Finding Joy in Everything Teachers Are with Jazzmyne Townsend 

Please note, this transcript is generated by AI and may include some errors. 

Spencer Payne: Okay, here we are with a special guest episode of Front of the Class Real Stories from Real Educators today with Jazzmyne Townsend. And Jazzmyne has just won a D.C. Teacher of the Year award and was nominated and a Final Four finalist for a National Teacher of the Year award. So Jazzmyne has been on a whirlwind tour featured on major media publications in the last couple of weeks, couple of months. So thank you for taking time to speak with us with Moreland Jazzmyne and curious, how do you introduce yourself to other educators in the profession? Maybe what they're wondering, what do you teach? Where do you teach? How long you've been doing it, especially maybe after some of these recent accolades that you have have earned. So how do introduce yourself to others in the profession?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Well, good morning everyone. I am Jazzmyne. I always like to tell people that I am a teacher first. I am in my 17th year of education. I started my career as a paraprofessional, moved on to a classroom teacher, and now I have the honor of serving as an instructional coach to support teachers in grades K through five.

Spencer Payne: and K through five. did you how did you did you choose that? Was that an assignment to you? How did you choose that particular age band?

Jazzmyne Townsend: So it was actually an assignment. My school that I work at Stanton Elementary School in Washington D.C. Ward 8. It is actually an elementary school and so we serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade. So we have teachers who serve, who teach those students in those grades.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. And how did you get into teaching in the first place? What's your story that led up to that first experience leading a classroom?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, I always tell people I am an accidental educator. I never intended to be a teacher, actually. My undergrad degree is in business administration and marketing. I went to college, I just knew I was going to work in corporate America, have the fancy briefcase and the business suit. I was going to do those things. But in 2009, when I graduated from Howard University, we all know the recession was going on at that time. Jobs were scarce. So I needed to do something.

I consciously sort of avoided education just because I just felt like I wanted to do something different. My mom had been a teacher before, my sister had been a teacher before, and I'm like, well, I'm going to do something different. But as my mom always tells me, know, when it's in you, it's in you, and you can't run from it. You know, I've always been around kids. I love engaging and working with kids. I just didn't necessarily see myself as a teacher. So I got a job as a paraprofessional in a classroom.

I'm working for a Friendship Public Charter School here in DC and I did that for half a school year and I fell in love. I had so much joy. I looked forward to going to work every single day. At the end of that school year, the then principal came to me and asked if I would be interested in becoming a lead teacher the next school year and that was 16 years ago. So I've been teaching ever since.

Spencer Payne: And in that six months when you were first in the classroom, you said, in that six months, I kind of fell in love with it. Was there a moment like, was it in day one, week one, was it in month five? Like, was there any moment that led to that? Or is it just kind of slowly happened?

Jazzmyne Townsend: It was definitely, yeah, so it definitely wasn't day one. I just wanted to be sure I was on track of everyone, everyone was safe, had their snacks and had their nap time. But I think one of the things that really definitely made me fall in love is I feel like I'm sort of a big kid myself. I'm very curious, I love to explore, I love to investigate. And working in that environment, I got to do all those things with these three and four year olds.

Spencer Payne: Hahaha.

Jazzmyne Townsend: who were coming to school for the first time, who were learning about themselves, but who were also learning how just to be students and getting to see their brains spark. I remember doing so many creative investigations with them. We had a unit where we learned about the ocean and aquarium life. And so our school is directly across the street from a grocery store. So we ran across the street to the grocery store, we got a giant size watermelon box and we created an aquarium in our classroom. So the students got to paint this box, they got to cut out and draw the fish and make all of these things. So something that was sort of abstract for them because a lot of our students could not make a correlation or a connection to the ocean and exploring things like that. We brought that real world learning experience into the classroom with them. So just seeing how invested and engaged they were when I saw that spark, that is definitely what made me fall in love with teaching.

Spencer Payne: And I'm also curious about this because this is very early in your teaching career, you take them to the grocery store across the street. Other teachers might be afraid of like, can I do this? Do I need to get an official field trip? How do I go about this? You're you're you're coming at this not with a desire, as you said, to originally be a teacher, you're coming at this as falling in love with it while actually doing it. Can you share a little bit maybe about how that background has helped you maybe buck the norms  or do things maybe that other people might not do maybe because you're like, I didn't know I wasn't able to do that. so I guess can you how did that field trip come about? Like, did you ask for missing? Did you just go like how?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah. So no, no, we, we absolutely asked permission. even though, yes, ask permission for sure. Yeah. Even though the store literally, it was directly across the street, you know, of course we still had to get, you know, permission. We had to get, you know, field trip waves on. We would put on our little vest and you know, we probably walked right across the street, with proper adult supervision, all those things. But I just felt like it would make so much more sense to let actually in.

Spencer Payne: Okay, perfect. Ask permission out there everybody when you leave school grounds.

Jazzmyne Townsend: that's the kid that engaged them, allow them to do it instead of showing them pictures of something. Why would I show you a picture when I can literally show you the real thing? I can take you directly across the street and you can be immersed in this learning that's happening, that's going on. And I think that is something that I have continued, that has continued to, you know, to fuel my career because I feel like what better way to teach you, what better way for you to learn than to actually allow you to do it. I know like I am definitely someone like, I can learn if you tell me.

