OEA Grow: Recent Episodes
Oregon Education Association
The OEA Grow podcast is designed to share tools, ideas, and strategies to improve your professional and personal life. This weekly podcast interviews OEA members and community partners from across Oregon.
For this last episode of the OEA Grow Podcast, member co-producers Beth Aydelott and Leonne Bannister discuss what the podcast has meant to their own professional growth and that of educators, not only in Oregon, but around the world. With 135 episodes and over 20,000 downloads and streams, the podcast has built union member community and addressed educator concerns from conflict resolution strategies to incorporating art and innovation in the classroom; from creating welcoming and inclusive school communities to maintaining a healthy work/life balance. Topics for each conversation have arisen from educators’ needs, interests, and expertise, living up to the goal of amplifying educator voice. This podcast has always been by OEA members for OEA members.
This episode also features clips from the following episodes:
- Season 1 episode Compassion Fatigue and Burnout with host Jesse Bray and guest Talia Akre
- Season 3 episode Special Education and Inclusion with host Leonne Bannister and guest Niels Pasternak
- Season 4 episode What I Wish I Knew During My First Year with host Kayla Potter and guest Malik White
- Season 5 episode Co-regulation with host Alexis Hennessey and guest Mary Michael
- Season 9 episode Survival Guide for BIPOC Educators with host Malik White and guest Gregory Dunkin
- Season 10 episode Challenges of Language Learning with host Sakura Hamada and guest Gaby Aguilar-Lopez
- Season 10 episode Avid and High School with host Sakura Hamada and guest Ethelyn Tumalad
- Season 10 episode Supporting Newly Arrived Elementary Students with host Sakura Hamada and guest Jocelin Morales
- Season 11 episode Educator Wellness with host Amy Yillik and guest Sandi Washburn
- Season 11 episode Interoceptive Strategies and Co-regulation with host Amy Yillik and guest Katie Diez
- Season 11 episode Trauma Informed Practices with host Amy Yillik and guest Jessica Reamon
- Season 11 episode Restorative Justice and Practices with host Amy Yillik and guest Sorahi Harati
- Season 11 episode Introduction to Culture of Care part b with host Amy Yillik and guests Amber McGill and Erin Taylor
- Season 12 episode Career and Technical Education with host Toni Myers and guests Nicole Merchant and Bibiana Gifft
What happens when school design is inspired by students and collaboratively run by a group of teachers? Wendy Salcedo-Fierro, Director of Teacher-Powered Coaching, explains how shared leadership works in the teacher-powered public schools that thrive in 27 states. Equity-minded educators in these schools share power with students, families, and the full educator team. Decision-making is accomplished by those directly affected, resulting in strong relationships and rich learning. Students feel that their voices are heard and become agents of change. Educators become learners as they listen and respond.
Educators who are interested in this model of school governance are encouraged to consult the resources listed below. The goal is to create spaces where everyone feels as if they belong and as if they matter.
Resources -
Teacher-Powered Schools and Student-Centered Learning
Teacher-Led Schools: They’re Here and More Are on the Way
When Teachers Take Charge
Steps to Creating a Teacher-Powered Schools
How can schools engage families in their children’s education? This episode’s guests offer concrete suggestions for supporting dialogue between parents and educators. Rebecca Honig, Director of Content and Curriculum with Parent Powered, and Ilana Steinhauer, Executive Director of Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), explain how both organizations offer educators strategies for partnering with their students’ families. At the core of these efforts is building trust through communication in whatever form meets the families’ needs.
Rebecca and Ilana stress that parents want to know that their feedback matters. Suggestions for engaging families include contact in different ways throughout the year and asking directly about specific needs. Educators can offer support for families and show them how to partner with their children’s school.
This episode examines the connections between schools and the families and neighborhoods they serve. Tiffany Koyama-Lane, a third-grade teacher at Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland, discusses place-based and environmental education, using students’ local communities as educational resources. Part of the learning experience happens beyond the walls of the actual school building. Natural spaces and gardens, local neighborhoods, even the students’ own school yard - these locations provide a context for the core curriculum and help children make meaning of the world and environmental concerns around them.
As an educator with fifteen years of experience, Teacher Tiffany, as she likes to be called, realizes that the challenges of the surrounding community also show up in the classroom. She extends her role beyond traditional education to support families in the often-complicated processes of life in America. She feels lucky to live in the neighborhood where she teaches, but she suggests ways for all educators to communicate with families and discover how best to meet their needs. Teacher Tiffany is taking her passion for engaging the community to a new level this year by declaring her candidacy for Portland City Council.
Resources -
Sunnyside Environmental School
Place-Based Learning: A Multi-Faceted Approach
Close Your Textbooks and Go Outside
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
What can alternative education programs teach us about welcoming and engaging students with diverse experiences and needs? This week Lauren and Angela discuss programs serving students whose ways of learning might not fit the traditional school structure. Their guests are Gretchen Mollers, Janine Weir, and Eric Passes from the Merlo Station campus in the Beaverton School District. All three educators advocate listening to students as they express their needs and silencing the din of what education “should” be.
The Passages Re-Engagement Program for high school students and the UpGrade Program for middle school are based on centering the student voice and recognizing that it’s impossible for a single model of education to work for everyone. Both programs work toward helping students gain confidence in themselves, navigate non-academic barriers, and rebuild their trust in education. The question is how can educators help students where they are, rather than how can the students be fitted into the system. The result may look messy on the surface, but the programs are removing barriers to accommodate different ways of learning and to give students the time and respect to develop their individual plans for the future.
Resources -
Passages Reengagement Program
UpGrade Program
William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change
Playful Inquiry - that’s the student-centered approach discussed in this episode about re-imagining curriculum. Angela and Lauren welcome Soobin Oh, Co-Director of Teaching Preschool Partners (TPP), a nonprofit that engages with schools to nurture inclusive, inquisitive, and collaborative school communities. In the playful inquiry promoted by TPP, educators are encouraged to let go of control and instead to be flexible and listen, responding to each child’s interests, aspirations, cultural background, and linguistic capabilities. Classrooms become places for curiosity, joy, and possibility to thrive.
Families are ideally involved in this concept of curriculum with the cultural wealth that they can bring in dialogue with the classroom. The result is a curriculum that revolves around collaboration, a culturally relevant curriculum for all grade levels.
Resources -
Teaching Preschool Partners
Soobin Oh Discusses Anti-Bias Education in Early Childhood
Soobin Oh, an Early Childhood Teacher Nerd on YouTube
Funds of Knowledge, Norma Gonzalez, Luis C. Moll, and Cathy Amanti, editors
Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, Gholdy Muhammad
How can a school become a community school? Hosts Angela Vargas and Lauren McCartney talk with Christine Schuch and Karen Alford of United Community Schools, who work with interested schools in New York City and offer suggestions for schools everywhere.
United Community Schools is a teacher-inspired nonprofit that seeks to expand the traditional sense of a school as merely a place for students to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. Christine and Karen explain how community schools arise out of a collaboration of educator, parent, and community stake-holders to provide health and wellness resources, extended learning time with a seamless after-school component, educator and academic support, and educational justice - equity, access, and possibility.
Learn from this episode how schools across the country are using the community school model to support student success, teacher retention, and community engagement.
Resources -
What are Community Schools?
United Community Schools
Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) in Portland
Transforming a School, a Neighborhood, and a System in Cincinnati
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Does your school focus on the whole child, emphasizing not only academic learning, but also wellness and community engagement? Tune into Season 15 of our OEA Grow podcast to learn about Community Schools in Oregon, public schools that provide integrated services and support to meet the needs of students, families, and communities.
Our hosts for the season are Angela Vargas and Lauren MCartney, both educators in the Beaverton School District and leaders on state and national levels in racial and social justice efforts in education. Angela is an Early Learning TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment), who partners with teachers to develop a practice of student-centered inquiry. Lauren teaches Humanities and Social Studies at Meadow Park Middle School.
In the coming weeks, Angela and Lauren will talk with a number of educators whose efforts lead to strong connections between schools and the communities that they serve. Listeners will learn ways to serve our students both in and outside the classroom.
Educators interested in learning more about community schools are encouraged to consult the resources below. They may contact Dave Greenberg at dgreenberg@new.org and Angelia Ebner at aebner@nea.org for more information.
Resources:
Angela Vargas, OEA Member Spotlight
What are Community Schools?
5 Steps to Kickstarting Community Schools in Your District
Institute for Educational Leadership Community Schools Coalition
NEA Community School work
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
How exactly does art fit into the classroom, and how can educators make this happen? Host Colleen Arriola wraps up this season’s podcast with ideas and suggestions for expanding the classroom curriculum through art. Summing up Season 14 guests’ observations, Colleen reminds us that art provides students ways to communicate thoughts, feelings, and personal experiences that might otherwise be difficult to articulate. Art can complement the standard curriculum by allowing students alternate ways to show what they know. Colleen notes that we don’t experience life in separate subjects, and our learning can also be a mixture of forms of understanding and communicating.
Educators who don’t consider themselves artists should not be discouraged. Colleen describes several simple ways to engage students through art - maybe commenting on a painting related to a subject, sketch notes instead of written notes, collages to pull together aspects of a topic. Educators can access a number of resources for support in these efforts. As Colleen and her guests this season remind us, art massages the brain, helping students learn how to think, not merely what to think.
Resources -
Oregon Arts Education Standards
“Goodbye ‘Core Subjects,’ Hello ‘Well-Rounded Education’”
What Does a Global Arts Classroom Look Like?
Local art museums are usually great resources for educators. The Portland Art Museum offers a number of educator resources for schools across the state.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Art education can create a space for excitement and joy in learning according to Colleen’s guest, Shannon Johnson, Arts Education Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). Colleen, a visual artist herself, explains the crucial role that art plays in Transformational Social-Emotional Learning (TSEL) by playing to individual strengths, building confidence, and encouraging students to express themselves in their own unique ways.
Among the many resources discussed in this episode, Shannon highlights the Arts, Care & Connection Project for elementary grades in which teaching artists provide videos integrating the Core Art Standards in dance, music, theater, and visual arts with Oregon’s TSEL standards. Educators, regardless of their own artistic experience, become co-learners with their students as they incorporate various ways of self-expression in their explorations.
Integrating art into the curriculum involves finding connections between various art forms and subject content. Shannon points out multiple sources where educators will find ideas and support for adding an artistic aspect to their classroom.
Resources -
Arts for Learning Northwest - connecting teaching artists with schools for educational arts programming, workshops, performances, and artist residencies
Arts, Care & Connection Program - arts integration lessons and professional learning for educators
Young Audiences Arts for Learning - the nation’s oldest and largest arts-in-education learning network
Oregon Department of Education resources -
Arts Education Resources
Oregon Open Learning Hub
Chronicles of Oregon Open Learning - a monthly newsetter
Arts Access Toolkit
Arts Education Newsletter
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Makerspaces offer support and encouragement for educators who want to incorporate art into the curriculum. Colleen’s guest is Dr. Erin Beard, the Programs Director for Talent Maker City, who describes a makerspace as a community learning lab that furnishes materials and equipment in arts and technology to make learning a hands-on experience. Imagine a place with a 3D printer, a wood-working shop, a ceramics studio, and people to help you use them all.
With twenty previous years of experience as a middle and high school teacher, Dr. Beard emphasizes the importance of STEAM-based adventures (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) to guide student inquiry and critical thinking. She offers several suggestions for using all forms of art to revive the inherent love of learning that may have been shut down through traditional methods.
Educators are encouraged to find a nearby makerspace for learning opportunities, use of equipment, and advice for adding a tactile dimension to their teaching. In a makerspace they will find camaraderie and shared knowledge to turn their ideas for the classroom into reality.
Resources -
Talent Maker City
What is a Makerspace and where is one near me?
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Art can complement any academic subject. That’s the message from Collen’s guest, Jeanne Lauck, a Visual Arts teacher at Alice Ott Middle School in the David Douglas School District. Speaking from twenty-seven years of experience as an educator, Jeanne discusses how art can appeal to several of the different learning styles, with, for instance, students making posters or flip books to illustrate their learning. Jeanne tells of a math instructor who cuts up pictures for his students to reassemble using grids and measurements.
Art by itself encompasses many subjects: the mathematical use of compasses, exploring symmetry, and learning about different countries and cultures through their art and music. Jeanne views art classes as an arena where students can discover their own creativity and learn along with their teachers. The experience can strengthen their performance in core classes.
Resources -
Visual Thinking Strategies - the nonprofit discussed in this episode that encourages the thoughtful, facilitated discussion of art, leading to transformational learning accessible to all.
What Does a Global Arts Classroom Look Like? - integrating cultural competencies through art
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Not an artist yourself? No budget for art supplies? Students who aren’t aspiring artists of any kind? This week’s episode explains how and why to integrate art into the classroom under any circumstance. Colleen’s guest is Abigail Steichen of the Corbett Program with Spanish (CAPS), housed in the historic Springdale School in Corbett. CAPS is not an art academy, but the school encourages the infusion of art into the regular curriculum. Students may dance their understanding of cells or perform a skit about punctuation marks. The goal is not a finished performance or artwork to be displayed, but rather a joyful means for students to communicate their understanding of a subject in their own unique ways. The emphasis is on the process rather than the product.
Abigail urges educators in all school settings to incorporate art into their curriculum. She does not consider herself an artist, but she is convinced that students value learning more when it ceases to be merely passive and when they are encouraged to create. Tune into this episode for a treasure trove of suggestions that require neither expertise nor funding to keep the joy in learning.
Resources
Corbett Arts Program with Spanish
Arts Education Newsletter from the Oregon Department of Education
Encouraging a Growth Mindset Through Art
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Art in the classroom helps to keep learning active - that’s the subject of this week’s conversation between Colleen and her guest, Ben Minnis, Arts Education Program Coordinator with the Lane Arts Council in Eugene. With fifteen years as an early childhood educator, a BFA in Theatre Performance, and ongoing work in ceramic sculpture, acting, and playwriting, Ben speaks from experience when he explains that art in all forms allows students to approach school work as participatory rather than passive memorization. Drawing on his experience with the inquiry-based Reggio-Emilia approach to learning, he advises educators to explore the different ways that students can communicate knowledge and understanding. Students are able to construct their own unique ways of learning by using art as well as the usual oral and written formats.
Ben explains how the Lane Arts Council supports Lane County educators in these efforts to integrate art in their curriculum. Artists are paired with educators not only to teach specific art forms, but also to augment classroom learning with hands-on creative work. Educators are urged to contact the Arts Council for more information about the Creative Link, the Artist Residence, and the Design Arts Apprenticeship programs.
Resources
Encouraging a Growth Mindset Through Art
Lane Arts Council
The Reggio-Emilia Approach - an educational philosophy discussed in the episode
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
How important is Art in a school curriculum? Colleen Arriola, host for OEA Grow’s fourteenth season, feels that art plays an essential role in education at all levels. A fifth-grade teacher at Guy Lee Elementary in Springfield, Colleen brings her experience as both an artist and an educator to discuss how art can enhance the traditional courses of study, provide alternative ways of learning, and celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of each student. Her guests this season are Oregon educators from a variety of disciplines and grade levels who will share the ways in which they integrate art in their classrooms and school environments.
Tune in to this season as we reevaluate the role of art in the educational experience and discuss how it can be used to engage students in any subject area.
Resources -
A Snapshot of K-12 Arts Education in Oregon
More Than Drawing and Coloring: Art (and Art Teachers) Has Power
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Blaine ends this season with veteran educator Brad Rogers, who shares what he has learned from his years of teaching, first in Alaska and for the last seventeen years at Stanfield Secondary School. Summing up the wisdom of all of this season’s guests, Brad offers three key suggestions for educators at all stages of their careers:
- Maintain a healthy work-life balance. As a new educator, Brad spent long hours at school in addition to his normal teaching schedule, until he realized that no one can do it all in one day. The best advice he received was to make time for family and friends.
- Recognize that life as an educator is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs. We learn and grow from our mistakes.
- Realize the lasting impact that you as an educator have on your students. Establishing a relationship to help a student succeed in a single class can spread to that student’s entire educational experience. It matters. Students remember and express gratitude sometimes years later.
Brad draws on his years of experience to share insight on each of these areas. This is definitely an episode for all educators, regardless of how long they have been in the field.
Resources -
Little Steps Toward Big Change (and Less Stress)
Make Educator Well-Being a Priority Now
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Who better to discuss the importance of separating home from work than Blaine’s guest this week, Lucas Tynkila, whose home life actually overlaps his school life - three children who have all been his students at Stanfield Secondary School and his wife who teaches at the same school. It makes for an easy carpool, says Lucas. And he has enjoyed having his children as students; he gets to spend more time with them as individuals. Having his wife, Tracy, as a first-grade Stanfield Elementary teacher adds the benefit of a spouse who shares his educational ideologies and can relate to the stress of the job.
Even with the strong connections between his home and school life, though, Lucas stresses the importance of a healthy work-life balance. The best advice he received early in his career was simply to go home at the end of a work week, spend time with family and friends, and avoid being a perfectionist at school. He suggests that new educators take care of themselves to avoid burnout. The job gets easier and the rewards greater, he promises, as relationships are formed with students, who are able to learn only when they feel safe and comfortable asking questions. Advances in technology may have affected the education process in the sixteen years that Lucas has been teaching, but student-educator connections and trust remain essential to student success.
Resources
5 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Life Outside of the Classroom
Importance of Self-Care as a Teacher
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Two different views on careers in education? Blaine welcomes Michelle and Travis Reeser from the Stanfield School District for this especially delightful episode about differing approaches to lives in education. These two guests, while married, are at opposite ends of the education spectrum with Michelle early in her career of teaching kindergarten and Travis nearing retirement as a high school PE teacher.
Travis began coaching at 18 and teaching right after college, whereas Michelle didn’t become a teacher until after their children were born. But even with the contrast of grade level and years of experience, the two learn from each other and advise educators to ask questions and listen to the ideas of others in the field, regardless of where they are in their career lifespan. Being open to various points of view is key in the education field.
From their differing perspectives, Michelle and Travis agree that education is a difficult career path, requiring hard work and learning how to meet students where they are. The reward can be watching a student succeed at something the student didn’t know was possible and realizing that your work doesn’t go unnoticed. Students remember and sometimes reach out after years have passed to say thank you.
Resources:
Travis Reeser named 2023 Intermountain Regional Teacher of the Year
When Teachers Marry Teachers
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Blaine discusses educator experiences from a mid-career perspective this week with his guest Sarah Burke, a middle-school science teacher at Stanfied Secondary School. In her tenth year of teaching, Sarah is still in awe of the impact educators have on students and their lives. She admits that the work can be frustrating, especially when students don’t seem to appreciate the demands of the job, but she encourages educators to take students’ sometimes negative attitudes as challenges rather than personal insults. After all, this might be the year when you help that resistant student discover an interest in learning.
Sarah advises educators to take care of themselves, too, with a healthy work/life balance. She has learned over the last decade that the old adage is true - you can’t fill anyone’s cup if yours is empty. She credits OEA for helping our state’s educators maintain healthy work hours, and she counsels educators to be careful of extra time commitments that take them away from home, family, and friends. Sarah’s personal self-care includes a special memorabilia box where she keeps emails and letters from students and parents, a reminder of why she continues her career as an educator.
Resources
6 Ways to Create Work-Life Balance
OEA Introduction to Mindfulness webinar on May 1st with Talia Akre (Multnomah ESD EA)
OEA Self-Paced Module Stress Management: Using Body Wisdom to Calm the Stressed Brain
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
This episode offers the wisdom of a seasoned educator as Blaine welcomes Anna Halsey from Stanfield Secondary School as his guest. Anna brings a wealth of experience to this conversation, having begun her career as an elementary teacher and now, twenty-four years later, thoroughly enjoying her role as a math teacher for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (she admits to loving her days with quirky middle-schoolers).
Anna discusses frankly how her life as a teacher has evolved as her own life circumstances have changed. In her decades as an educator, Anna has also seen the profession grow to include more than simply the classroom exchange of information from teacher to student. Educators value connections with students’ lives both in and outside of school, involving entire families and social/emotional learning. We realize that students need to trust us before they can learn anything from us. And they need to be convinced of the value of that knowledge.
Anna’s advice to educators at all stages of their careers - we learn to educate by actually educating. Students teach us how to teach them. Don’t worry if some days, or even years, are not as successful as others. Remember that the career path you have chosen is difficult and so very important. And the most sobering realization - always assume that you will be the topic of someone’s dinner table conversation.
Resources -
Support for Early Career Educators
OEA Professional Learning Opportunities to help educators grow in their professional practice
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Season 13 of OEA Grow examines the life of educators at every point in their careers, from aspiring educators to veterans nearing retirement. Our host this season is Blaine Ganvoa who earned his Master of Education degree from Eastern Oregon University and is currently a social studies teacher at Stanfield Secondary School with nineteen years of experience in that position. Blaine brings a depth of perspective as host for this season with his varied school and district roles as Head Volleyball Coach, District State Testing Coordinator, Oregon Trail Regional Educator Network board member, and the current Stanfield Education Association President.
For the next several weeks, Blaine will be talking with Oregon educators at all stages in their careers about their challenges and successes as they progress in the education field. We’ll hear why people choose this profession, how they feel about their preparation, what they have learned from colleagues and their own experiences, and advice they might offer to others. It will be an exciting season full of ideas and insights for all of us, no matter where we are in our own career path.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
This episode originally aired October 26, 2022 in Season 5: Behavior.
To kick-off the Behavior season, member host Alexis Hennessey talks with educator Mary Michael about co-regulation, social emotional learning, and trauma informed behavior approaches. Mary has been an educator for over 30 years, has taught every grade level from Kindergarten to ninth grade, and is currently a certified trauma-informed mental health and behavior specialist.
Mary and Alexis pack a wealth of helpful information into 30 minutes. Their conversation centers on the importance of regulation for both students and educators and how we can bring co-regulation into schools and classrooms. Many students enter school lacking the skills to co-regulate. Often, those students are impacted by trauma and/or the trauma experienced by their parents/caregivers. How can we support these students in managing their own behavior and give them agency in the process?
Through teaching social emotional skills, including regulation, social skills, problem solving skills, and communication skills, academic outcomes are also increased. Alexis and Mary acknowledge how difficult it is for educators to be in school situations making decisions about behavior in the moment. Mary states, “We want everyone to walk away with their dignity”. Their conversation also demonstrates the value of behavior specialists to schools.
Resources:
OEA Becoming a Trauma Informed Education Series
Permission to Feel - Mark Brackett
Teachers Guide to Trauma: 20 Things Kids with Trauma Wish Their Teachers Knew - Dr. Melissa Sadin and Nathan Levy
What Happened to You - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing - Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey
Co-Regulation video recording - (56 minutes; access for OEA members only) - https://tinyurl.com/OEArecordings
Zones of Regulation handouts
The Neurobiology of Emotion Regulation Development and the Role of the Early Environment - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham
Development of human amygdala-prefrontal cortex circuitry and the role of the caregiver - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Our final episode of Season 12 focuses on a statewide program for teaching about Oregon agriculture, the environment, and natural resources. Toni’s guest is Jessica Jansen of the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, dedicated to helping K-12 educators use agriculture to add to their existing curriculum in science, math, history, and nutrition. This nonprofit organization, housed at Oregon State University and funded by Oregon’s agricultural community, offers resources at no cost through its lending library, educator workshops, and virtual field trips.
Jessica suggests that educators visit the foundation’s website to access these resources, noting in particular the kits mailed by the lending library to Oregon schools. Each kit is intentionally user-friendly with materials and clear instructions for a class project. Educators can choose kits in such varied subjects as spinning wool or growing and tasting microgreens. Toni recounts her own success with the foundation’s resources, making mozzarella cheese with her students and taking a virtual field trip to Christmas tree farms. With 220 different agricultural commodities in Oregon, even rural students will be unfamiliar with products from other parts of the state. Oregon educators in both rural and urban areas are encouraged to take advantage of this resource.
Resources:
Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom
Monthly Subscription Boxes for grades 3-5 (only 20 subscriptions are available each year, so apply as soon as applications are accepted in August)
“Jessica Jansen: ‘I love agriculture, and I love teaching people about it’” July 6, 2023. Women in Ag 2023, a Capital Press annual special section highlighting the contributions women make in the agricultural sector
This week Toni discusses the community college experience in rural areas with her guest Jessica Breidinger, a Social Science instructor at Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) in Ontario, Oregon. Rural community colleges offer the interpersonal benefits of most community colleges with their small class sizes (usually 13-25 students at TVCC) and instructors with advanced degrees leading courses.
TVCC’s location in a small town offers an additional advantage because interactions between students and educators extend beyond the classroom. Toni and Jessica laugh about seeing students in the grocery store and around town on a regular basis. Students profit from this extra level of empathy and connection, having what amounts to a team of cheerleaders for their entire academic journey. Adding to this community spirit at TVCC is its on-campus housing, a rarity among community colleges. Students have a sense of belonging and know that they have continuing support as individuals with the encouragement to test their limits in their road to success.
Resources
Treasure Valley Community College
OEA supports Community College Faculty and Staff
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life.Hachette Books, 2005
Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber, Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy.University of Toronto Press, 2013.
James M. Lang, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass, 2016
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
How does an educator find support in a school so small that there might be few colleagues or administrators available to form a sense of community? This episode offers suggestions to overcome this challenge, common to many rural Oregon educators, with a conversation between our host Toni Myers and her guest Cindy Dougharity-Spencer, the teacher of History and Economics at the Grant Union Junior/Senior High School in John Day. Cindy assures rural educators in Oregon that they are not alone, even in small schools, because they have access to Regional Educator Networks (RENs).
Cindy works with the Eastern Oregon REN (EOREN), serving Harney, Grant, Malheur, Lake, and Wallowa Counties. EOREN reaches out to educators through common-interest teams, lesson plan banks, tutorials, and regularly scheduled professional development events. Especially useful for new educators in rural schools is the mentorship program in which an experienced educator offers support for each of these newer educators as they navigate the often unique experience of teaching in a small school in a small town. Both Cindy and Toni encourage listeners to contact their school’s REN to find their community. No teacher in Oregon should ever feel alone. As Cindy says, “You are not an island.”
Resources -
Find your Regional Educator Network
Eastern Oregon Regional Educator Network (EOREN)
Ayla Olson, the guest for last week’s Episode 3 of Season 12, works with the Oregon Trail Regional Educator Network (OTREN)
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Networ
This week’s episode addresses some of the concerns of educators who seek resources not available at their own schools. Our host, Toni Myers, discusses the support offered to rural educators by Education Service Districts (ESDs) with her guest, Ayla Olson. Ayla is an Instruction Coach with the InterMountain ESD, serving twenty-one school districts in Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Baker counties. Through ESDs, educators have access to support in four areas: programs for children with special needs, school improvement, technology support, and administrative services.
ESDs are especially designed to meet the needs of educators in rural areas who may have difficulty traveling to distant meetings and workshops. Instruction Coaches in the different areas travel regularly to each school and reach out to educators through newsletters, virtual meetings, and professional development summits. Listeners are encouraged to contact their region’s ESD for support (find your school’s ESD on the map linked below). The website for each ESD will include a calendar for professional development events and lists of free educator resources. Ayla assures us that all ESDs are open to questions and suggestions for future trainings
Resources:
Education Service District map (Find which ESD serves your school)
InterMountain ESD Instructional Coaches website
InterMountain ESD Calendar of Events
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Season 12, focusing on Rural Education, begins with a close look at the recent surge of interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and its benefits for students in urban and rural areas. Host Toni Myers welcomes Nicole Merchant and Bibiana Gifft, longtime teachers of Agricultural Sciences and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisors at Baker High School, who explain what CTE can offer all students, not just those planning to enter the work force immediately after high school. They describe the breadth of CTE courses, extending far beyond the four walls of a classroom, into greenhouses, welding shops, construction shops, whatever fits the needs of the surrounding community.
The two educators view CTE courses as a balance for the entire curriculum, showing students the practical applications of what they learn in other classes. The skills and habits they acquire in the CTE curriculum, such as learning how to be good employees, will transfer to any career path they follow. These courses are ideal for students who may not feel comfortable in a traditional classroom by giving them a purpose and building a community of learners. As all three educators this week agree, CTE courses create a sense of family that endures: “You never get rid of your Ag teacher.”
Resources
Nicole Merchant and Bibiana Gifft awarded 2021 Outstanding Middle/Secondary Agricultural Award
Baker FFA Greenhouse Plant Sale will take place on May 10th this year (it sold out in one day last year, so come early!)
The National FFA Organization
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Season 12 of the OEA Grow podcast takes us to the less populated regions of our state, focusing on the Rural School Experience for Oregon students and educators. Our host, Toni Myers, teaches third through sixth grades at Keating Elementary, a rural two-room school in Baker City. Drawing on her eighteen years of experience in education, Toni will speak with educators around the state who work in rural communities. What are the particular concerns of these rural schools and the families they serve? How can educators state-wide support all our schools?
You may recognize this season’s host, Toni Myers, for her work as president of the Baker Education Association in making Baker School District one of the highest paying districts in the state, raising the salary floor for certified teachers from $38,000 to $60,000. Listeners from both rural and urban school settings will definitely want to hear the ideas and suggestions posed by this long-time advocate for educators and students. She and the other educators of this season have helped change the landscape for the rural school experience.
Joe Burns, “Reviving the Strike”
Conference for Bargaining and Organizing, October 27-28, 2023
Newport, Oregon
In his talk, “Reviving the Strike,” labor lawyer Joe Burns traces the history of union strikes in the U.S. and discusses their impact on current labor negotiations. Based on his thirty years of bargaining experience, Burns feels that today’s public employees are just now rediscovering the power of the strike that was evident in the 1960s and 1970s when strikes played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement as powerful acts of civil disobedience (witness the Memphis Garbage Strike of 1968).
Burns argues that public sector strikes are fundamentally political in nature and therefore must be based on a concern for the public good. If a union is transparent with its demands and concerns, Burns promises that members will support the efforts and show up when needed.
Books by Joe Burns
Joe Burns. Class Struggle Unionism. Haymarket Books, 2022.
Joe Burns. Reviving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Transform America. Lg Publishing, 2011.
Joe Burns. Strike Back: Using the Militant Tactics of Labor’s Past to Reignite Public Sector Unionism Today. Lg Publishing, 2019.
Keynote Address - Alex Caputo-Pearl
Conference for Bargaining and Organizing, October 27-28, 2023
Newport, Oregon
Alex Caputo-Pearl, practitioner-in-residence at the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center, delivered the keynote address at the Oregon Conference for Bargaining and Organizing. Drawing on his twenty-two years of experience as a teacher and nine years as a full-time elected union leader, Caputo-Pearl traces the hard work and subsequent victories of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) during his presidency of the organization. His question now - what comes next for the Educator Upsurge and Red for Ed?
In his talk, Caputo-Pearl explains five efforts that he feels are necessary to overcome the adversaries of the labor movement:
1) Broaden involvement in the effort by including parents and students;
2) Ensure lasting ideologies through campaigning, training, and actually doing;
3) Increase the role of rank and file caucuses;
4) Leverage key compression points, such as campaigns and elections; and
5) Build power and expand resources.
Caputo-Pearl applauds his audience for the union accomplishments in Oregon and expresses his confidence for continued success.
Our host Dr. Amy Yillik ends this season’s discussion of Culture of Care with a close look at Tier 3 needs and services. Her guest is Ryan Harding, Behavior Specialist with the Redmond School District, who explains that the Tier 3 program is more long-term and individualized than Tier 2, with a focus on providing students with whatever each one needs for success.
Continuing repercussions from the pandemic have made these services even more critical with students’ increased difficulties in socializing and self-regulating, often most evident on the playground, according to Ryan. He stresses the importance of including parents to achieve the goal of integration back into the classroom. This is an episode promoting empathy, trying to understand the needs and perceptions of others engaged in the efforts to support our students.
Resources -
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) - sometimes called a Behavior Plan or a Behavior Support Plan (BSP)
Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI)
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
Oregon Senate Bill 819 concerning abbreviated school days
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Our season on Culture of Care continues this week with a discussion of academic and social/emotional support for students, specifically the Tier Two level of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) rubric. Tier Two is a particularly difficult level to address, coming between Tier One, which all students receive, and Tier Three, which requires one-on-one help. Host Dr. Amy Yillik’s guest for this conversation is Jamie Gunter, a counselor for LaPine High School and Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the entire Bend/LaPine district, who suggests various approaches for Tier Two support when adequate staffing and funding are lacking.
