When you hear about using data in your teaching practice, you may think about test scores, but Shane Safir and Dr. Jamila Dugan are expanding our idea about data and how we can use it to support our students and our teaching.

Safir and Dugan are the co-authors of Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation and will be speaking at this summer’s Teacher Leadership Institute.

In this episode of 3Ps in a Pod, they talk with co-hosts Paula, Marlys, and Kathleen about what street-level data is and how it is different than “satellite data” or “map data.” Safir explains how people can collect street data through deep listening and how that deep listening can bring systemic change to schools and districts. Dugan explores how that deep listening and street data can bring voice to the marginalized and the vulnerability required to get to that transformative level.

Safir and Dugan also reflect on how difficult teaching has been the past few years and share encouragement for those working to continue on and deepen their practice.

Advance your teacher leadership and your understanding of street data at the 17th Annual Teacher Leadership Institute: New Possibilities Through Connections and Experiences from June 13-15 in Tucson. Learn more and register at azk12.org/TLI2022.

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Welcome a new school principal and a new co-host of 3Ps in a Pod to today’s episode! New co-host Paula joins Marlys to talk with first-year principal Biju Padmanabhan about his transition from the classroom to leading a school community and what he’s learned through the past year.

Padmanabhan is the principal of Gililland Middle School in Tempe Elementary School District and has worked to uplift the others around him through his leadership style. He shares with Paula and Marlys about what it means to center shared leadership and how he approaches leadership from a learner’s mindset.

He also talks about the experience in his very first days of teaching that caused him to consider becoming a school leader. Padmanabhan reflects on the power of human relationships and community to strengthen a school and the great things going on at Gililland Middle School that “satellite data” doesn’t always show.

Interested in what stepping into teacher leadership may look like for you? Join the Arizona K12 Center at the 17th Annual Teacher Leadership Institute this June. Learn more and register at azk12.org/TLI2022.

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Tony Vincent is a familiar face at Arizona K12 Center’s technology events and will again be “the cruise director” at this summer’s Camp Plug and Play. 

In this episode, Vincent shares the history of Camp Plug and Play and gives an overview of the returning strands “campers” can explore in depth this summer – Get Google Certified, Making HyperDocs, and Making Media – and introduces this year’s two new strands, Gamify Learning and New and Notable Tech Destinations.

He also talks about what to do when something goes wrong with technology, even when you’re a “tech person” and how to use Wordle-like activities, like Flippity, in the classroom.

Learn more about Camp Plug and Play 17.0: The Creative Technology Camp for Teachers at azk12.org/CPP. Spots are limited, so register soon!

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Trevor MacKenzie is back on 3Ps on a Pod to talk with hosts Kathleen and Marlys about inquiry-based learning and what that truly looks like in the classroom.

MacKenzie is a teacher, author, and speaker focused on the power of inquiry in learning. He will also be leading this summer’s 2nd Annual ATA Beginning Teacher Institute.

MacKenzie talks with Kathleen and Marlys about what inquiry-based learning is and how it looks different than classes that aren’t inquiry-based. He speaks to the values that are a part of inquiry, including building a culture of relationships based in “psychological safety and vulnerability and openness.” He also shares how inquiry is like the trunk of a tree with branches that include project-based learning, problem-based learning, and some other frameworks and describes the sketchnote ‘The Tree of Inquiry,’ which demonstrates those relationships.

While some teachers may be intimidated to move into  inquiry-based learning, MacKenzie explains that they may be thinking of ‘free inquiry,” which is the “deep end” of the inquiry pool. He references the sketchnote ‘Types of Student Inquiry’ that shows the other levels of inquiry-based learning students and teachers can explore.

This summer, MacKenzie will guide new teachers in how to integrate more inquiry into their teaching. If you’re a teacher who will be in your first three years of teaching this fall, join MacKenzie and other new teachers  June 22 through 24 for the 2nd Annual ATA Beginning Teacher Institute. Google’s former Education Evangelist Jaime Casap and 2021 National Teacher of the Year Juliana Urtubey will also be leading sessions. Learn more and register at azk12.org/BTI22.

Find more of Trevor MacKenzie’s resources at trevormackenzie.com. Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Inspired by Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s book The Power of Moments, Dr. Mike Flynn has focused his work on how to create meaningful experiences for learners. In this episode of 3Ps in a Pod, he talks with hosts Donnie and Danielle about his exploration into making memorable moments in the math class and how he’ll help others explore that this summer through the Arizona K12 Center.

Flynn is the Director of Mathematics Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and will be leading the Arizona K12 Center’s Arizona GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Summer Math Institute on powerful moments in math class.

It’s essential for students to feel seen and celebrated in their learning but that grew harder in some ways during the pandemic, Flynn explains. He speaks to why those and other moments of recognition are so important to student learning and why we need to infuse more of those moments into our teaching now.

