Archives: Podcasts

Here are our general observations, a review of where the sentiment is and productivity is, almost a year after Covid19 hit.

02:05 Our hopes

03:06 Teachers are still being very reactive, day to day based on COVID cases coming in and out

04:26 Thinking about our first graders and their teachers

06:10 Administrators putting out even weirder fires 

08:01 Teacher confidence – getting teachers comfortable to be in the classroom and bring their best for kids

09:17 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: TeacherGoals

11:00 If we are saying that it is this urgent, then let’s prove it with money and our thanks and our time.

12:50 Do good teaching. Think back to what you know is best practice and do that. And that way, whatever you plan will translate back into your school day.

 

Why do we pull data and set goals around sub-groups in a school when we have a goal that’s hoping to meet the needs of all students?

 

02:00 Schools setting goals based on data on student academic success

03:00 Schools also set goals based on specific subgroups 

03:30 Trying to understand where some of the goals developed for subgroups came from

04:30 You look into the data, you see some gaps, you want to target success in those specific areas. And then you set those sub-goals based on where those gaps are. 

05:38 When we ignore the data indicating that certain subgroups are in crisis, we’re also ignoring their experience. 

07:00 How are we gathering as a community around these needy kids? 

08;36 Where is your focus when there are subpopulations and sub-goals

09:50 Personalized learning comes in to meet the students at their individual needs

10:50 If you plan for your neediest students, everyone’s going to benefit.

13:30 We need to plan from the student up, not the teacher down. 

 

What is the impact on relationships that this remote virtual learning world has put on teachers, parents, students, and staff?

02:00 Why this episode

03:00  Building rapport and building relationships

03:19 Transactional relationships

03:45 You don’t have those water cooler moments anymore

04:17 How do you build trust?

05:00 Strategy cycles at Whiteknact Elementary, with principal Laurie Marchand 

06:00 “The reason I build rapport with my students is so that they feel safe.”

06:30 We need to continue to make connections and build rapport because we don’t have those in-between moments anymore.

06:53 Why do we default into existing, comfortable relationships?  It’s because we haven’t been able to build trust.

09:42 What are the great work that teachers are doing to build rapport?

 

 

What can potentially engage students virtually?

Here are different tactics to lessen the load on the emotional exhaustion that happens from running a virtual classroom all day, and to increase student engagement.

04:49 Flipped model for learning

09:01 Having an agenda or checklist

10:46 Pick sticks

13:05 Waterfall response

 

We talk about stamina as it pertains to distance learning from the student and teacher perspective, and the challenge of student engagement.

01:32 Three  buckets of stamina:

1. from the lens of a teacher
2. from a first grader doing distance learning
3. from an older learner, an adolescent ninth-grade student

04:31 Everybody is trying to get some sort of sense of belonging, some sort of sense of connection, but at the same time, you have this cognitive dissonance

05:38 Is this a muscle that we just have to exercise over the next month or is this something that we’re going to be really working for the next year?

07:22 One of the things that’s connected to stamina is engagement. How are we keeping kids engaged as their stamina ends? And as my stamina, as a teacher, kind of ebbs? … What can I do about it?

08:15 Action steps on how to focus on improving virtual stamina

 

Continuing our family-facing series on supporting your child at home, we talk about practicing social emotional learning (SEL) at home, what SEL means, and its familiar and unfamiliar applications. 

 

02:00 Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is about being able to manage one’s self and relationships. CASEL defines SEL as the process, through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. 

CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) https://casel.org/

08:04 What do you suggest that families do for their kids at home to help practice social emotional learning? 

09:05 Science behind learning, stress, and mindfulness

10:00 Managing emotions and starting by, you know, engaging in activities around mindfulness and connection.

http://mindfulness.org

12:33 Helping kids recognize when they’re feeling anxious, when they’re feeling stressed, when you know that they’re getting that fight or flight response, what are the things that calm them down

15:15 Setting up an emotional or mental break space and laying out the foundation to then apply academics

15:29 Sources and effects of stress

19:00 Another strategic way that families can support kids is by reiterating the value of what they’re learning so that they’re reframing learning from a source of stress, to something that is interesting and relevant and fun and inspiring and can be an empowering force in their lives, a transformative force in their lives.

20:00  How do we help kids just reframe their mindsets around learning so that it has value for them and it’s meaningful for them, and it’s a source of inspiration and even refuge when there are so many stressors that they can not control?

22:00 Start with doing guided meditation together or create a little toolbox of like strategies that you do when you’re stressed out. 

23:00 how to motivate kids – concept of the learning challenge

27:39 James Nottingham’s learning pit

 The Learning Pit   https://www.challenginglearning.com/learning-pit/

29:00 James Nottingham’s book, “The Learning Challenge”

https://www.challenginglearning.com/product/the-learning-challenge-usa/

BEP052 – What Does “Developmentally Appropriate” Mean?

http://meeteducationproject.com/2020/04/14/bep052-what-does-developmentally-appropriate-mean/

32:36 Teaching kids to know how to name and recognize emotions to help them know what they need to do to shift their behavior

36:01 caregivers, give yourself a break. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to be a tutor. You just have to be a coach for your kids.