Shows
Eye PodcastTT0308: Students as Teaching AssistantsOur school recently had an Academic Center added to it, which means that 7th and 8th grade were added and we are now a school that goes from 7th - 12th grades. We started with the addition of seventh graders and this year is our first year with full grades. Last year, when the 7th grade was added, two of our teachers saw the opportunity for a learning experience for some of our older students. An arrangement for seniors in the high school to serve as teaching assistants to the Academic Center classes would make for a mutually beneficial arrangement...2018-02-2417 minEye PodcastTT0307: Gradeless SBG Updates: Pros and Cons of the First QuarterIn episode 3, I talked about my plans to venture into uncharted territory (for me) by going gradeless and using SBG in my classes. Last week, we completed our first quarter which meant that grades were due for report cards. I wanted to give an update of my adventures so far.
As with anything, the first time through is going to have some bugs. Everything takes some adjustment. In this case, it was an adjustment for me, my students, and their parents.
My SetupI wanted to be very clear from the beginning about how class was going to be set up...2017-11-1118 minEye PodcastTT0306: Student Advice for TeachersIt’s one thing to get advice from other teachers, but how often do you ask your students for advice? So often, we forget to listen to some of the most important voices that we have in our school buildings - our students. Especially at the high school level, kids know what makes a good teacher. They may not always be able to verbalize what they need and ask for it, but you can believe that they are talking to each other about it.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit in with a group of girls at...2017-10-2807 minEye PodcastTT0305: 13 Ways to Increase Teacher HappinessLast episode we talked about leaving teaching, because it’s a reality that a lot of people are leaving. However, one of the goals of Teacher Tribes is to help find ways to support teachers so that they will stay in the profession. There are so many different things that contribute to whether a teacher is happy in their position. We can identify many aspects that affect professional satisfaction: support of administration, proper training, sense of community among teachers, materials and resources, and many more. For this episode, we’re going to focus on the sense of community among teachers, beca...2017-10-1421 minEye PodcastTT0304: What It’s Really Like to Leave TeachingTeachers are leaving the profession in large numbers. Most teachers leave after 5 years of teaching. In many states there are teacher shortages, especially in certain content areas. Regardless of the reason, teachers are leaving. Some because they are overworked and overstressed, others because they need to make more money. Teaching is a complex profession in a difficult time. In this episode, we are going to talk about what it’s really like to leave teaching.
Anyone in the profession can understand the desire to leave. We’re often stressed and overworked. A large portion of society believes that they know what...2017-09-2916 minEye PodcastTT0303: Going Almost Gradeless with SBGWhat do grades tell us about our students? Do they tell us that they are extremely motivated and hard-working? Or do they tell us that they are able to achieve anything we throw at them? Maybe it’s something in between, or many possible different combinations of characteristics.
We are at the beginning of the new school year, which means there is an opportunity to frame grades a little differently this year.
If you listened in to the last couple seasons, you may have heard us talk about our convoluted grading system, which was trying (unsuccessfully, in my opinion) to bl...2017-09-1624 minEye PodcastTT0302: 6 Tips for Teaching Outside Your Comfort ZoneEvery teacher I’ve met has at one point found themselves in a situation where they were expected to teach something outside of their comfort zone.
As teachers, we are considered experts in our content area - at least by our students, we are. Kids think that they can ask us about anything even tangentially related to the subject area and we are expected to know the answer. Unfortunately, there’s no way that we can know everything! But lucky for us, we can learn everything.
I’m going to be honest, I’ve found myself in this situation multiple times. I...2017-09-0117 minEye PodcastTT0301: What’s New with Teacher Tribes: Updates and more!To start off Season 3, I wanted to let you all know about some changes we’ve had to Teacher Tribes and what to expect with this new season and school year coming up.
I’ve made some announcements on FB and Twitter and to our members via email, but I didn’t want to leave you out. You are important to us!
We started this podcast a little over a year ago, and we’ve learned and grown so much! We started with just a few of our friends and family listening, and now we’re getting over 200 downloads of our episod...2017-08-1816 minEye PodcastTT0210: Productive Parent PartnershipsHow do we keep parents involved and on our side? It’s important that we work together with them, rather than get involved in any power dynamics. Sometimes, it can be easy to have a contentious relationship with parents. They might not understand what’s going on or are only hearing what their children tell them. It’s important that we have consistent communication so that we can make it clear that we want to partner with them for the benefit of their child. This week, we are talking with Julia Ciciora, one of my colleagues and team members. Julia teache...2017-05-1223 minEye PodcastTT0209: What the Heck is Mastery and How Do We Measure It? A Grading ExperimentAs our school tries to transition to full SBG school-wide, we’ve been trying to find ways to implement it incrementally. We’ve also had to work to find a way that makes sense within the confines of our grading software. We have a 4 point rubric that translates to a percentage system. Figuring out how we measure mastery has been a challenge. We’ve had issues with grade inflation and motivation. We want to find a way that is fair and reasonable.
We decided that in order to show mastery, they had to be at a mastery level for each of the...2017-05-0620 minEye PodcastTT0208: Cross-Curricular Collaboration: The Benefits of Working Across DepartmentsThis week we welcome Katie Clark to the show to share her expertise. Katherine Clark is a Golden Apple Scholar, nationally certified instructor and history department chair at Brooks. She has been teaching for 16 years in Chicago and is an instrumental member of our leadership team.
