The EDVERYTHING Podcast: For Everything Education Nicole Clark&Danielle Johnson

This week on the Edverything Podcast, we welcome Spencer Sharp, also known as @sharpthebuilder
Spencer found himself in a unique situation back in his first year of teaching - to build something from nothing, and if you thought his name hinted at something, you’re right- @sharpthebuilder reflects Spencer’s path as he was approached by his school leadership to build a STEM curriculum from scratch with limited supplies and funding, and he certainly did!
Spencer sits down with us to talk about his experience as a 1-person department, his philosophy on failure, and his mission to make STEM accessible no matter your subject area.
Let’s get started…
For more ways to connect with Spencer:
Email:
sharpthebuilder2020@gmail.com
Feature at STEM Con 2020:
https://www.steamcafe.net/virtual-stem-con-2020-pd-in-your-pjs/
Website:
https://www.sharpthebuilder.com/
Podcast:
https://innovativeteacherpodcast.com/
Store:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Sharp-The-Builder
Blog:
https://www.sharpthebuilder.com/blog

It feels like now more than ever educators are reexamining classroom practices and procedures with a different lens; enter: 2020-2021 school year. An ever-changing learning environment calls on teachers to get creative especially when it comes to traditional classroom procedures like student note-taking. This week, Danielle and Nicole challenging student and teacher assumptions about note-taking as they ask 3 major questions and identify valuable criteria when deciding on a new note-taking approach. 

In this episode you'll hear 3 key questions every teacher should ask oneself: 

1. Does the style and organization matter? 

2.  Who are these notes for? 

3. How can provide explicit instruction on note-taking to my students? 

You'll also hear key criteria to consider when choosing a new note-taking system, procedure, or software:

1. Ease of transparency in sharing student to teacher and student to student

2. Accessibility of differentiation

3. Storage and organization options

4. Possible integration with past software

5. Compatibility with discipline and subject area

6. Cost to school and cost to student/family 

*bonus* is this tool and associate learned skill a  new addition to your #teacherresume? Can you update and revamp pre-existing content on TpT? 

Jen Gonzalez of @cultofpedagogy 

Notetaking: A Research Roundup Article

Ashley Bible of @buildingbooklove

Episode 63: Wonderful, Wonder-filled Classrooms for Any Age Group with Ashley Bible

Peardeck: formative assessment

https://www.peardeck.com/

Parlay ideas: The future of class discussions

https://parlayideas.com/

Many edupreneurs find themselves creating classroom resources to sell to other time-strapped educators. Marshall and his wife, Lindsay, decided to start a podcast, not for their fellow teachers or teacher side hustlers, but in an area where they saw a real lack: inspiring science education content. Combining Lindsay’s background in science journalism with Marshall’s passion for teaching middle school and his musical talent, the couple started Tumble, a self-described “science podcast for kids, to be enjoyed by the entire family.” In this episode, Marshall explains the process for creating each episode, how they gained the attention of brands early (and how they’ve recently leveraged this into a brand partnership), what role Patreon plays in his business (and what he’s learned that you can apply to your very own content creation account), and the invaluable role networking has played in the success of the podcast every step of the way.

To learn more about the Tumble Science Podcast:

https://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/

To visit Tumble Patreon channel: 

https://www.patreon.com/tumblepodcast

To listen to Tumble: 

https://beta.prx.org/series/38125

Though going into the field of education was the single biggest career choice that we’ve made, starting our podcast 3 years ago has become a very close second. Starting a teacher podcast was a literal game changer for us. Without it, we would still be dreaming of one day becoming teacherpreneurs. As proud teacher side hustlers, we know that there are plenty of decisions that need to be made at any given point, but we can also say from experience that choosing the right platform for releasing your regular content is one that can really make all the difference. Podcasting has truly been the catalyst for so much of our success—and we want to give you the motivation and the inside scoop to help you make podcast a part of your content strategy as well.

In this episode, we talk about why we started a teacher podcast to begin with, but we go on to list a number of other reasons why podcasting might be a good fit for you as well. Whether to further your career aspirations outside of the classroom or to document your experience to track your own personal growth, we consider a number of reasons beyond promoting items from your TpT store that might make podcasting the right path for you. Once you’ve determined that podcasting makes sense for you, we make sure that you’ve thought through what you’ll podcast about.

But we won’t leave you with tons of ideas and no way to implement. In the second half of the episode, we deep dive into what you need (and what you don’t) to start recording right away. After breaking down some myths and misconceptions that might be holding you back from pressing recording or releasing your first episode, we take you through the entire process, from recording software to distribution platforms, so you’ll find your way into earbuds in no time.

In this episode you’ll hear
-Why podcasting is a great platform when you are just starting out
-What equipment you need (and what you don’t need to spend money on) when first starting a podcast
-What software we use to record and distribute our own podcast (spoiler alert: its free)

Though teaching can feel like a rather solitary profession at times, more and more educators are realizing the benefits of working with their fellow teachers. Whether schools assign a co-teacher or encourage us to work with a team, we establish formal or informal mentorship relationships with those within our own district or teachers that we follow on Instagram, or we simply regularly listen to education-focused podcasts or attend virtual PD, nowadays, the opportunities to network and learn from other instructors seem endless.

But we shouldn’t rely on our peers alone to help make our classrooms thrive. Your district may have any number of other amazing individuals that serve as resources for not only the students but for you as an educator. One position that can help bring a unique perspective into the classroom is to work with a Behavioral Specialist, and while your particular school may not have one on staff just yet, Maria Helton is on the show to bring her top tips for how to increase positive behavior and habits in the classroom— no matter what grade level you work with.

Whether you are interacting with your students virtually or in person, Maria, of Teaching Behavior Together, explains how to cultivate the behavior we want our students to display. From building rapport to coping mechanisms, Maria demonstrates the need to model behavior, to be cognizant of providing reinforcement for the behaviors we want to see more of, and to meet students' needs at the moment rather than rush to finding blame or consequences. While there are certainly unique challenges in terms of behavior that arise in the virtual environment schools may find themselves in in 2020, Maria’s optimism shines through, seeing this as an opportunity to leave behind the relics of traditional school punishments and instead think of new, creative ways that more appropriately set students up for long term success in whatever environment they find themselves in. 

In some ways, our sudden foray into remote instruction has forced us to re-examine the ways in which things have always been done in education, allowing motivated teachers the space to reinvent practices that had become standard but that could be improved with the technology now at our disposal. Perhaps more than any other single aspect of education, virtual learning necessitates a close connection with parents who are instrumental in the educational process but who can be difficult to cultivate relationships with when we don’t see them in the course of everyday interactions or due to a pandemic and social distancing, we may never actually meet them in person. Back To School Night provides teachers with the opportunity to meet the parents and guardians and begin to develop that rapport, but when the school building may not be open or may not be for visitors, how can we communicate the right tone and information and lay the groundwork for that great communication. We first discussed Back To School night way back in our second ever episode of the EDverything Podcast, but 2020 has us revisiting this topic—and the spin we are putting on back to school night has us excited to implement these tactics, even after the new normal is long behind us. In this episode, you’ll hear why recording a video intro as using a tool like Loom is something that will be making Back To School Night a better experience for everyone involved—and what to feature if you are eager to do the same!


In this episode, you’ll hear:
-How recording a video can save you from some of the most common Back To School Night interruptions
-Why it will save you time (and be far more environmentally-friendly than your typical Back To School Night)
-How it signals your understanding of parents needs and schedules
-Why it can be great for making sure that the supplies you need are the ones that actually get purchased
-Gives parents a better idea of what your actual (sometimes virtual or flipped) classroom might look like
-Why this can help you stand out while simultaneously taking away some of the nerves and stress typically associated with BTSN
-What to cover in a virtual BTSN intro video, from the traditional topics to those that make a great addition for people who can’t come to your classroom in person