Education Conversations

Education Conversations episodes:

• 04.30.2019

  Episode 18: Choosing a School for Your Child with Lindsey Nelson

  Our newest episode features a conversation with Lindsey Nelson, Literacy Coordinator at the Tennessee State Department of Education. Lindsey has served as a MNPS classroom teacher, instructional coach, and the Regional Manager of Literacy for a charter school network....

  
• 01.29.2019

  Episode 17: Educators' Cooperative Roundtable

  In this episode you will hear a roundtable discussion with teachers in the Educators' Cooperative. Greg O'Loughlin, who you'll remember from Episode 16, is back for this episode, along with teachers Alecia Ford, Jennifer Weinblatt, and Marc Anthony Peek. ...

  
• 09.19.2018

  Episode 16: The Educators' Cooperative with Greg O'Loughlin

  Today's guest, Greg O'Loughlin, is the founder of the Educators' Cooperative. In our chat you will hear about Greg's path to creating the Cooperative and the myriad ways the Cooperative is benefitting teachers and students in the Nashville area.  A...

  
• 08.09.2018

  Episode 15: Protecting Our Children from Sexual Abuse with Cary Rayson

  Today's guest, Cary Rayson, is the community engagement coordinator at Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee. Cary facilitates Stewards of Children training, which is a program to help adults learn how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. I...

  
• 07.11.2018

  Episode 14: What Middle Schoolers Wish We Knew

  This summer I had the pleasure of teaching a podcasting camp at the Westwood Baptist Church. This year’s camp theme is Wise, creative, innovative thinkers, and Minister Elois Freeman, the last guest on the podcast, thought that podcasting could be...

  
• 06.11.2018

  Episode 13: Lessons from North Nashville with Elois Freeman

  This week's guest is North Nashville educator, Elois Freeman. Elois is direct, authentic, and carries a wisdom that can only be acquired through a long and meaningful life. Elois grew up going to segregated schools in North Nashville and went...

  
• 05.16.2018

  EC012: Making the Unequal Metropolis with Dr. Ansley T. Erickson

  This week's guest is Dr. Ansley T. Erickson, author of Making the Unequal Metropolis: School Desegregation and its Limits. Ansley is an Associate Professor of History and Education at Teachers College Columbia University, and I think her book should...

  
• 04.20.2018

  EC011: Trauma-Informed Schools with Mary Crnobori

    Dr. Mary Crnobori is the trauma-informed coordinator for Metro Nashville Public Schools and she is doing incredibly important work to raise awareness about trauma-informed practices and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Common ACEs are violence in the home, divorce, a...

  
• 04.05.2018

  EC010: Teaching Civil Discourse with Amanda Smithfield

  What do you say when a student asks, "Did you vote for Donald Trump?" In this episode, we discuss how to respond to difficult questions, how to get students to engage in civil discourse in these turbulent political times, and...

  
• 03.20.2018

  EC009: Corporal Punishment in TN Schools with Alanna Autler

  Today’s episode is about corporal punishment in Tennessee schools. Did you know that 109 districts in TN still allow corporal punishment? Did you know that students with disabilities are hit at higher rates than students without disabilities? Alanna Autler is...

  
• 03.06.2018

  EC008: Advocating for Teachers and Students with School Board Candidate TC Weber

  If you are involved in public education in Nashville, you are probably familiar with TC Weber's blog, Dad Gone Wild. TC publishes new posts every Monday and Friday (and sometimes in between) that explore the ins and outs of what's...

  
• 02.20.2018

  EC007: Community Schools with Alison McArthur and Hank Clay

  In this episode you will hear Alison McArthur and Hank Clay discuss the community schools model and how their organizations are transforming schools here in Nashville.  Alison is the Coordinator for Community Achieves and Hank is the CEO of Communities in...

  
• 02.08.2018

  EC006: Culturally Responsive Teaching with Leticia Skae-Jackson

  Leticia Skae-Jackson is a Literacy Teacher Development Specialist at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School here in Nashville. I reached out to Letitia after reading her Edweek blog post, 4 Steps to Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher. Leticia's enthusiasm...

  
• 01.23.2018

  EC005: MNPS School Options with Chris Weber

  I had a nice chat with Chris Weber, the Director of Student Assignment Services for Metro Nashville Public Schools. Chris has been with the district for a long time so he was able to provide some interesting insights into the...

  
• 01.03.2018

  EC004: Fighting for the Parents Who Need to Be Heard with Vesia Wilson-Hawkins

  In this episode you will hear parts of my conversation with Vesia Wilson-Hawkins, a local education blogger who used to work for Metro Nashville Public Schools. Vesia’s blog is titled, “Volume and Light,” and tagline is, “speaking out for better...

  
• 12.06.2017

  EC003: Jarred Amato Part 2

  In part 2 of my interview with Jarred Amato, we discuss supporting teachers, the real struggles facing students, teaching the “classics", and how we can all connect and get involved to support our schools. © 2017 L. Dunnavant. All Rights...

  
• 11.16.2017

  EC002: Project LIT and the Power of Giving Students Time to Read Diverse Books

  This episode is part 1 in a series of two episodes with Jarred Amato, a high school English teacher and recently named Penguin/Random House Teacher of the Year. We discuss the power of giving students time to read diverse books...

  
• 11.13.2017

  EC001: What is a "Good" School?

  The story of education in Nashville is long and complicated. Once ideas and stereotypes are perpetuated for a certain amount of time we begin to mistake them for facts. What is a good school? Who decides? Who benefits from this label? Who...