The Broken Copier

After a great conversation at the beginning of summer about what the 5th grade classroom is like, Adrian Neibauer was generous enough to return to the podcast to share about the mindset he is taking into this school year and the incredible community that is already building in his classroom.

In this conversation, Marcus asks him about the choices he made in preparing over the summer and especially in the opening weeks of his school year—and then they dive into some deeper questions about the idea of “loving teaching” more broadly.

Two pieces by Adrian that are referenced in this conversation (also, you can find everything he shares here on his Substack, which we highly recommend!):

* “Turn the Lights Back On” (Aug 12)

* “Adrian’s Top Five” (Sept 2)

Additionally, Marcus mentions a recent Cult of Pedagogy podcast featuring Elena Aguilar, which you can check out here.

And as always, we love to hear your thoughts! Along with emailing or commenting, you can leave us an audio message for the next episode: fanlist.com/brokencopier

Finally, thanks as always to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

Have feedback? email us here: [email protected].

Big news: Jim’s back! In this episode, Jim catches up with Marcus and fills him in on how the first few weeks have gone—which, in turn, gives Marcus a chance to reflect on his upcoming school year.

A big focus for both Marcus and Jim this year, they realized: making this work in the classroom sustainable going forward, and that is where this conversation ultimately goes.

Links to what we mentioned in the conversation:

* “We Need to Reclaim Slowness” by Marc Watkins

* “Damn Good Conversations” by Joe Ferraro

Thanks, as always, to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

 Email us here: [email protected].

Thanks for listening (and tell your friends)!

In the 13th Kicking The Copier episode, Marcus shares how the umbrella works as a perfect analogy for him in thinking about the “bigger picture” of feedback in his classroom—and how, at the end of the day, feedback is really about the trust students have in us as teachers and the purpose they see in what they are learning.

Tall orders, yes, but ones worth aspiring toward. Umbrella in hand.

As always, thanks to: Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for contributing their music to The Broken Copier podcast—and also Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

* Email thoughts to [email protected] or leave feedback at fanlist.com/brokencopier.

Thanks for listening, and take care of yourselves!

Most of us educators have thought a lot about school cell phone policies in recent years, but very few of us have experienced them in different contexts. Education journalist Paige Tutt, however, has done exactly that: she visited numerous school communities that had implemented cell phone bans and interviewed myriad building leaders, teachers, students and families in her research for what became a must-read article for Edutopia: “3 Schools, 3 Principals, 3 Cell Phone Bans.”

In this conversation, Paige shares what she observed from across her research, the differences as well as the similarities she noticed across the various schools, and overall what she thinks can be helpful for all of us when thinking about the impact of policies around cell phones in school communities.

For those looking to explore more of Paige’s work, you can check out her profile page at Edutopia—and she also recommends subscribing to their new technology newsletter for educators, The Wired Classroom. (One of the pieces mentioned in our conversation comes from this newsletter, too: “Why I’m Banning Student AI Use This Year.”)

Finally, thanks as always to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

Have feedback? email us here: [email protected].

Given that summer is coming to a close for many teachers out there—or, for a handful, already has!—we decided to focus on that “thing” that we all go through as educators this time of year and that we all have our own opinions about: professional development for teachers.

In this episode we’re joined by Trevor Aleo, a full-time teacher and doctoral candidate who spends a lot of time thinking about, designing, and delivering professional development. The conversation focuses on what keeps “Teacher PD” from being a positive experience far too often as well as what “better” can and should look like. (Including what teachers need to bring to the table, too.)

For those looking to explore more of Trevor’s work, the best place to access it is at his website www.trevoraleo.com. We also recommend checking out his podcast Conceptually Speaking and the book he co-authored, Learning That Transfers: Designing Curriculum for a Changing World.

Finally, thanks as always to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

Have feedback? email us here: [email protected].

Another guest interview today on The Broken Copier: Marc Watkins, professor at the University of Mississippi, Director of the Mississippi AI Institute, and author of the blog Rhetorica—a go-to resource for thinking about artificial intelligence through the lens of education, particularly as classroom instructors. (Seriously: go check it out!)

