NHASCD Spotlight: A Podcast

Episode description

“We don’t want to play blackjack with the life of an 8-year-old,” says John Almarode, who has dedicated his life to improving teacher instruction. John recently presented to high acclaim with John Hattie at NHASCD’s Visible Learning Conference, co-sponsored with Corwin in February 2023. In this podcast, John discusses with our hosts Bill Carozza an Kristen Moreland how higher education can significantly impact PK-12, John’s partnership with Hattie, Doug Fisher, and Nancy Frey, PLC +, and his experience writing books.

ABOUT

John is an award-winning Professor of Education at James Madison University. He works with pre‑service teachers and graduate students, as well as actively pursuing his research interests, including the science of learning and the design and measurement of classroom environments that promote student engagement and learning. John and his colleagues have presented their work at the United States Congress, the Virginia Senate, the United States Department of Education, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House. John has also served as a math and science teacher and is a prolific writer, including authoring 11 books on topics from math and science instruction, a new framework centering on PLC+, and visible learning.

Links and show notes

John Almarode’s website

Email John

John’s Twitter

James Madison University

John’s Books on Amazon

John Hattie: Visible Learning

Visible Learning Meta-X

History of PLCs

NHASCD web site

Doannie Tran is the author of The Open System: Redesigning, Education, & Reigniting Democracy with co-author Landon Mascareñaz. This episode explores how open communication between education stakeholders can improve equity and bolster public trust in our schools. The honest, daily exchange of ideas can counteract the overheated confrontations at school board meetings and the lack of civility regarding schools on social media.

ABOUT

Dr. Doannie Tran is a partner at the Center for Innovation in Education. He formerly served as an assistant superintendent for the Academics and Professional Learning Department in Boston Public Schools and the Innovation Programs Division in Fulton County Schools. He led the community-driven codesign of two innovative high school models. Doannie lives with his wife Pauley and their two kids in Atlanta, Georgia.

Links and show notes

The Open System

The Open System Institute

Doannie's Bio

Center for Innovation in Education

Democracy in America

Doannie on Twitter

Dr. Monica Burns is ASCD’s go-to tech person. She has a rich career as a classroom teacher, author, speaker, and consultant. Most importantly, she is passionate in her quest to help teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. 

About

Monica Burns, EdD, is a curriculum and EdTech consultant, ASCD Faculty member, and founder of classtechtips.com As a classroom teacher in New York City, she used digital tools to create an engaging, differentiated learning experience to meet the unique needs of her students. Burns has led workshops and webinars and provided keynote presentations to teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and tech enthusiasts at numerous national and international conferences, including SXSW EDU, ISTE, and EduTECH. She hosts the Easy EdTech Podcast and is the author of EdTech Essentials: The Top 10 Technology Strategies for All Learning Environments and Tasks Before Apps: Designing Rigorous Learning in a Tech-Rich Classroom, among other publications. Her latest publication is ASCD's Using AI Chatbots to Enhance Planning and Instruction (Quick Reference Guide). In short, she really is the ASCD go-to tech person. 

Links and show notes

classtechtips.com

Social Media: @ClassTechTips

Easy EdTech Podcast

EdTech Essentials: The Top 10 Technology Strategies for All Learning Environments

Using AI Chatbots to Enhance Planning and Instruction (Quick Reference Guide)

ISTE

NHASCD

ASCD

Episode description

Tom Newkirk is a New Hampshire literary treasure who has spent a career teaching writing to scores of teachers. He believes deeply that the printed word helps to sustain democracy, and he articulates that belief in his latest book, due out in September, Literacy’s Democratic Roots – A Personal Tour Through 8 Big Ideas. In this episode, we explore the theme of his book in light of our current educational reality.

About our Guest

Tom is the author of numerous Heinemann titles, including Embarrassment, Minds Made for Stories, The Art of Slow Reading, The Performance of Self in Student Writing (winner of the NCTE's David H. Russell Award), and Misreading Masculinity. For almost three decades, Tom taught writing at the University of New Hampshire, where he founded the New Hampshire Literacy Institute, a summer program for teachers. In addition to working as a teacher, writer, and editor, he currently serves on his local school board.

Links and show notes

Tom’s Bio

Tom’s Amazon author page

Tom on Twitter

NHASCD

ASCD

As PJ says, time is finite and difficult to manage. The key is managing yourself. In this podcast, PJ offers practical advice on how educators can get much more done in the same time they have always had. 

About

PJ Caposey is an award-winning author, educator, and Illinois’s 2022 Superintendent of the Year. PJ served as the Oregon, IL High School principal for four years and is currently serving in his fifth year as the superintendent of Meridian Community Unit School District 223. PJ is also a sought-after keynote presenter, consultant, and professional development provider and has spoken at many local, state, and national conferences specializing in school culture, continuous improvement, social media, and teacher evaluation. He is the author of the ASCD book Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You-Strategies That Work from an Educator Who's Been There.

