Overthrowing Education

I have a pretty radical guest today, Nadav Zeimer, an educator with a strong background in education and digital media, who is definitely doing his part in trying to overthrow education. He talks about how to completely overhaul our flawed transcript system that particularly effects high school students, and he has a plan for eradicating standardized testing that pretty much effects all students. I had really high hopes that when we moved to predominantly remote learning in 2020, and it became clear to people just how absurd most standardized testing was. I was sure that we’d finally see some big changes. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. In my disappointment with the continuing status quo, I realized this was the perfect time to shake things up. And Nadav is certainly trying to make that happen. And stay tuned to after the interview for the 5-Minute Game Show. And the fauxmercial for this episode is a parody of the classic cartoon “Mighty Mouse” where I get a chance to use my editing skills. It’s a lot of fun! I would like to thank my special guest Nadav Zeimer. I also want to give a huge shout out to my fellow voices on the fauxmercial, Yossie Frankel as Almighty Mouse and Tuvia Frankel as the announcer. They are both really great sports and I appreciate it! Links and Contacts: z@hs.credit Nadav’s Blog Nadav’s book: Education in the Digital Age Make One Change book Radio: An Illustrated Guide by Ira Glass Out on the Wire (graphic help for radio etc. ) by Ira Glass and Jessica Abel

In this really informative and fairly goofy episode, I chat with my Edu podcaster friends, William Mealey and Christopher Tudisco about how important collegial relationships are for educators and how to make them happen. It’s a perfect topic for this very collegial team behind one of my favorite education podcasts out there, Unprofessional Development. Below is a link to when I was on their show ages ago. They also star in my commercial parody for the fake product “Create-a-Colleague”. When they sent me the MP3 of their parts, I laughed really hard at the recording which includes them trying to figure out a typo of mine near the end. While you heard how I edited them for the fauxmercial, I thought it would be fun to share the whole silly thing, so I added it at the end the episode. And by the way, Mealey and Tudisco absolutely nailed The 5-Minute Game Show at the end of their interview! Special thanks to Tudisco and Mealey for the great conversation and the help with the fauxmercial. Twitter: @Unprocast Email: unprofessionaldevelopmentcast@gmail.com Unprofessional Development Podcast Video of the whole Edupodlooza Batsheva on Edupodlooza round table about innovation pt 1 Batsheva on Edupodlooza round table about innovation pt 2 Batsheva on Unprofessional Development The Last Day of School radio comedy on Edupodlooza Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning Lesson Impossible podcast

In this episode, veteran educator and podcast host Charles Williams and I have a great conversation about the work we need to do to create true equity in education and the importance of challenging our current narratives. We also talk about problematic intrinsic biases that we all have and how to change them.  Even though the topics we discuss are serious and important, along with all the practical ideas, we do get very silly (and not just on The 5-Minute Game Show, although he slays his food themed game show!). Special thanks to Charles and to my fauxmercial helpers Yossie Frankel and the wonderfully talented Linda Korn for writing and singing the original Paradigm Shifters jingle that I borrowed. Important Links and Resources: CW Consulting Service The Counter Narrative Podcast Inside the Principal's Office Podcast Twitter: @_cwconsulting School Rubric Team  Code Breaker          

This episode celebrates Overthrowing Education’s 2nd anniversary with Universal Design for Learning expert educator and author Loui Lord Nelson. Our conversation explores what UDL is and how to incorporate this important framework into lesson designs. Play The 5-Minute Game Show along with Loui and see if you can do as well as she did, cause she slayed it! My special thanks to Loui and to my fauxmercail helpers Tuvia and Yossie Frankel. I also want to thank all of the wonderful guests and fauxmercial actors that have contributed so very much these last 2 years (check them all out on the previous 54 episodes!). And a big shout out to Distant Cousins, the band behind my theme song and Casey Arrillaga for his The 5-Minute Game Show theme music. Important Links and Resources: CAST UDL Guidelines UDL in 15 Minutes Podcast Design and Deliver (Book) A Tree for All: Your Coloring Book of UDL Principles and Practice Go Fishing with UDL cards -An awesome card game about UDL that creates an ocean of possibility for your learners! Culturally Responsive Design for English Learners (Book)

