Teaching Unmasked

What happens when your school starts in-person learning five days a week for the first time in a year? Well, you definitely forget that you have host a podcast. 

Jon and Zahria reflect on where they have been the past few weeks, from getting vaccinated to adjusting to a full-time schedule. 

On this episode, Jon and Zahria speak with Nick Karn, Dean of Culture at Panorama Middle School. Nick discusses his why he sees education as his life's calling. The group talks about what schools can do to build or maintain a more positive school environment. 

Jon and Zahria speak with Lauren Swisher and Lenore Johnson about their experiences teaching choir and band during the pandemic. 

Jon and Zahria speak to Paula Hergert, former teacher and public health and policy specialist, about what it means to take care of oneself as a teacher during the pandemic. They discuss what happens when schools don't make self-care a priority, and the ripple effect it can have on students. Sit back, relax and take a listen! 

Additional Resources

Brainwise: This curriculum helps teach executive functioning and critical thinking skills to both students and adults.

Zahria and Jon speak with a a social studies teacher who is teaching in Chinle, Arizona, a city in the Navajo Nation that has become known in recent months for its high rate of COVID infections. 

Additional resources:  

Jon and Zahria speak to a teacher in New England who has had success with remote and hybrid learning. The trio discusses educational inequity that has been made more apparent during the pandemic. 

Additional Resources: 

Check out the following Facebook groups for biology teaching resources. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/159490740867256/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/244945040096200

Braiding Sweetgrass is about bringing indigenous wisdom to the sciences. Buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Braiding-Sweetgrass-Indigenous-Scientific-Knowledge/dp/1571313567

Zahria and Jon speak to Chris, Jon's brother, and Kylie about adjustments they have had to make as college instructors. As it turns out, teaching other teachers is not easy.

Additional resources: 

Jamboard Google Extension. It's an online whiteboard. 

Jon gets quarantined in his apartment for two weeks after the school receives its first positive COVID case. He must navigate teaching online...again. Meanwhile, Zahria experiences what in-person schooling looks like when several teachers are quarantined. 

Students have returned in-person. Jon and Zahria talk to another teacher at their school who has been trying to figure out the hybrid model--all while holding down several side hustles. 

Additional Resources: 

https://nearpod.com/

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Jon and Zahria speak to an elementary school teacher who is back in the classroom with students. His school has been using a hybrid teaching model--a mix of online and in-person. When all else fails, at least there are virtual pet parties!

Additional reading: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/08/14/hybrid-learning-coronavirus-risk/

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-plan-for-hybrid-teaching-and-learning