Rethinking Learning Podcast

Kevin McLaughlin works as a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at Bishop Grosseteste University Lincoln. Before that, he taught in Primary Schools for twenty years and also worked as a Deputy Headteacher in England and Spain. Kevin is also a Google Certified Innovator, Google Certified Trainer, and Apple Distinguished Educator.

             

Kevin wrote about personal journeys and learning zones for my books so I decided to reach out to him to discuss the state of education. We actually did the recording in January 2018 so this is a little late to put up but still “brilliant” according to Kevin. I added some excerpts from the podcast and his posts below.

 

About you and always wanting to be an artist – being a musician

In my spare time, I play guitar and have performed in many pubs in the places I have lived. I am also a drummer and I have played in 4 bands over the years – Down to Victoria, EQ, The Wedding Band, and Lepanto Sessions. I started drumming when sitting in a pub one night, I was tapping along to ‘Double Trouble,’ a blues band. My mate asked if I could drum, I nodded yes even though I had never ever played on a drum kit before and the next thing I knew, I was in my first band, Down to Victoria.

 

Your journey as a teacher in Primary Schools for 20 years

I got into teaching quite by accident. I only ever wanted to paint and draw and had even got my own art studio in Derry. After another year ‘on the dole (unemployed) and making not much selling my paintings, I started voluntary work at my old primary school teaching kids art. I was supposed to stay 1 week and ended up there for 4 months, not just giving Art lessons but then ‘teaching’ other subjects. I graduated with a BA in Primary Education in 1996 and the rest is history.

I taught in an international school in Gran Canaria, Spain for 8 years. Almost every child was Spanish and they received a curriculum based on the National Curriculum in England. Apart from their daily Spanish class, they learned everything in English.

 

Personalised Learning and Personal Journeys (PJs)

I got into PJs by accident. I was very interested in how younger children learn by observing them so I took lots of notes. We used individual plans to keep them on track, and I decided to call them PJs.

Personalizing Learning is not something you can pick up and start in your own class tomorrow. You need to take into account most if not all of the following:

It takes a lot of thought and effort.

It takes time to build up a clear picture of every learner in your class and where they are in their own learning.

It takes courage to stand back as a teacher and let the learning happen

of its own accord.

Dr. Darryl Adams is the Rock & Roll, Hip Hop & Soul Superintendent, Thought Leader and a Technology Evangelist! His goal for education is to help make this a better world by inspiring everyone to participate in providing equity, equality, and opportunity for all by ensuring that we “Leave No Child Offline and No Teacher Behind.”

             

I’ve followed Dr. Adams on his journey as a superintendent and keynoter for some time. In this episode, we talk about his journey that led up to the release of “The Education Nation” album on Rock & Roll, Hip Hop, and Soul Musical Tribute to Leadership, Education, Equity and Democracy (L.E.A.D.) Below are a few excerpts from the podcast where we included pictures, videos, and a link to his website with the streaming version of his album.

 

A little background and surprise about Darryl first

I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but I’ve been in California now for 35+ years. I still have those roots in Memphis starting out in the music business in the 80s and fortunate enough to be in a band then that was pretty popular. We had an album out then and was on tour with Hall ‘n Oats. We were 6 African American guys from Tennessee in a Rock ‘n Roll Funk band who were on MTV. I thought you’d get a kick out of the picture of the album cover from 1984. 

Then our band broke up and I moved to California. This background of music is a big part of my story. My love for music took me into teaching music and then into leadership. Leadership and music both are an art and need to be created.

I started out as a music teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District for five years. I really wanted to go into leadership because I felt we needed to bring more love, trust, creativity, and innovation to leadership. In the 90s, leadership was still a top-down entity in administration, I really wanted to bring that openness, transparency, and trust so everyone is included in the process of educating all of our students.

 

Your journey as Superintendent at Coachella USD

After being an assistant principal and then a high school principal, I wanted to be a superintendent. Then I landed at Coachella which others told me was a tough place with so many on free and reduced lunch. That was exactly where I wanted to be. I was lucky to be there with a board that told me that the only way to go was up and that I was the only one that could take us there. I decided to reach out to everyone in the school community, board, union members, business partners and talk about how we can do better than what’s happening now. Then discuss together how we can make a difference, be open, transparent, and make sure everyone was involved so we were more successful.

