Unpacking Education & Tech Talk For Teachers

This week, we meet with Dr. Ellen Dorr, Chief Technology Officer of the Renton School District—a large, urban district in Washington. Ellen has a strong commitment to educational equity, system design, and a deep love for students and their families. We open the conversation with a focus on the successes Renton School District has achieved this year. With a deeper look at what students have accomp...

This week, we meet with Natasha Monsaas-Daly, Director of Information and Learning Technology for Watertown-Mayer Schools—a small, rural district in Minnesota. Natasha's work focuses on integrating rigorous and authentic instruction, with quality technology tools. She discusses the power of hybrid and remote learning and how these options will continue in the future, challenging us to find so...

As teachers, we provide rich learning experiences for our students every day within the walls of our traditional classrooms. But when we are able to break down those walls and connect with resources beyond our normal learning spaces, we can bring a new level of magic into the learning experience that can inspire and enrich our students at an even higher level. Research has shown that when we can p...

Our guest today knows a thing or two about steadfastly leading a school district through a year of unprecedented obstacles. We are joined by Dr. Dan Bittman, Superintendent of Independent School District 728 in Minnesota. In this episode, we celebrate the leaders who rose from every corner of our educational communities: students, parents, teachers, and building and district administrators. We dis...

Welcome back to Teacher Insights at Tech Talk For Teachers! This week, we meet with Kaia Tomokiyo, a Kindergarten teacher from Renton Unified School District in Renton, Washington. A national board certified teacher with 10 years' experience, Kaia engages students in their learning process through creativity, choice, and voice. Join us as we talk with Kaia to learn strategies to provide choic...

Each student who enters the classroom should feel that they have every opportunity to become successful. Students of color often come to school with experiences that some teachers are unfamiliar with—whether it is language, customs, or beliefs. As teachers, we have the opportunity to embrace these new experiences and learn how to include them in our classroom systems and structures to ensure the s...

While the past year resulted in disruption in schooling, as we look forward can we shift the focus of the national dialogue from learning loss to accelerating learning? The pandemic highlighted and widened the opportunity gaps that many students across the country face every day. For more than 40 years, AVID Center has proven that acceleration with social-emotional and academic supports can reduce...

As teachers, a metaphor that often resonates with us is the teacher as gardener. While we can't force a plant to grow, we can water it, provide light, add any extra nutrients that are needed, and speak gently to it to encourage growth.  And sometimes, we need to support these young plants with a stake for a little while, until they’re strong enough to stand on their own. Project-based learnin...

Meet Annie Tremonte, a digital learning coach and ELA/social studies facilitator in the Renton School District in Washington. Annie joins our Digital Learning Specialists to share her experiences with project-based learning and how she has learned to embrace the complexity, the messiness of the creation process, and the ambiguity of the end result to create relevant learning experiences where her...

Let's unpack PBLWorks' definition of project-based learning to identify strategies to bring this dynamic, student-centered approach into your classroom in ways that will work for face-to-face, remote, and hybrid learning. Join our Digital Learning Specialists as they review eight essential design elements of PBL that help teachers and students unpack complex problems and explore possible...

Welcome back to Teacher Insights at Tech Talk for Teachers. With this series, we celebrate teachers and the important role that you play in our lives and community. We learn about what is happening in virtual and hybrid classrooms across the country—what is working and what's challenging. This week, we meet with Julie Beaver, a middle school and high school math and world language teacher fro...

Today, we are focused on exploring how to efficiently and effectively plan for hybrid learning. Many school districts are being asked to pivot their delivery systems on short notice to adapt to new infection rates in their area. This essentially means that teachers must be ready to flex between face-to-face instruction, a hybrid model, and fully remote learning at any time. While this makes a lot...

Welcome back to Teacher Insights at Tech Talk for Teachers. With this series, we celebrate teachers and the important role that you play in our lives and community. We learn about what is happening in virtual and hybrid classrooms across the country—what is working and what's challenging. This week, we meet with Leif Voltz, a middle school science teacher from Salk Middle School in Elk River,...

Let's unpack hybrid learning to identify strategies that can best be used during distance learning. In a hybrid model, students learn some lessons during face-to-face classroom instruction and other lessons virtually, away from the physical classroom. The intention behind effective use of the hybrid model is to provide students with some control over the pace, place, path, and time of their l...

We are excited to introduce Teacher Insights to Tech Talk for Teachers. With this series, we celebrate all teachers and the important role that you play in our lives and community. We will regularly talk with teachers from around the country and beyond about their current experiences in the classroom—their challenges, their successes, and the lessons they have learned that they will continue to im...

Let's explore station rotation, playlists, and flipped learning—three models of blended learning that can be used to guide and inspire students to take ownership of their learning process. In this episode, our Digital Learning Specialists discuss what it means to be an architect of learning, bringing the art and science of teaching together to design learning that has the structure to support...

At its core, blended learning is learning that takes place partially in a face-to-face, brick-and-mortar setting and partially in a virtual, online setting. Blended learning leans on the ideas that both face-to-face and online learning offer significant benefits and that the blended-learning teacher will draw upon the advantages of each option. During the time of pandemic learning, teachers are in...

It's fair to say that no one expected 2020 to turn out like it did. Regardless, there are still lessons that we can take with us into the new year. Teachers have grown so much this year in their use of, and comfort with, technology. Students have had to assume a greater level of independence. This year will fundamentally change the future of education for the better to transform what happens...

It's almost the new year! Thank you for joining us for our special holiday series. We are sending you warm wishes for 2021, as we say goodbye to 2020 with tips for establishing a self-care routine for the new year that incorporates time to recharge. We also conclude our countdown by sharing our most popular episode with you. We appreciate your support as we celebrate over 20,000 downloads of...

We hope you are enjoying your winter break! Welcome to the second episode in our special holiday series. Join us as we share tips for rest and relaxation, as well as a countdown of our top three episodes! This week, we are celebrating our episode with the second-most downloads. We thank you for joining teachers around the world who have helped Tech Talk for Teachers surpass 20,000 downloads since...

We are preparing for the holidays and hope that you are looking forward to a winter break, as well! Our next three episodes will be a shorter format, focusing on sharing tips for rest and relaxation, as well as a countdown of our top three episodes! We hope that you join teachers around the world who have helped Tech Talk for Teachers reach nearly 20,000 downloads since we launched in August. Than...

While many things have changed as learning has shifted to virtual and hybrid environments, one thing remains the same: Celebrations and recognition of achievements are essential elements of every classroom. These moments and events drive student motivation and growth, as well as the development of a positive classroom culture. But how do you create moments for celebration and recognition when you’...

Don't share your personal information. Don't talk to strangers. Don't post rude comments. Too often, we have started the conversation about digital citizenship with students around the don’ts. By shifting to the dos, we engage students in a topic that inspires them to become thoughtful, empathetic digital citizens who collaborate to solve important problems at the intersection of te...

Whether you are in a completely remote or hybrid classroom, the reality of teaching during a pandemic has required teachers to develop new routines. Many of us are struggling with work time that blends into personal time. It’s too easy to slip into being on call 24/7, as we tackle emerging challenges and requests from learners anywhere and at any time. Join us as we talk about how we are tending t...

Unlike face-to-face teaching that relies on your physical presence, teaching presence in virtual learning depends on course design and organization, as well as your facilitation style during online interactions. Join us as we talk about the importance of spending time developing connections among your students to help build a positive and supportive online-learning environment, where even brief in...