Episode 4

Week of February 10 - Episode 4:  An Interview With Dr. Ingrid Larragoity-Martin

Welcome:

• Episode 4
• Excited to be joined by Dr. Ingrid Larragoity-Martin today
• We are going to be looking at two large challenges for teachers today, Apathy and Trauma
• Teachers are encountering both of these issues more often as each year goes by.  The vast majority of us are not equipped to deal with Trauma, while apathy is one of those issues every generation lays at the feet of the one before it…. But teachers are especially concerned about it now.   
• For help with tackling both of these subjects, I am excited to welcome Dr. Ingrid Larragoity-Martin.

Dr. Larragoity holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree is instrumental conducting from CU Boulder, and is currently the Director of Bands at the Skyline High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy where I was fortunate to work with her for a time.  She is a former faculty member of and Director of Bands at New Mexico State University and Henderson State University. Additionally, she came to Skyline from the South Florida Cares Mentoring Movement. She is one of the most intelligent and capable women I have ever met, and most importantly, she is a dear friend.  Welcome Dr. Larragoity!

A big subject for us today is trauma, and it seems to me that your work as a Program Director in the CARES movement would give you some expertise in that field.  Can you talk to us a little about that?

From your perspective as a college director, high school, and community educator… is Trauma itself on the rise?  

Why are we seeing it more now as public school teachers?

Is there more trauma now than when you or I was in public school?

ACE is an adverse childhood experience, and we know from research that at least 47% of the student population has experienced at least one of these events.  Nearly 22% have experienced more than one. Where are these coming from?

35% of children experience an ACE before they reach kindergarten, and the research also tells us that there are no barriers for this statistic with regard to race, income, or education level.  Does that statistic surprise you?  

Not everyone of us has quick access to trauma-informed teaching strategies that really go in depth.  Of course we can jump into about anything we find online, but that doesn’t compare to real training like I’m sure you have experienced first hand.  What would you recommend for educators who want to stem this tide? What can we do as one person, or even a small group of people?

APATHY

There are very few educators I have not heard at one point or another speak about the Apathy in our students.  Teachers complain about it, and parents complain about it. The most common response I get from students when we talk about it is, “Well every generation thinks that the one before them was worse”.  I would love to get your take on our kids… are they really just apathetic? Do they not care?

You have taught in multiple institutions that were all extremely diverse both within, and without.  What did you see that was different or similar from Florida, New Mexico, or Colorado?

I recently read an article by a journalist named Chris Holmes, and after talking with students in 14 states, he came to the conclusion that students aren’t disengaged… it’s really us, the adults.  Is it really us? Are we not adapting fast enough?

I have been a teacher for 10 years, and even since I have joined the ranks, I feel like we have implemented a plethora of programs that were not here 10 years ago.  Is it that these programs are not implemented well? Is it the programs themselves?

We as teachers and teacher-leaders are still extremely limited in what we can do as far as organizational change.  What have you found, if anything, that is working for you in the classroom every day?

More questions?

Any closing thoughts?