Trending In Ed with Mike Palmer

Mike sits down with Sarah Daniels, the CEO of Blue Canoe, an English Language Learning (ELL) company specializing in professional spoken English. Sarah walks through the brain science behind the techniques they’ve incorporated into the Blue Canoe App to ensure their learners can master the nuances, vagaries, and seeming inconsistencies of spoken English.There’s a lot to be learned and we get in our share. We hope you enjoy listening.

Mike and Dan welcome Tarlin Ray back to the show as the trio breaks down the recent sensation associated with the phrase Ok Boomer. We trace the trend back to its origins on Tik Tok to its “jump the shark” moment in New Zealand Parliament to its recent appearance at a protest that halted the start of The Game, Harvard and Yale’s yearly football matchup.How does the Ok Boomer phenomenon impact our broader thinking about generations? How does this tie to research about generational differences, stereotypes, and metastereotypes? We connect this conversation to research and insights about group dynamics, decision-making, and diversity in a fun and free-flowing conversation.We hope you enjoy.

This week Mike dives into a conversation about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education with Sergei and Vadim Revzin, the hosts of The Mentors podcast. We begin by exploring each brother’s origin story of how they got involved in entrepreneurship and mentorship for aspiring entrepreneurs.How do storytelling, asking for help, and having drive contribute to being a successful entrepreneur? How much can be taught and what techniques work best when mentoring?We also explore how entrepreneurship and thinking like an entrepreneur is relevant to just about everyone, whether you’re pitching to venture capitalists or simply trying to stay relevant, inspired, and creative in your professional life.There’s plenty to learn from and be inspired by in this show and from The Mentors. Thanks again to Vadim and Sergei for joining.We hope you enjoy listening!

Mike and Dan explore the concept of gratitude from a few different angles as we gear up for Thanksgiving in the US. How can we learn to be more grateful and what kinds of gratitude work best? Can we be more other-pleasing with our gratefulness and can we learn to be grateful even for the hard times and the challenges of desirable difficulty.We’re very thankful for our listeners and hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving bonus edition!

Mike sits down with Russell Glass, the CEO of Ginger, the behavioral health app. We dig into the importance of coaching and proactive, preventative mental health as ways to address the growing mental health crisis in the US.Can an app help address the emerging epidemic of social isolation? Does digital help open up access to help in new and surprising ways? Or does it reinforce our addiction to screens? And how do mindfulness and gratitude factor into the equation?Have a listen, focus on your breathing, and find out!

Mike shares his experiences with Dan after attending the HolonIQ Global Summit on the Future of Learning and Talent which was recently held in New York City as part of a Global tour. We dive into where the world of education is heading from a venture capital and investment lens based on Mike's impressions from the summit.In particular, we explore how companies like Western Governors University, Penn Foster, and Cluster, among others, are investing in new models to reach learners who may not easily fit into traditional models of post secondary education. We also revisit themes we covered on our recent show based on HolonIQ's Education 2030 report which looks at broader growth and investment trends in education which we're expecting to continue through the next ten years.We hope you'll listen in and enjoy.

This week, Mike is joined by Colonel Chris Mayer, Associate Dean for Strategy & Initiatives at West Point, to talk about teaching strategic leadership in a VUCA world. As a quick disclaimer, the views expressed herein are those of Chris, our guest, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.We begin by breaking down the concepts behind the VUCA acronym as we explore how best to lead in an increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous world. Chris imparts insight based on his experience teaching cadets at the military academy as we share perspectives on the ideas outlined in the first chapter of Bob Johansen's book, The New Leadership Literacies.In a world where SNAFUs go FUBAR on the regular, how should we evolve our leadership thinking from traditional command-and-control hierarchies into dynamic, responsive, shapeshifting organizations? What roles does positivity have to play and why is it good to embrace fear and think about possible futures ten or more years out?Engage your strategic mindset and lean in to hear a fascinating conversation with an outstanding guest. We hope you enjoy!If you enjoy what you're hearing, subscribe to Trending in Education wherever you get your podcasts and visit us at TrendinginEducation.com

We give ourselves an overall grade of "It's Complicated" as Mike and Dan dig into the results of the 2019 NAEP exams, aka our "National Report Card."The news isn't great on the Reading front with 2019 US Reading Scores dropping 1 point on 4th Grade Reading and 3 points on 8th Grade Reading versus 2017 scores. US Mathematics Scores for 2019 were flatter with 4th Grade Mathematics scores up 1 point and 8th Grade Mathematics scores down 1 point versus 2017 scores.This launches us into a discussion of what inferences we can and cannot make based on these results, and we caution against gravitating to the more provocative and clickbaity angles on the story. We also return to earlier conversations we've had about growth versus proficiency and charter schools / school choice to see where they are and are not related to the results of the most recent NAEP exams.We conclude by shifting the focus to the types of reading interventions that might turn around this short term dip while remembering that the overall trend has been positive since the NAEP was first introduced in the early 1990s.Hope you enjoy!

As an extra this week, Mike and Dan spend time with Jaye and Adam Fenderson, the filmmakers behind the new documentary, Unlikely. The film explores the problem of low graduation rates among US college entrants through the stories of 5 students and their families.We explore why this problem hasn't yet elevated to the national consciousness despite the fact that the US trails major industrialized nations with a college completion rate of less than 50%. This is made evident through an exploration of the challenges faced by "non-traditional" students balancing their educational needs with other financial, familial, and professional demands in 21st Century life.Rather than dispiriting, however, the film is ultimately inspirational by spotlighting innovative programs like the iPromise School, the Starbucks/ASU College Achievement Plan, and Year Up, among others, that are opening up access to opportunity for students who our higher ed system might have otherwise forgotten.

This week, Mike and Dan spend time with friend of the show, Dr Mark Sanders, discussing civic engagement as Election Day 2019 approaches. Mark describes the ways in which he's been engaging with students and the community at UNC Charlotte where Mark is a Philosophy professor.What lessons can be learned about civic engagement during an off-year election like this one? Beyond voting and serving on jury duty when called, what else is essential to civic engagement in the 21st century? How can philosophy provide us with techniques and ways of thinking about problems that elevate our understanding and drive more critical engagement with civic matters?We model good critical thinking and civil discourse as we think ahead to a year from now and grapple with yet another complex spate of issues on this week's show.Have a listen and enjoy!