How to Regain Autonomy and Keep Teaching

Today, Ali and JoDee sit down with Shiren Rattigan, the owner and lead educational curator at Colossal Academy. Together, they’ll discuss how you can keep your teacher hat while maintaining autonomy, what Colossal Academy is,  the teacher’s role in micro schools and balancing risk taking with reward. 

Connect with Shiren:
Website: https://www.colossal-academy.com/our-team

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colossalcommunity/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColossalCommunity

Connect with Ali and JoDee:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachershift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teachershift
Teacher Shift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-shift
Ali’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisimon/
JoDee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodeescissors/

Website
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/

Episode Transcriptions
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/blog

Transcript

Ali  0:00  
Teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession, teaching their kids kids, but sometimes career goals shift and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible questioning, who am I if I'm not a teacher? I'm your host, Ali Simon.

JoDee  0:29  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:32
And this is Teacher Shift.

JoDee  0:43
Teaching is a calling for many of us. Luckily, if you're looking for a shift, you can still be a teacher. Today, our guest explores roles where you get to keep wearing your teacher hat, maintain your autonomy, and continue serving students.

Ali: 1:00
Shiren Rattigan is the owner and lead educational curator at colossal Academy, and is a UC Berkeley extensions educator, who has been featured in Forbes, Sun Sentinel, Liberate Ed, Reimagined Ed, and is both a Villa Education Fund, and Yas Stop Award quarterfinalist. She uses her 12 years of adolescent education experience to act as both a teacher and an advocate for the adolescent voice. She is a wife and mother of three incredible daughters. Welcome to the show today, Shiren.

Shiren  1:34  
Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's really exciting.

JoDee  1:37  
I'm glad we got to connect with you. Because Ali was really excited to meet you at South By and she's told me a little bit about what you do. But as we get into the show, I have a lot more questions for you.

Ali  1:50  
So yeah, I met Shiren when we attended South By Edu. And I was at a panel focused on micro schooling and homeschooling. And I grew up in South Florida, and was really just thrilled to learn how you started Colossal Academy not too far from my hometown. So can you tell us a little bit about it?

Shiren  2:08  
Sure. So Colossal Academy is really trying to innovate and make relevant education for young people. We know that this is no secret, but the education system is outdated. I think we understand that on a large scale, but we're not sure how to move forward necessarily to give the relevant skills so that they're really ready for 2014 2050. And whatever the future looks like. So colossal Academy, you know, by the time you graduate, as a senior, you will be the CEO of your own company. And it's a seamless transition between being a child and into adulthood. So there's no questions about what to do next, when you leave.

Ali  2:49  
I will say that I kind of accidentally stumbled into this session where I met you, I saw that it was a session for entrepreneurs and in education, and then I didn't really know what the content exactly was going to be about. But I was pleasantly surprised to learn about all of these kind of non traditional, what we think of traditional schooling opportunities that exist in the US, and they just keep growing. I really see schools like yours as a place where teachers who are interested in making a shift may be interested in going.

JoDee  3:26  
Yeah, so if I was a teacher who wanted to make a shift, and it maybe it's not leaving teaching, but into a different type of schooling, tell us a little bit more about like, what exactly is micro schooling, I had never even heard the term before. So when Ali was expressing to me what it was and, and you explaining this, you know, building students to be entrepreneurs, that's big, that is awesome. And Ally knows this. Like, I am a full supporter of entrepreneurs and encouraging people to be entrepreneurs, especially young girls, young women. So tell me a little bit about more like what would micro schooling look like from a teacher standpoint?

