To be a learning coach, a teacher-leader, an educator coach and an expert on kids with special needs, some on the autistic spectrum, you have to be a deeply empathetic person…right down to your core. Danielle Mizuta has empathy in spades. Empathy is in her DNA. I have known this for a long, long time. She and I got our graduate degrees about the same time, in the late 90s. Over the years she has been a tremendous supporter of my @MLTSinHawaii “movement,” at film screenings, event design sessions and professional development workshops. So it is with great pleasure that I present Danielle here, today as my second season’s 6th podcast guest. Over these 90 minutes we ranged through teacher capacity building, the best of service-learning, a chapter she wrote for a recently published book from the Ahimsa Center (see her photo) and the promises we should be making to our public, private and charter school kids. And much more. If you enjoy this episode, please give us a rating and review at your favorite podcast platform. Here is more info on Danielle. Danielle Mizuta, MEd, taught special education in the Hawaii State Department of Education for 13 years. She has taught and co-taught in fully self-contained, resource, and inclusion classrooms in elementary and high school settings. Danielle earned two Masters in Education degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Educational Foundations in 2004, and in Special Education and Teaching in 2007. She served as a State Level, Lead Mentor for the Hawaii DOE mentoring beginning teachers new to the profession in their first to third years. She also supported complex area Induction Coordinators with their mentors, mentor forums, and beginning teacher PLCs (Professional Learning Communities). Danielle also trained master teachers in mentoring skills to support new teachers at their schools in instructional mentoring, coaching and observation and analyzing student work. Additionally, Danielle completed a term as a Hawaii Hope Street Fellow and Regional Teacher Fellow Coach with Hope Street Hawaii. Currently she serves as an Instructor for Leeward Community College and a Learning Support Specialist at Punahou School, supporting faculty, staff, and families of students with learning differences. As always, our original theme music and episode post-production is by Daniel Gilad at DG Sound Creations. To learn more about Daniel’s work, explore his Facebook page. Take care, wear your masks, maintain social distancing and be kind to one another! 

The post 47. She’s Been Published!, with Danielle Mizuta appeared first on @MLTSinHawaii .