Unpacking Education & Tech Talk For Teachers

Latest Episodes:

Connecting Students and Building Classroom Community Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

This week, Danielle Reyes—8th grade language arts, social studies, and AVID Elective teacher—joins the team once again to share ideas on how to connect with students to build classroom community in order to accelerate learning this school year. In this episode, we spend time digging deep into relationship-building strategies, sharing practical and easy-to-implement best practices you can use with your students this school year. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Leveraging What We Have Learned This Past School Year to Reimagine Education Moving Forward Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

As we start to return to full-time, in-person teaching, we wanted to take a moment to process the experiences of COVID on us and our students. We have begun to hear conversations centered around the question, "What are your takeaways from pandemic teaching and learning?" This inquiry assumes that everyone has had the opportunity to reflect on their experiences, which may not be the case during the flurry of activity that accompanies the end of the school year. Join us and our special guest, Danielle Reyes—an AVID Elective and 8th grade language arts, social studies teacher—as we reflect on the past year and the best practices from remote teaching that we will incorporate into the face-to-face classroom. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Managing Academic Transitions After a Disruptive Year of Learning Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

Many teachers and their students will be going back to face-to-face learning. Join us to explore how we can leverage transitions this year to focus on accelerating learning. We talk about how we can flip the deficit mindset associated with "learning loss" to reframe how we engage students with language that reinforces their self-worth, confidence, and self-motivation. To inspire and motivate students to move forward, we need to take advantage of these transitions to build them up, partner with them, and help them believe that they will succeed. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Insights from the Class of 2021: A Conversation with High School Graduate, Andrew Hoggard Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

In this week's episode, we celebrate our students and what they have accomplished during this past year. We meet with Andrew Hoggard, a graduating senior from Washington, who shares with us the challenges he and his fellow students faced, their accomplishments, and the lessons they have learned that they will carry forward as they continue on the path toward future readiness. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Teacher Insights & Reflections: Taking Lessons Learned from Pandemic Teaching into a New School Year Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

In May, we asked listeners to share their stories from a year of pandemic teaching. In this episode, we celebrate teachers by sharing your insights and lessons learned. We hear from Kimberly Boyer, a 7/8 Pre-Algebra and Algebra Teacher at VandenBerge Middle School; Shartresa Nixon, an AVID Elective and AVID Excel Teacher at the United for Success Academy; and Liz Buffington, a Learning Designer at AVID Center. Join us to learn from each of our guests, as they share their challenges and their techniques for sharing the joy in the work, despite the struggles and stress of this past year. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Game-Based Learning as a Medium to Connect With Every Child Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

More often than not, teachers and parents think video games have a negative impact on children's learning development. In this week's episode, we explore the power of video games and the core concepts of game-based learning. Join our Digital Learning Specialists as they chat with our special guest, Tammie Schrader—a regional Science and Computer Science Coordinator for Educational Service District 101 in Washington—about how game-based learning promotes critical thinking and problem-solving skill development through game characteristics and principles embedded in learning activities. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Computational Thinking: A Conversation with Tammie Schrader Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Join our Digital Learning Specialists as they chat with our special guest, Tammie Schrader—a regional Science and Computer Science Coordinator for Educational Service District 101 in Washington—about how to introduce computational thinking into the classroom to foster real-world problem-solving, creativity, and curiosity, while building students' self-confidence. As Tammie reminds us, it is important to remember that everyone is capable of computational thinking. It's a skill, and like all skills, it can be acquired, practiced, improved upon, and refined. Tammie shares how we can make computational thinking fun and engaging for all students. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Demystifying Computational Thinking Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

When engaging in computational thinking, problem-solving and critical thinking skills are practiced and exercised. Supporting students as they learn to employ computational thinking will prepare them for jobs and careers that don’t even exist yet. Today, we hope to help our listeners demystify computational thinking and learn ways that they may integrate the foundational skills involved. We dive deeper into four foundational skills: abstraction, algorithms, decomposition, and patterns (or pattern recognition). You are most likely already using some, if not all, of these components of computational thinking. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Insights from an Urban District with Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Ellen Dorr Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

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 accomplished during remote learning, we celebrate the skills we didn't anticipate students learning and their willingness to experiment with us to best meet their needs. We also explore how the technology team brought student voices to the district-wide conversation during the pandemic via empathy interviews. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

Insights From a Small, Rural District with Natasha Monsaas-Daly Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

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 solutions for making technology a sustainable option in the years to come. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.

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