This episode offers many options for schools who struggle to support these Tier Two students in terms of substance usage, suicide prevention, and other social/emotional and academic needs. Suggestions range from a Graduation Coach who works with students beginning in their freshman year, to a designated Focus Room for any student who needs space and time to self-regulate, learn skills, or talk to a counselor. Schools without these resources could still utilize Youth Truth Surveys and host social/emotional campaigns throughout the year. Individual educators can help students with calming and self-regulating measures, such as grounding and breathing exercises.
Oregon was one of the first states to mandate programs of suicide prevention in schools, but funding is insufficient to implement these programs. This episode is vital listening for educators wanting to support students in need.
Resources -
Jamie Gunter named 2017 Outstanding Support Staff Person of the Year
Sources of Strength
Teen Intervene
Upshift
Youth Truth Surveys
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Oregon Dept. of Education: Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Postvention (Adi’s Act)
This week, Dr. Amy Yillik welcomes Julie Patton, Student Success Coordinator at Elton Gregory Middle School in Redmond and a member of the Family Engagement Team with Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT). Their conversation centers around family engagement and the importance of educators establishing solid lines of communication with the families of their students. Children are more successful in school when their teachers work in partnership with their parents or guardians.
In order to develop this relationship, Julie recommends that educators reach out to parents or guardians as soon as possible so that positive connections are already in place if more serious communication is needed in the future. She stresses the need to find the form of communication that each family finds most comfortable and to realize that parents may have varying experience and views of the educational system. The key is to withhold judgment and offer any needed resources. Parenting can be acutely isolating, and educators can help families find support.
Julie also offers information about the BRYT program, designed to partner with schools and families to promote healing, wellness, and academic success for students. The program is currently available in Oregon only in Redmond, Portland, and Bend/LaPine. She suggests that listeners consult the program’s websites for more support in engaging families in their students’ success.
Resources:
BRYT Program in the Redmond School District
BRYT Program for Students in Transition
BRYT Caregiver Events
Dr. Amy Yillik continues Season 11, Culture of Care, with a discussion of the concept of equity. Her guest, Steve Wetherald of Bend High School, defines the term as the assurance that all students have whatever they need to succeed. As a Graduation Coach, Steve works to encourage students, whatever their needs, to graduate and attend college, and as the faculty advisor of the school’s Cross Cultural Club, he supports students in their efforts to build a mutually supportive and inclusive community.
Much of the conversation centers around this Cross Cultural Club at Bend High School that grew out of students’ request for a place where they feel absolutely safe and know that they belong. Steve affirms that all high schools might benefit from similar clubs, just as many colleges do. He offers suggestions for finding allies in this work of empowering students, whatever their needs.
Resources -
Steve Wetherald named 2022 Central Oregon Regional Teacher of the Year
OEA Commitment to Equity
Center for Equity and Inclusion
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Confused about the concept of restorative justice? This week, host Dr. Amy Yillik talks with Sorahi Harati, Program Director of the Restorative Justice and Equity Group (RJE) in Bend. The two educators agree that restorative justice is often mislabeled as a misguided approach to discipline, “giving everyone a lollipop” to solve problems. Sorahi explains that, in reality, efforts of this kind involve peaceful problem-solving techniques to fit each situation. Also helpful are proactive restorative practices that preclude harmful interactions in the first place by building community and a sense of belonging.
This episode offers simple suggestions for building circles of communication and teaching students of all ages how they might handle contentious situations. The message to educators: this is a practice that you’ve probably already begun as a thoughtful, reflective educator. Reach out for support and more information through Culture of Care and the Restorative Justice and Equity Group.
Resources
Restorative Justice & Equity Group
OEA Restorative Practices Solution Circle
Culture of Care recommended reading on Restorative Justice
Katherine Evans and Dorothy Vaandering. The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education. Good Books, 2016.
Howard Zehr. The Little Book of Restorative Justice. Good Books, 2015.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Each of the episodes so far in Season 11 has centered on how educators might support the wellness of students. And in each week’s discussion, our host Dr. Amy Yillik and her guests have acknowledged that the suggested strategies for students work best when educators are themselves calm and mindful. This week, Dr. Yillik turns her focus to ways that educators can achieve this level of wellness with her guest Sandi Washburn, Behavior Specialist with the Greater Albany Public Schools and author of two books on resilience and mindfulness. In their conversation, the two educators discuss how to deal with stress and avoid burnout, describing several exercises suggested in the two books.
Educators might include in their schedules a daily activity that is simple, yet calming to combat the stress inherent in education careers. These activities would ideally include movement, expressions of gratitude, and/or positive connections. If educators take the time, however limited, for self-care, they will in turn have the resources to model self-regulation and mindfulness for their students.
Resources
“Self-Care, Wellness, and Joy”
Sandi Washburn, Better by the Letter: Educator Edition. BookBaby, 2020
Sandi Washburn. Better by the Letter: Family Edition. BookBaby, 2022.
Kelly McGonical. The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage. Avery, 2021.
Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey. What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. Flatiron Books, 2021.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
This week, Dr. Amy Yillik discusses trauma-responsive practices in education with Jessica Reamon, Autism Consultant for the Northwest Regional Education Service District. The two educators emphasize the importance of creating an environment where students feel safe and connected, a necessity for any learning to take place. They suggest achieving this goal through co-regulation, the process of modeling and teaching self-regulation skills with supportive responses and a warm, calming presence.
Co-regulation, of course, cannot be effective if educators don’t also feel safe and in control, an ideal that is often difficult to achieve with the stress that is endemic to the field of education. This episode suggests a variety of strategies to maintain your equilibrium and sense of calm (have you ever heard of dance church?). The benefits for yourself and your students are within reach.
Resources
Autism Resource Site, compiled by Jessica Reamon
Trauma-Informed Education
Dance Church
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Do you know the term “interoception,” the perception of the internal state of one’s body? Tune into this episode for ways to help students refine their sense of interoception and gain awareness and self-control over their emotions and behavior. Dr. Amy Yillik’s guest this week is Katie Diez, an occupational therapist in the High Desert Education Service District who explains the importance of students becoming mindful of their body sensations and how these sensations are linked to emotions in particular. She suggests that educators encourage students to recognize physical sensations without judgment, link them to specific emotions, and develop strategies to deal with them.
Educators can use these same methods, even as simple as deep breathing, to handle their own stress. This episode offers an array of helpful suggestions for achieving mindfulness and self-control as we help students self-regulate their behavior.
Resources -
The Significance of Interoception
Mindfulness in the Classroom
Resources for Educators
Katie Diez demonstrates a mindfulness exercise, bead breathing
Katie Diez’s “Katie Calm Time” - working with students on turn taking, impulse control, and social skills
Using Body Wisdom to Calm the Stressed Brain - OEA self-paced module
Applied Educational Neuroscience Program OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Dr. Amy Yillik continues her conversation this week with her Culture of Care colleagues, Amber McGill and Erin Taylor. In this episode they explain in detail how the program, focusing on trauma-responsive, restorative, and equitable practices, supports schools in the High Desert Education Service District with workshops, coaching, and other pedagogical services that individual educators often have neither time nor resources to provide for their students.
This episode offers simple, yet practical suggestions for helping students feel secure and empowered. The three coaches also discuss ways for educators to focus on their own wellness and avoid burnout. The conversation is overall an optimistic one - despite overworked educators and understaffed schools, there is an upsurge of commitment to these areas of restorative and equitable practices in Oregon, and listeners are encouraged to reach out to make connections and find support.
Resources
Tim Feeney Script Guides to simplify restorative practices
Michael Grinder, ”Master the Science of Nonverbal Communication” with ENVoY Coaches and Trainers
Katharine Manning. The Empathetic Workplace: 5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job. HarperCollins Leadership, 2021.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
In this first episode of Season 11, our host Dr. Amy Yillik, discusses the importance of supporting the adults in the school system in order to foster trauma-sensitive, restorative, and equitable environments for students. Dr. Yillik’s guests this week are her colleagues Erin Taylor and Amber McGill, who work with her in Culture of Care, a program created by six Oregon school districts in the High Desert Education Service District. The three women bring their experience and expertise in school psychology to hold workshops and learning opportunities for adults who work with students so that they can support students’ needs to feel safe, seen, known, and valued.
Tune into this episode to gain insights into the challenges faced by students navigating a system that may not always meet their needs. The problems are increasingly acute when overworked educators are often on the verge of burnout, with overcrowded classrooms, understaffed schools, and lack of time for self-care. The three Culture of Care coaches offer suggestions for school districts facing these hurdles.
Resources -
Culture of Care program
Dr. Amy Yillik’s TED Ed Talk
Erin Taylor’s TED Ed Talk
Matthew R. Morris on Teacher Burnout
Herbert J. Freudenberger. Burn Out: The High Cost of High Achievement. Bantam, 1983.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
The Oregon Education Association welcomes you to Season 11 of the OEA Grow podcast series in which we will discuss the growing problem of trauma in our schools. Our host this season is Dr. Amy Yillik from Culture of Care, a program in central Oregon that offers coaching and consultation for schools in trauma responses.
In this season’s episodes, Amy draws on her more than twenty years’ experience as a school counselor, psychologist, and counselor educator, as well as her position as professor in the School Counseling Master’s Program at the University of Southern California. Amy will speak with educators around the state this season who have developed trauma-sensitive, restorative, and equitable practices to take care of our students, ourselves, and each other.
In this last episode of Season 10, our host Sakura Hamada expands the discussion of newly arrived students to include the community college level. Her guest is Kathryn Long from Clackamas Community College, who explains that adult newly arrived college students may not be actually newly arrived in this country because of registration timelines. They often differ from K-12 students, too, because of financial and work-related challenges. Educators should be aware of the students’ wide variety of backgrounds, some with previously earned degrees from other countries and others lacking any higher education experience.
Even though she is a teacher of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Kathryn teaches much more than English language skills, also helping her students to navigate American conversation, including cultural norms surrounding questions, compliments, and requests. She suggests several ways to converse with adults from other cultures with respect and understanding.
Resources
Immigrant Students in Oregon Higher Education
ESOL at Clackamas Community College
Kathryn suggests OER (Open Educational Resources) texts to reduce financial hardships on students. Also see the Open Textbook Library.OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Host Sakura Hamada focuses this week on trauma experienced by newly arrived students and how educators can create safe spaces for them. Her guest is Franky Collins, who is experienced in working with both elementary and middle-school newcomers. She explains that these students can often come from traumatic backgrounds and family situations, so educators must be prepared with individualized lessons, spaces to retreat for de-stressing, and a variety of modalities for learning. She emphasizes the importance of collaborating with colleagues and reaching out to families to focus on what’s best for each student.
As a bonus, Franky divulges her secret of using music and dancing, usually at the beginning of each day, to create an atmosphere of casual community building and socio-emotional learning. Of course, the students contribute to the class’s playlist, often from their homelands, and Franky shares with us the musicians from around the world who are currently popular with her students. She adds that she finds it useful to read migration literature to understand her students more thoroughly. Her goals are three-fold: that her students are unafraid to ask for help, that they have organizational skills for success, and that they get to know themselves and their friends.
Resources -
Trauma Informed Education
Franky Collins recommends this memoir for educators of newcomer students - Javier Zamora. Solito. Hogarth, 2022.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
In this episode host Sakura Hamada focuses on the challenges of language learning for newcomer students with her guest, Gaby Aguilar-Lopez, from Twality Middle School in the Tigard-Tualatin District, who teaches ELD (English Language Development) and AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination). The two educators discuss how crucial language is as a connector for students, and how difficult it can be for newcomers to master the academic and grammatical use of language, in addition to the more basic intercommunication skills (BICS).
This episode offers practical suggestions about how to welcome our newly arrived students and encourage their language acquisition, and also their socio-emotional learning. These newly arrived students should be praised for their achievements and the knowledge they already possess, instead of being reminded of any limitations.
Resources
Newcomer Students’ English Language Development
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
Newcomer Tool Kit OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
This week’s episode offers additional suggestions for supporting newcomer students with Sakura’s guest, Beyoung Yu from the Portland Public Schools. As an English Language Development (ELD) educator, Beyoung builds a base for the English language with his students, but he sees his job in a broader context as well. He offers suggestions about how to connect with students’ cultural identities and first languages to make them feel seen and heard instead of being the “other.” Beyoung explains how he also reaches out to students’ families to form strong communication channels.
Beyoung’s suggestions include working to create a more inclusive curriculum for all students. He encourages educators to grow their own curriculum by using other teachers as resources, applying for grants, and building a relevant collection in the school library. This expanded curriculum counteracts the limitations of standardized testing and assessment that focuses on only one aspect of a student’s achievements. The goal is to be mindful of students’ identities and their backgrounds.
Resources
ELD Department Main Page, Portland Public Schools
K-5 English Language Development, Portland Public Schools
NEA Foundation Grants and Fellowships
Exploring Young Immigrant Stories
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
In this very special bonus episode, we hear from a variety of educators from the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) on the conditions that led to the historic vote to authorize a strike. With nearly 99 percent of their members voting to authorize a strike, PAT educators explain why they are on the precipice of their first strike since the formation of PAT as a union in 1966.
Portland educators and students have been asked to do more with less and are impacted by large class sizes and caseloads, a lack of special education resources and support, buildings in need of repair and renovation, and historical defunding issues. Learn about Bargaining for the Common Good and how Portland educators demanding, “The time is now!” will increase expectations across the state of Oregon for safe, sustainable, and equitable schools for our students.
https://www.pdxteachers.org/
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Host Sakura Hamada turns our attention this week to ways in which educators can support newly arrived students in middle school. Her guest is Rena Jan, a seventh-grade counselor for the Beaverton School District, who acknowledges that middle school is often a bewildering time of change and transition, even for students without language or cultural challenges.
Rena suggests that extra care be taken to ensure that the newly arrived students feel supported and gain a sense of belonging. To that end, she spends a great deal of time with new students, especially on their first day, to get to know them as individuals. She checks in with them throughout that first day to be sure that they can navigate the lunch line, the changing of classes, and even the school buses at the end of the day.
Rena’s concern extends to the parents who might have difficulty communicating with the school through the various apps that can be confusing for anyone. Outreach to parents is crucial, she believes. Rena feels that her role as counselor is to help with any obstacle that stands in the way of students’ learning and becoming part of the school community.
Resources
Oregon’s Migrant Education Program
Immigration and Racial Equity for Immigrant and International Students
Multilingual and Migrant Education
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Sakura’s guest this week is Jocelin Morales, a school counselor with the Beaverton School District, who shares ways in which she supports newly arrived students and their families in her school. Drawing on her own experience as the child of Mexican immigrants, Jocelin is sensitive to students’ needs as they find themselves in a new and different environment. She works to create a safe space for them in the school, collaborating with interpreters and classroom teachers and even doing her own research into each new student’s culture.
She suggests that educators reach out also to families, in ways that are comfortable for them, and locate resources in the community that they might need. The overall goal, Jocelin explains, is to build trust with the students and their families and welcome them into the school community.
Resources -
Supporting Immigrant Families and Students
Educator Training for Supporting Newly Arrived Students
NEA Issue Explainer: Immigration
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Welcome back to Season 10 of the OEA Grow podcast, in which our host Sakura Hamada explores how we as educators can support newly arrived students. In this first episode of the season, Sakura speaks with Ethelyn Tumalad from Clackamas High School about her work with the AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination).
This program supports students throughout all four years of high school to prepare them for college as first-generation students. Ethelyn tells us that the goal is twofold - to help students discover their authentic selves and feel confident that they belong. Sakura and Ethelyn discuss from personal experience how terrifying the classroom can be for newly arrived students.
They explain how educators in any classroom can support students by really listening to each student and celebrating accomplishments rather than focusing on deficits. This week’s episode will suggest ways to incorporate student-centered learning to help students respect one another and see the strengths in each other’s differences.
Resources -
OEA Member Spotlight on Ethelyn Tumalad
Ethelyn Tumalad named Oregon Teacher of the Year, 2022
AVID program
Books recommended by Ethelyn -
Tony DelaRosa. Teaching the Invisible Race: Embodying a Pro-Asian American Lens in Schools. Foreward by Liz Kleinrock. Jossey-Bass, 2023.
Lori Desautels. Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline. Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, 2020.
Christopher Emdin. Ratchetdemic: Reimagining Academic Success. Beacon Press, 2021.
Gholdy Muhammad. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020.
Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodriguez. For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color. Seal Press, 2021.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Welcome to Season Ten of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. This season’s topic is “Supporting Newly Arrived Students,” with an in-depth look at how educators can address the needs of students who have recently come into the school system, a group that includes migrants, refugees, and children of migrant workers.
Our host is Sakura Hamada, school counselor for the Portland Public Schools District and a leader in local and state-wide initiatives for cultural awareness. In the coming weeks, Sakura will speak with educators who work with newly arrived students of all grade levels, from elementary school to community college. Tune in each week to learn how we can support these students and their families.
Malik continues Season 9 with a frank discussion of how BIPOC educators can survive burn-out and thrive in what is still a predominantly white environment in Oregon schools. Malik’s guest is Gregory Dunkin, a culinary arts teacher for twenty years in the Eugene 4J school district, who shares his wisdom with new educators and with the administrators who would like to retain them. He strongly advises BIPOC educators to find their community outside the school environment, in places where their feelings can be understood and validated.
Within the school environment, Gregory and Malik discuss the frustrating expectation that educators of color will be spokespeople for their culture. Gregory offers suggestions for finding spaces without an imposed agenda. And he upholds this priority in his role as mentor and teacher, letting young people grow their own mindsets, develop critical thinking skills, and form their own connections with each other. Community and recognition of culture is key for educators and students, both within and outside of the classroom.
Resources -
OEA Members Speak Out About Equity Issues
Finding Community - Affinity Spaces and Equity SPARKS Retreat
OEA Fall Professional Learning Catalog
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
How does a school district ensure that students see themselves reflected in the diversity of its educators? Oregon schools have the opportunity to work toward this goal through the Grow Your Own (GYO) initiative, the topic of this week’s episode. Malik chats with Andreina Velasco, the David Douglas GYO Pathway Advisor, who explains that the program encourages BIPOC students to consider the education profession, with many returning to their former schools.
As Andreina points out, “It’s hard to see yourself in a role if you haven’t seen someone in that role who looks like you.” She emphasizes the importance of students interacting with educators who share their identity and understand their culture.
Resources -
The Grow Your Own Initiative
More about the Grow Your Own Program at the David Douglas School District
The BARWE Program (Building Antiracist White Educators), referenced by Andreina as an affinity group for white educators
Muhammed, Gholdy. Cultivating Genius. Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020. A book recommended by both Malik and Andreina for its four-layered equity framework in K-12 literacy education for students of all ethnicities - As Andreina says, “It’s an injustice that students have to wait until college to learn about their identity.”
This week Malik discusses educators’ need for community support with Sakura Hamada, school counselor for the Portland Public Schools. Sakura explains the importance of finding one’s affinity space, a place to share a common identity, either within one’s school or in the outside community. She also feels that students, even those in the earlier grades, benefit from these spaces of belonging. Malik and Sakura encourage listeners to explore the resources for community building offered by OEA, such as Affinity Groups and the Equity SPARKS Retreat.
Resources -
Educational Affinity Groups: The Why and How
Harvard’s Implicit Association Test, referenced by Malik in this episode
OEA Affinity Spaces
OEA BIPOC Equity SPARKS Retreats
Welcome to season nine of OEA Grow, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association and a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Malik White will be your host for this year’s Back To School season of the podcast. In this season, educators will discuss topics like:
-
- the early career educator experience
- how we recruit and retain diverse teacher candidates
- How we support diverse early career educator
- Setting boundaries and work/life balance
- What I wish I knew in my first year
The OEA Grow podcast is just one of many opportunities from OEA to grow your professional practice. To learn about other professional learning opportunities available through OEA, visit grow.oregoned.org.
Our the courses in our fall catalog are available as a benefit of union membership.
In this special bonus episode from season seven on special education, member host Venus Reeve talks with Redmond School District adaptive physical education (APE) teachers Sean Corson and Amy Nickell. Amy and Sean educate listeners on what adaptive physical education is and why it’s important. Sean describes the Oregon state mandates for physical education that apply to all students, those with and without disabilities. Amy educates us on how students establish eligibility for APE.
At the heart of APE is making sure students are safe and successful in their physical education experiences at school and achieving this requires specialists trained in APE. Equal access to physical education gives all students access to fitness for life which impacts physical, mental , and social health.
Resources:
Evaluating access to physical education minutes for K-12 students with disabilities in California
APE Teachers Advocate to Retain Staff Positions and Services in Portland School District
ODE Adjusted Division 22 Compliance Timeline: PE Requirements
Oregon Administrative Rules - Adaptive Physical Education Specialization
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Our topic this week is connecting with students when their language and culture differ from the dominant one of the school district. Beth’s guest is Monica Bergmann Perez who draws on her twenty years of experience in the field of bilingual speech pathology and Early Intervention Education to address this growing challenge to Oregon educators.
Monica explains the difficulties that students face when they must navigate different languages and social norms between school and home. She offers suggestions for all grade levels and encourages educators to broaden their inclusion of varying cultures in the classroom. Monica encourages viewing what might seem a hurdle as a strength for the bilingual child with the flexibility to code switch, and also an educational opportunity for everyone in the class.
Another OEA Member, Angela Vargas, Celebrates Diversity of Cultures in the Classroom
A Sample Lesson Plan for Celebrating Different Cultures
Making Course Materials More Relevant to Various Cultures, “Bringing a New Vibe to the Classroom”
“How Cultural Differences Can Make School Tougher for Students”
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
This week’s episode focuses on ways to connect students to life after graduation. Beth chats with Alan Wheeler, named the 2023 Teacher of the Year by the Oregon Association for Career and Technical Education, about how his Construction Technology classes at Redmond High School prepare students for the workplace. Alan explains his emphasis on practical skills, beginning with the basic understanding of how to use each tool safely and progressing to larger, more meaningful projects that can reach beyond the classroom. Last spring, his classes worked with Oasis Village in Redmond to build bedroom shelters for the unhoused.
And, of course, these courses are not geared only toward students who plan careers in the construction industry. Alan explains that students who may be struggling in more academic courses and those who may favor hands-on approaches often appreciate a course that brings balance to the curriculum. CT students learn math, physics, and chemistry skills; they learn to read blueprints; and they learn the logical sequence of following directions. In addition, they learn at least rudimentary skills in woodworking, plumbing, and electricity - useful skills for anyone regardless of career plans.
Resources:
All Redmond 2023 ACTE Award Winners
Alan Wheeler’s Students Build Homes for the Houseless
High-paying jobs that don't need a college degree? Thousands of them sit empty
This week’s episode addresses a challenge facing Oregon educators today, how to connect students with crucial library resources in the face of current funding issues. Beth talks with Liz Beazizo, librarian for West Salem High School, about the statewide shortage of school librarians due to cuts in our education budget. There are currently no certified librarians in Oregon elementary and middle schools and only 147 high school librarians in the entire state. Liz explains what this means for classroom teachers who now have few trained librarians to support class projects or teach research and information literacy skills. And, of course, now more than ever, students need guidance in navigating through social media and chatbot sites for reliable information. They also need the trusted presence of a school librarian, presiding over the safe space of a library, what Liz calls the “living room of the building,” without judgment or grades. Liz offers suggestions about how the connections with school libraries might be maintained in these challenging times. Library assistants offer services when trained librarians are unavailable, and educators can work together to ensure that students feel comfortable and confident in their library skills.
Resources:
Oregon Libraries
Why School Libraries Matter
In Appreciation of School Librarians
Empowering Oregon Students by Supporting School Libraries
Literacy and Wellbeing at School Libraries
In this episode Beth speaks with Jana Giles, a 3rd grade educator and local union leader about how educators can connect with their union. Jana shares that she became involved in her union for three main reasons. First, she was asked to share her story by her bargaining team when they were in contract negotiations and she wanted to make her voice heard. Next, her local vice-president asked her to become more involved. And finally, her UniServ Consultant invited her to participate in a statewide Emerging Leaders cohort coordinated by OEA.
Jana shares how the professional learning she received from OEA helped her grow in her professional practice, connect with fellow educators from around the state, and stand up to advocate for herself and others. She discusses ways union members can engage in local advocacy, professional learning, political participation, and work collectively to improve our profession and our communities.
Why Should You Join a Union?
Find Your Local Union
New Oregon Education Association Website
Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities offered by OEA
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In this episode, host Beth Ayelot speaks with Jessica Classen from the David Douglas School District Mentoring Program. They talk about the support that a mentoring program can offer new teachers by connecting them with more experienced educators. The main focus of the program are first and second year teachers, with a number of embedded supports in and out of the classroom.
The work of a mentor provides support in professional practice, as well as social and emotional support. These programs are not evaluative or judgemental, and mentors have firm boundaries about how they discuss a mentee with an administrator. Confidence is a central part of the relationship. Ultimately, mentors are advocates for new teachers.
In districts where there is not an established mentoring program, Jessica encourages new educators to “find your people and a place where you feel like you fit.” This could be a person who you confide in, bounce ideas off of, and vent your frustration without sinking too far down.
Resources:
Learn more about the David Douglas New Teacher Mentoring Program
Union Supports Early Career Educators- OEA Website
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Episode 7: Connecting with Art
This week, Beth speaks with Jessie Street from North Powder Charter School. The conversation centers on how connections with art can help both adults and students. Jessie’s work began part time with elementary and middle school students, and grew to include high school students through grant funding.
Bringing art into the classroom can integrate into the curriculum, supports social, emotional learning, or stand alone as art for art’s sake. It allows students to make connections and examine themselves.
Classroom volunteers can make a big difference when prepping for larger projects. Using recycled materials can often be used for low cost/low mess projects. In Jessie’s experience, making art accessible by allowing students to show up as they are can help students grow in ways they did not expect.
Resources:
Art Education Resources- Oregon Department of Education
Lesson Plans and Activities- National Gallery of Art
Websites Every Art Teacher Should Know- The Arty Teacher
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
This week, Beth explores a unique classroom environment in Southern Oregon when she talks with Jaylene Crane. Jaylene teaches in a multi-age 6-8 grades classroom at Comet Academy Magnet Program (CAMP) in Gold Hill, east of Grants Pass. CAMP emphasizes project-based learning and the development of 21st Century Learning Skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.
To meet the needs of the different aged students in her classroom, Jaylene strives to create individual connections with students. Her self-contained classroom that also loops allows her to have significantly more time to build relationships with her students. Some ways Jaylene connects daily with her students include greeting students using their names, talking with students about what they like to do, and holding morning meetings. These connections then allow her to design projects to meet student interests or the gaps she identifies.
Resources:
Project-Based Learning Helps Students Become Activist Citizens of the World - NEA
What is Project-Based Learning? - US News and World Report
21st Century Learning - Harvard University
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Comet Academy Magnet Program
What are the unique challenges of children in the foster system and how can we support these students in our schools? What do educators need to know about students in the foster system? These questions frame episode five with Colleen Arriol, a fifth grade teacher and parent who raised 10 children including seven adopted from the foster system.
Colleen shares her lived experiences as a parent and an educator and has many insights to share. Educators need to know that students in the foster system are currently in the middle of trauma, as they have been taken away from their families and everything that is familiar to them. Many foster children experience multiple placements, compounding ongoing trauma. Students may struggle to navigate school and its academic and social demands. Some of the specific effects of students’ trauma that we may witness in schools include an inability to focus, behavioral issues, impulse control, and difficulty trusting people.
Colleen also recommends that we prioritize building trust with students in the foster care system. Another priority is striving to create systems and routines so students know what to expect and what is coming next in their school day. However, as with all students experiencing trauma, each student is an individual and we as educators should avoid generalizations about students in foster care.
Resources:
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Maximizing Academic Success for Foster Care Students: A Trauma-Informed Approach
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator Series
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In this week’s episode, Beth speaks with fourth grade teacher and union leader Melissa Grothe about the challenges and successes of connecting with the local community and how connection and belonging can impact teacher retention. Melissa is an educator with strong ties to the coastal town of Astoria where she grew up and currently works.
Educators new to the area don’t always feel connected to their community and this can sometimes lead to educators leaving their jobs. This issue isn’t limited to Astoria but also affects other small towns and larger cities, especially since the pandemic when many have been figuring out how to join back in community. How do we cultivate a sense of belonging in both the school at large and the rest of the community? How do we make social connections when we’re new to an area?
Astoria School District has used grant money to build connections and support for educators such as helping to secure childcare for educators with small children and hosting a listening session on teacher retention. These efforts help educators feel like the district is investing in them. Melissa offered some suggestions for schools to increase a sense of belonging, like developing welcoming materials to offer to educators new to an area such as a PowerPoint with local recommendations for restaurants and other businesses. Locals can also invite new educators out socially. For newly arrived educators, Melissa suggests contacting the local Chamber of Commerce to learn about the events and organizations in the community. Volunteering at local events is a way to show you’re invested in the community and also meet new people.
Resources:
Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce
We All Need Belonging - Center for Inspired Teaching
Retaining BIPOC Educators Starts with Belonging - ASCD
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back to OEA Grow! Beth talks with Mindy Welsh, a Masters of Education student from Southern Oregon University. Mindy speaks to the value of understanding and connecting to the pedagogy of teaching versus just having the technical understanding of the practice of teaching.
Perhaps teacher burnout, high stress levels, and overall reduced sense of efficacy can be understood through a disconnect between pedagogy and practice? Mindy speaks to the philosophy of Holistic Education and how it may be a tool that authentically connects pedagogy to practice. Her Master’s of Education program is teaching and practicing this method with great success. Professors are modeling the practices and mindsets of Holistic Education in order that students can fortify a deep understanding of what Holistic Education means and how to implement it in a classroom.
Mindy shares new ways to build connections with students and teaching staff. This episode is filled with tips on how to become a better connected, more empowered educator. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
What is Holistic Education?
The Center for Holistic Education
How to Handle Feedback
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back to OEA grow! Today Beth chats with Ashlee Hodgkinson and Tina Tewes from Clackamas Community College. Tina is the High School Connections Academic Advisor and Ashlee is the Advanced College Credit Coordinator at Clackamas. In this episode, they share about their work supporting student transition from high school to either college or the workplace.
Their conversation describes the variety of ways students can achieve college level credits, technical education, or degrees while enrolled in high school. Ashlee explains a number of benefits this has for high school students. She shares the variety of college credit pathways that are available to high school students, most of which are dependent on their high school offerings and access to community colleges.
Tina shares the opportunity high school students have in enrolling in community college classes. She speaks to the opportunity and challenge this presents to a student and how her role supports their success in a demanding college-level class. This episode is a great example of how Oregon educators partner together to connect high school students to college and real-world learning and opportunities. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
Clackamas Community College High School Connections
College Credits While in High School
Running Start Program
Additional Professional Learning Opportunities
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome to Season 8 of OEA Grow, an educator-led podcast, by members and for members. This season we are focusing on connection and collaboration between educators, students, families and guardians, and the community that supports public education. We are all in this together, and our host Beth Aydelott, will facilitate conversations to help us grow into that mindset.
Beth is an instructor at Lane Community College and longtime OEA member. Her passion for connecting to her community college students will resonate in the conversations with others. Guests will reflect a variety of levels and roles within our public education system. There will be many things to learn as we take a deep dive into connection. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
Additional Professional Learning Opportunities
Eye on Equity
Interested in Hosting or Being a Guest on OEA Grow?
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back to OEA Grow! This episode is our second look into the world of Physical Education (PE), specifically adapted PE. Venus speaks with certified adapted PE teachers Lonzo Urbina, Brigette Brown, and Alana Burny.
The conversation centers advocacy for adapted PE within an inclusion model. Lonzo, Brigette, and Alana advocate for what all students deserve- highly qualified teachers with specialized training to meet the unique needs of students being supported by adapted PE.
How can we ensure students get the federally mandated instruction they deserve? These educators share the challenges and opportunities in current day PE instruction. They elaborate on the concept of participation in PE and what physical literacy really means. Lonzo, Brigette, and Alana urge you to reach out to your district to discover what they’re doing to commit to quality adapted PE instruction. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
CAPE Certification
Adapted PE
Unified PE
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
How does special education work without the comprehensive team that informs so much of the process? In this episode, Venus talks with Michelle Dunn (Adaptive PE Specialist), Niels Pasternak (Autism Consultant), and Brittany Herson (Occupational Therapist). Michelle, Niels, and Brittany talk about the work they do and how each role contributes to a more robust and student-focused special education program.
They share how each of their specialized lenses contributes to a more comprehensive special education program. They also explain how understanding the difference between consultation and direct service is an important component of effective implementation of an IEP.
This week’s guests describe how they also help general education students and those supported with a 504 plan. Like most educators, their roles are also impacted by high staff turnover. They reassure us, however, that collaboration and a positive perspective can help address many problems. Despite juggling a high number of students on their caseload, they manage to prioritize supporting the individual needs of students. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
Assistive Technology in Inclusive Classrooms
Consultation vs. Direct Service
OverComer for Adapted Sports
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back! In this episode Venus talks with special educators Alisha Chavez Downing and Alejandra Saechao. Alisha and Alejandra discuss the intersection of learning disabilities, lagging skills, and behavior. Two strategies, flexible thinking and planning, are woven throughout the episode.
Ever wondered how to better mainstream a student with significant behavior issues? Listen in to learn how to apply a student's strengths to their time in your class. Alicia talks about “spicy work” and how it creates an inclusive play-based intervention. Venus, Alicia, and Alejandra share several ideas on how to maintain positive relationships while also trying new behavior interventions.
This episode is filled with stories, tips, and strategies. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
Strength-based learning
Growth mindset for students
Unified sports in school
Special Olympics Oregon
Oregon Council for Exceptional Children
Welcome back to part 2 of Venus’s conversation with Katie Gates, Kenny Long and Kim Sullivan. Affectionately known as “The Special K’s,” they are an elementary, special education team and members from Eugene Education Association. In this episode, they continue sharing their team approach and philosophies.
The Special K’s share the challenges and success within special education and their conversation is full of relatable anecdotes that humanize and normalize the special education field. Is your school navigating budget cuts? Katie, Kenny, Kim and Venus speak honestly about how budget cuts are impacting their program, likely similar to your school district.
They share ideas on how to look at challenges from a positive perspective. Their conversation closes with an invitation for educators to collaborate in order to better serve the needs of Oregon students. Listen in to grow!
Resources:
Kenny Long: long_ke@4j.lane.edu; Katie Gates: gates_k@4j.lane.edu; Kim Sullivan: sullivan_k@4j.lane.edu; and Venus Reeve: Reeve_v@4j.lane.edu
SpEd Connect Form for Special Educators
Oregon Council for Exceptional Children
Teaching through Relationships
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back to OEA Grow! In this episode, Venus speaks with Katie Gates, Kenny Long and Kim Sullivan, an elementary, special education team and members of the Eugene Education Association. This conversation is part one, of a two-part series, covering a variety of everyday concerns that impact general and special education staff.
Collaboration is the theme in this episode. Kenny, Kim and Katie, affectionately known as “the special K’s,” speak about the positive impact of collaboration and support of a student’s family. They share their experience with how to adjust to staffing shortages and ever-changing schedule within the school setting. They offer tips and strategies on how to address staffing and communication issues.
You won’t want to miss Kenny, Katie and Kim’s ideas on how to efficiently communicate and collaborate with specialists and others invested in student support and special education. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
Supporting Parents of Students with Special Needs
Trauma-Informed School Enviornments
Small (personal-use) Laminator
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In this episode, Venus speaks with Nathan Anderson, a Special Education Case Manager for the Baker School District. In his role, Nathan focuses on students who access online special education. They discuss the unique benefits and challenges of providing special education in an online education setting. Nathan describes his role as an online educator and how he strives to ensure that students are getting what they need within their home learning environment.
How do other specialists navigate and support students in an online setting? Nathan shares how occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, and school psychologists function within online education and the similarities and differences of service delivery within that unique domain. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
Oregon Council for Exceptional Children
Apply for a CEC Mini Grant
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome back to part two of our conversation with Tenneal Wetherell, Assistant Superintendent in the Office of Enghaning Student Opportunities at ODE. The conversation picks up with Tenneal sharing ideas on the upcoming changes to requirements for abbreviated school day programs. Tenneal explains the purpose of the programs and drills down on how to access support when IEP teams are deciding whether an abbreviated day is an appropriate accommodation for a student.
Tenneal and her colleagues at ODE see themselves as partners with educators. Her office offers a myriad of support to educators and collaborates with many community organizations and agencies. Creating a supportive, equitable, and robust education system resonates in this episode. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
Abbreviated School Day
Senate Bill 819
District Support Specialist Contacts
How to contact the Office of Enhancing Student Opportunities at ODE
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Have you heard about the changes impacting education related to Senate Bill 13 and 16? These two important pieces of legislation are going to change several key parts of the eligibility and special education process. You don’t want to miss this two-part episode!
In part one, Venus talks with Tenneal Wetherell, Assistant Superintendent in the Office of Enhancing Student Opportunities at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). This episode highlights how and why Senate Bill 13 and 16 aim to reduce barriers and increase the asset based approach to our work as educators. Both Senate Bills hope to achieve a more equitable eligibility process for students and families while also streamlining processes for teachers.
Tenneal shares a number of reasons why such changes will help families, students, and teachers. She and Venus discuss a number of supports that ODE is offering to ensure ease of use, seamless transition, and effective implementation. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
Senate Bill 13
Senate Bill 16
District Support Specialist Contacts
Learn More about Joining the OEA SPED Committee
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Can we create learning environments where students are treated how they would like to be treated? Trace Mansfield, an Assistive Technology Specialist with Lane County Education Service District, calls that “the platinum rule.” In this episode, Venus talks with Trace about assistive technology (AT) and how AT can connect many students to what they want to explore and learn.
Trace focuses his support on how to use AT to improve the learning experience for students. Venus and Trace speak about what AT can do to help our students, as well as the challenges around how to provide those supports to students without costs to families. His AT examples range from providing eyeglasses to setting up and managing complex language support systems. Their conversation will be relevant to all educators because Trace shares a broad scope of information. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
SETT Framework - Joy Zabala
Assistive Technology - Lane Education Service District
Types of Assistive Technology - State of Minnesota Guide to Assistive Technology
Free or Low Cost AT for Classroom Teachers - edutopia
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In part two of Venus’s conversation with school psychologist Justin Potts, and Student Services Administrator Dr. Karen Apgar, we learn about IEPs and the myriad of roles that school psychologists have in education. Data and teamwork resonate as the critical components in the special education eligibility process. Karen shares how the scientific method can be used as a framework to understand that process. Her explanation simplifies what can sometimes be an overwhelming and time-consuming experience for teachers and families.
We learn why trauma influences learning and how the Covid-19 school closures have impacted learning progress and loss. The lesser known, but critical roles of a school psychologist conclude this episode. Every listener will learn something from Justin and Karen’s vast expertise and experience. Listen in to grow.
Resources:
Oregon Alliance To Prevent Suicide
Adi’s Act
Oregon School Psychologists Association
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
This episode is part one in a two-part series explaining 504 plans (504s) and Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Venus talks with Justin Potts, a School Psychologist, and Dr. Karen Apgar, a Student Services Administrator. Justin and Karen share the origins of and changes that continue to impact special education and 504s.
Karen debunks common myths associated with 504s and IEPs. Complicated and detailed aspects of special education are explained in understandable and are relevant to all educators. For example, the guests explain how to navigate difficult conversations about the specific criteria that is needed for students to qualify for 504s and IEPs under Oregon law.
Karen, Justin and Venus also speak about the importance of team-based decision-making and using data to inform decisions. They break things down in an understandable way that will help teachers and support staff better understand the entirety of the process. This episode is filled with relevant information for all educators. Listen in to learn!
Resources:
Child Find
IDEA
504s
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Ever wondered what your Educational Service District (ESD) support providers do? This week, Venus talks with Kelly Gill and Sam Aley, specialists in the South Coast ESD. Their broad knowledge on ESDs and their humor is beneficial for everyone to hear! Sam’s and Kelly’s conversation brings clarity to a system that plays a critical role in supporting many Oregon schools. We learn about the services and structure of an ESD and how ESDs’ individual service plans help the districts they serve.
Kelly and Sam share their insights into how ESDs are impacted by resources, staffing, and urban vs. rural schools. For example, Sam and Kelly talk about the challenges facing Oregon’s rural schools and how an ESD can provide vital support to a school that can not access such support on their own. Listen in to find out how an ESD is likely supporting students in special education or other programs within your school. You will come away from this episode informed about ESDs and with an appreciation of the work ESD service providers offer.
Resources: Education Service Districts in Oregon
Oregon’s Statewide ESD Map
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Ever wondered how Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are created? This week Venus speaks with Sandra Walk, a school psychologist at a Canby-area high school. Sandra discusses how to achieve an individualized plan that meets the needs of the student. She describes the difference between an accommodation and a modification.
Team-based decision making is a critical part of the IEP process, and Sandra shares the value of general education teachers being an integral part of the IEP process. Venus and Sandra discuss a flexible approach to data collection and how to make data collection feasible in a classroom setting. Sandra shares accommodations for a variety of students from elementary to high school.
Have you ever wondered when is it okay to modify the curriculum for a student? Sandra explains when to modify without documentation in the IEP and when to notify the case manager. Sandra’s broad experience working from the elementary to high-school level brings clarity to what can be a confusing process of IEPs. Listen in to learn!
Resources:
Educator’s Guide to an IEP
Products that may support learning
Understanding Accommodations
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Welcome to season seven of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. This season’s host is Venus Reeve, a special education teacher in the Eugene 4J School District since 2008. Season seven will focus on special education. A variety of topics that impact general and special education students will be covered. Member-to- member conversations will provide listeners quick and digestible information to use. Venus’ conversational style and significant experience in special education will create an engaging experience for listeners. Listen in to hear about Venus and what she has in store this season!
Head over to grow.oregoned.org to stay up to date on all the professional learning opportunities available through OEA.
Are you an OEA member interested in being a guest or host on the podcast? Find details at https://grow.oregoned.org/podcast
Have you ever wondered how to better connect what you’re teaching to your student’s experience? This episode answers this very question. Jenoge speaks with Brad Parker, a Social Studies Specialist for the Beaverton School District. Brad starts his conversation by sharing his early education experience, growing up outside of Chicago. His upbringing and education, in a racially and ethnically diverse community, brings valuable perspective to his current leadership position. Inspiring inquiry, curiosity, and agency are the main tenets of student-centered learning for Brad. He speaks about the difference between acquiring knowledge versus critical thinking, curiosity, and other skills for learners.
Can educators change the way students think about systemic issues? Brad believes they can. He thinks schools and educators can shift the meaning of “curriculum” from its traditional definition to something more holistic and systemic. Do the social-political realities impact how and what our students learn? Brad argues that students need to be informed and engaged in contemporary issues and need to believe they are active agents in determining what they’re learning about. One strategy he shares is eliciting anonymous feedback. Listen in to learn what to do with that feedback. Brad also shares his experience of teaching students’ “head, heart, and conscience.” Jenoge and Brad end their conversation sharing stories around being a humble listener to students. Can we tune in to what our students are commenting on and asking about? Maybe that’s where educators begin to learn.
Resources:
Paul Gorski
Ideas on how to solicit anonymous feedback
Civic Engagement Strategies
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
This week, Jenoge talks with Kara Olsen, a student-centered Kindergarten teacher from the Corvallis School District. Kara and Jenoge start the conversation discussing the value of teacher-student and teacher-parent relationships. How much do we consider the role of students’ families in planning? According to Kara, families can play a critical role in building community and relevant instruction in a classroom.
Kara also believes that equitable curriculum and environmental design are essential in a student-centered classroom. She creates a classroom environment that is reflective of student interest, their native languages, and holidays that are celebrated in their homes. Kara shares easy tips on how to make place-based learning easy, fun, and relevant in a classroom! “Big picture” versus “little picture” thinking is how Kara and Jenoge end this episode. Kara talks about the value of mentoring new teachers and how teacher support, like mentoring, draws teachers back to their “big picture,” their “why.”
Listen in to be inspired by Kara. You will think about things you could do differently to engage the whole child and family. This episode will ignite your curiosity and give you great ideas on how to share your excitement with students.
Resources:
First Book Marketplace
Garden time at recess
Teacher Mentoring
The OEA Grow Podcast is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In this episode on Playful Inquiry, Jenoge speaks with Angela Vargas, an Early Learning TOSA in the Beaverton School District. In her current position, she partners with kindergarten and first grade teachers to enhance their classrooms toward a more student-centered practice focused on playful inquiry. Angela believes in an asset based approach to education, recognizing the assets of both students and families.
Jenoge and Angela speak about her early learning experience and how a family move defined her as a student. Angela shares how identity, race, and social constructs are woven into the thread of her teaching. She speaks about the roles that students play in the classroom and how students can work together to enhance their own learning.
Angela gives great examples of how to draw out place-based and playful inquiry themes in day-to-day instruction. She also describes how to draw out a student's curiosity to guide lesson planning and instruction. Angela describes how listening to and observing students can help meet student learning needs. Do we always listen to or observe the behaviors of our students? Perhaps her ideas will resonate with you and help you better connect to the needs of your students.
Resources:
Center for Playful Inquiry
Early Childhood Reggio Emilia Approach
Democratic Learning in Classrooms
Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
Black History Month is an annual reminder to reflect on the history of Black Americans and their contributions to our country and culture, but it’s easy to default to only discussing the most-repeated stories of slavery and civil rights marches, Dr. King, and Rosa Parks. This week, we take a break from our student-centered curriculum season to bring you a special episode on Teaching Black History Meaningfully from School Me, a podcast from the National Education Association (NEA).
Listen in as host Natieka Samuels chats with Colorado Social Studies Teacher Kevin Adams about teaching Black history in more unique and meaningful ways. Looking for more tips, resources, and opportunities from NEA to build your professional skills? Text POD to 48744 to have the latest sent straight to your phone. We will be back with more of season 7 of the OEA Grow podcast next week.
Resources:
Rethinking Schools
The Zinn Education Project
Too Dope Teachers and a Mic Podcast
In this episode on Playful Inquiry, Jenoge speaks with Angela Vargas, an Early Learning TOSA in the Beaverton School District. In her current position, she partners with kindergarten and first grade teachers to enhance their classrooms toward a more student-centered practice focused on playful inquiry. Angela believes in an asset based approach to education, recognizing the assets of both students and families.
Jenoge and Angela speak about her early learning experience and how a family move defined her as a student. Angela shares how identity, race, and social constructs are woven into the thread of her teaching. She speaks about the roles that students play in the classroom and how students can work together to enhance their own learning.
Angela gives great examples of how to draw out place-based and playful inquiry themes in day-to-day instruction. She also describes how to draw out a student's curiosity to guide lesson planning and instruction. Angela describes how listening to and observing students can help meet student learning needs. Do we always listen to or observe the behaviors of our students? Perhaps her ideas will resonate with you and help you better connect to the needs of your students.
Resources:
Center for Playful Inquiry
Early Childhood Reggio Emilia Approach
Democratic Learning in Classrooms
Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad
OEA Grow is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
In this episode on Playful Inquiry, Jenoge speaks with Angela Vargas, an Early Learning TOSA in the Beaverton School District. In her current position, she partners with kindergarten and first grade teachers to enhance their classrooms toward a more student-centered practice focused on playful inquiry. Angela believes in an asset based approach to education, recognizing the assets of both students and families.
Jenoge and Angela speak about her early learning experience and how a family move defined her as a student. Angela shares how identity, race, and social constructs are woven into the thread of her teaching. She speaks about the roles that students play in the classroom and how students can work together to enhance their own learning.
Angela gives great examples of how to draw out place-based and playful inquiry themes in day-to-day instruction. She also describes how to draw out a student's curiosity to guide lesson planning and instruction. Angela describes how listening to and observing students can help meet student learning needs. Do we always listen to or observe the behaviors of our students? Perhaps her ideas will resonate with you and help you better connect to the needs of your students.
Resources:
Center for Playful Inquiry
Early Childhood Reggio Emilia Approach
Democratic Learning in Classrooms
Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad
This week Jenoge speaks with Anil Naik, a high school classroom teacher and social studies TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) in the Beaverton School District. Jenoge and Anil open their conversation with Anil sharing his background as a child of immigrants and how his childhood experience informs his teaching. They share ideas around development of racial consciousness and the value of learning about self and others.
