The What School Could Be Podcast

In the About section of his amazing resume Chris McNutt, co-founder of the Human Restoration Project and a digital art and design educator from Columbus, Ohio wrote: “I’m obsessed with revolutionizing education to meet the needs of students. Instead of standardized tests and rote learning, why not create equitable, authentic, and relationship-centered experiences where students can flourish? Let students lead their educational pursuits.” “Quiet” is the name of the musical interlude piece for this episode, composed and played by Michael Sloan. My editor and audio consultant is the talented, Evan Kurohara. Please leave us a review and or rating in your favorite podcast store.Continue readingThe post 84. Nothing Less Than Restoring Humanity to Learning, with Chris McNutt appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

“The best thing about Denise Karratti is not even all of the things she does, it is the way she does them-with complete openness, grace, warmth, and a collaborative spirit. Denise is grounded in our place and invested in all of the people who contribute to our communities. She is a connector and an innovator, and is going to be an incredible administrator in the near future.” (Kristen Brummel, Hawaiʻi State Teacher Fellows Coordinator) Crimson is the name of the musical interlude piece for this episode, composed and played by Michael Sloan. My editor is the talented, Evan Kurohara. Please leave us a review and or rating in your favorite podcast store. Continue readingThe post 83. Denise Karratti: Openness and Grace, Warmth and a Collaborative Spirit appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

My guest today is Chad Carlson, the Director of Research and Design at One Stone Lab School in Boise Idaho. Chad is one of the most innovative, creative and imaginative educators and education leaders ever to come across my radar screen. To say he, and One Stone Lab School work “outside the box” is a vast understatement. In all ways, Chad and One Stone dispense with boxes and approach students as bundles of joyful potential and promise, as agents of their own lives and futures. This episode was edited by the talented Evan Kurohara. Our theme music comes from the vast catalogue of pianist, Michael Sloan. To support this podcast, write us a review and give us a rating in your favorite podcast app or aggregator! The post 82. For Chad Carlson, It Starts With One Stone appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

Today, I welcome back to the show Dr. Mark Hines, the Director of Kupu Hou Academy, and the founder of the Mid-Pacific Explorer program at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. To his friends and colleagues, Mark is a Jedi warrior who uses The Force to help public, private and charter school educators find their inner deeper learning practice. To support this show, please give us a rating and review at your favorite podcast store. Continue readingThe post 81. Dr. Mark Hines, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Deeper Learning appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

You have heard the phrase “drinking from a firehose,” right? Well, listeners, you are about to have one of those firehose moments. Fasten your seatbelts because the next hour is going to get pretty crazy. Janelle Field is the PK-12 Teaching and Learning Engagement Coach at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Public Schools located in central Minnesota. When I interviewed her, it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit in her neck of the woods. But inside her schools, the heat was on and the learning was happening, big time.Continue readingThe post 80. Janelle Field: Totally Driven, Relentlessly Positive, Always Learning appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

In this first episode of 2022, I speak with Hawaiʻi Technology Academy’s (HTA) Shiloh Francis, a remarkable history and government teacher. HTA is a blended learning charter school with seven campuses on four Hawaiʻi islands. Shiloh has leadership roles in two HTA professional development cohorts: The Teacher-Leader Cohort and the Center for Love and Justice Cohort, among many other projects and roles. She is relentlessly focused on student-driven, real world learning. This episode is edited by Evan Kurohara. Our music is a gift from the master pianist, Michael Sloan. Continue reading (http://mltsinhawaii.com/index.php/2022/02/13/centering-on-love-justice-and-history-with-shiloh-francis/#more-2621)The post 79. Centering on Love, Justice and History, with Shiloh Francis (http://mltsinhawaii.com/index.php/2022/02/13/centering-on-love-justice-and-history-with-shiloh-francis/) appeared first on @WSCBPodcast (http://mltsinhawaii.com).

