Journeys to Belonging

Dene Gainey is a 15-year educator and lifelong learner from Orlando, FL with a bachelor of Science in Elementary Education K-6 and a Masters of Education in Instructional Technology. He is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in organizational leadership.   Dene  has a passion for the C.L.I.M.B.E., celebrating diversity, building community, project-based and problem-based learning as well as the student-driven classroom. In April, 2018, he published his first book titled, Journey to the 'Y' in You. He collaborated in the Edusnap 2016 “Best Practices in Education publication, his chapter called “The Student-Driven Classroom." He also is a contributing author for the EduSnap 2017 edition with a chapter titled “Celebrating Diversity & Building Community." He collaborated on Edumatch Snapshot in Education 2018, with his chapter titled “Ever Changing Nature and Needs."

Twitter: @dene_gainey

Journey to the "Y" in You; https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Y-You-Dene-Gainey/dp/0692063331/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=dene+gainey&qid=1594455769&s=books&sr=1-2

Diversity: It's Not Just About You, It's About Us: Together We're Better:  https://www.amazon.com/Diversity-Just-About-Together-Better/dp/B08BW8L25L/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=dene+gainey&qid=1594455648&sr=8-1

How to be a "good ancestor" is something I had never really thought about. I knew I wanted to be sure to be remembered as someone who worked hard to create a community that prioritized compassion, understanding, empathy, and love. I also wanted to be sure I instilled these values in my children. But I never thought of working on it like author and teacher, Layla F. Saad has encouraged us all to do. So this episode is about my journey to become a good ancestor.

Resources mentioned in the podcast and other resources I have found helpful are:

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (Emmanuel Acho): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3DoYiL7X_N1Ta1o4HE9Mlg

Small Bites with Hedreich Nichols: https://www.youtube.com/user/Hedreich

De-colonized: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTMh5eiOXkXw7Z-A4Qu-_g?app=desktop

Layla F. Saad: http://laylafsaad.com 

Ibram X. Kendi: https://www.ibramxkendi.com and https://www.ibramxkendi.com/books-1

Langston Hughes poems: https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes

Countee Cullen: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/countee-cullen

#goodancestor on IG

My guest today is Tamara Letter. She is a passionate educator with 23 years of experience as an elementary teacher, differentiation specialist, technology integrator, and instructional coach. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is licensed as a PK-12 administrator. She received the 2018 R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence and is the author of A Passion for Kindness: Making the World a Better Place to Lead, Love, and Learn.

You can find Tamara on:

Twitter: @TamaraLetter

Instagram: @TamaraLetter

FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/passionforkindness

"Our classes must always be a place of refuge. No matter what is happening in that child's life, they need to feel safe with us."-Carol Salva

Carol Salva is an educational consultant with a background in ESL, literacy, Dual Language and Special Education.  She is a former elementary educator and most recently taught Newcomer English Language Development in both high school and middle school. Carol the co-author of Boosting Achievement, Reaching Students with Interrupted or Minimal Education.   Most of her online training and consulting centers around this work.  Carol has her own podcast and blog where she shares research based techniques for supporting English learners.

Twitter: @MsSalvaC

Blog and podcast: https://salvac.edublogs.org

Scott Nunes is a dynamic tech-infused instructor turned Edtech Coach, with a focus on PBL, Student Choice, and amplifying student and teacher voices. Scott earned Central California CUE's Emerging Teacher of the Year Award in 2020. Scott has two podcasts: The TNT Edtech podcast with Matthew Ketchum and Education Today.  Discover Scott’s  dynamic engagements via Twitter at: @MrNunesTeach

Nejoud Al-Yagout (aka Nej) is a writer based in Kuwait. She is my first podcast guest from Kuwait and shares her story about her journey to find inner peace and spirituality on her way to feeling a sense of belonging.  During our conversation, Nej suggests it's important to look within ourselves by "shining a flashlight on the darkness of your psyche." You can find out more on her website https://www.nejoudalyagout.com

She is also the founder of Inter-Heart. A way for all of us to come together. 

INTER-HEART: 

The Rumi passage I mention during this episode is a quote from Rumi in Elif Shafak's book, The Forty Rules of Love. 

