Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education

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**Vrain Waves: Teaching Conversations with Minds Shaping Education**

Vrain Waves seeks to provide teachers powerful professional learning anywhere, and anytime. We feature interviews with educational giants, successful professionals, and sought-after consultants to help teachers feel more informed, inspired, and connected. Join us each week as we highlight educational theory, strategies, and tools that all teachers can put to use in the classroom.

Latest Episodes:

We Got This with Cornelius Minor Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

Connect with Cornelius Minor
Website: kassandcorn.com | Twitter: @MisterMinor | Book: We Got This

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Cornelius’ Introduction & Background (02:05)
- Working through and reflecting on failure; teacher imagination (03:45)
We Got This, the book, and the Teacher-as-Hero Narrative (05:59)
- Jamal Eigel, illustrator
Why is the Teacher-as-hero narrative problematic? (07:40)
- People as humans not heroes; allies, not saviors
- Heinemann Podcast w/ Mr. Minor - Building Better Heroes
We all want better (09:52)
- Teaching in the contemporary political moment
- We are pro-kid - to help them create opportunities for themselves
- “Anything that abridges opportunity is my enemy.”
- Challenge: How do we actualize ‘better’
How do we navigate the contemporary political moment? (12:05)
- Everything is iterative
- Story about Cornelius & his soccer team
- Bringing it back to the classroom - what it means to be a member of a community - advocacy & activism (16:10)
- The world hands you a curriculum - if you’re observant & you listen, you can do really powerful things
- How can we all help surface and solve those stories? (17:55)
- Racism, ableism, classism - Who should be working to solve it?
- Empathy is a really powerful tool
- Decolonize school by trying to understand each other
Get to know our students better by listening - “Where is the poetry in this person?” (21:04)
- Spend our time observing (22:35)
- Labels are necessary shorthand but we have to avoid getting trapped in those (23:08)
- Disability spread - the spread effect (23:57)
Hip Hop Ed (24:31)
- #hiphoped
- Art vs. product (25:08)
- At the heart of hip hop is innovation / engineering / iterative design
- Fearless around the act of creation
- Hip hop came out of the Bronx
- Can’t teach without the crowd
How can we be more fearless in our creation? (28:36)
- What is school?
- True creation is messy & noisy - where are we leaving space for that during the school day?
- Embrace approximation (instead of perfection) (30:12)
How do we create space for learning from each other? (31:45)
- Be deliberate about it
- Ms. Disbrow as Cornelius’ mentor
- Watching specific teaching moves, going into each other’s classrooms at least once a week - specific, scheduled time to watch, then specific, scheduled time to practice the learning
Practices in literacy instruction (35:49)
- Students and book selection - craft independence
- “We’re here to create book culture.”
- Independent reading time in class (37:51)
- Agency for students (39:05)
Modeling in writing (39:52)
- Lucy Calkins / Reading & Writing Project
- Readers Workshop / Writers Workshop
- Writing essays - “Essay is a journey of thought.” (39:50)
- Is our own ability a ceiling on our kids’ progress?
Letting go of power without letting go of control (44:27)
- Physics of human relationships
- Create multiple points of investment / sharing power
- “How can I raise a kid’s status in front of their peers?”
How to teach with deep community engagement (48:18)
- Parents & teachers need to see each other as experts
- How can I labor to understand each student in order to give them the best possible experience?
To learn more from Cornelius Minor:
- Kassandcorn.com
- Heinemann.com - We Got This
- Loads of Free Resources from the Book!! Graphic organizers for your own Action Research to support your reflection & iteration
- @MisterMinor on Twitter
- @CorneliusMinor on Instagram
Wrap Ups & Take Aways (52:21)

Sylvia Acevedo on Building Girls of Courage, Confidence, and Character Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

Episode 032: Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts & STEM
In this episode, Girl Scout CEO Sylvia Acevedo shares so much wisdom and insight into how to reach learners at every level, especially girls. Her stories, both from her own life and from being the CEO of girl scouts and seeing the projects that students are working on, are sure to inspire! Stay tuned after the episode for more classroom tips and instructional resources.

