The Grounded Learners Guild

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You hear it every episode - one of the GLG’s missions is to give you real talk about “the transcendent power of being a part of a highly functioning team”. But part of being real and authentic about highly functioning teams is taking a long, hard look at the “dark mirror image”, the opposite side of a supportive, uplifting guild. It can be a tough subject to tackle, but tackle it we will. And to lighten the mood a bit, we’re also going to talk about the movie Mean Girls. 

Episode 3: Being Plastic Ain't Fantastic

The Grounded Learners Guild

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For those of us who are educators, we are seeing growth in opportunities to engage in discourse, research and training on how to support our neurologically diverse students - and rightly so! But less common to encounter are conversations about how we can utilize what works for kids to widen the circle and help the adult learners in our systems too. Well, we’re going to have that conversation, right here at this guild meeting.  Even better, we’ve got a guest with considerable expertise joining us. This is one you sure won’t want to miss.

Episode 2: Neurodivergence and Hacking Your Brain

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“Which Hogwarts House do you belong in?” “What color palette best represents your personality?” “Choose a day’s worth of meals to find out which 80’s metal band you are!”

What do all of these have in common? They all seek to help us answer the question: “Who am I?” or “Who are you?” Silliness and triviality of some of these options aside, people’s personalities are some of the most relevant puzzles we will ever come into contact with, especially those of us who work in the service of others and helping them learn. Join the Guild for this discussion of Personality Types and how they can help us “piece together” a clearer picture of others and ourselves.

The Personality Puzzle

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Since the GLG typically records our episodes on Saturday Night, we felt we’d be remiss if we didn’t spend some time with America’s favorite Saturday Night entertainment  - SNL.  This show has brought decades’ worth of laughs, awkward celebrity moments, and has introduced us to countless comedy legends who got their start “Live from New York…”

While crass humor and political commentary are often SNL’s bread and butter, there are some classic skits that we all feel connected with, and believe it or not, the connections to education can be found here too. So while we are neither live nor from New York, this is Saturday Night - on the Pop Culture Playground.

SNL

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Love it or hate it, one of the staples of pop culture entertainment is reality TV. While prestige TV and quirky comedies are often our go-to’s, who among us hasn’t gotten “hooked” by a reality TV show at one point or another? No judgement here, but plenty of connections. And unlike most competition reality shows, on the Pop Culture Playground, we ARE here to make friends. :-) 

Pop Culture Playground: Reality TV

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“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?” - These are the final poignant words spoken by Pam Beesley-Halpert from one of the most well-known comedies on television- The Office. Almost all of us have bosses and coworkers, and thus relate to many of the situations depicted in the show to some degree. Finding humor and significance in the ordinary has made the show one so easy to relate to and worthy of repeated binge watching. So, put on a pot of coffee, find an ergonomic chair, and reschedule your meeting of the party planning committee - GLG’s pop culture playground is ready to tackle The Office.

Pop Culture Playground: The Office

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Educators around the world do “whatever it takes” to empower the growth and learning of students. They do not have access to radioactive spiders like Spiderman, super soldier serum like Captain America, or billions in personal wealth like Iron Man- no, their super powers are found in their instructional expertise and ability to connect and build relationships with students. It’s true, not all superheros wear capes. Stay tuned to this week’s episode of GLG’s Pop Culture Playground as we make some connections between the superheroes from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and teachers, staff and leaders in our educational system today.

Pop Culture Playground: Marvel Cinematic Universe

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It’s a rare movie that manages to strike a chord with most adults, but Mike Judge’s 1999 cult hit, Office Space managed to pull it off. The story of tech company office drone Peter Gibbons and his new found ability to “simply not care” about work somehow managed to reach across age and industry. The film seemed to empathize with working people on a much broader scale. Simply put, this IS the movie that sums up professional life. So join us in the cubicle - we promise not to accuse you of having a “case of the Mondays”… we’ve all been there.

Pop Culture Playground: Office Space

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They are England’s biggest selling rock and roll export since the Beatles. They wrote 14 albums, 372 songs 53 top-40 singles, 6 of which hit #1. They are none other than Queen; reigninging as rock royalty from the mid ‘70s thru the 80s and into today. While legend and lead singer Freddy Mercury died in 1991, members of the band continue to tour with none other than Adam Lambert of American Idol fame on vocals; beautifully blending past and present musical magic. Stick around as the Guild goes Radio Ga Ga and challenges themselves, once again, to make more metaphorical connections to the world of education on the Pop Culture Playground.

Summer Pop Culture Playground: The Music of Queen

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While the pop culture connection that first bonded the guild together was Game of Thrones, we didn’t truly reach full nerd-out level status until we all discovered Dan and Eugene Levy’s masterpiece Schitt’s Creek. While each of us visited the Creek in our own time, we found ourselves folding in the cheese, resisting the urge to run away to Amish country, and longing to attend a barn party. You, too? If so, why not put on a wig or don an ostentatious black and white sweater to prepare yourself to listen to this week’s take on 6 degrees of education. Best Wishes. Warmest Regards.

Pop Culture Playground: Schitt'$ Creek

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