Anil’s reflective way of being is a thread woven through this episode. He asks students, community, colleagues and himself about his curriculum and continually adjusts and adapts based on feedback. He shares with Jenoge how self-reflection and listening to student feedback is what defines the change in his curriculum and instruction. Listen in to discover the strategies that Anil uses. They speak about high-engagement strategies such as, guest speakers and field trips.
Their conversation ends with Anil reflecting on the lessons he learned during his student teaching experience and what he carries with him from that experience today. Listen in to learn about Anil’s multifaceted skill set and ways to apply Anil’s methods into your teaching practice.
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Labor Radio Podcast Network. You can find out more information about them here.
Resources:
Race and ethnic studies
The DBQ project
The Choices Program at Brown University
SHEG (Stanford History Education Group)
What is authentic assessment?
This week Jenoge speaks with Tana Shepard, a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) for Climate, Energy and Conservation in Eugene School District 4J. Tana connects back to her experience as a K-12 learner. She speaks about being inspired by “fitting the niche of the learner” and how that philosophy informs her practice as an educator. Tana shares her value of connecting students to the place where they are learning.
Jenoge and Tans speak about why place-based education creates ownership in student-learning and student passion for preserving the places they may journey off to in the future. Listen in as Tana shares about the salmon education program and how she connects nature, human activity and student experience. Their conversation ends with Tana sharing what she has learned in her 20 year teaching career. What from her experience resonates with you? Tana and Jenoge share tips on starting each day with students as a “new day,” the importance of getting to know each student and ensuring students feel noticed. This is an episode filled with place-based education that is rooted in relationship-based teaching. Listen in to find out more!
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Labor Radio Podcast Network. You can find out more information about them here.
Resources:
EWEB program
World Salmon Council
Place-Based Education
This week Jenoge speaks with Leah Dunbar, Language Arts/Social Studies Specialist for the Lane Education Service District. Leah is a teacher who passionately turns student learning into action. She has years of experience teaching Language Arts and Ethnic Studies at the high school level.
Her teaching experience and service-oriented philosophy toward students, results in a conversation with Jenoge that bridges quality teacher-student relationships with rigorous instruction. Leah shares her K-12 education experience and how the curriculum did not reflect who she was as a black, bi-racial child. This experience continues to mold her curriculum design and teacher support to ensure that representative texts are present in her classroom and curriculum.
She encourages students to bring forth their stories and text recommendations to ensure that student perspective is heard and included. She speaks about the intersection of place-based, ethnic studies and climate change and how student research can create relevancy and investment into student learning.
This episode inspires educators to center student learning and experience into curriculum design. If you have ever wondered what student-centered instruction looks and sounds like, listen to this episode. It will become clear that student voice is an important part of shaping curriculum.
Resources:
Beautiful Solutions, This Changes Everything (Naomi Kline)
Courageous Conversations for Classrooms
What is a Book Talk?
Welcome to OEA Grow’s sixth season, focusing on Student-Centered Curriculum. Our host for season six is educator and leader, Jenoge Khatter. Jenoge is a Social Studies Specialist and Representative Assembly Delegate for Eugene Education Association. This season Jenoge is going to talk with a variety of educators from all over the state. His experience as a teacher and educator-leader will manifest conversations with insight, humor and practical tips for Oregon educators.
As we listen to Jenoge’s conversations about student-centered curriculum, his passion and experience around keeping students at the center of teaching will resonate. As a social studies teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene, Jenoge focused on civic engagement. His instructional curriculum and planning resulted from students voting on what to learn about. This experience of student-led instruction energized him and motivated him to see how teaching can change society and the world at large. His conversations with educators and leaders from around the state will inspire and empower us to continue the work of student-centered instruction.
Listen in as we learn from Jenoge and his guests about student-centered curriculum and how it can positively impact Oregon students and classrooms.
Check out Jenoge’s classroom work here: www.tinyurl.com/racciv
Are you an OEA member interested in being a guest or host on the OEA Grow Podcast? Find details at https://grow.oregoned.org/podcast
This week we have an extended episode focused on financial planning and literacy. Listen in as Leonne Bannister chats with Chris Lahman, high school teacher and Member Benefits Coach for his local education association. As a Member Benefits Coach, Chris helps members through the financial education and planning process. He is passionate about financial security and wants to share his knowledge with us.
According to Chris, getting started can be the most challenging and rewarding part of the financial literacy process. Chris suggests a basic income and expense snapshot as a great place to start a budget. Knowing how your school district is supporting your retirement is also helpful in learning about your financial future. He also shares a variety of investment plans available to members. His perspective on how paying yourself first, taking a ‘first small step’ and being directionally positive weave throughout the conversation.
Leonne and Chris also talk about how to reduce the cost of college and how to enroll in loan forgiveness through NEA. Chris rounds out the conversation by providing quick and easy tips to create income for your “future self.” This episode has something for everyone. Over and over, Chris shares the message of “know your goals.” So, let’s start there. What do you want for your future? What do you need for financial freedom? Think about your goals, then listen to this podcast. Chris’ expansive financial knowledge and the resources he shares will be a great accelerator to meeting your goals.
Resources:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
NEA Loan Forgiveness Program
PERS - IAP
401(K), 403(B), 457 (B)
Chris can be reached at:
CLmoneycoaching.com or
chris.lahman@corvallis.k12.or.us
IG: @clmoneycoaching
Facebook: CLmoneycoaching
In our final episode on behavior, Alexis speaks with Ashley East. Ashley has been a kindergarten and first grade loop teacher for ten years. Ashley loops two academic school years with her students, therefore typically having the same group of students for two years. She shares the advantages and disadvantages of this model and how the unique benefits of looping can be used to impact any classroom.
Ashley shares the importance of using a tiered instructional perspective for behavior expectations. She shares insight into determining when a student may need more than the universally designed instruction for behavior. One of Ashley’s unique approaches is a self-monitoring behavior scaling intervention that students complete everyday. She shares with Alexis how this scaling activity works for students, teachers, and their families.
Ashley shares her emphasis on explicitly re-teaching all behavior expectations after extended breaks from school and how to embed that into daily routines. Their conversation comes from an experienced perspective and is filled with easy tools to implement in any classroom.
Resources:
Explanation of Self-Monitoring for Improved Behavior
Transitional Kindergarten Improves Outcomes
Calming Corners
In this episode, Alexis speaks with School Psychologist, Ashley Scott. Ashley uses her formal training as a school psychologist to inform a behavior and social-emotional learning environment at her school. She describes how multi-tiered support and interventions can positively impact the school environment.
For example, she describes her practice of greeting students by their name each morning as a quick relationship and rapport builder. She discusses the benefits to teaching coping skills when students are calm and regulated and why re-teaching those skills may be the missing link to success. Alexis and Ashley discuss the benefits of programs such as Zones of Regulation and how to implement that across an entire school.
Ashley shares why, post-pandemic, play is more important than it has ever been. Regulation of staff is also discussed. Ashley shares practical tips on how to keep teachers and support staff regulated during student escalations. The future of education depends on these issues. Alexis and Ashley end their conversation discussing the future of teaching and learning. Are we on the right track with students? Is the post-pandemic classroom what it needs to be for learners? Listen in to find out!
Resources:
Zones of Regulation
PBIS- Check in Check Out
How to Use Play for Learning by Jessica Arrow
10 Ways to Incorporate More Play in the Classroom
In this episode about suicide prevention, Alexis talks with Leslie Rogers, Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Leslie is currently a Safety and Wellness Educator on Special Assignment in the Beaverton School District and has had a long career dedicated to the well-being of teenagers. In her current role, she oversees and implements policies and protocols related to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. She also provides coaching and consultations, especially with difficult student situations, and assesses student threat situations.
Leslie shares helpful wisdom for school and college employees. For example, she talks about reducing stigma around suicide and mental health issues. She also emphasizes that prevention and early intervention are about educating and equipping every person in schools to be a resource for students. We aren’t all social workers or therapists, but we can all notice changes and engage with students who show worrisome changes.
Alexis and Leslie also sing the praises of school social workers, whose magic is understanding family systems as well as working side by side with parents and guardians to navigate resources. They also discuss the power of teamwork in schools and the importance of showing up for each other. And to remember that behavior is communication.
Resources:
988 - dial 988 for a Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
QPR
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills (ASIST) - Living Works
Adi’s Act Combat Oregon Teen Suicide Rates- Franklin High School Post
McKinney-Vento Act: Homeless Education Program
OHSU Intercultural Psychiatry Clinic
Erika’s Lighthouse - Free depression and suicide prevention support to schools
Oregon Youth Line - Free teen-to-teen crisis support
How is student behavior showing up in your work environment? This is the question Alexis poses to first grade teacher Sara Roadman. Sara has 13 years of experience as a classroom teacher, experience as a substitute, and she’s also an OEA professional learning facilitator. With challenges such as large class sizes, Sara finds the student-teacher relationship is the most important strategy for classroom management.
Sara starts forging these relationships in the beginning of the year by setting routines and expectations, including front loading expectations around strong emotions. She uses the Zones of Regulation and finds them to be very helpful in working with students’ emotions. Alexis and Sara also discuss the effectiveness of the “little moments” like making eye contact and listening to students’ stories, building students’ vocabulary around emotions and behavior, establishing a sense of safety for students, and making sure every student has a voice.
They also emphasize the importance of forming relationships with other educators who interact with the same students and the value of Instructional Assistants, Counselors, Behavior Specialists, and parent volunteers. Finally, they offer some wisdom around having a reflective practice and keeping a record of your successes with students.
Resources:
Zones of Regulation
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy
Practicing Mindfulness with Students - A webinar with Sara Roadman
Pop-its
PBIS
Colin Price has been teaching writing and ELA for 13 years both in the United States and the Middle East. In this episode, Alexis and Colin explore the power of writing and story. They intersect ideas for using writing as a powerful SEL tool with discussion of how behavior can show up in ways other than “disruption”. For example, withdrawal and shutting down might be behaviors seen in high school students with anxiety or depression.
Colin has found that many students feel more free to express themselves through their writing than by speaking in the classroom. Writing can therefore provide glimpses into students’ thought processes and lives that might not otherwise be evident. Alexis and Colin also discuss the power (both positive and negative) of story including the stories of self we tell ourselves and the compelling ability we and our students have to revise our own narratives.
Resources:
Teaching Activities to Support the Core Competencies of SEL - CASEL
Examples of Social and Emotional Learning in English Language Arts Instruction - CASEL
Integrating SEL Into Writing Instruction - Julia Richardson
The Odyssey - Homer
Alexis continues the conversation with school social workers Talia Akre and Anna McNeely. In part 2 of this conversation, they focus on resources for educators to use. One strategy they discuss is the creation of staff teams of support and action when faced with a student mental health and/or behavior issue. They stress that educators are not called on to do therapy but to connect students of all ages to mental health services. They also address what to say when a student brings strong feelings to you.
Resources:
211
988 - Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, dial 988
Youth Line
McKinney-Vento Act: Homeless Education Program
Curious about social workers in schools and their thoughts on student mental health? Tune in for the thoughts and experiences of Talia Akre and Anna McNeely, two social work staff members with Multnomah ESD. This is an honest conversation about the status of mental health issues in schools and the experience of social workers in Oregon schools.
Resources:
School Social Workers’ Role in Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs and Increasing Academic Achievement - School Social Work Association of America
School Social Work Practice Model - School Social Work Association of America
“We Need to Address the Trauma”: School Social Workers′ Views About Student and Staff Mental Health During COVID-19 - School Mental Health 2022
Amid growing crisis, federal officials call on states to prioritize youth mental health - NBC News
In episode three, Alexis discusses school climate with Dr. Vicki Nishioka, Principal Researcher on Equity and School Climate at Education Northwest. Their discussion of school climate incorporates research, policy, and day-to-day strategies.
One focus of their conversation is how to prevent school discipline incidents with proactive school climate strategies such as helping students and teachers to build authentic relationships and the necessary social and emotional learning skills required to build relationships. As they delve more into relationship building, they examine a key element in building relationships with students: How educators and students can build relationships when they’re coming from very different cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. For example, how can educators use praise that aligns with students’ cultural values?
On the research and policy side, Vicki and Alexis discuss the “zero tolerance” policy, discipline disparities found based on race, especially regarding Black, Latinx, and Native American students, and the accompanying research that shows not a difference in behavior but a difference in perception of behaviors. Vicki works in partnership with many districts in Oregon and acknowledges that sometimes policy and shifts in practice are hard to coordinate.
Resources:
Strengthening Relationships with Students from Diverse Backgrounds (video) - Education Northwest
Shift the Current School Climate: Sense of Belonging and Social Emotional Learning - REL Northwest
Building Connections with Students from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds Through Perspective-taking - Vicki Nishioka
Resources for Building Teacher-Student Relationships - Education Northwest
To kick-off the Behavior season, member host Alexis Hennessey talks with educator Mary Michael about co-regulation, social emotional learning, and trauma informed behavior approaches. Mary has been an educator for over 30 years, has taught every grade level from Kindergarten to ninth grade, and is currently a certified trauma-informed mental health and behavior specialist.
Mary and Alexis pack a wealth of helpful information into 30 minutes. Their conversation centers on the importance of regulation for both students and educators and how we can bring co-regulation into schools and classrooms. Many students enter school lacking the skills to co-regulate. Often, those students are impacted by trauma and/or the trauma experienced by their parents/caregivers. How can we support these students in managing their own behavior and give them agency in the process?
Through teaching social emotional skills, including regulation, social skills, problem solving skills, and communication skills, academic outcomes are also increased. Alexis and Mary acknowledge how difficult it is for educators to be in school situations making decisions about behavior in the moment. Mary states, “We want everyone to walk away with their dignity”. Their conversation also demonstrates the value of behavior specialists to schools.
Resources:
OEA Becoming a Trauma Informed Education Series
Permission to Feel - Mark Brackett
Teachers Guide to Trauma: 20 Things Kids with Trauma Wish Their Teachers Knew - Dr. Melissa Sadin and Nathan Levy
What Happened to You - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing - Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey
Co-Regulation video recording - (56 minutes; access for OEA members only) - https://tinyurl.com/OEArecordings
Zones of Regulation handouts
The Neurobiology of Emotion Regulation Development and the Role of the Early Environment - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham
Development of human amygdala-prefrontal cortex circuitry and the role of the caregiver - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham
Welcome to OEA Grow’s fifth season where educators take a deep dive into behavior. Season five is hosted by Behavior Consultant and OEA Member Alexis Hennessey. Alexis is in her 19th year as an educator and is licensed in Behavior, Special Education, and General Education.
She’s also one of OEA’s facilitators in the Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator series of courses (free to members). Alexis will speak with educators across the state and try to answer some of our most pressing questions about behavior: How does behavior show up day to day in our schools and organizations? What is the broader context of behavior? How can we impact behavior, positively or negatively, with the decisions we make as educators?
Listen in to hear how your fellow educators are experiencing, learning about, and addressing behavior in their schools.
Check out the 100+ labor and union related podcasts on the Labor Radio Podcast Network at https://www.laborradionetwork.org/
Are you an OEA member interested in being a guest or host on the podcast? Find details at https://grow.oregoned.org/podcast
In the final episode of season four, Kayla talks with veteran educator Rob Hillhouse as he reflects on twenty years of wisdom, blunders, and learnings. Rob has accumulated experience as an educator across K-16 and currently serves as Secondary Multilingual Teacher on Special Assignment in the Beaverton School District.
Through sharing some of his stories as an educator, Rob describes lessons learned, such as not assuming we understand where a student or family is coming from, the importance of showing rather than telling a student that you are a trusted person, and the value of mentors for early career educators.
Kayla and Rob also discuss classroom climate, implicit bias, intention vs. impact, and the power of a strengths-based approach. In comparing his experience in Oregon with other places he’s taught, Rob also talks about the value of a strong union in supporting teachers.
Resources:
OEA New Educators of Oregon Network
5 things students require to build trusting relationships with their teachers - NWEA
Building Trust with Students—Even Before Class Starts: How to Promote Psychological Safety in Your Classroom - Harvard Business Publishing
Implicit Bias Defined - NEA
5 Ways Strong Educator Unions Help Public Schools - NEA
“Their success is my success” states Beth Aydelott, popular writing and literature instructor at Lane Community College. Kayla talks with Beth this week about engaging and encouraging community college students. For Beth, this process starts before the semester begins when she sends a welcome email with access to the syllabus, readings, and the assignment list. Beth thinks this helps them feel a bit more secure before the first day of class.
Beth and Kayla talk about many other strategies, most of which have relationship building at their core. Some of the strategies Beth explains include creating an informative yet concise syllabus, using a variety of formats for materials and communications in the learning management system, giving students choice, eliminating costly textbooks, and being available to students in-person, online, and over the phone. Students also feel supported by receiving prompt and thorough feedback on assignments.
In addition to building relationships with her students by sharing information about herself and expressing authentic interest in her students’ lives, Beth helps to build community between students. Because community college students vary greatly in age and life experience, they have a lot to learn from each other. Finally, Kayla and Beth discuss the importance of building confidence in K-12 students as a way of nurturing their success in college.
Resources:
How and Why to Humanize Your Online Class - An infographic by Michelle Pacansky-Brock
How to Check in with Students - University of Oregon
Garrison’s Three Types of Presence - Pierce College
Library Resources as Course Materials - Open Oregon Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources information page - Lane Community College
Student motivation is the topic of this extended episode conversation with host Kayla Potter and High School Language Arts Teacher Desmond Spann. At the foundation of the discussion is the concept that motivation is a skill that ultimately must align with students’ values and interests. Desmond acknowledges the difference between internal and external motivation in the classroom and why he strives for the former over the latter.
One strategy Desmond uses for increasing intrinsic motivation is being intentional about finding out what’s important to students and showing them how what is happening in the classroom aligns with their values. He also explains how creating classroom conditions where students feel it’s okay to take risks and make mistakes contributes to student engagement and motivation.
Kayla and Desmond additionally discuss giving students the language they need to express that they’re struggling with motivation and engagement, balancing academics with humanity, the pitfalls of solely using grades as a motivator, and the connection between equity and student motivation.
Resources:
Worth Work podcast - Desmond Spann and Jesse Gardner
Atlas of the Heart - Brene Brown
Susan Fowler books on motivation
How do you build a classroom community? This is the question Kayla tackles with OEA member Rachel Hsieh. Rachel is a District Mentor and Coach and previously worked as a fourth-grade teacher. Rachel now spends her time mentoring new educators and classroom community is one thing she mentors them on.
Rachel tells us that classroom community is all about belonging. Some strategies Rachel and Kayla talk about include class meetings, incorporating joy and humor, establishing and revisiting co-created classroom agreements/norms and routines, and spending some time with your students out of class, for example at lunchtime or recess. As a teacher, Rachel even wrote letters to her students.
Community doesn’t mean people can’t disagree but that there’s a respectful way to approach disagreements, so Kayla and Rachel discuss options for repairing harm when something hurtful happens. They also emphasize the importance of creating a team with students’ families and establishing open communication with families.
Resources:
Designing for Care: Building + Maintaining a Humanized Classroom (video)- NEA/Jeffrey Austin & Kristal Jaaskelainen
Back to School with PBS KIDS: Design an Inclusive Classroom - Mike Lang
Instructional Equity: What, Why, and How in Equity in the Classroom - Rachel Hsieh
The Power of Literature | Lessons For Elementary and High School - Rachel Hsieh & others
Education is a field that can require a lot of your time. It may feel like there’s always more to do. In this episode, Kayla talks with Clarissa Buchholz, a high school science teacher, about time management and setting reasonable expectations. While there’s so much to do as an educator it can be hard to leave work in the building, keeping ourselves happy and healthy allows us to do our jobs well.
One of the ideas Clarissa shares is setting an intention that you’re not going to give up your personal life. Day to day, with that intention, she suggests educators plan ahead of time, especially at the beginning of the school year, to manage their time with personal time in mind. Another strategy is setting reasonable expectations. The act of setting small goals and wins helps create a feeling of success.
In addition, Kayla and Clarissa discuss the importance of not compromising your personal life by setting additional goals that are not work related. In doing this, Clarissa recommends being prepared to have honest and hard conversations with colleagues when maintaining work-life boundaries and saying “no”.
Resources:
Passion Planner website
5 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance - National Education Association (NEA)
Teachers’ Use of Boundary Management Tactics to Maintain Work-Life Balance - Molly Austinson
In the first interview of our Back to School season, OEA member host Kayla Potter interviews middle-school Social Studies Teacher, Malik White. Kayla and Malik, an early career educator, discuss what it has been like to be a new teacher. Malik’s first year of teaching occurred during the 2020-2021 school year and most of the year was in comprehensive distance learning (CDL) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In his second year, he had the challenge of transitioning everything from online to in-person teaching. Malik found that his relationship skills and purposeful rapport-building style led to success in both CDL and in-person settings. Some of these strategies include asking students questions, holding classroom circles, and generally normalizing conversations so students feel more comfortable sharing about themselves. Malik also witnessed the benefits of being an authentic educator and showing your students your true self. Kayla and Malik also discuss ideas for how to establish a healthy work/life balance (hint: it’s okay to say “no”). Some tips Malik had for new teachers include: finding joy in the profession, being able to laugh at yourself, being unafraid to make mistakes, giving yourself grace, and setting realistic goals. And identify which school printers are least busy!
Resources:
OEA New Educators of Oregon Network
'Authentic' teachers are better at engaging with their students - Science Daily
Six Paths to More Authentic Teaching - Faculty Focus
Season 4 host Kayla Potter shares about herself, and previews upcoming content for our Back to School season. If you are interested in learning more about the New Educators of Oregon Network (NEON), visit bit.ly/NEONoregon.
Episode 10
Many educators have experienced increased student behavioral issues since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted schools. In this final episode of Season 3, Leonne talks with Jodie Wyatt, a District Behavior Coach, about inclusive behavior interventions. Jodie has been an educator for more than 21 years. Her current role serves all 14 schools in the Corvallis district, which has embraced Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS). Jodie herself is a certified CPS coach. She works with staff in many different roles to coach them on addressing challenging behaviors. Jodie has found that traditional punishments don’t usually work because they don’t teach the behavior we’re expecting. At the foundation of CPS is building relationships with students and using empathy to build solutions collaboratively. Students of all ages are seeking connection which is why a relational approach often works. CPS is a restorative process that can also be used with staff. Jodie offers tips for those interested in implementing CPS.
Resources:
Think:Kids: Rethinking Challenging Kids
Rethinking Challenging Kids-Where There's a Skill There's a Way (TED Talk)
In this episode on student mental health, Leonne talks with OEA member Lorin Reed and Corvallis High School (CHS) student Kaylee Pickering about Sources of Strength, a suicide, violence, and addiction prevention project based on peer relationships and community building. Lorin is a PE and health teacher at CHS as well as an instructor of Sources of Strength and a football coach. Kaylee is a student athlete who advocates for student mental health. In the Sources of Strength class, which is offered as an elective at CHS, students in the class learn about the strengths that can be relied on when things get tough. Some of these strengths include family relationships, physical health, positive friends, healthy activities, and spiritual health. In this way, students can identify strengths they already possess and which strengths they may need to develop. Community is built when students discuss their personal experiences in a trusted space. Students in the program also serve as peer leaders and engage in “campaigns” which are weeks-long projects to bring schoolwide awareness of a specific strength. Both Lorin and Kaylee have won awards for their work with Sources of Strength.
Resources:
Sourcesofstrength.org
Corvallis, Albany leaders recognized for youth-led suicide prevention work - Albany Democrat-Herald
What is Sources of Strength?
Matchstick Consulting
This week’s episode is on safe, welcoming, and inclusive schools for LGBTQ+ students. Leonne discusses the topic with three staff members of Basic Rights Oregon: Jo Xavier Doyle, Leadership Development & Training Program Manager, Gaby Gardiner, Statewide Engagment Manager, and Seth Johnstone, Transgender Justice Organizer & Trainer. Basic Rights Oregon works for legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ Oregonians. To support LGBTQ+ students, educators are encouraged to start by building relationships with students and getting to know them. To affirm their identities, let go of assumptions when a student tells you about who they are and instead, believe them. Our guests have some additional suggestions for supporting LGBTQ+ students such as inclusive sex education, gender inclusive and neutral facilitaties, and visual display of support for marginalized students. Students themselves have wisdom we can learn from. Jo, Gaby, and Seth advise us to pay attention to the situations in schools that cayse anxiety for our LGBTQ+ students, then get creative about how to make those situations less stressful. Additionally, student-led efforts to make changes are important and powerful, such as Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs). School staff can help by uplifting students involved in GSAs. Educators can also be prepared to interrupt biased or harmful comments or actions by having and practicing a clear plan of how to respond. And finally, we are reminded that one supportvie adult can significantly reduce suicidal ideation among LGBTQ+ youth.
Resources:
Basic Rights Oregon
LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success - Oregon Department of Education
Educator Resources - GLSEN
Health, Safety, and Wellness: Sexuality Education - Oregon Department of Education
In this episode, we turn to community college for a discussion of how gamification can create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. Dr. Sascha McKeon is a biology instructor and faculty at Blue Mountain Community College. Leonne talks with Sascha about how she successfully gamified her biology for non-majors course by creating four different paths to completion based on the four “houses” in the Harry Potter book series. Sascha explains how and why she got started in gamification, how she has implemented it, and its effects on her students. In her examples, gamification dovetails with differentiation and Universal Design for Learning strategies by giving students abundant choice in how they complete the course. In this way, different learning styles are valued, opening the door to increased student ownership, relevance, self-awareness, and self-empowerment. A devout researcher, Sacha has carefully measured and assessed her gamified course to evaluate both student success and course rigor. By using LMS analytics, Sascha found the amount of time students invested in the biology course (doing science!) tripled when compared with previous iterations of the course. For those new to gamification, Sascha recommends starting small and looking for ways to increase student choice.
Resources:
Contact Dr. Sascha Mckeon smckeon@bluecc.edu
NW eLearn
Gamification of education and learning: A review of empirical literature
The Gamification of learning: A meta-analysis
Game On! Gamification, Gameful Design and the Rise of the Gamer Educator - Kevin Bell
Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World - Jane McGonigal
Kelsey Madison is an Oregon educator with a passion for working with youth in outdoor places. In this episode, season host Leonne talks with Kelsey about place-based education. Kelsey defines placed-based education as a way to ground in the place that we are in. It helps communities by asking those people to identify and solve local concerns. With a degree in environmental biology, experience in many placed-based education seasonal jobs nationally, and service in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, Kelsey brought her passion and skills to Oregon. Kelsey worked for MESD Outdoor School in Oregon for two years and was most recently a long-term middle school science substitute teacher in Portland Public Schools. As a long-term sub, Kelsey’s approach to place-based education was rooted in building trust and relationships with students and taking them outside every day. Leonne and Kelsey ponder the idea of a “common core” for outdoor education as well as place-based education’s connection to mindfulness. Kelsey’s advice to educators is to find out the history, culture, and local ecology of the place you’re in as a way to embrace place-based education even within the walls of your school or college.
Resources:
Beetles Project - Resources for Outdoor Science Programs
Video: Placed-Based Learning: Connecting Kids to Their Community (Hood River, OR)
Placed-Based Learning (higher ed) - Teaching in Higher Ed podcast
Native Land Interactive Map
Oregon Outdoor School Providers and Sites
How does special education connect to a safe, welcoming, and inclusive school? In this episode, Leonne talks with life skills and peer tutoring special education teacher Niels Pa
sternak (Eugene EA) to answer this question. Niels is also the Chair of the OEA Special Education Committee and the Executive Director of Educational Equity Now. For Niels, special education is all about inclusivity, serving all students, and helping all students feel like they fit in. To do this, he recommends focusing on students' needs, strengths, and interests. Neils also points to approaches like differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning because when it comes to education, one size doesn't fit all. Leonne and Niels also discuss the power of life skills and peer tutoring programs in their schools. Finally, Niels explains the work of the OEA Special Education Committee, the OEA Educator Empowerment Academy, and the member resources provided by both.
Resources:
SpEd Connect: Ask the OEA Special Education Committee a question
Educational Equity Now
Link to join Oregon Educators United
OEA Educator Empowerment Academy
Universal Design for Learning - CAST
This week, Leonne interviews Phoenix Blickle, a nurse with the Multnomah Education Service District working in two elementary schools. In the episode, Phoenix explains the window of tolerance. Coined by a neuropsychiatrist named Dan Siegel in a 1999 book, the window of tolerance describes the mental/emotional states where we’re able to function at our best. When you’re within your window of tolerance you can experience all the ups and downs of life while being grounded and present. Phoenix also explains what it looks like when we're out of our window of tolerance. In this model, dysregulation is seen as either “hyperarousal” or “hypoarousal” and is related to one’s fight, flight, or freeze response. Phoenix and Leonne also discuss strategies to help students navigate their window of tolerance, starting with noticing our own state and helping students notice what state they’re in. The window of tolerance also has a broader reach into activist spaces.
Resources:
Window of Tolerance Overview (5 minute video) - Sophie C
Practices for returning to your window of tolerance (all ages) - Dr. Laura K. Kerr
Window of tolerance as a river - supports and practices for children - Government of Jersey Psychology and Wellbeing Service
Window of tolerance as a rainbow (all ages) - Lindsay Braman
You’ve probably already heard the term “trauma informed” but maybe you’re wondering what exactly this looks like in education? In season 3 episode 3, Leonne interviews Jeff Crapper, a CTE Teacher on Special Assignment in Beaverton, an award-winning science and health sciences teacher, and a facilitator in OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator series.He’s also a parent with years of experience navigating systems with children who have experienced trauma. Jeff asserts that student behavior is often a manifestation of something else. With a trauma-informed approach, we can ask ourselves how we can support students, not blame them for their behavior, and nurture their success. Jeff explains the OEA Trauma-Informed course series (free for members and available for undergraduate and graduate credits) and his own trauma-informed work in the classroom detailing specific examples working with teen refugees from conflict-heavy areas of the world. Leonne and Jeff dig into the concepts of holistic and systemic approaches to being trauma-informed and acknowledge the impact of community-level trauma such as poverty, racism, and the Covid pandemic.The power of positive adult relationships in students’ lives can’t be underestimated: With awareness, creativity, collaboration, and educators' own regulation, we can help build resilience and confidence in students affected by trauma.
Resources:
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator Series
The Body Keeps the Score - Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) - CDC
Individual and Community Trauma: Individual Experiences in Collective Environments - Lauren Weisner
Community trauma 101: Building resilience in 2020 - Texas Children’s Hospital
Co-regulation and other trauma webinar recordings (OEA members only, request access, PDUs available)
In the second episode of the Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Schools season, Leonne talks with Kelsey Hibbert, Dean of Students at Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis and former middle school teacher. At Linus Pauling, Hibbert runs the Student Center, a place for students who need to reset and regulate, report safety issues or difficulties, or talk through peer-to-peer issues. At the Student Center, staff take a collaborative problem solving approach to discern what each student needs. For example, they might need someone to talk to, something to fidget with, a quiet place to do their work, an opportunity to put their head down and rest, etc. With parameters, these are just some of the options offered to students at the Student Center. Hibbert explains that the goal is for students to know they have a place to get their needs met when classroom support isn’t enough. Part of the success of the Center is collaboration with counselors, mental health specialists, classroom teachers, and other staff at the school. The center is also a space for student clubs to help build a sense of belonging. Leonne and Kelsey discuss the changes they’ve seen since Covid and the need for trauma-informed practices such as “connect before correct”. They also emphasize the need to reflect on what’s working and what’s not working. In the end, the Center staff strive for students to feel like they've had a successful day. Not surprisingly, Hibbert was a 2022 recipient of a Corvallis Public Schools Foundation Golden Apple award.
Resources:
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator Series
Collaborative Problem Solving Overview (5 minute video) - Think Kids
2022 Golden Apple Recipient: Kelsey Hibbert - Corvallis Public Schools Foundation
OEA member host Leonne Bannister kicks off season three with community partner Amanda Coven, former middle-school math teacher and current Director of Education at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. Leonne and Amanda discuss navigating critical conversations about honest, accurate history with a focus on Senate bill 664: Holocaust Education which passed in 2019. It is currently a K-12 mandate with full integration into grade-level standards in social sciences scheduled for 2026.
Amanda explains that SB664 is not just about the Holocaust, because If we want to prevent mass violence, we need to understand how violence unfolds in a variety of different places and situations. Additionally, the skills necessary to navigate critical conversations about history are transferable to all kinds of other difficult conversations. Amanda and Leonne discuss what the mandate looks like in practice and provide tips for teachers, including using trauma-informed measures before teaching any difficult history, being honest and open with students about our own difficulties discussing these topics, reassuring students that we will check in with them, using your school counselor, and including processing time at the beginning and end of lessons.
Amanda also provides information on how educators can get support from her and the Museum. Finally, Amanda explains the difficulties of current Jewish American students in their schools and their struggle to feel safe.
Resources:
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education
Amanda Coven email address: acoven@ojmche.org
National Museum of American Jewish History
Pantsuit Politics podcast
I Think You're Wrong But I'm Listening
Now What? How To Move Forward When We're Divided (About Practically Everything)
Welcome to season three of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. In season three we will be discussing Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Schools. This topic has been a prominent one on educators’ minds both before and since the publication of OEA’s Crisis of Disrupted Learning Report. We will continue with member-to- member conversations with the occasional community partner guest. Some of the topics of discussion include behavior interventions, social emotional learning, trauma informed education, and special education. Listen in as you sip your morning coffee, cook dinner, etc. Our member educator host for season three is Corvallis school counselor Leonne Bannister.
Head over to grow.oregoned.org to stay up to date on all the professional learning opportunities available through OEA.
In the final episode of Season Two: Conflict Resolution Strategies, Joyce welcomes Brinda Narayan-Wold and Huck Wilken to discuss the free and confidential mediation process available to OEA members. The OEA Mediation Network helps individuals and teams reduce conflict-based suffering and get back to a place of dignity. Communication, decision making, and professionalism issues are the three major reasons people seek mediation. The process can be initiated by emailing the Mediation Network. Mediators will then conduct individual and impartial interviews with each party to ensure that people feel heard and understood before the group session. In group mediation, everyone wants to come to a solution and the solution arises from the participants themselves. To emphasize the confidential nature of mediation, Brinda and Huck explain that mediation sessions and their outcomes are not shared with HR, principals, or local unions. One-on-one coaching and mediation are also available to help individuals develop conflict resolution skills and strategies. For example, teachers can learn how to deal with a difficult principal. Brinda and Huck emphasize that when we get through challenges and conflict, we are better people and educators.
Ready to contact the OEA Mediation Network? Email mediation@oregoned.org
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network
Joyce is joined by retired educator Beverly Wilson to discuss what happens in our brains and bodies when we experience conflict. When our values, needs, or identities are threatened, we react biologically and have an opportunity to interrupt the conflict. They discuss values (culturally defined) and needs (universal), the role they play in conflict, and the different ways people respond to a given situation. By engaging our prefrontal cortex, slowing down our thinking, and asking reflective questions we are able to disengage our amygdala. Beverly reminds us that by validating, empathizing, and asking clarifying questions, we can help someone who is starting to become elevated to slow down.
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network and opportunities for Conflict Coaching.
We’ve all dealt with difficult people before and are likely to again. Maybe we’ve also been “difficult” ourselves? Mediator and former middle school math and STEM teacher Huck Wilken talks with Joyce about dealing with difficult people. A lot of conflict starts with miscommunication. Huck explains that managing our own emotional response is the first step in dealing with difficult people in conflict situations. Dealing with difficult people requires a steady presence, neither being defensive nor offensive. The next step is to listen authentically; everyone, including a difficult person, wants their truth to be heard. And we need to speak our truth so that we’re heard as well. Joyce and Huck also talk about meditation a little bit, emphasizing that mediation places the emphasis on difficult situations, not difficult people.
Resources:
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network
20 Expert Tactics for Dealing with Difficult People - Psychology Today
In week 4, Joyce chats with MaryJean Harris Williams, PhD about conflict management styles. MaryJean teaches Communication Studies at Clackamas Community College. MaryJean recognizes that most people don’t like conflict and have different styles of dealing with conflict. Joyce and MaryJean help us understand the five main conflict management styles: avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromise, and collaboration. Most people prefer one of these conflict management styles over the others. MaryJean explains, using great situational examples, how some of the styles can be useful in certain situations and unhelpful in other situations. She also acknowledges that it’s healthy to develop different conflict styles for different purposes but also encourages us to accept our own preferred communication style. And she gives some advice for how to navigate conflict with others who present with one of these particular communication styles. Arriving at a collaborative solution, using the collaboration style, requires trust and patience but is the “gold star” of conflict resolution.
Resources:
Conflict Response Styles: A Visual - Joyce Rosenau and MaryJean Harris Williams
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network
Joyce’s guest in this episode is Suzi Spencer, alternative high school teacher in Salem. Collaborative problem solving has been used in Suzi’s school for the last few years. Suzi defines collaborative problem solving as a situation where all involved parties are asked for their perspective, all perspectives are honored, and the parties come up with solutions together. Collaborative problem solving is proactive instead of reactive and in a school setting, seeks to avoid punishment. It can also be used in adult relationships, as it works with all ages. Suzi describes the three steps involved: empathy, define the problem, and invitation. This last step is where the parties generate realistic solutions together. Suzi also explains the power of focusing on the problem, not the person.
Resources:
The Explosive Child - Dr. Ross Greene
Lost at School - Dr. Ross Greene
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network
The Conflict Resolution season kicks off with a discussion about the liberating potential of conscious listening. Joyce chats with OEA member Brinda Narayan-Wold, School Counselor at Kelly Middle School in Eugene, and mediator with the OEA Mediation Network. Joyce and Brenda emphasize that conflict resolution strategies, like conscious listening, can be used in both our professional and personal lives. Conscious listening starts with creating a safe space for conflict resolution. Brinda explains that conscious listening is paying attention both to what is said and not said, including body language. Open-ended questions can be another powerful tool to get to the root of an issue. For example, often when we see signs of our students suffering, we can use open-ended questions to build trust and soothe the situation. Brinda also describes how silence, summarizing, validating, and empathizing are used in effective conscious listening.
Resources:
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network
Welcome to season two of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. In season two we will be discussing Conflict Resolution Strategies. The host, Joyce Rosenau, and all guests of this season are members of the OEA Mediation Network- a conflict resolution service for OEA members started in 2019. Some of the episode topics will include: the neuroscience of conflict, conflict response styles, and collaborative problem solving.
To learn more about the OEA Mediation Network and ways to access this service, please visit oregoned.org/mediation.
Don’t forget to head over to grow.oregoned.org to stay up to date on all the professional learning opportunities available through OEA.
As we get ready for the launch of season two next week on Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Schools, season one concludes with a wellness discussion focused on students. Sara Roadman, first grade teacher in Eugene, has been practicing mindfulness with students since 2019. She uses many different mindfulness strategies including eyebreaks, noticing what’s around you, yoga, one-minute guided meditations, affirmation meditations, and breathing exercises. By adding these strategies to the daily routine, students have grown to be very comfortable with mindfulness. Most of her students know 10 yoga poses! Sara also discusses the power of appreciation circles where students simply make eye contact with other students and appreciate the opportunity to be in in-person school; some of her young students haven’t been in face-to-face school since preschool. Sara has also found that these mindfulness techniques help kids with Covid-related worries and anxieties that are unique to today’s students.
Resources:
4 Ways to Cultivate Mindfulness in the Classroom (video) - edutopia
A Mindful Minute Helps Students Arrive in the Classroom (video) - Mindful Schools
Best Practices for Bringing Mindfulness into Schools - mindful
Integrating Mindfulness in Your Classroom Curriculum - edutopia
The Mindful Schools Podcast
Episode 9
Is a connection to nature important? What’s the value of that connection? OEA member guest Jacob Patterson (Benson High School) talks with Jesse about his connection to nature and its ability to be restorative. Spending time in nature can help us disconnect from our phones, email, and worrying about the past or the future by helping us connect to the now. For example, noticing the wind, or a bird, can help us stay grounded in the present. Nature can also be a place where you can “be” instead of “do”. Jacob and Jesse also discuss the power of Oregon rivers and the many opportunities to enjoy rivers across the state. The river ecosystem can remind us that everything is connected. For those new to enjoying nature, Jacob recommends starting with a walk, if you’re able, in a space that feels good to you.
Resources:
Rivers and Streams - Travel Oregon
Oregon’s 6 Essential Rivers - PDX Monthly
Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Walking Your Blues Away: How to Heal the Mind and Create Emotional Well-Being - Thom Hartmann
Nature-Based Mindfulness for More Calm & Peaceful Kids - NAEYC
Work-life balance, is it possible? Does it exist for educators? Eighth grade language arts teacher Ryan Roach talks with OEA Grow host Jesse about what work-life balance means to him. For Ryan, it’s not only the traditional sense of work-life balance, but more about making a decision about what to attend to in each moment. For example, staying in the present moment whether you’re in the classroom, at home with family, spending time in nature, or exercising. It’s also about valuing our work as educators, as family members, and as humans, and recognizing that our value and our students’ value is not in being perfect. We can strive to accept that no educator can solve all of the problems they see, but instead, approach our jobs in a more healthy, realistic, and contented way.
Resources:
A New Way to Think about Work-Life Balance - Edutopia
How to be More Present in Relationships - Psychology Today
Stepping off the Scale: Rethinking the Idea of Work-Life Balance - Resilient Educator
How to Harness Imperfection as a Teacher - Teach for Australia
Being Okay with Imperfection in My First Months of Teaching - Knowles Teacher Initiative
Episode 7
In this episode about mental health and suicide awareness*, middle school teacher Katherine Baggett shares her personal and professional story as a trauma informed educator. Katherine teaches students in a social emotional behavioral classroom. Most of her students have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and have also experienced significant trauma including houselessness. She knows firsthand the power of one person to help a student through trauma and she draws on her own experiences as she strives to be that person for her students. Jesse and Katherine talk about the need to normalize mental health, including talking about mental illness and suicidal ideation; reducing shame around these topics saves lives. If you’re struggling with suicidal ideation, keep asking for help and keep looking for someone who will listen to you. It’s possible to heal from trauma and possible to come through on the other side of suicidal ideation. This is an episode about hope.
*Trigger warning: This episode discusses suicide.
Take care with these resources:
Lines for Life: 24/7 free, confidential, anonymous help. 1-800-273-8255
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: resources and support
Oregon Health Authority Behavioral Health Services
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator 4-part series
OEA recorded webinars on core interventions for trauma, co-regulation, and self-care (OEA members only)
School counselor Sakura Hamada shares her story of immigration to the United States as a fourth-grade student and explains how she applies her resilience to her life as an educator in our sixth episode. Sakura moved from Japan to the U.S. as a nine year-old. She only knew a few words in English. Through both her childhood and adult experiences, she believes the key to resilience is staying true to yourself. This includes the ability to know when to take a break, when to say “no”, and when to ask for help. Sakura models that authenticity with her students. She’s also an inspiration to them by modeling her life experience of learning English, going to college, and getting her Master’s degree. In her work as a counselor, Sakura enjoys providing a safe space for students. She also knows firsthand the power of getting to know students and seeing each student as an individual.
Learn more with these resources:
Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience downloadable tools and resources
Start Here Start Now. A guide to antibias and antiracist work in your community by Liz Kleinrock
Teach and Transform Recommended Resources
Mood Meter app
Episode 5
This week on Oregon Grow, Mental Health Therapist Talia Akre (Multnomah Education Service District) talks about the compassion fatigue many educators experience. Talia explains the difference between compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Compassion fatigue is particularly labeled for the helping fields, which includes educators. Many educators of all kinds are dealing with student trauma and mental health issues. Current staffing shortages are additionally compounding the stressors educators are experiencing. Compassion fatigue can even affect an entire school community and can also exist in our personal lives when we’re taking care of others. Talia and Jesse discuss the importance of taking care of ourselves first and letting students see we’re whole people, for example, by taking breaks or having a classroom mindful minute.
Learn more about compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma and how to regain balance:
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk
Compassion Fatigue TEDx talk by Dr. Jacquelyn Ollison
Master Teachers are Mindful Teachers by The Teaching Professor/Faculty Focus author Dr. Kristen Rousch
The Mindful Self Compassion Workbook by Kristin Neff
Ambiguous Loss by Pauline Boss
OEA Choice Trust’s Colleen Sump (Engagement and Outreach Officer) and Jon Archer (David Douglas Educator) talk with Jesse about grant opportunities and programs to increase education employee well-being. Through its grant programs, conferences, and free online resources, OEA Choice Trust strives to improve the health, well-being, and resilience of district, ESD, and community college staff across all job roles and classifications. Colleen explains how the Trust embraces a holistic model of health and well-being that goes beyond things like exercise and nutrition to also include social, emotional, mental, and financial well-being. As a recipient of a five-year Trust grant, Jon talks about the importance of communicating staff needs to the district, the critical key of leadership buy-in, and the power of partnerships in impacting educator well-being.
Learn more about how the employees in your district, ESD, or community college can benefit from the resources of OEA Choice Trust:
OEA Choice Trust homepage
Grant opportunities
Grant success stories
Free online resources
Elementary school teacher Gillian Murr explains racial affinity groups in this third episode as we continue to discuss educator wellness. Murr talks about her experiences both leading and participating in affinity groups, including OEA’s grant-funded Equity Sparks program. Affinity groups can be a healing space to process the unique experiences of educators who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Jesse and Gillian also discuss the need for non-BIPOC allies to gather in affinity and the power of those allies in supporting BIPOC educators.
Learn more about affinity groups and wellness strategies for BIPOC educators:
Diversifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color - Learning Policy Institute
Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color: Why It Matters, Ways to Do It - EdWeek
Racial Affinity Groups: Guide for School Leaders - Great Schools Partnership
Dialogue for Affinity Groups (discussion guide) - Everyday Democracy
Racial Identity Caucusing: A Strategy for Building Anti-Racist Collectives - Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training
How White Teachers Can Support BIPOC Colleagues - edutopia
In our second episode, Jesse Bray talks with Dr. B. Grace Bullock, Senior Mental Health Officer at the Oregon Department of Education and mindfulness author. Dr. Bullock shares her thoughts about the difference between mindlessness and mindfulness and the research-proven benefits of mindfulness, including its ability to reduce the harmful impacts of stress. Dr. Bullock also talks about mindfulness in terms of our relationships: “how we show up in the world and how aware we are of how we show up in the world”. She gives us some simple steps we can take to start implementing awareness and mindfulness in our daily lives.
Learn more about mindfulness:
Sign up for OEA’s Introduction to Mindfulness 3-week virtual learning community
Mindful Relationships: Seven Skills for Success by Dr. B. Grace Bullock
How to Tame Your Wandering Mind, a TEDX talk by Amishi Jha
How mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains, a TEDx talk by Dr. Richard Davidson
The Mindful Schools Podcast
In our first episode, season one host Jesse Bray talks with Colin Stapp, Learning Technology Facilitator and Tech Hub Faculty at Chemeketa Community College. This is an episode about rejuvenating with nature. An avid hiker, Colin has been an educator for thirty years with a focus on all things tech while also having a long history of using nature to unplug from technology. Jesse and Colin discuss both as well as the value of being present in the outdoors without having to do anything.
Inspired to enjoy nature after this episode? Check out these resources:
Accessible Nature - Oregon accessible walks and hikes
All Trail - Oregon - Thousands of hikes across the state
Making Oregon’s Outdoors Welcoming For All - An interview with Oregon filmmaker Mercy M’fon Shammah
Oregon Hikers - Trails, maps, and other resources
Oregon State Parks - Find parks, activities, and events
Travel Oregon - Hiking and Backpacking Resources - Trip ideas
Welcome to the OEA Grow Podcast, a production of the Oregon Education Association. In the next ten weeks we will focus on a range of Wellness and Resilience strategies that you can try at home to reduce your stress and improve the work you do every day. We’ll cover topics such as Compassion Fatigue and Burnout, an introduction to Mindfulness, Work/Life Balance, and Connecting with Nature. Episodes will be posted every Wednesday, with most lasting about 15 minutes. Each episode will feature an OEA member or community partner who has expertise and experience with each topic. Season One will officially launch on Wednesday, February 16.
Head over to grow.oregoned.org to stay up to date on all the professional learning opportunities available through OEA.