Have a Life Teaching
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© John Schembari
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In this podcast, we will engage in conversation with educators providing insight on best-in-class K-12 curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices.
66 Episodes
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In this episode, we chat with John Arthur, former Utah teacher of the year, current 6th grade teacher in Salt Lake City, and author of the new book "The Digital Projects Playbook."
Join us here as we discuss not only the benefits of project based learning, a topic we also have discussed in earlier episodes, but also how and why to turn projects into digital learning opportunities such as blogs, podcasts, and interactive presentations that are equally evergreen and promote ongoing conversation with student voice at the heart of this discourse.
We hope you will also check out all of the below links but, if interested in seeing what projects the students in Arthur's class are creating, checxk out 9th Evermore.
John Arthur LinkedIn Page
Digital Projects Playbook
9th Evermore Student YouTube Channel
John Arthur Testimony to Congress
Music by Aylex
Leadership within 21st Century schools should be different from what those of us in Generation X or before experienced of our school leaders says my next podcast guest, David Gaston.
Gaston is founder and CEO of Gaston Educational Consulting LLC and a former district superintendent in Charles City, Virginia. He also partners with Commonwealth Learning Partnership, Shaffer Evaluation Group LLC, and Upbeat in his consulting work.
Often, we teach (or lead) the way we were taught (or led). However, the top-down authorative approach to leadership is not a model of success for today as leaders need a different set of skills to thrive.
Join Gaston and I, in this episode, as we discuss how he coaches leaders to hone their servant leadership skills such as building trust in the capabilities of those below them in the hierarchy, allowing more team authority to make decisions, developing one's consensus building skills, communicating a vision for schooling, and providing access to allow diverse stakeholders a voice in schooling.
David Gaston LinkedIn Page
Gaston Educational Consulting
Charles City VA Public Schools
Music by Aylex
In this episode, we are joined by Leslie Hayes, Vice-President of Education at the New York Historical Society.
Hayes discusses how even the simplest item - a Dunkin Doughnuts Coffee Cup for example - can unleash deep and engaging student conversation on what everyday items tell us about the cultures we currently live in as well as about past times.
Hayes also tells us about the work of her department at the museum in training educators and teaching students and also walks listeners through the steps that educators should take students through when conducting object based inquiry.
She also discusses tips on how teachers can start collecting/using their own artifacts when teaching Social Studies. Hint: This does not need to be expensive or complicated.
Leslie Hayes LinkedIn Page
New York Historical Society - Objects Tell Stories
Music - Aylex
For too long, schools have been designed using either a top down or bottom up approach; top down where administration makes all system decisions or bottom up where leadership is responsive to parent needs and wishes.
However, in each model, important stakeholders are missing from the decision making table - students, families, leadership, teachers, and other community partners.
What if, instead, says Wood - Chief Learning Officer at Transcend Education, we implemented a community informed school design model which incorporates the best of the top down model (order) and one that also prioritizes the social emotional needs of the students/families that schools serve?
I hope you will listen in to this episode to learn from Wood how Transcend Education helps school communities to design community schools.
Wood also offers listeners ideas on how communities might design community schools on their own from her new book - Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everone Thrives.
Jenee Henry Wood LinkedIn Page
Transcend Education
Extraordinary Learning for All Book
Music - Aylex
Did you know that two out of every three students will experience a traumatic event before they reach the age of 16?
Trying to be clearheaded during a crisis is difficult. As such, schools must therefore be prepared to address the unexpected before the unexpected happens. But how to prepare for all of the unknowns that can befall our students and their families?
Join me and my next guests, Geri Parscale and Darcy Kraus, as we discuss their new book - Navigating the Unexpected. In this episode, we discuss, in particular, how to move beyond providing immediate family support (The Caserole Effect) to a more systematic ongoing approach to meeting the long term needs - behavioral, social, and academic - of these students and families; from onset to conclusion of the event.
Geri Parscale LinkedIn Page
Darcy Kraus LinkedIn Page
Navigating the Unexpected Book
Music - Aylex
Did you know that November is Children's Grief Awareness Month?
Or, that 1/12 U.S. children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18?
Grief is a normal part of life, and schools must find ways to support students experiencing it. Join my next guest - Lindsay Schambach , CEO of the NJ based Imagine Grief Support Center - and I as we discuss ways through which teachers and others within school communities can help students process their grief over deaths of people involved in their lives as well as those experiencing grief related to other traumatic events.
Lindsay Schambach LinkedIn Page
Imagine Center Website
Music - Aylex
Dr. Paola Sztaijn is Dean of Education at North Carolina State University and co-author of the book - Activating Math Talk: 11 Purposeful Techniques for Your Elementary Students.
In this episode, Paola and I discuss the four types of Math discourse as well as how/when to plan for each type so that math conversations between our students are meaningful and that students feel empowered and welcome to participate in such discussions. We also discuss the power of good questioning and the systemic conditions that are necessary for Math discourse to take root across our elementary schools.
