Getting Smart Podcast

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is sponsored by  Screencastify . On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark sits down with Amir Nathoo ( @AmirNathoo ), CEO of Outschool , an education platform that offers live online classes for K-12 learners. Amir earned a Masters degree in Electrical and Information Sciences from Cambridge 20 years ago and has been an entrepreneur and...

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is sponsored by Screencastify . On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Rebecca Midles ( @AKRebecca ) sits down with Rebecca Wolfe ( @rewolfe13 ), Vice President of Impact and Improvement at Knowledgeworks and Ryan MacDonald, S enior Program Associate on the Student-Centered Learning team at the Council of Chief State School Officers.  They discuss t...

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is sponsored by Screencastify . On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by John Watson, founder of Evergreen Education Group . John is the leading expert on online learning. He recently hosted the Digital Learning Annual Conference (DLAC). Let's listen in as Tom and John discuss the promise of online learning, how it is diffe...

Be sure to sign up for the Getting Smart Smart Update for a weekly blast about what's next in learning.  On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom sits down with Briony Chown (@BrionyChown ), Director of High Tech High Elementary Explorer .  Briony is a seasoned educator who is passionate about creating a better future of elementary education. She is going into her sixth year as Director of...

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is sponsored by Screencastify .  On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom speaks with Dr. Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed, superintendent of Hopkins Public Schools in southwest Minneapolis and famous school architect Randy Fielding, who is focused on pathfinding efforts and making Hopkins a more collaborative space.   Let's listen in as Tom, Randy and Dr. Mi...

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast we're joined by three esteemed guests to discuss the new AASA Report issued by the Learning 2025 Commission, which makes a commitment and a recommendation for whole child design.  Joining us today is Dr. Luvelle Brown who is currently serving as the Superintendent of the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) in Ithaca, New York.  We're also joined by Dr. P...

In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom speaks with Anthony and Chelsea Craig, leaders in the state of Washington and advocates for indigenous ways of life and leading.  Dr. Anthony Craig has served as a teacher, teacher leader, principal, and central office administrator in suburban and reservation settings in Washington state. He is a Professor of Practice, Educational Leadership & Pol...

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Rebecca Midles is talking with Randy Weiner and James Bailey about their new book The Daily SEL Leader: A Guided Journal .  Aside from being an author, Randy Weiner co-founded and served as the first Chairman of the Board at Urban Montessori Charter School (UMCS) in Oakland, CA—the nation's first public Montessori, Arts Integration and Design Thinking s...

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom is joined by Dr. Pedro Noguera and Dr. Frederick (Rick) Hess, co-authors of the new book A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K-12 . Pedro Noguera is the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the Rossier School of Education and a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Southern California....

This episode of the Getting Smart Podcast is brought to you by a new Getting Smart campaign called "What If?" On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Rebecca Midles talks with Antonia Rudenstine about RedesignU and a new approach to k-12 content mapping.  Antonia Rudenstine is a former high school teacher, is now the director of reDesign, LLC, a consulting group that focuses on creating new...

Today, Shawnee Caruthers, the Director of Learner Experience at Getting Smart, is sitting down with Dr. Debbie Silver. Dr. Silver is an award-winning educator with 30 years of experience as a classroom teacher, staff development instructor, and university professor. As a former Louisiana State Teacher of the Year, Debbie is one of the nation's most popular keynote speakers and professional develop...

On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom sits down with Dr. Fernande Raine, a social entrepreneur who works towards re-imagining how we talk about, teach and use history as well as bringing civics education to the forefront. She currently heads Got history and The Learning Collaborative , two organizations that work to change the way we teach and think about history. Let's listen in as Fe...

This week, Tom Vander Ark is sitting down with Justina Nixon-Saintil, the Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at IBM. Justina drives strategic, socially responsible programmatic investments that enable IBM's technology and talent to address some of society's biggest challenges worldwide. She also leads initiatives like P-TECH and SkillsBuilds and uses multi-sector par...

Today the Getting Smart team is sitting down with Mark White, an award-winning teacher, Principal, and Superintendent, as well as Dwight Carter, a nationally recognized school leader and Director of Student Support Services at Eastland-Fairfield Career Center in Groveport, Ohio. Recently, Mark and Dwight published the second edition of their book, Leading Schools in Disruptive Times: How To Surviv...

Today Tom is joined by Fred Dust; the author of the new book, Making Conversation: Seven Essential Elements of Meaningful Communication . Fred is a former Senior Partner and Global Managing Director of the legendary design firm, IDEO. And in his new book, he shows how to design conversations and meetings that are both creative and impactful. Join the conversation as Tom and Fred discuss the four p...

Today, Tom is speaking with Dr. Christina Theokas, Chief of Applied Science at Turnaround for Children, about the whole-child design movement and the new Toolbox from Turnaround for Children. The Turnaround for Children Toolbox is an online hub created by educators, for educators — and is backed by science, research, and passion. With this tool, educators will be able to create a supportive enviro...

Today. Tom is sitting down with author and entrepreneur, Suneel Gupta, to discuss his new book, BACKABLE: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance on You. Suneel is the co-founder of Rise Labs, Inc. and teaches innovation on faculty at Harvard University. Using the seven steps inside BACKABLE , Suneel went from being the face of failure for the New York Times to being the "New F...

Today, Tom talks with Nate Kellogg of The Learning Accelerator and Gwen Baker of Bellwether Education Partners about the Strategy Lab — a project of the Always Ready for Learning initiative. The Strategy Lab is a networked learning community from The Learning Accelerator, in partnership with Bellwether Education Partners, working to accelerate the development of a more resilient and equitable educ...

Today, Tom is sitting down with Thomas Homer-Dixon, the author of the new book, Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril. Thomas is also the author of the well-received book, The Ingenuity Gap, and, the Director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, Canada. Additionally, he also holds a University Research Chair in the Faculty of Environment at the...

This week, the Getting Smart team is speaking with Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski about their new book, When You Wonder, You're Learning: Mister Rogers' Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious, Caring Kids . Gregg Behr is the Executive Director of The Grable Foundation, a father, and a children's advocate whose work is inspired by the legacy of his hero, Fred Rogers. His co-author, Ryan Rydz...

Today Tom is sitting down with Dr. Trish Scanlon, CEO and founder of SoapBox Labs. Dr. Scanlon is one of the foremost leaders in voice technology — especially with regards to children's voices. She has over 20 years of experience working in speech recognition technology, including Bell Laboratories and IBM. In 2018, Dr. Scanlon was named one of Forbes ' top 50 "Women in Tech." In 2020, she was ran...

This week, Tom Vander Ark is joined by a group of young change-makers and Dr. Erin Raab, Chief Strategy Impact Officer of the Choice-filled Lives Network. Together, they discuss the "100 Days of Conversations" project, a collaborative project organized to catalyze conversations in communities across the country on each of the first 100 days of the new administration. Alongside Erin, three young me...

Welcome back to the Nevada Succeeds mini-series! This three-part series is all about leadership, innovation, and education opportunities within Nevada Succeeds — a Las Vegas-based education non-profit focused on empowering systems transformation through educator impact, policy, and design-thinking. This third part with Nevada Succeeds marks the finale of the series. Tom is joined by return guest J...

In this week's episode, Tom is sitting down once again with special guest, Pavel Luksha. Pavel Luksha is a leading education futurist. He's a Professor of Practice at Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, the Director and founder of Global Education Futures, and serves on the advisory board for Whittle School and Studios. What drives Pavel forward is creating a world that works for everyone. He's...

Welcome back to the Nevada Succeeds mini-series with your hosts, Rashawn "Shawnee" Caruthers and Tom Vander Ark! This three-part series is all about leadership, innovation, and education opportunities within Nevada Succeeds — a Las Vegas-based education non-profit focused on empowering systems transformation through educator impact, policy, and design-thinking. In this second part of the three-par...