Have a Life Teaching

There are times when school systems need to rely on external support to improve instruction and student outcomes.

While external consultants often bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in what works in schools, it can be difficult to gain the trust of educators in that many educators are suspicious when it comes to coaches/consultants having a school's best interests at heart.

In this episode, my guest Gene Tavernetti - Founder/CEO of TESS Consulting Group - and I discuss how coaches/consultants can improve instruction through quick turnaround coaching cycles while also treating educators with professional respect.

We also discuss strategies for coaching administrators and instructional coaches and how this is similar and disimilar to coaching teachers one-on-one.

Music - Aylex

Gene Tavernetti LinkedIn Page

Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles Book

TESS Consulting Group

Increasingly, financial literacy standards are being adopted across school districts and states. Join me and my guest Tevan Asaturi, Founder and CEO of Money Mastery University, as we discuss the need to teach financial literacy across K-16 - particularly in middle school, high school, and beyond - both as a necessary life skill and as a way to engage students through relevant real-world learning. Tevan also shares his tips on becoming a self-funded entrepreneur as well as strategies for attracting angel investors to one's product and/or service.

Music - Aylex

Tevan Asaturi LinkedIn Page

Asaturi Financial Consulting

Money Mastery University

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for listening to season one of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast.

In July 24, I'll be continuing to edit great content that I hope you will enjoy in August and beyond. The podcast will be back in August/September on a limited schedule - as I will be working overseas in September - and returning full force with season two content being published weekly in October onwards.

Best,

John Schembari

In this episoode of the Have a Life Teaching podcast, Adam Andre - museum participation facilitator at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool - and I discuss how and why we should not shy away from teaching students about historical slavery nor its ongoing impact on our world today.

We discuss:

- Liverpool's connection to the transatlantic slave trade and the impact of slavery on the city's growth

- How to center the voices of those victimized by slavery

- Focusing on resistance, for example preserving the culture of those enslaved, and the legacy of slavery within the study of slavery rather than oversaturating students with stories of slavery's barbarism particularly in the upper elementary grades

- Using primary source documentation and/or artifacts in the study of slavery particularly at the MS/HS level

- How the view of historical events can change over time and involving students in this conversation

- Drawing parallels between historical slavery and the way the world is structured today

- How we memorialize those involved in the slave trade

August 23rd is Slavery Remembrance Day! Check out what the museum has planned for August should you find yourself in Liverpool.

International Slavery Museum

Liverpool Museums

And other resources:

Enid Blyton Biography

Rann Miller ASCD Article

The Slave Ship: A Human History

Music - Aylex

In this episode, Anjana and Anya, two high school students from New Jersey, discuss their program 'Connected'aimed at promoting awareness of the mental health struggles that often accompany the academic pressures that high achieving secondary students sometimesfeel.

Anjana and Anya share their experiences and insights on creating this high school public awareness campaign and discuss how their work has inspired peer scholarsto prioritize their mental health wellbeing.

Anjana and Anya emphasize the importance of students developing time management skills and not overextendingthemselves academically and/or in other activities. They also highlight the potential for increasing the number of students supporting their campaign and connectingtheir organization/campaign with other schools and organizations to further their mission to reduce academic stress.

Liz Warner, Co-Founder of the School Culture and Climate Initiative (SCCI), also discusses the work that SCCI does within schools to increase opportunities, such as those experienced by Anjana and Anya, to develop student leadership capabilities which, in turn, can have an overall positive impact on school culture and climate.

Liz Warner LinkedIn

School Culture and Climate Initiative

HOSA - Future Health Professionals

Music - Aylex

In this episode, we speak with Maria Nielsen - former school principal, current education consultant, and author of the new Solution Tree book - 15 Day Challenge: Simplify and Energize Your PLC at Work.

We discuss how to write 15 day curriculum units, efficaciously and efficiently, through a seven step PLC process that is strategically aligned to academic goals, anticipates student needs, assesses impact on student growth and achievement and is collaborative in nature.

Learn how such a process not only increased teacher ownership and creativity in design of the learning plan at Maria's school but helped clarify and differentiate for educators at her school the content that students had to learn (boulders) from learning that was superfluous (butterflies).

If you like this episode, also check out our recent conversations with Chad Dumas on using data within PLC work as well as our chat with Marine Freiburn and Sandy Brunet on developing learning objectives.

Maria Nielsen Solution Tree Bio

Maria Nielsen LinkedIn

The 15 Day Challenge Book

Learning by Design

Music - Aylex

In an earlier episode, we spoke with Alice Vigors about her work in creating cross-content thinking classrooms. In this episiode, we speak with Professor Peter Liljedahl, of Simon Fraser University, about how to create thinking classrooms in Mathematics - primarily K-6 - where students are doing the heavy cognitive lift as opposed to teachers.

Join me and my guest co-host Norman Eng, student teaching supervisor at Brooklyn College/CUNY, as we chat with Peter Liljedahl about:

- The 14 practices associated with a thinking Math classroom (macro/micro moves);

- Exemplars of what a thinking Math classroom looks like;

- How a thinking classroom differs from traditional models of teaching (i.e. the I Do, We Do, You Do Model);

- How teacher practice shifts from answering questions to asking them and having students make meaning of learning before direct instruction;

- How to prepare student teachers in this alternative methodology

Peter Liljedahl - Building Thinking Classrooms Website

Building Thinking Classrooms Book

Norman Eng - 10X Your Teaching Website

Teaching College Book

Music - Aylex

Earlier this week, we chatted with Ryan Steuer and Andrew Larson about the mechanics of embedding PBL within our teaching practice.

This week, we speak with Carolyn Brown, Acting VP of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and Rose Reiken, middle school teacher at High Tech High in San Diego, about their PBL unit collaboration.

Learn more in this episode about how Carolyn and Rose partnered on a project that benefited both the museum, in improving the youth engagement factor of their public tours, and Rose's students in their understanding of Japanese American internment during WW2 and human rights issues. Also learn about the intergenerational bonds formed between the docents at the museum and Rose's 7th grade students.

Carolyn Brown LinkedIn Page

Rose Reiken LinkedIn Page

High Tech High - Middle MESA

Japanese American Museum of San Jose

Music - Aylex

In this episode, join me and my guests Ryan Steuer and Andrew Larson - authors of PBL Simplified and Life's a Project - as we discuss the ins/outs of teaching through a project based learning model.

In this episode, we discuss the what and why of PBL - student engagement in learning - as well as practical ways to implement PBL in the classroom. We chat about how to align PBL learning to standards, the typical length of a PBL unit, sample units, the role of community parthers and student public presentation of their work, as well as ways to assess both individual students and small groups through PBL. Both guests also talk about the impact of PBL in renewing their passion for teaching.

Andrew Larson LinkedIn Page

Life's a Project Book

Ryan Steuer LinkedIn Page

PBL Simplified Book

Magnify Learning

Music by Aylex

New teachers coming into the profession often struggle inknowing what to do/learn first. Indeed, as my next guests say, for most new teachers, the goal is simply surviving day to day and to make it into their second yearof teaching.  

Join me and my guests, Tom Hierck and Alex Kajitani – book authors and Solution Tree education consultants – as we discuss their new book – You’rea Teacher Now! What’s Next?  We discussthe importance of forming relationships with both students and colleagues, as the key to survival, and knowing our students’ DNA – Dreams, Needs, andAbilities. We also discuss how administrators should know the DNA of theirstaff.   

Developing positive relationships with studentslets students know that teachers care about them as individuals and helps teachers to design lessons that speak to student interests and aptitudes.

Tom Hierck LinkedIn

Alex Kajitani LinkedIn

You're a Teacher Now Book

Tom Hierck Website

Alex Kajitani Website

Music - Aylex