Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project Podcast. Each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to better serve their learners. In this episode, Toni Rose Deanon is joined by Darius Brown, a passionate high school chemistry teacher, who shares his journey into education and his innovative approach to teaching.

Darius emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, highlighting the need to teach students "how to learn" rather than just the subject matter.

Here are three key takeaways from this podcast episode:

• A Metacognitive Pedagogical Approach: Darius utilizes a variety of techniques to captivate students, including edu-tainment videos, interactive activities, and personalized learning experiences. His "chem guides" provide students with clear instructions and video timestamps, making learning more accessible and efficient. He states, "I feel like I'm teaching them how to learn, how to think of this stuff that really gets them to buy in." This sows the seeds for long-terms success in school, especially when paired with a traditionally difficult course that might otherwise create a sink-or-swim atmosphere.

• The Power of the Modern Classroom Model: The Modern Classroom model has significantly impacted Darius’s teaching practices, allowing him to create a more student-centered and flexible learning environment. This model has led to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes. Darius adds, "I think I've hit my stride. I'm at that point in life, nice and organized, that's part of it, and that's also from Modern Classroom."

• The Joy of Teaching: Darius’s enthusiasm for teaching is evident in his approach. He encourages teachers to embrace their individuality and find joy in the learning process. By incorporating his personality and interests into his lessons, he creates a more authentic and memorable learning experience for his students.

Discussion questions for PLC and PD: 

• How can we effectively incorporate personalized learning and self-paced instruction into our classrooms, especially in subjects like chemistry that are often perceived as rigid and structured?

• What strategies can we employ to foster a positive and engaging classroom culture that encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity?

• How can we balance the demands of teaching, coaching, and professional development while maintaining work-life balance?

Our Host

Toni Rose taught MS English for 10 years and will forever identify as a teacher. Toni Rose strives to be the teacher that they never had growing up, so they focus on anti-bias, anti-racist work and wants to create a brave space for everyone around them. As a queer Filipinx, they understand just how important it is to be represented, be valued, and belong. They especially love being a thought partner for and celebrating teachers.

Our Guests

Darius Brown

My name is Darius Brown and I am a High School Chemistry Teacher who is trying to change the game. As a High School Chemistry teacher who started off in the industry of Chemistry, I have been able to acquire a dynamic skill set that I have been able to utilize in each profession. I learned my basic Chemistry skills from the University at Buffalo where I obtained a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and performed undergraduate research in a Materials Chemistry laboratory, and then went to the University of Illinois and obtained a Masters with a thesis on the development of ultrasensitive sensors using functional DNA, an amplification reaction, and Gold nanoparticles. After school I started out my journey in the Real-World of Chemistry learning about analytical testing processes and microbiological analyses on both raw and finished products as a Lead Lab technician in the quality control department of Chobani. I then took my talents to Cornell University where I became very much acquainted with the rules, regulations, and policies associated with working with hazardous materials while I worked there as a Hazardous Materials Chemist. I then moved to Pittsburgh and dove into a new World of Chemistry for me as I worked as a Chemist in the Microscopy division of a major paint company called PPG Industries. Realizing that I was too far from home and that I was missing something with my Chemistry way of life, I moved back to Upstate NY and found a job as an adjunct Chemistry instructor at the local colleges. I then started taking classes for educating adolescents, found a permanent position as a high school Chemistry teacher at the local charter school, and after a few years of graduate level courses I was able to obtain a NYS Initial Certification for teaching Chemistry to students grades 7-12.

I was born and raised in upstate NY, exactly where I am currently teaching, so to have the ability to be back in the area where I am from, teaching and putting forth my best effort to inspire and encourage the students from the same area that I am from, has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. The best part of being a HS Chemistry teacher though is the ability to create and structure my lessons, content material, and instruction in the way I see best. I will continue to learn how to best deliver the meaning of Chemistry and all of its wonders to my students, but something that I never considered as an upcoming Chemist in college was how I would be able to create and use my imagination to discover new ways to teach the different topics, skills, techniques, and content in the World of Chemistry. I spend countless hours developing, analyzing, and perfecting my materials and instructional delivery, not because it is required of me, but because I truly enjoy translating my understanding and cognitive awareness of the different topics in Chemistry into a visual representation of what this science means. I also really love making positive and enlightening connections with my students, and those connections have elevated my excitement exponentially in my career to develop more innovative content to help my students learn and understand the science of Chemistry at the highest level, and to simply ensure that my students have fun and enjoy the learning experience in my class.

The thing I like best about my job as a HS Chemistry teacher is the ability to really connect with the students, and provide them with the visual representation of what I think Chemistry means, and how we interact with it on a daily basis. The connections I make with my students help me better understand how to best deliver the knowledge of Chemistry to them, and how to portray the skills and techniques needed to be a Chemist. I also use my connections with my students to develop and create fun and trendy Edutainment videos that I embed into my instruction.

My current work as a Chemistry teacher is an embodiment of years of taking Chemistry courses, getting degrees, doing research, being in a laboratory, performing quality control, oversight on health and safety in a laboratory, and learning how to provide quality instruction, and most importantly, a Modern Classroom implementation, and without any of those components, I would not be able to teach Chemistry in the manner that I do. I teach basic Chemistry to adolescents who have never before seen a level and depth of materials and topics that are included in NYS HS Chemistry classes, and in some cases, the students are highly unmotivated to do well or learn in the class. Having a solid educational background in Chemistry, along with adequate industry experience in various fields as a Chemist, has allowed me to focus on the relationships needed to teach HS students, and put all of my energy into the development and creation of how to best deliver the science of Chemistry to my students.

The last thing I would like to share is my story on how I got into the World of Chemistry. I started out at UB as a pre-pharmacy student, and it wasn't until an administrator there told me that I would not be able to handle the courses in the Pharmacy school, that I started to realize that a Pharmacist was not the career path for me. The administrator was known to be biased against minority students, but her inability to see the type of individual that I am was a blessing in disguise, because though I did not perform well in the weed-out class that I was assigned to in my first semester at school, I knew I could do better, and after switching over to Chemistry, I started thriving in college and performing extremely well in my classes. I joined a research group and programs designed to help disadvantaged students in college, and my career in Chemistry took off from there. What I am saying is that no matter who you are or what you plan to do, the science of Chemistry literally states that you, yourself, are matter, so do not ever let anyone make you think that you are anything less than GREAT, and that you can't do whatever it is that you want to do in your life.

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