Zach Diamond  0:02  
Music. 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.

Toni Rose Deanon  0:28  
Hello and welcome to the modern classrooms project podcast. My name is Toni Rose Deanon, they them pronouns, a designated hype person here at MCP, and I'm joined by Zach Diamond, a digital media teacher, right? 

Zach Diamond  0:42  
Yeah, digital media production. Teacher, high school,

Toni Rose Deanon  0:44  
yes, high school. Zach Diamond and I'm just so excited to be in this space with our co host. We are never in this space anymore, and so again, just thank you for being here with me so that we can record and catch up and let our listeners know what's happening in our worlds.

Zach Diamond  1:00  
Absolutely, yeah, no. I'm super excited. I love these episodes. And I feel like we get like, one a season, right? And so we used to record like, a lot. Remember, it used to be like, mostly us and guests, and then remember, but now it's like season seven. Yeah, that's so many seasons. Geez, 

Toni Rose Deanon  1:20  
yeah, we definitely did do a lot more episodes together, and then, I guess, our schedules, and then, of course, like, just more guests were willing to come on so, and we've just caught traction, I guess, with our podcast. So it's really, really dope. But I know that you and I checked in earlier this month, and you know, you were saying, like, we need to do more of these. And so, because, again, you and I do a lot of stuff asynchronously, and so we don't really get to spend time together live, you know? And so this is, again, just really exciting, and and you've had a lot of changes as well that's been happening this school year, and I know you've been really busy, and so I'm really excited to talk about these, these changes, these shifts, right? So I know in the previous episodes, you're saying your middle school music teacher, right? And so now it's digital media production in high school. So Zach, tell us a little bit more about that, because I know our listeners have probably been like, wait a minute, Zach shifted. We don't know the story behind it. How are you doing with the model with that big shift? 

Zach Diamond  2:26  
Yeah, if I finally get to talk about it, yeah, I finally get to, like, explain what that even means. Because I'm kind of just, like, stealthily snuck it into my intro over these past couple episodes. But um, so I did. I taught music at DCI. And before I worked at DCI, was living in Peru, teaching music. So I've been teaching music my whole teaching career, which was my whole career, basically, not counting, like, high school jobs and stuff. And, you know, teaching music, maybe this came across, and maybe some of the podcast listeners that have been with us for a while will know that my music class was kind of like, it was just kind of weird, right? Like it was, you know, we used a program called Soundtrap to create digital music, and it was a very much like digital first music class, kind of based on production, making beats, things like that. And, you know, a I'm teaching at the same school. I'm still in the same school, DCI, where you and I used to work together in the middle school, and in the high school, there is, we're an IB for all schools. So we have, you know, the MYP, the middle years program, which is what we were in, and then we have the career program and the diploma program, right? And in the career program, there is digital media production track right, which you know before I joined it, and still now, while I'm in it too, was built up by a teacher who has done an incredible job working with students to create, like a student news program. I'll put the YouTube link in the show notes for this episode. It's called Dragon TV, and it is fully student run. And that's what digital media production has been at DCI. It's actually, it was actually called Video Production up until now. The class, right the track, is media production. But the class was video production. I'm teaching audio production, which I mean, like, it makes sense, right? I discovered that this is sort of like, like, what I'm really into and, you know, the students are into it too. I've been having a really good time teaching high school. It's very, very different. And that's what audio production is. It's basically, you know, I'm only teaching the first level right now because this is my first year doing it. I do plan on having advanced levels. But right now it's basically recording voice, making podcasts, making audio books. We're doing a project where they take a movie scene and mute all the sound and recreate the sound design for the scene. So, you know, it's it's a really fun class, and we're using MacBooks with like, professional software now, so it's not soundtrack anymore, and Soundtrap is great. Don't get me wrong. Perfect for middle school, but it's just sort of like the same class, less focused on the art aspect of things, and more focused on the tech and production, and that's what I'm teaching. I'm also teaching one class of video production, which is interesting for me, but I'm learning it as I go. 

Toni Rose Deanon  5:18  
Wait, so how many so how many classes do you have? 

Zach Diamond  5:23  
I teach five classes. Three of them are audio production and two are video production. But one of them is actually a co taught video production class of the advanced level for students who had taken video one with Ashley, my co worker who sort of pioneered this program. And she wanted a she wanted these students to be able to continue in the program. But their students they're students with higher needs, and she wanted to have a co teacher in that class, so she and I are in there together, supporting these kids as they take, you know, expensive DSLR cameras out into the halls and, you know, make segments for a news program. 

