One of the greatest challenges to teaching is not knowing if you're making a difference in a child's life at the time. More than likely, you are, but it can sometimes be difficult to see the impacts in realtime.  Rebecca Potter has over fifteen years in the classroom teaching English, AP Language and Composition, Philosophy, and Public Speaking. The Kentucky high school teacher recently released Both Sides "The Classroom From Where I Stand".  The book is a collection of narratives that weaves tales of teaching together with her own stories of being a student. "Both Sides," focuses on the connected humanity between teacher and student and the implications of that connection; the writer extends the character and stories of her students beyond what we might observe in a classroom; she goes into their lives, and into her own life as well. Potter explores questions that matter to educators: how do we help the ones who are presumably doomed to fail, what does it mean to care about someone else, why do people stay in jobs with so much against them. In Episode 164 of Class Dismissed, Potter gives us an intimate preview of her new book. You can listen to Class Dismissed on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

When it comes to education in the Fall of 2020, it's clear that little will be uniform. Some schools are trying to open in person, some elected for the hybrid model, and others will be 100% remote. Last spring, in record time, teachers all over the world quickly put together distance learning curriculums to much success. However, there's always room for improvement.  and this fall, educators have a little extra time to prepare. One major challenge in teaching remotely is building connections with your students. How do you get a student to trust and believe in you as a teacher? Michigan teacher and author, Dave Stuart Jr., has been focused on just that. In Episode 163 of Class Dismissed, Stuart offers some best practices to: Cultivate our human presence Identify high opportunity students Be warm demanders To hear about these ideas, listen to Episode 163 of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. Stuart also offers a Rough Draft Example of a Humanizing Intro Video for an Online Course, which can be viewed below. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Better and Safer The world is racing for a vaccine to COVID-19. If we're lucky, we'll have one in late 2020 or early 2021. But what if we're not? What if living with COVID-19 is something we have to adjust to longterm? How could we redesign our schools to make them safer in a pandemic? Prakash Nair We posed that question to Prakash Nair, the Founding President and CEO of Education Design International and author of  "Learning by Design: Live Play Engage Create". Nair says that in a properly designed school, COVID - 19 would have a much smaller impact. Children would have more elbow room, and you would have "designed learning communities" rather then trapping students in classrooms. Nair says these learning communities would also utilize a lot of outdoor space. Learning the expensive way In the 1990s Nair was the director of operations for construction of New York City Schools. "We were spending an average of a billion dollars every year during my ten years that I was in that position," says Nair. "We built schools that were obsolete on the day they were opened." In fact, Nair says 95% of the schools built around the world are built the same way. "Of course I didn't realize it when we were building those schools. But when I realized it, I decided that I have to move on and leave that job behind." So Nair started his own company structured around one major principle -- What would happen if you designed school buildings based on the actual research about how children learn? Nair says the majority of schools today are designed like a factory. Photo Credit: Education Design International "If you think about the idea of sorting kids by age. Not based upon aptitude or interest, and stick them in a room with an adult. You can't personalize obviously." We know that children are not parts in a factory, and you can't churn out identical widgets, says Nair. Nor would you want to. To hear some of Nair's solutions for a better and safer designed school, listen to Episode 162 of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

“What does it mean if you never see yourself in a story?” – Jennifer Buehler “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a beautiful story, and it is one of the most commonly taught books in the secondary curriculum. But educator, Jennifer Buehler, can’t help but wonder how many students relate to the characters. “At the end of the day, that book represents white America’s vision of racial progress and injustice,” says Buehler. “It’s a really different thing to get a story that asks questions about racial justice that’s not coming from the white perspective.” Buehler, a former high school teacher and current associate professor of English education at Saint Louis University raises a question that all educators should consider. What does it mean if you never see yourself in a story? She says it’s a common problem in schools nationwide because it’s a hard shift for teachers to make. “Our curriculum remains pretty traditional nationwide. It requires teachers to be reading out of their comfort zones and exploring new authors and new texts. And it involves a parent and administrative support.” says Buehler. Money is a factor as well. “To bring different books into the classroom you have to be able to pay for those books,” Buehler says. Is it hard to find diverse books? According to the School Library Journal’s 2018 Diverse Collections Survey of 22,000 school and public librarians, 15 percent said they find it “very difficult” or “difficult” to find appropriate titles to round out a diverse library collection. The librarians surveyed cited finding portrayals of “characters with disabilities, Native or Indigenous peoples, and English language learners” as the most difficult. What can teachers do? Buehler knows teachers have a desire to make a change. She also knows that a lot of the “classics” already in the classroom are not bad books. “They [the books] just can’t meet all the readers’ needs, they can’t do all the work that literature should do,” says Buehler. Buehler suggests that teachers need first to make sure administrators are aware of the challenge. She advises teachers need to do their homework and know the books that they want to champion. “You have to have your own argument, that’s appropriate to your own educational context, for what change is needed and why,” says Buehler. Another major challenge is money for new books. Buehler suggests organizing small fundraisers. Teachers may also want to consider using PledgeCents or DonorsChoose. She also cites a foundation named “The Book Love Foundation,” which dedicates their time to putting books in the hands of teenagers. To hear more from our conversation with Buehler listen to Episode 161 of  Class Dismissed. You can find Class Dismissed in your favorite podcast app or on iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017 – 2020

