Lesson: Impossible - An Exploration of Educational Innovation – Details, episodes & analysis

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to connect Second Language Acquisition theories with practical classroom applications. The special agents assigned to help you with this task are Florencia Henshaw and Maris Hawkins, authors of "Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom".

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ Some SLA theories that refuse to die

2️⃣ Their favorite activities to use

3️⃣ The importance of both content and purpose

Click here for links and resources mentioned in the episode or more information about the podcast. Click here for Lesson: Impossible’s language teaching blog.

If you liked this episode you might want to check out:

• Ep. 18: Agent Rebecca Blouwolff (Teaching Language Authentically)
• Ep. 27: Agent Laurent Porosoff (Meaningful Curriculum)
• Ep. 72: Agent Julia Spiegelman (Challenging Language Textbooks)

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to debate which three characteristics are the ingredients for a great teacher. The special agents assigned to help you with this task are Nick Zaveri, Christopher Tudisco, Jack Scanlan, William Mealey & Aviva Levin.

Prior to Edupodlooza 2022, teachers on Twitter responded to the question of what top three traits they though made a great teacher, which led to some interesting and contradicting responses! Thus, this episode involves the five participants (me, Nick from the popular news communication podcast “Can We Please Talk?”, Tudisco and Mealey from the humorous interview podcast “Unprofessional Development”, and Jack from the satirical podcast “EduChaos”) reacting to that thread, with some in-depth discussions about cultural awareness, humor, content knowledge, vulnerability, boundaries, and the concept of love for students.

Click here for links and resources mentioned in the episode or more information about the podcast. Click here for Lesson: Impossible’s blog about teaching world languages.

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to improve your teaching practice by being part of a Professional Learning Community, or PLC.  The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Chad Dumas.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ What is, and is not, a PLC?

2️⃣ How to start a PLC for the first time

3️⃣ How to improve an existing PLC with a focus on community

Click here for links and resources mentioned in the episode or more information about Chad and the podcast. Click here for Lesson: Impossible’s blog.

Lesson: Impossible is proud to be one of the many amazing School Rubric podcasts.

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to use various planning and instructional strategies to support your neurodiverse students. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Drew Thompson, of Organized Minds.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣  Drew’s personal experiences as a neurodiverse learner and the supports he wished he had received

2️⃣  Scope creep, the dark side of graphic organizers, inductive versus deductive thinking, the value of chunking assignments, and making social interpretations clear

3️⃣  Why sometimes giving students a “wiggle and a snack”, no matter what age, can make a huge difference!

Click here for links mentioned in the episode or more information about the podcast. Click here for Lesson: Impossible’s new language-learning blog.

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to incorporate Project Based Learning into your teaching to support, among many amazing things, the Social-Emotional Development of your students. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Mike Kaechele.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ Responding to school and community needs, such as reacting to an ICE raid, or helping farmers choose their next potato crops

2️⃣ Giving students agency and hope for the future, such as a Chemistry, English, US History project looking at poverty in America or returning the rapids to Grand Rapids

3️⃣ Making it work by providing structure, connecting to standards, learning from mistakes, adapting year-to-year, and having the students ask rather than the adults

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.

Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to welcome students with limited or interrupted formal education (aka. SLIFE) into your classroom. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Orly Klapholz, co-founder of “Inlier Learning” from Hollywood, Florida.

According to the UN, by the end of 2021 as many as half a million people will likely flee Afghanistan. After time spent in refugee camps, many families will resettle in North America and Europe, and I think it’s worth asking ourselves an important question:  would our schools, and would we, as teachers or administrators, be ready to provide Afghan students, or any other population with limited or interrupted schooling, with the best education possible?

In our conversation Orly and I discuss:

1️⃣ Defining SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) and the need for more data

2️⃣ SLIFE social, emotional, cultural, linguistic, and academic needs as well as the systematic issues that lead to a high drop-out rate

3️⃣ Providing age-appropriate appropriate and trauma informed resources

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.

🎙Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to consider becoming an educational podcaster🧑🏽‍🏫💬. The special agents🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♂️  assigned to help you with this task are co-hosts Mealey and Tudisco of the Unprofessional Development Podcast.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ Their origin story and how podcasting has enriched their teaching

2️⃣ Their division of labor and co-hosting dynamic

3️⃣ Their only rule: don’t get fired

… as well as Tudisco and Mealey going on many hilarious tangents

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.

🎙Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to become more culturally competent🌏 by exploring research📙 on the varied educational📝 attitudes and experiences of Asian-American immigrants🔑. The special agent🕵🏽‍♂️assigned to help you with this task is Dr. Pawan Dhingra of Amherst College.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ What Pawan has learned through his research of how some Asian immigrant parents and their children view American school systems

2️⃣ How teachers can navigate relationships with parents when educational attitudes aren’t in sync (and how they may be more aligned than we realize)

3️⃣ Becoming a more culturally competent teacher and communicator

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.

🎙 Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is instill a love❤️ of books📚 in even the most reluctant😩reader. The special agent🕵🏻‍♀️ assigned to help you with this task is middle school teacher Kari Pitstick of Illinois.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣ Strategies to help students develop a love of reading

2️⃣ Helping students find appropriate books (content and reading level)

3️⃣ Why she’ll never give up silent reading time

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.

🎙Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to work with colleagues👩🏼‍🏫🧑🏽‍🏫  from different subject areas👩🏾‍🔬👨🏼‍🎨 to create interdisciplinary units 🔢📝🔬  for students. The special agent🕵️‍♂️  assigned to help you with this task is Steve Capone of Utah.

In our conversation we discuss:

1️⃣  How Steve and his team create, plan, implement, teach, and then assess cross-curricular units

2️⃣  The importance of maintaining relationships when collaborating in a multi-disciplinary team

3️⃣  The ways that freeing himself from traditional educational structures have improved his practice

Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.