Speaker 1:

Welcome advocates to another episode of the Leading Equity Podcast, a podcast that focuses on supporting educators with the tools and resources necessary to ensure equity at their schools. My special guest today is Miss Yaritza Villalba. So without further ado, Yaritza, thank you so much for joining us.

Yaritza Villalba:

Oh, thank you for having me. I'm so excited for this conversation today.

Speaker 1:

The pleasure is mine. I'm glad we got connected. I got to give a shout out to my man [Delinia 00:00:28] for connecting us, and I'm looking forward to this conversation. But before we get started, I'd love for you to share a little bit about yourself and what you currently do.

Yaritza Villalba:

So my name is Yaritza Villalba. I am current currently an education innovation lead for Flipgrid. Prior to that, I was a social studies teacher for the New York City Department of Education for 11 years. And then I became an assistant principal still here in Brooklyn, New York. Most of the kids that I service are Black and Brown students here in New York City. One of the largest schools districts in America. And they were overage under credited students, ages 16 to 21. My students were the best students ever. They were the students who most people have given up on, and it was my job as an educator and as a woman of color to ensure that their voices were heard.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for that. And here's the thing. Because when we talk about equity, sometimes it's easy for us to say, "Oh, I'm equity minded or I'm advocating for students." But sometimes there's a group of students that really are pushed on the margins where they're not getting the support that they need. Tell us a little bit more about the students' qualities. Or not the qualities, but more of the backgrounds that some of the students had that you were working with.

Yaritza Villalba:

So most of my students had IEPs. Most of my students even though their ages ranged from 16 to 21, they had third grade or fourth grade reading levels. Most of my students never passed standardized tests. Most of my students just came home from prison. They were raised in homes that were filled with drug abuse. Some of my students were teenage parents. The list goes on. Some of my students were immigrants, new here to the United States, and so they were pushed inside of the school. We were a transfer school so it was like the last resort for our students. It was either they passed and graduated with us, or they would then have to and go and get a GED.

               I just think people get equity confused with quote unquote, doing the right thing for students. No one really asked students what is it they want. And I think that people fail to meet students where they are. I mentioned my students read at a third grade or fourth grade reading level. And it was still my job to get them to pass those standardized tests. So I knew that I had to be culturally responsive. I knew I had to include my students in everything that I taught, but first I needed to actually get to know who my students are.

               And for a lot of educators, that's the hard part. It's putting aside your own biases because you know what they went through. I know some of my students were in prison for robbery. I know some of them had gun charges. I know some of them were in there for assault. I had to put aside all of those biases and say, "Hey, what is it that you want? Why are you here? But also, why are you showing up to my class every single day?" So I had to acknowledge those things. I had to put aside my own beliefs and my own opinions, and just say, "So let's get this done. If you feel like you don't understand what the Aztecs did then let's try to figure out what's your correlation with the Aztecs? What's your relationship? Why is this important? And how can I help you graduate?" Because the question is always, "Miss, why are you teaching me this?"

Speaker 1:

Here's the thing. And I love that, first of all, you started off the conversation with, "I had the best kids." And I want to repeat that because when you described the students that you had in a lot of people's minds those wouldn't be considered the best kids. As you said, this was like the last resort for a lot of the students. What brought you to that transfer school? What was it that really made them the best kids to you in your mind?

Yaritza Villalba:

So I started teaching at 21. I went back to my old high school. And I remember being pulled out of my Gen Ed class and being put into this program called the ACE program. And it was literally like academics with an expiration. How do we really get those students who are on the brink of becoming overage to actually pass tests, but to also accumulate credit? And I remember walking into this program which was on the first floor of the school building, and I noticed there was a boy there in the class that was supposed to graduate with me. Here I am four years later and this boy is still in school. But I think what really just put the icing on the cake was I used to still hang out with the kid, and I didn't know he was still in high school. So I had to, one, try to act like we didn't hang out with each other because now I'm your teacher.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Yaritza Villalba:

But two, fully understand how he may have felt embarrassed by it. So it was letting down my guard and also truly understanding, "Hey, if we are to still hang out after this, I have to help you graduate." I worked at that program for two years. And then at this point, New York City decided they wanted to raise the age limit to high schoolers. So now it's okay after 21, they're not going to push you out. It's now 22. And a good friend of mines, or she was a good friend at that time opened up a school. That wasn't Shay. She opened up a school and she asked me to come with her. And she opened up a transfer school. And the idea was that we would service the same kind of students. Ages 16 to 21, now 22. And I would teach them history, but the same way that I taught before. So it's, how do I hold you into my daily lesson plans? What is it that you want? How do you pronounce your name?

               And I realized, this is fun. This is fun because nobody ever took the time out when I was in high school to do the same thing. No one took the time out to really figure out how to really pronounce my name, or to understand that even though Spanish was my first language it's not my strongest language. Everyone just made that assumption because of the way that you pronounce my name or because my mom speaks predominantly Spanish. So it was just meeting my students where they were, and then just making sure that as an educator I left the imprint on the lives of every single student. And even though some students didn't like me because they felt like I was doing way too much as they would say. I was calling homes. I was texting homes. I was calling you. I was asking you, why aren't you on first period? And I think to this day, it's an imprint that I would never forget about, even though I'm outside of the classroom.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad you shared this story. And I thought it was very fascinating that you had a classmate, a peer and then four years later, a few years later you end up being that peer's teacher, and how that led you into where you were at the transfer school, and working with students. And I love how you said, this was a lot of fun. Now, I would imagine just from some of the schools that I've worked in, and a lot of the students that were in those schools were considered the last resorts. Or I would tell people where I work and they're like, "Oh, bless your heart." And, "That must be tough out..." You get those kind of comments. And I'm like, "No. I love showing up to school every single day. I love the kids out there."

               And so I would get those type of comments because of the student population I was serving. And to me, for me actually, was the importance of relationships. Because people from the outside looking in think, "Oh, these kids have this problems. They have drugs, they have gangs, they have this and that happening, violence. Oh, and there's probably a fight every... And they're probably smoking in the halls and fight." All kind of nonsense. All kind of stereotypes people are putting in their heads. I could never teach in a area like that. I could never do that. But when it came down to it, the reason why I felt like I was successful and had so much fun just like you was, I really developed relationships with the kids. What was it like for you? I mean was that a big factor for you?

Yaritza Villalba:

Oh yeah. Early on, I was young. And I felt like most of my students were around my age. So building relationships is like I built the relationships, but I also had to have my guard up because I didn't want them to feel like we are friends. Once I got older and that age gap grew, I got more comfortable with building those relationships and knowing, "Okay. You know that you're the student, I'm the teacher. I'm here to help you out, and that's where it ends." Once you get to know these students, they're no longer a juvenile delinquent. All those titles people give them. They're no longer drug abusers, drug dealers. Then all of that goes out of the window, and they just become kids that want to be heard and loved.

               And don't get me wrong, not all of my relationships with students were positive. I'd be lying. But even when they weren't positive, as an educator and as a person who believes that I served a purpose there, it's still like I was on a mission to make sure that these students are graduating, and I was on a mission to make sure that, even though you don't like me I'm still going to help you out, and I'm still going to call your mother, and I'm still going to let her know, "Hey, we have a pantry here, let's get this done, miss." And so relationships, especially when you're building them with students who have this hard shell, we have to be very cognizant that they have that hard shell because everyone has been throwing everything at them. Everyone has made assumptions about who they are as individuals. And instead of just getting to know those students, we've painted our own image.

               And so by the time they get to us, especially at a transfer school, I have to peel back every single layer that has been built up for those 21 years. I have to think about how many times that child has been rejected by their parents, by the system, by all the other social structures that exist. And then I have to be the one to say, "I understand. So how do you want to approach today? Do you feel like you just don't want me to call on you today? Do you feel like you need to step out for a second? Because as soon as you come back, I'm going to call on you again." So I had to be that person that's like, "I need a balance. You're going to be upset with me right now, but when June come and it's time for graduation you'll be the happiest student alive."

Speaker 1:

You had to develop trust.

Yaritza Villalba:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like you said, a lot of those kids have had all kind of experiences where adults in their life have pushed them aside or mistreated them, and they don't know who to trust. And all they know is that you're a teacher, but they don't know why you're there. "Oh, why are you helping me? Why are you going the extra mile? Is this charity work to you, or do you legit, genuinely care about me, and want to see my success?"

Yaritza Villalba:

You hit the nail on head. A lot of the educators, especially when you think about the percentage of White educators in Black schools and in Black communities, and you think about loan forgiveness, and you think about the public service loan forgiveness. If they can see your face right now.

Speaker 1:

Don't get them started now.

Yaritza Villalba:

Right. Then you have to really think about how many of those educators that are in the system for five years, they're in the poorest of the poorest neighborhoods, and then they leave. And so when you see students with guards up and they say, "Well, why are you here?" Or, "Don't talk to me." Or, "You're just going to leave in two years anyway, you're not going to be here for my graduation." You have to understand that it's coming from a place of hurt but also experience. They've seen it. I've seen it. I've seen it where I'm just looking at teachers and I'm like, "She's not going to last past five years, as soon as her loans are forgiven she's out." And it happens. They go right back to their homes in Long Island. They go right back to their homes in different states. They leave New York City and they live their lives without debt.

Speaker 1:

Listen. Listen. You're bringing fire to day. Okay. I'm glad I got you on the show because you got me excited. Now you saw my face because-

Yaritza Villalba:

[crosstalk 00:13:19].

Speaker 1:

But legit, that's the thing. We see a lot of teachers get their loans paid off, and unfortunately higher ed costs so much, and scholarships don't always cover everything, and we end up having to pay stuff back, and then there's... I'm not calling any program names out, but there are some programs out there that you can get involved in, and spend a couple years, a few years or so, do some inner city work. Work with urban kids. Throw all the little... Yeah. I see the quotes. And I throw all those little... And so you spend a little time, get your stuff paid off, and you're out.

Yaritza Villalba:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And kids see this happening. And then you start connecting and then sometimes teachers are there with that mindset, and so they don't really... They can't figure out, "I don't understand why I can't connect with the kids, and I need your help in all these type of things." But I'm like, "What's the purpose? Why are you here?" I had a teacher ask me one time, she said... She was a White teacher, she was about to graduate from college. She said, "Where should I go? Should I go to an urban school, or should I go to a suburban school? I feel like I'm pretty progressive these days, and I feel like I could be needed in either side."

               And I said, "Well, it really just depends on what your primary focus is." Are you coming there to save, or are you coming there to be there from an empathetic approach, or would you thrive more in a suburban school where you can teach a lot of... Bring in multicultural education, bring in culturally responsive teaching, and bring in a variety of experiences for the students that you serve. That is the question that you should be an asking. I can't answer that so I'm glad that you're bringing that up. You're bringing the fire. You're bringing the fire. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. We're going to shift gears just a little bit. All right. So you gave me some of your background information as far as how you got into this work, the kind of work that you were doing in the past. Now, you said that you work with Flipgrid now.

Yaritza Villalba:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So tell us a little bit more about what you do with Flipgrid.

Yaritza Villalba:

So last month I left the New York City Department of Education as assistant principal, and I accepted my role with Flipgrid as an education innovation lead. And my focus is cultural and linguistic diversity. My role is just to make sure that all of the voices and perspectives are heard. It is to make sure that we stick and we align to our mission in regards to amplifying and empowering the voices of all, whether if it's here in the United States, whether if it's in Japan, whether if it's in Africa. It's how do we make sure that... And here goes that word again. How do we make sure that that word equity is the umbrella in which we're all underneath? So it's about creating opportunities for educators to not only amplify their work, but amplify the voices of their students to collect free resources because that's the main thing that really drove me to Flipgrid, is that it's a free platform.

               So I'm not here making phone calls saying, "Hey, we're a culturally responsive program and platform. Please use us." No. It's more of, "How do we do I create resources that you can use in your classroom that I know for sure is culturally responsive. And if you need the help, and then you need one-on-one assistance, how do I provide that for you? How do I ensure that I can have office hours so that you can come in as a teacher who may have some questions and are afraid to ask folks in your district?" Well, ask Yaritza. Email me, ask me a question. I got you.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So for those... I mean I would say my audience, a lot of folks in my audience listen, I'm sorry, they utilize Flipgrid a lot. Now, let's break it down a little bit more because they may not be aware of the options or the ways that they can be culturally responsive, and create these type of experiences for their students. So if I am... Let's just say you have a social studies background, let's say I'm a high school social studies teacher. What are some examples of ways that I could utilize Flipgrid as a cultural linguistic approach?

Yaritza Villalba:

So especially when dealing with history, we have to understand that there's a connection between the past and the present. There's a connection between wars, battles, what's going on in our communities. You just have to peel back all of those layers and really dig into what the source of the issue is or are. If I was a social studies teacher as I was before, and I was using Flipgrid, a lot of what I did was to connect students to history. So I created something called back to the future. And you remember the movie Back to the Future, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Yaritza Villalba:

But what I did was I created a PBL task, a project based learning task where students went back in time. So they went to the 1920s, and they met a historical figure. And meeting that historical figure, you had to come back to the future, and you have to basically showcase what is it that you learned. So you can write a letter of advice, you can create a museum, you can do a poem. And I gave them the option to do all of that on Flipgrid.

               The reason for it is because, one, and I know most of my students who lived in shelters were not comfortable with showing their backgrounds. Flipgrid allows you to use different lenses and filters in the camera where no longer have to use the background or your face. But you can still hear a kid's voice. You can upload music, you can upload other apps. So you can literally integrate other apps like iMovie into it. And that was a way for me to meet my students where they were. I know that you're not comfortable with showing your background. And even if you're not comfortable with speaking, I know that you can integrate any other app onto Flipgrid.

               I know that you have an iPhone, but you don't have a laptop. So what are some apps on your iPhone that you can use? I try to create multiple entry points for my students to actually create and deliver what it was that they were learning. If I was a math teacher, I had to think about those mathematical concepts that the ancient Egyptians were responsible for. So making that connection with history and math, but also having students explore. Why is it that things are the way that they are today? It didn't just happen. There's so much literature. There's so many books that speaks to our way of life. And I feel like as educators, it's our mission. It's our due diligence to go in and figure out what is it that we can actually present to students in a way where they can connect to it?

               I used to always talk about mathematical equations or state exams. And I used to use that example of apple picking. If I've never been apple picking before I might be stuck on a question not because I don't understand mathematical concepts, but because I don't understand the concept of apple picking. So it's about being responsive to who your student are. It's about understanding. Listen, I grew up in Brooklyn. I've never been apple picking a day in my life. I get my apples from the supermarket. But why not change the context of that equation? Why not change the context of that mathematical problem so that students can now understand and not just be stuck on trying to figure out what does it look like to go apple picking. I think people just have to acknowledge where there's a disconnect in their curriculum, in their lesson plans, and the strategies that they're choosing to use in classes, and try to figure out how can they actually connect those things to students.

Speaker 1:

Can we go back for just one second because you brought up, and I'm glad you said it, but you brought up the ancient Egyptians mathematical concepts that we utilized. Now here's the reason why I want to go back, because I remember ninth grade I learn about Pythagoras theorems, and I learn about all these terms. But then years later I read a book called Stolen Legacy and it brought to me a lot of information about the Egyptians and where a lot of the Greek philosophers got a lot of their concepts from. So I would love to hear a little bit more as far as some of those ancient Egyptian mathematical equations that you were referring to.

Yaritza Villalba:

So when I began using Flipgrid, because it all ties into Flipgrid. When I began using Flipgrid, that was around the same time that I was creating resources for teachers around the world. So I have a nonprofit, YV Educational Resources where sometimes I would just wake up in the middle of the night and I'm creating things. I decided I want us to do a video for math teachers. Because everyone was like, "Oh my God, everything is about history can you just..." And I was like, "History is everything, but first we have to acknowledge that the first people to ever exist was in Africa. We have to think about that." And so I created a video, and I said, "The easiest way to teach students mathematics or teach students astronomy or astrology, sorry, was to go back to ancient Egypt. To think about how their way of life actually connects to the things that we use today in regards to math, in regards to the calendar days, in regards to the sun and moon."

               And as I started to make those connections myself, I realized there were more people on social media and Twitter who agreed that it should actually be taught. I actually... And this is where McKenzie's Time Machine, my newest book falls into play as well. Because I decided to start the story and to begin the story in ancient Egypt. It's important that, especially as educators whether you're Black, whether you're White, whether you're Hispanic, that you truly understand where everything has come from. It wasn't founded by White people. And I'm going to say this with my chest out, because if you do the research you'll really figure out that a lot of the concepts, and a lot of our way of life and the things that we believe in has been founded with the ancient Egyptians with African civilization. And we have to do the work and fully understanding those connections.

               So in regards to multiplication, in regards to ancient Egyptians, I actually came across that... I was doing some research for my Flipgrid that I was posting on social media. And I found it interesting that... With multiplication, I think the way I was taught how to do multiplication was by looking at the back of a composition book. And you know how it had like the square with the multiplication table and the teachers would go, "Well, if you do zero times zero, then it's zero. If you do zero time one, then it's zero." And then when I looked at a lot of the videos on Khan Academy, it talked about how the ancient Egyptians especially with a lot of the symbols that they used is actually correlated to multiplication and division. I never knew that. It took for, one, not only a pandemic to happen for me to actually do that research. But two, just understanding when we are teaching concepts to students, that's a great way to have them connect by saying, "Hey, if you look this up, this might intrigue you a little bit more." Than just to say, "Go to the back of a composition book and do zero times zero."

Speaker 1:

I asked the question because I wanted to know a little bit more about what your thoughts were on the ancient Egyptian mathematical process. And what I find is interesting is just like you, I never learned that in school. And maybe I would... Now a full disclaimer, I wasn't a strong math student. But I wonder had I been able to connect with some of the content that was being put in... If I knew there's African mathematics that was there, that was the foundational pieces to what we utilized today. If I had known that as a person who loves history and who loved history, maybe I would've done better. I don't know. But so I'm really glad that you brought that up and I encourage our listeners out there, do your research as well. Look these things up. Find it for yourself as well. Let's talk about maybe STEM or some science type of areas where we could utilize Flipgrid.

Yaritza Villalba:

Last year and the year before that I had a show called Ask Yaritza, culturally responsive teaching with Flipgrid, prior to this new role. And a lot of what I did was I reached out to the experts, which were you guys, all of the educators. And prior to the show I never really thought about STEM. And I think that as a social studies teacher who was just focused on getting students to pass those standardized tests, and then I became a teacher who... Almost like master teacher, it's what they call it here in New York, where I would really work with other teachers from other disciplines to mesh it all together. I never thought about STEM until the Ask Yaritza series. So we had a teacher on there, Victor. I think you guys probably follow him as Coach Hicks on Twitter.

Speaker 1:

Coach Hicks. That's my guy.

Yaritza Villalba:

[crosstalk 00:27:09]. And we talked about STEM, and we talked about computer science. And I really talked mostly about that connection between teaching students computer science methodology, and just them knowing steps to programming. And then I did some research after the show to think about what jobs today are aligned with STEM and computer science. So I would say, if you're teaching computer science or you're teaching STEM and you're using Flipgrid, the one thing that I would do for sure is to use Flipgrid for students to be able to not only showcase their programming. Because remember it's a video app. But to also look at their speaking, look at how they discuss step by step processes. Because I never took that into account until I actually had that interview with Victor Hicks.

               STEM is much more than us just integrating science and technology. It's much more than us just thinking about mathematical equations. It has now become our way of life. Our students, whether you think about it and not our computer geniuses. They're able to use the iPhone to create. They're able to use TikTok to create and present. To me, that is all that STEM is. It is what now 40% of the new jobs created in the United States is all about. It's making sure that students understand step by step processes, how to create, and then how to distribute those properties. So I believe that when you use Flipgrid to showcase the work, to present work, to be able to explain how you got from point A to point B, it's fascinating.

               And I'm not just saying that because I work for Flipgrid, I'm saying that because I was using it prior to even getting this new job title. If you can think it, you can Flipgrid it. If you're sitting in your class and that's [inaudible 00:29:18]. If you're sitting in your class and you have students actually just writing six-page essays like I used to, why not just have them present their findings? Why not have them create raps, create poems, create music, create exercises on Flipgrid. These are all things that I believe folks have learned how to do during the pandemic, but for some reason we stopped. This is what the new job force is all about. It's about showcasing. I don't think people are doing face-to-face interviews anymore. Everything is digital. Everything is video. Everything is how can you really show me data analysis? How can you really show me that you know about numbers? How can you really show me that relationship between the numbers?

Speaker 1:

So what are the... Because you mentioned like, okay, with Flipgrid and especially the generations that we have coming up they're growing up in the technology age. I mean I came up when 56K, was the thing and AOL and all that. And internet wasn't where it is at now. But now my children, they got cell phones, they got all kind of devices, their own Roblox. They're constantly connected to digital communities. And could you help us understand maybe some benefits as to... Because you mentioned earlier on in our conversation that some of the students that you worked with, a lot of students that you worked with this was their last way of getting their GEDs or graduating with a high school diploma. How does this help students that are in those type of categories that rather than those who have to do those 10-page papers or other assignments that are more traditional how, maybe, you and myself came up when we were doing our schooling.

Yaritza Villalba:

A good way to think about it is if students have been in school for 15, 16 years of their lives. They are now 21 and they're still struggling to write essays, as a teacher you're supposed to provide a different way for them to showcase that product. With Flipgrid you're using videos. You're allowing students to use sketch. If I'm not good at writing, but I'm really good at drawing, Flipgrid might be a tool for me. I'm still showing you exactly what I learned in your class, it's just not going to be that five-page essay that I probably plagiarized because you're not allowing me to really show you what I learned in my own way.

               Classrooms are not supposed to be standardized tests. Classrooms are supposed to be a way in which we allow students to experiment. We allow students to explore. We encourage students to take whatever it is that we're teaching and go that extra mile. I feel like when we give that one option for that five-page essay like the way we used to learn with that worksheet, we're really depriving students from learning and showcasing what is it they learned. With Flipgrid you have it where students, there's so many different options. There's so many virtual presentations. You can upload Google Docs and have students present that way.

               So now students are just looking at the effectiveness of interviewing, the effectiveness of presentations. Not everyone is going to go to college, but using a tool like Flipgrid allows people to explore the benefits of already knowing how to present prior to stepping onto college. Because when I began college, it was more of my professor saying, "Okay. We have four presentations this semester, get ready." No one was there to hold my hand and say, "Yaritza, these are the dos and don'ts." As you all can hear, I'm from Brooklyn so my accent is kind of aggressive and hard, right?

Speaker 1:

It's there. I could hear it.

Yaritza Villalba:

Right. So no one was there in college saying, "Yaritza don't speak that way, and take your time, and you're going a little too fast." With Flipgrid it allows kids the benefits of reviewing their videos to see, "Oh, I may want to say this word a little different. I may want to take my time with that bullet point." But also just being flexible enough to know, "Hey, I don't want to write this out, I would rather sketch, or I would rather put some music that may be a response to a question that was asked." This generation has things different. And so the opportunities that we actually allow in class and encourage in class should totally be different. No one wants to write a five-page essay. So if you are a teacher, hear me out, that's still asking kids to write a five-page essay, you need to revisit your curriculum for real.

Speaker 1:

I'll say that again just for those who didn't hear in the back. No one wants to write a five-page paper. Just saying.

Yaritza Villalba:

Yes. No one. No one. No thesis. No nothing.

Speaker 1:

Nothing. None that nonsense. Okay. So all right. So Yaritza this has been very fun. I have thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Thank you. Thank you so much for your time. I'd love for you to share some of your final thoughts.

Yaritza Villalba:

Teaching is difficult regardless of where you are, regardless of the state, regardless of the country, teaching is difficult. And the reason why I say it's difficult is not because of the planning time, not because of how much energy has to go in it, but it's because you have to give up some of your selfish ways in order to actually service the students that are in front of you. So that means not taking the extra lunch because a kid is really going through something, I get it. I was a teacher for 11 years. And trust me, I probably had the same thoughts most of you are having right now as I'm speaking like, "Who does she think she is?" But I'm going to tell you that the benefits of it are just awesome. They're extraordinary to have kids come back to you 10 years later, and saying, "You helped me out when no one else was there to help me out."

               Times have changed. The pandemic has shown us that the way of learning is so much more than our traditional ways of teaching. And so you have to go that extra mile, especially if you're going to stay in this career choice. You have to go that extra mile to meet students where they are. If you want to be a culturally responsive teacher, your first step is to get to know yourself first. You cannot step into the classroom with the willingness to learn about your students if you know nothing about yourself. Because that's when you're really going to get to know yourself when students are testing you, and telling you, "I don't want to learn about this. What does this have to do with me? Why are we talking about apple picking when I've never been apple picking? I live across the street from a grocery store."

               So we have to be very cognizant and very aware of our own biases. About the biases in our districts, about the books that are banned, about the laws that are being put and set forth. The legislatures who are basically saying we cannot teach anti-racist work. We cannot be culturally responsive. We cannot admit to our own faults when we are in front of the kids. And we have to be 100% real and transparent which is I how I told Sheldon I was to begin this conversation with being very transparent. Because in being transparent you are allowing yourself to take in the criticism and the opinions that are going to make you a strong, good educator. And hopefully an advocate for students who are Black and Brown.

Speaker 1:

I need some church music. It might be time to pass the collection plate.

Yaritza Villalba:

Oh, stop it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. If we got some folks that want to connect with you, what's the best way to reach you online?

Yaritza Villalba:

I'm on Twitter and Instagram @INC_YV.

Speaker 1:

There it is. And your book is entitled, again.

Yaritza Villalba:

McKenzie's Time Machine.

Speaker 1:

McKenzie's Time Machine. We'll put some links in the show notes so that folks can get their hands on that and connect with you online as well. Yaritza, it has been a pleasure. Thank you so much for your time.

Yaritza Villalba:

Oh, thank you for having me. This was fun.

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