How Clarity membership can help you achieve work-life balance with Joan Brobeck

The most impactful teachers know that there's a balance between being impactful, creating this excellence and being able to also live their lives outside of work because that helps fuel your creativity. Luckily, our friend Joan Brobeck is coming on the show today to share with us how she uses the clarity membership in order to uplift her learners and help her lead her very best life.

In this podcast episode:

• Introduction

• Who is Joan Brobeck

• Caseload analysis

• Utilising Clarity lesson plans and Google

• The hardest thing to overcome

• Taking a step forward

Transcript of the Episode:

Introduction

Welcome back to the show. Today's a very special episode, I asked my friend Joan to come in. And she has been part of clarity for quite some time now and has actually come into our workshops that we hold monthly and has been providing her perspective and her expertise, which is so lovely and wonderful and always welcome. Joan has also been part of our International O and M Online Symposium Planning Committee for a few years now. And so I've gotten to know her and to see her teaching abilities and the ideas that she comes up with. But not only that, she also is an amazing mom, has so many great hobbies, is very involved in her community. And you kind of wonder like, how? how do you how do you do all of this? Well, she's here today and she's going to be talking about how she does it all, as well as how she uses clarity in order to help facilitate her own life and her own teaching and how she uses the lesson plans in and of themselves.

Joan Brobeck has been a TSBVI for eight years and aCcomms for five years in the Cowley County, Kansas. She has spent many summers at the Kansas State School for the Blind in the ESI programme. She got her teaching degree from Fort Hays State University and her master's degree in Special Education low incidence from Texas Tech University. She currently serves six, six communities in Cowley County as an itinerant provider. She has four daughters and has been tackling life with her husband, David for 11 years. Why don't we just go take it to the show and have Joan tell us how she manages to be so awesome.

Who is Joan Brobeck?

Kassy:
We're already laughing here. Let me just introduce you guys. Welcome to the podcast, Joan Brobeck, I am so glad that you are here to chat with us today.

Joan:
Me too.

Kassy:
All right. So we asked you to be on our podcast today. Because I find you to be such an inspiration, not just as a teacher. But yes, as your teaching skills, you've really shown up in clarity. And during our workshops, you provide your input, and you really help us with getting a better understanding and getting a different perspective, which I always love. But also you also are able to lead this amazing life. You're a great mom, you have so many fun hobbies, you're so involved with your community. And I think that that really exemplifies you know what we're all going for as teachers. We do do this for the kids as they say, but we also have to be able to balance our own lives. And I think you do such a phenomenal job of doing that and leaning into innovation and trying new things and having such a great, great mindset and attitude about it all.

Well, you do a great job of it. So to begin, would you mind just sharing with our audience who you are, what you do, and maybe how you got into the field of visual impairments.

Joan:
Yeah, so I'm Joan. I live in Kansas. I started teaching right out of high school, but it was early childhood. I finally got my degree in early childhood in 2004, which is an Associate's and then I grabbed my bachelor's in 2013 took me a little bit and then I was ready to teach in the district and the district said, I don't need you to teach early childhood. I really need you to teach TVI. I'll send you back to school. So I went back to school with Texas Tech because Kansas doesn't have a vision programme at this point. And so this will be my ninth school year teaching as a TVI, my sixth school year teaching as a Comms. And I work in a public school and we serve about six towns. So all the kiddos within those six towns who have anything vision, I get to work with them. I have all that O and M kiddos, and then I have half of the VI kiddos. And I have a co-teacher now who does the other half.

Kassy:
That's awesome. I like how you say that you have a co-teacher now. So it sounds like when you started, it was just you right? Because I know you're pretty rural?

Joan:
Oh, yeah, I had two counties all by myself. And then we went to one county, and then they finally found me a co-teacher because I couldn't do all of it.

Kassy:
Yeah, how did you advocate for yourself to show that you couldn't do all of it because our admins don't do our jobs?

Joan:
Well, when I started, I would talk to other people in this field. And they said, You need to make sure you're looking at your cases every year. And if you hit a threshold, then you need it to tell someone. So at the end of the school year, I make a point with my director to sit down and say this is how many kids we have this year. This is the services they need. And then as we come back in the next school year, when we get new ones, this is how many kids we can have, this is the services they need. This is where I need help. So that my co-teacher and I share as much as we can.

Kassy:
That's awesome. So you do like a caseload analysis every year basically.

Joan:
Yes. Because I was overwhelmed at one point. And then they wanted me to do Comms, because there aren’t very… there's only 21 Comms in the state of Kansas.

Kassy:
Yeah, that makes sense.

Joan:
Not many of us.

Caseload Analysis

Kassy:
There aren’t very many of us anywhere. But I'm going to ask you a question, I might already know the answer to it. How long does that caseload analysis take you? Do you do it by hand? Do you do it pen and paper? Do you have a system for it? What does that look like?

Joan:
We started with the master list. QPVI Nancy, I can't remember her last name, I think it's Tulle. She set all of that up. And so as we get new kids, it has their name, their age, their vision, impairment, or any other impairments they have. And then it talks about how much service time they have. It also is a place where we can record their eye reports, their O and M reports, all the reports we do. So we know when we did the last one. And we know the next ones too.

Kassy:
Right.

Joan:
And so we just keep a copy of that.

Kassy:
I love that. And it's so it sounds like it's all in one place. And then you're once you've done the base work, it's just a matter of adding the new kids, taking out the kids that have left the district. And it all kind of adds it up for you.

Joan:
Yep. And we do that in the end, at the end of the year, move everybody out who's moved. And at the beginning of the year, we move into the schools they moved to I've got kids moving from this county school to this county school and they don't realise they're still going to have me. I’ll just show up and we’ll meet again.

Kassy:
Do you like having the same students like over many years?

Joan:
It gives us a chance to form a really interesting relationship where we can joke about things that happened way back then. And they can remind me of the mistakes I made as a rookie teacher. It also gives me a way to talk to the newer ones, because I can refer them to someone in their same grade that I may already have. I was like you need to ask them, so what happened when that… when this event happened with a kid and I or she and I and so I think it's kind of nice. It's different than having… I do… I've never had a classroom. I missed that part. But I don't think I could be in one building all day with 25 little people.

Kassy:
I have the same… I also had my associate's in early childhood, I graduated high school with it. And then I ended up going straight, basically straight into VI just because of my story and where I was, but I'm sure you haven't gone all the way through your Bachelor's thinking you're gonna have a classroom. And then you have this life where I love going to target this time of year. Right now we're recording and it's June but they're getting ready for the beginning of the school year. And I still like there was a little bit of like a hollow heartbreak. Like, I bought all those things. And I could still buy them. I can still decorate. It’s just not the same.

Joan:
You just can’t display it anywhere. Because I don't really have a classroom. I have 20 classrooms.

Kassy:
Yeah, yeah. And I have a lot of hallways. I don't even get classrooms. They don't give me an office when you’re contract.

Joan:
You get your closets.

Kassy:
Or like oh, I think that one person might be out today. You can go in there. Just whatever.

Joan:
Yeah, libraries.

Kassy:
Yep. The library the different places around the campus, little patios, sit on the steps, a lot of times just like get out of the way.

Joan:
Anyway, the kids will talk to me. They talk more often when they're not on campus. 

Kassy:
They do. Yes, or my high school, my, one of the high schools that I work at, they set it up really cool. But it is almost a little bit like, like a college campus where you walk in. And it's two storeys, right. And they have the stairs almost directly in front of you. It's like a big foyer. But on the set of stairs, but not the… not a small of tread are like big wooden seats that are also stair steps. And you can sit there, it's very auditorium style. I know it's very cool school. Trying to teach there, though, is impossible. Cause this person is so distracted. If I have to be there over like a bell, period, because I have him for two periods. That's it. He's gone. He's like, I had to go to the bathroom. And I'm like, Well, you have to go to the bathroom right now. Like, now five minutes ago, not in five minutes, right now. Okay? And then like, you're right, he just won't talk. So I have to, okay, we're gonna go on a walk, or we're gonna go somewhere else. It's funny how you find the different places and you go into the different environments for that, like for that very specific kid?

