. You're going to be mostly alone until exam day or midterm day, you know, so getting that early exposure. And here's the assignment, get it done by this due date, and make sure you study up for this certain concept that you're going to be learning. And Brandon Buerger 16:27 yeah, my first time walking into a into a college lecture at city colleges, we don't really have like a lecture style classroom. All the classes are pretty small. It's about 30 to 40 students, so you can still consider it a lecture, because I give absolutely zero input, and the teacher does all the talking. So yeah, pretty much a college lecture. But it was, it was an interesting experience doing it for the first time. I feel like I've had classes similar to that back in high school where it would seem like I would just kind of sit there and listen to the teacher talk the whole time. So it wasn't very entirely like a new experience, especially for the fact that the class so small. So I, I really didn't feel like I've been to a college lecture yet, but, um, it's a really weird shift, especially my English class, of having this like, this complete, like structure of how you're supposed to follow along in the class and exactly where you're supposed to be at this time, which I really like, because it's super easy to keep yourself organized when somebody else lays out a structure for you to do, and you can just follow it along, and eventually you get that test done that needs to be done. But going into college, I really wish that each teacher would do this like it's almost when you go into college, it's a lot more independency, and you can't just rely on your teacher. You have it all organized out for you. You have to do something. You have to be more proactive in your own action while going through college. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. When Eva 18:14 I my first class was also calculus and like, the classroom was huge. It's literally our auditorium. I was like, oh, there's so many people, and it's really on here the way that your class was structured, like, how everything was, like, your own pace. I feel like it's also like that in college, because your class, like, taught me to, like, really hold myself accountable and like, like, do my work before the due date. Like, even, like, the professor wouldn't remind us, though. So I feel like your class, like, really helped me with that, like, just remembering to do my work and things like that. Jimmy Chen 18:53 I think time management again is, was it was it was it was a really big thing that I got out of your class. But, yeah, I really wish that the you know, my professors would have would implement some sort of model, um, that allows for like students to go back and re, not re watch the lectures, because every lecture is, like, two and a half hours long, but like, just to get, you know, the main points out of the lectures, because my arrow professor was one of those professors that would just write a bunch of equations On the board and then explain each equation for like, two seconds, and then move on to the next equation. So essentially, I and pretty much all of the other students in that class, got nothing out of the class. I was supposed to go in and learn about how planes work. And how plane engines work. I don't think I could tell you a thing. I could tell you the concepts behind them. So I think some sort of, you know, self paced system would really help. My calc teacher did implement that. So, you know, I guess, I guess the concept of modern classroom is spreading a little bit. But, yeah, my talk teacher implemented the self paced learning and then the mastery system, and I didn't notice that that did help me a lot with, pretty much, getting all the, you know, calculus concepts down, yeah, Avery Balasbas 20:46 and kind of like, I would say maybe managing your grade a little bit better too, is kind of what you're hinting at, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, like, I could see where, like, Well, I'm sure you're all experiencing full force, right? You take a midterm, that's it. Like, or you take a final, that's it, you know, like, that's the grade, uh, whereas, like, with a mastery based approach, it's like, okay, you get to try again. You can have a retake, and the retake isn't going to be, I don't know if any of you've experienced yet, but like, I had retakes in college where it's like, yeah, you can retake the test, but you can only score like, a 70 or lower. Like, the highest you're gonna get is a 70. And I'm like, Okay, well, why even? Why even try, like, you know, sometimes, so yeah, like, self pacing, mastery based, or standards based, types of assessment even blended instruction with the instructional videos. These, just to be clear, these are not things that modern classrooms necessarily created. Concepts have existed for years, maybe decades. Now it's just MCP has definitely put it into a structure for you and myself to experience very seamlessly. And I think, like all of you were saying, Yeah, it kind of is showing us these different things about ourselves as learners, or how a classroom could be structured. And I'm just gonna hand it back off to you guys. So, like, Julian Paradise 22:01 um, at least for like, my experience, like going into college or City College. So again, similar to Brandon, like, I kind of, like, had that feeling of, like my old, like, really bad classes in high school, for at least, like, my English and my and this will be like, something you can understand. It's my, oh, my, somebody said my probability and statistics class, that was especially the worst I had. It's like, it's like, it's not that the teaching, okay, at least for English, it wasn't bad. It was mainly like, the my problem stat class, just because it's like, communication was hard. Avery Balasbas 22:39 You're talking about your city college classes, right? Julian Paradise 22:41 Yes, yes. It's like, it was just a communication was just hard, like I had already taken province that before I left high school and I left feeling confident, and when I went to my new province that class, this is something I'm just like, okay, so am I relearning a whole new language again or, you know, but I got more of the feeling from when I was in modern classroom in my color class, like I got that feeling like my teacher was very flexible. She was like, you can turn in, like, the projects and anytime you want, just make sure it's before the end of the semester, meaning you essentially had infinite time. And she's also was like, Okay, you have to make sure to do the discussion post, because once they're gone, you can't do them anymore. Like, she was very flexible. She communicated, well, I that's like, one of the like classes. I felt like it was, like, I'm like, I was back in modern classrooms. Like I didn't have to worry about all too much, because I could just do anything at any time. I didn't have to stress about all my different classes. Like, okay, I can focus on problems that this day and then do art another day. Kelly Chan 23:45 I was also in a huge Cal lecture. There's always the options of, like, rewatching lectures, but it's not really the same, because I feel like with professors, they kind of just introduce the new topics, and it's really up to you to kind of learn to master them, either by doing the homework, which can be hard, and like, some might go into detail, but that's about it. My Chem professor, however, he has these, like, really, really old YouTube videos that would show you him walking through, like, the equations of what we were learning. And I feel like that's was sort of like modern classroom, like you have the option of, oh, it's kind of also your own personal choice to rewatch these videos that he has, and they were kind of helpful. But I think if more professors did that, I might have learned better and kind of just doing it their style. Matthew 24:29 I agree with pretty much what everyone else said about their calc lectures. I was also in this really, really big calc lecture, and like I said before, it's really hard for the professors to cater to every single person's needs and questions and understandings and all that. And of course, that's what the TAs are for and all that stuff. But I also had a similar experience to MCP, where my English professor, she's also trying to do mastery based learning, and have. In the mix of the two, and also having previous experience going through MCP really made me favor mastery based learning, because of the fact that you don't have to have so much pressure put on. You have to get it right the first time, you have to get it right during the exam, you have to get it right. You only have one chance to get it right. Instead, you have multiple times, and that really like, lessens the stress and lessens the burden on the students and gives them another chance. Avery Balasbas 25:26 Oh, cool. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that like, That's hella true. Because when you take an exam, that's it, and especially in a lecture hall, whether it is like, you know, 30 ish people like Brandon Junior saying or you're in a lecture of like, 200 I've experienced both, and depending on the type of school that you're at, you know, a lecture of 30 is actually big, because sometimes classes can be as small as 12. It's when you're at a private school, but then when you're at a school, like, as a state or with you all, like, at a UC, yeah, there can be, like, hundreds of people in a classroom, and it is, it is hard to cater to everybody's needs, and it's nice to hear that like there are different ways that professors like Kelly, you're saying a really old video that they might have created a while ago. And yeah, it's not like a short, you know, five to seven minute video that I created, but it's something that they created a while back, and they continue to recycle because it gets their point across. And I find that fat, I don't know, fascinating is right word, but I'm glad to hear that that's helping you, right? You said, like, if other professors could do that, at least I can go check it out, and it would help me kind of understand the content a little bit more, because I had a professor too, who the entire semester was self paced, and it was online, but we never really met the professor in person, I think, except for exam days or something. And it was a little too jarring for me personally, because I've never experienced anything like that. It's like, okay, here's the entire semester of like, math, good luck. And then there was a video module. You had to go through each thing, and when you're not taught how to do something like that, yeah, I was very much like, I don't like this because it was so foreign to me, but I appreciate that. Like what you all just shared, there's bits and pieces of what you're seeing other professors are maybe specializing in or trying to design their class a certain way, and that's cool that you're seeing those things. That makes me happy, because I didn't really get a lot of that when I was in college, and if I did, I might, it might have been a little too much culture shock for me to appreciate what was happening until I got into the world of teaching and learned how to be a teacher. Cool. I'm gonna I've skipped through a couple questions. I don't know if you guys are looking at the Doc. I'm crossing out some stuff. What's your opinion on the experience with the model? If parents were to say, I don't want my kids learning from videos, because that's not real teaching. Alexander Cai 27:45 What if parents realize about their kids is that some days they're going to be like, not really focused in class, maybe like outside factors or stress or whatever. They're not going to be able to pay attention to the full lecture, maybe bits and pieces of it, but they're obviously going to forget things. However, with the introduction of these videos, I think this allows students to like work at their own pace. If, you know, like if you missed a detail in the lecture, oh, look, there's a video for it. Just rewind it and, you know, fill in yourself. Revenue missed. It's really unique and nice. In my opinion, I can see why it doesn't work for others and why it does work for certain people, but for me, it's just really nice to be able to rewind a lecture and pick up a thing that I missed while let's say like Mr. B was talking about. It's really handy. And this might not be like, this is maybe too specific, but even like say, let's say you Mr. B during your classes, we obviously had discussions, and we had times when you would actually be lecturing and talking about the concept. So even if students would be like or sorry, parents would say, Oh, I don't want my kid learning through instructional videos, there are obviously times when you step in and lecture Brandon Buerger 28:56 and talk about my dad, especially not like the factor of the old fashioned style of sitting there in a lecture, focusing. But the problem with our newer generation is we've consumed so much short form media, even a seven minute video is hard to sit through nowadays. So the fact that you were able to summarize, like, a whole lesson in, like, very short videos and stuff, made it very, very nice. But at the same time, adding on to Alex, it is also very nice just to have a video, because, due to the fact that we can't really sit through a whole video, it's nice to, um, just have or, yeah, it's just nice to have a way of going back and just taking it at your own pace, because people, especially, I've heard stories and I have professors who go way too quickly. And you know, this also allows professors to go even faster and cover all. The stuff that is necessary and allow us time to take notes fully understand it in our own time. And I think this whole video process is better than seeing the professor in person. Also, it's also a hassle to go down a class all the time. It's it's good, because then it keeps me motivated that I'm like, in school and stuff, and I have to focus up, but at the same time, everyone's working from home. Now, why can't we just do school from home? Now it would be the similar process. Yes, it's probably aren't as disciplined as an adult, but you still have adults out there that don't actually sit down and get their work done, and I think Avery Balasbas 30:50 that they gotta be so loud for man. Brandon Buerger 30:57 I think, I think the whole like video process just makes it a lot easier to comprehend everything that has been that you need to learn in order to fully comprehend the class, Jimmy Chen 31:13 modern classroom, might need to add Subway Surfers on the on the other half of the screen. In a couple years, I think Avery Balasbas 31:21 subway server ad, Brandon Buerger 31:23 or just like the whole like, short form media content has completely ruined everyone's attention span. Find included, and it's so bad, like, especially now with colleges are never gonna change off their like, this lecture style, I highly doubt that's been changed 1000 years now, and it's just gonna get worse. I mean, if you look at like, some of the new videos that are reproduced for the kid dog, they're screwed like, Jimmy Chen 31:53 I hope that brain rot never comes to, you know, never gets incorporated in college. But the Brandon Buerger 32:00 thing is, they're going to be so behind, because there's already stories around of kids entering the fifth grade who can't even read at a first grade level, like, it's over, like, Gen A is genuinely cooked. Like, Julian Paradise 32:13 yeah, no, I was gonna say. I've also seen like, articles on that. It's just like, it seems like the more like our years progress, like the younger generation just gets, like, not to be rude like they get. It's just like, I cannot believe the fact that, like, I was like, what you said, Brandon, it's like, a fifth grader can't, like, learn, like, basic math. It's like, you know, it's just like, it's like, shocking. But it's also like, to me, it's like, it's, I'm not like, it's not like, something I didn't expect just because of, like, um, like, it's like, with, like, whole medias. Now that's just like, sorry, this is going to what I want to talk about. I'll call Sam for Eva 32:51 later. Uh, going back to the pacing of like, professors, like, they actually go at the speed of light. I don't understand how they go so fast and still are able to talk properly. Like one of my calc Professor last quarter, like, did his, like, uh, talk on a chalkboard, but, like, he didn't. His handwriting was, like a doctor's so I couldn't read it. So like it. Since he had like recordings, it was easier to learn because I could go back and listen, because sometimes I wouldn't be able to write down what he wrote on the board because I couldn't read it. But also, I think learning from an instructional video was so much easier because it's like, you made it so, like, easy to understand. It was, like, short and like, it's like a Tiktok, but like, obviously it's longer than a Tiktok, but like, Avery Balasbas 33:52 thanks. Yeah, that's, I appreciate you framing like that, because I had another student too that it a year younger than you, than you guys? And he was like, Yeah, this doesn't feel any different from like, when I Doom scroll on YouTube, so like, but instead, I'm actually learning about, like, realism and naturalism. And he's like, I'm actually learning something. I'm not just watching Sonic the Hedgehog memes all day. Eva 34:14 Yeah, Jimmy Chen 34:15 am I allowed to bring up the the audio, the mp three files and the reading Avery Balasbas 34:22 stuff. Oh, you mean, yeah, totally. That's definitely not like an MCB thing. That was like a me thing, but I incorporated it into Yeah, good, good. Jimmy Chen 34:30 No, I think college professors definitely go really fast, and for some reason, we were always behind all the way up until finals week. I don't know how much material we still