The Grounded Learners Guild

Hey guild members! It’s not just the weather outside that’s frightful. In the 1993 classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack, the spook-tacular Pumpkin King, is so inspired by Christmas Town, he decides to try his hand at taking the reins. So join the GLG as we put our shrunken heads together to make six connections to education, leadership and teams honoring this terrr[or}----ific film in our...

The holidays are a hectic time. There are parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and students all sitting in rows???? Ha, just kidding - we know those kids aren’t sitting still! The excitement around the holidays permeates into our schools, so many teachers unwind with predictable storylines, cheesy characters, and over-the-top romantic fantasies in the Made-for-TV movies of The Hallmark...

Maybe not the most inspirational educational quote but when Johnny Lawrence of Cobra Kai says “In the real world, you can’t expect people to do what they’re supposed to do,” he is speaking some truth. We all want our students to be engaged, but it’s not a given. We as teachers have to bring students to the mat by becoming master instructional designers who strengthen students academically, persona...

To paraphrase Mr. Miyagi from the 1984 classic film “The Karate Kid”, “there’s no such thing as a bad student; only a bad teacher.” Now hear us out. While we here at the GLG avoid shame & blame where teachers are concerned, we can all admit that some lessons are certainly more engaging than others! But why? And what does engagement really even mean? We’re here to discuss this concept in our very f...

They are faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive. No really. Think about it. Able to assess student work at warp speed. Look - at the end of the hall … it’s a mascot… it’s a bus, nope… its a co-teaching pair! In last week’s episode we discussed the power of having an in sync dynamic duo to support students. So, join our GLG Warriors Three as we continue our quest to suppo...

"I’m The Best There Is At What I Do:” This statement while being a catchphrase of X-Men’s Wolverine, might also be the mantra many of us general classroom teachers subconsciously bring into our spaces. This approach, however, often leads to friction when a new capped crusader is added to “our classroom”.  You’ve probably heard someone utter the truism “2 heads are better than one” before. But I’m...

As well-documented fans of reality TV, we acknowledge that it’s so easy to love the climactic reveals offered by a good reality “makeover”. These parts of the episodes offer so much hope and promise…kind of like the beginning of a new school year or finishing a really good training session, right? It’s easy to want to turn over a new leaf…but how do we take the excitement of sweeping change and ma...

It’s a new school year and With it comes a new season of the Grounded Learners Guild! Season 3… I know, can you believe it?! So what topic is first up in the GLG line up? As we are jumping into new routines, you included, and getting to know many new faces, this episode, jam-packed with Casey’s Mary Poppins bag of strategies, you’ll surely take away a ton you can apply! How many of us steel oursel...

You awaken. The walls enclosing you are white cinderblock. Fifty sets of eyes stare up at you. You turn to grab something anything to appease the eyes that stare, but none of your resources are available. Does this sound like the start of a D&D campaign, or the first day of school? The beginning of a new school year is here, guildmates, so we’ve got one more episode in our Pop Culture playground s...

Ahoy, Guild Members! As you navigate your way through the summer seas, we hope you have a few moments to run that ship aground and take in some connections on our summer Pop Culture Playground. This time, we’re “anchored” in the world of Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnett and the wacky & wonderful pirate crews that sailed into our world in HBO’s series “Our Flag Means Death.” Can we, at the GLG, conne...

The work of a teacher is multifaceted like a diamond. With every shift an educator makes, another need is met and another aspect of learning has the potential to be achieved…but the responsibility that accompanies this power requires a great deal of confidence and self care to continuously uphold. Like talented educators, in music, no diamond shines brighter than Lizzo. With messages of self-love,...

Dearest Listeners, As is befitting, we rejoice in the summer season and allow our minds to finally meander through many a hot, sunny day. Yet, the social season is upon us and the comings and goings of London High Society cannot be ignored! We turn a keen eye to the numerous offspring of Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton and, in so doing, we all may hastily awaken our minds and connect something of v...

Hey, guild members! We hope you are finding some time to relax and play this summer. Welcome to our first of several minisodes for GLG’s 2nd installment of Summer Pop Culture Playground where you get the benefits of checking out a little bit for the summer while still having the opportunity to check in on fun, relevant topics in a game we like to call Six Degrees of Education. Today, we unpack the...