In this conversation, Marc shares his thinking and strategies around AI through a teaching lens: the challenges that educators are encountering, the advice and practices he shares in his work right now, and the mindset he believes is best for education going forward.

For those looking to read more of Marc’s writing on this topic, we highly recommend his recent series Beyond ChatGPT—with the first piece focusing on the missed conversation around AI’s impact on reading.

And as always, we love to hear your thoughts! Along with emailing or commenting, you can leave us an audio message for the next episode: fanlist.com/brokencopier

Finally, thanks as always to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

Have feedback? email us here: [email protected].

We’re excited to continue our shift on The Broken Copier with more conversations with more listeners today, as Dr. Julie Arnold joins the podcast to talk about her work around assessment and the ways we can do better in our classrooms to make assessment part of the learning experience—as well as the barriers we encounter in that work. (Dr. Arnold also is gracious enough to offer her Australian perspective on what the “American classroom” must be like based on the different television shows she has seen!)

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Arnold’s work around assessment as a learning experience, check out this link!

And as always, we love to hear your thoughts! Along with emailing or commenting, you can leave us an audio message for the next episode: fanlist.com/brokencopier

Also, do you have interesting in being a guest on the podcast? Click here to sign up. We may be delayed in our responses, but we definitely want to start inviting more teachers to come on & share their stories. 

Thanks, as always, to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

Email us here: [email protected].

It’s summer and a time for rest and restoration for teachers, so Marcus figured, why not talk about something that riles pretty much every teacher up the moment you mention it?

That’s right: differentiation.

In this twelfth installment of our Kicking The Copier series of individual reflections, Marcus shares about what he believes made the difference in a more-successful experience with differentiation in his classroom this past year—and also why he is at least somewhat concerned about what that means for the education landscape going forward.

As always, thanks to: Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for contributing their music to The Broken Copier podcast—and also Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

* Email thoughts to [email protected] or leave feedback at fanlist.com/brokencopier.

Thanks for listening, and take care of yourselves!

Marcus finally gets a chance to talk with Adrian Neibauer, a 5th grade teacher who just finished his 21st year of teaching and also happens to be the author of Adrian’s Newsletter—probably Marcus’s favorite weekly read on teaching out there.

In this conversation, Adrian reflects on his path into the elementary classroom; what it was like to leave the classroom for a different role and then return with a new perspective; and what his classroom looks and feels like at this point in his career. Towards the end, Marcus also asks him about some points from two of his recent newsletter articles:

* “Have I Become Richard Vernon?” (May 13)

* “I’m not an Entertainer” (May 20)

We definitely recommend you checking out Adrian’s writing and subscribing to his content. If you like the reflections here on The Broken Copier, it definitely could be for you!

And as always, we love to hear your thoughts! Along with emailing or commenting, you can leave us an audio message for the next episode (Adrian was the first one to take us up on this several months back, by the way): fanlist.com/brokencopier

Also, do you have interesting in being a guest on the podcast? Click here to sign up. We may be delayed in our responses, but we definitely want to start inviting more teachers to come on & share their stories. 

Thanks, as always, to: 

Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

 Email us here: [email protected].

Thanks for listening (and tell your friends)!

It’s been awhile, but our series of “Kicking the Copier” episodes is back—and this one is about a strategy, literally but also figuratively, that might help you center your “wins” of the school year more intentionally. (Especially before summer arrives!)

Another note: congratulations to those getting near (or even across) the finish line of your school year. I think it is fair to say to pretty much anyone that it has indeed been a year.

Also, if you want a link to FutureMe.org for those future emails to yourself mentioned in the email, here you go!

As always, thanks to: Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for contributing their music to The Broken Copier podcast and also Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden; and Courtney Milavec for graphic design.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro. 

* Email thoughts to [email protected] or leave feedback at fanlist.com/brokencopier.

Thanks for listening, and take care of yourselves!