The Edmentum Podcast

Alyson Perrin believes, "students are changing." She is the Executive Director of Elementary Education at Greenwood School District 50, member of Edmentum's 2022 Class of Inspiring Educators, and winner of Edmentum's 2022 Educator of the Year. In this episode, David and Alyson talk about how Greenwood's teaching and learning strategies, and community initiatives, are being informed by shifts in stakeholder roles. Get to know Alyson, and the rest of Edmentum's 2022 Class of Inspiring Educators!If you like what you hear, you can support our show by subscribing and leaving a review. You can also follow us on Twitter @edmentum and let us know what you'd like to hear our podcast cover next.

After 18 years in the classroom Patty Blanchard decided to pursue a role in educational technology, believing the experience offered students unique benefits. She now is an Academic Coach for Edmentum's EdOptions Academy. In this episode, David and Patty work to uncover ways distance education reframes challenges faced in traditional schooling.If you like what you hear, you can support our show by subscribing and leaving a review. You can also follow us on Twitter @edmentum and let us know what you'd like to hear our podcast cover next.

In this episode, David sits down with School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumnus and Teacher & Director of Art Education, Sean Hamilton. David and Sean reflect on the works of Ai Weiwei and Amanda Williams, and go on to uncover fundamental connections between Art Education and social-emotional learning (SEL). If you like what you hear, you can support our show by subscribing and leaving a review. You can also follow us on Twitter @edmentum and let us know what you'd like to hear our podcast cover next.

 David sits down with Special Education leader, innovator, and CEO of Creatively Focused, Elizabeth Hickey Orme to uncover the enormous challenges facing Special Education teachers and students, and how tapping in to their "super powers" is the key to professional and academic fulfillment. Creatively Focused is committed to helping special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators feel connected and supported in the world of special education as it continues to change–so they can keep doing the job they love and supporting students. Learn more at https://creativelyfocused.net/.

There's little doubt that virtual learning will play a prominent role in the future of education. What is less clear is exactly what that role is and the essentials for success.In light of the new whitepaper from Whiteboard Advisor and Edmentum, A Human-Centered Vision for Quality Virtual Learning, David sits down with Edmentum's Chief Strategy Officer, Amanda Kocon, to talk about leading all education stakeholders towards a human-centered model and to dig into how this new paradigm will contribute to the evolution of teaching and learning.Check out the whitepaper here!

Dr. Troy Hicks is a professor of English and education at Central Michigan University and focuses his work on the intersections of literacy and technology, and, more broadly, teacher education and professional development. David and Dr. Hicks sit down to explore how teacher and student roles are gravitating away from their historical consumer paradigm, and the mindsets needed to thrive in this new environment.

David sits down with Dr. Stacey Adamiak, Edmentum Advocacy Consultant and former Principal for Frederick County Virtual School in Maryland, to discuss the stages of accessibility in online learning and the importance of placing a greater focus on the gap between physical access and access to academic knowledge.

What strategies are you using to overcome the challenges of virtual instruction? EdOptions Academy's Interim Leader of Student and Teacher Services, Nichole Bansberg and Instructional Coach/Mentor, Diane McRandal, come on to talk about how purposeful mentoring and coaching fuels virtual school program success by cultivating stakeholder connections. 

Dave Adams, former Edmentum Chief Academic Officer, comes on the show to share newly published research on building high quality academic programs. From re-imagining stakeholder roles to teacher communities, this research dives into the most important elements of successful virtual programs, and serves as a model for districts and school around the globe.Check out the research on edmentum.com: Executive Summary: Building High-Quality Sustainable Virtual ProgramsElementary Students and Virtual Learning: Evidence-Based Outcomes and Best PracticesScaling Effective Virtual Teaching Practices: Equipping and Supporting Teachers for SuccessEquity in Virtual Learning: Improving Outcomes for Diverse PopulationsVirtual Learning and Rural Schools: Improving Access and Opportunity for Learners in Rural CommunitiesHigh Academic Achievement in a Virtual and Blended Learning Environment

Continuation instruction, nuclear footballs, and "fenergy." Dr. Troy Podell returns to the Edmentum Podcast to help answer the question: What can educators do to feel excitement, instead of uncertainty, when it's time to switch to virtual learning? Searching for virtual or hybrid-learning resources? We collected our best tools and resources to help make sure you and your students will be successful with your virtual, hybrid or blended learning program. Check out Edmentum's free Hybrid & Virtual Learning Success Kit: https://www.edmentum.com/virtual-success-kit

Ever heard of a global academic community? You may soon enough if the Tinkering School has anything to say about it. David sits down with Tinkering School Founder Gever Tulley, and the Tinkering School Volunteer Space Agency (VSA) - a student group formed by Tinkering School students and alumni - to talk about how they transformed a classroom into a Mars lava tube, built web-controlled rovers, and now are opening their online doors to facilitate "Mars Missions" for schools from around the world.The Tinkering School Volunteer Space Agency (VSA) is comprised of Gever Tulley, Sylvia Hoyt, Owen Zoyt, Jack Meadow, and Karen Dwyer-Meadow. You can learn more about the Mars Mission, and sign your school up, here: https://www.tinkeringschool.com/mars.

Education Coach and author, Jorge Valenzeula, joins David to talk about the power of systematically connecting with students using empathy mapping, and shares special considerations for remote learners. You can find his empathy mapping explainer video on Edutopia here.

Why is social experience critical to students success in their core academic subjects? How important is it to the future of schooling? David Adams, former CASEL board member and current CEO at The Urban Assembly in New York, joins us to help answer these questions. 

David sits down with Edmentum's Teacher of the Year, Lindsay Wilhoyte, Success Coach at Vigo Virtual Success Academy in Indiana. Lindsay talks about how an "above and beyond" mindset is required to run an effective virtual program, and how they are re-imagining relationship building in a remote learning environment. Meet Edmentum's 2021 Inspiring Educator Award winners here! 

Edmentum's Administrator of the Year, Denise Handlon, joins us to talk about how they used Edmentum Courseware to increase credits earned in their credit recovery program by over 2000%. By laser focusing on preparing student's to re-enter first time credit classrooms, Denise and her team have been able to maximize the impact their school's curriculum on their most in-need students.Meet Edmentum's 2021 Inspiring Educator Award winners here! 

In our final episode of the Summer of Reflection mini series, David sits down with Samantha Snowden, a Kids and Family Mindfulness Expert at headspace. They talk about what mindfulness is, and how educators can use it to completely change the dynamic of their schools and classrooms. Also, a headspace subscription is FREE for educators. Check it out here https://www.headspace.com/educators#SummerofReflection

Daryl Vavrichek is a Change Management expert with over 20 years of experience in education. In this episode, David sits down with Daryl to discuss the first two steps in any change management effort, and reveals how the Mandalorian inspires us to walk the walk of the change we want to see in our districts and schools. #SummerofReflectionSeries

You may remember Jonte Lee, the DCPS kitchen chemistry teacher, from Ep 15 of The Edmentum Podcast. Through countless media features (Good Morning America, The Washington Post, CNN, and more) Jonte has honed his brand to maintain his commitment to the communities he serves. In addition to being an SME in science, Jonte also holds a masters in Marketing. In this episode, David and Jonte talk about how to build a personal brand.

To kick off this summer of reflection series, Edmentum's SEL Learning Designer Jen Perry joins us to rethink what "reflection" means. From cooking, to kayaking, to listening to podcasts, David and Jen explore ways to find new meaning in summer activities.  

Exploration. Expression. Exposition. These are the cornerstones of learning at the Brightworks School in San Francisco, CA. This month David interviews Founder Gever Tulley to discuss how a strong student agency model re-evaluates the strictness of curriculum and instructional strategies to empower students AND teachers to learn and be resourceful.

