SOS Podcast

Do to the COVID-19 pandemic schools around the world are shutting their doors. Here in the state of Washington, we have been closed for two weeks already and now are being required by the state to continue learning for students. Here are some thoughts and actions you can take as you head into your own virtual school reality. Show notes at http://sospodcast.org/episode118/

This week I host the first of what I hope to be virtual happy hours with teachers and tech coaches who find themselves either preparing for virtual learning or are already in it. During the show, they also shared a host of resources for others to use. So many that I can’t add them all to the show’s description so you’ll need to go to sospodcast.org/episode117/ where you’ll find the resources shared and mentioned in this weeks episode.

Last week I was consulting at the International School fo Luxembourg and had an opportunity to sit down and chat with my good friend John Mikton. Much like myself, John has been in virtual learning situations before and as the school prepares to close John shares what they are doing with staff now to prepare for a closer as schools around Europe continue to close due to the spread of COVID-19

This week I share tips and recommendations for going virtual school as my state, Washington, along with many of my international friends find themselves gearing up for are already in virtual school situations. You can find the full transcript of this episode on my blog at: http://www.thethinkingstick.com/virtual-school-tips-and-recommendations/

A great three days interacting and learning from other educators around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. A final reflection on the conference with my friends and Tech Coaches from Moses Lake, WA. Stefan and Monica

After the first day of NCCE2020 in Seattle, I sit down with Tyler Rablin, Patrick Green and Chris Butler to reflect on our Day 1 take aways from NCCE2020

This week Chris Butler and I chat with Julie McDowell a teacher turned coach turned consultant with iReady. A conversation that covers a range of topics

This week Chris Butler and I have a chat with Jessia Fife and Linda Stairet two High School Teacher who team teach in a blended-learning, project-based, flexible seating enviornment….that’s right they have the trifecta. You’re going to love this one and don’t forget to check out the video of their classroom in the show notes. Link to video: http://gg.gg/fife-stairetroom

This week Chris Butler and I chat with Pat Zuniga a High School Teacher who calls his classroom "tech inclusive'. A great conversation on the power of technology to transforming learning for students.

This week Chris Butler and I chat with Ern Dickey a High School teacher digging into the idea of true student lead learning in her classroom. A fantastic conversation about inquiry and student ownership of learning.

This week Chris Butler and I chat with Taylor Newman a Middle School Teacher from Texas who is flipping her classroom using a whole host of tools.  A great conversation on using technology to transforming learning for students.

A conversation with Middle School Teacher Kaci Presnell about her relationship with students, cell phones in the classrooms and Project-Based Learning in her classroom. Links:  Kaci's Instagram: @blendedcoffeeandclass Kaci's Twitter: @kacisunshine_ Chris's Twitter: @TechTeachTravel

This week I reflect on some conversations that I have had recently and how that had led me to believe you can be a paperless classroom or a blended learning classroom but you can't be both. 

This week Chris Butler and I have a chat with Tyler, Cassie, and Chris from the Sunnyside School District. A rural school district here in the central part of Washington State. Last November I was invited to be a part of their first Leveled UP conference and was so excited by the experience the participants had I wanted to have them on to share with you how they went about making it happen.

Starting off the new year with a great conversation about school leadership and setting the culture that you want as a leader starts with servant leadership. 

Chris Butler and I reflect on the 2019 and set the stage for 2020 as we record the last episode for 2019. We'll be back every Wednesday starting January 8th, 2020.  Links:  Ordinary to you Amazing to others (video)

  This week Chris Butler and I chat with Collin Gibbs a Social Studies teacher who shares his system for success he uses with his students. Collin also shares his “technology checklist” with all of you. You can find a link to it in the show notes to this episode. It’s a Google Slide so you can make a copy of it for yourself…if you do use and update it for your specific classroom please share your with the community as well. We all learn when we all share. A great episode with some really powerful nuggets of knowledge.   Links:   Technology Checklist: http://gg.gg/gibbstechcheck   Twitter: @collinjgibbs

This week Chris Butler and I chat with new tech coach David Stiner and talk about the ups and downs of being a coach and coaching strategies when you are the only technology coach in the district. Links: Twitter: @madtechteacher CodeCombat: https://codecombat.com/ TikTok Education in India:  https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/17/tiktok-education-edutok-india/ TikTok as a High School Club:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/11/13/tiktok-powerful-teaching-tool-or-classroom-management.html

Our last conversation of November with the authors of Classroom Management in the Digital Age our free give away this month. Remember you can enter to win a free copy of the book by leaving a Flipgrid response to this week's question. Links: Book Twitter: #CMDigitalAge Patrick Green Heather Dowd

A great conversation with 6th Grade ELA teacher Kenzie Munn who teaches at a school that focuses on Project-Based Learning. She uses a host of different apps and has her classroom set up for students to have flexible seating. Check out a video of her classroom in our show notes below: Links: PearDeck: https://www.peardeck.com/googleslides EdPuzzle: https://edpuzzle.com/ FlipGrid: https://www.flipgrid.com Quizizz: https://quizizz.com/ Flexible Seating Video: http://gg.gg/munnclassroom2019 Reach out to Kenzie @McKenzieMunn on twitter @miss.munn on Instagram