When do you first remember being aware of your learning? Was it a particularly memorable lesson? Maybe just having the maturity to understand a complex topic? Whether we realize it or not, metacognition drives us all towards deeper, more ingrained learning. This episode, the 3 of us are doing what we do best: making metaphoric connections in order to round out this season 2 finale and warm up for...

Hands tremble. Breath quickens. Feet tap. Beads of sweat halo the competitors’ brow. Sounds like a pretty high stakes situation- right? Olympics? Super Bowl? World Series? Baking… bread? Let’s not sugarcoat this - We all experience these physical symptoms during high stress moments, and over the last few years, students and teachers alike are feeling the squeeze from these big emotions. While Soci...

Remember the dawn of the pandemic, when our lives were filled with nonstop fear and uncertainty? But amidst all chaos, many of us might remember the joy that came from that little web show “Some Good News” produced by John Krasinski. We know it’s rough out there, but we could all use some good news of our own, and that’s why we are passing the mic to members of our PLN who are still finding ongoin...

In this installment of the GLG’s Talk Nerdy to Me series, we connect with PD and Gamified-Learning Legend Stefanie Crawford to reflect on the joy that games bring to both teachers and students alike. Be sure to have some notes handy - you’ll definitely want to jot down a list of the games and order from your local game store. Enjoy!

Welcome to The Grounded Learners Guild’s four episode series, Talk Nerdy To Me.” In this series we connect with our listenership by passing the mic to members of our PLN who are finding ongoing joy in their work. In this episode we talk to sketchnote-extraordinaire and majestic starfish Dana Ladenburger to learn what brings her joy in her professional and personal life - and try our hand at our ow...

We know it’s rough out there, but we could all use some good news of our own! And that’s why the GLG is looking to connect with our listenership by passing the mic to members of our PLN who, even now, are finding ongoing joy in their work. In this episode we talk to Educator-Twitter-maestro and fellow-podcaster Don Sturm to learn what brings him joy in his professional and personal life.

Remember when we refused to talk about “Ted Lasso” character Rebecca Welton when we did our Lasso mini-episode? Well, that was intentional. Rebecca as a character offers simply too many connections to the idea of redemptive leadership to cover within those 20 minute norms, so we’re devoting this full-length episode to Rebecca- and leaders everywhere- to help you hop in the perfect pedi-cab to lead...

Remember the feeling of fastening your nametag around your lanyard and excitedly making your way into a crowded hall to see a much-buzzed-about keynote kick off your industry’s professional conference? Yeah, a lot of us don’t either. Two+ years into the pandemic that forced even the most expertly planned conferences to scramble into virtual mode, we are just beginning to work our way back into the...

For anyone who watched the irreverent 90s sitcom “Married With Children”, you know the theme song (courtesy of Frank Sinatra) that states: “Love and Marriage…go together like a horse and carriage.” Well what does it look like when you combine the traditional “love/marriage/family” trajectory with a genuine love and passion for educating others? What even are the horse and carriage in this scenario...

We’ve all heard before that the only constant in life is change. But this podcast is about highly functioning teams and what do you do when the very guild that brings you happiness, security, and professional success is the thing that’s subject to change? Whether you’re the type to address such a change with the go-getter optimism of Parks and Rec’s Leslie Knope or the side-eye reluctance of their...

It’s hard to find an educator or coach who hasn’t been charmed by the Apple TV+ hit series Ted Lasso. What initially appeared to viewers as a silly fish-out-of-water tale of an American football coach making the move to coaching Premier League team Richmond United in England, has surprised us all with its empathy and depth while still bringing the laughs and quotable lines in spades. Are we about...

Hey, guild members! We hope you’ve found some time to relax. Cozy up as we bring back our minisode formatting and the acclaimed game we call “6 Degrees of Education:” Winter Wonderland Edition where you get the benefits of checking out a little bit while still having the opportunity to check in on fun, relevant topics. Today, what better pop culture icon to connect the world of education to than t...