Is there a student anywhere in the world that doesn't love a school assembly? You know, that moment, your principal fires up the intercom and announces that we're all headed to the auditorium to be entertained and inspired. Unfortunately, these epic school congregations are another casualty of COVID 19. In fact, even if students return to the classroom, in the Fall of 2020, they will probably not experience in-person assemblies before a vaccine is created and distributed. The halt of in-person assemblies hit Tyler Christensen pretty hard. The Utah elementary teacher didn't just love them for the students, he's actually headlined a few assemblies. Pre-COVID, Christensen's incredible weight loss journey, was highlighted at neighboring schools, and he was also scheduled to give a TED Talk just as the lockdown was being implemented. However, rather than dwell on how his life was impacted, he shifted his focus to his students. Christensen created a new YouTube channel called Virtual School Assembly. During the past few months of the pandemic, he's interview nearly 150 people. The goal is to give educators access to messages of encouragement and inspiration. To learn more about Virtual School Assembly, listen to Episode 160 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Nathan Levenson, a former school superintendent, has consulted with hundreds of districts about ways to improve special education. But in March of 2020, the challenges surrounding special education became magnified by COVID-19. "Despite heroic efforts, by teachers and districts, kids with disabilities really did not thrive in any way shape or form and the gaps got bigger," says Levenson. Pandemic or not, Levenson believes that if educators are going to serve kids with disabilities well, general education has to be lead. "When we're in person, the goal is to have general ed teachers providing the vast majority of high-quality instruction to students." Admittedly, Levenson says that doesn't always happen, but when the pandemic came the split became even greater. "Everyone turned to the special education department and said what are you going to do for kids with special needs? And many of the things they do, don't translate at all to a remote setting." Levenson recently released a new book, "Six Shifts to Improve Special Education and Other Interventions" In it, Levenson explains why the vast majority of students in special education needs to be in the general education classroom most of the day. "The research is really clear," says Levenson. "The quality of the teacher is central, and if you're going to teach grade level material, kids have to be in the classroom to be taught that material." Levenson says studies show that students who struggle often get less instruction from a classroom teacher then if they didn't struggle. "I want to be really clear on this," says Levenson. "Imagine a second grader who struggles to read. They get less reading instruction from a certified reading teacher or a classroom teacher than a student who doesn't struggle." Levenson says we can't be shocked if the student falls behind. To learn more about Levenson's six shifts to improve special education, listen to Episode 159 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Starting on the right foot On the first day or two of school, it can be tempting to want to lay the ground rules. You know, set the expectations about workload, go over the rules, and fill out the required forms. But Rick Wormeli wants to challenge educators to think differently. Wormeli, who is one of the first Nationally Board Certified Teachers in America, says that students want to know that you’re going to transcend their current condition and help them aspire to something more than they are. “And when all they [students] get is more rules and regulations they realize one more year where there’s nothing here for me.” Wormeli recommends laying a foundation of meaningful relationships with students by mixing in activities that allow you to get to know and understand where the students are coming from. Wormeli recently listed ways this can be accomplished in a recent article he penned for AMLE, and he elaborates on those ideas in Episode 158 of the Class Dismissed podcast. Wormeli’s beginning of the year ideas “The Best Way for You to Learn” Cards Using index cards, teachers can ask students to describe how they best learn that particular subject. “Kids are candid,” says Wormeli. “They will say things like, look if it’s really important, write it on the board.” Or he says some students may ask you not to assign online assignments because their sibling always hogs the computer. “I’ve got a stack that I rubber band and I look through that as I try to decide what I’m going to do next,” Wormeli says kids will say some really cool things and give him lots of examples. Letters to the Teacher from Students as their Parents When students write under a pseudonym, they feel much more free to speak their mind, says Wormeli. “When I get what they say about themselves, and then I get what they think their parents would say about themselves, I’m getting a really fleshed version of the child,” says Wormeli. “When someone is fully dimensionalized, you really care a heck of a lot more. Six-Word Memoirs “I love six-word memoirs!” says Wormeli. They really make kids come out of their shell and say profound things. The brilliance of six-word memoirs is the brevity, teachers can use six-word memoirs as their students examine the content. “It really reveals a lot more about what the student is thinking.” Wormeli says he often has students continue to send six-word memoirs after class about sports or pop culture. To hear more from Rick Wormeli, listen to Episode 158 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. Other Show Notes Why a pediatric group is pushing to reopen schools this fall All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Well before COVID-19, school districts were facing a substitute teacher shortage. In fact, EdWeek Research Center recently teamed up with Kelly Education and found that districts can fill just 54% of the 250,000 absences each day. Now, coronavirus is set to exacerbate the challenge. In the Fall of 2020, educators will need to call in at the first sign of minor symptoms and they may need to quarantine for weeks at a time. So are there enough substitutes to fill the anticipated holes? Kelly Education Senior Vice President Nikki Soares says that a downturn in the economy typically leads to an uptick in available substitutes, but this time, things are different. "Usually in a recessionary period we have a lot of people gravitate towards being a substitute teacher, but obviously this is a bit of an anomaly," says Soares. So what are the solutions? Kelly Education says their research identified the top three solutions to grow the pipeline of substitutes: higher substitute pay professional development for substitutes hiring/assigning substitutes with expertise in the field of the absent teacher. "Places like maybe in the state of Alabama a lot of our districts pay $65 a day," says Soares. So an eight hour day works out to just $8.12/hour. To hear our full interview with Soares, listen to Episode 157 of the Class Dismissed Podcast. You can listen to the latest Episode of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcasting app or iTunes. Other show notes Education Dept. Rule Limits How Schools Can Spend Vital Aid Money It looks like the beginning of the end of America’s obsession with student standardized tests All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Inequitable from the starting line When illustrating the need for systems of support in our schools', Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Paul Reville uses an example close to his heart; his daughter. He's open about the list of advantages his daughter had when she showed up for her first day of kindergarten at an urban public school. a stable two-parent family adequate income healthcare stable housing full nutrition read to every night well-traveled Reville says many of the children she sat next to in kindergarten had none of the advantages above. Plus, some of those children had already experienced various trauma on top of it. "If you think of it as a hundred-yard dash, she's [Reville's daughter] already on the 50-yard line," says Reville. The student she's sitting next to, who has all the disadvantages, is a hundred yards behind the starting line. "And we fire the starting gun and when they don't finish at the same time 13 years later at graduation, we act surprised," says Reville. Making change outside the school Our current system is not enough to make up for the profound differences outside of school. Reville says that we've always thought that schools would be the great equalizer, but that hasn't turned out to be true. This is because children learn a lot outside of school. So if you only fix the school and you treat everybody equally when they're in school. You're not going to get a closing of the gaps. "The access to opportunity outside of school is controlled by your financial and social capital," says Reville. "We live in a society now, that has been recently demonstrated quite vividly, that there are huge disparities in wealth, income, and opportunity." Reville is optimistic that many solutions can be created at the local level. He says he witnessed great progress with community programs like City Connects in Salem, Massachusetts. "The teacher connects with the student and the family. They develop a plan and they track progress against that plan," Reville says. Reville and his co-author Elaine Weiss, recently release a new book on the topic. Broader, Bolder, Better offers solutions on how schools and communities can work together to help students overcome the disadvantages of poverty. To hear our full discussion with Reville, listen to Episode 156 of Class Dismissed. You can listen to the latest Episode of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcasting app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020

Higher Education's Return on Investment? We often think of higher education as being the place that preps us for our future career.  But is this the focus of colleges and universities? Are students finding work related to their degree right after graduation? Nancy Hoffman, the vice president at Jobs for the Future, says that at many elite colleges, professors are generally preparing their students to be what they are, historians, literary critics, and biologists, just to name a few. "I have a Ph.D. in comparative literature," says Hoffman. "I don't remember anyone ever talking to me about what I might do for work." Hoffman doesn't think professors wish students ill, but she says that most professors believe their goal is to teach their discipline. What the students do with that knowledge afterward is for students to figure out. For students lacking real-world connections to their desired career, this is a problem. We see over and over again many students are sold the notion, just get a college degree, take a loan if you need to and everything will be fine. And of course, it isn't. Especially if you can't get a well-paying job. It's part of the reason Hoffman recently co-authored Teaching Students About the World of Work - A Challenge to Postsecondary Educators. The advantage of social capital Hoffman argues that colleges, especially community colleges, should be focused on teaching students how social capital works and how students can build it. Hoffman says that there's a specific kind of social capital that is important in entering the labor market and that kind of social capital is very hard to come by in low-income communities. "There's research that shows that low-income communities have networks but those networks are quite closed. And you need to be able to access a network of higher status than your own." In Episode 155 of Class Dismissed, Hoffman offers guidance on how community colleges and universities can restructure to better prep students to gain employment. Spoiler alert, there's a lot more to it than having a career services office on campus. You can listen to the latest Episode of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcasting app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2020