Digical Education

Education as Atmosphere: Conversation with Deani Van Pelt

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." - Charlotte Mason
In an era of technology and innovation, and especially living at the heart of it all in Silicon Valley I've started to ask questions about some of the 19th and 20th Century innovators like Montessori, Doman, Waldorf, and Froebel.
In this conversation I was able to talk with Charlotte Mason expert, Deani Van Pelt, about Mason's ideas and work, and why it matters in today's world.
Deani Van Pelt is an Education leader in Canada, has been a teacher, professor, researcher, and will soon be president of a new school association.

Professional Learning & Organizational Growth with George Roth

"We're not really good at learning from the past." - George Roth
I met George this past February and we had a conversation prior to the end of the school year, but I've been waiting to post this until educators, innovators, and leaders had a bit of time to listen intently as this is a conversation about topics we don't always discuss with clarity from academic research.
In prior conversations I was having with George that led to this podcast I was asking questions about learning organizations, limits to growth, the impact of networks, and the difference between professional learning and professional training.
I don't want to lead you as a listerner and learner, but I wonder how we might redesign the school year and education profession with some of these concepts.
George Roth is an educator, scholar, consultant, and writer. Over the past 19 years, he has held various lecturer and research appointments at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. During that time he has studied, written about, and lectured on organizational learning, change, culture and leadership. He applies his expertise as a scholar/practitioner to conduct research in those areas, consult to corporations and government, and manage programs for MIT. 
 

Holiness and Wholesomeness in Creative Pursuits: Josh Riebock

This is a conversation that stems from many other conversations and due to the unscripted nature of it you will hear it meander from our prior podcast conversation about creativity into a more recent conversation we've been having about Holiness versus Wholesomeness within our creative pursuits.
I personally like the portions where Josh talks about the 'cocktail' or 'architecure' of creativity and where honesty, depth, and exploration into life fit in the mix. Likewise, I put him on the spot at the end of the podcast to share some of his poetry, so fast forward about 30 seconds as he chooses/finds a poem to share with us.
Josh Riebock is a storyteller, poet, author, and friend. If you haven't read "Heroes and Monsters" check it out and you'll get a taste of what he shares in this podcast.

"Horace Mann Had It All Wrong:" Conversation with Corey DeAngelis

I came across Corey DeAngelis' work on Twitter @DeAngelisCorey, and quickly have enjoyed reading his articles and research. Corey wrote a report for Cato Institute entitled "The Highly Positive Effects of Vouchers," which led to a pretty interesting Twitter battle with public school traditionalists. This drew my attention to Corey's emerging research and led to this conversation on School Choice.
https://www.cato.org/blog/highly-positive-impacts-vouchers
Corey A. DeAngelis is a Policy Analyst at the Cato Center for Educational Freedom. He is also a Policy Advisor and Contributing Editor for the Heartland Institute. His research focuses on the effects of educational choice programs on student achievement and non-academic outcomes such as criminal activity, political and economic freedom, schooling supply, and fiscal impacts.

Innovation & Transformation: Conversation with Revolution Prep's Jake Neuberg

In this podcast, I get to talk with Jake Neuberg who co- founded Revolution Prep in 2002 with a vision of transforming education. I wanted to know about his interest in transforming education and student learning from a non-school perspective.
Likewise, I wanted to ask Jake about innovation as he took Revolution Prep through a complete overhaul and became an online provider of tutoring, test prep, and student engagement.
Check out Revolution Prep at www.revolutionprep.com.
 

School Security & Student Empowerment: Conversation with Paul Timm

In this episode I had a conversation with Paul Timm who is Vice President at Facility Engineering Associates and a School Security expert. This conversation was recorded a week ago, and unfortunately continues to be pertinent to our work in schools creating physically and emotionally safe environments.
For more information on Paul and FEA: www.feapc.com

Future Ready Schools: Conversation with Bill Latham

In this podcast I had a conversation with Bill Latham of MeTEOR Education (www.meteoreducation.com) where we shares that innovation and transformation usually come from pain, and if you take the conversation all the way to the end he talks about the "Future Ready School" that is described in the book Humanizing the Education Machine co-authored with Rex Miller.

Your Board's a Bad Board, and It's Probably Your Fault: Conversation with Chuck Evans

I had the opportunity to have another conversation with Chuck Evans of Better Schools about his work with school boards, heads of schools, and his recent stint as an interim head of school. I’ve written many times about the lack of stability in leadership and the consternation that heads of schools consistently discuss when describing their relationship with their boards. In this podcast I explore some of Chuck’s thoughts based upon his recent year as an interim school leader.

Deeper Learning, Authentic Audiences, and the Bike Path Project with Steven Levy

In this conversation I had the opportunity to talk with my friend and fellow CACE Fellow, Steven Levy who was recognized as the Massachusetts State Teacher of the Year (1993), honored by the Disney American Teacher Awards as the national Outstanding General Elementary Teacher (1995), was the recipient of the Joe Oakey Award for his national impact on project-based learning, and received the John F. Kennedy Prize for the teaching of history.
Mr. Levy and his fourth grade students were designated “Conservation Heroes” by the National Park Service for their study of the effects of a local bike path on the environment and the community. Steven has written various articles for educational journals, and the book, Starting From Scratch (Heinemann, 1996), details some of the projects and students he has worked with in his elementary classrooms.
To learn more about the Bike Path Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ITvWuXlX68
Deeper Learning Conference hosted by the Steven and Joanna Levy: http://www.newcovschool.org/news/event-summer-workshop/

School Safety & Building Culture: Conversation with Mark Hamstra

School safety and security have been at the forefront of our minds because of the recent tragedy in Parkland, FL, and personally I’ve been in this profession long enough to remember the days prior to Columbine. It seems as if the conversation around safety and security have taken a different tone, and this is why I was glad to read the Chicago Sun-Times Op-Ed by my friend Mark Hamstra, Dedicated teachers — not gun-toting teachers — key to safety in Chicago schools.
I truly appreciate Mark’s comments as he works in Chicago, and how he has used his experience as a soldier in Afghanistan in thinking about his work in building relationships of trust. In this podcast you’ll hear me ask Mark about a few quotes from his article and for him to share a bit more about how the schools in the Noble Network try to create a healthy, safe, and strong school culture where students are known.
My first question was in regards to his statement:
Real school security can’t be established at the point of a gun. It grows from dedicated teachers providing great instruction in a safe and supportive environment, where every student knows there is at least one adult who knows them well and cares deeply about them. Such an environment encourages students to share troubling information, whether it involves their own lives or those of their classmates.
Likewise, I asked him to share more about how to build a school culture that reflects his statement about building relationships of trust:
The truth is that any school, including those I support, could be the next target. But we stand a greater chance of preventing more tragedies by building school cultures that are founded on trust among teachers and students. That’s not as quick or visible as arming teachers. There is no “silver bullet” to secure our schools, but the answer surely is not more bullets in the classroom.
Bio: Mark Hamstra is director of Student Culture & Support at Noble Network of Charter Schools, Head Football Coach at Bulls Prep Academy, and a Major in the Illinois Army National Guard. Mark is a graduate of Wheaton College where he was the captain of the football team, and he holds a Masters in Management and Leadership from University of Texas, El Paso.