Shows
We Do This Everyday!When the task seems to bigGreetings WOL Friends! This week Olivia reminds us that when tasks seem overwhelming we often stop. I remember my early years as an administrator when I was vexed because I couldn’t seem to get all the tasks completed or my desk clear. My to do list was usually the last thing I did before I left for the day, and often, before I even got back to my desk the next morning, I would have to update the list. Desmond Tutu once wisely stated, "There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bi...2025-04-0103 min
We Do This Everyday!The Power of Learning TogetherGreetings WOL Friends! This week Olivia and I dive into a conversation about learning in community. We draw from our own experiences and discuss how our ideas expand and our understanding is broadened when we engage with others. We think about how community happens at the World of Learning for the students and our own Virtual Learning Facilitators. And about how the discussions in live sessions and our Communities of Inquiry give us tools to see what others think, how they tackle a problem or issues, and how the light bulb often goes on. 2025-03-1219 min
We Do This Everyday!Building Trust in Online ClassroomsHi WOL Friends,It is so good to be back in the swing of things! This podcast episode about building trust in online classrooms hit home for us as school leaders. Olivia Grugan and Allison Rodman bring authenticity to the conversation as we recognize that leading means being vulnerable. Olivia shares how our working relationship with Allison has helped the World of Learning to thrive as we added a full-time K - 12 program in the 23 - 24 school year. Working with Allison our team was able to navigate the stresses of expanding and doing new, hard...2024-09-0335 min
We Do This Everyday!Building a Community of LearnersGreetings WOL Friends,This week the WOL Institute will gather with some of our Virtual Learning Specialists face-to-face as we host our 2nd Annual Design Space. As most of you know - our teachers work remotely, and while we have a robust and positive community it is ALWAYS fun to see our team in person. The purpose of our work will be to look at our current body of learning experiences in the digital world - our asynchronous course component - and learn how we can be sure that we are making ALL the inroads f...2024-04-3032 min
We Do This Everyday!It Takes EveryoneHi WOL Friends,In our last few episodes we spoke with Courtney, Ashley, Zach, and Don Vogt, about how our learners find home in a virtual environment. From what Don calls our hands on approach to the live sessions we offer that increase engagement in the virtual setting. Courtney, Ashley and Zach each focused on the collaboration and support they get from our awesome team. Erin, Melissa, Lauren, and Olivia are laser focused on making sure our teachers are supported and have the resources they need so students can be successful. Today I also want t...2023-10-0306 min
We Do This Everyday!How to You Recharge?Hi, World of Learning Friends,I am a bit behind today as I prepare to send this out! We are in a flurry of activity - the kind that happens at the end of the school year. And, we are excited to be hosting the WOL Japanese Honor Society, one of those awesome things that happens in this flurry. This is the second year of being able to lift up our distinguished students who study Japanese. Hats off to our Japanese Virtual Learning Facilitators, Ellen, Michiyo, Fumiko, and Pana, who through their own passion see the love...2023-05-0107 min
We Do This Everyday!Supporting Student Success #35Hi WOL Friends! So much is happening at the World of Learning - in just TWO weeks we will kick off our Design Space - and a year of learning with Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Allison Zmuda. You can see more information and register on our website. We still have space left for our opening event - sign up now! We are also super excited to talk with Fiona Grugan! She reached out to us about the awesome work we do at the WOL Institute and how she sees what we do as a great pr...2023-03-0638 min
We Do This Everyday!Always Learning #27Greetings WOL Friends,As December winds down our team at the WOL Institute would like to wish you a season filled with good health and good connections. In November we all traveled to conferences. We were in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Massachusetts, and I went to Texas for a little rest and relaxation. The conferences are often a highlight as we present and meet new educators who are enthusiastically contributing to helping our learners strive to master new content and skills. I talked with Lauren in this episode and she was bursting with excitement...2022-12-1221 min
We Do This Everyday!Advocacy and Support: Creating Priorities #23Happy October!!In this episode, I talked with Olivia about support and advocacy as a leader. What that means for our teachers, our students, our districts, and our families. As you all know with things coming at you quickly, you have to be able to prioritize. Here are a few of Olivia’s Top Priorities and the Tools she tries to use:* Use data! We gather data from students, our teachers, district administrators and facilitators, as well as families. It supports our learning and growth.* Prioritize Effort and Impact. This matrix is...2022-10-0330 min
We Do This Everyday!We Do This Everyday #16Hi everyone,Lauren McMinn and Olivia Grugan here! We are Virtual Learning Specialists with the World of Learning Institute. We did a podcast takeover this week while Pat was away. We have had some ideas brewing about what we dream of in designing a learning experience and just had to share.First, we talked about experiences that we’ve had in the past that stood out for us as particularly wonderful:* Lauren shared about her experience creating a new scope and sequence for level 1 French alongside a Spanish colleague. The Real Wo...2022-06-2017 min
We Do This Everyday!We Do This Everyday #11***my microphone was on low… it’s not your hearing. I will get it right next time.I had the chance to spend some time talking with Chris David an IU8 Virtual Learning Specialist and Olivia Grugan from the World of Learning recently. It reminded me how important it is to make the time to have conversations with our peers and to vet our ideas. The conversations I have and have had with Chris have always helped to met stretch my thinking and make me a better educator. No wonder so many people rely on her for prof...2022-05-0929 min
We Do This Everyday!We Do This Everyday #5Hi Friends! What a pleasure to talk with Janel Vancas and Olivia Grugan in this episode about Education Innovation - At IU8 and The World of Learning Institute. Listen in for more detail - and see our takeaways below. Also, Janel was a recent recipient of the NAFEPA State Leadership Award! NAFEPA has a rich history of advocating for federal education programs in support of America's youth. Additionally, NAFEPA provides support for America's educators working hard to maximize the return on investment of federal dollars allocated for education. Over the years at the IU Janel ha...2022-03-2834 min
Step into Mondays!40. Ten sessions worth checking out (our takeaways from ACTFL conference)Did you attend the ACTFL conference? Or did you want to but couldn't for a reason or another? Here are some sessions worth mentioning and what appealed to us in those presentations. We're listing them below for you to check them out or check out those language professionals (and potentially connect with them).It was a different year for ACTFL but they did a great job giving access to hundreds of sessions. We wish we could talk about all of them but there isn't enough time in a day - and how long would it take us?!2020-11-3058 min