Little Things First

Curtis Linton, who has been called a cultural archaeologist, has been studying classrooms for years.  His work has taken him into the world of courageous conversations about race and equity.  Here, Mr. Curtis tells some very personal stories about growing up Mormon and trans-racial adoption and how these issues have helped shape his perspectives on equity.  Curtis shares some ideas for engaging difference in the classroom by normalizing it, tapping into emotions as a way to impact change, making deliberate choices about the texts we use and the ways we use those texts, and working on culture and practice in tandem.  

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Dr. Amy Parks is a elementary education scholar at Michigan State University where she has studied mathematics teaching, especially in the primary grades.  Dr. Parks most recently wrote an article for The Mathematics Teacher in which she calls for more joy in mathematics teaching for young children.  In this episode, she discusses the difference between joy and fun, how to cultivate joy in math class and beyond, and how to find personal joy in math and the work of teaching.  Dr. Parks has a novel coming out this January, a young adult fiction novel aptly titled The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss.  It can be pre-ordered on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Weirdness-Almost-Kiss-Noelle-Parks-ebook/dp/B0858Y4GVC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+quantum+physics+Amy+parks&qid=1589759803&sr=8-1-fkmr1.

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This is part 4 of 4 of a series focused specifically on the educational effects of the coronavirus.  

Mike Flynn is a professor at Mount Holyoke and a leader in math education, having written articles and books on the topic.  He regrets not being a better math teacher earlier and urges educators to learn the differences between concrete, representational, and abstract mathematical thinking.  He believes that too many educators expect students to move too quickly through these models of thinking to abstraction, leaving young people with incomplete math comprehension.  How can we improve the math comprehension of students?  How can we build fluency that emphasizes knowing from memory rather than memorizing?  

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mathleadership.org

This is part 3 of a four-part series on how to support educators in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.  

Mike Anderson is an educational consultant who has written extensively about student choice, communicating with students, and teacher well-being.  He synthesizes all of these topics, including how to handle homework, in this podcast.  He discusses how we can approach these issues during and after a pandemic.  Mr. Anderson. stresses the importance of building a self-care routine into the routines and habits of schooling.  He also recommends integrating social and emotional learning with core content areas for largest impact.

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leadinggreatlearning.com

CASEL.org

This is episode 2 of a four-part series that Tracy and Jim host to address the coronavirus pandemic and the current state of education.

Adam Mihlebergel is an instructional, leader out of talked with ASCD recently about whole0-child leadership in a crisis and how he and his school district are handling these unique times.  He discusses what whole-child leadership is and how we can all be a little more whole-child centered and now and in the future.  He also discusses the little things that make a difference, including well thought-out communication.  According to Mr. Mihelbergel, we will need to rely on one another's expertise in figuring out the new, better normal that hopefully emerges as a result of our collective and individual, unique experiences.  

To watch this episode, visit: https://youtu.be/qdda1o_RUsU

www.littlethings1st.com

This starts a series of 4 episodes that Tracy and Jim host to address the coronavirus pandemic and the current state of education.  

Dr. Monica Burns has written a book TASKS BEFORE APPS through ASCD and also has a podcast called the Easy Ed Tech Podcast. She recently wrote a blog for ASCD's Inservice addressing ways to avoid overwhelming educators during this time.  Dr. Burns offers some of those suggestions about how to navigate this unique situation that we all find ourselves in and how to take our learning into the future for better long-term educational experiences with technology.  

watch the interview at: https://youtu.be/Vwkeb6kAwnk

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Kim Marshall is a former teacher and principal who has spent the last several years compiling research articles into THE MARSHALL MEMO.  His memo features summaries of articles so they are accessible to leaders and educators who don't have time to digest the full articles.  Mr. Marshall has also spent a great deal of his professional life studying teacher evaluation, its effectiveness, and ways to strengthen its impact on student learning.  He talks about the little things we can do to make teacher evaluation more impactful!

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Zaretta Hammond's most famous work is her book Culturally-Responsive Teaching and The Brain.  What does culturally-responsive teaching have to do with neuroscience?  Everything, it turns out!  Ms. Hammond explains the difference between multicultural education, social justice teaching, culturally-relevant pedagogy, and culturally-responsive teaching.  She stresses that cultural responsiveness is not about a program or a toolkit.  Instead, it is about the ways that we engage with students, building upon schema, to help them carry the cognitive load.  

Some highlights:

So what we've done is we've actually created this magical thinking around the tools and the methodology of culturally responsive practice versus understanding the science of learning behind it.

...the way inequity was designed was to underdevelop cognitive capacity of Black and Brown and Indigenous children

You're becoming the personal trainer of their cognitive development. But remember the first step of that trainer-personal trainer relationship with a new client is building rapport.

Errors are information, not confirmation of low intelligence. This is something teachers need to be saying and doing. 

...culturally responsive teaching is an integrated set of processes, structures, and interactions that over time build the students' capacity. We can't keep talking about it like it's things that you can just reach in a bag and actually get and ...pull out.  

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Matthew Kay is a teacher, an author, and a columnist whose book entitled NOT LIGHT, BUT FIRE: HOW TO LEAD MEANINGFUL RACE CONVERSATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM addresses the how behind race conversations in classrooms and schools.  Mr. Kay doesn't want to convince you that race conversations are necessary, if you aren't already a believer.  Instead, he wants to help those who see the importance of race conversations and aren't sure how to approach them.  Of course, there is no easy silver bullet.  But Mr. Kay offers us some little ways that we can start to make progress toward better conversations around race.  Last, Mr. Kay wrote an article about administrators who collect lesson plans and how this practice can be improved so that it isn't met with a collective "eye-roll" and ends up better meeting student needs.  

For more information or for transcripts of this interview, visit www.littlethings1st.com.