Listen to the recording from our [SXSW EDU 2021] live podcast event where special guest Jen Molitor, author of The Happy Teacher Handbook and principal of Blanchester Local Schools in Ohio, comes on The Edmentum Podcast to talk to host David Cicero about the importance of making resilience a conscious effort. We'll discuss how to positively affect student engagement, parent interaction, and the teachers experience. Edmentum Educator Network members Julia Roberts, a lifelong educator who has recently found herself at Edmentum as an English teacher for EdOptions Academy; and Kathleen Hester, an educator for nearly 30 years and presently the principal of Link Community Charter School in Newark, NJ,  will also join the conversation by sharing their questions and sparking discussion.

Jonte Lee is the DCPS STEM teacher whose popularity skyrocketed after he turned his kitchen into an online chemistry lab for his students. In this episode, David sits down with Jonte and discovers how this innovation has led to increased access to authentic teaching and learning experiences not only for students, but the community at large.

Meghan Ramsey, the traveling teacher, has traveled to 27 countries so far throughout her teaching career. In this episode David sits down with Meghan to explore her transition from teaching inside to teaching outside the classroom, and how this drive to see the world has helped her approach education from a different lens.

In this episode David sits down with Catherine Cluck, AP U.S. history teacher at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, and the producer of a viral series of on-site history videos - #thegreatamericanhistoryroadtrip. During this episode they talk about the road trip, what barriers had to be overcome to make it happen, and how this instructional strategy deeply connects students to academic content.

It's the final episode in our first-ever mini series! Many families with students learning from home have discovered that the traditional school day schedule doesn't always work when students are at the kitchen table instead of the classroom. But that's not a bad thing by any means. Dr. Elizabeth Davis, education veteran and online learning instructional leader for Edmentum, talks to us about how we can take advantage of learning in the home environment and utilize the 30-minute chunks for effective instruction. We hope you loved our minisodes, we can't wait to see what next year has in store for us. Don't forget to follow us on social, and be sure to leave our podcast a good review if you love it as much as we do! See ya next year!

Sometimes everyone has a little trouble sitting still, staying focused, and concentrating. How can families with kids learning from home help students focus when a case of the wiggles sets in? Lindsay Foulkes, special education expert for classroom management and learning strategy, has a few tips and tricks that can help. In our first-ever special minisode series, we're covering topics to help families, parents, and other stakeholders with navigating the twists and turns of at home learning.

Many families recognize that it's not always easy to get your child to concentrate on what they are learning, or to teach them something in a way that really sticks. Turns out the key may have to do with developing executive functioning skills. Jen Perry, Edmentum's learning designer for social-emotional learning, explains how executive functioning skills play in learning, and how to help your student sharpen and develop their skills to improve memory and impulse control. In our first-ever special minisode series, we're covering topics to help families, parents, and other stakeholders with navigating the twists and turns of at home learning.

How can you help your child who is learning from home stay focused? In this minisode, Lindsay Foulkes, special education expert for classroom and learning strategy, joins us to discuss strategies for helping you with successfully guiding a child's focus for a good 20 minutes. In our first-ever special minisode series, we're covering topics to help families, parents, and other stakeholders with navigating the twists and turns of at home learning.

Yelling is a typical human response when we feel frustrated or anxious, but every adult knows it's not the best strategy when it comes to children. Jen Perry, Edmentum's learning designer for social-emotional learning, chats with us on why yelling doesn't work, and offers some better strategies to deal with behavior management at home.  In our first-ever special minisode series, we're covering topics to help families, parents, and other stakeholders with navigating the twists and turns of home learning.

Introducing Edmentum Podcast Minis! In our first-ever special minisode series, we're covering topics to help families, parents, and other stakeholders with navigating the twists and turns of at home learning. Education technology professional and dad, Mark Radcliff, joins us to share his tips on how he stays productive and positive while working from home, managing his team, and helping to care for his children all at the same time.   

Dr. Troy Podell is an expert in adolescent education and online education leadership, and is currently serving Downingtown Area School District as the Coordinator of Career Readiness. During this episode, we analyze the role of the teacher, how it is changing, and identify key skills that will be invaluable over the next 10 years.

Dr. Elizabeth Davis is an education veteran. For nearly 20 years she has helped schools develop strategies for connecting school and home to provide effective learning experiences and today she is an online learning instructional leader for Edmentum. During this episode we dig into the difference between quality e-learning and "emergency" learning and how educators and families can both contribute to effective in-home instruction.

Joining us on this episode of the Edmentum Podcast is Melisa Sandoval, a licensed professional counselor and school administrator. Melisa has experience as a psychotherapist, a mental health interventionist, an assistant principal, and today she works as the Director of Social Emotional Learning and Student Agency at Westminster Public Schools in Colorado. She shares with us the WPS comprehensive SEL framework and their COVID-19 SEL recovery plan to guide schools on where to focus their attention in the fall in order to promote healthy living and academic performance.

Dr. Rolf Straubhaar is an education policy scholar trained in anthropology, and has led research on education trends in Rio de Janeiro and projects funded by the Gates Foundation. He taught and held leadership positions in adult education programs in Brazil and Mozambique for several years, before becoming a K-12 teacher in the United States. Today he is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Texas State University. He joins us on The Edmentum Podcast to help us understand Paulo Freire's perspective of inequity in education and we view it as a platform for needed changes in schooling.

In this episode, author, activist, social justice advocate, and Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at UNC Charlotte, Dr. Tracey Benson, explains why structural racism exists, what it is, and how schools can make lasting changes towards racial equity. We also briefly discuss his new book, Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism.

On this episode, Dr. Michael Hynes, public school superintendent for the Port Washington School district in New York, TEDx speaker, and author of "Staying Grounded: 12 Principles to Transform School Leader Effectiveness," talks with us about the first steps towards innovation in schooling, and shares insights from his time in Finland. 

In this episode of the The Edmentum Podcast, host David Cicero talks with Dr. Robin Kay, the Interim Dean of the Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech University, about what educational technology research says about what's important when evaluating educational technology tools.

In our 5th episode of the Edmentum Podcast, David sits down with Andrew Baxter, the lead for the Alberta mental health literacy project. He's worked in school based and community mental health for over 18 years, he currently serves as the lead for the Alberta mental health literacy project, which is rolling out in school boards across the province and is also the lead project coordinator for teenmentalhealth.org, an organization devoted to providing mental health literacy education throughout Canada and across the globe.

In our 4th episode of the Edmentum Podcast, David sits down with Dee Maynard, an education veteran with over 20 years of experience teaching both in and out of the traditional classroom. Today, she is the education program manager at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and integral part of the astronaut training experience or ATX as it's called.[Edmentum Podcast] Episode 4: Immersive Learning and Partnerships with Dee MaynardOriginally posted February 2020

Michael Linsin joins us for episode 3 of the Edmentum Podcast. He is the author of Happy Teacher Habits, 11 Habits of the Happiest Most Effective Teachers on Earth. Drawing from 30 years of experience as a classroom teacher and educational counselor, he explains the secret to inspiring students to pay attention and work hard is through “active learning” activities. Though as I discovered, it may not be the sort of active learning you are used to.[Edmentum Podcast] Episode 3: Happier Teachers Cause Emotionally Active LearningOriginally published January 2020

On this month's podcast, I sit down with Liz Gallo, the founder of WhyMaker. WhyMaker helps schools implement design thinking, a method that helps groups discover and develop potential solutions for complex problems. During our interview, Liz explained that she feels the greatest thing lacking in how we educate students is how often we give them opportunities to empathize. And, she may be right.[Edmentum Podcast] Episode 2: Using Empathy to Increase Academic EngagementOriginally posted February 2020

In this first episode of the Edmentum Podcast, David Cicero sits down with David Adams, director of social-emotional learning at The Urban Assembly and member of the CASEL board of directors, to discuss how to identify and promote SEL in core instruction.[Edmentum Podcast] Episode 1: Identifying and Promoting SEL in Core InstructionOriginally published November 2019