Busted Pencils

This Saturday, we’re talking democracy. Well, we always do that. But this week we’re talking with Brian Gonzalez, retired Executive Director of Intel’s Government Partnerships and Initiatives division about how inclusive AI instruction can be a strong force for democratization. AI brings a fundamental shift to the digital divide. No longer is the primary concern access to the tools, it’s about having the training to know what to do with them. Brian helps us see how AI can nurture the next great generation of creators and social builders. Intel’s Digital Readiness Programs seek to close gaps by bringing experts together for better outcomes. More than that, Brian argues that it’ll help us strengthen our democracies.

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!

We are one month into the winter sports season, and things are heating up! Chad Holmes joins us to bust some pencils, with a check in on hockey, wrestling, and basketball. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are looking to reconnect with their communities. High school sports are a cost-friendly and accessible way to do just that! If you want to keep up on Central Wisconsin high school sports, follow WXCO’s coverage here!

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!

Dr. Jill Underly, Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a repeat Pencil Buster, joins Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny to talk about our future. Specifically, Dr. Underly wants to talk about reinvesting in our futures. How? By restoring public school funding and choosing to invest in meeting the needs of our future educators, business leaders, doctors, civil servants, citizens. After decades of divestment from public education, Wisconsin’s schools need a drastic infusion of cash to address basic needs and begin building a brighter future. Dr. Underly proposes investing over $4 BILLION in the next biennium into our schools. It’s drastic, and it’s absolutely needed to relieve the crushing burden of endless referenda and lost opportunities to help children.

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!

As we continue the work of naming this moment, we wonder: what would Matt Damon’s mom say about all this? Thankfully, we have her number, so we asked! Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, one of our favorite long-time Pencil Busters, returns to share her thoughts on what to do now. We live in a different moment than we’ve ever experienced. As we prepare for the second Trump presidency, educated educators need to focus on educating. With historic wealth inequality, an explosion of disinformation on social media, and self-declared Christian Nationalists overtaking our public education systems, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us! Nancy shares how she’s been leaning on the memory of her friend, Howard (Howie) Zinn; we’ve been doing the same!

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!

Because we simply didn’t have enough Tims around here, Dr. Tim invited another one. Class, welcome our newest Pencil Buster, Tim Novikoff! Tim N taught high school before becoming an entrepreneur and selling his company to Google, developing AI at Google, and eventually leaving to be an entrepreneur once more. This time, he wanted to create a product that benefitted his own family as well as countless others. Which led him to develop Super Teacher, an interactive AI tutor for elementary learners. Super Teacher is not a replacement for a human teacher, and certainly has its limits. And it’s an incredible tool to support elementary students with healthy screen time! This is one product that even has Jess thinking about hopping on the AI train!

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!

As we continue to name this moment, conversing with Dr. Kevin Kumashiro, Bill Ayers, and Dr. Jonathan Gyurko, we turn to expert Pencil Buster, President of AFT, Randi Weingarten. We last spoke with Randi on July 19th of this year (episode available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts). So much has changed since then. When we last spoke, President Biden was still in the race for re-election, with increasingly grim prospects. Now, we sit in the aftermath of the dreaded result, Trump re-elected to the office of President of the United States. So what comes next? What do we do to meet the needs of all of us, not just a few of us, here and now? Randi helps us find what we need to fight for a better future- watch this lecture from Randi to further rally your spirit.

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 another week of pencil busting, let’s get started! Tim’s current home state of Ohio is now the 14th state to institute a bigoted bathroom bill that prevents trans people from using the correct restroom for their identity. Nationally, the Supreme Court appears ready to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care for transgender minors. Class, these are some big pencils, we’ve got a lot to bust.

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!

Returning Pencil Buster and champion of the best quality public education for all ages Dr. Jonathan Gyurko joins Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny to talk about meeting the needs of the moment. We first brought Jonathan into our Pencil Busting family six months ago to talk about his book Publicization (find the June 5th episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts). Jonathan challenges us, in Publicization and in his most recent article, to rethink how we define “public education” to move past what we call schools to what the schools do. He also challenges us to think about how we can leverage this moment- with a self-proclaimed master deal maker returning to the White House- to make deals for public education.

In addition to writing and advocating for quality public education, Jonathan is the president and a co-founder of ACUE, the Association for College and University Educators. The worst kept secret of higher ed is that by and large, the instructors never learned how to teach! Jonathan and his team formed ACUE to remedy that issue. And as a Pencil Buster, you can be part of the solution! Use promo code BUSTEDPENCILS20 for 20% off their fully leaded modules and courses to help you freshen and deepen your teaching!

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, we made it to another Friday- thank goodness! Welcome to our revamped Friday podcast, Free Throws and Face-Offs, where we’ll follow the winter ESSENTIAL curricular activities in Wisconsin high schools. Civic Media host and sports broadcaster Chad Holmes joins us this week to preview the hockey, basketball, and wrestling seasons. We’ve got so much to look forward to, and we’re so thankful to have you all along with us!

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!

Returning Pencil Buster and longtime social justice educator-activist Bill Ayers joins Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny to continue the work of naming this strange moment. Building on our conversations with Dr. Kevin Kumashiro and with David Pepper, Bill helps us reckon with where we are. It’s a moment of contradiction, as American voters chose both their public schools and Donald Trump, who vows to unmake public education as we know it. This moment is one of duality as our population becomes ever-increasingly diverse while efforts to celebrate that diversity come under attack. So where do we go from here? Bill helps us chart the path forward.

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!