20 Minutes of Teaching Brilliance (On the Road with Trust-Based Observations)

Ted (Intro Outro Man): Welcome to 20 minutes of teaching brilliance on the road with Trust Based Observations.

Every week while training school leaders, Craig Randall, the developer of Trust Based Observations, witnesses brilliant teaching during their 20 minute observations.

Wanting to share that teaching brilliance with others, we talk shop with those teachers, learning what they do that is so impactful.

We hope you enjoy.

Nancy Jenkins: Hi everyone.

My name's Nancy Jenkins.

I'm a trust-based observation trainer.

In February, I was at Bahrain Baan School in Bahrain, and it was my absolute pleasure and privilege to observe a lesson to taught by Danny Eunice.

It was an absolutely phenomenally energetic, passionate lesson.

We were just blown away by the variety of strategies that Dani used to engage her students who, who were learning how to read.

They were clearly having so much fun as well as, as learning and of course learning and fun a a very closely related, and it was also so evident the way Donna.

Gave them responsibility, gave them choice, gave them autonomy, and I think that was the very, one of the most powerful things about the class.

They wanted to work for her.

They trusted her.

And she was determined that they were going to learn.

So Donna, thank you so, so much for being with us today.

I so appreciate it.

So can you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your, your journey into teaching and your, your role at Bahrain Baan School, BBS.

Dana Younes: Absolutely.

First of all, thank you so much for having me.

This is such a, an exciting experience.

I. I'm so excited to share the story.

So yes, I am d Unis.

I work at Bahrain Bayan School and my role there is I am an a EA teacher, which is a special education role.

We're we provide additional educational assistance.

That's the roles name.

I am a special educator and I am technically a fresh graduate.

I just graduated back in 2024, so this is my first year working.

As a special educator.

So my role at Bahrain Bayan School is to provide sessions, support sessions for students who require support.

And that takes the form of pullout sessions or push in sessions, depending on the case.

And of course, my role also involves collaborative planning with homeroom teachers to ensure that those students that I do support either push in or pull out, do get taken into consideration when they're.

Lesson planning to make sure that the content is differentiated for the student's needs.

Other than that, we also do case management where I take care of the student's needs across his school.

So not just during my sessions or in his homeroom class in the specific subject that I support, but rather across.

Classrooms and the cross needs.

So that is my specific role.

Now.

I teach English, Arabic, and executive functioning sessions.

That's what the support that I provide.

And I'm part of a four person team for the PRI primary school.

And then we have four people for middle school and then four for high school.

So the support staff is de department wise per school.

And that's it.

That's my role.

Nancy Jenkins: That's fantastic.

And, and how did you and what was your, your academic training and specific training to become a team?

Dana Younes: Yes.

Okay.

So I majored in education English, so that was my bachelor's, and then I minored in psychology and spent a two year program to get a teaching diploma and special needs.

So I. Started off in a general classroom and ended up in special education, and that wasn't a coincidence.

It was a long-term plan.

I always wanted to be a special educator, but I wanted to make sure I have a good insight into what happens in the general classroom, just so that when I work to support a student I have, I'm supporting in an informed way.

I'm not just assuming the presence of a gap without understanding what's happening in a classroom.

So that's why I took the long route of starting in education English, and then going more specific into caring for a single student.

And when I minored in psychology, the purpose of that was for me to care for the whole student, not just on a, an academic level, but also for his emotional needs and understanding as a person, not just as.

A case that I'm working with to improve his English skills or his Arabic skills.

I want to work with the whole student.

Yeah.

Nancy Jenkins: And I, I also want to to comment, I now realize that you are a first year teacher, which is absolutely phenomenal.

Because there's no way when we observed that class in February that I would've guessed that you were a first year teacher 'cause you were so confident, accomplished, skilled, and you, and you absolutely knew those students and their needs so, so clearly.

Dana Younes: Thank you so much.

Nancy Jenkins: My pleasure.

So, so tell me how, how do you come to know your students?

What's the, what's your philosophy of education and what's the process by where whereby you come to know your students so well, so that in February you can, you can deliver a lesson such as the one that we observed.

Dana Younes: Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Okay.

So to begin the whole idea, I wanna mention that.

My philosophy as a special educator is not to just differentiate and become an expert on my students it, I don't believe that I should or can become an expert on every single student.

That's not what I aim to be.

I want to develop an environment where the student becomes an expert about himself.

So the analogy that they present whenever it's, it's differentiation versus UDL, that's the idea.

So when you're differentiating, you're expected to know all the needs of your student and everything you can do to perfectly tailor things for him.

And in UDL, you're like.

Providing an environment with options where he becomes the expert on how he learns best.

'cause at the end of the day, people change and he's gonna have more needs or maybe different needs and different interests.

So I can't be keeping up with every single student all the time and make sure that I am on top of my work.

Instead, I need to plan, assuming the presence of different needs, the presence of different interests, and provide options for my students.

So knowing that.

It also requires me to get to know them a little bit to start creating the perfect opportunities for learning.

And that starts off at the beginning of the year when I first get my students and want to get to know them.

I spend the first week.

Doing visualization sessions with them.

You could frame it as meditation sessions where we sit down, close our eyes, and I guide them to imagine and picture scenarios in classrooms.

Let's say picture your favorite place.

You're walking into your favorite place.

What does that look like?

