The Good Life EDU Podcast

This episode shares the story of how the Accreditation Committee in Nebraska identified a need and creatively addressed the issue through extended collaborative efforts that resulted in a new interpretation of Rule 10 to better serve Nebraska schools. Together, Dr. Decua Jean-Baptiste (Director of Accreditation with NDE), Dr. Dan Schnoes (CEO of ESU 3), and the Accreditation Committee Chair and Su...

This week, we are grateful to our guest Zac Chase, Digital Equity Impact Fellow with the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology, for his time as he joins the pod to speak to the 2024 National Ed Tech Plan (NETP). In the episode, listeners can expect to learn about the context for and development of the NETP and its central tenets. While the conversation references some of th...

This week's episode featuring Trevor Goertzen from SchoolAI kicks off a series of upcoming episodes previewing sessions at this year's Future Ready Nebraska Conference. Trevor is joined by Eileen Heller of ESU 3 and Dr. Nicholas Ziegler of ESU 5 for a conversation highlighting the "spaces" feature within SchoolAI where educators can create a safe and student-friendly AI chatbot interaction for lea...

This week, K.K. Neimann, National Director of District & Strategic Initiatives at World Savvy, joins us for an episode on education innovation and how World Savvy utilizes multi-year partnerships with schools and educators to help them create inclusive, adaptive, and future-ready learning environments. On the pod, we discuss global competencies, ideas for fostering teacher empowerment, and how to...

In this episode, Dani Potter (B-FIT Coordinator) and Cassie Houser (Behavior Specialist) of ESU 4 join us to share their commitment and work in support of students with behavior needs. Our conversation illustrates how Cassie and Dani's roles differ but work in tandem to ensure that not only the student but also those supporting the student(s) have the strategies, communication, and input needed to...

This episode picks up the conversation from a previous episode that told the backstory behind the purchase and distribution of robotics solutions across K-12 schools in Nebraska. On the pod, Dr. Josh Snyder and Mr. Erik Emerson of Wahoo Public Schools share the story of the devices their district received and how they are introducing products such as Bee-Bots, Tello EDU drones, and the Tetrix Prim...

Dr. Paul Darvasi is back for his annual episode on all things serious play and learning! In this episode, Paul explains his new role as the Executive Director of the Serious Play Conference and how innovation so often comes from utilizing ideas and techniques from one domain in a new or different context. We also delve into educators as learning experience designers, and how viewing an educator's...

In this episode, Superintendent Brian Rottinghaus, 4th Grade teacher Aeden Ghyra, and 5th Grade teacher Hadley Sejkora share Pawnee City School's transformative approach to math education. Together with Tara Gossman of ESU 4, this great collection of educators detail the implementation and impact of Eureka Math, highlighting how it has not only accelerated learning but also enhanced students' unde...

This week, we are joined by Bridget Peterkin and Grace Clausen, the co-founders of Dyslexico. Dyslexico is a Nebraska-based AI tech company that provides spelling and grammar correction tools designed specifically for those with dyslexia. Listeners will learn the origin story of this effort and how it has been built out through the support of the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at...

In this episode, Dr. Mike Dulaney and Kyle McGowan of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and Dr. John Skretta, Administrator of ESU 6, discuss several education-related bills that will be heard during this year's legislative session in Nebraska. Together, these leaders and education advocates provide context and details that are sure to support anyone interested in learning more about t...

This episode highlights the shift to inquiry for social studies instruction. On the pod, John Lee of C3 Teachers conveys the details of their national efforts with the C3 Inquiry Design Model that Nebraska ESUs utilized in their collaborative efforts to develop inquiry units of study for grades 4-8. Mark Brady of ESU 7 also joins us to share the history of this effort in Nebraska that has produced...

In this first episode of 2024, we are joined by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning for a conversation that spans an array of topics all related to teaching learners Digital Citizenship, whether that be in your own home or in the school environment. On the pod, Seth shares his passion for connecting with students and schools through a live virtual connection to make space for conversations...

This episode features two return guests to our show, Dr. Dan Schnoes of ESU 3 and Dr. Larianne Polk of ESU 7. Dan and Larianne each serve their respective ESUs as the Chief Administrator, and this past October, they had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC to meet with Congressmen and women and advocate for Nebraska education. In this episode, they highlight the six main topics from those co...

Media Literacy speaker, author, and evangelist, Julie N. Smith, joins The Good Life EDU Podcast this week to talk about the impact generative artificial intelligence is having on media literacy efforts in education. On the pod, Julie highlights examples of how AI is being used to create content and what consumers (like educators, learners, and the general public) can do to keep from being misled b...

This week The Good Life EDU Podcast features the work of five Nebraska ESUs that received an Educator Pipeline Grant from the Nebraska Department of Education. John Skretta, Molly Aschoff, and Drew Harris join the pod to speak to the unique models that each ESU designed as a way to meet the specific local needs of the districts that they respectively serve. The conversation spans opportunities for...

Dr. Nicholas Ziegler, World Languages Coordinator at ESU 5, is back on the show this week to give an update on Distance Learning in Nebraska. On the pod, Dr. Ziegler also speaks specifically about the Distance Learning World Languages Program at ESU 5 and the tremendous successes that students are experiencing through those DL courses. Listeners can expect to learn about the content area of World...

Amanda Bickerstaff, CEO and co-founder of AI for Education, joins The Good Life EDU this week to share how teachers can take a more nuanced approach to prompting generative AI chatbots to save time during the lesson design process and enhance learning opportunities for students. Our conversation builds from there to include insights on generative AI for student use, AI literacy, and the next wave...

This week, we welcome Dr. John Schwartz, Superintendent of Millard Public Schools, to The Good Life EDU to share how schools across Nebraska are telling their stories through the Rooted in Nebraska campaign. Dr. Schwartz is one of a number of education leaders in our state who are committed to this effort to highlight how we are "Rooted in Academics and Grown for Success" in Nebraska. To learn mor...

This week on the podcast, we're joined by Rob Dickson and Dyane Smokorowski from Wichita Public Schools. They take us through their district's venture into generative AI, which kicked off with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022. In our conversation, Rob and "Smoke" delve into the motivations behind their initiative, the implementation process, and the significant shifts they've witnessed...

This week on The Good Life EDU Podcast, John Meehan of EMC2 Learning joins us for a conversation on student engagement, playful learning, and how educators can get connected to the resources and support that he and Michael Matera provide through their company. John will be in Nebraska for two days of fun and professional learning in November as he works with our ESU PDO TLT affiliate, and this epi...

In this episode, we welcome Peg Coover of ESU 10, co-leader of the Digital Citizenship Symposium effort statewide, to preview the upcoming live and in-person DigCit event on October 16th. We are also joined by this year's keynote speaker Dr. Marialice BFX Curran, who shares her heart for this important topic and what attendees can expect from the event. To learn more and/or register for this event...

Education speaker and author Lainie Rowell joins The Good Life EDU Podcast this week with an uplifting message and a number of great ideas for fostering and maintaining an attitude of gratitude. Lainie recently released Bold Gratitude, an interactive journal that serves as a practical companion to her book, Evolving with Gratitude: Small Practices in Learning Communities That Make a Big Difference...

This week on The Good Life EDU Podcast, we welcome Dr. Kathryn Nieves Licwinko to discuss how generative AI technology can help educators reach all learners and design experiences that account for learner variability. We explore how teachers can use generative AI to enhance and expedite their efforts to apply a universal design to learning (UDL). UDL is a framework that helps educators make learni...

In this episode of The Good Life EDU Podcast, Sheyanne Smith, who is the High Ability Learning Specialist for Nebraska's Department of Education, joins us to speak about the present efforts to build upon and enhance services for Nebraska's H.A.L. students. We also discuss resources and support for the H.A.L. educators who teach and lead in those spaces. For more information, the resources mentione...

Speaker, author, and all-around edu-rockstar, Allyson Apsey, joins The Good Life EDU Podcast this week to share ideas for school leaders who are looking to take their staff meetings to a whole new level this school year. Allyson explains the structure of her most recent book, Lead with Collaboration: A Complete Guide to Transforming Staff Meetings, and details easily implemented, practical strateg...