Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education

"Feedback is not a luxury, it's a necessity; not a means to an end, but an end in itself. It's the purpose of why we teach." If these aren't mic-drop quotes for you, we need to talk! Or you need to for sure read this duo's latest work, Feedback for Continous Improvement in the Classroom . Listen in as we talk all things feedback with Brent Duckor and Carrie Holmberg. You'll hear how they emphasize...

Our first mini-wave goes straight to the source...2 classroom teachers right here in St. Vrain! Join us as Altona Middle School's Cleveland Smith and Westview Middle School's Danny Hernandez talk classroom connections, relationships, and building collective efficacy.  @SuzannahEvans2 @saeed_shane @WestviewSVVSD @AltonaMS

We Love It Here! Yep, we sure do! Shane and I are loving being behind the mic with Vrain Waves and in this episode, we chat with Clint Pulver, the Undercover Millennial, whose book, I Love It Here , is a must-read for anyone in the business world AND anyone in education.“No significant learning can ever happen without significant connection” is just one of our favorite takeaways and goosebump mome...

The mic has officially been passed to us from Ben Kalb! With the re-launch of the podcast, we are celebrating all things NEW; new year, new students, and new teachers! Our goal is to create inspiration and empowerment for educators, so alongside the giants of education, new hosts Suzy Evans and Shane Saeed will also be talking with classroom educators and how they use these theories in their pract...

Episode 060: Grading for Equity with Joe Feldman Connect with Joe Feldman  Website: https://crescendoedgroup.org/ | Twitter: @JoeCFeldman   Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Lindsay Laporte Twitter: @LaPorteLindsay |Oakley Schilling Twitter: @OakleySchilling | Ben KalbTwitter: @mrkalb   

Episode 059: Principal Kafele on Transformative Change Connect with Principal Kafele Website: https://principalkafele.com/ | Twitter: @principalkafele | YouTube: School Leadership Thoughts Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves |  Shane Saeed| Instagram: @fantasticallyfourth Twitter: @saeed_shane Ben Kalb| Twitter: @mrkalb   

Episode 058: John Spencer and the Sporky Food Truck Connect with John Spencer  Website: http://www.spencerauthor.com | Twitter: @spencerideas | YouTube: Spencer Videos Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Violet  Twitter: @vhchristensen | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb  Violet hosts a podcast for instructional coaches called C3 (Connecting Coaches Cognition) and it can b...

Katie Martin is a best selling author, an acclaimed keynote speaker, and a highly sought after educational consultant! Whether you are teaching completely in person, totally virtually, or in a hybrid environment, in this episode we discuss how you can thrive! Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Temple Hayles Guest Co-Host:  @haylessvvsd | Ben Kalb: @mrkalb Con...

Connect with Zaretta Hammond Twitter: @Ready4Rigor | Website: crtandthebrain.com | Book: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro Ryan Holiday , Stillness is the Key , Stoicism , Blog post about habits Zaretta’s Current Conversations (05:05)  Covid webinars Apollo...

Connect with Kate Murphy Website: https://www.nytimes.com/by/kate-murphy | Book: You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro to Kate Murphy, her book (01:24)  Best Nonfiction book of 2020 Listening for a living (03:35) We all have megaphones in our po...

Episode 054: Coping with Covid, with Catlin Tucker As we all try to wrap our heads around the implications the pandemic will have on our students, our communities, our families, and ourselves, we hope to provide some comforting guidance from an expert in remote learning. Catlin Tucker, whose original Vrain Waves interview aired back in Season 2 about her book Power Up Blended Learning, joins us ag...

Episode 053: Ending Average with Todd Rose Connect with Todd Rose  Website: https://toddrose.com | Twitter: @ltoddrose | Most Recent Book: Dark Horse Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro to Todd Rose (00:22)  Episode with John Couch WWII cockpit story Episode with Natalie Wexler Jagged profiles ; Todd Ro...

Aligning Words and Intentions with Mike Anderson Connect with Mike Anderson Website: https://www.leadinggreatlearning.com/ | Twitter: @balancedteacher | Most Recent Book: What We Say and How We Say it Matter Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb What We Say and How We Say It Matter Two Year Podiversary (1:00) P...

Connect with Jimmy Casas  Website: https://jimmycasas.com/ | Twitter: @casas_jimmy | Most Recent Book: Culturize Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Jimmy, Intro (00:32)  Live your Interview (03:18)  Elena Aguilar, Bright Morning “The biggest problem facing public education today is ineffective leadership.” (...

Connect with Thomas Friedman  Website: www.thomaslfriedman.com | Twitter: @tomfriedman | Most Recent Book: Thank you for Being Late Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Importance of Public Education (05:20)  Thomas Friedman’s Educational Experiences (06:09)  Mr. Friedman’s articles on New York Times A beautif...

Connect with Manoush Zomorodi  Website: www.manoushz.com | Twitter: @manoushz | Book: Bored and Brilliant Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Manoush’s work (01:08)   Note to Self podcast Zig Zag podcast Ted Radio Hour podcast Stable Genius Productions Bored and Brilliant Book Manoush’s TED Talk Technology an...

Episode 048: Knowledge Party with Natalie Wexler Today on Vrain Waves we have an exciting and somewhat earth shaking interview from Natalie Wexler, education journalist and author of The Knowledge Gap. She walks us through the contributing research and education history that led her to write the book, and some strategies for schools to set the foundation for student success. From her website: “Edu...

   Teaching & Advertising (01:30)   Episode 5 w/ Pirate Dave    Rosie the Riveter / Uncle Sam    This Girl Can (02:28)   Sport England    Missy Elliot, Get Ur Freak On    Authenticity over perfection (05:05)   Dove Real Beauty campaign    Commercial with sketch artist    Zaretta Hammond's book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (07:26)   Selective Vulnerability as a trust-maker    Growi...

Episode 048: The Power of Joyful Teaching  I know, I know - clips episodes seem overdone, but bear with us… in this show, we went through our interviews to this point and used Dr. Martin Seligman’s PERMA model for happiness to think through how we can be more joyful in our classrooms (and beyond). Links to all other shows can be found below!      Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com |...

Episode 047: Dr. Jim Afremow - The Champion’s Mind Sports psychologist Dr. Jim Afremow joins Vrain Waves to share the importance of cultivating a champion’s mindset in everything you do. There are plenty of parallels between sports and teaching and learning; some of these parallels are useful for thinking about your classroom or your collegial relationships in a different frame. Download the Champ...

Episode 046: Dr. John Medina - Brain Rules We’ve been waiting for years now for the chance to interview Dr. John Medina: Developmental Molecular Biologist, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and author of Brain Rules , Brain Rules for Baby , Brain Rules for Aging Well , and Attack of the Teenage Brain , to name a few. Dr. Medina takes time out of his bu...

Episode 045: Dr. Tom Nichols, Expertise in Education Five-time Jeopardy! Champion, professor, and author Dr. Tom Nichols joins us on Vrain Waves to discuss the implications of his work on K12 education. We chat with Dr. Nichols about the importance of relying on experts, cultivating our own expertise, and the cognitive heuristics that get in our way. From his website: “Tom Nichols is a U.S. Naval...

Connect with Chase Mielke Website: https://affectiveliving.com/ | Twitter: @chasemielke | Newest Book: The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again , ASCD Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Links & Show Notes Out of Our Heads and Into the Classroom (01:56) Tammy Trzebiatowski ( @ttrzebiatowski) - Exerci...

Episode 041: PLC Plus with Nancy Frey & Doug Fisher Join us for this discussion with the potent pair Doug Fisher & Nancy Frey! We learn about their new book, PLC+ and the five questions that get to the heart of what collaboration time should look like in schools. Stay tuned until the end for a special promo code for our listeners for the PLC+ Institutes the authors will be hosting in Color...

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 T...