How We Teach This

Our guest this week is James Moffett Jr., Principal of Faris Elementary in USD 308 Hutchinson. He tells the story of how he began to realize behavior in children often is not a choice, but the result of feelings caused by their environments.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

College textbooks and course materials costs have increased over 800% in the last 3 decades, far outpacing inflation, housing, and medical costs, to become the most inflated consumer product. High-cost texts create significant barriers to learning and student success. Open Educational Resources (OER) are "teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others” (Hewlett Foundation). OER and related practices are an approach to overcoming cost and reuse barriers to the benefit of students and instructors. 

In this episode, Art Gutierrez and Dr. Terri Summey from Emporia State University's  Libraries + Archives. They discuss using an OER in their UL100: Research Skills, Information and Technology course. They also discuss other resources such as favorite textbooks used for information literacy (Upson / Badke), using EBSCOs Faculty Select, and tips for adding leadership into the classroom.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

James Moffett Jr. explains why it is important to see education holistically instead of concentrating only on academics. He tells the story of how he began to realize behavior in children often is not a choice, but the result of feelings caused by their environments on the next episode of How We Teach This.

Dr. Cory Gibson, the Superintendent of Valley Center School District shares about the strategies and areas of emphasis in his school district that have been successful in creating an atmosphere of caring for students.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

Tracie Chauvin, Coordinator for Social-Emotional Learning for Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, shares the value of understanding how trauma impacts students and by understanding social-emotional learning we can be better educators.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

Our next episode features Dr. Cory Gibson, Superintendent of USD 262 Valley Center, as we explore Social Emotional Learning in K-12 settings. 

Dr. Jennifer Moss, assistant professor of educational psychology at Emporia State University shares the importance of understanding motivation and self-determination in teaching and learning. She explains how spending a little time planning for meeting the "nutriment" needs of our students greatly impacts their ability to be successful in our classroom. Is there more than sticker rewards to motivate students to do work they consider boring? Listen and learn.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

Jordan Billings, teacher of 7th grade Social Studies including Kansas history and geography at Indian Trail Middle School in Olathe Public Schools USD 233, is our guest on this episode. 

Billings added gamification to his classroom with ClassCraft then adapted several different themes over the years. Currently, he incorporates a Marvel theme layer to his classes and finds that students are eager to come to class. They have actually asked for more "boss challenges AKA tests." Billings shares the benefits he's found with gamification and offers advice for those who might like to start small and use this tool to increase student engagement in their classroom.

If you enjoy this episode, watch for a second episode with Jordan Billings in the future. He will share more strategies of how to integrate gamification for those that are interested, but still a little unsure of how to get started.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

Shari Rooks, principal at Cottonwood Elementary in the USD 385 Andover Public Schools has created a family with the staff, students and their families that makes those who are a part of the building feel like they belong over her 20 years at the school. 

She shares how her staff has made amazing adaptations during the pandemic to allow for outstanding learning as well as the importance of considering the student first. 

Bringing dogs into the school and classroom was a natural part of the process when considering what kids really need to be successful. She shares the benefits and a few cautions for those that might be considering starting a therapy dog program in their school.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.

Erica Huggard, biology instructor at Emporia High School and 2020 Kansas Master Teacher, shares how she uses modeling instruction as a format for teaching and learning with her students in a way that makes active learning visible in the classroom. 

Huggard describes how she uses this teaching strategy to benefit her students who need to memorize many biology concepts to retain the knowledge, not just perform on a test.

You can find more information about How We Teach This on our website, www.emporia.edu/HWTT plus watch videos of the presenters, access resources they mention, and find links to other websites related to the episode.

If you'd like to leave us a comment about this podcast episode, you can do that here.