"Rule #32-

Submission does not mean being weak or passive. It leads to neither fatalism or capitulation. Just the opposite. True power resides in submission. A power that comes from within. Those who submit to the divine essence of life will live in unperturbed tranquility and peace even when the whole wide world goes through turbulence after turbulence."

Jennifer Casa-Todd is wife, mom, and a Teacher-Librarian,  a former Literacy Consultant for the York Catholic District School Board, and the author of the book, Social LEADia published by DBC Inc Books. Jennifer is also a graduate of the MEd program at Ontario Tech University with a specialization in social media and education. Her parenting book Raising Digital Leaders and her children’s book, Aubrey Bright in Stories that Connect us will be published in the Summer of 2020. Jennifer is a Google Certified teacher and Innovator, an Ontario Google Educator group leader, an executive member of the International Society Technology and Education (ISTE) Librarian PLN, a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator and the co-founder of the Global Education Student Chat. She is an international keynote speaker who is passionate about showing teachers and students how they can use technology and social media to make the world a better place.

Website: https://jcasatodd.com

Twitter: @JCasaTodd

#GlobalEdSsChat

Today's guest is Dana Shuhaiber. Dana was born and raised in Kuwait and received her high school and bachelor degrees from academic institutions in Kuwait. She is married with two children and her passion while growing up was always to be a teacher. As her aspirations grew, she set her goal towards becoming assistant principal and, ultimately, principal which she has partially accomplished thus far after being hired as Elementary Assistant Principal at her alma mater, American International School-Kuwait.  She takes the responsibility of shaping future generations very seriously in mind, body, and spirit.  Dana believes that belonging in her work as AP means bridging the gap between the local and international staff hires.  

Experience in teaching: 10 years 

Experience as AP: 2017-present

Twitter: @Dana_Shuhaibar

Blog: http://dlightfully.com

Sarah Thomas, PhD is a Regional Technology Coordinator in a large district in Maryland, and the founder of EduMatch, a project that empowers educators to make global connections across common areas of interest.  She has spoken and presented internationally, participated in the Technical Working Group to refresh the 2017 ISTE Standards for Educators, and is a recipient of the 2017 ISTE Making IT Happen award.  She is also a national advisor for the Future Ready Instructional Coaches Strand, and an Affiliate Professor at Loyola University in Maryland. Sarah is a co-author of the ISTE Digital equity series, Closing the Gap.

http://www.edumatch.org

Previous episodes of Edumatch TweetandTalk: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK7zgq401Pe3znXbn93IEtQ/videos

Social media: @sarahdateechur

Email: [email protected]

Barbara Bray is a creative learning strategist who has been on a journey to transform teaching and learning. Her story goes down multiple paths that helped her find what she is passionate about and been fighting for. Through her work as a teacher, adjunct professor, instructional designer, speaker, coach, and writer, Barbara has been exploring ways she can make a difference in children’s lives.

Starting in 1997, Barbara wrote a professional development column for CUE for 17 years, created her platform, My eCoach, and posted often on her website Rethinking Learning. In 2012, she co-founded Personalize Learning, LLC, and co-authored Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize Learning with Kathleen McClaskey. Barbara realized that she was focusing on how to change teaching but the rationale for teachers to want to change was missing.

In 2017, Barbara started her Rethinking Learning podcast and the #rethink_learning Twitter chat with her co-host, Shelly Vohra. It was the stories all along that impacted her. She wasn’t living her life on purpose until she told her story and listened to the stories from inspirational thought leaders. She has been an advocate for educators for years through coaching and providing resources. Now she takes the stories deeper. This is why she wrote Define Your WHY: to help anyone who is searching to discover or rediscover their WHY so they can live and learn on purpose. #DefineYourWhy

Contact Information

Email: [email protected]

Website/Blog: Rethinking Learning

Podcast: Rethinking Learning Podcast

Founder/Owner, My eCoach 

Co-author: Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize Learning

New Book "Define Your Why" #DefineYourWhy @EduMatchPublishing

Twitter: @bbray27  #rethink_learning

LinkedIn: barbarabray

Google+: +Barbara Bray

Facebook: barbara.bray

Pinterest: bbray27

Skype: barbarabray48

Voxer: barbarabray48

Instagram: bbray27

TeachSDGs Ambassador Cohort 3

Wakelet webinar: https://youtu.be/j8N9iOAB-8g