Retour

Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education

Plongez dans la liste complète des épisodes de Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education. Chaque épisode est catalogué accompagné de descriptions détaillées, ce qui facilite la recherche et l'exploration de sujets spécifiques. Suivez tous les épisodes de votre podcast préféré et ne manquez aucun contenu pertinent.

Rows per page:

1–50 of 92

TitreDateDurée
Setting Up for Success in Season 7!30 Aug 202400:52:20

Welcome to Season 7 of Vrain Waves! We are kicking off with what we all need at the start of the year. Setting up for success means explicitly unpacking directions and expectations for all students, especially those with executive functioning deficits. Tune in as we chat with Brandon Slade from Untapped Learning and let's all be reminded that what's essential for some, is good for all!

UntappedLearning.com

Untapped Learning YouTube channel 

@UntappedSlade

@SuzannahEvans2

@drshanesaeed

Reframing Assessment in Action31 May 202401:03:42

Wrapping up Season 6 with two rockstar teachers who show us what it looks like to reframe Assessment in the classroom. The key to engaging students is not tricky; it's building intrinsic motivation through authentic assessment and grading practices! Tune in as our very own Sam LaFever and Gideon Matchey unpack how they use explicit assessment strategies to develop mastery and shift the cognitive load to their students!

@SuzannahEvans2

@Saeed_shane

@gideonmatchey

@gideonmatcheycomposer

Learning Pit - James Nottingham 

SVVSD Math

Feedback is Nourishment09 Jun 202300:34:14

"Feedback is not a luxury, it's a necessity; not a means to an end, but an end in itself. It's the purpose of why we teach." If these aren't mic-drop quotes for you, we need to talk! Or you need to for sure read this duo's latest work, Feedback for Continous Improvement in the Classroom. Listen in as we talk all things feedback with Brent Duckor and Carrie Holmberg. You'll hear how they emphasize the respect we give students by creating these opportunities for dialogue as learning and honoring what students already bring to the classroom. And you lucky listeners also get a 25% promo code when you purchase their book directly from Corwin. 

@CarrieHolmberg

@BrentDuckor

@SuzannahEvans2

@saeed_shane

Classrooms, Community, and Collective Efficacy!10 Mar 202300:33:48

Our first mini-wave goes straight to the source...2 classroom teachers right here in St. Vrain! Join us as Altona Middle School's Cleveland Smith and Westview Middle School's Danny Hernandez talk classroom connections, relationships, and building collective efficacy. 

@SuzannahEvans2

@saeed_shane

@WestviewSVVSD

@AltonaMS

We Love It Here!03 Feb 202300:32:11

We Love It Here! Yep, we sure do! Shane and I are loving being behind the mic with Vrain Waves and in this episode, we chat with Clint Pulver, the Undercover Millennial, whose book, I Love It Here, is a must-read for anyone in the business world AND anyone in education.“No significant learning can ever happen without significant connection” is just one of our favorite takeaways and goosebump moments. Building on the last episode about creating a network and village for yourself as teachers, we will dig into how we can meaningfully and genuinely connect with our students in the classroom and in turn, connect them with their dreams! 

https://twitter.com/vrainwaves

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vrain-waves-teaching-conversations-with-minds-shaping/id1365316994

https://twitter.com/suzannahevans2

https://twitter.com/saeed_shane

https://clintpulver.com/

New Year, New Hosts, New Vrain Waves!16 Jan 202300:27:47

The mic has officially been passed to us from Ben Kalb! With the re-launch of the podcast, we are celebrating all things NEW; new year, new students, and new teachers! Our goal is to create inspiration and empowerment for educators, so alongside the giants of education, new hosts Suzy Evans and Shane Saeed will also be talking with classroom educators and how they use these theories in their practice on a daily basis. Join us for our first episode of 2023 as we talk about the power of networking, creating your teaching village, and how connecting with other educators is the key to our collective success!

We reconnect with Ben Kalb, super-podcaster and the creator of Vrain Waves to ground us all in the original mission of the podcast. We also talk about how we plan to carry on with interviewing educational movers and shakers, but then add contributions from classroom educators as well. 

Our first classroom guest is one of our own, St. Vrain Valley Schools 5th-grade teacher, Farah Holburn, who talks about how she connects with other teachers, creates a positive atmosphere in her building, and continues to be a lifelong learner. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vrain-waves-teaching-conversations-with-minds-shaping/id1365316994

@SuzannahEvans2

@saeed_shane

Grading for Equity with Joe Feldman26 Feb 202100:54:29

Episode 060: Grading for Equity with Joe Feldman

Connect with Joe Feldman 

Website: https://crescendoedgroup.org/ | Twitter: @JoeCFeldman 

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Lindsay Laporte Twitter: @LaPorteLindsay |Oakley Schilling Twitter: @OakleySchilling| Ben KalbTwitter: @mrkalb 

 

Principal Kafele on Transformative Change23 Nov 202000:53:04

Episode 059: Principal Kafele on Transformative Change

Connect with Principal Kafele

Website: https://principalkafele.com/| Twitter: @principalkafele| YouTube: School Leadership Thoughts

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves
Shane Saeed| Instagram: @fantasticallyfourth Twitter: @saeed_shane
Ben Kalb| Twitter: @mrkalb 

 

Dr. John Spencer and the Sporky Food Truck09 Nov 202000:52:38

Episode 058: John Spencer and the Sporky Food Truck

Connect with John Spencer 

Website: http://www.spencerauthor.com | Twitter: @spencerideas| YouTube: Spencer Videos

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Violet  Twitter: @vhchristensen | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb 

Violet hosts a podcast for instructional coaches called C3 (Connecting Coaches Cognition) and it can be found wherever you get your podcasts or here

Dr. Katie Martin: Clarity and Purpose during a Pandemic26 Oct 202000:47:36

Katie Martin is a best selling author, an acclaimed keynote speaker, and a highly sought after educational consultant! Whether you are teaching completely in person, totally virtually, or in a hybrid environment, in this episode we discuss how you can thrive!

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Temple Hayles Guest Co-Host:  @haylessvvsd| Ben Kalb: @mrkalb

Connect with Katie Martin

Twitter: @katiemartinedu | Website: katielmartin.com | Book: Learner-Centered Innovation

 

Apollo 13'ing it with Zaretta Hammond12 May 202000:49:05

Connect with Zaretta Hammond

Twitter: @Ready4Rigor | Website: crtandthebrain.com | Book: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

You're Not Listening with Kate Murphy19 Apr 202000:37:07

Connect with Kate Murphy

Website: https://www.nytimes.com/by/kate-murphy | Book: You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Assessment as Evidence of Success10 May 202400:29:43

What are some ways we can reframe assessment? How can we shift toward seeing assessment as evidence of success rather than a "gotcha"? Tune in as Hacking Student Motivation author Tyler Rablin speaks to creating multiple opportunities for students to grow and learn over time.  Let's stop focusing on mistakes and start focusing on trends in our classrooms! Spoiler Alert: Student motivation is built by giving them more than one attempt and celebrating both what they know now and have yet to learn!

Hacking Student Motivation

@Mr_Rablin

TylerRablin.com

@SuzannahEvans2

@saeed_shane

@avivalevin

Coping with Covid: Catlin Tucker on teaching during a Quarantine23 Mar 202000:53:09

Episode 054: Coping with Covid, with Catlin Tucker

As we all try to wrap our heads around the implications the pandemic will have on our students, our communities, our families, and ourselves, we hope to provide some comforting guidance from an expert in remote learning. Catlin Tucker, whose original Vrain Waves interview aired back in Season 2 about her book Power Up Blended Learning, joins us again for a Sunday discussion about how we can approach these changes to our instruction. 

Connect with Catlin Tucker

Website: https://catlintucker.com | Twitter: @catlin_tucker | Most Recent Book: Balance with Blended Learning

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Ending Average with Todd Rose09 Mar 202000:53:49

Episode 053: Ending Average with Todd Rose

Connect with Todd Rose 

Website: https://toddrose.com | Twitter: @ltoddrose | Most Recent Book: Dark Horse

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Aligning Words and Intentions with Mike Anderson24 Feb 202000:59:26

Aligning Words and Intentions with Mike Anderson

Connect with Mike Anderson

Website: https://www.leadinggreatlearning.com/| Twitter: @balancedteacher | Most Recent Book: What We Say and How We Say it Matter

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

What We Say and How We Say It Matter

Live your Excellence with Jimmy Casas10 Feb 202000:54:19

Connect with Jimmy Casas 

Website: https://jimmycasas.com/ | Twitter: @casas_jimmy | Most Recent Book: Culturize

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

  • Jimmy, Intro (00:32) 
  • Live your Interview (03:18) 
  • “The biggest problem facing public education today is ineffective leadership.” (06:05)
  • The importance of a strong culture (10:29)
    • Todd Whitaker: The worst behavior that we're willing to tolerate in our organization will become the culture of our organization.
    • Coaching for administrators (13:10)
    • Iowa Principal of the Year
  • Recognizing a toxic culture (15:39)
    • Processes, Systems, Frameworks 
  • Being a lid (22:03) 
  • Importance of Forgiveness (28:04) 
  • Creating a strong classroom culture (31:10) 
    • “What we model is what we get.”
  • Being a champion for students, families, and community (35:01) 
  • Collegial feedback & Learning from Failure (40:20)
  • Optimism as a Leadership Style (50:00) 
  • Learn more from / with Jimmy (53:14) 
  • Wrap Up & Takeaways (54:28)
The Reshaping of the World with Thomas Friedman27 Jan 202000:36:07

Connect with Thomas Friedman 

Website: www.thomaslfriedman.com | Twitter: @tomfriedman | Most Recent Book: Thank you for Being Late

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Bored and Brilliant with Manoush Zomorodi13 Jan 202000:32:51

Connect with Manoush Zomorodi 

Website: www.manoushz.com | Twitter: @manoushz | Book: Bored and Brilliant

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Knowledge Party with Natalie Wexler09 Dec 201900:56:43

Episode 048: Knowledge Party with Natalie Wexler

Today on Vrain Waves we have an exciting and somewhat earth shaking interview from Natalie Wexler, education journalist and author of The Knowledge Gap. She walks us through the contributing research and education history that led her to write the book, and some strategies for schools to set the foundation for student success. From her website: “Education journalist Natalie Wexler focuses on two ideas that have solid evidence behind them but have been mostly overlooked by schools and reformers: immersing children from less-educated families in knowledge about the world, and linking that knowledge to writing instruction.”

Connect with Natalie Wexler

Website: nataliewexler.com | Twitter: @natwexler | Books: The Knowledge Gap, The Writing Revolution

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

 

  • Intro (00:58)
  • Natalie Wexler’s view on the Promise of Public Education (5:25)
    • Functioning democracy needs a citizenry that can understand events and how to edit and fact check the information that they’re exposed to
  • What is The Knowledge Gap (06:55)
    • We’ve treated reading like it’s a set of discrete skills while letting content knowledge take a back seat
    • Most important factor for successful reading comprehension: how much background knowledge and vocabulary you already have
  • The Baseball Study and reading comprehension (09:42)
  • 2 Parts of Reading: Decoding and Comprehension (11:27)
  • Whose knowledge? (16:13)
    • Common core history and content knowledge (18:32)
    • Supplemental materials language on content in common core
  • Underestimating student ability and having high expectations (22:10)
  • Student choice (24:13)
  • History of the role of content in reading instruction (28:35)
  • Alternatives to leveled groupings (31:08)
    • Listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehension
    • Written language is more complex than spoken language
  • The importance of exposing struggling readers to grade level texts (34:07)
  • The importance of facts and knowledge in the age of Google (36:42)
  • The Curse of Knowledge (38:19)
    • Doug Lemov: “Those of us on the privileged side of the knowledge gap have no idea how we got here.”
    • Importance of pre-assessment
  • Misinterpretation of Bloom’s Taxonomy (40:35)
    • Taxonomy, not a hierarchy
    • Skipping lower levels is not appropriate
    • Quote from the book: “That graphic has led many educators to conclude that the ‘lower-order’ tasks should be passed over as quickly as possible, or even eliminated, because they’re inferior to those at the top. In fact, Bloom meant that knowledge and comprehension are prerequisites for higher-order thinking, and that teachers should never ask students to start analyzing or evaluating a topic until first ensuring they have a solid understanding of it.”
  • The Writing Revolution (42:33)
  • Balance between free writing & content-based writing (47:40)
  • Role of the teacher in the modern classroom, PD (48:54)
    • Delivering curriculum instead of creating curriculum
    • Ongoing PD around content delivery, not skills in isolation
    • Provide information and then guide them through thinking about that information with opportunities for desirable difficulty
  • Closing & Take Aways (53:00)
    • NatalieWexler.com / Forbes.com contributor
    • Quote: “It’s not so much that particular bits of information are vital in and of themselves—although some certainly are. It’s more that people need to have enough facts in their heads to have what one commentator has called ‘a knowledge party’—a bunch of accumulated associations that will enable them to absorb, retain, and analyze new information. Education certainly shouldn’t end with facts. But if it doesn’t begin there, many students will never acquire the knowledge and analytical abilities they need to thrive both in school and in life.”

Other Resources as well as some relevant citations from The Knowledge Gap:

Teach Like an Advertiser with Dr. Lindsay Portnoy18 Nov 201900:48:09

  

Long May They Run

 Phish podcast with Trey talking about practice

The Power of Joyful Teaching: A Compilation02 Nov 201900:45:39

Episode 048: The Power of Joyful Teaching 

I know, I know - clips episodes seem overdone, but bear with us… in this show, we went through our interviews to this point and used Dr. Martin Seligman’s PERMA model for happiness to think through how we can be more joyful in our classrooms (and beyond). Links to all other shows can be found below!

    

Connect with Vrain Waves

Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb  

 

Links & Show Notes  

The Champions Mind with Dr. Jim Afremow21 Oct 201900:51:27

Episode 047: Dr. Jim Afremow - The Champion’s Mind
Sports psychologist Dr. Jim Afremow joins Vrain Waves to share the importance of cultivating a champion’s mindset in everything you do. There are plenty of parallels between sports and teaching and learning; some of these parallels are useful for thinking about your classroom or your collegial relationships in a different frame. Download the Champion’s Mind app to hear inspirational audio clips and motivate yourself for anything you’re trying to tackle in life! Enjoy!

