In this episode, I have a great conversation with Alfonso Mendoza, also known as Fonz, of the website and podcast My EdTech Life. He is an Instructional Technologist and Google Innovator who shares a huge range of insights, ideas, effective pedagogy and of course, a slew of powerful tech tools. We also discuss his ideas of the future of education technology, and I hope his vision pans out, because it would be truly incredible. Don’t forget check out the Overthrowing Education swag! Alfonso can be reached at @myedtechlife on all socials

My special guest today is educator and author Jacki Edry. I learned so much from Jacki about neurodivergence in many forms. She has experience with neurodivergence as an educator, a mother, and through an experience she herself had. Jacki has great insights into how teachers and parents can help our neurodivergent students and children, to understand them, and give them the tools to really succeed. We packed a lot in this discussion! Also, I have a favor to ask, which I do from time to time, in addition to the usual pleas of make sure to subscribe and leave a review (although, please do those things!). It really makes a difference when you share an episode of Overthrowing Education with a friend or colleague. Whether it’s this one (that I think every educator would benefit from) or another episode that really resonated with you, or an episode you think someone else would connect with or it would be helpful to. If you’re listening to this podcast, it’s probably because you really care about making education much, much better. The more we can share what good education could and should be, the faster we can make it happen. So, this week, please tell at least one person about this or another episode or the show in general. Students and parents will thank you for it. Don’t forget about the Overthrowing Education swag. Get a great gift for an educator, including yourself. I’d like to thank my guest today, Jacki Edry and my fauxmercial voice actors, Spencer Krull and Ben Elterman. Links and Resources: Book: "Moving Forward: Reflections on Autism, Neurodiversity, Brain Surgery, and Faith" on Amazon  Website and blog on jackisbooks.com LinkedIn: Jacki Edry Facebook: @jackisbooks

Remember mix-tapes? This is formative assessment is about curating music. I share two ways to use published music and songs for quick check-ins. Need help getting started? Wanna share something cool your students have done? Any questions? DM me on Twitter @BatshevaFrankel or drop me a line at Batsheva@OverthrowingEducation.com

My guest is Starr Sackstein, who is returning for a third time! We are both extremely passionate about going gradeless and its very important companion - creative and authentic assessments. Our conversation is all about practicality. I have lots of episodes about going gradeless – all good, check them out, one of them also features Starr. Some focus on the philosophy behind going gradeless and some that are more like “how-to” do it? This discussion is more in the latter category. But we add that extra important piece mentioned above, creative and authentic assessments. It’s really hard to give feedback only and not a grade with traditional tests and quizzes. It won’t work. So, we also talk practically about assessments, as well. The fauxmercial on this episode, a parody of an old Discover card commercial, will make much more sense after you listen to the episode.   I’d like to thank my awesome guest, Starr Sackstein. Get your Overthrowing Education swag so you can show where you stand and that you care about education. Want to get the conversation started?  Try an OE shirt, hoodie, mug (of course!), tote bag, and a lot more. It’ll do the trick! Links and Resources: MsSackstein.com mssackstein@gmail.com Twitter: @MsSackstein Starr Sackstein on LinkedIn and Facebook masteryportfolio.com Twitter: @masteryforall Mastery Portfolio on Facebook and LinkedIn Learn more about DISCOVER assessments

Episode 80: Micaela Blei: The Pedagogy of Story Framing Overthrowing Education’s 3rd anniversary is this month, and one way I wanted to celebrate was by replaying an early interview I loved with incredible educator and award-winning storyteller, Micaela Blei. She joined me for a great conversation about how to use story frames to bring learning alive, engage students and provide deeper learning. We also talk about all the amazing ways we can use storytelling in our teaching.  The fauxmercial parody, “Story Surprise” starts us off and after her interviewed, Micaela plays a hilarious, and very challenging version of The 5-Minute Game Show. Special thanks to Micaela and my fauxmercial cast -  the incredible Holender family actors Sophie, Benji and Karen, as well as Yossie Frankel and Eve Hirschman for helping write The 5-Minute Game Show. Links and Resources: Find Micaela at https://micaelablei.com/ and on Twitter @mblei Vote for the Fauxsies! Get your ballot. Shop for Overthrowing Education swag

My guest is a fellow edupodster. Christopher J. Nesi is from House of Ed Tech, among others, and he’s an ed tech tool maven. In this episode, you’ll hear all about the awesome things he does in our discussion, which ranges from why podcasting is great for teachers and students to sharing some great tech tools and how to use them, and to giving some bold predictions of the future of tech education, as well as technology in general. And speaking of the future - in the very near future, on Aug. 18th, 2022 you can watch the Fauxsie Awards. Aug 18th, happens to be the 3rd anniversary of this podcast. To celebrate, I am honoring the commercial parodies that come near the beginning of each episode and the talented people who helped me make them. We are having a live, online streaming ceremony, where you can meet some of the voices behind your favorite Overthrowing Education fauxmercials. And don’t forget to vote. Everyone who does can enter the raffle for great OE swag, and more prizes. You have until Aug. 10th to vote. The competition is heating up, so make sure to get your ballot in. And On July 26th at , I’m giving a free on line workshop to humanities teachers about a game frame I co-created called Battle of the Big Ideas. This fantasy football meets big ideas game frame can be easily adapted to your curricula and student needs.  It’s a fun and creative way for students to dig deep into the content while developing the skills they need. This is not a badges or leveling up thing; it’s a sophisticated game frame which means that you take the basic frame work of the Battle of the Big Ideas game play, and have total freedom to create the perfect game for your content and students. Come join me at 4 pm PT on July 26th, for this free workshop! Register here. I want to thank my warm and wise guest, Chris Nesi. And special thanks to my husband, Yossie Frankel, who put on his star trek hoodie and socks to help write most of the script for the Star Tek fauxmercial, and he provided all of the male voices, possibly with some help from his star trek shot glass! Links and Resources: https://twitter.com/mrnesi https://instagram.com/houseofedtech https://chrisnesi.com/linkedin https://thepodjournal.com

In the last episode, I interviewed Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie, the founders of Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning to find out what their secret sauces to success are and how they can be added to other schools and classrooms. I thought it was important to also hear from some students at Qualia, Jiyen, Diego, and Ella. I asked each of them similar questions, as you’ll hear, and I think their answers are very telling and informative for educators and parents. Also, I want to let you know about a great opportunity: I’m giving a free online workshop on a game frame for humanities classes called Battle of the Big Ideas which is like combining fantasy football (or other sports) with philosophy and big ideas. I’ve given this workshop at ISTE and other conferences for the last couple of years, and I wanted to share it with you. It's a unique way to help your students dig deep, think critically and creatively, and enjoy learning, in any humanities subject. The workshop is on July 26th at 4pm PDT. Get more information and register here. Lastly, don’t forget to vote for your favorite fauxmercial (the commercial parodies near the beginning of almost every episode) for the Fauxsies Awards. The battle is heating up. We’re announcing the winners in August to celebrate Overthrowing Educations 3-year anniversary! Fill out your ballot! My special thanks to my guests Ella, Jiyen and Diego. And my fauxmercial helpers (which, full disclosure, was taken from another episode), Yossie and Tuvia Frankel. Jiyen’s Podcast Unknown Knowns  

In this episode, Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie from Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning and The Arete Institute, are not only my wonderful guests, but they also the sponsors this podcast. Jim and Jon chat with me about the many lessons and approaches more traditional style -schools, and actually all schools, can learn from Qualia and from its predecessor Arete Preparatory Academy.  Of course, we talk about some of my favorite topics such as going gradeless and authentic, creative assessments, but there is even more practical wisdom they that share - things we can start doing right away. I want to thank my guests Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie as well as my fauxmercial helpers Yossie and Tuvia Frankel. Links and Resources: Serving students in grades 4 through 12, Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning offers online and in-person courses for highly curious students looking to explore and expand their passions in an intellectually stimulating environment. Jon’s Podcasts: www.gamelevellearn.com www.manywindows.net

For this series, on each mini-episode, I share one quick idea that can be applied to any subject. Some of them you may have already mastered, or maybe just tried once, or hadn’t even thought about yet.   Today’s DISCOVER assessment idea is based on roving or on the street reporters. It's a fun formative assessment that can help students express deeper understandings.  Need help getting started? Wanna share something cool your students have done? Any questions? DM me on Twitter @BatshevaFrankel or IG @Batsheva.Frankel See New Lens Ed. for more information about great assessments.

My guest, Jess Fuller tells us about RESCHOOL, the creators of the amazing game Revolve as well as other education-changing tools. I love game-based learning – I don’t really video games, and I definitely don’t mean badges and leveling up. I mean learning content, deriving meaning, or assessing for understanding through playing or creating games. But can games actually have an impact on bigger changes in education? And if so, how? Jess and I discuss all of these questions, among other important issues. Then play along with Jess on The 5-Minute Game Show as she knocks it out of the park! In our chat, I mention a game-frame approach that I’ve been using and teaching to humanities teachers called Battle of Big Ideas. I designed this flexible and fun “philosophy meets fantasy football” type game to help students dig deeper into literature and history, finding connections and relevance as they create and build teams based on big ideas. It’s great for grades 7th -12th. I’ll be giving a free interactive Battle of the Big Ideas workshop session on July 26th at 4 pm PT. If you teach a humanities class or if you’re just curious and want to see what it’s all about, sign up here. I’d like to thank my wonderful guest, Jessica Fuller and re-thank my fauxmercial helpers, Jake Miller and Tuvia Frankel. And speaking of fauxmercials, don’t forget to vote! You don’t have to fill out every category, just the ones you want. Here’s your ballot.  Resources: RESCHOOL website: www.reschoolcolorado.org Link to RESCHOOL’s newsletter https://www.reschoolcolorado.org/newsletter/ Twitter handle: @ReSchool_CO. The REVOLVE site: www.revolvethegame.com Jessica Fuller’s contact information: LinkedIn profile link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fuller-b8244b11/ Email: jfuller@reschoolcolorado.org Sign up for the FREE Battle of the Big Ideas workshop on July 26th, 2022 at 4 pm PT   Get your Overthrowing Education merch here.