#482 – AVID in the English Classroom, with Mike Rahn

If you are listening to the podcast with your instructional team or would like to explore this topic more deeply, here are guiding questions to prompt your reflection:

• How do relationships influence academic growth in your classroom?
• What does it look like to hold students to high standards while maintaining strong connections?
• How do you make the purpose of a lesson clear to students?
• Which AVID strategies (e.g., marking the text, Collaborative Study Groups) could you strengthen in your practice?
• How do you teach organization as both an academic and life skill?
• What helps you maintain a sense of purpose during challenging times in the school year?
• In what ways are you preparing students to make a positive impact beyond your classroom?

• AVID (official website)
• How to Discover and Pursue Your Passions as a Student (The International School of Thrissur)
• UCLA Study Infographic (AVID)
• The AVID Program Leads to Lower Substance Use, Better Health Behaviors Among High School Students, UCLA-led Research Suggests (GlobeNewswire)

#482 AVID in the English Classroom, with Mike Rahn

AVID Open Access
39 min

Transcript

The following transcript was automatically generated from the podcast audio by generative artificial intelligence.  Because of the automated nature of the process, this transcript may include unintended transcription and mechanical errors.

Mike Rahn 0:00 I could clearly see that this program was making such an important impact on these kids. They were all buying in here. We got a bunch of sophomores trying to get their way into college, and they’re using these strategies. There’s a reason why this stuff works. You’re gonna see how it changes lives.

Paul Beckermann 0:18 The topic for today’s podcast is AVID in the English Classroom ,with Mike Rahn. Unpacking Education is brought to you by AVID. AVID believes in seeing the potential of every student. To learn more about AVID, visit their website at avid.org.

Rena Clark 0:35 Welcome to Unpacking Education, the podcast where we explore current issues and best practices in education. I’m Rena Clark.

Paul Beckermann 0:45 I’m Paul Beckermann.

Winston Benjamin 0:47 And I’m Winston Benjamin. We are educators,

Paul Beckermann 0:51 and we’re here to share insights and actionable strategies.

Transition Music with Rena’s Children 0:55 Education is our passport to the future.

Paul Beckermann 0:58 Our quote for today is from the AVID home page. The headline banner on the page reads, “Empower educators to unlock every student’s greatness.” Rena, Winston, what would you like to say to unlock the quote for today?

Winston Benjamin 1:16 It’s simple but full of depth, as always. The part that I’m really drawn to is that it’s up to the teacher to recognize how they are preventing or seeing a student’s ability. Here’s a funny story: when I first moved to the United States, I spelled “color” with a U because I was raised in Jamaica, and my teachers didn’t realize that I was spelling it the British way. They were correcting me all the time and making me feel as if I was not intelligent. I use that as an example of how not being aware of students’ knowledge or past can really prevent teachers from engaging with and understanding what a student brings to the table, and how they can become blocks to students’ learning and success. So I really like the idea of teachers being able to unlock every student’s potential by recognizing how they might otherwise prevent students from being a part of the classroom.

Paul Beckermann 2:13 And with your example, Winston, what they weren’t seeing in the way you spelled “color” was you (u).

Winston Benjamin 2:20 Exactly, exactly.

Paul Beckermann 2:23 We see you, though, Winston. We appreciate you too. Rena, what do you think?

Rena Clark 2:30 I was focused on the same thing. What stood out to me is that it doesn’t say “fix students.” It doesn’t say “raise test scores.” It says “empower educators.” And I know we’re going to talk more about ELA and cross-classroom connections. When we’re teaching, we’re not just teaching standards — we’re teaching voice, identity, how to think critically about the world, and so much more. When teachers feel empowered with strong instructional strategies, high expectations, and different structures — and I know AVID can provide a lot of those structures through WICOR — they’re better able and better prepared to create classrooms where every student can be successful. That helps students recognize their own capacity, and then that second part, reaching greatness — that’s how they get there.

