Chris Emdin on STEM, STEAM, Make Dream

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Learn more at www.gettingsmart.com slash smart sprints or at the link in the show notes. Getting Smart You’re listening to the Getting Smart podcast. I’m Shani Corellis, and today I am joined by the one, the only, Chris Invin, founder of Hip Hop Ed, where he is the colleague of our former gas, Timothy Jones. Chris was also the multicultural educator of the Year Award recipient, and is the

author of books like White Folks Who Teach in a Hood, and for the rest of y’all too, Ratchadimate and most recently, STEM, STEAM, Mate, Dream, Chris. We are so thrilled to have you with us today, and like I said, I’m a fan. It’s so good to see you and to hear you. How are you? I am great, and I am really honored to be on this platform with you guys, so excited to get into the conversation. Absolutely. Let’s get into it. What brought you to your passion for STEM?

You know, I was always that kid who asked questions about everything. Mom, why is the sky blue? Mom, why did a car go to? And like, I was always an inquisitive child, and I didn’t know back then that that meant being a scientist until I got into the sciences and started realizing the most prolific and brilliant minds in the world of science are those who pose questions about things as they are for the sake of constructing a world as it should be. And so,

my inquisitive nature as a child brought me to the sciences. There was a space in between, which was when I was in school, and I wouldn’t say that my scientific acumen or interest was fostered when I was in school, but somewhere along the way, who I was at four and five is what brought me to being a scientist as an adult. Yeah, so when you think of being inquisitive and when parents don’t really know what to do with those children, how can they help them? Well, you know, the first

step in fostering the inquisitive nature of a child is never shutting down the questions, even if they’re annoying, even if they don’t make sense, or even if they’re simplistic, like sometimes, you know, a child asks a question you have the answer to, you shout the answer back at them, and then that’s the end of the sort of of the curiosity. So it’s always about, it’s about responding to questions with more questions to make the child go and embark on that journey on their

own. And that’s a parenting strategy, but that’s also a teaching strategy. I always tell my teachers that I train, don’t ever pose a question if the answer is yes or no. Always pose a question that forces the child to want to know more and ask more and delve into an interrogation of the concept more. So the first thing is never shut down questions. And when I say shut down questions, it’s not just like being quiet, but it’s also never shut down a good question with a succinct

answer. The second part is that you want to make that child’s curiosity be a part of what the nature of the family structure is like. You know, oh my gosh, you asked that question. I was wondering the exact same thing. And guess what, your grandma always asks those kind of questions too. So you want the child to feel as though their inquisitive nature is something innate in who they are as they are. And once they feel like it’s like, oh, it’s a family thing to ask

questions and my questions are never shut down, then they start constructing an identity around being inquisitive and curious. And once you light that fire in a child from early, it lasts for the rest of their lives. Yeah, so was that kind of the precipice for your book, Stemstein, Make Dream, like any introduction you mentioned, like unsaid words, and you were talking about how being inquisitive becomes a part of that child’s identity. So when you talk about those unsaid words

versus the said words, and how that can create a fracture in one sense of self, what are the unsaid words that you’re talking about? And how as a child do you begin to hear them? You’re first of all, Shawnee, can I just say this? Like, the question already says to me that you actually sat with the work. And I just want to say thank you, you know what I mean? Because like, folks like Dr. E, come on and they’ll ask you, I’m like, yo fam, what are you asking me about? Like,

but the fact that you know the work, yes, that’s the answer to that question is yes, yes. You know, I opened up the book with my own story by telling a story of how I was, I was supported on my intellectual journey. But I always felt as though there was a piece of myself that was out of reach because I was never named that. I was never called that. I was called smart and curious and artistic, but I was never called scientist. I was never called mathematician.

And somehow the words that folks say to you matter, but the words that folks don’t say to you makes you feel as though who you are is limited by what you can’t see yourself as. And so I opened up the book that way. And then I write the book to show how we can undo that. Like, how do you tell a child their sciences? How do you make them feel like they’re math, they’re mathematical? How do you give them examples of scientists and mathematicians that they wouldn’t think are that?

Like in a book, I have only stories like, you know, if like Neil deGrasse Tyson or or or little Miss Flynn or or or or Jeff Henderson, who’s a sneaker designer, because it’d be like, that guy’s a scientist. Yes, they’re science and mathematician. So I wrote the book to tell stories that are not been told. I wrote the book to tell and use my own life experiences and exemplar of how we need to operate differently and how we frames them to young folks. And then I wrote the

book to give teachers and parents like examples. Like, you know, I have like quotes and stories. And I also have like lesson plans and ideas and narratives. And then I also wanted the book to feel sexy. Like, you know, something make dream like has a nice glossy cover and their images in there and pictures. And I think all of those things matter. It’s about giving folks a little bit of everything they need to be able to reimagine STEM for the next generation. Yeah, absolutely. And

giving folks what they need. I like how you’re saying that is for the teachers too. Because when you were talking about, because it really stuck out to me when you were like, the process of rigor doesn’t mean the absence of joy or passion. And so when the teacher doesn’t have those tools, then they often result to rigor, rigor, rigor, but then that balance in there. So how can educators ensure that there is a balance? Well, the first thing is just to redefine what academic excellence

is, what academic success is, and what rigor is. I think it starts there. Because, you know, I can’t make a teacher or I can’t guide a teacher to see how they teach differently if they have fixed definitions around the essence of teaching and learning. So I always tell teachers like, what does rigorous mean to you? And then I start saying, well, so rigorous means the kids are sitting down quietly and really working on a hard task. Is that really rigor though? Like,

could they be engaging in an academically rigorous task while enjoying it? So let’s like, let’s redefine rigor. What does academic success look like to you? The kids have a lot of degrees. Oh, yeah? Well, could somebody be academically successful without an academic degree and be able to hold a conversation and be scientifically literate and mathematically have a mathematical acumen like, can that be successful? Oh, wait, let’s redefine that. What does assessment look

like to you? The kids circle test, can you assess knowledge and more diverse and complex way? So it’s about redefining these pillars of teaching and learning and helping folks to understand that our established definitions of these things are actually fabrications of what the authentically are that we have been conditioned to believe that rigor has to look like rigor mortis. Right? We’ve been brainwashed into believing that assessment looks like boredom and memorization.

And once we are able to redefine the broad terms, then I can equip teachers with tools to be able to get to the essence of those things. Now, this is not to say we don’t want kids to go to college. This is not to say we don’t want kids to do well on tests. It is not to say we don’t want her to be able to get degrees and pass it. But it is to say that those are not the goal and that the goals that we, what we placed at the, my man Sim says this all the time,

what we placed at the ceiling is actually the floor where we want them to do is actually soar bars. Right? And once you understand that dimension of things, you can, you can move a teacher alone. You can move a parent alone in how they work with children. And so once you get to that essence, how do you make it so that it becomes a part of the culture and not just something for the moment? And every consistent patterned action over time

becomes ritual. Let me say that again. Every consistent patterned action over time becomes ritual. That is to say, some of the rituals in contemporary K-12 education exist not because they are essential for good teaching and learning, but because they become ritualized, because they were part of the practice that has existed for the last 20 years and we keep doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it. And so if you want to interrupt and establish ritual,

you must construct new practices and you must not stop at once or twice because practices need to exist at least three times and three different contexts and three different ways until they become ritualized. So the only way you interrupt is to bring the new energy. You know what I mean? Bring that racidemic energy to the joint and, and, and, and don’t stop the first time it gets resistance, but rather push through till the practice becomes a ritual. Yeah. I mean, so,

for me, say, you know, how do you make this a part of what we do in schools and not a one and done? Do it. And when you do it the first time and folks reject it, you do it again. And what if that feels uncomfortable? You do it three times. And before long, you will find that this new practice has become a ritual. And once you’ve ritualized solid pedagogy, it becomes part of the infrastructure of the curriculum. And so it’s about consistency, fam, care, consistency,

and trust, you know, they’re the seedbed of any progressive teaching and learning. Now, are those the same seeds to help kids imagine and dream themselves into what they desired to be? Well, you know, they’re multiple seeds, beloved, like, you know, in my work, what I’ve tried to do, and this is a really important point that you’re getting me to, is to teach well, right? To be able to be an adult who faces children, to bring forth from

them their best. It takes a bit of sociology, a bit of psychology, a bit of art, a bit of performance, a bit of counseling and therapy, like you have to know so much to be in your element. And sometimes we get so overwhelmed by the deluge of things that we’re supposed to be as teachers that we don’t know how to be able to glean from those things, like what we need to do every single day. And so that’s why in my work, I always try to give the broad ideas and shrink it down to

something that’s implementable. So I’ve got, you know, the seven C’s of reality pedagogy that were outlined and for white folks who teach in the hood, right? Then I’ve got, you know, the seven rights of the body as they articulated in the last chapter of my last book, Ratchademic, Reimagining Academic Success. And I just want to tell folks too, that might be my best book yet, you know, for the scholar, you know what I mean? Like, what are parents and all that?

STEM’s Team Make Dreamers the one, you know, for the white educators, it might be for white folks, like, like the one that captures the essence of emptiness, Ratchademic, you know what I mean? So in that book, I have these seven rights of the body that I, you know, that shrinks some ideas down. Then I got, you know, the seven performance art, you know, capacities. So there are a number of things, but the goal of shrinking those things down in these various C’s and various versions

is not to just like make things quotable, but to shrink things down so to become palatable, right? A professor or a scholar has to operate like a teacher, give the young folks the inspiration, then give them the tools to get there. This is constructivism 101, brofilosophical concepts, tangible, implementable practices, at some point they meet and make good teaching and learning. And when you talk about all of that, that all has to be obviously surrounding in love and

SEL, the social and emotional learning. And you talk about that, but you talk about it in a different kind of way. When you’re talking about PTSD, it’s not associated with the usual definition. What is PTSD to you and what’s the cure? I, you know, I, I name multiple PTSD’s in STEM, Steame, Make, Dream. I talk particularly about poor teaching of STEM disorder. And I, and I, and I name it a PTSD because, you know, post-traumatic stress disorder is a traditional PTSD,

but poor teaching of STEM disorder invokes the same kind of trauma as a traditional PTSD. Now this is not to, you know, make light of those who have had traumatic experiences, but it is for us to be able to expand our definition of trauma. If a young person has experiences in STEM and they leave the classroom not feeling smart, feeling inadequate, feeling like I’m not smart enough, I’m not good enough. And every time they see numbers, they get scared.

I go out to dinner with smart people and they always hand me the check you do you. And I’m like, why you want to give me a, well, you decide as a math person, I’m like famous division. If a, if a whole grown adult feels trauma around paying a check and calculating the taxes, there’s trauma. And so we have to approach the poor teaching of STEM disorder like it’s traumatic. One, you have to reimagine the conditions that the young person experiences that invokes the trauma

so that every science and math classroom going forward has to have something in that space that is welcoming to be able to not have the young person feel that trauma. And when I say welcoming, I’m not just talking about the teacher saying, Hey, you’re welcome. I’m talking about the environment. What’s on your walls? What kind of posters do you have? How’s a young person being reflected in a curriculum or in a textbook? Do they see faces like theirs in the, in the lesson

plan? You know, all those things have to be put in place for you to be able to create a kind of classroom that helps a young person to heal from the trauma of a flawed pedagogy. And so, you know, and I write about all this in STEM, CMC McDream, because I, because I really do believe that science, technology, engineering and mathematics are sites of trauma for children. And they’ve been sites of trauma for adults. This is why people say things like, I’m not a math

person. I’m not a science person. And like they literally every single time you utter that, you’re reframing your identity as not being able to be good enough to enter into a domain that you obviously have the capacity due to because you’re alive. And so, you know, for me, it’s important to name the trauma, then to address the conditions that made the trauma come to be and then create an anecdote to the trauma so our babies can be, be free. Yeah.

Absolutely. It’s given me Dr. Joy’s vibes about vacant self-esteem and post-traumatic slave disorder. And we can go deep into that. But I’m, yes, but I’m going to stay with the STEM thing for a second because I know that also leads to that vacant self-esteem, especially for our young black men and black and brown boys and men. But as you think about walking through your STEM neighborhoods, when you’re seeing those boys, how, what is, what does that STEM neighborhood

look like? Walk us through that STEM neighborhood. First of all, I couldn’t help but when you said black boys and men and I, you know, I, I, I want, I couldn’t help but say, because in traditional schools, they always sitting at the end of the road, you know, you know, for those of you who enter our 90s R&B, you’ll get where I was going there. But what I mean that genuinely is that they, they’re always sitting at the, at the end of one road unable to go into a journey into the

other. Right? Like it’s always like, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good at athletics, at being funny, at sports, at, you know, at hip hop and all these things. And then you get to the internet like, okay, so what’s next? Like is this all I am? Why do I always sit at the end of one road and I’m not able to continue a journey towards STEM and actualization? You know what I mean? So, so, so that’s important to know. And then in the book, I have this really

beautiful drawing. I just, the folk, y’all better cop this joint. You know what I mean? Like, I had this drawing of, of how I envisioned STEM. And I was like, I don’t know if this is going to work for everybody, but this is the how I see it. And I’ve always seen STEM as a neighborhood. Like they’re not all one in the same, but there’s a science neighborhood, there’s the, there’s the, there’s a science block, the math block, the engineering block, the tech block, you know,

the blocks are sometimes at war with each other because they want to see what the best block is, but they still in the same neighborhood because we all say, oh, they’re all the same. And then in that journey in that neighborhood, they all these pathways in like arts is like the main thoroughfares like the Martin Luther King Boulevard of any, or any hood. It’s like, there’s got to be that one long big MLK Boulevard that passes by all of many neighborhoods. And so you

got to get on the arts MLK Boulevard to get to the block of science and math and then during the mathematics, you know what I mean? And I feel like in that neighborhood also, they’re like people along the journey that can help you out that they may not look like they know what they’re doing, but they’re always the ones to get you there. It’s like when you lost and your phone is on zero and you ain’t got no charger and you finally got to wind the window down and ask that weird

dude on the corner, yo, how do I get the math? And you be like, he should not notice, but he does, if you ask him the directions. And so I created this diagram, this picture that was like, what in my head STEM looks like? And I wanted to offer what was in my brain to the world, because I feel as though if folks see the world in that way, they don’t get so intimidated by their experiences in STEM. Like the purpose of articulating that vision in my head and putting

it on paper is to create the conditions to allow folks to not feel as though, you know, because I did well in science and not well in math, I couldn’t do well in STEM and then check out of all of it. Like I wanted folks to see how inclusive this was and how art and culture are in that neighborhood to help you to be able to navigate it successfully. Yeah, no, I love that. I love how you don’t have to stay on the street that you’re on and that, you know, you’re not defined by that

street, but you can go over to the next block and dig into something totally different. What are some of the best schools around the globe doing in STEM education and what can we learn from them? You know, I always tell folks like, my, and this is, this is, it’s hard to say this because I get to visit a lot of schools, a lot of people invite me in and they do good stuff. So it’s, it’s like, it’s like asking, um, it’s like asking somebody your favorite child or, or if somebody

asks me what’s your favorite MC, I’m like, ah, like, you know what I mean? So it’s hard to name the best schools because I’ve seen some really great schools. I’ve seen some awful ones, but right now I’ll like high tech high in San Diego is a beautiful place, man. It’s just special. I think the way that, um, making and creating and doing and being inquisitive and being curious is built into the curriculum fosters a kind of STEM identity. Like in STEM, see, make,

dream, I have this diagram where I talk about like science mindedness. Like you ain’t got to be well in, do well in science per se, but you got to develop these science mindedness skills. Like, you know, and if you read the book, you’ll see the heroes that I’m talking about the picture I’m talking about. And I feel like high tech high does a good job at that. Um, you know, I went to Brooklyn technical high school and I’ve written about that school in many ways in different

texts and articles and oftentimes don’t necessarily celebrate all that’s going great at that school, but tech is a place that treated those children like they were smart. They had some issues with some black and brown babies at certain points, but you knew when you walked out of hallway and tech like, yo, you smart and there were high expectations set because of that that made you want to go into these disciplines. So I was an aerospace major in tech. I didn’t even know what

aerospace was, but I like planes. And when I went there, I learned about other dimensions of STEM through aerospace. And I was viewed as intelligent, even though I was also viewed as problematic because my blackness and my hoodiness, but there was something there that was magical than Brooklyn Tech. So if I was going to use two exemplars right now, I would say Brooklyn Second High School, my alma mater, I would say high tech high in San Diego.

And so as we think about what we can learn from both of those schools, and I always talk specifically about high tech high just because I’ve been there a few times, but what does it mean when kids can see their STEM like work just right in front of you on display? What does that mean? That’s every look, you’ve got to see you. That’s important, particularly for black and brown children, like you’ve got to enter into a space and say, Oh, wait, it’s a black teacher. What was that? Was that a

black principal? Was that a black consultant? Like, so in Latino students, wait, wait a second. That was a Latino teacher who came by and said, What’s up? Oh, this is a special invited guest that looked like me and have the same accent. So the first thing for children is they’ve got to see people that reflect who they are in positions of power in the institution. Then that allows them to see themselves as having power and potential. Then you got to see your work. Wait, I created that

piece and it’s being celebrated and everybody who walks in here sees this every day and talk about how brilliant that is. Because and when I see my work being revered and celebrated and I’m inundated with it, I always want to do what? I want to do better than the last work. You don’t have to motivate a child to put work in when you did something and that’s dope. And you got accolades for it, respected and loved for it. And now they’re like, All right, what else do you want to do? I want to

do the same thing as that, but better this time. And so you don’t have to say, you know, put an academic challenge. The only challenge is yourself. One of my favorite quotes is the only man better than me is embedded in me. They bury me without resurrect so effortlessly. You want to invoke that in these babies. The only person that’s better than you is better than you. You don’t want to meet a benchmark because of statesets. So you want to meet a benchmark and surprise that because you know

there’s more in you. And that happens when you see your work. So those are why those things are important. And I’m a firm believer in creating spaces like one of my newest projects, you know, beyond like my hip hop work and my STEM theme work, whatever else it is, is just building classrooms. You know, I partnered up with Lincoln Center for the performing arts to reimagine what a post pandemic classroom is that allows a teacher to see a young person as a work of art and see themselves as a

performance artist. So what is this? If you see them as art and you see yourself as an artist, then you must be in a stage that invokes that art. So what does the classroom look like? I don’t look that was some architects and some furniture designers and that’s a that’s a that’s a new arena of my work because I started realizing that you can have amazing pedagogical practices in a space that dulls the spirit and soul and then they become limitations to what you do pedagogically,

not because of what you say, but because of the the pneumatological environment. You know what I mean? Ain’t no space for the spirit to flow. And sometimes an aesthetic environment invokes new possibilities and you must do that. I’m currently with the pedagogy. Yeah, typically when we think about creating those environments, obviously we’re creating them for kids and we’re creating them in a way so that they can be creative and imaginative and and do like project based learning and solve

problems. But so many times people think those things are just for kids and not for teachers and not for parents. So what are some activities that adults can do to re-inspire their love for learning so that they can be a better version of themselves to show up differently for students? Yo, the same thing you do for the kids. Look, we’re people. Kids need love. So do grownups. Kids need beautiful spaces. So do adults.

Kids need to surround themselves with people who believe in the best of who they are. So do adults. And for me, for teachers, you know, my one rule of thumb is always just don’t kick it with suckers. You know what I mean? Like, you know, a teacher becomes a reflection of the kind of teachers they surround themselves with. And you will oftentimes find a teacher who has a belief in the possibilities for the future who will be around other teachers who don’t.

And you see them six months later and they’re so for me, like, if you want to stay inspired, stay around inspirational people. And if they’re not in the physical place that you are, go find them online. Join hashtag hip hop ad and get on our Twitter spaces every Tuesday night at 815 and get some of this joy, get some of these thoughts, get some of this inspiration, meet people in the network. You know, but you’re, as an educator, you are a reflection of the kind of educators that

you associate yourself with. You know, Misery loves company, but nowhere more than teaching. And you’ll find yourself losing your essence when you surround yourself with folks who don’t believe in the radical possibilities in teaching and learning. You know what I mean? And then also, like, you know, you know, everybody knows me knows I like to dress up like I’m rocking. So I’m promoting today. You know, I mean, I got a little hoodie that says real men teach. I think it’s also

about embracing where you are as it relates to teaching. Like I’m a dude who historically like not everybody might feel like you want to go teach and do education. What’s wrong with you? No, that’s my that’s my calling real men teach. I’m proud about that. You know what I mean? If you assist or you know, you’re part of LGBTQ population or you’re an indigenous person or whatever it is, like lean into who you are and connect that to the calling that it is to teach.

And once you do that, where your authentic self is connected to teaching, you stay inspired. You know, nobody got to inspire you. You will inspire yourself. Yeah, absolutely. And when you talk about inspiration and leaning in and you kind of lean into your ratchetness, which you’re, you know, so proud of and you mentioned your your best work, define what ratchet is define that for us. Yeah, to be ratchet is a multi layer definition. I mean,

um, you know, a ratchet is in a conventional definition, you know, a tool, right? It’s a, it’s a, you know, a ratcheting wrench. It’s a tool that oftentimes is small enough to go into small spaces to help you to be able to tighten or loosen something so that it can be more effective. That’s a ratchet. Um, as a, as a nineties, New York, hip hop, you know what I mean? A ratchet is the secret weapon. Yeah, I mean, I write about this in ratchet, demigod. You don’t mess with

old boy. He got the ratchet on him. That means he got, he got something on him that he could air to place out, right? Any more contemporary definitions of ratchet or ratchet is a way of knowing and being just a little much, a little extra, a little loud, little obnoxious, but literally it’s saying a little bit more authentic and a little bit anti-respectability. And when I define ratchet, particularly as a connector being ratchet, demig, it’s all three, right? The ratchet is

the thing that is a tool that you hold that can help you to loosen or tighten to make life easier. That should be a secret weapon that you hold that could make folks know that you have arrived, but at the same time, that weapon does not get revealed until you’re pure authentic self. So when I say ratchet and ratchet, demig, it’s a triple entendre. You know what I mean? It’s my secret tool. I hold close within that can air the space out, but can open up new possibilities.

And that must be combined with my academic and intellectual self. And when I could put them things together, them triple ratchets and my triple academic also, because in ratchet, demig, I write about to be academic is to be, you have to have knowledge of books, knowledge of self and circumstances and surroundings. So if you have your knowledge of your books, self and surroundings, and you got that secret weapon that can air the place out that you hold tight to make things

looser, then the world opens up. And I want all our babies to know that they could be ratchet, demig. You could be you and be smart. And today, we are finding children as early as eight, seven, six years old saying, I’m going to be myself. I don’t like school. And you say, how are you saying yourself and not school? Not because they constructed that their authentic selves are not educational or related to academics, but because schools have told them

that. And when schools define those things as separate, young folks reject knowledge. They’re rejecting the structures of school, but they start rejecting the pursuit of knowledge because they believe that schools about pursuit of knowledge, when in reality, it’s about conditioning. And so for me, it’s about how do you recondition young folks to embrace their full selves? You know what I mean? Read these books, get these degrees and also be flies hell. And I want our teachers to get

there. I want our students to get there. And I feel like if we do, we have a better future for this work. So how does that happen? How do educators embrace that ratchet culture? Find who you are. You know, when I say ratchet, I don’t necessarily mean like hood ratchet for everybody, some of y’all suburban, some of y’all rural. I think it’s ratchetness is just finding your authentic and pure self. And most educators don’t know themselves. Everybody got a little ratchet in them,

in the words of Lou Buzzi. And then everybody’s performing what they think a teacher should be. And they don’t realize that when you’re your authentic self, it actually helps you to connect best with young folks. And you ain’t got to be like them young folks. You just got to be you. And so I think it’s about not don’t be like Emden. I’m unique and special. But guess what? You are unique and special as well. And I can’t be you either. And if you find your

best you and connect that to the work of connecting with young folks to be able to bring forth the best of them, then you’re more effective and the conditions to allow them to be more academically inclined and to work in a pursuit of knowledge increases exponentially. Because kids can see it right. They can see when you’re not being you. Damn. They spot this, your kid could smell a sucker from a mile away.

And we haven’t realized that yet. You trying to be a good teacher and they’re just saying, oh, you’re a good fraud. And so I will refuse to learn from you because you’re not being a fool and true self. Yeah, absolutely. Well, let’s let’s close with a segment that we call one to one. All right. So what’s one voice that helps shape your thinking, two insights for ad leaders and one additional insight. All right. One voice that helps shape my thinking. I would say is

whoof. Maybe maybe I would say in education or just generally in education, I would say I’m always moved by Paulo Freire’s work. I feel in many ways that the work I do is a is a contemporary iteration of an application of for this season of his work. I mean, when I read pedagogy of the oppressed, I like, I like, or teaching and transgressing like my mind opened up around what I thought of it. So yeah, in education, that’ll be my one and

educate. We’re going to keep it education. One, that’s my one. Two, what was it? Two, two notes for ad leaders, two insights for ad leader, leaders. Leadership is more about service than it is about what you think leadership is. And if everybody in your building understands that you are there in service of children and teachers, it’s important and they will coalesce around you and follow you. But as long as you think that you are guiding the ship with

them following behind and not you in service of them, you’re always going to have a struggle. So that’s the first thing. The second thing for ad leaders is you can’t lead no teachers if they don’t see you in the classroom. Anybody trying to listen to you or your PDs or little articles that you put in the mailbox, don’t nobody care, bro. They want to see that you have walked in their shoes and that you’re willing to walk in their shoes that you’re willing to fail with them

and learn with them and inform them with love because you’ve been there with them. So if you want to lead a teacher, teach that teacher’s class with that teacher, witnessing it with love. And then debrief with that teacher and say, what could we have done better? What did I do wrong? What did I do right? So you lead teachers by teaching with them. And then the last one, who was the last one again? One additional insight, additional insight. Teaching is a performance art.

It is. It is, it is, it is walking into a classroom physically or virtually, knowing that everything from the top of your head to the sole of your feet is a co-teacher. And you must find ways to use all of your limbs and fingertips and eyebrows and lips and nose and arms and toes to help you to give forth to young folks something that makes them turn on. Like, don’t abandon this body. Know your body, know yourself and use it to help you connect to those

babies. Teaching is a performance art. Yeah. Teaching is a performance art. Well, this has been a pure joy. If the people listening here are inspired, if they aren’t like motivated to go get those kids into STEM professions and to learn more, then they weren’t listening close enough. They need to go listening in. So thank you, Chris, so much for all of your passion, your motivation, what you’re doing out here on behalf of the ad leaders. We want everybody to keep learning

and keep innovating for equity. Thank you so much. Thank you. I just, I got to close out with this. It’s hard to be consistent in creating something for teachers and ad leaders. And y’all been consistent. I got episodes out and you keep going at it. And I want you to know that this is a platform that is needed. So I see you. Keep going. Don’t let up. You know what I mean? So the babies get free, right? Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much. Voila.

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