After three years of sharing microlearning moments, sparking innovation, and celebrating the incredible work happening across Hawthorn District 73, the D73 DRIVE podcast is coming to a close. We've loved encouraging risk-taking, storytelling, and growth—both for our staff and our students. Thank you for joining us on this journey to empower educators and inspire lifelong learning. Keep driving forward!

Welcome to season 3 of our podcast for bite-sized PD to encourage innovative learning practices in your classroom. Some of our topics may be tech-related. Some may be classroom practices. Some may be inspiring stories from teachers down the hall or across the road from you!

DESIGN - How can we integrate technology into the classroom or design innovative student experiences?

In this episode, we talk about some great STEAM projects that are perfect for helping your students blend their creativity with engineering concepts, all while helping them develop a growth mindset.

Read the article: "8 Hands-On STEAM Projects Your Students Will Enjoy"

EVERY ONE - How can we foster practices that are equitable and inclusive?

In this episode we talk about how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is essential for fostering equitable and inclusive practices in the classroom.

Cult of Pedagogy: "If Equity is a Priority, UDL is a Must" by Katie Novak

Learner Variability Navigator

VICTORY - Who is doing something unique at Hawthorn?

In this episode we review our most recent Aeries training and some of the great tools that were shared with teachers — AI, AR, Apple Classroom, and the Apple Education Forum.

INNOVATE - How can we try something new – either new apps, tools, or resources… or featuring the stories of other innovators?

In this episode we talk with two of our Hawthorn Aeries (Madison and Katie) about how they've been innovating in their classrooms and using the Apple Education Forum to level up the resources in their teacher tool belt!

RIGOR - How can we make connections to real-world issues and experiment with creative problem-solving?

In this episode we discuss Place-Based Education and how it connects learning to the local community and environment, fostering deeper understanding and engagement by using real-world experiences as the curriculum.

Welcome to season 3 of our podcast for bite-sized PD to encourage innovative learning practices in your classroom. Some of our topics may be tech-related. Some may be classroom practices. Some may be inspiring stories from teachers down the hall or across the road from you!

DESIGN - How can we integrate technology into the classroom or design innovative student experiences?

In this episode, we talk about Google Gemini. This AI tool was recently opened up for staff and provides additional resources for making your work more efficient by giving every teacher an AI personal assistant.

Read the article "The Benefits of Google Gemini for Teaching and Learning."

EVERY ONE - How can we foster practices that are equitable and inclusive?

In this episode we talk about how using theater and improv games can help improve engagement, community, and deep understanding of class content.

Edutopia: "How—and Why—to Use Improv in the Classroom"

VICTORY - Who is doing something unique at Hawthorn?

In this episode we review our most recent Aeries training and some of the great tools that were shared with teachers.

INNOVATE - How can we try something new – either new apps, tools, or resources… or featuring the stories of other innovators?

In this episode we discuss how generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and NotebookLM can assist in creating materials that help students grapple with non-fiction texts.

Edutopia article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-generative-ai-can-support-nonfiction-reading