 

TLC Philosophy: Trust, Love,

Joy Kirr, a middle school teacher, author, and speaker, was nominated for a Golden Apple award for excellence and teaching in Illinois. Joy has been a National Board Certified Teacher since 2007 and is the author of Shift This: How to Implement Gradual Changes for Massive Impact in Your Classroom.

             

I’ve been following Joy on Twitter for some time and have been so impressed how much she shares online, on YouTube, and on social media. After reading “Shift This,” I reached out to Joy to have a conversation with her. Below are summaries of what we talked about in the podcast along with some resources and links.

 

Your background

My teaching career has been a series of shifts—in mindsets, practice, and experience. My first seven years were as an itinerant teacher in the “wilds” of McHenry County, Illinois with students ranging from three to eighteen who were deaf or hard-of-hearing. They needed to learn to read so I went back to earn my master’s in reading. Then I spent the next seven years as the reading specialist at my current school, became the ELA (English Language Arts) department chair, and became National Board Certified.

About Joy https://youtu.be/kaFYe6zM1bg

Being a middle school teacher

In my fifteenth year, I transitioned into a seventh-grade ELA position in the inaugural year of the ELA “block” (reading and writing for 80 minutes). I was also going to be on a team consisting of two ELA teachers, one math, one P.E./Health, one science, one social studies, and one resource (special education) teacher with two teams per grade.

This was my first classroom so I had my plans and worksheet originals ready to fill up the four-drawer filing cabinet well before the first day of school. I also filled the shelves with books organized by the author’s last name. Halfway through the year, I started questioning all sorts of things about the room I’d so carefully planned and arranged. All I knew were worksheets, grading, and compliance. My own experiences in school were all I had to draw upon.

 

Gradual change

After a few years, I decided to give my students time to learn what they wanted to learn. I needed to give some ownership to the students because what I was doing seemed too rigid. As the “sage on the stage,” I was working harder than the kids because I had all the control. I was on Twitter and learned some ideas to help initiate the changes I desired for my class. I now know I could never go back to the way things used to be. Finding a system that works for my students and for me did not happen overnight. You wouldn’t recognize my classes now. I don’t decorate the room, student choice is ubiquitous,

Cate Tolnai is the Director of Member Engagement for CUE and is in her 15th year in k12 education. She taught middle school and worked as a district TOSA as well as district and county level administrator. She is dedicated to making the lives of teachers and administrators in California a little smoother, safer and engaging.

             

Cate Tolnai loves to talk digital badges, gamification,  personalized PD, web tools, and all things awesome. I’m so fortunate to have known Cate for some time through CUE and so lucky that we found time to have a conversation. Below are resources and a few excerpts from the podcast with Cate.

About Cate, her family, and background

I’ve been married for eight years to a great guy named Chris and have two kids, a five-year-old and two years old. We have a Chihuahua mix that is 22 pounds. We live in San Jose, CA. My son started kindergarten this year and I am so unprepared to be a kindergarten parent to figure out this homework stuff and all of it.

This is my 15th year in education teaching mostly English and History in middle school. In 2011, I was in a webinar about TCI (Teacher Curriculum Institute) on how to become a teacher. After that, I started my professional Twitter account in January 2011. The resources that came into my world through Twitter and the connections I made completely changed my approach to education and teaching. The next thing I knew is that I uncovered this passion for education technology. Through Boise State, I took their technology specialist certificate program and took two courses from Dr. Jackie Gerstein @jackiegerstein, and my world was changed. I realized this was it and what I want my world to be. I then pursued leadership positions and that’s when a TOSA (Teacher On Special Assignment) position became available. We moved to Sacramento, CA, and became a TOSA. After two years, that lead to my role in Santa Clara.

Technology Specialist

http://innovation.sccoe.org/

I then became a Technology Specialist for the Santa Clara County Office of Education where we called ourselves Super TOSAs and moved to San Jose. The team is amazing who have passion and dedication for the work they do with educators in the Silicon Valley.

