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 135 of the modern classrooms project podcast. My name is Toni Rose Deanon, she/they pronouns, a Community Engagement Manager at MCP, and I am joined by Wyatt Oroke an eighth grade English and History teacher and Baltimore. Wyatt has been teaching for 10 years and has previously been named the Baltimore City Teacher of the Year in 2021. And the Maryland State Teacher of the Year and 2022. So clearly, I am in good space, good company, and also wanted to plug in that Wyatt and I have known each other for a while now. So welcome, Wyatt. Wyatt Oroke 1:02 Hi. Good to be here. Toni Rose Deanon 1:04 It's so exciting to be in this space with you. And thank you so much for saying yes to the podcast. So before we get started, what's bringing you joy lately? Wyatt Oroke 1:12 I have a four or five month old, so he has been bringing me a lot of joy. He's a very, very happy baby. So I think in life awesome. Toni Rose Deanon 1:21 He's so precious to so thank you for that. Alright, so let's go ahead and get started. Let's jump right into it. Tell us more about who you are and how you started your education journey. Wyatt Oroke 1:30 Yeah, so I, um, I've been teaching for 10 years, but I knew I wanted to be a teacher way back in third grade. I had a really amazing teacher when I was in third grade, who religious made me feel seen and feel heard and feel amazing about myself. And then in fourth grade at the same school, I had a really awful teacher who made me feel terrible about myself and made fun of me because I couldn't read or spell. And I actually ended up getting pulled out of that school sent to another school and sent back to third grade. And when I got to that new third grade classroom, I was met by another amazing loving, caring teacher, Miss curtly, who gave me a big hug and told me she was happy for me to be there. And I was felt hold again. And it was in that moment that I realized I wanted to be a teacher because I saw the dramatic impact that teacher can have on how a young person feels about themselves. And so that kind of led me on the path to teaching. And then it's something I try and uphold now in my work is making sure that my young people feel seen, feel heard, feel valued, and feel whole every time they walk into our classroom together. Toni Rose Deanon 2:35 Wow, that was a really short education journey. But that is actually really beautiful Wyatt. So I appreciate you just sharing that because I know that was kind of how I decided that I wanted to be a teacher as well was fifth grade, I had just moved from the Philippines and third grade, but And my third and fourth grade teachers were great. But it was my fifth grade teacher who really changed the trajectory of my life. Like, she just introduced me to so many books. And she created this like other world for me, because my reality was that like I was getting bullied all the time. People didn't. People have never seen anyone like me before. And so of course when you know, fear comes in, and the unknowing of something is like really awful back in the day. And also I grew up in South Georgia. So there's a lot of different layers there. And it was my fifth grade teacher who just created such a safe space for me. And ever since then I was like, oh bet books can make an impact like this for me. I want to do what she's doing for young people as well. And I really liked that you call them young people because I typically say like young kids, or our K through 12 kids, but I like the shift to young people. Toni Rose Deanon 3:52 So thank you for sharing that. I mean, also just a quick like, thing to like you and I just started teaching in Baltimore City at the same time and 2013. Right. Why? Because I remember moving to Baltimore City in 2013. Okay, and so I like immediately gravitated towards your energy. I don't even know how we came across each other. Wyatt Oroke 4:13 We were at a new teacher Summer Institute for Baltimore City, and they put all the middle school English teachers like in the same room or same space. And I remember that I have worked with a couple of my friends who are in that same space earlier, but you were in there too. And I loved everything you're saying and you're wearing this really cool green blazer. And I was like, turn to my friends. I was like she's gonna be friends with us. I know it. And then lo and behold, 10 years later, we're still friends. So the green blazer is apparently what sold it. Toni Rose Deanon 4:44 And I I'm trying to remember that green blazer but that's funny because I don't that you have such a great memory that is actually really funny. But I just remember like, you just always been in my circle ever since I moved to Baltimore City and then transition to DC. So you've just always been in my circle. but I didn't. I didn't remember all of that. But that's really dope that you did. So thank you for thank you for kind of bringing that up. That's actually really cool. So, unfortunately, I left after a year. So you and I, we didn't teach at the same school we taught, I taught at Harlem elementary, middle school, Harlem, Park Elementary, Middle School, where did you teach that first year, Wyatt Oroke 5:21 National Academy Foundation Middle School Toni Rose Deanon 5:23 Okay. And I like remember, we just had like the district PD. And that's how we would get together. But then I think you and I also lived pretty close to each other. So we would see each other randomly, or like scheduled meet up. But I know I just remember Baltimore City again, like, Whew, that was a year. And I left after a year, and you've been there ever since. So like, what have you appreciate the most about teaching and learning in Baltimore City. Wyatt Oroke 5:54 I think it's been the opportunity to grow. I was at National Academy Foundation, middle school for my first three years, and I loved it. It was really, really cool. I got to start working on projects with the district as well and helping write some of their middle school curriculum. I transitioned out of that school to now city Springs Elementary Middle School, where I've been for seven years. The reason I transitioned is at City springs, because it's a public charter school, they have autonomy over the curriculum. And so I was able to write and teach a curriculum, which is really cool. If I would have stayed at National Academy Foundation, I would have been using the district curriculum, which was fine, but I wanted to be able to use my own. And so having that opportunity to get a write a curriculum, implement that curriculum, and really take on a variety of leadership roles, both at my school and at the district level is really been amazing. And I've absolutely loved every second of it, even though it's been incredibly challenging. It's been really an amazing opportunity. Toni Rose Deanon 6:52 Yeah, that's, gosh, I remember that curriculum. Wyatt. I taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade. So I had like 126 students, I had three different curriculums, three different books that I had to read and teach. And I was just so overwhelmed. Like, I didn't even know how to navigate that space. And, and I just remember struggling a lot with it. And then I remember it also, like there was an opportunity to write curriculum for Baltimore City Schools. And so I was like, oh, bet I'm gonna join because I want to say, in this like curriculum, and because I know that it was also scripted, right? Why, like, yeah, there were things that you had to say. Wyatt Oroke 7:35 And so what was hard about how it was originally constructed, and it's changed since then, was that they would hire us teachers, right to like work over the summer, the school to write the curriculum, they would script out These lesson plans. But they had different teachers all working within the same unit. So they're like three of us writing a unit for the ninth grade. And we all had very different teaching styles. So all the lesson plans look very, very different. Even the structure of the lessons looked different. And so while there were some positives in some of the texts they selected, there are big issues with consistency. And like unit, one in sixth grade and built a unit two in sixth grade, because completely different people wrote those curriculums. And then sixth grade didn't align to seventh grade, seventh grade didn't land eighth grade. So it did create a lot of challenges. They've since changed, and they've gone with an industry creative curriculum with wisdom is what they use math at district level. Because they're trying to account for that gap in consistency. Toni Rose Deanon 8:32 That's a really good point. Because I do remember, I just worked on sixth grade and like only one unit. And that was it. And so yeah, okay, that makes a lot of sense. And I also, like you said, with the books, like I really do love the books that they had in the curriculum, those are some like some of the best books that I taught with my students. And it also exposed me to different experiences as well. So thank you for naming that. So how, how are things going in Baltimore City since the pandemic, I know that with me, I can always I feel like I always say like, oh, I taught in Baltimore City for a year. So I kind of have an understanding, but it's been so long. So how are things going in Baltimore City since the pandemic, and what would you say are the struggles of educators there? Wyatt Oroke 9:18 So we had our struggles long before the pandemic. We know that Baltimore City Public Schools was not designed for black and brown scholars who work there, live there now. And so because it wasn't designed for them, it's set up to have them fail strategically, which is a huge issue. And so I say that to say is pre pandemic, we had consistent challenges. Educators, scholars alike had challenges. The pandemic just made those things worse. Right, the pandemic, we did not go back to classrooms in Baltimore City public schools because of the dramatic health issues we're facing in our city. We taught virtually for the end higher year, some elementary scholars went back into classrooms, some ninth graders went back into classrooms. I, I saw it a lot that first year back with with the young people I was working with. They're just how much they had missed in terms of their social interactions. And then the gaps in reading and writing, which already existed. We saw it even more as I track the alumni because I work with eighth graders. And one of the things I do is I track alumni success rates in high school, what are their grades look like ninth grade, year, 10th grade year after graduation rates look like. And so what we saw is a dramatic rise in the number of our city springs alumni who are failing ninth grade that year, both the year of the pandemic and the year directly after the pandemic. And so we really saw that our alumni were not set up for success in high school based on having experienced the pandemic. Now, I think a couple years post pandemic, we're getting into a little bit more normalcy, the group of scholars I have now is very similar in many ways to groups, I worked with pre pandemic, in terms of their strengths, their areas of growth, a lot of their social interactions are pretty similar. And so it's good to get that normalcy. But I'm also still worried about the alumni we have are still transitioning through high school who have already been set behind, because they didn't pass some of their entry level ninth grade classes English, one algebra, things like that. And so I also have my eye on are those scholars that I used to work with used to teach but still supporting, still set up for success here a couple years from now as they're set to graduate here, and, you know, two years or so. And so that's also something that I'm very tuned into and hoping to continue to find ways to support those alumni as they transition through high school. Toni Rose Deanon 11:44 So why when you support these students that alumni? Do you keep in contact with them? Is it more so like? Do you meet with them to see how it is? Or do you meet with the schools or teachers? Like, how does that work? How does that look? Wyatt Oroke 11:56 Yeah, it's a combination. So I have, I'm at my school city springs every single day after school, and I have alumni come back every single day after school to work with them. Some of those are just like kind of more informal talk to meeting, some are like we sit down and we work on their essays or other assignments. So that's like thing, one thing too is I communicate with them to link them to different resources within the community or within their school that they might need access to. That's another layer. thing three is I do communicate frequently with administrators at other schools, teachers at other schools to find different ways to support, what are the gaps, what do they need. And that could also be like attending virtual parent teacher conferences to work with a scholar. So things like that I do as well, to try and support them. And then also working with those educators. ninth grade, specifically, educators on general gaps, they're seen specifically in reading and writing, because that's what I teach, to try and support them more as eighth graders so that they don't have that gap as ninth grade. So they were able to communicate with the ninth grade teachers tell me the gaps that they saw within my scholars, and then how I could hopefully fill those in the next wave of scholars going into high school. Toni Rose Deanon 13:10 Oh, that's a lot. Wyatt Oroke 13:13 Yeah, that's a lot. Toni Rose Deanon 13:15 Yeah, it's a lot. And it's definitely needed, right? To continue making like, just to make sure our our babies I know, you say young people, babies are doing okay, like they're, they're fine. So continuing to have that support. I'm sure that the young folks that you work with are really grateful for that. And so I have another follow up question when you say providing them with resources, because I know that this is something that happens a lot, right? Like, as I get to become more of an adult, I find resources that have been around that have never been shared with me. And I find it to be so frustrating, like, I should have known this when blank, right? But I just didn't. So how do you vet out those resources? How do you seek out those resources and share those resources with students? Wyatt Oroke 14:03 So I do a lot of work within the community. And so understanding the different partnerships that could exist in the community, a lot of the partners and players within the community is something that I'm pretty well tuned into at this point. Even though I transitioned schools, the school I work with now is just a couple blocks down the street from the school I used to work at. And so I've been working in the same East Baltimore community for 10 years. And so I'm really tuned into kind of who does what within the community. And then on top of that, there's a lot of city wide programs that I'm able to kind of review. The biggest one we have is Youth Works, which is a summer employment opportunity for scholars ages four to 18. And so this year, we don't have a guidance counselor at our school. And so I've taken on some of those roles and responsibilities, one of which has been getting our young people who are going to be 14 This summer into YouthWorks programming so they can have a job and something to do over the summer. And then because my alumni still fall within that 14 to 18 age gap, I've spent a lot of time working with them to make sure that they have filled out all the paperwork correctly applied properly. Because it's a lot, right, you had to fill out all those forms that adults had to fill out your W nine form your MW 570 form. That's a lot for a 15 year old, let alone a 30 something year old like me. And so trying to support them in that process has been important. And leveraging some of those city wide programs has also been pretty helpful. Toni Rose Deanon 15:28 And was this something that I mean, that's really fascinating. And that's great. And that's definitely something I did not do when I was in the classroom. And now thinking back, I definitely should have leveraged and reach out to our community more. Was that just like something like you just woke up and was like, oh, I need to get to know my community? Or was it something that's just always been instilled in you that you are curious about that you wanted to learn more about? Wyatt Oroke 15:50 I think it went back to my first year teaching. By October of my first year, I wanted to quit, like I was done. I had like, met with my principal and was like, thank you so much. This isn't working out. I felt like as a terrible educator, just things were not going well. And I had a phone call with my father who said, The reason you're doing this is because you feel like you have one foot out the door and one foot in the door. And you feel like you know, you can always leave at any second. And so that's why you're not truly investing in the community. And so when he called me out on that, I realized that that's exactly what I was doing. I was very much disconnected from the community I was working with. And so October of my first year kind of reinvigorated me to listen more, and really get out and know the community, I was fortunate enough, there was a rec center right across the parking lot. And I started going to that rec center and hanging out at the basketball courts over there. And then slowly, my circle of knowledge started to expand, there's there was a big high school right next to where I was teaching. My school is also linked to a high school. So I got to know those two high schools really well, and see the programs they offered. In doing that I started coaching high school sports because I wanted better knowledge about what my middle scores were going to be experienced in high school. And that opened me up to all the different high schools across Baltimore City because I was traveling, I was coaching girls volleyball at the time. So I got to travel around the city more and get to know those high schools in those communities. And so it was an intentional choice to really reach out and start to get to know the communities. From that I also started linking up with authors and activists within the community who are doing some of this work, and started incorporating their work within my classroom. So Dee Watkins is a very popular writer from East Baltimore, who's pushed up tons of New York Times bestsellers, but being able to work with him work alongside him helped create discussion guys and curriculum aligned to his text was really important. And then bringing those people into the classrooms as well. So then those partnerships spread to other partnerships, because they knew people. And then I started going to a lot of community based events. And so whether that's, you know, an open mic or poetry slam, whether that's an art showing, things like that also linked me up with other people in the community doing some amazing work. So it all had to be very strategic, very intentional. And understanding that I was a guest within this East Baltimore community. And so I did, I spent most of that time listening, right, I spent a lot of time listening to hear what amazing things were being done. Not trying to push my own agenda within those spaces. Toni Rose Deanon 18:18 Oh, my gosh, I had, I feel like I needed your dad the same time. Because I definitely wanted to quit, like within the first two weeks of Baltimore City. Toni Rose Deanon 18:33 I mean, my seventh graders were like, Yo, you're not staying anyway. So I was like, oh, so I made that was my goal was like, I wanted to prove these kids wrong, because they had had just teachers quit on them. Right. And so and that was just what they were used to. And like you said, it's the system. It really is a system that completely just like fails, these are kids and so God i Yeah, but I stuck through the entire year. And my students really, really appreciate that. By the time it was January, they were like, oh, Ms. D, you're not going nowhere. Oh, no, I'm saying we are in this together. I'm not about to disappoint you, I'm not going to leave you because I feel like that's just been what's been happening. So I wanted to just continue to create those relationships with my kids and hands down. Like, that was one of the hardest years of my teaching, but it was also one of the best, because I had to do a lot of soul searching and I had to really figure out what is my purpose, because this whole savior complex is not like I should not be doing that. That's not that's going to burn me out. That's gonna like frustrate me that's just going to create a whole bunch of really awful scenarios. And so I just kind of sat back and just looked at my kids like young folks that I was working with, and I was like, Y'all are worth it. Like, we're going to do this thing. We're going to struggle together and we're gonna we're gonna do this thing and I Think where I kind of, I don't wanna say went wrong, right was that like, I didn't go out to the community like I, you know, I hung out or talk to families. But I just again, I was telling my friend Ashley, in our last episode, like, I just felt like I couldn't impact any one or anything outside of my four walls. And so I mean, that's, that's a really great, like what your dad said, right? Like, you got one foot in and one foot out, and you're not really invested in the community. And that's a that's such a great call out. And I don't think that I had that. One thing too, that I really just appreciate about you why. And it's that like, you really focused on local activists and authors, right? So like, your young folks that you work with are going to know or if not have heard, or something about, you know, the people that you were bringing in the classroom, I just always thought that that was such a beautiful thing. And so this is actually a great segue. So in our last episode, like I said, we talked about building and supporting communities. And in this case, it was my friend Ashley, who's been in DC for a long time, that was like, where she grew up. And so she stayed. And, like, let's name it, right, like, as a white man, you are a white man, and you're teaching black and brown kids. And like you said, You are a guest there, right? Like, you're not there to fix anything, you're there to listen and to really take in the beauty of Baltimore City and what it has to offer for black and brown kids and just our kids in general. And so I often talk to like white educators teaching black and brown students, and I sometimes have to ask questions to reflect on what is being said or done about our students. So how do you check your biases and your privilege, because even as a queer person of color, like I have biases, I have privileges that that some folks don't have? And so like, how do you check that? And then how can our white educators be more mindful of interactions and beliefs of students who may not look like them? Wyatt Oroke 21:49 I think it's intentional learning, right, you have to do a lot of intentional learning. As a white educator entering that space, I already spoke about like the work that I had to do to get to know my community get to know the people in those communities, it was really important for me to go on community walks every day after school, to walk through the community get to know the parents and families there and the different people living there. So that was kind of phase one. Phase two was intentional work around understanding the history of Baltimore, through intentional readings, through attending different events, that we're presenting it to a meeting with different researchers and folks who knew the history of Baltimore grown up in Baltimore. And through talking through generational family members within those communities in East Baltimore, we've lived there for years and years and years. So that intentional work also like doing the research to unpack not just what's going on now, but what has been going on. And then from there, doing my own research around understanding biases and privilege. The main way that I do my learning is through reading, I love to read. And so I just read, read, read, read, read all day, attending tons of different events, Speaker Series, different book readings, things like that have helped me grow my own knowledge of my own biases and privilege. And then building off of that knowledge around my privilege, I like to say that I use my, I sharpen my privileged elbows to create space for my black and brown students. So it is creating space, where my scholars might not have had space before, not being the one actually speaking in those spaces, just creating space in those creating space in those spaces, for our young people to speak and advocate for the things that matter to them. So what does that look like? So an example would be we have had work in our East Baltimore community around redeveloping the Perkins home one of the largest housing projects in East Baltimore, in Baltimore in general. My scholars, 10 of them advocated for increased funding to redevelop Perkins homes and work to ensure that all section eight subsidized housing was replaced at a one to one ratio, right. So even though it's a redevelopment to mixed income housing, it can't actually just be, yeah, you have a couple section eights. And then the rest is market base. They work to make sure that any redevelopment that was done had that one to one ratio, and by advocate I mean, they literally spoke in front of the mayor, both the Department of Housing and Baltimore. And at the national level, they recorded a video that was shown to the United States House of Representatives and US Senate to secure 10s of millions of dollars of funding. From there, they worked on advocating for specific things for a school. So we're getting a brand new school building, that's also 10s of millions of dollars that they've worked to advocate for, and advocate for certain things within their community like parks, greater access to rec centers, great areas to walk around and play. And so things like that they've also spoken on and about an understanding that that work has been continuous advocacy because several times throughout this process, we've seen the system try and work the way it was designed to work and the little there voices are changing at things without their knowledge of working on their ability to advocate throughout the process to make sure their original needs are still being met. Other examples would be speaking out to our state Senate President Bill Ferguson, after they went on a tour of the Capitol and felt like the tour was to racist and then reflect them. They spoke out, they wrote letters, they met with him in person. And our Maryland State House redeveloped the entire tour. And the people they mentioned on the tour, what they talked about on the tour, they changed up some of the statues and images within the state house. And that was work that was done by a group of our eighth graders. During the previous administration, which was under Governor Hogan, and Lieutenant Governor Rutherford, they met with the Lieutenant Governor Rutherford who came to city springs, and they advocated for certain things, certain funding gaps that were missing. They worked with a lot of our local legislators around and sharing funding for programs like Youth Works that I mentioned earlier, increasing funding for programs like that. increasing funding, we pass what's called the blueprint, the current Blueprint here in Maryland, that increases funding for schools across Maryland, we had youth advocate for that by meeting with local legislators. So a lot of my work in that process is reaching out and setting up these meetings, setting up these calls, giving my scholars access to the resources and materials to understand what's going on, so that they can also leverage their own knowledge. So that's kind of one piece of what this advocacy can and does look like for white educated in this space. The second thing is like, how do I work with other white educators to help them develop this. So I've been fortunate enough to get to work both at the district level, working with white educators on understanding bias and privilege. And my work to develop a course series that a lot of our educators went through to understand their own biases at the district level. So I worked with folks, all grade levels in all schools across the district, that was a really exciting thing for me to get to work on. And then the second piece, I worked at my own school on this work, we're now three years into the process of kind of doing this equity, anti racism work, and we still have a lot of work to do. It is still primarily white educators that we are having the hardest time with, getting them to understand their own biases. And how that shows up in our schools is typically the Savior mindset. They have a white savior mindset. And what that looks like is they lower the expectations for our scholars. And so by lowering the expectations, they're actually not giving them rigorous academic work, which means they're getting more and more behind, in being at grade level and things like reading, writing and math. So a lot of my work there has been understanding identity, understanding things like bias, and then understanding what it looks like sounds like it feels like in a school system. And then the reverse is understanding what anti racism looks like sounds like it feels like within the school. And so that work has been done with our school leadership, our school administration, along with our teachers, as well. And so as we enter into year four next year, I'm really excited to see how we can continue to grow and evolve this work. Because I think we've made some positive strides at the school level and some positive strides at the district level. Toni Rose Deanon 28:10 Oh, my goodness, Wyatt. That is that that's that's all needed work. Like everything you just said? That's Yes, yes. And yes. So a follow up question. The course that you created, are these mandated or is it opt in? How does that work? Wyatt Oroke 28:31 Yeah, great question. So originally, Baltimore City came out with like an equity policy, then hired a director of equity. The course I created was an opt in, of course, that was multiple sessions that you could opt in and sign up for it took place on the weekends. And you got paid an additional stipend if you attended. So that was opt in from that they built into what we referenced earlier, the new teacher Summer Institute, they took some of the coursework we were doing with our during the school year course and incorporated it into the New Teacher Institute. The gap that they're still looking to fill is how do you work with the teachers who have missed the new teacher because they've already been teaching here, and chose not to opt in? A lot of our work has been with early career teachers in the district. And so there's been less people kind of doing this work within schools. At the level I'm able to, the reason we're able to do it our school is because as a public charter school, we have autonomy over our professional learning. So I don't attend systemic district wide PD anymore. We all do our PD in house. We also have a modified calendar, which means we have one day per week, every Wednesday this year, where kids get out early at 1245. And we have two hours of professional learning in the afternoon. And that gives us hours and hours and hours of more professional learning time. So I think the district right now is working through how do you scale this up to work with the 1000s of educators who still need it? And how do you scale it up based on the limited amount of professional learning time you have built in. So lots more work to do there, they are hiring more people for that office at the district level. And so I'm hoping to see more strides there. But I've been fortunate that our school because of our flexibility within our professional learning plan, has been able to make these strides much quicker. Toni Rose Deanon 30:22 Yeah, no, thank you for sharing that. I think that's definitely something that our listeners need to hear as well. Just like some moves, right, that we can continue so that we can improve ourselves. I have a couple of things when you said a lot, and I was taking notes. And so no, no, it was it was good. And I'm so glad that you're saying all of this, right. I didn't even think to think about like, okay, you know, someone who identifies as a white man, right? Like, how do you create the space? But then you also said like, Well, yeah, well, we also gotta educate other white educators. And I'm like, Well, duh, I didn't even think about that. And so I really liked that, that you named that. And just how he started out with community walks, I think that that's really important to just kind of walk around and, you know, shoot down those misconceptions and biases and assumptions of the community. And as soon as you get to know people and develop those relationships, right, like, the barriers that you've created, unintentionally, unintentionally, will come down. And I just had the great visual, Wyatt, when you said, you sharpened your privilege, elbows? Yes, I was like, wow, that the visual is really strong for me. So thank you for stating that, and just giving some examples of how to advocate for things that matter to our students, not just for us, right, we can't always think about what matters to us. That when it pertains to a community, but more so like having those conversations about who's like, who's like who's got the biggest impact, and who is getting impacted on right. And so like, it's just really interesting that your students took charge and you created, I felt like you sharpen your privilege, elbows, and you created this space for your students to really blossom and to take control. And when we talk about real world scenarios, like this is not a scenario, it's a real thing. Like it's happening, and it's impacting their community. And so of course, they're going to be even more motivated, to learn about it, and to fight and advocate for their folks in their community, right. And so it's real impact, it's real world, and you just created that space for them to do that. And I think another thing, too, that I really want to name is the fact that like, you believe in your kids, right? Like you created the space, and then you just gave them the support that they needed to be successful. But in the but for the most part, like the work was on them, and you believe that they could do it. And they did. Such really, really good stuff. Gosh, I hate to like, go off to another question. But here we go. So you, you use social media to celebrate what you're doing in the classroom, I know that this is a way for me to know what you've been up to. And I just like see the amount of love that your students have for you. And it always just brings me so much joy. So how have you use social media and your teaching and learning practices? Wyatt Oroke 33:10 Yeah, so a couple of ways. I think when, early on in this work, I really use it as an opportunity to celebrate kids and connect with kids and families. A lot of families are able to connect with me over social media, rather than just phone calls and text messages, which is great. And then celebrating young people and talking to them over social media as well was was very, very positive for me. I think since social media has evolved in some of my teaching and learning practices have evolved. Most of what I rely on it for now is pulling the things that are trending and happiness on social media into the classroom. Because I write my own curriculum. There's flexibility within that curriculum that I intentionally built in, that allows me to connect different topics that are happening in the real world in real time with what we're reading or exploring the text. And so that's kind of the biggest way that I'm currently using social media. And that has branched off into some really cool partnerships. Our most recent one is with the Baltimore banner, a new newspaper in Baltimore City that just got up and running not long ago. And so we're working with the Baltimore banner now to find ways to get our young people's voices heard within their social media platforms, which is awesome. We've we've talked about them doing like taking over the Baltimore banners tick tock for a day to kind of talk about an advocate for things they really care about. The Baltimore Boehner is giving us free access to all of their content. For our young people. They don't have to subscribe or pay for a subscription, they can get access to all the news in that way. And then they're working on writing responses and opinions to the different articles and things they're reading. And so also trying to connect with some of these folks who do have social media platforms and elaborate leveraging more youth voice within those platforms, is how I've been using it more recently, and I'm excited to see how that's gonna continue to evolve the rest of this Here, and nginx Toni Rose Deanon 35:02 that's really dope. Tic tock is our biggest competitor, I feel like with teaching. Toni Rose Deanon 35:09 And instead of, you know not using it, I did the same with social media and my class, I realized that families and caregivers are on social media. And so they really want to see what you know their babies are doing. And that was a great way for me to connect on a different level. And so I really love this whole, like pop culture reference and trending and real world applications. And again, like partnering with local organizations that can continue elevating and advocating for our students. And so that's really dope. Okay, so listeners, we're going to take a quick break for an announcement. And when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about why it's experiences. Hi, listeners, this is Tony rose, Deanna. And we are now offering to scholarships opportunities available to educators looking to create blended, self paced mastery based classrooms. One of them is a learning differences scholarship, open to special education and ELL educators. The other one is a Minnesota educators of color scholarship and open to all Minnesota educators of color. We'll be linking the scholarships page in the show notes. So please check that out. All right, and we're back with Wyatt. So what a cool fact about you there many is that you've actually been on Ellen twice, because of all the inspiring things you've done in your classroom and for your students. So I may or may not have watched it multiple times when it came out. And I was just so stoked and so proud. And so tell us more about this experience. Wyatt Oroke 36:35 Yeah, so actually, the way that we got on it, the first time was, it was around when Hurricane Harvey hit. And our young people showed a lot of passion and care for what's happening in Houston. And for the first time in the history of our school community, they decided to do a fundraiser to raise money for for the families, victims and survivors down there. And so based on our socioeconomic status, we typically do not use fundraisers for anything, it just isn't a way that our community shows love to others. But that's how our scholars want to show love to those families and communities in Houston. And so they raised their goal was like, I think our goal was like $200. And we raised like, 1000s of dollars, which was really amazing. And from that a councilman Z Cohen came and kind of celebrated our young people. And they presented it to him and kind of talked about all the work they were doing. And then some news stations came to kind of also watch and see the amazing work. And then a local reporter, Erica green tweeted it out. And then that story went viral on Twitter. And then I got a call from the producers of Elon, shortly after that, and we kind of talked through and went to this interview process. It was cool, crazy and fast. It all happened so quickly. I was like I literally taught and then that after teaching, I hopped on a plane and flew out to California, and then filmed that then hopped back on a plane that night and drove from the airport because I took a red eye straight to school and started teaching again. And it actually aired on that Friday, when I just come back to teaching. It was a really cool, crazy experience. I loved every second of it. Elon was very professional, very kind, very engaged with the whole process. The coolest part was in that in the first time I was on there is unbeknownst to me, they had like sent a camera crew to Sandy Springs. And so while I was on the show, they were actually filming at Sandy Springs. And I got to hear and speak to some of my kids in like real time who are still in Baltimore, which is really cool. And a lot of them got to be featured on the show because of that, which was really cool for them to kind of be able to say that they'd been on the show, their voice had been elevated. And that group that was actually just kind of celebrated. They just graduated high school. And a lot of them are on to big and amazing things which is really awesome. The second time I got to go on actually got to bring a scholar with me, which was even more amazing. So her her mom and her younger brother got to come out to California for the first time, which is really cool is also very quick turnaround, but super amazing for her and her family to get to join and be on the show or watch the show which is really cool and amazing. So I it's crazy. I like looked back at pictures and don't even remember that that happened. But I still have like little kids in school like I saw you on YouTube. Really? You did? Oh my gosh, but has a new haircut of precut eight, right these these kids will they're funny. But it was cool. I wouldn't change it for anything. We also got funding from that show that we use towards a van we set we have a city springs van now that we use for like sports events or to go on college trips or things like that, um, which would not have been possible if we weren't on the show. Toni Rose Deanon 39:44 Yeah, that is so so so so cool. And I can't believe that the students already graduated high school time flies so quickly. Wyatt Oroke 39:51 I know. It really does. Toni Rose Deanon 39:52 That's crazy. So wild. That is so wild. But that's just so exciting. Also, I'm just like, oh my gosh, why it's on there. So of course, we're gonna continue celebrating you because you're just the bomb.com. And, and, you know, being Baltimore City Teacher of the Year and Maryland's teacher of the year and just knowing all what you've done for your students, right? Like, it all makes sense. Like, that was not a shock to me. I was just like, Well, duh, of course why would get it? Tell us how that experience was for you. How has that changed or impacted your teaching and learning practices? Wyatt Oroke 40:25 I think what I've been able to do in that space going back to comments we made earlier is really use those those privilege, elbows even more be named Maryland Teacher of the Year, it allowed me to enter spaces I did not previously have access to with like the Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland House of Representatives, Mountain State Senate, I've gotten to connect with more of our city council members I've gotten to connect with, you know, our US state senators, our US representatives. And so being in those spaces has allowed me to advocate even more for our young people and give them spaces to advocate for themselves. Even more connections in those spaces has been amazing. We we've partnered with the new governor of Maryland, West more when he was just in his campaign stage, and we actually have worked with West more for I've worked with him for 10 years since I've been here. So now having my young people be able to advocate to a governor who has their best interests in mind has been really, really amazing and cool to see the things that they're they're asking for seeking within this educational funding that they're hoping to see. And so I think I've been able to use the space in ways like that in terms of teaching. It hasn't, it hasn't shifted to many things. But it really has made me more in tune with what's going on. across our state, I've been very much in tune to Baltimore City, rightfully so I didn't really know what's happening in the counties across our state. So one of the things that I got to do in this space was work with and get to know educators from every single county or school district within Maryland, because there was different events that we all did together. And then from there, there were also events that I got to do with a State Teacher of the Year from every single said across the country. And so getting to know some of them and the work that they're doing. And it's really cool to see that there is this huge contingency of people who care deeply about our young people and their learning and keep that learning very sacred. And so getting to build partnership and community with them to see what they're doing. Build more partnerships, within my own professional practice has been really important for me to continue to grow, and change and evolve, and want to do better myself. Toni Rose Deanon 42:35 Yeah, and I think that's what happens, right? Like when we continue to do things, good things, right, like more spaces open up for us. And that's just a way for us to continue elevating everyone else. And so that's, that's, that's incredible. I know that doing this work with my nonprofit has really gotten me in spaces that I never thought I would either like I'm in, you know, I'm in the same space as superintendents, and CEOs and executive directors, and I'm like, What am I doing here? But also, yeah, but also understanding that, like, I can take up space, I should take up space, and I will take up space and I I have the right to be where I am right now. And my experiences in my voice actually matters. And so that's like, that's been a huge shift for me, and, and I bet meeting all the other teacher of the year for different states was really inspiring too, right? Like you said, being in the same space with people with a shared purpose, or rather, like, same values, right? And same, like, what's the word like just the same values, just like something that like, you know, what, we're doing this for our kids, and I'm sure that that in itself is very empowering. So I'm really glad that you're able to like expand and experience and connect and do all of that to continue serving and just making sure your community is is good and successful and thriving, not just surviving. So why, like clearly you do a lot like it's funny because I've known you for a while and I didn't even know the specifics of everything that you've done. I just always know and like, why it does a lot. I mean, and also recently you had a baby like your baby is four or five months old and like that's, that's incredible. So okay, how do you take care of yourself? Like what's the work life balance here? Self Care, all of that. What what do you do? Wyatt Oroke 44:32 I think things have changed for me. So my wife and I work at the same school so that's like thing one. We also have one car between us obviously because we commute together but with the baby it's really changed things. I was a person who would stick around at school to like seven or eight o'clock at night doing work. And I love that I love that I you know, Coach, any and every sport you know do any in every after school activity I can. I am living by quicker after school these days still staying, you know, some, to be able to connect with tons of kids is important. But have, I have to go pick up my son at daycare, like that's now just a part of my day that I have to account for, which is amazing because I get to see him and I miss them all day. And then also keeping sacred that time that I am home with him and my wife has been really important. So normally, the hours that I would be spending after school, before I got home, I'm now spending with my wife and son and getting, you know, interact with him, which is amazing. And most of my work now happens either in the morning, when I get to school early, or after he goes to bed, if he falls asleep, please fall asleep. Tonight, I've been able to interact with him, or getting my work done after I've been able to interact with him, it's been really important. So hmm, my wife has definitely given me a whole bunch of life, but also in a very positive way of kind of changed change to work life balance that I had. And I'm much more now invested in the happiness of my family, which was something that before you know, when you don't have wife or kids, you have to think about as much. So that's been a really important shift for me. Toni Rose Deanon 46:09 Yeah, and I'm sure you're still making that same huge impact, right, even though like you are not staying at school from seven to 8pm. And you're creating like a, you know, you're creating boundaries, now, you're still making that impact, because you still show up for the people that you absolutely adore, and love. And I also just really liked that you named like, this was a choice, I wanted to do it, I love doing it. So that really worked out for you, you know, staying after school connecting with your students. And so, you know, something that I really want to tell our listeners too, is that you don't have to stay at school until seven or 8pm. You can create those boundaries. And you can also just create those relationships with students during school hours, like that is totally okay. And so I know like something with our model, Wyatt, you know, we have like blended self paced mastery based learning, like, our teachers aren't in front of the class the classroom anymore. And so they do have the time and space to create those deeper relationships with students and get to know them as a human being, and have positive interactions with them. And so you can you can do all of the cool things right, while also creating boundaries to make sure that you're you have the work life balance. But you know, if you were like Wyatt and also me, because I loved staying after school as well, like that brought me so much joy seeing my students outside of my classroom, because they're huge. Like, they're different human beings, when they're not being quote unquote, students. Toni Rose Deanon 47:39 So, yeah, I mean, it was just something that I chose to do. And that's something that you chose to do, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to stay until seven 8pm Every night, like that's not a thing at all. Wyatt Oroke 47:50 And that was, you know, people always talk to me about like, why I would do that. And that is, I would get re energized from being able to work on a project after school, being able to work with a small group of kids after school or coaching, coaching, so gets me very, very energized. And so that I did that, because it gave me what I needed to be more successful the next day, right? That's what it was. But I know for many of our teachers, that isn't what gives them that energy that they need. So I would not want or expect them to do that, because that doesn't make sense. And so it works for me, but it definitely does not mean it works for everybody else. And so I think folks during that time after school need to do what's going to give them the energy to come in the next day and do amazing work. If it is coaching amazing if it is going home and being with their family amazing if it's going home and taking a nap also amazing. Toni Rose Deanon 48:39 Yeah, yeah. And that's just such a great way to end our conversation. But before how can our listeners connect with you if Wyatt Oroke 48:49 I am on social media at wider broke? Why att OROKE folks reach out to me on there, I'm pretty good at responding. And I can share my email on that. If they reach out that way, as well. And I'm always willing to talk and work with folks thought partner any ideas that they might have anything? Toni Rose Deanon 49:09 Yes, slide in those DMs. Y'all Feel free. That's how I begin. That's how I like get to know folks. I just be like, hey, Wyatt Oroke 49:19 yeah. So many times, and as far as you never know, you never know who's gonna respond. Oh, Toni Rose Deanon 49:25 I love the accessibility of it. Right? Like, hey, like you posted this thing. And I really resonate with it. Can we have a conversation? And the answer is typically always like, Yeah, sure. Like, what do you want to know? And so, I am all about like social media because it has created such a positive community for me. So, all right, well, thank you so much for your time and energy today, Wyatt. I just really appreciate your being and 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/135. We'll have this episode's recap and track The scripts uploaded to the modern classrooms blog on Friday, so be sure to check there or check back in the show notes for this episode if you'd like to access those. Thank you all for listening. Have a great week and we'll be back next Sunday. Zach Diamond 50:14 Thank you so much for listening. You can find links to topics and tools we discussed in our show notes for this episode. And remember, you can learn more about our work at www.modernclassrooms.org. And you can learn the essentials of our model through our free course at learn.modernclassrooms.org. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @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.