Human Restoration Project

In this podcast, we are joined by Seth Coster, the CEO and game programmer at Butterscotch Shenanigans, who have seen incredibly success on their video and mobile games. Best known for titles Crashlands and Levelhead, Butterscotch Shenanigans was founded by three brothers with no explicit academic background in video game creation. Seth studied to become a Certified Financial Analyst, started a law graduate program, but soon realized he enjoyed the games he created in his free time much more. Brothers Sam, Seth, and Adam Coster also host their own podcast, Coffee with Butterscotch.The reason we invited Seth was because we see an inherent connection between video game design and education, as well as his own story connecting to a lot of our work at the Human Restoration Project. (And it was awesome to have a connection through Nick, who he went to college with.) I actually introduce the concept of learning by doing by showcasing a clip from Indie Game: The Movie, where developers of Super Meat Boy explain that teaching a player to run and jump through a pop up that shows them how to do it, is not nearly as effective as just presenting a large gap and having the player keep trying until they ultimately succeed (see the show notes!)Enjoy this array of topics from game design to grading to chaotic science experiments.GUESTSSeth Coster, the CEO and game programmer at Butterscotch Shenanigans, who have seen incredibly success on their video and mobile games Crashlands and Levelhead.Nick Covington, Creative Director of Human Restoration Project, advocate of equitable gradeless learning and realignment of assessment.RESOURCES Indie Game: The Movie Super Meat Boy Clip Coffee with Butterscotch (Podcast) GDC: Design by Chaos Butterscotch Shenanigans Medium (Chris McNutt): Game Design, Classroom Design, and the Faux Use of GamificationFURTHER LISTENING S3: E2: It All Orbits Purpose feat. Kendall Cotton Bronk, John Cagle, Skylar Primm, and Elizabeth Martin S2 Highlight: Adopting Progressive Ed. w/ Alfie Kohn

In this podcast, we are joined by Brooke Tobia and her two students, Olivia and Avery. Together, they've co-developed and written the book How to Teach Us: A Guide for Teachers Written by Students. Working in a PBL environment, roughly 60 6th grade students between Brooke and her co-teacher researched, wrote, and published this work which is available via Amazon. Within, you'll find slews of information, gathered from interviews with students, that explains how different students learn and effective teaching methods.It can’t be stressed enough how authentically this work demonstrates the power of experiential learning. These students are engaged, motivated, curious, and acting purposefully. They see the power in their work and want to share it. They’re working cooperatively to help each other. And ultimately, they’ve built something together that can have a lasting impact. Maybe this podcast will spawn a wave of collaborative book publishing?GUESTSBrooke Tobia, a 6th grade STEM educator at High Tech Middle North County, who masterfully incorporates experiential learning into her courses. She’s joined by two of her 6th grade students, Olivia and Avery.RESOURCES How to Teach Us: A Guide for Teachers Written by Students Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Student Interview QuestionsFURTHER LISTENING S3: E14: Listen to Students (feat. Ayush Chopra, Cody Lees, & Meghan Kestner) S3: E8: The Inventive Design of Learning Spaces feat. Pam Moran, Tim Fawkes, Ryan Hopkins-Wilcox, & Discovery Lab

Interested in using this opportunity for professional development credit? See our template for administrators. Consider running this event past your administrative team prior to completing.Dr. Susan Engel is a professor of developmental psychology at Williams College, with a focus on curiosity, school reform, and educational research. Her many works include The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood and The End of the Rainbow: How Educating for Happiness, Not Money, Would Transform Our Schools. Further, Dr. Engel is co-founder and educational advisor to the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, NY.In this interactive discussion, we’ll talk the importance of research and dissect how to analyze research results as well as revamping teacher professional development models.*Apologies for the relatively low audio quality. First time we’ve recorded on Jitsi!

This episode is all about the Sustainable Development Goals, with some specific questions surrounding their implementation. If you're not familiar, the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015 and consist of 17 major problems the world aims to solve by 2030. Countries are working in partnership to solve issues such as ending world hunger, establishing gender equality, taking climate action, and reducing inequality. Each of these goals has many organizations working with the indicators - or specific tasks - within each goal.During our panel discussion, we talk about motivating students to reach the SDGs in spite of their gigantic nature, as well as how to implement these ideas in our ever politicized world.GUESTSDr. Jennifer Williams, co-founder and executive director of Take Action Global, co-founder of TeachSDGs, professor at Saint Leo University in the College of Education and Graduate Education, and author of Teach Boldly.Julia Fliss, a language arts educator at Evergreen Middle School in Evergreen, CO and TeachSDGs ambassador.Nick Covington, a social studies educator at Ankeny High School in Ankeny, IO (and Creative Director at Human Restoration Project.)RESOURCES Overview of the SDGs TeachSDGs World’s Largest Lesson Teach Boldly: Using EdTech for Social Good by Dr. Jennifer WilliamsFURTHER LISTENING S3: E14: Listen to Students (feat. Ayush Chopra, Cody Lees, & Meghan Kestner) S3: E7: Writing for Purpose and Advocacy feat. Bryn Orum, J.J. Burry, John Warner, Stephanie Hurt, & Dr. Richard Wilkinson

I’ve always been perplexed by school lunch. It’s sort of taken as a part of school: a fairly bland looking, processed, mess that students deal with during the school day. Michael Moore in Where to Invade Next how ridiculous it was that the United States spends, on average, much more than other countries lunch programs, while not even serving fresh food.It’s not uncommon to view any school’s lunch menu and see the same questionable offerings: chicken nuggets, french toast sticks, chicken sandwiches, hamburgers. And when I saw an ad for a new book, The Labor of Lunch by Jennifer E. Gaddis - I was thrilled to see an in-depth discussion on why school lunch is the way it is. It’s a chronicle of the history, social issues, and modern movement toward lunch reform.Gaddis offers an incredibly detailed work. You can read our “book of the month” review here.GUESTJennifer E. Gaddis, an assistant professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Gaddis focuses on a feminist perspective of food politics, with a special focus on school lunch programs.RESOURCES Gaddis’ Book: The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools via the University of California Press (use 19V3712 for 30% off.) Jennifer E. Gaddis’ Website The Chef Ann Foundation Food Corps National Farm to School NetworkFURTHER LISTENING E143, Heritage Radio Network - Eating Matters: The Labor of (School) Lunch E93, Bite: There Is Such Thing as a Free (School) Lunch

Join Monte Syrie - a proponent of student relationships who operates a daily educational reflective blog at LetsChangeEducation.com. Monte serves as an adjunct professor of education at Eastern Washington University, and as a high school English teacher and department chair at Cheney High School in Cheney, Washington.In this interactive discussion, we will discuss connecting and relating with students to improve well-being, both from a resource and systemic perspective.Participants will be posed with these questions, but the conversation will take us on a journey of its own:What are some practices or systems that get in the way of connecting, or are disconnecting, students and educators?How can we foster a class/school culture where students listen, learn, and support one another?How can we systemically change our class/school to support learners and their social/emotional well-being?

We often think of democratic education as student government - where students are sadly often pigeon-held into a glorified party planning committee with very little power. But what if things could be different? First, we could establish democratic norms in our classroom, where students are on equal footing with us to discussion curriculum and classroom changes - where the topics we discuss in class and the assignments that are given are a contract between the two of us, and our job is educators is to support, rather than tell what to do.Then, what if we build student governments that operated in the school as an actual government? As in, they have a place at the school board. If they don't get what they want, they protest. And they demand things that every human being as the right to....often to the dismay of legacy administrators. Phones? It's their property, let them be used. Dress code? It's part of the first amendment. Emotional well-being? Who cares about grades when people are stressed and anxious?This issues matter deeply to students, and they should matter to us as well. The people in our classrooms are well - people, they're human beings. And they deserve the same respect that any individual has. Sometimes ,yes, they're students and they may push boundaries or get on our nerves, but they still demand the rights they're beholden to - especially when these rights are needed to navigate our ever-changing world.Further, the state of democracy in the modern world is dismal, to say the least. No matter the political party, people are unhappy with their representatives. Money corrupts the system and people aren't having their most basic needs met in some of the richest countries on Earth. Despite social studies being taught to every student, voting in the United States is still relatively uncommon and people rarely demand change. Yes, we're seeing an influx of young people taking a stand - but imagine if all our young people were given the opportunity to express themselves and recognize their voice was heard? The world would be radically different - and for the better.GUESTS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCECarla Marschall, who has worked in various IB programs across Switzerland, Germany, and Hong Kong, and is currently the Head of Curriculum Development and Research at United World College South East Asia in Singapore. Co-author of Concept-Based Inquiry in Action, Carla is an expert at preparing students for a flourishing democracy.Merrit Jones, who is the executive director of the student-led organization, Student Voice, which in my opinion is the most interesting and exciting organization currently in development. Not only is it run by students, it provides a beautiful website full of exciting resources, amazing student-written articles, and materials for supporting student-led chapters that honestly disrupt the flow of traditional schooling.RESOURCES Connect the Dots International (Carla Marschall) StuVoice.orgFURTHER LISTENING Podcasts from Student Voice

This is an audio version of our Summit on October 27th,, 2019.Starr Sackstein, NBCT is author of many titles including Hacking Assessment, Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts, and From Teacher to Leader: Finding Your Way as a First-Time Leader without Losing Your Mind, as well as an English nationally board certified teacher.In this interactive discussion, we will discuss how these principles not only are paramount for our students' success, but our own longevity and joy as educators.How does gradeless learning change the teacher’s role in the classroom?How can we use self-assessment to not only change our classrooms for student well-being, but for teachers?How do student agency and voice and choice lend themselves to teacher empowerment and work/life balance?What other ways can we foster teacher well-being while simultaneously promoting the well-being of students?Look out for future Summits via Human Restoration Project’s website and social media. Our goal is to host free, quality PD at least once a month!

In this podcast, we're focused on student voice: how to engage students, what it means to share power with students, and the possibilities that can occur when we truly let students speak.It's obvious that this true, just a quick glance at the news and Greta Thunberg demonstrates how powerful young people can be if given the opportunities to be successful. Our job as educators to not hamper that motivation to learn and change the world, and help open up new experiences for students to be interested and engage in.And it's just just Thunberg or Malala or any young person doing amazing things - it's small scale success and purpose as well. The more people we unite with their purpose, the better society we will build. Sometimes those purposes aren't global reaching, but building a happy, motivated world is a giant, yet legitimate goal we can reach. What else really matters in the end?However, we all know that school is not a place where many students are engaged in this kind of work. Sure, there are pockets of teachers doing amazing things - and they're often doing these things in spite of the systems and structures they find themselves in. We need to engage students in conversation and take their ideas legitimately, leaving out judgment aside, to truly find ways to transform our classrooms and schools.GUESTS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCEAyush Chopra, a 17-year-old student out to change the world with his organization, SDGs for Children. Ayush has written Shaping a Fairer World with SDGs and Human Rights and hosts the podcast, Shaping a Fairer World.Cody Lees, a recent high school graduate who was actively involved in leadership activities in school, who highlights his 3rd grade experience in “Action Club.”Meghan Kestner, a special education educator and Upward Bound advisor whose students share their stories, and who reflects on the need for more human-focused approaches to the classroom.RESOURCES SDGs for Children Chad Hyatt’s Twitter (Cody Lee’s teacher!) Meghan Kestner’s BlogFURTHER LISTENING Shaping a Fairer World with Ayush Chopra S3: E9: We Got This: Equity and Access in Schools with Cornelius Minor

This is an audio version of our Summit on September 22nd, 2019.Sunil Singh is author of Pi of Life and co-author of Math Recess: Playful Learning in an Age of Disruption, whose expert focus is on revolutionizing the math curriculum through philosophical conversation, decolonizing the content, and redefining the narrative.In this interactive discussion, we discussed revolutionary thinking of mathematics education and how to instill a humanized mathematics curriculum into our schools. What does it mean to have a “humanized mathematics curriculum”? How does this differ from the predominant way mathematics is taught? How can we redefine what “success” looks like in mathematics, as well as lessen math anxiety and promote wellness in the classroom? How can we make substantial changes to the process and curriculum to make mathematics more engaging? (e.g. social justice, real life scenarios, PBL, decolonization) Why is it imperative that we implement these changes? What specific notes will you take away from this conversation? What questions and concerns do you still have?