Connect with Dr. Jim Afremow
Website: goldmedalmind.net | Twitter: @goldmedalmind | Books: The Champion’s Mind; The Champion’s Comeback; The Young Champion’s Mind

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Intro links
    • Space Jam the movie
    • Practice until you can’t get it wrong - Peyton Manning
    • Champions v. Contenders
    • “Part of this process requires us to maintain our eagerness to learn and grow, and to take well-trained, disciplined action to make solid change in our lives.”
  • What can we learn from athletes? (06:15)
  • What is a champion? (07:02)
    • Being vitally involved in life
  • Handling setbacks (07:52)
  • Greatest of All Time (09:54)
  • Arrogance v. Confidence (10:51)
    • Time to be humble (preparation phase) then confident (performance phase)
    • Ego edges greatness out
  • Self-talk (13:10)
    • Anxiety management
    • Butterflies - try to get them to fly in formation
  • Mental game / Physical game (15:15)
  • Visualization / Mental Imagery (16:02)
    • Big days or daily routines
    • Psych yourself up instead of psyching yourself out
  • Peak Performance Coordinator for the San Francisco Giants
  • Motivation (19:41)
    • Get into a great mood / frame of mind
    • Pick a predator to emulate
  • Good / Better / Best (21:50)
    • Great way to debrief: What went well? What could I have done better? How will I make those changes to help myself be best tomorrow?
    • Lebron & his son video
  • Deliberate Practice (24:23)
    • Process goals & outcome goals
    • Continuous improvement
    • Rest / Recovery / Regeneration - Don’t be lazy with your recovery
  • Meditation & breathing techniques (26:47)
  • Champions & their contract (27:33)
    • Dr. Afremow article about JJ Watt: "I think no matter what job you do, I don’t care what job it is, you want to outperform your contract. I feel like that’s how everybody should attack their job, at least. You should want people to think you’re underpaid because of how hard you work, because of how well you do your job, because of how you go about your business."
    • Importance of Gratitude
    • Sometimes we have to go against socialization to be our best selves
  • Team Sports & Teaching (29:44)
    • When we give ourselves to others, we get more in return.
    • A rising tide lifts all boats
  • On Twitter: @GoldMedalMind
  • Relationships (31:40)
    • Learn the learner; study the student - be vulnerable with students
  • Coach-Athlete Relationship (33:10)
    • Balance between challenge & support
  • Optimism (34:49)
  • Body Language (36:46)
  • Confidence, Concentration, Commitment, Composure (38:24)
    • “That’s like me” or “That’s not like me”
    • Negativity bias for survival
  • What are we doing that gets in our own way? (40:07)
    • “I know” list
    • Gift of failing & how to learn from it: I just learned something that didn’t work
  • 3 P’s: Present, Positivity, Process (43:17)
    • Let go of today & focus on the next thing
  • Mantras / Routines (44:44)
    • Mind over matter
    • Be like water
    • I love hills
    • Bruce Lee quote:
    • “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
  • Commonalities among people that surround champions (46:03)
  • The Champions Mind App
    • Use the app to build mental skills & strategies
  • Take Aways (48:32)
    • Cornelius Minor Vrain Waves episode
    • 3 questions for being a team player:
    • “Think about these three self-reflection questions regarding your role as a teammate: 1. What am I doing that is hurting my team (e.g., complaining, gossiping)? 2. What am I not doing that is hurting my team (e.g., cheering for my teammates, accepting my role on the team)? 3. What are the specific action steps I will take to be a better teammate moving forward (e.g., hustling on every play, being more vocal on the field)?”
    • PLC+ Vrain Waves episode
Shift the Epicenter!19 Apr 202400:33:12

March Madness and the solar eclipse might be over but the excitement of Spring continues! Tune in to hear from our very own @missluker as she speaks to shifting the epicenter of learning, replicating yourself, and creating more powerful feedback loops. How do we do this & still ensure quality instruction? Blended Learning! Dive in, build your students' agency, your own agency, the collective efficacy, and honor what it means to be a learner!

@SuzannahEvans2

@Saeed_Shane

@missluker

@Catlin_Tucker

Dr. John Medina, Brain Rules07 Oct 201900:42:38

Episode 046: Dr. John Medina - Brain Rules
We’ve been waiting for years now for the chance to interview Dr. John Medina: Developmental Molecular Biologist, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and author of Brain Rules, Brain Rules for Baby, Brain Rules for Aging Well, and Attack of the Teenage Brain, to name a few. Dr. Medina takes time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about Theory of Mind, stress and learning, and some history behind our fancy brains.

Connect with Dr. John Medina
Website: http://www.brainrules.net/ | Twitter: @BrainRulesBooks | Books: Brain Rules, Brain Rules for Baby, Brain Rules for Aging Well, Attack of the Teenage Brain

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Intro to Brain Rules Chapter Summaries (01:12)
  • Dr. Medina’s journey through career (05:53)
  • Drawing / Arts and the Brain (08:45)
    • Decentering behaviors are brain vitamins - can change the aging brain
  • Theory of Mind & Empathy (11:01)
    • Cognitive & affective empathy
    • Improving Theory of Mind - Read lots of literary fiction, journal about your feelings while you read
  • Teachers must be able to form accurate perceptions of students’ abilities (14:45)
    • When are you bewildering a student?
    • Book studies with faculty
  • Educational Ecology (16:35)
    • “Learning is primarily a relational enterprise.”
  • De-stressing the teacher / Theory of Mind takes an enormous amount of cognitive resource
  • Empathic distress (17:56)
  • Stress Study with Dogs (20:00)
  • Depression (23:41)
  • Executive Function (25:58)
    • Nature v. Nurture - boat analogy
    • Aerobic Exercise is a powerful way to improve executive function
    • Add a cognitive component = even bigger boost
    • Gym in the center of the school
    • Our brains evolved while we were walking 12 hours a day
  • Are cell phones hurting teenage brains? (29:46)
    • Longer you spend looking at screens, worse you are at interpreting social cues from other people’s faces and expressions, nonverbal skills
    • Recovered after 5 days
  • Multitasking and erosion of the attentional spotlight (33:04)
    • Inability to multitask when there are a lot of things to attend to creates stress / anxiety in the brain
  • One recommendation for teachers (36:48)
  • Take aways (38:33)
  • Mark Pearson, Libro.FM
Expertise in Education with Dr. Tom Nichols23 Sep 201900:43:52

Episode 045: Dr. Tom Nichols, Expertise in Education
Five-time Jeopardy! Champion, professor, and author Dr. Tom Nichols joins us on Vrain Waves to discuss the implications of his work on K12 education. We chat with Dr. Nichols about the importance of relying on experts, cultivating our own expertise, and the cognitive heuristics that get in our way. From his website: “Tom Nichols is a U.S. Naval War College University Professor, and an adjunct at the U.S. Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies and the Harvard Extension School. He is a specialist on Russian affairs, nuclear strategy, NATO issues, and a nationally-known commentator on U.S. politics and national security.” And he agreed to talk to us!! Ben and Becky! We are so excited to share his thoughts with you, our busy listeners - please share your thoughts on Twitter with the #MakeSomeVrainWaves or tweet us @VrainWaves with your favorite takeaways. Thanks for listening!

Connect with Dr. Tom Nichols
Website: Facebook: Death of Expertise | Twitter: @radiofreetom | Book: The Death of Expertise

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Teaching from a Full Tank with Chase Mielke09 Sep 201900:56:51

Connect with Chase Mielke
Website: https://affectiveliving.com/ | Twitter: @chasemielke | Newest Book: The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again, ASCD

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Out of Our Heads and Into the Classroom (01:56)
  • Chase Mielke Intro (10:56)
    • Chase’s story & origin of the book (11:17)
  • Subjective Well-Being, Circumstances v. Action (12:57)
  • What can we do? Internal locus of control (15:06)
    • Empowered Thriving Model: Awareness → Attitude → Actions
  • Awareness (16:27)
  • Twin challenges of focus (17:57) - Rambling & Rumination
    • “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” - William James
  • Rumination & Rambling (19:03)
    • Rambling - can’t always control; Rumination we can start to improve with practice
  • Tangible tips for being in the present (20:55)
  • Societal acceptance of mindfulness & meditation (24:15)
    • Excitement from students
  • Staff mindfulness (27:01)
  • 2 components of happiness: Hedonia v. Eudamonia (27:58)
    • Living purposefully - live our best so we can give our best
  • Recognizing your own triggers (29:49)
    • Check in with your body
  • Techniques for re-energizing (32:39)
    • Better sleep habits; hobbies
    • Gratitude practices, altruistic practices
  • Gratitude (35:20)
  • Frequency & Recency of Positive Emotions (39:02)
    • Wired to be more alert to threats than rewards
    • Hebb’s postulate: Neurons that fire together wire together
  • Inattentional Blindness (41:16)
  • Finite Framing (47:35)
    • Moments are unique, this one will end, cherish each one
  • Practical Optimism (51:16)
    • Habits of thinking: Permanence (this will always be as it is) & Universality (everything - a whole child, a whole school, education as a system, etc - is affected by this)
  • Wrap Up & Take aways (54:49)
Fisher & Frey PLC+26 Aug 201900:59:25

Episode 041: PLC Plus with Nancy Frey & Doug Fisher
Join us for this discussion with the potent pair Doug Fisher & Nancy Frey! We learn about their new book, PLC+ and the five questions that get to the heart of what collaboration time should look like in schools. Stay tuned until the end for a special promo code for our listeners for the PLC+ Institutes the authors will be hosting in Colorado in October!

Connect with Fisher & Frey
Website: www.fisherandfrey.com/ | Twitter: @DFisherSDSU; @NancyFrey | Newest Book: PLC Plus, Corwin Press

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Out of Our Heads & Into the Classroom: (01:30)
  • Introduction to Fisher & Frey & PLC Plus (08:12)
    • Their School: Health Sciences High & Middle College in San Diego
    • Questions: Where are we now? & the importance of pre-assessments
      • Side note: common questions for PLC work come from DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010 as a PLC foundation: Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work; we acknowledge this foundational work when discussing PLCs :
        • What do we want students to learn? (essential standards)
        • How will we know if they have learned? (team-developed common assessments)
        • What will we do if they don’t learn? (systematic interventions)
        • What will we do if they already know it? (extended learning)
    • Collective Efficacy
    • Graham Nuthall, Hidden Lives of Learners
      • Students already know between 40-50 percent of what the teacher is teaching (Nuthall, 2007)
    • Equity: Removal of Barriers vs. intervention as responses to student data
    • Activator: Someone to guide the group
  • What are PLCs getting wrong? (13:21)
    • Emphasis on the structural conditions can overwhelm the focus and mission of the group
    • PLC must continually reinvest in itself
    • Lack of attention to instruction - “How do we move learning forward?”
      • Literacy example (16:49)
    • Curriculum / Instruction / Assessment
    • Recent research that ~20% of in-class tasks are on grade level TNTP’s The Opportunity Myth - and an article from EdWeek
    • PLC+ Protocol - Assignment analysis (from The Education Trust) (19:34)
  • Trust and the importance of Relational Conditions (21:18)
    • Activator helps keep the conversation moving
    • Protocols provide consistency
  • PLC+ / PD (22:57)
    • Roughly a 1 to 3 ratio - Full staff Professional learning to PLC+ Time
  • Credibility & Efficacy (24:33)
    • Teacher Credibility: Trust, Competence, Dynamism, Immediacy
  • Self-Efficacy and Collective Efficacy (27:17)
    • Albert Bandura’s research on self-efficacy -
      • From Leading Impact Teams, by Bloomberg & Pitchford (& based on Bandura’s research, as well as Goddard, Hoy, & Hoy): Efficacy = Mastery Moments, Vicarious Experience, Feedback, and Trust
  • “Where are we going?” and “Where are we now?” (31:08)
    • 5 Questions in PLC+: Where are we going? Where are we now? How do we move learning forward? What did we learn today? Who benefited and who did not benefit?
  • Bringing data to the PLC+ (33:22)
    • Student feedback
  • Equity / Cognitive Bias / The Decisions we choose to make: (35:52)
    • Quote from PLC+: “Underlying every decision about what we choose to gather data on is an unspoken decision about what we won’t look at.”
    • Data should be aligned to team’s common challenge; then did we impact learning or not?
      • Invite students to PLC+ times for feedback
  • Protocols for learning walks
    • Microteaching protocols
  • What did we learn today? Every single day we should be formatively assessing
  • Scheduling logistics (44:56)
    • Two PLC+s - Grade level & Content level
    • Vertical & Horizontal conversations are necessary
  • Grading at their school (48:19)
    • Competency-Based / Mastery of Standards
    • Formative homework & classwork
  • All Learning is Social Emotional (50:41)
    • Social Emotional Academic Learning
  • Removing institutional barriers vs. Intervention (54:27)
    • Support each learner individually - help them find a way to mastery
  • Special offer for Vrain Waves Listeners!! (58:50)
First Week of School Activities12 Aug 201900:16:02

Episode 040: Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year!!!
A quick intro episode after our summer break. Listen for some inspiration, activities, and free resources to help get your year started off right!! Please consider sharing with a friend, and point some feedback our way at tinyurl.com/vrainwavesfeedback! Thank you!

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Making the Most of Your Summer10 Jun 201900:15:08

Episode 041: Making the Most of Your Summer
A compilation episode highlighting advice on how to make the most of your summer, courtesy of the interviews from some of our amazing guests. Don’t let decision fatigue get you down! And share with us your summer plans at #makesomevrainwaves.

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Doris Kearns Goodwin & Michael Goodwin - Learning Through History27 May 201900:53:27

Episode 038: Doris Kearns Goodwin & Michael Goodwin, Learning from History

Connect with Doris Kearns Goodwin
Website: https://doriskearnsgoodwin.com/ | Twitter: @DorisKGoodwin

Connect with Michael Goodwin
Website: https://riversc9.wixsite.com/riversandrevolutions/michael-goodwin-rivers

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

School Leadership Reimagined with Robyn Jackson13 May 201900:55:51

Dr. Robyn Jackson, School Leadership Reimagined

Connect with Dr. Jackson
Website: mindstepsinc.com | schoolleadershipreimagined.com | Twitter: @robyn_mindsteps

