Busted Pencils

Wouldn’t it be neat to be able to choose your college based on the quality of the institution’s teaching? Wait- isn’t that what we do? As it turns out, no. Because we don’t measure that. Jonathan Zimmerman, author of The Amateur Hour and Professor of Research of History at Penn University , is now a qualified Pencil Buster! Jon wrote in August’s edition of the Washington Monthly on Why Professors Can’t Teach. And why can’t they? Well, because no one every taught them how!

So, what’s the answer? How do we teach professors how to teach? Let’s start with ACUE. Busted Pencils proudly announces a partnership with ACUE, the Association for College and University Educators. We invite you all to join in this partnership! Use code BUSTEDPENCILS20 for 20% off any and all of ACUE’s fully leaded learning opportunities!

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!

Thank goodness, it’s Busted Pencils First Downs and Friday Night Lights!

Civic Media WXCO Operations Manager and host Chad Holmes joins Tim and Johnny to talk about some changes in high school football. Many schools in Wisconsin are moving to an 8-player game from the traditional 11-player model. The move brings real promise in terms of making the game accessible to schools that can’t fill a roster for 11-player. Plus, it may just be a safer version of the game. But that doesn’t mean everyone is convinced yet. Hear what our educated educators think of the matter!

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!

Allen Levie knows what it means to Thrive in a Public School- he literally wrote the book on it. And now he also knows how to bust pencils! Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny talk with Allen about how our public schools teach so much more than dates and numbers. Our public schools teach us how to engage in democracy. And our public schools teach us that in this life, we are truly, all in this together.

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 Homeroom, Class! Let’s get this week started with some trending news. First up: a private Catholic school seeks public funds. Then, a few takeaways from the growing push for “school choice”- otherwise known as public school funds theft. Tim and Producer Jess share their strong responses to these stories. We can’t help wondering what ramifications may unfold from a clearly exclusionary school seeking public funds.

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!

Marc Watkins, first time Pencil Buster and longtime education advocate, joins the show. Marc is the Assistant Director of Academic Innovation at the University of Mississippi, where he also directs the AI Institute for Teachers. AI is advancing at a mind-boggling, human society-altering pace. Many of us, our esteemed hosts included, feel like we’re barely keeping up with the constant innovation and advancement of AI technology. Marc assures us that’s a normal feeling. So what IS happening with AI development? How might AI technology reshape how we perceive and consider reality, knowledge, and even life? 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!

Welcome to another week of Pencil Busting! Let’s get started with some trending news. First, it turns out DEI initiatives bring great value to educational institutions even beyond increasing their diversity and equity. Well, duh. We all do better when we all do better. Still, always nice to get some recognition and reinforcement of this! Then, the way we rank schools leaves out the most important factor! Previewing our upcoming interview with the author of this piece, Jonathan Zimmerman, we dig into what really matters for education.

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!

Chad Schultz, Assistant Director at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA), joins Dr. Johnny for this week’s First Downs and Friday Night Lights. Refs take a lot of flak. And they are simply indispensable to a well-run athletic event. It’s not easy to be an athletic judge- as Johnny can well attest. And there’s a critical shortage of refs now. So how do these officials learn to, well, be official? And what is the WIAA doing to address the shortage? 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!

So many of us value truth and honesty. Yet we struggle to identity consistently what that truth is and how to live by it. Returning Pencil Buster Dr. Sarah Stitzlein joins Dr. Tim to guide us through it. Sarah is a world-class scholar with a focus on teaching honesty- she quite literally wrote the book on it. As Sarah explores in her book, Teaching Honesty in a Populist Era: Emphasizing Truth in the Education of Citizens, truth isn’t always simple. It’s not always easy or straightforward. Frequently, truth is messy and complicated. Rather than shirk from that complexity, let’s find ways to embrace it and teach the benefits of honest living.

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 608-557-8557 to leave a message!

In schools we know to expect drills. We drill students and faculty on how to respond to threats of natural disaster and fire. We also drill our school citizenry on how to respond to active shooters. But should we? Even as President Biden issues executive orders to improve responses to active shooters– including by going through training and drills, not all teachers believe the drills help. Let’s compare the potential benefits and risks of these drills, eh?

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 608-557-8557 to leave a message!

What is a coach? Are they a teacher? A friend? A mentor and motivator? A coach is all that and more! Jimmie Kaska joins Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny- all current or former coaches of various sports- to share some of their most impactful coaching experiences.

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. Leave us a comment or question at 608-557-8557!