Meet Education Project

Here are our general observations, a review of where the sentiment is and productivity is, almost a year after Covid19 hit. 02:05 Our hopes 03:06 Teachers are still being very reactive, day to day based on COVID cases coming in and out 04:26 Thinking about our first graders and their teachers 06:10 Administrators putting out […]

Why do we pull data and set goals around sub-groups in a school when we have a goal that’s hoping to meet the needs of all students?   02:00 Schools setting goals based on data on student academic success 03:00 Schools also set goals based on specific subgroups  03:30 Trying to understand where some of […]

What is the impact on relationships that this remote virtual learning world has put on teachers, parents, students, and staff? 02:00 Why this episode 03:00  Building rapport and building relationships 03:19 Transactional relationships 03:45 You don’t have those water cooler moments anymore 04:17 How do you build trust? 05:00 Strategy cycles at Whiteknact Elementary, with […]

What can potentially engage students virtually? Here are different tactics to lessen the load on the emotional exhaustion that happens from running a virtual classroom all day, and to increase student engagement. 04:49 Flipped model for learning 09:01 Having an agenda or checklist 10:46 Pick sticks 13:05 Waterfall response  

We talk about stamina as it pertains to distance learning from the student and teacher perspective, and the challenge of student engagement. 01:32 Three  buckets of stamina: from the lens of a teacher from a first grader doing distance learning from an older learner, an adolescent ninth-grade student 04:31 Everybody is trying to get some sort of […]

Continuing our family-facing series on supporting your child at home, we talk about practicing social emotional learning (SEL) at home, what SEL means, and its familiar and unfamiliar applications.    02:00 Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is about being able to manage one’s self and relationships. CASEL defines SEL as the process, through which children and adults […]

Malika Ali joins us in this series about parents supporting their distant learners; a resource for parents on how to set their child up to be able to learn at home.  In this episode, we talk about how to set up the learning environment, and develop routines and procedures at home that allow the student […]

This episode is a deep dive on teachers and what they’re dealing with as they go back to school and focus on student success.   01:44 The teachers are on the front lines of this, having to focus on student success, but also, redesign and rethink how they’re approaching these models.  04:39 Polarization of emotions […]

How are people making back-to-school decisions for K-12? We share our perspectives on some of the different strategies for going back to school.   01:24 Guidance from the state for how schools should be considering going back to school. 02:58 How are the school leaders impacted and trying to make these decisions and what are some […]

Today’s One Thing is a series produced in partnership with The Learning Accelerator. Week 6: How do you differentiate remote instruction?   00:42 Recap of past episodes 01:40 What differentiation is and is not 03:35 Tips for looking at differentiation in 3 different ways: Targeting instruction by strategically grouping your students Offering opportunities for choice Universal accessibility of […]

In this Part 2 of the Distance Learning Feedback series, we share what students and teachers want to leave behind once we get to a new normal in the classroom.   01:04 Why talking about the “leave behinds” is important 01:22 Students and teachers miss actually being in person  04:16 Some students are struggling with […]

Today’s One Thing is a series produced in partnership with The Learning Accelerator. Week 5: How do I assess learning to inform and improve instruction remotely?   01:12 Data points to be used not to assign grades but as a concrete way to collect information to meet students instructional needs 02:24 What is important is how […]

Christina did a survey in mid-March, asking students and teachers: What was successful about distance learning? What do you want to keep?   01:29 Reason for the survey 03:03 Use of choice boards and playlists so that students can learn at their own pace 03:51 What is a choice board? 05:18 What is a playlist? […]

Today’s One Thing is a series produced in partnership with The Learning Accelerator. Week 4: How can educators flip existing content or curate content online to personalize and engage students, still with high levels of rigor?   01:41 Teachers, don’t recreate the wheel 02:21 Flipping the content: How can teachers translate their already existing super […]

We’re talking about screencasting in the classroom: how is it used and how can it help re-imagine effective learning in this new virtual world.    01:30 What is screencasting? 02:14 Screencastifty https://www.screencastify.com/ 03:07 Making interactions more efficient 04:19 A teacher’s experience, and feedback from students  05:56 What Screencastify can do for thinking and learning 06:32 […]

How can we develop systems and strategies that help students to self-manage engagement and progress, and also own the accountability for their work?  The Learning Accelerator – https://learningaccelerator.org/ 01:13 Recap of past Today’s One Thing episodes 02:51 4 different things you can do to help encourage accountability 03:24 Identifying your goals 04:15 Each of your students […]

We’re sharing virtual end-of-year activities and ideas in the classroom.   03:08 Compliment trade or compliment exchange 05:46 Digital scrapbook Canva https://www.canva.com/ Google Slides https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/0/ 07:05 Top 10 list 08:05 Letter to your future self 10:32 Dance video 11:17 Virtual awards event Edutopia – https://www.edutopia.org/  

Bianca Davila of The Learning Accelerator joins us again as we talk about how can educators help set up daily structures at home so that students can engage with content, feel supported, and build habits that create independence and autonomy.   The Learning Accelerator – https://learningaccelerator.org/ 02:40 What are the tips and tricks to just […]

Nando Prudhomme and Maureen Sigler of the Highlander Institute, and Liz Leebens of Baychester Middle School join us to talk about how the school is keeping kids and families at the center, and how that is driving student engagement in this time of a pandemic.   01:50 Background on Baychester Middle School  Baychester Middle School […]

We teamed up with The Learning Accelerator for this series, Today’s One Thing, where we focus on one thing that teachers can enact within the virtual classroom every week to connect with students. In this first episode, Bianca Dávila joins us as we talk about how teachers can continue to provide touchpoints with their students […]

We talk about the evolution of the parent-teacher relationship and how these virtual parent-teacher conferences have started to become much more important as parents take on more of the teaching role and the teachers take on more of a consulting role.    01:30 Feedback on BEP052 – What Does “Developmentally Appropriate” Mean? 02:44 What was […]

Mike Miele of the Highlander Institute and Stefanie Lafleur of Greystone Elementary School join us to talk about the expectations and reality of making the shift to distance learning during a pandemic.   02:31 Difference between digital and distance learning 02:58 Distance learning is not a synonym for virtual learning 04:09 Their [our kids’] social […]

Laura Jackson tells us about the Yellow Farmhouse, a working farm where they do education, food, and farm-based education for children and adults. Yellow Farmhouse Education Center – https://www.yellowfarmhouse.org/   02:20 Yellow Farmhouse Education Center and its mission 03:36 Reconnecting to food – How much extra time does it imply? 05:08 If you include kids in […]

Vera De Jesus of the Highlander Institute shares a bundle of resources for teachers, families, partners, etc. that could potentially support or inform around Covid-19.   02:11 Coronavirus Resources: Teaching, Learning and Thinking Critically – resources and links that provide lenses for how we can talk to students about what’s going on currently, and what […]

We talk about the differences between remote learning and online learning, and the misconceptions about the two.   02:24 If this was an easy transition, you might have been doing something wrong. 02:50 Where does the student fit in? 03:25 There needs to be some predictability and routine to how the classrooms are built out  […]

This is an update on the Covid-19 situation and how it’s applied to K-12 education.  01:59 Trends observed as schools went into remote/distance learning  03:35 People making adjustments based on feedback coming from families and communities 04:36 Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger 05:00 Everybody is in the shared adversity situation where we’re […]

Malika Ali of the Highlander Institute joins us in talking about the ways that we use the concept of “developmentally appropriateness” as kind of a deficit lens or as an excuse not to have high expectations for kids. 01:53 How we hear the phrase “developmentally appropriate” thrown around without evidence or without doing work that’s […]

The WOOP toolkit for educators helps students set a goal (wish), and by visualizations, help them imagine an outcome and an obstacle, then plan for it.   01:01  What is WOOP? WOOP for classrooms: https://characterlab.org/activities/woop-for-classrooms/  02:28. WOOP process (Nick) Wish: To be in much better shape in 3 months Outcome: I will feel much more […]

What’s the importance of preparation in education, in the classroom setting?   02:00 Home Depot analogy: You wouldn’t go into Home Depot without a project in mind. 03:10 How do you plan with just the right amount of effort? 03:45 To those who say, “I’ve been in this for 10-20 years, so why do I […]

In the midst of the coronavirus discussion, we talk about the implications that this is going to have through the end of the school year, what this is going to do to student learning, and to administrations who are making these decisions.    02:06 What I see is not necessarily a fear of this actual illness […]