Paul Beckermann 3:25 I love that. Well, we have a guest that we’re excited to speak with today. Here today, we are excited to welcome Michael Rahn to the Unpacking Education podcast. Mike is an English and AVID teacher at Elk River High School. Welcome, Mike.

Mike Rahn 3:44 Thanks for having me.

Paul Beckermann 3:45 That was a very short intro. Do you want to take a minute and tell us a little bit more about yourself personally, and maybe a little bit about your journey in education?

Mike Rahn 3:54 Absolutely. So I graduated from Becker High School in 2004 and went to Saint Cloud State. I got accepted to other places, but St. Cloud was closer to home. When I got there, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a lawyer — that was the number one thing I was thinking — but I also thought I could probably couple that with economics. Then I realized, as I was going through my first year, that English was really important. I needed to be a good writer and communicator. So I took a bunch of English classes while also preparing to apply to law school.

Eventually I ended up doing some work in the English office, helping some of my classmates out. My advisor was also in the English office, and she kept telling me, “You’re really good at this. You should think about being a teacher.” I thought, “I don’t think so.” But eventually I had taken so many English classes, and then I took a few education classes as electives that I really started to enjoy. The actual teaching part of it drew me in.

So eventually my advisor said, “Well, you’ve got to decide what you want to do. You’re either going to be a lawyer or a teacher.” I thought, I want to work with kids. I want to help kids. And then I realized if I went into law, I’d probably be on the wrong end of things. So I thought, why not be proactive, go into education, and help kids before they ever need a lawyer? I ended up in education, and while every day isn’t amazing, I come home pretty happy with what I’m doing, and I never really feel like this isn’t where I’m supposed to be.

Paul Beckermann 5:41 And then how did you get hooked up with AVID?

Mike Rahn 5:45 So when I did my student teaching, I was at Cooper High School teaching English 10. The class I had, I think, had about 10 AVID kids in that hour. Every day when we were getting ready, these big binders just came out and covered the whole desks. One day I asked a couple of the kids, “Why do we all have the same binder?” And one of them said, “Oh, we’re all in AVID.” I said, “Well, tell me about it.” She basically said, “I’m trying to make sure I do better than my parents, and education is the way to go. So I joined AVID, which is a program that’s going to help me get into college.” I thought, that’s pretty cool. I love that.

If we had AVID when I was in Becker, that would have been phenomenal. I immediately saw myself as an AVID student watching these kids. So when I left Cooper and went to Elk River High School, I was talking with Barry Hohlen, and he mentioned he was an AVID elective teacher there. About year two, I went to Barry and said I’d love to be a part of it. He said, “Well, we’re adding another class and I can’t teach both.” So he and I went to our head principal, Terry Bazal, and proposed it: he teaches one group, I’ll teach the next group coming in. Next thing I know, here we are, 15 years later. I’ve had three different AVID groups graduate, and this is my third group graduating this year.

Paul Beckermann 7:15 Fantastic.

Mike Rahn 7:16 Yeah, it’s been a wild ride.

Winston Benjamin 7:19 Now that’s the part I’d like to get a little more depth on. You explained how you got started with AVID, but now that you’re about to start your fourth group — what do you still love about it? What keeps you coming back?

Mike Rahn 7:37 The two big things for me: number one is the relationship piece. We get them as freshmen, and I get to stay with them all the way through. I get to watch them walk out as seniors. Over the course of four years, you build this amazing relationship with the kids. When they understand that you’re not just their teacher but a part of their journey, they really work hard for you. They genuinely care about what you think of them and the path they’re going to take.

The other part that I really love is the academic portion — helping all of these kids understand that they can do whatever they set their minds to. I know that sounds cliché, but we have so many kids who don’t realize they could do really cool things if they put their minds to it. Once you get them to understand, “Yeah, you’re a smart kid, you can do this,” and then you watch them do it — that’s really, really cool. Those are the two things that make me keep coming back and believing in everything that AVID stands for.

Rena Clark 8:43 We have a couple things in common. I went to college thinking I’d go into economics because I wanted to make money — my dad happened to be an economics professor, so I thought that would be great. Then I took some economics and did not like it at all. So I found my passion in other places. I love this idea that you get to be with the same group of students for multiple years. In middle school, we’re with the same group for three years. You really get to build that relational capacity. Can you talk about how you value relational capacity and how it might be applied to your other classes, where you don’t have students for four years?

Mike Rahn 9:39 Oh yeah, for sure. I break it down to two things: humor, and the ability to hold all kids to a high standard. I teach freshmen English and creative writing for seniors. When the freshmen come in, we talk about how they need to find their footing in high school. I take it upon myself to say, “Hey, this is how you act in a high school. We aren’t in middle school anymore. You have seniors watching you walk around in the hallway, so your job is to behave appropriately so you’re not drawing unwanted attention to yourself.”

Holding those high standards in the academic portion of the room signals to kids, “This guy is going to push me to be better.” When I see things that aren’t appropriate, I let them know — and the kids really start to buy in, because I think a lot of them crave that structure. They want someone saying, “Hey, this is how we behave. You can do this. Let’s do it.” Eventually they’re like, “I love this group. I love this guy.” I have plenty of kids who will tell me, “I don’t like English, but I really like you.” And for me, it always comes back to the high standards. You hold them to a high standard, and they’re going to live up to it. They will work hard and try to make sure they’re doing what you want them to do, because they do care what you think of them.

Rena Clark 11:11 That goes back to the idea that people remember how someone makes them feel. I love that — “I don’t like English, but I like you.” And you can’t tell me they’re not learning more and actually liking English more because they like you. It makes a big difference. So thank you for what you do.

Mike Rahn 11:26 Thank you. I have plenty of kids who come back and say, “I wish I could have had you my sophomore year, my junior year.” And I tell them, “Well, I’m freshmen and seniors, so you’ve got me coming in.”

Paul Beckermann 11:37 That’s a huge compliment — if they want to come back again, you can’t ask for much more than that. You’ve also mentioned to me that you value finding purpose in life through AVID, both for yourself and your students. Can you elaborate on that?

Mike Rahn 11:59 For me, one of the important things about being a teacher is finding happiness in everything I’m trying to do, because education sometimes gets hard. But if you can find happiness in what you’re doing, you’re finding purpose, and then it’s easy to get up every day and do that.

I go back to my grandpa on this. I’m pretty sure he’s 95 now. When he was 88, he decided he was finally done working — officially retired. He was still moving around and golfing twice a week at 88. I asked him, “Grandpa, how do you do this?” He said, “Well, I get up every day with purpose. I have to do something. I need to know what I’m supposed to be doing. That’s what’s given me this long life.” He has 18 grandkids, I think, and 30 or 35 great-grandkids. We have almost 100 people in our family. But it all comes down to that conversation with him: it’s about purpose.

So when I go to work every day, I want to have purpose in what I’m doing. I want to find happiness in what I’m doing, and I try to teach that to my students at the same time. Right now my AVID seniors are writing an academic research paper on happiness, and they each had to come up with their own research question. A couple of the kids are researching how the small things make a difference in people’s lives. When I told them it would be an eight-to-ten-page paper, they said, “There’s no way I can do that.” But a lot of them are already on pages seven, eight, or nine, and they haven’t even written their conclusion yet.

I try to make sure that with each of my AVID groups, I find something important for them to learn as a life lesson, and we spend a few weeks on it. For this group, it was happiness — a lot of them struggled when they came in as freshmen. So I’ve been thinking about this for years, trying to help them understand that as adults, we need to find our purpose in life. When we’re doing all these amazing things, it’s not just about doing the things, but finding happiness while we do them.

I told them just the other day, “I really like my job. I show up and I work to make sure that you guys are educated, feel supported, and understand the purpose of our lessons. There’s a reason why we do the things we do.” And a couple of kids said, “So that’s why you’re always smiling.” I said, “Well, yeah — when I watch you find the little things in the lesson, that’s why we did that. I’m glad you picked up on that.”

Finding purpose in what we do is really important. My colleagues notice it too — they can see that what I’m doing is helping kids figure out where they want to go and how they’re going to get there. And even with my colleagues, helping them through the tough times during the year — we all know what it’s like to get through that long stretch of winter — being able to figure out how to move forward, whether those conversations are educationally focused or personally focused, is really important. Whether I’m connecting with my colleagues or my students, it all has to be through purpose. There’s got to be a reason why we do what we do.

Winston Benjamin 15:34 I appreciate that, because a lot of people think about why they do teaching and what the point of the work is. It’s always valuable to remind ourselves why we do it. But here’s an important question: we have a lot of young teachers, veteran teachers, and people stepping into AVID who may not understand all the ins and outs of the program. Could you speak to how you use the AVID reading strategies in your classroom? What are some specific steps or things you use to apply them?

Mike Rahn 16:30 When I use the critical reading strategy, the first thing I put on my slideshow is the purpose for what we’re doing. So when we’re reading something, the kids know exactly what we’re trying to do with it. For example, when we were doing our research paper, every day had a specific purpose — like, “Today we’re focusing on identifying all the evidence and making sure it’s correlated, so we can organize our note cards.” When going through and organizing those note cards, it’s figuring out, “What is the purpose of everything I have here, so I can get everything aligned properly?”

We did a speech component, so they organized their research into a shorter paper and then delivered the speech. By then they understood what they were supposed to be doing with all the information, and they could continue to move forward.

The critical reading strategy was actually the first AVID strand I engaged with, even before I was the AVID elective teacher. It holds right to my heart because it was my first stepping stone into AVID, and everything we do with it has to be done with purpose.

When we’re working on the research paper with my AVID kids right now, we’ve got to analyze all the data and then write a strong reflection. Some of this research is four, five, six, even ten pages long, and it’s hard to get everything together if you’re not organized and don’t have a purpose. I always tell the kids: when you’re reflecting, don’t just reflect on the information you have — connect that information to yourself. What are you supposed to get out of this?

So right now we’re reading Lord of the Flies. In chapter two, the boys are figuring out how to set up rules for a society. The kids read that, then we paired it with some nonfiction to connect real life to fiction. Now they’re writing reflections connecting those two things. They’re saying, “Oh — this is what’s going on in society today, and this is what I need to get out of it.” And I tell them, “Yep. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to get out of that. Good job.”

Rena Clark 18:59 I love that. You said you’re now on round four, so you’ve been teaching for a while. I’m curious — when you first started AVID, those big binders were everywhere. Maybe you still use them. But how has your practice changed over time, and how are you incorporating technology into what you’re doing?

Mike Rahn 19:28 A lot of those big binders are gone now because everything’s on Chromebooks. So on day one, we go through organized folders to make sure they have everything going into the right places — folders within folders — so they know what units are important and what goes into each. If something’s missing, they go back into their folders, locate everything, and print it out or whatever they need to do to turn it in.

Paul and I worked together for a few years, and I was getting weekly tech updates from him — “Hey, these are good strategies to use, you should try this.” Or he’d be in our building and I’d go sit with him in the library, and he’d show me things I didn’t know existed, which was pretty awesome. I got to incorporate those into my classroom.

As technology has improved, we’ve gone a lot more paperless and have also become more collaborative. One of my favorites — and it’s not super high-tech — is working in a Google Slides document with another student. I’ll watch groups working on Lord of the Flies where kids are sitting on different ends of the room, still actively collaborating in the same document, having conversations, doing great work. It reinforces group accountability while also making kids who feel uncomfortable with face-to-face group work feel more at ease — they don’t have to get up, they don’t have to move, they can do the work and still have a conversation, just digitally. These aren’t groundbreaking strategies, but they continue to work every single day.

