Wes: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Teacher Interview podcast.

I'm your host, Wes Creel. I work as Director of Innovation and Instructional support in Fullerton School District, and we are now in season four of the podcast where we get to know teachers better. Our themes this season, our passion, drive and determination. Join me today. We spend time with Nikki Mahar.

She teaches fifth grade at Fisler School in Fullerton.

We're live. Uh, Nikki, thank you so much for st uh, joining us here in the studio. And I know you had mentioned you were just, uh, listening to some of the other podcasts, uh, before coming in here. Uh, but this episode is unique. It's gonna be totally different than the ones you've heard cuz it's about you.

And I know we're gonna talk about [00:01:00] surfing. Okay. And we heard from some people that you also have something that you do in terms of service Yes. With surfing. And so we're gonna get into all that. Uh, but first let's just jump in and listen to you tell us a little bit about your journey into teaching.

What has that been like? Tell us about Yeah. Where you've been, where you've taught.

Nikki: I, I, this is my 22nd year. Wow. So my 17th in Fullerton. I started out in Long Beach. Okay. Um, and let me preface that by saying I started teaching when I was five, so I'm only 27 right now. Um, and, uh, I did my first five years in Long Beach and then bought a house in Chino Hills and was not gonna make that commute and interviewed understandable in a bunch of different spots.

And, um, got an interview with Jackie Pierce at Fisler. And, uh, i, it, the idea of. Having that much technology was amazing. Right. To me. Yeah. Uh, coming from a [00:02:00] district, you know, in a school we had a computer lab with the Big Mac computers. Yeah. You know, kids had to share and you got to go once a week for 45 minutes, you know?

Um, and then we had Alpha Smarts for typing everything. Right. You know? Yeah. So I took the job and. The rest is, as they say,

Wes: history. When you first started, what, what is something you remembered about the laptop

Nikki: and the technology? Oh, gosh. The first year I, the, the kids had to teach me, I mean, really, I, I had really, honestly, personally, had been a PC user, you know, windows Right, right.

User in my personal life. Although the transition to Mac was very easy, it was like, why would anybody ever use. Windows max are just drag and drop and yeah. Um, but the first year, really, I taught third grade then. Okay. So I've taught third, fourth, and fifth. Most of my careers been fourth and fifth. Okay.

And the third graders, you know, they were teaching me pages and they were teaching me iMovie and they were teaching me keynote, you know, um, because the summer training [00:03:00] that you do as a new teacher, and it just wasn't gonna cut it at least what they had back then. So I just remember being in awe of what eight year olds could do.

Yeah. On computers. And that was really back before all the kids had smartphones. It was back before. Yeah. You know, actually I don't even think we had smartphones. I started in oh six. Mm-hmm. And I think I got my first smartphone in like 2010, nine or 2010. Yeah. So they already knew so much. What's

Wes: your favorite student experience or project that you've used technology

Nikki: for?

Um, gosh, gonna ask me to pick 22 years. This is a long time to think. Or 17. Um. Well, I love and I have used this in a variety of ways. Yeah. I love when the kids have a little bit of choice for some sort of like research. So I've done this with animal adaptations and I've also done this with like Native Americans, and I think I actually told you one time before about my map, my map link project.

Yeah. Where they like. [00:04:00] They did a map, uh, colored like regions of Native American regions in the US by hand on a map, and then we scanned them all in. Yeah. And then they digitally added little icons to the map and the icons were, they made them clickable links. Yeah. To. Um, files in their Google Drive. Yeah.

You know, folders. And it was like either a video or a slide deck or a little, um, you know, animation or it might have been, you know, a two page, kind of like a feature article or a report on something like the canoes that the Chumash made, or you know, the baskets that the, the Paiute made or whatever it was.

Yeah. And so users could go to a map and click a link and learn about that, that. Thing. That special thing about that tribe. Yeah. That lived in that area. So, so

Wes: layers of creativity. So the things they're linking to, they also made, right. So they also made those

Nikki: artifacts. Yes. Yeah. And then they're picking what [00:05:00] they're researching about.

So my only criteria for that is choose something that is kind of unique about a tribe. Um, you know, all the tribes. Ate food. You know, a tribe fishing is not that unique, but like, the importance of salmon for the Yurok tribe is like, that is like it's life or death. If they don't have salmon or the, the, the, I'm gonna say this wrong, the cling tribe, you know, the Pacific Northwest Coast totem poles, like they're, that's very unique for the tribes in that area.

So, you know, they got to pick the thing they focused on and then they got to choose how they were gonna share. What they

Wes: learned. That's awesome. That is such a great example. Too much to

Nikki: choose from cuz there's been so much over the years that feel like I can not only hit a ton of academic standards, but the technology component and then just life skills, you know, interviewing somebody or um, even just coming up with questions to interview someone like what, you know, we're doing right here.

You know, teaching them to do that kind of thing. Yeah. And actually speak to people and not [00:06:00] text. Yeah. Or email.

Wes: And that actually brings us to a quote, and this is from Ryan, your, your husband. And he said Nikki is unafraid to try and fail. So what is something that you remember in the classroom giving, uh, an effort or something you weren't completely sure you were gonna be successful at ahead of time?

What's an example you can think of that? How's that? Quote,

Nikki: apply to. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure that there's definitely been some epic failures. I mean, maybe not complete failures, but like, oh, that didn't turn out quite how I thought that was gonna go. Right. Okay. But, um, maybe even better in some cases, but definitely not.

Not what I thought it was gonna be. Um, oh gosh. And we might need to circle back to that one. That's no worries. That's a hard one. But that, that was nice of him to

Wes: say. What, what, what's a piece of advice you might give to a new teacher who's, uh, thinking about trying something new?

Nikki: Exactly. That be unafraid to fail.

Like, you're gonna fail. You're gonna fail, but, Failure's [00:07:00] subjective too. You know, like, and I tell this to my kids all the time, you know, there's that acronym, first attempt in learning. And any failure, you're, there's still learning happening. You're learning what not to do, or a step that needs to be added in, or I need to change the pacing of this a little bit, or, oh, I've gotta teach them.

This step and this step before I jump to that, or you know, oh, we need, we just, we need this little piece before we can go there. So it's, it's all learning. And here's the thing, I get to start over fresh every August and sorry kids, that, that didn't work with you, it's gonna be better next year for the next year's kids.

So

Wes: let's take that topic or that question about risking and trying something new and not being afraid to fail and, and turn it towards like working with colleagues or working with the staff. What have you seen over your years of being in education that is a, a strategy or a way forward in trying to.

Build, uh, that capacity in a [00:08:00] staff to be unafraid

Nikki: to fail. I mean, I just think vulnerability, you know, and, and just being able to say, you know, Hey, I, I had an epic fail this week. I did this, and it completely, it completely flopped. Or, which I'm not afraid to do because the judgment doesn't scare me. You know, I know in myself, you know, my motives and.

And what I put into something and, and the success of something that I do is not a measure of my effort or my passion or how much I care. It's just sometimes circumstances. So it's kind of hard for me to understand and empathize with people that are afraid of, of be so afraid of being judged, that they're afraid of being vulnerable.

Cuz I really wear my heart on my sleeve about pretty much everything. You know, so I, I would just say like it's gotta start at your grade level and your PLCs, but I think too, like your, at your school site and your administration is a big part of that, you know? Yeah. Celebrating not only successes, [00:09:00] but I.

Failures that turned into learning experiences.

Wes: Yeah, there's a great place to include a quote from Julian Lee, and she said this about you and I connected it to that, uh, vulnerability or risk taking annually. Nikki volunteered for the Teacher Talent Show. Again, this from Dr. Julian Lee. She didn't hesitate to put herself out there for the community and to raise funds for the site.

Fond memories of time spent with Nikki include talent show rehearsals and being. Silly during the performances that include dancing. Tell me about that quote from Julian Lee.

Nikki: She's probably looking at, gosh, I don't know why Nikki volunteered for this. She's terrible at it, but she did it anyways. I cannot, I can dance like to like nineties hip hop, you know, music all day long, like at, you know, out with my friends, you know, at a, at a club or at a wedding or at a.

At a high school reunion, but Right, like choreographed dance, I'm terrible at it. I tried out for the drill team in ninth grade, [00:10:00] only knowing probably the first 25% of the routine. And of course I didn't make it. I mean, they were like, they laughed me out of that place, but I put myself out there like, Hey, this is all I know, but I can learn it if you gimme six more months.

So choreographed stuff I'm actually terrible at. And so she's probably, that's probably a, um, a little bit of a, a, you know, an earmark of that is that, you know, I may not necessarily be perfect at it. I may not really know what I'm doing, but I'm gonna have fun with it and roll with it. And if it brings some laughs then hey, it still sells tickets, I guess.

Wes: So are there, um, videos of this, uh, talent show that exist? Yes.

Nikki: Yes. In fact, there's one called Dancing Granny's. We actually did it two years. We brought it back after like five years. I think I've heard of this one and we, I mean, it's been done by other people, but, but what did it look like at

Wes: Fisler? Just

Nikki: walk us through it.

Like what? Uh, we're playing bingo, quote unquote, you know, [00:11:00] on the stage. And our activities. Director, Uhhuh, I was in a wheelchair for one of 'em, and she like wheeled me on. We're all in these like, old lady dresses and wigs and glasses with the, like, the beaded, you know, things that you, you know, to keep them around your neck.

Yeah. And that she leaves and says, okay, you know, I'll be back after bingo. And then we have a boom box and we turn the boom box on and everybody kind of gets up and starts dancing. Dancing. It's like their own, like a. Single or a duet or, and you know what's really funny about that is that there's quite a few principles in Fullerton that were not principals at the time.

Tracy Rina, Hannah Lim, right? That have been in the Dancing Granny's Act. Right?

Wes: That's awesome. Yes, they were lots of fun. So that, so the whole purpose is selling tickets, right? Yes. You're doing something that people are going to. Enjoy talk about. Yes. And it's really, it's really just to benefit the school.

Yeah. Like being vulnerable just to, to support

Nikki: students. Right. And I don't, that's amazing. I think we stopped calling it the teacher talent show. Okay. For some obvious reasons. Some teachers are [00:12:00] very talented and they could play the guitar and sing beautifully. We started calling it the Teacher Variety show.

Okay. Nice.

Wes: Yes. That's a nice switch. That's great. I love that. Uh, Julianne put that, um, Put that in there, especially the dancing. Uh, that's a great memory. Um, okay, so she also says that you have a, um, nickname for her.

Nikki: Yes. I, what is that? Mm-hmm. I call her own knee, which is Korean for older sister. Okay. So in Korean, you know, I just say sister to my siblings, but in Korean it's older sister, younger sister, and they're different words.

So when she was ing going on now? Yes. She's a few years older than me, so I'm 27, she's 30. Okay. Um, Yeah, she's a few years older than me. So when she taught at Fisler, she taught sixth grade. Yeah. And I taught either fourth or fifth. And I, I actually, um, I've had both of her girls in my class. Oh. Her younger daughter was in my homeroom.

Her older daughter was, uh, in my room for a part of the, the day during a fifth grade rotation. So I knew her as a parent. I knew her [00:13:00] as a colleague anywhere as a friend. And it's just, it's a little rib that's, it's a little rib. That's great. But I still call her that to this day. I

Wes: like it. I'm gonna go to a quote from, uh, Kim Benra, principal at Fisler now, um, because it's related to that vulnerability and just being, you know, putting yourself out there for the community.

Um, the first her response, her first thing she said about you is Nikki is passionate about helping others in service. Just those, that's like seven words, right? 6, 7, 8 words. What do you, when you hear that, that somebody says that about you, you're passionate about helping others in service, what do you think of?

Nikki: I mean, first of all, it, I have a lot of pride in that kind of, my eyes are getting kind of watery over here. Um, I mean, I think, I think about, you know, students and families at Fisler and then also, you know, things outside of Fisler that I do that, um, you know, I, I [00:14:00] do that are related to my passions related to education in some ways.

Yeah. Tell

Wes: us this is a perfect

Nikki: opportunity. Yeah. So well, like, so educationally at Fisler, um, I've been a student council, lead advisor at Fisler School. I actually brought student council to the school. Mm. Um, I came. In year three third is this leadership? No, it's different. It's different. Okay. Yeah. So leadership existed in middle school, but there was nothing in the K five.

Got it. Got it. And I had done student council in Long Beach at the school that I was at. And so, um, you know, Fisler was only three years old when I came, so it was, you know, it was pretty new and they didn't have this, you know, this program. And so I, I wanted to start it. And with Jackie Pierce's blessing, I started it and it started off really small, just kind of like, you know, what can we do to, to.

To to change the school. To improve the school. And it was, we would make posters and we would adopt another classroom and do announcements. And it was really basic stuff. And over the years it's evolved. And so like this year for the first time ever, we have something [00:15:00] called a kindness squad. Hmm. So it's our third, fourth, and fifth grade representatives.

Okay. Two per class. Okay. Um, so we have three third grade, three fourth grade, and three fifth grade classrooms. Yeah. So it's 18 kids. Yeah. Um, and, uh, I created this, this kind of squad. I just wanted to spread. Kindness. It's just something I feel is important Yeah. In our world to do. And so, um, we do a lot of different things.

We do kindness to our campus and to our earth. So we have this, the, um, stewards of the Earth program where our kids volunteer at their lunch to pick up. Trash. Oh, great. At the lunch tables? Yeah. Yeah. Um, or at recess. And then we have our student spotlight where students, um, any adult on campus can nominate a student for the Kindness Squad.

Oh, okay. And then student council, um, I put all of the, um, nominees, I take the names and the genders out. Yeah. And so I put he, she and exes for names. Yeah. And so the student council kids have no idea who these kids are. Right. And they just listen to the story that the teacher or the adult [00:16:00] told about that child.

Yeah. And then we vote. And so we had a winner in December and we just today surprised our January winner. Oh. With a little goody bag and a certificate. And we have the, those little rubber bracelets. Yeah, we have several colors. And so January was light blue. Yeah. So they got a kindness squad bracelet. Oh, that's great.

And we have bright pink shirt. So we do a Wednesday wave every morning we're out there and our pink shirt's waiting. Hello to people coming on campus. I bet you that's a hit. So it is. So a lot of parents are kind of funny though. They drive it and they kind of like don't wanna, they kinda wanna like look away.

Like, what? Why are they waving to me? But I think they're starting to get that we're just out there to say hi and bring a smile to your face. Yeah. So, and that

Wes: was actually mentioned by, um, Kim Benra. So I'm, I'm just gonna read the, her, um, info about that. After Covid, our elementary school student council took a pause, and then you took that on this year and created a wonderful leadership program for our students.

Not only restarting the program, but creating a focus for the students of being, um, stewards of leadership for our campus. She has a [00:17:00] kindness squad and created a kindness recognition. Yeah. So that's, that's

Nikki: awesome. Yeah. It's, it's, that's so good. It's fun. It's, it's cool. Yeah. Kids are into it.

Wes: Yeah. Uh, tell me about, you sort of hinted at things outside the school.

What, tell me about the surfing. Tell me about these, the ways you serve. Yeah. In there.

Nikki: So I actually, um, My best friend is the executive director of an organization called Adaptive Freedom Foundation. Okay. And it started in Hawaii and she brought it over here and asked for my help. And what it is, is we have paddleboards that are adapted with, they have wheelchairs on them.

Hmm. And they're, they're outfitted like the outriggers in Hawaii with like the aka the Ikos and the Alma to balance it, you know? Yeah. Cuz obviously putting a wheelchair on a regular. Up it, it's probably gonna tip over. Yeah. So we have these, these, um, als they're called to balance them. And, um, I mean, we can put up to 500 pounds [00:18:00] on our boards Wow.

And take people with all kinds of disabilities. Um, we can put people on their own, in their own wheelchairs, on to our paddle boards and secure them. And we go paddle boarding and I mean, we're not taking like, you know, eight foot waves on the north side of Huntington here. Right, right. We're in in harbors.

Yeah. Like Dana Point has a beach called Baby Beach. Yeah. And there's, it's in the harbor. Yeah. There's no waves. Right. Um, or we'll do, um, mother's Beach over in Long Beach. Nice. Um, and so I got involved with that. Yeah. And that really opened up my heart to people with disabilities. Mm-hmm. You know, I'm a regular ed teacher.

I'm not a special education teacher. Um, And of course I've, I've had kids in my class that have, that have varying, you know, special needs Yeah. And things like that. But the severity of some of the physical disabilities that some of these par and a lot of 'em are parents bringing their children mm-hmm.

And being an educator. Right. You know, these kids would come Yeah. To paddleboard with us. Yeah. And just. Tear my heart wide [00:19:00] open. And so that got me involved in just more adaptive sports for, for people with physical and mental, you know, disabilities. Um, I volunteered with an organization called Operations Surf for a few years.

They no longer have events happening down here in Huntington Beach. Covid kind of, kind of killed them and we lost our event director, but, um, it was for veterans. Mm-hmm. Wounded Military from Afghanistan and Iraq. And

Wes: I think I've seen pictures of, yeah. Of this. So, yeah. Tell me, how does that work? Uh,

Nikki: so it's, it's all volunteer led.

Mm-hmm. And it's, there's an application process for the participants and they have to have served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Mm-hmm. Um, and have some sort of, um, either PTSD or physical, you know, injury. And, you know, we've had participants that were blind, um, missing up to three limbs. Um, Deaf because of, you know, IEDs and things.

Mm-hmm. You know? Right. Exploding near them. Um, there was a guy that came with us that, uh, his shoot didn't work. Mm-hmm. [00:20:00] Uh, when he was in the, in the, uh, air Force and he had to eject and, and his shoot didn't work the way it should have. Mm-hmm. And so he had, we had a lot of traumatic brain injuries, people that suffered with that, and the volunteers along with instructors who were also volunteers for a week during this program every day.

Wow. In Huntington Beach. Yeah. From eight o'clock to four o'clock, we were out in the water and I became the shoreline safety uh, leader. Yeah. So I was on the shoreline coordinating. So when they would come in, You know, we would help them get safely off their board if they needed a wheelchair. We'd get the beach wheelchairs over to them, help transport them into that, you know, get them back down to paddle back out under the, the channel that's created under the pier and kind of an easier paddle.

Yeah. Um, sit and have lunch with them. We would do debriefs at night. It was just, it was amazing. Yeah. Tell me

Wes: about the debriefs. What were some of the things that stood out to you when people talk afterwards about the experience?

Nikki: Well, I think the biggest thing that resonated [00:21:00] is just how literally some of these men and women.

Prior to surfing and like the healing of the ocean were like, wanted to commit suicide. I mean, they share. Wow. There's actually a documentary on Netflix called Resurface. It's all about Operation Surf. It's amazing. Wow. And they can tell the story way better than I can. But, um, Martin, one of the guy that's uh, that's interviewed in there is, has become a very close friend of mine.

He lost three limbs serving with the British Royal Navy, um, both legs and one arm. And. Lives in Cornwall, England. So, you know, he knew of surfing and it had gone out as a kid, but wouldn't really have called himself a surfer. And he got involved with operations surf and now he's a surfer. And it literally has saved his life and it helps his mental health and, you know, um, just so many I could, countless stories of, of men and women that I've met.

Wow. That say like, surfing changed my life. Yeah. The ocean is so healing. Yeah. And it, it. It changes and transforms their [00:22:00] outlook. And you

Wes: surf? I do. So there's the service and you're connected to that. Maybe first because of surfing, but just for you. Tell me, like when, how old were you when you learned to surf and mm-hmm.

I was 16. Okay.

Nikki: What was that like? Um, I, it was super unexpected. I was not really a beach kid. I was raised by a single mom. She wasn't really into the beach. I, I remember taking the bus with some friends down to like boogie board once, right. My dad was not a beach person. Like I really didn't. Spend much time at the beach.

But I got my car when I graduated high school. Uhhuh? Uh, I was only 16. I got my first car. Wow. I did turn 17 in August after graduation. Got my first car, got out my Thomas guide. I'm aging myself a little bit. Yeah,

Wes: it's okay.

Nikki: I know what you're talking about. Mapped myself to the Huntington Beach Pier. Took a book and a.

A beach towel and just went down to, to Reed and I met three girls that surfed, and I was like, okay, I gotta do this. This looks so fun. And so I met [00:23:00] them the next day back down there. Nice. Okay. One of them is Amy, the director of Adaptive Freedom Foundation. We're still friends to this day. Wow. Yes. Wow. So she taught me how to surf.

Oh, awesome. Well, she taught me. I don't know that I actually really, really knew how to surf for about the first 10 years I surfed. I just kind of bobbed around out there and Yeah, did a lot of paddling and a lot of falling. Yeah, I didn't really start to get. Decent at surfing or fair until I started longboarding.

Mm-hmm. And that actually didn't happen until I met my husband. Oh, wow. Um, which was about 14 years ago. Yeah. And I transitioned from a shortboard to a longboard. Yeah. And it, it was a better fit for me. It's just more cruising. Yeah. And more mellow. And which is a little bit easier when you, as you get a little older too.

Yeah.

Wes: That's awesome. Yeah. What d does your husband surf? Yes. Is that Yes. Did you meet surfing

Nikki: or No, Amy actually introduced us. Okay. My best friend, um, actually kind of introduced us through Facebook, um, because he was a surfer and would be somebody that I could [00:24:00] hang out with and had some things in common with.

Yes. So surfing was a, was a, a common thread that kind of, you know, binded us a little bit. Yeah.

Wes: So another, um, so your husband, Ryan, he commented about you being passionate about volunteer work. Uh, he mentions drains to Ocean. Yes.

Nikki: What is that? Yeah, that's a, actually it's a, a new organization I'm sitting on the board of.

Okay. I'm vice president. It's a, have you heard of Surf Rider? Yeah, it's similar Surfrider. Um, we are focused on, uh, education and, which is what I love, um, and. Making sure that we're educating people about how to minimize pollution and to organize clean up events, not just at the beach, but mm-hmm. You know, watersheds right in your own parking lot at the beach, at the park, at the lake, whatever.

Yeah. Um, To, uh, help it avoid draining to the ocean. Right? Yeah. So that's awesome. Yeah.

Wes: That's awesome. How, how much [00:25:00] of this, um, or how does, how do these volunteer service opportunities that you do outside school, how do they trickle in to the classroom? Like, are students aware of these things? Yes. Do you bring them in?

What, what do you, what is students? How do they react when they find out that you're doing these other things? Because sometimes students think you live

Nikki: in and sleep and eat, drink, you know? Yeah. If you ever, everything happens at school and you don't have a home outside of your classroom. Yeah. Yeah.

What's their reaction? I think they think it's cool. Yeah. They, um, and some of them actually, like I, I've had kids wanna do beach cleanups with me and I actually do try to do a beach day with my kids on a Saturday during the school year with their families. Um, So they know we have a beach themed craft.

Like they know there's no, no hi. They know I'm a surfer. They know I love the beach. But where it comes into the classroom is, you know, like education about reducing, reusing, recycling, you know, that weaves into the classroom and in into student council, you know, through the school. We had a [00:26:00] water bottle recycling program for a couple of years, um, pre covid, where we actually had containers all around campus for kids to put their single use.

Plastic water bottles in, and then student council would recycle them and we would donate half and then have a little party with half to celebrate. That's awesome. Yeah. That's awesome. So, and I've had, um, zoom calls or, you know, FaceTime calls, Skype calls, uh, with some veterans, with some friends of mine.

Um, and they have disabilities. Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of times the kids, they're not used to. Being around a lot of people that have a lot of physical disabilities. You know, we don't, we don't have a special ed program at Fisler school like they do at some of our other campuses. So we don't have, you know, a a, a population of students that are wheelchair bound or that, you know, have noticeable physical disabilities and, um, I think it's so important for them to be exposed.

Mm-hmm. To, yeah. [00:27:00] Amputees or to people that are blind or to, you know, individuals who might have trouble processing cuz they have a traumatic brain injury. And so I call on my friends and I ask them to, to. Do these video calls with my class. Yeah. And the kids, I tell the kids a little bit about them and so that they can come up with some questions mm-hmm.

That they wanna ask. I I vet the questions Yeah. A little bit. Um, and then, um, we do these interviews and the kids are always, they talk about it for the rest of the year after that happens. Yeah. They talk about, you know, they'll ask, how is Derek, or how is Martin, or how, you know, whoever by name. Yeah. And ask how they're doing.

And, and they get, that's great. There's a vested interest in it. That's great.

Wes: There's a not, I don't know if it's a word, but a sense as we're having this conversation, like a lot of my conversations on the podcast are kind of about classroom, classroom, classroom, and then. And I also have this hobby, but there, there seems to be a more like holistic or integral kind of sense of like, these things kind of [00:28:00] seep into your, your classroom.

Your students know about 'em. I knew about 'em. Um, I think Dr. Bob was a, a fan of your work with the surfing. Yeah.

Nikki: He came to Operation Surf one year. Oh, did him? Hilda Sugarman, yeah.

Wes: Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. So, It seems like there's just a sense of this is who you are and it, and it's a, it's a part of your, your personal life, but also your, your work life.

Yeah. Which leads me to another quote, um, and this, I don't think we've heard from Vanessa yet. So this is Vanessa Sanchez and she talks about, um, you going above and beyond at Fisler to, um, make, uh, being there an enjoyable experience for all. But then she mentions the social committee. Which is, oh yeah.

What

Nikki: is that? That's new for me this year. Um, we've always had it, but a couple, well, the teacher that was in charge of it for years, retired a couple of years ago, and then, uh, the teachers that had taken it on were like, This is crazy. I can't, it's, you know, they have new babies and it just, it's just too [00:29:00] much.

And so I was like, oh, I guess I'll try it. Um, so it's just, you know, we organize, like if somebody loses a, a family member mm-hmm. Will, will, um, you know, send flowers on a card or, um, we do like special, like our next event that we have, we're gonna have, um, On national tortilla chip day. Okay. We're having a salsa contest.

Ooh. Like a salsa. I like it. Recipe. You know? Yeah. Not like dancing salsa. We've already, we're not gonna do the salsa dancing. I'm not gonna be able to learn those steps. Um, and then we, we'll have a potato bar, you know. Oh, that's great. And, and things that they've done in the past. Like on Friday, the, the teachers that were in charge before would go get french fries from McDonald's, and they were just in the lounge for the teachers on, on their lunch hour.

So just kind of just bringing some jovial, yeah. You know, fun and, and trying to help with like the bonding. Yeah. You know, on campus. That's

Wes: great. Yeah. That's fabulous. It's fun. I'm not counting the number of committees and councils that you're involved with, but it's.

Nikki: I have a hard time saying No, Wes. It's a lot.

Okay. [00:30:00]

Wes: Well that, I mean, that's, that's, that's fair. Uh, do you wanna say anything about that? Is that something you've always known about

Nikki: yourself or, yes. Okay. Um, I, I've gotten a lot better. I don't say yes to the things I really don't wanna do. So the things that I'm doing really are the things that I want to do.

Yeah. You know, and the things that I believe. Will either help me to grow as an individual or as an educator. Um, or that I feel I can bring something to the, you know, I can bring something to it, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, so, you know, when I say yes, it's, it's because it's what I wanna do. So I, I don't begrudgingly say yes to things, the things I don't wanna do, I, I will happily say no to.

Yeah.

Wes: That's, that's awesome. So, when, when, uh, there was an opportunity to go into social committee or social counseling, you said, uh, if you're listening to the podcast, she was very slowly raising her, like index finger to volunteer. Yeah. What, what is it about that, that you were. Stepping forward, but [00:31:00] also you hadn't done

Nikki: it before.

Is that why? Well, yeah. I didn't know on the back end really what was gonna be involved. And see, when I brought student council to Fisler, nobody knew what it was. So whatever it was was gonna be better than what it was before. Right, right. But when you're stepping into something and you don't really know what it took to run that, yeah.

It's, yeah. Do I, how big are these shoes I'm having to fill? Are they like, you know, Kareem Abul, Jabar size? Yeah, you know, shoes. Um, see I just aged myself again. That's okay. It's okay. Okay. I, I don't even, LeBron James, I should have said that. I should have led with that. Um, I actually dunno how big either of their feet are.

They might be very small. I think you probably safe. That was bad analogy. I think you're probably safe in the, but yeah. It, it, it. A, and again, I, I raised my hand kind of, so like, okay, I'll do it. Yeah. But then at the same time, it's like, you know what, if I fail, I fail. Like all they can do is go, Hey Nikki, this year social committee stunk.

You did a terrible job. And then I'll say, okay, next year you can do it. [00:32:00] Yeah.

Wes: That's a perfect response. Uh, we'll invite you in, uh, into help.

Nikki: My shoes are not that big

Wes: to fill. We are getting close to time. This is just flown past. It has, I can't even believe it. I'm gonna make sure, I'm gonna scan our quote list.

We've talked about surfing, um, operations, surf. Oh, so Julianne le mentions, um, reading and writing workshop. Oh, yes. So, so tell us a little bit about that. Kind of define it if I'm, Pretty sure everybody in Fullerton listening knows, but just describe it like from your point of view, what is it? Right? And then why is that something you're enthusiastic about?

Nikki: So workshop is, um, it's not a program, it's not a curriculum. Mm-hmm. It's more of a philosophy in a way of teaching and it really is a meet your kids where they're at. Mm-hmm. Um, and it's kind of like, uh, you, you offer them a strategy, you know, through a mini lesson. It's a tool that they get to put in their tool belt, you know, for when and if [00:33:00] they need it.

Um, and then you, you, they're reading. In their own books of their own choosing. Mm-hmm. Um, or in their writing on a topic of their own choosing. And we do have genres, obviously we have standards to it. Right, right. So we have, you know, we do informational texts. I do poetry unit, I have a historical fiction unit.

We have a character's unit. So there, there are units and they have to have a book. For example, in the characters unit mm-hmm. They gotta be reading a book that has characters, you know, can't be reading about snakes. Right. Um, and in our informational unit, you know, can't be reading Harry Potter. Mm-hmm. So there, there's guidelines, but they can literally read or in writing, you know, write about whatever they want.

Like right now we're doing informational feature articles and they all pick their own topics to write about. Um, and. I knew about writer's workshop from my work in, I, I taught at a young writer's camp at Cal State Long Beach for a few summers. Mm-hmm. And they have a workshop model as well. Mm-hmm. Which is like, you know, it's the stages of writing.

It's the writer's process. Yeah. It's not, it's not prompt based writing. It's, [00:34:00] it's, it's. Choice, you know, they have a choice. Yeah. Um, the format might be, you know, you're gonna write an essay or you're gonna write a short story, or, but it can, the topic can is open. Um, and then Coatson came to mm-hmm. Fisler.

Mm-hmm. And I applied, um, I, I see here was a fail moment. I actually applied to be the mentor of the coach. Okay. And I was not selected. Okay. Stephanie Guppy was selected. Okay. And I'm so grateful that she was, because I got to walk. Through that journey with her as my coach. Mm. And learn. And I know she learned a lot as a, a coach as well.

Right, right. But I got to really hone my craft as a reader's workshop teacher. And I have to say, prior to reader's workshop, I actually was actively looking for jobs outside of the classroom. Wow.

Wes: Wow. That's a huge statement.

Nikki: Yeah. I was just kind of, I had lost that. That drive and that passion. Yeah. You know, a little bit.

And, and there were some [00:35:00] personal circumstances in my, in my personal life that I was kind of not a real happy person in my personal life for a while. Mm-hmm. Um, and, uh, that affected, you know? Mm-hmm. I, I couldn't always leave it at home, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. The best you try. Yeah. Um, but reader's workshop really was like a shot in the arm.

It, it just, it rejuvenated my passion and. I, I get to sit next to kids every day in, in reading, and even if I don't actually like teach them something in that conference, I'm learning something about them or I'm sharing something about me. Yeah. That helps me connect. Yeah. And you know, circling back to what you were saying about, you know, me bringing my passions and my hobbies and things into the classroom and, and it's not like, oh, I have my classroom and I have this other life, something that changed and I, I don't really can't pinpoint a, a win.

Or a exact moment, but I started being more vulnerable with my students and [00:36:00] being, being a human. Yeah. You know, and, and bringing in those personal stories appropriate of course. But yeah, and, and getting to, really getting to know them. Yeah. You know, really talking to them about their families and what they did this weekend and really listening.

Yeah. Not just asking for the sake of asking, but really listening and started doing morning meeting and started, you know, just really trying to connect with them, um, in the classroom, out on the playground before school. After school. And I think that, That's why I love bringing that, those parts of myself in, is it helps me to build a better connection with them.

Hmm. And so Readers and Writers Workshop does that too. And I do a math workshop as well. Yeah. Um, and I just love it. I mean, curriculum wise, standards based wise, report card wise, whatever you wanna call it, I get to check off all the boxes. Right. Um, but it's really tailored to each child Yeah. And really meets them where they're at and gives them what they need.

Yeah.

Wes: That actually, uh, that's something Julian, uh, [00:37:00] said. Um, and I was scrolling to tr try to find it. She just dropped this one sentence. At the very end of the first question she responded to is like, what are you passionate about? She ended that with also, Nikki takes the time to get to know each and every student.

And I could have overlooked it cuz it, like everything else was about operations, surf and, and like your passions. And like, it was very, um, like it kind of grabbed my attention. But then when you're talking about sitting next to students reading and writing workshop and, and not always having to teach 'em something, but you're listening and learning.

And then I remember this line that Julian said, and I think that's a very, it's almost like, um, It's just this nugget of wisdom that like maybe, I think teachers need to hear that like that what you do. Yeah. Get to know students because until you do that, there's so much. That you, you [00:38:00] don't know what is possible or what they might need or what they might offer The classroom.

Yeah. Yeah.

Nikki: I mean, 20 plus years ago when I was in the credential program, nobody ever talked about getting to know kids. It's, it's happening more today with SEL and because of the school climate and all of these tragedies that are happening in schools Yeah. And, and things like that. It is. It is more like there's been so much more research done about, you know, kids will learn better when they feel connected to their teacher.

Right? Duh. Yeah. That was no different than 20 years ago. Right. But I wasn't taught that. Right. And so honestly, for probably the first 12 to 15 years of my career, I did what I was taught, which was teach the standards. Right. I taught the standards. I didn't teach the kids. Right. I taught the standards. Yeah.

You know, and I can admit to that and not, you know, that's just the, that's just the way things were. I did that whole sage on the stage stuff that Right. You know, we, we all did so long ago. Yeah. You know, now I finished the end of the day sometimes and I'm like, Gosh, I hardly even like talked to the whole [00:39:00] class.

No, but I talked to this table and I sat next to those three different kids and Right. I ate lunch with those kids, you know? And yeah, at the end of the day, I can check off my roll sheet and be like, I had interactions with 25 of my 34 kids. Right. Like real, authentic interactions. Not like, you know, Johnny sit down.

Yeah. You know, James put

Wes: that away. Yeah. We're saying the same thing to everyone. Right. Which is not personal individual. Right. Yeah. That's amazing. I, I really, I, I think that's so valuable and, uh, yeah, I think I'd like to come visit your class. That would, I

Nikki: would love to have

Wes: you come visit my class, like the workshop model and see you engaged in that with your student.

Yeah, that'd be cool. That'd be really cool. Well, thank you so much. This has been great. Thanks for asking me. All right.

Nikki: That's a wrap. Yay.

Wes: This has been the Teacher Interview podcast. Thank you for joining us.