Education discussions often focus on how best to serve our students, but as the summer comes to an end we must turn our attention to the realities of our job. Many policies are implemented that are beyond our control and navigating the expectations of the many stakeholders in a student’s education can be exhausting. We’ll consider a number of examples of how external forces are shaping classrooms around the country: New Florida law lets any resident challenge what’s taught in science classes (Washington Post), Marion County reduces homework for elementary school students (WKMG Orlando) and The Silicon Valley Billionaires Remaking America's Schools (NY Times). We’ll then look at a piece of research that describes how athletic participation affects student athletes in and out of season (Do High School Athletes Get Better Grades During the Off-Season?) while drinking Black Jack Porter from Left Hand Brewing.

Every teacher can only provide influence and options to students; they are the ones who will make choices for what they do and how they strive (or don’t) to do those things well. We will consider some of the most influential research on how humans make choices for themselves, and then more specifically in the context of education. We’ll consider marshmallows from the 70’s, the more recent elaboration this decade (Rational snacking: young children's decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability) and even some new work whose ink is barely dry (Waiting for the Second Treat: Developing Culture-Specific Modes of Self-Regulation). We’ll then take a look at math education, how it contributes to problems with statistics and what we can do across the educational trajectory to address it (A Helping Hand during t-Testing Times). Our debate considers what Machiavelli might have to say about incentives for students and we drink STL Red, a red ale from O’Fallon Brewery in St. Louis.

The first group of episodes will establish a foundation of educational philosophy, from which we can move forward. Technology is having a tremendous impact on classrooms around the world. We’re considering what the effects of rapid proliferation of communication innovations may be on student learning. We’ll compare research into how new devices compare to older, more familiar methods with The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens (Scientific American) and A study of print and computer-based reading to measure and compare rates of comprehension and retention. Our debate compares a focus on highest performers versus minimum thresholds of achievement for all. We’re drinking a Vanilla Porter from Breckenridge Brewing Co.

The first group of episodes will establish a foundation of educational philosophy, from which we can move forward. We’re moving on to the difficult topic of grades, using an article describing one effort to abolish letter grades and percentages entirely: A Proposal To Radically Revise High School Transcripts May Alter College Admission from Forbes. What should a grade represent and how do we as teachers ensure they do that effectively and equitably? A period review of Pride and Prejudice is considered against contemporary reviews written today and we debate how a principal might approach two extreme grading policies. We’re drinking Dunkel, a traditional brown lager from KC Bier Co.

The first group of episodes will establish a foundation of educational philosophy, from which we can move forward. This time we’re talking schema, using the review What is a memory schema? A historical perspective on current neuroscience literature in Neuropsychologia. We’ll explore what makes a schema different from isolated knowledge and how that could inform our classroom practice. Schemas exist at the social level and we’ll discuss an article from Woodruff’s philosophy training that could have impact in and beyond social studies. We’re drinking Dragon’s Milk, a milk stout from New Holland Brewing.

The first group of episodes will establish a foundation of educational philosophy, from which we can move forward. We discuss America’s Not-So-Broken Education System in The Atlantic, which provides a defense against typical calls to start over from scratch with the American education system. We’ll also consider a recent publication in biology education’s impact in other subjects and what it means to teach art versus science. We’re drinking 1554, a black lager from New Belgium.

This is a brief prologue where we explain why we've decided to make this podcast and what you can expect to hear in each segment. If you'd like a brief orientation before you jump in, this is the place to start!