My Disney Class podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Howie and Ryan
Bi-Monthly podcast for Disney Classroom ideas on creativity, innovation, problem solving, PBL, STEM, STEAM and MakerSpace projects. Resources provided on each podcast and interviews with Innovative Educators and educational leaders
Crafting Disney's Stories: Lessons in Communication from Allen Babiarz-Lira
In Season 9, Episode 18 of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan Boeckman and Howie DiBlasi welcome special guest Allen Babiarz-Lira, a college professor of communication at Saint Xavier University. With over 10 years of teaching experience, Allen brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion. He holds a bachelor's degree in media communication and a master's degree in communication and training from Governors State University and is currently pursuing a doctorate in communication from Regent University. Allen's teaching and research interests encompass a broad spectrum, including interpersonal communication, gender communication, leadership, Disney, and social media.
During the episode, Allen shares his expertise on how Disney utilizes storytelling and narrative techniques in their theme parks, providing valuable insights into the power of communication in creating immersive guest experiences. He also discusses his Disney Communication through Animation class, offering a glimpse into how Disney's animation techniques can be studied and applied to enhance communication skills. Additionally, Allen delves into the topic of Disney's presence in his classroom and how he utilizes Disney’s strengths to his students’ advantage. Showing them how to develop and maximize their potential.
Outside of academia, Allen enjoys spending time with his family and friends, particularly at his favorite destination, Walt Disney World. Tune in to this engaging episode as Ryan, Howie, and Allen delve into the fascinating world of communication, Disney, and storytelling, providing listeners with valuable insights and perspectives.
In Season 9, Episode 17 of My Disney Class Podcast, co-hosts Ryan Boeckman and Howie DiBlasi embark on an intriguing exploration of the top ten urban legends about Disney and education. Delving into the realm of myth and mystery, Ryan and Howie uncover fascinating stories and rumors that have circulated within the Disney and educational communities. From supposed hidden messages in Disney films to legendary tales of innovative teaching methods inspired by Disney magic, the hosts dissect each urban legend with curiosity and insight. Drawing on their collective knowledge and expertise, Ryan and Howie offer engaging commentary and analysis, separating fact from fiction and shedding light on the truths behind these captivating tales. Throughout the episode, listeners are treated to a blend of entertainment and education as Ryan and Howie unravel the myths surrounding Disney and its influence on educational practices. Join them on this captivating journey as they debunk myths, share anecdotes, and celebrate the enduring legacy of Disney and education. Tune in to discover the truth behind the top ten urban legends about Disney and education, and prepare to be enchanted by the magic of storytelling and discovery.
We hope you enjoyed our look at urban legends at Disney and in schools. We also hope you found a few nuggets that might inspire a lesson or activity that you can do with your students dealing with urban legends. If you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better and that’s no urban legend!
In Episode 16 of Season 9, hosts Ryan Boeckman and Howie DiBlasi welcome special guest Professor Bob Abbott to My Disney Class podcast. Professor Abbott brings a wealth of experience as an instructor in Project Management, Visual Thinking, and Business Analysis at McGill University Centre for Continuing Education, with over 15 years of teaching under his belt. Additionally, he boasts over 30 years of Information and Technology expertise in the telecommunications industry, making him a seasoned enterprise Senior Project Manager and facilitator.
Throughout the episode, Professor Abbott shares insights into the importance of visual thinking and brainstorming in project management and corporate training, drawing on his extensive experience and expertise. He discusses techniques for fostering creativity and innovation within teams, often employing humor, storytelling, and Disney to cultivate an atmosphere of trust and creative thinking during his classes. Practical examples of visual thinking and brainstorming techniques are explored, highlighting their effectiveness in problem-solving and idea generation.
The episode concludes with Professor Abbott sharing how he uses Edmagineering Classrooms in his courses at McGill University. Bob offers us some helpful tips for using some of the same techniques he uses and also shares how he helps his students who struggle with this approach get over some of their initial hurdles.
Overall, Episode 16 offers valuable insights and practical strategies for fostering creativity and innovation in both project management and educational settings. We hope you enjoyed listening to Professor Abbott and we hope that you try some of the innovative approaches he has to helping students maximize their learning potential through visual learning. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with fellow educators. Stay tuned for more captivating episodes as we continue our journey through the world of education and innovation, Disney style!
AI Magic: From Disney to the Classroom
In the latest installment of Season 9, airing on March 1st hosts Howie and Ryan embark on an intriguing exploration of the role of artificial intelligence (AI) within the Disney company and its potential applications in the field of education. They begin by delving into how Disney has effectively integrated AI technologies across various facets of its operations, leveraging them to enhance guest experiences and streamline processes. From interactive chatbots providing personalized assistance to predictive algorithms optimizing theme park logistics, Disney's innovative use of AI serves as a compelling case study in the realm of customer service and engagement.
Transitioning seamlessly into the educational sphere, Ryan and Howie pivot to discuss how educators can harness the power of AI to tailor classroom instruction and cater to the individual learning needs of students. Drawing on a range of AI tools and resources, they explore options such as chat generators and adaptive learning platforms that enable teachers to create dynamic and personalized lesson experiences. Through practical examples and insightful discussions, the hosts illuminate the transformative potential of AI in education, empowering educators to enhance student engagement, facilitate differentiated instruction, and foster deeper learning outcomes.
Whether it's leveraging AI-powered chatbots to facilitate student-teacher interactions or utilizing adaptive learning algorithms to tailor lesson content in real time, this episode offers a wealth of valuable insights and resources for educators looking to harness the power of AI in their classrooms. Tune in to discover how AI is revolutionizing both the magic of Disney and the landscape of education.
Cody Havard, Being a Fan of Disney
In this special interview episode, hosts Howie DiBlasi and Ryan Boeckman are joined by Dr. Cody Havard, a professor at The University of Memphis. Dr. Havard's diverse creative projects, ranging from comic books to podcasting, are explored, along with the launch of his latest endeavor, "Being a Fan of Disney: The Book," and "The Perspectives Files" on Kindle Vella. Listeners are encouraged to connect with Dr. Havard's work through various channels, including subscribing to his podcast, following him on social media, and visiting his website. As the interview concludes, the hosts express gratitude to Dr. Havard for sharing his expertise and insights, inviting listeners to continue exploring the fascinating world of sports rivalry and fandom through his work. Don't miss this engaging conversation that offers valuable insights and opportunities for further exploration. Make sure to subscribe to My Disney Class to stay updated on future episodes and guests.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight
In this special February episode of My Disney Class, co-hosted by Howie DiBlasi and Ryan Boeckman, the focus is on the captivating ways Walt Disney World cast members demonstrate care towards their guests and how we can apply this to our schools. The discussion unfolds with an exploration of various customer service techniques employed by Disney cast members, from warm greetings at the park gates to creating a welcoming atmosphere that makes guests feel at home. Tying these magical gestures to the theme of Valentine's Day, the hosts draw connections between Disney's care techniques and how educators can make students feel loved in schools. The episode delves into real-life examples from Walt Disney World, showcasing instances of extraordinary guest experiences and the impact of personalized care on overall satisfaction. The hosts then translate these Disney magic moments into practical strategies for educators to implement in the classroom, emphasizing the importance of building meaningful connections with students.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today where we bring the love to you and hopefully to our students! If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with fellow educators. Stay tuned for more captivating episodes as we continue our journey through the world of education and innovation, Disney style!
Inspiring Magic, One Child at a Time with Emily Gathman. 0
Nov 15, 2021
In today’s Replay episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Emily Gathman again. Emily is a 6th grade Science teacher at Bussey Middle School in Garland Texas. She loves to inspire her students to be creative problem-solvers as they tackle real-world Science and engineering problems in her classroom.
Emily was recognized in 2021 as the Bussey Middle School's, Teacher of the year which as you will see in this episode is truly well deserved!
On the show, Emily will share with us how she has incorporated the lessons that she has learned from Disney as well as what brings her inspiration from Disney into her classroom for her students. This ranges from how she has designed physical things in her classroom to how she uses inspirational quotes. For example, Emily helps her students handle failures they encounter in her class by using the quote,” Failure is not an endpoint but a jumping-off point.” She combines this quote with stories about how Walt Disney himself overcame many failures. We think you will agree as you listen to Emily describe her classroom that she is definitely inspiring her students to be innovators, just like Uncle Walt!
We hope you enjoyed today’s REPLAY episode and as always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
Welcome back, educators and Disney enthusiasts, to another exciting episode of My Disney Class! In this episode, hosts Ryan and Howie dive into the latest happenings at Walt Disney World for the new year. Join them as they explore the plusses and minuses of the various changes and share their perspectives. Additionally, the hosts discuss New Year's resolutions for education in 2024, providing insights and goals for the upcoming academic year.
Howie and Ryan start by discussing the latest developments and changes at Walt Disney World for the new year. This includes new attractions, refurbishments, and other noteworthy updates within the parks. They look at each of these changes and give the positive and negative aspects of each. They also share their personal experiences and insights on how these changes might impact the overall guest experience.
To wrap this show and 2023 up, Ryan and Howie reflect on the past year in education and discuss the evolving landscape of our wonderful profession. They share their resolutions for the new academic year, focusing on innovative teaching methods, technology integration, and student engagement. They also discuss the importance of continuous learning and professional development for educators, like the magical P.D. Magic conference coming up this June.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today where we looked back at 2023 to help us look forward to 2024! If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with fellow educators. Stay tuned for more captivating episodes as we continue our journey through the world of education and innovation, Disney style!
Welcome to another magical episode of My Disney Class! In this episode, co-host Howie DiBlasi's son, Mark DiBlasi, takes the stage to delve into the exciting gaming world in the classroom. Join us as Mark shares his insights on incorporating board games into educational settings and valuable tips on building a cost-effective game library for your students.
Mark starts off the show with a brief introduction and gives us a quick background on himself which includes his connection to education and his passion for gaming. We then jump into exploring the benefits of integrating board games into the educational environment. Mark shares examples of how board games can enhance critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills among students and lists out some top choices he thinks would be good options for most classrooms.
Mark also gives us some options for finding deals on board games that can help teachers keep the cost down of bringing games into the classroom. From cost-effective alternatives and creative solutions to groups that share resources for free, Mark has some great options for all budgets. He also shares digital resources and websites to help educators discover suitable games for their classrooms and ways to navigate online platforms to find educational games that align with specific learning objectives.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today with Mark DiBlasi and his great insights on board games in the classroom. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with fellow educators.
Stay tuned for more captivating episodes as we continue our journey through the world of education and innovation, Disney style!
Wishes for Education
Today, Howie and Ryan are looking at Disney’s newest film “Wish.” The movie unfolds in the kingdom of Rosas, where King Magnifico possesses the ability to grant wishes, collecting and protecting them until the time is right. As 17-year-old Asha aims to become Magnifico's apprentice, she discovers the king's deceptive practices and sets out to reclaim her family's wishes with the help of an anthropomorphic ball of light named Star. Howie and Ryan draw parallels between the film's narrative and their own wishes for the education system, emphasizing themes of inspiration, empowerment, and critical thinking. As Asha confronts betrayal, corruption, and the power-hungry Magnifico, the hosts analyze the lessons for educators in teamwork, empowerment, and reshaping the educational landscape.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today looking at Disney’s newest movie “Wish” and also our discussion about wishes for the educational system as a whole. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Wishes for Education!
Today, Howie and Ryan are looking at Disney’s newest film “Wish.” The movie unfolds in the kingdom of Rosas, where King Magnifico possesses the ability to grant wishes, collecting and protecting them until the time is right. As 17-year-old Asha aims to become Magnifico's apprentice, she discovers the king's deceptive practices and sets out to reclaim her family's wishes with the help of an anthropomorphic ball of light named Star. Howie and Ryan draw parallels between the film's narrative and their own wishes for the education system, emphasizing themes of inspiration, empowerment, and critical thinking. As Asha confronts betrayal, corruption, and the power-hungry Magnifico, the hosts analyze the lessons for educators in teamwork, empowerment, and reshaping the educational landscape.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today looking at Disney’s newest movie “Wish” and also our discussion about wishes for the educational system as a whole. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Today, Howie and Ryan are diving into the enchanting world of Disney as they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. Ryan and Howie spend the beginning of this episode reflecting on the journey of the Walt Disney Company over the past century. They discuss how Disney has evolved, innovated, and continued to captivate audiences worldwide. They also look at Disney’s notable moments, characters, and milestones that have defined the Disney legacy!
In the second half of this episode, Ryan and Howie shift gears, as they transport themselves back a century to explore what education and schools were like in the early 1920s. They even dive a little deeper and go back 100 more years to the 1820s, just for good measure. Looking back, Howie and Ryan, make several comparisons between the education landscape then and now, discussing changes, challenges, and progress.
We hope you enjoyed our look back over the past couple of 100 years of both Disney and the educational system! Also, if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie continue where they left off looking back at all eight seasons of My Disney Class Podcast and picking some of their favorite episodes that they think would be a good listen at the start of the new school year.
Listen as they share which episodes they picked and why listening to them may help you in the wonderful new school year you are approaching or maybe even already started! This episode we definitely also work in our excitement for the upcoming P.D. Magic professional development experience coming June 17-20 at Walt Disney World. If you don’t know what that is, listen to this episode and then head over to our new webpage, Edmagineering.com to find out more details and to sign up. You definitely don’t want to miss this opportunity.
We hope you enjoyed our look back at some of the past episodes we so thoroughly enjoyed recording. We hope you found a few that you may have missed and when you go back and listen we hope that you find some value in the episode and we really hope that you find the same joy we did making it.
If you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In this heartwarming episode of My Disney Class, Ryan and Howie dive into the world of special education and autism programs. Our guest, Taylor Norton, is a dedicated special education teacher at South Mesa Elementary School in Pueblo, CO. With her expertise and passion, she leads the autism program for students from kindergarten to 5th grade. Join us as we explore how Taylor incorporates the magic of Disney into her teaching methods and creates an inclusive and nurturing environment for her students.
The podcast starts off with a great story by Talyor introducing herself and talking about her journey to becoming a special education teacher at South Mesa Elementary School. Taylor truly has an inspirational story for becoming a special education teacher and staying in the education profession. She also provides us with an overview of her role in running the autism program for students in kindergarten through 5th grade as well as the other students with special needs that she takes care of. To end our show Talyor helps us understand the importance of creating an inclusive and supportive environment for students with special needs, especially those with Autism. We also discuss what can be learned from Disney when it comes to inclusion and creating environments that work for all guests/students. Taylor also has her own Youtube page that she started during the pandemic to help capture the magic she was missing while Disneyland was closed. She expresses how this helped her during that time and how she now helps others with her videos of the parks and the atmosphere and magic they capture.
We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Taylor as much as we did and if you are looking to bring some magic into your classroom or home, check out Talyor’s Youtube videos. They are great for playing in the background to bring you to your happy place when you really need a visit but can’t get to Disneyland or Disney World. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan start to prepare for the new school year. They went back and looked at all the My Disney Class Podcast episodes over the past eight seasons and thought, “Which of these episodes would best prepare teachers as they head back to school?” Listen as they share which episodes they picked and why listening to them may help you in the wonderful new school year you are approaching or maybe even already started! Ryan and Howie also look forward to the new season of My Disney Class Podcast, Season 9. So many good memories and more to come for sure!
As we start year 9 of the My Disney Class Podcast, we want to thank all of you who are part of our listener community. Whether you started today with this episode or have been here since Season 1, Episode 1, we appreciate you joining in and helping strengthen this wonderful and supportive group.
Also, if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Get Me Coding With Fred Aebli
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie are excited to welcome Mr. Fred Aebli! Fred is an instructor and program co-coordinator of internships at Penn State University and is also the creator and owner of GetMeCoding.com. Fred also served as a Major in the United States Marine Corps for 11 years.
Fred has taught in the higher education world for almost two decades where he has applied a lifetime of experiences as a software and database developer, website designer, project manager, and entrepreneur. He is a huge Star Wars fan as well as Disney, Lord of the Rings, and anything that can awaken his imagination and help him become more creative.
On the show today, Fred shares with us his journey from his early years as a software developer to an exceptional and inspiring educator. He also describes how his passion for innovation, creativity, and Disney has helped influence his decisions and path choices along his journey. Which has also led him to create GetMeCoding.com. GetMeCoding.com was Fred’s solution to witnessing a growing demand for information technology professionals, in particular software developers, and a decline in the number of young people considering this to be a career possibility. He created GetMeCoding.com to remove the mystery of exploring and learning how to code so that people become better thinkers and develop skills for jobs requiring solutions with software.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today with Mr. Fred Aebli as much as we enjoyed talking with him. Fred is obviously a strong light of good in our educational field, and we know that his passion and energy are going a long way to help instill confidence and creativity into his students!
Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Patriotic Disney
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie embark on an exciting discussion about the most patriotic attractions at Walt Disney World and how they can be utilized in the classroom. Join us as we dive into the magical world of Disney, where history, storytelling, and education come together to inspire students.
Ryan and Howie begin by highlighting some of the most patriotic attractions at Walt Disney World, where the spirit of America shines through. Main Street, U.S.A.: Discover how the meticulously designed Main Street, U.S.A., pays homage to small-town America and sets the stage for the patriotic experiences to come. The Hall of Presidents: Explore this iconic attraction, where audio-animatronic figures of all U.S. presidents come to life, sharing their stories and contributions. American Adventure: Unveil the historical journey presented in this Epcot pavilion, showcasing pivotal moments in American history through a combination of storytelling, animatronics, and music. Liberty Square: Immerse yourself in the colonial era, where attractions like the Liberty Square Riverboat and The Haunted Mansion offer glimpses into America's past.
Flag Retreat Ceremony: Learn about this daily tradition at Magic Kingdom's Town Square, where a veteran is honored, and the American flag is ceremoniously lowered. These are just a few of the attractions we discuss in detail that we think scream red, white, and blue.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today about the patriotic attractions at the parks and how we can use them to inspire our students. Don’t forget to share your experiences and lesson ideas with the My Disney Class community by reaching out on social media or visiting our website. Also don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Please rate and review our podcast on Apple Music, your support and feedback will only make us better!
Transitioning Magic To High School With Kevin Roughton.
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie are excited to welcome back, Kevin Roughton. Kevin is a history teacher at Patriot high school in Jurupa California. He also is an educational speaker, and author of the book Teach With Magic. Use Disney Imagineering Techniques To Make Your Classroom The Most Engaging Place On Earth!
On the show today, Kevin talks to us about how he has been working to transition from the middle school classroom, which he had completely gamified and immersive for his middle school students, to the high school classroom. He shares what has worked for him so far with high school students and also shares things that haven’t worked as well. Kevin talks about how he now engages high school students with a unit-to-unit model of gamification and even shares some of his best lessons from this past year. This includes themed breakout rooms using the Stranger Things series and even teaching economics through the life of Walt Disney.
Kevin also shares with us a little bit about his book that we dove deeper into on his first appearance, which was the Season 6 episode 20 show. So if you want to hear more about his book and his study of Imagineers and how their work can transfer to education, check out that episode! We wrap up with Kevin discussing an educational conference he attends every year at Disneyland called the Courageous Creativity Conference.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today with the incredible Kevin Roughton and hope you check out all the great stuff he has in his book and on his webpage especially if you are looking to add a little bit or even a lot of gamification to your classroom.
Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie are again excited to explore Disney's magic through an educational lens. Howie and Ryan, delve into the educational opportunities provided by Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom Park which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Ryan and Howie begin by acknowledging the special milestone of Animal Kingdom Park and discuss the park's evolution since its opening in 1998. They also highlight the park's unique focus on conservation, environmental education, and showcasing the natural world. Of course, Howie and Ryan share some of their personal experiences and memories of the park over the years since it opened and emphasize its immersive theming and educational value.
The hosts then dive deeper and explore the educational potential of Animal Kingdom Park as a rich resource for teachers and educators. They emphasize the park's various themed lands, such as Discovery Island, Africa, Asia, and Pandora - The World of Avatar, each offering distinct educational experiences. They then discuss how teachers can leverage these immersive environments to create engaging lessons in subjects like Science, Biology, Geography, Cultural Studies, and Environmental awareness.
We hope you enjoyed our episode today about the educational possibilities offered by Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom Park. We hope we encouraged you to explore the park's resources, tap into its immersive environments, and use it as a catalyst for sparking students' curiosity, imagination, and love for learning.
Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie welcome back one of our favorite guests, the always-inspiring Jerry Johnson. Jerry is an Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Strategic Public Relations at Buena Vista University. Jerry has produced and directed various documentaries, short films, corporate videos, news specials, and promotions. Under his direction, the Digital Media students at Buena Vista have received many awards for their work in these areas. Many most importantly, Jerry is considered the on-campus Disney expert!
On today's show, Ryan and Howie have Jerry on to talk about his latest and greatest project, The Cobblestone documentary. This documentary that Jerry is leading a team of his students to create is about the historic Cobblestone, a unique music venue located in Storm Lake, Iowa that featured performances by bands from the Big Band era. Jerry talks about how his team of students is working as historians as they document, film, and interview the preservationist and former patrons of the historic Cobblestone. Jerry shares lots of stories that he and his students have gathered and how they build upon this to patch together the fascinating history of this iconic music venue. There is one thing that becomes really clear for Jerry and his students, and that is that everyone has a story about the Cobblestone!
We hope you enjoyed our talk today with Jerry Johnson about his latest student project and documentary. We also hope you are inspired to work with your students on a project that looks to preserve the past as well. As the Cobblestone served as the hub for the community to gather, there are many historic buildings like this one that need to be preserved, not just for their cultural and historical significance, but also as a way to connect us to our past and inspire us for the future.
Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie celebrate that special holiday, May 4th. That’s right, May the fourth be with you! Star Wars fans across the globe celebrate May 4th as Star Wars Day and on today’s episode, Howie and Ryan wanted to celebrate too by sharing ways that you can bring Star Wars into your classroom.
In a galaxy not too far away, Ryan and Howie have some ideas on how to bring some of that galactic magic that Lucus films, and now Disney does so well with ideas on how you can incorporate Star Wars characters, worlds, and even foods into school lesson that help teach physics, language arts, geography, and many more subjects. Examples range from high-level physics problems used to figure out the speed of a TIE Fighter to more elementary-level ideas like designing your own Star Wars character to color and create a backstory for. We believe that even if you are not a Star Wars fan, you can find inspiration in the elaborate and imaginative universe that George Lucas created back in 1976.
We hope you enjoyed our celebration of May The Fourth Be With You Day and we can’t wait to hear about all the out this-universe lessons you do or did with your students. Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join our fun and supportive community in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple Music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
LINKS:
www.educationworld.com › may-fourth-be-youMay the Fourth Be With You: Celebrating Star Wars Day in the ...
www.teacherspayteachers.com › Browse › Search:may themay the fourth be with you lessons - TeachersPayTeachers
www.techlearning.com › tl-advisor-blog › may-the-4thMay the 4th Be With You: Best Free Star Wars Teaching Ideas
https://www.starwars.com/video/artificial-intelligence-science-and-star-wars
www.teacherspayteachers.com › Browse › Search:may theMay The Fourth Teaching Resources | TPT - TeachersPayTeachers
www.sciencebuddies.org › blog › may4-star-wars-stemStar Wars STEM Activities for May the 4th Be With You Science
www.playpartyplan.com › may-the-fourth-be-with-you51 Best Ways to Celebrate Star Wars Day - Play Party Plan
Remembering Rolly Crump
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie reflect and remember the contributions of the legendary Rolly Crump. At the age of 93, Roland “Rolly” Crump passed away peacefully in his home in Carlsbad CA on March 12, 2023. Most of us Disney fans know Rolly through his contributions to famous classic Disney attractions like Small World, The Haunted Mansion, and The Enchanted Tiki Room but Rolly’s unique and whimsical style and art can be seen in a variety of ways all around the world. He truly had an interesting perspective on the world and through his direct style of communication, he had no qualms about sharing his views and vision. This characteristic made Rolly one of Walt’s favorite people and a trusted ally.
On today’s show, Ryan and Howie share a little bit about what they know about Rolly’s journey and the stories that he told about Walt, and the different attractions he worked on. Howie and Ryan share their love for his uniqueness and his love of having fun and pulling pranks. It certainly is fitting that My Disney Class Podcast is honoring Rolly on its April 1st show!
We hope you enjoyed our brief look at celebrating the life of the Disney legend Rolly Crump. We also hope you are inspired to search out those unique and different students in your classrooms and buildings and help support them in sharing their unique perspectives with the world. Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Celebrate Soulfully
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan discuss Black History Month. They look at how it’s celebrated at Walt Disney World and how and how it can be observed in schools. Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada and more recently has been observed in Ireland and the United Kingdom. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated in February in the United States and Canada, while in Ireland and the United Kingdom, it is observed in October.
On today’s show, Ryan and Howie share how Walt Disney World recognizes Black History Month through distinctive opportunities throughout the parks and Disney Springs. Disney calls this celebration, Celebrate Soulfully! The unique and diverse offerings range from Black artists and performers to beautiful music and delicious food. There are definitely many options and opportunities for guests to experience at least a small sampling and exposure to the rich and diverse Black and African-American cultures. The episode wraps up with Ryan sharing several ideas with educators on how they can bring lessons and projects into their classrooms that can also help teach students about Black History. As well as expose them to the wonderful culture and people that makeup such a large part of our American history foundation.
We hope you enjoyed our brief look at celebrating Black History Month and we hope we inspired you to celebrate and promote Black history in your classroom. Not only in February but all year long! Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Edmagineering Education Conference
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan welcome an old friend and a brand new friend to the show. Brian Collins is a former Imagineer who has worked with Ryan and Howie for almost eight years now and the three are uniting forces with an incredible educator named Erin King. Erin was on My Disney Class Podcast last year and she talked all about her passion for education and how she built a highly successful conference for teachers called The Happy Teacher Conference. Over the last year, Erin, Brian, Howie, and Ryan have been working behind the scenes to take the best parts of Erin’s The Happy Teacher Conference and the best parts of P.D. Magic and create a super boutique conference that is personalized for a wide variety of educators from all over the globe. This conference is now known as The Edmagineering Education Conference!
On today’s show, the group will discuss why we thought this partnership was a great idea and what our goals are in creating this new experience for educators. We will also discuss what the four-day event will entail and what we hope educators will get out of this highly immersive experience. We also may talk a little bit about the magic that is sure to happen when you combine educators, the world of education, and the most magical place in the world! We will also talk about ways to approach your administration about paying for and supporting your learning experience at the Edmagineering Education Conference and offer our support as needed.
We hope you enjoyed our announcement about our newest offering and hope you are just as excited as we are about attending The Edmagineering Education Conference, in Orlando from June 19th through June 22nd, as we are! Don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Best Educational Experiences At WDW
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan discuss some of their favorite educational attractions at Walt Disney World. Most people when they think of Disney, think of a place that is just for fun but it also has many attractions and programs that are geared toward learning about other cultures, the arts, and the environment. Not to mention that a lot of parents wonder if taking their kids out of school for a Disney World vacation is a good idea. You can save a ton of money if you visit WDW when school is in session but are the savings worth the time and work missed in school?
On today's show, Ryan and Howie will help tackle the question of whether or not you can find educational value in a trip to Walt Disney World. They will discuss several educational attractions and places you can visit that definitely have a solid foundation in all sorts of history, arts, communication, technology, etc. They will show that with some preparation and solid planning, you can easily justify the educational quality of a Disney World vacation primarily because Walt Disney valued children and especially their education and the company carries on that tradition.
We hope you enjoyed our discussion about educational attractions and things to do on your next Walt Disney World vacation. Like we always say, on every trip to WDW you will learn and find something new. Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Walt's Pilgrimage with Christopher Tremblay
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie welcome Dr. Christopher Tremblay to the show. Christopher currently serves as Director of Admissions & Recruiting for Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. He earned his doctorate of education in educational leadership from the University of Michigan in 2014 and has a post-master's certificate in enrollment management from Capella University. Christopher has also conducted national research on certifications in the fields of enrollment management, college admissions counseling, financial aid, and college access. He is also a Walt Disney scholar and teaches a college course based on the life of Walt Disney. Christopher has also published several books on the life of Walt Disney. These include Walt's Pilgrimage, Walt's Pilgrimage JR., The ABC's of Walt, Walt's Ancestors, and Walt of the Day.
On today's show, Christopher will talk with us about his love of Disney and specifically his passion for the journey Walt Disney took to create the world of Disney we know today. We learn about what lessons can be learned from the drive and determination Walt had and how we can turn that into lessons for ourselves and our students. Christopher will also talk with us about his college course that takes students across the country following Walt's footsteps until they reach the pinnacle of Walt's journey, Disneyland! Christopher ends the show discussing his personal train trip that will recreate Walt's journey and he also shares some answers to a quick round of Disney favorites questions.
We hope you enjoyed our chat with the amazing Dr. Christopher Tremblay! He really is following the footsteps of the great Walt Disney, in more ways than just the physical steps. Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie talk about the future of Disney now that Iger is back and making changes in the new year! We all make resolutions this time of year and Disney is no different. Howie and Ryan discuss some of these future predictions for the Disney company in 2023 and talk about why these may happen and what caused the need for the possible change.
On this show, Ryan and Howie dive deep into the articles that have been recently written and published about Bob Iger returning to his role as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. They also discuss how Bob Chapek fairly or unfairly gets blamed for the needed return of Bob Iger to right the Disney ship.
When you think about the CEO of a company and the Board of Directors that makes all these sweeping decisions that trickle down through the company, it's not hard to draw a parallel connection to how a Superintendent and the Board of Education work. There are two basic approaches to the style of leadership that a CEO or Superintendent can take. The first is a dictatorship, where the CEO can isolate themselves from the board and try to make all the decisions themselves, or the second choice is where they take a more democratic approach and work with the board. I think we all know which way tends to work best in our school districts and it's not really that different for major companies like Disney. Ryan and Howie speculate on how Mr. Chapek's approach and Mr. Iger's approaches to their management style differ and what that has led us to today in the Disney community and world while also influencing what might come from it as well. They will also share their personal hopes and wishes for 2023 to wrap it all up.
We hope you enjoyed our evaluation of Chapek and Disney's 2022, as well as our look to the future in 2023! We also would like to take this time to personally thank each and every one of our listeners and supporters. You made 2022 a year to remember and we can't wait to experience the magic of the My Disney Class community in 2023. Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie welcome back our favorite former Imagineer and education disruptor, Brian Collins! Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, to name a few. This is Brian's 6th time on the show and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3. If you want to hear about other educational ventures Brian has committed his talents, check out episode 22 of season 7.
On today's show though, Brian is here to discuss his recent European trip. Though this really wasn't a European vacation, like the Grizwalds took in the 80s, he did find some time between two speaking engagements to create some havoc and have some fun. One of the areas we focus on in today's show is Brian's time in Demark, where he spoke to 15 and 16-year-olds at a school. Brian's focus there was to help them understand the pursuit of the American dream and answer their probing questions about the U.S. culture. As you will see though, Brian shares with us all that he learned about them and their culture, as we compare the two countries and their values and thoughts on education and their careers beyond.
We hope you enjoyed our chat with the incredible Mr. Brian Collins! Just like Walt modeled, there is always something to learn from our travels and definitely the opportunity to refocus our perspectives. Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. Don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Iger With Your Nose So Bright!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan discuss the recent return of Bob Iger in his role as CEO of the Walt Disney CO. Bob Iger returned to The Walt Disney Company as Chief Executive Officer on November 20, 2022, shocking most all of us. He previously served as CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020, then Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board through 2021.
Over Mr. Iger's 15 years leading Disney, he was the steward of one of the world's largest media companies and some of the most respected and beloved brands around the globe. His strategic vision focused on three fundamental pillars: generating the best creative content possible; fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets worldwide He, for some of us, most notably enhanced Disney's storytelling with acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox.
Ryan and Howie will discuss what they think this means for the company and how leaders can sometimes take the fall for things that are out of their control. They will also discuss what this potentially doesn't mean for the company and how working with our own school and district leaders can show parallels to what Disney is experiencing with the rehiring of Bob Iger into his previous role as CEO.
We hope you enjoyed the discussion and opinions we had about the recent announcement of Mr. Iger returning to his role as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. There is always something to learn from Disney that we can bring to our professions as educators and how they handle their leadership positions is no exception. Don't forget, if you haven't already, to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan compare two of their recent trips. Howie went to Universal Studios in Orlando, yes you heard us right, Howie went to that place that shouldn't be mentioned! Just kidding, we love Universal too and as you will find out in this episode, Howie is warming up as well. On the other hand, Ryan traveled to Wisconsin to visit two schools that are implementing personalized learning with their middle school students and are doing quite innovative things.
Howie talks about his recent trip and compares the attractions at Universal and those at World Disney World. He talks about the costs, lines, theming, and much more. Some of you may be surprised at what he reveals that he believes that Universal is doing better than Disney. Ryan then ends this episode by sharing what is in the works at his school in the terms of choices his students will have next year in the different styles of personalized learning they will offer in four distinct academies at his school. To help him gather data and see successful systems already in place in schools utilizing the personalized learning approach, he traveled to two schools in Wisconsin. Both these schools are several years into this personalized learning journey and there are definitely some cool things happening at these schools.
We hope you enjoyed the comparisons made today in both theme parks and schools. Don't forget, if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Esterland with Maria Esterline.
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Ryan and Howie welcome back to the show, Maria Esterline. Maria is a very passionate educator that has been in education for 20 years. She has worked in various roles but is always on the mission to better education for all stakeholders, especially our children. Currently, Maria is working for the University of Florida teaching a few online classes with a future in-person class that she developed for the spring. She is also a full-time teacher at Kanapaha Middle School in Gainsville Florida. At Kanapaha, she is teaching 6th-grade math and loving being back in the classroom.
In this episode, Maria catches us up on her educational journey and how she is bringing the magic of Esterland to life for her 6th-grade students. She shares with us the power of building trust and community in a classroom and how that has impacted her classroom both academically and behaviorally. Maria gives us some insight and tools to create this magical environment in our classroom like the one she has developed and named Esterland for her students. You will also hear Maria's passion and heart for her students and education in general, which drives her to be the best educator she can be. Maria models this passion for excellence by continuing her learning at the University of Florida in classes that help her develop her teaching toolbox. She models what it takes to be a life-long learner by sharing the challenges and successes she has in her classes with her students. We believe you will feel Maria's love for her students and the educational system in today's podcast and we know that Maria will inspire you as much as she inspires us!
We hope you enjoyed hearing from our friend and incredible educator, Maria Esterline today. She definitely represents all that is good in education today. Don't forget, if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan discuss the upcoming Halloween season and how Disney and Universal help guests celebrate this spooky season. They also talk about how they celebrate the season personally and Ryan shares his experience with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They wrap up by comparing the Disney Dress code with various school districts and their dress codes for teachers.
Ryan and Howie share what their experiences have been with dress codes at their schools and they also share some pretty outrageous teacher dress codes from districts across the country. These conversations also lead them to discuss and consider gender-specific dress and respecting students' and even teachers' personal gender decisions. While both of them admit to being fairly naive to these types of situations, they both express the need for inclusion for all students and teachers.
We hope you enjoyed the tips and practices shared in today's episode and we definitely hope you have a safe and treat-filled Halloween! Don't forget, if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back to the show Jeff Bradbury. Jeff Bradbury is an ISTE Award Winning (2021) and globally-recognized educator, educational broadcaster, public speaker, and entrepreneur whose powerful message has inspired thousands of educators through the TeacherCast Educational Network. Jeff Bradbury is a Technology Integration Specialist and the creator of the TeacherCast Educational Network. Jeff currently works in Norwalk Public Schools where he created and teaches a Broadcast Journalism and Technology curriculum that introduces students to marketing, app development, podcasting, and live broadcasting at West Rocks Middle School.
On this episode though, Jeff isn't here to just talk educational technology or even about his wonderful Teachercast Network. Instead Jeff is here to talk to us about the DAS program that he recently used on his family trip to WDW. The DAS program is designed for people that have a disability to ensure they have an equal opportunity to enjoy the parks just as much as someone without a disability can. Even though most of this episode is about DAS and Jeff's family trip, we are educators, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to talk a little educational shop with this incredible educator. So we ask Jeff to catch us up on what he's been up to in his educational life and we also talk a little innovation with him as well.
We hope you enjoyed catching up with Jeff as much as we did. If you would like to connect with Jeff, check out the link to his website in the show notes below. Also if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan discuss ways that they and their students stay in the creative idea zone! If you look up the definition of creativity, you will indeed find something that references using your imagination to create a new idea. Most of the time this creation is something artistic in nature. While this is true for artistic endeavors, a definition like that doesn't seem to do creativity justice to the actual broadness and scope that it entails. After all, creativity is found in far more places than on canvas, within the pages of a book, or across the keys of a piano. Creativity drives us to not only create but to innovate. Ultimately, that is what we do on a daily basis as educators and it's what we want our students to do as well.
In today's episode, Ryan and Howie will share some tips and practices that they use both on themselves and with their students. A lot of these practices are either taken from Imagineers that have shared them in various places and books or they are ideas that Howie and Ryan have come up with themselves that personally help them stay in the creative idea zone.
We hope you enjoyed the tips and practices shared in today's episode. We hope that there is at least one or two that you will find useful for yourself or your students, maybe even both! Don't forget, if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
Starting The Year The Edmagineering Way!
In today's episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome back our Disney partner in crime, Brian Collins! Brian has been on the podcast many times and for good reason. He is a former Imagineer, he is an educator, currently works in several fields bringing innovation to a multitude of problems, and well, he's our friend.
On today's show, Brian is here to give us some inspiration and ideas on how we can bring innovation
and creativity into our classroom this year. He not only gives us great ideas but does so in his typical Imagineering way, through fun and great stories!
We hope you enjoyed our visit with our favorite former Imagineer. We here at My Disney Class Podcast, wish all of you an incredible and wonderful school year and like always let us know if we can help make your year anymore wonderful, we love to help bring magic to education! Also if you haven't already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don't forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan reflect back on the summer and share three memories from that summer that stand out to them. They also look forward to the new season of My Disney Class Podcast, Season 8. So many good memories and more to come for sure!
As we start year 8 of the My Disney Class Podcast, we want to take a moment and thank all of you who are part of our listener community. Whether you started today with this episode or have been here since Season 1, Episode 1, we really appreciate you joining in and helping to strengthen this wonderful and supportive group. Also if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today's episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are again coming to you from Walt Disney World. Ryan, Howie, and Brian have wrapped up another successful P.D. Magic experiential learning trip with some incredible educators from all over the world. They spent five days visiting all four parks and doing a monorail edu. resort crawl with the group. They immersed themselves in the magic and discovered how to take that magic back to their districts, schools, and most importantly to their students.
In this final episode of season 7 of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are sharing with you their final thoughts on the trip, as well as sharing with you are participants' reflections from the last day. On our final day, the group has a farewell lunch to say our goodbyes, reflect, and share our final takeaways and inspirations that we are going to take back to our schools. These reflections were recorded during this time at Sauti's Canteen in Animal Kingdom, so please excuse the background noises.
We hope you enjoy today's show as we share the thoughts and reflections of our incredible educators that joined us on our 2022 P.D. Magic trip. If this sounds like something you or your teacher friends may be interested in doing next year, make sure to check back on our webpage for details starting in the fall. Also remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already fantastic community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today's episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are coming to you live, well not really live, but they record this episode on location at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. About halfway through PD Magic, Howie and Ryan ask Brian Collins and Daniel McComb to join them after their third day in the parks and do a round table discussion about the day's events.
The table will share some of their favorite moments from our PD Magic tour of the Magic Kingdom and they will also talk about what they learned and how they plan on utilizing those inspirations in their classrooms next year. There is definitely a lot that can be learned in the fertile imagination space of the Magic Kingdom!
We hope you enjoy today's show "live" from the Magic Kingdom! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already fantastic community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today’s My Disney Class Podcast episode, Howie and Ryan welcome their good friend Brian Collins. As most of you know by now Brian works with us to help bring magic and pixie dust to the world of education. Some of you
might not know that Brian continues to branch out into many other areas of education and technology with several different companies and groups.