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Dr. Jackson’s books on ASCD
  • 4 Disciplines of Buildership
  • Why leadership is insufficient (03:18)
  • “A builder goes out ahead, then they invite people to that.”
  • “Bosses say ‘Go’. Leaders say ‘Let’s go.’ Builders say ‘Come’”.
  • The importance of culture (05:45)
  • “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter Drucker
  • “Whoever controls the narrative controls the culture.”
  • How do you regain control over your narrative (and therefore your culture)? (07:27)
  • Have compelling answers for these three questions:
    • What are we building? (have a compelling vision)
    • Why is it important? (have a compelling mission)
    • What’s my role? (a set of core values)
  • Mindsteps, Inc - core values: (11:02)
  • 1 - Drama-free work environment
  • 2 - Do the right thing, even when it hurts
  • 3 - Figure it out
  • Core values as decision filters
  • Vision / Mission / Core Values (13:41)
  • They don’t mean anything if they don’t govern the work.
  • They have to be non-negotiables
  • Only 3, no more than 4, they should be ranked
  • Everybody has to sign off on them
  • Hire based on those things - shape interview questions that tease out people’s core values
  • Master schedule has to support your core values (BONUS: See this article from our very own Andrea Smith, Lyons Middle / Senior Principal, on how your master schedule reflects your climate and culture!)
  • Has to hit 100% of your students
  • Builders Lab Workshops
  • Advice for teacher leaders (21:55)
  • Culture = organizational habits & the stories we tell about them
    Robyn’s AP Class story (22:30)
  • Jay Matthews’ book on Jaime Escalante
  • “What you start in your classroom can be powerful enough to change the culture of your entire school.”
  • “Be who you want to see.” (28:23)
  • “If you really want to change your culture, you are in the most powerful position to change it. There is nothing more powerful than a teacher.”
  • Pygmalion effect (29:49)
  • Kids will rise to the expectations you have for yourself. (not the expectations you have for them)
  • Blog post about it
  • Master Teacher Project (31:12)
  • 7 Principles of Effective Instruction (32:29)
  • “Use Feedback to help you both get better”
  • What kind of feedback is this assignment going to give me about how students are doing?
  • How do I respond so I can give the student the type of feedback this assignment was designed for?
  • Color-coded rubrics (36:22)
  • Feedback has to give kids a pathway to improvement
  • Rigorous Instruction (38:34)
  • Free tutorial for rigorous instruction
  • Requires students to construct meaning for themselves
  • Requires students to impose structure on information
  • Requires students to integrate skills into processes
  • Requires students to apply what they’ve learned to more than one context and to unpredictable situations
  • Unit planning template
  • Dr. Jackson’s interview with Ashton Kutcher - Curious Not Furious (42:29)
  • Kutcher’s work on human trafficking / Bodies are not Commodities A21 curriculum
  • Funding Iowa Donors Choose projects
  • “If you don’t take every opportunity to learn something, if you’re not looking at everybody as ‘they have something they can teach me’, then you’re significantly cutting yourself off from insights, some perspectives that could really broaden your own.” (47:32)
  • Being passionate about something makes you quicker to judge sometimes (49:52)
  • “Curiosity and judgment can’t fit in the same space.” (51:08)
  • Summer PD opportunities with Dr. Jackson - 2 Builders Labs (June 24-26 in CA; July 15-17 in Arlington VA for Instructional Coaches)
  • Takeaways (52:50)
  • AP Progress in St Vrain
  • 10 signs of a toxic culture (Episode 8 - How to Detoxify your school culture - School Leadership Reimagined podcast) “Safety is not about removing discomfort.” Are people safe enough to be uncomfortable with me?
Teaching Kids Who Read with Daniel Willingham29 Apr 201900:44:02

Episode 038: Dr. Dan Willingham, Cognitive Scientist

Connect with Dr. Willingham
Website: http://www.danielwillingham.com/ | Twitter: @DTwillingham

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Loving reading the most (05:07)
  • Make it an easy choice (07:12)
  • Rewards & incentives for reading (07:26)
  • “Take your kids seriously as a reader as soon as you can.” - Dan Willingham
  • Making books the topic around the water cooler (10:15)
  • Fluent decoding, comprehension, and motivation - the three-legged stool of raising kid who read
  • “Before he can develop taste, he must experience hunger.”
  • 30 min reading with the principal @ Indian Peaks Elementary - Kathi Jo Walder (11:36)
  • Camp EmpowerED in SVVSD - May 28 & 29th, Register HERE
  • Dr. Willingham’s books: The Reading Mind, Raising Kids Who Read, Why Don’t Students Like School
  • Dan’s next book: Memory & Self-regulation of memory (12:46)
  • Make It Stick, Mark McDaniel & Peter Brown, Henry Roediger (note: Read this book! It’s amazing!)
  • Re-reading (14:07)
  • Highlighting (17:22)
  • Annotating is much better (19:43)
  • Vocabulary instruction for understanding complex texts (20:31)
  • Explicit vocabulary instruction works AND it’s very sensitive to context - need a number of examples to round out understanding
  • Encouraging reading for leisure with rewards & incentives (24:41)
  • Attributions (stickers, rewards, etc… what role do grades play in this??)
  • Drop Everything & Read; Sustained Silent Reading (28:31)
  • Research: Manning, M., & Lewis, M. (2010). Sustained silent reading: An update of the research.
  • Digital vs. Analog reading (30:54)
  • YouTube video APS Conference in San Francisco - psychological science in K12 education (34:09)
  • What psych concepts do we, as teachers, need to get better at? (35:49)
  • How kids behave & what they do
  • Theories of memory & knowledge; Behaviorist / Cognitive / Constructivist
  • Research on Homework (39:31)
  • Homework as a reflection of school values
  • Takeaways (41:47)
  • Ask the Cognitive Scientist column
  • Why Don’t Students Like School
  • “Memory is the residue of thought. To teach well, you should pay careful attention to what an assignment will actually make students think about, not what you hope they’ll think about, because that is what they will remember.” - Dan Willingham
Positive School and Classroom Culture15 Apr 201900:44:20

Episode 037: Jennifer Gonzalez, Cult of Pedagogy
It’s not a real cult. It’s a mindset, a family, a ton of free resources, a podcast, great blog posts, relevant topics, and, frankly, a security blanket for busy teachers. Many times it’s pushed our thinking, strengthened our practice, and given us solace. It’s the Cult of Pedagogy, and we had the privilege of speaking to the “Head Teacher Nerd”, Jennifer Gonzalez, about school culture and much much more.

Connect with Jennifer Gonzalez
Website: www.cultofpedagogy.com/ | Twitter: @cultofpedagogy

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Small Shifts for Big Impact01 Mar 202400:37:02

Tune in for our conversation with Dr. Scott McLeod about his 4 Shifts Protocol and how these shifts can help teachers engage in reflection, apply deeper learning principles, and build student agency in their classrooms. As we learn and grow as educators, the 4 Shifts Protocol is intended "to get at some specific, concrete ‘think abouts’ and ‘look fors’ that can help educators dialogue around what they might change." Continuous refinement for the win!

https://twitter.com/SuzannahEvans2

https://twitter.com/saeed_shane

https://twitter.com/mcleod

https://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/resources/4-shifts-protocol

https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Student-Led-Reimagining-Classroom-Workflows/dp/1948334526

Digital Minimalism With Cal Newport01 Apr 201901:01:58

** Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism**
Join us to learn from best-selling author & Computer Science professor Cal Newport as we talk to him about exploring the world of digital abundance, using technology with intention, and walking through life with purpose. Learn more from Cal on his website, at calnewport.com, where he has archived about 10 years of blog posts on everything from study habits to career advice and more - and read one of the business books everyone will be reading this year to engage in this discussion further.

Connect with Cal Newport
Website: calnewport.com | Book: Digital Minimalism

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • From the book: “The urge to check Twitter or refresh Reddit becomes a nervous twitch that shatters uninterrupted time into shards too small to support the presence necessary for an intentional life.”
  • Why digital minimalism? (03:27)
  • Professional v. Personal use of technology (04:42)
  • Engineering technology for constant use (05:52)
    • Re-engineer the social experience to be addictive - constant, intermittent, incoming stream of social approval indicators - autotagging, liking, etc.
  • Steve Jobs on minimalism (08:02)
  • Average modern user - 2 h social media per day - Tristan Harris (10:58)
    • Psychology of detaching yourself from social media
    • Maximalist mindset - natural loss aversion
  • What is Digital Minimalism? (13:04)
  • How to minimize: 30 day Digital Declutter (14:38)
  • Modeling good digital habits for the younger people in your lives (19:41)
  • Public perception on these shifts (20:52)
  • Increased social media use & loneliness (23:18)
  • Focus is the new IQ - from Deep Work (25:10)
  • Start with the value and then identify the tools that help; questions we should ask for instruction (26:14)
    • Start with learning goals & add the goal of developing deep, focused thinkers
  • Audio vs. visual for reading (29:33)
  • Value of in-person lecture (31:34)
  • Professional Rock-Paper-Scissors (on YouTube!) & what that teaches us about social psychology (32:27)
  • Value of solitude (35:04) - “freedom from input of other minds”
    • Lead Yourself First
    • Solitude deprivation
    • Stress & anxiety in generations with ubiquitous technology during adolescence
  • Making the declutter process stick (39:35)
  • Attention capital theory & Cal’s next book (42:16)
  • Willpower is a finite resource (50:25)
  • “Follow your passion” is bad advice (54:38)
  • To learn more from Cal: calnewport.com - 10 years of blog posts
  • Work Life Podcast with Adam Grant
Evicting The Enemies of Yes (ASCD Recap)21 Mar 201900:18:52

Connect with Alyssa Gallagher & Kami Thordarson
Website: www.inprogress-consulting.com/ | Twitter: @am_gallagher; @kami_thor

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Ditching Deficit Thinking (ASCD Recap)19 Mar 201900:24:54

Connect with the Dream Team
Websites: learningpersonalized.com, habitsofmindinstitute.org, nuatc.org | Twitter: @allison_zmuda, @benakallick

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Connect with ASCD
Website: www.ascd.org | Twitter: @ASCD, @ASCDConf, #Empower19

Dwayne Reed on a Culture of We - ASCD Recap18 Mar 201900:23:21

Episode 035: Dwayne Reed, Welcome to the 4th Grade :)
In the first of our mini-series highlighting the conversations at the ASCD Empower 2019 Conference (#Empower19 for more on social media as well…), we sit down with inspirational teacher Mr. Dwayne Reed from Chicago Public Schools. Please enjoy this quick discussion about getting to know our classroom by starting with ‘you’, then ‘them’, then ‘we’, a quick reprise of his keynote at the General Session of the conference. (Becky’s Chicago accent comes back a little harder in this episode, too, so brace yourselves for that…)

Connect with Dwayne Reed
Twitter: @TeachMrReed | Facebook: Mr. Dwayne Reed

Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Connect with ASCD
Website: www.ascd.org | Twitter: @ASCD, @ASCDConf, #Empower19

Links & Show Notes

We Got This with Cornelius Minor04 Mar 201900:54:00

Connect with Cornelius Minor
Website: kassandcorn.com | Twitter: @MisterMinor | Book: We Got This

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Cornelius’ Introduction & Background (02:05)
    • Working through and reflecting on failure; teacher imagination (03:45)
  • We Got This, the book, and the Teacher-as-Hero Narrative (05:59)
  • Why is the Teacher-as-hero narrative problematic? (07:40)
  • We all want better (09:52)
    • Teaching in the contemporary political moment
    • We are pro-kid - to help them create opportunities for themselves
    • “Anything that abridges opportunity is my enemy.”
    • Challenge: How do we actualize ‘better’
  • How do we navigate the contemporary political moment? (12:05)
    • Everything is iterative
    • Story about Cornelius & his soccer team
    • Bringing it back to the classroom - what it means to be a member of a community - advocacy & activism (16:10)
    • The world hands you a curriculum - if you’re observant & you listen, you can do really powerful things
    • How can we all help surface and solve those stories? (17:55)
    • Racism, ableism, classism - Who should be working to solve it?
    • Empathy is a really powerful tool
    • Decolonize school by trying to understand each other
  • Get to know our students better by listening - “Where is the poetry in this person?” (21:04)
    • Spend our time observing (22:35)
    • Labels are necessary shorthand but we have to avoid getting trapped in those (23:08)
    • Disability spread - the spread effect (23:57)
  • Hip Hop Ed (24:31)
    • #hiphoped
    • Art vs. product (25:08)
    • At the heart of hip hop is innovation / engineering / iterative design
    • Fearless around the act of creation
    • Hip hop came out of the Bronx
    • Can’t teach without the crowd
  • How can we be more fearless in our creation? (28:36)
    • What is school?
    • True creation is messy & noisy - where are we leaving space for that during the school day?
    • Embrace approximation (instead of perfection) (30:12)
  • How do we create space for learning from each other? (31:45)
    • Be deliberate about it
    • Ms. Disbrow as Cornelius’ mentor
    • Watching specific teaching moves, going into each other’s classrooms at least once a week - specific, scheduled time to watch, then specific, scheduled time to practice the learning
  • Practices in literacy instruction (35:49)
    • Students and book selection - craft independence
    • “We’re here to create book culture.”
    • Independent reading time in class (37:51)
    • Agency for students (39:05)
  • Modeling in writing (39:52)
  • Letting go of power without letting go of control (44:27)
    • Physics of human relationships
    • Create multiple points of investment / sharing power
    • “How can I raise a kid’s status in front of their peers?”
  • How to teach with deep community engagement (48:18)
    • Parents & teachers need to see each other as experts
    • How can I labor to understand each student in order to give them the best possible experience?
  • To learn more from Cornelius Minor:
  • Wrap Ups & Take Aways (52:21)
Sylvia Acevedo on Building Girls of Courage, Confidence, and Character18 Feb 201900:53:30

Episode 032: Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts & STEM
In this episode, Girl Scout CEO Sylvia Acevedo shares so much wisdom and insight into how to reach learners at every level, especially girls. Her stories, both from her own life and from being the CEO of girl scouts and seeing the projects that students are working on, are sure to inspire! Stay tuned after the episode for more classroom tips and instructional resources.

Connect with Sylvia Acevedo
Website: www.sylviaacevedo.org; https://www.girlscouts.org/ | Twitter: @SylviaAcevedo | Book: Path to the Stars

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • Sylvia on being an Author, Entrepreneur, Engineer, and Rocket Scientist (01:54)
  • Head Start program / Girl Scouts of America
  • Sylvia on telling her story: Path to the Stars (03:18)
  • Importance of math & programming in Middle School
  • Fashion Institute of Technology in NY
  • Early experiences with Girl Scouts & how they shaped her interests (07:17)
  • One of the first Hispanics, male or female, to get a Masters Degree in Engineering from Stanford
  • Troop leader helped her explore her interest in science
  • Estes Rocket Kit
  • Cooking is just like Science
  • Resilience, determination, & confidence
  • Girl Scout Cookie Program (10:43) - Create your future, create your own opportunities
  • Never walk away from a sale unless you’ve heard ‘No’ three times
  • Persistence, Resilience, and getting to Yes (11:30)
  • Girl Scouts impact (13:02)
  • Half of all female elected officials were girl scouts; almost every female astronaut was a girl scout
  • Girl Scouts Alumnae Impact Study Report
  • Sylvia’s CEO Patch (13:38)
  • Voyager 2
  • Barriers to success (16:46)
  • Find out the barrier & address that - what is the reason behind that ‘No’?
  • Bilingualism (20:11)
  • Bilingual brain development & creativity
  • Name changes (21:15) - “Sylvia Elia Acevedo Monge” → Sylvia Acevedo
  • English is the de facto language of business - competitive advantage
  • What Public Ed can learn from Girl Scouts (24:21)
  • Learning organization (story behind the badges)
  • Look at potential → Build skills → Take Action
  • Caring adult / troop leader
  • Include all 5 senses in the work
  • Bronze, Silver, Gold Awards for service
  • Every year a few girls change state laws with their community action
  • Child Marriage Law in NH
  • Smoking laws
  • No Straw November
  • Girl Scout Gold Awards
  • Girl Scouts Mission: “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”
  • Eco-gloo
  • STEM + Civic Action (31:54)
  • Focus on how to make the world a better place
  • To girls, ranking is not as important as linking
  • Learning skills in a girl-only space (36:35)
  • De facto norm is the male experience (37:48)
  • Decoding the Digital Girl report
  • Girl Scouts research
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cancer Research on women (41:10)
  • Drug studies based on 180 pound male
  • Increasing partnerships with schools (43:36)
  • Number of programs / ways to implement
  • Ben & Becky’s takeaways (45:34)
  • Out of our Heads and into the Classroom (47:55)
  • Gold Award - adding in high, difficult goals for your classroom
  • Badges (digital or real)
  • IBM Badging program for its employees
  • Community aspect - videos to students
  • Civic Engagement in K12 classrooms: NCLCE Guidebook / Other resources from Jenny Pettit of SVVSD
  • Put that you were / are a Girl Scout on your LinkedIn Profile!! Join the Girl Scout Network!
Solving Wicked Problems with Design Thinking04 Feb 201900:44:59

Episode 031: Design Thinking for School Leaders
Co-authors Alyssa Gallagher and Kami Thordarson stop by Vrain Waves to share the 5 elements of design-inspired leadership. Alyssa & Kami “believe that educators can solve the challenges that face our schools faster and more effectively than any policy, top down mandate, or expensive commercial solution.” Tune in as they explain how design, creativity, and observation can help us navigate and advocate for change.

Connect with Alyssa Gallagher & Kami Thordarson
Website: www.inprogress-consulting.com/ | Twitter: @am_gallagher; @kami_thor

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Educated by Design with The Tech Rabbi28 Jan 201900:43:34

Educated By Design with The Tech Rabbi
In his new book, Educated by Design, The Tech Rabbi Michael Cohen shares his journey to education through design, while providing useful tools and resources for the reader to help expand students’ belief in their own creative ability. Today on Vrain Waves, he shares many of these insights with us!

Connect with The Tech Rabbi
Website: https://thetechrabbi.com/ | Twitter: @TheTechRabbi

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

On Learning Spaces with Dr. Robert21 Jan 201900:48:31

Episode 029, Dr. Robert Dillon: The Space
We’ve covered what we teach, and how we teach, and why we teach… but we have never really talked about WHERE we teach. So today, enjoy the insights and inspirations of Dr. Robert Dillon. In this interview, we discuss the research behind where we learn, how we can put this research into practice by making small changes to our environment, and strategies for keeping this top of mind as we move throughout the school year.

Connect with Dr. Robert Dillon
Website: www.drrobertdillon.com/ | Twitter: @drrobertdillon

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

  • David Thornburg - 3 archetypal learning spaces (05:45)
  • Campfire, Watering Hole, Cave
  • Cooperative Learning Structures / Kagan strategies (07:09)
  • Quiz, Quiz, Trade
  • Intro to Dr. Robert Dillon (09:46)
  • The Space, the book - co-authored by Dillon & Rebecca Louise Hare
  • St Vrain’s Innovation Center
  • Why Space Matters (11:32)
  • Movement, choice, active engagement (12:30)
  • John Medina’s quote: “If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom.” - from Brain Rules
  • Designing Learning spaces (14:01)
  • Optimize the perimeter
  • Color, Clutter, Visual Noise = distraction
  • “We always have control over less in our classrooms.”
  • Strategies to declutter (14:50)
  • Do I still need that anchor chart?
  • Ask students every 2 weeks
  • “Where our students learn matters. Are they guests? Or are they collaborators? (17:04)
  • Steelcase (19:10)
  • Steelcase research on Education spaces
  • University of Melbourne research on ed spaces: LEaRN (Learning Environments Applied Research Network)
  • Vanderbilt on Learning Spaces
  • Interaction Geography (20:03) - how people move through the space
  • Example
  • The need for Quiet (21:05)
  • The cost of interruptions (Washington Post, Forbes, Fast Company)
  • Bob’s favorite learning spaces (24:08)
  • What’s on the walls? (25:26)
  • More images of students doing the work vs the ‘perfect’ finished products
  • Process over product
  • Accelerant for classroom management (28:02)
  • Rocky Mountain Elementary
  • Open Educational Resources (29:49)
  • OER Commons
  • Engage NY math curriculum
  • What are the verbs for your space? (31:29)
  • Hacks for improving space (33:01)
  • Natural light; simulate nature
  • Use visual displays to do so
  • Balance ‘green time’ with ‘screen time’
  • Classroomscreen.com
  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (34:50)
  • 7 principles: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, Low Physical Effort, Size and Space for Approach and Use
  • #LearningSpaces on twitter / instagram & Flexspace.com
  • How to keep up with these things (40:57)
  • “Release trapped wisdom into the system.”
  • To learn more: drrobertdillon.com; @drrobertdillon on twitter
  • Reflections from Ben & Becky (43:31)
  • Suzy Evans - teacher clip on assessment-capable learners & using space during assessment (45:21)
  • LEAVE US A MESSAGE!!! 720-900-1741
Into the Classroom!07 Jan 201900:41:56

Episode 028, Into the Classroom
For our first show of 2019, we decided to outsource for more tangible tips and creative ideas for your classroom to kick off second semester. We asked Vrain Waves listeners to give us a 2-3 minute voice clip of them describing something in their classroom or their practice that they wanted to share with a broader audience - an extended version of our Out of Our Heads and Into the Classroom segment. Here’s the result - we hope you enjoy, and would love it if you would contribute too! We’ll likely include more of these in different episodes, so please call us (720-900-1741) or email us with a short voice memo and we’ll share your ideas with our audience! Thank you so much, and Happy New Year!

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Email: becky@vrainwaves.com, ben@vrainwaves.com

Links & Show Notes

  • (02:13) Megan Soderlund (Teacher, HS Social Studies - @megss_8) → Unit planning with creative essential questions. Ex: Was farming a mistake? Was Alexander the Great overrated?
  • (03:49) Catrina Estrada (Assistant Principal - @CatrinaEstrada) → Get rid of red notification bubbles with a separate email for junk mail / subscriptions
  • (04:54) Adam Wellington (Teacher, APUSH & Gov - @awellington83) → “Make a Meme” class openers - https://imgflip.com/
  • (07:02) Ann Feldman (Tech Integration Specialist - @annfeldman1) → Leverage Class Kick & its audio feature for descriptive feedback
  • (09:52) Thom Gibson (Teacher, Middle School math / video / robotics - @gibsonedu; The Thom Gibson Podcast; https://thomgibson.com/) → Consider starting a classroom economy
  • (11:14) Casey Luker (Learning Technology Coach - @missluker) → BreakoutEDU boxes and the reflections for different participants that come along with the experience
  • (13:56) Keith Kennison (Teacher, Middle school Math & Science - @kennison_keith) → Join students in exploring the Why, modeling inquiry and learning through challenge
  • (16:00) Shelly Stevens (Instructor, Teacher Prep Program - @smbpinky) → Interactive Daily Agendas via google slides - Catlin Tucker on interactive daily agendas
  • (20:24) Heather Brubaker (Teacher, elementary art) → Cross-Disciplinary Challenge; PE / Science / Art; unlikely partner challenge - “Understanding is an Art”
  • (22:15) Diane Lauer (Assistant Superintendent of Priority Programs and Academic Support - @MrsLauer) → Professional development through video coaching / video for self-growth - Harvard’s MQI Project (Mathematical Quality of Instruction) - Harvard CEPR Visibly Better website / #visiblybetter hashtag on twitter
  • (26:19) Matt Hawkins (Teacher, Design & Innovation - @mrhawkinsgl) → Landmarks design challenge & building with Minecraft; Minecraft Education Edition
  • (28:39) Kim Wiggins (Assessment Coordinator - @KWigginsSVVSD) → student empowerment through creating assessment-capable learners; assessment as done with students vs. to students; Learning goals vs. performance goals
  • (30:48) Sarah Pomranka (Teacher, IB - @sarahpom) → Talking individually with each student for feedback, both before & after assignments; + learning technology to demonstrate understanding
  • (32:16) Nate Wilcox (Teacher - @natewilcox) → Shortcuts app (formerly Workflows)
  • (33:17) Anna Mills (Teacher, Innovation / Neuroscience - @millsanna1) → Integrating neuroscience understanding into K-8 curriculum
  • (36:06) Felecity Treptow (ADE - @felecitytreptow) → Voice Memos app for the classroom
  • (37:22) Carly Adams (Teacher - @missadams08) → Apple Classroom to organize learning technology
  • (38:18) Michelle Shory & Irina McGrath (ESL Instructional Coaches - @michelleshory, @irina_mcgrath) → Use closed captioning in Google Slides during presentations - use Screencastify to record; YouTube Clips - settings: adjust speeds, add closed captioning; Google Translate - conversation mode - Things We Wish We Knew 6 Months Ago on Wakelet.com
Find an Open Door!02 Feb 202400:36:15