Flynn also talks about “missed moments” and the need for self-forgiveness.

Learn more about and register for the Arizona GEAR UP Summer Math Institute June 16-18 in Tucson at azk12.org/gearup. Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Note: This episode of 3Ps in a Pod was recorded before the February 21, 2022, vote by the Arizona Senate on the Aggregate Expenditure Limit. As education policy is continually in flux, especially during the legislative session, check out the resources listed below or a local news source to be the most up-to-date on education legislation and policy.

More than 230 bills related to K-12 education were introduced into the Arizona Legislature this session and, as of early February, 88 were still active, according to Chris Kotterman, Director of Governmental Relations for the Arizona School Boards Association. 

In today’s episode, hosts Donnie and Marlys talk with Kotterman about Arizona legislation and news. They begin their conversation with Kotterman explaining the Aggregate Expenditure Limit and the impact the spending limit would have on many K-12 schools across the state. Kotterman then reviews a few education-related bills that are receiving a lot of attention:

• HB 2112, a bill that speaks to what can and can not be referenced in the classroom, 
• SB 1211, a bill that has teachers post all of their learning materials and activities online ahead of the school year,
• SB 1657, a bill that expands the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program

Kotterman also shares an update on Proposition 208.

To stay up-to-date on education-related legislation, Kotterman suggests checking out the Arizona School Boards Association’s advocacy page and signing up for email updates at asbagr.substack.com.

To learn more about the Arizona K12 Center, visit azk12.org.

For more than 20 years, Julie Kasper, NBCT, has been teaching and supporting refugee students and families. In today’s episode, she talks with hosts Marlys and Donnie about the role Arizona schools and teachers can take in supporting refugee and other displaced students in our communities.

Kasper is now a Refugee Educator Academy Program Manager for Childhood Education International but started as a classroom teacher. She shares about her own experiences as a teacher working with refugee students and what she has learned along the way. Kasper also talks about the number and variety of refugee and displaced people coming to the U.S. and to Arizona in particular before sharing best practices and reminders for teachers with refugee students.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

• Afghan Association of Arizona
• Refugee Educator Academy at Childhood Education International, a part of The Center for Learning in Practice
• Facing History and Ourselves
• Learning for Justice resources

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

Sean Ross from the Arizona Department of Education joins co-hosts Danielle and Kathleen to talk about the state’s new reading endorsement for grades K-5. Ross is Deputy Associate Superintendent of Academic Standards for the Arizona Department of Education and brings his deep passion for literacy and reading and supporting all of Arizona’s learners to today’s conversation.

Ross shares about the impact of a strong reading background in his own life before reviewing Arizona’s literacy data and explaining the role this new reading endorsement can have in supporting students in becoming lifelong readers.

Here are a few resources and webpages also referenced during today’s episode:

• Science of Reading, Arizona Department of Education
• Early Literacy Case Studies, Read On Arizona
• Move On When Reading, Arizona Department of Education

Learn more about the Arizona Department of Education’s K-8 Reading Endorsement on azed.gov.

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

We are kicking off the new year and our 11th season of 3Ps in a Pod by welcoming Arizona K12 Center Executive Director Dr. Kathy Wiebke, NBCT.

Kathy joins co-hosts Marlys and Kathleen to reflect on the highs and lows that made up 2021 and shares about what she is looking forward to in 2022. She mentions several accomplishments by the Arizona K12 Center in the past year, including expanding the Arizona New Teacher Support Program to 22 sites and introducing the Arizona Teacher Residency.

Kathy also talks about her vision for Arizona education and the Arizona 12 Center’s role in that work. Find out about the Beginning Teacher Institute and Teacher Leadership Institute mentioned in this episode and other upcoming events at azk12.org/events.

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.

If you haven’t heard already, the Arizona K12 Center is the home of the brand new Arizona Teacher Residency! This is a first-of-its-kind graduate program in Arizona, modeled after medical residencies, to help recruit, prepare, support, and retain K-12 teachers. The two-year program aims to prepare aspiring teachers with a rigorous graduate education, a yearlong classroom apprenticeship, and ongoing professional learning through the Arizona K12 Center.

In today’s episode of 3Ps in a Pod, hosts Marlys and Donnie talk with Dr. Victoria Theisen-Homer, the Arizona K12 Center’s Arizona Teacher Residency Director, about the program. Dr. Theisen-Homer shares about the opportunities the program holds for Arizona education, the reception since the program was announced, and how people can apply to be residents. She also talks about the breadth of support Arizona Teacher Residency participants will receive that will support them during the program and as they continue their teaching practice beyond the residency.

Learn more about the Arizona Teacher Residency at azk12.org/aztr and about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.