Helping Students Celebrate Their Differences, Self Assess, and Being The Joy with Jillian DuBois

What's going on everybody? I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and host of the teaching champions podcast. And today's episode was a great one, because it gave me a chance to have a conversation with someone who I've been connected to for a while through social media, but have never had the opportunity to sit down and have that one on one conversation. And this guest is a wonderful woman who is filled with so much joy, so much passion, so much love for others, and all of that just pours through in the interview. My guest is Gillian DuBois. Julian is a teacher who recently retired and has started on a new adventure that we're going to discuss. And she's also an author, and illustrator, and just an amazing person. I hope you enjoy this interview with Gillian DuBois. What's going on everybody? I have a phenomenal guest on the show today. Miss Dubois is here with us welcome Miss Dubois to the teaching champions podcast. Ah, Hi, Brian, thanks so much for having me. This is so much fun, like having coffee with a friend. It absolutely is. And I'm psyched for everybody, for myself, most importantly, but for the listeners as well, because Jillian I've known Julian for probably a little over a year, probably going on about two years. And just an amazing person, amazing educator, and has so much to share with us today. Joanne, can you let all of the listeners know? What's your origin story? How did you come to teaching? And I know you've made a pivot just recently, which we'll get into. But what's your story that's led you to this point right now? Oh, well, it is a long story seminar. Like really condense it. Very short. But basically, I have always loved kids. And I did not start out I did not go to college, I did not get well, I went to college, I did not get an education degree. I had a four year degree in interior design, actually. And I remember getting married right after college, and I came home and I'm like, Well, what am I gonna do, there's really not a whole lot for me to do out here and interior design down here in Florida. So I started working, working for an ophthalmologist. And so I never really even thought about kids as much as I loved them. And then when my husband and I actually started trying to have a family, we realized we were having some struggles there. So yeah, if somebody gets like super personal, but only because it really fits into this story. So you know, as much as I loved kids and couldn't have kids biologically of my own. That was a what I thought was something that was just devastating. I thought, Oh, my goodness, what in the world am I going to do with the rest of my life. So anyway, kind of speeded up just a little bit. We ended up going through the process of adopting a child domestically. And my husband and I were in the delivery room when he was born. We were so fortunate. And it was just, it was amazing. We brought him home when he was an infant, three days old. And I just knew I knew that was my life calling was to be a mom. So I stepped away from my outside careers that I had built up in different ways. And when he went to school, he was old enough to go to kindergarten, I followed him to kindergarten. And I thought, hey, you know what, I'm going to work in your school because I think it'd be fun and I started wiping down tables in the cafeteria. And then I started working in the office. And then I started a role as a paraprofessional with kids that had exceptionalities. And I just, I'd never stopped, I never stopped working my way up. And at that time 20 Some years ago, Florida was in desperate need of teachers. So they had what was called a Transition to Teaching Program, which I mentioned, some states still do that. And I you know, had a four year degrees. So I made that transition to teaching after taking a few online college classes, and the next year they threw me in a classroom by myself and I taught third grade with no experience other than just being in a school for several years. And you know, it was very, very challenging is very difficult, and I never had ever thought it would be that hard. And I remember being in that teacher who sit down, sit in your seat, open your book to page 40, you need to do one through 17 on page 42, and 43. Turn that in when you're done. And you know, then you can read a book when, when you're finished. You know, it was like that authoritarian kind of teacher. And it was just so it just depleted all of my joy, and all the passion that I ever thought I had for teaching. So I ended up just continuing that route, I had some really good mentors that kind of helped me work through some of those things. So I kind of let those some of that control. And I was able to have some more, let the kids have more freedom, starting to understand what voice and choice was. And so through all of that, I also learned that my son had some special needs. So he was struggling with ADHD, and some dyslexia and some central auditory processing disorders, which caused him to be severely behind in school. And every year, it would take a lot to catch him up. We never had him repeat. It was just one of those things, we felt he had enough support with his IEP at school and the home and Dad, and we could take care of it on our own. But after several years, it was too much. He got frustrated, we were frustrated, there were years of tears and fears is what I always say that we had to go through. And we just went as far as we could we got through eighth grade. And then we said, Alright, something's got to give because our family is breaking. And I remember I just thought, well, maybe, you know, maybe we should stay home. Maybe I should stay home and homeschool and, and see what happens. And I remember making that decision as a family came home. And I shared that we shared that with him and said, Hey, Austin, you know, what do you think if you stayed home, and mom homeschooled you, and we did things a little bit differently. And he broke down like crying like just wrong. And I'll never forget it was because I thought I had hurt his feelings. I thought he didn't want to leave his friends. He didn't want to go to school. Oh my gosh, what have we done now when we've really ruined him like, but he was excited. He was happy. They were tears of joy because he's like that gigantic pressure and weight came off of his shoulders. And Brian Lee spent the next four and a half years in utter and complete peace. As a family, as me as an instructor and a teacher teaching my own child. We did things quite unconventionally, we did not do a lot of traditional classroom things. We went out and explored. We went to museums, we did a lot of online programs. And we got through it. And he graduated with a class of 42 from an association that was here in our county of homeschoolers. And he went on to get an A in college. And I went back to the classroom. And I went back to the classroom, a completely different educator, an educator that understood that differences, mean everything. And that to understand each person's unique talents and unique abilities, is what's key, building those relationships, the relationships that my son and I were able to build and to kind of repair after had been torn down so many years with all of the stress and anxiety. It was just a beautiful thing. So that was the past seven years in the classroom for me, and it was just the best. I let kids learn how they needed to learn. I respected them, they respected me, I communicated with their families, their families were, you know, grateful for just the flexibility and helping them learn. And it's not that hard, it really isn't a matter of fact, I find it easier than being that authoritative teacher. So just that's what got me to where I am today. I was humbled, release that control and was willing to be molded, kind of like a blacksmith. You know, you can't just shape cold iron. It has to go through the fire. It has to go through the hard times it has to go through being bent and hit and stretched. And it's got to get to the place where it needs to be molded just to the right in the right degree for it to work. So that's kind of the way I felt through all that. Hi, Laurie. I love that story. Thank you so much for sharing that. And I think all of us when we start out, it's hard. Like the first few years I started out at kindergarten, and I had no idea what I was doing. And you go through those difficult times in the mentors. I had some unbelievable mentors that took me under the wing My principal was extremely supportive. And they've helped me along the way. And I continue to grow and like you said, shape myself. But I also love how you talked about your life experience with your son, and how that experience meeting him where he was at going the unconventional route, and how you could take that, and bring it into your classroom. And I'm sure the students in your classroom, they had to feel so much joy, when you talk about you respected them, and they respected you, and building off of their successes in seeing their shine, and even the ones who struggle a little bit. And I think especially the ones that struggle, they need to see it, even though I know you're a fellow second grade teacher, that our young ones, even at that young age need to see their shine. I think that's beautiful. Julian, thank you so much. And I think the audience should know, I think recently, it's been a big change for you. Do you want to allude to everyone what's going on in your world right now? Uber, so I don't say that I'm retiring, because it's not really the right word, because I am not a retirement age, thank goodness. But I am a saying that I am a repurposed, I'm officially a repurposed educator. So after being in the classroom for 20, plus years, I just kind of decided it was time to figure out what the next step in life was, I call it the second act of life. So you know, and it wasn't anything that was a surprise, it wasn't a shock, I had kind of just had some heart decisions last year that just kind of came up. And you know, when COVID came around, and that was really, when all of the communication started between educators and Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Facebook and Instagram. I mean, we all just found people that we resonated with and that supported and encouraged Jen. You know, when I started even to write, I had no idea what I was doing, but I just started and threw it out there. And you'd have people that would just rally around you and just say, well, I, you know, I'd love to hear more about it. Tell me about your story, or, you know, I wanted to hear other people's stories. And, you know, I just think that, that just starts increasing to grow. I don't want to say your confidence, but maybe your risk taking, because you get so complacent, and you get so safe. And it feels so good when you know what you're doing the next year, and you know where you're going to be and you know, you know, day to day, what its gonna look like. But it's, it's boring, you know, and I don't say teaching gets boring, because it never gets boring. But I know there's something out there for me to explore. So I do have a full time position with forward edge in their curriculum and integration team with a Gu badges and basically, it is a creative job. It's a professional, they call it the Professional Learning Guide, which kind of a broad, we're keeping it broad until we really know narrowed down what it is I'm going to be doing. But I do get to use a lot of creative abilities and creating content and things for teachers that, you know, hopefully will help them be better at their craft, and their strategies that they have going forward. And, you know, I'm just there to support and encourage them. Excellent. And I'm gonna circle back to Florida edge at the end of the podcast. But I think when we get to that point where we know, it's time to step away from that class, when you feel in your gut, that there's some great reflection. And that's what I really want to hear from you. And I think it would be great for the listeners to hear that reflection piece on your journey over the past 20 Some years of teaching, the takeaways, the blessings, and the great things that you've learned along the way. So just real quick, what are some of the great activities? What are your we all have those activities that we love to do in the classroom? Looking back on this journey? What were some of your favorite things that you did with those students? Not all of it was things that I did with them, but it was things that they did on their own. But this year, you know, I really, and maybe it was because it was my last year and I knew it was going to be my last year but I really just like went all in this year to see how far I could stretch them and push them and I had a very intelligent class and it was just was amazing. It was so much fun. So but you know, in the past I've done I mean, I just think project based learning is so, so important. And, you know, honestly, I really wish and I am one of those proponents for no testing. Because I just think that students who can self regulate and self assess themselves and understand where they are at every time. And every lesson is so rewarding, not just for me as an educator, but for them, because they know where they stand, you know, them seeing a grade on their paper is not a reflection, and they don't reflect on that at all. They don't have any introspection and go, Why did I get 85? On this? What exactly did I miss here? You know, they look for the marks, they don't look, they don't understand the progression of how they got there, or what they didn't get to. So you know, one of the things I really strived to do over the past several years was with anything project bass was, they had a rubric, and they had to say, you know, am I 1234 or five? One, I don't get this at all, even if you put something in front of me, and you told me how to do it again, I don't get it, or a two, one starting to understand. But I think I need a lot more help and modeling, or three, okay, I think I'm getting it, I may need one more example. Or four. Okay, this makes sense. I think I'm really getting it. Or five, I am so confident in this, that I could go downstairs and teach it to first graders, you know, so and for them to and they were very honest, every class I've had, I've always said don't just shoot up a five, don't just shoot up before you really think about where you are and how you're feeling. And if you're a one or a two or even three, you may be down here on the carpet, and we'll talk about it. And we'll go back over that lesson while everybody else is doing something else. So for me, I think one of the greatest lessons I've learned was just know where your kids are, right? They know, teach them to understand where they are. And part of that is my Sam a recovering overthinker. Because I think, as an Enneagram. Three, I overthink everything and that temperament. But I have also I believe that anxiety and perfectionism and stress are thieves, and will rob you of joy. And they'll rob your kids, they'll Rob confidence, self esteem. So just giving them that confidence that they can understand what they're learning. If they're not getting it speak up, take that risk, say something that's probably one of the biggest things that I've learned. Probably the other thing is that, you know, their mental health matters, right? You can tell on their face, greet them at the door, you can tell on their face, when they're walking towards you, what kind of day they're going to have or what kind of morning they've had, whether it's you know, a smile, or they're looking down, or they're crying, or, you know, there's they're all in need of emotional regulation. So I think helping them work through, you know, difficulties helping them talk and to be honest about what's happening. Maybe things at home aren't good, and they don't share everything, but things that they can share with you, you know, you can, you can definitely get in there with them get in there and being messy. And in there where it's hard, because we're with them six, seven hours a day, their parents aren't even with them that long. So the best we can do is just be that role model for them and just care for them just as much as we can. That's fantastic. And I love how you said that. It's not what you did for them, but it's what they did on their own. Because I do think that project based learning is so critical. It's something that I'm trying to incorporate a lot more into the classroom, and the kids seem to eat it up a lot more. And then there's a lot more engagement. And I also love when you talked about that self reflection piece, teaching them how to reflect on their own learning. And it's so much more important than the grades. There's no test that a seven year old takes that is going to determine who they are when they're 2122 25 years old. There's no test but if we can teach them how to reflect on what they do now. And even more important when you talk about reflecting on how they feel on the inside that social emotional piece and help them walk back. I know Dr. Jody Carrington. I don't know if you're familiar with her. She talks a lot about that, how to teach them to self regulate to walk them back when they're when they're hurting on the inside. And it's an important skill. A lot of adults we struggle I'm walking ourselves back, we struggle with recognizing what we don't know, then the steps that we can take to learn. So, absolutely love that Julian. And I always tell them, and I just, you know, it's just one of those things like, I know a lot of educators don't get that impassioned, or they don't feel like that's necessary. It's like, let me just teach them what I need to teach them and move on. But I find that when you give them the freedom to really reflect and to assess themselves, and yes, I mean, I still do great. Of course, they're not going to like just say, oh, forget grading, I'm going to grade but they feel more, they're more understanding. And they're more confident in their efforts, because they are still seeing a grade, but they're understanding Okay, well, I did think that I was only a three that day. So I do kind of remember, it's, you know, there is something I kind of need to fix with that, you know, so it's, I think it all just works together. And I always ask them, you know, as far as the social emotional piece of things, but I'll be like, you know, tell me something that you're afraid of today, you know, you don't have to share what's what's wrong, but what are you afraid of? What is one of your fears today? Then then I would say, Well, how could you take care of yourself in this the way you're feeling right now? And then I always say, you know, how can I help you take a step in the right direction. And it never like, I think the more they trust you, the more they they feel comfortable, the more they they just want an adult that they can talk to you. And that'll love them. When it's so it, it all just comes down to you. And I know the upper grades are a little bit more difficult. When this all you know, and they get older, but when they're young goodness, there's so much molding and training we can do to help them. Absolutely. You know, everybody, it doesn't matter what age whether you're a second grader, a 10th grader, a college student, or adult, we all just want to be seen heard, felt like we're valued. And I will say I coached basketball as assistant coach on a basketball team for over a decade. And we had a really good basketball program. And, you know, we have some alpha males when it when they're the juniors and seniors, and they're the big athletic guys on campus, some definite alpha males. But I found that they still want to feel as if they're seen, heard and valued. And they don't, they don't show it like a second grader will. But they show it in other ways. So it doesn't matter if they're young, or if they're that high school age, it may look different, we're gonna talk to them a little bit different, but they still need those affirmations. salutely. Now, as you you talked about before, that you learned a lot from taking that time with your son and becoming an unconventional educator. What other lesson would you say has really stood out to you looking back upon your journey? Okay, so, I mean, they're pretty, there's so many lessons, but I think one of the big ones is to slow down. And it doesn't have to you don't have to rush through everything. So many times we feel pressured by standards or by state demands. And, you know, well, we do have to follow that, you know, specific plan. There's always a way just to hit that pause button. If your kids aren't getting it, or if you want to go off on a rabbit trail, and you want to talk about something that's more meaningful to a teachable moment. Just hit that pause button when you need to. I was had a little I think I did a podcast last week. And I just said, one of my lines that I said or one of the quotes that I remembered saying was that we make an idol out of certainty. We chase after those things that we can control. We want clarity, we want protection. We want safety in all areas of our life. We want that for our kids want that for us. We want that for students. And we long for exactness we want in the answers for every detail to line up perfectly. But it doesn't. And I think you know, certainty. We live in a world of uncertainty. And we cannot make an idol out of certainty. We can't just think that it's always going to be perfect or we need to strive for perfection all the time. And I always say get off, you know from for me, it's that's when I know I've got to get off the stage. I've got to stop performing. I've got to get out of my own way. And I've got To, you know, change the act, change the scene, change my costume, I've got to do something to just to just stop performing, and just do what I know I need to do. And, you know, take the risks, it's okay, if things fail, it's okay if things flop, I think we're all so prone to just wanting to be everything to everyone. And we can. So getting it out of our head. And getting that out of my head has been a big lesson. That's fantastic. And I think, in our society that we have built like failure, or coming up short is such a bad thing. And I listened to a wide range of different podcasts and read a wide range of books. And some of them is entrepreneurs and these billionaires, and they say, like these mega mega rich individuals, it's not that they don't fail, they fail first, and they learn quicker than everybody else. So, like you said, walking into that uncomfortable boldness, being comfortable with being uncertain is huge, and not beating ourselves up. If we come up short, and just reflect, learn, grow, and keep pushing ourselves forward. And I think all of us need something a little bit different at different stages of our life at different stages of our career. You've been through it all, whether it was your first year, whether it is you're in that midpoint of your teaching, and going into this final year of your profession as a teacher. What advice would you give for that listener? That's a first year teacher, what advice would you give to the listener who's in the middle of their career? And what advice would you give to that person who knows that they're going into that final, that final run is the classroom teacher connected. They connected to people that you can surround yourself with. You don't do it alone. Don't try and be everything to everyone. Keep your enthusiasm. Keep your creativity going. Keep your joyfulness going, not your happiness. And we've talked about this before. Happiness is a fleeting feeling. I spilled my whole smoothie shake this morning that I had just made in the kitchen, went everywhere and my happiness went down. Literally, I was so upset. I did not curse. I was very proud of myself. I said that word Edward Edward Edward. That took my happiness away. But I'm like, don't go on it that is not going to take my joy away. Because my joy is internal. My joy is being cultivated even through something that happened that really had me not feeling very happy at that moment. I got on my knees. And I remember I was cleaning it up. And my husband was like, Do you want any help? I'm like, No, I've got it. I said, You know what, we have a house to clean up. I said, I have a floor that is not a dirt floor and a third world country to clean up. I have cleaning items. I've got towels, I've got wash rags, I've got things. And like, it's all in how we look at things. So when I try and encourage people, it's always like, even when the bad things happen, even when those stinky and crappy things happen. You can still find some spark that is going to help you pull yourself out of that depth and that pit because that is what you're going to need. We're all going to need it. But the more that we're aware that we can find that and we can cultivate that with discipline, the better off we're going to be mentally healthy. Absolutely. That is some great advice, that perspective peace, keeping that healthy perspective, reminding ourselves of what we do have. And also in the moment when bad things happen. Like the really bad things. Sometimes that's where the most growth takes place. And it's not fun, and sometimes it's rough at moments. But when you get through it, I think everybody has been through something that they can look back upon and say it was awful at the time, but it helped me become who I am today. Now, you are such a creative individual for people that don't know you're an author. You're an illustrator. If you look at your your social media feeds, what you put out is absolutely amazing. And I know that you brought that creativity into the classroom. How How did you bring that creativity into the classroom? We have just always loved expressing myself at through through art through drawing through. Maybe it was storytelling, not a musician. I tried piano, I didn't do too well after four or five years when I was younger. So I was stuck with art. But I'll you know, it's just one of those ways. I think that I feel good expressing myself. And I try and teach my kids that too. When I'm trying to spark creativity in the classroom, I find that the biggest, the biggest piece to the puzzle in making that happen is your enthusiasm. So the more excited you get about something, as an educator, you meet over the top giddy about solving math problems. And your kids are gonna be like, what that is so cool. Look at a wide eyed and they will get to it right? Or my kids enjoy doing Bertel I mean, of all things, like I just mentioned it one day, and they're like, Oh, we love we're low. I'm like, You are seven and eight years old. Do you really? They're like, Yeah, we do it every day. And I'm like, do like, their mom would text me and go okay, and you're always Jethro his word of the day. And I'm like, Oh, he beat me thoughts. Now even just enthusiasm about little things outside of school to just to get them and you know, Wordle is one of those things that, you know, we look at it as adults and Okay, yeah, it's a fun little stretching, little activity. Well, you can do it in the classroom with your kids. And they learn a new vocabulary word, every time that they do it. And they even have websites where you can make your own and, you know, play on your own, but I really just like doing random ones. And the kids are like, Well, I've never heard of that word. And I'm like, Well, let's look it up. Let's see what it means. And just those random, spontaneous, like lessons that are enthusiastic, and, and fun. That is what learning is all about. Right? So it can be, you know, it's like a smallest figuring out a math problem. It doesn't matter. Most of the time, it's all in the delivery, and the expectations that you set for them. And, and they love it. So that's even if it's, we do a lot of this guided drawings, like on YouTube, we find together and it's just we just have fun. Just have fun. That's awesome. And like you said that energy is infectious. And you can raise it up in the classroom, or we can bring it down with our energy to now Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I can go the opposite way. Well, out, you're my age 84 100%. Now, how can adults embrace their creativity? Or what's your creative process, because I'm always in awe of someone like yourself, that can take a blank canvas, and just create, whether it's your illustrations in your books, or you do a lot with illustrations and put them up on social media to have that eye and to be able to have that picture in your head and put it down on paper? What is it like? Where do you get the inspiration for all of that? Oh, that's such a good question. And you know, I will tell you, it is so much harder to talk to adults about creativity and have them spark creativity and thinking and thought and art and whatever. Because, you know, as adults, you're already into that mindset of Oh, no, I'm, you know, I've got obstacles here. I've got fear, I don't have enough time, I self confidence, or maybe my pride is in the way imposter syndrome. There's no way anybody would ever think that I you know, I'm an artist or a writer. And it destroys our creativity really. And the way we think about ourselves, that perception we have of ourselves is so defeating sometimes. So that's one of the things that I love to do is just listen to other people's stories. And that's one of the things that I actually, I want to do, and I have done in the past. But I find I get inspired by other people. So whether it was my aunt who taught me how to draw and to do art, and you know, from a very young age, I think I was 10 I took art lessons and learn how to do watercolors and ink, pen and ink. And just gradually it's gotten to, you know, digital drawings and all kinds of things, having things on my iPad that it's like having an art studio on your lap. But so, you know, just different things when I'm writing. I see. If I'm writing I look at the pages that I've written and I'm like, How can I make that come to life? How can I Make that to where somebody wouldn't even have to read the page, they could just look at the illustration and go, Oh, I know exactly what she's trying to say. I try to do that for others, too. I try to inspire their stories, spark their stories. I just love to listen. So an example, Molly Schaefer, and I just published a book out in March, called destinies, amazingly different dreams. And that whole thing of Brian was just such a purposeful connection that we shared, we were in Teach pause chats on Sunday nights together, just got to know each other. And it's one of those positive, uplifting chats. And a lot of people chime in, and we just kind of got to know each other. She's a Spanish teacher in South Carolina, a little younger than me quite younger than me. But she had written, she had read a blog that I wrote, and it was about my son being on the autism spectrum. And she said, can we talk because I had put something out there, it was just recently that we found out that my son was on the spectrum as an adult. And I put something out there, like, in that blog that, you know, did being different is is better than good. It's, it's unique. It's just wonderful. And let me share with you why. And anyway, so she connected with me, and she's like, can we talk? And I'm like, Yeah, let's hop on a zoom together. Two hours later, on a zoom, we said, let's write a book, because people need to hear the story of what it's like to be neurodiverse. And what she shared with me was that she says, I have been in, you know, I was diagnosed, you know, as a neurodiverse. Human when I was very young, or not, when I was not very young, I was just five or six years ago, and I've been living with autism. And I, now I understand what I went through all of these years. But I want to share that in a story. And I'm like, well, Molly, let's tell the story. So we did, and she was scared to death, to put it out there. Because she didn't know what her parents were gonna say. She's a very quiet person, she does not like the center stage, she does not like any attention put on her whatsoever. And I just said, let me make that is comfortable for you as I can. So if it ever gets to the point where you don't want this to happen, or you know, I any anyway, it just happened. I wrote, she wrote most of the story, I did the illustrations, we combined everything together. And we collaborated. And we talked and well, let's change this. And every page has something very quirky and special on it. And that means something to either her or myself. And it was just a true like, special blessing like this person who never had ever seen a book on her horizon. Now as a published author, just because we made a connection, and we were listening to each other. And I think that's what we need to do. We need to embrace our stories, we need to share them, we need to know that we're all hugely unique and wonderful, and creative in our own ways. But we have messages to share that the world needs to hear 100% And we often like you said, we stop ourselves, because we're so worried about the outside world, how we're gonna going to be perceived. But like you said, we all have beautiful and amazing stories. And there's so much inspiration out there, we just have to take that time to pause. And truly listen. And truly look, I was, you know, earlier, another podcast a few episodes ago, I did one on Leonardo da Vinci. And he would talk about how he would just get inspiration from all over everywhere. And that's the piece like you're saying, it's just stopping and pausing, looking, listening, being interested. So excellent. Now, I know a big thing for you is that power of connection, and you just talked about this, how you met this educated and you guys wrote this book. And that can be a big piece of getting us through those hard times. Who are some of the people or what are some of the ways because I know you're very well connected. If an educator wanted to expand the people that they're connected with, what suggestions would you have for them? Yeah, that's a really good one. So I think you know, I remember what I did, and I remember going I have no idea what this whole Twitter universe is about or Twitter verse. And I remember looking at somebody said, Oh, we're doing it Ed chat tonight. I'm like, What in the world is that? What's this a one q1, you know, q2, a two. I'm like, I had no idea so I was a lurker. I like kind of creeped around for a while before I even like it. posted anything responded to anybody because I had no idea what was out there. But when you definitely put that you are an educator, I think that is like, it's like the beacon. Like, oh, poop. And I think we're all just so drawn to each other. So I mean, whether it is you know, from some of those Twitter chats, like, build hope edu or teach pause, or, you know, I can't even remember some of them now. But they're, they just are a way for us to connect, and to answer questions together and to just comment on one another's post. And I think it starts out really slow. But you find your people and you find people that are, and I don't want to say you find people that are just like you, you find such a diverse range of people, but that all have the same passion. And that all you know, have the same goal in mind, which is a vision for for education and for students to be successful. So once you kind of like pick through and you just kind of start to wander your way around, you'll find you'll find the right the right crew. I know one that really means a lot to me is the teach better team. And honestly, the how I even came about knowing them was they had a they had a chat on Thursday nights, they don't have it any longer. But I jumped in that chat a couple of times met a few people and I had seen on their website, I kind of went and kind of looked at their website a little bit and saw that they were hiring somebody for a little part time small job. And I I applied for that job. This was a little side hustle. And I remember talking with Jeff Garbus is one of the CEOs and he we just got into a chat. And he said, Yeah, I'm just not sure this is really what you need to be doing is it I think there's other things out there that you can, you know, be involved with in our in our program and with our team, but I don't think this is the right fit for you. And I'm like, okay, no big deal. And I remember hanging up that phone and going. I just like he just told me he didn't think I was a good fit for this team. And I'm like, and I really took it like personal. And I remember coming out of that though going, Wait a second, he had the, you know, humble spirit to tell me this is not for you, Julian but there's something else that is going to be out there for you. So keep looking. And had I gotten that Job had I probably pigeon holed myself in there and gotten that I may not even be where I am today with all that. So the rejection of that little part time job led to an even greater opportunity to to be a part of their team, I podcasts and blog and just reach out to them. They're only a text away, or a direct message away. And I mean, we talk all the time, and there's you know, several of us that have just become very close very good friends, then we haven't even met in real life. So it is possible to stay connected, it's possible to meet your best friends, your lifelong friend that you're getting to have forever 100%. And I know I'm not connected with the teach better team. But I know that have an extremely strong presence out there on Twitter, and is, like you said a group of people that are passionate that they're different, which is a good thing. We don't need that that echo cave, there's all just going to give us back exactly the same thoughts. We need diversity, we need people with different ideas that push us out of our comfort zone. So I think that's excellent. You're also you're a busy woman, you have imparted joy in the all the books that you've authored the books that you've illustrated. So can you tell the listeners a little bit more about this piece of you? It is it's just so it's just kind of like organically evolved, I guess I would say it has turned out to be something I never would have imagined myself doing. But I just I love writing. I love drawing I love helping other people spark their stories, and listening to what they have to say sometimes we'll have these little brainstorm sessions where it's like, well tell me a little bit about what you do. You know, tell me about what you want to write about what is your message? Here's my journey. I love sharing, you know, just the journey that I took myself to get my own books published. And I don't have it, there's no secret sauce. It is I will walk you through the process if you want to walk through it with me or I can do it for you. But I would love to help people empower themselves to do it on their own. Because there's no better feeling than having your own message out there for people to look at whether it's one person or 1000 people, just the fact that you are vulnerable enough to put it out and to share that that's, you know, that's what your hope is. That's what your message is. So, yeah, so I've got let's see, four books out right now. And the next one is lives messages. And it is a sequel to the first book. And it is for those people who don't know about lives, seashells, that was my first story that I wrote about my sister who is kind of a legacy that I left for her kit to her children when she passed away 10 years ago, actually. And they were very young and didn't remember very much about her. So I wrote the book, just to kind of give them an idea of who she was as a person in a compassionate, generous, just truly just an authentic human being who just loved everyone and loved everyone who needed a friend needed to be picked up where they were and taken care of, and guarded and protected. That was my sister. So the story kind of goes where she collects these broken seashells, because she doesn't want to collect the perfect ones. She wants the broken ones and the chipped ones and the cracked ones, because they mean a lot more to her because she can give them care. And she whispers affirmations to them that they're beautiful. And nobody can take away their ability to sparkle and shine. So in the second book, it says beyond and this is a little blurb I put on the back. But beyond the collection of her treasured seashells live knows that there are people around her that need to be shown compassion and empathy. So live carefully craft a plan for a journey that promises to reach out and share hope past the limits of the glorious sunshine in sandy beach. So she basically takes her seashells and she makes messages on the shelves and gives them out to people that need hope. So I'm two illustrations away from being finished and that out probably in the next few weeks, so very exciting. It's just, you know, one of those things, got a few other things in the hopper too. But that's exciting. What a beautiful gift to your sister's children, for them to be able to open a book up and see those beautiful illustrations in the message that you have inside those pages. Such a special gift now, yeah, it is amazing. Now for all the listeners that want to connect with you, and I suggest that everybody does if you need that little spark of joy, that daily spark of joy definitely connect with Julian, how can I connect with you Julian? Well, let's see, in part enjoy.com, you can look through the website there, there's a Contact page, and you can give me a shout, or Jill Dubois 22 on Twitter, or that's Tik Tok, as well. And Jillian D, just on Instagram and Facebook. So I'm kind of all over. But please, always feel free to reach out because I love connecting. And I love relationship building. And you do such a good job of it. If you could have the listeners walk away with one thing from this episode, what would that be? I would say put up your own Billboard, and put your message on your billboard. So create your own message. My message would be be the joy because it's there. But you've got to be disciplined to cultivate it and bring it to life. I love that. And with every action with all of our words every single day, we live our own billboard, we take a vote for that billboard on and what we do and what we say. Gillian, thank you so much for being on the podcast, my friends. It's a man a blessing to connect with you. Thank you. I know that. It's been emotional. You stepped away from the classroom, but your journey continues because you're still going to be working with educators. And you're still going to be passing on your wisdom and everything that you've learned to others. So just thank you for the children that you've blessed along the way. Thank you for everything that you do for all the other educators out there right now. And you are a true spark of joy, your true spark of wisdom, your special person. Thank you for being Get on the episode today. Thank you so much, my friend. This was such a fun interview. Jillian is the real deal. And she offered a lot for us to really think about and process. And this is the teaching champions state, where I'm going to offer three of my favorite gems from the interview. And the first gem that I took away was I love from this episode was how Jillian talked about how she discussed the importance of teaching our students how to self regulate. I loved how she talked with her students about what they were afraid of how she asked her students, how can I help you? How she asked them? How can you take care of yourself with the way you're feeling right now. Taking that time to help our champions recognize their feelings, to recognize their emotions, and help them walk themselves back to a more regulated state is huge. It's one of the most important things that as educators we can do. A second gem that I loved was how she talked about, we should be embracing the differences that make up all of our students, that we should take that time to understand that everyone is unique, that everyone has their strengths, their weaknesses, and their gifts. And that as an educator, we recognize that and that we celebrate it, it's important that we make that visible inside our classroom as well. It helps build that classroom community, that classroom family and build that classroom culture. A third gem that Jillian dropped was just be the GLA understand that we're responsible for the energy that we bring. And when we're encouraging when we're supporting when we're uplifting. Oftentimes, that's going to come back to us. And she also talked about listening to other stories. Because in this busy world, where we're constantly on the go, if we take time to pause, and we take that time to hear someone else's story. We gain appreciation for them. We gain respect, we gain some understanding. And you might just learn something as well, if you take that time. Now be sure to follow Jillian on social media. What you heard is just a snapshot of the joy that she spreads on a daily basis. And I'm gonna leave her information in the show notes. And I just want to say thank you for being here for being part of the teaching champions community. And if you think someone will benefit from this episode, please share it. The mission of this podcast is just to help others through those tough times and celebrate what's great about teaching in the teaching champions community is all about supporting, encouraging, and lifting others up. And always remember, whether you're from rural America to urban America, to Canada, to Spain to Bahrain, we're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission. And we're always better together. Keep being amazing, my friends, and as you go out into the week, May you step into your strength, may you step in to shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody