Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education

By Suzy Evans, Shane SaeedEducation Self-Improvement Parenting Kids & Family Courses

Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education episodes

August 12, 2019First Week of School Activities
Episode 040: Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year!!!
A quick intro episode after our summer break. Listen for some inspiration, activities, and free resources to help get your year started off right!! Please consider sharing with a friend, and point some feedback our way at tinyurl.com/vrainwavesfeedback! Thank you!
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Temporal Landmarks (01:08)
Episode 009 with Daniel Pink
Atomic Habits, by James Clear
Habit stacking (02:13)
Three Minute Know Me (04:51) - Design School X, dK12 Network, Design Tech High
IDEO
Teachers Guild
Episode 006 with Dan Ryder (06:58)
Ed Tech Team Blog Post: 15 Ideas for Back to School Creativity with Intention
Tableau for teachers (07:57)
Breakout tasks (09:04)
Unsplash - royalty free images (11:55)
Goals (12:53)
Beth Comstock, Imagine it Forward
“Tell me something I don’t want to hear.”
“The pace of change will never be slower than it is right now.”
Tech Insider Video (2:52): 7 Amazing Technologies we’ll see by 2030
Consumption v. Creation (15:15)
Ben’s platypus / Tutorial he used
17 min
June 10, 2019Making the Most of Your Summer
Episode 041: Making the Most of Your Summer
A compilation episode highlighting advice on how to make the most of your summer, courtesy of the interviews from some of our amazing guests. Don’t let decision fatigue get you down! And share with us your summer plans at #makesomevrainwaves.
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Physical exercise (03:53)
Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina
Episode with Doris Kearns Goodwin
Benjamin Hardy blog post in Medium: “Behavior drives motivation.”
Robyn Jackson: “First you make your habits, then your habits make you.” (VW Episode with Robyn Jackson
Dan Willingham: “Never rely on willpower when you can make a plan to avoid it.” (VW Episode with Dan Willingham
Distraction (07:42)
Episode with Cal Newport
30-day digital detox
Dan Willingham: “Memory is the residue of thought.”
Making Memories (10:06)
Episode with Dan Heath: Power of Moments
Love Reading the Most (11:00)
Episode with Cornelius Minor
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker
Stop Talking, Start Influencing, by Jared Cooney Horvath
Spark! The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John J Ratey
(720) 900-1741 let us know how you are making the most of your summer! Or tweet us at #makesomevrainwaves
16 min
May 27, 2019Doris Kearns Goodwin & Michael Goodwin - Learning Through History
Episode 038: Doris Kearns Goodwin & Michael Goodwin, Learning from History
Connect with Doris Kearns Goodwin
Website: https://doriskearnsgoodwin.com/ | Twitter: @DorisKGoodwin
Connect with Michael Goodwin
Website: https://riversc9.wixsite.com/riversandrevolutions/michael-goodwin-rivers
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Constitutional Convention Story (01:32)
Doris Kearns Goodwin (Website)
Leadership in Turbulent Times
Rivers and Revolutions (3:51)
How Doris & Michael got started in education (04:01)
The impact of Concord on their lives (05:46)
Layers of history
Richard Goodwin (08:22)
NPR story on Richard after his death
Doris’ many books (09:48)
Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties (10:38)
“It’s not a question of capacity, it’s a question of will.”
Social mobility, rising to our potential
Involvement in politics for our youth (13:17)
Help students create change on a local level first
Rivers & Revolutions (16:14)
Interdisciplinary approaches to education - holistic way of looking at the world
Concord Carlisle High School
Rivers, Revolutions, Air, Fire, & Love
A Plea for Captain John Brown by Henry David Thoreau
The Power of Storytelling (22:12)
Forbes article on Lincoln & Storytelling, based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s work
Squaw Sachem
Education is about building community
Investigation of Love
Empathy (27:07)
Through public life you experience other people’s worlds
Seeing people as ‘other’ is a threat to our future
Diverse classrooms v. Tracking
Open exploration of that diversity in that classroom
Soliciting feedback live from students in the classroom - how can we support each other
“If you think you have more to contribute than someone else, you don’t, and if you think you have less to contribute than someone else, you don’t.” Everyone has something to add.
Team of Rivals (33:17)
NPR story with Doris talking about Team of Rivals
Lincoln put 3 of his biggest rivals on his cabinet
Internal confidence that he could learn from those people around him who all thought they could do a better job than he could
Vulnerability & confidence
It’s not about giving up control, it’s about sharing it. This is not work we can or should do in isolation.
