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>> Hey, everyone. Sarah Brown Wessling here from the Council of Chief State School Officers' National Teacher of the Year Program and I'm excited to introduce Voices from the Classroom: The State Teacher of the Year podcast. CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program provides a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and their students, expand their leadership roles, and inform policy and practice. I was named National Teacher of the Year in 2010 and since then, I've been committed to sharing the stories and elevating the voices of the state teachers of the year. It is my hope that this podcast will give you insight into the incredible work they do. The 2021-2022 School Year has commenced and many educators have used their experiences over the last two years to reflect on how they can better serve students to ensure their overall success. In these new episodes, the 2021 state teachers of the year will share how they use the shift in learning environments as an opportunity to refine their approach to teaching, so they can better support students and their varying needs. You can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #NTOY21 or by visiting us online at ntoy.org. That's N-T-O-Y.org.

>> So, this is Carolyn Phenicie, press secretary at CCSSO. Welcome, John, and thank you for joining us for this conversation today. Could you start by introducing yourself?

>> Yeah. So, my name is John Arthur. I'm the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year. I was also fortunate enough to be a National Teacher of the Year finalist and I teach sixth grade at a Title I elementary in Salt Lake City.

>> Thanks. So, we know that so much about education has changed in the past two years but what is one practice, strategy, concept or ideology that you do plan on keeping for this school year?

>> One of the most thrilling pieces for me as a classroom teacher throughout the remote learning experience was, I figured out how to bring people into my classroom who didn't need to physically be there. In addition to my students, I had the opportunity to invite in more guest speakers and mentors for my students than ever before. I had a collection of 35 lawyers from the Salt Lake City area and throughout Utah who are part of a group called the Utah Coalition for Legal Inclusion. And their entire goal as a group is to see greater diversity in the legal workforce, so lawyers and everybody who's connected to our judicial system. So, these people Zoom-ed into my classroom every Friday for 30 minutes a piece and they mentored my students on argumentative writing because that's what they are masters of. And my students, once a week, got to sit down with these, again, masters of their craft who would provide feedback on my students' writing, give them tips in terms of the structure of their arguments, how they were presenting it orally, and really gave them a master course in everything you need to know to support a claim with sound evidence and solid reasoning. I never would have thought of that prior to the pandemic because I only would have thought to bring those people in physically into our space and there's no way they could have done it weekly for any length of time because their schedules are too demanding. In addition to those mentors, we brought in graphic designers. We brought in people who work in the film industry. We brought in judges. My kids went on more virtual tours than I ever could have lined up at museums and other spaces. It was remarkable. And so, going forward, the idea of a classroom without boundaries is something I'm going to cling to and make sure that I maximize because now we're all familiar with how to use these tools and there are so many people out there hungry to help our children. And people who just get such a thrill out of watching young people get excited about what they spend their lives doing. And there's no shortage of adults who want to help, and now, we have the tools to give both our children and these professionals out in the field the opportunity to learn and grow along with each other.

>> That's great. So, some budding lawyers [inaudible] class?

>> I'll tell you, I had no students at the start of the year who said that they wanted to be a lawyer when I asked them what profession they might want to go into down the road. And by the end of the year, it was about a quarter of my students, you know. Not all of them. But through these adults, in addition to being lawyers are just amazing human beings with networks of their own, they would talk to my students about what they wanted to be. And I had a student, for example, who said he wanted to work for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Services. And this lawyer was like, "Oh, you know what? I actually worked with some folks who are in that department." And my student got to Zoom one-on-one with this man. I think he was essentially a park ranger, I don't know. I let them go into a breakout room and have this amazing conversation. My student got this coin in the mail, like an official Department of Natural Resources type junior badge kind of a deal and I got one as well. And so, even if my students didn't want to be lawyers, these lawyers still hook them up with the people that could give them first-hand experience of what it's like to do what they do for a living. And these are 11 and 12 year olds who are used to just sitting in a classroom and maybe every once in a while someone will come visit. Now, they have their own networks that they're building through these connections and this is just the beginning.

>> That's amazing that they --

>> Yeah.

>> They get to feel like they're celebrities almost, like "Oh, who's coming to visit us today?"

>> Yeah.

>> "Who's on our calendar today?"

>> Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And they could feel the excitement that these adults were bringing with them into the Zoom room, like they could tell that these people really not only wanted to be there but were excited to work with my students. And some of my students, they don't get that feeling often from many adults because, you know, they have history or, you know, behavior issues, whatever the case may be. So, for some of these kids, it was a new experience. I mean, obviously, I love them and I'm always excited to work with them but to have these new adults coming in and just so stoke to see these 11 and 12 year olds on the screen and just -- they're obviously committed. The kids understood that they weren't getting anything out of it but the experience of spending time with them. And so, for kids who are socially isolated at home, to have these other folks so excited to see them and knowing that they would show up on Friday no matter what, they were reliable, they could count on that conversation. And even if there was a week where the conversation veered off in directions away from their class work, they knew that it was going to be something fun and meaningful, and unlike any other educational experience they've ever had.

>> That's wonderful.

>> Yeah.

>> That's great that you've taken this thing that a lot of people didn't love about it, right, the virtual aspect of it.

>> Yeah.

>> And turned it into a positive for them.

>> Yeah. When you're doing it all day, it's not so much fun but -- and if it's just the same face. If you're having to look at John Arthur's face in a rectangle all day long, you're like, "Get me out of here." But this year, I've got those lawyers coming back and now, I've connected with college in Wisconsin with a bunch of science students who are going to mentor my students on extreme weather because that's in our science core. I just realized that this is applicable to everything we do, so why not just start reaching out to people who are doing dope work all throughout the country and start connecting them?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

>> Great.

>> Makes perfect sense.

>> Yeah. Even as you're adding in these virtual experiences for your students, what's something that you're letting go of for this year that you've just decided not worth it, not working?

>> Yeah. It's funny because it's connected again to that digital space. But I went into my classroom at the start of this year and my board still had this calendar and this daily schedule area that I had painstakingly put up on my board. The electrical tape, it was artistic. It had these, you know, kind of abstract line designs. I loved it. Now, I spend so much time writing in the different things that are happening in our calendar for the month and on our daily schedule every day, writing it up there. And over the pandemic, I had to do it digitally in this program, One Note, that we use in my district. And when it came time to start writing those things on the board again, I just couldn't do it because I knew how much time it would take. It was like not that long but 5 to 10 minutes every single day and I just -- I set the marker down and just a couple of days ago, I finally just told my students, "I have absolutely no need for this old school calendar and scheduling system. Everything we do is on the computer. It's fast, you guys know how to contribute to it. It's in this common content library. So, this thing that's on the board right now, I need you to tear it down. I need you to just pull it down literally, this old structure of education [inaudible] or as it used to be, and I need it gone." And my students just went at it with gusto and ripped this tape off, shouting and laughing. I said, "This landscape is yours. This space I used to use, I know I can come up with a use for it, but I want to give it you. Whatever you want to do, put it up here. As long as it's school appropriate and positive, go for it." And so now, I have these beautiful butterflies and positive statements. Because my students all have nicknames in my class and so, there's nicknames like -- my students here are very young for sixth graders, they're like -- they've chosen nicknames like Mickey Mouse and Pikachu and Peppa Pig. So, I'm trying to think of one that doesn't break copyright. OK, I got Dog Man. Dog Man was here written on the board and [inaudible], you know, just proclamations that are joyful whereas before I just had cold facts about the day, you know. And like I said, I haven't done away with daily schedules. They're just digital now. They exist on the computer where the students can see them any time they want to and kids who spent so much time without tools in their hands are now going up to this public mural and turning it into this amazing piece. And it's just representative of the changes I'm making throughout my practice and, you know, just cutting out the things that, you know, are dated and old. It's almost like I've hoarded old practices and it's time to just discard them, and in the void let kids fill it with their brilliance and fun. And everything is tighter now than it used to be. Everything is faster and I don't think I'm capable to taking for granted little things in the classroom anymore. Like I can't take for granted just being able to get up out of my chair and walk over to a kid's paper and say, "We're right here on number three." That fills me with so much joy every time I do it. I can't -- it's like I can't help but get emotional about things I never noticed in the past and it tickles me every day how lucky I am to do what I do and how much better it feels than it's ever felt before. This is the hardest year, even harder than last year because we're going from a place where we thought we were getting over it, to now we're moving back into dark and troublesome days. And it just feels like it should be done. But at the same time, I've never enjoyed being around kids more than I do this year and I've never enjoyed my job more. So, I'm discarding old frameworks for how we do what we do and embracing a new lens and perspective that I never wanted to say I'm grateful for anything out of the pandemic but I'm incredibly grateful for.

>> I think that is a great place to leave it. So, thank you so much.

>> No, thank you and got a little teary just thinking about it. But yeah, thanks for taking the time.

>> Thank you for listening to the latest series of Voices from the Classroom: The State Teacher of the Year podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Council of Chief State School Officers' National Teacher of the Year Program. It's our honor to elevate the voices of educators across the country and provide them with a national platform to amplify their message and advocate on behalf of their students and colleagues. Please, share these lessons on social media with the hashtag #NTOY21. That's #N-T-O-Y-2-1. Let's keep the conversation going.