Rebel Educator® – Details, episodes & analysis

Ever feel like you're swimming against the tide when it comes to teaching kids to read? You're not alone! 

In this enlightening episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, we welcome seasoned educators Shannon Betts & Mary Saghafi, hosts of the Reading Teachers Lounge podcast.

With over two decades of combined experience in various educational settings, from traditional classrooms to specialized reading instruction, they've seen it all – and they're not afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get kids reading.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS:

• The shift towards science of reading methodologies and its impact on classroom practices
• Common misconceptions in literacy instruction and how to overcome them
• Strategies for advocating for struggling readers within school systems
• The importance of data-driven decision making in addressing students' needs
• Practical advice for teachers navigating conflicts and improving their instructional practices

Shannon and Mary offer practical advice on meeting kids where they are, ditching one-size-fits-all approaches, and why those foundational skills are just so important. Their discussion highlights the challenges and rewards of being a "rebel educator" who prioritizes student needs over outdated practices.

Whether you're a teacher feeling stuck, an administrator looking for fresh ideas, or a parent trying to make sense of it all, this episode is for you! Tune in and get ready to revolutionize the way you think about teaching reading!

GUEST BIO:

The Reading Teachers Lounge is a podcast and professional learning community of literacy teachers searching for the best resources and research-backed practices to reach their learners.    Cohosts Shannon and Mary bring an honest and experienced point of view to the topics they share.  Listen.  Learn.  And immediately add to your bag of teaching tricks. Find what works for YOUR students with us in the Reading Teachers Lounge.

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Shannon and Mary on Facebook and Instagram
• Learn more about the Rebel Project Literacy Curriculum, a fully integrated literacy and project based learning curriculum, at  projectup.us or inkwire.co/rplc  
• Get your copy of Rebel Educator: Create Classrooms Where Impact and Imagination Meet
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, and check out our project library.
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment.
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here.

Enjoying the show? Leave us a rating and review and help more people find us! bit.ly/RebelEducatorApplePodcasts

We’d love it if you could take a few minutes to fill out this survey to let us know how we can bring you the best possible content: forms.gle/JcKHf9DHTZnYUmQr6 

Interested in being on the Rebel Educator podcast? Fill out this form and we'll reach out to you if we think you'd be a great fit for an upcoming episode. https://forms.gle/CZJXLQDdevPh22ZN7

Want to learn more about opening your own UP Academy? Check out the Rebel Educator Accelerator: www.rebeleducator.com/courses/the-accelerator

MORE ABOUT THE REBEL EDUCATOR PODCAST:

In each episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, I deconstruct world-class educators, students, and thought leaders in education to extract the tactics, tools, and routines that you can use as teachers and parents. Join me as we discuss how to shift the classroom, the learning environment, the mindset, and the pedagogy, to resist tradition, reignite wonder, and re-imagine the future of education.

This podcast is dedicated to all of the educators who work thankless hours to make our next generation the best it can be.  It was designed to begin conversations on how we can redesign education for the future of work and the success of our students.  It is meant for teachers, students, administrators, homeschoolers and anyone who interacts with and teaches youth.

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Welcome to Season 5 Rebel Educators! 

We’ve got a fresh new look, new sound, AND a new release day! Starting next week, catch new Rebel Educator episodes every Monday and start your week with inspiration and innovative ideas for your classrooms.  Plus, we’re adding more solo episodes alongside our guest interviews to keep digging deeper into the big questions in education.

What started with one spontaneous chat has now grown into over 100 incredible conversations and has evolved beyond anything we could have imagined.  We’re so excited to continue challenging the status quo, exploring innovation, and preparing students for a rapidly changing future. 

A huge thank you to all of our listeners for being with us on this incredible journey, we couldn’t have done it without you all!

• Visit projectup.us to join the education revolution and open your own UP Academy
• Get your copy of Rebel Educator: Create Classrooms Where Impact and Imagination Meet
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, and check out our project library
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here

Former chef, hotel manager and history teacher, Josh Reppun is the founder of Plexus Education, LLC, dba as Most Likely to Succeed in Hawai’i, a “movement” founded by extraordinary people dedicated to developing global public, private and charter school conversations around Ted Dintersmith’s film, "Most Likely to Succeed" and his book, "What School Could Be." Josh is also the founder of Josh Reppun Productions. 

He is the host of the What School Could Be Podcast and the producer of two films: "Ka Helena Aʻo: The Learning Walk" and "The Innovation Playlist," both about creative, imaginative and innovative educators and education leaders. Josh’s podcast, edited by the talented Evan Kurohara, with music by Michael Sloan, has now reached nearly 80,000 downloads in over 100 countries.

Join us as we chat about how our podcasts came to be, some of our favorite moments and guests, and how we’re working to take these important conversations even further!

IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS:

• The reasons for starting our different podcasts and what the experience was like
• Our most memorable episodes, so far.
• How we take our podcasts beyond the interviews and out into the real world
• What we hope for the future of our podcasting journeys

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Josh of LinkedIn and X
• Check out the What Schools Could be Podcast
• Read Josh’s article “The Future Teachers of Hawai'i Club”
• Most Likely to Succeed in Hawai’i Facebook page
• Get your copy of Rebel Educator: Create Classrooms Where Impact and Imagination Meet
• Learn more about Rebel Educator, explore our professional development opportunities for educators and students, and check out our project library.
• Visit us at UP Academy to learn more about our personalized and inclusive learning environment.
• Connect with Tanya and UP Academy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about her journey here.

Enjoying the show? Leave us a rating and review and help more people find us!bit.ly/RebelEducatorApplePodcasts

We’d love it if you could take a few minutes to fill out this survey to let us know how we can bring you the best possible content: forms.gle/JcKHf9DHTZnYUmQr6 

Interested in being on the Rebel Educator podcast? Fill out this form and we'll reach out to you if we think you'd be a great fit for an upcoming episode. https://forms.gle/CZJXLQDdevPh22ZN7

Want to learn more about opening your own UP Academy? Check out the Rebel Educator Accelerator:www.rebeleducator.com/courses/the-accelerator

MORE ABOUT THE REBEL EDUCATOR PODCAST:

In each episode of the Rebel Educator podcast, I deconstruct world-class educators, students, and thought leaders in education to extract the tactics, tools, and routines that you can use as teachers and parents. Join me as we discuss how to shift the classroom, the learning environment, the mindset, and the pedagogy, to resist tradition, reignite wonder, and re-imagine the future of education.

This podcast is dedicated to all of the educators who work thankless hours to make our next generation the best it can be.  It was designed to begin conversations on how we can redesign education for the future of work and the success of our students.  It is meant for teachers, students, administrators, homeschoolers and anyone who interacts with and teaches youth. 

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Thom Markham is a Project Based Learning pioneer and founder of PBL Global. As a psychologist, author, speaker, educator, and President of PBL Global, an educational organization focused on innovation and transformation through promoting inquiry-based learning, Thom offers a set of unique services that can help schools and districts envision, design, and implement a successful, sustainable plan for educating 21st century young people.

In this episode, we cover:

• How  project-based learning helps learners build skills for the future
• PBL as a tool to bring the system of life and the system of academics together
• Social-emotional development being supported by project-based learning
• Can individualized learning happen with PBL
• The only way to truly to become a great PBL facilitator and teacher
• How project-based learning allow people to seamlessly enter the workforce with the skills that are necessary
• Thom’s global coalition of PBL educators and hopes for virtual learning

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/29

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

As a senior advisor in the Obama Administration, Michael Robbins led work for the U.S. Department of Education and the White House on community engagement and digital transformation in education. They have spent the last five years leading District of Learning, a technology-enabled ecosystem for anytime-anywhere learning in Washington, DC launched with the MacArthur Foundation and local partners. When the coronavirus pandemic began, Michael started building a global team of educators, social sector leaders, and technology experts to use everything we've learned to scale solutions to our education crisis and remake the future of learning. Michael and his co-founder, Cecily Darden Adams, have recently launched this new effort as Learning Pathmakers.

In this episode, we cover:

• The role of technology in creating partnerships and building the people-side of the learning ecosystem
• The 4 technologies that will define the way that we interact in school, work, and life
• 7 steps on the pathway to the future of school
• Moving towards the creation of a connected learning eco-verse
• Bridging the gaps between people on all sides of education

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/28

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Kyle Wagner is a project-based learning coach and founder of Transform Educational Consulting Limited, helping forward thinking educators create socially, emotionally and globally aware citizens through project-based learning. He has worked with over 1,000 educators in schools across the globe to design and deliver transformative learning experiences for students.

In this episode, we cover:

• Kyle’s introduction to and journey with project-based learning
• Moving PBL from gifted classrooms into a full and inclusive curriculum
• When do project-based learning experiences succeed?
• Challenges with implementing PBL in classrooms
• How getting rid of standardized testing and combining subjects can facilitate a project-based environment
• Using portfolios instead of GPAs for college admission
• Future skills and helping students understand how they learn
• Connect project-based learning and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/27

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Our guest this episode, Gregg Behr, is the founder and co-chair of Remake Learning and author  of ‘When You Wonder, You’re Learning: Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids’. Gregg is also in his 14th year as the executive director of The Grable Foundation where he helps children and youth become independent, caring, contributing members of society by supporting programs critical to a child’s successful development.

In this episode, we cover:

• How do we rethink instruction, the design of learning spaces, children’s experiences, and support parents and caregivers in a new learning landscapes
• The changing ways in which young people are developing and experiencing the world differently
• Harnessing the power of the internet to do good
• How environment drives behavior and why education needs to be an ecosystem
• Why educators need spaces to network, explore, and create opportunities
• Key takeaways from Gregg’s book “When You Wonder, You’re Learning”, inspired by the work of Fred Rogers
• The flexibility and innovative nature of the education profession

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/26

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this episode I had the opportunity to speak with Felix Malombe!

Felix is the Executive Director and CEO of STEAMLabs Africa, a Technology Integration Specialist and STEAM Enthusiast with an extensive experience in mainstreaming STEAM teaching in schools and communities. He is a Google Certified Educator and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert with experience in creating and implementing effective digital strategies to aid teaching and learning in the 21st Century. Felix is a diligent and dedicated teacher with many years of teaching STEAM, Computer Science and Mathematics at all school levels.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Felix transitioned from studying computer engineering to being an educator
• Encouraging digital citizenship
• The app that Felix’s students created to help those struggling with language barriers
• Why humanity and character matter in developing technology ethically
• How one teacher changed Felix’s perspective about school

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/25

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Daniel Sobel is the founder and CEO of Inclusion Expert and leads a team working with over 10,000 schools, offering training and support to professionals working to make education more inclusive. Daniel is the best selling author of ‘Narrowing the Attainment Gap: A Handbook for Schools’ as well as 'Leading on Pastoral Care' and 'The Inclusive Classroom’. He has worked with regional and national governments, the UN, UNESCO, schools and organizations across the UK and internationally to achieve outstanding inclusion.

In this episode, we cover:

• How schools and attitudes towards inclusion have changed over the last 20 years
• Why we need to ditch labels in order to have a truly inclusive classroom
• Emotional intelligence as the biggest barrier to creating inclusion schools
• The culture shift from the sage on the stage to facilitating learning
• School’s purpose in society, aside from a place of learning
• Investing in education to create a better and more equitable society

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/24

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Our guest this week, Ulcca Hansen, is the founding partner of Educating Potential and author of the new book ‘The Future of Smart’. Ulcca has a unique combination of experiences in the public and private sector and within a range of organizations, a proven track record of assessing programs and developing effective teams to deliver transformative and measurable outcomes.

Join us as we discuss the origins of our education system and why it needs to change.

In this episode, we cover:

• What is the fundamental problem with the education system
• The origins of the of our current school system and why it no longer serves us
• How we can make our learning environments porous
• Do we really want to get rid of school?
• Building relationships within a community and fostering student engagement
• Why content is not the most important aspect of learning
• Seeing students as resources and not just receptacles of knowledge
• The Future of Smart and  human-centered Liberatory Design

SHOW NOTES: https://www.podpage.com/rebel-educator/23

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.