Help Teach: Recent Episodes
Mihai Covaser
Join us in this community audio project as we explore the perspective of youths with disabilities, educators, and members of the general public on the Canadian public education system.
In this episode, we discuss the value of musical education in practicing self-expression and how social justice, music, and education can all intersect in the lives of young learners.
Join Mihai and renowned concert violinist and accessibility advocate Adrian Anantawan as they discuss the benefits of musical education for students with disabilities. They describe three key components of inclusive education - space, tools, and attitudes - and share personal stories of advocacy and music in their lives.
In this episode, we celebrate one year of Help Teach! Enjoy this long-form recap and universal takeaway from all of our co-leads. Thank you all for your incredible support so far!
Join Mihai, Maggie, Élise, and Payton as they summarize the progression of Help Teach over the past year. They discuss what they have been up to over the past few months, where the show is heading next, and how audience members can become more involved. Finally, they give advice on how to best approach members of the disability community with your questions and offers of support.
Get in touch at helpteachpodcast@gmail.com
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Watch Maggie on All-Round Champion S5
Join Mihai Covaser and Amarinder Mehta as they discuss what it means to be at once an educator, a parent, and a person with disabilities and how those varied experiences translate into the classroom setting. They break apart the role of the teacher into three key components - the teacher as an advocate/activist, the teacher as a caretaker, and the teacher as a learner - and provide resources for educators to familiarize themselves with the idea of lifelong learning.
Bias Assessment Tool
Learning Needs Tests:
The VARK Questionnaire
Arden University - What type of learner are you?
ThoughtCo Learning Style Quiz
Matrix Education Quiz: What is your learning style?
Join Mihai Covaser and Tybie Elenko as they discuss the obstacles faced by students with challenges that extend beyond the mobile, visual, and auditory. They illuminate the often misunderstood case of the gifted learner, describe their experiences with forced conformity, and provide a key takeaway so that teachers can support all students as they work together to maximize student potential.
https://www.sage-bc.com/
https://www.rickhansen.com/schools-communities/resource-library
https://www.rickhansen.com/schools-communities/create-inclusive-school-year
https://www.rickhansen.com/schools-communities/supplementary-resources
Join Mihai Covaser and Élise Doucet as they discuss the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its implications for disabled youths in the classroom. They discuss articles pertaining to discrimination, disability rights, and education to encourage students to advocate for quality schooling and educators to help their students do so.
UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Landing Page
UNCRC Full Text
UNCRC Child-Friendly Text
Resources and Research on the UNCRC
Join Mihai Covaser and Alexis Holmgren as they discuss the benefits of invitations to communicate in the classroom. They discuss the experience of missing opportunities for learning and travel due to discrimination against their disabilities and how teachers and students can encourage an environment of mutual growth through simple, regular check-ins in the classroom.
Join Mihai Covaser, Maggie Manning, Élise Doucet, Payton Given, and Alexis Holmgren as they tie off the opening of this community audio project with a collaborative episode. They discuss the experience of being forced to miss school due to a lack of accommodations, cover how the media tends to portray living with a disability, and drive home the message that the story of each individual is unique and crucial to guiding a successful educational journey. From all of us, thank you for your support in the early stages of this initiative and, as always, we'll see you next time.
Molly Burke's YouTube channel
Join Mihai Covaser and Stephanie Spies as they discuss teaching in high-needs environments, collaboration in the classroom, and the pressure under which educators are placed to provide for all of their students. Mihai and Stephanie cover human and material resources, teamwork, and communication as key factors in the fight for accessible Canadian classrooms.
Join Mihai Covaser and Alexis Holmgren as they discuss what it's like to live with rare diseases and disabilities, the enforcement of accommodations in education (or the lack thereof), and attitudinal barriers in place for youths with disabilities in education. Mihai and Alexis explain how public and online schooling treat disabilities differently and muddy the waters of Individual Education Plans in Canada before leaving teachers with a takeaway about helping students achieve their maximum potential.
Join Mihai Covaser and Élise Doucet as they discuss Deaf culture, service dogs (did you know that not only those who are blind use them?), and the history of D/deaf education in North America. Mihai and Élise give the Reader's Digest synopsis of how D/deaf individuals and those who are hard of hearing came to be treated the way they are in the current educational model and how Universal Design Principles can help to integrate the social model of disability more readily into society.
RESOURCES:
The Universal Design Principles of the National Disability Authority (Ireland)
Disability Thinking
The Mighty
Hear Me Out
Limping Chicken
Join Mihai Covaser and Maggie Manning as they discuss disability as a life journey, building community, and physical education for youths with physical or mobility-related impairments. Mihai and Maggie have a laugh over their experiences with the monstrous gym class bench, talk about how advocacy can come out of living with particular obstacles, and share a key takeaway that PE teachers can implement in the classroom today.
Join Mihai Covaser and Payton Given as they discuss navigating the Canadian public education system with a physical disability, the value of disability education in the classroom, and the use of proper language and etiquette in approaching those with disabilities. Mihai and Payton share lived experiences to show how far a supportive classroom can go towards supporting youths and give teachers a key takeaway on these themes to implement in the classroom today.