Podcasts about credits please

We made it?! I don't know if it was that we had our expectations too high or that the pandemic has broken us all, but the 2021-2022 school year was rough. With that in mind, we are going to hunt for the silver linings to the storm cloud that was this past school year. Show Notes: We start this show with the goofy question: What is one of your favorite things to do by yourself on a completely free, unscheduled day? Joining us from Texas, Lee Ferguson: catching up on TV, shopping Joining us from Wisconsin is Sedate Kohler: Walk my dog to Starbucks and listen to music (maybe sing out loud to the world as I do it) Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: Walk my dog, dance in my living room, roller skate, maybe record a podcast. LOL!! Aaron: Take myself out to lunch with a book. Questions Discussed in this episode: - What was one of your best interactions with students from the school year? - What is one thing you learned or got better at during the past 2 years of teaching? - What are you most looking forward to about Summer 2022? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

One of the topics that teachers have been discussing a lot this year has been how issues with student behavior feel worse this past school year compared to the past. Today we discuss this topic and reflect on how we may reframe this issue next year. Show Questions: We start this question with the goofy question. What is a dumb rule that you have had to follow at some time during your life? Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: Honestly, most rules are pretty dumb, but we have them becuase humans are just dumb sometimes. Like in Arizona you don't have to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, but you aren't allowed to drive between the lanes like you can in California. That's just dumb to me. And the rules vary so much from school to school and place to place that many rules start to feel arbitrary. One school had a rule where kids had to come into the lunch room and sit down and be quiet before they were allowed to get in line to get lunch. They couldn't eat outside, or kick back and relax during lunch time. So weird to “police” the kids during their one major break of the day. Joining us from Texas, Lee Ferguson: (If you don't say your school's dress code Jeans Policy…) Ha! But yes, the dress code regarding “professional dress” is probably the stupidest thing ever. Context though--I work in a pretty conservative district in Texas and most districts here have similar employee dress codes. As far as I know, I taught an entire year (nearly 2) in jeans, and it didn't affect how my students learned or performed. Hell, the year I wore jeans every single day my kids did the best they ever have on the AP exam, so…yeeeaaah, I'm gonna wear jeans when I feel like it. :) Joining us from Wisconsin is Sedate Kohler: I ride horses and am really involved in a youth equestrian program. We are similar to scouting and have a similar organizational structure, and a lot of spirit. We wear pins, which is unique to our org. When we compete, we wear our pins, it's required. For a very long time, we were not allowed to wear our pins when we jumped our horses, because of the “risk of impalement”. Aaron: Some of the rules around coaching and dismissals were strange. I would need to collect notes if parents wanted to take kids home from away games. So families would write notes, then I would see them as they left. It was weird. I recently found an old coaching folder with a tone of old notes. Do you feel there have been more student behavior issues in your school/classroom this year compared to previous years? Are students just rebelling against rules trying to “control” behavior, or are there larger issues at play? How are the discussions about behavior being discussed? Are schools taking into account the pandemic? Are there discussions about restorative justice? Changing policies? Do you think this is a temporary shift due to the pandemic or do larger changes need to take place? Are there things we could do in our classrooms to improve classroom culture to reduce behavioral issues? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

As I have been reimagining my curriculum over the past few years, the idea of using a scientific phenomenon to hook kids into our work has been both exciting and challenging. Today, I discuss the concept of phenomena with Tanea, Mark and Jess. We definitely had a lot of fun, so we hope you enjoy the conversation. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question: What is an area of science that you find cool, but don't really understand the underlying mechanism of (possibly nobody knows) Joining us from Minnesota, Mark Peterson: I ran across the idea of telescoping generations a few years ago at an NSTA conference. Aphids, reproducing asexually, have the next generation, fully formed inside them, and within that next generation is another daughter ready to form…and so on. Nature is just weird sometimes. Joining us from Missouri is Jessica Popescu: I just learned from the book Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake that fungi mycelium transfer nutrients between plants, poisons, hormones and maybe even genetic material! Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: I suspect that us humans don't understand a lot of things, so this is a hard question for me. I'll ponder a bit Aaron: Why do we sleep? Why do we dream? What are the biological functions? Questions Discussed on this show: How do you define a scientific phenomenon? Do you use these in your curriculum? Do you think that phenomena have to be something that is part of the students lives before introduction? What is one of your favorite phenomena to engage students (I know this might be tough)? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

As we head into state assessment season (people who don't spend their lives in schools call this spring), I thought it would be fun to talk about different forms of assessment and what this looks like in our classrooms. Show Notes: - We start this question with the goofy question. When was the last time you had to sit down to take a test? Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler:I don't remember. Oh, it was when I took the GRE about 1-2 years ago. I was totally freaked out and super nervous and actually did better on the English and writing then I did on the math. I almost walked out of the testing center in the middle of the test as well. I think my scores might have been why I got waitlisted for the Vanderbilt PhD program : ( But I have moved on now, and I'm happy that things worked out the way they did. I could tell you about what happened when I had to take the SAT's too, there was so much instability and drama going on in my life and the SAT just was a huge source of stress for me. I HATE TESTS. Joining us from Minnesota, Mark Peterson: I'm going to turn the clock back to 1985 when I had to take the driver's exam in Minneapolis, MN because I had moved from Iowa City, IA after grad school for my first HS job. Joining us from Missouri is Jessica Popescu: I think it was my PRAXIS when I was becoming certified to teach in 2013? It's been a while! Aaron: Mine was way back in 2006 when I took my subject area test for my National Board Certification. Questions We Discuss: - Do you differentiate between formative and summative assessments in your class? Do your students know the difference? - What does the concept of an “Authentic Assessment” mean to you? - Do your students talk about Assessment/Test Anxiety? How do we help students manage this anxiety? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode we discuss the sometimes challenging issues dealing with late work, retakes and revisions, particularly considering the grading practices through the lens of grading equity. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question. How do you personally feel when you need to get to an event by a certain time? Are you an early person, a late person, or does it vary? Joining us from Illinois is Amy Kelly: I want to be an early person, and if I am on my own, I will generally be a little early because being late really stresses me out. When it involves my kids, I would say I am exactly on time or late though. Joining us from Ohio is Jon Darkow: I like to be on time, but damn, something always comes up. Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I am usually a little early for most things because I'm afraid of being late. Aaron: I am very comfortable being on time, but as I age, I tend to be early for most things…I this may be a result of my wife's desire to not be late. Questions Discussed in this episode: Setting the baseline, does your school have any grading policies in place about Late Work, Retakes, and Revisions? Considering your own grading policies, how do you handle late work? Are revisions and retakes designed into your curriculum? Are there any barriers to you offering more revision and redemption opportunities to your students? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode we discuss two grading practices that are used in many classroom but are certainly possible issues when it comes to grade equity. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question. Have you been caught up in the 2022 Wordle wave? Any other puzzle games popular with your family, friends or students? Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: No but I have played Sweardle

As a group of lifelong learners, we are in a community of teachers who are often getting additional degrees and certificates, some are for career advancement, while others are just for growth and learning. With that in mind, we are discussing the pros and cons of teachers pursuing additional degrees. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a goofy question: Were you a good student in high school, good at “doing school,” both or neither? - Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: Both. My grades in high school were good, but I was also good at playing the game of school because I was a rule follower. College was a whole other ballgame. - Joining us from Colorado is Hannah Hathaway: I think I was a fairly traditional good student. There were some times where I “played the game” of school, but mostly I liked my classes and liked doing work because I enjoyed learning. That's probably why I was a student for so long, lol. - Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: More good at playing school than actually being a good student, but I was also a strict rule-follower and enjoyed school a lot. I just didn't have any good study or metacognition skills. - Aaron: More good at school than a good student in high school. Questions Discussed: What would motivate you to apply for a graduate program at this point in your career? Or if you have done so, why did you apply? What are some of the barriers that make attending a graduate program challenging? (Should I say that time is a given?) What are some of the options out there for working teachers looking to attend programs? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, as we return to the topic of professional development to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of pandemic PD and what PD may look like in the future. We kick off our episode with a goofy question: If you could attend a PD workshop run by any person (scientist, author, teacher, etc) whose workshop would you want to attend? - Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: Maybe because yesterday was Darwin Day, but I'm going with the obvious Charles Darwin pick. - Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I'll go with Rudolf Virchow, because I have to know, is that story about you giving that politician dude a worm-infested sausage and daring him to eat it true? Also, I think it would be cool to learn from Sean Carroll. - Joining us from Colorado is Hannah Hathaway: Just because I want to meet and chat with this person, I'll go with Ira Flatow. - Aaron: Terry Gross from Fresh Air or Rosalind Franklin, Questions We Discuss: - What have you missed most about face-to-face PD over the past 2 years? - Have you had any really good PD through remote platforms over the past 2 years? - Do you have any PD plans in the coming months? Do you think you will have face-to-face PD anytime soon? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, we return to a topic that comes up every few months, the concept of teaching an interdisciplinary class. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a question: what was your favorite non-science subject(s) in school when you were a kid? Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: Art and orchestra! I loved drawing and playing the violin. I was a quiet kid in school but was able to express myself through art and music. Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: Music theory was one of my favorite classes. I also really loved Government class. Aaron: Probably History. I had several amazing high school history teachers. Questions Discussed: - How siloed are the subjects in your school? Do teachers with different disciplinary expertise get to collaborate? - Are there any interdisciplinary classes or projects that you know about that are currently being taught in your school? If not, do you know other schools where they are taking place? - What would be your dream interdisciplinary class or project to run? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, we discuss the presence and influence of other adults in our classroom. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with the question: What is something New and Exciting happening in your professional life in 2022? Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I am starting classes for administrator certification on January 18. Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: I made a major change and moved from high school to elementary! Aaron: I am going to have a Student Teacher! Questions We Discuss: Oftentimes, teaching can look and feel like you are isolated as an adult in a room working with young people. This has its advantages and its disadvantages, but it is also not really true. Other adults have a significant influence on how we do our work. Let's start with a basic question, are there other adults that ever walk into your classroom while you are teaching? Why are they there? Who are the adults that are never in your room, that have an influence on the teaching and learning in your classroom? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today we kick off 2022 by discussing how we go about revising aspects of our curriculum. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a goofy question: Do you typically make a New Year's Resolution or goal for the upcoming year? If so, what is your resolution for 2022? How much pre-planning goes into your teaching? Do you have structured unit plans for the whole year? Do you plan unit to unit? Week-to-week? Day-to-day? Amy: Our biology team determined our objectives for each unit, and we agreed on what we will access and how many points the assessments are worth. At the beginning of the unit, I set up a very basic schedule with the required summatives, and each day, I go in and plan the day by day formatives or make adjustments to the timing for summatives. Due to the pandemic, I feel that my planning takes up most of my time because I am always building my lesson plans with student ideas, and additional practice activities based on how my students perform on the work from the previous class. Hannah: I am a whole year planner, but I also tend to do a lot of revision. My year-long plans are more of a basic roadmap- what content/activities to do and when, when to have assessments, etc. Then I go in and do more fine details usually the day (or this year...often the morning) before. Aaron: As a department, we have a planned schedule and then set a class calendar as unit-to-unit. I have been trying to not be too dogmatic about these plans and build in some time for check-ins and revisions. How do you get feedback that some aspect of your curriculum is not working? Is it from student formative work? Summative work? Discussion with colleagues? Discussion with supervisors? Hannah: Student work is the most valuable feedback for me. This could be from conversations, or from their performance on assessments. I also check in with myself and my planning partner- if we aren't feeling good about the curriculum, the students probably aren't either! Amy: I really believe that student work and feedback is the strongest indicator that the curriculum is not successful. I want the kids to be curious and naturally ask questions. I want them to find a connection to something they experienced that they are willing to share with others. I collect data using surveys and from formative assessments and summative assessments to gauge how well the curriculum I designed is helping students meet the goals. Aaron: Historically, I have been most informed by discussion with colleagues and summative assessments, but I am working to use more formative feedback to inform our work. What is the part of your curriculum you would like to redesign the most? Amy: I would really like to have more wet labs and more inquiry. I feel that I am still the person in the room in charge of everything and the person who talks the most about science, and I would like to see the students directing more of the learning. Hannah: I could talk about this for a long time…. In AP Bio I wish CB would split the course into a 1 and 2 sequence (similar to physics and calc). Especially as an AP bio as first bio school...the balance between flying through content vs making time for student inquiry, labs, etc is something I really struggle with. Aaron: As I mentioned before, I really want to have student's work to drive instruction. I have been doing more driving question boards, formative check-ins, and other student feedback opportunities into my classes. I have been tinkering with my practice a lot in this area throughout the year. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, as we find ourselves deep into the holiday season, we reflect back on the past few years and ask whether or not the grades have the same emphasis as they did a few years ago. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a goofy question: What movie/tv show/or music signifies to you that it is holiday season? Joining us from Illinois is Amy Kelly: “All I want for Christmas is you” Mariah Carey Joining us from Colorado is Hannah Hathaway: Muppet Christmas Carol Aaron: John Denver & Muppets Christmas album. Did your school and/or your state do anything different in terms of grades, grade expectations, end of course exams during the 2020-2021 school year compared to past years? Hannah: Our final exams were all open note last year (as most students were online), and they were condensed to cover only the most crucial standards. We also implemented more grading policies intended to show students grace (e.g. no zeros, accept late work, etc) Amy: We did not give finals last year, and recently opted to cancel finals for this year. Our State offered flexibility regarding whether to administer the ISA last spring or this fall. Aaron: Interestingly, our school had eliminated midyears and finals before the 2019-2020 school year, which was a bit contentious at the time, but hasn't been discussed since. We had no state exams (MCAS) in 2020, but they came back in 2021. So we didn't really have much of a change from last year. Did any of those policies from last year carry over to this year (or did policies revert back to September 2019)? Amy: I think we did attempt to return to the way things were before the pandemic but I feel many of us found the kids weren't quite ready. When we gave quizzes in biology that prior to the pandemic would have taken 20-30 minutes at most, and found they were taking 45-60 minutes or more, we realized we had to hold back on administering large tests and focus on end of goal quizzes. Hannah: we are continuing to make progress on grading policies, but the emphasis on depth over breadth does not seem like it will continue. Aaron: School wide, we returned to our 2019-2020 school calendar and testing policies, but teachers have been up to ourselves to set grading policies. I have also found like Amy, stdents need to be taught some skills they didn't develop over the past 2 years. Did you change any of your own grading policies or grading expectations over the past few years? Amy: I would say I have become a lot more flexible in general. 5 years ago, I did have late work penalties, and I do not penalize students for turning in late work during the unit even if it is substantially late. I also allow students to correct their work, so the corrections are accurate and I offer them a different version of the assessment to retake to try to show me they learned the material. I realize that not everyone is ready for the assessment at the time I offer it. Hannah: Yes, I feel like I have come a long way on my grading journey, and still have a ways to go. I would eventually love to implement something along the lines of ungrading, but am anxious about being the only teacher to do so, and how it would work within gradebook requirements at my school. Aaron: The pandemic helped codify my journey to integrate resubmission, revision, and no points off for late work into my class policies. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Show Notes: On our panel shows, we start with a goofy question, and as we are releasing this just before thanksgiving, what's a Thanksgiving side dish that you have that may not be on everyones table? - Kelly Kluthe: gooey butter cake - Sedate Kohler: cheesy potatoes #Wisconsin - Lee Ferguson: The most decadent scalloped potatoes ever. - Aaron Mathieu: Mashed turnips and carrots. Let's talk about school culture. How big is the science department in your school? Are you expected to collaborate? - Sedate: 7 people. 4 of us teach Biology, 3 teach Chemistry. Those two teams collaborate frequently, to varying degrees. Most of us also teach courses that we call “singletons”, and don't have any others who teach the same course. - Lee: There are 30 of us on campus, with another 10 at the STEAM center across town, but they are their own entity. As a department there isn't collaboration among all of us since that really takes place in teams. - Kelly: There are 3 of us: Me (biology), a chem/physical science, and a part-time environmental science/genetics & eugenics teacher. We collaborate with general science skills and with vertical alignment. - Aaron: We are ~20 with 8 Biology Teachers. We have a strong collaborative culture. Do you have any colleagues that you collaborate with to plan, develop, reflect with? Are these teachers in your building or from professional communities/PLCs? How long have you been working together? - Lee: I have my team, which I am forever grateful for. In our current iteration we have worked together for the past year. There is one teammate that I have worked with for 5 years now. I also have an extensive network of colleagues that I've built over the past 18 years that I can collaborate with, and often do. - Kelly: I definitely work with the other science teachers in my building to plan vertical alignment. Learn general teaching techniques.. Outside of my building, I collaborate a lot with people in KABT and UKanTeach grads. We've been working together since undergrad. Twitter/Facebook. - Sedate: I have two people who I've been working closely with since 2019 Fall. - Aaron: I tightly collaborate with 1 teacher who is new to our building for honors, but help coordinate our whole honors team and I collaborate with 1 teacher for AP. He is my work husband and we've been working together for 21 years. Collaboration involves a lot of things that can be challenging in the time crunch of the school year: Building trust, letting others take the lead, sharing resources, and being vulnerable. Does your school do anything to make collaboration easier? If not, what could it do? - Kelly: We have one dedicated hour of PLC each week, but I wish it were more. We also have schedules that allow us to observe each other. I'm observed each week and I often have the chance to sit in on other classes. - Sedate: This year we have a new school schedule which has made collaboration (theoretically) a lot easier - Monday - Wednesday we have a “department prep” in addition to a personal prep hour. We are on a hybrid block schedule, so M-W are 47 minutes and Th-F are 90 minutes / class. Th-F our preps are both our own. - Lee: The only thing that my school really does to make this a little easier is require that we have PLC twice a week for 30 minutes each time. We don't get much time on district PD days to collaborate--it's almost an afterthought. :( - Aaron: We have (new this year) early release days each month for collaborative time. It would be good if that time was not taken up with district initiatives. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Show Notes: - On our panel shows, we start with a goofy question, and as we are recording this just before halloween, did you dress up for halloween this year? If not, do you remember the last time you did? Lee Ferguson: I did not...but I think the last time I did dress up for Halloween, I dressed as a hockey puck. Somewhere in my house there is photographic evidence of this! Kelly Kluthe: My students always say I remind them of Ms. Frizzle, so I think I'll lean into that this year and bust out my best biology dress. Sedate Kohler: The last time I did dress up at school for Halloween I was “outer space” and had galaxy print leggings and hot glue gunned glow in the dark stars to a dress :) Aaron Mathieu: This year, I am embracing my beard and will dress as Alan from the Hangover. - Let's start with some baseline, what are you teaching this year? What are the populations of students you have in each class? Kelly: 2 sections of Health (9th & 10th), 3 sections of 10th Bio, 1 section of Dual-Enrollment Bio (11th & 12th) Sedate: 4 sections of Biology (Freshmen, plus a few sophomores and juniors), 2 sections of AP Biology (Juniors & Seniors) Lee: 4 sections of AP Bio (sophomores, juniors, and seniors), 1 section of IB Bio HL1 (all juniors) Aaron: I teach 2 sections of honors biology (grades 9 & 10 mixed) and 2 sections of AP Biology (Juniors & Seniors). - Do you have to meet any specific state or national standards with this group? Do you have autonomy to set your schedule & pacing? Sedate: Loosely Wisconsin State Science Standards for Biology, and the CED for AP Biology Lee: No state standards, but there's the CED to contend with in my AP course, and the IB curriculum for my IB course. This group of students will sit their exam next spring, and it'll be the first group of kids I've taught in 3 years that will have taken an IB exam since my last group to take an exam was in 2019--exams were cancelled in 2020, and our school opted not to give exams in 2021 because we didn't feel it could be done safely. Kelly: We align to the NGSS but have a lot of autonomy about pacing and what it looks like. My department has been using the OpenSciEd and iHub storylines for Physical Science, Biology, and Chemistry. I basically modify the AP Bio curriculum for my Dual-Enrollment course. Aaron: We have an MCAS test for our first year honors students that is in June based on some NGSS like standards and the AP is based on AP CED. We have general unit flow that the biology teachers developed for our honors curriculum, but have a lot of autonomy on schedule, but we do have common unit assessments. For AP, the AP teachers cooperatively plan our units. - Do you need to coordinate with any other teachers in any or all of your classes? Lee: Absolutely--I am one of a team of 3 AP teachers, so we plan and design assessments together. All three of us teach IB as well but each of us teaches a different level so we don't so much plan together as we do support one another. Kelly: I'm the only life science teacher at my school, so no, no requirements. I have to look to my professional organizations for collaboration. NABT and KABT help me tremendously. Sedate: This year I am one of 4 Biology teachers. 3 of us are pretty collaborative. Aaron: I am 1 of 5 Honors teachers and 1 of 2 AP teachers. We are expected to collaborate and we do… I could do a whole show on this dynamic. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

For this episode, I am reposting episode #1, but be before that audio, I chat with my colleague and first guest Brian Dempsey to reflect on how the last 5+ years of podcasting has shaped our teaching practice. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode, we will be discussing the concept of Universal Design for Learning. Show Notes: - To kick off the episode, we will start with our goofy question: You will only be able to watch episodes of 1 TV show for the next year, what show do you pick? - Have you had any discussions of UDL at your school or as part of your own personal development? Where are you on your journey? - UDL is often organized into three principles: Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression? Focussing on Enagement, are there ways you provide students multiple options for engagement with material in your classroom? What's an example? - Reviewing the UDL Guidelines for Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression, are there any areas where you think you would like to improve the design of your class? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode, I am joined by one new panelist and one old friend to discuss IEPs, 504s and other accommodations in the classroom. Show Questions: To kick off the episode, we will start with our goofy question: You are in a rock group, what is your role in the group? Joining us from Illinois, is new panelist Amy Kelly: Lead Singer Joining us from Minnesota, Mark Peterson: Rhythm Guitar Aaron would be a roadie or the sound engineer. Additional Questions: How is the start of the school year going in your neck of the woods? How do you get informed about what accommodations your students need? What sorts of accommodations are you most often providing? Do you feel that there is a stigma from students about accessing accommodations in your school? Is this expressed by students? By parents? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today we discuss how we remove or reduce grades from our classrooms. Joining me for this conversation is Lee Ferguson from Texas and Johanna Brown from Washington State. Show Notes: - Johanna gave a shout out to Katy Dornbos as one of the teachers who helped out on her journey to being a gradeless teacher. - Johanna put together this google doc with a collection of ungrading resources. - We discussed the book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) Edited by Susan D. Blum. We also discussed the following resources: - The Teachers Going Gradeless website - Starr Sackstein's Blog Starr Sackstein's book “Hacking Assessment” - “Point-Less: An English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading” by Sarah M. Zerwin - Lee also recommended “Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms” by Joe Feldman Announcements: Our first August episode will be with the authors of After The Mask: A Guide to Caring for Students and Schools by Christopher Jenson and possibly additional coauthors. Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Question: What is one frivolous piece of media (book, tv, movie, music) you are looking forward to enjoying this summer? How is your professional life going to change in the upcoming school year(s)? Bold goal setting time: What is one aspect of your teaching you want to improve? What should the Life of the school podcast look like in the future? Should it continue? If so in what form? We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Goofy Question: If you could interview one famous person, living or dead, who would it be? Do you have any memories of what it was like to be a guest on the episode? Do you have a favorite memory or “A Ha!” moment from the past year? We play a trivia game: Name that LOTS episode! (apologies to the 50+ Guests not mentioned in this game, we don't want a 3 hour episode). We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Goofy: What's your current cellphone wallpaper/lockscreen? Tanea: Me at 16. Boy do I miss the 16 year old me (well the body, not the brain and confidence, etc.) Lee: It’s an old picture of the wall from our former teacher workroom. The girl who ran the copier there had decorated it with movie quotes from a bunch of different movies, and the photo I have is a quote from “Zombieland”--Woody Harrelson says “It’s time to nut up or shut up” Aaron: Wallpaper: My dog penny when she was a brand new puppy, Lockscreen: Skateboarders at sunset on the Venice Boardwalk. What is one thing you have lost from your teaching practice that you hope it is safe to do again next year? Lee: Group work of any and all kinds. I miss the chatter, the aha moments, the NOISE. Tanea: I really want to have kids sit in groups and be able to do more hands-on activities with kids (especially whiteboarding). I hope they will be free to walk around the room. Aaron: Gallery Walks and Jigsaws. What is one thing you did a lot of this year that you think will not be part of your practice in a couple of years? Tanea: zoom calls!! Lee: Zoom for sure. Please, please please! Aaron: Pear Deck What do you think is one thing you will keep from this year that will come to be part of your regular practice? Lee: Single grading category. Tanea: Using google slides as a way for students to share their ideas with each other Aaron: Office hours and Practice Essay Peer Review. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Question: What was the worst job you've ever had? Lee: probably telemarketer was my least favorite. It was my first job, and I was in high school. I had to try and sell these cheesy plaques to parents that congratulated their kid for graduating high school. I did at least learn to handle rejection so maybe it wasn’t the absolute worst. I’ve been pretty lucky to work in the places I’ve worked but I’m also pretty choosy about where I work too. Tanea: I wouldn’t like to say worst, because any job can be honorable and pay the bills, but the people you work with can definitely influence how you feel about a company. When I worked at Autozone and junkies were running out the store with batteries, and co-workers were robbing the store and be arrested in front of customers, and I was handling tons of cash and worrying about robberies, that was a low for me. That’s when I decided to go back to school to get my Masters degree. Aaron: Grocery Store Cashier/Bagger while in College. Before you started teaching, how much time did you spend in the classroom or working with students? Lee: I did volunteer work in a high school biology classroom when I was in college before I started taking my teacher certification courses, and I was also a lab TA for 4 years in undergrad. I also taught pre-K for two summers, with one of those summers being in charge of a room of 3 year olds which was really fun, so I had a lot of experience before I began teaching. Tanea: I spent a bit as a substitute teacher. Aaron: I took 1 class where I got experience tutoring HS students. I also was a TA for first year biology. What is one thing that took you years to learn as a teacher that you could have possibly learned in your teacher training? Tanea: It took me a bit to understand that relaying information does not equate learning, and that students really need to be given space to wrestle with any content, and they need to have opportunities to find meaning in what they learn. It also took me a long time to understand that equity involves the community really deeply reflecting and committing to change at every level and that equity doesn’t happen in isolation. We need parents, teachers, administrators and the entire community committed to the work. Lee: Great question...but I think that I’ll go with this: whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning. Get kids to talk more so they can learn not just from YOU--they often learn better from each other! Aaron: Watch other teachers teach, particularly teachers who teach differently and invite them into your classroom. We are too siloed! What is one support you think training or early career teachers should have as a support, that they may not currently get at the start of their teaching career? Lee: Training in culturally relevant teaching strategies and strategies for achieving equity in the classroom--ALL of us can benefit from learning more about those. Tanea: I honestly think that I would have greatly benefited from some modeling instruction courses (or workshops similar to those that are conducted in student mode) during my teacher training. Aaron: Let them teach fewer classes and have them spend built in PD time. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Goofy Question: What is one activity that you can get completely lost in and spend hours doing without realizing it? We then Discuss the following questions: - Is “engagement” something you actively consider when lesson planning? - How do you differentiate “busy work” from engagement? - Over the past few years, some educators have been arguing that we should be focussing on Empowerment rather than Engagement. Do you feel this is a semantic argument or does it resonate with you? We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Goofy Question: Do you have a favorite PD Icebreaker (or are all icebreakers evil...I think this is a perfectly reasonable stance) We also discuss the following questions: - How do you normally approach finding PD opportunities? - What is a typical summer like for you in terms of PD, Planning, and Personal time? - Summer 2020 was definitely an atypical PD summer, how are you approaching summer 2021? We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

