Episode 292: Goosechase

Episode 292: Learn, Remember, Feel with Goosechase

[00:00:30] Fonz: Hello everybody. And welcome to another great episode of My EdTech Life.

Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day and wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world. I hope today you've had an excellent day and I am excited as always to bring you an amazing show with some amazing guests and thank you as always also for all of your support. We appreciate all the likes, the shares and the follows.

And again, we, we do this for you, as you know, we just love to bring you some great conversations and some amazing guests like today, so we can go ahead and talk all things ed tech, education. Student learning, enhancing learning, and amplifying learning. And I can't think of a better show to do that than today, because we're going to be talking about Goosechase.

And I would love to welcome to the show, Alyshahn Kara and Jessica Whittaker. Alyshahn has been on the show before also. We have done a show on Goosechase, but I just love that he's willing to come back so we can share more information. More about what Goosechase is doing, what their vision and mission is.

And also we get to talk to Jessica to see how she's implementing it and how that's helping, motivation and learning as well. So welcome both to the show. How are you doing today, Jessica?

[00:01:51] Jessica: I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to talk about best practices for students and to also talk about Goosechase.

[00:01:57] Fonz: Love it. Thank you, Jessica and Alyshahn. Welcome back, Alyshahn. Thank you so much for joining us again. How have you been since the last time that you've been on the show?

[00:02:07] Alyshahn: Yeah, I'm very excited to be back. I think we saw some really great engagement from your audience last time. And we just want to do what we can to support and keep progressing education and technology in the classroom the best way we can.

[00:02:21] Fonz: Excellent. Well, I'm excited again, just to have you both on. And like I said, Alison, you've been on the show and, um, it was just a great episode and you're absolutely right. We did have some wonderful engagement from a lot of our listeners and just really signing up, trying out Goosechase. And now that We're starting a brand-new year.

I know that there's a lot of educators out there that are looking for just some wonderful tech that can really help enhance and amplify the learning, obviously in the classrooms. That's something that's great. And I'm all about that kinesthetic moving around learning and so on. So again, I'm just really excited about that.

So, for all our audience members who may not be familiar with your work yet. Can you give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space? So Alyshahn, we'll go ahead and start with you.

[00:03:12] Alyshahn: Sure. As Fonz mentioned, my name is Alyshahn Kara.

I'm chief revenue officer and one of the co-founders of Goosechase. I've been with the company since the start, so some 14 years ago, we were founded at the university of Waterloo in the Velocity Program where Andrew, our CEO and an original founder had the idea for a scavenger hunt app and so that's kind of our foundation or our basis over the years and watching how people have used our technology.

We’ve evolved into a platform for interactive experiences. So our main focus is to create a platform that allows people to use technology to experience the physical world. So, we always try to tell our creators, for example, you know, you should have three objectives, try and help people remember something, learn something or feel something.

And if you can do one or three of those things, you're really succeeding in creating a memorable experience and connecting somebody to something greater than the technology that they're in. And so that's kind of where we are right now maybe a little bit different from the last time we spoke, but

uh, still in line with our mission of making the world more fun, more playful and more human.

[00:04:23] Fonz: I love that. And you know, I, I love a couple things here that I do want to unpack right before we get to Jessica, but just that human aspect that you said, more human, more of that interaction, more of that communication.

And so, I absolutely love that vision. And so now we'll go ahead and turn it over to Jessica. Jessica, give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space.

[00:04:46] Jessica: Perfect. So my name is Jessica Whitaker. I get to be an instructional coach over in the Pacific Northwest. So, this is my 10th year in education.

I was a classroom teacher for seven of those years. Spent it kicking it with fifth graders, um, which are just a super fun blend of sweet and sassy and inquisitive. And then now I get to work primarily with adult learners as an instructional coach, but I'm still in the elementary sphere. So, I get to work with students in K through five.

Um, there's not a day that I'm not in classrooms. It's my favorite place to be, but I also get to facilitate PLCs, professional development, and that is where I got to utilize Goosechase, which we'll talk about more soon, I'm sure.

[00:05:28] Fonz: Oh, I love it. So that's awesome. I'm a former 5th grade and 6th grade teacher, so I absolutely understand what you're talking about as far as, you know, that elementary, 5th grade, 6th grade role where they are a little sassy, but it is a fun group and they really, truly are inquisitive, but I absolutely can't wait to hear the way that you use Goosechase with them because again, going back to what Alyshahn was saying and, uh, Believe it or not, Alyshahn , I know that we have been communicating back and forth, uh, through Mia.

So big shout out to Mia from Goosechase also. But I recently took a visit to, um, one of our local museums here. And the first thing that popped to mind was, uh, Goosechase. And I was thinking to myself, oh my gosh, you know, for the next museum visit, it would be great to have some kids come over. And when they do, you know, do something fun and do a great activity, because again, being able to have them remember, or just make them feel, you know, just some sort of way, as far as the learning aspect of it and the communication and all of those things at once, it really does create that learning that really sticks and that's something that I really love because one of the things.

Uh, that I do want to add to that is when you do make that learning stick, it just, it's not just something superficial, but it's just something that really is internalized that they go from year to year, and they can keep coming back to that memory or that experience that they can use. So, I absolutely love that.

So now, before we come back to you, Alyshahn, Jessica, tell us a little bit more about your experience with Goosechase, because I know, like I mentioned. It's almost a fresh start to the year. I know for myself, I know there have been some educators that maybe are already a month in, some that are barely just getting started, and maybe they're looking for some, uh, wonderful ways and maybe different ways to really enhance the learning.

So tell us a little bit about your experience with Goosechase.

[00:07:25] Jessica: Yes, I love that question and in the ways that we can enhance the learning. So, I'll start with how I used it. First was more, I'll say as a consumer, but even then, something I really appreciate this platform is even if you are on the consumer end of things.

You're very much a producer. So Goosechase was first on my radar through my coaching cohort through the district office. So it was around Christmas time last December that for our coaching, just celebration to wrap up the 2023, um, year and head into the holiday season. We just had a reflection on best coaching practices.

the things that we had been working on as a cohort, but also it was a chance to build that culture and that community as coaches. And as soon as I started using it, I knew that I wanted to leverage it with teachers and then see them use it in classrooms. So, in December I used it, in April I started planning for this school year.

With my principal and vice principal thinking about the ways that we could really make that back-to-school PD meaningful and fun and that's where I got to utilize it. So just a few short weeks ago, in August, when we welcomed staff back, we had a really unique start to our school year. Because our district is blending some different buildings together to be creating some new staff.

And so we found ourselves welcoming some new staff into our building, as I'm sure many schools across the nation are. But some of those staff, they had actually worked together in previous buildings. So it was a unique situation where we were trying to establish what does our culture and community really look like together.

But also, as we're trying to blend that new staff, we wanted to use it as a formative assessment, which is where I really can see teachers leveraging this tool. So it was a chance, because sometimes PD just has to be some nuts and bolts and sit and get, especially at the beginning of the school year, where we could, like Alyshahn mentioned, get to that

physical world and connect human to human. So, we had teachers get up in groups that were pre assigned. They got to go through physical resources around the school and navigate to different places, take selfies together, snap some videos, even things as silly as like we all know that every teacher has Their parking spot, but it's protected.

So go out and show us yours. So folks were laughing and connecting about that. But then also, like I mentioned that formative assessment piece where we were digging into our physical staff finder, our virtual staff finder, asking folks to locate resources and either type in their answers or again, engage through video or picture to just show that product of learning.

 It was a check for understanding some nuts and bolts. Also, people's competitive sides came out, which is always fun when you have grown-ups just running around the school building taking over before the kids come and the excitement that came with that. And then as well, anytime I'm planning PD, I want to highlight quality, low lip strategies that I know that teachers can use in their classroom with students.

And so. Like I mentioned, it's just been a couple of weeks since we came back in the middle of August, but not a week has gone by that I haven't had at least one staff member circle back and say, like, hey, Jess, I'm so glad that we did that Goosechase. Or hey, what was the name of that platform that you used?

I think I want to use it with my kids. and then going back again to the culture building. I got to print out those pictures that our staff submitted and post them up in our staff room So we just keep circling back in the coaching cycles that I’ve already started I have two different teachers that are dabbling in Goosechase and kind of dipping their toes in thinking about using it And um the two ways that we've talked about it are Thinking about norming as a class.

How are you building those community agreements and expectations with your students? How are you teaching those procedures and then circling back to it? Goosechase could be a super fun way to do that. And then teachers could take those photos, those videos, display them in the class and continue to leverage the learning.

Another way we're looking at it is using it as some sort of a formative assessment piece within a unit of study. And we haven't fully grappled with what that could look like yet, but that's something I just love about this platform, that it can be used in one way and then every teacher is so creative and there's so much autonomy.

to really take it and make it your own and just run with it.

[00:11:59] Fonz: I love it. I love everything that you shared and especially the fact that you're using this as a wonderful tool with your educators, your teachers that are coming in, whether they're veteran teachers, whether they're brand new teachers, but the fact that they're getting that exposure to a wonderful tool like Goosechase and like you said, really connecting that human aspect of it and being able to You know, working groups partner up, they get to know a little bit about each other.

They get to compete and you're building community already right from the get-go, along with still mixing in, like you said, those, those, uh, non-negotiables kind of still within the PD that you still kind of have to do, but now you're making it or elevating it and making it a little bit more affordable.

Fun for them as well. So, they're doing that documentation. So Alyshahn, how do you feel right now? Having Jessica just really just tell you how amped up she is and how her district is doing with Goosechase.

[00:12:57] Alyshahn: Yeah, I got to say, um, well, first and foremost, I'm so excited for you to see what's coming, just like we have so much planned for the platform.

Our new architecture is releasing very shortly, and that is the precursor to just some stuff that I'm not allowed to talk about without my VP of product getting super upset about, but I think that you're going to just love it. You know, the big thing for us is like, You're right. People are so creative, and we see that all the time.

And it, it genuinely astounds me, um, how much care and effort people put in. And you can really see that reflected in the way they build the Goosechases. And one of the key things for us is trying to avoid creator fatigue, because there is a point where you're like, okay, I've done this now, how do I keep it?

Keep adding or keep changing and make it something that people want to come back to and have an additional experience on their previous experience. You know, if you watch a sequel to a movie, it has to be better than the first or it's just not, it's just not good enough. And so, we, we were trying to think about like, how do we make sure that the first time you use Goosechase.

isn't the best time. The second time has to be the best. The third time has to be the best and and continuously. So, I love hearing about all the different creativity and it just gets me excited to keep building more stuff or, or, you know, working on, on trying to find new ways for teachers to extend the learning to, um, to themselves and also to their students, of course.

[00:14:26] Fonz: And that's one thing that I love, Alyshahn, especially like now when we hear Jessica share the work that she's doing and obviously how her colleagues have taken to the platform and like she mentioned circling back and even asking like, hey, what was that platform again? So. Because now they're getting creative and now, they're going to see how they can go ahead and implement that into their class, or some of them may have already started doing so.

And that's something that I really love. And, but I want to come back to Jessica also in asking. So, Jessica, tell me a little bit about as far as now on the student side of it, have you had already any teachers or maybe even yourself, uh, maybe before moving into this role or already experiment with Goosechase or use it, uh, effectively in the classroom?

And can you share maybe some, uh, Testimonials of that and how that's going.

[00:15:15] Jessica: Yeah, I had not personally used it until just last December. And I really went in with that lens of how can I use this with teachers so that they can use it with students? I haven't seen it with kids yet, but I am a prisoner of hope.

And I know that I have folks that they are currently thinking about. planning on that. So, I'm excited to share those outcomes when they happen.

[00:15:33] Fonz: Excellent. Well, I'm really excited about that too, because I know Alyshahn was here, me, and I think maybe it was almost a, almost a year now, Alyshahn, that you've been here.

And I know that, you know, well, I was very excited, just to hear how students are using it. But I guess now, you know, at least it's great that we have Jessica here as far as on that coaching side, because that's something that I do in my district too, as well. So, um, Not only is Alyshahn , you know, hearing your great feedback, Jessica, but myself too, I'm taking notes and, uh, luckily this is, uh, you know, the, my podcast or our podcast, I should say, so I can always come back and kind of pick your brain of sorts, you know, and re listening to some of these great ideas because you've already shared some great ones.

Uh, but what I wanted to talk to you about is something that you mentioned that I do want to emphasize when you said that it is a low lift activity. And I think as coaches in being able to, um, share any kind of tool or any kind of platform with our teachers, oftentimes we do get a lot of pushbacks just because.

You know, teachers feel overwhelmed and there's already so much on their plate, but when there's a platform such as Goosechase that really does feel that is very low lift, but the possibilities are endless, that's something that I really love and like you mentioned. Adding multiple layers to the content, not only, you know, with your teachers, but I know that we can do this with students, but I love the fact that the teachers are diving in and really accepting of the platform.

So now with your experience, not only as a teacher, but now with a coach and knowing that, you know, even teachers amongst ourselves, we kind of learn a little bit differently, you know, and in that aspect, how Goosechase has supported? Your teachers at those various levels of tech. And what I mean by that is we know that we have our speed boats.

We have our tugboats and then we have our anchors. So, with that Goosechase activity, what is it that you've seen as far as, you know, the acceptance or the usage? Um, you know, have you got any pushback or is it more like, hey, I can't wait to dive in more?

[00:17:46] Jessica: Absolutely. So, it really is that low lift platform from the fact that the interface is very intuitive, at least to me.

Maybe I'm one of those, um, speedboat teachers out there that when I saw it, it just made sense. The buttons are exactly how you would think that they would be the way that the point total on the side, um, showed me and helped me keep track of things, which is very helpful. When I hit start, I know it's going to start and when I hit end, I know it's going to end and all of those little things that teachers when they're working with students don't have the time to wait.

Where's that button again? It's just there. It's intuitive. It's easy to find. Um, I knew ahead of time. But I had a few tugboats on my staff and maybe a few anchors that I just need to get them in this platform Trying it out. The belief will come if we can get the behaviors there first So I talked to a few of my super techie staff folks and asked them if they would just be willing to be the person for their team to download the platform on their phone.

I tried it out with them ahead of time Just to make things make sure that things were working on the back end of things and then they were the person that as the team was going, they were collecting the artifacts. So, they were taking the pictures. They were typing things in and it was a hoot and a half because some of my folks that I thought maybe were anchors were then like by the end of it working someone else's phone like, oh, I'm faster than she is.

Um, or, or because like I said, we were also leveraging other platforms where Maybe we're in our staff binder digitally. Someone else is running that piece while someone else is getting ready to record that artifact. So, every single person on the team was an active participant. Um, but I just knew based on different levels of engagement and, um, capacity that I could be a little bit more strategic with how to build those challenges.

On the flip side, in a classroom, I let my teachers know like anytime you try something new with kids. It is scary. It was my first time ever trying The Goosechase platform as a producer and as a creator and so I was worried. I I had had so much fun using it Um and my coach Christmas party, but it was a risk.

And so, I was just vulnerable and said, you know, things, I didn't know how it was going to work. Things could have been really off, but it did work. And now that I've tried it out, I already know the things I want to do next time to make it even better. So when you're ready to use it in your classroom with your kids, you know where to find me.

I'm here to help. I'm happy to help because I also am really passionate as a coach about linking arms with teachers that they don't have to try out any of these things on their own. I will always practice what I preach. And so, Because of that, I have had a couple of teachers already in coaching cycles that they're thinking more about how deliberate they want to be in their process with setting it up.

Um, but they haven't asked me platform questions and that's pretty exciting to me so far. I also think when it comes to the classroom with students, again, teachers can be mindful and as I work with them, they I know that we'll have the same conversations of, okay, who are your kids that you can have on the iPad being the artifact gatherers?

Who are your kids that, man, that might be a little bit more of a struggle. How can we integrate their voice? Because again, we're coming back to that human connection where we're using this to build that culture and community. So let's think about the learners we have in the room, whether they're five or 45 and figure out how to tap into the skillset and gifts of each of them.

[00:21:23] Fonz: Oh, well, oh my gosh. There's so much to unpack there. So Alyshahn , let me ask you, I mean, I know that the first time that you were here again with Sarah, we talked a little bit more of that classroom implementation, but right now this is a great, great episode because now having Jessica here as an instructional coach, this is wonderful, not only for myself right now, I'm getting so hyped up about this because I also work with teachers and if this is going to be a wonderful way to, to be able to implement the training.

But also modeling for them how this could be used, then that in turn goes into the classrooms. So, I absolutely love Alyshahn, that Goosechase and, and I don't know if that was like the intended vision to begin with because sometimes, you know, visions, they adapt, you improvise, you overcome certain things and then all of a sudden you're like, wow, like we're, we're getting both worlds here, you know.

You're doing the adult education side, but then you're also doing, you know, the general education side with our students. So let me ask you, you know, as far as that is concerned, was that the original vision from the beginning or is it something that kind of really morphed into now being more into the classroom focus than before?

[00:22:33] Alyshahn: Um, yeah, let, let me start by saying that one of the things that really Bothers me and, and, you know, I don't want to age myself or sound like too old of a man here, but you know, I, I think that today companies forget that they exist for their customers. They don't exist for themselves. And, you know, if you go on, um, even something like FedEx or a website and you go to chat with FedEx, the first thing they do is gather all the information that's important to them.

And that rubs me all kinds of the wrong way, because my experience as a consumer is. Horrific. And I just, I just want an answer or, or, you know, I just want a piece of information, and I want it to be accessible to me very easily. So, I think our intention with Goosechase was always. To listen to our customers.

They told us what the platform should be. And teachers, um, as, as overworked as teachers are, they are the most passionate group of, of people as a collective that I think you'll ever find, because they will very much tell you what they like, what they don't like, what they'd like to see from you. Um, and you know, that is really helpful for us because it gives us something to, to deliver.

You know, if you look at the content and the resources that we put out, um, the way the platform is being built, it's a result of the things people are telling us that they'd like to see. It's not, I don't think we've actually had our own original idea in 10 years. And I'm not even, I'm not even ashamed to say that there's so many people that are so much smarter than us telling us what they would like the platform to be.

Um, that always to do honestly is just listen and do our best to visualize what they're saying. And we're lucky enough to have folks like Jessica, who will, um, actively tell us that that's no good. That's no good. Oh, we love that. Um, we'd love to see it changed in this way and test it for us because they know how their peers will use it.

So, I don't know if that really answered your question so much. Fonz is kind of went like around on a tangent.

 Actually, it's a great segue into what I wanted to ask you next, because that, that next component that was coming up is like you mentioned, you know, the way that you listen, it's so important because you're absolutely right.

[00:24:49] Fonz: Being in this industry or being in education myself for 18 years, and then really with a huge emphasis and focus in ed tech the last eight years and going through my studies and so on. A lot has changed where now is just really just people, you know, there's a lot of platforms out there. There's, I mean, myriads, there's like companies going up each and every single day.

And oftentimes I feel that, you know, they really don't take into account. The importance of the consumer, which in this case would be the teachers and then obviously student facing, but to be able to listen, like you mentioned, the fact that you all listen and, you know, and looking at your resources too, as well, if you, people go into the nest, you know, and you looking into the, some of the resources that have been built, I know for a fact that those are teacher resources or suggestions that they've put out that you have, which is great because it's not only an app that is used by teachers, but also they're Teachers have a hand in creating and giving some of that feedback, which is also very important.

So that is the one thing that I really do like and admire. And I'm thankful for that. There are still many companies out there such as yourself that do listen to the teachers. And obviously the things that really matter, you guys will definitely look into it, make changes as necessary, but then, you know, kind of still understanding, you know, that in the end, you know, what your vision is.

And it's all about creating that human connection too, as well, and enhancing that learning and what is going to get Goosechase to do that for the teachers. And so I do want to applaud you for that, because like I said, many companies out there right now. And it just seems like, um, you know, sometimes honestly, because I do get a lot of emails, you know, at work and everything, it's almost just like so much solicitation, but you really not getting to know the customers and you're just kind of Throwing it out there.

But again, I'm thankful for the work that you're doing. And obviously, you know, and just listening to Jessica's stories, you know, as an instructional coach and the way that she's working this magic with her teachers and being able to use and like she mentioned, use it and practices what she preaches in that sense of, Hey, if I'm going to share this with you, it's something that I use.

And it's something that I believe in. And it's something that could be very helpful to you. And then demonstrating that through activities and that learning, I mean, it's just wonderful. So that's really exciting. So, I'm very thankful for that. But let me ask you now, let's dig in a little bit more into the nest.

Tell us a little bit more on the website. Uh, side of it, Alyshahn, as far as what teachers can find on the website as we pull this up and the resources that are available there for our educators.

[00:27:31] Alyshahn: Yeah. One of the visions or dreams that we had, um, came from just hearing people say like, oh my God, it's so cool to hear what other creators are doing in education and enterprise in, Nonprofits, uh, public facing.

It's so neat to hear about their creativity. I wish I thought about that idea. Can you connect with connecting with somebody who I can share my ideas with? And I'd love to hear them. And, um, you know, I think the idea of community or community itself is not platform. It's not a technology or a place that that people kind of coexist.

I think that's a, but our community is one of passionate, creative people who love sharing ideas. And we just wanted to facilitate an opportunity for them to talk to each other and to have a place where they could ask questions and get answers from people who are like them. And not have to hear it second hand from Goosechase where I'm like, oh my gosh, Fonz, you got to hear Jessica.

She's an instructional designer. She's amazing. She's doing this with Goosechase. And you're like, oh, shoot, I wish I could just talk to Jessica directly. And so, I think as far as the Nest goes, it's certainly one of the more challenging aspects of creating community because people already have their places that they go.

They go to Reddit, they go to Google, they go to Facebook. And so, to, to like create a new gathering place really takes time. And so, the, what we've tried to do with the nest is make it a place where you can not only connect with other people who are Goosechase power users or new users or just idea generators, but also a place where there is a ton of content created by creators for creators.

And so you'll see. Templates and lesson plans and, um, articles and stories. And, and that's kind of the idea is can we make it valuable enough that people actually want to spend time there? Because I think a lot of companies have quote unquote communities, and they're encouraging you to be present in their community and participate in, um, you know, for me, it's more, who cares about all of that?

It's more, do people come here and find. What they need very quickly, or can they ask a question because they haven't seen that question before and get an answer very quickly. And we're, we're trying to build towards that, but of course it's a, it's a process takes time to change behaviors.

[00:30:06] Fonz: Absolutely. But you know, it's wonderful, like you mentioned, and you know, you're absolutely right.

Like I said, going back to as many years as I've been, you know, with an education, education communities and so on, sometimes you just need to like kind of just go and get the answer and see what you're looking for and get that resource and you're in and you're out. And that's okay. And I love the fact that you're saying, Hey, it's okay.

If you just come in, get what you need and you're ready to rock and roll because you're going to go ahead and apply it. That's wonderful. And nothing against, you know, other communities where you do spend some time and, you know, you bond and you build that community and so on, which is great, you know, and we all love that.

But you said sometimes, you know, even in a pinch, you, you need to adapt your lesson and here I go, I can go to the nest and then I can go ahead and get, you know, an example, I can reach out to somebody or like you mentioned, like, you know, and, I'm sure. We're going to have Jessica's information in the show notes.

So, anybody listening who is dying to implement this as an instructional coach, I'm sure that Jessica will be able to share some pointers with you. And I think that's something that is great and important and going back and actually sticking to. The community aspect of this. I want to go back to you, Jessica.

I know you kind of talked a little bit about it in the very beginning as you know, as the school year was starting. But now, you know, you're a couple of weeks in, you've tried Goosechase, not only yourself last December, but using it with your teachers, teacher PD and so on. So I want to ask you, how has this helped?

What is the potential that Goosechase has in continuing to help you as an instructional coach continue to build that community within your teachers as well?

[00:31:50] Jessica: That's a big question with a lot of layers that I'm already thinking about how I want to attack. Um, I really resonated earlier with when, um, Alyshahn talked about how the, first experience should not just be the best experience, but we're continuing to improve on that.

And so for me, that coach lens I've, I try throughout the school year to do different like challenges with my teachers. Sometimes they're self-care related. Sometimes they're trying instructional practices. Sometimes it's a little bit of both, and I was thinking that that would be a really cool opportunity to integrate it again, maybe something in January when we come back from the holidays and we want to kick start the second half of the year well, but also maybe even around testing season when morale is low, it could be a great chance just to revive spirits.

But then also I feel like with students, I really want to get teachers in the platform using it with students because that is where it will really spread. We know that kids are learning differently now than they did when I was first in the classroom and I've only been in for 10 years. And so finding those most innovative practices, opportunities for students to engage with, The world that they're entering is why I'm so passionate about leveraging technology and something about Goosechase that is so appealing to me is I know I've thrown around the words consumers and producers quite a bit but even if a student is consuming a Goosechase scavenger hunt they are not just a bystander.

They are an active participant in that process and they get to produce content to show their own learning. And I feel like when teachers in my building start utilizing it with kids, I mean, I can only imagine now the, the teacher's lounge conversations that I will walk into. That's where it spreads. Um, when, when we can actually do it with kids and we can hear that actually worked, um, and the excitement that teachers will have.

When they see how engaged that their learners are. I mean, I have the vision. I see it in my mind. We just need to make it happen. And then I think from there, really, the sky's the limit because we also know that teachers are sometimes the best borrowers. Um, and the fact that there is that nest opportunity for teachers to connect.

With educators outside of the the walls of our building Um, but also just to tap in like I mentioned just even those staff lounge chats Sometimes it's just being brave and bold and starting something trying something different knowing that kids deserve it Kids deserve us trying different and new things in our practice Um Because that's how you, that's how you get to that magic sauce of learning.

Um, so I'm really excited about our potential. And I hope that kind of covers the breadth of your question.

[00:34:47] Fonz: Alyshahn, did you want to add? Yeah, I just wanted to

[00:34:49] Alyshahn: add that, that, um, it’s really, it's really neat to hear you, you chat about good shapes because I think we have so much of the same kind of mindset towards it.

You talked a little bit about this idea of testing and, um, and, uh, what was the word you used? Um, well, let's, let's use testing and, and I'll pause there. But, um, there’s this idea of like video games show comprehension, like they show skill. Um, testing environments, teachers will often say like, that's, that's not a good application or a good way to show comprehension or application or extension of a particular topic because the environment creates a poor opportunity for certain students to, to perform.

And so we hear a lot of teachers talk about Goosechase in, um, In relationship to Bloom's taxonomy, where they're using it as a way to show our students comprehending something, are they applying something, or are they taking something and extending it, whether that's going to a museum and, um, talking about a predator's natural habitat or finding something and taking a picture of it or, um, talking about different predators that are similar to a type of predator that they previously learned about.

And that's the way that they're actually showing parents or grading students more effectively because that's the way Technology is a function of life. Uh, students are going to be on their phones is what we're hearing from teachers. And so can we use it as a tool to enable learning instead of it being about the technology?

It's about the topic or, um, about the specific learning. So it's really cool to hear you talking in that way, because that's kind of how we are seeing it in building too, based on the feedback that we're getting, which is pretty cool.

[00:36:41] Fonz: And I wanted to add to that too, as well as Jessica, as you were talking about, because not only am I seeing it right now with the work that you're doing with the teachers, like you mentioned that potential, once you do put it out there with the students and we're seeing it in building.

Really what I love about, uh, Goosechase is the documentation aspect of it, the, the learning artifacts. And I have always been big on that since my last couple of years as a, as a teacher. And again, with aging myself, I think it's like, I mean, I think the Chromebooks had just started rolling out. And so that's how long ago it was that I was there.

But the fact that when you use the technology and leverage the technology to help a student enhance their learning or show their thought process, because oftentimes, we're focused on the end product, but we never focus on the process. So, we're focused on that letter grade at the end, but what was the process to getting to that letter grade and the fact that with Goosechase, you're able to document very similar to what your teachers were doing and documenting like, hey, this part on the binder, can we take a picture or this part, you know, of, of this section.

Can we take a picture or, you know, type in a sentence or whatever it is? You're, you have that documentation throughout the, the learning process that at the end, you can come back and follow and see like, oh, very interesting because not every student has the same or similar thought process. And now you're getting an insight look into that.

But then at the end, also, you have a final product that you can show and even show some progression within the learning aspect. And there's that. Evidence of learning as well, which sometimes with students that may need additional supports, sometimes we need to also as teachers gather evidence when we go to a meeting for, you know, an IEP 504 ARD and the alphabet soups of meetings.

And now you also have some evidence. And I think that that's something that is huge that right now I cannot think of another app that might do that. You know, well, in itself, like this with, you know, something simple as a cell phone, like one of the things that I like that Alyshahn said, you know, I know a lot of schools are worried about cell phones and banning cell phones, but when you do make it part of the learning process and enhancing that, uh, Through a platform like Goosechase.

I think that has so much potential to it. So, I really liked that piece that you mentioned as far as the learning artifacts, documentation, but that just being, even feeling like a, a creator with that, you know, nowadays it's like, now you're not just consuming the, the education. You're part of it. And I think that's what makes it sticky.

And that later on, that's something that the students really take build and continue to build on. To that as they move on and progress. So that's something that I really do love that y'all hit off for sure.

[00:39:32] Alyshahn: Really interesting, um, point you made that I think gets overlooked is, uh, if you're a creator of Goosechase that that's, that's a piece of you and, and there is a sense of pride that creators get when people appreciate the missions, when they see participation.

And so there's that concept of, uh, different reward systems, right? Some people like to be recognized. Some people love winning. Um, other people just like to feel good that their work is being appreciated. And I think That is a fundamental aspect of why people want to keep creating Goosechases, because let's be honest, it feels good to see your students.

Love something that you built for them. You know, you don't want to put on an activity that students are like, Oh man, another pop quiz. But if it's in the form of something that they're like, Oh, I love this. You're like, I am satisfying my own desire to create a learning environment. And, you know, as much as teachers do it for students, it is really nice to feel good.

And I think that does get overlooked a little bit and it's not a bad thing. I don't think it's a bad thing to feel good. In fact, I think it's. Extremely positive. So I do, I do like that sometimes because I think it gets missed.

[00:40:44] Fonz: Yes. No, absolutely. The other aspect too, that I do want to talk about is just obviously that kinesthetic aspect of it too, to be able to move around.