But I can learn faster if you allow me to do it with you. If show me, if you allow me to do it with you. So I feel like I want to make sure that I provide students with those opportunities to really get their hands messy, to get in there, to figure things out, to play and to manipulate and to explore, create it safely, but creatively to have that opportunity to do that.

Spencer Payne: I love this theme of, can tell you, but like, why not show you and better yet, not touch and feel, why not do, right? We learn so much more by doing than by just reading or listening. And it seems like that story lit you up a little bit. I'd love to hear like, how else, if at all, have you kind of attempted to bring actual doing, maybe some creative things that weren't done in the classroom before into the classroom so students can look and see and feel and do instead of just read or hear or watch or listen. Like what else have you done to help make that learning come more alive?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely. I remember when I was teaching first grade, we were learning, we were teaching a unit about inventors and inventions and we did a study on the Wright brothers and you know, we read all the texts and you know, it was wonderful. We had, know, the graphic organizers and the activities and all of those things. And I think the learning went well. But again, I'm always like, how can I make this more concrete for you? How can I make sure that when you leave this classroom, like you can speak to me about what exactly the Wright brothers did and you can put yourself in the mindset of what the Wright brothers had to go through, you know, that invention process.

So I got some unconventional materials for my first grade students, balloons, straws, cotton balls, cardboard, and I allowed them to plan, design, and create and build their own airplanes in the classroom. so they were able to use the anchor text that we were studying in that unit to sort of review the steps in their process. They were able to draft and to create their plans first, and they worked in teams to try and create this version of an airplane, making sure that the plane had the propeller and had, you know, all the wings and all the components that were needed. again, making that learning come alive. Yes, you read about it in a book, but now you get to experience it yourself.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, fantastic. that seems this seems like then it's something consistent that you have done in your teaching careers, trying to make the learning come alive in some way. Is there anything else maybe? Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Please share.

Jazzmyne Townsend: I do want one more story. I see. I'm also thinking about when I was working with students, we were working on retail, like learning how to retail stories. And this was a pre-kindergarten student who I was working with and we were doing the story of the three little pigs. And we...

Like I said, I'm very much a big kid myself, so I want to make it fun. So we actually built our own versions of our house, the three little pigs houses. And so we took some milk cartons that we had after lunch one day, and we got to just tape some, again, unconventional materials. So we put some sticks on there. We had some Popsicle sticks, and we used a blow dryer to simulate the big bad wolf. So he tested out, he put his materials onto the milk carton, and he was able to use the blow dryer to test out whether or not  the house was sturdy, whether or it was gonna fall down.

So again, retelling that story, connecting it, making it a real-world learning experience for them, I think that is what solidifies learning. And I think those are the memories and experiences that you give kids that they can look back on when they are in high school, when they're in, when they're going on to college, and they can think back, I really remember this one lesson that I had in preschool and pre-K. So just giving them those experiences that are joyful.

Spencer Payne: Uh, yeah. I mean, thank you for doing that because it's so easy. It can be easy for a teacher to just not use that curiosity that you mentioned, just teach from the book, do the same thing over and over again. Uh, but it's refreshing to hear like, no, I'm to make this new. I'm going to make this fun. I'm going to hopefully make a memorable experience that a five year old, six year old, remember 10, 12, 15 years from now.

Um, it seems like that bringing that curiosity and education to life in the classroom is something that you've consistently done in your teaching career. Uh, anything else that,  you can point to that you've done in your almost 20 years now in the classroom that just seems to work really well for you. And you're surprised as you look around, maybe more teachers don't do this thing that seems to work really well for you. Anything else stand out?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, I think something that I try to bring into my classroom is that I put myself in the position of a learner, just like with my students. I am learning with them. There's never something that I'm going to ask them to do that I'm also not willing to do myself, that I'm also not willing to show them that I'm also not willing to allow them to take the lead on. As the adult in the classroom, the adults are the ones who are in charge and kids have to listen to the grownups. But kids have a lot of experience. Kids have a lot of knowledge, they have a lot of curiosity. So I make it a point to build on that. I make it a point to take their experiences and connect them and bring them into our lessons.

So there there have been times where I'm like, okay, well, you know, if you know it, you teach it. know, helping them to build that agency and autonomy in the classroom where I'm not trusting yourself. Like you do know this, you can do this and, know, allowing students to be leaders, you know, of their peer groups and things like that. Because again, it gives students the opportunity to show what they know, it helps them to trust themselves because again, me as the teacher, I trust that everything that I have taught you has landed for you. I trust that you have learned it and I trust that, you know, I can still support you if you need that support through it.

Jazzmyne Townsend: But giving them the opportunity to become leaders themselves is something that's really...

Spencer Payne: And again, you mentioned that curiosity word. I'm curious if it seems like that's a theme that you live by that you kind of infuse into your classroom. That word can kind of be a foundational thing that you bring to the first day, first week of a classroom of potentially the expectations that you expect of maybe you, your students and your parents. But I'm curious, how do you set those expectations upfront every year of what should the parents and the students expect in Miss Townsend's class? Like how do you set those expectations? And how do you also stick by them? Because sometimes a month later people forget, right? So like how do you set those expectations and then how do you also stick by them throughout the school year?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, absolutely. think one of the most important things is relationship building and not just for the sake of compliance, just to say that, I introduced myself, I'm your child's teacher, and then I'm never going to talk to you again until parent-teacher conferences or anything like that. I've actively built relationships with my students and their families. That's grandmas, that's aunties, that's uncles, that's next door neighbors. Anyone who is a part of your village, I want to make sure they are included and that not only that they are included, but that they are empowered  to work as a partner with me in the classroom. I always tell folks that even though I am a teacher by profession, parents and families are their child's first teacher. So everything that your student is going to learn, they learn those things at home with you. They bring everything they bring to school is something they have learned or picked up, you know, at home.

So just making sure that what you are doing at home, again, is a reflection. The work that I'm doing in the classroom is in partnership with you at home. So again, everything that I'm teaching, I hope that you feel empowered and that you feel connected and able to reinforce what we're doing in the classroom. I love sending quick videos home to parents and families on Class Stoge. Like, hey, this is what we did in class. again, I'm not just going to tell you. I'm going to show you. So I'm recording a video. I'm showing the homework assignment.

I'm modeling what we did in the classroom. I'm sending home work samples. I'm sending home parent tip sheets, access to YouTube videos. I want to make sure that, again, you feel like you are a part of our classroom. Family and relationships is something. And I think I got this really from my time in early childhood. Because parents trust you with their children. Their kids are their most valuable investment. And so they have to leave their kids with essentially a stranger on this first day. So you have to make sure that you have that trusting relationship that they feel like they can always give you a call if they have a concern or a question about something.

So just making sure that you build those relationships authentically  that you are keeping those lines of communication open for parents so they can always reach out to you and that you are included. And have lots of expertise. And when I think about like when we've done like classroom visits and we talked about community workers. And so we have, I've had parents who were firefighters or, you know, worked for the post office. So come on into our classroom. So kids love to see that, you know, their families can also be a part of the learning with them. So when they see that they are, their families are invested and engaged, they are more motivated to learn as well. So starting with relationship building, keeping those lines of communication open and making sure that families feel included and empowered to support their students.

Spencer Payne: Yep, perfect. And is there anything you mentioned your mom was a teacher, some other teachers in the family? Is there anything that you learned you were able to learn from that direct experience? Because there's other teachers out there who don't necessarily have that they're kind of figured out on their own, etc. Like, do you did you? Is there anything that was you were able to learn either to do or maybe to not do?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Thank you.

Spencer Payne: from those family members who were teachers that you have applied in your almost 20 years in the education profession. So like what information was passed down and maybe you said, I'm definitely gonna do that or I'm definitely not gonna do it the way you did that one. Anything that you can share from kind of the family history of teaching that you've infused in the classroom.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Thanks

Yeah, absolutely. think one of the things that the biggest takeaways is that everything is a teachable moment and learning does not have to only happen in the classroom. Of course, you know, standing up before, you know, a white board and teaching a formal lesson is fine, but there are opportunities throughout your day when you are with your students that you can make a teachable moment. When you're driving in the car, you're driving down the street and you're looking at street signs, that's a perfect opportunity to work on letter recognition when you're going to the grocery store and you're getting a grocery listing or you need help with writing your grocery list, that's a perfect opportunity to embed writing with your students. So making sure that you're taking advantage of the time that we have, because mean, know, time is a very precious commodity.

Families have a lot of things to do, parents and teachers have a lot of things to do, but making sure that the time that you do have with them is meaningful time. So when we're talking about, we're looking at a sales pay, a circular with a newspaper, or circling numbers, and we're counting and we're adding. So all those things, making sure that every moment that you have with students, you are investing in them, you are imparting something in them, something that they can take with them. So just taking advantage of that time.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. One, one, this is going to be a stupid example, but like I've got a little, little guy who's almost three and just working on counting. Right. So sometimes it's like, Hey, all right, you're doing that in 10 seconds. I'm going to pick you up and we're going to change activities. I'm going to count to 10. And I realized after doing that a million times, I was like, all right, well now he knows how to count to 10, but he keeps saying 11, teen and 18 goes to 15. So then I was like, all right, now I'm going to count to 10, but I'm going to start at 11 and I'm going to go to 20. And like, then as we get those numbers, then I'll  once we get those, I'll start at 21 and go to 30. I'm just like, I'm just trying to infuse just learning into just normal everyday conversation. And when I heard to say 11 team, like three times in a row, was like, oh, I need to not do one through 10 anymore. I need to work on 11 through 20. Like we've already got one through 10, but just infusing that and just.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, and that's absolutely, and that's the beauty of, again, parents as teachers, because most times parents spend more time with their student, with their child than teachers do. So you can pick up on those things. That's data that he's giving to you. He's like, dad, I know one through 10 already, so now let's move on. He's showing you that he's ready for that next step. And then also you noticing that he was repeating 11 teen as opposed to saying the next number. Again, that's information for you to say, when I work on numbers, 11 through 20, I need to make sure I intentionally pause and that he can see a visual of numbers 11 through 20, or I'm making sure I'm slowing down when I'm saying these numbers. Again, that is information, that real-time data that you are getting that you can respond to immediately as his teacher, and then so that he is prepared to successfully accomplish that next goal of counting from 11 to 20.

Spencer Payne: Yep. Yep. And so, so, all right. So all this building relationships, making sure you're sharing videos with parents, you're getting everybody on board. One thing I am really curious about to explore with all teachers, cause it's really, it's sometimes can be really hard at the end of the year to sit back as, as the, as, as you and the educator role to say, how did I do this year? Right?

Like sometimes, you know, there's test scores or there's, saw progress in my students or whatever it is, but like, how at the end of a school year do you yourself, so not the administration maybe, but like just you yourself, how do you kind of judge, oh, I was great this year, I did this, this, and this, they really worked, this year I was just okay, I tried this and it wasn't as good, whatever it is, like by what criteria at the end of the year do you kind of sit back and say, how was I this year, what do I want to do more of, what do want to do less of, what do I want to try differently next year, like how do you kind of assess that for yourself at the end of a school year?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, I think being reflective is one of my superpowers and I just think that comes from just my nature. I feel like I'm sort of an over thinker. But I think that, you know, that definitely helps me out because I'm always considering, okay, like, how did this work? Like, did this work? How did it work? What about this work and what can I do to improve or to make this better? So just who I am, who Jazzmyne is as a person, that's the way that I think. And so I think coming into bringing that into my work as an educator is super helpful because I am always, one, I'm keeping myself accountable because I like to, you know, I keep records and receipts and, you know, printouts and emails and all those things. Okay, here's what we tried. Here's what worked for us.

And then I'm always thinking about like, can I collect some quick data to see how this is working and how this is going? So I collect those things. Not a hoarder, but I do keep things throughout the entire school year, just so that can go back and take a look and say, okay, here's where my students were starting in August. They came in, they did not know, you know, they only need five letters. And so throughout the school year, I'm keeping track. I have a notebook. I can see this individual student's progress from, you know, as we pass through even your milestone throughout the school year. So I do take time to sit back  and reflect on my students looking at how they have grown at each interval throughout the school year. That is how they have grown. What are the experiences that really made them grow? Then that tells me more in next school year, I need to make sure I embed more of these real world learning experiences.

For this group of students, I need to make sure I embed more writing opportunities because these are the things that they really picked up on. Being reflective of my own practice, but not just reflective, but also being honest in that is honest with myself because if I am not honest with myself then that means I'm doing a disservice to my students because then I can't provide them real the real world of the immediate supports that they need if I'm not being honest because every lesson is not always going to go perfectly. It may not land for students the first time, it may not land for students the second time, but if I am honest about that then I can seek out support.

I can seek out resources, can learn in other strategies that I can try in my classroom. So making sure that I'm honest about, know, honest in my reflections, of course, to then empower me as an educator going into next school year. Of course, you know, there are just some best practices, things that I'm going to do every single school year, things that I'm going to, activities that I'm going to try for every single unit, but also just being flexible enough to know that, although, you know, I've had all these years in the classroom, every single year I get a new group of students. So what I tried last year may not work this year for this group of students. So yes, I can take some of the gems that I learned throughout my career, but also be open to learning something new and learning something more and learning something that is going to help me to reach this new group of students that I

Spencer Payne: Yep, perfect. And over that almost 20 years in the profession and these experimentations that you've done and being honest with yourself and tweaking things along the way to try to do what's best for your students, any proudest moments rise to the surface or anything that you look back on after these 20 years and you still think about maybe something that happened last year, maybe 12 years ago, maybe 15, but it's just proudest moments. Any one or two examples that still kind of make you smile and light you up, you'll probably still be thinking about when you're 80 years old or just like, that was such a great experience. Anything that you're able or willing to share.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, I absolutely, I think about a student who joined my classroom about in the fall. She didn't come in the beginning of school year, but she joined in the fall and she was a student who was on the autism spectrum and she was nonverbal. And I remember just learning, you know, being told these are all of the things that she can't do. And that was a personal challenge to me because I'm like, she's a kid, she can learn.

Yes, she's a kid. She's a kid. She learns differently, but she can still learn. And so I took that as a personal challenge. So of course, you know, working with these special educators in my school building to provide her, you know, the supports and accommodations that she needed. But I was just so excited to see in the fall. Can you still hear me? OK, because it just gave me like a little notification. OK, where she entered school in the fall where she was unable to say any words where she had difficulty with holding a writing utensil, where she had difficulty sort of making eye contact with folks, and to see where she ended up at the end of the school year, where she was successfully initiating play, engaging in play, sustaining play, where she was able to write her full name, where she was able to draw pictures, make play plans, other things that she was going to do, where she was able to, where she was not able to form complete full sentences by the end of school year, but she was able to say,  five and six words at a time. She was able to name, you know, common items and familiar objects and things. And these are things, again, they said that she could not do, she would not be able to do. And so I think that was one of my proudest moments because I knew that something that I had done in my classroom sparked something for her. I had accommodated the lessons, I provided experiences that allowed her to grow and to develop. So that was my proudest moment. One of my proudest moments.

Spencer Payne: Thank you. Well, yeah. Thank you so much for sharing. Anytime there's something they said couldn't happen and you're just like, well, we'll see about that. which by, by the way, as a tie into the Wright brothers, they said flight was impossible and the Wright brothers said, we're going to see about that. Yeah. But it's, will, I do want to stress it. It's not always proud moments and this thing went perfectly well, right?

There's tough times in this profession and maybe tough days, weeks, months, maybe even years where that, that class just, you know, that class just didn't feel like it fit so can you share maybe a little bit about, any, any tough times, tough moments, weeks, months, whatever it may be. And then ultimately, how do you power through? How do you bounce back? How do you show up the next day? Just smiling like you are with us today. So any, any tough times you, can talk about or share, maybe no names if you don't want to, that's fine. but then how do you bounce back? Like, how do you, how do you, how do you, how do you get going again after a tough day, tough week, tough month?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, absolutely. I will guarantee you, you are going to have tough times. I recently had done a keynote speech for teachers and that was one of the first things that I shared. Yes, teaching is joyful. Yes, this work is amazing and fantastic and all of those things, but it's also hard work. It is very grueling work at times because you are giving so much of yourself. Teachers are much more than folks who just stand in front of a classroom and read from a book. Teachers are counselors. Teachers are hairdressers. Teachers are substitute parents.

Teachers are lots of things to students and families on top of trying to have like your own, you know, your own life and things that you have going for yourself. So on those tough days that ultimately will inevitably come, those tough days is that you have to really ground yourself and why you're doing this work. It cannot be for a paycheck. It cannot be for summers off. It cannot be for winter break or spring break. It cannot be for any of those things because all those things are fleeting. And if you are entering school in August and your year starts out kind of rough, and you're just trying to make it to December to winter break, you are going to have a terrible time in the classroom. And you won't really get the most out of this experience. So you really have to ground yourself in the why. Why are you showing up every single day? Thinking about what are the experiences that sparked your interest in education? Who were the people who poured into you as an educator? to make you say, I could do that. I could be successful with that.

So thinking about all of those things and then sort of grounding in, okay, what is the mark that I wanna leave on my students? What kind of learners do I want them to be when they leave my classroom? When I retire as a teacher, what are other teachers gonna say about me? What is going to be my teaching legacy? And that why is the thing that is going to sustain you on those tough days, on those days where you feel like I can't get through this lesson. This is not landing for the kids. This is not working. Your why is what is going to sustain you and what's going to carry you throughout the rest of your career.

Spencer Payne: Can you share a little bit about your why? that something that you look at every year, every week to remind yourself? So can you share a little bit about your why and how often you come back to that statement?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. So I think my why is that I want learning to be joyful. I think that all children deserve access to joyful learning experiences. I also strongly believe that literacy is what helps us to access the world, right? I think every child should have the opportunity to learn how to read and to become a strong  reader. So I want to make sure that my emphasis every day that I'm going to the classroom, am infusing and investing in lessons that are going to help them to build their literacy skills. I think that of course reading and writing should be taught hand in hand. I think that every student has a voice, every student has something to say and I want them to know that they're voice can be represented through their writing, which is part of what inspired me when I wrote my children's book.

I was actually teaching kindergarten at the time and I wanted my students to learn Black history in a developmentally appropriate way. But of course, before we could get to any of that, they had to get the nuts and bolts of writing. So we were doing a teaching unit on story elements, talking about the role of authors and illustrators and what they do. I had finished my manuscript at the time and I was working with an editor. I was like, you know, this could be something that I could use to get buy-in from my students. So I told them that I was going to become an author and they were just so thrilled at that. said, well, guess what? You guys can be authors too. No, we can't miss out on that. You got to wait till you get bigger. You got to be a grown-up. My students were five at the time.

And so I was able to walk through the entire writing process with them. So letting them know that everything that they thought about, they could talk about it. And if they could talk about it, they could also write about it. And so just seeing how invested they became because they had ownership over their work. It was their thinking, their ideas that was getting represented on that page. And so I was able, that school year, we were actually able to publish two books with my classes, my students that school year. And so my why is making sure that students know their voice can be represented, their voice is important, their voice matters, they have something to add to the world. And so my children's book, which is my contribution to the world, even the thing that was not here before, and now it is here as a result of the hard work and things that I have put in. So making sure that kids, students have joyful learning experiences, making sure that they feel seen, heard, valued, and represented is my why.

Spencer Payne: thank you for sharing that it is still sometimes hard on a hard day, hard week, whatever it may be to still get past that, but it's much easier to come back the next day, fighting, smiling, doing that when you have that. Why, as opposed to my why is I can't wait for that two week break at December. It's just when your why is that? I don't know. I don't know what the right word is. I don't know. Shallow shallow, maybe fleeting. Like I think you the word fleeting earlier. it's really hard to.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yes.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Spencer Payne: jump back in the saddle again on a Tuesday and be excited. But when you're, why has that much? Yeah.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, because if you're just trying to dredge through and just trying to get all, you started school in August and you're just trying to make it to December, because there's nothing that's motivating you in the in between. Tough days are going to come and they're going to knock you down. And your why is the thing that's going to help you get back up. If you're just trying to just struggle just barely to get there, you're not going to have that motivation to want to get up and be better. And sometimes you have to force yourself.

Spencer Payne: Yeah.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Sometimes you will experience challenges and things that just make you question what it is that you're doing, but holding on to that thing that's driving you on the inside, that's what's gonna help you get back up and show up every single day.

Spencer Payne: And we've got to talk about and give a plug for this book of yours. So what's it called and where can people find it?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely. My children's book is called Hattie Leads the Way. It reimagines, it introduces us children to the iconic African American figure Harriet Tubman and teaches her story in a developmentally appropriate way. So Hattie's a little girl in her school's playground. There is a brand new jungle gym she really wants to go and play on, but there are some mean big kids who are trying to stop her from making it to the other side, what we call the playground promised land.

So Hattie has to demonstrate bravery and perseverance to successfully lead her friends to the other side of the playground, reminiscent of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. And so while that concept is very abstract for five-year-olds to learn, kids can make a connection to a time they had a goal and something tried to get in their way. They've been on the playground and someone knocked them off the swings or something happened that tried to stop them. it teaches kids the power of resilience, the power of perseverance, the power of creative thinking and believing in yourself. So the book is available on Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. Thank you. And you had another extracurricular activity that I want to highlight because it just sounded incredible. And this was right before the school year, a recent school year started. You started a program and this program involved getting clean clothes to your entire classroom and a book reading day during the summer when we're not even doing school and getting people to actually still commit and do it. Can you share a little bit more about what this event was and how it came about?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely, the program was called Loads of Literacy and we thought about, you know, what are some of those things that are sort of inhibiting kids from getting to school? You know, here in DC as well as nationwide, you know, chronic absenteeism is a thing and so we wanted to figure out what are the things that are stopping kids from being here at school? And we know that clean clothes is one of those things, so you know, kids feeling embarrassed if they didn't have, you know, clean clothes when they came to school or families just not having access to those needed resources and so we thought about, well, what is the way we can meet that basic need for those families.

And so I had the joy and the honor of partnering with a former student's parent. actually, I taught a student when she was in preschool and pre-K and she's now a high school sophomore. So I was able to partner with her family who had just recently opened a laundry mat in our community. And she was able to, we were able to host and provide laundry services for all of our families, completely free of charge. Families could bring in as much laundry as they had and wash and fold all their laundry, we provide detergents, all of those things. And while the washing was happening, we had local authors to come out and do some read-alouds. We gave away books, we gave away school supplies to help build their at-home libraries to start them off on the school year because again, we wanted to make sure we were providing and meeting just those basic needs of families. Families have so many things that are going on and so many demands.

And so if we could make sure, if we could connect you and bring those sort of those wraparound services, give you what it is that you need to feel successful, we know what makes a difference. Because, you know, when you have clean clothes, you feel better. When you look good, you feel good. And so you could show up confidently as a learner, you know, in the classroom, you're not worried about someone seeing a stain on your shirt or someone saying, you know, the same pants that you had on yesterday, because you feel better about yourself as you are showing up. And so we wanted just to make it with something, provide a practical resource for families to keep them engaged. We provided tip sheets on making reading fun at home, how to engage students in reading outside of the classroom, all those things. So loads of literacy was a huge success.

Spencer Payne: So loads of literacy, providing free laundry services to your classroom, free books. We've got writing your own children's books, national finalist for teacher of the year, spending plenty of time in the classroom, organizing all kinds of extracurricular activities and field trips, like going to the grocery store and making a watermelon box aquarium. How in the world do you have time for yourself? What do you do for personal life to keep you recharged, reset, things like that? Is there anything that you can share for teachers out there who maybe are also given everything they have in their classroom but maybe they have that one or two things personally that just helps them to recharge. Anything that you could share, know, personal wise to help you recharge when you're giving your all for your classroom?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, absolutely. will say it is definitely necessary to have those things to help yourself recharge again because as a teacher you give so much of yourself. You're in the building early hours in the morning and you might be there throughout the entire day. So making sure that you have something that is refueling you aside from just the food that you're sustaining and things like that. You need something to give back to you. One of the things that has really been beneficial for me is just physical activity. I make sure that I go to the gym. I have personal trainers. I go to the gym three days a week and just getting out some of that, all that energy and things like that, making sure that I'm investing back into my body, because my body is what's carrying me throughout these tough days and these joyful days that are happening in the school building. So making sure that my body is equipped to handle and to navigate those spaces.

Also journaling and reflecting is also something that's super important to me as well. I do keep a notebook right beside my bed each night just as I lay my head down and I'm just sort of jotting down just final thoughts throughout the day. If I don't, like my brain will just keep going and going. So just kind of, you know, getting those things out and then just making sure that I am, you know, finding time for joyful experiences for myself as well, whether that's going to  art exhibits or museums or know music festivals and things like that just making sure that I am connected to my community of friends and adults who who support me who value me and who share you know sort of the same interest that I do as well. So finding your shot.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, perfect. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Fine. You're trying. Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing and a couple more rapid fire, more quick hitter questions here as we get close to wrapping up. what if anything would be like, we're about to start a new school year here pretty soon. There might be some brand new teachers in your school this year. what if anything is the number one piece of advice that you like to give to those brand new teachers? Maybe they're in their first year and they're, just looking for guidance. They're looking for help.