What does it include?

Who are your favorite, favorite people there?

Let's say you're walking into a classroom.

What does your perfect classroom look like?

What does your perfect homework look like?

All of that just to get to know the students' interests and how they want their learning experience to look like.

So that takes place in the beginning of the year, and as they're doing that, I then ask them to represent what they're visualizing through drawings.

So I had to give them papers and it ha, it ha, it would be a cutout of a brain, let's say.

And I want you to draw me what you're imagining in your brain and all of that.

Now that serves the purpose of me getting to know them.

And it also serve, serves the purpose of scaffolding, the visualizing skill, the skill of thinking and reflecting, which is gonna be a skill that I always go back to throughout the year.

Now I take those papers.

And I use them to actually inform my instruction.

So I'm not just trying to give the illusion that I care about you or that I wanna get to know you.

'cause they kids sense that.

They know that at the beginning of the year, all the teachers pretend and then they never care.

So I'm trying to break that.

I want you to know that you're gonna tell me things and I am gonna actually use them in my lessons.

So that's, takes the form of, for example, the topics we discussed, the texts we have the, it goes down to the worksheet.

So the, let's say I find out their favorite color.

Every time I print out anything for that specific student, it needs to include his favorite color.

And that might seem like an impossible task, like something that I have to do all the time.

But it's not actually the case.

'cause I set up a system in the beginning of the year where I have folders on my Google Drive for each student that includes.

The specific things that tailors for his engagement.

So I'd have a template that includes all his favorite animals and with his favorite color and all of that.

And I just fill in that template to serve whatever lesson I wanna have.

Now that is the first couple of sessions where I'm getting to know them, but at the end of the day, I also have my own strategies and own objectives that I wanna work to achieve.

Introduced to this child New ways of learning that are not necessarily introduced to him, that he can bring up from prior knowledge.

So that requires me to slowly microdose these activities and strategies across the weeks until I achieve a lesson that includes everything I. That I want to expose him or her too.

And all of that also is definitely based on the benchmark assessment I provide at the beginning of the year.

So it's not just I that I'm trying to know him on a personal level, but rather I want to identify his needs to identify the gaps that I need to fill.

And that's an assessment that starts from 0.0 until his grade level.

I'd never work assuming.

Anything about the child, I go as low as, let's start with alphabets.

Doesn't matter if I, I get a kid from grade five.

If I get a kid from grade three, I'm doing the same, starting from scratch and pushing up, up, up.

'cause sometimes those gaps are so tiny and they're very specific and it's, let's say a single sound that he struggles with, with that then is amplified in another scenario.

So I try to make sure that the assessment is as.

Rigorous and specific that it actually maps out his needs.

That's the benchmark assessment that I used to inform my, my academic goal for him at the end of the year.

So by the end of the year, the student is gonna be able to da, da, da.

And then I break that down into four objectives.

That is a quarterly objective, right?

So quarter one, he's gonna achieve this objective, quarter two, quarter three, quarter four, and they align to end up with achieving the yearly goal.

Now then we start working on the specific objective.

And as I said, I'd have already understood the student and I've used whatever he's shared with me to.

Inform my instruction and I have my set of expertise that I wanna also expose him to, let's say, specific strategies of learning, specific skills that we need to work on all of that.

And that is week by week, we work on it until he's exposed to all the strategies so that I have the ability to actually have my full lesson plan given to the child.

'cause if I start.

My first session with a kid and I have all those strategies, it's gonna feel suffocating to him.

It's impossible to him.

It's, I'm giving him way too much.

Instead, I introduce a single strategy and we work on that for a full session.

Once he grasps it, he understands why we're doing it, how it's helping him, the purpose behind it.

So having that understanding of what we're doing, it gives the student a sense of control over the learning experience.

He knows why we're doing things.

So that eventually when I just mentioned that we're gonna, oh, go and grab the sand trays, we are gonna start working.

It's not just another thing that he doesn't know why we're doing, like he knows what we're doing and why.

That also gives a sense of control, sense of safety to the child.

'cause he knows.

What's expected of him and the purpose behind it, and that it is something that he can achieve.

It's a manageable task that we've spent a, a full session working on, right?

So let's say he mastered that skill or that strategy, understands why we're doing it.

I now have it as a staple in my session and introduced a new one, and then another, and then another, and it's become stacked up.

And then once I've introduced all the, all the strategies that I would like there.

I give them the freedom to pick and choose.

At that point, I've introduced everything I want and I've created the environment where they know everything and why.

And now I want you as a student to decide what you want.

'cause that's an informed decision making.

It's no longer a student that's just picking for whatever reason, picking the easiest option.

'cause that's also an argument that's also always used for whenever we bring up UDL and giving options to the students, the biggest argument is they're gonna choose the easiest thing.

Why would I give my student options if they're gonna just use it to get away with things?

That's not true.

Once the student understands why and what they're doing 'cause at that point everything seems manageable.

It's no longer daunting.

It's no longer an impossible task.

So once they, they're given that option.

Whatever they choose still serves my objective.

So at the end of the day, I don't mind, I don't mind if we wanna do handwriting instead of whiteboards.

I don't mind if that's how he's gonna show me his work.

And as long as it's also engaging him and giving him the safety and everything that's achieving my objective.

So I try to make sure I'm never working or, or holding myself back by being stuck on a task or a strategy, but instead always looking at the objective and if that's achieving it or not.

