Busted Pencils

Humanities majors have been in decline for well over a decade. In an age when the two words “liberal” and “arts” are separately hot-button, putting the two together doesn’t sell well to a broad audience. But you know what does? “Marketability” “job-readiness” and “communication skills”. And that’s why schools are beginning to rebrand their humanities majors as preparation for students to enter business with the skills employers desperately want. Jon Marcus, senior higher-education reporter at the Hechinger Report- and brand new Pencil Buster- joins us today to discuss this issue, as he recently published here. It’s about time we start sharing the incredible benefits of a humanities education! We can start by reframing how we discuss the skills students gain through the education from “soft” to “value enhancing.”

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

We apologize for being tardy to Homeroom today, Class! While we don’t have a parent note, we do have trending education news to share with you! Let’s focus in, because policy changes are coming fast, loud, and confusing. First, more labor unions representing educators join the AFT in their lawsuit against the federal Department of Education. The lawsuit follows the federal department’s release of a Dear Colleague letter on February 14th outlining threats to funding for schools engaged in “DEI” efforts. Through the uncertainty, we agreed that we should focus on the effects, not the bluster. And now we see effects, as the department cancels hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for teacher apprenticeship programs. In response, eight state Attorneys General, including Wisconsin’s Josh Kaul, filed suit. Because this isn’t how we help students.

So, there’s a lot here. We urge you to focus past the dogwhistle of “DEI.” This is a targeted attack on poor communities and on public schools. We’ll be back on Wednesday and Friday with more hopeful podcasts!

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Happy Saturday, Pencil Busters! Today, we catch up with the incredible work the Wisconsin Public Education Network is doing, led by Executive Director Heather DuBois Bourenane. With 86 of Wisconsin’s 421 public school districts already going to referenda in the spring elections, WPEN’s been busy. They held a Day of Action at the state capitol on February 28th, amplifying the voices of educators, and advocating for all of us. Watch this powerful video, where you can see the jaw-dropping unrolling of a scroll with the names of each district forced into referendum in the past two years. For the past 16 year, public schools in Wisconsin faced consecutive budget cuts. Our schools, our students, and our communities deserve SO much better. The Wisconsin Public Education Network does the invaluable work of advocating for our schools year-round, day in and out. Get involved and be a part!

If advocating for public schools is important to you- and we hope it is- make sure to vote in the election for Superintendent of Public Instruction. The general election is April 1st, with incumbent public school “champion-in-chief” Dr. Jill Underly facing a pro-voucher challenger. Check your registration and all items on your ballot, including vital school board races, at myvote.wi.gov.

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of our episodes, and for information on partnering with us! For information on all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Pencil Busters, can you believe we’re in the playoffs for winter sports already? Today, we catch up with Chad Holmes, host of the WXCO morning show and Civic Media sports broadcaster. He’s been extremely busy covering playoffs for wrestling, hockey, and basketball. With the end of the season upon us, he shares updates, surprises, and lessons learned. As we discuss here at BustED Pencils, these school sports are not extra-curricular. They are essential curricula for students to learn and practice life skills and navigate challenging moments. The playoffs bring their own set of unique circumstances for students to learn, grow, and develop. Follow Wisconsin’s high school sports schedules and events through WIAA.

This will be our final Wisconsin high school winter sports episode on Fridays. Stay tuned for next week’s Friday pod with more of Dr. Johnny’s WSU hockey support staff. And then we’ll be altering the focus of this weekly segment. Join us for more educated educators, talking education then!

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Welcome to class, Pencil Busters! Today, we’re discussing “Dear Colleague” letters, following up on our Homeroom session from Monday. Last week, the Office of Civil Rights within the federal Department of Education sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter to all schools subject to the department. So today, Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny break down what these letters are and why they matter. Ultimately, at least according to Johnny, these letters are antithetical to a healthy democracy- especially with contents like this latest one. Will this letter from the federal Dept. of Ed dictate curriculum? No. But will it influence curriculum and educational outcomes? Most certainly. Tune in to learn more!

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Class, let’s get into the news for this week. President Trump’s administration made clear that they do not value diversity, equity, or inclusion. Though those words “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” separately rarely prompt any vitriol, together they form a rallying cry of- ironically- discrimination from some. Diversity is a basic truth of life, none of us is exactly the same. Inclusion should be a uniting force, where each individual is valued. And equity, equity is fairness incarnate. Equity is an ideal of each person having a fair shot at opportunity and success. Yet the second Trump administration paints these terms as sinister.

And now in a Dear Colleague letter, this administration uses the very Department of Education they profess a desire to dismantle, to dictate curriculum. In response, AFT- led by President Randi Weingarten– sued the very same federal Education Department alleging that the dictates are not only harmful to students, but also illegal. Join us to discuss.

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

From smart boards to grading systems and email, teachers rely on ed tech- education technology- to optimize their workloads. As we discussed with Chris Hull on Wednesday, all of those disparate systems can be overwhelming. That’s why he created Otus, a one-platform solution to all the noise, giving teachers more of their most valuable resource: time.

Today, we look back on some of the history of ed tech, from chalkboards to comprehensive teaching portals. With decades of teaching experience, our educated educators have seen an evolution of ed tech. Like AI and data, ed tech is neither good nor bad. Its value lies in its use and applicability. How well does the technology align education with supporting each individual leaner? What aspect of teacher labor does the tech lighten? Who benefits from the technology? And how will AI change it all over again? Tune in and find out!

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Class, this is an extra special session. On many prior Fridays, we’ve talked with coaches, players, and sports directors and editors. Today, we hear from two young women who support a sport team. They are essential contributors to an essential part of an educational experience. Natalia Nayes and Mallory Brock, award-winning social media managers for the Washington State University men’s hockey team join us as brand new Pencil Busters! Natalia is a current Sports Manager major at WSU and former hockey player herself. She reflects on how she’s grown in confidence and creativity through supporting the men’s hockey team. Mallory, a current Public Relations major, shares how these essential activities helped her develop creativity and adaptability. Both women say that the connections and flexible creativity they formed will help them throughout their careers.

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Data, as we’ve discussed frequently on BustED Pencils, is neither good nor evil. Whether we like it or not, actors both beneficent and hostile collect and analyze and use our data constantly. From healthcare records to social media networks, our personal data circulates each day. In schools, students’ data- test scores, attendance and class participation, preferences for name and pronouns, and interests- can help educators to individualize their teaching to each child. But only when teachers can access all of the information reliably and efficiently. Many schools struggle with disparately stored data- testing results on one software, attendance on another, academic records on a third, and notes from one teacher to another often never stored anywhere at all.

So what can teachers do? Well, they can try Otus, revolutionary EdTech combining all of this information so that teachers can spend their time on what matters most: teaching. Today, Otus co-founder and President, Chris Hull, joins us as a new Pencil Buster. A former middle school education, Chris saw a pressing need to consolidate data to free teacher time. And that really is an educated educator’s most valuable resource.

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!

Pencil Busters, let’s get into this new week! In this time of absolutely overwhelming and frankly scary news regarding the funding of our schools and democracy itself, let’s focus on what we do best. We’re educated educators, talking education. So that’s what we have for you today, a Homeroom lesson on ways to learn. Coming from Arizona, two new schools set to open in which students will learn for two hours a day with an AI tutor. What about the rest of the day? Well, they’ll have time to learn about what interests and engages them most! Is this the answer to the factory model of education? Perhaps not entirely. But it’s certainly part of it!

BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! To learn more about the show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows. Join the conversation by calling or texting us at 608-557-8577 to leave a message!