Connect with Sylvia Acevedo
Website: www.sylviaacevedo.org; https://www.girlscouts.org/ | Twitter: @SylviaAcevedo | Book: Path to the Stars

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Sylvia on being an Author, Entrepreneur, Engineer, and Rocket Scientist (01:54)
Head Start program / Girl Scouts of America
Sylvia on telling her story: Path to the Stars (03:18)
Importance of math & programming in Middle School
Fashion Institute of Technology in NY
Early experiences with Girl Scouts & how they shaped her interests (07:17)
One of the first Hispanics, male or female, to get a Masters Degree in Engineering from Stanford
Troop leader helped her explore her interest in science
Estes Rocket Kit
Cooking is just like Science
Resilience, determination, & confidence
Girl Scout Cookie Program (10:43) - Create your future, create your own opportunities
Never walk away from a sale unless you’ve heard ‘No’ three times
Persistence, Resilience, and getting to Yes (11:30)
Girl Scouts impact (13:02)
Half of all female elected officials were girl scouts; almost every female astronaut was a girl scout
Girl Scouts Alumnae Impact Study Report
Sylvia’s CEO Patch (13:38)
Voyager 2
Barriers to success (16:46)
Find out the barrier & address that - what is the reason behind that ‘No’?
Bilingualism (20:11)
Bilingual brain development & creativity
Name changes (21:15) - “Sylvia Elia Acevedo Monge” → Sylvia Acevedo
English is the de facto language of business - competitive advantage
What Public Ed can learn from Girl Scouts (24:21)
Learning organization (story behind the badges)
Look at potential → Build skills → Take Action
Caring adult / troop leader
Include all 5 senses in the work
Bronze, Silver, Gold Awards for service
Every year a few girls change state laws with their community action
Child Marriage Law in NH
Smoking laws
No Straw November
Girl Scout Gold Awards
Girl Scouts Mission: “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”
Eco-gloo
STEM + Civic Action (31:54)
Focus on how to make the world a better place
To girls, ranking is not as important as linking
Learning skills in a girl-only space (36:35)
De facto norm is the male experience (37:48)
Decoding the Digital Girl report
Girl Scouts research
Cybersecurity
Cancer Research on women (41:10)
Drug studies based on 180 pound male
Increasing partnerships with schools (43:36)
Number of programs / ways to implement
Ben & Becky’s takeaways (45:34)
Out of our Heads and into the Classroom (47:55)
Gold Award - adding in high, difficult goals for your classroom
Badges (digital or real)
IBM Badging program for its employees
Community aspect - videos to students
Civic Engagement in K12 classrooms: NCLCE Guidebook / Other resources from Jenny Pettit of SVVSD
Put that you were / are a Girl Scout on your LinkedIn Profile!! Join the Girl Scout Network!

Solving Wicked Problems with Design Thinking Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

Episode 031: Design Thinking for School Leaders
Co-authors Alyssa Gallagher and Kami Thordarson stop by Vrain Waves to share the 5 elements of design-inspired leadership. Alyssa & Kami “believe that educators can solve the challenges that face our schools faster and more effectively than any policy, top down mandate, or expensive commercial solution.” Tune in as they explain how design, creativity, and observation can help us navigate and advocate for change.

