Education Evolution

Teachers are taught to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of all students. But what does that even mean? It's not about lowering standards and expectations so one person's mastery is different from another's. Instead it's about adding more supports for students who need it while keeping targets the same.   The only way to do this is to be more intentional about teaching, more learne...

We know the importance of literacy and music and the importance of getting children involved in learning through movement. What if we paired the two together, no matter the age of the students? That's what Susan Chodakiewitz is doing through Booksicals, creating musicals from picture books for some fully immersed learning. And what she's discovered as a result is more confidence and more engagemen...

Parents have dreams for their kids. Maybe it's that the child earns that sports scholarship that the parent didn't get. Or that the child gets into the big four-year college that the parent couldn't afford. Or that the child excels on the stage that the parent was too afraid to get on.   There's nothing wrong with dreaming of all our children can achieve, except if we're pushing them into somethin...

Teachers continue to leave the profession in droves and I don't see an end in sight. That means larger classes and teachers who don't always have the expertise they need to support our youth in the way they deserve.   This week on the podcast, I'm calling you to action! I'm sharing some of the current events and challenges around our present teacher shortage--how it's impacting schools and childre...

Everyone should be working to ensure our kids are okay; it's not the sole responsibility of parents or teachers or mental health professionals. If we want to make sure our kids are ready to be tomorrow's leaders, making sure our kids are okay needs to be a collective responsibility and priority.   This week on the podcast, I'm talking to Jordan Posamentier of the Committee for Children, an organiz...

We know that storytelling is a sure way to engage learners and hook them. Students need to want to learn if they're going to retain the information. And immersing them in stories is a vital tool to humanize experiences, especially now as technology has changed and distanced many aspects of life and learning.   Building on technology and immersive learning is creating cutting edge opportunities for...

We know the importance of bringing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to children, but sometimes it's difficult to find connections that make sense to our kids. And, let's face it, that is easy for teachers to implement.   That's why organizations like Bricks 4 Kidz are so important. This week on the podcast, we're getting a look behind the scenes to find out what this organization...

Community schools are a big asset to communities whose schools struggle to meet the needs of all its youth. But it takes time and effort to start to see change. A lot of time and effort.   This week on the podcast, I'm talking with Emily Woods, the head of education for the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation and long-time policy advocate. She shares what it really looks like to start and grow an e...

We ask so much of teachers, from customizing learning to being that trusted adult some children don't have at home to advocating for individual children. And yet we also still ask them to start from square one at the beginning of every school year, gathering data about their students so they can serve them best.   The added challenge is that many of our teachers aren't skilled in digging into data...

Belonging is vital if our kids are to learn. They need to feel understood and safe, and that often starts with teachers. But teachers have a lot on their plates already, and new legislation has them fearful that they'll do or say something that might jeopardize their jobs.   While this podcast episode doesn't solve this challenge, it spotlights the need for more conversations around creating space...

Teachers are burned out and continue to leave the profession in droves. One of the biggest challenges is that there's so much out of our control as educators that we struggle to cope. Even before COVID wreaked havoc on our world, there was little we could do to control what happened in our day-to-day lives. What if we just let go of what we can't control and instead focus on what is within our pow...

In the U.S., we say we're growing global citizens, but are we really? Being a global citizen means that we're willing to have uncomfortable conversations, we are willing to see others' points of view, and we're cooperative across borders about global events.   It's interesting to look at how other countries' educational systems operate and believe that we can all learn so much from one another.  ...

It might seem like there's no correlation between recent Supreme Court rulings and what happens in our public schools. But that's not the case at all, especially if you look at potential translations of decisions down the road.   There's a new ideology in the Supreme Court, one that has leaders on both sides of the political aisle perking up. On one side, decisions are being handed down that are c...

We forget that in order for teachers to teach materials, they need to know how to use them. Most teachers today don't have any experience with robotics or computer science, so how can we expect them to teach these skills to our students?   There's a lot of talk about ensuring that curriculum is inclusive, but we forget about the teachers. Sure there are computer science teachers out there who can...

Language development isn't worksheets and passive listening, especially when it comes to language delays and struggling students. After a traumatic brain injury, guest Emily Cadiz learned first-hand how difficult it is to get back language skills, much less learn them in the first place.   Our pre-kindergarten children spend up to 4.5 hours a day in front of a screen, impairing their ability to us...

As educators, you know that kids need independence. And yet, many our youth graduate from high school having never had to take responsibility for getting themselves up on time, fixing themselves a meal, or scheduling an appointment on their own.   Our kids are being raised in a bubble where parents (and sometimes educators) do it all for them, for fear kids might fail at something.   We're doing o...

We assume our children will organically learn how to organize their thoughts and belongings, be able to manage their time, and more. Not true. In fact, if you thought about it, you'd realize that you struggle with this too.   We must teach these executive functioning (EF) skills to our children. In doing so, we can transform their family and school experience.   This week on the podcast, I'm joine...

Neurodivergent students often get pulled out of classrooms and taught separately because they are "different." Well, we're all a little bit different. Does that mean we should all be taught in silos? Not a chance.   There's an inclusive program in the Seattle area that's supporting our colorful, mismatched students in a unique way that can help them on and off the stage. Youth are learning through...

How do we know if our children are digesting what we're teaching? We give them assessments! And if you've ever stepped into a traditional classroom in the U.S., this could mean many things. Often it means large, summative assessments at the end of a unit or school year to determine what the students have retained.   Sadly, this type of assessment is ineffective, for more reasons than I can begin t...

Many of us go into our fields because we're inspired by someone who supported us as youth or we see something that we want to fix. For Vanessa Casta ñ eda Gill, this week's guest , it was something else. She wanted to fix herself.   After a neurodivergent diagnosis at 14, then hiding that diagnosis from everyone but her family for more than six years, Vanessa was looking for a way to be successful...

We recently hosted our second annual EdActive Collective summit to help support a learner-centered, equitable learning environment for all children. With the help of a fantastic list of trailblazing educational and industry leaders, attendees heard from experts on topics that helped to reimagine education models, apply neuroscience to learning, raise youth activists, support leaders through this c...

We know that kids learn best when they're interested in the curriculum. But our traditional model leaves a lot to be desired. Prescribed curriculum regurgitated in front of a classroom full of quietly sitting children is not the way to interest those children.   Instead, we need kids to be involved. We need them to forge their own paths and learn through inquiry. That's exactly how School Lane Cha...

We've all learned so much from the pandemic, and school leaders and superintendents are no exception. In addition, things that we knew from being inside the schools have been spotlighted to the public, thanks to social media and the news media.   While that might be good for conversations around change, there's still a lot to unpack and many hurdles and red tape to get around.   This week on the p...

Being a parent is hard. Being a parent of a child who will one day graduate from high school and have to make decisions about what to do next is even more difficult. And they're one and the same.   In the United States, we live in a tragedy of student loan debt. According to Investopedia , Americans hold about $1.75 trillion in student loan debt. And while the government debates on whether to forg...

Too many educational systems determine the success or failure of students based on just a few assessments. Assessments that don't have a clear goal or purpose, aside from measuring what children can memorize and regurgitate back.    This week on the podcast, we're talking about going beyond those assessments and looking at the purpose of assessments and creating a system that's relevant, equitable...