Classical Education Beautiful Teaching, LLC

About The GuestMariah Martinez has worked in education since 2015 as a teacher, curriculum developer, and mentor teacher. Mariah attended the Honors College at Houston Baptist University where she received a B.A., double majoring in Philosophy and English. In 2021, she received a Master of Humanities  in classical education from the University of Dallas. She is certified as a 7-12 ELAR instructor in the state of Texas. She began her teaching career at a Great Hearts school in San Antonio and now works at a Founders Classical charter school in Texas. She has eight years of middle and high school teaching experience and is a founding faculty member of the high school at her current location where she now serves as the assistant headmaster for the upper school. She has experience not only with developing classical curricula for the high school environment but has also developed guides for creating house systems and student leadership positions. Mariah's goal is to help make the methods of classical education and the philosophies behind them accessible for all.
Show Notes
Mariah Martinez shares what she has learned about Classical pedagogy and how to apply this art of teaching classically, simply and well. She shares her experience working at a classical charter school and the impact that it has had on her students. She also shares about the two types of classical pedagogy which she will expand on at the Vital Ideas Conference, 2024.
Some Highlights:
What you must have in order to obtain good pedagogy;  from Norms and Nobility by David HicksDoes the state of education matter?What leads to an incomplete education?What happens with isolation and online programs?How do we form well ordered minds and souls?Two types of pedagogy and the subcategories Observed differences that Classical Education has made in the students at her schoolResources Mentioned Norms and Nobility by David Hicks ---An affordable REISSUE of Norms and Nobility releases August 6, 2024 (look for the blue book with the introduction by Andrew Kern)Crime and Punishment by DostoyevskyAudiobook: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Narrated by: Virginia Leishman
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ONE day left to register for the conference on June 28-29, 2024Vital Ideas Online Classical Education Conference Information -https://www.beautifulteaching.com/conference
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Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2024 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved

About The GuestDavid V. Hicks retired in 2015 as Chief Academic Officer for Meritas LLC, a company based in Chicago that owned and operated K-12 college preparatory schools worldwide.  The day after his retirement, Meritas was sold to Nord Anglia Education.  
 
Before joining Meritas, Hicks spent thirty years in independent education, heading St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Jackson, Mississippi; St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas; St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire; and the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia. 
 
After graduating from The Stony Brook School (New York) in 1966, Hicks studied at Princeton where he majored in English and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1970. He then read for a master’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Jesus College, Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He later studied at the University of Moscow.
 
Hicks served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and is the youngest man ever to teach on the faculty of the Naval War College. In 1976, he ran for Congress in New York’s Westchester County in a race he narrowly lost to long-time incumbent Richard Ottinger. In 1981 his book, NORMS & NOBILITY: A TREATISE ON EDUCATION, won the Outstanding Book Award for Education from the American Library Association. In 1996, Hicks created a stir in boarding school communities around the United States when he published his essay, “The Strange Fate of the American Boarding School,” in The American Scholar. His and his brother Scot’s translation of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations was published by Scribner as THE EMPEROR'S HANDBOOK in 2002.   Since then Scot and Davd have produced a series of annotated translations of Plutarch’s Lives for CiRCE: The Lawgivers; The Statesmen; and The Tyrant.
 
Forthcoming books by Hicks: The Stones Cry Out: Reflections on the Myths We Live By (CAP) and with Father Anthony Gilbert, Orthodox Christianity and Classical Education (SVP).
 
Hicks has served on numerous boards throughout the world, most recently including the TASIS Foundation (Switzerland), the Campion School (Greece), St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (New York), TASIS Dorado School (Puerto Rico), San Roberto International School  (Mexico), and St. Peter’s Monastery Foundation (Montana). 
 
Hicks and his wife Mary Elizabeth have four grown children and live on a ranch (West of the Moon) off the grid near Harrison, Montana.  They are members of St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church In Bozeman.
Show Notes
David shares about his education as a child into his early career and how it lead him towards writing Norms and Nobility. Adrienne and David dive into what it means to create a spirit of inquiry rooted in dialects. David delves into the thesis of Norms and Nobility and expands on the quote on page 18 of his book. David discusses what early Christian education looked like.  David details about all his newer writing projectsDavid V. Hicks ResourcesREISSUE of Norms and Nobility releases August 6, 2024 (look for the blue book with the introduction by Andrew Kern)Orthodox Christianity and Classical Education: An Anthology edited by David V. Hicks (published by St. Vladimir's Press. Release date is not yet available)The Stones Cry Out by David V. Hicks (CAP publishing- Preorder form is available here)The Emporer's Handbook : A New Translation of the Meditations Trans. by David and Scot Hicks (the new paperback version is Marcus Arelius's Meditations also translated by Hicks)The Plutarch books (all 3: The Lawgiver, The Statesman, The Tyrant) can be found on Circe Institute's website here.
Resources MentionedThucydides (He did not mention what book, but this is the version that Dr. Matthew Post used for his classes at UD)Crime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoevskyThe Book of Lost Tales by J.R.R. TolkienThe Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane JabobsThe Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture by Wendell Berry (audiobook is free on audible

This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.  Our team provides immersion courses, seminar led book studies, and comprehensive support for parents & K-12 classical educators.
This episode was sponsored by Classic Learning Test (CLT), Beautiful Feet Books, and Eighth Day Books!
Conference attendees have a chance to win gift certificates from these sponsors as well as our other conference sponsors!
Join us for our First Conference! 
 Explore some of our Conference Sessions on this episode: Discuss your conference topic and what can attendees expect to take away from your session?
Karen Glass: The Children Ask for Bread Peach Smith: Teaching Science Classically for K-12 Mark Signorelli: Before the Books & Story and CivicsAaron Mitchell: Teaching Euclid as a Way Beyond Gnostic Cartesian MathematicsMariah Martinez: Introducing Two types of Classical Pedagogy: Mimetic and Socratic & Recitation: A Rhetorical Art for PreK-12Jonathan Fiore: The Things We Carry– Two Graduates of Classical Education Reflect on its ImpactAdrienne Freas: Loving Many ThingsSome Question We Discuss:
What does the term "Vital Ideas" mean and why is it the them for our first classical education conference?Who has had the greatest influence on your philosophy of education and why?"what makes being an educator in the classical tradition different than just being an educator per se?"What do you think are the greatest difficulties for classical educators?_________________________________________________________________________
Vital Ideas Conference Information -https://www.beautifulteaching.com/conference
$20 off Discount Code: IDEAS20note: copy/paste exactly without any spaces before or after.It is good through June 20.
DETAILED PROGRAM GUIDE
Conference Recordings: All sessions will be recorded. Live attendance is greatly encouraged, but come and go as needed. The recording will be available 2 weeks after the conference. The recordings will be available for 9 months.

Sessions: We have 16 sessions and 12 Speakers! Our sessions are for parents, home educators, classroom teachers, and school leadership. Each breakout in the program is marked with the recommended audience to help you choose the right sessions for  your needs. See the detailed program guide! 
________________________________________________________This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast:
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Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic
 
© 2024 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved

About The GuestBryan Smith has been in education for over thirty years, primarily in schools with a liberal arts or classical education philosophy. His own education at the University of Dallas was a solid classical liberal arts formation in great texts, classical Greek, and rhetorical practice.
Bryan has worked in private schools for most of his career, but for a decade he worked with Great Hearts Academies, a charter school network operating in Arizona and Texas. He began his employment at Great Hearts as the founding head of school for one of eleven Arizona campuses. During Great Hearts’ expansion into Texas, Bryan served as the founding headmaster for the first network school in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metro area.
Bryan’s most recent work as a consultant has allowed him to continue helping school staff with planning, solid pedagogical and administrative practices, classroom management and student culture.
You can find Bryan Smith on LinkedIn
Show NotesBryan Smith and Adrienne Freas of Beautiful Teaching, reflect on what is attractive about a Liberal Arts Education. They talk about the principles that define a classical school, and why the ethos of classical education imparts a hopeful view of humanity. A noble end unfolds from permanent and universal reflections. The principles that anchor classical schools are discussed in this significant podcast. All educators will appreciate the wisdom of how to place school on course either to develop or to improve.
Some Key Moments Include:
What books are really necessary for a classical school to include on their lists?Why The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius ought to be in every classical highschool curriculumWhat the early Christians thought about educationClassical education is rooted in common assumptions--these are elaboratedResources MentionedThe Consolation of Philosphy - Boethius
The Discarded Image - C.S. Lewis
Essay “Schooling in Byzantium” by Bryan Smith (this will be a chapter in a new book coming out by St. Vladimir's press with essays compiled by David Hicks. More info coming soon)
St. Basil on Prepositions: The Human Condition
The Iliad &The Odyssey - Homer
The PsalterAtigone
Books 1 and 2 of Samuel
On the Incarnation by Saint Athanasius the Great of Alexandria with an introduction by C.S. Lewis 
PlatoThe Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
Frog and Toad series - Arnold Lobel"The Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's Republic
Paradise Lost- John Milton
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky 
Poetry by Virgil
________________________________________________________This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast:
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_________________________________________________________

Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic
 
© 2024 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved

About The Guests
ACCESS LITERACY TEAMDorothy KardatzkeI live with my husband in Columbus, Ohio. I taught for more than 25 years in both general education classrooms and in classrooms for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Since 1997, when I was first trained in the English code, all my literacy instruction has been delivered using programs that are Orton-based. I left the classroom in 2018 to create space to write curriculum, and train/coach teachers. However, I will always be a teacher. It is who I am! I tutor little folks and big folks in literacy whenever I have the chance.
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I had a rather circuitous educational journey which offered me the opportunity to embark on what I do presently. I completed a double major in Elementary Education and Deaf Education from Augustana College. I later completed post-graduate work in Linguistics and Language Development at the University of South Dakota and Neuroanatomy  at The Ohio State University.
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During leisure time, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, hiking, fishing, canoeing, camping and cross-country skiing.
Melody FurnoMy husband and I live in Columbus, Ohio where I taught an Orton-based Method for literacy in Kindergarten and first grade classrooms for 19 years. Encountering struggling readers in the classroom motivated me to enroll in coursework and to research current information on reading disabilities and dyslexia to set up interventions in the classroom.
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Since leaving the classroom, I have used an Orton-based Method to train and consult teachers in literacy across the country and tutor struggling readers in 4th and 5th grades for Columbus Public Schools. 
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I enjoy nature, fishing, hiking and biking. My special interest is to encourage faith-based ministries to play a part in addressing youth and adult illiteracy.   
Show NotesPhonics programs are an important foundation for teaching students how to read. There are many programs and they differ widely. Learn about the unique features of this program. Discover what is important when looking for a phonics curriculum for your students. 
Dorothy Kardatzke  and Melanie Furno are the founders of Access Literacy.  Their phonics curriculum,  Literacy Essentials: Journey from Spelling to Reading is commonly used in classical schools.  In this interview, they articulate the details that explain what a good phonic-based program looks like and why it matters. The Access Literacy program supports the road to integrating the components of writing, thinking well, and reading well. _____________________________________________Note: Adrienne does not recieve compensation for recommending any curriculum on her podcast. The purpose of presenting curriculum on the podcast is to help parents and school leadership make well-informed decisions on curriculum that is most aligned to the classical tradition. _____________________________________________ 
ResourcesLink to their Home page: https://www.accessliteracy.com/
Parent page including phonogram videos: https://www.accessliteracy.com/parents
Link for ordering teaching materials through Hillsdale: https://www.accessliteracy.com/projects-2
Link for ordering the Student Orthography Notebook: https://www.accessliteracy.com/projects-2
Books mentionedWhy Our Children Can’t Read, and What You Can Do About It by Diane McGuinness
Author in the Science of Reading field — Dr. Louisa Moats
The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton- PorterHow to Read a Book by Mortimer AdlerHow To Read a Difficult Book (free link to one page essay) by Mortimer Adler________________________________________________________This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast:
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Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian

GuestsRhonda Bedee is an instructor endorsed by SWR author Wanda Sanseri for Spell to Write and Read seminars. My specialty is finding solutions for individual spelling needs via spelling coaching, Mom & Dad encouragement, accountability, and assessments. Experience comes from four decades of home education, public schools, private classical academies, homeschool co-ops, tutoring, English language ESL learners, and teaching special ability students.
Credentials: B.S. Secondary Education, Lamar University-Beaumont, Texas; extensive all-level SWR classes & mentoring under Wanda Sanseri.Rhonda's Training Site
Niki WiseAlthough Niki Wise currently resides in Georgia, her BASIC Seminars are offered both in Zoom & in person beyond her borders. She began using Spell to Write and Read back in the 1990s when it was Teaching Reading at Home and School. Not only using this program during her homeschool years, Niki also shared this program with many friends, & even introduced her oldest grandson to spelling & reading with Mrs. Sanseri's proven program. When she is not offering a BASIC seminar, she can be found playing with her 6 grandkids, teaching at Colquitt Christian Academy, & planning road trips with her husband.Contact Niki: crosswiseswr@gmail.comShow NotesThis interview with Rhonda Bedee and Niki Wise is part 1 of a 2 part series on phonics. Part 2 (the next episode) will feature the creators of Literacy Essentials: The Journey from Spelling to Reading. You will learn a lot of great information about both programs to help you make your decision on which program best suits your needs. 
Historical efforts to teach reading, writing, and spelling have been developed, applied and studied for centuries. Integrating  lessons from “sound to symbol” equips students with the ability to work through the process of learning to read. The unique features and history of Spell to Write and Read is explained in this episode. We discuss not only why it works, but also how it can (in many cases) help prevent the need for future reading remedies.
_____________________________________________Note: Adrienne does not recieve compensation for recommending any curriculum on her podcast. The purpose of presenting curriculum on the podcast is to help parents and school leadership make well-informed decisions on curriculum that is most aligned to the classical tradition. _____________________________________________ 
ResourcesSpell to Write and Read Forum (free or for more resources there is a small membership fee)Free Blank Book Template
Where to buy:  https://swrforum.com/where-to-buy/
Articles & Podcasts Mentioned
NY Times Article: In the Fight Over How to Teach Reading, This Guru Makes a Major Retreat
PODCAST Episode that Rhonda Mentions:  Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
________________________________________________________This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast:
★ Support this podcast ★

_________________________________________________________

Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic
 
© 2024 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved