1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,440 You know, for the least as that I'm meeting you guys for the 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,920 very first time. What problems are you actually 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,120 solving? Yeah, I'll jump in. 4 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:13,400 So my name is Robbie and I'm the CEO and founder of Tech My 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,680 School. And essentially what Tech my 6 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:20,040 School does is we go into schools, we do an audit this 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,960 diagnostics of sorts, comprehensive package, 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,840 comprehensive process. And ultimately what we're trying 9 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,000 to do is we're trying to find gaps in schools. 10 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:33,200 So then we can then fill them with solutions that are 21st 11 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,040 century in nature and at the heart of it are focusing on 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,440 student skills that are going to empower them for today and 13 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:41,880 tomorrow. We're still growing. 14 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,440 We're we, we still just are scratching the surface. 15 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,480 This is our fifth school year. So not new in education, but a 16 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,480 relatively new new company. We found too that schools kind 17 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:56,600 of regardless of their funding level or their, their stature, 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,240 many of them are, are still modeled after a very like 19th 19 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,960 and 20th century model of educating kids. 20 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,519 And one of the things that we're really trying to do is help help 21 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:09,760 schools to address a skill set that is not being addressed very 22 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,920 readily in kids right now. And specifically in the schools 23 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,760 that are really struggling, the ones that really buy into what 24 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,280 we're doing. And they have a real growth 25 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,280 mindset, right? They're really thinking about 26 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,080 how they can grow and improve. Those are the ones that actually 27 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,080 end up doing the most amazing things with their kids. 28 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,040 And what's really cool about technology is if you can just 29 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,480 get, if you can get access to technology to places that don't 30 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,880 have it. A lot of times their mindset, 31 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,680 they're they're kind of ready for fresh thinking. 32 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,000 To Nigeria. Yeah, Niger boys. 33 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,960 So I went from California, where I was born, to Hawaii. 34 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,680 I worked in the inner City Schools of Hawaii back to 35 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:49,320 California and then I went overseas. 36 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,920 They're like the. UK, yeah, I've heard of Costco. 37 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:54,760 Yeah, yeah. So when you live in Nigeria, 38 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:56,000 you're you're missing some things. 39 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,400 You know, they've got great Joloff rice, but you, you know, 40 00:01:58,400 --> 00:01:59,960 you miss some of your American goods. 41 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,600 I was like, let's go back to Puerto Rico, learn some Spanish, 42 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,400 go fishing, you know, do the boating thing. 43 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:09,080 And then, yeah, I put my boys in the local schools. 44 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:15,640 And I was just absolutely shocked because these schools 45 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:19,520 were so much like Nigerian schools, like, you know, African 46 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,800 schools. And I'm not saying that in a in 47 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,600 a derogatory way, but it was just that like America is the 48 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,040 wealthiest country in the world. And every school that I had seen 49 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,280 to that point in America, whether it's Hawaii or San 50 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,280 Diego, Florida, NY, there's a certain level of standard. 51 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,520 Let's just say where the facilities are big, there's 52 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:42,120 grass soccer fields, there's a canteen for all the kids to eat, 53 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,720 there's libraries, there's teachers who are getting paid a 54 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,880 certain level of pay. They have cays and medical and 55 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,000 health and all that kind of stuff. 56 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,240 There's programs. Before we dive back into today's 57 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,000 conversation, I want to share something important. 58 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,640 This episode includes a pay partnership with Better Help, a 59 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:58,760 platform designed to make starting therapy easier. 60 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,000 I know from my own journey as a leader and entrepreneur that 61 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:02,440 life can sometimes feel overwhelming. 62 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,600 There are seasons, severe stress, uncertainty, and 63 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,160 pressure build up, and you need a safe space to process it all 64 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,200 that severe therapy comes in. Therapy isn't only for people 65 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,400 facing clinical challenges. It's a space to reflect, grow, 66 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,200 and find better ways to manage stress, relationships, and 67 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,800 personal goals. 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Inside the platform, you'll also 77 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:39,680 find tools like Donnelly and group sessions on different 78 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:41,000 topics that can support your growth. 79 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,880 And with over 7000 reviews and a 4.5 Trustpatibrating, Better 80 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:46,360 Help is a platform you can rely on. 81 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:48,560 So if you feel like you're benefit from talking to a 82 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,560 therapist, visit betterhub.com/kingjames. 83 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,000 That's betterhub.com/kingjames to get 10% off your first month 84 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,720 of therapy. Once again, this is a paid 85 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,720 partnership with Betterhelp and I encourage you to take that 86 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:01,160 first step. If you've been thinking about 87 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,600 it, sometimes the best investment you can make these in 88 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:11,870 yourself. Welcome to the King Dems 89 00:04:11,870 --> 00:04:15,190 Podcast, where we share the stories of extraordinary people 90 00:04:15,190 --> 00:04:18,390 and dissect hot, relevant topics that shape our world. 91 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,440 From visionary leaders to trailblazing creatives, we 92 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,800 uncover the mindset, strategy, and grit behind greatness. 93 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,320 Whether it's business, culture, or personal growth, we ask the 94 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:30,760 real questions. This isn't just conversation, 95 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,320 it's transformation. The Kingdom's podcast, your next 96 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:41,720 breakthrough starts here. Music licensing reimagined your 97 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,680 life. Ladies and gentlemen, you once 98 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,920 again welcome to The Kingdom's podcast. 99 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:52,000 And today there would be two very special guests in the 100 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,600 building introducing first fighting out of the blue corner, 101 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:06,400 introducing a fighter fighting out of Houston, TX pal Sombro, 102 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:13,080 and now fighting out of the red corner, a fighter fighting out 103 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:21,440 of San Diego by way of Puerto Rico Robbie Corps. 104 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,880 That would win. That's a bad You're welcome. 105 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,120 You're welcome. You walk over the port, right. 106 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,160 And yeah, I'll do other. Reach advantage in that fight, 107 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,800 but. You have the reach advantage. 108 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,320 Wow. So this is a room Beer Beach 109 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,080 challenge. Thinking, shopping, leadership 110 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,120 and explore how technology, mindset and intelligence systems 111 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,880 shape the future of business and society. 112 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,400 Today's conversation sits at the intersection of education, AI, 113 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,800 relation, and systemic impact. Our guests are Robbie Cobbs and 114 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,720 Kyle Sumrow, builders working on the frontline of educational 115 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,440 transformation. The work is not theory, it's is 116 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,000 execution. Real environments, real 117 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,240 constraints, real outcomes. They are helping schools move 118 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:16,080 from PS to clarity, from the active technology to strategic 119 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,120 systems, from outdated thinking to future ready leadership. 120 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,920 This conversation is for founders, executives, operators, 121 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,840 investors, educators, and anyone thinking seriously about how we 122 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,960 build systems for skilled intelligence rather than 123 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,360 suppressive. Robbie and Carl welcome once 124 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,520 again to The Kingdom's podcast. Thanks for having us. 125 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:39,560 Yeah. Thanks for having us in. 126 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,200 You're welcome. So I don't know who's going to 127 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,280 go first, right? You know, or the least as that 128 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:48,720 I'm meeting you guys for the very first time. 129 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,280 What problems are you actually solving? 130 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,600 Yeah, I'll jump in. So my name is Robbie and I'm the 131 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,600 CEO and founder of Tech My School. 132 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,480 And essentially what Tech my School does is we go into 133 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,760 schools, we do an audit this diagnostics of sorts, 134 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,560 comprehensive package, comprehensive process. 135 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,320 And ultimately what we're trying to do is we're trying to find 136 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,000 gaps in schools. So then we can then fill them 137 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,520 with solutions that are 21st century in nature. 138 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,840 And at the heart of it are focusing on student skills that 139 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,840 are going to empower them for today and tomorrow. 140 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:32,720 So Tech, my School, is a company that can serve, you know, the 141 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,400 best schools in the world, but then can also serve some of the 142 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,960 most struggling schools. And we started by working with 143 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,440 those struggling schools. We started here in Puerto Rico 144 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,760 and kind of from there, have branched off and have served 145 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,760 schools literally all around the world, from Kenya to Greece, 146 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,000 across the US And then obviously in Puerto Rico, we've served 147 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,000 about 50 schools so far. And yeah, we're still growing. 148 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,520 We still just are scratching the surface. 149 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,920 This is our fifth school year, so not new in education, but a 150 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,560 relatively new new company. We found too that schools kind 151 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,280 of regardless of their funding level or their, their stature, 152 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,640 many of them are, are still modeled after a very like 19th 153 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,680 and 20th century model of educating kids. 154 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,280 And one of the things that we're really trying to do is help help 155 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:22,200 schools to address a skill set that is not being addressed very 156 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,360 readily in kids right now. And specifically in the schools 157 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,560 that are really struggling, the ones that really buy into what 158 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,040 we're doing. And they have a real growth 159 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,039 mindset, right? They're really thinking about 160 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:34,880 how they can grow and improve. Those are the ones that actually 161 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:38,440 end up doing the most amazing things with their kids. 162 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,919 And what's really cool about technology is if you can just 163 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:46,480 get, if you can give access to technology to places that don't 164 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,560 have it. A lot of times their mindset, 165 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,800 their, their kind of, they're ready for fresh thinking. 166 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,480 Kind of like when, when I was living in Cameroon, they didn't 167 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,680 install, they didn't bother installing landlines. 168 00:08:57,680 --> 00:08:59,880 They just gave everybody cell phones and put up cell towers. 169 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:01,560 It was like, like they skipped a step. 170 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,640 And some of the schools we work with are kind of like that. 171 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,040 That's like almost like they can skip a step if they've just 172 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,680 decided, hey, we're interested in this newest, most updated 173 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:13,000 skill set for kids. And they kind of let us in and, 174 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,920 and let them help. Let us help them build programs 175 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,640 works. It works really well for them. 176 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,480 Wow, interesting stuff. I don't know how to fit this for 177 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,840 I love it when I have guests that are very, very much aligned 178 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,560 with the philosophy of the forecast. 179 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,920 When you look at the name of the forecast, it is Kingdom's 180 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,800 podcast, Growth mindsets, leadership, AI and business 181 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,520 insights. And the walk of what you guys 182 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,360 have been talking about relates very much to growth mindset. 183 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,320 And if you've seen previous episodes of the podcast, I've 184 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:51,120 already said this, I have only two goals from the forecast to 185 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,840 educate and to motivate. And if I'm able to do that, you 186 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,280 know my goal is accomplished. The forecast is under the 187 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:05,360 education category one Spotify and Apple broadcast and the sub 188 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,880 category is self improvement. And you see what you guys are 189 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:13,240 talking about just it hits the nail on the head and a very big 190 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:18,520 philosophy that we have on this forecast is mindset, skill set 191 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,080 and tool set. And that is exactly what you 192 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:27,680 guys use in empowering this schools the educational C stand 193 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,480 right being sure that the people I crept with the right mindset. 