This conversation is particularly timely given the shifts in the next generation of Common Core Math Standards. I hope you will listen in!
Paola Sztaijn LinkedIn Page
NC State College of Education Website
Activating Math Talk - Book
Music - Aylex
Given the contentious nature of this election season and the accompanying polarization, humanities teachers could be forgiven for not wanting to teach the election process.
Yet, if we onlt teach the past, including hard pasts like slavery, then we never prepare students for the hard present which can help them to engage effectively as involved citizens in the civic sphere.
So says my guest in this episode, Jeremy Kaplan, author of several Chalkbeat articles on teaching students political processes and assistant principal of Supervision for Social Studies and Physical Education at the High School for Health Professions and Human Services in New York City.
Kaplan also was also recently featured in a New York Times article.
Jeremy Kaplan LinkedIn page
Talking to Students About the Trump Assassination Attempt Article (Chalkbeat)
What Teenagers Are Learning About the 2024 Election Article (New York Times)
Music by Aylex
In this episode, I am joined by Erik Francis, author of the new book Inquiring Minds Want to Learn. In our conversation, we discuss not only how to use questioning as a form of assessment but, perhaps more importantly, as a tool for maximizing student interest and engagement in learning.
We also discuss what is wrong in how we are using Depth of Knowledge Questioning tools as well as a more research based and sound approach to using the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix than how most of us currently use this resource.
Hint - A question's level of rigor should match what denotes grade level proficiency on a particular standard.
Music - Aylex
Erik Francis LinkedIn Page
Inquiring Minds Want to Learn Book
Maverik Education
Assessment of student learning is critical if we are to get a true sense of what students know and can do before, during, and after teaching.
Join me and my next guest, Nicole Dimich, as we discuss her book - Design in Five. We discuss five steps for creating more effective assessments that are both more engaging to students and involve student self reflection.
We also discuss "better" homework practices than we often see as well as the effect of standardized and high stakes assessment on the teaching and learning process.
Music - Aylex
Nicole Dimich LinkedIn Page
Design in Five Book
Nicole Dimich - Solution Tree
Join me and my guest Gretchen Bridgers and I as we discuss her latest book - Always a Lesson. In it, and in our conversation, Gretchen discusses the four building blocks of teaching that must be considered, in order, for teaching to be successful. These blocks, or'bricks", include lesson design, class management/systems, student engagement, and, ultimately, student ownership.
This episode is not just for new educators, mind you. As Gretchen says in our conversation, it is important for every teacher to reset each year as the needs of our students fluctuate from year to year. Consider listening to this episode with Gretchen to help you refocus your teaching energies on what matters.
Music - Aylex
Gretchen Bridgers LinkedIn Page
Always a Lesson Book
Always a Lesson Website and Podcast
There are times when school systems need to rely on external support to improve instruction and student outcomes.
While external consultants often bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in what works in schools, it can be difficult to gain the trust of educators in that many educators are suspicious when it comes to coaches/consultants having a school's best interests at heart.
In this episode, my guest Gene Tavernetti - Founder/CEO of TESS Consulting Group - and I discuss how coaches/consultants can improve instruction through quick turnaround coaching cycles while also treating educators with professional respect.
We also discuss strategies for coaching administrators and instructional coaches and how this is similar and disimilar to coaching teachers one-on-one.
Music - Aylex
Gene Tavernetti LinkedIn Page
Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles Book
TESS Consulting Group
Increasingly, financial literacy standards are being adopted across school districts and states. Join me and my guest Tevan Asaturi, Founder and CEO of Money Mastery University, as we discuss the need to teach financial literacy across K-16 - particularly in middle school, high school, and beyond - both as a necessary life skill and as a way to engage students through relevant real-world learning. Tevan also shares his tips on becoming a self-funded entrepreneur as well as strategies for attracting angel investors to one's product and/or service.
Music - Aylex
Tevan Asaturi LinkedIn Page
Asaturi Financial Consulting
Money Mastery University
Hi Everyone!
Thanks for listening to season one of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast.
In July 24, I'll be continuing to edit great content that I hope you will enjoy in August and beyond. The podcast will be back in August/September on a limited schedule - as I will be working overseas in September - and returning full force with season two content being published weekly in October onwards.
Best,
John Schembari
In this episoode of the Have a Life Teaching podcast, Adam Andre - museum participation facilitator at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool - and I discuss how and why we should not shy away from teaching students about historical slavery nor its ongoing impact on our world today.
