180 Days Education

Katie Isaak Ginsberg is a parent and advocate for environmental literacy, which led her to found the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation(CELF), where she serves as the Executive Director and Chair Emeritus. She saw the need to educate students about the links between human health, poverty, consumption, conflict and the environment. After extensive research, she combined her background in design, management marketing, and business development to create a foundation that brings the best practices in sustainability education to K-12 educators and schools. Ms. Ginsberg speaks and provides seminars and conferences on sustainability and re-orienting education through place-based and project-based education, and, as part of her work, was a featured presenter at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.

Ms. Ginsberg shares her reasons for founding CELF in 2003, and how that work has influenced policy and curriculum in the schools and districts. She shares case studies and the importance of communities working together to really help focus on environmental sustainability. Her foundation's work with schools is designed to support teachers where they are, using their own curriculum and standards, but changing the lens to focus on how you can incorporate sustainability concepts into what is already being taught.

For 180 Days Podcast listeners CELF is offering a special 50% off registration fees discount for their annual Summer Institues(https://celfeducation.org/our-programs/annual-summer-institute/). Use code “180DAYS”(all caps!) at checkout.

To learn more and for full show notes with links to resources mentioned, please visit https://www.180days.education/podcast.

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Dr. Tabitha Dell’Angelo is a professor, storyteller, playwright, mother, and potential school board member. She holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a professor at The College of New Jersey, in addition to her work as an improvisational acting teacher at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. 

Tabitha shares her arts-based research approach as a way of communicating findings, through plays and comics. She launched the Urban Education Program at The College of New Jersey, which is focused on recognizing and responding to conditions that contribute to inequalities in schools. Through first-hand experience, she talks through teacher education and preparing pre-service teachers for the reality of teaching, particularly in high-needs urban districts. She shares her ideas on what areas of education need to be completely overhauled, and her journey to running for her local School Board. Tabitha’s experience of the political process—the stress of running for the first time, the vulnerability of going door-to-door to ask strangers(potential voters) for money, trying to be bipartisan in a very partisan time—offers us a behind the scenes look into processes that guide what teachers in a district’s classrooms can do.

To learn more about Tabitha and for full show notes with links to the resources mentioned in the episode, please visit 180days.education/podcast.

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Patrick Vennebush is the Chief Learning Officer for The Math Learning Center, where he oversees the areas of Educator Support, Educator Resources, and Development. Patrick shares his expertise in mathematics and developing a high-quality education curriculum. He talks about how professors and education experiences framed his outlook and trajectory for teaching - including his methods, his approach to learning and how teaching SHOULD be. This led him on the educational trajectory working for several educational companies that all have the same philosophy and approach to teaching. 

Patrick talks in-depth about what a ‘good curriculum’ is and why it’s so important for teachers to have a good curriculum that “provides the impotence for great lessons even if it can’t provide everything that the teacher needs”. He discusses the team effort behind creating educational resources that are consistent and aligned and compares these to open-education resources. He shares ‘the joy, the wonder, and the beauty of mathematics” that comes from working hands-on with learning.

To learn more and for full show notes with links to resources mentioned, please visit 180days.education.

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What are the advantages to digital content that is ‘evergreen’ and non-textbook specific? Who pays for this? Why is paid-for content more reliable and vetted compared to ‘free’ open-resource materials? What’s better - online, hybrid, or face-to-face? This and more in our jammed-packed episode with Dr. Stephen Sullivan, professor of anatomy and physiology at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Sullivan is also a digital author for McGraw-Hill Education. He shares his experiences as a professor and curriculum developer, around creating content for anatomy and physiology courses, and how this has evolved over the years.

He talks about the digital tools and resources that he has used and helped develop over a decade, and how his experiences teaching online for years have made it easy for him to transition and support students and other educators during this time of Covid and distance learning. He shares strategies and provides some great insight into the impact of Covid both on his own instruction, but particularly on the struggles and challenges facing community college students.

To learn more about Dr. Sullivan and for full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned in the episode, please visit 180days.education.

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Dr. Pamela Seda has been a math educator for over 30 years. She works as the K-12 Math Coordinator for Griffin/Spalding County Schools in Georgia. Dr. Seda is also the owner of Seda Educational Consulting.

Karen worked with Pam last summer on an Equity in Education Webinar, in partnership with Casio Education and TODOS Math for All, where Dr. Seda shared her “ICUCAREr” framework and talked about making mathematics a more equitable experience for all students to be successful, and thought it would be beneficial for you to have Dr. Seda join us and share more about her framework and her diverse teaching experiences that support equity in education.

The 7 parts of her I.C.U.C.A.R.E framework represent the seven principles for equity pedagogy:

• Include others as experts
• (be) Critically Conscious
• Understand your students well
• (use) Culturally relevant curricula
• Assess, Active and build on prior knowledge
• Release control
• Expect more

Dr. Seda explores each of the 7 principles in-depth with us and shares both examples and stories of how these principles promote the learning and teaching of mathematics from an equitable approach.

Some of the themes that emerged in our conversation were understanding your students, allowing students to be ‘experts’, and building an environment so that students are free to learn on their own and discover mathematics.

To learn more about Dr. Seda and for full show notes, including links to all the resources mentioned in the episode please visit 180days.education

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Olga G. Torres has been a bilingual elementary educator for over 40 years and a mathematics educator for over 25 years. She works as a Mathematics Education Consultant with the Marilyn Burns Education Associates/Math Solutions. Olga has been the recipient of many awards, including the 1995 Presidential Award of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education. She is a teacher leader for CEMAL (Center for Mathematics Education of Latino/as), where she works with Dr. Marta Civil at the University of Arizona.

Karen worked with Olga last summer on an Equity in Education Webinar, in partnership with Casio Education and TODOS Math for All, where Olga shared her “Rights of the Learner” framework and talked about rehumanizing the math classroom, so though it would be a wonderful experience to have Olga join us and to share more about her framework and her diverse teaching experiences that support equity in education.

For full show notes and to learn more please visit: 180days.education

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Karen Cowe shares stories and examples of a systems-thinking approach to learning in history, math, and other subjects, and invites us to look at how the subjects we are already teaching can be seen through a local and environmental framework. What are the benefits of this approach, in both social and natural systems? Karen highlights the forgotten interdependency these systems have on one another and where these frameworks are set and enacted.

Karen Cowe is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Ten Strands and the Project Director of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative. She has dedicated her experience and efforts to create and promote environmental literacy throughout California by building partnerships and strategies to provide access to high-quality education with an environmental component. She is an education-industry executive with over 30 years of experience in sales & fund development, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations.

For full show notes and to learn more about Karen Cowe and Ten Strands please visit: 180days.education

In this episode of 180 Days, Ken Shelton shares his expertise and experiences on creating culturally responsive learning experiences and really exploring prejudices and biases in the classroom.

Ken is an educator with over 20 years of experience, with a specialization in Educational Technology. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator as well as the ISTE Digital Equity PLN 2018 Excellence Award winner. Ken leads educational workshops that focus on a wide variety of topics, including Educational Technology, equity, inclusion, Multimedia Literacy, Cultural Relevance, Visual Storytelling and Instructional Design. 

Links to resources that were mentioned during the interview:

1. Ken’s website
2. Ken’s Twitter
3. The show 90210
4. Freakonomics (Steven Levitt) 
5. Whistling Vivaldi (Dr. Claude Steele)
6. The Dunning-Kruger Effect 

To learn more about 180 Days and please visit: 180days.education

Anne Marie has been an educator for 32 years (wow!!). She has taught at various elementary schools at the 5th and 6th-grade levels, not to mention a short stint as an Elementary Guidance Counselor. She shares with us her personal experiences with how teaching, learning, and ‘school’ in general have been impacted by the Covid19 pandemic.

Schools around the country have opened in various ways – remote, hybrid, face-to-face, asynchronous, synchronous – the list is long. Anne Marie shares the different ways her school has structured teaching/learning and the various challenges she, her students, and her colleagues have had to navigate together. 

Anne Marie mentions several tools that her school/district uses. Explore the links below to learn more:

1. Google Classroom
2. Google Forms
3. GoGuardian
4. NearPod
5. EdTube 
6. BrainPop
7. Kahoot

**UPDATE: Since this episode was recorded in December 2020, since then Anne Marie made the decision to retire early (effective January 2021) due to her concerns for her safety and health, the enormous amount of pressure, extra work, and the stress of having to go back to full face-to-face teaching despite a rise in Covid19. Thank you, Anne Marie for your years of teaching!!

In our first episode of our new season, we talk to Ismael Zamora, the Math and Science Department Chair for Bloom High School in Chicago, IL.  Ish has been an educator for over 20 years and in this episode talks about the challenges and successes of leading during this crazy time of Covid19 and remote teaching and learning.

Supporting teachers as they are struggling with moving from face-to-face teaching to online teaching is a huge issue facing many education leaders. Ish shares strategies to help teachers develop relationships with their students even when they cannot ‘see’ them virtually. He talks about coaching cycles and conversations with teachers to help them engage students, create better assessments, and new ways of thinking about content and helping teachers become more reflective.

There are several resources/tools mentioned throughout the podcast episode. The links to these are provided below.

Resources Mentioned:

ClassKick – tool to allow you to create collaborative work, see students work, and give feedback.

ClassPad.net – a free, dynamic math tool that provides all-in-one ability to demonstrate, create, see all math, and share activities with students.

Danielson Rubric – A framework for teaching (4 domains)

GoGuardian – tool to manage schools 1:1 technology.

NearPod – A tool to make your lessons interactive (media, assessments, lessons)

PearDeck – a google slides support that lets you transform your presentations into classroom conversations.

Rubric Suggestions for Standards Based Grading