Practical Access Podcast

S6 E7: Re-Inventing Classrooms with Anna O’Connor-Morin

October 28, 2021 Season 6 Episode 7
Practical Access Podcast
S6 E7: Re-Inventing Classrooms with Anna O’Connor-Morin
Show Notes Transcript

"Inclusive educators believe in valuing student differences and supporting their learning needs to the greatest extent possible." Today, Drs. Lisa Dieker and Rebecca Hines sit down and talk to Anna O'Connor-Morin. Anna O'Connor-Morin is the Director of Education and Instruction at United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Central Florida's Bailes Campus. UCP Bailes is an OCPS public charter school for students with and without disabilities in a full-inclusion model. Please tune in to hear more about UCP and how they re-invent the classroom by bringing support, education, and therapy to children of all abilities.

Don't forget we love to hear from our listeners! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We look forward to receiving your questions on our Google Phone (407) 900- 9305, Facebook (Practical Access), Twitter (@AccessPractical), or Instagram (@Practical_Access).

To learn more about United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), click the link to view videos from their YouTube channel.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvzlswbpXl3UKZ72zbvDcZg

Lisa Dieker 00:00:06 
Welcome to Practical Access I'm Lisa Dieker. 

Rebecca Hines 00:00:09  
And I'm Rebecca Hines and I'm excited about today's guests. Lisa, who do we have

Lisa Dieker 00:00:17
We have Anna O'Connor who is the senior director of UCP of Central Florida.  So I know a long time colleague, friend that we know does amazing work in our areas schools so I'm gonna let you take it away with the first question, Becky. 

Rebecca Hines 00:00:32  
So I'd love to and and just to expand a little bit Lisa. UCP of Central Florida has several charter schools that are largely inclusive, although they have a wide variety of services

Lisa Dieker 00:00:44 
And they're public charter charter schools, right? 

Rebecca Hines 00:00:46 
They're public charter schools here in the Orlando area and Anna has been with the agency from the start and she's seen a lot of growth, so I'm looking forward Anna into your perspective so my first my first question, as you've watched programming grow what, what changes in disability types or student characteristics are you seeing coming into schools over these last ten years or so? 

Anna O'Connor 00:01:16 
Thanks for having me, you know that's that's a great question and some and I just had this conversation recently is is it really a difference in disability type or is it our ability to be more scientific and meet students where they are differently and and a really concrete example of that is there's a lot of talk and discussion and an increased rise in dyslexia and really, it's a medical term It's been a medical term and you know from the education perspective and it was captured, you know, for decades as specific learning disability and and really getting down to the science of reading and where are students and where are those gaps and and how can we intervene to be the most effective is is really where I see a huge change in needs and abilities for our teachers. I think the challenge is we have teachers who are coming out who have very different, from prep programs or experiences, who have very differing levels of training and experience related to types of disabilities and intervention needs, so we're continuously looking at our professional development and and the growth needs for our schools and our teachers that are in our classrooms every day. 

Rebecca Hines 00:02:53 
That's a really interesting point Anna, and it kind of reminds me I might not have lead with the idea of kids with different disabilities you know, popping up 'cause, yeah like you, I share that idea of yeah, we just meet every kid where they are. I know from working closely in in some of your schools that behaviors continue to be a challenge it's a challenge. So that was, can you speak to that? What kind of behaviors are you seeing? 

Anna O'Connor 00:03:25 
Well that was my next area of of growth we'll call it between students that have been home due to COVID, or have been in flexible models we have seen, this school year, a very intense increase in in behaviors. Our hypothesis, you know, is the stress of what's going on day-to-day, the stress of, or the changes from COVID you know and where students were receiving their education and what types of platforms they were they were utilizing to being face to face. You know, we have toddlers in our programs now who have been identified with disabilities and intervention needs who have not been around children yet in their lives really, so you think about the social communication and developmental needs and and the behaviors that come with that even at our youngest age, ages. Then you look at students who may have made great gains and they're in second and third grade with autism, and they were home for long extended periods of time where we're facing very, very challenging situations to get them you know, re-acclimated to routines and school based expectations that have teachers really learning learning everyday how to respond, learning everyday and, you know, take care of, you know, the instructional components of their job? 

Lisa Dieker 00:04:58 
Well, yeah behavior that's interesting and not surprising to us we both have been out in classrooms a lot. But you know I'm going to flip the script a little bit because one of the things that I think for our listeners is it's really hard to envision the beauty of what you do at UCP of Central Florida. And I really encourage our listeners, you all have some of the best YouTube, like if you feel like a Kleenex moment, go out and watch some of those beautiful YouTube videos. I saw the one yesterday in a speech about the friends and I don't remember the two kids names, but I literally left there and thought okay, I do need a tissue now so I I want Anna if you could just share for a moment, I know it seems foreign to you, but to our listeners, I mean, it seems normal to you, but to our listeners this is somewhat of a foreign concept. Could you share with us kind of an image of what a day in the life of a teacher at UCP might look like? Just pick a classroom and kind of share with us you know who might be there and you talked about behavior, dyslexia. It sounds like you know that might be sprinkled that that's like like in every classroom, right? So could you kind of give us a vision of what maybe a a traditional day in a classroom might look like. 

Anna O'Connor 00:06:09 

Yeah well, a traditional, the word traditional, in any one of our classrooms is probably the least thought of word because you know our teachers start by meeting kids at car doors 'cause we have, you know our students arrive by parents every day as schools of choice. Then they'll get to their classrooms and begin with announcements you know and things that are very, you know, commonly thought of in schools. But what you don't see is typically you know desk in rows or one teacher at the front of the classroom giving you know a whole group lesson. You'll see small groups right out of the gates doing different things kids individually maybe checking in with a behavior coach and a therapist coming in and and jumping in during small group reading and running a whole rotation or in our pre K classrooms, a therapist coming in and running circle time and the teacher you know tagging out and learning from what that therapist is bringing to the table. You'll see kids moving around on different types of seating. You might see a kid under a desk, and sometimes that's a behavior, and sometimes that's where they work best. So it really just varies on age, on grade, on the level of expertise and comfort that the teacher has, and and sometimes it's a science room and sometimes it's a social studies lesson through reading, you know, and those are common practices in all types of schools, but we'll have three or four staff in a room at a time and when I walk by, if I don't know all of the staff, I can't tell who the lead teacher is because everybody is providing support, education and instruction you know all day long, long all across the school campus. 

Lisa Dieker 00:08:05 

Yeah, and you don't have those self contained places you might have moments to help kids deescalate or to get some intensive therapy, but again, for our listeners, I just want you to know that we're talking about schools that's got beautiful children that might have a walker, a wheelchair, special seating and dyslexia, autism and neurotypical students too and I want to make sure people know that this is really a very, very inclusive school. And I'm going to add one last question for you. I know you're very proud of your high achievement gains, so I would just like to know not only is that what it looks like, but how have you been so successful in being at the top, you know, pre pandemic you ran one of the top literacy schools in the state. So what do you think the secret is in helping kids learn to read that really come from a very range of backgrounds?

Anna O'Connor 00:08:55 

I I'm going to discuss this through the lens of students that have come into our school that have been in other schools and I'll say how's it going and great, do you miss your other school? No, why? Because the teachers have time for me here and they make time and everyone wants to be here and it really, that's the difference. When you have such a passion, commitment and people that choose this profession through the the way that they do. When you have that philosophical belief of inclusive practices, you get, you get to get to work faster and more thoroughly and more directly. So that's really how one of the main aspects of of how I attribute our learning gained success. 

Rebecca Hines 00:09:51 

And again for our listeners, the schools there, the primary school that that we've been talking about is the Bailes Community Academy, which is the largest of of your schools and arguably the most inclusive of your schools and I know that it includes kids at all levels, gifted down to significant disabilities. So, Anna teaching that teaching in the classroom like that I know is stressful for teachers and you know is stressful for teachers. So as a leader, my final question is what can you do or what are you doing to support the teachers themselves? It's a stressful time. What are you trying ? 

Anna O'Connor 00:10:35 

So we have really real conversations about what to share and what to shield teachers from. What can we take off of their plate? What can we ask them not to do in order to decrease the stress, and I think that's the number one thing is, be cognizant of anytime you ask a teacher to do any one more thing, it's just that might be the one more thing that they're not ready for. So be cognizant of what we ask them every step of the way and and #2 in education we forget to celebrate. So walking around and giving someone a high five and telling them I'm so glad you're here today as a team member is the second thing that we all can do every single and the group that I'm the most worried about right now honestly, in our profession are the principals. Principals are doing great great work and problem solving at rates every single day that are just unbearable sometimes whether it's social, emotional needs, behavioral needs, making sure kids are fed and, or getting counseling that's needed and getting to the instructional aspects. Our principles are really carrying the load and celebrating the miracles that I see them facilitate is just absolutely key. 

Lisa Dieker 00:11:55 Speaker 1 

Well, Anna thanks and I thinks my last question for you is going to be, I think a simple one, but you you have such a mindset there for meeting every kid where they are. What would you tell that teacher that maybe fears or it's their first experience with a wider range of learners in their classroom? What's, what's your first like your one grain of wisdom that you might tell a new teacher in your building, or you know I'm just getting started and I'm like I want to do this, but I'm but I'm not comfortable, I'm a little bit afraid. What's what's your word of advice? 

Anna O'Connor 00:12:31

To consider, what do we have to lose? Let's try it. Maybe it will work and we'll look at the data and the evidence, and maybe it won't and we'll shift and we'll try something else, but we have nothing to lose only thing, only to gain for for the students and for the class. Nothing is off the table when it comes to what we might accomplish together. 

Lisa Dieker 00:12:58

I love it. I love it. Well, thank you for joining us and please listeners. If you have questions or we encourage you to go visit UCP of Central Florida's vast YouTube videos. But do grab some Kleenexes and Anna thank you for your leadership and joining us today.