#EduCrush

Natalie Vardabasso
#EduCrush

A celebration of the brave humans who are reimagining education through a liberating praxis. Hosted by assessment specialist Natalie Vardabasso, and teacher Alex Noel, this is a show for change agents who aren't afraid to ask uncomfortable questions, embrace complexity, and continuously empower themselves and others. Your next #EduCrush is right here!

  1. Changing Ourselves, Our Assessment Practice & Our Careers (w Starr Sackstein)

    JUN 3

    Changing Ourselves, Our Assessment Practice & Our Careers (w Starr Sackstein)

    Though Starr is considered a leading voice in innovative assessment and grading practices, it didn’t start out that way. Once upon a time, she was a teacher in her classroom on the precipice of making a terrifying change. In this episode, Nat talks with Starr about how her personal growth journey triggered a change in her practices and eventually a major pivot in her career. Learn how Starr learned to let go of control and empower students so you can do the same. Show Notes: How doing personal, inner work sparks an openness to change and learning, like it did when Starr chose to transform her assessment and grading practices. The biggest misconception about assessment is not believing that kids are capable of being assessors on their own behalf; it’s vulnerable to release control. Cultivating respectful education by seeing people and moving together puts joy back in the job. When being an innovative teacher puts a target on your back. Leveraging our skills as teachers allows us to move beyond typical jobs in education to expand our impact. Surrendering to the energy of the universe to allow our path to unfold and find our people. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram 💬Continue the conversation with Starr on Twitter or Linkedin.    ✊ Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies.   ✨Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading!

    56 min
  2. Hacking Parent Communication (w Crystal Frommert)

    FEB 26

    Hacking Parent Communication (w Crystal Frommert)

    ✊ Check out the website for the Empowerment Ecosystem Summit for the schedule, locations, and details on how to register! Parent communication isn’t the sexiest part of our jobs, but that doesn’t make it any less critical. Natalie is joined by Crystal Frommert, author of “When Calling Parents isn’t your Calling,” to discuss strategies to proactively partner with parents and how to assert ourselves when communication crosses into disrespectful territory. Show Notes: Whenever possible, we should lean towards verbal rather than written, digital communication. Many of us are nervous about talking to parents because of bad past experiences and deep fears of being exposed as a fraud. Parent communication in education is NOT customer service; we are professionals, not “yes” people. Strategies for proactive parent communication are meet-the-teacher nights, information nights about special events, or spontaneous positive phone calls home. A great question to ask when talking to parents about something tough is, “What suggestions do you have for me to support your child through this?” As we build our expertise, we can avoid talking about grades with parents altogether by sharing evidence of learning directly. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram   💬 Continue the conversation with Crystal on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.     ✊ Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies.

    52 min
4.9
out of 5
48 Ratings

About

A celebration of the brave humans who are reimagining education through a liberating praxis. Hosted by assessment specialist Natalie Vardabasso, and teacher Alex Noel, this is a show for change agents who aren't afraid to ask uncomfortable questions, embrace complexity, and continuously empower themselves and others. Your next #EduCrush is right here!

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