had left, but yeah, um, I think, you know, the option to pick between a video an audio file and like reading was really helpful, because sometimes it's, you know, some. Times I didn't want to sit through a video, even though I could put it on two time speed. Other times I just, you know, I wanted to read, you know, use my literate abilities for a bit. And I think the way that parents are seeing it, I get where they're coming from. But I think one thing that they're not really putting too much focus on is that if your kid isn't motivated, then they could just space out during the lectures. Um, I think having those videos gives them an opportunity to eventually come back if they wanted to. You know, do well in the class again. And I think that's just what it takes for some people to start going, Hey, I need to pay attention in this class. I need to focus up. Yeah, having, having the videos and having that, you know, self paced mastery concept gives them a second chance, if you will, know if they wanted to really do well in the class towards, you know, the later half of the of the year they they still can't. No Avery Balasbas 36:14 thanks for bringing that up, because, like the I didn't make this very clear, but part of the MCP model is the way to differentiate, and that word meaning like meaning, designing lessons at different levels, right? Modern classrooms defines it as must do, should do and aspire to do. I didn't really use those a lot, just because I knew that. And it happened for a little bit where I kind of put out some of those and some people like, so I don't have to do that. Should do, right? Because it's not required. And I was like, Well, I still wanted to do the assignments, like, Yeah, but I don't have to. And so that's where, like, I was treading a line, particularly with you all as juniors and folks, kind of seeing certain activities not as important because it was labeled as it should do or aspire to do. So I just didn't want folks to get lazy your question, Jimmy about, like the whole how I had, uh, options for the lesson, right? You could watch it realistically if you just watched the video, the instructional video, that was the must do the bare minimum. You had to understand whatever I was saying in those five minutes. And then, you know, there was these kind of different extension activities where you did a, you read a really difficult college level undergraduate essay thing, and then I made you summarize it or something, or pull evidence, or whatever exercises we did. So, yeah, that was kind of like a form of differentiating. And thank you. I'm glad you brought that up, because that was just, uh, the model also allows for me as a teacher to give you guys different options and how to approach the learning of this really dense concept that I'm trying to teach you. Julian Paradise 37:52 Okay, um, it's kind of like, at least, like, what I want to say. It's like the I feel like, you know, videos are like, much better, like, in terms of, like, MCP, I feel like it's like a good thing to have, but I feel like it's also a good thing to have in general. It's just like, you know, kind of like, similar to, like, what Brandon said about like, his dad, like, with, like, his he's like, in like, the old ways. It's like, that's kind of why parents bring up this, like, this conclusion, like, oh, I don't want my kid learning, like, from a video, because, like, back in my day, because that's always where it comes from. Like, like, there's, like, a video I watched somewhere back where it's just like, you know, everything's evolving. Like phones evolve, like cars evolve. But when it comes to the classroom, we're keeping things the same. And why is that? Because, you know, we're different. We're not like, like, our parents, we didn't we like, We're different from, like, how our parents are like, we're not used to, like, long lectures and, you know, sitting there, like, because our parents didn't have technology back then, they didn't have, like, such advice advanced technology. It's like, there's like, the P like, the like kids, but also just like the somewhat like teenage adults, like, they're not like, we're like, not used to just like, all these long like lectures we're used to, like, you know, like, like, technology based, like, even like, we went through like, A whole year of just staying online. We all did that. So it's like, it's like, like, if we try to, like, keep sticking things to the old ways, there's going to be complication. And again, it's like, that's like, sometimes I think, like, you know, maybe that's why, like, fifth graders are having, like, the struggle of, like, learning basics, because they're struggling, and it's because we can't, we don't want to change anything. So it's like, I feel like at least the videos, like, at least when I watched them, when I was doing MCP, it's like, it helped me a lot, you know, because it's like, there's like, so much information, like, I tried, I know, like, you provided, like, also, like a text document, if we didn't want to listen to the video and I read that text document for like, 10. Minutes, and I'm just like, What am I doing? I sat there. Like, okay, so this means that, and that means this, and I'm gonna watch the video, and it's like, it saved me so much more time. And I like reading I like reading documents, I like reading books. And it's like my brain could not comprehend it. I'm like, Why watch the video? Like, you know what? That made sense? I get that that saved me a potential, like, whole hour of my day reading saved up in like, five to 10 minutes. It's like, again, it's also like, there's convenience, there's like, time saving, but it's also like, as as long as you also can understand it, because, like, that was, like, the main thing I was able to understand, like, many topics in a few seconds, or, like, a couple minutes. Kelly Chan 40:44 I hate to say this to the parents who think that it's not real learning your kid is probably learning from OChem tutor or black fend, Redfin, whatever math YouTuber is out there. I've definitely watched them, and it's probably how I learned. But I agree with you guys saying how you can always go back and rewatch the videos, and if you like, if you're like, in class and you're like, wow, I just can't learn today, and you have the option to rewatch it, it really helps. And you can always, like, ask the teacher if you're really stuck. It's not just like, oh, I only have these videos. No, the teacher is still there. I also really liked what Jimmy brought up the whole you also read us the book. I used to listen to those while I did the dishes. So it's like, if there was like, an aha moment, it's like, stop doing the dishes. And like, write that down. Matthew 41:31 I definitely can see both sides of like, why some people would enjoy learning from video, and then some people, like parents thinking that, you know, learning from videos aren't real, but it's not like you're you went over the material in the video, so you were still teaching us anyway. But what I'm trying to get to is, I think it was for some people, it would be much better, because, you know, like me, you can go back and watch the video over and over again until you understand it, or until you you know you might have missed something during lecture, you have the video to go back to, or something like that. Compared to, of course, the teacher teaches it once during class. If you don't get it, or you're not paying attention, or anything like that, you just, you won't get the material. And then you have to email, and you'll spend your back over all that stuff. And then, like, yeah. And then if you miss that, or you miss a day, anything like that, you just have to catch up. It's just, I do think there's a lot of positives from learning from videos, and especially, you know, one of the things that you really put on to us at the start of the year was, you know, sometimes you're not feeling it, having a bad day, having a lazy day, woke up late, had a bad test, or anything like that. Sometimes you might not be wanting to pay attention in class. You might just want to chill and hang out at the end of the week or later in the week. You can just watch the video when you're feeling it, and then you know all is well. So I do see from both sides, but I do think that video, recording whatever you need to record, and then posting it for a video for the students overall, is much better than you know, teaching it directly in class and expecting all the students to be ready to learn. Paying attention all the time. Jimmy Chen 43:23 Parents are surprised that kids can make their own choices. Brandon Buerger 43:31 One thing that I am very much in support of the whole like modernization of classrooms and making everything, I mean, especially over covid, everyone's become more tech savvy, but now you have to do all the training with the teachers, and then that's when the real problems step in. I'm like thinking of back to my to the math professor I just had, and I think it would have been worse if the videos were online, because I don't think she's ever touched a piece of technology in her life. So sitting through a video that seems like it was produced by a seven month year old. No, that's not how we're seven month old would be very not right, especially in a college scenario, because that's where high stakes, like, everything matters. It's granted High School is pretty important, but it's good that it's being tested there and in a and then, like, especially if you take a look at it, I'm pretty sure most of the college professors are on the older scale, and probably aren't as tech savvy, but the videos definitely help a lot. My econ professor, he did something similar. He had a bunch of videos, and it was really good during finals week. If I. I didn't finish the packet that I passed out for that day, I could just go back watch the video and comprehend the information. But it's definitely a little bit like the training that you'll have to put teachers through on how to use a microphone, how to turn on your laptop, what to do when you actually sleep just all like the basic stuff that they wouldn't really understand how to do, or not, like the basic but like that layer right below basic where the when producing videos, you do need to have a little bit more than just the basic knowledge. And that's what I'm that's what I think will struggle a lot. I think at some point you kind of just need to reset all the college professors, put in a bunch of younger Jimmy Chen 45:49 I think in college, people are also going to be a lot more motivated to do things because you're paying to be there. Um, CCSF is free, okay, well, yeah, um, but I think at least for me, um, I was definitely a lot more motivated in college, just because, one i I'm learning stuff that I really like, and also, yeah, I'm I'm paying to be there. I don't want to waste money, you know. Alexander Cai 46:24 Want to add on to that. I think the biggest difference between like, like a college to a high school is, I feel like you don't have to go to college. You go on to there's other ways and other means that you can make money with, you know, like you don't have to take this route of going through another 468, years of education, but I feel like everyone in college is there because they want to be there. Obviously there might be some pressure from our parents to go to college, like I'm sure more than half of us, you know, are being told that college is the next step after high school. But I feel like the biggest thing that differs from say, high school and college is just the environment as well. A lot of the people want to be there, and they're all more motivated, as Jimmy said, to actually work and do things there now, whereas High School, you have a mix of kids that either one are motivated and want to go to college, or two, maybe not so motivated and are probably, you know, not really wanting to be there for lack of better words. Avery Balasbas 47:24 I kind of also just want to highlight too. I feel like a lot of you were already like, kind of hinting at it, but I think something that was important to me by using this model was that since you get to rewatch the videos and kind of really dig deeper into whatever concepts that we're learning, I was able to have really rich, deep conversations with each of you, and academically and social and emotionally right like I feel like each of us here definitely have, like, I would say, a pretty deep, if not deeper connection than majority of my students that took years to cultivate from Knowing them like by working at Lincoln for so long, but then with all of you, like within, within a school year, within a semester alone, because the videos and self pacing freed up so much time for you as a student and myself as a teacher that I could actually go around the room and talk to you And like, I know, I just dropped that link in the chat, which is why I'm bringing it up. It was that effects of, like, modern classroom instruction before and after we implemented the model. And I show this to everywhere I go, that I've been on, like, the conference scene, if you've all been following, like, my IG and stuff, and teachers are shocked at the drastic data. Yeah, like Brandon said, could be biased, because we like you as a teacher. But also, like, I know there is truth in this data. Like, even some of the qualitative stuff, some feedback you guys gave I was a little hurt, you know, like, maybe 3% but also, like, it was very real, and a good critique of how, like, by the next year, you know, I was like, Yeah, I need to fix that. I can't just not be giving you guys lessons, especially those of you that were, like, ahead of PACE all the time, there would have been like, a week or two where you're like, okay, so Is it cool if I work on stats, because you haven't given me anything so, you know? But like, because of of time, like that, I don't know. I think one of the criteria that really stuck out to me on this chart is, like, the I have a good personal relationship with my teacher. My teacher knows my strengths and weaknesses, at least for me personally, like, of course, the I really understand what I'm learning and I'm capable of learning anything really shocked me. If you're not looking at it, I'll just screen share it, because, like for me, I found your answer. For me, I believe that, like my strongest suit as a teacher is building rapport and relationships with students. And to find that even before implementing this model, 21% of you felt that way, and then that pretty much tripled. If not almost tripled by the end of the school year. Still shocked me, because it showed me how much growth I had to do as a teacher. But like I just said earlier, and what you're all saying, this model allowed so much time for both student and teacher to just be around each other, talk to each other, and, you know, pick each other's brains, and really, like, get into the content, instead of just like, I remember there's just one day, one of our classmates, I don't know if any of you heard this, but like, just gonna leave names out, comes into the classroom and he's just like, to be like, what are we doing today? And then his table mates are like, Dude, did you watch the video? Like he tells you what to do, did you watch it? Yet? He's like, No, I just, I don't know, man. And like, you watch the video. And then he didn't have any questions for rest of the day. And I was just like, and I didn't do anything. It was all, like, some of you said, there's like this, I think Brandon It was either said it, there's like, a community aspect to this, where you where you talk to each other and collaborate and like that came organically, especially when I was busy helping, you know, another table group or something like that. Julian Paradise 51:01 I want to add on to kind of, like, a little bit like, I also, like, I live, like, this little context, like, most of the time, like, I think, like, also communication with a teacher is, like, also very, like, important, because, like, there's, like, some teachers, like, again, like, back to my, like, college province class, the communication between me and my professor was just like, not there. And like, the whole class, like it was not there. And then, like, most of us, like, struggled, because we would have questions, and then they would be like, oh, you know, you just refer to this. I'm like, we don't get it, though. Like, I feel like communication with teachers, like key and like, I already, like, been talked to my I like talking to my teachers a lot, just because it's like, I feel like I'll learn more, not only from like them, like teaching, but also like me talking with them, like clarifying questions. I just remember just one time when I was doing one of the assignments, I was like, I'm like, I took a shot in the dark. I was okay, I'm gonna talk about a game that he probably doesn't know, and I'm just gonna just tell him about it, and like, how I'm gonna apply it. And I remember I was just talking to you, and like, Yeah, so like, I want to do something from Persona five. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I played that game. I have never had a teacher in my life that has known what I was talking about. But also, like, I can connect with that like, and then he like, they understand, I've never had a teacher like that before. Most of the time they'll be like, oh, you know, I don't know what that is, but like, Yeah, you should do it. I'm like, I've never had a teacher just go up and be like, Yeah, I've played that before. You know, that'd be totally great. You know, it's like, I've never had that like interaction before, but it's like, that's kind of what like, what also like sparks, like a teacher that also, like, can relate to you in some parts that also it's like, you know, it's like, it was a good thing to have, like, I was able to, like, you know, just talk about, like, well, not like anything, but like, I can, like, talk about things that I actually want to do and talk about rather than, like, restrict myself. Like, okay, they probably don't know what this is. I'll just like, do, like, something that's happening today, or something like, like, you know, like politics or something, I can actually just choose what I want, because, like, the level of communications, like, you know, there. Jimmy Chen 53:11 I think the community thing that, um, Mr. B brought up was, I noticed it, um, I really noticed it in your class, because the year that we had you was the year that everyone kind of came back from the whole covid lockdown thing. And I noticed that in all of my other classes, I didn't really know like I throughout the entire year, I did not talk to like a good 95% of the class, I barely even talked to the people at my table, but in your class, I was able to get a lot closer with the people at my table, and then even some other tables. So I think that community factor is definitely a big plus to you know, being in being in your class over some of the others, Brandon Buerger 54:05 especially now that I'm in college, and especially here at a city college where there isn't really much of a community sense, because everyone here is just trying to grind and get the hell out of there. I definitely do miss that whole community factor that modern classroom brought out of people. Because especially through modern classroom, I definitely made some of my still closest friends to this day. And I think it's just because of the self pacing, it kind of just opens up the opportunity to talk to other people, because you just have the time to do it, and you're and I think also, because it's high school, you also are supposed to be in the class. So everyone there is there be there, unlike in like, if you do that in college. People probably wouldn't show up to class, but in high school, people are there to be there because they have to. But it was nice, because then you could just sit there and meet new people at your table. And it was just, it was just felt like a great environment to be in, and especially when you upgraded your classroom and got all the new equipment and stuff, it just felt more of like a, I wouldn't say like a lounge space, but more like a, like an office lounge space, you know, where you can kind of come, just sit, relax, or do work. You need to, like a cafe, like a, like an internet cafe, almost, um, and you don't get that in college with lectures, because you just sit down listen to the teacher talk for 60 freaking years, and then, yeah, you just walk out of class. Throughout my first semester of college, I talked to a total of two people, and I really wish I was able to talk to more people. I kind of miss the community. Zach Diamond 56:06 Hey there listeners. This is Zach with some learning opportunities and announcements for the week of September 22 2024 our Back to School toolkit is out and ready for you for this year, we focused on communicating with caregivers and stakeholders all about blended, self paced and mastery based learning, and there's a download link in the show notes. Have you always wanted a community to read books with? We're hosting a book club with screenpal and Kami starting at the end of this month, the community has chosen to read UDL and blended learning by Katie Novak and Katlyn Tucker join us in this 10 week community of practice to learn with and from educators across the country. Receive premium access to both green PAL and Kami and deepen your understanding of UDL and blended learning. Our first session is this Thursday, September 27 at 7pm Eastern. Want to connect with educators of color who are creating a more student centered learning environment. Join our monthly shades of excellence. Meet up on Monday, September 23 at 7pm Eastern. And finally, we are attending the NCTM Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago from September 25 to the 28th so if you there, come and find us again, there will be linked in the show notes for all of these and more. So check there, and now let's go ahead and get right back into it with Avery and his wonderful students. Avery Balasbas 57:33 Okay, that's anyways, Alex. You had me for like, three years. So also, like, I feel like your answer is kind of formed and facilitated through the different aspects of my class that you had, but like you said, they do kind of all blend together anyways. Okay, so kind of this final question, and then we'll wrap up with just some other nice goals that you have in mind or something. How has your perception of education changed after going through something like MCP or our class together? Or did not change at all. Why or why not? Alexander Cai 58:02 There's a lot of different ways to learn. You know, I think before any of us took this class, the common perception of teaching and learning was coming to class on district in time at this day, meeting this classroom, hear this teacher talk about this concept, here's your homework or here's a work you could do while in class. And that's the repeated process throughout, you know, and then maybe some days you get, like, a nice little video or documentary that you to watch while answer questions. But with this class, it was something completely fresh and new, you know, it was just really refreshing. It was the teacher saying, here's all these assignments that you can do. There's gonna be assignments are locked because I don't need to go too far ahead. But here's a bunch of these resources I offer you do these search and assignments for an assignment, like a reading, for the questionnaire or discussion that we have for the week, and keep a resting if you feel like it. It was just really interesting to learn through a video or through, I guess, as Kelly mentioned and Jimmy podcast, just being able to listen in instead of reading something was really new, and has helped me kind of translate that into like college. Sometimes, again, a lot of us mentioned our professors talk really fast, and sometimes we get lost in the shuffle because we don't understand one concept, and look, there's like 20 more other concepts that are now be introduced to us all at the same time. So being to go back and just learn through a video or a podcast was something that was somewhat new, but I feel like that was something I continue to do past modern classroom, you know, something I still do today for whether that's calculus, whether that's for any other class I take, like a science class, anything I really enjoy, just learning through different ways. And modern classroom obviously introduced Brandon Buerger 59:52 it. I want to be entirely honest, when I first went through modern classroom, I. I didn't really see a purpose in it until a lot later, I think I might have expressed to see Mr. B, but I was, I was almost like, okay, it's kind of just like, and not, not to throw shade. But also, the class is so easy because there was so little work being output, I was almost a little bit like I didn't really get much out of it, but, but, but later on, throughout my years of education, I did, in fact, realize how nice modern classroom was and how the resources that are being provided, and when it's full like I can see the vision that Mr. B was trying to produce on how when it's fully finished, especially in your in my senior year, when I was your TA out, and I would come in and see how it was going, it was interesting, now that you had everything finished and ready, how it was properly working in place, how everyone's supposed to be on this point at this time, and then if you're not like all these you could almost call them like soft deadlines on assignments and the hard deadlines of the mastery checks. And it was good to see how that all worked. And I also really just liked the just that way that I was paced. It was very easy to keep organized, very easy to manage my own time, and very easy to like it just it's something that I've that I'm missing in college now that I wish all everything was structured like it, because it just makes I'm all I'm I can focus more on the studying of that class and the intaking information and actually learning it, and then having to, like time, manage and do this and that, and Do this. And I don't know if the modern classroom people will hear this, but I think something that you guys should do is almost make like something like Google classroom or canvas, because it would be really cool if teachers could implement all their own calendars and stuff into a calendar that's on the modern class, like on a modern classroom, classroom, online classroom thing, it'd be really it make it, make our job even easier as a student, to focus up on the studying part, which is the important part of learning how to time manage. But you could do that in your own time, you know, because the more time that you're saving from this other stuff, you know, it's almost like a domino effect. Eva 1:02:39 I think for me, after taking this class, my views on education definitely changed, because it kind of made me feel like, Oh, wow. Learning is kind of fun. Like you can it can be pretty fun because, like, as people have said before, like, the community, I really like that and like, just like the things that you like let us do in the class. Like making the podcast was really fun. I really like doing that with my peers, and, yeah, I just learning pretty fun. Jimmy Chen 1:03:11 I wish I could be creative in my classes again. I'm sure it's just, it's probably just me, but you know, from the first semester in college, every single one of my I guess, like assignments, have either been write this essay or it's it's something that I, I guess I didn't enjoy as much as, you know, making a podcast or editing videos, and that might say something about me wanting to switch majors, but, yeah, I don't know. I wish you know more classes would implement different styles of assignments, and I think my only experience with modern classroom has been, you know, your class, so I've yet to Experience what that model could be, like, with, I guess, like math and engineering classes. But I think it definitely could work, because, like I mentioned earlier, my calc teacher did implement something like, you know, it was kind of similar, but, yeah, I don't think this model is something that you know should only be restricted to English or whatever you know courses that are using this model right now, I think it could definitely expand to all the classes of you know, every every subject. I think could be. Benefit from this model? Avery Balasbas 1:05:02 Yeah, I agree with you. I would like to see it expand beyond the, I mean, Brandon said earlier, someone did that. This is kind of something being tested in K through 12, but I would like to see it, yeah, in an aerospace engineering class or, like my upper div English literature classes or a calculus college level course. Like, what would this look like? Yeah, at higher education, because it could really transform the way people learn. But then it is a question. I'm still curious about that too. It is a question of, will college students attend? Some of you brought up. I was like, Well, yeah, you're paying tuition to be there. But then also, it is very easy for college students to skip, like, even if a professor has an attendance policy, there are times I just didn't go to class just because, like, and students do it all the time. Would there be enough buy in, you know, from the student side? But who knows? Like, I think it, it does depend on how it's presented, and maybe the professors that a lot of you have shared, where they, you know, showed some aspects of blended learning or self pacing, in some regard, it still made your experience different. And so that might have even just bought into like, Oh, this is, this is new. I've never had a teacher do this before. And so maybe people really latch on in that way. And I personally would like to train professors on this. At some point. I know Brandon you brought it up, we should create some kind of LMS, which is a learning management system like Google classroom or canvas. I don't know that modern classroom ever will, but the way that we kind of advertise it is we you can use any device, any digital tool, any curriculum, because modern classrooms isn't like a product we're trying to sell you, right? It's not like Nearpod or you should use Google Classroom by our package. It's more like, Hey, here's how to make this and how to make it fit the tools that you use specifically. So if your professor's using Canvas or Google classroom or Blackboard, but they're also using their calculus or stats curriculum, like for any class, it'll work. And so I'm curious one day if we could ever reach the two things college professors and then pre service educators, which are teachers who are still in training. Because I wish I knew about this when I was, like, still learning how to be a teacher. I think that would have changed the way that I approached teaching for those first prior to us, you know, all of us being in the same class together. Prior to me even getting to that point, I might have had a different approach to teaching when I just came out of college. Anyway, sorry, Julian, what's How has your perception on education changed after experiencing something like, MCP, Julian Paradise 1:07:35 oh, it like, changed, like, well, not drastically. It just like, had like, a impact. Like, I kind of just had like this, like, realization is, like learning, like, can be non stressful, you know, because, again, like, like, throughout my history of classes, like, like, it was like, at fine, at first with more like, when I started high school, that's when things started to get more difficult. And then it's like, my it was reflecting in my work. It's like, I think, at least I think I produce good quality work. I'm just like, there's stacks upon stress that I worry about. School included that, like, like, fundamentally, like, made like, my education, like, kind of stressful itself. I feel like, again, like modern classrooms, presents like this, like, opportunity to just, like, like, not like, lay back, just like, chill for like, a second, you know, do the things that you need to do, like in the class, in like, in for like, MCP, and then you can also branch off to do other things like they like for your, obviously, your classes, it's like, it relieves stress. And that's like, it makes me think about, like, like, at least if, like, most of my classes are like this, where I can just, like, not, like, completely not do my work, but just do my work at my own time, without, like, a deadline. Like, oh, okay, we have a new assignment. It's due next week, or it's, it's instead, like, Okay, we have this assignment at least, like, turning in, like, in, like, said date, that's like, not like, very quick where, or like, something that will, like, negatively affect my grade too, you know, it's just like, I like, you know, even like, I'm in college, I know I've kind of talked about, like, some like, my, you know, even though my problems that class was kind of stressful, it wasn't like that bad at all, because, You know, because I was still able to, like, turn and work when I needed to, and at least give, like, good quality work and stuff. It's just like, I want to, like, have that feeling of not, like, actually enjoying my classes. Because even, like, when I'm in college, time selecting classes, like, I'm trying to select classes that I'm interested in, but it's also something I'm going to enjoy. But it's like, if I have, like, you know, like, I feel like, after doing like, MCP, it's like, I want to be able to have, like, at least, like, a flexible teacher where they're not giving me, like, really, like, on the dot deadlines and stressing me out. I. Because, like, I want just to be able to, like, turn and work when I can again, like, not, obviously, like, not, like, taking advantage of that, like, at least being able to, like, turn in my work comfortably and like, enjoy the class as I go go through. Kelly Chan 1:10:16 Um, for me, I think my time management just really improved because of modern classroom, like I remember doing my history homework in your class, but because of that, I have to hold myself accountable to do your homework or your work in my own time, either at home or whenever I had time. Modern classroom was really fun for me. I remember when you let us like I think we had to read it something, and then you'd let us post it in, like, the shared comments. And it felt like a college discussion, but it also kind of felt like a game. I remember you telling us, like, yeah, like everyone had really long paragraphs. No, that's just a game to fight on. Who can write the longest paragraph at this point? And I think like, you can treat it like a game, like people are trying to get to the mastery checks. Yeah, you have to pass that mastery check. It's kind of like a game. It's like a boss. You got to get through. You got to prove you understand it. So it was fun, as Eva said, like learning became fun, and I can watch a YouTube video to learn fuel by ADHD, Matthew 1:11:18 well, I'm gonna be honest before going through this class and like learning about mastery based learning and all that. Most of every single one of my classes had been, you know, the the normal lecture style you go to class, you learn this, the teacher teaches to you, and then you do the homework, and you have tests and stuff like that. It was really, it was a really big eye opener. I think that's one of the biggest things that I learned, but just styles of education in total. Because I always knew that there were styles of learning, of course, like visual learners, people who learn just there's just many different types of learning. But I always had thought that teaching was always one specific way how every single teacher taught it, and it was just this way. And yeah, I just the biggest thing was this, that it opened my eyes to a different way of teaching that could also cater to more people who are one bad test takers or stuff like that, and just Yeah. It really, I think for the bulk of people, it really helps them take the stress out of school and kind of give them more chances to actually learn, instead of just being like a like a memorization thing, when you just memorize everything on the test and then forget about it right after, Avery Balasbas 1:12:49 yeah, that's valid, like a lot of my which many of you might have experienced already, when I was taking, like OCAM, it was just a lot of regurgitating study the formula. Take a midterm. You either got it, you didn't do it again for the next chapter, or thing that your unit you're gonna go through, and it's just over and over. And especially language classes. But I feel like language classes, it's kind of necessary to have that kind of repetition because you're learning, like alphabets and words and things like that. But the point of, yeah, the whole regurgitating part is just like, maybe some people not. Maybe people do learn that way. You know, some people are actually really good at memorizing, and that just is the type of learn that they are. I know I just couldn't do that unless I, you know, redid it like, 100 times. I would, like, I would, I needed a lot of repetition just to even get that far to prove myself on a test, and therefore I was, like, a bad test taker. And like, what, like, kind of what you're talking about, Matt, well, thank you all for, like, sharing all that stuff and kind of your takeaways from your experience having been in this class to I thought of one more question. Sorry, I know it's kind of long if and then, so there's two down here. The last one is about you all just something about yourself. But I was wondering, some of you kind of said it already. But what is like a tip? One tip or suggestion. You don't go into super detail about it, but what's one tip or suggestion you would give a teacher or professor who is going to try something like this for the first time? Alexander Cai 1:14:18 I think if they're trying to, like, learn modern classroom, I feel like the biggest thing is just usually, is just resources. Offer as many resources as possible, whether that's like learning resources, or just like in general, if they need help. I think giving the tools to students and being misled with them is useful. Again, as I mentioned, there's multiple ways that we learned through your class, the videos, podcasts, the discussions, the big mastery, check assignments, those are all just many ways that we learn in this class, and I feel like offering them to students is very easy. And then number two is just not being very test heavy, as Matthew. A bunch of others mentioned earlier, you don't need to have, you know, a bunch of tests in order to test a student's learning or capability of learning. Like, one of my classes, or two of my classes this quarter are literally, like, 90% test based like they're all on, based on midterms, or based on tests. Like it is so much pressure to have to study and memorize all these informations and all these concepts just to regurgitate them for that one class and almost like probably forget them like the rest of my life. So yeah, for students are probably first time, or students or professors that are like learning this for the first time, I think remembering that putting points and waiting grades on assignments that lead up to mastery, checks or tests or midterms slash finals, is also very important. Brandon Buerger 1:15:51 My recommendation is to all teachers is that you got to be organized too Hate to break it to you can't make your students do everything modern classroom is gonna be, especially when you first start it, it's gonna be a workload for both you and your students getting used to it. You're not just gonna be able to click two buttons and then, boom, your life is easier as a teacher, no. You definitely also need to stay very organized, very on top of the stuff, and you also need to offer yourself to the students as well. Modern classroom is more of a everybody needs to work together to make it work, not just the students slash the teacher. So definitely like be organized and be available. Make sure that you are always there for your students when they need help. Eva 1:16:45 I think, like what Alex said, definitely like not as test heavy, because right now, this quarter, for two of my classes, I have a test every Friday, and I think I'm losing hair because of it. I'm so strong, but yeah, definitely not as test heavy. But also, like going back to the videos, I think the videos are just so helpful. So, yeah, Jimmy Chen 1:17:08 I think offering multiple forms of learning. So like I said earlier, you know, having a video, but then also giving them the option to read or listen to an audiobook. I think giving students, you know, multiple forms of taking in information, would definitely be really helpful, and would, I think, encourage a lot more students to participate Julian Paradise 1:17:38 again, like saying, as I said earlier, like, I feel like kids again, like, don't be afraid to, like, communicate with your like, students, like, again, I feel like communications. Like, really, like, good to have. Like, not only to just like, you know, get to know them, but also just for like, you know, to also, like, understand them. Kelly Chan 1:17:58 Um, for me, it would just be take the feedback, there's always room for improvement. It might not always work the first time. Just really listen to, like, what your students say, because it could definitely benefit other students. As for Professor, I'm not sure I understand, like, especially with quarter system, it's really rushed, and they're really just trying to, like, shove as much material. So I think, like, maybe multiple videos, but, yeah, um, Matthew 1:18:24 I think I'm gonna say a couple tips, but the first one is to just go in with very, very, very low expectations, because most students like me had just the normal style of teaching. You know, go to class, learn from the teacher, do the homework, all that stuff. And I think the biggest thing is they're going to have a very big change. And another thing is a lot of students are going to be very, very lazy and turn in work late all the time, ask for extensions. Sometimes you can turn in work two months late and all that stuff. And you know, sometimes you might have a student who also asked how many daily check ins he has to do. So you just need to be open to just being thrown everything, everything being thrown at you. And, you know, I think, yeah, just having a really big open mind and not expecting too much of the kids, because it's such a big change for most of them. Jimmy Chen 1:19:25 Oh, my God. And also, please remember that they have other classes too. So you know, just because your assignments are moving online or moving to a self paced schedule, please don't overload them with with assignments, because they do have other classes Brandon Buerger 1:19:48 before we move on to the last question. Sorry to interrupt you, Alex, I also wanted to like add on to Jimmy's point on how, definitely, college professors really need to realize that students have their own lives. And especially in college, when people are going to start being able to work, students are going to there's full time students that are also working on top of that, because they have to do all of that that's not you can't just have these expectations that your that your students are going to turn in your work on time all the time, especially with modern classroom, because people are going to have a life outside of college, which is, I know, surprising, but yes, they have other classes and they have anyway. That's all I have to add, Avery Balasbas 1:20:36 all valid points. So I agree with that one too, because, like, I've had a couple teachers who I don't think it was necessary that I've that I've met so far in this job, but, like, I think it was when I was trying to get other teachers on board, they thought it was bizarre that I was letting you guys do other work, and I'm just like, well, it's not like they're not doing my work. If they're falling behind and they're working on like, a push, definitely gonna tell them not to do that, but if they do that was their choice. You know, I'm over here helping another table. I can't just stop them from doing that. But yeah, it does come back to the student, right? If you realize you're falling behind in English, with which many of you may have, you're just, oh, okay, wait, gonna put AP Stats in the background real quick. I gotta get this done before I can do that. So it was definitely, like, a give and take. And I think some of you mentioned it. It allowed you to play with the concept of time management. Like, actually, like, try to manage your time, not just because someone tells you get out of planner, write stuff down. Therefore I'm time managing. It was really like, no, actually, I'm being given the time to make my decision. And then you saw the effect that it did by the end of the week. And you're like, okay, maybe I shouldn't have dismissed all my English homework or something, or lessons for Mr. B and then you kind of, over the course of the school year, kind of figured out where the gaps were, like Brandon was saying, where there were times when I didn't give lessons. And you're like, Okay, we got time to do other stuff. I have a really big project for this class. We're going to work on this. So work on this, but you're able to kind of maneuver through through those things, because there's so much flexibility right. To be clear, MCP isn't a model that just allows students free time to do whatever they want. In my first year of teaching, I was basically putting down the train tracks as the kids were conducting the train. So there were some lulls in my lesson planning as I was attempting to shift 10th and 11th grade English over to a blended, self paced and mastery based learning experience. Um, well, thank you all for sharing. So I just want y'all to share like a final bit. You can choose either question. Um, if you have that document open, I'll throw it in the discord channel. What's something that you're looking forward to, or a goal that you have this year, or do you have something to share, like with how listeners can connect with you? Because I know some of you do stuff on the side, like photography or stream or something either, or what's the goal that you have coming up for this year? Or how can listeners connect with you, if teachers or somebody is curious about the opinions that you gave today and just wanted to connect? Alexander Cai 1:23:10 I think something that I'm looking forward to, our goal that I have for this year is just in general, remembering that there's life outside college. I feel like that's a really big thing. I feel like a lot of us just forget and remember for breaks, and then just forget again as you head off to college, like, I feel like the biggest indicator for me was just the fact that I have so little, like pictures and so so little memories while at college, but I just can vividly remember so many things I do while at home, and I want to do a lot of things just outside of School, and just remembering that is, like, probably the biggest goal for me, traveling, doing fun things with friends, attending events, whatever it is, I wanted to make the most of life just outside of college, and that's really just about Brandon Buerger 1:23:57 it a goal I have This year is kind of straight A's again, because, um, I just, I, you know, I want, I want to transfer out of college here, and I also want to work job so I have money. I'm broke. I need money. You can connect with me via Venmo. I don't really have like, an exact like, way you connect with me. You can drive my YouTube channel where I upload once every 60,000 years, burgers, production, 6917, go, go, grab me. I want stuff so I can make money off drop out of college. I mean, what Eva 1:24:41 um my goal for this year? I guess, just to give myself, like, more time to relax. Like, um, since coming College, like, college is like so much freedom. Since I'm not too far, I'm not that close either to home, so like, I can stay up to like. 4am and stuff, but like, um Yeah, just give myself time to relax. But, like, not too much time to relax, because I still want to be an academic weapon, but um yeah, Jimmy Chen 1:25:12 I might be cooked. Uh yeah, no. Alex brought up the point that there should be a life outside of college and I should have hobbies outside of my major, but, yeah, I don't. I don't know. I think, I think the things that I'm doing in my major kind of my hobbies, people ask me, ask me on the first day of school, hey, what do you do for fun? And I said, I said, rockets. I I don't I think that might be a good thing. I don't know there's that whole like, find something you like doing and make that your job. I don't know. I might be cooked, but yeah, for this semester, this year I'm making more rockets. Hope they work. Yeah, Julian Paradise 1:26:07 I have like, a couple of goals this year. I'm just gonna, like, make it, like, really short though, what they are so at least so one, I want to at least do better in my classes this year, or at least to start this semester. Last semester, I got hit. I got hit. Harsh. Let's just say that. So I want to, at least, like, do better, not this year, um sorry, this semester, at least of college I'm in next semester. However, this is another goal I have. I want to take uh, photography eventually, which I'm probably might do next year, because I've been like, very like, interested in it for some time, and I guess, like, just take more classes. Like, I think I, like, my first semester, I just kind of went lenient, like, let me just give myself three classes. But now I'm kind of realizing, like, all my peers around me and my other classes, like, oh yeah, we're taking like, five classes because they're trying to get out here quick. And I'm like, I'm over here. Like, you know, salt in my chair, like, I got this in the bag dog, like, I'm good. I'm like, I'm like, No, I'm not good. I need to do more classes, you know, explore more things, and then maybe join a club, because I'm kind of bored of just, you know, going home every day and just sleeping on my bed, doing nothing, you know, just to give myself some something fun to do. Um, Kelly Chan 1:27:26 my goal is to switch majors, actually. And the major I want to switch into has like, a GPA minimum of 2.8 so I guess adding on to that goal, it means that I have to get good grades, um, and, yeah, I think, like, maybe joining a club or finding, like, an internship, but that might be hard because we are freshmen. Matthew 1:27:48 My goal for the year is to pass. That's it. Avery Balasbas 1:27:54 I love that. No, that's, that's hella real. Yeah. I mean, freshman year is tough. It's a big transition. And, you know, like, even though I don't know how I feel, like a lot of you shared this too, when it was your junior year, where you're like, I don't feel like a junior, um, but try, uh, kind of just harking what Alex was saying, try not to be too hard on yourselves, like you are all now, like, academic, like adults, like, this is your life. So there's a I saw this one meme that was like, there isn't such a thing as work life balance, because you shouldn't be working to live. You should just be living life. And I was like, Wow, I'm a workaholic. But like, we all know how, like, I don't know, I guess if you were to spin it positively, that I am very dedicated to what I do. I'm very passionate about it, but then at the same time, like, how do we find a balance to do things that replenish ourselves, which I definitely appreciate all of you sharing. What can you do to make sure that you're just not pulling your hair out because you're stressed over, like, grades, that is important. But also, remember, you're a human being and a young adult, and you have the ability to go experience the world, and not everything is about school. But seriously, though, thank you all so much for taking the time out of your long weekend to share your story about your college experiences, what you learned from MCP and all of your opinions about it. It's been great catching up with everybody. I hope you all have a smooth spring quarter semester and rest of your freshman year, and hopefully maybe in the summer, probably would be the best time we can all just actually catch up and see each other in the city or something, because I know, like I ran into Alex once, just super random fan town, which is really great, but it would be dope to see all of you again sometime soon. Thank you all for tuning in to another episode of the modern classrooms project podcast. Again, I'm Avery blossoms, your West Coast partnerships manager. If you're interested in one on one coaching with real time feedback in your classroom while creating a blended learning, self paced and mastery based classroom, go to modern classrooms.org. Forward slash, open, Dash. Opportunities. MCP has regional scholarships all across the country and out in the west coast, where we have fully funded one on one coaching and professional learning opportunities available for the following places, public school teachers in Los Angeles, California, all teachers in Oakland, California, all teachers in the Willamette educational service district in Oregon, all teachers in the Tempe Elementary School District in Arizona, CTE and secondary math, science and ELA teachers in the Davis district in Utah, and teachers in Iron County in Utah. If you want to learn more with the modern classrooms project, head over again to modernclassrooms.org. Forward, slash, open, dash, opportunities and passing it back to Zach to close us out. Transcribed by https://otter.ai