Connect with Alyssa Gallagher & Kami Thordarson
Website: www.inprogress-consulting.com/ | Twitter: @am_gallagher; @kami_thor

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Visit Vrainwaves.com for full episodes, show notes, and more, and to give us feedback!
Episode w / Dr. Robert Dillon - Designing Learning Spaces
Episode w / The Tech Rabbi - Educated by Design
Design Thinking for School Leaders (01:27)
Episode w / Stephen Schedletsky
Intro to Alyssa & Kami (02:37)
Why should we think like designers? & Wicked Problems (03:32)
Powerlessness & Agency (05:21)
Everything around us has been designed, everything can be redesigned. (07:07)
Building Creative Confidence (07:53)
Remain curious
Accidental design (09:31)
Role of a school principal (10:20)
Building Empathy (11:57)
Shadow a Student (12:41)
Shadow a Teacher
Reading fiction to build empathy
Observation to build empathy (14:10)
Swiffer design story
Design-inspired leadership (18:57)
5 Roles: Opportunity Seeker (problem-finding), Experience Architect, Rule Breaker, Producer (Bias toward Action), Storyteller
Stitchfix story - delight your user (22:32)
“What if” sessions (25:11)
2 bucket challenge warm up (27:10)
Tina Seelig, Stanford professor
Experience Architect (30:43)
Colorado Education Initiative
Menlo park Superintendent - Erik Burmeister; community tour
Perspective matrix (34:53)
The End of Average (37:11)
Design toward the edges (37:21)
OXO - extreme design
Microsoft Inclusive Design
Mistake stories (39:24)
(HBR article about embarrassing story before brainstorming)
For more: Leadlikeadesigner.com
Takeaways (43:07)
IDEO - Teachers Guild - Design Thinking for Educators Toolkit
Teachers Guild newest collaboration: How might we strengthen communication and trust between families and teachers to better support students’ success?

Educated by Design with The Tech Rabbi Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

Educated By Design with The Tech Rabbi
In his new book, Educated by Design, The Tech Rabbi Michael Cohen shares his journey to education through design, while providing useful tools and resources for the reader to help expand students’ belief in their own creative ability. Today on Vrain Waves, he shares many of these insights with us!

Connect with The Tech Rabbi
Website: https://thetechrabbi.com/ | Twitter: @TheTechRabbi

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

3 Episodes on Design
Designing Learning Spaces with Dr. Robert Dillon
This week = Design Thinking with Michael Cohen
Next week = Leadership with Design
What is Design Thinking (01:27)
Stanford d.school model
Divergent thinking
Why for Design Thinking: To support self-efficacy so people realize their capacity to make an impact (03:04)
“Everything around us has been designed so can be redesigned.”
Collective Efficacy, effect size of 1.57 (03:36)
Out of Our Heads and Into the Classroom (04:58)
Educated By Design – Bad Idea Factory (05:45)
Empathy – Define – Ideate – Prototype – Test
Co Barry, CreatEdu – Airplane Wars
Post it Note App (07:15)
Design for fellow classmates (08:02)
School Retool – Shadow a Student Challenge
The Tech Rabbi (09:13) – Michael Cohen
ISTE Keynote 2018
@TheTechRabbi on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
Educated By Design book
Everybody has intrinsic creative ability (14:05)
Functional fixedness (15:10)
Daniel Pink Episode of Vrain Waves – his book Drive
The Candle Problem – Dunker’s Problem
30 Circle Challenge
Connecting Education & Design (19:38)
Design is about understanding the needs of others & then creating a solution
2 Types of Designers; Fiver.com for logo development vs. Boutique customized design
Adobe’s MAX Conference
Subskills of Design (23:08)
Improving in Empathy (25:14)
Empathy Maps (Dave Grey, St Louis) Think – Do – Say – Feel
Kindness by the Dozen
Dan Heath Episode (29:53)
Entrepreneurship class – Survey / Xerox
Divergent thinking & student choice at Elementary & Middle levels (33:47)
Evaluate process vs. product / growth & reflection
Humility & Service to Others (37:37)
Wrap Ups & Reflections (42:18)

On Learning Spaces with Dr. Robert Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

Episode 029, Dr. Robert Dillon: The Space
We’ve covered what we teach, and how we teach, and why we teach… but we have never really talked about WHERE we teach. So today, enjoy the insights and inspirations of Dr. Robert Dillon. In this interview, we discuss the research behind where we learn, how we can put this research into practice by making small changes to our environment, and strategies for keeping this top of mind as we move throughout the school year.

Connect with Dr. Robert Dillon
Website: www.drrobertdillon.com/ | Twitter: @drrobertdillon

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

David Thornburg - 3 archetypal learning spaces (05:45)
Campfire, Watering Hole, Cave
Cooperative Learning Structures / Kagan strategies (07:09)
Quiz, Quiz, Trade
Intro to Dr. Robert Dillon (09:46)
The Space, the book - co-authored by Dillon & Rebecca Louise Hare
St Vrain’s Innovation Center
Why Space Matters (11:32)
Movement, choice, active engagement (12:30)
John Medina’s quote: “If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom.” - from Brain Rules
Designing Learning spaces (14:01)
Optimize the perimeter
Color, Clutter, Visual Noise = distraction
“We always have control over less in our classrooms.”
Strategies to declutter (14:50)
Do I still need that anchor chart?
Ask students every 2 weeks
“Where our students learn matters. Are they guests? Or are they collaborators? (17:04)
Steelcase (19:10)
Steelcase research on Education spaces
University of Melbourne research on ed spaces: LEaRN (Learning Environments Applied Research Network)
Vanderbilt on Learning Spaces
Interaction Geography (20:03) - how people move through the space
Example
The need for Quiet (21:05)
The cost of interruptions (Washington Post, Forbes, Fast Company)
Bob’s favorite learning spaces (24:08)
What’s on the walls? (25:26)
More images of students doing the work vs the ‘perfect’ finished products
Process over product
Accelerant for classroom management (28:02)
Rocky Mountain Elementary
Open Educational Resources (29:49)
OER Commons
Engage NY math curriculum
What are the verbs for your space? (31:29)
Hacks for improving space (33:01)
Natural light; simulate nature
Use visual displays to do so
Balance ‘green time’ with ‘screen time’
Classroomscreen.com
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (34:50)
7 principles: Equitable Use, Flexibility in Use, Simple and Intuitive Use, Perceptible Information, Tolerance for Error, Low Physical Effort, Size and Space for Approach and Use
#LearningSpaces on twitter / instagram & Flexspace.com
How to keep up with these things (40:57)
“Release trapped wisdom into the system.”
To learn more: drrobertdillon.com; @drrobertdillon on twitter
Reflections from Ben & Becky (43:31)
Suzy Evans - teacher clip on assessment-capable learners & using space during assessment (45:21)
LEAVE US A MESSAGE!!! 720-900-1741

Into the Classroom! Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Episode 028, Into the Classroom
For our first show of 2019, we decided to outsource for more tangible tips and creative ideas for your classroom to kick off second semester. We asked Vrain Waves listeners to give us a 2-3 minute voice clip of them describing something in their classroom or their practice that they wanted to share with a broader audience - an extended version of our Out of Our Heads and Into the Classroom segment. Here’s the result - we hope you enjoy, and would love it if you would contribute too! We’ll likely include more of these in different episodes, so please call us (720-900-1741) or email us with a short voice memo and we’ll share your ideas with our audience! Thank you so much, and Happy New Year!

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb
Email: becky@vrainwaves.com, ben@vrainwaves.com

