Episode 713: Relationships, Regulation, and Responsibility: Celebrating the Three “Rs” of Personalized Learning

Ashley Mengwasser:

We've reached that wistful moment of the season where we draw to a reflective close, our season immersion and personalized learning. In this 10th and final episode about PL, I thought, what mantra could we leave you with that ensures smooth waters ahead for your PL instruction? You're about to hear. Let's all be on our best behavior now for a finale episode that will teach us how behaviors, both students and teachers, are a personalized learning propeller. One more time, let's dive in.

Good day, Georgia teachers. How are you? We're here with one more episode of Classroom Conversations season seven from our co-creators, your education content mavens, the Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Public Broadcasting. I'm Ashley Mengwasser and I'm verklempt. This episode marks our final foray into PL, but not so fast. Let's slow down and sail back to the beginning here at the end to personalized learning standard one, prioritized executive function. Today's guest is a special education teacher in her 19th year of teaching. She's prolific, having taught in six states in grades K through five and nine through 12, somehow never venturing into middle school.

During her tenure, she's found great success using strategies for prioritized executive function with her special education kiddos. Introducing Sarah Bazzy, early childhood special education teacher at Camp Creek Elementary School in the Gwinnett County Public Schools district. Sarah says special education is her thing. She'll show us the role personalized learning plays in getting her population of elementary special education students ready to learn. Listen for her reveal of what I'm calling the three Rs of personalized learning. You need to get the first to collect them all. That's kind of how it works. Let's welcome to the show Sarah Bazzy. Hi Sarah.

Sarah Bazzy:

Hi.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How you doing?

Sarah Bazzy:

I'm doing great.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're so bubbly. I loved talking with you on the phone. My favorite thing about your personality that I've learned so far is when you warned me that you are bound to say something inappropriate. I loved hearing that from our behaviors exemplar. So unexpected! Seriously, you say managing expectations is your very favorite thing. Why is that?

Sarah Bazzy:

Because if you don't have the behaviors under control, then they're not going to learn. You have to set those boundaries up first for them in order for them to be able know what to do next.

Ashley Mengwasser:

That is our foundation and we often hear the phrase, you've heard it, “It takes a special person to teach special ed.” Is that your perspective as well?

Sarah Bazzy:

No, it is not. Everyone has their thing. Everyone is good at something. This happens to be mine, and so that's why I do it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, I think you're special. And tell me how you found this to be your right fit, special education.

Sarah Bazzy:

Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. Always envisioned that typical gen ed class with their perfect little kids and their perfect little field trips and all of those things. But as I was going through college, I was encouraged to take some special education courses by my sister because she found that that was good for her and it could make me more marketable and things like that. So I did. And then coming out of college, my first job I landed was a special ed job.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Your very first job.

Sarah Bazzy:

Very first job. And so from there, that's where I need to be. That's where I'm supposed to be. And it just went on and on from there.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Right out of the gate. And now 19 years later, you sit in our studio as an expert on this. Could you give us some details about both the program and the students you teach? Tell us about that.

Sarah Bazzy:

Currently, I'm teaching an early childhood special education class and like was said earlier, I'm at Camp Creek Elementary in Gwinnett County. And so we deal with the kids coming straight in from Babies Can't Wait. The time they turn three, they can go through an evaluation and start with us in the public school system and they have a diagnosed disability in any form and we can start serving them at that time.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So with Babies Can't Wait. That's for students that qualify with a disability.

Sarah Bazzy:

So that's birth through age three. And so before they turn three, they can have the evaluation to then be able to be served with us in the public school.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Got it. And your students are experiencing delays, you mentioned?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes. Varying delays. It could be cognitive delays, it could be motor delays, and it could be behavioral delays. I get the gamut of everything.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And all of your students then must have an IEP?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes, that is right.

Ashley Mengwasser:

All right. Well, every student cohort is different. I've heard it time and again from our educators who sit right where you are. Help us understand your special education students. Where do they excel and what do they find challenging?

Sarah Bazzy:

Everyone's different. Every kid is different. And so when I think about things and what do they excel in, it's different for everyone. Like I said, they can have delays in all different areas. So some of my kids come in excelling really with that academic piece and they know their letters and their sounds and the shapes and their colors, but then when it comes to managing behavioral expectations, they really struggle,or emotional regulation, they really struggle. And then others, it might be vice versa. They've got that emotional regulation down, they follow directions, but then they struggle then with the-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Academic piece.

Sarah Bazzy:

Academic piece.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So you're meeting every student where they are individually.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

We know that student voice and choice, a huge part of personalized learning. It's the whole foundation. Your skills helping students lead you to this expression, which I love that, “When they love you back, anything is possible.” Talk about the love you're pouring into your students.

Sarah Bazzy:

I kind of consider that my superpower for sure, because I don't know how or why, but I definitely love my kids. They feel like a piece of my own birth children. And so especially the ones that really need you the most, I tend to love the most. When you build that connection with them and they receive that, then they trust you. And then they're able to really move forward in a more positive light and with more success rate, for sure.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Let's talk about your own birth children. You've got a couple of those too, right?

Sarah Bazzy:

I do.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And these skills that you model and succeed with in your classroom with your students, helping kids with behaviors, those can benefit anyone connected to young people, including at home. So tell us who you've got at home.

Sarah Bazzy:

I have a thirteen-year-old girl and an eleven-year-old boy, Sophia and Isaac. And yes, they have their own things that they struggle with at home, just like all kids do. It's definitely harder to manage when they're your own children.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Interesting.

Sarah Bazzy:

But the same strategies do apply as long as I can remember to do them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes, because you're a mom too, you're wearing your mom hat.

Sarah Bazzy:

Right.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You say right now you've never felt like such a good mom. I love that for you. And you taught me something which was how to respond to unproductive behaviors with this thing you call controlled choices. Please teach our audience about controlled choices.

Sarah Bazzy:

You never want to give them an option of something you're not going to follow through with. But oftentimes kids want control and they want a sense of power in a situation. And so with those children, you're going to offer them two things. Both of those things are acceptable to you as the mom or the teacher, but they get to pick which one. And so with that, they have that sense of control and they feel like, "I'm in power here." That can be a really good tool for those kids that really need that control.

Ashley Mengwasser:

It is student empowerment or child empowerment, but with the bumpers that are necessary sometimes.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I need to do better at that, giving adult-vetted options because sometimes we're overreaching to please the child, but if the child is just wanting control-

Sarah Bazzy:

Or sometimes we just let things come out of our mouths that we can't back up or you regret later. So really make sure that you have those in your back pocket so you know which ones are okay for you to follow through with.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Speaking of superpowers, I swear that kids can sniff out weakness, so they know if you can't back it up.

Sarah Bazzy:

Definitely.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I feel it necessary to investigate what your sister calls your grandma hobbies. Yes. I'm going to do this to you. Can you tell us about your grandma hobbies, please?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes, my grandma hobbies, I love bird watching. And of course, doesn't everybody? I have a wonderful little app on my phone that will identify the birds for me when I hear them tweeting and it just makes me so happy. And I love puzzling.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Doing puzzles.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

In other words.

Sarah Bazzy:

Is puzzling not an actual verb? I don't know.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Puzzling, I think that might be one of those words with a double meaning because I think of the verb of thinking, reflecting, noodling on things.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes. No, I like the pieces, putting them together.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Right.

Sarah Bazzy:

Definitely love doing puzzles and it kind of gives my brain a break in a way, but also makes it still work, so it's a way to decompress a little bit while still utilizing what I have going on up there.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And you mentioned gardening.

Sarah Bazzy:

I do love to garden. I haven't gardened quite yet since I've lived in Georgia. I really started getting into gardening a few years back when I lived in Colorado, but I have the space now and I'm going to get everything set up. I have plants in my home, just little things.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're a plant mom too.

Sarah Bazzy:

Little bit.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Is there a favorite bird you're watching or listening to right now?

Sarah Bazzy:

My favorite bird is the Eastern Bluebird.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Let's all look that up.

Sarah Bazzy:

Why not?

Ashley Mengwasser:

What do you love about the Eastern Bluebird? Is it the call or...

Sarah Bazzy:

No, it's the look probably. That's what drove me to that bird first.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Pretty bird.

Sarah Bazzy:

It is very pretty.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And all that.

Sarah Bazzy:

And little and cute and there's a good meaning, but I don't remember what it is.

Ashley Mengwasser:

If these are grandmotherly qualifications, I'm on board. Grandmothers actually have it figured out because they know what younger generations are discovering, which is that we all just want peace. Birds, nature, gardening, books, puzzles. These all bring us to a reflective place. They're soul food, right?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, I'm on board with the grandma thing. Talk to me about, you mentioned coming from Colorado to Georgia and you've taught in six states. Can you tell us what those states were?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes. So I started teaching in Arkansas. Then I've taught in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, and now Georgia.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And if I'm telepathic, I believe that Georgia's your favorite? Something like that.

Sarah Bazzy:

I'm definitely here to stay.

Ashley Mengwasser:

We at the Georgia DOE and GPB definitely support that. Now let's talk about personalized learning. Are you ready?

Sarah Bazzy:

I'm ready.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Does personalized learning still work with your special education students the way it would with gen ed students, and why?

Sarah Bazzy:

Without a doubt. So you have to meet the kids where they're at and wherever they need to go from there. And typically you will have an IEP kind of guiding you through that, you know their goals. But at the same time, and in gen ed classes, you're going to know where they need to get as well. So if you know where they are to start, then we can start building that foundation for them, setting those expectations to a level where they can succeed and then increasing it as you go.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. And you told me that every kid at every ability has needs, and so that's another reason that personalized learning works for every student.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, we're back at the beginning of personalized learning, examining PLE standard one, prioritized executive function. These skills are self-regulation, task completion, cognitive flexibility, time management, reflection, et cetera. So does personalized learning, prioritized executive function specifically, does that look different in a special education classroom?

Sarah Bazzy:

We're looking at their cognitive functioning, so we need to know where they are cognitively, and so you might need to start steps below to get them to meet that, and you might need to guide them through it more with a lot more prompting. You might need to do some hand-over-hand work where you're physically guiding them to show them what they need to do. And then do you slowly take these prompting things away and you might use more visuals to help them as well, or just more verbal prompting, but that's going to help guide them. But all of these kids are all over the school no matter which setting they're in.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And they're capable of all of these skills. It may just be a different avenue that you take to get there as the special education teacher.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So some of those things may be different. What role does relationship building have in supporting students with prioritized executive function? I know you said that when it comes to personalized learning, your starting point is really relationships first.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes. That is my number one goal is to build a relationship with my students so that they trust me to move forward with them so that they know that I'm there for them and that my goal is to help them go through this and to be successful. And that's what I preach to anyone that'll listen is build that relationship first. You cannot expect kids to come in and just like you or just respect you because you think you're the teacher and you deserve respect. You have to earn it and show them that you love them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What are some ways you do earn it and show them that you love them?

Sarah Bazzy:

I get to know, I guess, what their interests are, and so then I can kind of start to tie that in to different conversations. Currently, with my littles, they're three, four, and five years old, a lot of it too is just being silly with them. And so when you're silly and fun, that can kind of help them to look at you a little differently. And I tend to give a lot of hugs. I like to be very affectionate with the kids because that brings in a sense of safety and security with them, which is a foundational need that you have to have for your brain to develop and grow. They have to feel safe.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Humor, hugs. Those are so trust-building, especially for young students or who are often in this environment, a learning environment, for the very first time when they're coming to you. So when we've got relationships established securely, let's talk about the second R, regulation. What approaches do you use in your classroom to support your students with self-regulation?

Sarah Bazzy:

First, I guess I start identifying what our feelings are, and sometimes I have students who don't even know what they're feeling. They know it's not a great feeling, but they don't know what it is, and they don't know where it's coming from. And so we have to work through and try to get to the root of that, talking to them about it, teaching them about different emotions. There's more than just happy and sad, and also talking about the fact that even with a sad emotion or a mad emotion, that these feelings are valid and that they're okay and never shaming them for feeling these ways and just comforting them through it.

And then once they are calm enough, then you can start teaching through those strategies.

Ashley Mengwasser:

They have to be regulated first before the learning can be done.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And it sounds like they're learning this nomenclature, this emotional nomenclature for the first time. How to identify and describe so that we can calm, soothe, and address it?

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Is there a way you can get their attention as their teacher if they are dysregulated in some way? What are your go-to methods?

Sarah Bazzy:

So if they're starting to look a little dysregulated and then that could look different ways too. So I have some kids who are maybe just a little more hyperactive and so I can get them to do more activity. Let's jump, let's give squeezes. I had this one student who literally, he had so much energy and it was just exploding into these aggressive behaviors, and so we started jump squeezes where he'd go to the opposite end of the room. He'd run towards me. I would pick him up and squeeze them really tight and then drop it back down and they do it again back and forth. Then it was time for circle time. Now let's sit and try to get some information.

So just kind of learning those kids. Some of them just need a little space, and it's always good to have a little space in your room or break space or calm down corner, however you want to talk about it, that they can use just to be there and relax for a little bit. There's lots of different strategies for lots of different kids.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're looking for different signals. It sounds like they're all different, but that you provide them with a self-regulation space where they can go and do whatever technique is needed for them to come back to center. Talk about the importance of teachers paying attention to their own self-regulation, especially with the population that you teach. It might be easy for yourself to become dysregulated.

Sarah Bazzy:

Definitely.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What can teachers do?

Sarah Bazzy:

So one thing I do though is I always am honest with my students about how I'm feeling because I'm an example to them, and if they see me and I'm frustrated or maybe I'm having a bad day because of something else, I let them know this is how I'm feeling today, because I want them to know it's normal and it's okay. There are times where you have a lot of teachers around you to support you. Thankfully, I have an amazing para who also is there to support me and I support her.

And so sometimes it's like I need a break and I go take a walk and I come back, or it might be a situation where I'm going to have to tap out and get a teacher to come step in for me right now because I need a break from this so that I can best handle the situation. And it's very important to do that because you're not going to make good choices if you're too emotionally dysregulated yourself.

Ashley Mengwasser:

To your point, they're watching you, right?

Sarah Bazzy:

They are. And if they see their teacher who they respect and love, say, "I need a break." And then they see that that does something good for you, then they could be modeling that as well, and that keeps them positive.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You mentioned that relationship building is first, we talked a bit about self-regulation. There is a substandard of PLE one, prioritized executive function, that speaks to preparing learners to, I love this phrase, “take responsibility for their learning,” and that's our third R, personalized learning responsibility. How does responsibility manifest with your students, especially once they've got this great relationship established and they can regulate. What ways are you teaching them to be responsible?

Sarah Bazzy:

That's also, I think, comes down to a kind of behavioral strategy as well, where you're praising them in lots of different ways when they are being responsible, whether it's sitting in their chair at the appropriate time or staying in the area they're supposed to be, or playing with the correct toys. At the age that I'm working with, it could be so many different things. Whatever the expectation is, as you see it, you praise them for it. You find what's going to work for that kid. Currently, I start out with my Mini M&Ms. Mini M&Ms work wonders. I kind of make them rain in the beginning. "Oh my gosh, you're sitting so nicely. Here's one, here's one for you."

And then instead of I'm not talking to the other kid who's rolling around on the floor, I'm talking to the kids that are doing the right thing. And so then they're getting the attention and the kid that's rolling around the floor nine times out of 10 pops up and gets in his chair as well. And then you're also flooding it with the verbal praise. Then you slowly release that, right? I'm not giving M&Ms all the time. I'm giving M&Ms more sporadically, but I'm still also constantly verbally praising them. And so that teaches them the expectation of what they're supposed to do so that they are responsible for themselves and that they learn to do it more intrinsically motivated versus that extrinsic motivation.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And once they have those more basic levels mastered, you can raise the bar and raise expectations. And do you find that they meet you there when you elevate those expectations?

Sarah Bazzy:

Absolutely. I mean, I've had kids just start from the bottom and really work their way up to the top. And you never want to set an expectation too low for the kids. I'm always very much... I start it low so that they meet it so that they feel successful. Because once they have that sense of success, then they know I can do this. Because a lot of times kids come to you thinking, "I'm a bad kid," or "I don't know how to do that." And so you help them to feel successful, and you raise the bar and raise the bar and raise the bar.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You erase that negative self-talk and you show them where they've been and how far they've come so they can have their Drake moment, started from the bottom, now they're here. And sometimes I imagine teaching students personal responsibility in their learning and in their behaviors in the classroom is about showing them to clean up their messes. What happens if there's a mess or something? Let's just say.

Sarah Bazzy:

If there's a mess.

Ashley Mengwasser:

When there's a mess or maybe there's a more destructive behavior that comes out, how do you handle the cleanup piece of that in a way that teaches responsibility?

Sarah Bazzy:

So I've had many of these situations where I have had students from pre-K all the way up through fifth grade, throw the chairs, throw the toys. I mean, disrupt the whole thing.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh, man. It's like Fight Club.

Sarah Bazzy:

Yes. And at that point, they're in a head space where they're not okay emotionally, and so you have to help and work with them to get them calmed down. And that doesn't mean talk to them. It just means kind of keep them safe, keep yourself safe, and keep those around them safe. So if the kids need to leave the room at this time, then my parent can take them out or we can call someone to get help, but we stay in that space with them until they are calm and we occasionally check in.

We offer maybe, and hopefully we know what helps them calm down once they are in that space again, then we talk about it, and then we work through, "Well, now we have this other problem that we have to fix." So we're cleaning up and we're working together to do it. Oftentimes I start by showing them how to clean it up, and then they join me. Yes, I have to take responsibility for those actions that I just showed that harmed others or could have harmed others.

Ashley Mengwasser:

That's interesting to me because you're not glossing over with some Pollyanna positivity. Those overturned chairs have to be dealt with, but you're not trying to change that behavior when your students are actively triggered.

Sarah Bazzy:

No, because they can't hear you. There's nothing getting in that brain if there's such emotional turmoil going on at the time.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And over time as your students, they get better at that second R, that regulation piece, so then we don't have to have a big mess we have to take responsibility for. We can solely be taking responsibility for advancing our learning. Brilliant, Sarah. Well, as you know, this is the end of our season sevenpersonalized learning pathway, which makes me so sad. But you get the final word, which is a bonus of you being our guest today. What explicit guiding strategies can you offer our educators who are working with their students intentionally on prioritized executive function? Leave us with a few specific strategies.

Sarah Bazzy:

I mean, get to know them. Speak to their parents because the parents know the kids better than anyone. Find out what makes them tick, love them through all the mess, and you don't have to like them all the time, but make sure that you come back to a space where you're ready to be with them again and help them work through things.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Speak to the parents. So that's not a punitive thing. That's another relationship-building thing.

Sarah Bazzy:

Definitely.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Harness your assets.

Sarah Bazzy:

They are a big asset and you're an asset to them. One of the reasons I wanted to go back to pre-K was so that I could really start from the ground up with these parents and be like, "These are some strategies to do with them so that they don't get themselves in a pickle down the road."

Ashley Mengwasser:

I'm putting you on the spot with this. What student anecdote do you have where you've seen this all work? If we start with relationships and we teach these prioritized executive function skills, including self and emotional regulation, and then we teach these students and we see this outcome of personal responsibility and empowerment and agency in their learning. Do you have a student story you can share that shows that trajectory?

Sarah Bazzy:

A lot flooded to my head.

Ashley Mengwasser:

So much success in your world.

Sarah Bazzy:

Thankfully. Yes. I have-

Ashley Mengwasser:

19 years of it.

Sarah Bazzy:

I had a student when I taught in Tennessee, she was a tough cookie. She didn't let people in. She was very guarded. She had a lot of behavioral issues, but I loved her and I got to know her, and I was the teacher for her that she trusted. And she is currently a senior in high school.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Stop.

Sarah Bazzy:

And just last year we went down to see her play basketball. She's in Knoxville, Tennessee, and I am still in touch with the parents and still watching her grow. I know probably going to see her in the basketball world after she leaves high school.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Really?

Sarah Bazzy:

I mean, she's amazing. So that's one that definitely sticks with me. She was not opening up to many people.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What a testament to your approach, I think. Well, congratulations on all your success.

Sarah Bazzy:

Thank you.

Ashley Mengwasser:

This did sort of feel like quality time with a grandmotherly figure, so thank you, Sarah. You know I'm kidding. You're a beacon of light for your students. Thank you for all you do.

Sarah Bazzy:

Thank you.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Thank you for being here today. Let's let Sarah's three Rs of relationships, regulation, and responsibility be the mantra for personalized learning as you sail the sea prioritizing student executive function, which is just that one piece of PL we've been talking about as part of all of the student-centered practices for heightened engagement that are PL. Thanks to the GRE4T initiative for making these 10 personalized learning episodes possible and empowering educators with strategies that promote student voice and choice. GRE4T is designed to improve student learning and well-being across all subgroups through the promotion of personalized learning.

It was really special to see it with our special education students today through Sarah's eyes. Now that we've fully seen how and why PL works, this all comes to an end. As you sail off toward student success, I'll just be here singing my swan song until our next episodes drop. On your end, keep morale high. You're a great teacher. Visit us on the podcast whenever you need a pick-me-up. A spark of inspiration. We are the platform for Georgia's teachers. That's what we're here for. I'm Ashley Mengwasser. Proud as ever to be your host. Keep your ears tuned to Classroom Conversations. There's always more to come, which is why I sign off by saying goodbye…for now. See you next time.

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.