Edtech Insiders Podcast - Postcard from Stanford: TeachFX CEO Jamie Poskin
“It’s a professional learning solution. Not a tech solution.”
Our founder and CEO, Jamie Poskin, joins Alex Sarlin from the Edtech Insiders Podcast to discuss why TeachFX is on a mission to help every teacher create meaningful and equitable conversation in every classroom.
Listen to the full interview here. In this episode, Jamie and Alex discuss:
How Jamie saw a problem many educators face and created an app that intends solves it
How TeachFX navigated the pandemic alongside our partners, and how that’s helped to create gains for teaching and learning both virtually and in person
How data keeps TeachFX grounded and ensures its actions matches its intentions.
On average, a student talks 7 seconds per hour.
Amazingly, our data shows that, on average, students speak for just 7 seconds per hour of instruction time. Why is this, despite decades of research showing that students need to speak to learn?
The answer is complex. In this interview, Jamie discusses why student talk matters for learning outcomes and equitability. And he shares how TeachFX was created to empower teachers to focus on both student talk — and the specific teaching practices — that can dramatically change both teaching and learning.
Teachers need feedback, but administrators are stretched too thin to provide it…
Jamie’s journey to starting TeachFX began as a Math and English teacher. Like may teachers, Jamie was in a school with limited administrative staff, making it very difficult for each teacher to get the support they need. Especially as a new teacher, he wanted feedback on his teaching, but in all the time he was in the classroom, he wasn’t once observed by another educator.
He would later find that the majority of k-12 schools and districts are struggling with this same human capital problem — principals, assistant principals, and instructional coaches are stretched so thin that it’s simply impossible for them to consistently observe teachers in the classroom in order to provide them with the feedback they need.
TeachFX was created to change the conversation about what it means to support teaching practice — and no longer simply accept that this human capital problem should stand in the way of teachers getting the support they need.
TeachFX aims to solve that problem by providing schools and districts with a professional learning solution that places development in the hands of educators.
When teachers can gather their own feedback, they’re empowered to lead their own learning
With TeachFX, teachers can gather feedback on their own teaching practice and their students’ engagement, as frequently as they want it, without relying on a classroom observation. And, that feedback is personalized, private, and non-evaluative. This allows teachers to see their own teaching in a new light, and creates the space for teachers to self-reflect on their own practice. All with just the push of a button on their phone or laptop.
What’s more, a randomized control trial found that just five minutes reviewing the classroom-level data TeachFX provides helps teachers change their teaching practice and helps improve learning outcomes. In the study, as compared to the control group, students’ ratings of teachers and their courses higher. And, students’ contributions to the lesson increased by 13%.
The pandemic forced us all to rethink our practice — including TeachFX
TeachFX was originally created to support teachers in in-person k-12 classrooms. When the pandemic hit, we all had to rethink what we were doing, and TeachFX was no exception. The team quickly worked to build a robust Zoom integration that could help teachers see important elements of meaningful student engagement and student voice while teaching remotely.
This feedback not only helped teachers begin to see their teaching and learning in a whole new light, it also shed light on who was getting to do the talking in academic discussions. Research shows that students in historically marginalized populations get far fewer opportunities than their peers to speak in class, yet benefit the most from doing so. With classroom-level insights into equity of student voice, and insight into equity school- or district-wide, educators have a new window into improving equity in education.
Hear Jamie discuss how our Zoom integration helped our partners gain insight into equity of student voice in ways never-before imagined. And to be alerted when we release more of our Equitable Classrooms research, visit us here.
The right data can help educators better match our actions to our intentions.
So much gets in the way of teachers doing what’s most important for our kids — teaching. Teachers and administrators both agree that a lot less important things interrupt the cadence of instruction in the classroom. Frustration builds as educators are confronted with “one more thing” when all they really want to do is teach.
As educators, we constantly use data to make sure our actions produce results that show evidence of learning and bring equity to our classes. But, are we looking at the right information? Teachers spend as much as 40 hours per year reviewing assessment outcomes data, even though there’s no evidence showing that doing so has any impact on learning outcomes. TeachFX is here to change that.
TeachFX gives teachers the ability to see data on classroom discourse and the teaching practices that support meaningful engagement. And that helps teachers decide on the actions they can take to ensure each student is engaging in meaningful and equitable conversation in their classrooms. TeachFX isn’t “one more thing” teachers have to worry about. Rather, it’s a resource intended to help see how their actions and intentions are aligned in real-time.
Here’s how to align your actions to your intentions in order to bring equitable and meaningful conversation to the classroom.
See how Detroit Public Schools used TeachFX to increase student across their district.
Try TeachFX in an upcoming lesson by starting a free trial.
We are constantly looking for talented and dedicated people to join our team. Check out our careers page! We're always looking for exceptional people who are passionate about student engagement and equity.