194 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,480 I think a lot of times in the corporate world, people place 195 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:38,440 too much emphasis on the skill sets. 196 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,160 But we don't have to realize that without the right mindset, 197 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,080 you cannot even achieve anything. 198 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:51,960 Or when you have a close mindset and you are able to acquire the 199 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,000 right skill sets and you're enabled with the right tool 200 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,120 sets, there's no limit towards you can actually achieve. 201 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,040 So from me to you, it's a very big thank you. 202 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,040 You know, sharing your time, your expertise on the forecast 203 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,160 today. And of course, I like to say 204 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,120 this, anytime a person shares their time with you, they share 205 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,880 their life with you. Of course, the SI unit for 206 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,920 measuring life this time. So, you know, with that being 207 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:24,600 said, why does education system design matter to founders, to 208 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,120 executives, to investors that listen to the show? 209 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,960 You know, for me, I think it's a little more personal. 210 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,760 You know, education is the foundation of society. 211 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:39,120 So there's a direct correlation between test scores and GDP. 212 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,520 High test scores, high GDP, low test scores, low GDP, right. 213 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,800 And for me, I grew up, you know, this poor kid in San Diego. 214 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,760 I was the poorest kid in school. I didn't have electricity at 215 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,120 home growing up, as crazy as that sounds. 216 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,840 And it wasn't because we didn't have electricity in San Diego. 217 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,120 It was just because my dad didn't pay the bill and they 218 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:04,320 don't give free electricity so and my only like food was at 219 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,040 school. So elementary school was a place 220 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,520 for me. It was a sanctuary is where 221 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,560 adults cared about me. It's where it gave me a chance 222 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,560 to have an opportunity to to make something of myself. 223 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:19,400 I think if I was born in so many other different countries, I 224 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:21,320 wouldn't have been able to accomplish nearly what I've been 225 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,000 able to accomplish now. So, you know, I'm very grateful 226 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,080 for that. I've traveled to 65 countries. 227 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,160 I've kind of seen it and and yeah, so coming to Puerto Rico, 228 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,400 I was coming in from Nigeria, the last place before Puerto 229 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,760 Rico, working at the Americas. To Nigeria. 230 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:41,640 Yeah, Niger boys. So I went from California, where 231 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,040 I was born to Hawaii. I worked in the inner City 232 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,600 Schools of Hawaii, back to California and then I went 233 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,560 overseas. So I was in Kazakhstan, I was in 234 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,720 Qatar, I was in Saudi Arabia, came back to California. 235 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,760 I was in Silicon Valley, got my master's in IT, and then 236 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,440 eventually landed in Nigeria where I was a remote learning 237 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,720 specialist during COVID times. Before COVID hit, actually, I 238 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,080 was preparing the school in case Ebola hit again. 239 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,560 You know, because of when Ebola hit, there was remote learning 240 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,000 and so I was kind of preparing the staff for that. 241 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:10,880 And then Covad hit and we were just ready to go. 242 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,640 So we were that class that had done the fire drill before the 243 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,640 fire. So we were organized, we were 244 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,480 ready to go, but we still that process. 245 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,720 We burned ourselves out and we were like, as soon as the 246 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,280 contract was done, we're like, hey, let's go on an island and 247 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,920 just enjoy our life. Just go for one year to take a 248 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,400 sabbatical, my wife and I, and then, you know, I'll write a 249 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,480 book on Ed tech, and then I'll get back out there to this very 250 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,080 comfortable life as an international administrator 251 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:36,640 working in these diplomat schools. 252 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,000 We had to make a decision between where we wanted to live. 253 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,880 It was going to be either Kosamui, Thailand. 254 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:42,720 We love Thailand. We've been there four times. 255 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:44,240 Zanzibar. Zan. 256 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,880 Yeah, Thailand's great. Zanzibar, which I think is 257 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,800 probably the most beautiful of the three places we were 258 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,680 choosing. Zanzibar beaches are just 2nd to 259 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,040 none. Love Stone Town and then Puerto 260 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,520 Rico. And so we landed on Puerto Rico 261 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,480 because we wanted our boys to kind of learn Spanish. 262 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,280 I'd study it in school, but I wasn't great. 263 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,480 So I really wanted them to give them a chance to be immersed in 264 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,120 it. And then also there's something 265 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,320 here called Costco. So if you know what Costco is, 266 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,400 Costco is essentially like Tesco or whatever. 267 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,080 It's just like a big supermarket where like the. 268 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,520 UK, yeah, I've heard of Costco. Yeah, yeah. 269 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:21,920 So when you live in Nigeria, you're you're missing some 270 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:23,480 things. You know, they've got great job 271 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,760 off Rice, but you, you know, you miss some of your American 272 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,840 goods. I was like, let's go back to 273 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,240 Puerto Rico, learn some Spanish, go fishing, you know, do the 274 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,440 boating thing. And then, yeah, I put my boys in 275 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,000 the local schools. And I was just absolutely 276 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:46,040 shocked because these schools were so much like Nigerian 277 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:47,760 schools, like, you know, African schools. 278 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,400 And I'm not saying that in a, in a derogatory way, but it was 279 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,320 just that like America is the wealthiest country in the world. 280 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,080 And every school that I had seen to that point in America, 281 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,360 whether it's Hawaii or San Diego, Florida, NY, there's a 282 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,600 certain level of standard. Let's just say where the 283 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,800 facilities are big, there's grass, soccer fields, there's a 284 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,760 canteen for all the kids to eat, there's libraries, there's 285 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,080 teachers who are getting paid a certain level of pay. 286 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,600 They have KS and medical and health and all that kind of 287 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:19,640 stuff. There's programs or sports. 288 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,080 There's just a certain, you know, equity that kids are 289 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,440 afforded as Americans that just doesn't exist in many other 290 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,280 countries. And so going from Nigeria, I was 291 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:31,680 working at a great school in Nigeria, the American School 292 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,000 Legos, but we did a lot of field work. 293 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,240 So we would work with just local Nigerian schools and we did a 294 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,360 lot of charity work. We donated computers. 295 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,280 We hosted a little conference for them. 296 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,240 I mean, even in my own personal life, I had my my own boys, we 297 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,840 went to the orphanages and we donated to the orphanages and 298 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,680 work with them. So I kind of had a somewhat of 299 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,800 an understanding of both worlds. And then to see Puerto Rico, 300 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,400 where everyone is an American citizen, it's an American 301 00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:58,960 territory. They're not a state, they're a 302 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:00,360 territory. A lot of people don't know that, 303 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,120 but it's America. Like if you're born here, you're 304 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,560 American. You can move to New York or Los 305 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,440 Angeles tomorrow. Vice versa, you can move and 306 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:09,360 live and work here. So it's just like moving to any 307 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,200 other state. But the schools here are just 308 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,680 insanely low. And so there's kind of the eye 309 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,280 test of just like, OK, these, there's something's off here. 310 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,080 There's no libraries, there's no canteen, there's no fields. 311 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,680 It's just a concrete box with some fans and a chalkboard. 312 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,200 Like I've seen this before, but not in America. 313 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,280 So there's just the eye test. Then you look in the classrooms 314 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:33,240 and you're like, this is, this does not look like a 21st 315 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:34,960 century classroom. This is in the way they 316 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,200 practice, in the way they're talking. 317 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:40,320 And so you look at the research. There's a testing organization 318 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,720 called Pisa. Pisa, they do kind of a 319 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,800 standardized test across countries, right? 320 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,880 So across the world, and I think maybe 100 and some odd countries 321 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,880 participate. Puerto Rico scores last in math, 322 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,520 reading and science. They are the outliers of the 323 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:58,920 outliers. So there's kind of like this big 324 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,400 BLOB in the US fits somewhere in the middle. 325 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,720 You know, there's like 50-60 countries all right there. 326 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,319 You know, there's a little deviation between math, reading 327 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:07,520 and science, you know, left or right. 328 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,640 But it's all in that, you know, cluster. 329 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,400 And then you have on the far right, you have like, you know, 330 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,359 these outliers like Korea and Japan that are kind of like, you 331 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,640 know, highest scores. And then you start to go towards 332 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,000 the left. Yeah. 333 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,960 You start, you know, seeing countries that have lower scores 334 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,359 and they're countries you'd think of. 335 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:28,280 Then you get to this like, outlier that like way out, like 336 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,400 Pluto, you know, like way the heck out there. 337 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,280 And that's Puerto Rico, and it's crazy. 338 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,520 It's just so crazy. And so for me, you know, knowing 339 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:45,200 that my, you know, current state is at such gratitude and at such 340 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:50,640 a debt to American public school systems, seeing these American 341 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,920 kids not have that opportunity. Because honestly, if I'm in 342 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:57,320 Nigeria, if I'm in India, if I'm in Kazakhstan, I'm a guest and I 343 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,440 do what I can to help. But it's their country. 344 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,840 They have their own laws, their own ways, and I can add to it. 345 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,520 But it's like I can't make these big changes because it's, you 346 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,880 know, it's their country. And I mean, maybe I could, but, 347 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,320 but still, it's like I know in others, many countries 348 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,320 culturally, it doesn't matter if you know, you're this brilliant 349 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,960 person, if you're not the right tribe, you're not the right last 350 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,000 name, you're not the right, you know, religion, you're not the 351 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,600 right gender, not the right family or whatever. 352 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,680 It doesn't really matter. Your life is kind of 353 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,200 predetermined in a lot of ways, but the beautiful thing about 354 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,280 America is it's not like that. It doesn't matter where you 355 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,880 start with who you are or what you are. 356 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,480 It matters about who you are. So whether you're black, white, 357 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,000 Asian, whatever, if you work hard, if you have that growth 358 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,040 mindset, you will achieve. And that's why as frustrating of 359 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,360 a country as America is, it still stands at this as this 360 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:50,040 kind of beacon of light in the world is that anyone can come 361 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:54,600 there and restart themselves, reimagine themselves and make it 362 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,680 if you work hard, you know, and if you value education and if 363 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,080 you value, you know, that grit. And so seeing that, knowing 364 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,960 that, that that's what makes me proud to be from America is 365 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,320 because before I left America, I was always kind of like, I'm not 366 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,240 going to say there's any self hatred, but it was just kind of 367 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:11,720 like, man, we're such a racist country. 368 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,520 We're such a bad country, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 369 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,560 Because that's what the media just constantly pounds in your 370 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,880 brain until you go to all these other countries and you're like, 371 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,840 man, we're actually like the least racist country in the 372 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,720 world. It's a place where, I mean, my 373 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,720 roommate was from Nairobi. He's got the thickest accent 374 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,080 you've ever heard in your life. And he came to America barely. 