My guest on this episode is Clement Townsend who helps schools and teachers integrate media arts into their programs and lessons. In this time of media saturation, using media arts as a means for learning is even more important. Clement and I discuss how we can integrate media arts into all subjects. We also talk about how to help students tell stories, including their own, to inform, inspire and impact the world around them. At the end of the interview, I subjected Clement to one of the hardest The 5-Minute Game Shows ever. And he did well! I want to thank my special guest Clement and the people that helped on my fauxmercial – Yossie Frankel and William Mealey from The Unprofessional Development podcast and his awesome wife Lindy. By the way, look for an upcoming episode of Overthrowing Education with Mealey and his podcast partner, Christopher Tudisco. Important links for Clement: linkedin.com/in/clement-townsend Broadcast Career Mentor videojournalismpro.com (Company Website) broadcastingcareermentor@gmail.com Twitter: @ClementTV_

This bonus episode is just for fun! This radio comedy, "The Last Day of School" was performed live online during Edupodlooza back in June.  I joined a talented group of education podcasters to write and perform this brief glimpse at a very unique last day of school. We poke fun at ourselves, ed podcasts in general and some of the crazy things that educators endure . . . like Zombies (??!!) Edupodlooza was the brainchild of Mealy who, along with Tudisco host the awesome and hilarious podcast Unprofessional Development, and this was originally released on their podcast, but they said I was welcome to share it on mine. Enjoy! Hear more episodes from Edupodlooza at Unprofessional Development!

Today’s episode with educator and author Connie Hamilton is so near and dear to my heart. We have a great conversation about the importance of not only how to ask powerful, more focused questions, but also how students can do the same. Connie also shares how to respond to the “I don’t know” answer that we often get from students. She offers so much solid, applicable advice in this episode! At the end of the interview. Connie plays a “pop songs with questions in the title” The 5-Minute Game Show. And super bonus: She sings some of the answers! In my discussion with Connie you’ll hear me talk about my Lenses of Questioning course that has now officially launched. Watch the video  to find out more about the course and see NewLensEd.com to register. I’d like to give my special thanks to Connie Hamilton for joining me and also a special shout out to my Lenses of Questioning commercial helpers Shane Lawrence from The Ed Podcast, Yossie and Tuvia Frankel. Links and Resources: Hacking Questions Visit www.hackingquestions.com Connie’s Free Resources Follow Connie on Twitter: @conniehamilton Check out the Lenses of Questioning Course  

In this episode, I have a great conversation with the wise and wonderful educator, Mike Kaechele, who clearly lays out why Project-Based Learning is such a natural partner for growing Social Emotional Learning skills and how to combine them together to create a better education for all students. Mike provides lots of great examples and tools (not just tech tools, either) to design incredible PBL units, with great SEL opportunities.  We top off this important discussion with an acronym based The 5-Minute Game Show that is a lot of fun! I’d like to give a special thank you to Mike Kaechele and to Linda Korn for the wonderful Paradigm Shifters jingle on today’s fauxmercial. Links and resources: http://www.michaelkaechele.com Twitter: @mikekaechele CASEL competencies Trello Boards Padlet

On this episode, my wonderful guest is educator and co-author of The Startup Teacher Playbook, Darcy Bakkegard. We have an in-depth conversation about why so much of traditional professional development for educators isn’t working and how teachers can take charge of and design their own PD. She also talks about why teachers are natural leaders even if they don’t see themselves as such. There are so many great takeaways in this episode. And at the end of our chat, Darcy plays a special musical theater version of The 5-Minute Game Show. I’d like to thank my special guest Darcy Bakkegard as well as the fantastic people who helped me the Magic PD Dust fauxmercial, Shane Lawrence of The Ed Podast, Yossie Frankel and Rivi Frankel. Resource Links: The Educators' Lab Website The Startup Teacher Playbook Personalized PD Challenge- Darcy’s PD Challenge for the summer to help teachers turn ideas into action. Free to participate, all videos & resources will be on YouTube; no book required. Darcy on Twitter: @DBakkegard Michelle Blanchet (Co-Author of The Startup Teacher Playbook) on Twitter: @Educatorslab

My guest is educator and podcast host of Lesson Impossible, Aviva Levin, who joins me to discuss why teacher transparency is so important, and how to make it happen.  The Bonus of this episode is that we also include a little bit about how to incorporate improvisation games into your classes. Both Aviva and I have performed and taught improv, so I surprised her with an improv twist to The 5-Minute Game Show. And then she turns the table on me! Aviva and I co-wrote and performed the fauxmercial for this episode. It was a blast to do. And she and I co-wrote a hilarious radio comedy with a group of really funny Ed podcasters for Edupodlooza that we are performing live on June 27th. Check back for links on how to watch or follow me on Twitter: @Overthrowing Ed or @BatshevaFrankel. Important Links: Website: www.lessonimpossible.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/avivalevin Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/lessonimpossible/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lessonimpossible/ Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aviva-levin-8483511a7 Celebrating my 50th episode: