Your Kid's Not the Only One Struggling With Screens

Summary

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Parenting in a Tech World | Bark Technologies

Episode: Your Kid's Not the Only One Struggling With Screens
Date: July 22, 2026
Host: Adam Brooks (Program Facilitator, Bark Connected Communities)
Guests:

• Amy Hickman (Professional Development Facilitator, Tech Teach at Texas Tech University, TPI US Inspector)
• Melanie Le (Site Coordinator, Texas Tech, Educator Coach, US Prep)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Adam Brooks sits down with Amy Hickman and Melanie Le, leading teacher educators from Texas Tech University, to delve into the evolving challenges of preparing new teachers for today's tech-saturated classrooms. The group explores the journey of educational technology, the distractions and opportunities screens present for both kids and adults, and the practical steps that teacher prep programs are taking to equip future educators for the digital age.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Guests’ Backgrounds in Education [01:11 – 08:21]

• Melanie’s Journey: Started teaching after being encouraged during high school tutoring, taught 4th/5th grade science for 8 years, transitioned to teacher education and site coordination (03:05).
• Amy’s Journey: Came to teaching as a second career, working in special education and with various teacher candidates, transitioned into leadership roles supporting teacher prep and professional development (07:07).

  “We want to know how we need to prepare our teacher candidates to go into their districts. What skills and what information are they sharing with their students so that we’re all in alignment.” – Amy [08:21]

2. Evolution of Technology in the Classroom [10:10 – 13:39]

• Initial stages: Limited access—“two desktop computers that were dial up Internet” and “overhead projectors” [10:43].

• The advent of smart boards and mandatory tech trainings: “The more trainings you took, the more technology you got in your classroom.” – Melanie [11:15]

• Challenges: Outdated tech, projectors, smart boards needing calibration.

• Students outpacing teachers: Kids using smartphones to hack projectors and platforms, clever and inventive tech use.

  “I realized I was behind tech because at that point, kids were starting to get smart devices... and they were turning off my projector in the middle of my presentations.” – Adam [12:36]
  “That kid’s going to be, like, the next entrepreneur or start a new club on campus.” – Adam [13:12]

3. Modern Teacher Preparation: Tech Integration & Professionalism [14:35 – 18:21]

• Texas Tech’s innovative approach: All teacher candidates get an iPad and access to educational platforms (Swivel reflectivity for video/self-reflection, 15:41).

• Teaching effective, not just trendy, tech use: Emphasis on enhancing—not just replacing—learning tasks (15:53).

• Early adaptation to video-based coaching and self-reflection for teacher candidates.

  "We teach them how to utilize different platforms to not just replace things but to enhance things." – Melanie [15:53]

4. AI in Education: Opportunities and Cautions [16:36 – 21:21]

• Approaching AI ethically: Teaching critical evaluation of AI-generated plans and content alignment.

• Encouraging teachers to be “good consumers” of tech, using AI as a tool, not a replacement for professional judgment (17:49).

• Practical successes: AI helps draft parent communications, tutoring content, and lesson ideas—especially for challenging or unfamiliar topics (19:50).

  “It’s really just teaching them how to do that… to be a good consumer of AI." – Amy [17:49]
  “How to talk to parents, that’s a good one. If you have something come up… [AI] can help you generate ideas on how to navigate something like that.” – Melanie [19:50]

5. The Challenge of Screen Addiction and Digital Citizenship [22:02 – 30:51]

• Students and teachers alike are struggling with screen distraction, sometimes mirroring each other’s habits (22:02, 28:23).

• Emphasis on digital citizenship, professionalism, and responsible device use in teacher prep.

• Techniques for managing personal tech (e.g., turning notifications off, placing devices away during instruction) and modeling this for students.

  “We’re trying to empower [teacher candidates]. It’s that modeling piece... If we’re doing it with our teacher candidates... those are good things for them to go into the classroom and model for their students as well.” – Amy [30:18]
  “I want to decide when I check my device... If every time my device dings, I check it—guess who’s in charge of my life? My device.” – Adam [29:24]

6. Balancing Old School and New School: The Case for Paper, Pencil, and Physical Learning [26:43 – 33:43]

• Concerns about replacing hands-on learning (especially science labs) with digital simulations.

• The necessity of a balanced approach: Both physical and digital tools have value based on context and student needs (27:24).

• Unintended consequences of one-to-one device policies: Isolation, physical health impacts (eye strain, posture), and rising mental health concerns.

• Teachers and students alike are facing mental health strains exacerbated by constant screen exposure and tech demands.

  “The digital labs just break my heart... I still think there is a need to still have paper, pencil. I think it needs to be a good balance...” – Melanie [26:48]
  “When we went one-to-one, we kind of missed something... Now we’re kind of going, well, what do we do now? Because our kids are suffering. And even physically, mentally...” – Adam [33:01]

7. Supporting New Teachers and the Importance of Community [34:48 – 39:45]

• Teacher prep includes mandatory mental health training, but college students themselves are struggling—this compounds when helping children with similar issues.
• Stressing relational, emotional, and community support for new teachers (student perception surveys, action research, social-emotional learning embedded in teacher residency).
• Simple acts of encouragement from parents and community are powerful.

  “Just… an email to say thank you. My son or daughter had a wonderful day at school today. We appreciate you... It goes a long way.” – Amy [37:38]
  “Words of encouragement, affirmation is so needed with many, many of these teachers.” – Melanie [38:31]

8. Final Takeaways: Building Trust, Facing Digital Dangers Together [40:11 – 41:39]

• Open conversations between teachers, parents, and students about online threats, digital citizenship, and safety.

• The necessity of modeling—adults must hold themselves accountable with tech use if they want children to follow suit.

• Tech and mental health are intertwined: if educators or students aren’t well, learning is impossible.

  “It’s about all of us on the same page, talking, figuring it out together. Having hard conversations together.” – Adam [39:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tech’s Evolution:

  “Two desktop computers that were dial up internet in the corner of the room. Because dial up was so fast.” – Melanie [10:43]

• On AI Use:

  “AI is not going to know your 25 students in your classroom. However, it's a tool. But it’s like everything.” – Amy [18:21]

• On Role Modeling:

  “Kids… I learned it by watching you.” – Adam [29:08]

• On Community & Encouragement:

  “Just simple words of encouragement like, ‘Hey, you’re doing a good job with my kid’… that would go a long way.” – Amy [37:38]

• On Digital Dangers:

  “This little girl, a fourth grader, raised her hand and was like, ‘Hey, this guy on Roblox asked me how old I was. Then he told me he was 40 and asked if that was OK.’” – Adam [40:14]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Guest Introductions and Backgrounds: [01:11 – 08:21]
• Evolution of Classroom Tech: [10:10 – 13:39]
• Tech Integration in Teacher Prep: [14:35 – 18:21]
• AI in the Classroom: [16:36 – 21:21]
• Screen Addiction & Digital Citizenship: [22:02 – 30:51]
• Balancing Digital and Physical Learning: [26:43 – 33:43]
• Supporting New Teachers & Community Involvement: [34:48 – 39:45]
• Closing Thoughts on Digital Dangers and Building Trust: [40:11 – 41:39]

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Summary Tone

The conversation is candid, practical, and compassionate, blending humor with frank acknowledgment of the daily realities teachers and parents face in the tech world. The speakers emphasize collaboration, flexibility, and the importance of community in tackling digital challenges together—parents, teachers, and students learning and role-modeling side by side.

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Practical Takeaways

• Tech in classrooms should enhance—not just replace—traditional learning.
• Teachers need critical, constant training to keep up with the pace of tech and AI.
• Digital citizenship and modeling healthy tech habits are vital—for both teachers and students.
• Mental health support is as crucial as academic prep in teacher education.
• Small gestures of appreciation from families make a big difference for new teachers.
• Open, honest conversations about tech dangers need to happen at every level: at home, in classrooms, and across the community.

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Transcript

[A]

I'm Adam Brooks, program facilitator for Barks Connected Communities, and I'm your host. Today we're joined by two educators who are quite literally shaping the next generation of teachers. Amy Hickman, she's the professional development facilitator for Tech Teach at Texas Tech University. She's designing training for mentor teachers and site coordinators. She also reviews teacher prep programs nationwide as a TPI US Inspector. I also have Melanie Le, a site coordinator at Texas Tech who works with teacher candidates day in and day out and also coaches educator prep programs nationally through US Prep. Together, they have a front row seat to what's happening inside teacher training right now. And today we're asking one of the most pressing questions in education. How are we actually preparing new teachers for the realities of a digitally distracted classroom? All right, Good morning, guys.

[B]

Good morning.

[A]

How's it going?

[B]

It's going, you know.

[A]

First question I've got is tell me about what got you into education. What's your background in education for each of you? And we can start with Melanie. Yeah, just what got you into it?

[C]

What got me into it was honestly, I used to tutor a little girl whenever I was in high school. And her grandmother, she just kept telling me, you've got to be a teacher. You've got to be a teacher. And I was like, no, I don't want to be a teacher. I wanted to be a csi.

[A]

Forensics. No, no.

[C]

So instead I became a science teacher. And so that's where my main background was. I taught science for fourth and fifth graders.

[A]

Fourth and fifth grade science.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Eight years.

[C]

I did that before I flipped over to Texas Tech.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I look back at some of my nieces and nephews curriculum when they're that grade, and I don't know how I survived. I'm like, oh, man, that I must have got it at that time. But it's so interesting.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

To look back.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

Okay. And so you did that for how many years?

[C]

Eight years. I was in the classroom.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yes. And then I got my admin degree. I thought I wanted to be a principal, but I took a job at Texas Tech teaching how did future teachers how to teach science, which was so much fun because I loved teaching science. And then I got into the site coordinating, which was kind of like my principal thing. So I got the best of both worlds.

[A]

Yeah. And so site coordinating, can you tell me like a little about what that is?

[C]

So just you oversee your teacher candidates in the field. It's kind of like a university supervisor. So teacher candidates are in the field, you oversee them. You also teach coursework with them. And they, you know, have the full year long student teaching here at Texas Tech. So we're with them actually two full years. We start them their junior year, go through the program, and then all the way until they graduate after their full full year of student teaching.

[A]

Wow. That's. I don't know a lot of places that do full year student teaching.

[C]

No, but that's where us prep comes in. Because they are teaching other universities. How to pattern that off of.

[B]

Off of Tech.

[C]

Tech teach.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I mean, I think that's great. I was one of the ones where I did a semester, but I also was emergency certified, so I was already kind of doing it and they just kind of threw me to the wolves. And I learned a lot, but also at the cost of my mental health as a first year teacher. So I'm grateful you're there for these candidates because I always joke like that was when I had never drank more as a teacher. My first year I was stressed out. I was eating more. I was like, you know what I mean? I was not mentally well because I just didn't know how to handle all the pressure, all the stress. And my co teachers and my mentor teachers were great, but it was so different.

[C]

Yeah. We start them at the very beginning. They actually do professional development with their mentor teachers in August before Tech is even back in session. And then they end the last day of school. So they actually get to see a full year of what teaching is like before they actually go do their first year.

[A]

Oh, I love that. I love that.

[B]

Cool.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

How about you?

[B]

So teaching was a second career for me. Okay. I didn't really start. I'm like you. I did alternative certification, but I've always worked with students with special needs. And so I was like, I want to be a special ed teacher. I stayed home with my, my daughter for a year and my husband was like, so what are you gonna do? And I had started my master's in counseling. Yeah. And was like, you know, I think I want to be a teacher. And so I did. I was a middle school special ed teacher. I'm primarily working with elr. Yes. I loved it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So when I started, we went. I went from student teaching. I did student teaching one semester and did resource all day. And then the year I became a first year teacher, it was co teaching all the time. I was a teacher at Lubbock. Cooper is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so we were at Love at Cooper Middle School.

[C]

Oh, shout out to Love at Cooper Middle School.

[B]

And so we were kind of on the forefront of the co teach model. And so we went to several different conferences over that. And me being special ed teacher, and I'm kind of a blue personality. So I worked with five different co teachers, sixth through eighth grade. It was great. I love it. I got to help with the differentiation piece and really coming in to make, you know, that gen ed classroom room accessible to, you know, my students that were under the special education umbrella. And then I got my master's degree in deaf and hard of hearing. And so I was like, what am I gonna do next?

[A]

Were you interpreting at all?

[B]

I did have to do sign language during, but, you know, it's one of those things, if you don't use it, you lose it. And so I was okay for a while, but I haven't used it in a long time.

[A]

I know.

[B]

But I really wanted to be an itinerant teacher, so I wanted to go in and assess a classroom to see sound and different things to help our students that are deaf and hard of hearing. Yeah. And so I. I went to an interview and someone was like, at the service center, someone was like, hey, we really need you to have a little bit a diverse background to do something next. And I was like, okay. So my principal ended up moving to an elementary campus. And I was like, hey, can I come do sped at elementary with you? And he's like, well, I don't have an opening. He goes, but too bad you're not gen ed. I have a second grade position open. I'm like, I am Janet. I do have my generalist. So I actually went and taught second grade.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I got to teach Melanie lay's daughter.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Daughter.

[C]

My oldest daughter.

[A]

Wow. Did you guys know each other before that?

[C]

No.

[B]

No.

[A]

That's hilarious.

[B]

I know, it's so funny.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I was at Levitt.

[A]

Did she have all the bad stories about her teacher?

[C]

No.

[A]

From that grade you're like, that was her really tough grade.

[C]

A good teacher.

[A]

Oh, got it. Got it.

[C]

That was her favorite one.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Went and did that and did a couple more years of special education and then actually met Dr. Sherry Heider. Our daughters are the same age and they were in gym together and she kind of was like, hey, you should teach a class for us as an adjunct. And I was like, yeah, never thought about Texas Tech. You know, that was never my path. And so started doing that in a full time position for a site coordinator. Came open. I applied and got it. And so I've Worked with a variety of teacher candidates as a psych coordinator from secondary, middle level. I started out with middle level, did one, elementary, did secondary. So I've kind of done all of our pathways within tech teach as a site coordinator and then we kind of created this site coordinator coach position. And so I moved up to that. And then there was just a need for more professional development facilitators, which, you know, we help do the PD and the support of struggling teacher candidates, but as well as the district partnership, making sure that, that we're in line with all of our partners with all the initiatives. I know we're here to talk about technology and all that. And so that is something big that we talk about, even within governance because we want to know how we need to prepare our teacher candidates to go into their districts. What, what skills and what information are they sharing with their students so that we're all in alignment.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I think that's been the biggest struggle that I've seen, is that parents are under informed and overwhelmed.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Fair, right? Totally get it. There's a lot going on, a lot to keep track of, a lot. You know, we're also trying to like, I don't know, clothe and feed children. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot to it, let alone like iPads and, you know, phones and everything else. But I also think there's, you know, a really hard discrepancy when we start talking about like educators and what they are understanding and what they're doing with students. And so, you know, parents struggle to help kids through tech. I think teachers and educators in general, the country in general is struggling to help kids through that. And kids are happy that no one's learning it. Right. They're like, woo, free for all. And so really trying to figure out how do we collaborate and do that. So yeah, I think it's a really interesting, timely concept to be talking about this stuff. Well, I'm excited to be here at right across the street from Texas Tech. This is a good year for y'. All. Was it first game tonight for the softball?

[B]

Yeah. Brilliant.

[A]

It's a world Series, right? Where's it at? We were talking about where it is in Oklahoma. Oh my gosh. We actually. Yeah, we were debating about driving to San Antonio for the OH championship games. But you know, we're not going to do that because this is a little further from there. Yeah, we're from states where everything's close. That's not the case out here in Texas.

[B]

It's five, six Hours.

[A]

I know. I was like, yeah, exactly. But no, I. I love that that we're here during a timely time for you guys. And yeah, congrats on all the success for that.

[B]

It'll be an exciting night tonight.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You got to tell us where all the good hangs are, so. Yeah, that'd be great. I guess where to start is really. How have you seen as you've been preparing teachers? Because you've been eight years, right. Working for Texas Tech.

[C]

Oh, no. 13 years with Texas Tech.

[A]

Oh, my goodness.

[C]

In the classroom.

[A]

My goodness. All right. And you've been at Texas Tech for 10 years. Ten years. And it's gonna get real complicated. Cause we're talking about Texas Tech and Tech.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it's about to use that T word a little too much. But where have you seen in that time of where you've seen tech go in the classroom? Where did it start out for you guys and where is it now where you're like, oh, my gosh, like, I have to like, change how I'm even thinking about it.

[C]

Where did it start out?

[B]

At tech.

[C]

Like where?

[A]

Like where? Like when you first started working.

[C]

When I first started working as a teacher, I had two desktop computers that were dial up Internet.

[A]

Oh, my gosh.

[C]

In the corner of the room. Because dial up was so fast.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So they were not highly utilized. And I had my overhead projector, and I cherished that. And finally, I guess it was probably my fourth or fifth year of teaching. Smart boards came out big deal.

[B]

Remember that training?

[A]

If you didn't go through smart board training, you can't have one. Like, it was a big deal.

[C]

Well, we had to go through all trainings. We had to go through, like, Word, Excel, all. And the more trainings you took, the more technology you got in your classroom. So we even had clickers at one point. Point.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

But they were. Yes. The smart board was the new, like, way to go.

[B]

Prayed that your light bulb didn't go out because the light bulbs were so 5000.

[A]

It was insane. Yes.

[C]

Or that it didn't become like where you touched it and it touched a foot over. That was.

[A]

Yeah, we calibrated it. I always had to recalibrate. It's like, all right. Touch all the buttons.

[B]

Oh, yes.

[A]

And like, make sure you're doing the right thing.

[C]

I know, but even when I started at tech, that's what it was.

[B]

We had all the smart boards and all of our classrooms.

[A]

And where are we at now?

[B]

Now it's flat screen. I mean, touch screen TVs everything's, you know, mirroring from your iPads and all the.

[C]

And then students have it, also the access to it.

[A]

Yeah. I was at a point where I had the overhead. I had the. The projector that I had to, like, put on for the smart board. And I realized I was behind tech because at that point kids were starting to get smart devices. I left the public school classroom from in 2015, and they had just a couple kids had smartphones and they were actually downloading the app of the company that made the overhead projectors.

[C]

Of course they were.

[A]

And they were turning off my projector in the middle of my presentations or,

[B]

like, messing with it.

[A]

No. And I was like, what is. And I'm like, I was possessed, like, what's happening? And freaking out, realizing, oh, you guys are already getting smart. You're already, like, getting these things. It's so. Kids are so inventive, and I feel like that's their greatest strategy. Like, I feel like that's the greatest thing to harness. Even though I always hear from teachers something that is the most frustrating for them. But I also understand, like, when we're talking about 35, 40 kids in a classroom, of course it is. You're trying to just kind of crowd control sometimes. And so that's fair. But I also think of that, like, how exciting that kid's going to be like the next entrepreneur or start a new club on campus or whatever.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Like the kid that hacks like the district's grade book. Did you hear. Remember that story?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Just because he could.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And then you're like, you're. Would you like to work for a tech.

[B]

I'm going to do amazing things one day.

[A]

Right. Well. And I always said, you know, that if they put half effort into, like actually doing their work, then they did to going around it. Yeah. Well, I'm glad that hasn't changed.

[B]

Yeah, no, it hasn't. Not at all. But I think it's been cool to see, just in our time at tech, I was. I actually got to serve as a mentor teacher for tech teach before I came to tech. And they used to come in, our student teachers would come in with a tripod, this, like, ipod touch.

[A]

Oh, my gosh.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

And those fell over, of course.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it was huge. And like, a kid couldn't bump the desk at full.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Anyways. But I mean, even back then, tech teach was, you know, they were trying to pilot, like, how do we record in the classroom and do self reflection? And so, like, using technology for our Own professional development and self reflection. Tech Teach has always been kind of a leader with that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. What are the pros? I mean, what are the things that you're teaching them to use that I think are, that you think are really helpful for students?

[B]

I mean, first of all, all of our students, when they come to us as a junior, they get a technology package.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

We have figured out how to work it in as a course fee and it, they get an iPad and then we use Swivel reflectivity as our video base where all of our videos go to. It's part of our district partnership mou. And so we operate under that. It's a secured website. They have to have their TTU credentials to log in to view them and everything. And so we, we do that. We do a lot. We try to do PD with the iPad. Like what can I do with my, my school iPad and my classroom with students? How can you utilize one iPad for a whole class, Right. A station, different things like that. But.

[A]

Well, because I just think like even I'm sure you got students who are young, who are student, you know, college age.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[A]

And so they did grow up with tech, but they didn't grow up learning all of those things. Right? Like how to use it, to learn how to use it, to teach how to use it appropriately, you know, and it's like, yeah, it's awesome. You're great at Instagram, right? But like how are you using your iPad to really teach students and kind of like, I don't know, be strategic?

[C]

We have several courses, but even that specifically teach to that. But even in just regular courses, we teach them how to utilize different platforms to not just like replace things, but to enhance things. And so how to utilize things better, how to, for example, if you're going to make a presentation, what is the most appropriate way to make the presentation? How should the pictures be, how should the images be or the writing on it be? You know, just small things like that that you don't think about with that. But then now moving to AI, that's the big thing, is how to utilize AI in an ethical way and, but also to enhance you as a teacher to make you stronger in different areas. So I mean it's.

[A]

How are you doing that?

[B]

I mean, I mean we're at the cusp.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Like I'm so curious because again I'm, I, I worked in education and now I'm in tech. So now I see the AI uses for my job for tech. Absolutely. But like I didn't ever Think about that as a teacher.

[B]

As a teacher.

[A]

Although I will tell you, I was there when Google came out, how old I am, right? And we were all worried that kids were gonna cheat if they use Google. Like, oh, now they're gonna be able to look up answers. And so it was about how to teach them to research, right? And it was like, let's teach them how to use Google ethically and, like, research and cite your source. And just so you know, like, dot com isn't always trustworthy and you gotta be careful.

[C]

Same thing.

[A]

And so now it's like, this is a conversation with teachers is how does that relate to AI?

[C]

It's really teaching them about, you know, it's not alive, it's not real. And so it's gonna take everything. So our standards change, but it doesn't know that our standards have changed. So it'll take old standards and new standards and put them together. So even though, yes, you can ask it to help you make a better plan, you still have to be the human behind it and go through it and make sure, is it fully aligned. Is this what my students need? And so it's really just teaching them how to do that.

[B]

Like, to be a good consumer of their technology, of AI, of the product that they're looking at and how to

[C]

use it as a tool and not just the end of it all.

[A]

Well, and I think you have to add your voice into this. And that's why I love that you're doing it. Because so many times we're not talking to students about how to use it. We just remain silent because we're not sure how to use it. And then when we, while we're remaining silent as a society, as a school, as a whatever, they're figuring it out on their own. And that's always bad. They never learn the right ways to do stuff.

[B]

Oh, no, we are. We are using AI. We're embedding it. We're saying, create it. Yeah, okay. And Texas. Yeah, I mean, Texas is on a big shift right now with a lot more curriculum, scripted curriculum. And so we're like, do an AI lesson plan with that standard. Look at your curriculum here and compare it. And let's talk about, like, where's the alignment issues? Think about, you know, little Johnny in the corner. Where. Where can you differentiate for him? AI is not going to know your 25 students in your classroom. And so, however, it's a tool, but it's like everything. Like, I mean, we battled teacher pay. Teacher. Yeah, you know, like, everybody did teacher pay. I The Teacher Pay Teacher.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. I have not even started on that topic. That is so interesting. Teacher Pay Teacher is a website where teachers can upload their own personal stuff that they've create dated, and then you can buy it from them or rent it from them and use it in your classrooms. But it is not aligned. It is not. I mean, it's just like, whatever, right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, it's pretty.

[C]

Pretty.

[A]

I'm a high school teacher, so we used to just staple the schedule to the, you know, the dartboard and be like, we're done. That's all we're doing for decoration. I go to elementary school classrooms, and it's like, wow, y', all, like, spent all summer here. This is a beautiful place. So I totally get it. Yeah, exactly. Like, that's so funny.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So what are some of the successes you've seen with AI and teachers?

[C]

I think, I mean, how to talk to parents. That's a good one.

[A]

Fascinating.

[C]

I mean, like, if you have something come up and you've never had something come up, you can get ideas, but it will help you generate ideas on how to do this, how to navigate something like that. Even tutoring. I mean, I even do that with my own daughter on stuff. I'm like, ooh, ooh, I don't remember how to do that. Let's go get on chat real fast and teach us how to redo this. So that way I can help you with that, with math, those types of things. You know, there's different ways that you can definitely utilize it to help you be a better teacher.

[A]

Yeah. I find that interesting because I do hear a lot from younger teachers, like, intimidation from parents, and I think some of that's rightfully justified. Some parents have. Have gone a little bit crazy, I think sometimes where we're, like, demanding stuff from schools. I was of the era where it was like, it's fine. You just take care of it. And even growing up, it was like, oh, we believe the school, Adam, over anything you say. Which actually, to be fair, mom, you were right. That's correct. That was a correct response. I was like, let me give you my side. And she's like, that seems nuanced. Yes, you're right. So I think that's really a great. That I hadn't even thought of because I've read some of my nieces and nephews emails from their teachers and been like, oh, no, they put that in, right? That's not. No, no, no, no. What are you doing? So I totally think that'd Be a really helpful thing to use. That's great. I always don't want to just talk about the negative sides of tech. Right. Because I think there are some positive things. Totally. So how are you, I mean, to answer the big question, how are you preparing teachers to walk into a class where kids have been spending, the research says, up to 12 hours a day in front of a screen and are addicted to screens and are not always eating their screen time vegetables, they're eating their screen time candy. And they're not really into using it and doing research and collaboration and innovation. How are you prepping teachers to walk into that kind of an environment?

[B]

Well, I think what's interesting right now is like you said, our students coming into our program right now grew up with that device.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In their hand, I mean, at a year old.

[C]

Right.

[B]

I mean, they were swiping open mom and dad's iPhone. So right now, the students that we're teaching at going in are like, they can connect and relate to the students that they're teaching. As far as that goes, I feel like that gap finally closed. But I think for us, when they start our program, it's really teaching the professional piece. Big on professionalism and the responsibility piece. When it comes to the iPad that we issue you digital citizenship as a teacher candidate in our program and what that looks like and how you can talk to your kids there. We also have one course that it's specific around technology use and I will not be able to speak to it as well as that instructor and the creator of that course, he is constantly updating it though. I mean, because technology changes like this every week.

[A]

I know.

[B]

And so every year it's being updated and it has truly transformed to. We used to learn how to make a Google classroom.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Those types of things to. Now he's truly. They're looking at different platforms of how to. How to make like the technology really come alive to make it a cognitive experience and really up the thinking. And so how do you embed and how do you get exposure to different platforms that are going to essentially like elevate your lesson and not just play.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And so like you're saying our students are being trained to go in and use that iPad, use different technology and different platforms to integrate into the lesson so that we are getting those, those brains researching and creating and things like that versus just, you know, sitting and getting.

[A]

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Much more than just pear deck now, you know.

[A]

Right. It's not like we have to go

[B]

to like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

We're not just like oh, here's cahoots again.

[B]

Ye. Yeah.

[C]

Oh gosh.

[B]

I know, I know.

[A]

Well, and it was, you mentioned the clickers. Like I remember creating the clicker stuff and it was like, oh, and it's going to do all my like input of my. Yeah, it's going to be great. And you're like this is not, it's not. And I will tell you, there's a conversation in EdTech about like are we able to keep kids information private even on those things? Right. If I'm using cahoots in the classroom, like am I collecting data on kids scores and their names and stuff. They're talking to each other about like it to get really complicated. And so that's where like this teacher prep becomes so important because all it takes is a teacher. And again, no offense to any of the educators, but I go to one conference and I go to one vendor and I'm like, they, I go to their workshop and I want to change everything. And now I'm doing that and it's like is that actually research based? Is that appropriate? Is that healthy? Is that good for kids? We don't always, we get so excited. We don't always ask those follow up questions.

[B]

Yeah. So I think we, we try to do a lot of those things with our students. Like are you asking the question to yourself like is it research based? Is this what's best for your classroom? That's the thing. Knowing your students, we are constantly coaching on that.

[C]

Yes. Knowing your students, is this really what they need or is this, are you just doing it as a fun modern thing to include in it? So it's more about like what's the instructional need for this and trying to teach them that.

[A]

So what I hear you saying is that you are empowering teachers to really take more control in their class and be like, hey, this is how I know this kid learns and I can use these tools to help innate in that learning, which I think is should have been the foundations of education since

[C]

we've all been teaching now with the stuff we have today, I mean you can differentiate so much more with it. I mean being able to do like the screen readers for your students who need, you know, test orally, then you can't get around and read to every student so you can put it on their device and allow it to do that. You know, there's just the small things like that that really just helps the classroom run better.

[A]

Yep, yep. So now what are you seeing that's not great that you, if you had a wand. If you were like, I'm going to design the classroom of the future, how would you see tech and teaching and students interacting? What would you want? And this cannot be from. I mean, it can just be your preference or it can also be like, these are the struggles we're having and this is what we still have work left to do. It doesn't have to be.

[C]

I can tell you from my science background.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[C]

The digital labs just break my heart. I mean, they're great.

[B]

They.

[C]

But it's still not.

[A]

Yeah, Nothing compares to those beakers and touch and everything.

[C]

And actually learning how to do a triple beam balance versus being on an iPad and like doing it. I mean, there's. That just is a big thing. I still think there is a need to still have paper, pencil. I think it needs to be a good balance and what's best for whatever the lesson is that day. And for those students, we are seeing

[A]

research bear that out. Right. I mean, there's a lot of research coming out now about actually physically writing versus typing and how like we kind of need both. And we think we all kind of knew that. But I also think tech was like, ooh, we can sell every kid an iPad, every kid a Chromebook. And so I think we were combating some of those things. But yeah, I do think that there is a balance there. Okay, so you would bring back old school science. Bill Nye. I love it.

[C]

I love me some Bill Nye.

[A]

Let's do it. I know, I do too. So great.

[B]

I think from like kind of a. Maybe not the most instructional side, but a challenge we still see with our students. It is still a distraction. It's, you know, shopping is so easy on your phone, on your laptop. And so social media, the social media scrolling and things like that and snaps

[A]

and oh, keeping your streaks live at 20 something years old. Like, what are we doing?

[B]

Like, watch.

[C]

I know the watch is hard. The watch is so hard for some. So many of them cannot ignore it and they'll in the middle of teaching and just stop and you're like, what are you doing?

[A]

There's a clock up there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Well, they get those notifications and so I think like we're constantly reminding and sometimes it's some one on one conversations, but it really is like, you need to take the watch off while you're here. You need to put your cell phone in your backpack. You need to check it when there's no.

[A]

I mean, kids. That's the law for kids in Texas.

[C]

Absolutely.

[A]

So I do think this role modeling piece is really interesting because I do think even as parents, even as adults, we're like, hey, get off your phone. Right.

[B]

I know.

[A]

And so it's easy to, like, see that slipping and be like, well, I learned it by watching you, you know, like. And so really trying to figure out, how do we add our voice into that. One of the things I've been talking to young people about is changing your alerts to off.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because I want to decide when I check my device, if. If every time my device dings, I check it, guess who's in charge of my life? My device. But if I check it when I want and catch up on things, then I'm back in charge of my life. And I really want to drive my own life. Right. Like, I've. Social media doesn't drive anyone's life well. So, like, I want to be back in charge. And so just changing that one small thing can really be so helpful because then you're like, oh, I didn't even notice that I didn't get any texts. And then you have time and you can check and you realize, oh, I did. But again, schools have phone staff still.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, there's emergencies. You will find out about it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which is always great.

[B]

Yeah. I think I love, like, how you're saying, like, we try to empower our teacher candidates, but, like, all of the students that we're working with right now, they all want to be empowered. They want to be able to make their own choice. They don't want to be told what to do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

They really want the choice to make the right choice, but they have to have the right information. And so I think that's. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to empower. It's that modeling piece, you know, hang up, hang out type of thing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so if we're. If we're doing it with our teacher candidates and we're modeling and explicitly labeling, like, hey, did you notice I took my watch off? Or, hey, like, I'm going to turn my notifications on off before class starts so I'm not interrupted. Those are good things for them to go into the classroom and model for their students as well when they're student teaching.

[A]

Well, I had to do that for my lessons because my email used to pop up, and I was a special ed teacher. And so, yeah, so many violations can pop up, and kids are like, who's going home? Hold on. What does that say? You're like, no, no, no, no, no,

[B]

no, no, no, no.

[A]

So, like, you know, I got in the habit of that, and yet today I think there's not a habit of those things.

[C]

I agree.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Yeah. Anything else you'd like to wave your magic wand and fix in education

[B]

with tech?

[A]

All right, well, sure, we can start with tech.

[B]

I don't know.

[C]

I mean, I also wish the standardized test would be back on paper, pencil. I'm not gonna lie. I know it's easier on computer, but that's just me being, I guess, my age, maybe. I don't know.

[A]

I literally presented in a school in another state that I'm not gonna mention, and their whole testing platform went down the day of testing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And so now it's like. Yeah, now it's like we can't even do it. And that would have never happened in paper and pen happen if you didn't go pick it up in the district office.

[C]

Right.

[A]

That was it. And so it just is crazy that that stops all testing.

[C]

Well, and just like me and the way I think I like to write, take notes, be able to, you know,

[A]

those scratch paper was great for me.

[C]

Absolutely. And I know they can. I don't know if they're. Can they even have scratch paper?

[B]

I think they get scratch paper, but I think that that's them. Moving it to online has made teachers feel like we now have to build. Build the stamina because we're asking them to take a test for four hours on a computer. So we're actually, I mean, building eye stamina to look at a screen, to take a state assessment.

[C]

And what is it doing to our eyes?

[A]

I mean, if you talk to. To eye doctors and chiropractors, right now they're making a mint off our children. They are, because they're just staring down on screens.

[B]

I know.

[A]

For so long. And unfortunately, I. It's that I shoulda, woulda, coulda.

[B]

Right? Yeah.

[A]

I wish we could go back in education and say, you know what? Maybe not. Maybe we'll do three kids per device.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So it's collaboration and innovation. It's not one to one. Right. I really think when we went one to one and we kind of missed something, and I don't know that any of us. It's an unintended consequence. Oh, we didn't know it was gonna happen. And now we're kind of going, well, what do we do now? Because our kids are suffering. And even physical, physically, I mean, I'm having pediatricians reach out to me for documentation about what they can give kids about screen time usage. Because we've been around for 10 years. We're the leaders. You know, we serve seven and a half million families across the country. So the data we're getting and the research we're getting is insane. So saying pediatricians, here's some things you can talk to kids about and families about, because, yes, it is causing a physical problem. Not only physical, a mental health problem.

[C]

Yes. That's a huge one.

[A]

How are you guys prepping your teacher, future teachers, for anything with mental health health?

[B]

Oh, they get lots of mental health training, but it's.

[C]

They. I mean, they're required by tea, so they do have some modules over the mental health.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

But they're suffering from mental. I mean, mental health problems themselves.

[A]

So now we've got mental health strugglers.

[B]

So they know.

[A]

Working with mental health strugglers.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. It just kind of compounds it. And that's the scary part. That's the role modeling part that I think.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

It's like, hey, I need to take some time or I gonna. Let's all go for a walk. This has been a heated discussion or whatever. Let's all go for a walk. We're like teaching kids how to do some mindfulness in classrooms.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

I worked with a district who wanted to build separate mindfulness classrooms, and kids could raise their hand and go to them and calm down and then come back. And for me, that was missing the point. We need to teach them in the process. Right. I can't be like, oh, I need to get out of my car and take a walk because somebody cut me off. You know what I mean? Like, I still have to drive. I'm screaming, but now I have to drive while I'm screaming. And so it's like, I need to know in the moment how to breathe, how to drink water, how to. I think whatever.

[C]

I see that in the classroom daily, though. They. They do that, do they? Oh, yes. There's lot. Lots of good videos on YouTube and they do the different breathing techniques and they have that. So they. There is those out there and lots of teachers utilize those. Miss it.

[A]

Good. I think that's powerful. And also that's another thing to educate families on parents.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Because I. I mean, my parents lost their minds too, usually because they got a call from the school about me. So it's fair. So, yeah, it trickles down.

[B]

Yeah. I think our site coordinators to do a really good job at recognizing when things are happening, you know, in the country or, you know, if a situation happens within a district or whatever it might be and you know, just being okay to take a minute, you know, and, and talking to them about like their students that they're going to go be with tomorrow, like what can you do to try to support them or be there for them mentally through, you know, different situations that happen. So yeah, I really just think it goes back to our preparation and how, yeah, we're preparing them to be effective teachers, but we're also trying to teach them to, to, you know, prepare them to go and handle things that life throws at you. Yeah. And that's the tech stuff, the social media, the mental health, it's all a real thing. And if we're not well mentally, then we're not going to learn.

[A]

No. Nope.

[B]

Kids and adults, so we're very relational. We do a lot of different assignments. Student perception survey, we do a year long action research with them during their resume residency, their full year. And it really opens their eyes to,

[C]

you know, that social, emotional, learning.

[B]

So we do a lot of different things like that and it connects a lot to the tech part aspect of, of the classroom and their life, you know.

[A]

Totally, totally. I, we're not going to solve this right now, but if, if you could give me, our audience people a suggestion on how they can support their local 1st, 2nd, 3rd year teacher. Their kids going to school and their teacher's like, oh, we got a new teacher. It's you know, Ms. Smith and this is her, she's brand new. How can families, how can people support that teacher?

[B]

Like just period.

[A]

Yeah, just, I'm just thinking of like, what can we do to help this? To be fair, we talked before online, before we started this podcast about educators running from education. Right. That's a real life thing. So how do we support those coming in to help them kind of blossom and not run away?

[B]

Yeah, I think, I think as much as possible, if parents could just appreciate like a small thank you, small gestures, like an email just to say thank you. My son or daughter had a wonderful day, day at school today. We appreciate you.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because people that go into education, we do it for the love of, of students and relationships and things like that. And I know we try to do a lot of positive talk. We're trying to shift the narrative to be an educator. But I really think it's very meaningful when parents, when our grandparents, whoever the guardian is, appreciated the person that's with their kid more than they are during the week. And so just simple words of encouragement like, hey, you're doing a good job with my kid or whatever. It might be. I think that that would go a long way.

[C]

I agree with that. Absolutely. Just letting them know the words of encouragement, affirmation is so needed with many, many of these teachers. Yeah.

[B]

Because on hard days, those. Those affirmations, Patience will pull you through.

[A]

Well, I know a lot of parents really appreciate it when their teacher reaches out and says, your kid did a good job today, but it's so great to do that back. Right. And to also say, hey, I haven't. My kid has been struggling in school and they're not right now, and that's gotta be you. Thank you so much. And so just being able to support. We have Connected Communities program at Bark where we work with teachers, parents and students. And it's about the community. It's about all of us on the same page, talking, figuring it out together. Together. Having hard conversations together. You know what I mean? And so I think the more we can do that and support each other, the better off. I agree with that because it seems like we need some. A little bit of healing when it comes to all those three community groups.

[B]

You are so right.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for what you do. I really appreciate it. I mean, you guys are doing holy work, in my opinion. Sacred work. I mean, impacting the lives of young people is no easy task. And it's something I feel like we're all kind of called to do on some level. So I just appreciate you guys so much. But if there's anything else that you

[B]

want to share, thank you for doing what you do.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It takes all of us in partnership to. To do all of this work, so thank you.

[A]

Yeah. No, we're all in this together. Right.

[C]

And I think what you're doing, like what you spoke to with going to the elementary schools and stuff, I think that's so impactful. Yes.

[B]

And your words are going to help teachers navigate it.

[A]

It's wild what these poor kiddos. I mean, the first time I ever did a presentation was in the Northeast and this little girl, fourth grader raised her hand and was like, hey, this guy asked me this weekend before school. He was on Roblox and he asked me how old I was. And then he told me he was 40 and asked if that was okay. And I was like, like, thank you for sharing like that. I really appreciate you sharing that out loud. We're gonna chat a little bit after we're done. We're gonna go and talk to some families and some stuff. So it's okay. I'm glad you told me. And we're gonna deal with it. Because that's the thing, is we have a lot of kids who are kind and they don't want to not respond to strangers.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

But that is not building trust. And so building trust is a different conversation. And so that's the conversation we're trying to have with kiddos and such. So it's tricky, but we want to have it with parents, too, and have us all have it together.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Well, thank you guys so much for coming in and sharing your stories with us. I always think it's important. And joining us in the spirit of the west studios. Big shout out for that. I love being in Texas because there's so much pride here and you guys care and you guys are doing such great work at Texas Tech for your teachers. That is incredible. That hopefully models for other universities, cities, and schools doing similar work. So thank you for being the model. Thank you for being the trailblazers in a lot of these areas. And, yeah, keep up the hard work.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

Yeah.