Teachers on Fire

LYNNETTE EARLE is a high school teacher of 15+ years. She is currently teaching career-life education and a family studies ADST trio of courses as well as her own developed course: Intro to Careers in Teaching 12.  Join this conversation to learn how Lynnette’s journeys with assessment, UDL, and design thinking are transforming her professional practice. In This Conversation: 1:03 - More about Lynnette's current teaching context 2:00 - A story of adversity from Lynnette's education journey 3:55 - What Beyond Report Cards and the Empowerment Ecosystem have meant to Lynnette 5:34 - Assessment topics that Lynnette has been thinking about lately 7:56 - How UDL is shaping Lynnette's thinking and teaching practice 10:54 - How learning targets work in collaboration with UDL 12:00 - "The IEP is just extra validating info." 12:40 - What ADST looks like in the higher secondary grades in BC 16:50 - Human-centred design thinking 17:11 - Lynnette's favorite ADST projects 20:20 - What's setting Lynnette on fire for education right now: her new course 23:05 - The LIT Education podcast (featuring students) 26:11 - An encouragement to other teachers: it's easy to start a podcast! 28:11 - A productivity habit: bullet journalling 30:18 - Dance classes outside of school 32:08 - Two people to follow on Education X 32:49 - An edtech tool recommendation 33:05 - A book pick 33:44 - A podcast suggestion: Embrace the Messy 34:37 - A future guest suggestion 35:11 - What Lynnette is streaming for fun these days 35:58 - The best ways to follow Lynnette online Welcome to Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 9:00 Pacific and 12:00 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Connect with Me: On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. SONG TRACK CREDIT GO! by Neffex *All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Teacher Talk, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:30 Pacific and 11:30 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Education X Posts Featured in This Episode: Howie Hua shares about a student self-reflection activity that he bookends at the beginning and end of his Math courses, starting with students posing in a photo frame that says "I Am a Math Person." Natalie Vardabasso reminds us of the True North of assessment: accurate grades = confident learners. Melissa D argues that if an assessment doesn't inform your teaching practice or your students' learning, there's no point in giving it. Lynnette Earle writes that IEPs simply confirm and validate the info that effective teachers already know about their learners. When it comes to AI tools in the classroom, Chey Cheney talks about modelling, demonstrating, being purposeful, transparent, and open. Kyle Niemis from Quizizz encourages teachers to consider installing the Quizizz Chrome extension, which makes YouTube-to-quiz even faster and easier than it was. A quick update on my holiday publishing schedule: I will record on December 16th, and then I'll be back to it on January 13th. Connect with Me: On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. Song Track Credits: Coupe by The Grand Affair I Did That by Diamond Ortiz Memory Rain by Yung Logos Fast and Run by Nico Staf *All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

ASHLEY AOKI is a settler and educator in School District #67 in British Columbia. She currently serves on the leadership team at the Network of Inquiry and Indigenous Education, and is passionate about educating for quality and equity so all learners can thrive. Join this conversation to learn how spirals of professional inquiry are changing Ashley's work and setting her on a new mission of collaboration. Welcome to Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 9:00 Pacific and 12:00 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. In This Conversation: 0:57 - Ashley describes her current teaching context in Penticton. 3:19 - A story of adversity that Ashley faced in her education journey 6:14 - What is NOIIE? All about the Network of Inquiry and Indigenous Education 11:30 - More about Leading Through Spirals of Inquiry (by Kaser and Halbert) 12:45 - What IS a Spiral of Inquiry and what does it look like? 13:35 - What makes the Spiral of Inquiry such a powerful vehicle for professional learning 21:28 - Our next step toward reconciliation in education 25:20 - What's setting Ashley on fire: the upcoming Spirals of Inquiry Podcast (January 2024) 29:30 - Ashley's next step of professional development: administrative leadership 32:37 - A new support to her wellness: an oura ring 35:52 - Activities outside of the school that Ashley enjoys: running, reading, skate-skiing 37:01 - What is skate-skiing? 38:31 - One person to follow on X: Trevor MacKenzie 38:39 - An edtech tool pick: MyBlueprint 39:01 - A book recommendation: Feeling Seen by Dr. Jody Carrington 39:20 - Podcast picks: Free Range Humans and We Can Do Hard Things 40:20 - A YouTube channel selection 42:14 - The best ways to connect with Ashley online Connect with Me: On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. SONG TRACK CREDIT GO! by Neffex *All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Teacher Talk, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:30 Pacific and 11:30 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Education X Posts Featured in This Episode: What's the best way to motivate more student learning? Natalie Vardabasso points us to authentic audience. Katie White shares a reproducible framework for student goal-setting that includes My Goal, Materials and Resources, Prior Knowledge and Skills, and Action Steps. Trevor MacKenzie encourages teachers to stick with the cultures of student self-reflection, feedback, and revision that we are building in our classrooms.  Teacher 2 Teacher shares three daily formative questions that teachers can ask themselves about their own practice (credit: Donita Hicks). Tyler Rablin asks why we would never accept public performance reviews for teachers on the walls of our staff rooms but we do just that to our primary students. Roy Smith asks us NOT to tell our students "You should know this already." Zoe Branigan-Pipe sings the praises of a retired principal who left a positive impact on his community. Jason Kennedy reminds us that even as we savour the final bell on Friday, some of our students aren't celebrating quite so much. Let's make sure they feel the love while they're in our care. Julie Ann puts a positive spin on things, expressing that although November was "exceptionally brutal," she's looking for a positive momentum shift as she heads into November. Jay Wamsted comments on a narrative that we're seeing around teacher social media: the idea that admins just keep piling more on teacher plates until they reach the point of burnout. Melissa Aveling shares a fun text prompt that she applied to Microsoft's text-to-image tool to generate a cartoon-like self-portrait. Connect with Me: On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.