375 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,160 His dad was in government. So he kind of snuck him in. 376 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,360 His dad lost power, he lost his visa. 377 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,920 He stayed, he got his like kind of fake green card in LA. 378 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,160 He worked, worked at Costco. That's actually where he met 379 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,760 with Costco. And then he went to school, 380 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,760 ended up marrying this girl, finished his degree at OU, got a 381 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,280 patronum engineering degree. I mean, the guy's making like 382 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,720 whatever, 300,000 a year, He's crushing it. 383 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,360 His wife's a lawyer. They live this beautiful life. 384 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,640 And it's like, that's America, you know what I mean? 385 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,480 And so that's why it's that's why it's such a special place. 386 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,800 And also why it's so unacceptable for an American 387 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,920 territory state, in my mind to not have a world class 388 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,360 education. And so that's kind of how tech 389 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:12,280 my school was born. It was like seeing my kids 390 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,920 coming from Africa, seeing my kids in this school and just 391 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,640 knowing immediately as a, you know, educator for 20 plus 392 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,800 years, like I need to, to, to help, you know, it's like this 393 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,360 call to action, this call to service. 394 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:24,960 I know I can help. I know technology's the avenue 395 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,320 to help these, these educators, these kids. 396 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,560 And then the service began. So that's kind of like the birth 397 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,240 of tech, my school. And Kyle has also been a big 398 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,720 part of that journey with me. And we work together in Saudi 399 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,040 Arabia and Jeddah. And I went to go work for him. 400 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,160 So I came in as his assistant tech director, the assistant CTO 401 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,000 of the school. And so I kind of learned a lot 402 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,840 about the position and just how schools operate under Kyle. 403 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,360 And then he went on to do his story. 404 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,040 But we've always kind of remained buddies. 405 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,200 And as I was seeing this, I was kind of talking with Kyle about 406 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,880 what I'm seeing and the processes of, you know what, 407 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,760 what tech my school became. So he's though he's not like the 408 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,000 founder. He's even before tech my school 409 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,840 began like him and I have always been thought partners and we've 410 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:09,280 always kind of worked together in that way. 411 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,680 So I'll I'm. A pre founder. 412 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,240 Yes, I'm going to pass the ball to Kyle and let him introduce 413 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,040 himself and talk about like how he kind of joined a tech, my 414 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,000 school and where he was at. Yeah. 415 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,040 So I have a similar story, not from the very beginning, but 416 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,880 excuse me, similar story of moving around the world and 417 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,240 working at international schools. 418 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,760 So I was in Cameroon and then in Saudi where Robbie and I met and 419 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,200 then I was in Switzerland after that and then Vietnam after 420 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:41,120 that. So I would say that so we, we 421 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:43,320 did so much learning along along the way, right. 422 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,760 I mean, I could have easily done that stint in, you know, four or 423 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,680 five different schools here in the States and I would have 424 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,560 learned a lot about the job and, and the role and whatnot. 425 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,360 But being able to do that internationally was kind of like 426 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,160 a double education for me. I got to kind of, you know, do 427 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,000 the on the job training and learn about what I was doing in 428 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,280 my profession for the same time. Got to know people from all 429 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:06,520 these different amazing cultures. 430 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:07,960 That was that was such a huge thing. 431 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,080 But Robbie and I started working together in Saudi and we started 432 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,160 working on essentially some of the conversations we had were 433 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,720 around like systematizing the skill set. 434 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,600 So you were asking about the structure of school and, and the 435 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,080 importance of the structures. And I think Robbie and I, one of 436 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,560 the things we agreed on from the beginning is that industry is 437 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,880 looking for something a little different than what we are 438 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,800 currently providing. I think this, this has become 439 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,040 exacerbated over time, probably because of technology more than 440 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,280 anything. But in, in industry, they're 441 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,600 looking for universities to train kids up in a certain way 442 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,280 to get them ready for the workforce, right? 443 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,760 But then there's K12 education where Robbie and I are, and 444 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,320 they're, we're trying to get kids ready for the college 445 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,240 landscape, right? And we're in a bit of a 446 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:58,200 predicament in the sense that colleges are not very vocal 447 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,800 about communicating the needs of kids in these newer ways. 448 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,760 So what we've always done and, and this is, you know, if your 449 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,200 listeners aren't listening from the States, maybe some of the 450 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,040 terminology is different, but the the thinking is the same. 451 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,320 And universities everywhere, which is that there are these 452 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,080 preparation pieces that kids go through in order to qualify for 453 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,400 university in the United States. It's two primary exams that they 454 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,840 take the SAT and the ACT and you can take take one or the other. 455 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,360 Some kids, a lot of kids will take both. 456 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,760 But those scores along with your grades from high school 457 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,960 essentially are the determining factors and whether you get into 458 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,640 school or not. That's gotten more, it's more 459 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,480 human, humanistic, humanized now in the sense that they're, 460 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,040 they're really do pay attention to like your essays. 461 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,040 You have to write essays. They'll give you a prompt. 462 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,360 Some of sometimes the, the prompts are kind of loony in 463 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:50,120 some ways they sound crazy, but they're really, they're really 464 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:52,400 looking for something from you. They want to know, want to know 465 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:53,800 about your mindset. You know, we were talking about 466 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,560 growth mindset earlier. But my whole point of saying all 467 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,760 of this is that universities are really the ones who should be 468 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,040 telling educators like Robbie and I what they need. 469 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,760 What do you want your incoming students to look like when they 470 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,000 come in? And what we get from them is not 471 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,760 messaging about this type of first we got 21st century, we're 472 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,840 getting a little further into the 21st century now, but we 473 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,080 would say like next Gen. skill set, right? 474 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,000 AI has been a really shined a light on this because there's a 475 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,920 whole new emerging skill set that is kind of on the horizon 476 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,960 for kids now that we are also not addressing very, very 477 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,200 adeptly. But part of our thinking is like 478 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,720 we kind of have to skip the middleman and we kind of have to 479 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,360 think about industry also, because industry is very clear 480 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,520 about what they want from the kids coming out college and 481 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,280 college is not very clear to us about what they want coming into 482 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:46,400 college, if this makes sense, right? 483 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,960 It's kind of like a three-step process of a young person 484 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,520 graduating into the workforce. And I think that what, what we 485 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:59,640 really tried to do is to pay homage to what the skill set 486 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,760 when they get out of college is really what we're kind of aiming 487 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:05,560 for more than, I mean, the universities. 488 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,640 Universities are still set up as kind of incubators for thought 489 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,240 and research. And, and that's, that's really 490 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:11,560 fantastic. And I think that's where they 491 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,520 really shine as in the research side of things. 492 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,280 But when it comes to like the skills that are required for 493 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,760 thinking like I'm talking about AI and understanding how AI 494 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:26,360 systems work and how if you put bad data into an LLM, you get 495 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:28,960 crap out the other side, right? Like the kids have to. 496 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:30,520 Understand garbage and garbage out. 497 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,480 Garbage and garbage out. Yeah, they have to understand 498 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,040 data quality. They have to understand 499 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,400 engineering like the yeah, prompt engineering and the 500 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,320 efficacy of the process, right? Like in order to, in order to 501 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,400 make this work, you have to understand what the machine is 502 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,440 actually doing. And so that's, that's part of 503 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,680 what we're it's not, I mean that that's just one small part. 504 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,160 So we're, we're also looking at the, the ability to like, 505 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,360 showcase their learning by, you know, multi modally, being able 506 00:25:55,360 --> 00:26:00,040 to use traditional methods of presenting evidences of their 507 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,560 learning while at the same time being able to harness some of 508 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,200 the newer technologies, right, like podcasts and videos. 509 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,840 And like, what's the difference between someone writing an essay 510 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,600 and someone building a documentary to get the same 511 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,960 point across of their, of their learning, displaying their 512 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,440 understanding of a concept or content or showing off skills. 513 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,240 So what, what we're, what we're really working with schools on 514 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,160 is to help them to kind of rethink the narrative of, of 515 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:27,800 assessment, how we assess learning. 516 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,400 Because LLMS, they came on really quickly and very, very 517 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,920 quickly what we were doing at schools was saying like kids, 518 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:36,840 kids are teething. Now they're having them write 519 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:38,280 the, they're writing their essays. 520 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,360 Well, then maybe we should rethink what we're asking kids 521 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,360 to do to show us what they know. So this is a big part of our 522 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:45,760 thinking when we're working with schools. 523 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,320 Amazing, there's actually a whole lot to unpack. 524 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,880 What you said, 1 scene I very much believe in is another 525 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,720 force. He's time to work that you need 526 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,400 strong institutions and not just strong individuals. 527 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:06,320 You guys are strong individuals, but this a limit to what strong 528 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,160 individuals can actually do. But when you have strong 529 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,680 institutions and the institutions, you know, play 530 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,760 their role like the system would be in a good place. 531 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:22,960 So you have the schools, you know you have the universities 532 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,520 and of course you also have the policy makers, right? 533 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,320 The policy makers have a very, very big role to play in 534 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:36,440 ensuring that the administration of these schools right, are in 535 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,080 the right place. From your experience, what have 536 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,760 you seen first hand that you know most policy makers and 537 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,520 persons and leadership misunderstand about the school 538 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,480 system? You know, it's, it's interesting 539 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,360 because when you're talking about, you know, a system, 540 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:56,680 especially when you're in America, it's always comes back 541 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,160 to politics. And so that's a very convoluted 542 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:05,560 subject in itself. In the states mainland there, 543 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,600 you know, politics are, are very much a part of that system in 544 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,520 terms of how everything's built. What are kids being taught 545 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,360 there? There's a kind of a localized 546 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,680 set of, you know, Department of Education as a federal reach or 547 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,360 did have a federal reach. And then there's the the states 548 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,480 having their, their kind of more local reach and there's 549 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,800 corruption, there's certain elements to it that, you know, 550 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,400 inhibit the success or, or failure of education in America. 551 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:37,560 Puerto Rico has its own kind of subset of political strife and, 552 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,200 and control in the system. And so it doesn't fall under the 553 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,320 exact same purview as the systems in the mainland US. 554 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:49,200 So because of that, I'm not going to say it's the Wild West 555 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:54,200 out here, but it definitely has. There's a reason why we score 556 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,120 what we score. And so it's just such a 557 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,400 challenge to it's such a challenge. 558 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,200 And I mean, we have an MO U department education, We want to 559 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,360 work with them, but there's just so many components to it, 560 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,800 whether it's the people at the top who are constantly revolving 561 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,440 and then as soon as they leave, they fire everyone and then 562 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,760 bring in their people. So I'm if coming from Africa, 563 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:20,600 that was something that was kind of a this tribalistic governing 564 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:25,880 and every yeah. And I mean, happens everywhere, 565 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,760 you know, to a certain degree, coaching and sports, you know, 566 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,040 you get hired, you bring in your buddies or whatever. 567 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,600 But it's, it's more extreme, I would say here. 568 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:38,600 And then, you know, just sometimes it's a lack of follow 569 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:43,800 through with certain monies that could be allotted to schools and 570 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,640 other times it's, it's grift. And other times, you know, 571 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:48,880 people don't know where the money went. 572 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,240 So ultimately it's just such an uphill battle. 573 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,880 And, and it's just such a shame that like, honestly, tech, my 574 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,000 school should not exist. The work I'm doing, though, we 575 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:05,080 love it, it shouldn't exist. Honestly, like they, they, the 576 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,760 schooling system should be, there's enough money to where 577 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,240 the schooling system should be so good that we don't need to be 578 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,000 around maybe in a consultancy way and in a minor smaller way, 579 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,520 but not to the level of extent that we're serving and the 580 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,040 impact that we're making. So, yeah, in short, you are a 581 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,240 product of the system in which you live. 582 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,360 A lot of times it's, it's difficult, but whenever you're 583 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,400 in a place where the system is less effective, more corrupt, 584 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,280 more negative, whatever you want to say, the bigger impact you 585 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,920 can make because there's such a wider gap between success and 586 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,760 failure. And we just happen to be in a 587 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,720 location where we can make up a pretty big impact. 588 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,840 I would say what Robbie's talking about really is very 589 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:52,440 zoomed out at sort of a macro structural level level. 590 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,680 We're talking about countries or governments, right? 591 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,880 And he's totally right. I mean, you don't have to do 592 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,600 much more than follow money. I mean the money money 593 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,440 ultimately is what will decide. I would say the way the money 594 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,120 flows rather than the amount, the way the money flows, I think 595 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:11,920 is, is what's related to efficacy. 596 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,520 Because a big, a bigger problem in, in Puerto Rico, it, it's not 597 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:17,720 the total amount of money going into the system. 598 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,560 The total amount of money is not the problem. 599 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,960 The, the amount that's getting to the classroom is really the 600 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,400 problem in the United States. The money gets to the 601 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,240 classrooms. I think the bigger problem is 602 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,960 that the system is so large, it, it operates in such a way that 603 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,840 it's very difficult to like in a state that doesn't give a lot of 604 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:35,960 control to individual school districts. 605 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:41,520 Like in Texas, I think there are what, 304 hundred school 606 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:45,800 districts or even more than that probably if, if the, if the 607 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:50,040 state has too much control, it's hard for the, the, the school 608 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,280 districts themselves to have very much nuance when they have 609 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,320 maybe very different populations to serve. 610 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,960 So the problems in Puerto Rico and the problems in mainland are 611 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,200 different, but they they have them what I would say zooming in 612 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:06,760 to the sort of individual district or school level. 613 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,000 In the process of zooming in, sorry to interrupt you. 614 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,120 In the process of zooming in, I want you to weave something into 615 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:16,760 that process, right? What? 616 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,320 What are the signals that you look out for? 617 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,280 When do you evaluate in these schools? 618 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,040 So I'd love for you to read that into the zoom in. 619 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,040 Sure. The individual school 620 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,040 leadership, this comes back to then. 621 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:29,960 That's why I think we're going to hit this over and over again. 622 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,240 It comes back to mindset. It comes back to whether or not 623 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,440 a school leader fundamentally or a district leader fundamentally 624 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,880 believes that every single person in the district, both 625 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:46,000 teachers and students, can grow. They have to have this mindset 626 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,520 that we're not just trying to manage the status quo. 627 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,600 We're not. Like in a car, you put it on 628 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,560 cruise control on the highway and the car kind of keeps you at 629 00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:56,560 the same speed. There should not be a cruise 630 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:59,520 control button in education because education is not static. 631 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:04,520 The things that we're trying to teach kids in certain content 632 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:09,120 areas stay more or less static to some degree. 633 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,600 Like you could say history and math and those things are maybe 634 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:14,720 they're more static. But if you dig a little deeper, 635 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,200 history, the ways in which we view history, the research that 636 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,920 we're doing and make connections between modern and history from 637 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,480 before, this is also like technology, it's also changing 638 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:25,720 all the time, right? So like. 639 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:28,480 The. Fact that we create these huge 640 00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:32,040 systems that sort of promote the continuation of the status quo 641 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,600 is very, very difficult. One, one of the things I 642 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,120 actually love this analogy that Robbie makes, he talks about 643 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:38,800 LeBron James. You could say this about like 644 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,080 Leo Messi or any sport. These athletes that are at the 645 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,160 top of their game, they still have coaches, they're still 646 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,440 being coached. They have this fundamental 647 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:51,160 understanding in athletics. We, we fundamentally believe 648 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:56,200 that we can always improve. Leo Messi, by all rights, 649 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,560 probably doesn't need a coach. If there's anyone that doesn't 650 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:00,000 need a coach, it's that guy, right? 651 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,360 But he's still coached and he's coachable. 652 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,240 Like coach ability. I think is, is a is a good way 653 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,040 to a good frame to to look at it. 654 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,600 So you're, you're asking for signals. 655 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,320 What can you, can you expand on that? 656 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:12,639 Can you say more about what you mean? 657 00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:16,000 What do you mean when, when we're going into a school to try 658 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,679 and figure out how we can help? Is that what you're? 659 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,560 Exactly, exactly. You know, what are the signals, 660 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:26,560 what are the factors that you guys evaluate to make your 661 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:27,880 assessment? Probably you're muted. 662 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,040 Yeah. I think the what we do is we we 663 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,000 try to look at it from a systematic standpoint. 664 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,760 So we can create a model that can fit in any school. 665 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,120 And so we focus and we're looking through three different 666 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,199 lenses. So the first lens that we're 667 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:45,040 looking at is building and improving educational systems. 668 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:51,159 So everything that you can touch may create policy computers, you 669 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:53,040 know, software, all those kinds of things. 670 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,960 So we're looking at where is your school fit in terms of 671 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,080 those? How can we serve, how can we 672 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,080 help, how can we help improve that lens? 673 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,080 The next lens we look at is improving the educators 674 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,280 capacity. So we're looking at mindset, 675 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,520 we're looking at how professional learning happens in 676 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,040 the building. What is the philosophy of the 677 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,120 leadership and the school? What is the ethos and what is 678 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,440 the practice that reflects that? How does learning happen for the 679 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,680 adults and how are they self improving, reflecting, 680 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:22,160 collecting data, those kinds of things? 681 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,800 So the second lens is really focusing on the adults in the 682 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,640 building because they're the ones who are facilitating this 683 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,520 to students. And then finally, the third lens 684 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:31,200 is we look at student empowerment. 685 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,160 So what are the things that students are actually doing in 686 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,160 their classroom, outside of the classroom? 687 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,560 What skills are we actually teaching them and are they 688 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,600 showcasing in order to kind of signify this person who's going 689 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,600 to go out into the world to this AI and informational economy and 690 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,320 be a contributor or producer or creator? 691 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,120 And so by looking first at the systems, you know, things that 692 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,520 you can buy, looking at the adults, what do they feel 693 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:56,640 confident and what are they knowledgeable on? 694 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,440 And what do they think about teaching and learning? 695 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,360 And then we look at the kids because you immediately want to 696 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:03,440 go straight to the kids. Like what is the result of the 697 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,440 system? What does a product look like? 698 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,360 We don't start there, that we end there. 699 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,680 The first thing you got to do is look at the factory and say, OK, 700 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:12,280 how can we modernize this factory? 701 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:13,320 And then you look at the workers. 702 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:14,840 How do the workers, how are they learning? 703 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,640 How are they doing their thing? And then you can say, OK, now 704 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,480 let's look at the product because it always starts like 705 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:22,480 Kyle was saying at the top. And you know, regardless of the 706 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,880 school that we work with, we worked with every range of of 707 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:27,680 school. The leadership is going to 708 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:32,320 determine the success of the process of tech my school going 709 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,960 in or just really any, any process of a school going in. 710 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,440 If if a leader cares, the teachers are going to care. 711 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,480 If a leader is learning, the teachers are going to be 712 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,360 learning. If the leader is, you know, 713 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:48,920 conscientious and observant and you know, is putting there is, 714 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,520 is having follow through, the teachers are going to fall in 715 00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:56,280 line and vice versa. And so we've worked in schools 716 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,320 that literally could could have been in Lagos like easily, like 717 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,480 if you went to the campus, you saw what was going on. 718 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,720 You're like, I'm in Nigeria, but it was it's in America. 719 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:06,880 And then we've been to other. Schools in America. 720 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:12,440 You're like this, this is like one of the top schools ever. 721 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:14,560 It's got everything money can buy. 722 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,720 And sure, they may have a lot of the systems component, but they 723 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:22,120 those other facets aren't there, or at least they're not as much 724 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:23,240 as they could be. They're not hitting their 725 00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:28,000 potential because the leadership is, you know, either arrogant, 726 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,160 lazy, or just has a fixed mindset. 727 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,960 So we try to partner with people who have that growth mindset. 728 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:37,160 And even if they don't, I mean, at the end of the day, we work 729 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,480 to serve children. I will literally work with the 730 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,040 most difficult school because even if I can make that school 731 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,480 10% better, I know the future of those kids are going to be 10% 732 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:46,800 brighter. And so we're going to, we're 733 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,280 going to do everything we can to, to serve that school for 734 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,760 that reason. And so my wife who works with 735 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,520 me, she gets frustrated all the time. 736 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,520 She gets frustrated with teachers, she gets frustrated 737 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:58,160 with directors. She gets frustrated with our 738 00:37:58,160 --> 00:37:59,800 donors because we're a nonprofit. 739 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:04,560 And I tell her I'm like, listen, you can't focus on these other 740 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,960 external factors. We're here for one reason, and 741 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,800 that's to serve kids. You work for them, you know what 742 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,760 I mean? So like, keep doing good things 743 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,480 because that will improve their lives. 744 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,640 And that's what it's all about. So at least for me, that's why I 745 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,720 cut tunnel vision myself to, to, you know, block off the, the 746 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:24,760 negativity that comes with working with various groups of 747 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,760 people, economic etcetera. Yeah, because we, we, we 748 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,000 pipeline a lot of our funding from, you know, some of the 749 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,840 wealthiest people in the world. And so we, we really want them 750 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,920 to care about what we're doing. And sometimes they do and 751 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,680 sometimes they don't. And so that's frustrating. 752 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:44,920 And then we serve schools that may be bought in and may be 753 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,240 working hard to improve their school and their kids. 754 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,680 And sometimes they don't, right. So sometimes you can get this 755 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,560 negative force on both ends from the donor side and from the from 756 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:57,120 the school side. And it can be discouraging. 757 00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:01,880 But what keeps keeps us going is just focusing on that singular 758 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,360 goal of improving lives of kids. And because the kids don't 759 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,320 choose, they're just born. They're just born and their 760 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,320 parents, they go to this school and then you're just there. 761 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,480 And so they're other outcome is determined by that school. 762 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,600 And we, we do everything we can to empower them. 763 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,480 A lot of these kids are victims of circumstances. 764 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,880 You did not choose the family that you're going to be born, so 765 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,400 you do not choose the location. So it's it's a great thing what 766 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,160 you're doing at least giving them a better chance about 767 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,600 succeeding in life because the background matters. 768 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,400 Even the Bible says Eve the foundation be destroyed. 769 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,280 What kind of writers do? But I'd like for you to touch on 770 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,480 what a high functioning learning system looks like in practice 771 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:42,360 to. Tackle that one. 772 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:44,640 To me it's one of the main evidences. 773 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:48,920 Is teachers learning alongside kids An institution, it's high 774 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,560 functioning is one that is an institution of learning, right? 775 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,480 Teaching happens, but learning, learning is the non negotiable. 776 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,480 Everyone is learning all the time. 777 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:02,000 And one of the reasons why that's important, I mean, it's 778 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:06,280 important for any adult who's in a you know, it's to be to be 779 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:07,800 learning, I think, and and growing. 780 00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:13,400 But as adults learn and they show their passion for learning 781 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:15,160 and understanding new things and. 782 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:18,800 Being humble enough to learn from the kids, the kids respond 783 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:22,200 to that, that that is how you develop kids who are lifelong 784 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,160 learners, kids who love learning. 785 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:27,120 That's really our goal. Our goal is less to teach kids 786 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:29,200 what to think, but teach them how to think. 787 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:31,560 Schools oftentimes will say that, but but what does that 788 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,480 really mean? What does how to think mean? 789 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:37,040 How to think really incorporates a lot of different things across 790 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:38,560 like an age appropriate continuum. 791 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,240 But the one thing that's continuous across that whole 792 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:45,480 thing is a love of learning. So curiosity, there's an amazing 793 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,720 quote, there's an author, a guy named George Kuros is this great 794 00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:50,480 quote. He says, if if kids are less 795 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,320 curious when they leave us, then when they came to us, then we 796 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,520 failed. And so I think a high 797 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:00,840 functioning system involves a place where failure is 798 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,880 acceptable. They say, we like to say fail 799 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:07,080 fast and fail forward. And we say this, a lot of 800 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,880 schools will say this. They'll say we really want to 801 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,680 facilitate a place where be a safe place to take risks and to 802 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:16,400 fail. Yet we, we punish failure. 803 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:20,680 I mean, we, we really want to see schools that are building 804 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:24,400 systems that allow kids to really push their own limits and 805 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,920 fall and get up and learn right from that, that whole iterative 806 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:29,800 process. So I don't know, Robbie, what 807 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:31,280 would you say in terms of high functioning? 808 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:32,680 What? What am I missing? 809 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:35,640 I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the 810 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:38,720 academic component, you know, learning, failing forward 811 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:41,920 thinking, those kinds of things. I would just say that schools 812 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,240 are, you know, a community. And so part of a successful 813 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:49,040 school and a place that you want to go to is 1 in which the 814 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,440 community and really the people who are there are, are valued. 815 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:57,440 They're they're given a chance to express themselves freely 816 00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:01,320 and, and just learn together. So I think what's different 817 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,760 between a school and maybe just opening a, you know, a business 818 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:08,040 is just the fact that schools are a community space. 819 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:09,800 You're dealing with people, you're dealing with their lives, 820 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:11,440 you're dealing with their problems, you're dealing with, 821 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:13,080 you know, all those kinds of things. 822 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:17,160 And so you want the school to have this, this we look at when 823 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:21,320 we break down our audit of a school, we, we kind of have two 824 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:25,120 different, I would say, frameworks that we build from. 825 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:26,960 So the first is 1. That's an internal framework 826 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:30,240 that kind of speaks more to what Kyle was talking about in terms 827 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,160 of, you know, structures in place and, you know, success, 828 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:35,960 failing, all that kind of stuff. We also look at how do the 829 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:38,480 educators at the school think of learning? 830 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:41,960 How do they think of themselves? How do they think like where, 831 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:46,480 where do they feel they fit and where do they, how do they value 832 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:48,160 themselves and how do they value learning? 833 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:49,480 And what is their purpose, right? 834 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:50,800 What is the point of being there? 835 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:55,520 And so we get that from Robert Dilt's levels of learning. 836 00:42:55,720 --> 00:42:58,920 So he has these these kind of framework where it's just more 837 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,000 about, you know, kind of self identifying your purpose and 838 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:04,200 your point and who you are and being reflective on that. 839 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,040 So there is this technical side that we serve, but then there's 840 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:11,240 also this other component where we want schools to really define 841 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:14,520 themselves as learners, to define themselves as thinkers, 842 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,560 to define themselves as places where kids can come and have a 843 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:22,160 safe place to grow and, and to to nurture their passions. 844 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:23,960 And I think it comes down to leadership too. 845 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:28,720 I think, I think your leaders set the tone for what's allowed 846 00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:31,760 to happen in a sense, right? The two another top. 847 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:34,440 So I'm, I'm actually almost done with a, I'm almost done with a 848 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:36,680 second program, a master's degree in educational 849 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,600 leadership. And I think out of all of the 850 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,760 study that I've done, really what what I see as a theme is 851 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:45,160 that a leaders role is to support people who support 852 00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:48,160 people. And So what I see a lot of times 853 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,080 in schools is that leaders really try and micromanage 854 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:55,760 processes which they should actually be in a support role 855 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,560 more than a barking orders type of a role. 856 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,480 I think there's a misunderstanding from leadership 857 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:04,320 about what their purpose is. And, and, and honestly, your 858 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:05,880 teachers, you can think of like, if you think of this in a 859 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:07,960 corporate sense, you know, your teachers are really like your 860 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:10,120 middle managers. They're in charge of another 861 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:11,520 group of people, which are your students. 862 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,440 And your job as a leader is to support those teachers, to 863 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:15,920 support learning in the classroom. 864 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:17,800 And there's a million ways you can do that. 865 00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:20,120 But like that, that's one of the things that I look at too, when, 866 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,720 when we're going into a school, I'm looking for the sort of 867 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:24,920 hidden signals from leadership on you. 868 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:27,160 You what One thing that's important is when we go into a 869 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,600 room and we're doing, let's say like a big kind of a corporate 870 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,240 training with teachers and the leaders are there too. 871 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:35,680 Some places you can, I mean, it doesn't take much, but you, you 872 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:38,760 can see the subtleties in the way that people's body language 873 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:42,720 is or the, the, the ways in which they're deferential to 874 00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:46,800 leadership. I mean, you can feel the, the, 875 00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:50,440 the company, the school's orchard more than you can see it 876 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:52,000 on paper. You can feel it. 877 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,200 And, and I think that that's, that's part of what we have 878 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,440 learned to identify kind of internally. 879 00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:01,280 So that when we're talking about how we can help them, because 880 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,800 our job ultimately when we go into a school is to help them to 881 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,120 self identify where they're at and what they want to do based 882 00:45:08,120 --> 00:45:10,280 on our framework. And we don't go in and tell them 883 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:11,760 what they should and shouldn't be doing. 884 00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:13,640 It's not like that. It's a non judgmental sort of 885 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,840 assessment that we do with them. And when we get to the end of 886 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:21,400 that, how we know how to best help them really has a lot to do 887 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:23,480 with the ways that they interact with their leadership. 888 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:25,520 And there are certain things that we would do that are more 889 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:28,600 aggressive in terms of the types of interventions that we would 890 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:30,360 recommend. Only if their leadership won't 891 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:31,640 support it, we're not going there. 892 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,320 We're going to have to take a different, more grassroots 893 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,720 approach. Really focus on us intervening 894 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:39,320 with teachers more than intervening with leadership who 895 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:41,640 can intervene with teachers. There are subtle differences in 896 00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:45,560 communication and signals that we pick up from leaders and so 897 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:48,560 the most high functioning places I would say are the places where 898 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:53,680 the leaders are passionate supporters of their teachers. 899 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,840 Interest and stuff. It's it's quite interesting. 900 00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:00,440 It shows like you guys eavesdropped a conversation I 901 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:05,880 had with you and Youthang, Young Youthang is the head of 902 00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:09,640 community, the school of mentors, and he was on this 903 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,760 forecast. I think we had a discussion, I 904 00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,360 think was it last night? Yeah, last night. 905 00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:20,160 And he was telling me about his experience in China. 906 00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:24,240 He was born in China but grew up in the United States. 907 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:28,040 So we always make this joke about, oh, you're like Apple 908 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,960 were made in China but designed in the US, right? 