Episode 707: Understand the Assignment: Insights from Personalized Learning Bootcamp

Ashley Mengwasser:

If educators are soldiers on the battlefield of student success and personalized learning is the mission, wouldn't it be great to attend a personalized learning bootcamp of sorts? What if I told you that this did exist, and today's guest is bringing us intelligence…next.

To our Georgia educators and administrators listening, hello, it's Classroom Conversations, a place for you to share and learn. This award-winning series is presented by the Georgia Department of Education, GaDOE, and Georgia Public Broadcasting. We are continuing our season-long organized march into personalized learning territory, hup, two, three. Ashley Mengwasser here, serving as our metaphorical embedded journalist on the battlefield. And sitting beside me is a leader who understands the assignment when it comes to PL. She's even sent a cadre of her teacher-soldiers deep into basic training and brings us insights from personalized learning bootcamp.

Okay, everyone, at attention for a double peach in my midst. She's a Georgia girl and a teacher in the Peach County School District. Please welcome Assistant Principal of Kay Road Elementary in Byron Georgia, Teletta Marable. She's got a cool 20 years of service under her belt in education, and over these years she's definitely climbed rank.

Teletta Marable:

Hi.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How are you, Teletta?

Teletta Marable:

I'm great. How about yourself?

Ashley Mengwasser:

You are a vision in this blue floral blazer. I cannot stop talking about it. You look beautiful.

Teletta Marable:

Thank you.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're the best dressed educator I've ever seen in bootcamp, I'll tell you that. Listen, you were a teacher, you tell me-

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Before you were AP, Assistant Principal, what did you teach?

Teletta Marable:

I actually taught fourth grade for two years, first grade for 10 years, and then I moved into EIP. And after EIP, I was RTI, and then also the alternative school for one year. And after that, I became an Assistant Principal of Discipline and then Assistant Principal of Instruction.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Wow. What's EIP and RTI?

Teletta Marable:

EIP, Early Intervention Program.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh, Early Intervention.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And RTI, that's the old name for it. It's MTSS right now, Multi-Tiered System of Supports.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh, yeah. We know MTSS.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. So that was the old name for it. They changed it to MTSS and I think it's going to be Georgia MTSS coming soon.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I love it. And you're doing a lot of focus on instruction now, which is why you come to us today. Who originally, let's keep our theme, recruited you to the education path. I know your sister had an influence in your early life.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Tell us about that.

Teletta Marable:

I just tried to model everything that she did. She was a leader. Growing up in a single parent home, she had to take care of us while mom was at work, so I just wanted to model everything she did, and she was like, "Yeah, I'm going to school to be a teacher." And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to be a teacher as well then."

Ashley Mengwasser:

How funny, me too.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And then just teaching to the stuffed animals at home and just want to be a leader and taking care of everybody.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How does she feel now that you followed in her footsteps?

Teletta Marable:

Oh, she's excited. She's excited. Yeah. She's actually a professional learning specialist with curriculum associates with i-Ready.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Is she really?

Teletta Marable:

So she, yes, and she loves it. So I don't want to go that far into it, but yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, she has to be proud of you-

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

As Assistant Principal. And if it wasn't education, the good news is for our audience, you had a backup plan, Teletta. What was your backup plan?

Teletta Marable:

Oh my goodness. You put me on the spot.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I'm going to make you say it.

Teletta Marable:

Okay. So growing up, I loved to dance. So we used to do Showtime at the Apollo all the time, and I was always Tina Turner. So I told myself, if I didn't become a teacher, I'd be a backup dancer.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Naturally.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. Who do you want to a backup dance for?

Teletta Marable:

Anybody.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Anyone?

Teletta Marable:

Yeah. As long as it's upbeat and fast.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I feel like you should get this awareness out there so that you can align with the law of manifestation. You can bring that into your world.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

But you still were able to use your love of dancing in your classrooms when you taught?

Teletta Marable:

Yeah, we did a lot of cheers, we took dance breaks. I mean, it was fun. The kids bought into it. I can get them to do about anything I asked them to do because I made it fun for them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. Who doesn't love to dance?

Teletta Marable:

Right.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, now in your role as Assistant Principal, how do you approach interactions with your students?

Teletta Marable:

Well, when I walk up and down the hall, I have this upbeat thing about myself. Like I'm walking through the hall and it's, "Hey honey," and, "What you doing, honey? Girl, what," I talk to them, not at their age, but with the excitement and enthusiasm because they feed off our energy. So when I walked up and down the hallways, I'm speaking to everybody, "Have a good day." "How's your day? What'd you learn today?" And, "You can't tell me what you learned? Well, what'd you do in the classroom?" So it's just always being uplifting and just having all of that energy throughout the building, throughout the day.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I wonder if this is similar or different, but how do you approach interactions with your teachers in your school?

Teletta Marable:

The same.

Ashley Mengwasser:

The same?

Teletta Marable:

Yes. I've worked with the majority of them since 2009, when we first opened up at Kay Road Elementary School, so they're very familiar with me and my personality and yeah, I have to brag on myself. I have a humorous personality.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes.

Teletta Marable:

So I just go through the day. I love to make people smile and laugh, and I'm always having a joke from time to time, and sometimes I make myself laugh.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Those are the best jokes.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Is it just me?

Teletta Marable:

I know, yeah. So that's how I go throughout my day. Just wanted to make somebody laugh and smile.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. Did you just say Kay Road opened in 2009?

Teletta Marable:

Yes. We were actually just in our, we have a small district, so we had two elementary schools. It's Byron Elementary and Hunt Elementary. Well, it grew. Our communities grew, so we expanded out to a third elementary school, which was Kay Road Elementary School.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Are you familiar with this system? Were you educated in this system?

Teletta Marable:

Yes, I am actually a product of Peach County. I graduated from Peach County High School.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Is that right?

Teletta Marable:

Yeah. So this is home.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh, well, I won't make you say the year, but congrats on that full circle moment.

Teletta Marable:

Thank you. It’s okay.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And now you're Assistant Principal there?

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah.

Teletta Marable:

So I'm excited. So I'm very familiar with a lot of the parents because I worried how they would graft to me being a leader in the building. I've known some of them from growing up, and now their children are at this school and everything. But I mean, they really took to me, and I love it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Of course, because you earned your stripes. You've been through all of it yourself.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I think we're getting a good flavor of Teletta, but how would you describe yourself as a person otherwise? What's your life like?

Teletta Marable:

Very busy. My kids are in sports, and I love sports. I grew up playing sports up until my 11th grade year, so it is just busy, busy, busy. Being a wife, having to do work with my husband, just trying to make sure everything is taken care of, but I stay busy and I love it, just being on the go.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And you watch a lot of sports too.

Teletta Marable:

I love it. Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What's your favorite sport to watch?

Teletta Marable:

Football is my favorite to watch, but softball is my favorite. When I play sports, I love playing softball. And that's what my daughter, she plays travel softball, so I love it. I love softball.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're probably living vicariously. I did travel softball too.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Those are rigorous hours on the road there.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. And you're a huge advocate of structured chaos. I bet that's what life's like at home, it sounds like.

Teletta Marable:

It is.

Ashley Mengwasser:

But it's also, in the school setting, you're a fan of structured chaos. Why is that?

Teletta Marable:

Well just listen to the conversations. Sometimes when you let the students be open and just out there, even the teachers, I mean, just let them talk. You can hear what you're expecting to hear. It just depends on what we're working on or what they're doing, you can just hear all the different conversations that everybody's engaged. That's the main thing.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Everyone's engaged. Yes.

Teletta Marable:

Everybody's engaged. That's the number one thing, just having everybody engaged. When you're engaged, you're focused, and then you can get some things done.

Ashley Mengwasser:

That's a sign of learning, right, that engagement piece?

Teletta Marable:

It is.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So you're right-

Teletta Marable:

You have to talk.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. Conversation in school is not our enemy.

Teletta Marable:

No.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Just have to structure it a bit.

Teletta Marable:

That's it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Exactly.

Teletta Marable:

That's it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You have called personalized learning, the missing link for student outcomes. Why do you feel that way?

