This episode of Humble Badass Educators features two seventh grade students at Embark Education who work with the bicycle mechanics of Framework Cycles on a daily basis.  Jake Covert and Morgan Matter discuss how they as mechanics also work as educators to bring the components of the bicycle shop operations and bicycle mechanics to life for middle school students in the Denver area through projects and shop shifts.

We are joined by two Embark 7th grade students, Jay and Oliver, who came up with the idea to feature these mechanics.  They share the mic with me today in the interview and also share a bit of their experience at Embark Education.  It can be said that these two young men are humble badasses in their own right.

Hello all and thank you for tuning back in to Humble Badass Educators.  It’s been a minute since I’ve released and episode and can’t be more thrilled than to bring you this episode with Brian Hyosaka.  I’m currently teaching with Brian at Embark Education, a micro middle school in Denver that Brian will explain in detail during our discussion.

I am incredibly grateful for all that I have learned from Brian and am excited to share a small sliver of his amazingness with you all.

Thanks for tuning in.

Today's Humble Badass Educator is High School English / Language Arts teacher and Hamlet 2 enthusiast Lindsey Hewett.

Lindsey is an amazingly thoughtful and introspective teacher who strives to provide her students with experiences that are meaningful and relevant to students in today's world.  She shares some strategies of what she does to integrate controversial social topics in her classroom and shares lots of tips that she has recently learned in making an authentic co-teaching relationship work.

In this episode, Lindsey also shares about her journey in becoming a published author.  She talks about where she is in the process of her potential upcoming Middle Grades and shares about her hopes in seeing her book on the shelves of a Barnes and Noble someday soon.

It was a privilege to talk with Lindsey Hewett and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Also, note that the book referenced by Lindsey by Angie Thomas is "Concrete Rose" rather than "Rose in Concrete".

Today my guest is Nick Steinmetz, an Assistant Principal at Carmody Middle School in Lakewood, Colorado.  Nick has a wide variety of experiences in math instruction, education technology, Project-Based Learning, personalization, scheduling, social-emotional learning and much more.

In our conversation, Nick digs into a range of topics from deepening relationships to eliciting student discourse to personalization and project-based learning and even to scheduling. Nick discusses the often overlooked but extremely vital social aspect of learning and how that should be infused more in school.  We talk about the value of taking a storytelling approach as an organic way to learn from each other, the power of yes, and how taking a more curiosity-based approach to problem solving can support students in learning math.

As always, thanks for tuning in to this episode of Humble Badass Educators with Nick Steinmetz.

Today’s Humble Badass Educator is PBL and math aficionado Kyle Kirby.  Kyle has recently worked with 5280 High School in Denver, Colorado as their founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction.  Previously, Kyle taught math in a variety of schools, including the renowned High Tech High in San Diego, California.

He shares about his professional learning experiences from High Tech High and how he has brought modeling and experiential learning to other adults in his roles since moving back to Colorado.  He also shares about his approaches and philosophies in student-centered and discussion-based math instruction and what methodologies he finds most effective in both playing the game and changing the game.

Kyle brings tremendous passion and intentionality to his work in progressive education.  Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Humble Badass Educators with Kyle Kirby.

Today’s Humble Badass Educator is the phenomenal Evan Whitehead.  Evan is currently the director of special services for a PK–8 school district outside of Chicago where he  oversees a range of services including social emotional learning, community engagement, special education, ESL, MTSS and much more.  He also works as a professional development consultant and trainer for Dr. Ruby Payne’s Company aha! Process.  Previously, Evan has worked in a variety of roles in education including Special Education Teacher, Dean of Student Discipline, Latino Parent Outreach Coordinator, and District/School Improvement Specialist to name a few.

Evan digs into many of today’s issues in education in our conversation.  He discusses why social emotional learning and self-care is a guiding value that influences his approach to his work and how we are at a pivotal point in making a shift in our education system to truly build this in as a priority at the student, educator and family levels.  He breaks down how his 3 B’s - Balance, Boundaries and Breaks - support making self-care a simple way to build into daily habits.  Evan also discusses strategies for engaging families, how leadership at the school and district level can set the tone for social-emotional learning, and how we as educators can build the tools to have difficult conversations with students that are so necessary in navigating today’s divisive and complex world.

It was an absolute delight to talk with Evan Whitehead, one true Humble Badass in our world of education today.

Today’s guest is Marne Gulley, a Secondary Literacy Specialist for Denver Public Schools.  Previously, Marne served as a Peer Observer in DPS after working as a High School English teacher.

In our conversation, Marne talks about being a constant lead learner and approaching working with school and teacher leaders with a mirrored approach to what we want to see teachers do in  the classroom.  She discusses DPS’s innovative teacher leadership structure where veteran teachers take school-based leadership roles while still remaining in the classroom part-time.  She discusses many of the methodologies that she has employed to be an effective thought partner for the instructional leaders she has worked with in her roles, including learning the powerful Cognitive Coaching approach.  She digs into DPS’s comprehensiveness and wholistic teacher evaluation framework known as LEAP.  She also talks about DPS’s next steps in equity related to the “hows” of culturally responsive teaching, including exposure and practice to grade-level text and cultivating rich connections to personal lives.

Thanks as always for tuning in to today’s episode with humble badass educator Marne Gulley.

Today’s guest is Liz Peters.  Liz is a National Board Certified French teacher at Platteville High School in Platteville, Wisconsin.  She is also the International Club and Key Club advisor and serves as a mentor for other World Language teachers.

In our conversation, Liz shares how her school has kept on the cutting edge of diversity and equity work in a rural community and how she prioritizes engaging students with a range of culturally diverse voices.  She talks about her approach and inspiration in immersing students in French from day one and how and why she has created a French curriculum from scratch.  She also discusses the TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) approach to teaching language that she has recently embedded with her students.