If the instructional door you chose to open isn't working, find a different door! We can hold high expectations for our students AND meet them where they are at the same time! Tune in as our second married teaching couple, Ken and Kendra Versoi, drop amazing and tangible strategies for effective facilitation (hint, hint it starts with Relationships). 

@SuzannahEvans2

@saeed_shane

Necessary Conditions, Geoff Krall

Building Thinking Classrooms, Peter Liljedahl

Auld Lang Syne: The Best of 201831 Dec 201800:30:37

Number 5:
Episode 5 with Dave Burgess:
“Mediocrity doesn’t motivate.”
Episode 11 with Dan Meyer:
“Never assume anyone even cares.” / “Teach math as if it were an elective.”
Episode 9 with Daniel Pink:
“Time plays a much bigger role than we realize… we are temporal creatures.”
“Pay careful attention to endings.”

Number 4:
Episode 14 with Dr. Brent Duckor & Dr. Carrie Holmberg:
“Kids need to build on prior knowledge & associations.”
Episode 10 with Jennie Magiera:
“Treat students like they are human beings.”

Number 3:
Episode 23 with Dan Heath:
“Beware of the soul sucking force of reasonableness.”
Episode 21 with Catlin Tucker:
“Our classroom spaces should be places where everybody is experimenting, everybody is taking risks, and everybody is learning. That can’t just be the students.”

Number 2:
Episode 04 with Kim Scott:
“Radical candor is about how to collaborate effectively with a group of people.”
Episode 02 with Dr. Tony Wagner:
“Our profession is afflicted with the curse of isolation.”
“Isolation is the enemy of improvement, it is the enemy of innovation and it is the enemy of science.”
PD Credits for listening to Vrain Waves: www.tinyurl.com/vrainwavesPD

Number 1:
Episode 18 with John Hattie:
“Know thy impact.”
“I couldn’t care less how teachers teach.”

Goals - Episode 26 with Stephen Shedletsky

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Starting with Why with Stephen Shedletsky17 Dec 201800:45:08

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Connect with Start with Why
Website: https://startwithwhy.com/ | Twitter: @steveshed, @simonsinek |
Stephen's recent Discovery Ed Webinar

Links & Show Notes

  • Simon Sinek’s TED Talk summary (02:15)
    • “People don’t buy what they do, they buy why you do it.”
  • Why start with WHY? (04:12)
  • What happens when you start with why? (05:07)
  • How you find your why… describing love (08:25)
    • Look to the anthropology - map peaks and valleys in your life & why will emerge (08:56)
    • Why lives in limbic brain, has no language
  • Don’t put ‘I’m a teacher’ in your WHY (10:02)
    • Take your ‘whats’ out of your ‘why’
    • Richard Branson (11:30) - Infusing fun so that we positively impact people’s lives - put a splash of red in a mundane world of grey
    • Collective efficacy
  • Context vs. content (14:28)
    • “Vision without execution is hallucination.” - Edison
  • Clarity of Why, Discipline of How, Consistency of What
  • Discipline of How (16:18)
    • Stephen’s WHY: To connect with people in meaningful ways so that we connect with depth and live in a more fulfilled world
  • Helping students find their why (19:40)
    • Life experience & brain development are crucial
  • Does your why change? (22:04)
    • If you live in line with what you believe, the result is passion, if you live out of line with what you believe, the result is stress.
  • Organizational ‘why’ vs. individual ‘why’ (23:08)
    • “For what reason are you proud to be a part of this institution?”
    • 2 ways to change a population: Evolution or Revolution (24:45)
    • Nested Whys
    • Simon Sinek’s Why: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that each of us can change the world for the better
    • We can each choose to be the leader we wish we had.”
  • Consistency of What (26:08)
    • Authenticity - we say & do what we actually believe
  • What about when we’re not consistent with our why? (28:30)
    • Ask for accountability
    • Keep goal in our heads = 7-15% will accomplish
    • Write goals down = 45% will accomplish
    • Share goals with someone we care about = >80% will accomplish
    • (Note: I couldn’t find where Stephen found these numbers, so don’t have a link, but tried to look around online and found that the jury is kind of out on whether or not and when it’s a good idea to share your goals, with whom, what kind of feedback to receive, etc. There are a lot of factors here that make goal-sharing for accountability a grey area.)
    • Continue - Start - Stop
  • Leaders Eat Last (31:08)
    • “A whisper is a shout.”
    • Inspiration & Clarity, then Trust
    • Safety, Value, Belonging
  • General George Flynn (34:18)
  • Fulfillment > Happiness (36:14)
  • Work-Life Balance & Flow state (36:48)
  • Books that have shaped Stephen’s worldview (38:40)
  • The Infinite Game: Game Theory & Simon’s new book (40:02)
  • Takeaways (43:07)
  • Ben’s skills video (44:25)
  • “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who can come alive.” - Howard Thurman
  • Michelle Obama
  • Cal Newport - So Good They Can’t Ignore You
  • tinyurl.com/vrainwavesfeedback
John Couch on Rewiring Education03 Dec 201800:44:17

Episode 025, John Couch: Rewiring Education
In this episode, we speak with a former executive of one of the most influential companies on the planet! In addition to being a personal friend of Steve Jobs, John Couch was the Vice President of Education at Apple Inc. for 16 years. This giant in education enthralls us with stories from his book, Rewiring Education, explains the merits of challenge-based learning, and shares why creativity is worth 100 IQ points!
Couch and jobs pic

Connect with John Couch
Website: http://rewiringeducation.com/about/

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Understanding How We Learn with the Learning Scientists19 Nov 201800:50:20

Episode 024: Dr. Megan Sumeracki & Dr. Yana Weinstein - The Learning Scientists

The Learning Scientists are cognitive psychologists who spend their time sharing research-backed study methods via their podcast, their blog, and their new book, Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide. Today, they talk to us about their research and how it translates into the classroom. Enjoy!

Connect with The Learning Scientists
Website: www.learningscientists.org/
Twitter: Dr. Weinstein: @doctorwhy; Dr. Sumeracki: @DrSumeracki; Learning Scientists: @AceThatTest

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Episode 024: Dr. Megan Sumeracki & Dr. Yana Weinstein - The Learning Scientists

The Learning Scientists are cognitive psychologists who spend their time sharing research-backed study methods via their podcast, their blog, and their new book, Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide. Today, they talk to us about their research and how it translates into the classroom. Enjoy!

© My Podcast Data