Zach Diamond  0:03  
Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project podcast. Each week, we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self paced and mastery based learning to better serve their students. We believe teachers learn best from each other. So this is our way of lifting up the voices of leaders and innovators in our community. This is the Modern Classrooms Project podcast.

Toni Rose Deanon  0:28  
Hello, and welcome to episode 164 of the Modern Classrooms Project podcast. My name is Toni Rose Deanon, they/them pronouns, a Community Engagement Manager here at MCP and I am joined by fourth grade teacher Desirae Nunez welcome Desirae. Hi. It's so exciting to be in this space of you. Because again, we've seen each other across social medias and all the things that we're doing with MCP. So it's just really, really nice to have the sacred space to have a conversation in real time. Right. And so thank you so much for saying yes to the podcast. And before we get started, what's bringing you joy, currently?

Desirae Nunez  1:04  
Lots of things but I'm actually preparing to run my first half marathon not this weekend, but the next so that I'm 37 so that feels like a big accomplishment.

Toni Rose Deanon  1:14  
Yes, that's so exciting. Are you doing the training? And I have

Desirae Nunez  1:17  
I've been I started the training over the summer. So this week, I did my last big run, which was 10 miles. 

Toni Rose Deanon  1:23  
Love it. Love it. Love it. Are you like super excited? Nervous? What's the feeling right now?

Desirae Nunez  1:29  
mostly excited, I was having little calf pain from the long run. So I reverting back to my original goal of just finish, as opposed to having a timeframe on it. So I just want to finish.

Toni Rose Deanon  1:40  
I love that. Well, I mean, good luck. half marathons are so fun and you're doing it the quote unquote, right way. I used to run half marathons, and I never trained for it. So my body now and I'm 35 and my body now is like, No, you're not doing that. Again. My knees are like you did too much. So thank you for sharing that and good luck. And I hope it all works out really well and that you do finish and that you do meet your time goal as well. Okay, so we'll shift a little bit tell us more about who you are and how you started your MCP journey. 

Desirae Nunez  2:18  
Um, I am a fourth grade teacher in California. This is my I think fourth year in the gates program. But I pretty much have always been fourth grades my 10th year at the district. And I first learned about MCP, I pretty sure was the Cult of Pedagogy. podcast, I was trying to think back of when it was but I'm pretty sure it was that. And a little bit about my journey with it is I am fully implemented in mathematics and then pieces of my other components because I'm a self contained. My favorite one that's kind of everywhere is the idea of a Must you should do aspire to, especially my current contact the con text of the gifted population that was just a perfect fit for them.

Toni Rose Deanon  3:01  
And that's great. So for listeners who don't know, and also for me, what is GATE? Exactly? It's

Desirae Nunez  3:07  
the like talented and gifted population. So they're identified through a variety of methods, depending on the district, ours is a particular assessment. And so they are contacts there. They're all grouped in a self contained classroom for third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

Toni Rose Deanon  3:24  
Wow, okay. Okay. That's really interesting, because I know that in some school districts, it's TAG right, like talented and gifted, but then you also are gates. Okay. Okay, good. Good. Cool. Cool. Cool. Good to know. Okay, thank you for clarifying. So, this month, we're talking about how educators can protect their time and their piece. It's really important, right? And so this episode for this week is titled 40 Hour Work week. And so let's talk about the traditional expectations around educators working hours. And do you think those expectations have evolved, especially with COVID? Or do you think that it stayed the same? Also, before you answer that? Another question is, as a fourth grade self contained educator is 40 hours like, Is that sustainable? Like, can we do a 40 hour workweek?

Desirae Nunez  4:18  
Good questions, I'll try to start from the top and we're way down. I, for me, my experience with the traditional mindset is, we're going to do whatever it takes, because it's what's best for the students. And obviously, we go into this profession, because that speaks to us. But I think that often implies that you're working a unsustainable amount of hours giving weekends, any personal life, family life, you know, you're expected to volunteer your personal time for anything happening on campus. So it's kind of all encompassing, I think, is the traditional, the traditional mindset. And when I first came into teaching, I didn't even really question that perspective, because I was so passionate about the work. At that time, I was just was getting I was just married and have children. So I really didn't question it. And then I think since COVID, I don't think it's all because we have this added pressure of trying to catch up from that time period. So it's all the regular mindset now compounded by filling in the gap. So you know, all the things from COVID, social, emotional, academic, all the things. So it's, it definitely did not help at all. But I think one mindset shift related to our topic today that helped me is what's best for students and what's best for teachers. They don't have to be at odds, they can be the same thing. And if we can find what that is a win win for us, then it's going to create the best sustainable educational system for everybody involved, because you have burnt out teachers, that's a bad thing, because we're not at our best we're quitting or leaving the profession. But obviously, we're here for the kids, we need to do what's best for them as well, but they don't have to be at odds. So that's a mindset shift that I made for myself throughout my experiences.

Toni Rose Deanon  6:01  
Yeah, and it's really interesting that you mentioned the mass exodus of like, teachers leaving the profession, right. What was your motivation to be like, you know, what COVID happened? Yes, it's harder. Yes. It's different. Yes, it's a challenge. And I'm staying. Well, like your biggest thing.

Desirae Nunez  6:18  
You know, I think, you know, they talked about trying to do the hard work, when you're in the valley is not the place to do it. I started that kind of mindset shift, when I started when I was gonna have my first child. And I think that carried me through Honestly, I was, I decided that before I had children, I either had to fix my work hours, my workload, or find a different job, because I couldn't be a good mother the way I wanted to, and still maintain the workload I wanted. So I think the the work I did before COVID, is what carried me through

Toni Rose Deanon  6:48  
whew Okay, okay, so it seems like what I'm hearing is that there's a lot of like, inner work here, right? Like the mind shift is really you, it's you. Even with all the pressure from society, from policies from the school district, from school leaders, right? It was kind of a shift in your head of like, you know, what I love teaching, and I'm going to make this work for me. And I think sometimes we forget that, that we have that control to, to shift, right? And it's, you know, and you were talking about how, even you know, during COVID, and after COVID, right, when all this is happening, the expectations stayed the same, if not more, and that's like really disheartening. And yet, it's not surprising, right? Like, it's, it's kind of, it's one of those things where, okay, students were at home. And so like our families and caregivers understood, then our cat a glimpse of like, oh, my gosh, this is hard work. And there was like, a lot of like, celebrations for teachers. And then towards the end, it was like, oh, no, it's back to like, against teachers. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, this is such like a roller coaster. And it's so wild. And, and the whole concept of like, if educators or teachers are not happy, then our students are not happy. Right. And I really liked what you said too, about the same practices that we do for our students, it can align with what we do with our, with our educators, right. And sometimes, we forget that. 

Desirae Nunez  8:20  
Absolutely. And we definitely saw that pendulum swing in my neck of the woods as well, when it first happened, we were able to work from home or our classrooms kind of wherever we suited us best. And then when the pendulum swung the other way, we're like, we're we're just getting paid to sit at home and watch TV, it was like now we had to work in our classrooms. I was already doing that, because I had little kids at home, and there was no getting work done there. So for me, it wasn't a big deal. But for other teachers, because of that shift again, it just put more and more on their plate. And instead of making choices and flexibility to make it easiest for them, it was you know, this kind of false perception of holding us accountable for doing our job.

Toni Rose Deanon  9:01  
Yeah, it just seems for me, right, it just seemed like there was a lot of a lack of trust for like teachers to do what we need to do amidst these times. And it's just really, really, really like sad. But then we have like school leaders who are elevating and ensuring that like, our teachers are good, the you know, that they're creating, like, they're, they're protecting their teachers piece, which is really, really good. Okay. And I can go on about this too, because I was definitely like one of those educators to Deseret where I would, I would boast about like, oh, I had a 12 hour day, right? Like, I had to stay and watch a basketball game. I did this and I did that with the kids and like, my whole life really revolved on teaching, like I was my whole identity was teaching and so now I'm like having such a hard time shifting away from I'm not, I'm a teacher and I'm also all of these things right? And so this is such An exciting conversation because you know, the whole 40 Hour Workweek, I mean, it's really difficult. And we know as educators like work never stops, it never stops, we always have something to do. We have 10 things to do, we'll get like three things done. And then 15 More things pop up. And so a lot of our educators take work home, and or work just nonstop, like what we were talking about, right? So how are you able to stick with this 40 Hour Workweek after you shifted your mindset?

Desirae Nunez  10:29  
It's definitely been a journey, it did not just happen you I didn't go from 60 hours to 40 hours because I thought about it in manifested in my brain, it just happened. So it certainly was a journey. And like you mentioned, I think the building better mindsets, and definitely was helpful, but as well as some particular habits. And then, you know, you talked about how am I keeping that I still have seasons, right have busy seasons are trimester. And today. So I'm gonna have a short busy season of wrapping that up and doing all the paperwork and things I need to do for our reporting period. But I give myself a starting an endpoint for that busy season. And I don't feel resentful, because the weeks leading up, I did protect my time. So conferences and the grading periods, certainly there's a busy season. And I do tend to work a little bit more than 40 hours, but And now instead of jumping up to 50, or 60, it's like I might work 45, I'm totally happy working 45 hours for a week or two. So it's been a journey. And there is still busy seasons where the quote unquote, perfect 40 hour week is not is not happening. And then some of the mindset shifts are it's a marathon, not a sprint, I went into teaching and I wanted to be the best teacher, the most dynamic, have all the things the best practices, and I wanted to do it from like the ground, you know, just want to hit the ground running. And I think I did accomplish that. But the way I was doing it was not sustainable. So changing my mindset of it's a it's a marathon, not a sprint, I don't have to do all 45 iterations of that this school year, I can do one and the next year, do another because I'm in this career for the long term for myself. Another mindset shift is every time you say yes to one thing, you're automatically saying no to another. So trying to be intentionally said yes to you mentioned that you were saying for the basketball games and doing those kinds of things. Obviously, it's a great practice building connections with your students. But you said yes to that. So what did you have to say no to so it's okay to say yes. But be intentional about that. If I'm saying yes to that at the expense of spending time with my children that I promised them, then that's not a good trade off in that particular situation. And that's gonna look different for every person. But that mindset helps. Another one is 80% done by somebody else is better than 100% done by me, which means I have to let go of control. I think teachers, we tend to be control freaks, and we want it our way. But that, again, if I'm trying to do all the things, I have to be flexible in some areas. So if that means letting the students have more ownership in certain areas, and doing that, that was really helpful or relying on my colleagues or even things at home, my husband can do a lot, he's very, very helpful, but it will look different than when I do it. And that's okay. So that was being a control freak, and a workaholic. That was definitely a hard one. And then I think my two biggest, most impactful mindset shifts were the MVP, the minimum viable product. So this is, here's my first round at that lesson or that strategy or that project, it's, it's as good as it's gonna get for right now. It's the minimal viable product, it will work. It's not what I want. It's not where I want it to be. But I'm okay with that it will work for right now. And, and actually, that's worked out even better, because I'm playing with it with the students before I spend all these hours and hours on time and what I think it needs in my brain I know factually, from, you know, my observations in class. And so now I'm spending that extra time in places I know it's needed. And then my my second one for the top two, is lowering your standards and areas where no one will notice about you. I struggled with really understanding what that meant, because I strongly believe in having high standards. But there are some things that I was spending hours of time on. Nobody knew I was spending hours of time, nobody cared that I did it. I knew it. I felt good. Like you said I did 12 hours today. Nobody knew nobody cared. It didn't it didn't have the impact on my students or their families or anything other than me, spending all this time on it. So again, not having low standards, but lowering your standards standards in places that nobody is noticing. I can go on and on and on. I don't know how long you want me to talk.

Toni Rose Deanon  14:39  
No, these are these are really great. I mean, you said a lot of great things, right? So for example, the whole like if you say yes, you're saying no to something else, and something that I'm learning is that when you say yes, you're saying no to yourself, right like and that's like the biggest thing that I was like, oh wait a minute, I don't want to say no to myself. I want to be able to say yes to myself and then like think about every other word. Question, you know, an opportunities out there. So I really liked that. And then I also really liked the control fi freak. Comment, because I feel like especially in a modern classroom, right, like self pacing, you don't have to let go. It this is also really hard for me because I was that control freak, like, you know, I said all the time when Kareem first observed my modern classroom, he was literally like, this is too much, you're doing too much like, let go, let them learn. It'll all work out. And so that's, that's such an important thing to just continue to remind ourselves as well, right? And, and then you know, the whole thing about the MVP, right? And the whole, like, it's the minimal like the the minimum that I have to do. And it got me thinking about like, our must dues, right, like, here's the bare minimum that you have to do to have an understanding of the scope and content, all right. And then and then we'll add on. And then this could be a collaboration thing. And this is something I say all the time to them, I should do and aspire to dues. My students come up with it for the most part. And so it becomes a collaborative part where then there's, they're motivated to do it. Because they came up with it. It wasn't something that I came up with it. I thought it was cool. And then they're like, No, this is actually really lame, right? And so I love that you're welcoming in the kids, it's less work for you. More work on the kids, right? Because they're now creating. They're now your partners, your thought partners is part of this learning community that we're trying to create, right? And then when you said, you got to lower your expectations, I was like, Oh my gosh, where's this going? And then we like clarified, thank you for clarifying that. Because I was like, holy cow, you're absolutely right. Like I do have to lower my expectations of things that don't matter. 

Desirae Nunez  16:51  
You thought you were gonna have to edit that part out huh?

Toni Rose Deanon  16:55  
that I was like, Oh, my gosh, it's so right. Because I also I mean, coming from an Asian upbringing and household, right, like, Alright, so we teach is always high, like, there was, there was nothing that week, like, we couldn't lower him at all. And so this is a nice reminder for myself. So thank you. I really, really appreciate that. Okay, so we mentioned, you know, modern classroom and how like we're relinquishing control, we actually have more time with our students to collaborate with them. And so when, when students are taking your math class itself pacing, right, let's talk about educator time, because we often get comments or questions from our educators who are just now implementing, and they just don't know what to do with, with, with the educator time, right. And so, while students are self pacing, because I know this was this happened to me, like the first two weeks that I implemented self pacing, I was like, Oh, they don't need me, so I'm just gonna chill. It's like, No, I missed so many opportunities, like check in with kids, because I didn't know. 

Desirae Nunez  17:54  
I'm just as busy now isn't as in any other structure truly, sometimes like, Oh, my goodness, I need more time. Even with the self pacing. There's, there's so much to do with this model. I think you're right. At first, it's like, okay, the things I used to do, is running automatically here. So now what, but there's so much so much to do? You know, and I think part of it was a mindset to initially where I thought it was a bad teacher, if I wasn't constantly running at full speed. And right next to them the whole the whole way. So, you know, I had that same thing, too. I'm like sitting here am I I'm at my desk, and what if my admin walks in, or, but I'm checking their expert checks, and I'm pulling small groups, I'm meeting with them one on one, I'm holding them, I have time to hold them accountable for math practices, like attending to precision, because it's not a big deal, you know, and so I have so much time to individualize it even more than than ever before. Like, even today, I had my expert checks. And so sometimes if it's a little error that I think they can fix on their own, I put an R on it, they get it back, they fix it, they resubmit it. If I see a larger misconception, usually there's multiple kids with the same type of error or misconception, I can pull them in a small group, and let them try again. So I'm constantly with the students, again, small group or one on one, fixing those misconceptions and providing more time and practice. So I'm, I'm very, very busy for so much lower, I think was in the Facebook group. Someone had the whiteboard idea of now soon, anytime. So I have a little mini whiteboard. And the kids we talked about now is like you can't work on anything. You can't move forward. Without me. As soon as it's a math question. You have some things to work on. But you're gonna need me during this work block anytime is like even if they have an unrelated question. It's there. And so I'm so busy working with kids all the time, even in this model that I had to add that in from somebody's great idea from the Facebook group.

Toni Rose Deanon  19:49  
And I really liked that because I also had that bottleneck problem. When I first started implementing I was just like, oh my gosh, everyone wants me right now like, Oh, this is so overwhelming, but then it also just shows our kids learn helplessness, right? Like, if they can't figure something out, they know automatically, they got to ask the teacher and it's like, no, you actually have all the resources that you need. And you can go ask your friend. And then for them, like, sometimes my middle schoolers would be like, wait, what I could? What do you mean, I can ask a friend.

Desirae Nunez  20:18  
They know they can collaborate, work together on everything with the expert check. So and actually, I teach them that you need to ask three before me before your name goes on there, either. It's an expert check. So you can't, or you've asked three people. And if that's the case, then I need to probably do a whole class activity, they have three other people couldn't help you with that particular thing. And, you know, I think also, again, like what are we doing with our time, it does provide a little bit of margin, but then I get to work on these other really important work habits, like being a self starter, organization, prioritizing tasks, applying feedback, independence, all these other life skills that are necessary. You know, I have the time to talk to them about these other particular things do especially prioritizing tasks with must do should do aspire to and the target deadlines with them with my hard deadline, it creates such a perfect environment for tackling these other things. It's it's so much fun. I love that part.

Toni Rose Deanon  21:09  
Yeah, and you think they're fourth graders, right? Like they're still really young. And then they're able to like advocate for themselves, they're able to prioritize to manage their time, it's like, Whoa, these are skills that I'm still learning as an adult learning now. 

Desirae Nunez  21:22  
And I get to have those conversations with them. We do the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. We're implementing it for the first time this year in my district. And it's great, because like you said, I'm still practicing those things. And I get to talk to them, Hey, here's where it worked out. Here's where I dropped the ball. And here's where I picked it back up. And so we're having these real conversations, and I get to share those personal stories, when as it relates to school to help them as well. So it's a lot of fun.

Toni Rose Deanon  21:44  
Yeah, and it's again, it's just being humans, right? Like we are humans, and these are skills that we need to learn to, to be able to survive in this world, honestly. Okay, so real question, because I know our listeners in our community is probably going to ask how, how do you make time to grade all of your expert checks? How do you make sure that you're not taking work home? Because I think our community asked to like, oh, my gosh, you know, and I'm, I have a lot to check, I have a lot of feedback to check. So how do you manage that?

Desirae Nunez  22:14  
Um, I've definitely done a variety of iterations of trying to see what works and I think there's not a one right answer for everybody. And even for me, year by year, it's changed a little bit, depending on my schedule, both here at work, and personally. So it changes. But one thing I would say is making sure that your expert checks are short. And to the point, what was your one? You know, I think I always do my units with a learning progression. So here's my ultimate goal. Throughout my unit, here's the learning progression. So that lesson, I'm only checking this one itty bitty little skill. So really, it's pretty quick and easy to get through that, like I can save for, you know, 20 minutes after school and get through all of the expert checks for that, that lesson that was required. And then part of it, just like anything, right practice, you'll get a little bit more efficient along the way as well. But I think if it's taking you way too long, you're taking a bunch home, probably your expert checks are too big and broad, as opposed to highly targeted. And that just allows you to do better intervention as well within your own classroom and with a greater population if you have a tiered system.

Toni Rose Deanon  23:19  
Yeah, and I think for me, because we also had a lot of iterations for this. And something that I realized is, of course, we have to do test taking skills, right, because of the standardized tests that our students have to take. So we did have like, multiple choice, how, and we had a multiple choice. So it'll be like one or two of them. And then the last part would just be like, how do you know, like, tell me how you know, right? And so then that's how I can say like, okay, that either just guessed, like, and I taught English, so like, students had to go back to the text and make references. So that was, like, just an extra thing for me. But I know that like, the multiple choice was great, it automatically, but the how to, you know, part was something that I had to look at. And that was very quick, as well.

Desirae Nunez  24:00  
Yeah, I think it gets more, you know, with math, it's, I think, a little bit easier sometimes. But I've also, now that I've been in this, this model for a while, I'm going back and reflecting on the type of assessment I'm doing the way I'm doing it. So you know, if I, if this was in the beginning part of the unit, they need to know the the language of the discipline, the vocabulary for that particular that can be a multiple choice, but that's not grading my standard, right, that's a very found at the leading up to what I need them to do. So I need to go back and revamp some of my expert checks to make sure the type of assessment matches what I was doing. Because when I first created them, I just was trying to do the model. And I knew I needed an expert check and I think sometimes when you learn something new, you forget about some other things and and then as you get settled get the bring back in these other great practices that we have. Yeah,

Toni Rose Deanon  24:44  
yeah, no, I completely agree with you. Because again, like we're just inundated with so many different things, right. And so it's it's nice to have conversations with our peers to have those reminders of like, oh, this worked really well. So let's just go back to that. Okay, we're gonna go off script a little bit Deseret. Um, so I have a question about your planning, how long does it take for you to plan a unit? And how do you how do you plan

Desirae Nunez  25:07  
so that when I first implemented again, I took the free course and I just, I'm an all in kind of person, I just jumped in and did it. And so it was certainly a time investment. In the beginning. I know, we've talked about that on a ton of episodes on here, there is a time investment in the beginning. And so what I would do, the first year, I stayed late two days a week, creating the videos and doing all of that. And so, and again, I so my process is I started with the learning progression. And I looked for natural groupings of skills to create the videos and I note should at maximum is like 10 minutes, right, so not six minute mark, and I was trying to group them in that way, I use screencast. And then I took the videos, and I put them through EdPuzzle. So I also have that kind of quick check as well, as far as that's on my expert check that I can kind of guide them on there. And then I get to played with a lot of varieties of different things I saw people sharing, but for a lot of my math videos, sometimes they have a sheet they're following along with me, sometimes we just have a blank paper, and they're making the notes with me. And then I also took pieces of our curriculum, so it wasn't recreating practice problems and things like that I would take you know, instead of doing all 100, like do these two as practice, the two are the expert trek they perfectly aligned. So a pro to that is that enough to create all the worksheets off the jump. A con to that is, as we're getting ready to potentially adopt a new math curriculum in the next year or two, I'll have to adjust. But that'll be pretty, pretty easy. So I linked did lean on our curriculum initially, but want to move away from that. But learning progression for me was first you have to know where you're going. And then the videos kind of wrote themselves. I know some people do scripts, I didn't do a script. I just pretended like I was there. And I just rocked and rolled and they get rewarded if I made an error or misspoke. Like I like great job paying attention. And we all make mistakes and little deal. Not a big deal. Right? We talked about that. So little deal. Let's let's keep moving forward. And you know, I thank them for paying attention and helping me improve where they find the errors. Oh,

Toni Rose Deanon  27:07  
it's so much fun to write like, hey, look out for my mistakes, then they're paying attention to your lesson. And also like, figuring out like, oh, man, like, there's a mistake right there, I want to be able to like note that. And again, you're showing your humaneness because we're not perfect, it's okay to make mistakes. And you're pointing out my mistakes. And guess what I'm responding in a way that's like, thank you so much for pointing that out. And I appreciate you like taking your time to like, point it out. Right. So again, lifeskills beautiful. 

Desirae Nunez  27:35  
And I did want to add somebody had talked about in the group. When I first started, I was up in the Facebook group, like constantly. But we had talked about the fatigue with the videos that I do tend to see like in the second trimester at some point, so I started adding in the mental breaks. And so you'll see like some kid randomly, like hopping like a frog across the classroom, or like writing their name with their left their non dominant hand on the whiteboard, like doing these weirdo things in my classroom. And it just, it makes everybody laugh and giggle and like, I know what lesson you're on. And so I got better at adding in some fun, and mental breaks within the videos using EdPuzzle. And that, that made it fun for everybody. So that was became part of my process, too. Yeah,

Toni Rose Deanon  28:17  
and I definitely noticed that as well like the video fatigue. And I started doing that. And it brought me so much joy because I was like, Oh, they're that part. Like my kids would just like randomly stand up on a on their chair. Because I said like, I mean, it was just so because again, as an educator, then you can see who's paying attention, right? Who's where it's like a quick visual check, and your kids are moving. Yeah, that's a plus. All of that is great. So it doesn't take away from the video. Have fun with it. And this is what I say all the time. It's like, have fun with it. It's so much fun. You could do so many cool things. Okay, so what strategies and practices can educators use to effectively manage their time and workload within a 40 hour work week?

Desirae Nunez  28:59  
Okay, so I have a list of some things that I'll talk. So I feel I've talked too long. But boundaries. And so you asked me to show off my notifications on my work computer, which I finally figured out how to do but all my personal phone, things like that I change all the notifications. So I do not get them at all in any way, shape or form. The parents know that they know what to expect from our first meeting and the beginning whether a teacher has office hours or they know I go through every email first thing in the morning, but putting those boundaries on that time. So if they message me on our parents square, I won't get the notification when I'm at home. I'm not somebody who can see it and then ignore it. If I see it, it stresses me out until I respond to it. So I just I don't have any of those notifications at home. That was a big win for me that helped me to relax on my off time which allowed me be more productive when I came. And then another skill a lot of everything I'm saying I hope you don't mind. The Angela Watson is the the resources I utilized for this. So I definitely you know this is all things I learned through her so I don't want to give her credit, but batching tasks. So if there's tasks that are similar in the mindset, then batching, it allows you to get into a flow. If you're switching different types of tasks, then you might need a creative mindset here and a more, you know, attention to very specific details here. But trying to batch the tasks that are similar, was helpful and being productive. And then I know we all hear about checklists all the time. But I have a like an ongoing list. So I'm not worried about forgetting something or a good idea or website, or, you know, I love teacher podcasts. And I feel like it just was filling my plate, and I was anxious to get to him. So I just have an ongoing list of things at all. I'll reference I don't worry about forgetting. And then prioritizing that list. Some people like the four quadrants, right, where it's like important, not important, urgent, not urgent. I like the ABC do it that way, but some way to prioritize your list. And then also, it helped me be more productive by finding what's my one main thing for the day, just today, the one thing that I and maybe that one thing is just going to make me feel really accomplished or it's going to alleviate the most stress. So you pick whatever that most important thing is, and you get it done in the first possible block of time. That way, you're not procrastinating and it's not, you know, hanging over your head longer than than necessary. And and just getting that done that probably that the one main thing, it really, really was helpful. So out of everything. I just rambled off one main thing a day, what is your highlighted star thing to do? And then to help me accomplish that, I do my weekly schedule. Some people like to do daily, though. So today, I did my schedule for next week. And so I put in my big rocks, what are the things I don't have control over? That says team meetings? And then you know, the staff meetings, I don't have control assemblies, what are those things? I put those in? And then I put my daily task list and then in that block, were not blocking time. Can I get my one main thing done? And that also helps me figure out do I need to bring in come in a little earlier stay a little late, or do I choose to work that during lunch or part of my lunch? Again? What works best for everybody? It's gonna gonna vary, but I have a plan. And yes, that plan gets, you know, revised along the way, but but having that in order is really, really helpful.

Toni Rose Deanon  32:12  
Okay, you I'm writing notes down because I have so many follow up questions. And also, like, I love Angela Watson's 4040 Hour Workweek program at that I didn't go through it. My colleague Emily Culp did and she like brought on all of the strategies that she learned and got me organized like I got it together after Emily was like, here's how you should do these things. So helpful. Right? And I feel like as a neuro diversion, I need to have a checklist Right? Like, because if I don't write it down, I'm going to forget it. And then it's like, Oops, you know, I? Oh, well, it's got it's nowhere. So I have Okay, planner, do you have a planner? Is it digital? Is it paper? Like because you know, you know, our community is going to ask? Yeah,

Desirae Nunez  32:58  
I think it's a personality thing. I love a paper physical planner. And I use the reflective teacher, one from Angela Watson. Somebody else makes it but I got it through her supplies. I like that it has the reflective pieces in it. But it's literally just a regular calendar, I like to have the calendar view so I can see the whole month. And then I like the week by week all in one place. So mine is paper, I use a digital calendar for the purpose of notifications, if I want to reminder, a week before a day before an hour before. But I don't it's hard for my brain to see the bigger picture. When I'm planning on the digital calendars. I don't use the digital calendars for that part of my weekly schedule, I use it mostly for the notifications and to be on the same page with my husband like Did you check the calendar? Because I will I will forget if it's not on the calendar.

Toni Rose Deanon  33:44  
It's I love that we're in this era of like, using the calendar. I feel like in my 20s, that definitely probably would have helped too. But like in our 30s it's like, oh, is it on the calendar? If it's not, it's not gonna happen. I've actually chill it out. And another thing that I really appreciate it too, that you said would with the one task, what is your one main task that you want to do and then getting it done right away or like in the beginning of the day anyway, because I know that I've been reading a lot of like time management, energy management, right, and all of that good stuff. And it says that the morning is actually the best because that's when your brain is like more alert, right? Or like, oh, you know, starting your day off with something that requires a lot more of your brain space, because by the end of the day, you're going to be tired. And the thing is Desirae. Like I know all of this, and I still wait until the afternoon to do the big thing. And then I get frustrated because I'm like, Oh, I said tired. I don't have the capacity. Thank you for reminding me.

Desirae Nunez  34:41  
And I'm actually a morning person I burn out at like two o'clock. But the realities of you know, I'm taking my kids to school number. There's no way for me to be early here at work anymore at this stage of life. And so I do say I stay late one day a week and I knock it out and I get it done but I mentally prepare for it. It's that one day it's the one day only that I stayed Yeah, but I am a morning person as well. And it just didn't work with the stage of life.