Links & Show Notes

(02:13) Megan Soderlund (Teacher, HS Social Studies - @megss_8) → Unit planning with creative essential questions. Ex: Was farming a mistake? Was Alexander the Great overrated?
(03:49) Catrina Estrada (Assistant Principal - @CatrinaEstrada) → Get rid of red notification bubbles with a separate email for junk mail / subscriptions
(04:54) Adam Wellington (Teacher, APUSH & Gov - @awellington83) → “Make a Meme” class openers - https://imgflip.com/
(07:02) Ann Feldman (Tech Integration Specialist - @annfeldman1) → Leverage Class Kick & its audio feature for descriptive feedback
(09:52) Thom Gibson (Teacher, Middle School math / video / robotics - @gibsonedu; The Thom Gibson Podcast; https://thomgibson.com/) → Consider starting a classroom economy
(11:14) Casey Luker (Learning Technology Coach - @missluker) → BreakoutEDU boxes and the reflections for different participants that come along with the experience
(13:56) Keith Kennison (Teacher, Middle school Math & Science - @kennison_keith) → Join students in exploring the Why, modeling inquiry and learning through challenge
(16:00) Shelly Stevens (Instructor, Teacher Prep Program - @smbpinky) → Interactive Daily Agendas via google slides - Catlin Tucker on interactive daily agendas
(20:24) Heather Brubaker (Teacher, elementary art) → Cross-Disciplinary Challenge; PE / Science / Art; unlikely partner challenge - “Understanding is an Art”
(22:15) Diane Lauer (Assistant Superintendent of Priority Programs and Academic Support - @MrsLauer) → Professional development through video coaching / video for self-growth - Harvard’s MQI Project (Mathematical Quality of Instruction) - Harvard CEPR Visibly Better website / #visiblybetter hashtag on twitter
(26:19) Matt Hawkins (Teacher, Design & Innovation - @mrhawkinsgl) → Landmarks design challenge & building with Minecraft; Minecraft Education Edition
(28:39) Kim Wiggins (Assessment Coordinator - @KWigginsSVVSD) → student empowerment through creating assessment-capable learners; assessment as done with students vs. to students; Learning goals vs. performance goals
(30:48) Sarah Pomranka (Teacher, IB - @sarahpom) → Talking individually with each student for feedback, both before & after assignments; + learning technology to demonstrate understanding
(32:16) Nate Wilcox (Teacher - @natewilcox) → Shortcuts app (formerly Workflows)
(33:17) Anna Mills (Teacher, Innovation / Neuroscience - @millsanna1) → Integrating neuroscience understanding into K-8 curriculum
(36:06) Felecity Treptow (ADE - @felecitytreptow) → Voice Memos app for the classroom
(37:22) Carly Adams (Teacher - @missadams08) → Apple Classroom to organize learning technology
(38:18) Michelle Shory & Irina McGrath (ESL Instructional Coaches - @michelleshory, @irina_mcgrath) → Use closed captioning in Google Slides during presentations - use Screencastify to record; YouTube Clips - settings: adjust speeds, add closed captioning; Google Translate - conversation mode - Things We Wish We Knew 6 Months Ago on Wakelet.com

Auld Lang Syne: The Best of 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

Number 5:
Episode 5 with Dave Burgess:
“Mediocrity doesn’t motivate.”
Episode 11 with Dan Meyer:
“Never assume anyone even cares.” / “Teach math as if it were an elective.”
Episode 9 with Daniel Pink:
“Time plays a much bigger role than we realize… we are temporal creatures.”
“Pay careful attention to endings.”

Number 4:
Episode 14 with Dr. Brent Duckor & Dr. Carrie Holmberg:
“Kids need to build on prior knowledge & associations.”
Episode 10 with Jennie Magiera:
“Treat students like they are human beings.”

Number 3:
Episode 23 with Dan Heath:
“Beware of the soul sucking force of reasonableness.”
Episode 21 with Catlin Tucker:
“Our classroom spaces should be places where everybody is experimenting, everybody is taking risks, and everybody is learning. That can’t just be the students.”

Number 2:
Episode 04 with Kim Scott:
“Radical candor is about how to collaborate effectively with a group of people.”
Episode 02 with Dr. Tony Wagner:
“Our profession is afflicted with the curse of isolation.”
“Isolation is the enemy of improvement, it is the enemy of innovation and it is the enemy of science.”
PD Credits for listening to Vrain Waves: www.tinyurl.com/vrainwavesPD

Number 1:
Episode 18 with John Hattie:
“Know thy impact.”
“I couldn’t care less how teachers teach.”

Goals - Episode 26 with Stephen Shedletsky

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Starting with Why with Stephen Shedletsky Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Connect with Start with Why
Website: https://startwithwhy.com/ | Twitter: @steveshed, @simonsinek |
Stephen's recent Discovery Ed Webinar

Links & Show Notes

Simon Sinek’s TED Talk summary (02:15)
- “People don’t buy what they do, they buy why you do it.”
Why start with WHY? (04:12)
What happens when you start with why? (05:07)
- Proctor & Gamble
- Image of Golden Circle here
How you find your why… describing love (08:25)
- Look to the anthropology - map peaks and valleys in your life & why will emerge (08:56)
- Why lives in limbic brain, has no language
Don’t put ‘I’m a teacher’ in your WHY (10:02)
- Take your ‘whats’ out of your ‘why’
- Richard Branson (11:30) - Infusing fun so that we positively impact people’s lives - put a splash of red in a mundane world of grey
- Collective efficacy
Context vs. content (14:28)
- “Vision without execution is hallucination.” - Edison
Clarity of Why, Discipline of How, Consistency of What
Discipline of How (16:18)
- Stephen’s WHY: To connect with people in meaningful ways so that we connect with depth and live in a more fulfilled world
Helping students find their why (19:40)
- Life experience & brain development are crucial
Does your why change? (22:04)
- If you live in line with what you believe, the result is passion, if you live out of line with what you believe, the result is stress.
Organizational ‘why’ vs. individual ‘why’ (23:08)
- “For what reason are you proud to be a part of this institution?”
- 2 ways to change a population: Evolution or Revolution (24:45)
- Nested Whys
- Simon Sinek’s Why: To inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that each of us can change the world for the better
- “We can each choose to be the leader we wish we had.”
Consistency of What (26:08)
- Authenticity - we say & do what we actually believe
What about when we’re not consistent with our why? (28:30)
- Ask for accountability
- Keep goal in our heads = 7-15% will accomplish
- Write goals down = 45% will accomplish
- Share goals with someone we care about = >80% will accomplish
- (Note: I couldn’t find where Stephen found these numbers, so don’t have a link, but tried to look around online and found that the jury is kind of out on whether or not and when it’s a good idea to share your goals, with whom, what kind of feedback to receive, etc. There are a lot of factors here that make goal-sharing for accountability a grey area.)
- Continue - Start - Stop
Leaders Eat Last (31:08)
- “A whisper is a shout.”
- Inspiration & Clarity, then Trust
- Safety, Value, Belonging
General George Flynn (34:18)
- Definition of leadership - ask someone how they’re doing and care about the answer
Fulfillment > Happiness (36:14)
Work-Life Balance & Flow state (36:48)
- Martin Seligman
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Flow
- Flow = when you’re both challenged and skilled
Books that have shaped Stephen’s worldview (38:40)
- Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl
- Start with Why, Simon Sinek
- Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
- Give and Take, Adam Grant
The Infinite Game: Game Theory & Simon’s new book (40:02)
Takeaways (43:07)
Ben’s skills video (44:25)
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who can come alive.” - Howard Thurman
Michelle Obama
Cal Newport - So Good They Can’t Ignore You
tinyurl.com/vrainwavesfeedback

John Couch on Rewiring Education Dec 03, 2018

Show notes

Episode 025, John Couch: Rewiring Education
In this episode, we speak with a former executive of one of the most influential companies on the planet! In addition to being a personal friend of Steve Jobs, John Couch was the Vice President of Education at Apple Inc. for 16 years. This giant in education enthralls us with stories from his book, Rewiring Education, explains the merits of challenge-based learning, and shares why creativity is worth 100 IQ points!
Couch and jobs pic

Connect with John Couch
Website: http://rewiringeducation.com/about/

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

Purpose of Education (06:22)
1912 Essay - Rockefeller, Board of Education
Todd Rose, End of Average
Lifelong learning & Challenge Based Learning (10:20)
Some resources for CBL: Digital Promise | Apple | EdSurge
Relevant, Creative, Collaborative, & Challenging
Ex: Throw a dinner party (13:42)
Rewiring Education (14:44)
Change is the only constant
Education Rewired (coming soon) - case studies
Beyond School non profit (17:53)
eSpark (18:43)
SAMR (19:31)
Space (20:10)
Dr. John Medina - Brain Rules
Campfire, watering hole, cave, mountaintop
Marco Torres
“Creativity is worth 100 IQ points.”
How do you push a 20,000 pound marshmallow? (26:04)
Microschools
“The way we design our classrooms today will ultimately define our societies tomorrow.”
Slides on website (28:43)
Chuck Yeager / sound barrier
Computer as a Mental bicycle
Benefits of Failure (33:39)
Technology is an environment (37:04)
“We hire people that can solve a problem.”
Graph of student engagement, Gallup
Lisa Mercier | I Wanna Iguana design challenge (39:38)
Everyone Can Create / #everyonecancreate
#makesomevrainwaves
tinyurl.com/vrainwavesfeedback

Understanding How We Learn with the Learning Scientists Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

Episode 024: Dr. Megan Sumeracki & Dr. Yana Weinstein - The Learning Scientists

The Learning Scientists are cognitive psychologists who spend their time sharing research-backed study methods via their podcast, their blog, and their new book, Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide. Today, they talk to us about their research and how it translates into the classroom. Enjoy!

Connect with The Learning Scientists
Website: www.learningscientists.org/
Twitter: Dr. Weinstein: @doctorwhy; Dr. Sumeracki: @DrSumeracki; Learning Scientists: @AceThatTest

Connect with Vrain Waves
Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

IES Report: Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning, 2007 (05:06)
Learning Scientists (LS) 6 strategies:
Spaced Practice, Retrieval Practice, Elaboration, Interleaving, Concrete Examples, Dual Coding
Retrieval Practice (07:48)
The Testing Effect
Concept maps from memory
Blog post
Podcast episode on retrieval
Cognition and Learning Lab at Purdue (12:47)
Deconstruct concepts into pieces for retrieval (15:15)
Retrieval practice helps with flexible application of learned facts / concepts in new situations (17:08)
Cognitive Processes & Creativity (18:26)
Learning Scientists’ Weekly Digests - subscribe today!
Recent digest on creativity
Spacing (19:11)
Podcast episode on Spaced Practice
Blog post about spacing
Inefficiency of cramming for long-term benefit (21:08) (Blog post)
Weekly Digest: Teachers’ Implementation of Spaced Practice
Interleaving (25:08)
Weekly Digest on Interleaving
Podcast episode on Interleaving
Blog posts on Interleaving
Studies on interleaving - performance starts worse but is better in long term; “The Effects of Interleaved Practice” - Taylor & Rohrer, 2010 (30:47)
Felicia Smith (story)
Learning styles (36:04)
Weekly Digest on learning styles
Sharing the strategies with students (43:04)
Strategies Posters on the learning scientists website
Out of our heads & into the classroom (46:37)
Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide
Time logs (47:43)
@AWellington83
Find Becky’s sketchnotes from previous episodes at vrainwaves.com
Learningscientists.org
The Effortful Educator
RetrievalPractice.org / Make it Stick
“Every time a memory is brought to mind, it is reconstructed and reinforced. When students take a quiz, they’re not just checking their memory, they’re enhancing it.”
ATTN ST VRAIN TEACHERS: Please feel free to reach out to Kim Wiggins, one of the SVVSD Assessment Coordinators, who has more resources and a huge passion for these topics! wiggins_kimberly@svvsd.org, or find her on twitter @KWigginsSVVSD.