In this episode, three students from Tri County High School in Nebraska share how they created a self-care resource to support their peers' mental wellness during this challenging time during the pandemic.

There is some exciting new work being done by the Nebraska Department of Education as they look to update the current teacher and principal standards for educators statewide, and in this episode, the leaders of that work, Kim Snyder, Julie Downing, and Ryan Ricenbaw, join us to share the vision and work being done in that space. This pod is the first of several that we will release about this initiative in an effort to keep everyone informed as this work evolves.

This week, Quim Sabrià, the co-founder and CEO of the ed tech tool Edpuzzle, joins us on the pod to share the ways in which Edpuzzle can add accountability and engagement when learners are assigned instructional video content. Our conversation spans everything from Quim's personal story from classroom teacher to CEO to the nuances of how. teachers might use Edpuzzle in their class. We also delve into how Edpuzzle can enhance learning both in the remote setting and also when we return to our future, new normal.

In this episode, NRCSA's executive director Jack Moles, ESU 6 Administrator John Skretta, and Superintendent of Gibbon Public Schools Vernon Fisher join us to discuss their most recent collaborative efforts to develop remote learning supports for rural Nebraska schools. Our conversation provides the backstory and vision behind the initiative, a detailed look at the work currently being done, and a preview of what districts can expect to see from this work as early as December.

In this episode, Julie N. Smith, media literacy advocate and author of Master the Media, speaks to just how important it is for educators to equip learners with media literacy skills, regardless of content area or grade level. In this pod, Julie offers useful insights for how we might better identify fake news and misinformation while also sharing a myriad of practical examples of how teachers might integrate media literacy into their current teaching practices/units.

Ann Kozma from Flipgrid joins us for this episode of The Good Life EDU podcast to share some of the best ideas for how educators might look to leverage Flipgrid during the multitude of learning models occurring during the pandemic. In this episode, we talk ways Flipgrid can support SEL, student creation, relationship and community building, and more.

Wow. We covered a lot of content in this pod! In this episode, Shara Johnson of ESU 2 shares her insights and expertise with how everyone from classroom teachers to school administrators to ESU employees (and even the state of Nebraska as a whole) might seek to leverage Canvas to enhance communication, collaboration, and ultimately learning. Shara has been an integral part of the Nebraska Canvas Consortium's statewide implementation, and so it was great to have her on the show to relay some of the amazing things that Canvas can do in support of education in our state.

This week, we revisit the topic of mental health with ESU 5's Jen McNally and Tri County Public Schools administrators Jesse Gronemeyer and Ryan Clark. In this pod, we explore how Tri County Public Schools have made wellness a part of the school culture as a result of their collaboration with ESU 5's Wellness for All support. In these trying times, this is a critical topic to keep at the forefront of our thoughts and conversations, and this episode shares one district's efforts to be intentional about building an environment where it is okay to not be okay.

This episode is a must listen as Amy and Kristen of ESU 9 go through five engagement strategies that lead to powerful learning experiences for students. Amy and Kristen do a phenomenal job in this pod of first establishing what these practices look like in a traditional classroom setting before then delving into how those same strategies can be utilized in a digital environment for remote learning.

Doug Fisher, co-author of The Distance Learning Playbook, joins us this week on the pod for a discussion on remote learning best practices and strategies. This pod is a fun kick-off to our ESU network's bi-monthly book study of this text! Our first DL Playbook Lunch Bunch session starts today! Whether you are an ESU employee or an edu-friend of the pod, be sure to pick up your copy of The Distance Learning Playbook as a way to extend your own work with remote teaching and learning.