Ep 11 | 2023 Teacher of The Year

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Great feeling um that something so small, which what I consider so small, just to show my love, um, was something that some of them thought was so big. You know what I mean? Um, and so at that moment I'm like, this is why I do it.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Welcome to the Voices United in Education Podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Do you remember that one teacher? You know the one whose name you still remember? The one that made a difference for you. I think we all had that one teacher that really made an impact on us. My next guest has been that teacher to hundreds of students in the Escampee County public school system. She has invested nearly seven years in public education, teaching middle and high school algebra before becoming an instructional coach at Pine Forest High School in late 2020. Today, the Washington High graduate is going to share her unique perspective on the classroom, her outside-the-box solution during the 2020 quarantine, and what's next? Servant leader, mom of three, 2023 Teacher of the Year, Jamilia McBride. Thanks for making time for this.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

You're a busy lady, so it means a lot. Now, you also know you've done something right when you're teacher of the year and you were a math teacher because math was not my favorite subject, but to be fair, I probably wasn't my math teacher's favorite student either. So I'm just saying, you you would have liked math if you were in my class. I I believe you somehow. I believe you. What made you want to go into education?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

I always knew I wanted to go into ed education. Um, my I went to school actually for physical therapy. So I graduated from Florida AM with a bachelor's in allied health science. And when I got out and it was time to do my clinicals, I'm like, this is not what I want to do. Like, I know I want to be a teacher. And so I started at Warrington Middle School as a long-term sub and got my certifications and everything. And that first year, just as a sub was just amazing to me. And I was like, this is it. Like, and so um I taught at Warrington for a couple years, four years, and then I transitioned to high school where I was at Palm Forest as the ninth grade algebra teacher.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

So it just clicked. Yeah. Why teach in Ascambia County public? I mean, you could have gone anywhere. This is where I'm from.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I went to school here, I graduated from Washington High School, um, went to middle school, elementary school here, my family's here, my husband went to Washington, our kids go to school here, so it was like this is this is home for us.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

That makes sense. So you were an in you are an an instructional coach at Pine Forest High School. Uh what does that mean exactly?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

So um, it can mean a lot of things. So what I've done with that position is um our teachers, if they're they're in their classrooms and they they build their lesson plans and their curriculum and they start teaching something and they say, hey, I did this activity today and it it didn't work the way I want it to work. How how would you have done it differently? Or can you show me a way to do it? Right. So I just go in and I actually see them do it, and I like can tweak it or tell them, hey, this went great. Like, don't doubt yourself, you got this, or hey, we can do this a little differently. And we just tag team off each other. Um, our school's a PLC school, professional learning community school. So a lot of times I go in the PLC meetings and I just talk to teachers and just see where they are at PACEN and they just tell me what they need from me. Um, last year um I made a teacher everything binder for everyone, just so we all had our resources up front, um, which they said was amazing, they want another one next year. Um and then COVID year is when I first started um instructional coach. We did a remote handbook. So I couldn't do a, you know, a handheld binder, but I did an online um thing. So I still had to find ways as to how can I help them even with their remote kids. Because we like I remember as a teacher, things I struggled with. And I'm like, okay, what what do I remember I needed or what do we need? You know, and sometimes we don't we don't remember what we should ask for because it's all just happening so fast. And so um that's basically what I do as an instructional coach.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

I mean, that sounds pretty major. You literally take all of the resources and tips and put them into one physical binder and you act as like a troubleshooter slash uh overseer slash coach. I feel a feeling there's a lot of slashes, like a lot of friend.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

I feel like um it made me a lot closer to teachers who like because before I was just math, you know? So I'm in the math department, and I think as instructional coach coach, I got so close to other teachers and other departments, and they taught me so much. Um, just going in their classes, subjects I hadn't seen since I was in high school. I'm like learning about science and um art, and I was just like going in all these classes, and I'm like, y'all are teaching me too, you know what I mean? Like it doesn't stop. Yeah, no, it doesn't stop. It it never stops, or it shouldn't at least. No, we're always evolving and we're always learning from each other in this education field.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

How did you go from being a teacher to an instructional coach? Was that something you sought out, or did someone approach you about it?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Um, our previous math instructional coach um got a promotion, so she became an AP at another school. And so the position opened, and I was like, hmm, maybe it's time to see if I can do this, you know? Teach the teachers. Yeah. So but it started out as a math instructional coach, and then it turned into uh all subjects coach, which became pretty fun at the time.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

And that's where hence the always learning. Yes, yes. Working in education definitely has a lot of highs and a lot of lows. You're feeling all the feels every week. Can you give an example, maybe tell a story for people who are outside of the classroom of a time that was maybe a low, a time that was maybe a high?

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Um, I think for me, when we shut down, when we shut down in March and we had to quickly figure out how we still were gonna reach our kids, how we still were gonna teach them, how we still were gonna get them prepared for the next year. Um, we all got on Zooms and things like that. And I just remember a time that I had set up my Google classroom and my kids were completing their assignments, but I was doing Zoom meetings every Friday, but I couldn't get them all on for some reason. I'm like, where are they where are some of them at? And I was like reaching out to some of them. Um and I said, okay, I'm going to do something where they know I st I still I'm still thinking of them, I still miss them, I still care. I know we're not in our class. So I went to Michael's and I bought these white cardboards. It looks like what you put in your yard, um, the signs. They didn't have the signs already put together. So I had to go. So like the little metal stakes. I had to go get those from Lowe's. Oh, okay. So I had to put all this stuff together myself. So I got the white cardboards, I went and got the metal sticks, and um, I got stickers with letters, and I put all of my students' name on each. They all had their own sign. And I would just put, for example, I would put Antoni, you are exceptional, love Mrs. McBride. Um, Janae, you are extraordinary, love Mrs. McBride. And I just did one for each one of my kids. Um, that is so sweet. At the time I had 93 students because we're on double block. Um, we're on double blocks. I had 93 kids, and so I made all my signs. It took it took me a couple days, but um not to mention that's your own money, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, and when I finished, my husband's like, um, what are you about? So what are you about to do with the signs? I said, I'm going to put them in their yards. I'm going to put them in the yards. And so um my the secretary here, Miss Connie Bryant, she helped me. Like, we did this whole address load loader. So it basically routed me where I would go in like a big circle and get to everyone's address. Um, and I rode around and I put a sign in everyone's yard. I didn't knock on their doors, I didn't tell them, hey, come look at this sign. I just put a sign in everyone's yard. Um how long did that take? All day. It took all day. I I didn't want to do two days because I didn't want it to be where um the second half of students would be like, I didn't get a sign. So I did it from that morning to that night. I did everyone's yard. Um can you imagine my next Friday Zoom meeting I got every kid on? All of them. All of them. 100%. It was the best feeling of the teacher that I had. That I mean, they were like, Thank you. I got my sign. I got I had some say, Why why you come to my house? Um, but it was just such a great feeling. Um, that something so small, which what I consider so small, just to show my love, um was something that some of them thought was so big, you know what I mean? Um and so at that moment I'm like, this is why I do it. You know what I mean? This is I want y'all to know that even when you graduate and you leave, like, I love you. Like, if I need to come to your house to show you I love you and I need to, you know, maybe get in trouble or something, like I want you to know that I love you.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yeah, I mean, that's a core memory for those kids. Yeah. They're gonna remember that forever. You are gonna be the one when they're out in the world and someone's like, Who is that teacher for you? They're gonna be like, Mrs. McBride. I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

I hope that. I hope they remember everything I taught them though.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Well, I mean, people, how's the saying go? They remember what you say, but they remember more the way that you make them feel. And, you know that you care. And that you care. Yeah. I think that's that's major. Now you are the uh teacher of the year 2023, but am I right? That's not just for Pine Forest High. That's like the whole whole kitchen caboodle. Yes. Wow, that's amazing. Were you uh outside of the title, were you awarded any other at a girl?

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Um in the future, um, the state is having a conference in Orlando, Florida. Um, it's a week-long conference, and so all the teachers of the year for their districts are of the state of Florida. We're all gone for the week and celebrating. They we're having like a big gala at the end, and they say we get a nice gift. We just don't know what our gift is.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

Oh, okay. So everyone gets a nice gift, and I I expect they pay for this nice hotel.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

They they pay for the hotel, they uh pay for the travel, and that's really nice. Pretty excited. That's major. And your husband gets to go. Husband gets to go, you can bring your kids. They they sub um someone will be at the hotel that can watch the kids and babysit for all the teachers that need to bring their kids. So I think it's gonna be pretty great.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

So stay tuned to see if you're teacher of the year for the entire state. For the state. Oh Lord. A lot of pressure, right? Right, right. That is a lot of pressure. So, I mean, I feel like you have peaked. This is like the pinnacle, but it's not. So, what's next for you?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Um, so currently, what's next is I will be working for Capturing Kids' Hearts. Um, and if you don't know what that is, it's a company out of Texas, and they go into schools and they work with teachers on social emotional skills in kids, and um how can we change our mindset to reach kids' hearts and you know, help them perform better. Um, and so I'm pretty excited about it because I feel like with me going into these schools and you know, learning from them as well, like when we do trainings, we learn from teachers, no matter where we are. And I feel like I'm gonna be able to bring that back to my district um because this is where my heart is. And I have a great relationship with Pine Forests. And it's like um I talked to my principal about it, and she was like, You're when you're off with them, come here. Like, come come see. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm gonna like this is we're all, I feel like, gonna keep these doors open for each other. Um, I had a great meeting with Dr. Smith, our superintendent, and I told him about, you know, what I'm about to be doing. And when I tell you, the conversation was just so great. Like he he didn't make me feel bad. He didn't ask me, you know, where you're going. He just said, you're gonna be great wherever you go. He said, because your heart is in this. And he said, this door, Scambia County, will always be open as long as I'm here. Like I would love for you to, you know, if you finish there, to always come back. And, you know, you will have a job if you want it. It was just such a great meeting with him. And I think that's what I needed to know. Like, I love my district and my district loves me back.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

That's amazing. I'm so happy that the response was so warm and and that this you're not leaving because something bad happened. You're leaving because this is the next step for you. So capturing capturing kids' hearts, it sounds like it helps with um like behaviors in the classrooms. How does it equip teachers to better teach?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Um, it's a whole process. So it's a process from how you start your class to how you end your class. Um, we're pine forest high school is actually a showcase, national showcase school. And what's amazing about that is that we're the first high school in Florida to be a capturing kids' heart showcase school.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

It was like and that's like your school. So crazy, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:26

It was like, yes, we're um, and so it was great that you know, Pine Forest came on, and now more schools in Florida are coming on, and even our district is coming on and you know getting more schools trained and capturing kids' hearts. And I think it's just gonna bring us all together. Um, because once you start the process and you go from the start of your day to the to the end of your day with a meaningful, powerful launch of how you, you know, tell your kids bye every day. Um, I think it will just get better for all of us. And what's gonna be your role there? I'm a leadership development strategist. What does that mean? So I do trainings where um they're two-day trainings, but I go to schools and just um train them on the process, but also tell them about my experiences that I've had in the classroom.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

From that perspective, what problem do you feel like capturing kids' hearts solves in the classroom?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Um, from my, I can just say about my personal experiences, um, I feel like I didn't know how to um properly greet my students, um, standing at the door, making sure I'm there every day, or I didn't know how to launch them. Like when I first started, I was like, okay, bye. Have a good day. You know what I mean? Now, now I'm like, hey, you guys, this is we we did two-step equations today. Look over this tonight, and hey, tonight, think about something great that's going on in your life, and let's talk about it tomorrow. You know, just give them something to think about once they leave. So then tomorrow I can we can bring it back in.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Okay, that sounds like mindfulness and intentionality. Is that part of the curriculum of this?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

And we we all do it here at Pine Forest. Like, it's it's we even do it in our faculty meetings. Really? Yeah. It's um we and and Mr. Glover, Mr. Joe Glover, who is our teacher of the year for academies, um, he's so good about at the end of every faculty meeting, he launches us. And it just gives us, you know, when we're all talking and we're all having meetings and we got all these things going on, but then we can stop and pause for a second and just be launched to know, hmm, okay, this is this is good. I got something to think about.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

You know what I mean? I think I do, because if I'm I'm kind of imagining myself as a student in the class and also remembering my own experience in school, going from class to class, it felt very much like whiplash. But when you just kind of said that closing statement, it kind of like, okay, that's like a bookend to that. So it sounds like it's a lot of uh, I don't know, classroom hacks to help the students be more receptive to what they need to learn, which is exciting. And it's exciting there's more schools in our district that will get that training. It sounds like he might be the trainer. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Yeah. If they request me. Okay. Yes. But it's it's because think about it this way. If I, if the bell rings and my class just gets up and leave in chaos, and the teacher next to me class ends and they leave in chaos, what happens to our hallway if everybody leaves like that? It's chaos, right? Right. And then what happens to our school is chaos. But if everyone just even if we teach all the way to the bell, we just stop for a second, summarize, launch with our kids, they'll just leave with different thoughts, you know what I mean, and not just chaos.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

That's really cool. Yeah. Well, as we wrap up, what's something that you want people to know about Escambia County schools?

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Um I want them to know that um we got them. Um we I I went to school in this district and we're just evolving more and more. And I think it's great that we're doing more things like this with public relations and things like this, because we want parents to know, we want the community to know that um we're doing everything we can to not only teach their kids in the classroom the curriculum, but to teach them life skills, um, to teach them things they can do once they graduate because we have their kids from elementary, middle to high. And then we still we're still there for them when they leave. And so I just want them to know that this is a great district for their kids to be a part of.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

That's amazing. Well, thank you so much. I'm glad that you're a part of this district in both what you were doing and in your future endeavors. It's a real gift to the public school system. Thank you. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County School District. Special thanks to Pine Forest High School for their recording studio facilities and hospitality.