We discuss:
- Liverpool's connection to the transatlantic slave trade and the impact of slavery on the city's growth
- How to center the voices of those victimized by slavery
- Focusing on resistance, for example preserving the culture of those enslaved, and the legacy of slavery within the study of slavery rather than oversaturating students with stories of slavery's barbarism particularly in the upper elementary grades
- Using primary source documentation and/or artifacts in the study of slavery particularly at the MS/HS level
- How the view of historical events can change over time and involving students in this conversation
- Drawing parallels between historical slavery and the way the world is structured today
- How we memorialize those involved in the slave trade
August 23rd is Slavery Remembrance Day! Check out what the museum has planned for August should you find yourself in Liverpool.
International Slavery Museum
Liverpool Museums
And other resources:
Enid Blyton Biography
Rann Miller ASCD Article
The Slave Ship: A Human History
Music - Aylex
In this episode, Anjana and Anya, two high school students from New Jersey, discuss their program 'Connected'
aimed at promoting awareness of the mental health struggles that often accompany the academic pressures that high achieving secondary students sometimes
feel.
Anjana and Anya share their experiences and insights on creating this high school public awareness campaign and discuss how their work has inspired peer scholars
to prioritize their mental health wellbeing.
Anjana and Anya emphasize the importance of students developing time management skills and not overextending
themselves academically and/or in other activities. They also highlight the potential for increasing the number of students supporting their campaign and connecting
their organization/campaign with other schools and organizations to further their mission to reduce academic stress.
Liz Warner, Co-Founder of the School Culture and Climate Initiative (SCCI), also discusses the work that SCCI does within schools to increase opportunities, such as those experienced by Anjana and Anya, to develop student leadership capabilities which, in turn, can have an overall positive impact on school culture and climate.
Liz Warner LinkedIn
School Culture and Climate Initiative
HOSA - Future Health Professionals
Music - Aylex
In this episode, we speak with Maria Nielsen - former school principal, current education consultant, and author of the new Solution Tree book - 15 Day Challenge: Simplify and Energize Your PLC at Work.
We discuss how to write 15 day curriculum units, efficaciously and efficiently, through a seven step PLC process that is strategically aligned to academic goals, anticipates student needs, assesses impact on student growth and achievement and is collaborative in nature.
Learn how such a process not only increased teacher ownership and creativity in design of the learning plan at Maria's school but helped clarify and differentiate for educators at her school the content that students had to learn (boulders) from learning that was superfluous (butterflies).
If you like this episode, also check out our recent conversations with Chad Dumas on using data within PLC work as well as our chat with Marine Freiburn and Sandy Brunet on developing learning objectives.
Maria Nielsen Solution Tree Bio
Maria Nielsen LinkedIn
The 15 Day Challenge Book
Learning by Design
Music - Aylex
In an earlier episode, we spoke with Alice Vigors about her work in creating cross-content thinking classrooms. In this episiode, we speak with Professor Peter Liljedahl, of Simon Fraser University, about how to create thinking classrooms in Mathematics - primarily K-6 - where students are doing the heavy cognitive lift as opposed to teachers.
Join me and my guest co-host Norman Eng, student teaching supervisor at Brooklyn College/CUNY, as we chat with Peter Liljedahl about:
- The 14 practices associated with a thinking Math classroom (macro/micro moves);
- Exemplars of what a thinking Math classroom looks like;
- How a thinking classroom differs from traditional models of teaching (i.e. the I Do, We Do, You Do Model);
- How teacher practice shifts from answering questions to asking them and having students make meaning of learning before direct instruction;
- How to prepare student teachers in this alternative methodology
Peter Liljedahl - Building Thinking Classrooms Website
Building Thinking Classrooms Book
Norman Eng - 10X Your Teaching Website
Teaching College Book
Music - Aylex
Earlier this week, we chatted with Ryan Steuer and Andrew Larson about the mechanics of embedding PBL within our teaching practice.
This week, we speak with Carolyn Brown, Acting VP of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and Rose Reiken, middle school teacher at High Tech High in San Diego, about their PBL unit collaboration.
Learn more in this episode about how Carolyn and Rose partnered on a project that benefited both the museum, in improving the youth engagement factor of their public tours, and Rose's students in their understanding of Japanese American internment during WW2 and human rights issues. Also learn about the intergenerational bonds formed between the docents at the museum and Rose's 7th grade students.
Carolyn Brown LinkedIn Page
Rose Reiken LinkedIn Page
High Tech High - Middle MESA
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Music - Aylex
In this episode, join me and my guests Ryan Steuer and Andrew Larson - authors of PBL Simplified and Life's a Project - as we discuss the ins/outs of teaching through a project based learning model.
In this episode, we discuss the what and why of PBL - student engagement in learning - as well as practical ways to implement PBL in the classroom. We chat about how to align PBL learning to standards, the typical length of a PBL unit, sample units, the role of community parthers and student public presentation of their work, as well as ways to assess both individual students and small groups through PBL. Both guests also talk about the impact of PBL in renewing their passion for teaching.
Andrew Larson LinkedIn Page
Life's a Project Book
Ryan Steuer LinkedIn Page
PBL Simplified Book
Magnify Learning
Music by Aylex
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