Hallway Conversations

Matt Beimers, Abby DeGroot, & Dave Mulder
Hallway Conversations

We are three friends who have been teaching for quite a while, but we still have lots of questions about education. This is our place for thinking out loud about topics we think are important for Christian teachers to consider. Welcome to the conversation!

  1. 9 OCT

    Episode 112: Connections (or..."We're Back, Baby!")

    We’re (finally!) back in the studio (okay, Abby’s office with a creaky table) to record again. We’ve missed this so much! We start by catching up about some of the events of our summer, and the things we have upcoming–lots of opportunities for us to meet up with Christian educators in different places. We love connecting with colleagues across North America, and around the world! And along these lines, our main conversation this week is about “connection” in schools–as in, what does it look like for people to be “connected” to their school community? Matt shared some quotes to get the ball rolling, and once we got started, we found we have both lots of ideas as well as plenty of questions about what being “connected” in a school community looks like in the flesh. We discuss the difference between “welcome” and “belonging,” and we wonder together about what it looks like when students (or faculty) are disconnected from their school community. We also wonder about the benefits of “close-knit community” and if there is a shadow-side to this, though it certainly sounds appealing. Throughout this conversation, we share examples and stories from our own experiences, both in schools and in broader communities. We hope, as always, that listening to us thinking out loud will be a spark for some hallway conversations of your own! Dave mentioned that he is going to be speaking at ACSI’s Flourishing Schools Institute; this is going to be a pretty phenomenal conference! You can learn more here: https://www.acsi.org/flourishing-schools-institute Matt and Abby will be at the Christian Educators Association Convention at the end of October, and if you are going to be there, be sure to connect with them there! More information about the convention here: https://www.ceateachers.org/ Hallway Conversations is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. You can learn more about the good work CACE is doing at https://cace.org/

    29 min
  2. 24 APR

    Episode 109: The Science of Reading: A Conversation with Dr. Gwen Marra

    This week we are joined in the hallway by our friend and colleague, Gwen Marra. Dr. Marra teaches courses in Dordt’s undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program and Master of Education Program related to early childhood education and literacy. Her academic focus is especially on supporting all learners in developing essential skills for literacy. The hallway crew keeps hearing about “the Science of Reading,” and we have a varied understanding of what this means. Since we wanted to learn more, we connected with our resident expert on all things literacy! Gwen shares from the deep well of her education and experience to help us understand better. We hope that by listening in you’ll likewise be informed and better equipped to understand what research actually says about how people learn to read, and how we can help all students learn and succeed with literacy. Dr. Marra mentioned the Sold a Story podcast in this episode. You can listen to the whole podcast here: https://features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/  Dr. Marra also mentioned the book Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Tree-Lynda-Mullaly-Hunt/dp/0142426423  Dr. Marra mentioned several resources for teachers and parents, which you can access here: Reading Rockets: https://www.readingrockets.org/  International Dyslexia Association: https://dyslexiaida.org/  Hallway Conversations is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. You can learn more about the good work CACE is doing at https://cace.org/

    37 min
  3. 10 APR

    Episode 108: Teaching for (and from?) Transformation: A Conversation with Darryl De Boer

    This week we are privileged to host our friend, Darryl De Boer, as a special guest. Darryl is a longtime leader in Christian schools, and currently serves as Director of Learning at Surrey Christian School in Surrey, British Columbia. Darryl is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education where he serves as the Director of Teaching for Transformation. Darryl is one of the co-creators of Teaching for Transformation (TfT), which is a framework being used by many Christian schools across North America to more intentionally ground their curriculum, instruction, and professional development to a Christ-centered biblical worldview. In this conversation, Darryl shares about the development of TfT, the core practices that are integral to TfT, and many other topics related to teaching and leading Christianly. Darryl’s wisdom, thoughtfulness, and passion are on full display in our conversation, as is his way of encouraging and agitating (in the most positive sense!) to help schools become more intentional about taking seriously the integral nature of faith and learning. No matter your role in education, if you are part of a Christian school, we’re confident you’ll be encouraged and challenged by listening to this conversation! Hallway Conversations is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. You can learn more about the good work CACE is doing at https://cace.org/

    46 min
  4. 27 MAR

    Episode 107: Teacher Leadership (or, why Abby is an effective leader, even though she never wants to be a principal)

    We start off today’s episode by checking in about our spring break shenanigans; we were all out traveling, and found it a wonderful time to recharge–a good reminder for us (and hopefully for you too!) that we need to take breaks, get a change of scenery, and recharge. The main topic for our discussion today came from Dave’s questions: “What is teacher leadership? And how do teachers function as leaders in school?” We discuss different ways that teachers can function as leaders–for good, or for ill–in school, even if they don’t have a formal title. We hope that this conversation will prompt some valuable discussion in your own hallway about the ways you and your colleagues serve as leaders in your school. In today’s episode, Abby mentions an excellent piece from Cult of Pedagogy entitled Find Your Marigold. We recommend you read it! You can access it here: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/ Hallway Conversations is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education. You can learn more about the good work CACE is doing at https://cace.org/ In the past few episodes, Matt has mentioned an upcoming webinar with Dr. Owen Webb about restorative practices. This webinar is free, and we urge you to join in and learn. More information about the webinar is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1600343174138846?ref=newsfeed You can register here: https://dordt-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NdZFsoTsSiuEAF58gvGfcA#/registration

    28 min

About

We are three friends who have been teaching for quite a while, but we still have lots of questions about education. This is our place for thinking out loud about topics we think are important for Christian teachers to consider. Welcome to the conversation!

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