MindShift Podcast

Once schools went fully remote, learning online during the pandemic became a major struggle for so many students. However, for some students, being online and away from distractions at school helped them do better academically.

As a child, Connie Williams learned to read using the “whole word” strategy, which has since been disproven as an effective technique. She graduated high school in Oakland, Calif., but she was functionally illiterate. Since then, her children and grandchildren have attended Oakland public schools, all of them struggling to learn to read. And it wasn’t just her family -- the district is failing thousands of kids. Now, Connie Williams is part of a movement of families advocating for phonics instruction, hoping that different teaching strategies will help their kids finally learn how to read well enough to access the rest of their education. After all, equal access to education is supposed to be a civil right.

For many students, writing can be tedious, especially after years of boring grammar, spelling and structure drills. But for kids who have discovered fan fiction, writing about something they’re already passionate about can ignite countless hours of creative writing, music and art.

Culturally relevant teaching strategies help make learning more meaningful to the lives of students and address some of the equity issues in curriculum. When schools closed in March because of COVID-19, about 150 teachers from around the country began creating a resource document to share ideas that would engage students in learning through the events happening in their lives. Students at Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School in New York City were at the heart of the worst outbreak in the country. English Teacher Anthony Voulgarides assigned pandemic journaling to his students, never imagining how crucial those assignments would become to students as they process their feelings and document the loss and isolation COVID-19 has had on their families and their community.

Seniors missed out on prom, signing yearbooks, sharing the news of college acceptances with friends and teachers in person, and walking across the graduation stage in front of their family and friends. Juniors took AP tests at home and worried what this would mean for their futures. Hear what students recorded in their audio journals as they adjust their expectations for this school year and the future.Further Reading: See photos of the students Check out MindShift's website Sign up for the weekly MindShift newsletter This episode was reported by Katrina Schwartz. MindShift is produced by Ki Sung, Katrina Schwartz, Jessica Placzek, and Seth Samuel. Additional support from Erika Aguilar, Kyana Moghadam, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong, and Holly Kernan. Special thanks this week to Genevieve Schweitzer, Julisa Gomez Reyes, Qadir Scott, and Taila Lee.

When Ashanti Branch started the Ever Forward Club, he was a high school math teacher trying to figure out why the young men in his classes weren’t succeeding. He found they were craving what he desired as a kid too -- a safe place to be themselves, to show emotion, to get support without fear of judgment. When Ashanti gave them that, their success surprised everyone. It’s now his life’s work to support other educators to create spaces where boys can be vulnerable, share their feelings, and feel supported by other boys.More Resources How Learning Emotional Skills Can Help Boys Become Men Ever Forward/Siempre Adelante Mask Activity Sign up for the MindShift newsletter! This episode was reported by Katrina Schwartz. MindShift is made by Ki Sung, Katrina Schwartz, Jessica Placzek, and Seth Samuel. Additional support from Erika Aguilar, Kyana Moghadam, Amielle Major, Ethan Lindsey, and Vinnee Tong.

We’re here just in time to unpack some of the extraordinary circumstances created by emergency distance learning and the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, you’ll hear how teachers and students prioritized what mattered most as school closures dragged on during shelter-in-place.Ki Sung reports on a journal assignment that helped teachers stay in touch with students and check in on their welfare while living in a coronavirus hotspot. Katrina Schwartz will give you an intimate listen into some of the experiences students were having during shelter-in-place, including what it was like to take an AP test in a distracting home environment. The Class of 2020 missed out on major milestones, but found small ways to find joy and connection.KQED News education reporter Vanessa Rancaño reports on intergenerational illiteracy and how one grandmother is sharing her story in order to change how reading is taught to children. You'll also hear about how boys are learning emotional intelligence skills online and the role of fan fiction in creating imaginative worlds for adolescents.

Teenagers are demanding to be heard on the issues that matter most to them including climate change, gun control, abortion and immigration. What's different now and what role does public education play?

Art has often been relegated as an additional activity in schools. But schools that put art at the center of a child's learning experience through arts integration are seeing kids thrive.

Adults have designed how kids eat at school for generations, directing students into single-file lines and seating them at long roll-away tables to eat mass-produced food. This is all about efficiency in order to feed hundreds of young people in a matter of minutes. However, baked into the process of feeding kids efficiently are bad food choices, waste, social anxiety and social isolation. Lunch hasn't been working for all students so schools are asking students to design a better lunch experience with the help of design thinking strategies.