Paul Beckermann 21:27 And that’s what we’re looking for, right? The strategies that work — it doesn’t matter if they’re online or offline. Sometimes it might be one, sometimes the other, and that’s okay. So let me have you dip into your AVID strategy toolbox. What are one or two of your favorite AVID strategies — things that just work, all the time?

Mike Rahn 21:58 One of my favorites is obviously marking the text. As an English teacher, being able to mark it up and understand what’s going on is essential. In our district, we don’t have individual books for each kid — four kids share the same book — so we use Post-it notes. They take notes on the Post-its as we’re reading, and then they can organize those notes in their notebooks however they need to keep everything together. As we go through the text, they can write down their questions. You don’t have to worry about the kid who raises their hand and then says, “Oh, I forgot my question.” Everything’s written down.

A lot of kids write down really good notes while we’re reading, and then they’ll say something during class discussion that makes all the other kids stop and look. On Thursday, I had a kid do that — another student looked at them and said, “That was a really, really good question. I didn’t think of it that way.” I’m sitting there thinking, where am I right now?

Paul Beckermann 22:57 But that’s a win. That’s a win right there.

Mike Rahn 23:00 And then the other one I’m working on incorporating better in my regular classes — I use it all the time in AVID, especially with seniors — is collaborative study groups. Getting kids working in smaller groups, having them bring questions they don’t know the answer to, and working with their peers to come up with solutions in different ways than a teacher would present it. When kids teach concepts to each other, they’re no longer at a one on the learning scale — now we’re at a four. That information becomes part of their core learning; it’s not going to go out the window in a few weeks.

Every year I get a little bit better at getting kids into the groups quickly so they can figure out what they need to do. It makes such a difference when they’re working and helping answer their own questions versus having me teach everything. Plus, we can get through content a little quicker in smaller groups, and I have the opportunity for more one-on-one teaching time with each group. If I have groups of four, I can spend more targeted time than I could with the whole class.

Winston Benjamin 24:20 Those are really good strategies for accessing and supporting students — and for unlocking their success, as our original quote said. Here’s something I always love: giving a teacher an opportunity to shine a light on students they’ve had in the past. Can you think of an AVID success story from your classroom that you’d share with someone? Or what’s your bucket-filler — the thing you go back to when it gets hard and you remember why you do this?

Mike Rahn 25:01 Last weekend, my family and I were at the bowling alley near my house, and a former AVID student of mine who graduated four years ago came up to me. He said, “Hey, Rahn, guess what?” I said, “What’s up, bud?” He said, “I’m graduating in a couple weeks.” He’s graduating from the U with a degree in accounting, already has his job lined up, and he’s actually working there full time until graduation — then he gets a big pay bump. He was so excited. To have him come up to me like that, mid-bowl — that’s my kid, doing awesome things.

I have another kid from that same graduating class who has a degree in psychology, but on the side he’s a barber, and he’s traveling the country cutting hair when he’s got time off from work. I’m seeing videos of him — last week he was in New York, the week before he was in Indiana. I’m watching this 23 or 24-year-old kid who loves his job and has this amazing hobby doing really, really cool stuff. Watching these kids go do amazing things is just incredible.

With my first graduating group, I have the kids come out to my house after graduation and I do a barbecue for them. The first time I ever did it, I was really worried — now my former students know where I live! But I actually ran into a couple of them recently. They work together now, both former AVID students of mine. They told me they still talk about that day — I’d smoked chicken and pulled pork, we sat in the yard playing yard games, everyone hanging out and having a great time. He said, “That’s a huge memory of ours.” I thought, that was 12 years ago, and you still talk about it.

The other nice thing about having kids for so many years is that I also get their siblings. This year marks the third time I’ve had a senior and then gotten their freshman sibling the following year. I met this year’s freshman at AVID orientation, when we bring in eighth graders for a tour. The student said, “You remember my brother?” I said, “Well, yeah — your brother’s right here.” And they said, “We hear so many great things about you at the dinner table. I’m excited to have you.” Hearing that they’re speaking highly about me and about AVID at home — it just keeps getting better.

A lot of the kids come in as freshmen and say, “My brother or my sister says this is what you’re going to do for me, and I believe that.” And I tell them, “Yeah, I’m gonna push you hard and you’re going to do good things. Let’s buckle in together and have some fun.”

There are so many stories. We have kids who still live in the area — I went to a grad party last year where my former AVID student walked over and handed me his baby. He and his wife have been married three or four years and had their first kid. He just hands me the baby and walks around talking to other people. Those are always the cool moments — when they come back and trust you enough to tell you where they’re at, what they’re doing, the cool things in their lives, and then they hand you a baby.

Rena Clark 28:55 That’s awesome. All right. We have a lot of listeners who are not AVID teachers and may not know what the AVID program is. They’re learning good teaching strategies. So what would you say to a teacher who has never heard of AVID before — maybe where you were several years ago?

Mike Rahn 29:22 I always go back to that moment with my students, when they all opened up their binders. I could clearly see that this program was making such an important impact on these kids. They were all buying in. We had a bunch of sophomores trying to get their way into college, and they were using these strategies. There’s a reason why this stuff works.

For me, it’s just: find the impact that it has. You’re going to see how it changes lives. AVID is so important, and it makes such a difference in a kid’s life. When they learn the tools they didn’t have before and can then apply them, it opens up so many cool things for them. A lot of that belief — now that they know they can, they will. They’ll go out and do it.

AVID is the best way to impact your students, impact yourself personally — and you got to hear me talk about my own personal growth today. You’ve got to find purpose in what you’re doing. And AVID impacts the community in such a positive way. These kids are out doing amazing things. You may not hear that it was the AVID program that helped them get there, but you know it as the teacher. You get to watch these things happen and think, “If it wasn’t for AVID, I’m not sure where that kid would be right now.” It was such an impactful decision for them to join. So just keep going at it, keep working hard with it, and keep being positive.

Winston Benjamin 31:01 You mentioned the value of providing tools to students through the AVID program, and it’s time for the transition into our next segment.

Transition Music with Rena’s Children 31:09 Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Winston Benjamin 31:22 So I’m going to ask — Paul, Rena, Michael — what’s in your toolkit? What are you adding to your repertoire?

Paul Beckermann 31:29 I’m thinking about what Mike was describing with kids interacting in a Google Doc or Google Slides. The key for me there is that interaction. We’ve got to get kids interacting with each other. Find strategies — maybe it’s philosophical chairs, maybe it’s a Socratic seminar, maybe it’s a debate — something to engage students with each other in some form of critical thinking activity. When we combine interaction and the social piece with critical thinking, it’s a win-win.

Rena Clark 32:01 Mike brought up so many great strategies, but I was thinking about using WICOR as a planning lens — and that didn’t magically happen in his classroom, so we’ll give him credit. You have to think through: what are students writing, where are they inquiring, where are they collaborating meaningfully, where are they organizing their thinking, where are they reading rigorously? What are those specific moments? Because that doesn’t happen on its own. The planning is so important, and if you have a team and a building that can support you, that’s even better.

Winston Benjamin 32:36 Connecting to what Rena said about planning — I think providing student and teacher reflection time is also very important. The metacognitive piece: why did I learn this? What did I gain out of this? Why should I keep this in my mind for the next 15 years? Sometimes students go through the process but don’t remember what they’re doing with it. So I loved how Mike talked about students thinking about why they’re doing something and the purpose of their actions. Mike, I’ll throw it to you — what’s in your toolkit?

Mike Rahn 33:10 I’m going to piggyback off both Rena and Paul here. Number one: the critical thinking part, because it’s so huge for our world right now. Can you think critically about what’s going on to keep moving forward and figure out how to do the things that need to get done?

But also being organized at the same time. If you aren’t organized in how you plan things out, things just don’t work the way they need to. One of the big things I emphasize is planners — you’ve got to use the planner and make sure kids understand it. I show the kids my planners. I have a professional planner and a personal planner, and I show them both — these are all the things I have to do in my day. If I weren’t organized to track all of it, I would be lost. I coach three teams right now: my son’s team, my daughter’s team, and our high school team. If I weren’t organized and didn’t know where I needed to be and what I had to do for each of those practices or games, I’d be lost at least two thirds of the time.

I always tell the kids: you’ve got to make sure you have everything documented, whether it’s school stuff or personal stuff. Once we teach them the organizational part of life, we can really teach them the organizational part of being an academic student. Once they have both figured out, you don’t have kids missing tests or forgetting due dates. They understand what’s going on in their days. And you say, “Yep — that’s how adults operate, and that’s how we’ve got to get you to operate too.”

Rena Clark 34:45 So many great things came out of this conversation. And now we’re going to go to our next segment.

Transition Music 34:53 It’s time for that one thing. It’s time for that one thing. That one thing.

Rena Clark 35:06 Share that one thing you’re still thinking about — that last piece you want to leave our listeners with. Paul, Winston, what’s your one thing?

Paul Beckermann 35:17 Double P: purpose and passion. I’ve heard Mike say that over and over throughout our conversation today, and I think they’re intertwined. You have a passion for something and it becomes your purpose, or your purpose becomes your passion. When we can weave those two things together, it’s fantastic.

Rena Clark 35:36 A chicken-and-egg kind of thing.

Paul Beckermann 35:38 Yeah.

Winston Benjamin 35:41 For me, it’s the idea of preparing your students to walk away from you — but when you prepare them to walk away, they come back and let you know, “I’m good. You did a great job. I’m all right.” I love that Mike was so focused on preparing his students to be in the world, to be successful, to be organized, to be capable — and yet they always come back and say, “Here, hold my baby.” That’s a powerful thing.

Rena Clark 36:15 Yes. And Mike’s point connects to both of those. You said it earlier, Mike: “If you can find happiness in what you do, you can find purpose.” And even on the harder days, it’s about taking it from that one thing — that one funny moment, that one comment a kid made that made your day, the aha moment for that one student. Finding those little things, and in your personal life as well. Find your own one thing each day, at least. And there are many days when there are lots of things — and then you feel your purpose. How about you, Mike? What do you want to leave our listeners with?

Mike Rahn 37:09 It’s something I talk about all the time, even with my students: your job is to go make a positive impact on the world. Go out there, find what you’re good at, and make sure it’s something that’s going to make somebody else’s life better. You always want people to be thinking about you positively, talking about you behind your back in a positive way. That’s how we make our world a better place. If we all try to make the world better just one small thing at a time, our world will continue to get better every single day.

Paul Beckermann 37:39 I love that. And from our conversation with you today, and from what I know about you from working together, I know that you are making a positive impact on the world. Thank you for all you do, and I’m so glad you switched to education — look at all the lives you’re impacting.

Mike Rahn 37:57 Thank you. I’m really happy with where I’m at. This was definitely where I’m supposed to be. There are days I think the money would have been nice if I’d gone a different direction. But in the grand scheme of it all, it’s the happiness. I’m really happy with what I’m doing.

Paul Beckermann 38:13 And you’re making a difference.

Rena Clark 38:16 Thanks for listening to Unpacking Education.

Winston Benjamin 38:19 We invite you to visit us at avidopenaccess.org, where you can discover resources to support student agency and academic tenacity to create a classroom for future-ready learners.

Paul Beckermann 38:32 We’ll be back here next Wednesday for a fresh episode of Unpacking Education.

Rena Clark 38:37 And remember: go forth and be awesome.

Winston Benjamin 38:40 Thank you for all you do.

Paul Beckermann 38:43 You make a difference.