(This is a re-release of my episode number 69 with Mid-Pacific Institute’s, Dr. Edna Hussey.) Dr. Edna Hussey is a passionate and dedicated educator committed to the advancement of an educated citizenry, children’s rights to quality learning AND the professionalism of teachers. Mention Dr. Hussey’s name anywhere in Hawaiʻi and you will get mad respect and admiration. Folks say she operates at a different level, which I am sure she would humbly reject. She KNOWS what school could be because she has done it, repeatedly. This episode was edited by the talented Evan Kurohara. Our theme music comes from the vast catalogue of pianist, Michael Sloan. To support this podcast, write us a review and give us a rating in your favorite podcast app or aggregator!The post 69. (Rereleased) Reading the World, with Dr. Edna Hussey appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

My guest today is Darciann Baker, a faculty member at the Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi campus. Darciann is a Native Hawaiian woman, born and raised in Hawaiʻi. Her entire career has been dedicated to the perpetuation of the Hawaiian language. It is an endeavor she has held close to her heart ever since she found her Hawaiian identity when she was 15 years old. (The special oli, the Hawaiian chant that blesses this episode was written and performed by Kalei ‘A’arona Lorenzo, my guest’s high school classmate and basketball teammate. Mahalo, Kalei for this beautiful beginning to a wonderful episode.) Our theme music comes from the vast catalogue of pianist, Michael Sloan. To support this podcast, write us a review and give us a rating in your favorite podcast app or aggregator!The post 78. The Power of Backwards Design, with Darciann Baker appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

Speaking of a thousand points of light, my guest today is the deeply insightful, Dr. Julie Mowrer, Acting Director of the Center for Community Engagement at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Dr. Mowrer is also the Director of the English Language Institute (ELI), also at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and the founder of the Bonner Leadership Program.Continue readingThe post 77. The Deepest Meanings of Language and Community, with Dr. Julie Mowrer appeared first on @WSCBPodcast.

Speaking of a thousand points of light, my guest today is Wes Adkins, a math teacher at James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, the largest school in all of Hawai‘i. He proudly works in an inclusion classroom, promotes self-paced learning environments, and implements project based learning assessments. Nipsey Hustle and Vector90 inspired him to work in STEM education and teach students the skills for locally minded entrepreneurship. A first generation college graduate and a film buff all his life, Wes recently won a $25,000 Education Innovation Teacher Challenge grant for his proposal to have his students create the Ewa Beach Drive-In. The award was given by Farmer’s Insurance Hawaii and the Public Schools of Hawai’i Foundation. Wes sees launching a drive-in cinema as a great way to harness his students’ varied interests and help them develop diverse skills, from engineering the movie screen to curating and creating films, and developing business plans, computer apps, even recipes for the snack bar. “The possibilities are limitless,” Wes notes. “I’m a firm believer that if you can just find something that you love, you can learn about the rest of the world through that thing that you love.” Wes is also deeply interested in culturally responsive pedagogy, ethnomathematics and the “gamification” of learning, especially math. A Teach for America corps member, Wes is in only his third year as a math teacher. “You wouldn’t know that he is a math teacher because he integrates so many things,” James Campbell High School Principal, Jon Henry Lee once said. “And that’s what’s going to make the learning that much more powerful for the student. It comes from these integrated projects where you connect the dots. He captures their imagination first. A lot of students, the second you talk about geometry or math and things like that, sometimes it turns them off, right? But if you talk about a project that incorporates all the things they care about, whether its the marketing, pulling together the engineering, creating stories … that’s what clicks with students,” notes Principal Lee. Wes hails from California and his wife is from Japan, so Hawai’i is a perfect midway point for their growing family. His first year at James Campbell High School was disrupted by the pandemic, but his students are now fully back on campus. Wes has an undergraduate degree in film and digital media production from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a masters in culturally responsive education from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa. My editor and creative consultant is Evan Kurohara. Theme music is provided by my friend of 40 years, Michael Sloan. You can find his music, 12 albums and over 100 songs in Spotify, Apple Music and all the other major music platforms. Please stay safe and healthy, listeners, and please get vaccinated. A hui hou, and take care. Links:Drive-in Theater ArticleDrive-in Theater SiteSpark and Inspire FilmHawaiʻi Public Radio InterviewMANGA HighEthnomath YayMath!Pixar in a BoxDurable SkillsThe TFA Learning Lab Episode Theme Music by Michael Sloan Editor and Creative Consultant, Evan KuroharaThe post 76. Meeting Students Where They Are At, With Wes Adkins appeared first on @MLTSinHawaii .