Shiren  4:11  
Sure. So you know, I've worked in the public school system. I am a fourth, arguably, fifth generation... we're not sure if we can really count my great great aunt, but I'm a fourth generation educator. I've worked in public schools. My grandfather is the superintendent of schools in the county that my mom grew up in. We're just a robust amount of educators. So it was natural for me to go into public schooling, but something just wasn't right about it. It just didn't feel right. Not only the level of violence that we're dealing with on a daily basis. And I'm a middle school teacher, so all of the eruptions happen in you know, in the middle school years. So I went to very elite super private school, and it just wasn't right there either. Right? Like I felt like there was some social emotional lacking some empathy. And these are like decision makers and large CEOs children of large companies. And then I went to Montessori, like maybe that's what it is. Maybe I'm a Montessori teacher. Maybe I really want to be in nature and doing these things. And then I got there, and we're still in rows and desks. And they're still bells. And they didn't look very much different then, then the traditional or the private school. So a series of things led me to just decide I can't do this anymore. I knew I was called to be a teacher. I think that's something that has been really fascinating in the last 10 years is how can we replace the teacher in the classroom. And instead of coming up with real solutions, it's like, we throw more curriculum, we throw more trainings, and it's like, teachers want autonomy and freedom and say, so in their classroom, we just want to be able to do what we came here to do, which is a deep connection, a deep dive into helping a child to differentiate to make the classroom safe to go at the speed that we want to go at. And instead, I think the response has been like how what kind of tech piece can be put in there. And here's some drones, and here's more training and hears, which becomes exhausting. And it's not listening to the actual people who are in the classroom. So I started developing colossal out of honestly a need, I needed to have a job I needed to my soul needed to continue to be a teacher. So I started kind of just building best practices. The beautiful and amazing thing about it caters is that we are so talented, and we have like such a huge, vast amount of information and knowledge, the amount of decisions we have to make in a day outweighs any other profession. Well, I don't have statistics on that. But I will say, as a proud teacher

JoDee  6:48  
We're with you. We're with you.

Shiren  6:51  
The decisions we make and problems we're solving on a daily basis. And then, as trained professionals who have degrees and are licensed, we're not even paid or honored or respected in the ways that we deserve to be. So initially, I built my own space for what I wanted. And then I started hiring people like, this is a space that they want to work in. And now we are starting to build the network of colossal academies because I really want teachers to have a model that they can grab, go open up quickly, super low cost to enter into the market so that they can own their own classrooms. So that's kind of the evolution of Colossal and where the teacher fits in and how, how to launch and just be brave and know that you're not crazy. And there is a space, but you have to create it.

JoDee  7:38  
Do you see a lot of those three personality traits kind of moving into your type of industry where they love autonomy, they're okay, taking risks, they're okay testing something but also having trust in what they know about pedagogy, behavior management, quality instruction. What are some of those characteristics that you find in the people that you're working with?

Shiren  8:04  
So there's like a vast amount of micro schools. And what I will say is when teachers leave the field, I mean, I'm begging you to stay just open your own place, you can make great money, and you don't need to leave the difference between teachers that are entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs. And I would say the other edupreneurs is there's an additional setback within our own mindset, right. So we've been taught and treated for so long as if we don't deserve right, like this is for the kids, it's you need to do everything for the kids, and you need to be self sacrificing. But that in fact, we don't need to, we actually need to harness our craft really live out our vocation really served from a beautiful whole place, which means financially, spiritually, all the things being really hold on, I found that, for me, the microscope was where I was able to do that. So entrepreneurs in general, we deal with the mind, right, like the mind chatter, I think the worst that we deal with is our own self. So having to overcome the self to believe in the self, right and believing the vision, and then make something that is not apparent in front of us. But then I think the extra layer is really specifically for educators and teachers of like, how do I do this? I'm dealing with people, there's just an extra layer of entrepreneurial skills that they have to start adapting and adapting. And we do because we're amazing. That's the reality of educators.

Ali  9:35  
You really hit on something, you know, immediately. This setback in the mindset is like the way that you pinpointed the self sacrificing mentality that educators have that we're doing it for the kids, it's not only harming us, it's actually harming the whole system. Because if teachers aren't doing what's best for them, and we're not looking Get the whole person kind of like you're sharing. And they're not their best selves, and they're not getting to do what they love every day what they feel called to do, then the whole system is not sustainable. And that's what we're seeing is that we've, for years and years and years, just been sacrificing, because we love children, and we want to educate them in the way, you know, as best as possible. But with all these limitations, it's really hard and so many limitations than us as teachers that we have to conform and do all of these things. So I, I love that you just call that out in such a comprehensible way, like a teacher would.

JoDee  10:34  
Also you're not like ignoring the fact that it is a calling for many teachers. And we see trend after trend. And the people that we collaborate with an interview is that it is this identity crisis, if they can't do what they believe is their calling. And Ali and I always say like, education touches every space, a teacher brain can touch any space. But when you really believe that you should be a teacher, there are other options. And what I'm hearing from you is that this is an option. And there are options to like you don't have to leave the profession to pursue what you believe is your calling. Yeah, and

Shiren  11:18  
I think there's so many options outside of being in the classroom. So you might be someone that's just an amazing curriculum designer, and there's space and space for that. You might be like that really cool math, quirky teacher, you know, the quirky math teacher, that's a math person. So there's space for that. And you could just be a provider for spaces like me, I just need a part time math teacher, I don't need a full staff, right. And so South Florida has this amazing tapestry of just incredible, incredible different models. So we have people like Surf Skate science, and they are super modular. And that's what they do. They are a STEM class on the beach, or at the skate park. And that is solely what they dedicate themselves to. We have art teachers who just solely do art. And then they kind of are bees that cross pollinate right through the different micro schools, I want to be the space, the hub of which, you know, you'd drop off, you pick up childcare, that's really important for so many people, they can't homeschool for working purposes. And so I want to make sure that every child has a place to land, you know, there are other people who just do drumming and PE and because that is what their sacred calling is to be. I want to be a PTA teacher without limits and restrictions of having 50 kids that one of my friends is a PE teacher, he had 50 kids in a gym class, it's just like, No ta no supports. And then how can you really do the work of kinesiology and physiology and all the beautiful things that are taught in PE when you have 50 students, it's management, we're just managing herds of kids. And it's not fair to them, either. It's I mean, the child is not getting all of what you can be. And the other piece is why are we needing to have two and three jobs to show up to then be depleted once we get to work, right? So the financial health of who we are has to be there, you shouldn't be leaving your job to go over, right? Like we shouldn't be dependent on food stamps to feed our kids like this is not acceptable. And it's not a way that we're supposed to be living, and especially the people who care for the most important sector. In my opinion, obviously, I'm a teacher, but the most important sector of our society, our children. And so we shouldn't be elevating that station, we absolutely should be making sure that our basic more than basic necessities, but that we should be flourishing when we walk through the door. And so I really think, you know, I was interviewing somebody the other day she she's in a self contained classroom with 29 students with one aide. And I'm like, Oh, well, I mean, we have a ratio of one to seven, eight and the busiest days, and we have 29 students total in our whole school. And it just like blew her mind. That's it. That's it. That's it. And you only have to deal with eight at a time and I could actually do the work I need to do.

JoDee  14:09  
Well, what I like about this model is that you said you're trying to make a place where students land, but you're making a place for teachers to land to, to have a place where they can teach. They're not just like managing large groups of people, but they're actually delivering quality instruction and they know their students. So well, like, you know, that ratio matters, because how do you actually really know what a student needs to build their full potential? Give a class of 50 I can't even see how it's possible.

Ali  14:45  
I mean, poor PE teachers. This has been happening the whole time. I was a high school teacher. I mean, they always get those big classes. But the other part that I'm really hearing for me and to be honest with you, this is probably one of the first times I've heard it shouted so loud and so eloquently So like, just with so much enthusiasm is that the idea that edupreneurs like, however you said it, like the educator entrepreneur, that you don't have to make a shift and also not increase your salary and not have a better quality of living, and quality of life, for your family or for yourself. And the fact that you can harness your skills, you can do what you love, you can help young people, and you can make a good living doing it. And so I think, what your school does, who you're hiring, to bring in to help supplement maybe areas like, the great example that I loved hearing about with surfskate science is that you can have your own business, you can be an entrepreneur, and you could do all of these things outside of a traditional school house, that is bettering you know, the world because I agree with you that young people are the most important that our next generation we need to be, we need to be putting the best into these individuals. And it doesn't have to be self sacrificing. So you can have a good life. And I think it's hard because we hear these stories, but then how do we make a shift, right? How do we decide we're in the classroom, you just interviewed someone who was in the classroom, this sounds like kind of a big leap to take, if you're used to a very stable salary, right? And you're used to the benefits, and you're used to all of these things. It is a risk. But it sounds like it comes with a lot of reward. So maybe you could kind of talk about balancing the risk taking with the reward that comes with that.