However way is best for the student is good enough for me.

So that is a process.

It's the first quarter usually where I introduce all of that and once we've settled on everything I wanna share, the freedom happens, the options happen, the lesson planning happens.

So at that point, so now when you walked into my classroom in February, at that point, they are the masters of the classroom.

They are leading the learning experience.

They know everything that we can do, and they choose.

Now a question might come up.

Where's my role in all of that?

I would say I've, I've already planned ahead of time and assumed what, or figured out what I need them to be able to do, and I've introduced it to them and now they get the freedom in it.

So it's not that I've stepped away, I've technically planned the learning environment and the learning opportunities.

So at that point, I don't need to dictate anymore.

It's not serving any role.

It's not instruction, it's just controls, which I would like them to have.

I would like them to have a sense of control in my classroom.

So yeah, that takes the form of them stepping into the class and doing the to-do list for every lesson.

I don't step into the class with a, with a clear lesson plan.

I step into the plan into the classroom with a clear objective and the lesson plan of how we're achieving it is done collaboratively in the first five minutes of the class.

It's the first five minutes of them walking in, getting comfortable, this is what we're doing today, how would you like to achieve it?

And then we walk through the strategies and I put the options on the board and then we just stack them in and we walk through.

Okay, so we wanna start with this?

No, miss, we wanna do that first.

I don't wanna do this today.

Let's do that.

Perfect.

I don't mind.

'cause you also need to keep in mind.

That's what I work on is a single skill for two months and a half.

So I don't mind that we skip on one strategy today 'cause we can do it tomorrow.

I don't mind if we're not feeling it today.

And eventually they do get bored from a single strategy.

They won't get stuck on it.

They want change, they want novelty, they want new things and interest engagement.

So they will plan their lesson as perfectly as it could be for them.

Like what's gonna make them feel included and engaged.

And that's.

Good enough for me.

Like if you're gonna step in and you're gonna know what you want, I think I've achieved the objective of you having control and awareness over the learning experience you feel in
control, which is important for kids who have developed the learned helplessness attitude where I don't want to do this, or I don't think I can do this, so I won't even try at this point.

They know what they can do and what they like to do and how to do it, and what they wanna do first.

So that.

Eliminates the biggest behavioral issue that is usually faced in those pullout sessions, which is, I don't wanna do it, miss, I don't know how to do it.

Miss they no longer have that excuse at this point.

Like, the, you know what we're doing and you know why we're doing it, and you, you know what you like to do, so just tell me.

So that's what happens.

And then we go on with our lessons.

So when you walked in, we were working on short vowels and magic E, so introducing the first concept of a long vowel as well.

The way that lesson went, they came in, we did the to-do list, and we started, we, I was focusing on the skills and strategies from the Orton-Gillingham curriculum and how to introduce sounds and phonics.

So they had, we began with frequency words, which is something I always do, we always work on.

That's a like a year.

Full year activity that we do, and it's a competition.

I've worded it as a competition.

By the end of the year, you're gonna be able to read the 100 words, and I'm gonna time you and see how long it takes you to finish the 100 words.

But to get there, to get the 100 words, I'm going to give you 30 seconds every period and you're gonna practice.

Now, these frequency words are words that do not follow any grammatical rule.

But I need them to know.

So it just comes with practice and exposure and it's almost drilling, which I wanna do in a fun way.

'cause I don't want to sit them down and ask them to read it.

No, no.

When I do it in a competition way, they get excited and they think they're getting like they're working towards something.

Like they're getting there and they see improvement.

'cause it's a record every single day.

They walk in, they get 30 seconds and they see how much they're improving and it's progress monitoring for them.

To them it's like.

They look, oh, last week I got 20 words.

Today I got 22.

That's amazing.

And that builds the idea where I compete with myself.

I'm not competing with anyone else.

I need to be improving on my level so that when they walk in, doesn't matter what objective we're working on, what the lesson is, they want to do that first.

They want to start, miss, I wanna see how many words I can read today.

Perfect.

They sit 30 seconds on the clock.

It's the perfect starter activity 'cause.

It's exciting.

They start their lesson engaged, right?

it's super fast.

It's just 30 seconds.

It's not taking five minutes from my time, which is perfect for me.

And then they come in with the perfect attitude to learn.

The readiness is there, the attitude is there, and they feel achieved already.

We haven't done anything and they think they've achieved 'cause they see an improvement.

So they're positive.

And then we start our lesson, we started off that lesson with the blending board where we.

Practice and revise the short vowel sounds.

I would place the first with revise the vowel sounds independently without the blending word.

We do the physical actions to remind them of the sound.

So for example how does my mouse look when I say the sound?

Ah, and how does my mouth look when I say the sound all?

And I use, of course, my finger, my finger to show the mouth and its shape.

And then we'd associate it with a movement.

So, ah, would be a hat.

We'd touch our head and then up we'd be a punch in the stomach.

'cause it's um, it's,

yeah, that one they love, they love the punch in the stomach, they love the up 'cause it makes sense to them.

And then once we've revised that, I placed the blending board and then we break down the sounds and then segment and then blend segment and blend all the vowels.

Practice, practice done.

They've revised and they're ready to now introduce a new concept, which was the magic key.

Bring out the magic E and I explain that this magic E has powers and it's going to give the short vowels its name, its full power, it's gonna scream out its name, and we sit and decorate the magic E.

We're working on understanding that this is a silent E, it's not gonna make a sound, it's gonna serve a purpose.

And we work on that and explain the concept, blah, blah, blah.

And they're coloring and working on the magic E. And then I introduce it into the blending board.

So now we have an extra card.

It's no longer three.

It's four and the I put it and remove it and I keep checking.

Are they grasping the concept that when it's not there, it's the short app and when it's there it's the long a all of that.

Practice, practice, practice.

When we're done, we brought out the sand trays and I practiced the writing of it.

All right, so the first skill was letter sound association.

Now it's no longer that it's them.

Writing and understanding just based on sound without having the visual aid there.

So we'd work on short vowel sounds and then I'd, I'd introduce so hat, and then I'd say, hate.

How can you make this hate?

What are you gonna add?

And they'd add the magic E. All of that practiced on sand trays, which touches upon the multisensory experience of it all.

So using your finger, feeling the sand as you're writing, it helps them memorize that concept.

And then we jumped onto the reading corner where they sat on the carpets and they had their stuffed animals and a, a table on the floor to help them write easier and all that.

And we sat there and did a spelling test without of course, any homework or practice.

'cause to me, I'm trying to check if they have grasped the concept instead of just drilled the words and memorized them.

That stands as my progress monitoring for that day.

I wanted to make sure if they've maintained the short vowel concept and introduced the long, the long sounds and the magic e and that process.

They also take with them the idea of pounding and tapping, which I hadn't.

Yeah, which I had introduced previously.

So as I was working on the sand writing, I introduced to them that you can use pounding and tapping sounds to figure out the specific vowel sound.

So, for example, hat we pound together hat and then ha ha hat.

So they focus on the second sound always ha ah, ah is the A. So I'm giving them the strategy to figure out the vow sound and if it's a short or a long vow sound, hence.

The magic E, and then when it's the spelling test, I'm no longer asking them to pound and tap.

I'm checking if they've understood that this helps me, that this is a strategy that helps me.

'cause my objective is whenever you're outside of my classroom, whenever you're in your homeroom class and you're stuck on a spelling word, you should be able
to figure out, oh, I can use pounding and tapping to figure this out, and that I'm just checking if they've understood it by not asking them to do it anymore.

I don't say do it.

Let's see if they're gonna do it.

If they've understood that it serves them, they would.

So then after that, we're done.

When they come back, we're self-assessing or peer assessing?

Depends on the session.

That session specifically, we switched papers, they corrected each other's work and then gave it back.

And we celebrated each other's grades.

So we had some stickers.

We put a 10 out of 10.

All of that.

Celebrations.

And then I asked them, so we're over, we're done with our lesson plan.

There's no more next step.

What would you like to do?

And they asked for the frequency words one more time.

So that was, that is super exciting.

'cause they, they figured out that we get another chance at the competition.

Perfect.

So that's ending the lesson on a very happy note as well.

So regardless of what happened during the session, they're always ending it in an engaged.

Positive way.

'cause they'll always feel like they've achieved, even though they had achieved.

But let's say they hadn't, let's say it was a difficult session where they didn't grasp the concept.

It's important to me that we end it always in a way where they feel like they have made progress just to maintain that sense of ability.

So we did that, we did the frequency words one more time and timed it for 30 seconds and they got new high scores and they celebrated again.

And yeah, and then we took them back to class.

So that, was this the session that you observed being.

Nancy Jenkins: Yeah, and I, I think it was, so you've described all these different activities and strategies, and I think what was so powerful is that, that I think 19 of the 20 minutes we observed were in what we call the power trio plus active reading.

So your students were engaged in learning.

The entirety of the time that we were there, it was absolutely phenomenal and some something else that we noticed was the way every part of your classroom was set up for learning.

It was just such a wonderful learning environment.

Can you talk a little bit about like each part of your classroom and how you move your students around?

Dana Younes: Of course, of course.

Yes.

The idea of designing a learning space is very important for the to, to get the students into the lesson and the attitude, the positive attitude of learning.

The environment needs to help me scaffold the learning, always to get them into the readiness.

So whenever I de design my classroom, of course it's I literate environment.

There's always words on the wall.

We have the word wall that includes all the new words we're learning.

So that's one thing, but it's also the options of seating that I have available for the kids.

So I like to give the students the sensation that you have options in everything you do in my class.

We're not, you're not forced to do anything except working towards the objective.

Now, however way you choose to work towards that objective, wherever you want to sit, I don't mind if it's not pausing or if, if it's not an obstacle in the way of achieving the objective, then why should I mind?

That's my attitude whenever I bring or think about designing my learning space.

So I give them the opportunity to have.

Decision making in that.

So let's say we wanna read the text today.

Why read it on a chair?

Why not read it?

Read it on a carpet?

Why not sit on a bouncing ball while I'm talking and explaining why not have a table on the floor and not.

A high table with a chair.

Why not?

Why not have fidgets all the time?

So I have a basket of fidgets with me where I have a slime, squishies, whatever the, the fidgets that move around the sticks, all of it.

Why not while I'm talking, play with the fidget, if that helps you focus.

I don't mind as long as we're achieving our objective.

So the seating options is one thing that I make sure of.

The visual aid that I always stick on the walls, on the whiteboard, it's always there.

Colorful.

Useful ta tackles a specific skill.

So for example, the, the mouth, how we articulate the words and all of it.

I have visual representation of that.

Let's say.

When I work with students for executive functioning skills, okay, so those sessions specifically, I have, I have flashcards where I've asked them to
stand in the beginning of the year and I take pictures of them showcasing the emotions, so the different emotions, and I have that presented on the wall.

'cause I know that I can't, that they have difficulty expressing those.

So I don't need you to, I don't need you to now.

Master the skill of expressing yourself.

I just need you to be able to point at which picture feels like today.

So for example, that's visual representation of what I'm trying to achieve and them in it.

So I'm not printing a picture of a random kid.

I'm not printing out a random word.

I'm printing out things that are personalized to them, that things they can connect with, all of that.

It's important to me that they feel like all of it is tailored for them.

Expresses them not someone else.

So that's something let me think.

So we said seating, we said visual aid.

We said word walls.

I think also the constant checking in with what they want to do because I feel like the students want to speak up about that.

So I always, after every activity ask, where do we wanna do this next?

So we wanna do this activity call.

Do you wanna do it here or should we move, do you prefer the reading carpet or, or the table, for example.

And by now they no longer wait for me to ask, like, they just take a, take control of it.

So they say, Ms, can we do this on the reading carpet?

Of course we can.

Ms, can I grab a fidget?

Of course you can.

So all of that reinforcing their ability to voice their wants and interests.

It's a result of like a long time of giving them the options, but now they know that this is my space and I have control over it.

I have control over how I'm spending this one hour of my day.

So yeah, that's, I think the learning space.

Nancy Jenkins: So, so I can see from, from what you are saying, that you are not just teaching them how to read or.

functions, you are actually teaching them, your students to prepare them for the rest of their school lives and actually their lives outside of school.

Can you say a little bit more about that, Donna?

Dana Younes: Of course.

Absolutely.

'cause the objective of, of special education in general is to achieve the independent learner.

Right?

It's to, it is to bridge a gap and then release.

It's not a forever system.

It's not that I'm just deciding that I need to support him forever.

I'm working towards achieving the independence, and that does not only.

Through bridging an academic gap.

It's not only once this kid figures out how to spell the word hate, that he can go back to the classroom.

'cause a lot of the experience of him being in a classroom where he struggled, developed a lot of coping mechanisms or masking to, to get by.

Right.

He needed to mask and cope and pretend to get by.

And it's important to me to break those coping mechanisms and masking, for him to actually sit and engage with the learning experience.

And that doesn't come through, only tackling the specific phonetic issue that he has.

It comes with giving options for him to re-explore what learning means.

He needs to redefine what learning means to him and how it involves him.

It's not something that happens and you just ex, you just watch.

You need to be a part of it.

It's a collaborative process.

It's engaging.

It's interesting, it's something doable.

That idea that it's manageable.

I can do it, is a big thing that I work on.

'Cause there's always gonna be something challenging.

Every student faces a challenge at some point, whether it's a specific content knowledge or let's say a specific phonics issue, whatever it is.

Or maybe he's.

He goes into a subject where he is not interested, I mean, he's not interested in biology, then what?

That can't be a reason for him to just shut off.

It can't be a trigger for him to just give up, and this is something I can't do.

I need to build that resilience, that ability to push through.

Even if I'm struggling, even if I find something challenging, I can do it.

I can try.

That attitude is something I work on, and by creating that safe space for him to re-explore and redefine what learning is for them.

To redefine what a teacher is.

A teacher is not just an authority figure in a classroom where I have to follow her instruction, what she's asking me to do has a purpose.

That idea for the kids to, to change.

'cause to him, she's been a, a teacher has been asking him to do things that teacher just doesn't understand.

So to me does, it's not something he respects to the point of understanding.

He, he follows 'cause he has to.

I want to follow 'cause you know why?

'cause you understand the value of it to follow 'cause you are engaged and understand it and want to do it.

So that is part of what I'm breaking down, the learned helplessness I'm trying to cut off and that's an objective that I don't state for the kids or the parents.

But I work on in direct.

So by the end of the year.

Which is now I'm in the final quarter.

The progress that the kids have made is phenomenal.

Like the characters that they have become.

I have kids who would walk in and they'd never say a word.

I'd have to get them to speak, just answer my questions.

Now they walk in full character.

They have an entire personality.

They are themselves and it's good enough for me if they're just able to that, to do that in my classroom.

'cause eventually they'll be able to transfer it outside.

Whenever.

When I work enough on their confidence and I collaborate well with their homeroom teachers and explain to them how the student behaves in my class that's so different to yours, I'm kind of giving her a proof.

He could do this in your class, so let's work towards that.

Let's change the learning experience in your classroom towards that.

Let's get your this student to behave the same way in yours.

Why not?

So, yeah, so it's the managing of the student's experience and learning experience.

Not only expanding it to them, but also to the homeroom teacher providing a different experience.

That's really important for me to show the teacher that.

No, there is another way there.

The student can do better.

'cause teachers do tend to put kids in a box or do tend to just, okay, this is how this kid is and that's fine.

Which is okay.

It's fine to accept how kids are, but not in a way where we're lowering the expectation.

Never.

Have high expectations and accept them where they're at, but work towards better.

Always work towards better.

Push them towards better behavior wise, academic wise.

'cause we are raising and nurturing these kids on every level.

They're not just here to learn the alphabets, they're here to become socialized people.

And yeah.

So it's important to work on those, even if they're not the actual objective.

And to me.

I almost almost use the academic objective as a tool to develop a personality.

'cause at the end of the day, as I mentioned, there's always gonna be a struggle or a, a difficulty in life.

So it's just who are you when you face, that is my main objective.

Who are you?

When you face difficulties, how do you manage?

So all those skills of executive functioning and confidence and social, emotional, all of that, it goes into those sessions, even if it's not stated.

Nancy Jenkins: So, so you, so you, your goal is actually, from what you are saying, to have a profound and lasting influence upon that student's attitude towards school and ability to learn and globally phenomenally.

And, and I think what, what, what you've also said that's.

Has a powerful impression on me is that students who have challenges learning, they, they put on a mask and they, they pretend and they play a role.

And I think you've, you've also mentioned from that come many behavioral challenges as well.

Dana Younes: Mm-hmm.

Absolutely, yes, there is definitely an overlap between academic difficulties and behavioral issues 'cause the student somehow needs to get the attention.

If he's not getting it from being praised over their academic ability, they're gonna act out and get the attention, whether positive or negative.

It's good enough for the kid to get the attention by just acting out.

The teacher's saying, sit down, that's good enough for me.

That's attention at the end of the day.

And what I'm trying to do is to break them from, break them out of that.

You can get the same praise by just doing the work.

So that's what I'm trying to get them into.

Yeah.

It's not just working to, with the kid.

As I was saying, it's also a, a constant effort with the homeroom teachers.

It's a collaborative process.

It's also, a weekly meeting with the counselors and the head where we discuss those cases.

It's not just that, oh, we've screened and identified kids that require support and they're just with me and I work.

It's not that it's a constant weekly meeting where we discuss those cases on every level, and it's also the the case managing process where I don't only care for the student in my classroom, but I also check in across.

His homeroom classes when I'm on break duty, for example.

Now that's not explicitly asked for me, but that comes naturally when the objective is to care for the student.

I'm in break duty eyes scanning for my kids.

I'm looking where are those kids?

Are they with friends?

Are they able to socialize or are they on their own?

How are other kids how are they interacting with them?

Are they able to, for example, engage in play?

Are they able to engage in play?

Are they able to understand how to manage friendships?

All of that goes into it, and that's, again, not explicitly asked, but that goes into the full.

Whole student approach, right?

So for example, kids who I work with on executive functioning skills, we discuss all of these things in my classroom.

We work on friendships, on socializing, on how to have a conversation on how to reflect on feelings when you're going through a difficult experience.

It's important to me to see it in action.

It's important to me.

That is progress monitoring.

If I'm not able to see what I work on in class transfer outside of the class, then how much am I actually achieving?

If she can do the task in class but can't apply it outside of my class, something's off.

'cause my objective is not to perform here, it's to apply outside of my class.

So, so yeah, I think.

Our focus as a special education team or student support team in general, including the counselors, is that we, we we're on the lookout for our kids all the time.

D doesn't matter in what scenario.

For example, this, this Wednesday we had event for the kids.

They were performing a song and the parents were watching.

I was there during the rehearsal rehearsals.

And like watching the kid, like engaging them and I'm like, look up eyes on their audience.

Okay, sing louder.

All of that.

That's not asked of me.

That's not my job.

Right?

But it is actually, if I understand my role completely that I'm there to care for the development of this child as a whole, not just in my class.

Then that also involves extracurriculars.

It also involves break time and how they're socializing.

It involves all of that.

So I believe that in my school, that's a huge focus that we go out of our way to care for these students.

'cause we genuinely are there for them for their whole experience, not just in my classroom or how they're performing in my objective, are they achieving it or not?

Nancy Jenkins: You also mentioned that you are part of a team and that you meet weekly.

Could you talk about the way that, that that team contributes to your ability to support and teach your students?

Dana Younes: Absolutely.

So we have a weekly meeting that two weekly meetings that happened.

The first one is a meeting that involves all the special educators, the counselors, the head.

And the vice.

And that's where we discuss updates on the, the students that we have to support.

'cause sometimes, not, sometimes, almost all the time, there's always an overlap between how they're performing in my class and whatever issues are being reported to the counselor.

So I wanna be on the same page with that.

And we want to find a trend or a, a habit that's happening that we can tackle and address.

And that takes the form of, for example.

Finding a discrepancy between how the student behaves in my pullout sessions and how he's behaving in the homeroom class, and we're trying to identify why is there a discrepancy?

Okay.

Could it be the fault of this, the student he's with, or is it the fault of the how the teacher is treating the student, or is it another reason, right?

Maybe something else is happening outside of this classroom.

Maybe at home, something is happening.

All of that.

Is of concern.

All of that we care about and we need to know about.

For example, we have a, also a big focus on safeguarding issues.

We try to identify or notice any sign of any form of let's say mistreatment or difficulty that the student is facing in the school or outside of the school.

At the end of the day, these students are hours to care for, so we're on the lookout for identifying any hint of.

An issue contributing to his misbehavior or academic performance.

So that takes the form of, for example, bringing up a case, oh, I've noticed this student do that.

And it could be as simple as, oh, this student came in today and he was a bit tired.

How was he in your class?

It doesn't have to be a catastrophic issue where it's, oh my God, no, we.

Take note of any change of behavior, any change of academic performance, and bring it up.

It might be something, it might be nothing, but we keep everyone in the loop just because if I notice something and then Oh, I point it out, the counselor is gonna spend her week with that in mind and maybe notice something else.

Right.

So it's like we're flagging things.

In hopes of maybe identifying something we can tackle, so that might take us to an action where we, after identifying an issue, we directly plan for action.

It's not a like a delayed process on the spot we've identified.

Okay, what do we do about it?

Maybe that's called the parents.

Maybe that's set a behavioral plan.

Maybe that's talked to the homeroom teachers.

And that's, again, a weekly process.

So next week after us deciding on what we do, we follow up.

So did you actually follow up and do that?

Did you talk to the parents?

What was their what was the, the conclusion of that call?

That meeting?

How can we tackle this issue?

All of that.

And we've set up a templates, like a meeting minutes kind of system.

And it involves us always reflecting on last session and adding more last session and adding more.

Then we have the other meeting where it's a PLC meeting.

And that's just where we collaborate on learning.

It's us, the special educators.

We sit together and we work on.

Everything from dealing with cases, from learning strategies that we've introduced that have really been effective, that someone else can also implement.

We sit and do professional development workshops.

Sometimes I come in and I explain a strategy or a program that I'm implementing, that I've been trained in, that's others haven't.

May and we share, and sometimes it's as simple as, oh, I found this website that might benefit you, and I share it and we showcase how I use it.

It's that simple or that complicated, doesn't matter as long as we're making sure we're somehow benefiting and unifying the support.

Team.

'cause we all come from very different, per backgrounds.

So the programs I've been trained on in my university experience or the programs they've got training on are different and they tackle different skills and strategies.

So we share, 'cause we again, care for the student rather than care to like, oh, I'm different, I have something else that's, you don't, that's not the attitude at all.

We come in and however way we can make sure everyone is benefiting.

We share, we share, share, share.

We share worksheets, we share resources, we share, we sit and explain strategies.

We've had multiple workshops where we just share how we're teaching and working with these kids.

Yeah, so it's a complete collaborative process where we're trying to unify the support team and how we're providing the service.

It comes to the point where, let's say if.

I share an idea of this is a program that I've been working on and implementing and it's really good.

We will all go and sign up for the training and get trained.

It's that influential, like it's not just, I'm learning from you.

If it's that good, I'm gonna sign up and get the training.

And that's how we do it.

It's like we all jump on it and we're doing it and we're getting the training and we believe in each other's expertise and why something matters and why it's beneficial.

So there's a huge respect for everyone's input and I can vouch for that 'cause again.

I'm a fresh graduate, so I feel that respect of like, why are they as people with 20 years of experience listening to what I have to say, and it's really validating that they genuinely do respect it and they take action.

It's not that it's a tokenistic kind of attitude where Yeah, sure, that's amazing.

No, no, no.

It's like, that's a great idea.

Can you share more Next meeting?

Can you come and explain it?

Can you prepare a presentation?

It's that kind of team where everyone's asking for more and respecting everyone's input, so, yep.

Nancy Jenkins: I think you also mentioned that you were extremely well supported also by administration and your, your head of.

Dana Younes: Absolutely.

I think the, the way we're managed as a department is amazing 'cause it's like we are given the freedom to almost do whatever we want, but not from the attitude of a network.

They don't care to know, but rather that they believe that we have so much to share.

So it's not managing style where she dictates what we have to do, but rather gives us an opportunity to share our expertise.

And that's almost what she wants us to do in the classroom, right?

So we are the students and she's the teacher almost, right?

So she's providing an environment where she's giving us opportunities to share.

Our strengths and we in return do the same for our students.

We create, we create an opportunity for them to show their strengths and their interests and what they're good at and how they want to learn.

All of that.

So there's no never a specific way of doing things, never.

Not even documentation, like we're never asked, you have to do it this way.

You have to report back on, let's say students' progress this way.

She's like, as long as you're achieving the objective and have the data however way you want, prove it.

However system works for you, do it.

And then we have one-on-one meetings where we both, where everyone gets to share what they've been doing and how they've been collecting data and the student progress and the celebrations, all of it.

So there's so much space for the teacher to actually express.

Or learn and develop.

Right.

So, 'cause I get to explore things again, it's my first year of teaching.

I've gotten to do things where I don't think I ever got to do in my internships, where I had to follow how things are.

And that's just how the school does it.

It's never the case.

'cause there is this attitude where maybe there's always a better way.

Maybe there's a better way of doing things.

Maybe there is a better way to benefit our students.

And again, the student is always number one.

That's what they, we care about.

We don't care about the system or how we care about how it influences them as students.

How is it benefiting them?

That's always the objective.

Nancy Jenkins: And, and I and I, I think we saw that very clearly reflected in that class.

You, you, the students were absolutely at the center of that.

And everything that you've said about how you've, you've trained them to trust you.

You've shown that the, you absolutely care about them, and it must, it must be so wonderful that they come in every single time you have them, and the color is on the worksheet
and the favorite animal is there and you haven't forgotten, and you do profoundly care about them as individuals and give them that choice and autonomy within what you.

Have to teach them and that also what, what you are teaching them as well as magic E for example, is to be autonomous learners and to be confident autonomous learners that that learning is for them.

Dana Younes: Absolutely.

Yes, absolutely.

And I think the only aspect that I haven't touched upon would be how we deal with sharing all of this with parents, right?

Because it's, it is a difficult conversation to inform a parent that.

I think your student, your child needs some support, right?

So the way we frame that and the way we work on kind of introducing that idea and that it's not a negative thing, but rather a positive thing.

It's that we've identified a way to help your child instead of a, your child is a lower level.

That's never the discussion.

It's always a positive.

Proactive attitude that, oh, we've identified this need early on.

Perfect.

So it's not gonna hinder his development.

Eventually.

All of that and the constant reporting.

So we keep the parents in mind as well all the time.

So every session I have pictures of the kid and what they're doing.

I'm sharing monthly updates with the parents.

I'm sharing progress monitoring data.

I share the graphs, I share the grades.

The where the student was, where he is now.

And that's a monthly update just to keep that relationship and the collaboration between school and home alive.

So if they know what I'm doing and the purpose and how it comes down to, like, I sit down and explain the strategy.

'cause to me, if the parent is the type that's willing to do something at home and I give them the tools, perfect.

Like that's.

That's again, for the student's benefit.

I sit down and I prepare presentations.

It's to that point when I don't take those meetings as in, oh, I'm just reporting and making them feel reassured.

It's not that.

It's not that.

I'm telling you your kid is fine.

I'm telling you he is great actually, and this is how he's doing it and this is how he's benefiting.

And this as simple as, you can do this at home as well.

Why not?

And I share resources and I make sure that it's not homework.

Guys, this is just voluntary.

Optional things you can do.

'cause I tell them I want to develop the attitude where the kid gets the notification.

I have something new on Google Classroom, I can open it and see it 'cause it's gonna be something I can do.

So that thing of like, and I ask them, please don't sit and force them to open Google Classroom.

Don't do that.

I want them to be able to do that.

I want them to feel like whenever they get the email that they can do.

It.

They want to do it, and I wanna see, that's also another progress monitoring thing.

I see how many times they check into Google Classroom.

I see how many times they submit their, or they play the games that I upload, that they do the readings.

That's a sign for me that they are that engaged, that they go out of their way at home in their free time to see what's happening.

That's a independent learner kind of experience that I'm trying to build from a young age.

They're in elementary, they're in primary school.

It's fine if they don't do this, if they don't do today's homework, it's fine.

As long as it's not this experience where I have to open Google Classroom.

No, no, no.

Whenever you have the idea of opening it, you then do follow through.

That's good enough for me.

That's good enough for me.

If you have the want to actually open and think you can tackle it, that to me shows that you feel like you are in control and able.

You're able to do these things.

So I sit down and explain all of that with the parents.

Of course, definitely reassuring is important 'cause it is an uncomfortable or unsettling experience for the parent to think that their child is different.

So it's important for us to frame that as a positive thing that actually a lot of the kids are different.

It's just that.

We know how to support yours, and that's not a bad thing, right?

All of that.

So we work towards maintaining a positive relationship with the parents.

We make sure that we're genuinely actually reporting, not just sugar coating, because most of these kids will at some point, have another challenge.

So it's not that I'm promising you mastery, I'm promising you progress, and I'm celebrating progress.

And that's the attitude we need to have towards those kids.

And again, the collaboration with homeroom teachers, collaboration with the counselors, so there's a constant task of reporting and
talking and looping everyone in and making sure they understand what's happening and asking for reflection and how can we do this better?

What do you know about your chat that I don't, maybe I can do better.

Maybe.

Maybe getting the students' input, parents' input, teacher's input, counselor's input all the time, weekly.

So that's a big part of what we do as well, not just the pullout sessions, which might seem like what our job is.

It's, I'm not just working with the student one-on-one, but rather I'm keeping up with every aspect of this child and everyone that's involved in his life that's influencing his upbringing.

So it's important that when I introduce an idea, I need to get everyone else on, on board, 'cause it, I can't do it on my own.

I can't build a character, if not everyone is working towards it as well.

So that's also the one of the biggest parts of our job making everyone think and put the child first.

Nancy Jenkins: That's, that's absolute wonderful summing up of, of what you do and how you do it and how powerful your impact is, I think, Donna, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you and learn everything that that goes.

The lessons, like the one that we had the, the privilege of observing now.

Oh.

Dana Younes: you.

Nancy Jenkins: It's a pleasure.

Now, if, if you've, you've, you've talked so much here about your philosophy, how you train your students, how you teach them, how you collaborate, how you support the whole child, and teach the whole child, could, would you be willing to share.

Your school email in case any of our listeners would like to email you and get the benefit of your experience or perhaps share their experience.

'cause I can tell that you are a learner that you love learning from others.

Dana Younes: Absolutely, yes.

My email is danana, DANA, dot Eunice, Y-O-U-N-E-S, at Bayan School, which is B-A-Y-A-N school.edu.bh.

So data units at Bay School edu vh.

Nancy Jenkins: Great.

Really, Don?

I'd just like to thank you again.

It was such a pleasure talking to you.

I, I feel so privileged to have gained this insight into your philosophy.

I feel the students that you have in your care are, are very, very lucky to.

Dana Younes: The pleasure is mine.

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

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