When Your Teacher Sees You: One Student's Turning Point
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
01/12/26
•18m
About
Comments
Transcript
Featured In
In Part One of my S5E20 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh shares how inclusive teaching can profoundly impact the student experience and foster a sense of belonging for all students, emphasizing that education for all hinges on deeply connected learning. She discusses how a Spanish teacher's innovative language learning approach helped her overcome feelings of invisibility in the classroom.
In this part one deeply personal conversation, Michelle reveals:
✨ Why 54% of students feel culturally unseen in classrooms
✨ How invisibility shows up as "silence in the curriculum"
✨ The difference between learning for compliance vs. connection
✨ Gloria Ladson-Billings's culturally responsive pedagogy framework
✨ Why humanizing ourselves as teachers unlocks classroom belonging
Stay tuned for Part Two (on Friday), where Michelle offers digital storytelling tools.
Some resources mentioned:
➡️Storytelling Can Bridge Cultural Gaps
🎤How Cultural Representation Improves Education
➡️ Gloria Ladson-Billings
➡️ StoryCorps
➡️ Smithsonian Learning Resources
➡️ Zinn Education Project
➡️ PBS LearningMedia
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: What Does Invisibility in the Classroom Look Like?
1:00 Meet Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh: A Year in the Making
1:46 Today's Focus: Storytelling Can Bridge Cultural Gaps
2:13The Research Foundation: Gloria Ladson-Billings & Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
2:53 Taking Us Back: 9 Years Old, Newly Arrived from Jamaica
3:14 Education as Priority: Coming to America for Better Opportunities
4:00 The Adult Lens: Looking Back as an Educator and Researcher
4:44 Invisibility Wasn't Loud—It Was Silence in the Curriculum
5:31 Learning for Compliance, Not Connection
6:04 Succeeding Without Being Fully Seen
6:42 The Shock: When Friends Met Her Indian Family
7:00 The Statistics: 54% Students of Color, 82% White Teachers
7:24 The Representation Gap in Education Today
8:00 Enter Ms. Fernandez: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Spanish Teacher
8:51 Education Beyond Performance and Perfection
9:17 Prioritizing Connection Over Transaction
9:42 The Learning That Stuck: Songs, Café con Leche, and Las Tiendas
10:34 Standing Up Out of Respect: A Cultural Moment
11:42 Permission to Be Different While Honoring Culture
12:17 Reflecting on Teaching Refugees in California
13:00 The Equal Playing Field: Learning Spanish Together
13:42 Lightning Round Begins!
14:00 Top Resource for Storytelling: Start with Listening
15:00 Storytelling Requirement: Beyond Textbooks and into Lives
16:00 "When You Share Your Story, You Become Human"
16:42 What Would Ms. Fernandez Say? A Look of Pride
17:00 Wrapping Part I: The Spanish Spelling Bee Memory
17:33 Preview of Part II: Getting Practical with Digital Tools
18:00 Closing: Your Homework—Share One Story This Week
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Previous Episode
Part Two of my S5E19 @schoolutionspodcast conversation with Rusty Keeler tackles the "how" of implementing adventurous play—storage solutions, liability myths, phantom policies, and the 13-year success story of Ithaca Children's Garden's Anarchy Zone.
🎯 What You'll Learn:
• Storage and organization strategies for loose parts play (yes, even for Type A educators!)
• How to address liability concerns with administrators and insurance companies
• The truth about licensing requirements vs. internalized fears
• Real implementation examples from the Anarchy Zone
• Why the "boring adult stuff" is actually sacred advocacy work
• How to prolong play instead of preventing it
🔑 Key Takeaways:
The biggest barrier to adventurous play isn't insurance or regulations—it's phantom policies we've internalized as unchangeable truth. Rusty reveals how to have productive conversations with decision-makers, address real concerns while letting go of unfounded fears, and create messy corners or anarchy zones that transform outdoor learning.
Some resources mentioned:
• Ithaca Children's Garden
• Adventure play networks (OPAL, Reimagining Recess Project)
• Guide to 100 Outdoor Loose Parts
Chapters:
0:00 - Welcome to Part 2
1:00 - The Phantom Policy Problem
3:00 - Why Loose Parts Transform Play
6:00 - The Cloak of Invisibility Approach
8:00 - Organization Strategies for Type A Educators
10:00 - The Messy Corner Solution
12:00 - Teacher Role: Observation & Validation
13:00 - Addressing Liability Concerns
15:00 - The Licensing Scapegoat
17:00 - Doing the Boring Stuff for Kids
18:00 - The Anarchy Zone Story
21:00 - Meeting with Insurance (Spoiler: They Said Yes!)
23:00 - Leading with Hearts, Using Our Voices
25:00 - Final Reflections: Sacred Advocacy Work
26:00 - Resources & Next Week's Preview
27:00 - Call to Action
Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired, and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
💌 Take Action:
Pick up the phone or send that email to one decision-maker about implementing adventurous play. Then email me at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com to share how it went!
🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
#AdventurousPlay #LoosePartsPlay #OutdoorLearning #RiskyPlay #StudentEngagement #TeachingStrategies #EducationPodcast #TeacherSupport #SchoolLeadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #InclusiveEducation #WholeChild #EquityInEducation #InstructionalCoaching #ActiveLearning #NaturalPlaygrounds #AnarchyZone #IthacaChildrensGarden #RustyKeeler #PlayBasedLearning #EarlyChildhoodEducation #ElementaryEducation #EducationReform #EmpoweredEducators #StudentSuccess #ReimaginRecess #PlayMatters #ChildhoodUnplugged #OutdoorPlay #Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #SchoolutionsTeachingStrategies #ForeverGettingBetter
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Next Episode
When You Start With One Story This Happens
January 14
•0m
Start Monday With One Story | Transform Student Engagement Through Storytelling 📚✨
One simple shift can revolutionize classroom belonging and student motivation. Start with ONE story. ONE perspective. ONE moment. Stories aren't just content—they're entry points that help students see themselves, stay engaged, and go deeper into learning. When we incorporate stories, we raise the humanity in our classrooms.
Perfect for teachers, new teachers, education coaches, school administrators, instructional leaders, teacher mentors, homeschoolers, parents, and school counselors seeking effective teaching strategies for student engagement, active learning, and inclusive classrooms.
💬 How do you use storytelling in your classroom? Share below!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - One Next Step for Monday
0:05 - Start With One Story
0:15 - Stories as Entry Points
0:25 - Building Engagement Through Narrative
0:35 - Raising Humanity in Classrooms
🚀📚 Watch the full Part One (https://youtu.be/665GvsiS6pU) & Part Two (https://youtu.be/5D7cqLpwzLw) of our @schoolutionspodcast S5E20 interview.
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
Don't forget to 👍LIKE this video if it helped you, 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!
#StudentEngagement #ClassroomBelonging #TeachingStrategies #StudentMotivation #ActiveLearning #InspiringStudents #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #InclusiveTeaching #EffectiveTeaching #TeachingTips #InnovativeTeaching #EquityInEducation #ProKidMindset #WholeChild #NewTeachers #TeacherCoaching #EmpoweredEducators #EducationTransformation #TeacherMentors #InstructionalLeaders #Homeschoolers #ParentInvolvement #FamilyPartnerships #SchoolCulture #StudentParticipation #AttentionInClass #ThrivingStudents #InstructionalStrategies #LessonPlanning #TeacherImpact
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted