Dec. 15, 2025
The Framework Every CTE Teacher Needs ft. Tisha Richmond | My EdTech Life 348
Career and Technical Education is often overlooked, misunderstood, or siloed. In this episode of My EdTech Life, Dr. Alfonso Mendoza sits down with Tisha Richmond, veteran CTE educator and author of The Magical CTE Classroom, to unpack what meaningful, joyful, and real-world CTE learning actually looks like.
Tisha shares her journey from the classroom to edtech and back again, why CTE teachers face unique challenges, and how intentional design can transform labs, kitchens, workshops, and hands-on learning spaces into powerful environments for creativity, collaboration, and career readiness.
This conversation explores how CTE classrooms can move beyond compliance and certifications toward engagement, student agency, and authentic learning experiences that prepare students for the real world of work.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – Welcome to My EdTech Life
02:10 – Who Is Tisha Richmond
05:20 – From Industry to the CTE Classroom
08:45 – Why CTE Teachers Feel Siloed
12:30 – The Story Behind The Magical CTE Classroom
16:10 – The MAGICAL Framework Explained
21:40 – Gamifying Vocabulary in CTE
26:30 – Safety, Structure, and Lab-Based Learning
31:20 – Industry Certifications and Real-World Skills
36:10 – Teaching Employability Through Play
41:10 – Challenges Facing CTE Educators Today
45:30 – Where to Find Tisha’s Work
48:00 – Final Thoughts and Stay Techie
Connect with Tisha Richmond:
Website: tisharichmond.com
LinkedIn: Tisha Richmond
Instagram: @tisharichmond
About the Host:
Dr. Alfonso Mendoza is the host of My EdTech Life, a podcast amplifying educator voices and exploring how technology, creativity, and intentional design shape learning experiences.
👉 Subscribe for conversations that move beyond buzzwords and focus on what actually works in classrooms.
Peel Back Education exists to uncover, share, and amplify powerful, authentic stories from inside classrooms and beyond, helping educators, learners, and the wider community connect meaningfully with the people and ideas shaping education today.
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Thank you for watching or listening to our show!
Until Next Time, Stay Techie!
-Fonz
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00:00 - Warm Welcome And Setup
02:40 - Tisha’s Path Through CTE And EdTech
07:20 - Books That Spark Joy And Belonging
12:30 - Why A Magical CTE Classroom
17:47 - Framework: The Seven MAGICAL Keys
23:22 - Games That Make Vocabulary Stick
28:37 - Realities Of CTE: Funding, Safety, Logistics
34:29 - Certification And Transferable Skills
39:29 - Where To Find The Book And Connect
43:19 - Lightning Questions And Closing
WEBVTT
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Hello, everybody, and welcome to another great episode of My EdTech Life.
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Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day.
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And wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world, thank you as always for all of your support.
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We appreciate all the likes, the shares, the follows.
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Thank you so much for engaging with our amazing content and connecting with our magnificent guests.
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As always, this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for our sponsors.
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So thank you so much to Book Creator, EduA, Yellow Dig, and Peelback Education.
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We appreciate you uh believing in our mission to bring these amazing conversations into the education space so we may continue to grow both professionally and personally.
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And I am excited about today's episode.
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I'm just gonna tell you a little backstory.
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So I'm I've been on break this whole week, and all of a sudden, I think it was either Friday or on a Saturday, all of a sudden I see my great friend uh Tisha putting up a post about some great news.
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And immediately I jumped on it.
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I got up to TikTok, I got on a DM and said, Hey, would you love to be on the show?
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And I'm excited to have her on the show today.
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So, guys, I want to introduce you to Tisha Richmond, who is joining me this morning here on my ed tech live.
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Tisha, how are you doing?
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I'm doing great.
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It's so wonderful to be on your show.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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I've been looking forward to this.
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Oh, I've been looking forward to it too, because like I said, just the the subject matter of your book, what you're gonna be talking about today and and sharing with the world today is something that as of late, like for some reason, like I just got into this like CTE mode and just wanting to learn more.
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What can we do to improve the programs?
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What can we do to help our students out even more within you know the career technology education fields, and of course, just to kind of talk about and and do away with maybe some misconceptions that may be out there about CTE and things of that sort.
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So when, like I said, when I saw your post and your most recent release, I was like, I gotta have Tisha on because I know she is doing some fantastic work within her classroom.
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And we're gonna be talking about your amazing framework, your magical framework, which I'm excited to learn more about because just in the little warm-up chat that we had, I was like, this is just mind-blowing.
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And just the fact that you took your time to go through that and be very intentional with that process and that framework, I was like, yes, this is amazing.
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So, Tisha, for our audience members that are joining us today or listening today, that may not be familiar with your work yet or haven't connected with you yet, can you give us a little brief education and excuse me, a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space?
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Yes, absolutely.
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So I have been in education since 1996.
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It's a long time.
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And most of those years have been in the current technical education classroom.
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I taught for five years in San Diego, came to Oregon, uh, was full-time mom for a few years, and then jumped back into the classroom again, uh, teaching current technical education, specifically interior design and culinary arts.
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Went on teaching for another 17 years, uh, took a brief jump outside of the classroom for five years and got to explore tech integration.
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I was our district's tech integration specialist supporting teachers K through 12 and how to bring innovative ideas and technology into the classroom.
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I had a three-year opportunity to work with Canva for education.
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And I was a Canva learning consultant, getting to work with educators from around the world and how to bring Canva into classroom learning.
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And then last year I had this kind of unexplainable tug on my heart to return to the classroom again, teaching culinary arts at the rival school across town from where I taught before.
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And I just, it was truly unexplainable.
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It was just not something I was looking for.
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The opportunity was there.
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And I jumped uh very quickly a week before school started into this role.
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In fact, I didn't even spend the first three weeks with my students because I was tying up some loose ends with my uh previous job.
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So it's been a wonderful journey in education.
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I'm so grateful for every experience that I've had.
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I've had the amazing opportunity to publish through Dave Bridges Consulting, some books that are near and dear to my heart.
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I've had the opportunity to present around uh the world to educators on topics that are near and dear to my heart.
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So I'm just I'm grateful for it all.
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I truly am.
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That is wonderful.
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You know, the the experience that you've had, and like you mentioned, you know, seeing the classroom, seeing what it's like, you know, outside the classroom as, you know, tech integrationist.
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And then of course, your your uh time through Canva as well, and then you know, coming back into the classroom, you know, sometimes I feel that uh those perspectives really help out a lot.
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And just seeing things through different lenses helps so much that now, like you said, you felt that tug and you came back to the classroom.
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I'm sure that now things, although maybe you you're teaching the same thing in culinary arts, but now things look different.
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You know, now you come in with this renewed vision and a renewed sense of like what can I do?
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Because now you've kind of seen it all, and now you're kind of bundling all that knowledge that you you not only gave to teachers that, but you also learned from them and now bringing it back into the classrooms, and now your students get to reap the the and sow the root, you know, that knowledge that you're pouring into them, and that's something that is wonderful and amazing, and especially with culinary arts.
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That's to be honest with you, if if I could go back in time, I would probably like would love to have been a chef because I'm just a huge foodie and I love to watch all those like chef competitions and everything.
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And um, so it's just fantastic.
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So tell me now a little bit more.
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I want to talk uh, you know, you mentioned, you know, you published some books, and uh, you know, so I want to talk a little bit about that as far as your publishing that you've done, you know, what has been the motivation or what was, you know, the the influence behind those books and to just put that out into the world?
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Yeah, so you know, every book that I have written is truly just such a part of my heart, a piece of my heart, because they all tell a different story.
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And my first book that is called Make Learning Magical was really about how I went from a teacher that was burnt out, kind of ready to throw in the towel, and how I was able to really transform what teaching looked like for me and how I could create unforgettable experiences for students was really my manifesto.
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It was my story of how of that journey and what those seven keys were that really unlocked the magic in my classroom.
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Uh, so that was just an incredible opportunity for me to be able to share that story, hoping that I could help others that may have been feeling that they're in that same position.
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Maybe they are ready to throw in the towel too, and how I was able to uh reinvigorate my joy, re-spark my joy, and really hoping that that might do the same for other educators.
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Really, I'm speaking from a career and technical educator standpoint, but I really wrote it for all educators to be able to do that.
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Um, the Dragon Smart book that I wrote with my son uh is a gosh, I can't even express how special that story is to me because we wrote it together.
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I wrote the story based on his educational journey.
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And then he came alongside and brought all of that the stories, all the lines of that story to life with his amazing illustrations.
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And it was an opportunity really to come, I don't know, for his story to come full circle, because here I am writing the story about his educational journey and how his brilliance may not show up like every other student's brilliance, or it may not be really acknowledged in grades or good test scores, however, uh really highlighting all the ways that he is brilliant.
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And it's a conversation between a mom and a son about um how he shines in ways that maybe the world doesn't always recognize.
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And so to see him learn how to truly learn how to draw and illustrate through the process of writing this book and then have it released to the world has been the most amazing bonding experience for my son and I.
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And for him also to realize, wow, his story matters and he can share this story with the world and now see the impact it's gonna have on kids across the globe and truly have heard those stories where, you know, parents will write us and say, Oh my goodness, like I can't even tell you how this story touched my daughter or my son, or how it just really spoke to me as an adult, right?
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And so, oh my gosh, that has been an amazing, uh, amazing journey with my son.
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We've been able to present at conferences together.
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We've been able to do read alouds in classrooms virtually and in person.
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So that's been incredible.
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Um, I did write an ebook that I uh collaborated with with John Kripo and Marlena Hepburn.
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It's the Edu Protocols Companion Guide, where I wrote um, I created Canva templates to go along with their Edu Protocols book one.
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And so that was such a different experience, right?
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Because it wasn't um an educational book like Make Learning Magical.
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It wasn't a picture book like Dragon Smart.
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This was a uh a guide that went along with an incredible, a credible book.
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And so I collaborating with that was amazing.
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And then this recent book, The Magical CTE Classroom, again is so near and dear to my heart because it's truly speaking from my career and technical educator lens, and I've been in this world for a long, long time, and really helping give some tools to educators on really how can we bring that play, innovation, and joy into our classrooms because career and technical education is so vital and so important.
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And I want to I want to help educators see how we can infuse some of this this playful learning in a really meaningful way that is really going to help them as they move from our classrooms into this real world of work, um, how it can really be uh powerful.
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Oh, I love that.
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You know, and especially, you know, now diving in a little bit more into this conversation is just something that is exciting, and especially about uh your most recent uh release.
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And to me, that gets me really excited because the way that you talk about this throughout your experience.
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And then um oftentimes, and again, this this is just me and my experience, and I don't know about your experience uh, you know, in the previous schools that you were in and now in your current school, but it just seems like oftentimes uh CTE teachers are kind of siloed and kind of left out.
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You know, we uh sometimes we just focus more on that core curriculum, on whatever's gonna be state tested.
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And so we focus more on that math, reading, science, and social studies.
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And then oftentimes we just forget that there is also a curriculum for, you know, CTE for the teachers.
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And when, you know, being in a in a role as a digital learning coordinator for many years, oftentimes the the comments or the questions were were well, what about us, Mr.
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Mandelsa?
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Like, why why don't we get to go or do these trainings and do all of this?
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Why isn't there anything available for us as far as you know, just tech integration or finding great ways to that uh things that you can implement into classrooms?
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So I love the fact that you're bringing your experience and that lens into the CTE classroom and like you mentioned, making that learning enjoyable, interactive, fun, where the students truly feel like creators and not just those consumers and really taking it to that next level.
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So I want to ask you, I uh so I know that this is uh make CTE magical or the magical CTE classroom, sorry.
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And so what where did that come from?
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Was it something that you were seeing too?
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Like, hey, you know what, like CTE doesn't always have to be just this cut and dry, or you know, just tell me a little bit how the book came to fruition.
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Yeah, so you know my original book, Make Learning Magical Again, was a book that really kind of talked about how I was able to re-spark the joy in my own teaching.
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I was kind of at this point in my career where I was going through the motions.
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Like I had been teaching for a while, like I was pretty dialed in.
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Like I knew how to teach.
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However, I wasn't enjoying it.
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I had lost my joy for it.
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And I think in return, whatever emotion we bring into the classroom is contagious, right?
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So if we're not excited about what we're teaching and we're not bringing that joy into the classroom, our students aren't going to probably be as joyful about learning it.
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And so um it really truly transformed what the learning landscape looked for looked like for me as well as my students.
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And so the magical CTE classroom is really um making that accessible, where I feel like make learning magical was the story and really kind of breaking down those seven keys.
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And I do have some great strategies in that book as well.
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The magical CTE classroom is just giving so many ideas and strategies that teachers can take and use right away.
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So you, I want this book to be bookmarked.
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I want there to be post-it notes all the way through it and for teachers to be able to flip through, oh, yeah, I want to try this one, or hey, I want to try this.
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I also really wanted to reach that CTE educator that maybe is coming straight from industry.
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So many teachers in CTE are not going through the four-year teaching program and and you know, they're coming from industry.
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So they might be getting their CTE credential, you know, after like they've had this full career, maybe 20, 30 years in a career in the industry, and now are jumping into education.
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And so they are having to kind of backfill and and find those strategies and really try to learn all of the lingo that comes along in education.
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And I really wanted to provide some simple lesson frame unit and lesson frameworks for those educators to be able to see like this is how this is how I structure my classroom.
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This is how I kind of build a lesson, this is how I um can infuse that joy right in.
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And some of the tried and true, just foundational pieces that has really helped me create this um CTE learning atmosphere that is very lab-based and hands-on.
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And like you said, a lot of times in our PD programs within our districts, it's speaking to the core subject areas.
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We're not learning what it looks like when you are in a classroom with moving parts and hot burners and, you know, power tools, and students are moving and they're they're not sitting for very long at all.
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My class is very lab-based.
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My students are up and they're moving, and you it takes intention to create a learning atmosphere where students are creating, collaborating, communicating from beginning to end, right?
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And um, and again, with hot burners, power tools, pick things that could potentially be dangerous.
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And so I really wanted to help teachers that are in career and technical education, whatever career pathway they might be teaching, I wanted them to have kind of this access to what that structure can look like and how we truly can make it a joyful learning atmosphere.
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Oh, and that is great.
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You know, I I think you hit the nail on the head on something there that I didn't even think about too, which is like you mentioned, a lot of these the educators that are coming in into the classroom that are CTE, uh, they're coming in exactly like you said, like from industry.
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And that kind of took me back to when I first stepped into the classroom.
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I mean, I came into industry, but I mean, I went into one of the course subjects.
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And yeah, it was it was a very interesting thing.
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Like, you know, you're having to learn how to teach while you're teaching.
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And luckily I had some amazing mentors that really helped out and really helped me understand, you know, how just really pedagogy and all the standards and how to unpack that.
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And so that is really helpful.
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So now, like you mentioned, this is a wonderful resource talking about how many new teachers are coming in into that CTE uh, you know, kind of pathway and career pathways that are teaching there that don't have that the, you know, the ed the, I guess you would say the the four-year education background, you know, going in as educators.
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And now they have a wonderful resource that they can have on hand to try out within the lessons that they may have, the curriculum they may have, and embed it in such a way to make that learning, like you mentioned, memorable, make it actionable, make it something that's long-lasting.
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And I think that this is great, that there's finally the resource.
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And I'm really excited about that because now I'm like, hey, maybe I should, you know, kind of share this also there with our district leaders and say, hey, you know, maybe do some kind of book study or be able to, you know, do some kind of uh professional development based on those things and seeing how this the teachers may be able to integrate into, and like I always say, sprinkle it onto what they are already doing great, and then just to really take that lesson to that next level.
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And so that way the students too enjoy it and they enjoy it because, like you mentioned one thing, that's something very important too.
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That that attitude that you kind of bring in is kind of like what is also gonna set the tone for for the class and the course.
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So I think that that's something that's great.
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Now, one thing that I I would love for you to share is I just learned it right now from our pre-chat that actually magical is a framework that you came up with.
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So maybe our audience and our listeners listening to this uh were not familiar with that.
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So, would you be able to tell us a little bit more about your framework and expand on that so that way our listeners, you know, whether they're in CTE or not CTE, but can share this uh, you know, out and be able to say, hey guys.
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I just heard this show and here's a book, you know, that can help uh you as a CTE teacher.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So as I shared before, um, you know, as a teacher that was kind of ready to call it quits, I was able to really kind of re-spark my joy and really be able to transform things.
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And when I really sat down to think about, well, what was it?
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Like what are what were the keys that really helped unlock that joy again in my classroom learning?
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And I really, when I really sat down and thought about it, it it broke down into these seven keys: memorable beginning, authenticity and agency, gamified experiences, innovation, creativity, collaboration, and curiosity, authentic audience, and legacy.
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And so, you know, I again in that original book, I break down what each of those different keys mean and what it looked like to be able to unlock those keys in my classroom and kind of how you as an educator can unlock that in your classroom too.
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And then in the magical CTE classroom, I really kind of build off of that framework to really be able to show teachers how you can set up your unit and your lesson plans with that framework, and then some really actionable strategies that you can use right away to be able to tap into those different keys as well.
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And I really feel that this book, a lot of the strategies are going to be able to be used across the board.
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But I really wanted to speak from my perspective as a career and technical educator and really speak to career and technical education because I feel like we talked about before, oftentimes there isn't a lot that are a lot of resources and books and PD that are speaking to those that are in these career and technical uh-based classrooms.
00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:15.220
And um, that was really important to me to feel like I could provide that to educators in this space.
00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:18.180
Oh, and I think that's great and such a great framework.
00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:24.099
And one of the things that I mentioned to you even pre-chat too is just how how thoughtful that framework is.
00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:38.980
And it just hits on so much that we normally do in in what whatever classroom you may be in, uh, you know, that you know, framework is definitely something that would be very useful, like you mentioned, for straight across the board.
00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:49.940
But I'm glad that there is something now, like you mentioned, a resource that we can share with our CTE teachers that can feel like, hey, this is for me, this is specifically for me.
00:23:49.940 --> 00:24:10.180
Now I have something where I can go ahead and learn from to as well and implement and just really take my classroom to that next level and those ideas, like you mentioned, that they can go through and you know, say, hey, you know what, maybe this six weeks or this, you know, nine weeks, I'm gonna try this activity, or you know what, let's see how I can implement this next activity.
00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:18.980
And then they kind of just start owning it and seeing where it is that that might be able to fit in into their curriculum and just kind of ease into it.
00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:24.579
And then before you know it, it's like, hey, you know, it's they get reinvigorated, like you mentioned.
00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:30.579
It's like now the learning kind of, even though you may be teaching the same thing, but the experience is different now.
00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:32.420
Like you said, they feel more comfortable.
00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:36.099
The students are engaged in a different manner in a different way.
00:24:36.099 --> 00:24:43.140
And I think that that alone, too, also really helps an educator out just feel like, wow, this is great.
00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:44.660
It's things are going better.
00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:50.980
You know, I've just it was a small tweak, but it was an effective tweak that made and enhanced the learning.
00:24:50.980 --> 00:25:00.980
And now students are able to understand the concept better, or now they're creating or or now I'm seeing their thought process in a different way too, as well.
00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:02.579
So I think that that's great.
00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:16.819
So I want to ask you, Tish, if you can, uh, can you give us maybe one example from your book that you might be able to share just a, you know, as a preview for our audience members that are going to jump on the link and order your book?
00:25:17.220 --> 00:25:18.500
Yeah, absolutely.
00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:27.700
Um, one of the things that I dive into is a little bit about how we can create games around the vocabulary and terminology in our courses.
00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:36.579
Um, because oftentimes, I mean, we our courses are full of terminology, right?
00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:46.339
We are teaching um terms straight from industry that are going to be really essential for them to understand and to be able to be able to use.
00:25:46.339 --> 00:26:06.339
And so one of the things that I love to do is find games that allow us to be able to teach that vocabulary acquisition in a fun and engaging way because we are they're using it in lab-based settings, but to really truly understand what those terms are and to be able to practice that takes intention.
00:26:06.339 --> 00:26:14.579
And so I have created a whole section in this book that really um takes a set of vocabulary cards.
00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:19.779
So, like you might, you might just on an index card write all of your vocabulary terms.
00:26:19.779 --> 00:26:29.379
You can use that same stack of index cards to be able to um to create these fun games for learning that vocab.
00:26:29.379 --> 00:26:37.379
And so I have a whole section that is just called Words at Play, reimagining vocabulary through games.
00:26:37.379 --> 00:26:39.779
So I have a game called Time's Ticking.
00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:46.740
I have one that's inspired by the headbands game, you know, where you wear the headband with the word called Top of Mind.
00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:54.099
Um, I have a game that I created inspired by cranium called the Wild Unicorn.
00:26:54.099 --> 00:27:00.660
Um, so I have it's chock full of these games that you can use to teach vocabulary.
00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:07.619
And then every game not only gives instructions, a lot of them have um a QR code that leads to a template that you can use.
00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:10.180
And I also have why this works.
00:27:10.180 --> 00:27:15.779
And so for each game, I break down like why this works for vocabulary acquisition and CTE.
00:27:15.779 --> 00:27:20.900
So you can really think about okay, this is why, this is what I'm really wanting to work on with my students.
00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:24.180
Like this is definitely a game that I want to try to bring in.
00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:25.299
Nice.
00:27:25.299 --> 00:27:26.019
I love it.
00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:26.740
And you know what?
00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:34.099
That's a nice spin too, because oftentimes, like I said, it's these classes are so intense.
00:27:34.099 --> 00:28:04.019
And like you mentioned, you know, right now, as you were mentioning, you know, vocabulary, I was thinking about, you know, our our nursing classes that we have, or you know, where the students are there and they're having to learn, you know, just words that I I have never seen that I can't sometimes I can't even pronounce, but just to take it to that next level where instead of just sitting there the way you normally do, just through repetition and through matching and or just outright just sitting there wrote memorization, we don't want that rote memorization.
00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:10.660
Like we want the students to really, you know, own those words and really learn the words.
00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:25.059
And I think that just having that little tweak, like you mentioned, and all those options that you offer the teachers, that's something that is great, where, like I mentioned, they could do that the first six weeks, they can practice before a test, they can review continually.
00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:34.099
You know, I was thinking, you know, they can do their time sticking, you know, as and as soon as they come in, they practice that depending on the length of their classes and so on.
00:28:34.099 --> 00:28:44.180
And just so as the students go throughout the year, those vocabulary words are always present and they're always there, uh, you know, for them to practice.
00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:46.980
So, you know, things like that make a huge difference.
00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:55.539
And not like I mentioned, not like and like you mentioned too, not just for CTE, but really for all classrooms where you're learning vocabulary.
00:28:55.539 --> 00:28:57.379
And I think that's something that is great.
00:28:57.379 --> 00:29:16.660
So again, yeah, wonderful resource because now even myself, just coming in, I would say, you know, this right here is if you give me this as an educator, now I have options and now I can pick and choose what I feel comfortable with and what I might be able to implement.
00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:20.019
And now when my teachers will ask, Mr.
00:29:20.019 --> 00:29:22.180
Mendoza, like, is there anything for us?
00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:24.019
Well, yes, yes, there is.
00:29:24.019 --> 00:29:25.619
And let me tell you a little bit about it.
00:29:25.619 --> 00:29:27.779
And here's what can be done.
00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:37.940
And I think that that would be great just to have as a resource on hand for any CTE educator to just have their on their desk, like you mentioned, bookmarking, making notes.
00:29:37.940 --> 00:30:30.300
And now this is how I would implement this into this section of my curriculum or this section of the lesson, and so on.
00:30:30.300 --> 00:30:32.140
And I think that's fantastic.
00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:57.180
Tisha, I want to ask you now, just a little, just uh, you know, getting away from the book talk just a little bit, you know, as like I mentioned to you, my experience at CTE, you know, and that I've seen, it's oftentimes, you know, it just feels a little apart, a little set apart from like the focus on the main content that and, you know, core curriculum, you know, as far as the math, the reading, the sciences, and so on.
00:30:57.180 --> 00:31:58.340
But I want to ask you, in in your experience, you know, what might be some barriers or obstacles that CTE teachers may face, other than the ones that we just talked about right now, where they might feel like there aren't any resources for us.
00:31:58.340 --> 00:32:13.539
And since you've lived it and you've done it for many years, you know, have things gotten a little bit better, or is it still something that you feel like you still need to go outside and start looking and finding resources?
00:32:14.740 --> 00:32:32.420
Yeah, I mean, I do feel like CTE has become a little bit more front and center over over the years, uh, over the recent years, but there are so many different pieces and parts to career and technical education that a lot of people don't think about.
00:32:32.420 --> 00:32:35.700
One is um just the Perkins funding.
00:32:35.700 --> 00:32:48.180
A lot of our programs are funded through uh federal Perkins funding, and there are there are specific requirements to be able to be eligible as a Perkins program.
00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:51.460
So that's that's one piece that we're that we're navigating.
00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:55.860
Um our classrooms um have equipment, right?
00:32:55.860 --> 00:32:57.539
There's upkeep of equipment.
00:32:57.539 --> 00:33:04.500
There is um things that we have to do, like grocery shop, right?
00:33:04.500 --> 00:33:07.060
Like in my class, that's a huge piece.
00:33:07.060 --> 00:33:09.460
Like I'm I'm at the store at 6 a.m.
00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:17.140
Um at least one to two times a week going grocery shopping for class and like having to do inventory on that.
00:33:17.140 --> 00:33:23.140
So having to keep up, you know, those consumables and making sure that I'm I'm staying within budget.
00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:28.180
We have budgets within our our programs that we have to stay within and have to budget for.
00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:36.420
Um programs have articulations often with community colleges or colleges to get uh college credit.
00:33:36.420 --> 00:33:42.660
Um, there are a lot of very diverse learners in our classrooms, right?
00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:49.620
And we want to make sure that we're creating an atmosphere that really is inclusive of all of the learners that that we have.
00:33:49.620 --> 00:33:54.019
And trying to navigate that and you know can be really tricky.
00:33:54.019 --> 00:34:22.019
Um, and then we we touched on this earlier, but just the safety aspect, because we are teaching students how to use tools that are out there in the industry, um, there is safety that goes along with that and really helping ensure that students are safe and we're able to um create a continued safe environment with a lot of students within that space.
00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:25.779
So, you know, my classes are up to 34 students.
00:34:25.779 --> 00:34:34.259
And so when you think about that, you have 34 students in a space with lots of moves moving parts.
00:34:34.259 --> 00:35:01.940
Um it's really important to create a structure that is going to support meaningful learning, but be able to do so in a way that there is some there's that we're taking in account the safety aspect of that and creating an uh an environment where every student feels like not only they are included, but that they are safe within that space.
00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:06.900
So no, there's a lot of a lot of pieces, a lot of pieces to it for sure.
00:35:07.219 --> 00:35:08.019
Oh, definitely.
00:35:08.019 --> 00:35:16.259
And like you mentioned also like the funding aspect, and you know, with so many changes and like you mentioned, there's so much compliance too, as far as funding.
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