Have a Life Teaching

Urban schools are vitially important for ensuring the strength of our overall economy as well as the growth of democracy says Michael Casserly, former executive director and current senior consultant of the Council of Great City Schools, on this week's podcast.

On this episode, Casserly discusses his new book - The Enduring Promise of America's Great City Schools (Forward by Arne Duncan) - and how we can ensure that the urban schools we manage today are high quality learning centers for all.

We are joined on this episode by Tracey Quarles, principal of elementary school P.S. 150 in Brooklyn, New York, who also shares how she took her school off of receivership and turned it into a learning space where all students thrive.

Both guests offer wonderful tips to urban school leaders (really, any school leader) on how to develop the processes and systems that ensure student academic and social growth.

Michael Casserly LinkedIn Profile

The Enduring Promise of America's Great City Schools Book

Tracey Quarles LinkedIn Profile

PS 150 Website

I Am Principal Today Book

Music - Aylex

In this episode, we are joined by Leslie Hayes, Vice-President of Education at the New York Historical Society.

Hayes discusses how even the simplest item - a Dunkin Doughnuts Coffee Cup for example - can unleash deep and engaging student conversation on what everyday items tell us about the cultures we currently live in as well as about past times.

Hayes also tells us about the work of her department at the museum in training educators and teaching students and also walks listeners through the steps that educators should take students through when conducting object based inquiry.

She also discusses tips on how teachers can start collecting/using their own artifacts when teaching Social Studies. Hint: This does not need to be expensive or complicated.

Leslie Hayes LinkedIn Page

New York Historical Society - Objects Tell Stories

Music - Aylex

For too long, schools have been designed using either a top down or bottom up approach; top down where administration makes all system decisions or bottom up where leadership is responsive to parent needs and wishes.

However, in each model, important stakeholders are missing from the decision making table - students, families, leadership, teachers, and other community partners.

What if, instead, says Wood - Chief Learning Officer at Transcend Education, we implemented a community informed school design model which incorporates the best of the top down model (order) and one that also prioritizes the social emotional needs of the students/families that schools serve?

I hope you will listen in to this episode to learn from Wood how Transcend Education helps school communities to design community schools.

Wood also offers listeners ideas on how communities might design community schools on their own from her new book - Extraordinary Learning for All: How Communities Design Schools Where Everone Thrives.

Jenee Henry Wood LinkedIn Page

Transcend Education

Extraordinary Learning for All Book

Music - Aylex

Did you know that two out of every three students will experience a traumatic event before they reach the age of 16?

Trying to be clearheaded during a crisis is difficult. As such, schools must therefore be prepared to address the unexpected before the unexpected happens. But how to prepare for all of the unknowns that can befall our students and their families?

Join me and my next guests, Geri Parscale and Darcy Kraus, as we discuss their new book - Navigating the Unexpected. In this episode, we discuss, in particular, how to move beyond providing immediate family support (The Caserole Effect) to a more systematic ongoing approach to meeting the long term needs - behavioral, social, and academic - of these students and families; from onset to conclusion of the event.

Geri Parscale LinkedIn Page

Darcy Kraus LinkedIn Page

Navigating the Unexpected Book

Music - Aylex

Did you know that November is Children's Grief Awareness Month?

Or, that 1/12 U.S. children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18?

Grief is a normal part of life, and schools must find ways to support students experiencing it. Join my next guest - Lindsay Schambach , CEO of the NJ based Imagine Grief Support Center - and I as we discuss ways through which teachers and others within school communities can help students process their grief over deaths of people involved in their lives as well as those experiencing grief related to other traumatic events.

Lindsay Schambach LinkedIn Page

Imagine Center Website

Music - Aylex

Dr. Paola Sztaijn is Dean of Education at North Carolina State University and co-author of the book - Activating Math Talk: 11 Purposeful Techniques for Your Elementary Students.

In this episode, Paola and I discuss the four types of Math discourse as well as how/when to plan for each type so that math conversations between our students are meaningful and that students feel empowered and welcome to participate in such discussions. We also discuss the power of good questioning and the systemic conditions that are necessary for Math discourse to take root across our elementary schools.

This conversation is particularly timely given the shifts in the next generation of Common Core Math Standards. I hope you will listen in!

Paola Sztaijn LinkedIn Page

NC State College of Education Website

Activating Math Talk - Book

Music - Aylex

Given the contentious nature of this election season and the accompanying polarization, humanities teachers could be forgiven for not wanting to teach the election process.

Yet, if we onlt teach the past, including hard pasts like slavery, then we never prepare students for the hard present which can help them to engage effectively as involved citizens in the civic sphere.

So says my guest in this episode, Jeremy Kaplan, author of several Chalkbeat articles on teaching students political processes and assistant principal of Supervision for Social Studies and Physical Education at the High School for Health Professions and Human Services in New York City.

Kaplan also was also recently featured in a New York Times article.

Jeremy Kaplan LinkedIn page

Talking to Students About the Trump Assassination Attempt Article (Chalkbeat)

What Teenagers Are Learning About the 2024 Election Article (New York Times)

Music by Aylex

In this episode, I am joined by Erik Francis, author of the new book Inquiring Minds Want to Learn. In our conversation, we discuss not only how to use questioning as a form of assessment but, perhaps more importantly, as a tool for maximizing student interest and engagement in learning.

We also discuss what is wrong in how we are using Depth of Knowledge Questioning tools as well as a more research based and sound approach to using the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix than how most of us currently use this resource.

Hint - A question's level of rigor should match what denotes grade level proficiency on a particular standard.

Music - Aylex

Erik Francis LinkedIn Page

Inquiring Minds Want to Learn Book

Maverik Education

Assessment of student learning is critical if we are to get a true sense of what students know and can do before, during, and after teaching.

Join me and my next guest, Nicole Dimich, as we discuss her book - Design in Five. We discuss five steps for creating more effective assessments that are both more engaging to students and involve student self reflection.

We also discuss "better" homework practices than we often see as well as the effect of standardized and high stakes assessment on the teaching and learning process.

Music - Aylex

Nicole Dimich LinkedIn Page

Design in Five Book

Nicole Dimich - Solution Tree

Join me and my guest Gretchen Bridgers and I as we discuss her latest book - Always a Lesson. In it, and in our conversation, Gretchen discusses the four building blocks of teaching that must be considered, in order, for teaching to be successful. These blocks, or'bricks", include lesson design, class management/systems, student engagement, and, ultimately, student ownership.

This episode is not just for new educators, mind you. As Gretchen says in our conversation, it is important for every teacher to reset each year as the needs of our students fluctuate from year to year. Consider listening to this episode with Gretchen to help you refocus your teaching energies on what matters.

Music - Aylex

Gretchen Bridgers LinkedIn Page

Always a Lesson Book

Always a Lesson Website and Podcast