Daniell Cossey

What is your #1 concern for the school year?

This is my 10th year here at Westbrook Village Elementary, and I’ve transitioned to several different roles. But after the pandemic, we saw a huge shift in students. They didn’t know how to talk to each other. They didn’t know how to work with each other. They also didn’t know how to do anything off of commuter. Right now, my role is as a STEM teacher. I see everybody in the building for a designated STEM class once a week. And we started working hands on, and we started making them talk, and we started making them think. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a shift in their thinking. My kids give up too easily; if something’s challenging, if something’s hard, “oh, I can’t do that.” Or if they get one piece wrong, “I’m done.” So our approach in the STEM class is, we’re not asking for perfection, we’re asking for effort. We’re asking for creativity. I love to see the way they try to break my rules, because that’s their number one thing. I’ll have rules to all my projects and they’re like, “well, that technically doesn’t break the rule.” And I’m like, yeah, you’re right. So it’s finally generating that creative brain.

Our number one problem right now in Trotwood is that our students are so far behind. We’re seeing math is just drastically behind. This group was in 1st and 2nd grade when the pandemic hit. They didn’t get those foundational skills, they didn’t get to use a ruler, they didn’t get to build with blocks, they didn’t get that moment. So now we’re trying to redo it. For example, yesterday I had a group of 5th graders and we just busted out the rulers. “How do we line this up?” “What is this?” So, just trying to catch them up and make sure that they don’t have any lasting impact. The pandemic wasn’t their fault. We’ve got to get them caught up. That’s my number one role right now. What can I do to push it? Because right now it’s hard and to teach students to struggle. Even as adults we don’t like to struggle. We want it to be easy.

How does the role of technology play out for you as a STEM teacher? Is there some catch up there from the pandemic, or because of the pandemic are kids kind of at a good place technology wise?

They’re good with technology but we have to teach them that the computer is more than games. The computer can be your profession, this technology can be your job in the future. We’re starting to teach coding more. We have a partnership with Norwood Medical, who are here in Dayton. They make medical pieces for Johnson and Johnson, and they have huge machines that use coding and robotic arms. We’re going to take the kids there and have them come in and show them how technology can be your future here in Dayton. How STEM can be your future here in Dayton. Less than 20 miles away, you can have a full-time permanent job using robotics, coding, making medical products that people need every day because they don’t see that.

Trotwood – I don’t know if you know a lot about our demographic here. When the GM plant pulled out, so did everybody else. We don’t have a Walmart. We don’t have a Target. We right now don’t have a grocery store inside the city limits. GFS, Gordon Food Services, it’s done really well here. They just purchased a property that used to be a Best Buy, and they’re tripling the size, and they will have fresh meat and produce. So we will officially get out of a food desert. But everything’s closed around here. Our mayor has had to try to bring things back because you couldn’t work in Trotwood. So our kids didn’t see their future in technology. And so I have been showing them, you know, occupations that use the computer as your job. You know, can you write code? Can you make the next useful app? Can you make a product that’s going to help a blind student? Can you make something that’s going to help you? You know, if you’re struggling with this, how can you make money using that?

District vision, more looking three, four, five years out. Can you kind of speak to that?

The reason our school of 4th and 5th graders started this program is because our middle school has a STEM program. They use Project Lead the Way. But the problem was, kids get to sign up for an elective in middle school, but they didn’t know what STEM was. To be honest, our district didn’t know what it was. It’s something that the parents didn’t have when they were in school. And so, none of the kids were signing up for it in middle school and none of them were going into the robotics programs when they got to high school because they didn’t have those classes already.

So, when we backed up and put it here in our elementary class, we started with hydroponic towers. Then it kind of stemmed into Nadir asking me, “hey, now you got this tower, what if we made you a whole class?” and I’m like, “yeah, let’s go!” The district came back and said this is fantastic because now the students know STEM. Now the classes this last year were packed. All the STEM classes were full. Then we had more kids that were ready for the robotics program in high school because they took it in middle school.

We had to feed them in. We had to get them that younger learning. We went to a training this summer and they said if you don’t show kids STEM careers and get them interested in the sciences by 5th grade, they’re most likely not going to head that direction. I know everybody thinks 4th and 5th graders can’t think about their future, but they can. We’re just trying to build our students and you know, our students don’t always get to see 21st century jobs. My job here is to show them that you are destined for bigger and better. You are able to do things that your parents weren’t able to do.

College is not the right path for everyone. When we went to Norwood Medical, they said we want them straight out of high school. Come on, let us train you. Let us get you where you need to be. They’ll actually help them pay for their college. When I show them careers and I show them options, they’re not always college bound, but I want them all to know that you are good at something. So that’s kind of our thinking in here. It’s noisy and it’s messy and it’s crazy, but the kids all respond to it so well.

You’ve already alluded to a number of things that you in particular, in your classroom, and the STEM environment are doing promoting positive mental health. Can you expand on that?

A lot of my students with disabilities in the regular classroom struggle, and they get really down. “I’m not good at anything.” “I’m not smart.” But it’s different in STEM. They’re usually my rock stars. I took eight of them, students with disabilities, to a STEM convention last year to present in front of all the teachers here in Dayton. I mean, they were the experts and they kept saying, “but I’m good at something.” “I’m good at this.”

On the flip side, my gifted struggle, because their brains don’t always allow them to think of something different. So a lot of times when they struggle, I’ll talk to them. “Did you have hard time today?” “Yes.” “I want you to think about your classmate when he’s in math class and he says, ‘this is so hard’ and you’re saying ‘it’s so easy.’ Can you remember this moment?” “Yeah, I kind of know what that feels like now.”

We’ve got to build that empathy. And sometimes they’re allowed to work alone, but a lot of times I tell them they have to work as a group or work with a partner because communication is key and there’s not a job where you can work alone. Even the other day they had to turn in one answer for a group and they were having an argument. I said, well, “how do we solve this?” “Oh, we’re going to take a vote.” That’s how you vote. When they came back from the pandemic, they didn’t have those skills. When you have your brothers and sisters, you just smack them in the head when you have a disagreement. We had to find other ways here, and so we do. They have to work together. They have to talk.

I also stress that “it’s okay, today you failed. Tomorrow you’ll do better.” I’ll do the projects with them a lot. We do a balloon car race for the 5th graders. They have to make balloon cars and race them, and it’s a big deal around here. And I always lose. And I lose on purpose. And they’ll go, “Are you upset?” You know, we have to give them those moments to have empathy, we have to give them that moment to be in charge and to not be in charge and work with them on social skills.