Joan:
They'll do so much more when we take them off, especially middle school, the high school?

Kassy:
Yes, yeah, they really do.

Joan:
They just don't want anybody seeing and being amazing. But they're really cool what they do and how they do it. And they don't understand yet.

Utilising Clarity lesson plans and Google

Kassy:
Yeah. So it's because they're trying to fit in still. In that, that time, life is hard. I wanted to also ask you about, you already mentioned one system that you've put into place with your QPVI and how you do your caseload analysis. You've been in clarity for a few years now. And I wanted to touch base and see how that has affected you and your teaching or your systems. And what it has given to you?

Joan:
It is incredibly nice. So I know, generally, I keep my calendar on Google. So I know which kids are coming because I have them rotate. And I know who I'm supposed to see that week. So if I can sit down at the beginning of this week or the end of the last week, I can look and see who I'm going to be working with and go, Oh, maybe we can and I'll go to clarity and find something that may fit for that time, depending on you know, the weather. And then if I really have bad weather, I can definitely pull up some of the online ones. And we can try it. So don't have to miss time with them. Just because the weather's bad, or just because one thing or another.
The only thing that's really keeping me now from them is them being sick. It's nice, I've printed things off of clarity, and I've laminated them so I can use them over and over again. I've taken them to several child schools, changed up what it looks like, depending on the kiddo. They are all using it ao I just use it. And then I can go later with the clarity lesson and go into the inventories. And this is what we did check, check, check check. So they already have it.

Kassy:
Love that. So you guys, what she's talking about is in our clarity, membership, we have a whole library where you can go and you can look up different lesson plans by subject. And it pulls up like a whole list of different lesson plans. And then you click on that and you can grab… your lesson plan pulls up right there. And then you can get the materials. And we have them in a variety of different formats, PDF or Google Slides, if you need that, and you can save it to your Google Drive. That's the whole point of it. So that way, you can be able to save it and pick it up whenever you need to. But the fact, Joan, that you laminate them, and that you can print them out. I think that's a wonderful, and that you're using it with the New Mexico inventory. Because that's one of the systems that you as a teacher, you use a lot that helps you and it's actually been really inspirational to me to find a way that works. Not just to take data, but also to understand where I am with my caseload.

Joan:
Well, if I get the clarity lesson, and we can line it up, then I can go into the inventory of the student and say we've worked on this. We've worked on this. We've worked on this so that I don't necessarily have to work on it again. If they do well. We can revisit it in a year.

Kassy:
That's awesome. And you have that list so that way you can see what you have worked on at a glance too.

Joan:
Yeah, yeah, it's really nice. I'm looking to work on some of that for VI as well, because I know there's a lot of VI stuff that needs to be like that. So we can track data, because data tracking is probably the most difficult thing between the driving in the schools and the consultations. Data tracking is like right there.

Kassy:
Right? Yeah, and scheduling, and keeping track of everything that you do, like…

Joan:
Google does that, I don't do any scheduling. I upload all of those at the beginning of the year and make Google do it.

Kassy:
Exactly.

Joan:
I just have to be flexible to allow that I need to go observe. So on these days, I'm gonna go observe this year, I'm gonna try to plan for that in advance so I can see different kiddos in different locations, than just when I'm working with them.

Kassy:
Right, I love that. You and I share a love of Google and a love systems, because I think that having a system really helps you so that you don't have to stay late at work every single day. Sometimes we're gonna have to stay late at work, and that's okay. But it's when it starts to impede our personal lives, it's when it starts to impede our ability to be a good mom, or a good wife, or a good sister, or a good community member, you know. I know that you're very involved with your church as well. And for age, and doing all of these great humanitarian things. And the only real way that we can do that is by looking at what we're doing now. And, you know, we have a lot of people still taking notes on a pen and paper, and then taking the time to transfer it and then taking the time to transfer it into their system. When if you just do it once, digitally, then you can like copy and paste it. So can you share how you schedule in Google Calendar?

Joan:
So I open the Google Calendar, after I've talked with the teachers, I try to… since I'm in six different towns, I'll try to see all the kids from the same town on the same day. So whether it's a middle school or an elementary schooler, high schooler, I try to get all of those from the same town on the same day. So depending on you know, I know the older ones have a seminar type class, so I'll try to schedule them for that. So they're not missing four classes. And then I historically go with the oldest student first, because it's harder to get to them than the middle schooler, that's harder to get to them. Historically, the elementary kids are kind of easy to get to. But we'll go in and talk with the teacher and say, I'm in town on this day. And I have this time and this time and this time and this time, what works in your schedule. So I write it down. And then I come back to the office, and I plug everything in. And then I invite the teacher to the day and tell them this is my regularly scheduled time to see your kid and you have this date at this time. And they're like, is this a meeting? I'm just letting you know, I'm gonna be here. And if I'm not here, I should have email you. So and then when it's bi-weekly, like a lot of my O and M is right now are 90 minutes bi-weekly. I set those up in advance, I schedule the student, if I have their email, I schedule their teacher, I schedule, if it's homeschool, their parent, somebody's getting a notification that we're going to do this this day. And I leave it in the calendar and Google allows for it to reset every two weeks, or reset every month shows up we can just plug it all in. It's been really nice.

Kassy:
I love that. That's exactly what I do with my learner's as well. So for… because I'm contract, the school that I work with, they are so tech heavy, they do it, actually. But it would be really nice if I could do it because sometimes I need to either change it around, or the times that I have had to change it around. Like I had to switch from like one day to another day in the middle of the school year, then I kept having to email them. But the fact that you're in charge of it, you can set it up. So it sends them a reminder as well, that I love. Because it really helps everybody.

Joan:
The itinerant teachers in my district came up with a form maybe five years ago, and it has a calendar day on it. So calendar day and five days across. And then each one of us providers, so some kids have like five providers, each one of the providers picks their day, their time and writes their name on this and then it hands it to the teacher. So this is where we're going to come see Johnny for services, and so the teacher can expect to see us. So and that way we're not on top of each other trying to get it all done or taking each other's times.

Kassy:
Yeah, exactly. And teachers not knowing that you're coming. I always find that so funny even in like May. I get… I laugh because I'm like… I have been inconsistent, like, my schedule can't change that much. I have to be consistent, and you still don't remember that I'm coming.

Joan:
Or I was at school for a fire drill at my normal time with my normal student happened to be a preschooler. I was outside, holding on to the student during fire drill. I'd signed in and everything, walked back in, finished my services, walk to the door. And the principal looked at me and said, You were here. I was like I was here the whole time. We were kinda invisible.

Kassy:
We are! We are kind of invisible.. The people that are on my Google Calendar, also are the admins at the door. I've probably… because I'm also contract and not in the district. So I can't come and go, I have to get brought in. that helps with us too.

Joan:
And then with all of our schools now being Google schools, we can use Google Chat. So while I'm waiting to see kid B, and I'm not quite with Kid A yet, I can text the Secretary at Kid B school and say, Hey, this kid here today, and if they said nope, like, Okay, I'm skipping you.

Kassy:
Oh, I would love that to work in a district where everybody uses the Google Chat. And I'm always surprised because that school that I work at, does, do Google Chat. How the teachers like, are able to teach, keep it up like, and answer that, like the Secretary, I guess you would call it the admin assistant without… It seems like without skipping a beat, it's just like a quick like, oh, is the student here? Yes, I'm saying, yeah. It's very cool.
I love, I love when technology can work for us. For a lot of us in rural areas who may not be in school districts that have the technological advances that your school system does, or about my school does, it's really good to see, you know, what is possible. So that way they can start making, like small adjustments. Like I know, you use the inventory. I use Google Forms for all of my documentation. And I really like how… yeah, well, it's a little bit less intimidating than the inventory, I feel. And I'm really innovative. But I just couldn't wrap my head around using all of the inventory options this year.

Joan:
I wonder if I can make a form, and I can go back and look at all the stuff and plug it into the inventory.

Kassy:
Yes, I bet you could. So what I'm looking at doing, this is all the record is taking my response sheet because you know, Google Forms makes a spreadsheet, right and that's… and literally for my progress reports. I teach this in impacting independence, but I like to streamline all my IEPs so that on the very last day, I'm testing for my progress reports. That is how I write my IEPs. So my data from there, I literally just copy and paste, I don't have to think about oh, this one time in April on April 7, maybe they crossed? No, no, you have like your last week is your IEP week, and you're testing for your IEP, so you better have them memorised and keep them written where you can see them. And then I can literally just copy and paste. And anytime anybody needs progress reports immediately, oh, I'm logging into an ARD. I have this meeting. Where are they? I'm like copy paste. Here you go. It's not… I don't have to guess. And it takes the subjectivity out of our profession, where I'm not saying like, Oh, they did this with 70% accuracy. And then the moms like what happened to the other 30% of the time?

Joan:
Or they crossed the street independently this many times. It's like, I didn't change that from independently to without prompt.

Kassy:
Yeah. Right.

Joan:
Because people get upset.

The hardest thing to overcome

Kassy:
And they don't know. And like, a the students don't do the same thing when they're with you as than when they're with their parent. But if you can't teach them in their exact neighbourhood or their exact home or their exact same grocery store, then the parents are just like, Oh, nope, I tried it. And they couldn't. I'm like, did you read the conditions? Because it says prompts. They're like, Oh, you said that they could do it like yeah, I said that they could do it if you like prompt them. Like… and that prompt means like, stand between them and the cars. So yes. Absolutely. It gets to be so so funny.
I love having this conversation with you, Joan. One of the big things that I wanted to ask you as we wrap up, is looking at how far you've come in your teaching. What's one of the biggest challenges that you've had to overcome to become who you are right now.

Joan:
I think the hardest thing that I've had to overcome, and I'm still not quite there is trying to get all the social things covered, that they need. And then realising that I maybe missed a couple of those social things personally, so I just send them sweep over them. But I'm trying to find different ways to help them because I'm hearing they need this comfortable, but I'm like. So looking at that, in turn to make sure I have all of that in place. And then before that, it was all the information on TVI, because there's so much. And I finally got a chance to stop and take a class and get more information there. So now I can share it. But oh my goodness.

Kassy:
Teah, that one's hefty. Especially as a VI specialist in a TVI yourself, that whole world… I find CVI to be very fascinating, and also how fast it's growing too.

Joan:
Yeah, well, and more and more people are identified properly. But there's, there's components of that for O and M too. So I want to make sure that I'm not just hitting it in the classroom, but we're hitting it when we're outside. And I'm not asking them to do stuff that's outside of their ability.

Taking a step forward

Kassy:
Yeah, exactly. So knowing where they are within their CVI and just their skills in general, this conversation has been absolutely so lovely, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It… the last question that I will ask you is a question I ask everybody at the end is, how can our listeners if you were to just give one piece of advice for how can they just take a step forward into becoming a better teacher? What would you say?

Joan:
It sounds crazy, but prepare. Because if you can prepare a little bit in advance, then… it takes time to prepare but if you can pre prepared in advance, then when you're in the rush on the day, you need it, you just pull it off the shelf and go.

Kassy:
Nice. I love that.

Joan:
And I did that with early childhood. I struggled in transition. So I had a note card in my pocket. It had nursery rhymes or finger plays or something, keep them busy in the hallways or in the… in the 10 seconds between stuff. So it really helps just to prepare a little bit. And then you can always add to that. And then you have something in your pocket, you just pull it out, use it.

Kassy:
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for coming on our podcast, Joan. It has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you!