This episode is a presentation I made with Paul Strode at the 2020 NABT Conference. You can follow Paul on twitter @pkstrode. Some useful resources from this talk include: Kohn, A. (2012). The case against grades. The Education Digest, 77(5), 8. Strode, Paul K. (2020). My Classes are Pointless. Mr. Dr. Science Teacher blog, https://mrdrscienceteacher.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/my-classes-are-pointless/, accessed 7 October 2020. Zerwin, Sarah M. (2020). Pass/Fail or No Grades During Online Pandemic Teaching? A gift. Heinemann blog, https://blog.heinemann.com/pass/fail-or-no-grades-during-online-pandemic-teaching-a-gift, accessed 7 October 2020. Zerwin, Sarah M. (2020). Point-less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful Grading. Heinemann, Portsmouth NH. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: - Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! - Patreon: www.patreon.com/LOTS - Music by: exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ - Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org - You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with the Goofy Question: If you could live somewhere else in the world for a year, where would it be? Tanea - Shenzhen! That’s where I’m moving, but I considered Vietnam, Spain, and Rwanda too. Lee: absent the cold, I’d love to live in New York City for a year. There is something so invigorating about being in the city that I can’t really explain, and that I’d love to spend a year taking in more of. Ryan: If cost of living weren’t a consideration, I’d love to spend time in the Monterrey California area. I love the climate, the views, and the number of things you can do there. Aaron: I’d also go city as well. Either London or Paris (possibly Madrid). How many different levels of science courses exist in your school? Are students tracked? How firm is that tracking? Lee: on-level, Pre-AP (to be called Advanced, I think next year), AP, IB, dual credit, Foundations (for SpEd students) Ryan: We just have “regular” and “honors.” AP and dual-credit fall under “honors.” Tanea: Reg, Honors, AP, Dual Enrollment Aaron: Fundamentals, College Prep 1, College Prep 2, Accellerated/Enriched, Honors, then AP as a second year course. How does your school go about recommending for courses the next year? Has the pandemic caused this to change? Ryan: Students fill out a Google Form and we have discussions with the students about what class they’d like to take. I’m in a unique situation being the only science teacher, because the classes I offer are somewhat dependent upon what the students want to take. For example, we don’t normally offer a second-level (like AP) chemistry course, but the students wanted to take one this year, so I agreed to teach it (even though I have no experience teaching it). We have a lot of flexibility in that regard. Of course, we have some classes that we always offer, such as AP Biology and Anatomy & Physiology, and we also have some required classes, such as Physical Science for freshmen and Biology I for sophomores. The pandemic hasn’t really changed our course offerings. Tanea: In science they have to submit an application to their current science teacher with thee current transcript, and that teacher makes the registration option open to them Lee: what science classes a kid takes is partially determined by their graduation plan. In TX we have a few different graduation plans kids can follow and each one has a different requirement in terms of number of science courses required. All students must take biology I as a graduation requirement regardless of plan. The pandemic hasn’t really affected what sciences are available for kids to take. Our district is expanding dual credit opportunities for kids but that was the plan all along. Aaron: Teachers go into our grading/attendance program and make recommendations based on the grades up to that point, plus prerequisits of the next year’s course. We are supposed to have conversations with students before those recommendations take place. If student’s families don’t agree with he recommendations, they can work through an override process. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves w/ the Question: Would you rather live where it only snows or the temperature never falls below 100 degrees? Ryan: where the temp never falls below 100. I have island genes and can’t stand the cold. Lee: definitely where the temp never falls below 100 since I break out into hives when I’m exposed to cold for any length of time. It super sucks. Also I’m used to 100+ temps, I live in Texas! Tanea: I’d prefer to live where temp never falls below 100. It would be like living in Thailand again. Aaron: Only Yankee in the group. I’ll deal with the snow. What are your primary ways that you communicate with students about assignments, expectations, and other important details? Lee: verbally, Canvas, announcements in Canvas, sometimes I use Skyward mass emails, also my daily schedule board (digital and analog) Tanea: Canvas, announcements, and email, and in class reminders Ryan: verbally, Canvas, emails, and the BAND app. For my community college students, I use Google Voice so that they can text me, since I’m an off-campus adjunct without office hours. Aaron: Mostly through google classroom & shared planning docs + weekly preview videos. I also make in-class announcements and have weekly zoom office hours. Do you have any guidelines so you are not answering questions 24/7? Do you communicate these to your students? Tanea: No, I encourage kids to ask questions and get clarification often. I’m not sure this is effective, but I encourage it. I’m actually working with some other teachers to examine the process for different departments. Ryan: Not really. I’d rather them ask their question and get an answer than just guess. Generally I don’t answer emails on the weekend, but if it’s a pressing question that can’t wait, I don’t mind answering Lee: absolutely. You have to set boundaries or you are working 24/7. I tell kids during school hours, I’m really good about answering emails, usually immediately. But once I leave the building, I don’t check my email, and I don’t check it until Sunday night. So if it’s urgent, it won’t get seen until the next day or Monday if it comes over the weekend. Aaron: I carry my phone when I am awake so If I get a student message, I just reply. I’m not very firm with guidelines. How much and in what ways do you communicate directly with parents? Ryan: I communicate with parents quite often, especially with IEP students. My preferred method is via email so that I have a written record of what I said, but I also use the BAND app (again, so that I have a written record of what I said). Everything gets logged in our student information system so that administration can see how much contact I’ve made. Lee: not gonna lie, this is something I have always struggled with. But I do contact parents when kids are failing, and that’s not often. I usually email and when I can’t get a hold of them that way, or they ask for a phone conference, I’ll call them. If I catch your kid engaged in academic dishonesty, I contact you, ALWAYS. I also try to send positive notes to parents about their kids because I think it’s just as important that parents hear about the good things their kids do or how awesome their kids are to have in class. Tanea: I answer their direct questions, do PTC, meet the teacher night, etc. Every now and again you have to reach out to parents via email about grades, but not often. Aaron: This is a weak spot for me as well. I don’t want to escalate things too quickly when a kid is struggling. I usually contact councilors or special educators first to see if there is a broader issue going on, and then proceed from there. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org Follow us on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves using this goofy Question: What is the best anagram of your name? https://wordsmith.org/anagram/ Aaron: A Humane Ratio or Tea Mania Hour Ryan: Can Snarl Yo… I guess that means I’m prone to anger Tanea: They all sucked - I’ll say Neaat with 2 a’s (how about Blithe Arena or Lair Beneath) Lee: Generous Elf, Refuge en Sol What is the state of EOCs in your State and in your classroom, what are your students expected to do and how freaked out are you right now? Lee: our 9th graders are still being expected to take their EOC’s--it is a graduation requirement in TX. There is a lot of resistance statewide to even having kids take STAAR (our state exams). Our AP/IB kids are also sitting for their exams--what this will look like on my campus, I have no idea since we give over 3500 exams. IB has altered their exam format and assessed curriculum for this year while AP has not. Ryan: As of right now, state EOCs will still be administered; however, we have been told they will not be used for accountability purposes. With that being said, what is the purpose of administering them at all then? We have been off-and-on with in-person and virtual, and I’ve had students in and out of class due to quarantine, so I do not expect my students to do well. The very idea of giving EOCs after a year like this is ludicrous. Tanea: In my state it’s probably all over the place. My students are expected to do what they have done in the past. For my class, I think I’m fine. I’m done freaking out though. I’m just gonna keep the pace I’m going and try to have some fun. Aaron: In Massachusetts, our state exam required for graduation is called MCAS. Due to COVID ELA and Math are optional for grade 11 and grade 12, but required for grade 10. STEM MCAS is optional for grades 10-12, but required for grade 9. How are dealing with the EOCs during this pandemic year? How are you framing things for your students? Tanea: We are on pace and you will be okay and prepared if you come to class and stay engaged, do the work, and put in the time. But me? I’m over AP. Lee: business as usual as much as possible. We have pushed on forward since we started in August, but we are also hybrid so there’s that. We are on track to finish the curriculum by the time the AP exam rolls around in May. For my IB courses since the assessed curriculum has been altered, I’m glad that the exam is altered as well. The IB has made it possible for me to buy time to teach what WILL be assessed at a deeper level. Ryan: The classes are staying “on pace,” but that’s not to say the students are staying on pace with how much students have been quarantined. Because of the weirdness of the year, I wasn’t able to roll out some of the new things I wanted to try, such as storylining. The plan is to approach them how we’ve always approached them; by telling the students all we want is for them to try their best, but to make sure they know an EOC exam does not define them as a person. Aaron: We cut a bunch of stuff from honors biology and reorganized AP, but at the moment I’m not too stressed about EOCs at the moment. Storylining AP Biology probably has helped me a lot. I know we will address everything, but in our own way. I don’t feel behind. My AP and Honors Kids will be OK. I do wonder how this year will impact how I teach AP in 2 years. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your Thoughts? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We Introduced ourselves with our goofy question: You have your own late night talk show, who would you want to be your band leader? Tanea: Nyaze - my musical buddy from college Ryan: Hands down, Tim Blais from A Capella Science. He is a musical genius. Lee: real talk, I’d want Ryan Reardon to be my bandleader. Aaron: Jazz Saxaphonist Grace Kelly Define end of course exams: Wikipedia says “The End of Course Test is an academic assessment conducted in many states by the State Board of Education.” I consider AP Exams, SAT Subject area tests to be EOC exams as well. Other Examples? What are the advantages of End-Of-Course Exams for your students? Ryan: It is a way to demonstrate mastery on an assessment common across multiple classrooms, so that student results can be compared Lee: At the AP and IB level, it is an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the skills and knowledge gained from participating in the course all year long. They can demonstrate that they are potentially ready for university level work. Tanea: They look competitive, and can show they are likely prepared for college. Aaron: Could be a confidence builder… particularly if they have struggled and then demonstrate success. In very competitive schools, they can also build confidence for students that think of themselves as “average” Thinking about our lens of inequity, what are the issues with End-Of-Course Exams for your students? Other concerns? Lee: in a normal year, the pace is such that we end up teaching to a test rather than teaching kids to really love the scientific process. There seems to be a focus more on test taking skills rather than scientific thinking skills. Ryan: EOCs do not take into consideration local factors such as socioeconomic status, access to resources, special education services, etc. Additionally, measurement using an exam precludes performance standards, which are key for a well-rounded science education Tanea: The schedule doesn’t allow the time for students to really enjoy the science, and it becomes more about memorization and getting into a good school. Aaron: In an academic culture dominated by fixed mindset thinking, EOCs can be used to limit a student’s options. Students define themselves as being either good at something or bad at something. If they perceive themselves as bad at science, they won’t take an AP science course. If they do poorly in an AP Science course, they then label themselves bad at science. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

We introduce ourselves by honoring and acknowledging the native lands where we are recording from. Aaron is broadcasting from the land of the Nipmuc Nation Ryan lives on lands shared by the Kickapoo and Osage tribes Tanea - Hohokam, Akimel O’odham (Upper Pima), O’odham Lee lives where oddly, no Native tribes occupied the land but where many of them passed through on their way to other places--members of the Caddo, Comanche, Wichita, and Kiowa tribes are known to have passed through this area. Many people from Native tribes were resettled here from the 1950s-1970s though. We discuss: - How do you feel about the 2020 work done on equity in your local school community? - Moment of vulnerability, what work do we each need to do in 2020? We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your 2021 resolutions? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

- We Introduced ourselves (Aaron Introduces the show, then Tanea, Ryan, Lee) Order will be Aaron, Joining us from Arizona is Tanea Hibler, joining us from Missouri is Ryan Lacson, and joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson. - What is your go to winter holiday movie (or other media, tv show, song, etc)? Tanea: I just watched Jingle Jangle and it was great Ryan: A Charlie Brown Christmas & Home For Christmas by NSYNC Lee: The Christmas Story, the Whiffenpoofs rendition of “O Holy Night” (or the West Wing version if you prefer) Aaron: White Christmas & A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio's - Today we say goodbye to 2020. It has easily been the worst year ever, but we have all had some wins this year. What is one good thing you will take from the past 12 months? Tanea: Kids do really want to learn and they have made me feel appreciated Ryan: Everyone involved with education is incredibly resilient. Teachers are working their behinds off and are making the best of a bad situation. Kids are dealing with all of these transitions (in person, virtual, synchronous, asynchronous) like champs. We are all learning what is truly important. Lee: We have had to innovate on the fly, and hopefully some of the good will stick around post-pandemic. Aaron: Feedback > Grading - Aaron makes the rest of the panelists play a 2020 themed game! - We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share what you learned in 2020. Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

Has your grading philosophy changed during a pandemic? Our Panel this week is Aaron Mathieu from Massachusetts, Joining us from Arizona is Tanea Hibler, Joining us from Missouri is Ryan Lacson, and joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson. Opening Question: What is your favorite type of pie? Is it different for different holidays? How have you adjusted your grading this year? Aaron: This year my grading philosophy is driven by the Churchill quote “Never let a good crisis go to waste” Revisions on almost everything. No late points taken off. Lee: we did away with weighted categories this year and the world has not ended! Kids are actually much more relaxed and feel less stressed since every assignment goes into the same grade bucket rather than having some assignments being weighted at higher percentages than others. Prior to the pandemic we allowed resubmissions with revisions on assignments anyway so that’s not a new thing for us. I’ve been modeling a lot of my grading practice now after Paul Strode, whose point-less approach is one that I feel provides students opportunities for more reflection and growth than traditional grading practices do. Ryan: As I’ve said before, I teach in a rural area that does not have good internet coverage, so I’ve had to be very flexible with students submitting assignments. Unfortunately, as a byproduct of multiple preps, simultaneous online/F2F learning, and the need to simply survive, I’ve had to pull back on some of my more standards-based grading. I hope to adopt a “gradeless, Paul Strode” approach to my dual-credit A&P class, but with the uncertainty of the school year, the stylistic differences between the university and the gradeless approach, and the levels of confusion already being through the roof, I decided to stick with the traditional grading system Tanea: Yes, flexibility and grace is key right now What will be the legacy of the pandemic be on your approach to grading? Tanea: Evolve and do better. There are alternatives that can lead to amazing learning experiences. Ryan: I’ve always been flexible with assignments because I want grades to be indicative of learning, not behavior, so I don’t think the pandemic has really affected my approach to grading in that regard. I do think that, unfortunately, my need to survive the pandemic has led me to be less innovative with my grading, as I discussed earlier. Lee: definitely the provision of feedback and pre-grading evaluation opportunities for students. Aaron: I hope it is the community and connection I have worked on will allow me to humanize my approach to grading. I know I will never know everything going on in my students' lives that lead to the choices they are making, but I hope I am typing to develop a system so that students are more willing to share. We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your thoughts about grading? How are you adjusting? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

Our Panel this week is Aaron Mathieu from Massachussets, Joining us from Arizona is Tanea Hibler, Joining us from Missouri is Ryan Lacson, and joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson. Opening Question: Does pineapple belong on pizza? We also discuss: - Has your grading philosophy changed during your career? - What’s your general grading philosophy (assuming we are not in a pandemic)? We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share what labs you are excited about/looking forward to in the coming year? How are you adjusting? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

In this episode, I chatted with NABT Executive Director Jaclyn Reeves-Pepin and several teachers who will be presenting at the 2020 NABT Virtual Conference. My conversations are with Jon Darkow from Seneca East High School in Attica, Ohio, Paul Strode from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado and Tanea Hibler from Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, AZ. On Friday November 6 at 11:00am, Paul and Aaron are copresenting a 1 hour workshop entitled “My Classes are Pointless” On Friday November 6 at 2:30, Jon is copresenting a 1 hour workshop entitled “Teaching resilience and the biology of climate science using computer simulations” On Saturday November 7 at 1:00, Jon is also copresenting a 1 hour workshop entitled “Creating Computational Models of Dynamic Biological Systems” On Saturday November 7 at 2:30, Tanea is presenting a 1 hour workshop entitled “Is One Lesson Enough? Race in the Biology Classroom.” Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Life Of The School Episode 105: How do you run a lab during a pandemic? Our Panel this week is Aaron Mathieu from Massachussets, Joining us from Arizona is Tanea Hibler, Joining us from Missouri is Ryan Lacson, and joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson. We started by asking: Which would you rather be: a pill bug or a Wisconsin Fast Plant? We celebrated our panelist Tanea Hibler for being chosen as on HHMI Ambassador Ryan discussed the focus on PPE with masks, goggles, gloves, as well as social-distancing. Simulations are not a great option due to internet inequities. Lee described the interesting world of Arena Scheduling Tanea shared any great resources including labXchange, PIVOT interactives, and HHMI materials Tanea is also using lots of whiteboard in Google Jamboard too. We talked about how some labs like the osmosis/diffusion lab will be easy to adjust. We talked about how important computer programing is to modern fields of biology. Aaron has been using Jon Darkow’s simulations this year. Aaron is reminded of Kelcey Burris’s Shoebox labs (even though Kelcey is not a Liverpool Fan). He also wonders if a science fair model could work this year. Ryan is working with his A&P course that is dual-credit through Missouri State University, and they have agreed to do video labs for his students. Lee is also excited about Pivot Interactives and DataClassroom. Tanea is excited about the equity work she continues to do with her students. Lee organized the AP LiveStream Review’s last spring. Aaron has been investigating berkley’s “The social side of science: A human and community endeavor” Aaron is also excited about Discover the Microbes Within: The Wolbachia Project We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share what labs you are excited about/looking forward to in the coming year? How are you adjusting? Credits: Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

- Our panel this week is Aaron Mathieu from Massachussets, Joining us from Arizona is Tanea Hibler, Joining us from Missouri is Ryan Lacson, and joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson. - Our silly questions of the episode is: who would win in a fight: honey badger or Plasmodium or a plasmodium slime mold? - Lee shared that her go to labs are the potato osmolarity lab and enzymes labs. - Ryan feels that the “find the e” under the microscope lab worth his time. - Ryan is know for his hot peppers lab safety lab - Tanea, like many of us, is planning week to week. - Aaron only likes to do a lab that works with his Lab Notebook Sections. - Aaron has been doing shows for the last 4 years and has learned from a lot of other teachers. - Cleaning desks between classes is a time suck. - Aaron feels we are doing a lot of hygiene theater - Tanea gave voice to the social-emotional struggle most teachers are facing. - Tanea also pointed out how HHMI BioInteractive is a lifesaver. - Lee feels wet labs in class are highly inequitable for the kids at home - Both Tanea and Lee plan to use Pivot Interactives to substitute for the wet labs - Lee points out that the physical structure of the class make it so much less engaging. - Ryan has already been in quarantine having been exposed at work. - Ryan’s Dual-Credit students are really struggling to find online labs. - Ryan’s online students are using Edgenuity. - Tanea is going to try and help Ryan by connecting to a teacher who uses an Anatomage Table. - We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share what your challenges are running labs in the upcoming school year? Credits: - Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS - Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ - Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org - You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

This is the second episode of the podcast as a panel of discussion with Aaron Mathieu, Lee Ferguson, Tanea Hibler, and Ryan Lacson. Show Notes: - We discussed how the office is going to change as a result of the pandemic. - Ryan pointed out the issue of rural internet access. - While not getting bogged down in a conversation about politics, we discussed the origins of Gerrymandering. - We also brought up how the inequities of education are being highlighted by the pandemic. - We had lots of LMS talk. - Lee lamented the fact that she can’t use her 3D Molecular designs models this year. - Lee also discussed the appropriateness of the RockyIV 2020 Meme. - Tanea brought up how teachers are making wills as part of back to school work. - Aaron worries about how the pandemic might be an ACE. - Lee is the queen of the interactive notebook and this year and this year she is going digital with one of her groups. - Ryan is looking forward to trying out NGSS Storylining this year. - Lee is excited to try out Pivot Interactives. - Tanea is excited her school is going to take the biggest leap forward towards creating an anti-racist culture and campus. - Aaron is looking forward to continuing his pointless grading journey inspired by My Classes Are Pointless by Paul Strode and Point-Less By Sarah M. Zerwin We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share what your fears are about the upcoming school year? What are you excited about/looking forward to? Credits: - Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS - Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ - Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org - You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

Show notes: - This is the first episode of the show's new format! The podcast is now a panel of discussion with Aaron Mathieu, Lee Ferguson, Tanea Hibler, and Ryan Lacson. - Lee has recently posted a video of her classroom. - We discussed articles including: - Texas Teachers Consider Leaving The Classroom Over COVID-19 Fears, Houston Public Media - As U.S. Schools Move to Reopen Despite Covid-19, Teachers Threaten to Strike, NY Times - Missouri could see a teacher shortage, educators warn, The Missouri Times - State Board of Education Approves Alternative Route to Obtain Substitute Certificate, MO DESE - We discussed how face shields alone are not enough! - Social Emotional Learning is So Important for Teachers. - Ryan went to school in a hazmat suit. - Aaron, Lee, Tanea, and Ryan are all on twitter. - We would love feedback! DM or Tweet @lifeoftheschool and share your stay/go story. Have you left your school or teaching as a profession? Credits: - Please subscribe to Life Of The School on your podcast player of choice! - Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS - Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ - Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org - You can follow on twitter @lifeoftheschool

In today's episode the host Jason poses the concept: "Out of sight, still in mind" - you know those times where we don't see something we are comfortable with but we know its there; so if it's not bothering us, why can't we just let that $#!+ be!? This revelation arose from a recent traffic stop he encountered with a police officer. Tune in to find out how it can be applied to all areas of your life Discussed in this episode: https://anchor.fm/wakeupwithwonder/episodes/I-Wonder-how-much-its-going-to-cost-you----WUWW-Ep-63-ehs0i1 In the above episode at the very end of the episode you will hear a quick 10 second exercise you can do to be more mindful and to keep yourself immersed in the present moment during important conversations. Credits: Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Follow on Spotify so that you catch all new episodes as they are released. To learn more about the host or to connect and share your experience of wonder you can DM him on Instagram or Facebook @Jasonbgodoy To learn more about the Podcast you can visit www.wakeupwithwonder.com To learn more about the Wake Up With Wonder Community simply Follow us on our Facebook Page Wake Up With Wonder Have a wondrous day and remember to never stop wondering for you are the wonder in the world! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wakeupwithwonder/message

This episode is guest hosted by Tanea Hibler from Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix Arizona. Tanea Interviewed Aaron Mathieu, the typical host of the podcast. Aaron teaches Honors Biology and AP Biology at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Massachusetts. In addition to his classroom teaching, Aaron is the advisor for the BioBuilder Club at ABRHS. This fall, Aaron is beginning his 25th year as a high school teacher. He was named the NABT Outstanding Biology Teacher for the state of Massachusetts in 2015. In 2016, he started the Life of the School Podcast where he interviews life science teachers from around the country about their teaching practices and goals. You can follow Aaron on twitter @MrMathieuTweets. Pick of the Episode: Check out Life of the school this September with Aaron, Tanea, Lee Ferguson and Ryan Lacson! Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

This episode is the third in my 2019 questions series where I ask a group of teachers the same question and compile their thoughts. For this episode, I asked teachers to the value of tests in their instructional practice. We also discuss what tests look like in their classroom. I found these to be great conversations where my friends shared their struggles around assessment and how they hope to grow in the future. Guests on this Episode are: - Antonio Gamboa from Garey High School in Pomona, CA. (LOTS Episode 2) - Dessy Dimova from Franklin High School, Somerset, NJ. (LOTS Episode 40) - Ryan Reardon from Jefferson County International Baccalaureate in Irondale, AL.(LOTS Episode 18) - Kelly Kluthe from Olathe West High School, Olathe, KS. (LOTS Episode 47) - Brittany Franckowiak from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, MD. (LOTS Episode 46) - Jon Darkow from Seneca East High School in Attica, OH.(LOTS Episode 30) - Paul Strode from Fairview High School in Boulder, CO. (LOTS Episode 13) Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Dillon is a science teacher at Southern Lee High in Sanford, North Carolina. At Southern Lee, Dillon has taught a wide variety of Biology courses including inclusion courses, Honors Biology, AP Biology, and he created the school's Zoology program. Outside of the school, Dillon has served as Chair of the School Improvement Team, Academically-Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Advisor, facilitator of the Advanced Placement PLC and the Biology PLC, and Literacy Leader. He has also served on the Curriculum and Instruction Committee, the AVID Site Team, the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) team, the District Literacy Working Group, and the District AIG Advisory Council. He also coaches the school's Science Olympiad and Quiz Bowl teams. Dillon continues to engage in research to improve his instruction. He has presented on teaching literature in zoology courses at the North Carolina Science Teachers' Association 2016 conference, and he also published the article "Long-form Science: Teaching with Extended Texts" in The Science Teacher in 2017. He also presented on designing inquiry-based zoology courses at the 2018 NSTA Charlotte Area Conference. You can follow Dillon on twitter @crockettclass Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool