Overthrowing Education

Veteran educator Lacrecia Terrance co-produced and co-hosts with me our 3 part series with a prestigious panel of guest for what many may call tough conversations on racism. With all that is happening, as a global pandemic has further peeled back the cover on generations of systemic inequities rooted in racism, we feel these conversations are a crucial part of moving education forward for all.  In this first episode we will be defining the issues - what do we mean when we talk about racism in education?  Our panel includes Stacy Joy, Charity Parsons, Andre Daughty, Jason Ernest Feldman, Dr. Hattie Mitchell and Brett Mitchell who discuss what racism looks like in education, what the pervasive issues are and why this isn’t just a moment but a movement.

Ron Berger, my educational hero, joins me to talk about his new book, We Are Crew: A Teamwork Approach to School Culture and presents some important and beautiful ideas about what education should really be all about. I was so grateful to get this opportunity to speak with and learn from Ron and learn how we can all work together to “get everyone to the top of the mountain.” My very special thanks to Ron and to Yossie Frankel for his voice work on this episodes fauxmercial.

Today’s subject is all about making meaning with project-based learning . My guest today is the passionate and entertaining Ben Talsma from Blue Apple Teacher. Ben also co-wrote the fauxmercial “Empower-Mints” with me. This parody of the old Mento commercials features the very talented musician Robby Helperin of Spotlight Music, giving us his cheesy best, and Eli Schiff, who is one of my favorite voice actors. After my initial interview with Ben, he nails The 5-Minute Game Show, and then I bring him back for a few more minutes to update us on what is happening now to accommodate the various modalities of learning that this fall is challenging us with.

We are tackling some big, possibly controversial ideas in this episode. It’s all about calling into question everything we think about education. While I do that all the time on this show, we are going further this time. My two incredible guests are, TedX speaker and an educator with Alpha, Mike Yates and Naphtali Bryant, founder of Spark-Ed University. We have a great, sometimes radical, and totally entertaining look at how to reinvent school. And they slay The 5-Minute Game Show. But first, I address an issue that is on so many parents’ minds as they try to figure out what is best for their kids this school year. More parents than ever are considering homeschooling - but are overwhelmed. It’s time to shift paradigms!

As school’s are still debating, at least in most places, about whether to or how to safely open schools, and many have already committed to beginning the school year remotely, we know that there will be so many challenges ahead no matter what route a school takes.  One of the biggest challenges, that many are not even considering with everything else to think about, is how to connect with our students, create a strong positive school culture and build a classroom community whether in a masked/physically distant classroom situation, where large groups cannot congregate in school, or in an online/remote situation. On today’s show, my guest, educator and author Hans Appel, and I discuss how to build a strong school community onsite, and also online. We also talk about making learning joyful, experiential learning, going gradeless, honoring student voice and much more! On In the Trenches, I share some ideas for creating classroom communities online, as well as in class, and I have a special announcement!

I have a great discussion with Shoshanna Sumka of ISEEN about experiential learning with an added recent interview at the end that includes experiential learning in remote and online class situations. After our talk, Shoshanna bravely conquers a really hard The 5-Minute Game Show. Then, on In the Trenches, I talk about a way to provide experiential learning opportunities for your online students or at home kids. You’ll hear about how my 15-year old son helped me solve a problem I have been thinking about for years: How to turn an amazing experiential lesson that I have been doing with my classes and my PD workshops for over 20 years into a meaningful online experience.

Host Batsheva Frankel recreates her presentation, "What Do We Mean by 21st Century Education When the 21st Century Changes Dramatically?" In this talk, given on June 10, 2020 for the site, Hopes, Dreams, Journey (connecting parents with information, tools, resources and providers of services to help their children succeed and thrive), Batsheva lays out some of  the skills, knowledge and systemic changes that need to be promoted in order to adequately prepare our students for the increasingly shifting present, as well as the unknowable future. View the presentation with all its fun visuals here.

This episode on why kids hate math and what we can do about it features a conversation with John Bianchette of Mathnasium from January 2020 with a recent additional talk to reflect the radical changes that have taken place since then. In the Trenches I trace my journey from hating math as a student and defining myself as “I’m not a math person” in adulthood to finally realizing that I actually enjoy math because of the math teachers at Arete Preparatory Academy. I’ll share some of their tips and tools that transform students, too. Also, The 5-Minute Game Show features a musical parody game you won’t want to miss.

My guests today, Shannon Green, Vickita Bhatt and Jim Hahn show how, now more than ever, we see the benefits of going gradeless. True educational equity, social justice, decreased anxiety, no cheating, eradication of bullying, and growth mentality are just some of the positive ramifications of providing meaningful feedback in place of the usual letters and numbers. Any school can do it, and my guests give practical tips and tools for how.    

Two special guests join me in this inspiring episode - Marie Kueny of the Compassionate Educators podcast, and grief coach, Kaley Zeitouni.  They are here to help us deal with everything that is going on, and all the things that no longer are.  So If you are a parent, teacher or student feeling burnt-out, depressed or overwhelmed or if you are grieving over what we lost from the past and what won’t be happening now in the future, this episode is for you.