Links and show notes

PJ’s site

Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You: Strategies That Work from an Educator Who's Been There

PJ’s ASCD author page

PJ on Twitter

PJ on Facebook

NHASCD

ASCD

On this bonus episode of the podcast, we are beginning a new tradition of interviewing our annual NHASCD EDies award winner. This year, Steve Lebel and Bill Carozza are honored to speak with Jan Yost, who will receive her award at the annual NH EDies awards event on June 3. 

About

Jan Yost is a veteran board member, President, and Executive Director at NHASCD. Jan has served as a high school math teacher, middle school principal, consultant, and author of the 2006 Corwin book Curriculum Mapping for Differentiated Instruction, K-8 with her friend Michelle Langa. Jan holds Masters Degrees in both Educational Administration from UNH and Mathematics from Adelphi University. Jan won this year’s NHASCD Excellence in Education (EDies) Award, inspiring excellence in teaching, learning, and leading.

Links and show notes

Curriculum Mapping for Differentiated Instruction, K-8 

NHASCD

ASCD

NH Excellence in Education Award

School funding continues to be a contentious issue in New Hampshire, from the 1997 Claremont case to the current ConVal lawsuit. Zack Sheehan, the Executive Director of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project, joins Bill Carozza and Laconia, NH Superintendent Steve Tucker, to talk about the state of school funding and where it may be going in the future. 

ABOUT

Zack Sheehan has a rich background in advocacy. He worked as a legislative assistant for the NH House of Representatives, was a field organizer for the Family Friendly Economy, and was instrumental in passing paid leave legislation for the Granite State. As Executive Director of the New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project, he is responsible for guiding the design and implementation of the organization’s vision, crafting policy strategies, and leading its efforts to attain reform of New Hampshire’s school funding system. Zach hails from Concord, NH.

Links and show notes

New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project

Claremont Funding Case

ConVal Lawsuit

NHASCD

As an entrepreneur, Jeremy Thiesen says, “I don’t know what’s not possible.” It is precisely this attitude that has helped Jeremy Thiesen build the successful mathematics assessment company Math ANEX. In this episode, Jeremy explains how the company started and how mathematical thinking is the key to success for this generation of students living after the pandemic.

ABOUT

Jeremy graduated from Leigh University with a degree in statistics. He became a successful entrepreneur, having formed several start-ups, including Jeremy’s most recent project, Math Anex, formed with his partner Patrick Callahan. This new company is helping teachers and school districts gain a better understanding of how their students are actually thinking about and approaching math — as opposed to simply scoring how many questions they get correct. These deeper insights give educators the resources and information they need to help students maximize their learning.

Links and show notes

Math Anex

Jeremy’s LinkedIn

Vicki Davis (The Cool Cat Teacher) is one of the most influential and impactful educators on the Internet. In this episode, we have a wide-reaching discussion about technology strengths and limitations, artificial intelligence, teacher work-life balance, and the dangers of social media on our mental health.

ABOUT

Vicki is a veteran K-12 teacher and Instructional Technology Director in southwest Georgia. Her blog, CoolCatTeacher.com, logs 100,000 unique monthly visitors monthly, while her Twitter account contains nearly 165,000 followers. Vicki has won numerous awards, including being a 2022 Top 40 Edtech Influencer. She continues to be dedicated to her students and family above all else.

Links and show notes

The Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Vicki’s Twitter

Vicki’s Podcasts

When Chat GPT launched worldwide in November 2022, it brought both adventure and anxiety to the education world. On today’s podcast, we are joined by three NH technology educators to talk about the current and potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on teachers and students and how we can harness its power to support teaching and learning.

OUR GUESTS

Michael Wakefield is a musician and consultant on technology for educational and nonprofit organizations. He is an adjunct professor at Keene State College and was previously a technology consultant for the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. Michael was also the Director of Technology at the Narragansett School District in Massachusetts. He's a member of the NHSTE board.

Christina DiMicelli is the Educational Technology Integration Specialist at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire. She was previously the Director of Technology and a Tech Integration Specialist at Hampstead Academy.

Dana Foulds is a Media Technology Integration Specialist in the Concord School District and previously a social studies teacher. Dana was honored as a 2016 ASCD Emerging Leader. She is a member of the NHASCD Board and serves as Treasurer.

Links and show notes

NHSTE

Keene State College

Pinkerton Academy

Broken Ground School

Chat GPT

6 Ways to Use Chat GPT to Save Time

GPT-4 Is Exciting and Scary

The next generation of AI for developers and Google Workspace

What you need to know about multimodal language models

John Spenser’s Blog

Become a member of NHASCD