909 00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:36,040 But but he's always keeping in that the quality is good. 910 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:37,680 He's always bringing in that disclaimer. 911 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:39,960 So shout out to your new Fang. You need to see this one. 912 00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:43,560 He was teaching English in a Chinese school. 913 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:48,280 And when he started the program, he was asking one of the Chinese 914 00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:52,960 teachers that how can I teach these students effectively? 915 00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:59,160 And guess what the teacher told him, Teacher told him instead of 916 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,920 you thinking of how you are going to teach the students, why 917 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:06,200 not think about what you can learn from these students? 918 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:10,480 It gives him a rethink. You know, learning is a two way 919 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:13,200 St. Just at communication, you can 920 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:17,280 impact knowledge and you can also learn from the people that 921 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,920 you're teaching. It's interesting myself speaking 922 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,160 to you, right? It's quite interesting that we 923 00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:26,560 have connecting dots. I've worked in the NGO space of 924 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:29,960 the charity space, and I've also been a teacher myself. 925 00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,600 I used to teach professional accounts and students. 926 00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:37,240 I'm a target account of what you guys call ACPA in the US. 927 00:47:37,240 --> 00:47:41,560 So I used to teach the students writing the professional exams. 928 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:46,600 And I realized something that the best students, that the best 929 00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:50,760 teachers are the best students. The best teachers are the 930 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:58,200 teachers who adopt that lifelong learning approach, who adopts 931 00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:03,040 curiosity, because when you have the humility to learn and to 932 00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:05,080 keep learning, you're like a sponge. 933 00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:12,000 You keep absorbing information and you can help to what I say, 934 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:17,520 communicate that information in the best way possible. 935 00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:21,240 And it's interesting that you guys adopt that approach. 936 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:25,320 You know a lot and massive respect to you guys for that 937 00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:27,920 approach because that is the way it should be. 938 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:31,080 It's interesting how some people feel like maybe because they are 939 00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:35,560 older or more experienced, they feel like they cannot learn from 940 00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:38,960 other people and it's taunts your growth as a person. 941 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,800 Learning is a two way St. You can learn from a toddler, 942 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:47,440 right? But how do you try to what I say 943 00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:53,120 has that right orientation to leadership and of course to the 944 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,800 teachers, because it starts with leadership, right? 945 00:48:56,800 --> 00:49:01,360 And of course the teachers determine the future of these 946 00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:05,320 future champions that we have in our custody, basically. 947 00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:08,800 So how did you work around the orientation? 948 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:13,040 Orientation of. Yes, you know, the orientation 949 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:15,640 for the teachers and of course, the orientation for leadership. 950 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:21,560 It's interesting that people have certain mindsets, right? 951 00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:24,040 You either have a group mindset or a fixed mindset. 952 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:29,520 Whatever mindset you have is a function of your orientation. 953 00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:35,680 If you are a person who believes in the principle, the philosophy 954 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:39,800 of being a lifelong student, you're likely to have a growth 955 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:43,360 mindset. But when you have a fixed 956 00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:46,800 mindset, it's difficult. And for me, I feel like one of 957 00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:49,720 the things that is difficult to teach people is mindset. 958 00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:53,360 But. There's a psychological path to 959 00:49:53,360 --> 00:49:56,600 it. If you keep passing on a message 960 00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:01,840 to people in a particular environment, at some point, you 961 00:50:01,840 --> 00:50:06,000 know they pick up on what you are passing on the message, 962 00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:09,200 right? So we need that be orientation 963 00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:14,600 of the community of leadership or the community of teachers and 964 00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:18,320 that way it cascades to impact on the students. 965 00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:20,200 Yeah. I mean, for us it's it's more of 966 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:23,800 on the practical level sometimes, like Kyle saying, you 967 00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:27,880 can see that work chart through body language immediately. 968 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:31,960 And those at the top who have that fixed mindset or, or just a 969 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:36,400 complacent mindset 1 where they feel like their title determines 970 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:40,600 their outcomes. So they sit back and you know, 971 00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:44,520 their patron, their Hefe, the boss and these other people 972 00:50:44,520 --> 00:50:51,280 learn and I'm good. We we work with them for a time, 973 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:54,600 we try to do everything we can to improve the school, help the 974 00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,240 kids, help the teachers. But ultimately success and 975 00:50:57,240 --> 00:50:59,720 failure does ally a lot with the leadership. 976 00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:02,640 And if the leadership is not in compliance to what our missions 977 00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:06,720 doing or just having a growth mindset, there are times we have 978 00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:09,720 to let schools go. And that's an unfortunate thing. 979 00:51:09,720 --> 00:51:14,480 But not everyone respects free, not everyone of values things 980 00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:15,800 that are given to them in charity. 981 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:19,360 So, and everyone wants free because they're like, oh, I want 982 00:51:19,360 --> 00:51:21,520 something free, but are you going to value it? 983 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:22,760 Are you going to take care of it? 984 00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:26,800 Are you going to follow through? And so our work is service 985 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:28,680 based. So we will go to a school, do 986 00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:31,520 this audit, we'll create this detailed plan for their school 987 00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:33,240 for a year and then we get to work. 988 00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:35,840 So we'll follow through. We go and we do an all staff 989 00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,840 for, you know, provisional training for the teachers and 990 00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,120 then the next day we're on campus doing classroom 991 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,360 observations, doing instructional coaching. 992 00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:46,760 And his Internet just died I. Think so. 993 00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:50,680 I think that's what happened. So yeah, I'm sure he's going to. 994 00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:52,920 I was on a roll. You were on a roll. 995 00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:58,240 Yeah, was was he fuzzy when you were talking as well? 996 00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:00,760 Yeah, a little bit. I think he's probably just got 997 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:02,800 a. Maybe he's a slower connection. 998 00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:05,520 Essay. Yeah, it sounds like he's 999 00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,720 usually in the UK, so it probably would have would be 1000 00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:11,240 better, better Internet if he was in the UK. 1001 00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:17,120 I liked it. He's added the questions to the 1002 00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:18,920 chat. I found that to be really 1003 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:22,920 helpful actually. That's great, I even noticed 1004 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:24,040 that. There we go. 1005 00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:28,320 It's cool that they keep the keep the feed going though, even 1006 00:52:28,320 --> 00:52:30,800 when the host drops. Yeah. 1007 00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:34,200 Like if it was a zoom meeting, I think it doesn't shut the 1008 00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:36,600 meeting off if the if the host dropped out. 1009 00:52:37,280 --> 00:52:39,920 Also I found out as I was waiting in the waiting room 1010 00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:41,920 today that there's a downloadable. 1011 00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:45,280 There's a Mac version of this. I don't have time to set it up 1012 00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:46,720 but. You can. 1013 00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:49,760 It's got extra features. There's like a Riverside app for 1014 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:52,920 Mac. I'm going to try that, make it 1015 00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:55,760 so I can blur my Vietnam painting. 1016 00:52:57,080 --> 00:52:58,840 You're very familiar with that painting, aren't you? 1017 00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:01,320 Yeah, I like it. I didn't know it was from 1018 00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:03,160 Vietnam, actually. You brought that in. 1019 00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:07,360 You can't probably appreciate from the angle about how big 1020 00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:09,360 that picture is. I mean, the picture is probably 1021 00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:12,320 5 feet across. A guy delivered that. 1022 00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:14,080 This will be unsurprising to you. 1023 00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:16,320 A guy delivered that on a scooter. 1024 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:19,840 He was like hanging off the back of the scooter with this giant 1025 00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:22,480 painting. This is delivered into us. 1026 00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:26,360 We, we, I think we paid him like a dollar $2.00 delivery fee, 1027 00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:29,080 something like that. He he show. 1028 00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:33,360 He shows up this giant painting. What did you that in Ho Chi 1029 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:35,120 Minh? That was in Ho Chi Minh. 1030 00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:39,360 Yeah, we, there was a, it was about a mile from our apartment 1031 00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:42,440 kind of on in our little pocket of the town where we lived and 1032 00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:46,520 was this little art studio where this guy is. 1033 00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:48,720 All he does is all day long. He probably takes him a couple 1034 00:53:48,720 --> 00:53:51,000 of days to churn out one of these paintings, but he's just 1035 00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:52,920 prolific. He's hundreds and hundreds of 1036 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:56,040 these original paintings. And we we went in there one day 1037 00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:57,240 and we're like, these are so cool. 1038 00:53:57,240 --> 00:53:59,080 We've got to get one of these to take home with us. 1039 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:02,880 I think the painting costs like 100 bucks that like it wasn't a 1040 00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:06,160 lot, but then it probably costs us like 500 to ship at home. 1041 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:08,400 Yeah. You know, what sucks is that 1042 00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:10,520 after traveling to all these different places, I've always 1043 00:54:10,560 --> 00:54:14,400 gathered artwork, Knick knacks, statues, just all these 1044 00:54:14,400 --> 00:54:16,600 different things. And I have them. 1045 00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:19,120 They're they're in storage. But we bought this house that 1046 00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:22,320 has this beach theme where every space was, like, tastefully 1047 00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:27,120 designed by that Facebook lady. And so I just feel like it's 1048 00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:30,600 somewhat wrong to mess with it. Yeah, it would just be out of 1049 00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:33,080 place if I put like, an Egyptian, you know, whatever a 1050 00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,240 pharaoh's face where the beach painting is. 1051 00:54:35,240 --> 00:54:36,800 So they're just sitting in my box. 1052 00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:39,720 There's just there's a ton of just artifacts like have yet to 1053 00:54:39,720 --> 00:54:42,640 put up. So one, one thing I was thinking 1054 00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:45,560 about when Robbie was talking is that there's a there's a 1055 00:54:45,560 --> 00:54:48,560 research he's he's famous among educators, guy named John 1056 00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:51,920 Hattie. And he did very, very long like 1057 00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:54,680 a 20 year study on 10s of thousands of students. 1058 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:57,400 And he was looking at these different ways that we 1059 00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:01,200 intervene, like different facets of educational programs and how 1060 00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:05,680 they to what degree do they move the needle forward in academics, 1061 00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:07,000 right. And in terms of student 1062 00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:08,320 achievement and student learning. 1063 00:55:08,360 --> 00:55:12,480 And the number one item on there actually wasn't wasn't a 1064 00:55:12,480 --> 00:55:14,560 physical intervention. It wasn't one of these things 1065 00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:17,040 that we talked about as educators, scaffolding learning 1066 00:55:17,040 --> 00:55:19,880 and differentiation. And it wasn't something that we 1067 00:55:19,880 --> 00:55:22,040 do. It was actually a mindset piece. 1068 00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,280 And it was called, he calls it a collective teacher efficacy. 1069 00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:28,640 And what it, what, what he was getting at is essentially that 1070 00:55:28,640 --> 00:55:33,240 if in an organization, if the, the learners actually, and I, I 1071 00:55:33,240 --> 00:55:35,520 started thinking about this when, when you mentioned, I love 1072 00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:38,000 the way you frame that too, when, when you said that the 1073 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,000 best teachers are the best learners, right? 1074 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:44,080 Are the best students. So to that point, so his 1075 00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:46,800 findings were essentially that if everybody in the building has 1076 00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:50,960 this collective mindset of growth, that they believe that 1077 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:54,480 every person can learn in the building, that is actually the 1078 00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:58,160 number one defining factor in terms of pushing academics, 1079 00:55:58,440 --> 00:56:02,760 academic output further. And that I think is, is also 1080 00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:05,360 kind of goes back to the question you were asking about 1081 00:56:05,360 --> 00:56:07,880 structure, right? And what is a, what is a high 1082 00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:11,920 functioning structure look like? Well, collective efficacy and 1083 00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:16,680 this collective mindset of growth is actually now through 1084 00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:20,720 research is is is proven to be one of the most important parts 1085 00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:22,920 of a high achieving school research. 1086 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:25,360 Research is very, very important, right? 1087 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:30,040 And I think research actually utilizes ethical thinking, 1088 00:56:31,080 --> 00:56:34,960 problem solving mindset, which is very important because for 1089 00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:37,160 me, I think about it, why are you going to school? 1090 00:56:37,160 --> 00:56:41,240 Why are you getting educated? If you're not going to turn out 1091 00:56:41,240 --> 00:56:44,920 to become a solution provider, then I think it's it's a waste 1092 00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:47,560 of everybody's time. But Speaking of providing 1093 00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:52,440 solutions, right, Technologies are the hearts of providing 1094 00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:56,120 solutions in this modern day world. 