Toni Rose Deanon  5:56  
Oh my gosh, this is so exciting. And how many students would you say you have in each class. Zach, 

Zach Diamond  6:01  
so our classes are actually capped at 15. That's the biggest class that I teach. And the reason for that is we have expensive equipment, and we don't have enough of it to have bigger classes I already have. You know? I have to group students together because I have seven Macbooks, right? And that's an incredible luxury and privilege to have seven Macbooks, right? I recognize that, but if I had 25 students like that, wouldn't be feasible to make that work, right? So right now, generally students are, I'm some of my classes are actually smaller, which is amazing, but generally my students are working in pairs or groups of three, because that's just the way that it is with the amount of equipment we have. 

Toni Rose Deanon  6:44  
Okay, okay, this is, this is all very fascinating. I didn't even know that you were creating audio books and movie scenes. Like, how dope is that? I'm sure your students are really engaged in doing all of that. So I guess, oh my gosh. I mean, the biggest question right now in my head is like, how are you managing this? Because you've been teaching digital music for really long time, so you had a lot of resources. And I know time and time again in the podcast, you've just talked about how easy it was to just continue using the resources that you've created before, right? And so now I know in a lot of our a lot of our educators in this space actually have shifted right, different grades, different curriculum, different content, even, and they, they, they get really overwhelmed, and just like, oh my gosh, I created all these resources for first grade math, and now I'm teaching fourth grade English. Or how are you managing all of the workflow, the workload? And I guess, yeah, I'm just curious, because I would also be overwhelmed. 

Zach Diamond  7:49  
You know, it's interesting, because I had, like, I had gotten to a place where I was basically just reusing the videos full stop, like I didn't do any planning at all. And I was like, Man, this is amazing. This is the best, right? I realized this year that I was without even realizing it, I was kind of bored, like I I was getting complacent with, with that, with that class that I had taught for so long. You know, I'd been at DC. This is my ninth year at DCI, and I'd been developing that class and then basically, kind of cruising with that class for eight years. And this year I get to like, plan during my planning periods again, and it's really cool to like, start making a class from scratch. But what's different for me this time is that, first of all, I'm starting with modern classrooms, which I don't even feel like I need to talk about that, right? Like we'll get to that later. I'm sure how MCP comes up in my class, but everyone who listens to this and has ever heard me say anything knows how I feel about MCP. But like, the expertise that I have in teaching digital audio production has been really helpful, right, and that I developed in the other class, so, like, the materials themselves don't really help at all, because, first of all, they're in Spanish. That was music in Spanish that I taught, and now I'm teaching in English, but I'm teaching some of the same skills. You know, I'm just teaching. I know how students learn that stuff, and I know like common pitfalls, and I know where they're going to mess up and what questions they're probably gonna ask and that kind of stuff, and that has been amazingly helpful for me. I think that I like because I switched from middle to high school, I wasn't entirely prepared for the competence of my students, right? Because Middle School students are, you know, not to say that they're incompetent.

Toni Rose Deanon  9:41  
They're competent in their own way. Okay,

Zach Diamond  9:44  
they are there. They're great. I love middle schoolers. I think that, like, high schoolers are great, but middle schoolers are just a different vibe. It's a different scene down there in middle school, you know, like, it's, it's definitely, it's, like, it's more kind of, more. Fun. And I don't mean to say that high schoolers aren't fun. I'm not trying to, like, cast aspersions in either one. They're both great, but they're very, very different. And like, I would leave school at the end of a middle school day with, like, my head spinning, being like, what the hell just happened? Like, I just saw six groups of 20 kids, and, like, they were all insane. And I don't what's going on, but like, in the moment in the class, like I was having fun, right? And now in high school, it's like, I leave school and I'm like, Yeah, we had some cool discussions. I taught some kids some cool skills. I know what happened today. And like, they learn this stuff, and they talk with me about it, and they ask me questions. And it's more, it's more, like, I don't want to say, like, teaching an adult, right? Because that's a whole nother world. But you know, middle school is really its own singular thing, 

Toni Rose Deanon  10:47  
yeah, and I think I'm hearing you, because I taught high school as well. So it was like when I was teaching middle school English, I had a high school journalism class, and I just thought the energy, like you said, so different, right? Middle school is very hyped, very hyped, very like, 100, maybe 200 and then I get my high school, and it's very chill. And I think I struggled with that, because I'm like, Give me something. Y'all like, are you okay? Are you good? Are you mad? Something, and I could never be high schoolers. But I guess I hear what you're saying now. It's very, it's just very chill with high schoolers, as opposed to middle school, who are just like off the wall, just wild. So, yeah, yeah, that's, that's kind of good. I'm hearing that you're you've got a lot more. The word equanimity is like, really coming up for me, just like, balance right at the end of the day with high school, and she's like, oh, oh yeah. That actually felt good. Like, that felt very calming. 

Zach Diamond  11:55  
You know, I have to say also, like, this is just a me thing, but at DCI, the high school schedule is very different from the middle school schedule. So we have these block periods, and there's only four classes per day that are, you know, 8590 minutes long, whereas Middle School has seven periods per day and they're, like, 45 or 50 minutes long. So it's like a whirlwind. Right at the end of a middle school day, you're like, ooh, geez, you know, and at the end of a high school day, like, one planning period is almost an hour and a half, and that's a lot of planning time. And you know, on Sundays, I have two planning periods, and it's like, man, like, these days are just very, very chill. And I love that. I love having a big block of planning time, because I can sit down and, like, think about what I'm planning, what I where I'm going, and like, plan for the future, and plan for the future in the present. And think about the lessons, and think about the units and all that stuff without being like, Oh man, class is coming up in like, 15 minutes. Yeah. So shout out to block scheduling, I guess.

Toni Rose Deanon  12:59  
Yeah. And oh man, this is going to be a great question to follow, because I really, I didn't even think about how hectic on middle school schedule was until you would just voice that, right? And it's also, it's hectic for students. It's hectic for teachers, and you really are just running around like a chicken with Ted cut off and so. And now with with high school there, like you said, there's a lot more time. It's 90 minutes of you planning 90 minutes to process, 90 minutes to D like, just kind of like, you know, huh? Okay, I need to breathe. You have time to actually do that. And so I'm curious now, as far as planning is concerned, how have you been utilizing your planning time? Because you said there's a lot more time now to actually plan, and I really like this concept too, that you said, Zach of you know, nine years at DCI, right? And you've been teaching eight years, the same thing, and you got bored, and you didn't realize that you were bored. And so now this is a way to really expand your brain, to get you using those parts of your brain that you had stopped using because of all the things you've already created, right? And so when it comes to planning, how did you decide what which part of the model did you focus on? Because I know you're like, Oh, I'm starting out modern classroom, so it's great. Did you just go ahead and dive in all three pillars? Did you do a bit by bit. I mean, I feel like you're kind of an expert at this point. So you probably started with all of it, just kind of talk to talk to us through that process and, like, the the decision of what to start with and how to begin.

