Unpacking Education & Tech Talk For Teachers

Latest Episodes:

The "Art" of Teaching: Infusing Artistic Creation Into Your Classroom Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

Art isn't just about drawing. It encompasses so many media, including technology. This week we meet with Nic Hahn, a K–5 Elementary Art Specialist in Minnesota, who shares her experience engaging students in a creative process to promote student agency. The team learns from Nic easy-to-implement strategies for infusing artistic creation into the core curriculum. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Using Technology to Amplify Student Voice Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

In this week's podcast episode, our team is joined once again by Theren Hayes—a National Board Certified Teacher and PK–12 Instructional Technology Specialist from the Tukwila School District in Washington—to share easy-to-implement digital teaching strategies to amplify student voice across grade levels. There are so many ways for us to help students find and share their voice—not only in the classroom but also with the world. Join us as we look at several forms of technology and teaching best practices to amplify students' ownership of their learning process. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

We Have 1:1 Devices: Now What? Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

Prior to the pandemic, more and more schools and districts across the United States were shifting to 1:1, meaning they had one device for every single student. As a result of the pandemic, an even greater number of schools and districts have gone 1:1, so we ask the question: Now what? In this week's podcast, we begin to shift the conversation from how we get technology into the classroom to how we might create an inclusive, technology-rich environment that fosters student agency and student ownership. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Accelerate Learning With Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

As we face increasing disruption to our routines of living and learning, the conversation about access to learning has become more prominent across the US. In today’s episode, we explore how educators can provide inclusive and innovative solutions to help students navigate their personal pathways to learning. We begin by addressing the following question: How can we provide students with multiple means of engagement? We discuss a common lesson design issue where teachers are instructed to create lessons for the average student. But does the average student really exist? Join us as we answer this question and explore Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Relational Capacity to Up the Rigor in Learning Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

The idea of building relationships has been a frequent topic of conversation in K–12 education over the last few years, especially when thinking about working with communities of color and other marginalized identities. Today, we reflect on the thoughts of Zaretta Hammond—educator and subject-matter expert on culturally responsive teaching—regarding the benefits of getting to know your students. She mentions the practice of using “cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts and content…” We explore what she means by that and how this might look in the classroom. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Are You Okay? Building Resilience and Making Time to Care for Yourself Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, the team shares their strategies, goals, and lessons learned about prioritizing self-care as a teacher. Filled with warmth, humor, and vulnerability, the team wonders how we might learn to give ourselves the same grace we extend to others…and how to do it without feeling guilty. Easier said than done. We know. Join us as we discuss the nature of self-care and the paradox of feeling like self-care means selfish, when in fact, the opposite is true. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Reengaging Students With School Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

In this week's episode, we meet with our special guest—a high school History teacher and History Department Chair at New Visions Advanced Math and Science II in the Bronx—Ruben Martinez. Ruben shares his focus on empathy and learning who's in his class to help engage students in learning as they build new routines in the face-to-face classroom. Together, Ruben and the team share the surprises and insights they have encountered as the new school year begins, and they remind us that we all went through it this year. We all need a hug. That hug might look different for everyone. It might be a high-five. It might be about the Knicks… But we must remember to take a moment to learn to interact again. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Transitioning Young Learners Back to School Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

Transitions happen. As we start back to school this year, we need to help our students understand and prepare for change. Join us as we welcome our special guest, Amini Onowho—a PreK–2 teacher in an Inclusion/Sheltered English Immersion classroom in Boston, Massachusetts—to discuss how we might begin the school year by slowing down to take the time to build a classroom culture where our young students enjoy the learning process. Amini shares with the team how to recognize the external and internal factors that may impede a child's social, emotional, and academic development as well as her strategies for navigating the transition back to school this year with her young learners. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

The Role of Assessment in Accelerating Learning Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

This year, you may know less about what happened in the previous school year. As you start to build relationships with students, it's important to ask questions about what they did learn—framing it as a desire to be a more effective teacher. Join us this week as we meet Tina Y. Gourd, a professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington. Tina helps us reframe assessment by looking at it through the lens of teacher agency in rearticulating education and nurturing social change to positively impact students' educational experience. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Empower Students to Accelerate Learning Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

At the start of an academic year, we know that our students will return to us after the summer break with some gaps in their learning. The approach that we recommend to engage students in the learning process is to think about how we might accelerate learning, which emphasizes a proactive and positive mindset. Join us this week as we discuss how to develop a student-centered approach to accelerate learning and develop opportunities to foster student agency with our special guest: 8th grade language arts, social studies, and AVID Elective teacher, Danielle Reyes. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.