1095 00:56:56,360 --> 00:57:00,400 So many organizations actually buy technology, but the skill 1096 00:57:00,840 --> 00:57:03,440 change outcomes. Why is this the case? 1097 00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:07,520 You know, for us, especially in classrooms of various ages 1098 00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:10,600 groups, because not just these more adult learners, we work 1099 00:57:10,600 --> 00:57:12,320 with five year olds, we work with four year olds. 1100 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:16,640 And so when we say technology, we're technology centered, but 1101 00:57:16,640 --> 00:57:19,600 we're learning driven. And so sometimes the best 1102 00:57:19,600 --> 00:57:23,360 technology you can use is a pencil or a book or a crayon, or 1103 00:57:23,360 --> 00:57:26,400 even just how you're using proximity in the classroom. 1104 00:57:26,400 --> 00:57:28,760 In terms of your stance, what we're trying to do is we're 1105 00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:31,480 trying to find the best tool to serve the best purpose for that 1106 00:57:31,480 --> 00:57:34,360 student, for that learner. And so we're really flexible in 1107 00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:38,600 that sense. But conversely, technology in 1108 00:57:38,600 --> 00:57:43,680 that, you know, I guess layman sense is it's compounding in 1109 00:57:43,680 --> 00:57:47,400 terms of its ability. And we've seen that over the 1110 00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:50,720 past five years, especially with these large LLMS that have come 1111 00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:54,680 out and and have really there's I'm not going to say dystopian, 1112 00:57:54,680 --> 00:57:58,080 but there's just a lot of outcomes in the near near future 1113 00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:01,680 that could happen. And I in my ex feed is just 1114 00:58:01,680 --> 00:58:05,000 filled with these people who are just like you're not going to 1115 00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:07,720 have to work in five years like work is going to be taken care 1116 00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:09,080 of. Tesla optimist. 1117 00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:13,240 All these AIS platforms are going to get so good and then 1118 00:58:13,240 --> 00:58:17,480 once AGI happens, it's like it's going to be so transformative 1119 00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:19,880 that you're going to really have to rethink your life and 1120 00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:21,160 everyone's going to rethink their life. 1121 00:58:21,160 --> 00:58:26,400 So there's a part of me that's like, let's stick to these tried 1122 00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:29,080 and true things and let's just find the best tool, whether it's 1123 00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:33,680 a tattoo BT model or if it's, you know, a ball versus do I 1124 00:58:33,680 --> 00:58:36,240 just need to just hold on for the next three to four years 1125 00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:38,880 here until I can buy this robot that just does everything for 1126 00:58:38,880 --> 00:58:40,400 me? And, you know, what are we 1127 00:58:40,400 --> 00:58:43,040 teaching kids for if they're going to be, you know, 1128 00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:44,720 everything's going to be taken care of for us. 1129 00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:46,520 So I don't think that's going to be the case. 1130 00:58:46,760 --> 00:58:49,040 Part of me thinks I hope not. But at the same time, it's a, 1131 00:58:49,040 --> 00:58:53,680 it's a very, very curious time to live in because there is this 1132 00:58:53,680 --> 00:58:56,560 future that can go so many different ways. 1133 00:58:56,920 --> 00:58:59,720 And honestly, I think even the leaders of in the industry don't 1134 00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:03,440 know how it's going to end, which is both sad and 1135 00:59:03,440 --> 00:59:07,480 frightening at the same time. Because I think there is, if you 1136 00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:10,200 get it wrong, it could be, you know, one of the dystopia models 1137 00:59:10,200 --> 00:59:13,440 that there's a percent chance of this happening is that there's 1138 00:59:13,440 --> 00:59:16,280 some sort of extinction event, as they call it the paper clip 1139 00:59:16,280 --> 00:59:19,720 model, where it's like to, to maximize the shape of the paper 1140 00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:22,040 clip or the efficiency of the paper clip, they have to 1141 00:59:22,080 --> 00:59:24,200 eliminate this, which leads to eliminating this. 1142 00:59:24,200 --> 00:59:27,160 And then eventually the robots kill all humanity or something. 1143 00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:30,440 You man, we got to keep you off of Reddit. 1144 00:59:31,000 --> 00:59:36,560 Well, I'm just something that leading AI people in the world, 1145 00:59:36,560 --> 00:59:38,720 you talk about the Elon Musk, you talk about the Sam Altmans, 1146 00:59:38,720 --> 00:59:41,400 you talk about these people who are driving society. 1147 00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:43,640 And with. Technology right now they are in 1148 00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,440 the driver's seat they're they have the thoughts I'm not 1149 00:59:46,440 --> 00:59:48,520 listening to some Spooks on Reddit. 1150 00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:52,760 It's like these are mainstream figures who have a deep fear of 1151 00:59:52,920 --> 00:59:58,960 AI, of the future, of technology and and they've yeah, they feel 1152 00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:02,520 like we know this is dangerous. We're playing with a grenade 1153 01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:04,880 here. But whoever gets to the finish 1154 01:00:04,880 --> 01:00:08,240 line first is going to be the take all winter winner. 1155 01:00:08,240 --> 01:00:11,880 So if I don't stop pushing the ball forward, they're going to 1156 01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:14,040 keep pushing the ball forward and I'm left in the dust. 1157 01:00:14,040 --> 01:00:16,120 I don't think we should be doing this, but I can't allow these 1158 01:00:16,120 --> 01:00:19,160 other guys to to win and take over the world, let's say. 1159 01:00:19,480 --> 01:00:22,080 So I'm going to keep pushing the ball forward as fast as I 1160 01:00:22,080 --> 01:00:26,720 possibly can without. The guardrails in time to really 1161 01:00:26,720 --> 01:00:29,200 process what we're doing. And so it's like, in a sense, we 1162 01:00:29,200 --> 01:00:31,480 are monkeys playing with fire in the sense that we could build 1163 01:00:31,480 --> 01:00:34,160 something that ultimately has a dystopian outcome. 1164 01:00:34,160 --> 01:00:37,040 And anyway, it's kind of scary to think of, but I'm not saying 1165 01:00:37,040 --> 01:00:39,280 it's going to happen. But there is a realistic chance 1166 01:00:39,280 --> 01:00:43,160 that this possibly could. Hans is whether it's 5% or 50%, 1167 01:00:43,320 --> 01:00:45,480 no one really knows. But when you're talking about 1168 01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:49,120 thoughts, creativity, because I mean, what separates us from the 1169 01:00:49,120 --> 01:00:51,920 animal Kingdom is just our brains and our ability to have 1170 01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:55,600 these conversations into to think and to work collectively. 1171 01:00:55,840 --> 01:00:58,600 And if you're building something that can do that exponentially 1172 01:00:58,600 --> 01:01:01,640 better than we can, there's no telling what it could end up 1173 01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:04,440 doing. I think we're thinking, hoping 1174 01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:06,160 for the good. I'm thinking I get a robot. 1175 01:01:07,120 --> 01:01:10,040 I'm hoping for a robot that just does all my dishes and cleans 1176 01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:12,920 the laundry and I don't have to do any chores anymore. 1177 01:01:13,240 --> 01:01:16,640 What's my YouTube? So my my issue with. 1178 01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:19,480 Kyle, get this man off just. Backing up a little bit and. 1179 01:01:20,200 --> 01:01:22,240 Get him off Reddit. Yeah, I know. 1180 01:01:23,600 --> 01:01:26,120 I feel like people like this, people like this who think about 1181 01:01:26,120 --> 01:01:29,240 the dystopian outcome have seen too much sci-fi. 1182 01:01:29,520 --> 01:01:32,280 Over to you. Kyle OK, here's here's something 1183 01:01:32,280 --> 01:01:35,760 that foundationally we believe at Tech my school, we believe 1184 01:01:35,760 --> 01:01:39,000 that technology has the power to level the playing field between 1185 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:40,360 the haves and the have nots, right? 1186 01:01:40,400 --> 01:01:42,520 Absolutely. We have a system set up, 1187 01:01:42,520 --> 01:01:48,280 unfortunately right now where capitalism has created this 1188 01:01:48,280 --> 01:01:51,200 environment where the the rich keep getting richer and the poor 1189 01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:53,720 keep getting poorer, right? We're we're expanding that gap. 1190 01:01:53,960 --> 01:01:55,760 Technology has the ability to bridge that gap. 1191 01:01:55,840 --> 01:01:58,160 Let's let's look at your dystopian model. 1192 01:01:58,280 --> 01:02:00,160 Let's call this the best case scenario where everybody gets 1193 01:02:00,160 --> 01:02:02,600 that robot in their house that does all the work and right, 1194 01:02:03,480 --> 01:02:07,560 does everybody get the robot or do just the rich people get the 1195 01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:08,840 robots? Because I have a sneaking 1196 01:02:08,840 --> 01:02:11,000 suspicion that the rich people get the robots and the poor 1197 01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:14,120 people continue to do their own dishes and clean their own 1198 01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:16,400 floors. I'm thinking that what what we 1199 01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:19,200 want to do and what we're trying to do, the model that we operate 1200 01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:21,720 on is essentially, and I don't know if you knew this because we 1201 01:02:21,720 --> 01:02:24,120 didn't really say this before, but the schools that we serve in 1202 01:02:24,120 --> 01:02:25,480 Puerto Rico, we serve them for free. 1203 01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:28,240 Almost all of them, some of them, the school that means do 1204 01:02:28,240 --> 01:02:30,560 pay for our services, right? Like we serve a couple of 1205 01:02:30,560 --> 01:02:32,840 schools that are wealthy private schools that that they can pay 1206 01:02:32,840 --> 01:02:34,480 us. And that's part of how we 1207 01:02:34,880 --> 01:02:37,960 generate revenue. But we we do this, the way that 1208 01:02:37,960 --> 01:02:41,000 we do this is fairly socialist. And the reason we do it is 1209 01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:44,440 because we believe in education so strongly. 1210 01:02:44,680 --> 01:02:48,720 And we believe also that technology in education, when 1211 01:02:48,720 --> 01:02:52,920 leveraged properly, can be an absolute game changer for Wow. 1212 01:02:53,360 --> 01:02:55,000 Keep going. Again, just keep going. 1213 01:02:57,000 --> 01:03:01,640 My, my point is just that we operate in a way that is is the 1214 01:03:01,640 --> 01:03:03,880 opposite of what I think is actually going to happen. 1215 01:03:03,920 --> 01:03:07,240 What keeps happening is that we keep coming up with this amazing 1216 01:03:07,240 --> 01:03:08,760 tech. Like you look at the large 1217 01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:12,480 language models as a simple, like there's a free version of 1218 01:03:12,480 --> 01:03:16,360 them, but the version that does all the things is unaffordable 1219 01:03:16,360 --> 01:03:17,960 for people who are in poverty, right? 1220 01:03:17,960 --> 01:03:21,200 So like even something as simple as a large language model, and I 1221 01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:23,080 get it, it's a business and they have to pay for it. 1222 01:03:23,080 --> 01:03:26,120 It's not cheap to be burning these tokens constantly. 1223 01:03:26,320 --> 01:03:29,040 I don't know if I see this idea that you don't have to work 1224 01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:31,600 anymore and like the machines are going to take care of you 1225 01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:33,920 and do all the things. They're not going to take care 1226 01:03:33,920 --> 01:03:35,600 of the poor. They're going to take care of 1227 01:03:35,600 --> 01:03:37,760 the people who can currently afford to be taken care of. 1228 01:03:38,520 --> 01:03:40,160 That's what I think. And I'd love to get. 1229 01:03:40,280 --> 01:03:43,600 I'd love to get an economist's view, you know, like someone who 1230 01:03:43,600 --> 01:03:47,560 is steeped in the tack but also understands the history of the 1231 01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:50,240 patterns of how technology has has helped. 1232 01:03:50,520 --> 01:03:52,680 I mean, like, think back to the cotton gin, right? 1233 01:03:52,680 --> 01:03:54,480 Eli Whitney comes up with the cotton gin. 1234 01:03:55,160 --> 01:03:56,800 Who did the cotton gin really help? 1235 01:03:57,720 --> 01:04:01,040 The cotton gin did not help the people who were out in the field 1236 01:04:01,560 --> 01:04:05,800 picking cotton except for that it took their job away, right? 1237 01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:08,360 I mean, like, it made the job easier, you say, Yeah, it helped 1238 01:04:08,360 --> 01:04:10,040 them, but then what are they doing now? 1239 01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:13,440 Now they don't have a job. And yes, like, this was a 1240 01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,280 horrible time in American history where those people were 1241 01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:19,560 probably enslaved people anyway. But the large part. 1242 01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:21,600 But my point is just that, like, whenever we come up with new 1243 01:04:21,600 --> 01:04:23,920 technology, we're like, it's so helpful. 1244 01:04:23,920 --> 01:04:26,400 But who is it so helpful for is my question. 1245 01:04:27,440 --> 01:04:29,280 Yeah. I think also, too, that there's 1246 01:04:29,280 --> 01:04:31,400 like, there's only one penthouse. 1247 01:04:32,520 --> 01:04:34,360 Not everyone can live in the penthouse. 1248 01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:36,560 And so they're still going to. They should. 1249 01:04:36,960 --> 01:04:39,880 Even if there's robots doing many things, there's still going 1250 01:04:39,880 --> 01:04:42,640 to be a differentiation between wealth and income. 1251 01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,680 And you know, yeah. Because we're not going to be 1252 01:04:44,680 --> 01:04:47,720 sharing that wealth. Whatever, whatever efficiencies 1253 01:04:47,720 --> 01:04:51,000 have created more wealth or it's not, it's not shared wealth. 1254 01:04:51,960 --> 01:04:54,440 If wealth belongs to whoever created the efficiency and 1255 01:04:54,440 --> 01:04:57,040 whoever owned the process that just now became more efficient, 1256 01:04:57,040 --> 01:04:59,440 they make more money. But I think it's actually going 1257 01:04:59,440 --> 01:05:02,160 to continue to exacerbate the problem because while the rich 1258 01:05:02,160 --> 01:05:03,880 get richer, they create those efficiencies. 1259 01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:09,240 It means they need less people. Yeah, No, I mean, I what's scary 1260 01:05:09,240 --> 01:05:12,960 about the AI component of it is just that if it does subtract 1261 01:05:12,960 --> 01:05:19,480 that just swaths of jobs, that's the fear, right? 1262 01:05:19,480 --> 01:05:21,400 It's like, what are people going to do? 1263 01:05:21,520 --> 01:05:24,240 I mean, we're going to invent new jobs, I'm sure things that. 1264 01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:26,360 I don't think we're going to invent them at the pace that 1265 01:05:26,360 --> 01:05:27,880 we're going to be. Reject. 1266 01:05:27,920 --> 01:05:30,600 Yeah, that. Crushing other jobs. 1267 01:05:30,640 --> 01:05:32,760 I mean, we're, there's going to be a lot of scuba instructors, 1268 01:05:32,960 --> 01:05:35,120 you know what I mean? There's going to be a lot of 1269 01:05:35,120 --> 01:05:40,560 scuba. So I think one, one of the 1270 01:05:40,560 --> 01:05:43,880 things we brought up while you were gone was the idea that like 1271 01:05:43,880 --> 01:05:47,400 if we create these efficiencies and you know what, you know, 1272 01:05:47,400 --> 01:05:49,600 like you don't have to work anymore, the world has become 1273 01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:52,200 easy for you, who is actually benefiting from that? 1274 01:05:52,560 --> 01:05:55,480 And, and I, I don't think that will be a benefit across the 1275 01:05:55,480 --> 01:05:57,480 board. I think it will be the same sort 1276 01:05:57,480 --> 01:05:59,760 of stratification that we currently see. 1277 01:05:59,800 --> 01:06:02,800 I don't think that changes. I think the people who were 1278 01:06:03,520 --> 01:06:07,000 already the haves will continue to just have more. 1279 01:06:08,360 --> 01:06:14,560 Exactly exactly because I see AI as an assistant AI as a tool for 1280 01:06:14,840 --> 01:06:19,360 transformation, for efficiency, but it's really amazing to to 1281 01:06:20,160 --> 01:06:25,520 get to the take of the extremists or an AI, right. 1282 01:06:25,800 --> 01:06:29,680 Why are we afraid of AI? Humans created AI right 1283 01:06:29,800 --> 01:06:33,920 artificial intelligence and if humans if the world is going to 1284 01:06:33,920 --> 01:06:37,000 get destroyed right it's as humans that are going to destroy 1285 01:06:37,000 --> 01:06:39,400 the world. We are still in charge of this 1286 01:06:39,400 --> 01:06:45,840 thing right AI robotics who initiates the prompt who the EC 1287 01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:50,440 works with electricity that's there's a lot of limitation to 1288 01:06:50,440 --> 01:06:57,440 what you can possibly do with AI in terms of thinking of you from 1289 01:06:57,440 --> 01:07:01,360 a destructive perspective. We can only wait to see what 1290 01:07:01,360 --> 01:07:05,280 what happens in the world, but people thinking about not having 1291 01:07:05,280 --> 01:07:06,920 to work I don't see that happening. 1292 01:07:07,000 --> 01:07:10,000 I stand to be corrected, but I. Think only a few people will 1293 01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:14,640 realize that. Yeah, maybe people are Robbie. 1294 01:07:15,040 --> 01:07:18,280 Especially another Reddit. I've learned that I can't be 1295 01:07:18,280 --> 01:07:21,320 that person. So I came to Puerto Rico to be 1296 01:07:21,440 --> 01:07:25,200 on sabbatical to go shooting and relaxing and, and you know, 1297 01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:28,840 because I was overworking when I was in the, in the, in the 1298 01:07:28,840 --> 01:07:31,720 schools. So very, very quickly, you know, 1299 01:07:31,720 --> 01:07:35,520 within a few weeks I had gone from new, new parent on vacation 1300 01:07:35,520 --> 01:07:39,560 to training all staff and, and helping them improve systems and 1301 01:07:39,560 --> 01:07:42,200 then going from one school to, you know, 50. 1302 01:07:42,200 --> 01:07:46,320 So I've learned that about myself is that even when given 1303 01:07:46,320 --> 01:07:49,560 some time off, I go very stir crazy quickly. 1304 01:07:49,840 --> 01:07:51,840 I suck at vacation too. You're not alone. 1305 01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:54,720 Yeah, and so I do. Worry about. 1306 01:07:54,880 --> 01:07:57,800 How that will affect mindset if that dystopian happens where 1307 01:07:57,800 --> 01:07:59,240 like everything is taken care of. 1308 01:07:59,240 --> 01:08:01,640 You can't create anything because robots do it better and 1309 01:08:01,640 --> 01:08:04,960 they do it more efficiently and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 1310 01:08:05,040 --> 01:08:06,640 You know what? What will we do with our time? 1311 01:08:06,640 --> 01:08:08,800 But I think it'll be more creative. 1312 01:08:08,840 --> 01:08:10,600 I'm more of an optimist personally. 1313 01:08:10,600 --> 01:08:12,600 So I'm I'm going with the utopia. 1314 01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:15,280 Everyone gets to hang out and we can all just be buddies. 1315 01:08:15,280 --> 01:08:16,359 You know what I mean? Do it. 1316 01:08:17,080 --> 01:08:19,720 Let's see how that goes, you know, But talking about the 1317 01:08:19,720 --> 01:08:23,479 schools, if you compare working with these schools, like scaling 1318 01:08:23,479 --> 01:08:27,560 up an organization. So what would the leaders need 1319 01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:31,080 to think of differently? I think that are you talking 1320 01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:33,760 about schools specifically? Are you talking like industry? 1321 01:08:34,720 --> 01:08:39,960 The schools, the schools specifically, they are basically 1322 01:08:39,960 --> 01:08:42,279 an organization. What do they need to change? 1323 01:08:43,120 --> 01:08:45,080 Yes. So what do you really need to 1324 01:08:45,080 --> 01:08:47,880 change in order to achieve that scale up? 1325 01:08:48,160 --> 01:08:51,080 So for businesses, if you want to scale up a business, you're 1326 01:08:51,080 --> 01:08:57,000 talking about efforts to improve the revenue, you want to cut 1327 01:08:57,000 --> 01:09:00,359 costs, right, in order to make the profit line, you know, 1328 01:09:00,600 --> 01:09:03,680 bigger. What is it with schools that you 1329 01:09:03,680 --> 01:09:07,600 need to put in place in order to ensure that the schools are 1330 01:09:07,600 --> 01:09:09,720 improving? Of course, you guys are in the 1331 01:09:09,720 --> 01:09:11,399 business of improving the schools basically. 1332 01:09:11,520 --> 01:09:14,600 Yeah, I think they need to. So in the classroom, one of the 1333 01:09:14,600 --> 01:09:17,760 things that teachers generally do is they use this idea called 1334 01:09:17,760 --> 01:09:20,040 backwards design, where you think about the, you think about 1335 01:09:20,040 --> 01:09:22,120 the goal and you work towards the goal, right? 1336 01:09:22,120 --> 01:09:24,000 You work backwards to plan how you get. 1337 01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:27,600 To the engineering. In yeah, but in learning, you'd 1338 01:09:27,600 --> 01:09:30,720 say here, here are the KUD. These are the things I want kids 1339 01:09:30,720 --> 01:09:32,760 to know, understand to be able to do. 1340 01:09:32,800 --> 01:09:35,319 And that's at the end, right? And so how do I, how do I make 1341 01:09:35,319 --> 01:09:36,880 that journey to get to that endpoint? 1342 01:09:37,000 --> 01:09:39,160 I think that schools need to zoom out and use the same 1343 01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,080 technique and try and figure out their why. 1344 01:09:42,160 --> 01:09:44,560 Why are we here and what are we trying to build? 1345 01:09:44,640 --> 01:09:46,800 Right. And one of the, the the ways 1346 01:09:46,800 --> 01:09:48,560 that they do that is that they have curriculum. 1347 01:09:48,800 --> 01:09:53,279 And so those first two things that the K and EU the the no, 1348 01:09:53,279 --> 01:09:55,560 that's content. What do kids need to know? 1349 01:09:56,080 --> 01:09:58,400 And then the EU is understanding that's concepts. 1350 01:09:58,600 --> 01:10:01,400 They generally know what kids should know and what they should 1351 01:10:01,400 --> 01:10:03,240 understand. The last part is what they 1352 01:10:03,240 --> 01:10:05,480 should be able to do. That's the skills, right? 1353 01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:08,960 The skills, I think, are the part where most schools have 1354 01:10:08,960 --> 01:10:12,360 failed to basically say, hey, when a student graduates from 1355 01:10:12,360 --> 01:10:14,760 high school, this is the skill set that they need. 1356 01:10:14,880 --> 01:10:17,320 They already know what they need to know, but they don't 1357 01:10:17,320 --> 01:10:19,200 necessarily know what skills they need. 1358 01:10:19,200 --> 01:10:22,760 And if they do, they need to update that skill set. 1359 01:10:22,800 --> 01:10:27,280 So I would say that that would be my first, my first reaction 1360 01:10:27,280 --> 01:10:30,800 to the school needs to say who do we want these graduates to 1361 01:10:30,800 --> 01:10:32,400 be? They call up, they call it a 1362 01:10:32,400 --> 01:10:35,440 graduate profile, right? You, you, you build, you build 1363 01:10:35,440 --> 01:10:37,360 the product. So this is backwards from what 1364 01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:39,480 Robbie said earlier. With a factory model, the idea 1365 01:10:39,640 --> 01:10:43,000 you you do actually need to know what the intended widget is that 1366 01:10:43,000 --> 01:10:46,000 comes off the end of the factory line before you can build the 1367 01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:48,560 factory essentially. Interesting. 1368 01:10:48,640 --> 01:10:54,160 So basically we are about to round up, but I want you to 1369 01:10:54,160 --> 01:10:58,880 attack this improvement from three perspectives. 1370 01:10:58,960 --> 01:11:01,600 That is the philosophy on British podcast is built 1371 01:11:01,920 --> 01:11:07,120 mindset, skill set, tool sets. So in order to achieve the 1372 01:11:07,120 --> 01:11:11,280 improvements in the schools that you work with, what is the right 1373 01:11:11,280 --> 01:11:13,720 mindset? What is the right skill set and 1374 01:11:13,800 --> 01:11:19,640 what are the right tool sets? So for us, it's again, we're 1375 01:11:19,640 --> 01:11:24,240 working with people, working with, with educators who are in 1376 01:11:24,240 --> 01:11:28,440 power, who have positional power and they're in control of the 1377 01:11:28,440 --> 01:11:32,440 futures of many, many people, both the teachers and the 1378 01:11:32,440 --> 01:11:35,240 students and sometimes even the parents. 1379 01:11:35,480 --> 01:11:40,680 And so really we're just looking for leadership to be open 1380 01:11:40,680 --> 01:11:45,800 minded, to learn to care about their kids, to work through 1381 01:11:45,800 --> 01:11:50,360 challenging things in a, in a, in a way that they're 1382 01:11:50,360 --> 01:11:51,880 comfortable with the uncomfortable. 1383 01:11:52,160 --> 01:11:56,320 Because we're going to bring in a lot of different ideas, 1384 01:11:56,320 --> 01:11:58,120 different tools, different structures. 1385 01:11:58,120 --> 01:12:02,080 And when you're in that position of leadership where you feel 1386 01:12:02,080 --> 01:12:07,520 like I've got it and things are good and stir this, we're not 1387 01:12:07,520 --> 01:12:10,720 optimal, but I'm safe. I'm safe in the bubble that I'm 1388 01:12:10,720 --> 01:12:12,400 in. Why change? 1389 01:12:12,640 --> 01:12:14,320 I just need to make the paychecks coming in. 1390 01:12:14,320 --> 01:12:16,520 The power's there. I get to do what I want. 1391 01:12:17,800 --> 01:12:20,520 Why, why mess this up? I, I could be bringing these 1392 01:12:20,520 --> 01:12:24,200 guys in and they bring a philosophy in or a tool or a 1393 01:12:24,200 --> 01:12:27,280 mindset or whatever. And that disrupts my little safe 1394 01:12:27,280 --> 01:12:30,120 bubble. So there is a, a sense of risk. 1395 01:12:30,120 --> 01:12:34,360 So these, these leaders need to be a bit, they need to be 1396 01:12:34,360 --> 01:12:38,080 willing to risk their personal comfort for the greater good of 1397 01:12:38,080 --> 01:12:43,000 children and their future. And sometimes parents want that, 1398 01:12:43,280 --> 01:12:47,520 that same methodology that they had when they were kids. 1399 01:12:47,520 --> 01:12:51,400 So like I was taught in a certain way in 1980 and 1990, 1400 01:12:51,760 --> 01:12:54,520 and my kids should be being taught in that exact same way. 1401 01:12:54,520 --> 01:12:56,960 And if it doesn't look like that, I'm going to complain. 1402 01:12:56,960 --> 01:12:59,720 I'm going to cause a ruckus. I'm going to make life 1403 01:12:59,720 --> 01:13:02,040 uncomfortable for leadership because I want it to be like it 1404 01:13:02,040 --> 01:13:06,040 was for me. And so we have to combat those 1405 01:13:06,240 --> 01:13:09,280 those mindsets with parents with leadership, like, hey, I know 1406 01:13:09,280 --> 01:13:11,680 that things have gone a certain way, but the world's different. 1407 01:13:12,440 --> 01:13:15,040 And so we need to prepare appropriately. 1408 01:13:15,040 --> 01:13:19,880 So that's kind of the, the first thing the, the skill set really 1409 01:13:19,880 --> 01:13:24,160 is one that's adaptive because there's just so many things that 1410 01:13:24,160 --> 01:13:26,840 are coming at us. We're being bombarded with, with 1411 01:13:26,880 --> 01:13:30,480 various very, you know, different software strategies, 1412 01:13:30,480 --> 01:13:32,240 ideas, all these different things are coming at us. 1413 01:13:32,240 --> 01:13:36,600 So I think adaptability is and almost survivability is is kind 1414 01:13:36,600 --> 01:13:38,280 of the name of the game, especially with the speed of 1415 01:13:38,280 --> 01:13:39,600 these tools and how they're built, I mean. 1416 01:13:39,760 --> 01:13:43,000 It's verbal skills. You can build yeah, soft skills 1417 01:13:43,000 --> 01:13:46,320 are so important, learner mindset, being adaptable because 1418 01:13:46,320 --> 01:13:47,920 there's just so many things being thrown at us. 1419 01:13:47,920 --> 01:13:49,160 And. And it's going to come to the 1420 01:13:49,160 --> 01:13:52,360 point it almost says now that the layman can develop software 1421 01:13:52,640 --> 01:13:55,520 where if even if you're not a programmer, you can work with 1422 01:13:55,520 --> 01:13:59,280 these language models to build really comprehensive, really 1423 01:13:59,280 --> 01:14:01,160 impactful, really powerful goals. 1424 01:14:01,200 --> 01:14:05,760 And so when the masses can create, you're going to just get 1425 01:14:05,760 --> 01:14:09,520 so many great things coming out of that and you have to be ready 1426 01:14:09,520 --> 01:14:12,360 for the for, for change. It just has to be part of your 1427 01:14:12,360 --> 01:14:17,640 DNA of like I am going to use the best possible tool or my 1428 01:14:17,640 --> 01:14:20,400 kids, whatever that may be. And today it might be this and 1429 01:14:20,400 --> 01:14:22,080 tomorrow it might be that. And we have to be ready for 1430 01:14:22,080 --> 01:14:23,840 that. So I think the soft skills, 1431 01:14:23,840 --> 01:14:27,520 malleability and having the adaptability to, to take on 1432 01:14:27,520 --> 01:14:30,440 these different things that are being pushed at us almost on a 1433 01:14:30,440 --> 01:14:33,200 daily, daily level our daily basis rather. 1434 01:14:33,240 --> 01:14:37,480 And then when it comes to tool, it's just, I mean, I, I hate to 1435 01:14:37,480 --> 01:14:39,440 say, but it's like, what's the best tool today? 1436 01:14:39,440 --> 01:14:43,400 What is the best tool that we can use today to help our kids 1437 01:14:43,800 --> 01:14:47,200 for tomorrow? And so today it might be, you 1438 01:14:47,200 --> 01:14:51,320 know, a spreadsheet tomorrow could be an amazing software 1439 01:14:51,320 --> 01:14:55,800 called relief roster that helps you, helps you coordinate and 1440 01:14:55,800 --> 01:14:58,360 manage your, your substitute teachers. 1441 01:14:59,160 --> 01:15:03,200 So I think those it's less about the tool, it's more just more 1442 01:15:03,200 --> 01:15:05,400 about mindset. Yeah. 1443 01:15:05,400 --> 01:15:07,840 And I think that that tool set like to your, to your point, 1444 01:15:07,840 --> 01:15:10,440 like there's a, there's a foundational piece. 1445 01:15:10,520 --> 01:15:14,880 I'm sitting here looking at my computer, right and thinking it 1446 01:15:14,880 --> 01:15:19,480 is still important that kids have access to whatever the 1447 01:15:19,560 --> 01:15:23,520 whatever the hardware sort of modality is of the of the 1448 01:15:23,520 --> 01:15:25,760 current day. Right now it's mobile devices 1449 01:15:25,760 --> 01:15:28,520 and laptops or tablets or, you know, whatever. 1450 01:15:29,520 --> 01:15:32,520 I think that beyond that, I don't know that it matters that 1451 01:15:32,520 --> 01:15:36,800 much what the tool that the tool set to me is the least important 1452 01:15:36,800 --> 01:15:38,960 of all of them. I think really the more 1453 01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:42,520 important part is kids learning how to learn, right? 1454 01:15:42,520 --> 01:15:46,560 So like for you and I, we, we were old when we've grown up 1455 01:15:46,800 --> 01:15:49,160 learning all these years and we both love learning. 1456 01:15:49,240 --> 01:15:53,520 And so I think the LLM, the best part about the LLM wasn't like, 1457 01:15:53,520 --> 01:15:55,440 let the machine do my work for me. 1458 01:15:55,480 --> 01:15:58,920 The biggest benefit to it is like, I have AI have a free like 1459 01:15:58,920 --> 01:16:02,720 university level, you know, learning possibility here. 1460 01:16:02,720 --> 01:16:05,880 This thing can help me learn new skills and that's how I've used 1461 01:16:05,880 --> 01:16:08,720 it. It's been like the best thing 1462 01:16:08,720 --> 01:16:12,760 ever for someone who loves learning because it's it's just 1463 01:16:12,880 --> 01:16:16,240 basically wired for you to. Ask for all the questions, yeah. 1464 01:16:16,240 --> 01:16:19,800 Asking all the questions, how do I build that piece of software? 1465 01:16:20,120 --> 01:16:24,080 And to me, every single kid should be building software, not 1466 01:16:24,080 --> 01:16:27,680 because I, I think software is particularly the answer, but 1467 01:16:28,040 --> 01:16:31,240 because it's easy to do it now and, and like it's, it's 1468 01:16:31,240 --> 01:16:33,800 possible. It's still complex, but it's a 1469 01:16:33,800 --> 01:16:36,400 process that's so worth it. Because if, if we're living our 1470 01:16:36,400 --> 01:16:40,440 lives based around these digital tools, I think kids should be 1471 01:16:40,440 --> 01:16:43,120 able to create their own, you know, their their own apps, 1472 01:16:43,120 --> 01:16:46,480 their own software to run on these tools. 1473 01:16:46,520 --> 01:16:48,160 Yeah, yeah. It's and not just for 1474 01:16:48,160 --> 01:16:50,080 entertainment. I mean, like for productivity. 1475 01:16:50,080 --> 01:16:53,080 You talk about relief roster. I mean, like I created that as a 1476 01:16:53,080 --> 01:16:55,400 productivity tool to solve a problem. 1477 01:16:55,560 --> 01:16:57,000 And that's what software should be. 1478 01:16:57,000 --> 01:16:59,800 It should be solving problems. You know, one of the things I 1479 01:16:59,800 --> 01:17:02,680 used to go into schools and say I had this pyramid and it was 1480 01:17:02,680 --> 01:17:06,320 like the pyramid has these. It was almost like back in the 1481 01:17:06,360 --> 01:17:10,560 the dark ages, it was like the masses were illiterate, but at 1482 01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:12,840 the very top you have the clergy that could read and write, 1483 01:17:13,600 --> 01:17:15,480 right? And there was almost this 1484 01:17:15,480 --> 01:17:19,400 mindset of like, they're too common to need to know how to do 1485 01:17:19,400 --> 01:17:20,560 this. They just need to work in the 1486 01:17:20,560 --> 01:17:23,520 fields and let us smart people, us intelligent people, we're 1487 01:17:23,520 --> 01:17:25,800 going to be the ones controlling them and telling them what they 1488 01:17:25,800 --> 01:17:29,120 need to know, basically. And then eventually we all 1489 01:17:29,120 --> 01:17:31,520 learned how to read and write. And it's a good thing we're all 1490 01:17:31,520 --> 01:17:36,360 not going to be, you know, New York bestseller authors, but we 1491 01:17:36,360 --> 01:17:38,600 should all be able to write for our own personal use. 1492 01:17:38,600 --> 01:17:40,840 I'm writing a letter to my mom, I'm writing a letter to a 1493 01:17:40,840 --> 01:17:43,240 friends, or I'm writing a short story for my kid. 1494 01:17:43,320 --> 01:17:44,160 We should all be able to do that. 1495 01:17:44,160 --> 01:17:45,840 And I think it's the same thing now. 1496 01:17:45,840 --> 01:17:48,760 It's like there was this pyramid of creators and consumers. 1497 01:17:48,760 --> 01:17:51,400 The creators at the top being the Mark Zuckerberg who comes 1498 01:17:51,400 --> 01:17:54,520 from the sleep family where his dad paid for his special tutors 1499 01:17:54,520 --> 01:17:57,120 to teach him how to program. And then he was just born at the 1500 01:17:57,120 --> 01:17:59,080 right time and was able to create Facebook. 1501 01:17:59,080 --> 01:18:02,000 And now he's this multi billionaire, whereas everyone 1502 01:18:02,000 --> 01:18:05,320 else is kind of like like I just consume the software they make 1503 01:18:05,600 --> 01:18:08,720 and that's good enough for me. Whereas now, like you're saying 1504 01:18:08,720 --> 01:18:12,640 it should be, everyone should be creating software, you know, 1505 01:18:12,640 --> 01:18:14,000 because we can make cool things can. 1506 01:18:14,000 --> 01:18:16,080 Make our mindset I. Can make a birthday present for 1507 01:18:16,080 --> 01:18:20,760 you about some stupid memory that we had back in you know 1508 01:18:20,760 --> 01:18:24,760 what I mean about XYZ where we used to cat attack if you 1509 01:18:24,760 --> 01:18:29,880 remember that software I made you know and so it's. 1510 01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:33,560 OK, I'm going to be able to catch up with you. 1511 01:18:33,560 --> 01:18:36,040 So from me to you guys, it's a very, very big thank you. 1512 01:18:36,040 --> 01:18:38,560 And of course, I'd like to see one person shares the time with 1513 01:18:38,600 --> 01:18:42,440 you this year, the likely to be because the SI unit commercial 1514 01:18:42,440 --> 01:18:46,040 and like this time, of course, love and our respect to you 1515 01:18:46,040 --> 01:18:46,880 guys. Of course. 1516 01:18:46,880 --> 01:18:50,200 I wish you guys the very best and hope that you guys make 1517 01:18:50,280 --> 01:18:52,640 massive, massive positive impact. 1518 01:18:53,160 --> 01:18:55,400 It's goodbye for me. Do you want to give a shout out 1519 01:18:55,400 --> 01:18:58,960 to anybody before you leave? Yeah, I was going to say for any 1520 01:18:58,960 --> 01:19:01,400 of your listeners who's interested in and who's an 1521 01:19:01,400 --> 01:19:05,480 educator or who has a kid in a school who can, you know, wants 1522 01:19:05,480 --> 01:19:09,160 improvements for their schools, go to techmyschool.org. 1523 01:19:09,160 --> 01:19:11,280 We'd love to serve. We serve schools around the 1524 01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:14,200 world. We have software schools. 1525 01:19:14,280 --> 01:19:15,880 Yep. We do it in the, we do it in the 1526 01:19:15,880 --> 01:19:19,320 in person or or virtually. We can help your school. 1527 01:19:19,320 --> 01:19:21,320 We'll go in and we do it for free. 1528 01:19:22,120 --> 01:19:25,360 Reach out to us. Great deals on software too for 1529 01:19:25,360 --> 01:19:27,520 schools. We we get huge discounts because 1530 01:19:27,520 --> 01:19:31,680 we're a nonprofit and we act as a philanthropic arm for a lot of 1531 01:19:31,680 --> 01:19:35,600 Ed tech software companies. So hit us up if you want to talk 1532 01:19:35,600 --> 01:19:38,240 about software discounts too. Yep. 1533 01:19:38,520 --> 01:19:41,320 Interesting, interesting. I think I have somebody for you 1534 01:19:41,320 --> 01:19:43,240 guys now. We'll talk about that behind the 1535 01:19:43,240 --> 01:19:46,360 cameras. Goodbye, guys. 1536 01:19:46,400 --> 01:19:49,920 Always go for something in your life, conceive, believe, strive 1537 01:19:49,920 --> 01:19:51,960 to grind and achieve. Thanks for having us.