Leadership in Turbulent Times (36:41)
Story about LBJ and Doris Kearns Goodwin working for him
White House Fellow program
Lyndon B. Johnson’s Presidency
Building Learning Communities through the Arts (39:42)
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Concord River Institute
Resilience / Failure (44:18)
Role of Public Education in our society (47:10)
History can give us perspective and build empathy
Making connections
Takeaways (51:48)
54 min
May 13, 2019School Leadership Reimagined with Robyn Jackson
Dr. Robyn Jackson, School Leadership Reimagined
Connect with Dr. Jackson
Website: mindstepsinc.com | schoolleadershipreimagined.com | Twitter: @robyn_mindsteps
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Dr. Jackson’s books on ASCD
4 Disciplines of Buildership
Why leadership is insufficient (03:18)
“A builder goes out ahead, then they invite people to that.”
“Bosses say ‘Go’. Leaders say ‘Let’s go.’ Builders say ‘Come’”.
The importance of culture (05:45)
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter Drucker
“Whoever controls the narrative controls the culture.”
How do you regain control over your narrative (and therefore your culture)? (07:27)
Have compelling answers for these three questions:
What are we building? (have a compelling vision)
Why is it important? (have a compelling mission)
What’s my role? (a set of core values)
Mindsteps, Inc - core values: (11:02)
1 - Drama-free work environment
2 - Do the right thing, even when it hurts
3 - Figure it out
Core values as decision filters
Vision / Mission / Core Values (13:41)
They don’t mean anything if they don’t govern the work.
They have to be non-negotiables
Only 3, no more than 4, they should be ranked
Everybody has to sign off on them
Hire based on those things - shape interview questions that tease out people’s core values
Master schedule has to support your core values (BONUS: See this article from our very own Andrea Smith, Lyons Middle / Senior Principal, on how your master schedule reflects your climate and culture!)
Has to hit 100% of your students
Builders Lab Workshops
Advice for teacher leaders (21:55)
Culture = organizational habits & the stories we tell about them
Robyn’s AP Class story (22:30)
Jay Matthews’ book on Jaime Escalante
“What you start in your classroom can be powerful enough to change the culture of your entire school.”
“Be who you want to see.” (28:23)
“If you really want to change your culture, you are in the most powerful position to change it. There is nothing more powerful than a teacher.”
Pygmalion effect (29:49)
Kids will rise to the expectations you have for yourself. (not the expectations you have for them)
Blog post about it
Master Teacher Project (31:12)
7 Principles of Effective Instruction (32:29)
“Use Feedback to help you both get better”
What kind of feedback is this assignment going to give me about how students are doing?
How do I respond so I can give the student the type of feedback this assignment was designed for?
Color-coded rubrics (36:22)
Feedback has to give kids a pathway to improvement
Rigorous Instruction (38:34)
Free tutorial for rigorous instruction
Requires students to construct meaning for themselves
Requires students to impose structure on information
Requires students to integrate skills into processes
Requires students to apply what they’ve learned to more than one context and to unpredictable situations
Unit planning template
Dr. Jackson’s interview with Ashton Kutcher - Curious Not Furious (42:29)
Kutcher’s work on human trafficking / Bodies are not Commodities A21 curriculum
Funding Iowa Donors Choose projects
“If you don’t take every opportunity to learn something, if you’re not looking at everybody as ‘they have something they can teach me’, then you’re significantly cutting yourself off from insights, some perspectives that could really broaden your own.” (47:32)
Being passionate about something makes you quicker to judge sometimes (49:52)
“Curiosity and judgment can’t fit in the same space.” (51:08)
Summer PD opportunities with Dr. Jackson - 2 Builders Labs (June 24-26 in CA; July 15-17 in Arlington VA for Instructional Coaches)
Takeaways (52:50)
AP Progress in St Vrain
10 signs of a toxic culture (Episode 8 - How to Detoxify your school culture - School Leadership Reimagined podcast) “Safety is not about removing discomfort.” Are people safe enough to be uncomfortable with me?
56 min
April 29, 2019Teaching Kids Who Read with Daniel Willingham
Episode 038: Dr. Dan Willingham, Cognitive Scientist
Connect with Dr. Willingham
Website: http://www.danielwillingham.com/ | Twitter: @DTwillingham
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Loving reading the most (05:07)
Make it an easy choice (07:12)
Rewards & incentives for reading (07:26)
“Take your kids seriously as a reader as soon as you can.” - Dan Willingham
Making books the topic around the water cooler (10:15)
Fluent decoding, comprehension, and motivation - the three-legged stool of raising kid who read
“Before he can develop taste, he must experience hunger.”
30 min reading with the principal @ Indian Peaks Elementary - Kathi Jo Walder (11:36)
Camp EmpowerED in SVVSD - May 28 & 29th, Register HERE
Dr. Willingham’s books: The Reading Mind, Raising Kids Who Read, Why Don’t Students Like School
Dan’s next book: Memory & Self-regulation of memory (12:46)
Make It Stick, Mark McDaniel & Peter Brown, Henry Roediger (note: Read this book! It’s amazing!)
Re-reading (14:07)
Highlighting (17:22)
Annotating is much better (19:43)
Vocabulary instruction for understanding complex texts (20:31)
Explicit vocabulary instruction works AND it’s very sensitive to context - need a number of examples to round out understanding
Encouraging reading for leisure with rewards & incentives (24:41)
Attributions (stickers, rewards, etc… what role do grades play in this??)
Drop Everything & Read; Sustained Silent Reading (28:31)
Research: Manning, M., & Lewis, M. (2010). Sustained silent reading: An update of the research.
Digital vs. Analog reading (30:54)
YouTube video APS Conference in San Francisco - psychological science in K12 education (34:09)
What psych concepts do we, as teachers, need to get better at? (35:49)
How kids behave & what they do
Theories of memory & knowledge; Behaviorist / Cognitive / Constructivist
Research on Homework (39:31)
Homework as a reflection of school values
Takeaways (41:47)
Ask the Cognitive Scientist column
Why Don’t Students Like School
“Memory is the residue of thought. To teach well, you should pay careful attention to what an assignment will actually make students think about, not what you hope they’ll think about, because that is what they will remember.” - Dan Willingham
45 min
April 15, 2019Positive School and Classroom Culture
Episode 037: Jennifer Gonzalez, Cult of Pedagogy
It’s not a real cult. It’s a mindset, a family, a ton of free resources, a podcast, great blog posts, relevant topics, and, frankly, a security blanket for busy teachers. Many times it’s pushed our thinking, strengthened our practice, and given us solace. It’s the Cult of Pedagogy, and we had the privilege of speaking to the “Head Teacher Nerd”, Jennifer Gonzalez, about school culture and much much more.
Connect with Jennifer Gonzalez
Website: www.cultofpedagogy.com/ | Twitter: @cultofpedagogy
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
Cult of Pedagogy (02:10)
Blog, Podcast, YouTube (04:17)
Jennifer’s favorite episode: Episode 4 (06:32)
Recent Episode with Sal Khan
TQE Method post
SxSW Keynote - The Aerodynamics of Exceptional Schools (08:19)
9 Principles to make change happen: e.g. Validation (blog post on validation)
Importance of a strong School Culture & Classroom Culture (11:49)
Marigold analogy (14:18)
Teachers supporting each other (17:38)
Teacher self-care (20:13)
Angela Watson
Balancing relationships at work with relationships at home (23:30)
Setting boundaries on social media (25:34)
List feature | Twitter chats
Promoting positive classroom culture (27:22)
Student classroom discussions - blog post
Icebreakers
360 Spreadsheets
Equity Maps & Chat Stations (29:29)
Equity Maps: iPad app to map classroom conversations
Chat Stations
Grading & Grading Practices (33:50)
Blog post: How Accurate are Your Grades?
Blog post: 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half
Student Self-Assessment (36:17)
Starr Sackstein
Todd’s Brain
Delaying the Grade post
Jennifer’s Teachers’ Guide to Tech 2019
GeoGuessr game
Becky & Ben’s favorite CoP blog posts (42:49)
Pedro Noguera on Cult of Pedagogy
5 Second Solution for a Talkative Class YouTube video
45 min
April 01, 2019Digital Minimalism With Cal Newport
** Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism**
Join us to learn from best-selling author & Computer Science professor Cal Newport as we talk to him about exploring the world of digital abundance, using technology with intention, and walking through life with purpose. Learn more from Cal on his website, at calnewport.com, where he has archived about 10 years of blog posts on everything from study habits to career advice and more - and read one of the business books everyone will be reading this year to engage in this discussion further.
Connect with Cal Newport
Website: calnewport.com | Book: Digital Minimalism
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Links & Show Notes
From the book: “The urge to check Twitter or refresh Reddit becomes a nervous twitch that shatters uninterrupted time into shards too small to support the presence necessary for an intentional life.”
Why digital minimalism? (03:27)
Deep Work - technology in the workplace
Professional v. Personal use of technology (04:42)
Engineering technology for constant use (05:52)
Re-engineer the social experience to be addictive - constant, intermittent, incoming stream of social approval indicators - autotagging, liking, etc.
Steve Jobs on minimalism (08:02)
Original iPhone - making listening to music & talking on the phone more magical
(Cal’s NYTimes OpEd: Steve Jobs Never Wanted Us To Use Our Smartphone Like This)
Screen use iOS
Average modern user - 2 h social media per day - Tristan Harris (10:58)
Psychology of detaching yourself from social media
Maximalist mindset - natural loss aversion
What is Digital Minimalism? (13:04)
How to minimize: 30 day Digital Declutter (14:38)
Digital Declutter experiment with 1,600 people
Modeling good digital habits for the younger people in your lives (19:41)
Public perception on these shifts (20:52)
NBA commissioner on social media and stress in players
2016 oped for NYTimes - & the commissioned response
Increased social media use & loneliness (23:18)
“Social Snacking”
(Psychology today article on this topic)
Focus is the new IQ - from Deep Work (25:10)
Start with the value and then identify the tools that help; questions we should ask for instruction (26:14)
Start with learning goals & add the goal of developing deep, focused thinkers
Audio vs. visual for reading (29:33)
Value of in-person lecture (31:34)
Professional Rock-Paper-Scissors (on YouTube!) & what that teaches us about social psychology (32:27)
Value of solitude (35:04) - “freedom from input of other minds”
Lead Yourself First
Solitude deprivation
Stress & anxiety in generations with ubiquitous technology during adolescence
Making the declutter process stick (39:35)
Attention capital theory & Cal’s next book (42:16)
From his blog: Attention switching blog post
Attention residue (48:14)
Willpower is a finite resource (50:25)
Rituals around deep work can reduce the barrier of entry
“Follow your passion” is bad advice (54:38)
Blog post
So Good They Can’t Ignore You
Ngram viewer
To learn more from Cal: calnewport.com - 10 years of blog posts
Work Life Podcast with Adam Grant
1 hr 2 min
March 21, 2019 Evicting The Enemies of Yes (ASCD Recap)
Connect with Alyssa Gallagher & Kami Thordarson
Website: www.inprogress-consulting.com/ | Twitter: @am_gallagher; @kami_thor
Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
19 min
March 19, 2019 Ditching Deficit Thinking (ASCD Recap)
Connect with the Dream Team
Websites: learningpersonalized.com, habitsofmindinstitute.org, nuatc.org | Twitter: @allison_zmuda, @benakallick
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Connect with ASCD
Website: www.ascd.org | Twitter: @ASCD, @ASCDConf, #Empower19
25 min
March 18, 2019Dwayne Reed on a Culture of We - ASCD Recap
Episode 035: Dwayne Reed, Welcome to the 4th Grade :)
In the first of our mini-series highlighting the conversations at the ASCD Empower 2019 Conference (#Empower19 for more on social media as well…), we sit down with inspirational teacher Mr. Dwayne Reed from Chicago Public Schools. Please enjoy this quick discussion about getting to know our classroom by starting with ‘you’, then ‘them’, then ‘we’, a quick reprise of his keynote at the General Session of the conference. (Becky’s Chicago accent comes back a little harder in this episode, too, so brace yourselves for that…)
Connect with Dwayne Reed
Twitter: @TeachMrReed | Facebook: Mr. Dwayne Reed
Connect with Vrain Waves
Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Connect with ASCD
Website: www.ascd.org | Twitter: @ASCD, @ASCDConf, #Empower19
Links & Show Notes
ASCD Empower Conference in Chicago, IL - upcoming ASCD conferences
Welcome to the 4th Grade on YouTube (01:31)
Ron Clark - bread / pizza analogy
Overview of his speech - relationships matter (08:08)
Who am I (08:42)
Who are THEY (09:30)
Who are WE (10:32) - and “Sharing the Shine”
Working on this throughout the year - how do our strengths advance as us a group (11:52)
On Love (14:21)
Angie Thomas’ The Hate You Give (Amazon, Overdrive)
Self-care & relationships (18:51)
Closing (20:51) & My Teacher Loves Me, with Mr. Reed & student, Tre
24 min

About Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education

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Vrain Waves seeks to provide teachers powerful professional learning anywhere, and anytime. We feature interviews with educational giants, successful professionals, and sought-after consultants to…