JOSH TOVAR is the proud principal at Memorial Pathway Academy in Garland ISD. He’s been in education for over thirty years and has served at all levels from elementary to university. Josh is the proud son of Virginia and Jesus Tovar, a proud immigrant to the USA, and former US Marine. Welcome to Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 9:00 Pacific and 12:00 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. IN THIS CONVERSATION: 0:53 - JOSH TOVAR is the proud principal at Memorial Pathway Academy in Garland ISD in Texas. 1:35 - About the unique mission of MPA and the immigrant story it supports 4:33 - Two stories of personal and professional adversity 10:57 - Why Josh tells the story of his school community and celebrates students 14:55 - How Unlock the Middle has impacted Josh's thinking and practice 20:25 - Josh's three pillars: faith, family, and fitness 24:30 - What time Josh goes to bed on school nights 25:00 - Setting Josh on fire: sharing the beauty of the education profession 30:04 - A professional goal for this year: speaking at NASSP in Tennessee 32:27 - What sets Josh on fire outside of school: being the best dad possible 34:39 - A productivity hack: phone apps that build quick photo collages 34:59 - Educators to follow on X 35:42 - Josh on edtech tools: "I'm still a paper guy" 36:28 - Two book picks: Four Agreements and Define Your Why by Barbara Bray 36:50 - Josh's podcast picks 37:41 - Who I should interview next on the podcast: Erik Francis 39:24 - A YouTube channel pick: JT Spotlights 40:56 - What the Tovar family is streaming these days 41:21 - The best ways for Teachers on Fire to follow Josh CONNECT with ME On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. SONG TRACK CREDIT GO! by Neffex *All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Teacher Talk, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:30 Pacific and 11:30 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Education X Posts Featured in This Episode: Emily asks: Do you provide time for students to reflect on their learning after a lesson or unit? If so, what strategies do you use? I look at some responses. I recall a George Couros suggestion about giving educators time to write and blog about their professional learning. Susan Jachymiak shouts out the Unsupervised Leadership podcast, so I take a quick look at the work they're doing on their website. Dr. Josh Kunnath decries the practice of using grades to penalize students for behavior, attendance, or missing assignments. We're no longer assessing learning in those cases. Natalie Vardabasso encourages educators to use accommodations to uncover student strengths despite deficits. Jeremy Jorgensen reminds us to integrate student writing into everything we do. If students can write well, they can think well. Jeremy also points to the power of walking as a reflective act. Walking = medicine. Chey Cheney points out that students are not robotic rule-following practitioners: we learn, we observe, we implement, refine, and tweak according to the unique needs of our learners and their environment. Connect with Me: On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.

JASON KENNEDY is a 23 year veteran educator with experience in classrooms from elementary through college. He has served as an instructional coach, school building administrator and district administrator. His passion lies in collaborating with others in designing highest quality learning for all learners. Welcome to Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 9:00 Pacific and 12:00 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. TIMESTAMPS: 0:42 - Jason Kennedy's current context in education 1:14 - A story of adversity: dealing with binders and narrow vision 3:10 - How writing impacts his professional learning 5:26 - Quitting teaching and designing learning instead 8:04 - Why we should focus more of our efforts on Tier 1 13:32 - The science of reading and the science of learning 16:41 - What are students doing versus what are students learning 17:43 - A professional goal: publishing a book about instructional leaders 19:21 - Two daily questions for every building leader 20:41 - Should every building leader be an instructional leader? 23:00 - An area of personal passion and interest: AI 24:10 - A current productivity habit 25:56 - An account to follow on X 26:14 - An edtech tool to check out 26:34 - A book recommendation 26:57 - A podcast recommendation 27:21 - A recommendation for a future guest 27:38 - A YouTube channel pick 27:59 - What Jason's streaming right now 28:51 - The best ways to follow Jason online 29:36 - Final thoughts and goodbyes. Thank you for joining us, Teachers on Fire! CONNECT with ME On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. SONG TRACK CREDIT Fast and Run by Nico Staf*All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Teacher Talk, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:30 Pacific and 11:30 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Education X Posts Featured in This Episode: Tierney Kennedy asks "How would you creatively reduce teachers' workload/stress without reducing students' learning?" Dr. Matt Rhoads says that five years ago, he was against phone bans. Now in 2023, he calls on every single school in K-12 to ban phones. Roy Smith encourages teachers to give students more opportunities to write without being graded each and every time for the quality of their work. Marcus Luther argues that every teacher should have multiple systems in their classroom for affirming and celebrating students outside of traditional grades and feedback. Tyler Rablin describes how ELA teachers at his school or district are inviting students to describe their fictional characters and settings in Canva's AI image generator, with great results. Stacey Roshan draws attention to a Canva app called Equations (Beta), which gives educators some great tools to build and use equations for different purposes. CONNECT with ME On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.

BRYAN GLOVER has served as a middle and high school teacher of science, principal, and district administrator. He is back in the classroom trying to bring to life a vision of learning that centers students' curiosity, agency, and creativity. Welcome to Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 9:00 Pacific and 12:00 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. IN THIS CONVERSATION: Current context in education An experience of adversity: managing the dissonance between his vision for student agency and the very real constraints of the system Motivation for writing reflectively about his professional learning journey What is setting him ON FIRE in his teaching practice Professional goals Personal passions that set Bryan on fire outside of the classroom A productivity app that sustains Bryan and helps him keep track of everything Accounts to follow on X Edtech tool picks Book recommendations A podcast that Bryan tunes into A YouTube channel selection What Bryan's streaming when he has no brainpower left Where to follow Bryan online CONNECT with ME On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/. SONG TRACK CREDIT Fast and Run by Nico Staf *All songs retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/.

Welcome to Saturday Morning Teacher Talk, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:30 Pacific and 11:30 Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast. Education X Posts Featured in This Episode: Teacher2Teacher shares a Vocabulary Throwdown frame, courtesy of Jill Webs. The frame allows students to work in two teams on a single shared Doc and race to properly populate the frame around a single vocabulary term. Monte Syrie challenges the assumption that students won't do the work if teachers won't grade it. Is that really true? I share some examples that speak to the contrary. Lynnette Earle encourages teachers to do the hard work and take risks, whether we're making changes to our assessment practice or trying new things in the classroom. Model the learning. Melissa D (Dean of Math) says that the feedback that we give our students should make them feel known. Wow. Such a great challenge to apply to the feedback that we share with students. Teacher2Teacher shares a powerful self-assessment frame for students, courtesy of Katie Novak and Catlin Tucker. Jeremy Jorgensen reminds us that with all the consumption that our students do, it's so important to give our students daily opportunities to make and create. Meagan Alfano suggests that we start using a new hashtag: #WhatIfEdu. Her first What If: "What if we just let kids read what they want to read?" TCEA shares a great graphic that reminds us of some quick and easy steps we can take to make our learning tasks and assessments more accessible for multilingual learners. Nicholas Emmanuele suggests that in his experience, good rapport with students doesn't seem to be going as far as it used to in terms of gaining student cooperation, effort, ethic, etc. Julie Ann points out just how much more work teaching is compared to where the profession was 20 years ago. Annick Rauch, author of the PheMOMenal Teacher, reminds us of this quote from Maya Angelou: every storm runs out of rain. Teacher2Teacher shares a list of 9 outstanding ChatGPT prompts that can help Math teachers. Canva for Education shares a fun post: name the idiom represented by four different AI-generated images. A few live viewers competed to name the images first. CONNECT with ME On X @TeachersOnFire (https://X.com/TeachersOnFire) On Facebook @TeachersOnFire (https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/) On YouTube @Teachers On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/@teachersonfire) On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timwcavey/ Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.