Teletta Marable:

When I first started teaching, we did quite a bit of paper, pencil. Now it's technology. So the students are not being able to talk about what they've learned, and we take all these assessments and the data, but what are we actually doing with it? You see what I'm saying? So with the personalized learning, it's ownership. The students are learning how to own their data, and they're learning how to express how they feel about it and what do they want to do next, or what can I do to do better? I mean, it's not even just academic data. It's attendance, it's behavior, it's all the things. So I think the personalized learning is an awesome way for students and teachers to model the expectations and for students to just show what they know and just talk about it. Just have a conversation. You'll be amazed at the things that they say when you just have just a conversation with them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And you are out there in Peach County, Teletta, building the human infrastructure for this, for PL. In the fall of 2020, Georgia DOE made that commitment to student-centered approaches through the GRE4T Initiative. I know you're familiar. Your school partnered with GRE4T and you sent five teachers from Kay Road to GRE4T's personalized learning bootcamp.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

This is what we're going to talk about today. What did bootcamp entail?

Teletta Marable:

Last year? I didn't get the full effect of, because it was two years, because I came in. It's funny because I came in as, in this specific position, like two weeks before testing, because our other API, she was promoted to a principal, so she had to leave immediately. So I didn't get all of that, but when I came in this year, it was all virtual. But the thing about it, and I want to give a shout-out to Sandra Strauder. She is awesome.

Ashley Mengwasser:

She was great?

Teletta Marable:

Yes. Well, she's our professional learning specialist that was assigned to Peach County. What she did, she'll start with a reflection. Every time the bootcamp sessions happen, she'll start with a reflection. So you take time to reflect. Then she'll talk about different practices and whatever the focus is for that particular session, she always has scenarios. So you get to collaborate with groups outside of the regular working environment, and then you just talk about discussions and all the great minds think alike and they just come together. And so it's good. And then the infographics that she has on there, they're, I mean, it was one particular, with this construction zone, that's why I said about structured chaos. All these things are going on, but if you look in these different areas, you see this person working on this thing and they're talking about this thing. So I mean, it was just really, really good. But she really gave everybody an opportunity to reflect on their practice and collab with other teachers.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So this was a nitty-gritty virtual bootcamp, it sounds like. And then at the end of it, what were the teachers to do next? They were supposed to redeliver this, right?

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What happened next?

Teletta Marable:

So what they do is, and it's actually after each session, I wanted them to go back and redeliver to their grade levels. So they would just go and use the strategies. Whatever practices that they learned, they had to use them and discuss, well, did it work? Did it not work? If it didn't work, what are you going to do different? And the teachers, they take to it, because when things come from admin all the time, and we preach it all the time, it's, oh, just another thing to do, another thing to do. But they really buy in from their peers. And I mean, it's awesome. Even, I talk about the veteran teachers, it's hard to get them on board sometimes because they're set in their ways and they don't think anything new can make a difference. Well, when we get these teachers in and they go all-in. They create their slideshows and they have interactive activities for the teachers to do. So they don't just redeliver just talking from a PowerPoint or anything like that. They also show them and model with them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How long was the bootcamp? How many sessions were there, and at what frequency?

Teletta Marable:

Please don't quote me on this. I want to say it was sessions and they were only maybe an hour and a half long.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So that's five longer immersive experiences that your teachers then took back and shared with their fellow teachers?

Teletta Marable:

And after school, so it's hard.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh really? Yeah.

Teletta Marable:

After school, teachers are like 4:00, oh my. With 3:30, "Oh my gosh, 3:30?" And I'm like, "Yeah, I'm sorry."

Ashley Mengwasser:

So you got to dig-

Teletta Marable:

But it has to be done.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You got to dig deep for some motivation.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, unfortunately, that GRE4T bootcamp is no longer offered. We had the last year just now. But that's why you're here because you're going to help us drill down on two to three PL fundamentals that those five teachers learned. Can you give us a couple that they took away from bootcamp?

Teletta Marable:

One of them was collaboration and creativity. And that's when we, and actually, let me go back some. Towards the end of last year, our gifted lead, she came to me about talent development, and she was like, "We need to be more intentional when we do our talent development." So that's where that creativity part comes into play, because all the students get an opportunity to show their creative mindset. So it was good. So she helped me out with that part. So that was one thing that they loved. And then the goal-setting, just being able to talk with the students and have them to set their own goals because as teachers, we always try to think we know what's best for them, and sometimes we have to let them be responsible for how they want to learn things and what they want to do with what they've learned.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. So you brought back goal-setting, you brought back creativity, communication. Was there anything else that stood out to you?

Teletta Marable:

Those were the main things, because they were aligned with our goals for the school. Student engagement was very, very at the top of the list for the things that we want to do at the school, how we want to see improvement in that. And we have to be engaged in order to engage our students, so modeling is always the best thing. It's not rocket science, just model and practice, model and practice, model and practice. That's what I say all the time. Just do it. Be repetitive, but be intentional about doing it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

That's so simple, it's relieving almost, but I think the bootcamp helped focus that for you and choose some of these practices that did align with your goals as a school. Model and practice is great, but now I want to know, how did the teachers receive these five teacher trainers who returned with some of these PL best practices? Were they reticent? You mentioned a lot of them are veterans, so what was the reception?

Teletta Marable:

They bought into it because they saw the enthusiasm from the other teachers? Yes. Like I said, coming from admin, it's always, "Oh, we got to do this," and, "Here they come with something else." But coming from the teachers that actually went through the bootcamp and just sharing their experience of the things that they learned and what happened in the classroom. Some of them had very positive feedback from observations that we've done and we didn't even know that they were using some of the things that they learned during the bootcamp. So they were very excited about that and they shared that with the teachers and, I mean, they were very open to it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Right. So when you have motivated faculty, it spreads like wildfire, it sounds like.

Teletta Marable:

Yes, it does.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So over the first year of implementation, your school tried out structured student-led practices, like the goal setting?

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And you also used student-led conferences?

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How did you set those up?

Teletta Marable:

Okay, so I can't remember if it was last year, the year before last, we had a group of teachers to visit another school district, and they had an opportunity to observe student-led conferences. And when they came back to the building, like that next day, they came with the, "Oh, we have to do the student-led conferences. They were great. Even the kindergarten students were talking. I mean, it was just amazing." And I was like, "Okay." So when I became the API, I was like, "Well, let's do it. Let's try it." You know what I'm saying? So let's see what it's all about.

And so when the teachers, we first talked about it at the beginning of school this past school year, I put it out there. I said, "Okay, we do our screeners. We do our CFAs. Any kind of data you can get, we got to get it in there. We got to have a form. Let's do a uniform form so that everybody's on the same page and the same," so I had one of my first grade teachers to present her form first, she shared it out. So then 3rd-5th were like, "That's kind of baby-ish for us, so maybe we'll get something else." So I had another teacher.

So just from one teacher sharing hers, I had other teachers coming in, "Oh, I got this one. I have this one. Oh, I found something where parents can give the feedback on and everything." So everybody bought into it. But when it was close to doing it in December, I received a text message. Well, some teachers were wondering if we can wait, because this was in December, we can wait till January to do our student-led conference. And so I sent back in the text message long post alert. So that's letting them know ...

Ashley Mengwasser:

Advisory.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah. So I mean, just the short version of it. I said, "We've talked about it. If you've modeled and practiced like we've set the expectations for the students, let's just see how it goes. You have to try it." I said, "Let the children talk to their parents, let the students talk to their parents," and I mean, it was amazing. And I know they've done it a lot, but this was our first time doing it and we had a lot of feedback. Even parents leaving out, they was like, "Are we going to do it again?" And, "I just wish I had a little bit more time." And, "My child was able to tell me why they didn't do well on this assessment and how they're going to do better." And some of them said, "I just didn't try." I mean the students were honest.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Honest.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And that's what I love. And the teachers, I gave them a round of applause. I said, "See, you have to try it. It's no harm. I mean, if it fails, then we'll just try again."

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, that goes back to your point, model and practice. There's no perfect time to start practicing.

Teletta Marable:

It's not.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You just have to start.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What occasions did they do the student-led conferences? Was it just once, in December?

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And we wanted to with, at the end of the year, we wanted to do another one in spring, and it didn't go as well as it did in December, but we did one in May. But we have to wait till all the testing gets done, the milestones-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh yeah, that's hard. You're waiting on information.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And we don't use that information, but we have our screeners that we do at the end of the year as well. So we give a screener three times a year. So that last one, we wanted to wait until after milestones. You got to do well on milestones, you got to do well on milestones. So it was tough, but we didn't have as much parent involvement for the last one, but we still had some that weren't able to make the one in December to come, and they were able to see how their students did throughout the entire year. So it was really good.

Ashley Mengwasser:

It was still valuable for those parents.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. And they're excited about coming back and doing it again next year.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So you're recommending this at least once a year, maybe twice if you can pull it together.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. At least once.

Ashley Mengwasser:

At least once a year.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Because I like what you said about this, that it prevents parents from having to ask, "What are you doing in school? What are you learning?" And for students to have to scratch their head and say, "Oh, I don't know." They know because they're in charge of it. They're actually going to deliver a presentation, a conference to their parents, talk about their own progress, what they could have done better on.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

It sounds like they were actually, the students were excited to do this.

Teletta Marable:

They were. Some of them came up and we let the students come up and greet their parents. So that was a biggie too. Even the littles, they were like, "Oh, I get to go up and get her?" We were like, "Yeah, go up and get them." So they came up to greet the parents and walked them down to the classroom, and they were in the hallways. We said, "Wherever you find comfortable, just let them lead the conferences." I mean, it was amazing. The kids were excited. They even talked about it after it happened. And just getting that feedback from the parents was a plus for me, because we just went through Cognia in our district, so I was a part of the stakeholder feedback committee, and that was one thing the parents were saying. They weren't sure, didn't really know how well the students were doing in the classroom. So you know-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Fixes that problem.

Teletta Marable:

Yes, and we don't have to tell them. The teachers will conference with the parents, but for the students to actually conference with their parents and tell them, and just be honest about how they felt about their data, it was awesome.

Ashley Mengwasser:

On how they felt about goals that they, themselves, set.

Teletta Marable:

That they set, yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Which is the point of personalized learning. And this just smacks of PLE standard aid, if we can just visit that for a moment. It's multidirectional, flowing communication. Personalized learning standard eight says that educators will coach learners to initiate communication with all stakeholders and advocate for theirselves, like they did with their teachers in front of their parents. And two, that they will model and nurture effective communication with their students that build relationships. So not only are the students developing a relationship with their parents, reflecting on their work and sharing that, imparting that, but they're also working one-on-one with their educator to get to that point. How often do they work with teachers to prepare for their student led conference?

Teletta Marable:

Well, and it just depends on the teacher. Some teachers will work with their students twice a month, just depending on what type of assessments that they've taken. And sometimes just to have a conversation to see how well they're doing in class and how do they feel. Are you overwhelmed at this time? And we're working on this particular standard, how do you feel about this standard? Where are you, as a student? With the littles, I call the primary the littles.

Ashley Mengwasser:

The littles.

Teletta Marable:

Yeah. "I can count to 20," especially kindergarten, and then they start counting. So they just love to do those type of things. So I mean, like you said, they built a good relationship with the students, doing this.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And describe how your school's data-driven, student-led presentations illustrate that communication standard. Why is having multiple stakeholders involved so important for these kids?

Teletta Marable:

Because we want to bring in others so they can see what we're doing in the building. Sometimes data doesn't lie. They always say ...

Ashley Mengwasser:

Data doesn't lie.

Teletta Marable:

It doesn't. And sometimes you don't have the best data, but even if it's not the best, that doesn't exempt us from working hard in the building. So we just wanted the parents, I mean, we've even had outside stakeholders as well to come in and just observe us, to see what we're doing. We work hard each and every day. Each and every day with the students and everybody. So we just wanted everybody to come in and just see what we were doing at Kay Road Elementary School.

Ashley Mengwasser:

That is what I call dynamic communication, Teletta. Kay Road Elementary, you told us, I'm thinking back to your wonderful mission of structured chaos because it spells student engagement, and you set that goal for increased student engagement. Did having students talk about their own learning help you achieve that goal of higher student engagement?

Teletta Marable:

Oh, yes, it did. Because it made them work harder and do better the next time around.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Than they did before?

Teletta Marable:

Yes, than they did before. Because now it's like, okay, I see it. Oh my gosh, I don't like what I see, so I need to do better. So that's that aha moment for them. They saw it. And it's different when they graph it because now you see where you were, and then when you take it again, you see, did you grow any? The growth is good sometimes, but can you grow a little bit more? And then it helps the teachers as well. Well, not just the teachers, but everybody in the building, for us to be more intentional about how we want to see things happen in our building. And we build a lot of capacity. That's why we use a lot of our teachers to work with other teachers and to do a lot of the professional learning in the building. We don't want to pull anybody outside because you have to use what you have inside. And sometimes that's the best.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. You always talk about knowing your limits. Knowing your limits, and some of us might be frustrated to even admit we have them, but I think, as students can model and practice, model and practice, they can expand those limits a little bit.

Teletta Marable:

They can.

Ashley Mengwasser:

But if we don't know what we're reaching toward ...

Teletta Marable:

That's right.

Ashley Mengwasser:

There's no goal.

Teletta Marable:

It's no goal.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And goal setting is a huge part of personalized learning.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, you've been doing this for a while now, a few years in, and you've practiced this PL model at your school. What were your takeaways?

Teletta Marable:

The feedback over anything else, because that'll help us to see our strengths and weaknesses and see what we need to do to move forward. That's the main thing. The feedback, and then just the excitement of the students being able to share their experience in learning with the parents.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And seeing that they could do it.

Teletta Marable:

Yes, they can. I don't believe anybody can do anything if you teach modeling-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Model and practice.

Teletta Marable:

Yes. Model and practice.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I’ll be saying that all the way home.

Teletta Marable:

I know.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, what I've heard is that student-led conferences lead to student confidence ...

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And ownership.

Teletta Marable:

And teacher confidence as well, because they've modeled and practiced. And if the students do well, it's not a right or wrong or well thing with the conferences, it's just the talking. But a lot of teachers were like, "Yeah, my students were able to talk with their parents about everything that was going on in their data binder." And I was like, "Really?" I was like, "Yeah, because you taught them. Yeah." So when you sit down, and it built their confidence up, and we're like, "Okay, so we're going to do it again next year." Even from the teachers, they were like, "We're going to do it. Yeah, we're going to do it again." Because it is powerful. It's very powerful.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And to benefit from this power, I want to ask you this. As an assistant principal, do you have to start at the beginning of a school year to integrate personalized learning, or can you pick it up wherever you are, listening to this podcast today?

Teletta Marable:

I like to do things from the beginning because it'll give you time to go in and tweak some things. You see what I'm saying? Because something may, it may work, work, work, and then we get to a standstill, but then we'll have an opportunity to go back and make changes, if needed. So I always like to do things in the beginning and then just work your way to the end. Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Always setting a great example. Thank you, Teletta.

Teletta Marable:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

To you, we say, “Hooah!” That's our enthusiastic endorsement, military style. And thank you for making bootcamp seem easier than pushups. I've never really liked pushups myself. What about you?

Teletta Marable:

No, me either.

Ashley Mengwasser:

They're not that fun.

Teletta Marable:

No, at all.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Thank you for being here today, Teletta. Georgia Educators, your discipline and instruction is surpassed only by your care for your students. And that's the heart of a teacher-soldier, you know? Let personalized learning skills sustain your love of teaching and ignite your students' love of learning. And once you do, that fire is not going out. Whatever your detail is, whatever your rank, you're a great teacher. I'm Ashley, reporting for duty next week, with a fresh perspective on personalized learning. Goodbye for now.

The personalized learning series of Classroom Conversations is funded by the GRE4T Initiative. In the fall of 2020, the Georgia Department of Education made a commitment to student-centered approaches through Georgia's ReStart: Embrace, Engage, Expand, and Enhance Learning with Technology Initiative.