Author and educator Michael Horn provides insights for parents, students and educators about the research in his book, Choosing College: How to Make Better Learning Decisions Throughout Your Life. Guest Bio: Michael Horn speaks and writes about the future of education and works with a portfolio of education organizations to improve the life of each […]

If you could wave a magic wand to create a school system of your dreams, what would it look like or what would the change be? Mike: 02:42  1. How might we create an integrated school system that honors all kids and their families? How might we train teachers and administrators to exist in that […]

Mike Klein of the Highlander Institute joins us today as we talk about digital citizenship and how to become a great digital citizen. 01:57 Definition of digital citizenship 03:08 I was just thinking about what digital citizenship means to me, and I started to think about the words “steward,” “collaboration,” “transparency,” and really helping people […]

In this episode we talk about adaptive software. How do you use it well? How do you make it work for you? And some ways to make sure that you’re not doing it the wrong way. 01:30 Definition of adaptive software 02:08 Prodigy Math  02:46 Adaptive software being on a spectrum 03:31 What have you […]

Today we talk about student ownership, not just about student engagement and being entrepreneurial, but also teacher happiness and sharing the “effort” in the classroom. 01:10 Story of a teacher in the classroom 03:47 Delegating tasks to lighten teachers’ load 04:31 Is this something that gets taught when a teacher is getting their Masters or […]

In this episode, we talk about the logistics of starting a podcast and how podcasting can be applied in the classroom. We heard from teachers and students not only about great podcasts to listen to, but also that people have ideas to start a podcast. So how do you actually get a podcast done? We […]

In this episode, we talk about podcasting as an alternative route to content in the classroom. How do you leverage the existing great content that’s out in the world now via podcasts, in different themes and discipline areas? How do you do that to potentially provide a different type of learning experience in the classroom? […]

“Only My Smartest Kids Can Handle This” In talking about why this phrase may come out of someone’s mouth and how is it handled, we also talk about student mastery, honors-based education and classroom culture.   02:09 Concept of high kids, low kids, honors kids, non-honors kids 02:59 Phrase is heard from many teachers at […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the seventh of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about the pilot— the time frame, […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the sixth of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about the importance and value of […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the fifth of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about the importance of the early […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the fourth of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about the importance of change agents […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the third of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about best practices for data collection […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the second of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about the 5 components of the […]

Shawn Rubin, Chief Education Officer, and Cathy Sanford, Director of Research and Development, both from the Highlander Institute, talk about their new book, Pathways to Personalization: A Framework for School Change. This is the first of a multi-part series about the book. In this episode, Shawn and Cathy talk about why they wrote the book, […]

What do awards actually do for student performance? Is there a benchmark for an approach to recognition, plaques, awards overall? What is the goal for having those awards? 01:31 Christina’s perspective on awards as a student 02:52 Christina’s perspective on awards as a teacher 03:45 Nick’s perspective on awards 04:29 The Risks of Reward By […]

How do teachers and administrators approach the end of year extension phase? 01:43 Christina’s experience and what she hears from teachers 02:30 How do I use this time in a way that’s meaningful for both me and my students? 03:02 How are you fighting your teacher fatigue? How are you helping students fight their student […]

Can you do project-based learning in a blended learning classroom? How do you do it in the right way? 02:00 What’s the difference between PBL (project-based learning) and BL (blended learning)? 02:40 Project-based learning is coaching your students to engage with content through the lens of a project. 04:40 How do you frame it? How […]

In this episode, we talk about teacher rubrics. How do you think beyond the traditional rubric? 01:35 The single-point rubric and how simplification and clarity could be the key to getting teachers much more excited about rubrics and making sure it’s much more impactful to student success in the classroom 02:03 Christina and her twin […]

In this episode, we talk about incorporating parent and community engagement in the classroom. How do you engage parents in a holistic way? And how do you also engage the broader community to share their experiences on certain topics that you have? And also just engage them in collaboration with your students, and making sure […]

In this episode, we talk about how to be an innovator in a traditional system. How can you innovate as a teacher or as an administrator, and what are the systems that hold you back from doing what you want to do? What are some of the things that hold you back? How can you […]