Toni Rose Deanon  35:06  
Yeah, and it I mean, like you said, it's all about preparation, right? Like, we really have to take the 510 15 minutes to prepare ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, just so that we know what is the head of us, right? I think that's such an important thing to do. And, and even like the reflection piece, too, right? Like taking a moment to reflect on like, how are we feeling? What went well today? What can we do better, right, all of that good stuff. One thing that I appreciate about Emily, my, my coworker, my colleague, when my favorite teachers that I worked with, we implanted the model together, she also had alarms. And it would just be like alarms that like, remind her like, Yo, you need to go go home. Don't stay here. And it was like, I thought like it was so odd. But now I get it. Because if it's just like a reminder on a reminder app, it doesn't go off. Like I ignore all my reminders on my phone. But if it's an alarm, oh, no, I got I'm gonna go. I'll see y'all later. And

Desirae Nunez  36:05  
so I planned for that ahead of time, like you said, What am I leaving what days but again, another mindset shift is, for my particular district, I'm contracted for less than 40 hours by required time to be on campus from point A from point B is less than 40 hours. But if I don't notice that or pay attention, I can feel resent for for the work I'm doing and I am working. But I know that I have 10 hours of not contracted time to reach 40. And I have the flexibility, we have the luxury of figuring out where did those hours come? So that was another mindset shift for me. So my students leave at 235 Most days, I stay till 330. But I don't feel any kind of way about it, because that's within my 40 hours. And I plan for that accordingly. So actually doing the math again, mindset, again, really helped manage that time better as well to recognize, you know, I'm required for 32 hours, I have eight hours or 10 hours, whatever it works for your district. And where am I going to plug that in that that was very helpful.

Toni Rose Deanon  37:02  
That's, that's so good. That's these are all very great takeaway. So, okay, listeners, we're gonna take a quick break for an announcement. And when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about how to stick with a 40 hour workweek.

Zach Diamond  37:17  
Hey, listeners, this is Zach, we have a whole bunch of learning experiences for you this week. So buckle in, you're gonna hear a lot from me. But first, of course, you know, if you're looking for support and launching a modern classroom, you can join our free online course. Or you can sign up for the virtual mentorship program, where an expert educator can support and mentor you through creating your first fully self paced unit scholarships are available, so visit modern classrooms.org. To apply and learn more. That link of course is in the show notes. Now onto the learning experiences for this upcoming week. Check out the show notes again for the registration links. And for more details. You can join us for the webinar, creating leaders out of teachers, where we'll explore the keys to empowering educators as visionary leaders on Tuesday, November 14 at 1pm Eastern Time. Discover the magic of interactive lessons, real time feedback and student engagement for a dynamic and modern classroom experience at our webinar using Pear Deck in your modern classroom on November 14 at 6pm. Eastern time. Are you interested in learning more about our virtual mentorship program? Join us for a 30 minute info session on November 15. At 4pm Eastern time, if you've got questions, we have answers, attend our monthly q&a session to get your questions answered live on November 15. At 5pm, Eastern Time. And lastly, do you need some new ideas on how to teach math using modern classrooms? Or would you just like to connect with other math teachers using the model? If so, join our interactive workshop on math in a modern classroom on November 16, at 6pm Eastern time. All right. That's it for the announcements. So let's get back into it with Toni Rose and Desirae.

Toni Rose Deanon  39:10  
All right, and we're back with DDesirae. So this is something that I kind of alluded to earlier anyway, right? Like when I implemented the model, I barely took any work home, which was like, Whoa, yes, I don't have essays to grade like nothing. Because I wouldn't have like grading parties at my house and getting my my friends to like helped me because it was just wild. So then I was able to give feedback right away. Right. And so was it the same for you when you shifted to implementing this model? Or was it pretty similar? Were you doing that before? And how has the model helped you with working a 40 hour workweek?

Desirae Nunez  39:46  
Yeah, I would say I experienced some of the same kind of thing with the model where I was barely taking any work home. Once I had my units created. Same as you I was able to get feedback right away and then In my math now I'm going to flip and fully implemented in math. I think this is my third year fully implemented in math. I, the units are done. I mean, I spend my time making sure we use Google Classroom that the Google Classroom posts are ready to go out. making any copies I need that go with with the lessons. But there there's map takes almost no planning outside of that. And I'm lucky enough even have a parent helper come and make those copies every Friday. So which holds me accountable to make sure I got my ducks in a row for the next week, right? My parents coming on Friday, if I want to work smarter, not harder, and have her utilize her well, then I need to be on point. So that that really helps. And then Google Classroom posts did take me a little time to compose the way I wanted and have the all the attachments and videos and things like that initially, but now I just, I saved my old Google Classroom. So I can hit reuse post, and I just go find that post. I reuse it, I make any tweaks or iterations I need to do. And then that's done already. So every year it's gotten more and more streamlined along the way to the point where it's like, okay, I can now go back and revamp some things that I've been wanting to tackle.

Toni Rose Deanon  41:05  
Yes, yes. And yes, I hear like, as the months and years go by, like modern classroom itself, it's just like, it's seamless, like you just come in and show up and keep it moving, which I was like, Oh my gosh, it's so great. Right. Okay, yeah. Thank you for sharing that too, then. Okay, so let's talk about the impact of educators while being right, because this is really important, especially with everything that's happening. So how does the 40 hour work week impact educators while being in mental health? And what are the potential benefits of this approach? I know that you mentioned that you're, you're a parent, right? And you have to set those boundaries so that you can take care of your home life. So how does it impact like making sure that we work 48 hours a week, right? Nothing more, maybe less? How does it impact our well being our mental health,

Desirae Nunez  41:55  
um, like you mentioned, you know, my reasons for going into it. And I've been using her content now Angela Watson for about eight years, and there's so much good stuff in there. Every year, I'm either getting better at something that I was terrible at, or snagging new things to now try to do. And then she's always adding new information and there as well. So I'm always going back there to get better she has this like paper process for all the paperwork in class. And I think this was the first year where I kind of got it, like, I've been so terrible at the paper workload. But, you know, eventually I found a way to tweak it and make it my own. I after eight years, I felt like my papers under control, but with being able to keep it within that 40 Hour Workweek, you know, that, that allows me to have, you know, the, the balance of work and life that we're always aiming for. And now I can use that time to take care of my physical health, I told him, I'm training for that half marathon, like, I wouldn't have had the time to do that. If I was working all those hours, nor the energy, and, you know, my mental health, I can read and listen to things that fill me up and help me improve and we don't want to or just enjoy. So you know, your whole being your mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, you just have time to do it. And it avoids the burnout, whether that's in your career or in your personal life. So it, it just helps your well being on on every, every platform.

Toni Rose Deanon  43:14  
Yeah, and I mean, I'd also just like to repeat and say like, our work never ends, so just stop. You could just pick it up tomorrow, it's fine. And then also, like, it's not, we're not saving lives, per se, right. So like, we can kind of pause on the sense of urgency. So we're saving lives in a different way than like doctors and the health staff are right, but like, I know, like the sense of urgency sometimes gets to us, like, oh, I have to get it done right now. Right here. Right? And especially when it comes to like, the mastery checks, expert checks, right? Like, I feel like sometimes our educators feel like they have to get it right there and right then and it's like, no, you can you can pause, like if you're talking to a student, if you have a one on one, you could pause this fine, like, because I definitely like told my students like, I'm gonna get to it when I get to it. Just know that I'm going to get to it. But it's going to be on my time right and so like creating that boundary as well as just like the sense of urgency, just like really sit it's cool. And, and hearing you speak to Desirae, it seems like you give yourself a lot of grace. And I think that's really important. As educator.

Desirae Nunez  44:24  
I I'm working on it. Yeah, I've worked I've gotten a drastically better. So thank you. I can't take that as a huge compliment, because I wouldn't have viewed myself that way. 

Toni Rose Deanon  44:32  
No, because you're like, oh, it took me like I've been using this for eight years and now I'm getting it I'm like wow, like you're talking so positively about like it took you eight years. Because I would be like oh 

Desirae Nunez  44:45  
maybe I feel so positive because I feel like I finally have arrived last year.

Toni Rose Deanon  44:50  
But you kept going you know what I'm saying? And it's like you didn't give up you didn't stop and now like you can kind of just like giggle or like smile or like laugh now right be like Oh, I got it. But I'm here,

Desirae Nunez  45:03  
we have to recognize the difference between like, that wasn't a bad idea. It was a bad implementation, or I gotta find a way that works for me, you know? So there was lots of things where it's like, and I, I missed the boat on that one. But let's try it this way. And another thing I like about her, she don't you have to wait till next year to make it better. Like your kids are super flexible. They go and then that's another, you know, teaching opportunity with good habits. Like, look, we tried this. And it was a complete and utter epic home epic failures in class, like, what did we learn? What do we want to do to make it better? And so? Yeah, again, I can't say enough about the mindset shifts.

Toni Rose Deanon  45:37  
I love that it's an epic failure. And you're right, we don't have to wait. And I think sometimes when I hear educators say like, well, this is gonna be too much for the kids. It's like, no, the kids can actually handle it. I think it's us. We're afraid. We're scared. We are hesitant as adults, rightfully so because of experiences and all of that, that we've gone through. And so at the same time, again, like you said, it's a lot of inner work, right? A lot of just like, mindset shifts, and just kind of just going in there and knowing that you're gonna mess up.

Desirae Nunez  46:07  
Yeah. Are you talking about well being like, if I'm doing let's say, a go home routine that's causing me stress every single day? It's not, that doesn't do anything for my role being like, well, that's what I established this year. So only 300 more days of that trash like, no, like, let's try to fix it and make it better. And so that improves my well being too if we can all do that. So my kids have been talking about what they want our class culture or the vibe to be in our room. You know, one of them, they said they wanted to be chill. And so we defined what that meant, or whatever we talked about go routine is not shell. So today, we put on Lo Fi music, and they're like, Oh, my guess it is chill. And so like, we just, you know, we're just work and it's just way more fun that way to do it with the students. It's it's way more fun. Yeah, yeah.

Toni Rose Deanon  46:52  
I mean, five checks, right? I love Gen Z and their words. It's the greatest. Okay, so what ways can educators strike a balance between their passion for teaching and the need to limit their working hours? Because you know, we're real passionate out here?

Desirae Nunez  47:12  
Yes, I was so excited about this question. I, I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten, I love my job. There's my husband's always like, I want to make so much money where you don't have to work. Like what no, like, I want to work I love I love my job, which again, made me kind of a workaholic, because I just I'm so passionate about it. But I think that what we need to do for the balance is we got to be real on what's the required work of us. And what's our Angela Watson calls that hobby work. I love less than designing and curriculum development. I love that. And it's so time consuming. And I'm trying to do that for every lesson every day and every subject, like not realistic to do all the things at once, you know, so I had to be real, again, must do what's required of me, these other things I can't want to complain about which time is take me if I'm choosing to do that I'm like, That's hobby work. And so I think we've, you know, we've got to call ourselves out on that particular piece and be intentional about getting the mustards done. And then you're going to feel less resentful about the work when you're actually calling it for what it is. So I think that was a big thing for me. I think we also, too, we constantly hear like, when we take care of ourselves first, then we can be our best for others. That's so true. I know it gets played out. But it's true. So there's a reason people say over and over and over and then striking the balance. Because I am passionate about my work modeling these good habits for my students is a major motivator when I start to just dive into the work headfirst again, and like I mentioned earlier, like I share what I'm doing. And so I use it to hold myself accountable, and then to teach them the life skills as well.

Toni Rose Deanon  48:47  
Yeah, I love that whole modeling piece, right? Because I mean, yes, we're aware that so many sets of eyes are watching us. And so they're going to see how we respond and how we handle things. And then they'll mirror it because they do hang out with us. And they spend a lot of their times with us. And so I really liked that concept of like, I want to model this, I want to be better for myself. But also my students can see how to navigate busyness and stress and like all of these things, right. And so I really appreciate that. And I also just want to say too, that, you know, I love the fact that there's a shift now to taking care of ourselves, right self care. And we've done a couple of episodes on this already, which I absolutely love. And so I just want to keep reminding our listeners and our educators and school leaders out there that it is not selfish to take care of yourself. Yeah. Like, go take care of yourself. Like I asked myself all the time, is this bringing me joy? And if it's not bringing me joy, what can I do to pause this work for right now? And go do something that brings me joy, even if it's just for three, five minutes, right? And so really just making, just being aware of being present and also taking care of me like we have to take care of ourselves before we take care of others because Then, like you said, we're just going to be resentful, we're gonna be burnt out. And that's not that's not fun. That's not fun at all. No,

Desirae Nunez  50:06  
I heard some of those podcasts recently too. And, you know, we tend to think of it like, oh, getting our nails done or whatever. And maybe that is self care for you. But you know, I think sometimes we are ignoring the really powerful things like self care, getting a good night's sleep, I could call watching my favorite show self care. But if I stayed up till 2am, and now I'm gonna be functioning on four hours of sleep, that wasn't really self care, right. But we like to, we like to put that facade over it to call it that. So we don't feel guilty when we're making those poor choices. And I'm saying that because I do it. So. But yeah, self care is very, very important. But again, being real with ourselves, and it wasn't actually self care, or were you avoiding and I think you have talked about that. recently. I was listening to a podcast.

Toni Rose Deanon  50:47  
Yeah, cuz you know, self care can be therapy, right? Self care can be taking a step back and reflecting on on how we show up and why we show up the way that we do self care looks like knowing what our core values are, so that we can continue saying yes to the things that align with our core values, and no to the things that really don't align. And I love this whole concept to that you said like, what is it the hobby hobby tasks? Hobby work? Yeah. Or hobby work? Hobby work? Right. Like, and it's not, it's not like, invalidating it. Right. Like, it's great. It's something that you're passionate about, as you should continue to work on it. Also know that it is a it's hobby work.

Desirae Nunez  51:26  
Yeah, do I want to spend 10 hours, you know, extra a week on that hobby, like, probably not fun being real, like I want spend a couple hours like I love it, you know, but not not that long. And, you know, sometimes the self care, I've noticed, for me, it's as simple as like, I tried to do three I try. I'm terrible at it, but do three things for myself. That makes me happy. And for me, it's just going out and being in the sunshine. It's that quick and simple. didn't cost anything, it took very little time. But so trying to think of like what are what is a long list of things that just bring me joy, like singing karaoke to Disney songs with my kids makes me so happy. And so I tried, I tried to think like, what are these things that bring me joy, I'm going to try to do three of them a day, I guess they can be the the most privileged even better if I forget the podcast to learn that from but that has really, really helped me being an A type personality, like what is the long list of frivolous things that just bring me joy. And so that has helped a lot. 

Toni Rose Deanon  52:19  
So Desirae, what do you hope to see in the future? And what goals do you have,

Desirae Nunez  52:24  
with the bottom classroom project, I'd love to revamp some of those math units, like I mentioned, and that was my, I jumped all both feet. And so that was my first really round. And the iterations I've done have been more of the managed class management here in person. And the whole class interactions that we do is where I spent most of the time. So I do want to go back and do those, I've just kind of been avoiding it. Because if I change the video that I gotta put it back to EdPuzzle, and all the things, but that would be that. And for work or general goals, I eventually I want to move into some type of coaching or designing role. I just really worry right now about missing the students. And then I think that as soon as you leave the classroom, you immediately kind of lose touch. And so I don't know what a perfect role would look like, where I still get to have that interaction with the students and be in you know, the quote, unquote trenches with them and doing all the things and coaching so if that dream job ever comes up, then I'm gonna jump for it. Yeah,

Toni Rose Deanon  53:24  
I mean, you're so right about the whole missing kids, because I definitely definitely miss the students. I definitely mean, like, miss them, keeping the young

Desirae Nunez  53:33  
I stole your language of like them giving you all the team. I'm sorry. I love I love that. And I'm like, Oh, well, I'm still in that. I'm typically taking that. So I'll tell the kids, I'll see him whispering like what's going on over here? Like, they get a kick out of it? Yeah,

Toni Rose Deanon  53:47  
it's, it's the best. And so like, I missed that interaction. I know there are some like positions where you can coach like, coach for the most part, and they still have one class, I think you can make requests like that too. Because I know when I first started with modern classroom, I definitely was like, Hey, can I still teach like one class because I want to be able to do the things that I'm saying to do in my own classroom and then seeing like, how things change, right? Because I was definitely that teacher that's like, oh, how long have you been away from classroom? Which,

Desirae Nunez  54:16  
you know, part of it is like, okay, but it's true, it totally is true. And it happens so quickly. i During COVID, I went back to school and I got my stem masters in my single subjects in math. So I wanted that I did that for just so I have choices and flexibility and options. I always want to be in education in some way. But I never want to feel like that cranky old teacher that should have left a long time ago. So I wanted to give myself you know, just lots of options. Yes,

Toni Rose Deanon  54:42  
I love that so much and so and I get to have conversations with educators like you Desirae that keep y'all keep me humble, because like, again, I haven't been in the classroom since 2021. And so it's an I know things shift a lot like within a year and so I know you Some of the things that I lack and so it's really always exciting to have educators come in and I just really love the fact that you're still in the classroom and I get to see that classroom right behind you which is really really dope so okay, well how can our listeners connect with you just so that they could be like yo teacher mindset, I need some accountability. Like I need something.

Desirae Nunez  55:19  
My work email I imagine will be in the show notes but D Nunez and un e z at Stan union dot cage well.ca.us All the things and then Instagram it's just Desirae D E S I R A E underscore Nunez and UN easy.

Toni Rose Deanon  55:36  
Perfect and we'll have this in the show notes as well as like the your cute little bio on our podcast episode that folks can just click on as well. So you don't have to like write it down. Okay, well in that case, thank you so much Desirae we went over time due to technical difficulties and I really really just appreciate your your vibes.

Desirae Nunez  55:57  
It was great. Like I said to meet you in person, so

Toni Rose Deanon  56:02  
yeah, so listeners remember, you can always email us at podcast@modernclassrooms.org and you can find the show notes for this episode of podcast.modernclassrooms.org/164. We'll have this episode's transcript uploaded by Friday, so be sure to check back to access those. Also we are asking our listeners to leave a review this podcast has been helpful in supporting you to create a blended self paced and mastery based learning environment. It does help other folks find it. Yeah, thank you all for listening. Have a great week. And we'll Yeah, we'll be back next Sunday.

Zach Diamond  56:35  
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 muddle through our free course at learn.modernclassrooms.org. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @modernclassproj. That's p r o j we are so appreciative of all you do for students in schools. Have a great week and we'll be back next Sunday with another episode of the Modern Classrooms Project podcast.