I mean, and I think that's so important too, that it's okay. And I want to let teachers know like, Hey, it's okay. Your students move around the classroom. It's okay. If they partner up, it's okay if they're a little loud, they don't have to be that quiet. Quiet classroom. And as a matter of fact, you know, even when I was a teacher, I'd be worried like when the classroom is too quiet, I was like, I'm a little worried because then it's just almost like, well, they're just working on worksheets or something like that.

And trust me, this is coming from the fifth-grade teacher that had the loudest classroom. But all the Chromebooks were out, and the students were like recording themselves. They're in the halls that we were outside recording. We were doing all of those things. And at the end of the day, it all comes back to what Alyshahn is saying.

Number one, it's, there was that sense of pride when they submitted their final project or their final presentation. Number two, I had a lot of students that really acquired the language skills and the language acquisition of coming in from a different country, understanding the content, but also building their own knowledge in the language as well.

And then also the learning artifact aspect of it, that it's something that can be used within the next year or just evidence of learning that can be shared with other people. With parents at any given time to say, hey, look at these amazing adventures that we've been on and they're learning adventures.

And so that was something that's fantastic. So Jessica, let me come back to you now. Like, what, what is your thought process on that? And especially, you know, and again, going back to the teacher aspect of it, especially of them moving around and, you know, being able to do these tasks and so on, what was your impression of that?

And What was some of the feedback you got from them as well from being able to just, hey, let's go around the buildings. Let's go do this. And, uh, you know, how exciting was that for them?

[00:42:39] Jessica: Well, my motto for this school year is to have fun. I don't know where it was in the last couple of years, but I feel like a lot of us educators, um, just nose to the grindstone.

We forgot how to have fun. And if we're not having fun in the classroom, then the kids are probably not having fun in the classroom. And if we're not having fun while we're providing high quality education, what are we doing? Um, it's gotta be both. And so that to me with, with that thought process in mind, My personal goal to have fun and to bring more fun to my building I mean Goosechase just ticked all of those boxes for me.

So Um, I also want to say to the teachers who are listening you can have fun and still have boundaries And so I did talk to my teachers, of course is different with adults than with children um, but about Hey guys, we're not throwing elbows, very tongue in cheek because it was adults. Um, but same thing for any teachers who are listening in the classroom with kids, you can go over those parameters of it's gonna be loud, it's gonna be fun, but we are not running in this classroom.

We are still going to be walking. We're still using an indoor voice, not a recess voice. Um, But for teachers, I mean, all beds were off, other than the no, other than the no throwing elbows, they could run in the building, um, and it was just truly so joyous to watch folks laugh together, especially at the beginning of the year, I mean, when you're sitting in days and days of PD, that can be pretty overwhelming when you're sitting there and you're also thinking about all of the things that need to get done before kids come, and so, I also love to be extra for any of those other teachers who are listening who also like to be extra in the classroom, um, be extra for the kids and also extra for the teachers.

And by that I mean, um, I like to have a theme. And so Goosechase was the platform that I wanted to leverage, but I also wanted to have a theme. So, um, up here in the Pacific Northwest, um, we have some diamondback rattlesnakes, which happened to be our school mascot. And so our theme for our PD was, camp diamond back where we wanted to get back to those basics.

And then a scavenger hunt beautifully tied into that theme and leveraging in that way. So, um, and again, we've already touched on this, that there are so many missions and challenges within Goosechase that teachers can use. If you want to go the extra mile and have a theme, theme. You could tie things in, or you can create your own, but really the opportunities to have fun with this platform are unlimited.

Um, and then I think for kids to just to know that everyone learns differently and with using a platform like this in the classroom, I just think about if this was around when I was still in the classroom, I know that that there are kids who would have just With an opportunity like this, maybe the kid to, with other more traditional learning options would have been a little bit quieter or held back.

Um, this is something where the playing field is pretty even and everyone has an opportunity to engage in some way and show what they learned, whether that's just. kind of checking for understanding as a staff on those nuts and bolts of back-to-school procedures are really digging into, um, moving the needle instructionally.

I know that we all learn best with play and gamifying things. That's how we learn a lot as children. Um, And so I didn't want to lose that for staff. We need to have that childlike wonder and fun, but also for kids, um, they are still children. They need to have that childlike wonder and fun in the classroom.

And this is a great way to incorporate that.

[00:46:16] Fonz: Wow. That is wonderful, Jesse. I mean, you hit on so many wonderful points there, and I think, like, that's such a wonderful way to kind of, like, wrap up the show and everything, because, I mean, honestly, like, really what we talked about today, not only through your experience, but my experience, and just being able to see and hear about what Goosechase can do, it just really, you're absolutely right, what I love about this is just having that fun, you know.

And being able to play. And I think like you mentioned too, you know, there, there was a time where we kind of lost that and, and it's slowly coming back, at least I'm seeing it here in my district and the teachers that I work with where they're, they're feeling a little bit more kind of like relaxed and, and being able to be themselves and, and knowing that it's okay to have a little bit of fun as opposed to just like.

Drill, drill, drill. And just, you know, be the subject matter expert only and be just teacher centered front of the class. Now it's more like, all right, let's see what the students are doing and what can they do. And I mean, Goosechase is definitely great to help them learn about Goosechase, but also for their own professional development, but then also turning it around and working with the students, like you said, and having that play, but play with boundaries and, you know, being able to still have those rules set.

But to me, it's, it's just goes back to that content creation aspect of it, that ownership, that human connection, most importantly also. So thank you so much for the wonderful shares. Alyshahn, any closing remarks, anything that you'd like to add?

[00:47:42] Alyshahn: I think the hardest thing about my job is, um, only saying what I'm talking about, what I'm asked about.

I will boil the ocean so fast on this call. And I, there's just so much information to share. Uh, you know, you, you guys talked about museums. We didn't even talk about the idea of how to engage parents. in their students learning at home with Goosechase. We see that a lot where teachers and administration will create Goosechases that are, instead of giving homework, they give Goosechases and it'll be like, you know, head home, work with your parent, put a sugar cube into water, put a sugar cube into molasses, which dissolves faster.

Take a short video of talking about why it dissolved faster in Whichever substance, and they encouraged the parents to get involved. And so now parents are an interactive part of their students learning in a way that they can participate and and, you know, really experienced their Children or, you know, going to museums and chaperones are often, like, Oh, my God, these kids are running around everywhere.

But with Jason, a museum that's directed on learning now, parents have an opportunity to actually participate and guide students in a way that, um, furthers their learning associated with their curriculum. So as far as closing remarks, I would just like to say, uh, if anybody's interested in chatting or brainstorming or connecting, I think us as a team, we're always open.

We also have an ambassador program full of teachers. of all grades that would love to chat with you, love to meet up with you. They are amazing people like Jessica, Jessica herself, um, who are so willing to share, who are so willing to chat. And if you want to be an ambassador of Goosechase, Yeah, we can make that possible too.

I think, you know, it's something that's not well known that we're trying to make more well known, but, um, yeah, let's keep the conversation going. This is really exciting for us. And we just want to keep hearing from people and chatting with people. And we really appreciate everybody's support and energy towards, uh, Excellent.

[00:49:46] Fonz: Well, that is awesome, Alyshahn. Thank you so much to you and thank you so much, Jessica, as well. And for all our audience members, all right, we're not wrapping up yet, but I did want to say like, you guys definitely need to make sure you connect with Alyshahn about that ambassador. Uh, program also as well and also just giving some feedback, but also please connect with Jessica.

I mean, as you heard her, she's very enthusiastic, very energetic, has a wealth of knowledge and experience and actually an implementing Goosechase too, as well amongst other things. And I'm sure that she's going to be able to help you out. And that's what the show is about guys. It's just about building community, having some great conversations around education.

And our goal is to help continue to bring in these great people. Come for conversations so we can all continue to grow together. So Alyshahn and Jessica, thank you so much. But before we wrap up, I always love to end the show with three questions and hopefully you guys saw them on the calendar invite, and hopefully they're not catching you by surprise.

But these are the kind of three questions that I love to end with. I did change the last two, you know, usually for a couple of years now I've been doing the same ones, but I decided to change them just for you in this case. So hopefully they didn't throw you off guard at all whatsoever, but we'll go ahead and start off with the first one, which I know Alyshahn, we'll start off with you, I know you were here as a guest prior, but it's been a while.

So my question to use the following, as we know, Every superhero has a weakness. So for example, I know that for Superman, you know, kryptonite kind of weakened him and, you know, made him lose his strength. And I guess made him back to just normal Superman or, you know, Clark Kent. But I want to ask you, you know, as far as the state of education right now, what would be maybe your one major pain point that you kind of see that you just.

Say, you know what, ugh, like this really frustrates me or I wish I could do more about it. What would that EduKryptonite be for you?

[00:51:39] Alyshahn: I, I think it's gotta be all the stuff about, um, mobile phones being banned right now. I think, I think when we don't know something, it's scary. And I think because of the advancement of technology and how fast it's growing factor in AI and, you know, recently, um, a teacher friend of mine told me that they're going to allow students in, uh, his son's high school to use AI.

And he's like, I don't know how I feel about that. And I was like, well, I don't think that's the, that's the answer. You know, fear isn't the answer. It's, it's more like we need to invest more into uncovering. Why we're scared. I don't think banning cell phones is the answer. I think it's getting to a place of comfort and understanding of how can, how can cell phones and technology Enable learning, um, as opposed to being scared of it.

But that certainly is, I'm sure a concern for a ton of companies who are developing applications for use in the classroom. Um, and for sure for us, I mean, we watch it very closely, obviously, and we're trying to figure out ways to, to help, uh, do the conversation in, in ways that make people feel more comfortable, but certainly a challenge.

All right.

[00:52:52] Fonz: Great answer. Alyshahn. Jessica, now over to you. What would you say would be your current. EduKryptonite.

[00:53:01] Jessica: I noodled on this for a bit, and I don't know. I feel like the age old dilemma is time, um, where there just never seems to be enough time to help all of the kids, help all of the teachers drill into reading and listening to all of the great, um, books and podcasts and things that are out there.

And so, no matter what my role has been in education, no matter who I talk to, it just always seems to be a common thread of of time. And I don't know what that looks like. I can't wave a magic wand, but time.

[00:53:34] Fonz: Yeah. No, that is a great answer. I am right there with you as we're living it. Right now, the beginning of the school year for us, it's like, it's all a blur.

And sometimes I'm like, I definitely wish I can have more hours in the workday to finish what I need to do. But you're absolutely right. Time is definitely one of the issues. All right, we'll start off with you for this second one, Jessica. So who is someone that you'd like to trade places with, even if it was for a day?

[00:54:01] Jessica: So I don't have a specific individual, I have like a group of people in mind. I think it would be so fun to trade, trade for a day with a travel vlogger. Maybe more than just a day, but I would just love to go like get out of, of my little bubble, go see somewhere super exotic and cool, eat some awesome food, um, and just broaden my worldview in that way.

I've been wanting to travel for a long time, so probably Europe would be like my number one place that I would want to go, but really anywhere, I don't care. Swap me with anyone. Um, I would be happy. to go see more of the world.

[00:54:41] Fonz: Awesome girl. Great answer. And that's definitely wonderful. I've seen some of those like travel vlog videos and I'm like, man, the places these, you know, these bloggers go and I'm like, wow, it's so amazing.

All right, Alyshahn, to you now, if you can trade places with someone, who would it be and why?

[00:54:59] Alyshahn: I think the fun answer is I would love to trade places with like a retired millionaire just to enjoy, you know, just for one day. That's probably the vibe I would, I would golf some course that was unaccessible to me right now.

And that would be the kind of, you know, fun answer. But the more practical answer is, because we're on an EDU podcast, and this is something that Andrew and I talk about all the time, Andrew, I see you, I mentioned is, I would love to trade places with a teacher who has a 30 to 35 student classroom, and just experience, What goes on in their brain?

Like, I mean, you know, I've been in classrooms and I've, I've done days of teaching with various programs. I was an athlete for the University of Waterloo. We, we did stuff in classrooms or, you know, when I was with sales force, we did stuff in classrooms teaching for a day, but you can't really fathom what's going on inside the brain of a teacher, you know, because they're responsible for not only the student's wellbeing, but they're learning and their nutrition.

And they're, you know, and you're just like, it feels overwhelming to me just To think about it all. So, uh, yeah, I wonder, I wonder often what it would be like, because, you know, sometimes people are like, oh, like teachers are often frazzled. I'm like, that makes total sense. So, when you meet a comp teacher, I'm like, What's going on?

Like, why are you so calm? How did you do this?

[00:56:27] Fonz: There you go. That is great. And you, I'm sure that you'll definitely get some great insights to many things, and it probably may be a lot more than you even expected. But again, as always, it's. It is an experience, but at the same time, you know, like you said, you know, sometimes when you do meet a teacher that's calm, cool, and collected, it's like, okay, how did you manage that?

Or how are you doing those things? But not to say that just because you may be a little frazzled doesn't mean that you're having some trouble. It's just sometimes we run in the red sometimes and, and I'm okay with that, but that's a great answer, Alicia. All right.

[00:57:00] Alyshahn: My teachers in the universe or, um, elementary school and high school.

And I remember what kind of kid I was. And now I'm like, you're like 30 of me. That's the worst. Like, how did that, how did they even get through their day? Let alone multiple years with me in the classroom. So I got a lot of, uh, empathy.

[00:57:20] Fonz: Awesome. All right. And the last question, and we'll start off with you this time, Alyshahn, is if you could have a billboard with anything on it.

What would it be and why?

[00:57:32] Alyshahn: Um, you know, I talk to my team about this all the time, but we talk about this idea of like, think big, think creatively. And one of my things is that we should have a billboard, and the billboard should just be, you know, some of our geese doing random things, um, with no, like, you know, like Goosechase, none of that.

I just like, I genuinely love hilarious marketing. You know, at one point, Spotify did this thing where they were like, um, whoever listened to Taylor Swift this many times, like, are you okay? And so for, for me, that like really is hilarious. And so we have all of these geeks, like. Mona Geesa, Robert Downey Jr.,

Brian Goosling, my personal Geese is, is Goose Wayne, and um, we have like, uh, who's the, who's the other one? Oh, um, uh, Geese Witherspoon. So we, we have like all these Geese characters. And I just think that it would be so hilarious for everybody to see a billboard with all of these, um, different known people, celebrities, fictional characters, as geese, interacting with one another, maybe teaching each other something or maybe playing in their own news chase.

So that would definitely be my billboard because I think it would be Like it would confuse people enough to make them want to go like I should probably look into this. Yeah.

[00:58:57] Fonz: Yeah. No, definitely. I can see that. I can actually just see some, even just stickers, like, you know, and like nice little swag stickers there, like on laptops and everything with like the characters and stuff like that.

So that's great. But I love that idea. It's beautiful. Especially like, um, which one did you say was your favorite? Cause I know you mentioned Geese Witherspoon, which is hilarious. The one that you like was the Bruce Wayne, right? But yeah,

[00:59:19] Alyshahn: everybody at the company has their own personal goose. Here,

[00:59:23] Fonz: I'll

[00:59:23] Alyshahn: show you if you don't mind, everybody has their own personal goose.

And mine is, um, is goose Wayne.

[00:59:29] Fonz: I love that. I love that. That is awesome. That is wonderful. All right. Jessica, now to you. If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it be and why?

[00:59:42] Jessica: Well, that's tough to follow. Um, speaking of Taylor Swift, Swift. I want, I guess a little bit more of a quote route because I do love Taylor Swift and um, one of her like deeper cuts, lesser known songs have some lyrics that really resonate.

And so mine would say, never be so kind. You forget to be clever. Never be so clever. You forget to be kind. Never be so polite. You forget your power. Never wield such power. You forget to be polite.

[01:00:13] Fonz: Nice. That is great. I think that's a wonderful billboard. I can see one of those like as one of like, you know, maybe like a three section billboard.

Like it's like one here. Yeah. And then it just, you just follow that quote and it just kind keeps, keeps you there, you know, so That's great. That is really,

[01:00:29] Alyshahn: what's your billboard?

[01:00:31] Fonz: My billboard is. improvise, adapt and overcome. So, and that's a great question. Thank you, Alicia, because nobody's ever asked that.

And you're the first one to ever ask that. But that would be immediately right off the top of my head. Uh, many years ago, I think it was what a maybe about 13 years ago, I did one year of teaching in Arizona and I met a gentleman there at this charter school that I was working at. And he was a former Marine and he just came up to me one day and then he's just like, yeah, you know what Fonz, it's, you know, teaching is just improvise, adapt and overcome.

And he told me, he goes, I'll, he goes, I'll never forget those words because him being a Marine, that was kind of like one of their mottos that they would use. And. I, since that moment, I just applied it into like everything that I do, especially in the classroom and now even in this new role, because in education and really in anything, it's, you know, something comes up, you either got to improvise, like, you know, tech happens.

It's like, okay, let's improvise. How else can we do this? Then the ability to adapt, because as we know from year to year, even month to month, or even week to week, things change and you just need to adapt to that change. And how well are you going to be to, how well. Can you adapt to those changes in order to overcome?

And, you know, I think those three words for me have been what have helped me be very successful within just my school setting. And even professionally, it's just always remembering those three things. So thank you for asking. Now, that's wonderful. Yeah, thank you. All right. Well, Alyshahn, Jessica, thank you so much for being some amazing guests and thank you so much for this amazing and fruitful conversation.

Thank you. Thank you as always. And for all our audience members that are checking out this episode, please please make sure that you connect with Alyshahn and make sure that you connect with Jessica, all their information will be in the show notes. And also guys, thank you so much for following us on all socials.

And if you are not following us yet, please make sure you do at my tech life. And also do us a favor, jump over to our YouTube channel. Give us a thumbs up, subscribe. So that way all the algorithms can go ahead and put us in your feed and that'll really help out the channel and Just to get out there more as well.

So thank you as always from the bottom of my heart. Like I mentioned to you, we do what we do for you so we can bring you some amazing conversations week in and week out and just amazing, amazing guests as well that we can learn from so we can continue to grow each and every day. And of course, as always, my friends until next time, don't forget, stay techie.