We are constantly stressing the importance of collaboration as a key to surviving the demands of our profession. There is never enough time for teachers to plan units or cover all the material AP courses or curriculum guides suggest in an academic year. Finding a way to help students transfer skills from course to...2017-04-2824 minEye PodcastTT0207: Supporting Mental Health Through Social WorkSharon Tillman has been a social worker in Chicago Public Schools for over 20 years and her expertise and experience has been invaluable to our students and staff. In this episode we will talk about the importance of SEL (Social and Emotional Instruction and Competencies) standards, utilizing a personalized learning rubric, recognizing when social services are needed, and tips on how to build relationships.
Many schools are underfunded and don’t have adequate social services to support the demands and needs of their students. It is important for educators to develop some of these skills and know when to reach out fo...2017-04-2228 minEye PodcastTT0206: Training and Retaining Good Teachers: A Chat with Joshuah Thurbee Part 2As teachers, we are constantly under fire. Everyone thinks they know how to do our job. Each year is a new demand, as we're expected to do more with less. It's no wonder how many teachers are leaving the profession.
But we know that what we do matters, and that we matter to our students. When we continue to show up for them every day, that means something. We need teachers to stay, which means we need good teachers to enter the profession. And then we need to make sure that they are supported and able to continue beyond the...2017-04-1422 minEye PodcastTT0205: How Vulnerability Can Change Your School: A Chat with Joshuah Thurbee Part 1This week, we got to sit down and talk with Joshuah Thurbee, an amazing teacher and mentor. Morty is especially excited, because she worked with Joshuah for 5 years, and he served as her mentor when she was a beginning teacher.
In this first part of a two part conversation, we chatted a lot about vulnerability. Joshuah has a strong focus on identity and relationship and we were lucky enough to share ideas and work within a strong department. Collaboration and an open door policy were key. Joshuah recommends a 3 minute observation club that we hope to pilot at our...2017-04-0719 minEye PodcastTT0204: Student Voices: An SBG Community ForumWe have discussed SBG in previous episodes that seem to be fairly popular, so we wanted to bring you more information about what our school has been doing with SBG (standards based grading) and CBL (competency based learning, fka personalized learning).Recently, one of our teachers held a community forum for students, parents, and teachers to […]
The post TT0204: Student Voices: An SBG Community Forum appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2017-03-3136 minEye PodcastTT0203: The Importance of P.E. (Not Gym!)Why is recess one of the first things to get cut from our kids? Why isn’t P.E. valued? How can we expect our kids to sit all day, and punish them for needing to move?This week, we have the pleasure of inviting Elaine McCulloch back on the podcast to talk about her specialty: Physical Education […]
The post TT0203: The Importance of P.E. (Not Gym!) appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2017-03-2422 minEye PodcastTT0202: Off the Mat, Into the ClassroomAs teachers, it’s almost impossible not to also be activists. We are constantly fighting and advocating for our students to have the opportunities that they deserve. In many cases, we are also fighting for ourselves as well. Unfortunately, the public dialog about teachers is increasingly negative. We have to be sure that we are sharing […]
The post TT0202: Off the Mat, Into the Classroom appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2017-03-1819 minEye PodcastTT0201: Persistence and Personal Growth: How to Utilize Retakes in Your ClassroomSeveral years ago, our school adopted a retake policy. The retake policy and Standard Based Grading has been a work in progress. Many teachers have their own interpretations and implementation plans. Also, there is concern about the work load. Here, we’re sharing ideas about what we’ve tried, and systems we’ve put in place to help […]
The post TT0201: Persistence and Personal Growth: How to Utilize Retakes in Your Classroom appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2017-03-1131 minEye PodcastTT017: This is Why We Teach: Season 1 Wrap-upTeaching is a rewarding and exhausting profession that requires community support to thrive. We love sharing our experiences with you to welcome you into our tribe. It is important to share best practices, new ideas, and concerns we have to promote longevity in our field. As we close out our first season, we wanted to […]
The post TT017: This is Why We Teach: Season 1 Wrap-up appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2016-12-2419 minEye PodcastTT016: Education is a Global Strategy: A Chat with Elaine McCullochEducation is a global strategy. As educators, we are always looking for ways to help our students become lifelong learners. Discovering the best practices in teaching and learning comes from application, experience, and learning from others. Since education is constantly changing, it is valuable to share our successes and failures in implementing these new strategies […]
The post TT016: Education is a Global Strategy: A Chat with Elaine McCulloch appeared first on Teacher Tribes.2016-12-1722 min
Transformative PrincipalTransformative Leadership Summit Q&A with Jethro Jones and Daniel Bauer Transformative Principal 136This episode is the Live Q&A that Daniel and I did for the Transformative Leadership Summit this week. I hope you enjoy it. The Transformative Leadership Summit launched last Monday. Please, join me! Click HERE to register for Free Access to over 40 amazing education leaders who are ready to make your school the best ever! You don’t want to miss any of these amazing interviews. They’ll be online for 48 hours only! Get in here! You can even get college credit for your participation in the Summit! Here's the schedule: 08/01/2...2016-08-0740 min