The Perkins Platform

Join us with our special guest Dr. Jeff Roth for a conversation on how to initiate and lead crisis response teams in the urban school districts. Dr. Jeff Roth joined the Brandywine School District in Delaware where he initiated Operation Cooperation — a school-wide approach to conflict resolution, helped initiate and lead the district Crisis Response Team, and was named School Psychologist of the Year by the Delaware Association of School Psychologists. He developed Instructional Support and Positive Behavior Support teams, a social skills curriculum, and a program of self-directed professional development for school psychologists. He was trained in the PREPaRE Model, Critical Incident Stress Management, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), and Red Cross Disaster Mental Health. He is an American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health volunteer. Dr. Roth received his undergraduate degree in psychology at Temple University. After serving in the Air Force, he practiced social work and returned to graduate school at Temple where he earned his doctorate. During graduate school, Dr. Roth worked as a recreational therapist at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and taught graduate courses at Arcadia University. He is a licensed psychologist in Delaware. Dr. Roth is an adjunct professor at Wilmington University, Delaware. He co-developed a mentoring program for new school psychologists for the state Department of Education. Dr. Roth authored School Crisis Response: Reflections of a Team Leader (2015) and co-edited Perspectives on School Crisis Response: Reflections from the Field (2018).?

For April's show, we are delighted to announce Dr. Ted Thornhill's presence. Dr. Ted Thornhill is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, FL. Prior to joining FGCU, he taught at Earlham College in Richmond, IN and St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. He holds a BA in Sociology and Ethnic Studies from Florida Atlantic University, an MS in Applied Social Research from Florida State University, and an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Thornhill’s research and writing focuses on the ways in which contemporary forms of racism, color-blind ideology, and institutional policies and practices promote racial inequality, particularly in k-12 and higher education, the labor market, and the criminal “justice” system. He recently completed a nationwide audit study that investigated how white college admissions counselors at private colleges and universities intra-racially screen black prospective students. This spring Dr. Thornhill is teaching a course titled White Racism that made national and international headlines.

Join us for a conversation on topics of introverted students in the classroom with Dr. Kathy Schultz. Dr. Schultz is Dean and Professor of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education. Prior to this appointment, she was Dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland, California from 2010-2016. She served as professor and director of the teacher education program at the University of Pennsylvania from 1997-2010 where she founded and directed the Center for Collaborative Research and Practice in Teacher Education. During that time, she was the faculty director of the Philadelphia Writing Project and served on the Empowerment Board (School Board) of the Chester Upland School District. Her scholarly work has focused on the research, development, and dissemination of practices that support new and veteran teachers working with marginalized populations in high poverty areas. Her two recent books, Listening: A framework for teaching across differences and Rethinking classroom participation: Listening to silent voices address these issues. She is currently working on a book on the role of distrust in educational reform that draws on her work in Oakland and as a school board member and leader of professional development in international settings. Since coming to Boulder, one of her areas of focus has been to work with the faculty to develop place-based partnerships including student teaching, professional development, research, policy, and community-engaged projects in three areas: Northeast Colorado, Lafayette (in Boulder County), and the Five Points area of Denver. She has been particularly interested in working closely with colleagues in Northeast Colorado to develop recruitment and retention strategies for rural teachers as a way to address the teacher shortage in that area and across rural communities in Colorado.

On March 7, join us with Mr. Thomas Whitby to hear his work on how connectedness empowers learning. Mr. Whitby is the author of The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning, and The Educator's Guide To Creating Connections. He is @tomwhitby on Twitter with 81,000+ followers. Tom retired from Public Education after serving 34 years as a secondary English teacher and spent an additional six years as an adjunct Professor at St Joseph’s College in New York. He is a Co-Creator of #Edchat, an award-winning education Twitter discussion group. He is an education Blogger for My Island View, and for EDUTOPIA. He hosts the weekly Edchat Radio Show on the BAM Radio Network. He created the Educator’s PLN, a global Ning site, where approximately 20,000+ educators share and collaborate daily. Whitby has served as a contributing Editor while developing SmartBlog on Education for SmartBrief, and has written about Social Media in Education for several national educational journals. He is the founder of several educational groups on LinkedIn, the largest being 19,000+ members, the Technology-Using Professors Group. He participated on The U.S. Department of Education's planning committee for Connected Educator Month since 2012.

Join us with our special guest Dr. Ellie Drago-Severson for a conversation on giving feedback to educators. Dr. Ellie Drago-Severson is Professor of Education Leadership and Adult Learning & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University.  A developmental psychologist, Ellie teaches, conducts research, and consults to school and district leaders, teacher leaders, coaches and organizations on professional and personal growth and learning; leadership that supports principal, teacher, school, and leadership development; and coaching and mentoring in K–12 schools, university settings, and other adult education contexts domestically and internationally.  She is also an internationally certified Immunity to Change coach who works with teacher leaders, coaches, superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and other leaders to build internal capacity and achieve goals.  Her work is inspired by the idea that schools must be places where adults and children can grow, and she is dedicated to creating the conditions to achieve this and to helping leaders and educators of all kinds to do the same on behalf of supporting adults and youth.

Welcome to our February episode. This month, we are delighted to have Dr. David Levy to share his insights on how to bring a balance to our digital lives. Dr. Levy is Professor at the Information School, University of Washington in Seattle. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science at Stanford University and a diploma in Calligraphy and Bookbinding from the Roehampton Institute in London. For over 15 years Dr. Levy was a researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, exploring the transition from paper and print to digital media. At the University of Washington since 2000, he has focused on bringing mindfulness training and other contemplative practices to address problems of information overload and acceleration. His latest book, "Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives," was published in January 2016 by Yale University Press.

Join us at our first show of 2018 for a conversation on the mechanics of meditation within the education leadership framework with Dr. Home Nguyen. Dr. Nguyen is a professor of mindful leadership, and an advisor and coach to senior executives, entrepreneurs, and educators. He has coached mid-level and C-suite executives of Fortune 200 companies including Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Fox Entertainment and numerous start-ups. He has taught courses on Self-Awareness Training, Interpersonal Group Dynamics, and Adult Development at Columbia Business School and Yale School of Management. Dr. Home is the founder of MindKind Institute, providing executive coaching and facilitation for high-achieving leaders who are ready to create powerful and lasting change for their team and organization. A certified executive coach, Dr. Home earned his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his coaching certification with the International Coaches Federation (ICF) and with the Coaches Training Institute. Dr. Home was born and raised in Vietnam during time of war, and having survived as a refugee escaping on a boat from the communist regime at the age of 14. He lived in a refugee camp for a year before emigrated to America. He grew up in Los Angeles, and started his career as a theater artist, writing and directing theater performances, excavating and weaving stories of the refugees experiences. He also incorporates performance arts for HIV/AIDS education and prevention.

To close the year, we a pleased to present Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman--Scientific Director of the Science of Imagination Project at the Positive Psychology Center.  His reasearch is supported by a grant from the Imagination Institue.  He conducts research on the measurements and development of imagination, creativity, and play, and teaches the popular undergraduate course, Introduction to Positive Psychology.  Kaufman is author of Ungifted:  Intelliegence Redefined and co-author of the upcoming book Wired to Create:  Unraveling the Mysteries fo the Creative Mind.  he is also host of The Psychology Podcast, co-founder of The Creativity Post and he writes the blog Beautiful Minds for Scientific American.  Kaufman completed his doctorate in cognitive psychology from Yale University in 2009 and received his Master's Degree in Experimental Psychology from Cambridge University in 2005 where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar.  Dr. Kaufman discusses his new theory of personal intelligence and shares his story about growing up with a learning disability.

This month, we are pleased to have with us Dr. Charles Temple. Charlie Temple is Kinghorn Professor of Global Education at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where he teaches courses in literacy education, children’s literature, storytelling, comparative education, and writing for children. He is a co-founder of the Open Society Institute’s Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking project, that promotes pedagogy for active learning and critical thinking in primary and secondary schools and universities in forty countries on five continents.  With the Canadian international literacy organization CODE, Temple works on teams that produce children’s books in Tanzania, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and trains teachers to use the books to encourage thoughtful discussions.  In the US, Temple is active in the International Literacy Association, the Comparative and International Education Society, and the National Storytelling Network. He has authored textbooks in literacy education and children’s literature, and also books for children.  Temple has a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in literacy education from the University of Virginia. Join us for what will be an enlightening conversation on Wednesday, March 29 at 2pm EDT.

Join us on Wednesday, January 11 for a conversation on leadership in today's schoolhouse with Dr. George Theoharis.  George Theoharis is Professor and Department Chair for the Teaching and Leadership Department at Syracuse University. He served as Associate Dean to direct the urban education initiatives. George teaches classes in educational leadership and elementary/early childhood teacher education. He also has extensive field experience in public education as a principal and as a teacher. His research focuses on issues of equity, leadership, and inclusive service delivery in K-12 schools.   His books titled The School Leaders Our Children Deserve, What Every Principal Needs to Know to Create Excellent and Equitable Schools, and The Principal’s Handbook for Leading Inclusive Schools focus on issues of leadership and creating more equitable schools.  He co-runs a summer leadership institute for school administrators focusing on issues of disability and inclusion as well as a school reform project called Schools of Promise that focuses on working with and students schools and district in creating inclusive services for students with disabilities. He consults with leaders, schools, and districts around issues of leadership, equity, diversity and inclusive reform. His Ph.D. is in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Phone in and be part of the discourse.  January 11 (2:00pm EST)