That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY: A Podcast for K-2 Teachers

This week on Season 4, Episode 10 of That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we talk about how play-based learning environments are better for TEACHERS too.The way we are doing school right now is just not at all sustainable for teachers. Nor is it respectful to their creativity or humanity. And many have lost their joy and passion for the profession and are leaving in droves. It's not them. It's not the kids. It's a poorly designed learning structure getting ready to break down under immense top-down pressure.If we have the guts to change how we structure our learning environments, we can create the optimal conditions for teachers and students to experience joy and success in their work.Listen this week to hear how.Books, articles, resources, etc mentioned in this episode:Join our newsletter to never miss an episode!That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY Episode 2: What do WE mean by play-based learning?ASCD Podcast--School Is Out: Decompress, Reflect, Consider What Matters Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on Season 4, Episode 9 of That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we talk about how play-based learning environments by default lend themselves to equity (all students get what they need to be successful) and inclusion.Differentiation is a well-known word in the education space, but it is very difficult to pull off within our standard one-size-fits-all curriculum and pacing...and not to mention... is exhausting for teachers to figure out how to differentiate one learning goal for everyone.But play-based learning provides another way that is way easier for teachers and more empowering and affirming for students.Check out this week's episode to find out more!Books, articles, resources, etc mentioned in this episode:Join our newsletter to never miss an episode! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on Season 4, Episode 8 of That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we talk about how play-based learning environments can help us support students in our classroom with trauma and mental health issues. We often can't know what's going on in all of our students lives, and so creating a trauma-informed classroom environment is best practice to meet the needs of all students.School can also be a place of trauma, as well as exacerbate mental health challenges in students and teachers alike. Just treating the symptoms will never be as effective as looking at the roots of these issues and how we can prevent some of them in the first place.Books, articles, resources, etc mentioned in this episode:Join our newsletter to never miss an episode!Cult of Pedagogy: Unpacking Trauma-Informed teachingFree to Learn by Peter GrayThe Self-Driven Child by Ned Johnson and Dr. William Stixrud Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on Season 4 episode 7 of That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we talk about two buzzwords in the education space related to the quest to increase achievement and motivation: Student engagement and deeper learning.Everyone wants it to happen. And...if you are a teacher... you know how tough this challenge is.  Finding points to engagement or ways to bring learning to life ALL DAY LONG feels like you already want to go home and crawl under the covers just thinking about it.  But not to worry friends.  Play-based learning offers us a reprieve that does not require teachers be the primary source of fuel in student's learning tanks.  Resources for this episode:Join our weekly newsletter!Cult of Pedagogy: What is the Secret Sauce for Deeper Learning?  Other links: About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAM Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on Season 4, episode 6 of That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we begin a mini-series on how play-based learning can help us start to alleviate many of the challenges we face in education today.   And to kick it off, we're starting with a big one: white supremacy culture.   If you haven't listened to last week's episode about the impact of the social environment on human behavior, you'll want to start there.  Because not only is it interesting... but this episode builds on top of it. Often, our lens on 'how the world works' is just "culture masquerading as nature," as anthropologist James Suzman says.   If we truly want our institutions to work for all the humans they are meant to serve, we need to better understand the culture driving our social environments that we take for granted as how the world works.  Only then can we fully see the barriers to our vision and make impactful shifts. Other links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAM Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

The development of character is a big topic we talk about in education, especially in light of all the behavior challenges that seem to be increasing in schools.   This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY we unpack the role of the environment on human behavior.  And we are joined by some big experts: Simon Sinek and Alfie Kohn.  Okay joined is a "loose" term.  We play some clips of their brilliance to better understand some invisible forces that impact how humans behave and why kids might be struggling so much right now regardless of their "character".  And we have good news: there are some things we can do about it if we are willing to face the part we need to play. Resources, speakers, etc mentioned in this episode:Simon Sinek excerptsAlife Kohn excerptsOther links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAMJoin our weekly newsletter to never miss an episode!  https://www.edvolutionary.com/join  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

In this episode we finally spill the beans about how we've leveraged play to create environments that foster independent learning, allow teachers to meet the wide range of needs in a classroom, while also providing a structure to make teaching more sustainable (we'll talk more on the last point in a future episode).  We are so excited to finally share these nuggets after many years of flops, iterations, and perseverance. Full show notes here. Resources/subjects mentioned in this episode: Join our newsletter to stay on top of when our free mini-course on implementing this structure becomes available!  About Montessori (start at 4:34... about 5 minutes)Expeditionary Learning websiteOther links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAM Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY we reflect on many of our failures and how all of them have led to incredible insights about what actually works to transform teaching and learning through play.    Go to the episode page to get the full show notes here. Resources mentioned in this podcast:Ken Robinson Ted Talk: How to Escape Education's Death ValleyEnd of Year Kindergarten Math GuideJoin our weekly mailing list and don't miss an episode or update!Other links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAM Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week we're sharing what we think is the secret to transforming classrooms so we can better meet student needs AND make teaching more sustainable.If you've listened to the podcast before... you might have an idea of where we are going with this. But this is a topic people have a WIDE range of feeling about and carries a lot of cultural baggage. We hope by the end of this episode, you know exactly what we mean when we talk about this in the future.Books, articles, resources, etc mentioned in this episode:Free to Learn by Peter GrayFREE End of Year Kindergarten Math GuideJoin our weekly mailing list and don't miss an episode or update!Other links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAM Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Hello fellow edvolutionaries!We set out two years ago to start building a roadmap to transform education. We podcasted for awhile... and then....disappeared.But now we are back for good and so excited to share what we've been working on. In this episode we recap previous seasons of the podcast, what we've been up to in our absence, and hint at where we are headed this season.You can find the full show notes for this episode here.Other links:About usEDVOLUTIONARY WebsiteFollow us on INSTAGRAMJoin our weekly newsletter to never miss an episode!  https://www.edvolutionary.com/join  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we are joined by District Curriculum and Instruction specialist, Christina Jones who reached out to us a couple weeks ago to have a conversation about how we can work together to benefit kids. I gotta be honest.  When Annie and I first received the email we thought... oh gosh.  Someone from CENTRAL OFFICE.   Which... to be very explicit and honest often means in our minds: that person is disconnected from what is actually happening in schools, wants to make top-down decisions rather than act in partnership,  and won't say anything honest on mic because they need to be the face of the district. As usual, we were proven wrong.  And our conversation with Christina was fabulous, she is fabulous, and we can't wait to figure out more ways to work collaboratively with her.  And I think that is a really important lesson we got out of this episode.  Although our system is structured hierarchically, and there is often a lack of trust (and therefore lack of coalition) between the layers, there IS in fact an antidote that can get these various silos of people who all truly care about the success of kids working together toward a common goal.  You'll have to listen to the episode to hear our conclusions.  Thanks again, Christina! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we have an AMAZING conversation with former school board candidate and educational activist Vernon Jones Jr. Vernon is often painted as part of the  “reform movement” which is often distilled down to pro-charter, anti-teachers rights, pro-testing accountability….but when we interviewed him during the election we heard someone who cares passionately about creating a more human-centered system of education  for kids and the adults who support them.Vernon is 2 for 2 on our podcast-- Annie and I leave every conversation with him more hopeful and inspired in this work.  But we all have an action step beyond agreement and validation if anything is to change.  We must leave our silos that reinforce "our right way" of doing things and have the humility to muck about for answer together.   Because not doing so is the reason we are all still stuck and kids are not okay.  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we are joined by Ellie Schafer and Heather Ott, two Kindergarten teachers at Palmer Elementary in Denver Public Schools for some pretty amazing Teacher Talk about taking risks to do what is best for our students.  (Which may or may not involve our favorite topic, play). While one major aspect of our podcast has involved critiquing the broader education system-- we try every day behind the microphone to work on solutions that match what research and experience tells us is best for children and their learning.  Heather and Ellie are two other such teachers, trying new things and grappling with the inevitable "failing forward" that comes with stepping out and trying anything new .  They also happen to teach our grade level and live in Denver, so this conversation is just the beginning of us working together to build our piece of the roadmap toward transforming education for all kids.  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Last week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we once again got fiery about the idea of a rebel educators network that could work toward common goals to eliminate the barriers to making our education system work for all students AND be an enjoyable and sustainable place of work for educators and school leaders.  (Because clearly... that ain't coming from the top any time soon...)But doesn't an organized group of educators already exist?  We wanted to find out what the role of the teacher's union is in reimagining education.  And Denver, now with an entirely DCTA endorsed school board-- should have the best chance of anyone to make progress.  Rob Gould, President of the Denver Classroom Teacher's Association joins us this week to discuss:-- Is the crisis of staffing in our schools as dire as all the conversation on social media makes it out to be?-- What policies is the union hoping our new board pursues to better support our schools, students, and teachers?-- What is the role of the union in not just making this profession bearable... but also moving the conversation forward on how education needs to change to be relevant to students lives and the research on how children learn and developNote:  We recorded this episode in early February so didn't have the opportunity to address the innovation vs. traditional district school models debate and wish we could have asked Rob about it! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

There's news articles popping up every week sharing that the majority of elementary students are "behind" in reading, especially after the pandemic. Before we start beating the drums of accountability and doing what we've always done--harder, better, or faster--let's unpack what this data is telling us.  What's important? What's not important? AND what might we need to do to *actually* give kids what they need?Hint: It's NOT more bandaids, finger wagging, or pats on the back for our educators. On the episode, we're joined by Michele Morenz, DPS Regional Literacy Specialist, to hear her brilliant insights as a former teacher, literacy interventionist, and now as someone who sees reading instruction daily in multiple schools across the district. Listen to hear our solutions, because we figured it ALL out.(just kidding). Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we revisit the question: "Can change come from the top?" this time with Vice President of the Denver Board of Education, Tay Anderson.  And listeners.... this was a fantastic conversation. Tay is a prominent figure in Denver as one of the youngest elected officials in Colorado history, but also as an activist for various social justice causes, one of them obviously education.  We hope this long-form interview not only lifts up challenges and potential solutions we are currently grappling with in education locally and nationally, but also allows listeners especially in Denver, to learn more about Tay Anderson away from the brief, emotionally-charged arena of social media and news sound bites.  We left the conversation feeling like the students and educators of Denver have an incredible ally to the collective dream of education working better for all. Notes: This conversation with Tay was recorded in January 2022. In the introduction, Ali references that the board "flipped" in 2020, but it was actually November of 2021.   Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week we are joined by our amazing colleague Donnie Staggs to lean into some of the themes that have come up in conversations we've been having with friends inside and outside education after our interview episodes.  Summary: Things are very complex, and we don't really have answers.   Would love to know your thoughts on these big ideas in education!  Drop your comments on our Instagram or Twitter post about this episode! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week we are truly honored to have our very own district superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero join us for a conversation ranging from the immediate challenges facing districts in the wake of COVID to how he is approaching a new long-term vision for how to better support schools and the students they serve.  We are so excited to have conversations with those like Dr. Marrero above the classroom level because even as educators who have a lot of leeway to do what we believe is best for students, there always seems to be a scarcity of time or a ceiling of external pressure outside of our schools keeping us in more of a box than we would like. As we have grappled with these external limitations we have wondered:  is it realistic to even hope for change at the highest level?  Dr. Marrero has a different approach to leadership than we have seen in Denver during our teaching experience.  Take a listen and decide for yourself! We think there is a lot of possibility in the air.  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Komal Shah is a former educator and the author of Raise Your Hand, A Call for Consciousness in Education. Komal's book is incredible and opens with many of the same revelations we had about our education system as we were recording Season 1 of the podcast (which you should go back and listen to if you missed!)In this conversation we talk about what consciousness is, how the foundation school as we know it needs to change, and the role consciousness plays in transforming learning environments to support the humans inside them.  For those of you who have followed the business-driven dictates of the last two decades "Reform" Era in education (think increased testing,  Common Core Standards, evaluations, etc-- lots of hype, little results) you'll be fascinated and inspired by Komal's lens on how 21st century business ideas could in fact help schools serve their clients better.  Follow Komal on social media @consultkomal and her website www.thekomalshah.com Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Annie and Ali reflect on their absence, what's in store for Season 3, and what they hope for EDVOLUTIONARY in the future.  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Voting day in the Denver School Board Elections is Tuesday, Nov 2nd so we're releasing this episode early!This time on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Ali and Annie ask the candidates about the current accountability tools used in Denver Public Schools.  -- Have they  helped us improve learning and growth for students and teachers?--What IS important to measure when we are aiming for the full cognitive, physical and emotional development of human beings? -- How do we keep certain measures from sucking all the air out of the room and causing unintended harm to all the people learning and working in schools? The episode kicks off as always with a lively discussion on the context and research Annie and Ali think is critical to consider as we all answer these questions and decide which candidate represents our values. This week we hear from candidates in reverse alphabetical order by first name, starting, as always, with our At-Large Candidates:Vernon Jones, Jr. (15:00)Scott Esserman (20:20)Nicky Yollick (29:15)Marla Benavides (34:03)Jane Shirley (34:54) District 3: Dr. Mike DeGuire (45:57)District 4: Michelle Quattlebaum (53:03) Gene Fashaw (58:50) Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Ali and Annie ask the candidates about how our money is supporting our values and priorities as a district, and what they would want to do differently if elected to the Denver School Board.  This week candidates are in alphabetical order by first name: Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Ali and Annie share their interviews with the 2021 Denver School Board candidates on their top 3-5 priorities they'd like to see in the next Denver Strategic Plan.   The candidates appear as follows (in alphabetical order this week):At-Large Candidates:- Marla Benevides (20:50)- Scott Esserman (21:17)- Vernon Jones Jr. (28:22)- Jane Shirley (33:23)- Nicky Yollick (42:45)District 3 Candidates:- Dr. Mike DeGuire (45:15)*Dr. Carrie Olson is also running, but was not available for this podcast. District 4 Candidates:- Gene Fashaw (50:52)- Michelle Quattlebaum (52:44)*Dr. Jose Silva and Andrea Mosbey-Jones are also listed as running for District 4 but were not available for this episode. Show notes:  We conducted 40 minute interviews with every candidate.  Some candidates will have longer or shorter answers each week depending on how they alotted time to each question.   Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Welcome back for Season 2!When we left off in Season 1, Annie and Ali were talking about their successes and challenges trying out research-based ideas in the classroom,  and the dire need  to also push for changes at the systemic level.  This led to a podcast pivot to take advantage of a quickly-approaching election season and help get out the word about the different visions that could guide our new superintendent and next Denver Strategic Plan.  This is our moment to be informed and involved and truly move toward edvolution.   Monday on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Annie and Ali ask Denver Public School Board Candidates their favorite question:  What is School For?The candidates featured on this podcast are as follows (this week in reverse alpha order since it often happens the other way):DPS At-Large Candidates:Nicky Yollick (6:44)Jane Shirley (12:49)Vernon Jones Jr. (20:21)Scott Esserman (29:10)Marla Benevides (35:15)DPS District 3 CandidatesDr. Mike DeGuire (42:30)(Dr. Carrie Olson was unavailable for recording)DPS District 4 CandidatesMichelle Quattlebaum (49:41)Gene Fashaw (54:45)(Dr. Jose Silva and Andrea Mosby-Jones were unavailable for recording)Thank you to all who participated-- we left these interviews illuminated and excited!Stay tuned for three more episodes in this series leading up to election day:Mon 10.18- So...what are you gonna do?Mon 10.25: Money Speaks Louder Than WordsMon 11.21: Measuring What Matters Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week, on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Annie and Ali discuss some of the biggest barriers to teaching success and sustainability they are facing in their classroom, and end with where the podcast is going next in its second season.   Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Ali and Annie wrestle with imposter syndrome as they mesh beliefs and theory with reality.  The twisting turns of their conversation go from  the invisible factors that shape our expectations to pondering the most productive questions for examining success and challenges.  Peter Gray is not mentioned one single time, but this is an episode you won't want to miss. Check out the full show notes at www.edvolutionary.org/ep7.  Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Ali and Annie look at one aspect of human nature that gets seriously undervalued in the way we educate children— their natural capacity for play.  Ali and Annie define play, look at trends in how the decline in play over the past several decades has impacted children, and wrestle with how to bring more play into our schools and classrooms to facilitate children's learning in the way that nature designed. Go to www.edvolutionary.org/ep6 for our full show notes page! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Annie and Ali postpone their conversation on play to reflect on the first week of school and the challenges of putting beliefs into practice and trying new ideas when the going gets tough.   Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, Annie and Ali look into how our western beliefs about children lead to practices that undermine the very things we are trying so hard to accomplish in schools.  Ideas are proposed for segments of a new roadmap that respect children's development and needs as people, so follow along on our Instagram at edvolutionarylearning to see how we are thinking about these things in our own classroom!Brilliance that inspired this episode: Books:- The Myth of the Spoiled Child by Alfie Kohn- Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson- What White People Can Do Next by Emma Dabiri- No Homework and Recess All Day by Jerry Mintz- Free to Learn by Peter Gray- Dr Montessori's Own Handbook by Maria MontessoriSee our show notes and links at www.edvolutionary.org/ep4 Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY, we dig into the origins of our western way of looking at the world so we can better understand why we do what we do in education.  Often, our conventional beliefs about human beings or lens on 'how the world works,' is just "culture masquerading as nature," as anthropologist James Suzman says.  Once we catch a glimpse of why we believe what we do--it is hard to unsee the implications of these beliefs for all human beings.  And--as educators, school leaders, parents and a concerned citizenry-- it forces us to make a choice about how we want to be going forward.  Research & brilliance that inspired this episode include:Free to Learn by Peter GrayHunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen DoucleffNonviolent Communication by Marshall RosenbergWhat White People Can Do Next by Emma DabiriMontessori: The Science Behind the Genius by Angeline LillardUntamed by Glennon DoyleJames Suzman on the Ezra Klein Show "Why Do We Work So Damn Much?"Fox31 Denver: "DPS superintendent outlines plans for 2021-22 school year" by Erika Gonzalez. Get links to all our sources on our episode 2 summary and show notes page at: https://www.eduvolutionary.org/ep3 Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

This week on That's SO EDVOLUTIONARY,  Annie opens with a powerful story and Ali pulls out a history lesson to help us understand how we got to where we are in education.  Big questions are asked and the building of a new roadmap begins.Inspired by Seth Godin's podcast episode, "Stop Stealing Dreams" Annie and Ali discuss:-What was school for at it's inception?- What do parents, educators and kids think school should be for now? - What are we currently acting like school is for?- How can we start to change the parts of what we are doing that don't align with our values?Research, history, and brilliance that inspired this episode include:Akimbo Podcast: "Stop Stealing Dreams", by Seth Godin"I Sued the School System" Youtube video by Prince Ea"What White People Can Do Next" by Emma Dabiri"Free to Learn" by Peter Gray"Disrupting Class" by Clayton ChristensenReal Time with Bill Maher: 'New Rule College Scam' by Bill Maher"Colleges dump SAT and ACT, fueling anti-testing movement" by Bianca Quilantan for PoliticoTED Talk: "How to Escape Education's Death Valley" by Sir Ken RobinsonGet links to all our sources on our episode 2 summary and show notes page at: https://www.edvolutionary.org/ep2 Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Who are Annie and Ali and what the heck is EDVOLUTIONARY?By the end of this tale, we hope you'll know!Check out our summary and show notes page at: https://www.edvolutionary.org/ep1 Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)

Ali and Annie are starting an education podcast!  The first episode drops Monday, August 2nd. Here's the gist of what you can expect! Sign up for a FREE T.E.A.C.H. Hub account where you can access all the resources we share each week! Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Tik Tok Visit our TPT Store Visit our website If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate and leave a review! It helps other people find us. :)