[This is Barbara: Here’s a picture I took of a slide from the SCCOE team

presentation at the Badge Summit in June 2017]

Director of Member Engagement (CUE)

http://www.cue.org/news/cate_tolnai_member_engagement

http://blog.cue.org/    #cuechat

In my role as Director of Member Engagement for CUE,

David Truss is Principal at The Inquiry Hub Secondary, Coquitlam Open Learning and Suwa’lkh in Coquitlam, BC, Canada. Dave’s website, Pair-a-Dimes, received numerous awards and has his own podcast show. Dave is an amazing presenter and keeps pushing the edge in education. His new venture is his eBook Twitter Edu.

             

I’m really fortunate to have known Dave for many years through social media and was able to have a face-to-face interview for his podcast at Educon 2017 in Philadelphia. I always make sure to attend any of his presentations when I can and am so honored that Dave shared his journey with me. I even got another selfie with Dave at SXSW EDU in Austin, TX.  Below are several excerpts and resources Dave mentioned in the podcast:

 

Your background and family

I’m married to Ann, a teacher, and have two daughters, Cassie and Kaitlyn. In 2009 we left the bubble-wrapped suburbs of Vancouver, Canada, and spent two years living in Dalian, China. Currently, I am an administrator with the Learning Innovations Network Coquitlam (LINC) for School District #43 in Coquitlam, BC, Canada. My primary responsibilities are to Coquitlam Open Learning and our blended learning Inquiry Hub Secondary School.

 

Coquitlam Principal

I am currently the Millside Centre Principal responsible for 3 programs:

Coquitlam Open Learning http://online.sd43.bc.ca is Coquitlam’s Online and Blended High School, with programs and student support provided in all of our district high schools.

Inquiry Hub Secondary School http://inquiryhub.org  An inquiry-based school of choice where students get 50% self-directed time to DCL – Dream • Create • Learn.

Suwa’lkh Learning Centre https://www.sd43.bc.ca/school/Suwalkh/Pages/default.aspx is an indigenous educational program open to students in grades six to twelve. Suwa’lkh means ‘New Beginnings’ in the Hul’qumi’num language.

 

Your Philosophy of Education

The goal of education is to enrich the lives of students while producing articulate, expressive thinkers and lifelong learners, who are socially responsible, resilient, and active citizens of the world. Education is about teaching students, not subjects. It is about engaging students in their learning and maximizing the potential of each and every child. Education is about looking beyond the child’s intellect and seeing the whole child. Education is about providing students with opportunities to be challenged and still succeed.

Travis Lape is the Harrisburg School District’s Innovative Programs Director and was the recipient of the TIE Technology Leader Award for the State of South Dakota. He co-hosts the Movers & Makers Podcast and helped host over 8 Edcamps in South Dakota in the past three years.

I’ve followed Travis on Twitter for several years about his work with Makerspaces and personalized learning. Then I met him at the TIES conference in Minnesota last year. We had loads of fun then so I had to make sure he joined me on a podcast. We added some excerpts from the podcast below:

 

Your background and family

When I graduated in 2010 from the University of SiouxFalls (USF), I went into teaching right away.  I taught 4th grade at a low socio-economic school teaching at an elementary school in Sioux Falls,  Lowell Elementary at that time was the Science, Math, and Technology school. It was a lot of fun and a great year. Prior to teaching, I was a travel softball coach for several years. Then, after a year of teaching, I got a unique opportunity to be the head coach at USF to help transition them from the NAIA ranks to the Division 2 NCAA ranks. My passion was with coaching and teaching. I was not married at the time and couldn’t pass this up. I was the head coach for two years and transitioned them to Division 2 with pieces in place to be successful to hand it over to the next coach.

In that process, I got married and didn’t want to live on the road as much as I was doing. My wife is a teacher who shared with me that Harrisburg School District had an opening for a technology integrationist role. A family is super important to me and I wanted to be at home more. I applied and got the job as Technology Integrationist at one of the elementary schools for a year. My wife and I have a 2 ½-year-old son, DJ, who we adopted two years ago. 

 

Technology Integrationist

My background was elementary education. My first school we used iPods so I spent a lot of time searching to catch up on technology. The place I found support was on Twitter and several Edchats. I was on fire because I got connected to some powerful educators in the field doing that type of work for years. I was able to take ideas and piece them together to make them work for our building. My principal and I had planned for over a year to remake the library into a Makerspace due to Laura Fleming @LFlemingEDU and Shannon Miller @shannonmmiller until he left to take another job in Iowa. That was when Darren Ellwein @dellwein came into the picture and said that his middle school could use my services as a technology integrationist working with teachers in the classroom and to make a Makerspace in the library.  

That was when Darren Ellwein @dellwein came into the picture and said that his middle school could use my services as a technology integrationist working with teachers in the classroom and to make a Makerspace in the library. That was the best professional move I made and stayed there two years while working on my masters in administration as well. Darren and his staff are incredible and helped shape the tech piece for me. We were able to bring tech into the classroom to make it meaningful rather than just a device kids use. Then I became an Assistant Principal at an elementary school where we focused on personalized learning. That was a unique situation where the district needed to APs at that school just for one year. I loved it and, at some point, I’ll end up being a building principal.  

About a Makerspace 

 

Innovative Programs Director

This was the first year for an Innovations Programs in our district. As director, it has been really good for me to have a district view and vision. I don’t feel like I’ve worked a single day yet. I love it but change is super hard and not easy for the faint of ...

Sylvia Duckworth is an author, sketchnoter, AIM French teacher recently retired, Tech Coach, Google Certified Innovator, and Apple Distinguished Educator. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience in the public and independent school systems in Toronto, Canada.

 

I’ve known Sylvia virtually for many years through social media and been fortunate to have met her face-to-face recently at several conferences. I had to share at least one of the selfies we took.  Sylvia has written two great books: Sketchnoting and Google Cardboard Challenge that we discuss in the podcast. It is a great honor to share her story. Below are excerpts from our conversation:

 

Your background and family

My husband, Steve and I have two lovely daughters, Alana who is 27 years old is in media, and Lauren who is 25 years is a teacher who taught a year in Australia and is now teaching in New Zealand.

I taught French for most of my career. Last year, I had a 30% role as a tech coach at my school. For the past 21 years, I taught at Crescent School in downtown Toronto which is a boys only school grades 3 to 6.  I recently retired. We have this wonderful program when you combine your age with the years you’ve been teaching and it adds up to 85, it is called the 85 factor. Then you can retire on full benefits. So my number came up in April so I’ve been retired since July. That’s why I’ve been doing so much traveling. It’s been a really busy fall and winter. Been to Moscow, Australia, Singapore and been invited to wonderful conferences. I retired from teaching full-time, but I’m still quite active, presenting at conferences and participating on social media. 

 

Why creativity matters to you

Many different reasons. Personally, it is just my happy place. I love to sketchnote, knit, macrame, and do things with my hands. It calms me down. I decided to turn what makes me happy around and make my classroom a creative classroom. In teaching French, I start off with a 10-minute overview and then the rest of the time my kids would be creating something mostly with technology. It completely changed the atmosphere of my classroom. Students were loving coming to class learning there and then using the structures taught in my French class showcase what they learned through the projects they created.

 

The Sketchnoting Revolution

My sketchnoting started about three years ago when I noticed these drawings related to education and they were called sketchnotes.  So I decided to give it a try. I stopped drawing when I was around 1o-years old because I thought I wasn’t very good at it. Then when I tried 3 years ago on my iPad and rediscovered my love of drawing.

I now do Sketchnoting workshops and start off the day with fun drawing challenges. I want them to get in the mood and access their inner child. Young children love to draw, but for some reason, most of us tend to lose that love of drawing around 10 years old. In the workshop, we play games and try to get into the mindset that drawing is fun and not something to be afraid of. Everyone can draw. It’s been a lot of fun doing these sketchnoting workshops especially when teachers say at the end of the day “I can draw.”

There are several apps on the iPad that you can use for sketchnoting. I use the app Procreate because it lets me capture and export my drawings while I’m drawing in a video. If you look on my youtube channel, I provide many a playlist of live sketchnoting.

 

Sketchnotes for Educators

People don’t realize that there are links to all the drawings to share with educators in my book. Sketchnoting has really taken off this past year. If you look at the hashtag #sketchnoting, you can see how it has grown. It is also great for students to put their thoughts to paper with visual thinking.

Linda Inlay started an independent school in Hawaii in 1986 called Ho`āla. Ho`āla in Hawaiian means, “awakening of the self,” an apt name for the transformation of teachers, students, and parents to grow in the Four Rs: responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, and responsiveness to be modeled by the adults in order to foster these same values in the students.

Linda moved to California in 1993 and is on a new journey “Awakening Wisdom.” I am fortunate to have met and worked with Linda on this journey. I am learning why we need to awaken wisdom and share what that means with the world. Below are excerpts from the podcast:

 

How you began your career

I began my career as an educator at Our Lady of Schools in Wahiawa, Hawaii, where I learned a new way of orchestrating a school environment to nurture the well being of students into model citizens. At Our Lady of Sorrows School, Sr. Joan Madden and an Adlerian psychologist, Dr. Raymond Corsini collaborated to create a revolutionary educational program then called Individual Education. Using Adlerian principles and Carl Roger’s self-actualization theory, this program emphasized the core values of the Four Rs: responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, and responsiveness to be modeled by the adults in order to foster these same values in the students.

 

About Ho`āla in Hawaii 

After fifteen years at Our Lady of Sorrows School, I left with teachers and parents in 1986 to open an independent school called Ho`āla. Despite huge obstacles to establishing itself, Ho`āla has celebrated thirty years of existence. Ho`āla in Hawaiian means, “awakening of the self,” an apt name for the transformation of teachers, students, and parents to grow in the Four Rs. In 1988, I left Hawaii for California, teaching for the first time in a public middle school. Through the experience of public schools in contrast to Ho`āla, I understood the power of Awakening Wisdom in making a positive difference in the lives of students, parents, and teachers. From this knowledge, I explored the kind of school setting, the hidden curriculum, that best supports the humanity of students while earning her Masters in Educational Foundations from the University of Hawaii in 1995. My thesis, Ho`āla School: The Transformation of Character Through the Implicit Curriculum, continues to be used as a training guide for teachers at schools.

 

Moving to “Awakening Wisdom”

In 1993, my husband and I moved to the Napa Valley where I taught in the Gifted and Talented Education program in the elementary schools, using project-based learning and the constructivist theory as the basis for the curricular design. I was asked in 1996 to become the principal of River School, the first charter school in Napa County, a middle school, and one of the first one hundred charter schools in California.

Over my eighteen years as director/principal at River School, I continued to develop the principles and structures of Awakening Wisdom. I also taught the principles of Awakening Wisdom in parenting classes each year so that home and school collaborated to raise self-assured, responsible, and respectful students. During my tenure, I led River School to receive two California Distinguished School Awards, the Promising Practices Award and National School of Character Award from the Character Education Partnership, and the California School Board Association’s Golden Bell Award.

In 2016,  the name of the program which began as Individual Education and later changed to Ho`āla Educational Philosophy was changed to Awakening Wisdom, a “way of being” exhibited by students, parents, and educators that foster the Four Rs, the core values of responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, and responsiveness. Awakening Wisdom is a way to organize the entire environment so it nurtures the need for social-emotional connection as well as the sk...

Naomi Harm is a Tech Innovation Specialist, ISTE Instructional Coach, and Google Certified Innovator in Fairfield, California. She is an educational thought leader and influencer and Strategic Outreach Manager in Education for Wonder Workshop.

When it comes to human-centered design, design thinking and brain-based approaches to teaching and learning, I seek out Naomi. I’ve known her for years and am honored that she joins me in a conversation about her journey. Below are excerpts from the podcast along with great resources that include pictures, videos, and links. 

 

Learning My Work Ethic From My Father

I grew up in Northeastern Iowa on a dairy farm, and that’s where I got my work ethic. My father was my mentor and allowed me to be the maker of who I truly am today. I used to get up early to milk the cows and late at night to do my chores helped me learn to continue that work ethic in my college education, in teacher education, and when I earned my master’s degree in educational technology.

Image from http://blog.innovativeeducator.us/2008/10/my-father-my-mentor-my-best-friend.html

Being a teacher of 4th/5th-grade looping classroom also a year of kindergarten in Bangor Elementary in Bangor, Wisconsin gave me the utmost patience and competence. But what I learned from the kids was that I could inspire teachers. I saw the computer lab was not being utilized and sat there empty with 20 brand new iMacs. I decided to figure out how to use them and created the first WebQuests with kids. A regional agency saw what I was doing and then asked me to lead 26 school districts in Western Wisconsin. It was a very big job with a huge learning curve but it provided me the opportunity to create my network and relationships with educators across the nation.

 

Advocates for Jake

We have 3 children and our son, Jacob is our youngest. He was injured in a military accident over 3 ½ years ago. When we heard about his injury, we got to him in Texas within 12 hours. He broke over 50% of his bones in his body and endured a severe traumatic brain injury. He was in a total coma for over 3 weeks. My husband and I are grateful for the opportunity to be advocates for Jake and brought him to Minnesota to the Bethesda Traumatic Brain Injury Center. They worked with him to get to the next stage so he would be able to walk, talk, eat, and breathe without a respirator. We were told that he would be a vegetable and that we should put him in a nursing home. We would not do that. I reached out to find neurologists and surgeons that could help us. Everyone we talked to said don’t give up on him. They told us as parents we need to nurture him by stroking his hand and keep talking to him in small spurts so he knows we are there and that he has a support team. We are very thankful for the Augusta Health Unit in Minnesota. We got him home 175 days later and continued physical therapy at the local hospital at Gundersen Lutheran where my cousin Marguerite Costigan is the head of the physical therapy unit.

It’s amazing with a brain injury, your brain controls everything. With the amount of injury on his right side, he had paralysis on the left side of his body but he does walk now his way. He knows 3 ½ years later that he was in an accident, doesn’t remember the accident, and that he knows he has a brain injury. Because of that, we continue to work with neuroscientists across the US. They call him the miracle soldier in the US Army because he was not predicted to live. They are doing case studies on him because of the amount of support he has from us as educators and parents to help him live a productive life.

Jake’s Blog- where I dedicate most of my blog efforts instead of m...

Julie Lindsay is based in Australia as a consultant, presenter and workshop leader, is Director of Learning Confluence, Founder and CEO of Flat Connections, co-author of Flattening Classrooms, and author of The Global Educator. 

I am fortunate to have known Julie for many years and been lucky to have deep discussions with her at several conferences about global education.  I really enjoyed our conversation and learned new things about Julie that I didn’t know. Below are excerpts from the podcast along with links, resources, and videos. Enjoy!

 

About you, your background, and your journeys

I started as a music educator. I was a jazz player, have a master’s degree in research and composition. In the 1990s, I did a lot with music technology so that was my bridge into educational technology by doing music composition through technology in an independent school in Melbourne. The internet came in then and it was so exciting to have that availability. I was doing Internet club after school and entered my students into one of Yvonne Andres CyberFair projects where they got an honorable mention. I went back to school to get my post-graduate degree in computer education. Right after that my husband and I decided to teach overseas. We ended up in Zambia exactly 20 years ago with our three-year-old daughter. I became a computer teacher in a lab with no internet and were there for 2 ½ years.

As a teaching couple, we went to a teaching fair and found a job in Kuwait and the middle east for 2 years. Then we went to Bangladesh for 4 years, back to the middle east to Qatar for 2 years, and then to China for 3 years. That’s where my daughter graduated, and we decided to come back home to Australia. We live in Northern New South Wales near the capital city by the beach.

 

Why you are so passionate about Global Education

It is my life. I was at the Learning2 Conference for international educators in China recently. I’ve seen the power of it and how it changes the whole learning paradigm. I see how the sparks fly, the engagement increases, and students’ curiosity about the world as an amazing thing to harness to do projects that connect to the world.

“Develop curiosity to learn about the world with the world.” Julie Lindsay

The whole thing about curiosity puts the ownership for learning back on the learner. Both the teacher and the student have to be curious and interested. We have to provide the stimulus so teachers are curious just like students.

 

The Global Educator

That first section of my book, The Global Educator, published by ISTE last year, defines a global educator from what people were telling me and my experiences as well. A Global Educator connects to the world. An educator can use different types of media to connect, communicate, collaborate, and share what they are doing with the world. Some schools are using an LMS to connect but it doesn’t allow educators to connect to the world.

My book had the full 36 case studies which made the book too long so the book is actually half what I wrote. Each case study is a short summary describing the study. The full case studies are in the eBook that is available through ISTE. I’m actually blogging each case study one a week on my website so all will be available on my blog. Section 3 on Global Collaborations can actually stand on its own. It is about design and planning how to embed this into the curriculum.

 

Learning Confluence and Flat Connections

My consulting company is called Learning Confluence. When you think of a confluence, it is the coming together and blending of ideas and influences. I work with schools across Australia which is similar to the USA. Every state has a different education department and rules.