Zach Diamond  14:35  
Yeah. I mean, I definitely started with, I would say, like, sort of like above the sort of modern classrooms of it all, I have an approach to planning that I've been going with and like, the way that my units and lessons and slide shows are structured, modern classrooms was instrumental in developing that structure. But like, that is my thing, right? I knew that my class was gonna fit into the. Sort of template. I can link up a lesson or two in the show notes, just to, like, give a sense of what that looks like, right? But basically, I plan the unit, and I think about what, you know, eight, 910, 11, sort of steps are there in finishing the project. And then I make those into the lessons. And then within each lesson, I think, Okay, what's going to be the thing they have to do for this lesson. And that will be, you know, basically the mastery check, although I think of them more kind of like benchmarks, right? Like at the beginning of this class, students send me screenshots that they've done something, and I'll either say you did it right, or you need to revise. And I knew that my class was going to fit into that. It's kind of overarching structure, even before thinking about, like, what videos Am I gonna make? What are they aspire to do? Is I knew how my pacing tracker would look. I'm using the same tracker I've always used, which I guess I can also link, but I've linked it many times. It's just a spreadsheet. You know, there's something super crazy about it, except that it's been, it's a spreadsheet that I've been adding random formulas to forever. But like, I knew that the structure would would work like that, because that structure works with my brain. Like, that's how I think about teaching a class. I don't know that's just what I what I have to do. The Block periods were making me nervous, actually, at the beginning of the year, like during the summer right, as I was leading up to this, I was like, how am I gonna fill that much time? You know. And just as a side note, thinking about the planning time that I have, like how I have the time to think students also have that time to think I'm not standing there and like occupying their time for 90 minutes, because obviously that would be wild, and obviously, also that wouldn't be very modern classrooms, right for me to be standing there, dictating what they do with every minute, so they have time to, like, not be pressured by the clock and think about what they're doing. But I also thought, like, you know, I need to have them spend they're going to be working with, like, professional microphones, professional software. I have to do more formatives and, like, practice activities that let them try these things out, because otherwise I'm just going to be answering the be answering the same question over and over. They're going to there's like little random tweaks and like hidden menus and stuff that they have to know. And so what I'm trying now is, first of all having more of the formatives, where they do them and I grade them before starting the project, which is new for me, because I used to just basically have the mastery checks be part of the project, so there's more formatives. And I've also added like, I'm making my videos shorter and they're much more skills based now, because it's like, where in the menus do you find this feature? And I've also started making slides where, if you don't want to watch the videos, you can just, like, go through the slides, and I record like, 22nd animated GIFs of, like, go to the File menu, then go to the thing, go to the thing, you know, and find the feature in there. So, like, they can use the slides as a sort of, I don't want to say asynchronous, but like, you don't have to watch the video. You can use the slides instead as a tutorial. And I'm really liking that. Actually, I find that, like, I can point to the slide where they have to go for the question they're asking me. I'm my class is also it's a semester long, so we're recording on january 21 and I'm actually about to finish my class and get all new students, and I'm going to definitely make tweaks, right? And, like, I know where those tutorials kind of fell flat and where they didn't work, and also where they worked really well, but that's been really fun for me. I'm also doing more, like, live direct instruction with examples, like playing examples for the kids out loud, and having sort of like, I wouldn't say discussions, but like, having kids listen to something and I ask, like, guiding questions, not for very long, and certainly not every day, but I just, I was like, How can I fill this time? You know? Because just letting them work for an hour and a half, I feel like, maybe this is my middle school brain being biased, right? But it's like, if you left middle schoolers with nothing to do or with something to do, but, like, no structure for an hour and a half, like, it would be just total chaos. So I was like, I have to find a way to fill and structure this time with still having independent work time for the kids, right? So yeah, like my class, it feels like 2.0 it's like, I really like having my videos are shorter, and there's these animated GIFs, and there's more routines now because, like, I have more equipment. So there's like, where do they get the equipment? How do they save their projects? I don't know. It's it's like, the evolution of my class into what I kind of wish it always have been, because I'm liking it better. But yeah, it took, like it took having to plan a new class for me to realize that I wanted this. 

Toni Rose Deanon  19:49  
Yeah, I mean, I remember when you were thinking about making this change from middle school or high school, just seeing it as an option, right? You're really nervous about it all because, again, very different. It's a new. Challenge, and now it seems like you're enjoying it, which I really love. So yay to that. I you know, the thing that you pointed out with the videos and just basically the slides with the GIFs, right? You're creating options for students, because time and time again, we've also heard from teachers, right? Oh, nobody's really watching the videos. How can I ensure that students are watching the videos. And I guess for me, I've kind of shifted to, you know, of thinking videos are there. It's nice to have, and if we provide another option for students to be able to capture the learning that's happening without them having to watch the video, it may require work or it may not, because it seems like you're utilizing the slides anyway that you've created for the video. It's just that students can do it on their own pace, right? Is that? Right? You're not creating a whole new set,

Zach Diamond  20:45  
no, it's the same slide. So like the slides, you know, on the first slide, it says, Here are all the steps for this, for this lesson, right? Slide two, here's the video tutorial. It's like three minutes long. And then slides maybe three through six are like 22nd gifts with, like, a short bullet list of instructions, right? Here's how you find the export option in the File menu, and there's a GIF showing it. Here's when you export, here's where you save the file, and there's a GIF showing how to save the file. And then here's how you submit the file, right? And there's a gift showing that. So it's like these three to five slides of mini tutorials, right? That I don't know. Some students do prefer to watch the videos still, and others prefer that. And I definitely am all about making it more accessible. And I think also it's like, I do the gifs first, because then when I go to record the video, I'm like, I know exactly what I have to say, right? Like, I just do that again. It's been a great approach. It's worked really well,

Toni Rose Deanon  21:44  
yeah. And I was gonna say, too, that's a reminder too, that sometimes when we start implementing the model, we really focus on this video part, right? Oh, I want to record, but then we don't do the planning part prior. So it's really good reminder for you to say, like, No, I actually did the slides first. I've created the gifs first, and then I knew what to say next, right? And so again, just as a reminder to our listeners, if you're brand new or if you've been doing this for a while, planning first is really, really important. It saves you so much time when you plan first. So like creating the slides, creating you know your what you're going to say, bullet points of what you're going to say in each slide, is really important, and then the video recording part of it is the last step that you're really worried about. And so I know that's like, it could be a huge shift for people, and also just kind of understanding that when you plan it works out really well. 

Zach Diamond  22:36  
Yeah, quick, quick little shout out. Just also, like the app that I use to make the animated GIFs. It's called clean shot X, and it's really, really good. I'm gonna link it in the show notes for people. If you make, you know, instructional videos that use visual anything on your computer, you can, like, set a specific part of your screen. You can record the whole screen. You can record just a certain window, and then you can record either a video with audio and everything, or you can record the animated GIF and then, like, trim it, so it's just what you want, and then you can you just have the image. It saves them, so they don't get lost or anything. It's really great. I'll link clean shot X in the show notes,

Toni Rose Deanon  23:14  
yes please, because I remember Emily Culp really loved gifs too, and so we would always utilize that, but I think we use a different app for it. But okay, clean shot X definitely look forward to checking that out as well. And one of the follow up questions too, or one of the questions that I had in my mind was, you have a 90 minute class, right? And again, just thinking about all the conversations that I've had with educators, right, they're saying 90 minutes of self pacing is a long time. And just like you said, you were trying to figure out what that timing could look like. And even though they're high schoolers are older, 90 minutes is a long time for just self pacing, for just like independent learning, right? And so I really love this concept that you brought up of the whole live, whole group of showcasing examples, so people can still have that collaborative time, whole group together. And so again, another reminder, too, right? Because I know when I was speaking to Emily dia, who also used to teach middle school English, and she had 90 minute blocks, she said she did like 45 minutes of self pacing, and the other 45 is like whole group together collaborative work, so there's a lot more time to engage with each other. And so, I guess my question, you said that you did the whole group. I don't want to say like, it wasn't lectures, but it was just a discussion, right? Like, a whole group discussion. How did you did you went and then, okay, let me reframe, so you had this whole group discussion that's happening, right? And that takes up maybe, like 20 minutes of the time. So that means you still have 70 minutes. So what did you help your students with stamina? As far as you know what, there's 90 minutes of work time here, and there's time where you're doing self directed, self paced learning. How did you build up on their stamina? Or am I just going. Assume and say, like, they're older, so their stamina is higher, 

Zach Diamond  25:03  
no, and it's not like it to, you know, these kids, all they really want is to take their phones out and just like, look at their phones, which they will do for the whole 90 minute period. So, like, their stamina it, you know, it depends from Kid to Kid. Um, I still also, I feel like I'm not, like an expert, yet, like, I don't, I don't know the answer. I feel like the classes that have gone, or the lessons that have gone really well, we had a formative So, for example, right? I was teaching them how to, when you edit audio, you have these clips right, and you can, you can cut, or you can also trim the edges of the clip, right? If you imagine it's like a physical thing, like, kind of like a ruler, and you can, like, drag the edges in from the sides to clip the audio that's like around the actual recording you want. So a formative that they did was they had, you know, a sentence that had like 10 to 15 words in it, but they had to take a microphone out and walk around the school and record different people saying each word, right? So you have like, 15 different people saying one word, and they had to stitch it together into a single, somewhat coherent sentence, right? And that taught them, you know, in the content of that lesson, was like, you know, how do you trim the edges of these recordings so that, like, before the person said the word and after the person said the word isn't in the final product, right? That 90 minutes was not enough time for that. Like, I thought that they would get that done in in half the time, and they didn't, and that's fine. Like, they they didn't because they were working really hard, and not because they were procrastinating, right? Like, they took the time to, like, get the best recordings outside. And then they had, like, you know, four or five recordings of one person saying the word and, and it's like, which is the best and? And I'm like, I don't know that's not what I was thinking about here, but like, you're really into finding the best, and so let's go with that. And then, you know, a lot of them had to go back and check the slides to see how to do that, trimming on the audio right. And then so, and actually, I wound up, like extending that so, like it filled the time. And I think that what filmed the time was, well, I guess, like, what made it so that the time felt short was that they felt like they understood what to do. They felt like they had to learn how to do it. And so this wasn't exactly a live this is not one of the live lectures, right? Maybe I prefaced this with like, a three or five minute this is what you're doing. Here's an example of it. Kind of thing I don't know. Like, the live lectures have mainly been, and I say live lectures, they've mainly been like, let's listen to some audio together. And, like, I'm gonna ask you, does this sound better or worse than the last one, right? That kind of thing. And you know, a few kids will raise their hands. I like, it's still there's still kids absent, right? There's still kids who aren't paying attention. It definitely suffers from the sorts of things that we talk about when we when we sort of tout the benefits of instructional videos. They're not all getting it, but I do feel like it. It gives the class direction. It feels like okay to those who are paying attention, this is what we're talking about, even if you're not fully paying attention, right? As long as you're physically there, you get the idea. This is the topic for today, and it takes up some of those 90 minutes, but it also frames the the lesson, right? Like it gives us a sense of purpose. And I like that.

Toni Rose Deanon  28:23  
Yeah, I was going to say just, like, you know, just what you said, Honestly, it's just groundwork, right? Of just, hey, we're all on the same page for this two, three minutes. It's not going to be a whole lecture, right? It's just kind of to check in to make sure we're good, and the community aspect of it too, as well. Just, let's be in community together. It's some of you may be in the right mindset for this community, and some of you may not be, and that's okay. We're still gonna do this for now, and then hopefully you get something out of it right, and that's okay. And I really like that, you name just the reality of it, right? The whole group discussion can sometimes be really, really fruitful for a lot of students, and then sometimes not for some students, because again, like, you know, we said they're not in the right mind space. So I think I guess what something that I'm hearing too Zach, is that for stamina to happen, for the time to seem short, to make it seem shorter than it actually is the pieces, the pieces that you've created, or the task that you've created is really applying to knowledge and making it a lot more engaging for students to really, truly understand. And like you said, Hey, students understand why we're doing this, how we're doing it, what we're doing, and then able to really transfer those skills into something that they're actually doing. So again, like you said, it's a lot more aligned, and it makes a lot more sense. And when it makes sense to anyone, students, adults, kids, right? When things make sense, then the flow is just like, oh, this is good. I got it.

Zach Diamond  29:52  
Yeah, I think this is something that teachers have known forever, right? Like, if you make the information desirable, the kids will want to. Earn it. And it's like, you know, I made that, that assignment right, where they have to learn how to trim the audio, and they also have to record stuff, right? And I feel like they, they had bought into the whole project, right? They were into the idea. They understood what it was because I played them an example, it was easy to understand. And they had gone out and they had recorded all this stuff, and then when they sat down to edit it, they were like, Oh, I don't want this random clicking sound. I want to cut this out. And so if they hadn't heard me saying it, they wanted that knowledge, right, or that skill. And so I told them, oh, well, I have just the video for you, right? Like, I know exactly where you can find that knowledge, because I knew you would need that knowledge because I planned this lesson and this activity for you. So I also made an instructional video, and these like little gift slides that will show you how and so it makes the information desirable in a way that does not feel like teaching a class, because I feel like teaching has this like valence to it. It has this energy to it where it just it feels not confrontational, but like it feels like there's the teacher and there's the students. But here it was more like the kids were like, how do I trim the edges of these regions? And I'm like, that's the whole point of this lesson. Let me sit down and show you, or, you know, let me point you in the right direction. If the information is desirable to them, they'll want to find it. They'll desire it. And like, the hard part, then, is finding ways to make every lesson as desirable as possible to them. Like they, you know, that might have been the first time a lot of them had done that audio trimming thing. And so, like, they knew what they had to do, but they didn't know how. And that's when they asked the question. And I am not an expert at all. I keep using this one example because it was the best one. Like, I'm still learning to do that, even after, you know, eight years of teaching middle school, I still feel like now I'm sort of more I'm thinking more about it that way, and I would like to get better at it, because it definitely felt like it worked for that lesson and for a couple others too. But that feels like to me, like the way to go, yeah.

Toni Rose Deanon  32:04  
And I think I also want to add on to right making. I guess this is where the culturally relevant piece is coming into right, figuring out what students are interested in, so it's a lot more desirable. So that's dope. And I think that, yes, when we create things that are desirable, we also want to create clear guidelines and expectations of what we want students to actually do, because we can create this bomb lesson plan, right? And think like, oh, that really relates. There's pop culture, there's things that students really love, and then if there's no direction, there's no guidance, there's a lot of frustrations, and then kids will still shut down. So I think, you know, definitely give yourself kudos to Zach of like, you know what? I'm creating these clear, you know, accessible guidelines and examples and expectations for students to really have this understanding of being able to be successful in this desirable concept or skill that they want to learn. So, great stuff. I love that.

Zach Diamond  33:01  
Yeah, you know, I still, I feel, I still feel very strongly about, like, not inserting my own bias into the content, like, in terms of culturally relevant, like, the examples that I use are either my students or mine. You know, I'm not like, oh, this song is popular, so I'm sure that most of them will like it, right? That I would never do that, because, like, I mean, maybe not never. I don't know it depends, but I just, I feel like I'm very, very cautious of doing that, because unless I'm super positive, right, I would rather say, like, you bring your own entrance to this. I had one group of students for that, for that word assignment, right? I gave them, like, three example sentences, and I just Googled, like, what are some interesting sentences? But I also gave them the opportunity to write their own sentence. And I had some students do it in Spanish, and I had some students like, make up other sentences. And I always love students loading the content in to the skills. If that makes sense, like that, I would always prefer that. 

Toni Rose Deanon  34:00  
Yeah, that definitely makes a lot of sense too, because I know one of the things that I've been kind of thinking about lately is the difference between option and choice, right? We provide a lot of options, and yet we don't provide any choice, because there's a huge difference between those two, right? And so I think with you, it's like, Hey, you have all these options, and you can also choose how you want to load all of the information that you already have. And I like, I like that piece as well. So that's really dope. Thank you for naming that Zach. Another question that I have in my head too is curriculum. Are you creating curriculum, or is it provided for you? How does that work?

Zach Diamond  34:37  
No, I'm creating it. I'm pretty much creating it whole cloth, like there is, you know, there is cp guidance for media production. DC has, like a career track thing with guidance. I don't know. It's like I did Google a whole I know pretty much everything there is to know about audio production at this point. I lied that. Not true. I don't know everything. There's always more to learn, right? But like, at the level that you could teach to high schoolers, I've got it. And really all that came down to for me was like, what are the I knew it was going to be project based. So what are the projects they're going to do, and what's the order I'm going to, like, roll these skills out in? But also, because they're using the max, and they're using, like, professional software and professional microphones. I felt like there was a pretty easy, like, roll up to the most advanced. Like, you start with just the Chromebooks, then you add the advanced microphones to the Chromebooks and the interfaces, and they learn that. Then you add in the max, right? And because it's just a one semester class like that, was it, you know, I'm looking forward to planning audio production too and beyond. But no, I'm basically flying solo here, not flying solo like I read a lot, and I, you know, I'm working also with my coworker, who has really done an incredible job planning out videos, 123, and four, and taking a lot of sort of what she's done and adapting it to audio, because that's the program that I'm working in. So, you know, it's that I would say that, like, it's an amalgam of a bajillion different things, but to sort of answer the question, more simply, I'm not working from a preset curriculum. I'm making it up. 

Toni Rose Deanon  36:18  
I was just gonna ask to have you had a co teacher before Zach? Or is this your first time having a co teacher where you actually, like, plan and and talk through all the things? Because I know you've had, like, sped co teachers, right? 

Zach Diamond  36:31  
No, I haven't, because I taught an elective like I had, yeah, there were classes where I should have had sped co teachers, given the number of students with IEPs in those classes. But let's not talk about that. I did one year. Have I had one for one period? I had somebody coming in to help me, like, just sort of wrangle the kids. It was an incredibly difficult class, not because of sped, just because of the group of kids. Everyone who saw that roster knew it, so I had he was an aide at the time, who helped me with that class. But no, this is my first time teaching with a co teacher. First time really ever.

Toni Rose Deanon  37:11  
Oh my gosh, it's so exciting. And I'm sure it's really great to have a thought partner as well when it comes to planning and thinking about what students needs, right? So it's really cool.

Zach Diamond  37:21  
It totally is. And I should say also, like i It's the first time, because I'm teaching this one section of video, one by myself. We're not co teaching it, but we are co planning it. We both teach the same class. And it's my first time ever doing that too well. Not my first time, but my first time in DCI. Like when I was working at the university I was at in Lima, we all taught the same class, right? Like I taught English five and that was it. So we kind of CO planned, but that was out of a book, like straight out of a book. And since I've been at DCI, I have been the only person teaching the class that I taught. So this is my first time ever having, like, a thought partner for planning. It's amazing. God.

Toni Rose Deanon  38:01  
That's so cool. That's so cool. Congratulations. I guess that's something to celebrate, right?

Zach Diamond  38:07  
Thank you. It's fantastic. Yeah, yeah. 

Toni Rose Deanon  38:10  
Okay, so Zach, I've been trying this whole time that we've been having, you know, we've been talking, I've been trying to act like an educator who has a lot of challenges, right? Is there anything else that I haven't asked you that you would like to share? Because I feel like I have asked all the questions that I've been asked, but is there something that I'm missing?

Zach Diamond  38:33  
Huh? I know. I mean, I think, like, I wonder if listeners will, like, still be asking themselves how modern classrooms shows up in my class, but I'm gonna be real, like you probably already know, like I'm doing all the modern classroom stuff. You know, modern classrooms is the glue that holds everything together for me and like, I'm not doing anything like wild or revolutionary with the model. It's, it's the reason that I'm able to do this and not, like, be totally harried all the time. Yeah,

Toni Rose Deanon  39:13  
and I was gonna say, too, Zach, you've been sprinkling, like, all the pillars of the model as well throughout our conversation, you know. So as far as utilizing videos and giving students choices and options of like, whether to use it or not, you know, you talked about self pacing in a 90 minute classroom. And then as far as like, mastery checks, you did talk about how your formatives look a lot different. Now, right? So even though the question was not specifically asked, you had been kind of sprinkling it in with all of the questions, the answers that you provided us, have you shared with us?

Zach Diamond  39:44  
Yeah, yeah. I think, I think where I was going with that is like, No, you didn't, you didn't miss anything. I think, like, the the philosophy of MCP is, is the thing that has, has worked for me, right? Like. The the nit picky details of, like, what happens day in and day out, in my planning and in my classes, it's like, I don't know. I might still change that, like, who knows? There's always a way to make it better. But the the the philosophy right, of self paced mastery based learning, it's like that for me, is now the bedrock of everything. And you know, not my first time on the podcast talking about that. So I feel like people, people get it. 

Toni Rose Deanon  40:27  
I love that. Okay, so how can our listeners connect with you? Zach, because I I feel like you've said it multiple times, right with our previous episodes. But just in case we gave some new listeners, or we need some reminders, how can we connect with you?

Zach Diamond  40:42  
Yeah? I mean, I can put my I never do this, but I can put my modern classrooms email in the show notes, but podcast at modern classrooms.org get in touch with both of us. We would both love to hear from you, yeah. But if you teach honestly, if you teach audio production, and you want to tell me what you do, please do like, reach out and connect with me, because I'm still learning. This is my first semester teaching this class, my first real semester teaching high school. So you know, I'm learning, but yeah, I'll put all the emails in the show notes. Podcast at modern classrooms.org.

Toni Rose Deanon  41:16  
Yes, yes, yes. And I yeah, there's so many changes in your teaching career right now, Zach and you are just kind of meeting it with so much grace and so much patience and so much excitement. So I'm really excited that we get to share this piece of you and and hopefully help some of our listeners as they kind of grapple with like, Oh, I'm changing next year, or I'm changing mid semester, right? And so, yeah, yeah, just start small. Start small. Not even just start small. I'm going to take off the just, you know, I just say start small, because I think and you can figure out what that small is for you, what you're comfortable with. So, yes, well, thank you so much for sharing your experience and expertise with us, Zach, and it's so cool to be able to hear your stories in this way, and not as a hosting right? And so I really appreciate you sharing this with us, because this has definitely been a question that a lot of our educators have asked about shifting so listeners, remember, you can always email us at podcast at modern classrooms.org like Zach said, and you can find the show notes for this episode@podcast.modernclassrooms.org We'll have this episode's video uploaded on modern classrooms YouTube channel and transcript uploaded by Friday, so be sure to check back to access those also, we are asking our listeners to leave a review. If this podcast has been helpful in supporting you to create a human centered learning environment through a blended, self paced, mastery based model, it does help other folks find it. Thank you all for listening. Have a great week, and we'll be back next Sunday. 

Zach Diamond  42:43  
Bye,

Toni Rose Deanon  42:44  
 yay.

Zach Diamond  42:49  
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 at modernclassproj, that's P, R, O, J, we are so appreciative of all you do for students in schools. Have a great week, and we'll be back next Sunday with another episode of the modern classrooms project podcast. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai