The Pixel Classroom Podcast with Tisha Richmond

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Well, hello everybody, and welcome to the Pixel Classroom Podcast. And I am your host, of course, Ryan Reed here. Well, I have another returning guest here who is honestly, I I I've been following her for a long time. Her and I met several years ago at a in Wisconsin. I own all her books, and every time I turn around, somebody wants me to say, Can can can I check out that book? I'd like to read that. She is culinary arts author, Former instructional coach, also co writer and many, many other things too. So I'd like to welcome the one and only Tisha Richmond back to the Pixel Classroom. Tisha, thank you for joining us this morning.

Tisha Richmond: thanks Ryan. It's an honor to be back. I was so excited to get to chat with you this morning and yeah, it's been a while since we've connected. So it's good to good to connect with you here.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, and you you've had a lot go on since last time you were in here. I mean, like I said, I don't have my copy of your your make magical learning for the CTE classroom, which me and three of my culinary arts teachers are like deep diving right now this year. So we'll talk about that later in the episode. But you know, you've had a lot going on. For those who don't know you, why don't you give you a little brief introduction? Also what you've been through. I mean, you you went from Mom and teacher to a new role in the last year or so with with somebody and there's a little dragon in in the lot people watching the video here can see the little dragon behind her on her shelf. So we'll talk about

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: that too in those origins. So d Tish just let let everybody know what w who are you and what's been going on with you these last couple of years here.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, well I have been in education about thirty years and most of those years I have been in the classroom, current technical education, family and consumer science. culinary arts has been my specialty for most of of those years. Taught a little interior design at the beginning. But I I've loved getting to be in that realm. I love the culinary arts classroom. I took a little break. And went to the district level for about five years and was a tech integration specialist supporting teachers K through twelve. And also during that time, overlapping just a bit, I was working with Canva as a learning consultant, getting to support districts globally in bringing Canva into the classroom. And I had the great honor in 2018 to publish my first book, Make Learning Magical, through Dave Burgess Consulting. And since then I have published three more books. There's an ebook, The Edge of Protocols Companion Guide, that I collaborated with John Cripo and Marlena Hepburn on, a children's book that I

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Okay.

Tisha Richmond: had the opportunity to write with my son Tommy, which is just near and dear to my heart. And that is the dragon that you see in the background there is the main character of that children's book.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Which I may or may not have made a pixel that's hanging on the library shelf. I should so show you where that eventually landed there, so

Tisha Richmond: I I have to see that. That's amazing. And then in la last year in December, I published the magical CTE classroom again, all through Dave Bridges Consulting. And I have just had this really magical journey, especially the last ten or so years, and have met incredible educators and Have just really had a great time getting to try new things in my classroom and get to support teachers in trying new things in their classroom as well. two, I'm starting year three at my current school. So after being a tech integration specialist, I jump back into the classroom again and am having just the most amazing time. We are starting next week with students. This was our in-service week, and really excited to kick off year three in culinary.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: That that that's absolutely amazing. Those wondering, yes, this was recorded just before she starts school. people have seen go back to episode one, they I'm recording that after I've started school for almost three weeks now. So different different time zones, different starts and so forth. too. But it's also very interesting because I rem I remember when you and I met and then we connected on social media back in the day too, back in Wisconsin and everything else too. But I remember you originally were getting your ideas for Make Learning Magical and I was, you know, sh teaching people how to do STEM and robotics. And I think you at one point were like, Well, I'm a culinary arts teacher. Exactly how do I do this? Meanwhile, you were doing all this work with online gamification and everything else. And I was like, Well, what do you mean me? I'm like, look at you. You're wow, you're doing some absolute stuff that I need to start doing in the classroom. And you know, I started doing that. And I remember once make learning magical came out, I was doing things, especially the food truck piece too, which my former

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: coworker, Kristin Kristen Yargis ended up using herself for her project. And I actually took it to lower level two years ago for our robotics actually and had them actually design it, use Canva and then of course program our little Lego robots to actually be the food truck coming in for business for a couple of things. So I have to say that all started with you and make learning magical.

Tisha Richmond: No

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: So I I gotta say that that I have to do that. I've always made sure you always got credit for that as well too.

Tisha Richmond: That's amazing. Well I remember getting to zoom in or I think I don't know if it was zoom in or we were on the phone, but I remember coming in during one of your competitions with your c with your students. Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm. Yeah, when I was still at Stillman. I think I I don't think I think it I think we were zooming. I tr we tried FaceTime

Tisha Richmond: Assuming, yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and there was it was just not connecting between our phones. I think it was just the way the compatibility was back then. And then we zoom and we were doing it. I remember my principal, Leslie Showers even just like looking like, Wait, you Tisha Richman? I remember and she's like you're like, Hi, and you're like, You're like she was like, my god, you do and we were just Going about and everything else too during the during the food truck and the competition and the classes coming in. So it was kind of funny. But I remember some people were like, Doctor Reed, who's that on your phone? Like, this is Miss Richmond. Our things are based off her book and one of my kids went, She's real?

Tisha Richmond: That's awesome.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: didn't hear him, but that was his exact re response was she's real. I'm like, Yes, she's real. She's right here on my

Tisha Richmond: I love it.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: And I I said, Well, if she didn't respond to you, you didn't. And you were like waving, like, Hi everybody, I'm Miss Richmond. And everybody's like, even some of my kids that were doing the class, because it was a marketing class, are looking like, That's really her. They were like in shock that you were on my phone. Cause they they did

Tisha Richmond: That is cute.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: they thought, Dr. Reed is this teacher, he has her book, whatever. And then all of a sudden we were on my phone and half of them were like, Wait, wait, wait, wait, she's judging us, she's grading us. I'm like, Well, she's not

Tisha Richmond: Ha ha ha

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: or grading you. She's just looking at what you're doing. And I remember two of my kids going, Okay, okay, yeah. And this is here here, fill out our Google form. They're looking at me and they're looking at the phone like like I think she's grading us. Like she's not grading you. Relax.

Tisha Richmond: That is funny. that was fun. I loved getting to do that.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: And that was another thing too, I were into. She says you had your own podcast going for a while. I mean, I know we haven't done one. You also did Spark Learning, which was your co-host, and you did stuff with Tara. but I I was wondering too, like, you know, would would you with the podcast as well as some of your resources too, is like, you know, how you put that in. Because it seemed like all of us were jumping on the podcast training even though I was doing mine a little while, and then you were doing yours.

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: And then Dave Burgess came into him, and then I had two other people email, hey Ryan, I want start a podcast. okay. But it's like, you know, we we were all in that whole little atmosphere of the podcast model and now we're all in livestream. But you know, for yours, like, I mean, our biggest thing is always like what separates yours from somebody else's, you know, what does here and so forth. So how did you take some of that with your podcast as well as co-hosting with your s you know, Sparking Joy podcast? And then I think we'll talk a little bit about Dragon Smart.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, absolutely. So man, it was back, gosh, I don't even know the year that I started the Make Learning Magical podcast actually, but I know that I had had a conversation with Adam Welcome and he was wondering what I was up to, what things I was I was working on. And the topic of podcast came up and I was a little bit overwhelmed about the possibility of starting it. And he's like, You just gotta go. You just gotta jump in. And he showed me the anchor. app on my phone and I remember that very first episode, if you listen to the Make Learning Magical podcast, it was literally on my phone in the car, driving to Portland to see our daughter. And so my husband was in the in the car. And so I think we both were on the first two or three episodes and it was like awful sound, right? Because I was in the car

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: and I was just trying to figure it out. And I thought, No one's gonna listen to this, but I'm just gonna click play and And that was the beginning. And from there I just learned and and you know figured out how to get the sound figured out. And I got a microphone and I just started this journey of recording podcasts, both solo episodes and having guests on. And I know through COVID that was something that I just really enjoyed because, you know, we weren't able to connect with people. In the same way during that time and just being able to get on there with educators from around the globe and have conversations was just really fulfilling to me and helpful during that time. And I've had it continue. There has definitely been gaps in recordings because life happens, right? And things get busy.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: No yeah. My last two seasons of my podcast have definitely been an example of that. I mean, I'm not gonna hijack this episode. I'll talk people of who like I said are gonna listen to my intro for this will exactly expire like, Okay, here's why I didn't do a lot of episodes the last two years and they'll be like, I get it. Life happens. I'm like, Exactly.

Tisha Richmond: It does, it does. But I've kept it going and I'm hoping to come back this next this school year with some guests. I've done a lot of solo episodes in the last six months and I've just I enjoy it. I enjoy getting to talk with educators and be able to highlight amazing people that are doing amazing things. And so we'll see we'll see if we can get it started once again and actually get some guests

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: on. I did have a podcast that I started with Liz Boswick called Spark Joy and EDU. And we've also been on pause because our lives are both really busy and haven't

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: had an episode in quite a while. But that has been a fun adventure too to get to collaborate on a podcast with her. She's amazing and is with Brisk now, but was a Canva Learning Consultant with me.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: there we go. And we we we use Brisk at DHS along with Gemini. So yeah, that that's there as well too. So I was like, she's with brisk. I I can actually say, Yeah, I I I know I use brisk.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, yeah. So it's been, you know, a a great opportunity to connect with educators from around the world and thought leaders and I've really enjoyed just learning about podcasting and I am glad that I still, you know, have the Make Learning Magical podcast going and hopefully again, like I said, we can get some guests on there this next season.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, and I I do like that how you continue that. Cause like I said, when I got the Pixel Classroom podcast officially started, which was just before COVID, like I said, we're in season eight now. Melissa and I, because everybody knows my wife's dealt with epilepsy since she was six. We tried doing an epilepsy podcast. And we got about two episodes in, and then we just couldn't get peop I mean, we we had all these people. She had her connections for the advocacy, we had a lot of people through the foundation. There was even talk the foundation wanted to host the podcast, and it just didn't happen. happen. So you know, and she's

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: popped up here on here occasionally to do her episode. And we'll I think we're gonna be doing one here. We have the epilepsy walk in about three weeks. I'm gonna see if I can run it. If not, we'll see. Because like I I've been bike riding more this summer, but I did not run the way it was. I was dealing with some joint issues and some other stuff. And as I people record this, they might know if my voice is a little deeper. Like I said, I don't know if I'm fighting a back to school cold or I got allergies hitting me hard. So it's like I'm not getting outside like I wanted too. I mean you're a runner too, so I mean you understand how that can wear on your body or you think, I can do this as a day and then life gets busy. So it's like

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, no, it's true. I know I've been dealing with plantar fascitis, so I have not been running like

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: yeah.

Tisha Richmond: I normally do, but yeah, it's just it's hard getting older.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, yeah, it is. I mean, it's like you're you're you're you got one and we'll get then this is how we're gonna segue. I mean, you have a son now married and you know you got a you know, daughter and I've got my son, he's driving now and my oldest niece as we talked before we were recording, she's getting married next year. So I mean life life is happening. But that's an interesting little thing. Like, you know, what was it working you know, working with Tommy, working with, you know, Dragon Smart and everything else? 'Cause I mean I've tried working with my own son and other people do books and that's not come together very much as we had hoped it would. But what was it like doing that? Especially with him, I mean he's a graphic artist. I mean my mother was a graphic designer for over 40 years. But how did that work with the origins of you know, Dragon Smar as well as him mostly doing the artwork and everything else and, you know,

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: doing as a co art? I mean, 'cause there's not a lot of people who put a children's book out before they're twenty five. I mean, it's like, wait, how d how did how

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: did that did that function?

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, it was such a special thing. So I had this story that was just kind of on my heart, more of a message that was on my heart for a long time. And I wanted to share it in some way, but I really didn't know what it was gonna look like. I thought, well, maybe I'll do a a session at a conference on on something in this realm, or maybe I'll write, you know, a a blog, or I didn't know. I just I have this message, it was kind of burning on my heart. And when night I decided just to start writing and it was coming out in the form of a a story, like a children's story. And it was just one of those things where it just started flowing. And so I I got a hold of my son. I just said, I texted him, I think, and I said, Hey Tommy, I love to t I'd love to share this story that I just wrote with you. would you would would you listen to it? And It was, I think it was late at night, so he says, Can you call me in the morning? And so I did, and I read him the story, and I said, You might, as you're listening, realize that this story is about you. And it was about his journey. It was a story between a mom and a sun dragon about kind of his struggle in school and how school was just hard for him and he struggled and The mom essentially shares in the story with the son that you're you know, that he's smart in so many ways, that that smart doesn't always look the same for every kid. And there's lots of ways that we can be smart in this world. And as he listened, he's like, Mom, I love this story. And I said, you know, what I have in mind is I would really love to see if we can write a children's book, and I would love for you to be the illustrator. And I told them I know that this is not something that you have, you know, done before, but I know that you can draw. You know, you've loved drawing for a long time. I know this would be a a totally new thing, but let's let's try it if you are willing to join in this adventure with me. And so he was all for it. He was super excited. And so we spent the next two to three months just kind of refining the story and I reached out to Dave Burgess and just said, Hey, we have this idea and he kinda talked through what it would like to submit a proposal because children's books are very different, right, than the other books that I've

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm. yes, definitely. It's somebody who's written two of them actually self publishing. It's a it's a whole different element, especially even the editing process.

Tisha Richmond: It's different. Yeah. So anyway, we we went through and we we he illustrated a couple pages and kind of brought this Tommy the Dragon to life and it was in December that we heard from Dave that it was gonna he was gonna he was gonna publish it. So I'm super, super grateful. it's been you know, just such a wonderful opportunity for me to collaborate with my son in this very, very special way. We went through the you know, the editing process, which was not easy. I mean, it was a lot of learning on his part because he'd never illustrated before. This was brand new for him and just refining his his illustration skills and learning how to use Procreate and I mean it was a process and it was it was

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah.

Tisha Richmond: a lot, a lot of editing. but when the book finally came to life, it was just the most amazing feeling. And Tommy and I have had the opportunity to speak at a few conferences together. We were at Ideacon getting to present. We presented at Spring Cue in Palm Springs.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: And hopefully we can continue. We've done lots of read alouds for classrooms, both in person and virtually, and I don't know, there's just something super special about getting to collaborate with your son, you know. And the thing that was really special about it is though there were times where it was really stressful, right? Like trying to go through all these things when we have I, you know, I had full-time work and he had his own thing going on. it was really stressful. But he never complained. He kept persevering, he kept learning and we grew stronger as a mother and son bond through it all. And I just will just cherish that time so much and we'll always just treasure that we've we brought this book into the world and

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: it's just such a special thing for both of us.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, and like I said, I've given it out. Melissa's taking it read it to her her her students at her library duties and my book, Small Hope, too. But it it is a very interesting, you know, children's book. Like when I did My Life as a Comic Book Reader Self-Publish, which you know, which is hard to believe now, it's been almost 12 years since I did that. you know, the artist who was doing it, Natasha was her name, and she was a freelance that worked through Fiverr. I mean, it was like I told her what to do, and she'd be fine. And then when we put it together, it was a walk in the park. My mother being a graphic designer, it was one thing. But when I worked on Small Hope, and even though my illustrated destiny at the time, she worked a lot with Photoshop and an Adobe Illustrator and everything else. I mean, she could bring it to it, but when we were finally getting the tech the set the structure of the sentence, because my old co worker who was an English teacher, she also had been a book editor for several years or so, was editing it. I mean, we had a put notes to each. I mean the good news is lucky we all lived in the area so the three of us could get together. But it was a whole different process between it's like, yes, Destiny knew the artistic size. I knew the writing styles and then and you know and God and God bless Natalie for doing this for us. But she was just like, no, you gotta do it this way. No, this is the sentence structure. No, this has got to say here you're not using the proper noun here. You're not using the proper structure here. And then we had to send that all to her, which she reillusrated, and then she would tell us, No, that's wrong. That looks absolutely horrible. I don't wanna I don't even want to deal with that. And then I we send her like the the first figure. She's no, do keep doing that. And then eventually she's like, You're fine, publish me. You can put me as I don't want credit as editor. Just just give me a special thanks. I don't care. I'm not looking for anything. I was like, I was like, but thank you so much for doing this for us. But it was

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: it was a process, and I I think I worked harder on that than I had done the previous stuff I did, or if I had done a blurp in like, you know, for the love of learning and coffee, I wrote my stuff. I had one of my coworkers who was an English teacher just do some credit. I sent it to them and it went to the final editor. I was done. I it was like it was like when I did journaling for for NIU. I just did it. I said that to my professors. They'd check it and it would go into the peer review process and I was done. But it was it was a whole different story with a children's

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: book.

Tisha Richmond: It is. Because you're bringing a story to life in pictures, right? So, you know,

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm, yeah, exactly.

Tisha Richmond: h having to take each piece and then think through how do we want to share this story in in the illustrations on this page. And so, you know, Tommy did a beautiful job of doing that. But that was definitely the heavy lift. That the children's book was

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Right.

Tisha Richmond: really largely him, because, you know, it's one thing to write a story, but to make it come to life is a whole other It's a whole other process and he did such a beautiful job and he he hid so many fun little Easter eggs in the story of things that were, you know, personal to him or us and it was just really fun to see it finally all come together.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, but it i it it was great too. And and like I said, the like I said, we've I've heard the reactions from both adults and children from the book. And I mean they've they've definitely it's always been positive I've rarely heard A negative of the book. I mean, it everybody enjoys it and so forth. Yes, they they'll say, like, well, was that ever explained? I'm like, Yeah, but was that relevant to the story? And they're like, you're right. Was that

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: relevant to the story? It it it's like the old classic field of dreams. Do we actually have to ever see the point of the voice or the corn? No, we're just supposed to be like, You accept it. That's just part of the story. okay, but the rest

Tisha Richmond: Ha ha ha.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: of the movie is great. Like, the rest of the movie great, but seriously, it's like at one point, like he time traveled. What was that explained? How did that work? And everybody's like, Well, I don't. R actually I cared about the story. Like exactly. It's like that's part of the story to get you from point A to point B, but it's not undercutting what the main message of the story is, too. And I mean Dragon

Tisha Richmond: Sure.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Spark gets that, you know, part out too. Like I said, it's an enjoyable book. Like I said, I can still grab it and read it, or Melissa can grab it and read it to her students and you know, just good. So just so you you and Tommy know, people who are in children are enjoying the book, both adults and children. So

Tisha Richmond: I I appreciate that so much. It so mi warms my heart.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Now, segue in from the book part here from the classroom, and I've done exactly like you two. I've ran into games, I've run into story. I mean, you got a giant placinko machine. I I I seriously, I was at I was at Sam's Club and I almost bought one, and my wife looked at me like, Ryan, you are

Tisha Richmond: Hehehehe

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: not buying that. I don't care what Tisha did. You are not buying a plumchinko machine. Meanwhile, we are playing you know, we were playing Telegami's which is like a win-loser draw like you know interpretation, which you know I did one of my episodes last year about it. And it's like that was like and I ran out and bought that as well as you know, think and sync and we were having a field day with that in the classroom in my leadership. But you know, how you know, you you you have that same approach. You know, you you've like you I love your story about topple. You saw Topple on a clearance sale and turned it into a Google learning game,

Tisha Richmond: Mm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and I took that into a classroom with me and I took an old game I had in fifth grade with my reading teacher and I turned that into a game for review. I haven't done as much because kids trying to get out of their chairs and run up to the magnetic board is more It's more chaotic in high school than you think it should be. But you know, what what

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: goes into that when you see something like that? Like I said, like I saw tell us stories. I mean, like, you know, this be great for leadership and group and how people interpret one occasion or a picture or word versus other one. But you know, like I said, you've done plachinko with like, you know, from price is right with, you know, secret ingredient. You've done topple as a review story. Like, you know, what what goes into when you see something like that? And then how do you actually work with it? 'Cause I we all know it doesn't it doesn't go smoothly the first time we do it.

Tisha Richmond: True, yeah. No, a lot of times, you know, I I get a lot of games at Goodwill. And I always look for the unique ones, the ones that I've never seen before. And it just starts with playing it. And as I play it, I'm thinking through the lens of an educator, like what parts of this game could I bring into the classroom? Like how could this connect to the content? And as I play, things start kind of clicking. And there are g times where I'm like, Like this is a fun one to to play and I I like to have it in my classroom for them to play. You know, I have a I have them come in sometimes at lunch. I open up my classroom for them to play games. This would be a great one just for them to play, but it doesn't always connect to learning, but some of them are just they just lend themselves to that. And so we just we try it, we play it in the classroom. Sometimes you know, I might try to play as a whole class kind of game, sometimes I have them play individually. Sometimes with the Plinko board as an example, I decide, you know what, we're not gonna play this as like a full game, but we're gonna play this as kind of a a hook at the beginning of a lesson that brings us into like a lab experience. And so as you mentioned, there's been times where let's say we're doing a a ramen challenge, I might have the different

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: There we go.

Tisha Richmond: flavors of ramen on the bottom. And whatever that group Plinko's is the flavor that they get for that particular lab experience. I'd be an example of how I would use it. But I've used it in so many other ways. And it's just fun. And a lot of times the ideas just kind of come to me as I'm thinking about teaching a lesson on a particular topic. All of a sudden I get this light bulb moment thinking, but wouldn't this be even more fun if I brought in the Plinko board, right? Or if I brought in I also got the guess who game at Costco, which is also super fun, you know.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: yeah, the guest too. Yeah. I I saw that and I was like, I don't know if I could use that, but boo that'd be fun to try.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah. Well, what I did with the guess who is I created cards that connect to culinary. So I have a whole set

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: that I I velcro on that are kitchen utensils. And then I have a whole set that is like culinary dishes and a ha another one that is international cuisine. So we can interchange those and instead of the people on the guess who board, it's the kitchen utensils or it's the food.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Right.

Tisha Richmond: And so then it's it's it's been fun to see them play it and we've had a good time with it. But you know, it just it's just that iterative process, you know, you play it, an idea comes to you, you you try it out with your class, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't,

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: sometimes it's like, this would work if we just changed this one thing about this game and we just go from there. So it's it's so fun and I I just enjoy seeing the kids respond to it. They get excited and so then it makes me want to continue to come up with those ideas to be able to bring to them. So it's it's just it's it's fun to be innovative and to think of new ways to make learning magical for students.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, and I mean it really is is doing that. Like I said, when I I did a lot of the 'cause I had the room to do that in my, you know, leadership class last year. And I taught it both semesters this year. It's only spring semester too. But like I said, when I did the tell us stories, the first time it worked, it just wasn't thing. The second time we did it was like much better. I found a better way 'cause I did it for working with leadership and working with groups. Like can you actually function, understand how people work together? And and I made sure it was specific groups so they could figure out how to work and get in sync. Same thing with think in sync. I had them partner and just see how compatible they were as a partner, which worked very well. But you know, I did one thing for my early coding, and we got code buddies, we got the budget for it. It was in I got two games, and I explained it, I had I had instructions, and it just it didn't work. And honestly, even by the time it was done, they were just I mean, because we were just doing code HS with you know, Tracy the Turtle, exact same source, just with figures and bunnies. That's the really the same concept.

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: And it just didn't work. Everybody understood Tracy fine. You know, I did it, but I'm like, we were doing the ex and then I let me try it now that we've done a couple exercises. A half day, I want everybody just to practice with code bunnies. And it still didn't work. But meanwhile, I'm like, but they did so well on the coding, and yet I thought they could transfer that the physical. And so I just like, well, it's there if we're gonna use it in the future. But it was like I'm just like as of right now, it's like I'll have to figure out how this is going to work. If

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: not The middle school does the same thing. I'm just like, here, here's Cold Bunny, same concept. Maybe might work for middle school versus high

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: school. Sometimes it that's just what it does.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, well, you know what? I feel like students really appreciate when we just try new things because they know that we ultimately are wanting to create an incredible learning experience for them. And so I learned a long time ago that I need to bring my students on this learning adventure with me. And I'm just up front. I tell them, hey, we're gonna try this new thing. Like I I think it's gonna be great, but They're we haven't tried it yet. So we're not gonna know until we actually do it together. And I welcome the feedback from them and I want to know what their experience is. Like I can share my experience as a teacher, but I want it to be a great experience for them as the learner. And so a lot of times because of that feedback, I've been able to iterate and refine and we work together on making that game or that learning experience better. And there are times where we're all just agree, you know what, that didn't work and we're not gonna do that again, you know, but students appreciate when we try new things and when we do innovate and they appreciate when we include them in that learning experience.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: And that's that's one thing can at least say with the last couple of schools I've worked with, even where I am now at Decalb, is like we are teachers willing to take that chance. We do have ones like I said, if it's working, let it work. And then if it was a way we can clean it up a little bit, let's clean it up. But you know, we also get to the point where we're not really afraid and not Something different. Like I said, my two culinary arts teachers, like I said, they were reading your CT. Another one she does life skills. She was going over CT. She's like, I never thought about organizing the notes that way. I'm gonna give that a try. And now she's teaching, you know, sewing and costuming, and she's using that note structure that was in your book. And she's and

Tisha Richmond: No.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and and the kids are reacting positive to it, but she's doing it slowly. I mean, same thing with here. I tried something last year, it kind of worked. This year I introduced like, guys, these my task cards. If your name's on here, you're in yellow. This means you're missing work. I'm like, this is not. your war, but it's won't much either too, because then some of them are friends and they hold each other accountable. Cause like I said, example

Tisha Richmond: Sure.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: like here with our football games. If you will have points where you're got tardiness, you're missing an assignment or you're having a low grade where you should be, you're not able to get into the events because you have that. So sometimes they they will have their friends like, Hey, you know, you gotta get on class on time because I want you to join me for the homecoming game on next Friday or You know what I'd like it to where I'm going to the game and I'm actually sitting with my friends. So they then they start holding themselves a little bit more accountable, which is nice. Does

Tisha Richmond: Mm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: it always work? No, not always the time, but it I've

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: learned that there are ways to do that to where it makes a connection and maybe it does better. At the same idea, that wasn't my idea. That was a coworker of mine who'd been there for twelve years who's a math teacher and said, I started doing this. I had them start updating their own Thing they started holding each other accountable. And I said, I'll try

Tisha Richmond: Mm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: that. And it it has work. And some it's you know, it's just it does go over some heads, like it is. But it's like I didn't come up that my own. I saw somebody who's tried that say, let me give it a try, but I'm gonna do it this way. And everybody was yeah, I like that way a little bit

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: better. Yours is a little cleaner, but and at the same time, as I'm only in year two of trying this, I've done other things, so it's like I'm still refining it, I'm officially putting it into effect next week. Now that we've gotten a few weeks of school under our hands. Maybe it might be more successful than it was last year. Maybe it might be the same. I'll just see. I mean, if it's officially is the point, like this isn't making a difference. Maybe it's time I rethink this because it's like I'm not seeing the

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: difference. I'm not seeing the student difference. Maybe I need to change it. Like, like I said, my tele stories for my leadership started off rough, but they liked it. Second semester was a hit. So I said, Well, I'll try this in the spring and hopefully we'll just keep that going. But like I said, I played Scramble. It was great for two years. and that was post COVID. And the problem was I tried it again and it didn't have the same effect that it had the previous years. I was like, well, maybe I could just do it this way digitally, and the digital one was much more successful. Like they would get their random clues on a Canva or or Google slides, and then they're like, that's this letter. I know what the word is, and then they would type the word in and then I'd be like, Yes, that's the exact vocab word. Good job. You know, you you've understood the clues and what it got and you figured the letters. And it worked, and I got that idea from Supermarket Suite when they used to do the scrambled letters. That

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: was what it was. And I just put it, I made egg cartons and that on a couple of slides, and that's what I did. It was it that was where the

Tisha Richmond: I love that.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: idea and it worked great. And I

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: I I I still use it. I don't use as much as I used to, because it's just the way the timing of the curriculum, because I went from a block schedule for almost nine years at three different schools to now, nope, you period classes or forty-eight minutes, and this is what you guys like, and it's every single day. So it's like, no, we Really do have to move. I have one class

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: right now. I've taken over. I can be more experimental, but sometimes I'll look at it and be like, you know what? This works. I don't need to reinvent the well versus like, this could be a little cleaner. Let me have it to where, like, don't give me an example that's a picture or an animated gif on the school doc. There was much more engagement. It was turned in better. I'm like, see, this this is work. I'm just gonna say this is the new rules.

Tisha Richmond: Right. Well that's the beauty of being an educator. You know, you have, you know, in my in my classes, things roll over every semester. So two times

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: a year, you know, I have a chance to refine. in and from period to period as a secondary teacher, you have the a chance to refine. So first period doesn't go great, you keep refining and by the end of the day it's perfect, right? Because you had

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: that those little changes that you've been able to make. But sometimes it just the class dynamic. Sometimes, you know, a specific strategy works great. And then in another class dynamic, not so much. And it's just the way, you know, education is. And you continue, like you said, to refine and know that, you know, some years something's gonna work great, the next year it may not. And you might have to do something different or move it to digital. In this world of vibe coding, there's so many amazing

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Right.

Tisha Richmond: things that we can do digitally that we hadn't not been able to do before and a lot of the games that I have played in a non-digital way now can be transferred to digitally. And there are times when it just works better to not do it on a computer and to do it, you

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm-hmm.

Tisha Richmond: know, in a in a a a face to face way. So, you know, it's it's fun to experiment, try new things, and really there's no end to The ideas that we can bring into the classroom. And and my magic is your is not your magic. Your magic is not my magic. So, like you said before, I might have an idea that worked great for me. And you may take that idea and run in a different direction with it and add your own special magic to it because you teach something different. You have your own unique teaching style. And, you know, the ideas that I have in my book aren't necessarily shared for you to take and use exactly the same way. I wanna share what worked for me and know that you can take that idea and create your own magic with it and make it your own.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah, and I think that's absolutely what I mean. The reason why I've been following you and I feel like we're friends and how it works as well too is like, yeah, it is what you do. It's finding your own magic. And sometimes the magic does, as I say, fade for a bit too. I had a couple

Tisha Richmond: Mm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: years where it was like nothing was working. Like I said, we were talking about things where I had a I had I had this one as I had this one project, seven years, not perfect, but fantastic work. And then I got a year where it just I was like, what happened? It's like what what it's like the plane

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: fell apart. In midair after it started off on the ground landing. And then I switched things up a year later. It worked again. Grant, I was in a different grade level, but sometimes it's like you have that where you have years where nothing goes wrong. I had a co-worker of mine, they were saying, I had this lesson, Ryan, 10 years, three different schools. Beautiful. And then I had a year where I was like, What just happened? It had nothing to do with the students, had nothing to do with the class environment, had nothing to

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: do with what they what they had done for years for 15 years of teaching. And it was just a year where they just he just said himself, like, why did I get up this morning? It's like I it's like it's like at this point, it's on automatic. I mean, yes, the class has changed,

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: the students change, but it's almost seamlessly and it even for and on his side, it was like it wasn't clicking either. And he went back, he updated, and then the following semester it was like it was like as they said, it was like I got on my old bike and life was great. But he said, I had semester was like, what just happened? He's like, he did

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: he d he couldn't pinpoint a specific spot.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Like maybe it was this class, maybe it was just this instruction. Maybe times have changed. This project doesn't work like it used to three years ago. But he just said it's just like if it's gonna go wrong, I'd rather it go wrong completely versus like, well, it was just this specific and I just couldn't do anything about it.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah. No, absolutely.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and on that note, too, what what projects do you got coming over, Tish? I mean, you've got the school year starting, you got stuff you've just done conferences. I've been following your social media on Instagram. And I'm just like, man, she's

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: just like doing the stuff I want to be doing right now. And I just can't

Tisha Richmond: Mm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: I can't seem to leave the four walls in my well, I can't I can leave the four walls in my room. I just can't seem to fench it. Like you said, you guys were at idea con. I had just switched school districts. I'm like, I'm not getting the time off and I am not getting the

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: funding to pay the tickets. Because some people like well Ryan we live close by you can stay with us. Like it's not a housing. It has nothing to do with hotel. It's like I

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: have no time to go. I have no time for the tickets. It's just like, when am I going to go? I said, if I had the free time, I said, hey, Tish, you're free. We'll go have lunch, you and Tommy. But even then I just couldn't do it.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, no, I know. It's I you know, I had ha did have a very busy summer. I'm super grateful for the opportunities. I met incredible educators in a lot of places across the US and really, really, really, really grateful for those opportunities. And now I'm heading back into the school year and super excited about the year ahead. I am teaching four levels of culinary. And so it's it's fun coming into a school in year three, because as I mentioned in my introduction, I've taught for nearly 30-ish years at in different locations, but this is my third year at this current school. And you know, the first year is just wild because you're learning all

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Yeah.

Tisha Richmond: all the things, right? And the second year you're like, Okay, I've had one year behind me, you know Now I can kind of refine and get settled in. And in year three, you're like, I know the students. I really feel settled. And so it feels really, really good walking into this school year. And I see a lot of returning kids in my upper level classes, which is really fun. And I'm excited to meet my new ones. we're gonna be venturing into creating a classroom business. We're gonna start a coffee shop.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Ooh, there we go. Fu that that's up the C T alle right there. I'm I'm all for that too.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, yeah. We're gonna s we're gonna start a coffee shop this year and so really

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: yeah, I I was on the ground floor when I was at GK. I love I man, we had so much fun with that. I and somebody who ran

Tisha Richmond: my goodness, we should

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: a coffee shop for for two years, yeah, it's it's got thing. Well, and that's how Melissa

Tisha Richmond: Amazing. we should talk. I'd love to get some tips and tricks.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and I met. It was over. That was our that was that was our article in the newsletter at the hospital was love brewed at the you know the Kish Cafe. So and then I'd always been with a coffee, and that was always the joke too. One of my old girlfriends, and we're still friends, she's a teacher in Chicago, Lucy. Her her dad had an actual in his house in in in Gurney. He had his own little barista area. And I I have n I mean, as much as as much as I've been to many places, independent chains and stuff, there's nothing like Antonio's coffee I have ever had. And yeah,

Tisha Richmond: Wow.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: but I but I I talked with my students when we were doing that years ago. It was like, well, what made Mr. LeBleu so amazed? I said, I don't know. He had some magic about him. And he was your

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: most and he he was a and he was a teacher too. I mean, he was a teacher. I

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: mean, it's so it's not like he he didn't he was a history teacher. But I mean the man was full blown Italian and he just could make the best cups of coffees, even if you gave him ran and got the generic stuff from the store. You'd just be like, Tonio, what what is in this? Like like this he's I did this and but you look at him like, but that doesn't sound special. He just but it's just the way he that was his magic. He just but

Tisha Richmond: He just he had the magic touch. I love it. I need I need some of that. I I'm excited. The kids are excited.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: I haven't talked I haven't talked to him in a while. But yeah, no, I I love the coffee shop. We have our own coffee house over at at my high school, and everybody knows if I'm not in the coffee house, I'm either sick or not in the school. So it's like they're like, Where's Dr. Reed? He's he didn't stop by for his his his mini cup, or he's not paying for a whole whole thing. He's like, No, he he hasn't come by. They're Boy, he's either sick, busy, or not here today. So it's like I'm such a staple now in the coffee shop. They don't see they're Is is he okay? Where where is he today? So it

Tisha Richmond: that's awesome.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: But yeah, and I I love what we do with those coffee. That was one thing too. When I got the job, like we have our own coffee shop. yeah, we have our own coffee shop. It's Ram, blah, blah, blah. And we have student workers. And I said, I like this. Yes. They're like they're they're like, you're

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: like ready to start tomorrow, aren't you, Ryan? Like, well, if I could, I would, but it's just like, but then they're just like, should we just get you a punch card now? Like, there's a punch card.

Tisha Richmond: Yeah. I love it. Yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be exciting to get it off the ground. So really looking forward to that new adventure. And yeah, we're we're gonna we're gonna make it happen and the kids are, like I said, really excited about it. So

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Well, well, like I said, either text me or email me. I could throw something together really quick on Canva or a little bit of my AI or pull out some of my old records. I'd be more than give you a little help with that Tish. So it's like I'm like, yeah.

Tisha Richmond: I would love that.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: So yeah, I mean let let me know. I'll I'll be more than happy. And if I don't have the time, I'll let you know. If not, I'll be like, Well, here's the thing here's the structure of espresso you should know. Also, some really weird tips that happen in the field. Like true story, we had a situation, and this this happened to me at my old one years ago. But we had a box that was dropped. And we didn't it was dropped in the it was normal drop. And we opened up the bag and it's like, everything's fine. It's just the box. We didn't know it dropped on gravel. This is a true story. And it's been so many years now, but it dropped on the it dropped on the gravel by the loading dock. And the box was, we checked it, nothing was damaged. And we're like, okay, it's fine. It's just the box. Superficial. Don't care about. I went to go grind the beans and it stopped. And I was like, wait, what what what happened? Somehow this one bag. got this tiny pebble in it and it jammed the it jammed the grinder. I mean it was it was not it was not hard. It was not hard. But this this this

Tisha Richmond: Wild.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: but this ended up turning into a big lesson and actually and we

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: later did this too where it's like when you have something like that, check your if something happened and it and it like it could be in like it can't do it doesn't mean it happened on your watch. But check your bags. If there is some damage, look

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: at that. And it does. Some people are like, well, that's damage. There might be contamination. Don't do it. But sometimes it's so hint. And the truth is, these were silver bags. And we didn't even think of that. But it had

Tisha Richmond: Wow.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: fallen and it had just gotten enough into the get into that. And it wasn't until the end. But after we did that, we cleaned everything else. We threw out the grounds, you know, did the whole check and everything else. But it was also like, what happened? It was like the biggest weird. And then we took off the top. And this is like I said, this was years ago, me at Kishwalkey. I was telling people the story because this happened again years later. And I said, Well, we got to get to the source. Like, what do mean? It's like, let's take it off. And sure enough, we looked right there in the ground here because we turned. I said, First of you unplug it. You always unplug it. You never want to do it. It's just like if we were working in wood shop. Took off the top. And I said, Yeah, there's something there. You know, slowly took my took my needle, moved the grounders, and sure enough, there was this little piece size, like you wouldn't even notice that. This is like something you find in your shoe. But that stopped the grinder. And the good news is we stopped, and the grinder was enough. Took it out, washed it, sanitized throughout the grounds, redid it, checked the bag it came from, nothing there. Got that all double checked. And then it was working two minutes later. But that's like a self-thing, because out of nowhere something will happen. Or it's like, why is the why is the water not coming out of the espresso machine? Well, did you check

Tisha Richmond: Right.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: and see if there's a clog in the pipe? No. And can I do that? Yeah, you just unscrew it here. And sure enough, there was a water buildup. And it just, it just it

Tisha Richmond: How

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: it just kept it from To run it out. And the truth is, this was like the teacher part, but it it it clogged the machine. And we had to take it, take it, you know, clean it. And this was people like this is why we use distilled water. This is why, if you are going to use tap water, use a filter system, because you're like calcium builds up. And that's the point of it. So right there, there's a whole lesson. What are possibilities that could go wrong with your coffee machine?

Tisha Richmond: Yeah, no, absolutely. Those are the things and I know we're gonna we're gonna run into I'm sure lots of things, but I'm ready for it. I'm ready for the challenge and but I it's great to know people like you that can help us, right? We don't have to be in

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: Mm.

Tisha Richmond: it alone and we can learn from other people's experiences what to do and what not to do. And so yeah, it's I will I'll keep you posted as we as we begin and and definitely reach out. 'Cause I could use all the all the help I can get.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: There's it's just like people it's just like people who just like even do the coffee area too. So it's like it's very interesting as well too, because sometimes you like, I'm gonna make coffee art and then I cover it. But some people will say like, believe it or not, whole milk is easier for coffee art than skim milk or oat milk or almond milk because I said, Well, you I have cholesterol, I oat milk or comments. don't we have plenty of that. But he's Well, I was gonna try to make you a flower, but as you can see, as I said, it looks cool. I mean it's a treat. He's Yeah, it's a treat. Yeah, we'll call it a tree. I was just laughing. This is a local place in my my

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: parents' hometown and we were shout out to Cocoa anyhow. But it's just it but it was funny, but I but it was like I never knew that. Like I'd see people like I've tried that I'm not good at it. Even when I talk about unto you know Antonio Lucy's dad, he never did all He would pour it, give you the foam, the whooped cream. Here's your coffee. He wasn't like, and now what

Tisha Richmond: Yeah. He's just giving you yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: yeah. He wasn't like, and now I'm gonna make it look like a hydra because we're studying Greek methal. No, he didn't do that. No. That that yeah, but but that is an inter that that's like a little side quest right there. Like, you know, exactly what

Tisha Richmond: Yeah. He just wanted it to taste good. That's all that was the that was the goal. Yeah. I love it.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: is the origin of artwork and how and like what's better to use? Is it whole milk or oat milk? And he'd be Well, be whole milk because it creams better and it holds

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: harder because it's a thicker milk. But those are little culinary arts things that You know, if anybody becomes a professional chef they do need to know that.

Tisha Richmond: They need to know it. Absolutely. No, absolutely.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: So well, see, see, I'm excited about your future projects and I'm not even Oregon. See, look at that. Look at that, everybody. She's she's she's got me going right there, and it's just like like holy cow. It's it's like wow, it's just like what up a thing. So any hoozies.

Tisha Richmond: He

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: on that note, I know you gotta get a go in here 'cause you things too. So Tisha, how can we reach out to you and everything here? for people who are listening who wanna reach

Tisha Richmond: Yeah.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: you besides besides going off and like buying fifteen copies of your books, you know.

Tisha Richmond: you're so sweet. Well, I'm on all the socials. my name is slightly different on each one. I'm at Tish Rich on X, at Tish Richmond on Instagram. You can find me at Tisha Richmond on TikTok and LinkedIn. I do have a website that you showed earlier, TishaRichmond.com. So you can find lots of blog posts and resources and information there as well. And all books are on Amazon. So just type in my name and they should all all come up.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: All right. Sounds like a plan. Those will all be in the show notes for everybody. Tisha, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I know you gotta go because of r you know, other things going on. I I gotta get stuff done too. I mean, it's just it's one of those busy Saturdays.

Tisha Richmond: Mm-hmm.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: So thank you again for joining us on the classroom today.

Tisha Richmond: it's been such a joy, Ryan. Thank you so much for having me.

Ryan -The Pixel Classroom: You're welcome and to all our listeners. We will talk to you later.