Shiren  16:39  
Yeah, so you know, here at colossal, I'm really, when I tell you like I'm crunching numbers all the time, I'm really trying to figure out how every owner of a colossal could make six figures, I think every teacher in the United States, we have more than enough access to resources that every teacher should be making over six figures, right. So that's part of it. The other piece is we're doing it anyway, like, we're putting stuff on teacher pay teacher and we're selling stuff on it. We're doing all of that entrepreneurial stuff anyway. The last piece is yeah, having that steady paycheck, but we're seeing more and more. So in Broward County, for instance, we used to have like this salary system. And we're seeing that that's not necessarily always dependable either. I have a friend in this system for over 20 years. And he's making less than a brand new teacher, even though when he was hired, he's doing the things he's doing the PDS, he's showing up, he's doing all the things that take off and putting in his years. And at this point, he should be, you know, what he projected at 90 95,000 has a master's degree and he's not he's at 65,020 years in the system. So that's part of the other piece that I think people are trying to figure out and solve is how do we have benefits health benefits? And how do we retire? So all of that is definitely possible. I am not a financial advisor. So I'm not giving financial advice. But what I did was really take a look at what my retirement was. It's just a portfolio that someone is investing for you, we don't have pensions anymore, there's not a state pension, it's not like your state is offering you that. So it's just moving your investments from one private industry to another. So you know, it's really just shifting that over. And it seems scary, but it would be part of that shift and just moving shifting your retirement over to another platform.

JoDee  18:24  
That's some great advice to hear from you. Because we have heard from financial advisors on the podcast, and they really kind of dig down like you're you are just kind of shifting one thing to another. And they can help you plan your retirement, they can help you make financial decisions through the lens of like an expert, you know, and you can meet with them as frequently as you want to really understand like the trajectory of your financial situation.

Ali  18:51  
Another thing I imagine that's happening with teachers who are making the shift, you know, whether they're starting their own micro school, they're teaching at a school like yours, or they're, you know, having their own business where they're offering services for a micro school or homeschool is that teachers don't have a lot of flexibility in the way the system is right now. And so taking a day off is very challenging. It's just really it is even if you're sick, you're still a lot of times going to work. And so I see a lot more flexibility, especially you know, in entrepreneurship, if you're your own boss, maybe you're starting your own company, and how have you maybe seen that play out in your own life or with the people that you work with? Do you feel like there is a little bit more flexibility?

Shiren  19:33  
A lot of flexibility I think, you know, last year one of those teachers just like man, I would just I would love to not come in and eat every day charade and open every day. I'm like, okay, that's alternate, but it's like, you come in and eight Sundays, I'll come you know, some weeks you'll take the opening shift and I'll take the closing shift, and then we'll alternate because I also would like to sleep in until and then that's totally possible. And that because we're just staying micro and we're really community oriented. And that's, you know, something we build into the culture of the school is that some of that flexibility is there. But also, I took the summer off, I didn't want to have summer school. So I didn't, and just really leaning into what I need, in order to not only lead the space that colossal the Flagstaff and Fort Lauderdale, but we have Colossus opening up all over. And I need to be able to navigate all of that and be super stable and super clear headed, to be able to pull people through their processes when they're like, I can't do it, I can't leave my job. I you know, like, all the things that need to happen, and I'm like, you'll be fine. Put in your contract. It's okay. So yeah, I just decided I'm not doing the summer. Also, teachers at my school have the option to be Fridays from home, because we go to Surf Skate science. And a lot of times, they just want to come because like, I want to surf too, you know, but the options there for them to stay and be you know, restore this space really get themselves set and sorted for the next week, take the day off, go have lunch, whatever that looks like in your pajamas, when however that needs to be. And that that is ingrained in the model itself with a sizable salary.

JoDee  21:11  
What do your former colleagues, your family, your lineage of family educators. What do they think of this approach?

Shiren  21:22  
Yeah, you know, it's really interesting, because I felt very much like a betrayer. And that's like, the system working still in my subconscious of like, you left the public school and you left the public school teachers and those kids need you, you know what I mean? Like that's in there still. And so my mom, who was a special ed teacher for 35 years, and Title One schools, my cousin who is coming in from Indiana, she is, again, Teacher of the Year for so many years, but just having these dialogues of them, like, yeah, you're on the right page, we couldn't have done that. That's what I was wanting and dreaming of. So my mom was in a closet most of the time, without any really good manipulatives, or resources to really get her children who needed her the most what they needed, if she could have just had her own school to just individualize every single child or really follow the IEP to the best that she could. Yeah, but still inside of me, there's like this internal, like, what about unions? And what am I dismantling the public school, and you know, all of that, like internal dialogue still exists. But I know that in these spaces, my kids are safe, they're loved. They're honored, I'm honored. And so I have to just keep moving forward with knowing that it feels right now it didn't feel right before. And so I have to trust that

Ali  22:39  
sounds like you've grown something incredible in your own community, and now you're sharing it with communities that you probably can't even drive to. So I love that, not only for you, but for all of these kids that are going to get impacted by this different approach to learning. It sounds like it's very, you know, a holistic approach for not only the child, but also the educators. So I definitely want to share with our listeners how they can learn more about colossal Academy, we're gonna put that in our show notes for everybody. But is there anything that you would want to share with someone who's really inspired by this podcast episode about maybe looking into starting their own colossal Academy?

Shiren  23:22  
Yeah, sure. So you know, if you're given a vision, it's was given to you for a reason, right? Like, if you can see beyond your classroom and into a different space, it's because that's your vision, right? And that vision was is a gift to you, and it's asking you to please see it through. So, you know, get super clear on what the vision is, and try to execute it. There's lots of supports, I do microscope coaching, if anybody's looking for that type of a thing, as well as you know, the franchise, but really, just if you don't see what you need around you, you have to create it. And there's lots of supports for you to do that. And I would like to also point out that the availa Education Fund is one of the pivotal pieces for me to be able to take that leap and say, Okay, I have $10,000 Now I can actually buy the product and build the school, right. And so I urge people to check out Villa Education Fund.

Ali  24:21  
Thank you so much for sharing that information with our listeners. And we can be the change makers here. I really you are so inspiring. hearing your story and and what you're growing at colossal academies. I also see so many opportunities to make a shift. So you don't have to be the Shiren and start Colossal Academies. Maybe you want to start the art program that's going to be offered at a micro school because that's your passion. And you're going to do that you're also going to do summer camps or something else you know, to go with it but you can grow your own business, your own education specialty with whatever you're passionate About and so Jody has talked about it Shiren you talked about it today, find what you love about teaching.

JoDee  25:06  
Also, like, teachers are the boots to the ground people. And like we're not trying to tackle huge systems, we're taking the boots to the ground people and making a change.

Ali  25:18  
It's true. I mean, we are the ones day in and day out as educators that are with the kids, right? And we are the ones making the change. And I think that this is just another way to look at making your own shift into something that will make you the educator that you want to be I hope so. Thank you again for your time today.

Shiren  25:39  
Thank you so much.

Ali  25:48  
Are you interested in suggesting a topic for Teacher Shift? Being a guest or recommending a guest? Please see the episodes page on our website to make a submission. And if you'd like to write for us, see our blog page. If you liked Teacher Shift, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple podcasts, Spotify and Amazon music. Today's episode was written and recorded by me, Ali Simon and my co host, JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Shift. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original Music: Emoji by Tubebackr.