What is, it might be different for different people, but what's maybe a consistent theme that you see of an advice that you give to brand new teachers to help them?

Jazzmyne Townsend: I would say making sure that they're coming into the school year with a mindset of collaboration as opposed to competition. Everyone in the school building should be aligned to the same vision, the same goal of supporting learning for all students that are inside of that building. So although they may not be students who are in your classroom or who you are the teacher of record for, every student in that building you become responsible for. So making sure that you are working together with your colleagues and with your peers to enhance these learning experiences. I can guarantee you that teachers who have, you know, these 20 years of experience in the classroom, they are a wealth of knowledge.

So you have to see them as someone, as such, they're not someone who's trying to compete with you. They're not someone who's trying to take your spot. they have a wealth of knowledge. making sure that you are connecting with these teachers. Cause of course you come into the classroom, you know what you know, you've learned everything, you know, that you've learned from, you know, professional development and things like that. But what we learn in theory is very different from what we learn in practice and being in the school building every single day. So bringing what you know from your book smarts to connecting with your colleagues in the building who have been in the building for 10 years, who have been with this certain group of students or know their families or anything like that. We are all colleagues, our resources to be tapped into so that everyone, the work that everyone is doing is working collectively to improve teaching and learning.

So don't come into the school building feeling like you're the brand new teacher and you can't ask anyone for help, you can't ask any questions because folks are going to look at you like you don't know what you're doing. Like it's okay. Like be vulnerable, be open, be willing to learn, be willing to make mistakes, but know that you are working in a profession of folks who are supporting you, who are here to make sure that the learning is happening for all students. So make sure that you connect with your school community.

Spencer Payne: and anything you're especially looking forward to in the next, three to six months. We're about to start a new school year here in a little bit. Is there anything with this upcoming class that you're really looking forward to? You've got a new lesson that you've never tried before that you wanna do. Like, is there anything in particular that you're, that even after 20 years, you can still look forward to in this next three, six, 12 months, you kind of, pick your timeframe to still get you energized. Maybe it's something new, novelty, like anything you're looking forward to over the next school year.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, absolutely. One of things my district has put in place, our instructional priority for this school year is thinking about the metacognitive process and how ensuring that metacognition is happening for our students throughout productive struggles. So productive struggle, making sure the students are engaging in rigorous learning experiences that are challenging them, but that are challenging, but not inaccessible to them. We don't want to just give them hard work.

We want to give them rigorous work that is going to ask them to perform at those higher levels. But making sure that students learn how to think about their thinking. Because again, I think when you have control over that, when you have an awareness of what you are thinking about, how you are learning, can then become more reflective and say, well, this worked. This didn't work. Next time I try this, I'm going to do this. So I think  taking on that metacognitive work for students and teachers is really going to help to grow stronger, smarter learners. So I'm looking forward to diving into that.

Spencer Payne: And then for you in particular, did you after getting your teaching certificate, did you go also get a master's degree? And if so, when did you do it? Why that time? What did that unlock for you? And if not also share a little bit about why not. So can you share about your approach to a master's degree?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, after I got my teacher's certificate, I did get my master's degree in 2013 in curriculum and instruction because one, just felt like I myself, I am a lifelong learner. I always want to make sure that I am learning more. I want to make sure that what I bring to the table is research based that it is a quality, these are quality practices that I'm sharing with other colleagues. And then I am doing what is necessary to support all the learners that I have the pleasure and the opportunity to serve and to interact with. So I did earn my master's in 2015 in curriculum and instruction. I took some time off from school after that, but I'm now back in school pursuing my doctorate degree in educational leadership.

Spencer Payne: incredible. There's more to come, more to come. And what to you is the number one single best thing about this profession? Education.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yes.

The single best thing about this education profession is that you are investing in a group of people who are going to, the hope is that, you know, the work that you are doing is that it will have ripple effects, right? So everything that I am doing now, everything that I have done over the last 16 years inside of the classroom is going to show up in the world, you know, one day. It's sort of like, you know, when you plant that seed, whether, you know, for that tree, you may not see the full tree get to grow today, but knowing that tree eventually is going to become full, it's to branch out, it's going to bear fruit, all those things because of one small act, a decision, a lesson, an experience that you created for your students. So knowing that even long after, you know, I've retired from the teaching career and I'm long gone, my effect will still be here. The mark that I want to leave on my students will still be here and evident in the world.

Spencer Payne: And on the other end of that spectrum, what is the single worst or toughest thing about this profession? Or if you had a magic wand and could just change one thing overnight, where would you point that wand?

Jazzmyne Townsend: Yeah, the single toughest thing is that our students sometimes go through things that we have no control over. Our students have, there are lots of things that happen outside of the school building, outside of our classrooms that we cannot control. Students are exposed to things. They are, you know, living in certain conditions and things like that that we cannot control as much as, know, I think all educators sort of have some sort of a bleeding heart and we want to fix everything. We want, we want to do all of the things. So try to navigate that space of I can't control that.

I can't control all their experiences, which then motivates me to say, okay, well, what can I do when I do have access to them? When they are in my presence, when they are around me, what are the things that I can do that can help to sort of combat some of those negative experiences that I know, those negative experiences or realities that I know they are facing outside of my classroom? What can I do to make sure that I'm trying to sort of balance out those things?

Spencer Payne: Yeah, thank you. And two more quick ones before we wrap up. So is there maybe any one to two things, especially after your path of seeing people in the family be educators and then not wanting to do it and then jumping in and loving it after six months and doing it almost 20 years, is there anything that rises to the top? One or two things that you wish maybe parents or the broader public or people who are in this profession kind of knew about this profession that they don't seem to know.

Jazzmyne Townsend: I would say, think what people don't seem to know that, I think the assumption is that people who become teachers are just teachers again, just for the paycheck, just for the summer's off. And that is far from the truth. I think that people need to know that teachers bring their best selves and also teachers.

Sometimes we're still learning too. Although yes, we've gone to school, we've gotten our degrees, we've gotten our licenses and all those things. Again, what we learn in it from a textbook, from theory is not the same thing that we learn in practice every single day. So as we are entering these classrooms in these spaces, those are also learning environments for us as well. As professionals, we learn from each new group of students that we get every single school year. This strategy works, this strategy does not. So we are constantly in a process of learning. making sure that, and we also don't have the idea that we know it all because we definitely don't. We need our parents and families. We need them to be connected to the classroom. We need them to support the learning and the work that is happening inside of our classroom so that students know that, hey, Ms. Townsend is invested in me and my mom is invested in me.

Like they're all coming to family literacy night so that students know that everyone who is where all the stakeholders who will have access to them care about them and support them. teachers are still learning. We need our parents and families and we are bringing our best selves to this work.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. just a quick note on the note, your proudest moment story earlier of the, of the student who they said could never read, right. And gay do all those things. And you made a tremendous amount of progress in one year. like to your point about the book learning and the actual reality of, of being in the classroom or two different things, I'd be willing to bet there was no book that said, Hey, when, when, when they say a student can do this, just accept it.

Like, or no, I guarantee there's no book that said like, can do it, you figure it out yourself. I'm sure you can figure it. There's no book that said that you took that upon yourself to say like, no, I'm gonna make a difference. I'm gonna be the one that makes a difference.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely, because I just, know, again, while I acknowledge that yes, she had learning differences, she needs to learn in a different way than all the other students did, but it did not mean that she was incapable of learning. I just had to try it a different way. And I think that that is one of the, you know, the mindsets that you have to have. Every student, every single student, no matter what their experience, their background, any of those things, every single student can learn. You just have to be willing to find the way that they best learn. What works for one student is not going to work for another student. And sometimes that's ruling work because it's, I've planned this lesson, I've planned this experience, I've done all these things and this is how I want it to go. The reality is that may not work for every single student. So you have to sort of like an undoing of yourself. You have to be vulnerable, you have to be flexible because I feel like it didn't work out this way, let me try it again. Let me be malleable to figure out how can I best support the needs of all of my students.

Spencer Payne: almost like you're running a bit of an improv class. I got a loose plan, but I got a riff and I got to improv a little bit as I go along.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Exactly. I know I'm flexible on how we give. I know where I want us to go, but I'm flexible on the route that we take to get there.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And last question, anything any last words of wisdom, anything that you we didn't have a chance to talk about that you'd really love the audience to hear, or maybe anything that we did talk about, but you're like, it's so important, you want to say it one more time. So any final or repeated words of wisdom to any teachers or prospective teachers out there.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Absolutely, I would just double down on the fact on the message that what is going to sustain your career again is making sure that your why is connected to something that is intrinsic. It's not anything that you're going to learn in a professional development. It's not something that someone else can tell you, something that someone else can teach you. Your why is the thing that drives you and fuels you. may, it's not going to be the same as your colleagues or know the other teacher across the hall. Your why is the thing that is going to motivate you, that is going to sustain you and you  into your classroom, especially as a first year teacher, you may not know your why just yet. It may take you six months. It may take you five years to figure it out, to really to hone in. And your why can change. Your why can, you can add to your why.

just understanding that your motivation for  coming into this work, it can't just be something fleeting. It really has to be connected to something that is deeply rooted and that will ground you and sustain you throughout the rest of your career. So find your why.

Spencer Payne: Find your why. Well, perfect, Jasmine. Thank you so much for sharing your real stories from a real educator. Congratulations on all of these well-deserved awards and nominations. And I mean, especially for your loads of literacy program that you just decided to start to just go get parents and students out in the summertime, clean and close reading books. Like it's just like, you can just go do things. Like if you're a teacher and you're thinking like, I sure wish someone would do this for me. Like you were just like, no, I'm just going to go do this.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Well, you do it. absolutely.

Spencer Payne: You can go do things. So thank you very much for showing other people the way that you can just go do things and have a positive impact. Thank you for all that you do.

Jazzmyne Townsend: Thank you so much.