These groups with Brian are doing so many innovative things that we had to have him on to share all the exciting things coming down the pipe. One of those organizations Brian is working with is called the Enzo Institute and Brian and representatives from that company took a trip to Dubai recently to take part in a global conference called Expo 2020. Brian will discuss this trip in today’s episode and share what his takeaways were as well as share what
he feels is the future of education based on his global view. For those of you that don’t know Brian, come on what’s that matter with you, just kidding but here’s a quick background on Brian. Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 5th time on the show, sixth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
We hope that you enjoy our conversation with Brian and if you have any questions or want to connect with any of us, including Brian, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Looking Forward To Summer Magic! In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie discuss what they are looking forward to this summer. To say that this school year has been a tough one is a major understatement and looking forward to reenergizing and filling the tank back up is not something that an educator should be bashful about. In fact, this time of year for educators is a vital part of helping them be the best educators they can be in the upcoming Fall.
Howie and Ryan will both share their top 5 things, plus or minus, that they are looking forward to and hoping to accomplish this summer. You will of course hear about their upcoming Disney trips, P.D. Magic, as well as things other than Disney that they do to help them unwind. They even share a few hopes they have to learn a few new things to better themselves and grow in their time off.
We hope you enjoy today’s show about Ryan and Howie’s hopes and dreams for this summer and we hope that you too will find time to relax and unwind. We all know you deserve it and need it! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already fantastic community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Devan Lewis to the show. Devan is a middle school STEM teacher at McFarland School that really strives to foster the principles and passions found in most Disney Imagineers.
Devan shares with us where her passion for Disney and specifically Disney Imagineers comes from and shares why she feels this passion is key to create a classroom of creatives. Devan also shares the story of how and why her Principal allowed her to actually create a whole class and curriculum based on Disney Imagineering and how that class has grow and developed into several classes now.
Devan also shares with us several of her projects that she’s done with her students including a visual storytelling project that ends with the students creating a diorama that tells the story completely about a character by only using the visuals in the diorama. This is a really awesome project and wait until you hear about one little girls project and the details she used to tell her story. Devan also shares a few other projects she’s done or is planning on doing. We are sure you will find them as inspiring as we do and maybe you too will be encouraged to bring some Imagineering into your classroom.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and as always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie discuss how Walt motivated his Imagineers and other staff. Of course we all have some experience with either needing motivation, having to motivate, or wishing for believers in our work in education. In our discussion today, let’s look at some of the traits that has been reported about Walt Disney and see if we can make some connections and grabs some inspiration for our own schools and staff!
In this episode, Howie and Ryan will share what they have found in their research and readings about Walt. They share first hand accounts from legends like Bob Gurr and Rolly Crump about what they observed Walt doing that embodied great leadership and motivated the best out of his employees. Ryan and Howie will also share their personal stories and thoughts on motivation and embracing change as well.
We hope you enjoy today’s show about learning to inspire through a reflective lens of how Walt Disney lead. Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Lisa Funke to the show. Lisa is currently working for the Glenview Public School District as the LRC Director. LRC Directors are in charge of planning, organizing, and directing all activities for the Learning Resource Center at schools. This is the evolution of what we used to call libraries at schools but now offer our students so much more than books! Lisa works specifically at Glen Grove School which is a 3 through 5th-grade intermediate school. One of Lisa’s favorite parts of her job is getting to create and facilitate lessons about various topics for students.
On today’s show, Lisa will share with us her journey in education which includes starting at a Community College for two years before transferring to Bradley University which led her to her educational learning home National Louis University. Lisa also shares with us where she developed her passion for Disney and how she utilizes what she loves about Disney to help enrich her students’ learning.
Lisa is also joining Howie, Ryan, and Brian at P.D. Magic this summer and she shares why she needed to go and what she is looking forward to. She shares what her biggest hopes are for the trip as well as what she plans to do with the inspiration she gains the following school year. We can’t wait to have Lisa back to share with our listeners what she’s learned and what she’s doing with all the learning she gained from the trip. Look for her return in Season 8 with all the details!
We hope you enjoy today’s show and find Lisa as amazing as we do! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
Putting the F back in education
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing how to put the FUN back in education! This is no April fools joke, these last couple of years have been really tough in the educational world, tougher than are normal challenging years. This is why Howie and Ryan thought on this April fools day it was fitting to discuss the importance of having fun in school for both the students and the teachers. They also share ways and techniques that can help educators create a fun environment as well as fun activities and strategies that can be used.
Ryan and Howie are pretty sure we can all agree that the Disney parks are extremely fun. They are wildly immersive and for the most part, all the attractions tell a great story that can live on in our lives long after the thrills of the rides have faded from our memories. Further, Disney seeks to entertain and educate, so not only do guests get these amazing experiences they remember for a lifetime but after they leave there is almost always something about their visit that inspires them. We hope that this show can also act as an inspiration for you and be that spark that helps you continue to create fun and engaging lessons for your students and staff.
We hope you enjoy today’s show about some of the different ways you can bring the magic of fun into your classroom or buildings. Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie is turning the tables on his partner in crime, Ryan. Ryan Boeckman, who started this wild ride of an adventure with Howie almost 8 years ago, is a middle school science teacher in St. Louis Missouri. He has been recognized as an outstanding science and mathematics teacher by the St. Louis Science Center and has been teaching in public schools for a little over 20 years. Obviously, he loves Disney and has been working most of his 20 plus years in education incorporating what he has learned from studying the Walt Disney Company and the man Walt Disney himself, into his classroom practices.
On today’s show, Howie will be asking all the questions and Ryan is answering them, all about his past, education path, love of Disney, and how he met Howie and started this crazy dream of helping education as a whole by bringing the magic! Though this episode hits a lot of the high points and interesting markers of Ryan’s career, there is obviously a lot more to his story. On today’s show, we just scratch the surface in hopes that this will help you our listeners, some long time and some brand new, get to know one of the hosts just a little bit better.
We do really hope that you enjoy hearing a little bit more in-depth background on Ryan and of course remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing various lessons that Howie has created for our P.D. Magic experiential field trip. These lessons were developed to help our participants familiarize themselves with the Disney terminology and some of the systems that Disney uses. This familiarity allows them to get comfortable with the concepts and educational ties that we will be using on-site at Walt Disney World. We then take that foundation and start to develop our participants' ability to see the world of education through a different lens.
Howie and Ryan spend the majority of this show going through different lessons topics and sharing how they would approach answering and using this information in their educational lives. They also share a lot of their favorite hidden details and magic that Walt Disney Imagineers have hidden in plain sight. They really love to share the Disney secrets that they have discovered and you will definitely pick up on that in this episode as they dive deep into some of these awesome details you can find in the various parks!
We hope you enjoy today’s show about some of the different lessons and details that the online classes for P.D. Magic cover. Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
Design, Disney, and Library Anthropology with Sarah Beals Sager
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Sarah Beals Sager to the show. Ryan met Sarah through a mutual Disney friend, Dr. Cody Havard, a couple of years ago. They both sat on a panel that discussed Marvel and fandom for Dr. Harvard’s University of Memphis class. After hearing Sarah talk about her fandom for Marvel, her passion for Disney, and the work she does as a library anthropologist, Ryan knew he had to ask her to come on the My Disney Class Podcasts. Today she graciously made time in her busy schedule to talk with us. Speaking of her busy schedule, listen to this! Sarah recently completed two masters’ degrees at the same time from the University of Denver. One in library and informational services and the other in anthropology. Sarah already has nine years of creative branding and marketing experience that she roots firmly in research. She originally was trained as a digital artist and has a passion, that she admits to having adopted from her dad, for the importance of organization. Sarah has worked for Disney, at Walt Disney World, twice. Once through the college program and then later she came back to work in custodial and in cosmetology. She currently is an entrepreneur and is currently being contracted out by Disney to work her library anthropology magic!
On today’s show, Sarah will share with us her passion for Disney and wanting to work in the creative side of theme parks as well as her journey from the Disney college program to working as an independent contractor for Disney. She will also discuss the importance of choice in creating learning environments both in museums, theme parks, and classrooms. Sarah will also discuss how she does and would use her background to help make theme parks more engaging!
We believe you are going to love hearing Sarah’s unique journey and perspective on learning environments, organization, engagement, and fun! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
Play Me Some Disney Music!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie continue where they left off spotlighting the importance of music to tell and drive a story. Remember educators are master storytellers and the great ones are able to excite and utilize all the audiences’ senses. Music can be very motivating and emotional for audiences and educators can use that to their advantage just like Walt Disney and the Walt Disney company do in their movies, t.v. shows, attractions, and pretty much everything it puts out.
On today’s show, Howie and Ryan will cover the music in the two other main Disney parks down in Orlando Florida, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. They will both share what some of their favorite music tracks are from these two parks and also share some hidden Disney magic that you can find with these songs as well.
They wrap up this two-part series, sharing ways that you can utilize Disney music or any type of music in your classroom to help engage and teach your students. Remember music is a big part of driving the story for Disney and music can be a big part of driving your storyline in the classroom!
We hope you enjoy today’s show about the power of music and find a few ways that you can utilize that power in your classroom. Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
Remembering a GREAT Interview with a REPEAT of Lee Cockerell Interview
Today on the show, Ryan and Howie welcome an extraordinary guest to the show, Lee Cockerell. Lee is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. As the Senior Operating Executive for then years Lee led a team of 40,000 cast members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shipping and entertainment village and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations which supported the number one vacation destination in the world.
Lee has written four books, Creating Magic, The Customer Rules, Time Management Magic, and Creating Career Magic. All of which are packed full of golden nuggets that will be sure to inspire and encourage you to develop habits that will lead to a vast growth in your teaching or educational field. They can also be great sources for your students as they grow into their roles of leadership and future paths. One of Lee’s major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies which was used to train and develop the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World. Many of these strategies are shared in Lee’s books mentioned above but today we are lucky enough to have him on the show and sharing his wisdom with us and how these strategies can help educators and students both achieve the greatness we are all capable of.
We know you are going to love today’s show as we hear stories and lessons that Lee has learned over his wonderful career in customer service and leadership roles. Lee is a marvelous storyteller, would you expect anything else from a Disney rockstar, and very passionate about making a positive impact on the world he lives in. Lee is a man that does what he says he’s going to do and shows time after time again that he lives by the advice he gives.
Let’s all sing like the birdies sing!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan spotlight the importance of music to tell and drive a story. Remember educators are master storytellers and the great ones are able to excite and utilize all the audiences’ senses. Music can be very motivating and emotional for audiences and educators can use that to our advantage just like Walt Disney and the Walt Disney company do in their movies, t.v. shows, attractions, and pretty much everything it puts out.
On today’s show, Ryan and Howie will take you through a few innovative ways to use music in your classroom to help provoke images and feelings in your students that will hopefully help them move the concepts you are teaching from their brain to their heart, where it will stay forever. Howie and Ryan also will go through two of the four parks in this episode, discussing their favorite ways Disney has used music in their attractions. In this episode, they only get through Magic Kingdom and E.P.C.O.T. but promise to come back next month and finish the other two parks off.
We hope you enjoy today’s show about the power of music and find a few ways that you can utilize that power in your classroom. Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
If you would like the PDF of “This is my story-This is my song”….email Howie@frontier.net and he will email you the PDF FILE
Happy Teacher with Erin King
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Erin King to the show. Erin is currently fulfilling the role of Program analyst for continuous improvement in the Fulton County School District. Fulton County School District is in Atlanta GA and serves approximately 94,000 students that attend classes in 58 elementary schools, 19 middle schools, 15 high schools, and seven charter schools. Erin also supports teachers with inspiration via her InspirED blog at inspirededucation.info, the podcast Teacher’s Pep Rally, and a workshop series called The Happy Teacher.
On today’s show, Erin shares with us how and when her passion for Disney started and how she turned that passion into an incredible teacher workshop themed after the Seven Dwarfs, hence the name Happy Teacher! Erin’s workshops, which are on location down at Walt Disney World, help teachers reignite their passion for education and the profession of teaching. She explains how she capitalizes on being so close to the Most Magical Place on Earth to inspire, recharge, and encourage her participating teachers to start having fun again in their classrooms.
Erin also discusses on the show her work in the Fulton County Schools and how she brings a little bit of the Magic with her into each building she enters. She also shares with us how she has and has seen Disney being used in classrooms that will definitely make you Happy. Erin is an incredible educator and we are sure you will enjoy hearing about her passion and Disney fandom as she continues to inspire and make us all a little less Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and a little more Happy and a lot more like the Doc’s of Education we all know we are.
We hope you enjoy today’s show and find Erin as rejuvenating and uplifting as we do! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
I’m Dreaming of a Disney Christmas
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan discuss their Disney dreams this holiday season. This includes several recent D23 Destination D announcements about upcoming attractions and events at Walt Disney World and the other Disney theme parks. Ryan and Howie really are excited for the future of the Disney Parks and both can’t wait to get back and experience all the new adventures Disney is creating for all of us. They definitely can’t wait to find all the connections these new attractions will create for the world of education and our students!
While Howie and Ryan, have done shows like this in the past and have echoed the following statement before, they feel that it’s worth repeating today that their best holiday gift this season is the wonderful My Disney Class community that has been blessed with all the great educators, like yourself, that continue to create classroom magic every day. Ryan and Howie do share other gifts that they are looking forward to, and even some classroom tools that may be worth exploring that could make your teaching life a little easier.
We hope you enjoy this holiday-themed episode but more than that we hope you have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy some time off from school or work. Thank you again for making My Disney Class such a positive learning community and we look forward to growing even more in the new year
As always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Emily Gathman. Emily is a 6th grade Science teacher at Bussey Middle School in Garland Texas. She loves to inspire her students to be creative problem-solvers as they tackle real-world Science and engineering problems in her classroom.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Emily Gathman. Emily is a 6th grade Science teacher at Bussey Middle School in Garland Texas. She loves to inspire her students to be creative problem-solvers as they tackle real-world Science and engineering problems in her classroom. Emily was recognized in 2021 as the Bussey Middle School's, Teacher of the year which as you will see in this episode is truly well deserved!
On the show, Emily will share with us how she has incorporated the lessons that she has learned from Disney as well as what brings her inspiration from Disney into her classroom for her students. This ranges from how she has designed physical things in her classroom to how she uses inspirational quotes. For example, Emily helps her students handle failures they encounter in her class by using the quote,” Failure is not an endpoint but a jumping-off point.” She combines this quote with stories about how Walt Disney himself overcame many failures. We think you will agree as you listen to Emily describe her classroom that she is definitely inspiring her students to be innovators, just like Uncle Walt!
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and as always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie pick up where they left off a month ago when they were discussing Walt’s original Florida Project and plan to make E.P.C.O.T. the heart of everything that was going to go on in central Florida. In this episode, Howie and Ryan start at the solemn point of Walt’s death and how the company and Roy had to decide on what to do next. Do they continue with Walt’s vision for E.P.C.O.T. or do they try to do something more familiar that they already have a blueprint for?
Howie and Ryan will then look at what E.P.C.O.T. turned into and the attractions available on opening day. They will discuss what can be learned from this path the company took and how education, creativity, innovation, and discovery were and maybe will be again the heart of the park E.P.C.O.T. Furthermore, they will discuss what the future has been promised to look like by Disney for this park and what their hopes are for what this special park will become.
We hope you enjoy this exploration of why the vision and plan for E.P.C.O.T. changed and what the future of E.P.C.O.T. looks like. We hope you also gleaned some of the parallel connections between Walt’s vision, what E.P.C.O.T. has become and how we can apply that to our schools and classrooms. E.P.C.O.T. has always been a very inspirational place and we know here at My Disney Class that there are tons of mini E.P.C.O.T. classrooms all over that are inspiring the next Walt Disney to grow and develop and dream! Keep up the great work and remember that even if the path has to change, keep what’s important, our students, at the heart of everything we do as educators.
As always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
Getting Primed with Michael Crawford
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome Michael Crawford to the show. Michael is currently a show writer at the Walt Disney Company and has also written for The Walt Disney Family Museum, The Disney Archives, Imagineering, and D23! In this episode, he will guide us through how his passion for Disney started for him and how that led to him creating a very popular blog called Progress City, USA. This blog is what would eventually find its way to Diane Disney Miller and help him make other contacts and connections that led to Michael writing and working for all those incredible Disney groups listed above.
Michael has also written a book called, The Progress City Primer. His book is filled with a cornucopia of Disney stories that span topics like Walt’s life, the wonderfully weird stories of Disney, and the Disney that never was. On the show, Michael shares with us some of his favorite stories from his book and the details behind them and even how he did his research to gather all these great stories.
Michael also has a podcast that he does with his brother that is bi-monthly called Progress City Radio Hour and if you enjoyed hearing Michael’s stories on our podcasts, and I know you did, then you should go check out his podcast as well as he shares even more stories and deeper dives into the wonderful world of Disney!
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and as always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
Planning for the Community of Tomorrow!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie take a deep dive into Walt Disney’s plans for the Experimental, Prototype, Community of Tomorrow (E.P.C.O.T) or what later would be labeled as Progress City. This was an unfinished concept for a planned community developed by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises in the 1960s. Its purpose was to be a “real city that would never cease to be a living blueprint of the future,” building on the latest technology and innovation from American industry this project would be the central component of Disney’s “Florida Project,” a massive property of undeveloped swampland located between Orlando and Kissimmee Florida.
In this episode, which will be part 1 of a two-part series, Howie and Ryan will talk through what they believe Walt’s vision was for the “Florida Project,” and why he wanted to make this his next great adventure and legacy. They will then dive deeper into what his plans were for the land his company was buying in Florida. Including the airport of the future, the E.P.C.O.T industrial park, E.P.C.O.T. the city, and even Walt’s reluctance to build another Disneyland / Magic Kingdom on this land.
We hope you enjoy this exploration of Walt’s vision for the E.P.C.O.T. that would unfortunately never be seen and we hope that you will join us on November 1st as we continue this topic. In part 2, we will pick up where we left off and discuss what happened after Walt’s death, why the vision and plan for E.P.C.O.T. changed and what the future of E.P.C.O.T. looks like. As always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Megan Zimdars to the show. Megan is in her 6th year teaching and is currently working with 4th graders at Boswell Elementary in Lebanon MO. Megan teaches Social Studies and ELA and does so in some of the most magical ways all in a classroom that is themed wonderfully to inspire students of all ages!
On today’s show, Megan will share with us her story of how she became an educator and also how she became a Disney fan. We then hear how she combines these two passions to create engaging lessons and environments that her students love. Megan talks about how she decorates her classroom and why that is important and shares that this year she has a classroom that is castle-themed, awesome!
Megan also talks about how she divides her students up into houses, think Harry Potter, but instead of Gryffindor or Slytherin, Megan uses the four parks of Walt Disney World! She also will share some of the lessons she has used integrating the magic of Disney, like teaching Geography and culture using the pavilions at EPCOT.
Too far from Disney to have your students experience the park, you say? Wish you could bring your students to the magic? Well, Megan has figured that out too. She will share how she worked with our own Brian Collins to take her students on a virtual field trip to the most magical place on Earth.
We hope you enjoy today’s show and find Megan as magical and inspirational as we do! Remember, if you like the show and want to help us spread the word about it and build our already amazing community, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!
Howie and Ryan look at how Walt Disney approached taking risks and jumping into new things throughout his life. Just like teachers all over the world are doing right now as they start the New Year in their schools. As we discuss all the ups and downs of Walt’s journey to creating a magical escape that we all love and enjoy, we think you will find similarities in those ups and downs to the ones we all face as educators.
In today’s show, we will start the discussion and timeline of Walt’s life right around World War 1, when Walt traveled overseas to help out in the war effort any way he could. Even if this means he needed to lie about his age to go. We then discuss his first failed company, Laugh-O-Grams studio, and follow Walt out to California where he had dreams of being a director but eventually opened up the Disney Bros Studios.
Ryan and Howie will take turns sharing what they know about these stories and what they each have learned from Walt’s challenges, risks, and perseverance. Hopefully, we can all learn how taking risks, working hard, persevering, and ultimately jumping into, specifically, our profession of education, can reap big rewards.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode as we take a look back at Walt’s life and we also hope you can find the inspiration you may need to take that leap this new school year and create the magic for your students that we know you can! As always, we would love for you to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. If you have any feedback or would like to come on the show, please email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com, and don’t forget to join our Facebook community at Educators Who Love Disney
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome back the Director of CTE at Georgetown ISD, Bretton Schulz. For the last show of Season 6, we had Bretton on and shared some interviews Howie did with some of the students in Bretton’s CTE program but we ran out of time to hear everything Bretton had to share about the incredible program and we had a couple more student interviews we knew you would want to hear as well. So we’ve invited Bretton back and we are finishing our discussion about what CTE is like at Georgetown ISD and we are going to share a few more student interviews and stories.
In this second part of the interview, Bretton finishes discussing the many different pathways students can take in their CTE program and what some of the highlights are for each of them. He also discusses how these students have had doors opened to them in both the college and career paths they are on because of the education and hands-on experiences they received in these CTE classes. Bretton will also share some of the work they are doing to form partnerships with community businesses and other support they receive from their community. Plus, after we finish hearing from Bretton, we get to hear from two more Georgetown ISD students doing great things in their CTE pathway!
You definitely won’t want to miss this show as it is packed with stories of great educators and incredible students doing awesome things in CTE. Also, don’t forget to go back and download and listen to our previous podcasts that are also packed with great stories from previous guests and lots of Disney fun and facts.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan look at integrating career exposure and guidance into classroom teaching. Just think about all the different types of storytellers there are just working for Disney Imagineering. There are engineers of all kinds of course but they only make up a small number nowadays in the vast careers that help make the magic. Other Imagineering jobs include writers of all kinds, color and palate specialists, agricultural specialists, painters, graphic designers, the list goes on and on.
So what are we as educators doing to help expose students to all the careers out there besides the doctors, lawyers, baseball players, etc? Are we showing students that you don’t have to make it to the major leagues to be part of professional baseball? What about being a Pitchcast Operator, Statcast 3D Operator, Communications Coordinator, Data Scientists. These are all current jobs listed to be filled by major league baseball. So you get the point, there are more opportunities than we think students know about and we think that it’s part of our jobs as educators to expose them to those opportunities.
So whether you have a passion for working for Disney, Major League Baseball, or whatever career, there is a way that you can become part of that story. We just need to make sure our students understand this, so they can see the possibilities and find the drive to work towards a career in their passion.
As we start year 7 of the My Disney Class Podcast, we want to take a moment and thank all of you who are part of our listener community. Whether you started today with this episode or have been here since Season 1, Episode 1, we really appreciate you joining in and helping to strengthen this wonderful and supportive group. Also if you haven’t already, remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome the Director of CTE at Georgetown ISD, Bretton Schulz. For those of you that may not know, CTE stands for Career and Technical Education. At Georgetown ISD they describe their CTE program as one that uses integrated instruction and curricula, current technologies, and state-of-the-art equipment. They also have business partnerships, creating a learning environment that empowers all their students to enter the constantly changing workforce. So as you can see, this is more than the old school shop classes that CTE has evolved from. Though we love a good shop class and the hands-on experiences that it provides, CTE has grown from not only giving students the opportunity to use their hands to create but they now do it with purpose and geared toward a specific career. Ryan and Howie have always expressed their passion for Disney Imagineers and how they create the magic but Imagineering too has changed and evolved over time and is very similar to CTE as there are vast many jobs and skills needed by lots of different careers and fields to help bring the magic to the Disney parks. Who knows, there may be future Imagineers in Georgetown ISD’s CTE programs right now as we speak or one or two in your school’s CTE program. You never know!
Speaking of those students, Howie was able to meet a few of Georgetown ISD's finest. They were gracious enough to answer a few questions and share some of the incredible stories about what they have accomplished during their time in the CTE program and even discuss some of the competitions they have been and are currently in. You’ll even hear from one student that just placed 1st in the nation in her culinary event!
You definitely won’t want to miss this show as it is packed with stories of great educators and incredible students doing awesome things in CTE. Also, don’t forget to go back and download and listen to our previous podcasts that are also packed with great stories from previous guests and lots of Disney fun and facts.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are waving their flags in celebration of the fourth of July! They love the good ol’ USA and so did Mr. Walt Disney himself! Walt was quoted saying, “Actually, if you could see close in my eyes, the American flag is waving in both of them, and up my spine is growing this red, white and blue stripe.”
In the show today, Ryan and Howie are going to talk about Walt’s passion for American History, especially that of one President Abraham Lincoln, and how Walt’s passion is represented in the parks today. There are so many examples of references to American history that it’s impossible to discuss them all in one show but Howie and Ryan are going to limit themselves to just some of their favorites. They will talk about Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, and of course Liberty Square. Hopefully, you will hear some hidden magic that you didn’t know and you will for sure hear how American history is honored throughout the parks.
Happy 4th of July to all our listeners who celebrate it and remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better and will give us the fireworks we need to help make My Disney Class Podcast be the best it can be!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome their partner and pal, Brian Collins back to the show to participate in some summer dreaming! Howie was inspired by a song in the 2008 Tinkerbell Album titled, “Come Fly With Me” and in this song is a line about dreams. So on today’s show, Howie, Ryan, and Brian are going to share what their childhood dreams were and what dreams they have now for their futures and the future of My Disney Class.
You will hear how Howie originally thought he would run one or all of his dad’s four companies. Ryan shares how he used to create an amusement park in his backyard for the neighborhood kids and Brian gives us a glimpse at when the first seed was planted on his path to becoming a Disney Imagineer. Also in this episode, there will be some behind-the-scenes peeks at what we are hoping to pull off for our My Disney Class community. Whether that’s future guests for our podcasts or future P.D. Magic trips, we're excited about what the future holds and we hope that you are too!
Remember to join the fun and supportive community we have in our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney, and don’t forget to rate and review our podcast on Apple music. Your support and feedback will only make us better and will give us our bearings as we start navigating the future waters of these dreams.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie’s dreams of summer vacation are becoming real, and with that comes a fun list of to-dos to do! So in this episode, Howie and Ryan are sharing their plans for this summer and giving their thoughts on what teachers should make time to do this summer as well.
These suggestions run the gamut from organizing your classroom to bingeing your favorite Disney + shows and movies. Though after the year we all had, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention taking some time for self-care and reenergizing.
We also look at how some summer planning for school can be beneficial for the year that’s coming up and how you can take advantage of your summertime to find professional development that you actually are interested in and find value in. As well as using some of that summer free time to think about making some changes to your classroom. Whether that’s physical changes, organizing and changing the layout, or maybe philosophical changes. Either way, My Disney Class has you covered and we can’t wait to get to the summertime fun. Like Olaf says, “Winter is a good time to stay in and cuddle but put me in summer and I’ll be a HAPPY SNOWMAN!”
Hope everyone enjoys this brief look into Ryan and Howie’s summer plans and we hope you have some great summer plans as well. Please head over to our Facebook group, Educators Who Love Disney, and tell us all about them.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Kevin Roughton. Kevin is a middle school history teacher at Jurupa Middle School in Jurupa Valley CA not too far from Disneyland! He is an educational speaker, author, and was also selected as an Outstanding Middle School Educator of California Counsel For The Social Studies. Let’s just put it this way, he’s a great educator and he’s on a mission to share his experiences and Disney and gamification to help better our profession.
In the show today, you will hear how passionate Kevin is for his students and for the educational profession. He explains how he has been working on creating a classroom that is fully immersive and engaging to students while still providing a challenging curriculum that inspires his students to not just be observers of history but actual participants. From day one in his classroom, students are shown how they are historians as Kevin has created a theme and story, masterfully, that is carried throughout the school year. Kevin also shares with us how he fell back in love with Disney, specifically Disneyland and the Imagineers that make the magic. He talks us through this journey and how it has shaped his instructional practices.
Through this journey of improving his practice, Kevin decided while listening to an Imagineering presentation, that he should write all of what he has learned and gleaned from Disney down in a book so others could benefit in their instructional practices. This book is near completion and should be available this summer. The title of the book is Teach With Magic. Use Disney Imagineering Techniques To Make Your Classroom The Most Engaging Place On Earth!
Both Howie and Ryan got a sneak peek at his book and we can tell you that you are not going to want to miss this opportunity to hear Kevin share what he has learned from Disney through his actual life stories and experiences in the classroom.
We hope you enjoyed hearing Kevin’s story as much as we enjoyed talking to him and like always make sure you leave us a review in Apple Music or wherever you listen to this podcast and also come join in on the fun and share your educational experiences with us over on our Facebook group, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are dreaming of those lazy summer days just around the corner but with that comes the reality that school is not out yet. The last month of school can be really challenging for us educators and also for our students! In this episode, Howie and Ryan discuss activities, tips, and lessons learned that will hopefully help you tackle those last few weeks of school and leave you with enough energy to enjoy that well-deserved Disney vacation.
We all know that Disney has the ability to wow its guests and captivate customers for decades. Did you know that Disney’s return rate for visitors to its parks is around 70%, that’s incredible! Don’t you wish we could get 70% engagement and loyalty from our students, especially in the last few weeks of school? Well, in this episode, we will take a look at some of the things Disney does and try and see if we can apply those techniques to our classrooms to make those last few weeks of the school year just as engaging and enjoyable as the rest of the year.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope you know that the My Disney Class community is always here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Whether you need help with a lesson plan or idea or you are just looking for someone to listen and support you, we are here. While Ryan and Howie will be the first ones to tell you they don’t have all the answers, they will definitely try to bring Magic to you in any way they can.
Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney-loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Jaime Williams to the show. Jaime is originally from Albertville, AL.
Her research interests are in the areas of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources with a primary focus on how personality characteristics, especially aggression, can have a detrimental effect on a firm or on other people within an organization. Her dissertation is titled, “The Inclusion of Aggressive Personality as an Antecedent of Abusive Supervision.” As that isn’t impressive enough, Jaime is a big Disney fan too! This puts her high on our list of course of educators that are doing incredible things that we think you need to hear about.
On the show today, you are going to hear Jaime talk about how she uses Disney in the classes that she teaches at the University of Mississippi. That’s right, in her spare time, insert cough and chuckle here, she is an instructor in the Business School at the University. We think you are really going to enjoy her examples and reasonings to why Disney is such a great model for teaching business and HR concepts that her students need to learn so they can be successful in the corporate world. Being the Disney fan she is, Jaime has some really good examples that she’s backed up with loads of research and facts that even us veteran Disney fans might not have known about!
We loved hearing her passion for education and had fun discussing her Disney fandom as well and we think you will too.
Shereceived her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, History, and English from Ashland University and an MBA at the University of North Alabama. She is currently finishing up her Doctoral program at the University of Mississippi.
As always remember to keep the conversation going over on our Facebook group Educators Who Love Disney and don’t forget if you like the show or any of our episodes, head over to Apple Music and rate and review our podcast. This helps get the word out to other educators and we would love to continue to grow our wonderful community.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie look to help educators who are still teaching remotely or may teach remotely from time to time. On the March 1st show, Howie and Ryan tried to tackle the difficult task of teaching in the new normal of social distancing, face masks, no group work, etc. that educators all over the world are trying to adjust to. They attempted to take a couple of their hands-on lessons from their book Designing Disney Inspired Classrooms and convert them to lessons that could be done in these new conditions all while still keeping the engagements, expectations, and fun at a high level. They both hope they achieved that and if you listened to the show, they hope that you walked away with a couple of ideas or at least a feeling that your not alone in these struggles!
On today’s show, Howie and Ryan pick up with this idea of teaching in a new normal and adjusting lessons to fit new restrictions. This time they tackle updating lessons to be taught in the virtual world remotely, both asynchronous and synchronous. They again choose lessons from their book, this time a few new ones, and attempt to modify them to be done remotely through Zoom or whatever online platform you use. Ryan also speaks about his personal experience teaching the last year all virtual and is open about the successes and failures he experienced.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope you know that the My Disney Class community is always here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Whether you need help with a lesson plan or idea or you are just looking for someone to listen and support you, we are here. While Ryan and Howie will be the first ones to tell you they don’t have all the answers, they will definitely try to bring Magic to you in any way they can.
Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney-loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode, Ryan and Howie welcome back author and friend Lou Prosperi to talk about his new book Telling Your Story the Walt Disney World Way. This is his third book in the series that started with The Imagineering Pyramid and was followed by The Imagineering Process. Before writing these books, Lou worked in the game industry for over ten years as a freelance game designer and writer where he worked on the creation of a role-playing game called Eathrdawn. Currently, Lou works as a technical writer and instructional designer for a large enterprise software company where he creates technical documentation and training for software applications. Lou is a long-time Disney fanatic which started when he and his wife spent their honeymoon at WDW in 1993. Lou’s first book, The Imagineering Pyramid, has been a huge success and you can learn more about it and Lou’s story on a previous episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Season 2, Show 10. Also check out Season 4, Show 2 to hear all about Lou’s second book in the series, The Imagineering Process.
On today’s show though we are discussing Lou’s third book and it’s all about communicating effectively. We all know the importance of communication and why we as educators need to be the best communicators possible and why we need to work with our students to become the best communicators possible. But did you know that the Imagineers have principles and techniques that they use daily to make the theme park experience the best possible experience that their guests can have? We all know and love the way Disney tells stories and know that they are the King of theme parks when it comes to the immersive story that each park draws us into but the story just doesn't tell itself. There are many intentional things that have been done by the Imagineers that help bring that story alive and help the guests move through the story. Lou has masterfully and understandably broken down these techniques used by Imagineers and teaches us how to apply them to our lives and communication skills.
We really think you are going to enjoy Lou’s tour of his book and around Magic Kingdom, as we make stops at various landmarks in the park and learn what Imagineers are trying to communicate and how they masterfully execute that communication through smells, sounds, visuals, theming and much much more!
Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney-loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie look to tackle the difficult role of the educator in our current situation due to the pandemic. Already a year into living with quarantines, masks, social distancing, and the root of it all, COVID, educators have been looking for ways to keep their students and themselves safe while still keeping the wonderment and awe of learning going for our students.
Howie and Ryan have always been strong allies of the hands-on, real-world, problem-based, design thinking, approach to creating learning opportunities for students. Heck, they even wrote a book, Designing Disney Inspired Classrooms, that is packed with hands-on lesson ideas inspired by the most magical place on Earth, Magic Kingdom! We all know the importance of this style of learning for our students and how impactful it can be but how do educators create and implement these types of lesson plans with today’s COVID restrictions? What about if the school is teaching remotely? All these questions were bothering Ryan and Howie and in today’s episode, they look to tackle a couple of the hands-on lessons from their book and talk through how they can be reworked to still be engaging while meeting the safety requirements that may now be in place due to COVID.
We hope our attempt at trying to work through these real challenges that we educators are facing daily and understand that we don’t have all the answers but starting and having these conversations, we know that we as educators will pull through and deliver the incredible educational opportunities our students are used to and deserve.
Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney-loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Dave Bakker, co-founder, and COO of Pocketlab. Pocketlab by Myriad Sensors is a group of sensors created to collect data wirelessly. When you use them in your classroom with your students you can create lab reports, analyze data, and watch your students view and collaborate about the data in real-time. Currently, there are three options of sensors. There is the Voyager which can be used to collect data like motion, altitude, light, magnetic fields, and more. The Air that can measure carbon dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and light. Last but not least is the Pocketlab Weather which temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, heat index, and dew point.
Dave talks us through each of these sensors and why his company was driven to create them for the classroom. He also shares with us several different examples of how they can be used with students to spark engagement and help them understand the data that we as teachers are expecting them to analyze and draw conclusions from.
Dave also discusses with us the birth and upcoming opportunities for a very special conference called Science is Cool (ScIC). Back in March when people were first staying at home with the start of the pandemic, Dave and some of his colleagues were looking for a way to provide professional development in STEM to teachers while COVID-19 kept many of them at home. The result was a virtual conference called ScIC (Science is Cool) that has attracted tens of thousands of science teachers and education professionals from around the world. They have even hosted big-name Science celebrities like Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and others that have come on to help inspire and share with the science education community. Dave shares with us some of the latest info and guests lined up for the next ScIC conference that is coming up on April 1st, and that’s no joke!
Don’t forget to check out the links in the show notes to get more details on the conference and the sensors available from Pocketlab. Also, don’t forget to join our community of incredible educators over on Facebook in the Educators Who Love Disney group.
Howie and Ryan continue their conversation looking at E.P.C.O.T. and its inspirations for the classroom. On the January 1st show, Ryan and Howie had great intentions and ambitions to travel around the entire showcase and discuss each pavilion but they got so inspired by the great pavillions found in World Showcase that they only make it about halfway around World Showcase lagoon. In today’s episode, the goal is to finish our trip around World Showcase and stop at each of the remaining pavilions.
There is so much educational greatness in all of the Disney World property but the cultural richness and unique opportunities that World Showcase has are pretty special. As we continue our tour through the different pavilions, Howie and Ryan will share some of their initial thoughts of each pavilion and what makes them special in their minds as educational gems.
We hope you enjoy our trip around the different pavilions as Howie and Ryan stop at each one and discuss what types of inspiration they draw from each of them and how they would apply that to education. Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
Students Assemble with Cody Havard, Ph.D.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back to the show, Dr. Cody Havard from The University of Memphis. Those that remember, we had Dr. Cody on the My Disney Class Podcast back in Season 5 Episode 20. We strongly recommend that you go back and give it a listen as Dr. Cody does a great job talking about his passion for Disney and how Disney fandom has an impact on our lives and interactions.
Today on the show though Dr. Havard is here to discuss his newest published paper titled “Students Assemble: Acclimating to College using the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” This can be found in the Journal of Undergraduate Research but Dr. Cody has set up a special link just for our listeners to access and read the paper. He has also included some other valuable resources as well, so make sure to check out the link in our show notes so you don’t miss out!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the characters that play out their storylines inside of it are extremely popular right now in our society. Dr. Havard has recognized this in his students and discussions he has had especially in his course, Being a Fan of Disney. In this episode, Dr. Cody explains how he developed this idea and why he believes this can be a powerful tool not only with his college students but also with students in elementary, middle, and high school.
We think you are really going to enjoy hearing Dr. Havard discuss how he has analyzed each character of the MCU and then how he helps students draw connections to the characteristic traits of those characters with the character traits they have. There is definitely a Hulk size value of educational and social-emotional content in this episode. So unless you are an emotional Iron Man, we think you are going to agree with us too that Dr. Havard has knocked it out of the Universe with this paper and lessons. Don’t forget to check out the links in the show notes to see all the wonderful resources Dr. Havard has put together for us and also don’t forget to join our community of incredible educators over on Facebook in the Educators Who Love Disney group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan continue their conversation looking at E.P.C.O.T. and it’s inspirations for the classroom.
On the December 1st show, Ryan and Howie had great intentions and ambitions to travel around all E.P.C.O.T. And discuss each attraction, but they got so inspired by the great attractions in Future World that they only covered that part of the park.
In today’s episode, the goal is to make it around World Showcase and stop at each pavilion. Will they make it all the way around, you will need to tune in to see!
So the first great question that needs to be answered is, what pavilion is the “right” pavilion to start your journey around the showcase? Though we are aware of the great debate this is between Disney fans, Ryan and Howie take no sides and by default are going to start their journey in Mexico.
We hope you enjoy our trip around the different pavilions as Howie and Ryan stop at each one and discuss what types of inspiration they draw from each of them and how they would apply that to education. If for some reason Ryan and Howie don’t make it around to all the pavilions, you can bet they will pick this discussion up again and finish off E.P.C.O.T with a bang. Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome to the show an incredible 4th-grade teacher in the Hernando School district, Brooksville FL. Howie and Ryan were lucky enough to meet Nadia as she attended the first cohort to go through the P.D. Magic experiential trip to Walt Disney World. Nadia, as well as everyone in that group, thoroughly impressed Howie, Brian, and Ryan as they all were willing to put themselves out there, have fun, and share with each other. This made the first P.D. Magic trip a huge success and one that changed each of us for the better!
Nadia talks about her last year and a half and how she has been implementing Disney with her elementary school students. You will love hearing about how she has implemented global perspectives and engaging Disney motivations with her school’s new Cambridge program. She also discusses some of the challenges of teaching in a COVID hybrid world and how she feels that these challenges are helping her students turn into the next digital creative generation.
We hope you enjoy today’s show and our discussion with the wonderful Nadia King! Please keep the conversation going over on Educator’s Who Love Disney Facebook group and like always we would love any feedback you have. Please like and share our podcast on Apple Music and any other media platform you use.
EPCOT FUTURE WORLD OF EDUCATION
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing how they might approach creating lessons out of EPCOT attractions. In the show today we get a peek inside the workings of both Howie’s and Ryan’s mind and boy can that be scary! It all starts with a nightmare that Howie had that an upcoming book on EPCOT was due to the publisher and no ideas were coming to mind on how to create lessons for one of our favorite parks, EPCOT. This leads Ryan and Howie to the content of today’s show which is how we approach each attraction from the start. What’s the first impression of an attraction? What educational inspiration does this attraction give us? What’s the story? How can we take that story and use it to our advantage to create an engaging and inspiring lesson for our students? We will take a look at these questions and more as we walk around EPCOT in today’s discussion.
So as we walk and explore EPCOT for educational gold, which we found a ton, our inspiration took us to many places from the Sciences to History and even poetry. Howie and Ryan even got so carried away that they only made it through Future World. Look for a future episode where they continue their walk around EPCOT gaining educational inspiration around every corner and churro!
Ryan and Howie welcome an extra special guest to the show, Mark DiBlasi.
So, who doesn’t like playing board games? Many families regularly play board games when they gather together and many play board games when they gather for parties and such, but did you know that many educators are now using board games in their classrooms. So on today’s show, we are looking into how and why we should consider using board games in our classrooms. Here are five of the many reasons that board games can be a useful tool in the classroom.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are discussing how teachers can help students who are struggling with hidden hurdles. We all know that everyone has something they are dealing with and nobody’s life is perfect. We all have struggles, but how do we as teachers address all these struggles with everything else going on in school and when our students often keep these struggles to themselves?
In today’s show, Ryan and Howie are discussing stories of some of their former students and family that have such struggles and how they as teachers, parents, family, etc. can help. They also discuss some general classroom routines and procedures that you can use as a teacher to help all your students, even when they haven’t shared their hidden struggles with you.
Also, they bring on a very special guest at the end of the show that shares his personal experience as a current 5th grader with a genetic eye disorder called Stargardt. Cooper is Ryan’s nephew and he has decided to come on the show to talk candidly about his hidden struggles and also about how he recently raised nearly $4,000 for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Cooper and My Disney Class all hope that researchers will find a cure for this and all the eye diseases out there!
We hope you enjoy this show and hope that this show serves as a reminder that all of us are carrying around hidden struggles and sometimes the simple act of kindness can make all the difference.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are welcome their good friend Brian Collins. As most of you know by now Brian works with us to help bring magic and pixie dust to the world of education. What some of you might not know is that Brian continues to branch out into many other areas of education and technology with several different companies and groups. These groups with Brian are doing so many innovative things that we had to have him on to share all the exciting things coming down the pipe.
For those of you that don’t know Brian, come on what’s that matter with you, just kidding but here’s a quick background on Brian. Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 4th time on the show, fifth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
We hope that you enjoy our conversation with Brian and if you have any questions or want to connect with any of us, including Brian, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are getting into the fall spirit and sharing their top ten biggest thrills or scary experiences at Walt Disney World! This is sure to be a wild ride through the spinning teacups of Ryan and Howie’s minds and memories. So buckle up and don’t pick up any hitchhiking ghosts as we take a journey through the scariest experiences at WDW.
By this time in the school year, most of us are really ready for a break and if you’re like Ryan you partake in the Halloween candy that is meant for your students way too much. That’s why we decided to just have a little bit of fun on today’s episode and share some of the scariest experiences that we’ve had in the parks. Now we know what you’re going to say,” Walt Disney World isn’t scary!” but we think you will agree that the experiences that we are sharing in this episode would scare even the bravest Gaston or even a braver Merida. We hope you enjoy this fun break as much as we did and we hope this encourages you to find those moments in your classroom when you can take a break with your students and have a little fun. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Halloween and like always we’d love to have you join our community over on Educators Who Love Disney Facebook group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome a wonderful guest that is known for his hard work, leadership, customer service, and for being a guy who understands that developing a successful culture in your kingdom starts with you. Today we welcome none other than Mr. Dan Cockerell former Vice President of Magic Kingdom.
Dan has had one heck of a journey inside and through the Walt Disney World Co. He started in the Walt Disney World college program before his legendary dad begun his career at WDW, though we find out that Valarie, Dan’s wife, beat both of them as she started at WDW 2 years before Dan! Dan then went back to college to finish up at Boston University, graduating in 1991. He then went back to Walt Disney World and was hired as a parking attendant at E.P.C.O.T. which lead him to work overseas at then Euro Disney ( now called Disneyland Paris). From there he went on to work on the resort’s side of the business, working at places like Pop Century. Dan continued to work his way through various positions in the company learning everything he could which lead him to be promoted to Vice President of E.P.C.O.T, Vice President of Hollywood Studios, and then his final position, Vice President of the Most Magical Place on Earth, Magic Kingdom.
Dan retired from Disney in 2018 after 26 years and 19 different positions. Though he was retiring, he was ready to stop working. Dan and his wife Valerie have set out on a new venture and have started their own consulting and speaking business. You can find all the information about his services, book, podcasts, blogs, and more at CockerellConsulting.com or look for links on our show notes page.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan share ways they send stress to Neverland. Though we all would love to say that the profession of education is full of pixie dust every day, we know this isn’t always true. Especially this time of year, when most of us are just coming off of summer break and starting a new school year. This time is especially hectic and as soon as you scratch one item off of your to-do-list, you have to add six more items. If you add the fact that most of us this year are currently starting in a new model with new procedures due to COVID, stress levels are breaking record highs!
In this episode, Ryan and Howie will share the ways they handle stress, which to no one’s surprise has definite elements of Disney in them. We also would like to mention that in no way are Howie or Ryan mental health experts and in this podcast, we are just sharing what works for us. If you are having mental health issues, please seek out help and guidance from a professional.
We hope you enjoy this episode on stress and we know that you are doing great things in the classroom despite the added pressures this year. Please reach out to us if there is any way we could help you or your school and if you looking for a great support group of educators, come join our community of My Disney Class educators on our Facebook page, Educators who love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome a fabulous gifted teacher from Slidell Louisanna, Monica Finch. Monica studied Gifted education at Northwestern State University and is currently teaching Gifted to 1st through 6th grades at St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. She does travel between schools to meet her district’s need for those students needing Gifted guidance. She definitely has a very unique story and you are really going to enjoy hearing how she brings the magic to all of her students in all the different buildings and different grade levels.
We first met Monica as she took our online P.D. Magic professional development course and she was so creative attacking each lesson and completed all 25 lessons with so much passion that we knew we needed to get her on the show. Our discussion will of course cover all the unique and creative ways she teaches and pushes her Gifted students to achieve their very best but we will also tackle her thoughts and fears with the upcoming school year with our concerns with COVID and online, blended and in-person learning.
We hope like always that you enjoy Monica’s story as much as we do and we also once again want to thank you for joining our My Disney Class community in our 6th year!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are preparing for season 6 as well as preparing for the new school year. First, we wanted to say thank you to our incredible community of listeners that have made the past five seasons of My Disney Class so wonderful and educational. We look forward to a great season 6 with more great guests and lots of talk and love for Disney. Secondly, we know that season 6 and the new school year won’t be like our last five seasons and we wanted to take time in this first episode of season 6 to share some of the ways we are preparing for the new type of school settings and the year ahead.
We hope you enjoy this episode as we discuss the three main options of learning out there, online, blended, and in-person. We look at the plusses and minuses of each choice and then address ways we can make sure to make the best of each situation and keep our students viewing their education in a positive light. We will also share some of the resources we have gathered to help us start the new year and with things like how to make online meets more interactive. We know these are trying times and we love to help any way we can, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us and we will do whatever we can. Also, if you haven’t already joined our very supportive group of educators over on Facebook at Educators Who Love Disney, please do so we can all help each other through this pandemic and the upcoming school year.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome a few of our educators that joined us on our 1st P.D. Magic class at Walt Disney World. Like we mentioned before, we had to postpone our 2020 group due to COVID 19 but reliving some of the memories with our 1st group was an awesome way to remind ourselves how powerful the Disney educator community is. Being that it had been a year since we were all together and since we were all going through this tough period during the pandemic, we thought we would get together on Zoom and check-in with each other.
P.D. Magic is more than just a professional development opportunity, it is also an experience where you walk away with new friends that just happen to work in education and love Disney like you!
We hope you enjoy the last episode of season 5 as we recorded our reunion and the wonderful discussion that took place that night. We talk about everything from the parks, how we dealt with distance learning, and our fears and questions for the future of both education and visiting the parks. Thanks again for listening. Howie and I can’t believe we are finishing year 5!
You, the listener, are so important in what we do and are a key part of our My Disney Class Community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we could ever be of any assistance and if you haven’t already, come join our group on Facebook at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan look back on this year starting in August 2019 and bring everyone up to our current situation. Ryan and Howie typically love to reflect back on what has transpired over the current school year and with the podcasts, but this year has definitely been a wild ride and disembarking and exiting into the gift shop has some scary question marks! Though trying to stay positive is important and we try to do our best to look back at both Disney and our school year to remember the good times and the lessons learned.
We hope you enjoy today’s show as we cover everything from the NBA experience to Disney + and everything from last summer’s podcast recommendations to this basted pandemic that has turned our educational lives upside down. There are always lessons to be learned if we just take the time to slow down and look at things through different lenses. Remember though reflection is good, but perseverating on the past and things we cannot change can be toxic.
Think of what our good buddy Gusteau says in Ratatouille-- "If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead."
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome an incredible panel of super guests to discuss the future of theme parks and education. In today’s episode, we have former Imagineer Steve Alcorn is an American entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, author, and teacher best known for his involvement in the theme park industry. As a co-founder of Alcorn-McBride, he was an early pioneer of computer peripherals. In 1982 he joined Walt Disney Imagineering (then known as WED Enterprises) as a consultant, where he worked on the electronic systems for Epcot Center. During his two years with Imagineering, he designed show control systems for The American Adventure, wrote the operating system used in the parkwide monitoring system, and became Imagineering’s first Systems Engineer, heading up mechanical, electronic and software systems for the Journey Into Imagination ride.
Also joining the panel is our favorite partner in Disney education trouble and mischief, Brian Collins. Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 4th time on the show, fifth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
Rounding out this assembly of superhero guests is our new Disney friend and recent guest, Dr. Cody Havard from the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is currently an Associate Professor of Sport Commerce and the Coordinator of Research in the Kemmons Wilson School at the University of Memphis. He is the Director of the Bureau of Sport and Leisure Commerce and the KWS Coordinator of Research at the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is also an avid Disney fan himself and uses Disney as a valuable learning tool in some of his college courses. For more information on Dr. Havard’s research and instruction, check out episode 20 of season 5!
We know there is a lot of uncertainty these days and we are all longing for the days when we can get back into the parks and escape from reality. We also know that many educators are struggling with envisioning what our profession, buildings, students, etc. will look like when we return. We hope you enjoy and find some comfort in our assembly of some very creative and knowledgeable friends to help discuss what this new normal will potentially look like.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are discussing the opportunities that teachers have for getting professional certifications. There is no doubt that educators are lifelong learners. We are constantly trying to set a good example for our students and improving ourselves both personally and professionally is just one way we do that. Going through a certification process can do so much more for educators than giving them a banner to put under their name in an email. No matter what certification process you go through you are going to discover new teaching strategies that you can take back to the classroom and make changes to your teaching and curricula to better suit the needs of your students. In addition to the hours spent teaching in the classroom, much of teachers’ time is spent on student evaluations, curriculum development, and other paperwork. The certification process can help teachers to become better at planning their time and staying organized. This ultimately makes teachers more efficient and gives them extra time to focus on students rather than the paperwork. These are just a couple of the benefits of going through a certification process.
Ryan and Howie will discuss a few of the certification programs out there that they are familiar with and share the pros and cons of each one. One of the programs that they are both currently going through is the National Geographic Educators Certification program. They discuss this one in detail and share their successes and struggles as they are getting close to finishing.
We know that there are many certification choices out there and because of time, we were only able to mention a few. We hope you find this episode useful in a basic introduction to what the processes are like and why you may want to consider doing one.
One thing that Howie and Ryan do know is that no matter what educators choose to do to help them professionally, they all demonstrate a commitment to excellence!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Professor Cody Havard Ph.D. from Memphis University. Dr. Havard is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with a Ph.D. in Sport Administration. His doctoral dissertation was on rivalry in intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Havard is currently an Associate Professor of Sport Commerce and the Coordinator of Research in the Kemmons Wilson School at the University of Memphis. He is the Director of the Bureau of Sport and Leisure Commerce and the KWS Coordinator of Research at the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is also an avid Disney fan himself and uses Disney as a valuable learning tool in some of his college courses.
On today’s show, Dr. Havard will share with us his background in education and Disney fandom, which includes incredible amounts of research that he has conducted on how rivalry and fandom shape us as human beings. Most of us know based on our feelings that Disney can have a positive effect on our psyche, but Dr. Havard will share actual data that he has collected that will enlighten us on the science behind our fandom.
Dr. Havard will also share how he incorporates Disney into his college courses and also share the wonderful resources that he and his students are creating that educators can use in their classrooms today to make an impact with their students. We know you are going to enjoy the show today as we dive deep into the data and the science behind Disney fandom.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are imagining and dreaming of what it would be like to have the parks to ourselves. In these unprecedented times, we are seeing video and images of the parks completely empty. Though these images can be unsettling, to say the least, we wanted to look at it from a positive spin and discuss some of our favorite attractions. Like most of you, our schools are sitting empty as well and we hope that looking and reflecting on the empty parks can help some reimagine and reflect on the positive opportunities our empty schools might be able to give us. We at My Disney Class Podcast, so hope that our schools can go back to normal soon and when they do, we know that they are going to be stronger and better because of the work that you do.
We hope that all our listeners are safe and healthy and that you are getting the support you need for not only continuing the learning for our students but also getting the support you need for your own health and mental wellness. Please feel free, like always, to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help support you. Also if you have not already done so, please consider joining our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. There is already a good group of educators there ready to embrace you and help support each other and we would love to have you join the group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back one of their partners in mouse crime and good friend Brian Collins! Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 3rd time on the show, fourth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
In today's show, Brian talks about how Himself, Howie, and Ryan all met and how that meeting has led us all to the place where we are now which is joined together in the pursuit of bringing pixie dust to the educational world. Each part of this trio shares some of their favorite memories from their learning escapades together and they share future pursuits as well. Towards the end of today’s show, the topic moves to ideas to help yourself and students stay engaged and creative during the recent stay at home orders we are all living through.
We hope you enjoy today’s show as much as we did making it and if you haven’t checked out Brian Collins and his work, what are you waiting for! Go, run, and look him up, you won’t be sorry.
Like always, please give us a rating and review on Apple Music. We so appreciate the feedback and love to hear from our incredible community. Also do forget to check us out on all our social media outlets, especially Educators Who Love Disney on Facebook.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing the very shocking and difficult new normal that most of our educational institutions have been thrown into because of COVID-19. As Howie and Ryan have always been huge fans of all the wonderful educators out there and have been honored to have had a small number of them on the show to highlight their stories, we are especially proud of all the educators today as they have tackled this situation with grace, selflessness, and determination to help bring a level of normalcy and continuing learning to all their wonderful students. While we know that there is no replacement for the magical learning environment and community you have created for your students and there is no way to replicate the learning experiences that they get when they are with you and able to collaborate with you and their peers, we wanted to at least share some of our thoughts, plans, and resources with you. This is no way a complete list and we don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we feel that by sharing and working together, we can all get through this.
We hope that all our listeners are safe and healthy and that you are getting the support you need for not only continuing the learning for our students, but also getting the support you need for your own health and mental wellness. Please feel free, like always, to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help support you. Also, if you have not already done so, please consider joining our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. There is already a good group of educators on there ready to embrace you and help support each other and we would love to have you join the group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are pleased to have Micheal Corbert on the show. For some time now, countries and regions around the world have adopted various initiatives to encourage and support the use of computers in their educational systems. These initiatives have taken many different forms in different countries, some focusing on strategic support for hardware and software-related programs, some on strategies more directly focused on curricular and instructional aspects of computers, some on strategies for the school manager, and others on different approaches to teacher education and support. Regardless of the focus or scope of the initiative, one aspect has become crystal clear and reoccurs in all the studies and that is that the teacher is the key figure in the eventual success of any technology-driven educational initiative
Micheal Corbert is one of those teachers that is pushing his district’s educational technology initiative forward. He has been doing this for 31 years working in the computer lab of his school and teaching such classes as Introduction to computer programming and Digital Literacy. He has even developed his own curriculum involving creative coding and wouldn’t you know as a long time Disney fan, he even finds ways to incorporate his love of Disney in his lessons.
We know you are going to enjoy hearing Micheal’s story and also be encouraged to start using technology in your classroom if you are not already doing so. Like always if you have any thoughts or suggestions about this show or future shows, make sure to reach out to us on social media or email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com. Also if you enjoy the show, please write a review and rate us on iTunes as this helps other educators find our show.
Cruising into Spring
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are cruising into spring by discussing Howie’s recent cruise on the Disney Wonder. Howie is quite the cruising expert, a matter of fact, we could and should start calling him Captain Howie! Though he’s taken many cruises from Princess to river cruises in Europe, Disney cruises are his favorite. I don’t think that’s much of a shocker and with this being his 10th Disney cruise, we thought it would be a great time to discuss why he loves them so much and how we can take advantage of all the great educational opportunities that await us on the seas.
In this show then, Howie captains us through the deep waters of cruising and helps make sense of all the many activities that are available to someone going on a cruise. We will look at onboard activities like live shows, fine dining opportunities, parties, and different youth clubs. We look even further into one of these opportunities that’s just for kids and is packed with educational gems, if you are like Ryan and Howie, you will be wishing you were a kid again just to get the chance to explore!
Howie also takes us through off-board excursions. These are the opportunities, some of them at an additional cost, that happen while the ship is in port. There are many many choices and they do depend on where you are cruising to but no matter what your destination is, we are sure you are going to find opportunities to explore culture, foods, nature and much much more.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope that it has encouraged you to look at taking your next cruise keeping the educational opportunities in mind. Though you won’t see Ryan out on the seas anytime soon, you never know, you may just run into Captain Howie!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcasts, Howie and Ryan welcome Dan Zehr, teacher, and host of the extremely popular Star Wars podcast called Coffee With Kenobi. Howie and Ryan have known about Dan’s work for some time and have been really interested in learning more and then after Ryan met him at the Disney Indy Meet, they learned that not only was he an incredibly genuine guy but the amount of projects and impact he’s having in both the educational and Star Wars Fandom circles is incredible! So Dan may not be a droid but he’s definitely the guy you’re looking for if you want to be inspired to bring your content to life in meaningful and engaging ways.
Not only is Dan the host of Coffee With Kenobi, a podcast that seeks to examine the Star Wars universe through a critical lens but he is also an English teacher at the high school level. He finds critical thinking in mythology and storytelling fascinating, as it helps us to understand more about our culture and ourselves. Dan has a Master’s in Teaching and Learning and loves film, as well as literature. He is also a member of The Rogues ( as Blue Leader ), a network of educators from Star Wars in the Classroom. Dan lives and teaches in central Illinois with his wife and three boys.
On the show today you will hear all about how Dan inspires students in his classrooms to make their learning meaningful and personal to them. He shares several of his classroom projects and philosophies that are sure to inspire you to stretch your teaching and practices hopefully will encourage your students to reach for the stars. We will also hear about Dan’s podcast, his passion for Star Wars, and some of his side projects like STEAM into Star Wars and a commercial he did for Target. After listening to this episode we feel strongly that you will agree that the force is strong with this master of teaching, Jedi Dan Z!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcasts, Howie and Ryan are talking about Howie’s recent trip down to Miami for the FETC conference. The Future of Education Technology Conference head to the shores of Miami Beach to soak up some sun and valuable education technology solutions. FETC is turning 40, so what a great way for them to celebrate this birthday than down in the electric city of Miami.
This conference is also an awesome way to network with a community of thousands of educators who share common challenges and have the opportunity to present unique solutions. FETC seeks to maximize the potential of educational technology by providing attendees with more than 600 sessions, workshops, and diverse learning opportunities.
Howie was gracious enough to head all the way down south of Walt Disney World to share a whopping 5 sessions! His sessions and workshops included dealing with apps in the classroom and how to evaluate them. Howie also discussed one of his most trusted workshops called Edmagineering Classrooms which he takes his participants through a brainstorming process that allows them to take their ideas for theme park attractions and turn it into a pitch for their fellow educators. Howie’s next session was 20 Disney projects for your classroom that were each based on the ISTE standards. In this session, he took participants through many of these lessons and how they can be implemented in the classroom. Howie’s session titled STEAM, STEM and the magic of Disney movies and the one he did on podcasts were also big hits.
We hope you enjoy today’s show recapping FETC and the incredible presentations and participants that Howie was able to interact with at FETC in Miami. Please keep the ratings and comments coming, they help us be better and help to grow our wonderful "My Disney Class" community.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcasts, Howie and Ryan welcome back a friend, a Disney expert, an author, and an all-around great guy, Mr. Jeff Dixon. Jeff is the author of the Key to the Kingdom series, which is a fictional series of four books that follows the adventures of Grayson Hawkes as he attempts to solve a complicated series of puzzles laid out by none other than the man himself, Walt Disney. If you want to know more about Jeff and hear the discussion about one of his other books not in this series called The Disney Driven Life, go back and have a listen to Episode 18 from season 2.
For most of this episode, Ryan and Howie are discussing Jeff’s latest book in the Kingdom series titled, Kingdom Chaos. Jeff describes the characters and the plot of the story where a controversial President Tyler Pride and his family board a monorail at the Transportation and Ticket Center for a trip to the Epcot Resort. When the monorail arrives at Epcot, the president and his family are gone. A national crisis instantly explodes across the Disney resort. The president has been kidnapped. And if the president is missing at Walt Disney World, who better to find him than the man who knows Walt Disney World better than anyone who has ever lived, Grayson Hawkes?
Kingdom Chaos is definitely a political and ideological thriller, an action-adventure, mystery, and, also, a story of how faith and politics sometimes clash. Like Dixon's past novels, Kingdom Chaos can best be described as "faction," a weaving of fact and fiction set in the Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida. The places and locations are real, and the novel builds on events from the life of Walt Disney and the history of the Walt Disney World Resort. The sights, the sounds, and the secrets of the themed resort all become a part of solving the mystery and trying to save the president of the United States.
Howie and Ryan end the episode discussing one of Jeff’s many other projects which happens to be something all three of us are passionate about and that’s improving and advancing education. Jeff gives us the details on a brand new Charter school that he helped to visualize and develop and he now sits on the board of as board president. The school is called “Creative Inspiration Journey”, School and you are going to want to hear what Jeff says about their mission and vision for the future of education!
As always, we hope you enjoy this episode and we encourage you to drop us an email if you have any comments or questions. Also, please head over to iTunes/ Apple Music and gives us a rating and review. Your reviews help us improve the show and help get the message out that our show exists. Thank you.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie discuss Disney+ and streaming services and their role in the classroom. Disney+ is an on-demand, ad-free streaming service that Disney fans have been waiting for. On the first day of its launch, November 12, 2019, more than 10 million people signed up. Disney+ has tons of movies and shows available to stream from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. This content includes new original programming exclusively to Disney Plus, like The Mandalorian!
Whether or not you are as crazy for Disney+ as Howie and Ryan are, you still will want to hear how teachers are using streaming services to enhance learning. Ryan and Howie also address copyright and how free use applies and where it doesn’t apply and how to follow copyright when using streaming services in an educational setting. We hope you enjoy today’s episode and find ways you can bring your lessons to life with a few of these resources we mentioned. Please share with us the resources we didn’t mention or ways you used the ones we did over on our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney.
Today on the show, Howie and Ryan welcome a wonderful educator that harnesses his passion for Disney into incredible classroom projects that ignite the creativity in his students. Our guest is Mr. Tim VanSwol, Tim began his teaching career in 1994 at Manteno Middle School and has been there ever since. His first classroom assignment was 8th grade Science which he did for six years. In the year 2000, he made the move to teaching 6th grade Social Studies in addition to Science. After a few years, his school population grew to a point he needed to become a full-time Social Studies teacher. This was a great move for him as he is a history enthusiast and enjoys the challenge of bringing history to life for his students.
In addition to teaching, Mr. VanSwol has embraced his love for sports as a coach and as the Middle School Athletic Director over the years. He has coached girls and boys basketball at various grade levels as well as coaching Middle school track and field. Tim is also a lover of music and enjoys volunteering his time as a supporter of Manteno Bands, Chorus, and Show Choirs. During his free time, he enjoys reading, traveling, and researching topics for the DubDeeDub Revue podcast as an amateur Disney historian.
You’re going to love hearing about Tim’s passion for Disney and how he has taken that passion and developed several Disney themed projects that have inspired his students to plunge into the magic of History and ELA. Tim discusses three of his best projects and talks us through what inspired them. He also walks us through how he implemented them into his course work and how they deliver the content to his students in a highly impactful way. Today’s show is just another example of the incredible educators out there and how Disney is helping them to bring magic to their classrooms.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie discuss the theming of some of our favorite places to eat on Walt Disney World property and how they can inspire us to learn. Who doesn’t like to eat at places like Casey’s Corner and Columbia Harbor House but did you know that there are more than hotdogs and fish to enjoy in these establishments? When you stop and take a break from the hustle and bustle, you can find the little details and story that the Imagineers have diligently and purposely placed there for you to find. When you do find these details that help tell the story, the story will often envolve the history of our wonderful country or other cultures from around the world. It is these artifacts that will lead educators to a brand new world of learning.
Howie and Ryan will show that when you take inspiration from these artifacts, you will find yourself inspired to bring some wonderful lesson planning back to your students. Ryan and Howie will also share how they looked at the theming of some of the restaurants and then how they found resources online to help support bring that inspiration back into the classroom. So grab a snack, turn on the podcast, and then find some inspiration in some of the magical eateries that we love at WDW!
Today on the show, Ryan and Howie welcome a Motivating, Engaging, Technology guru, and Connected educator to the show, Jonathon Lee from EducationPlus, METC, and St. Louis RPDC (Regional Professional Development Center). Jonathon is a Google Certified Trainer currently traveling all over the state of Missouri providing training on how to integrate technology tools into instruction. Jonathon has presented at METC, Innovation Institute of Springdale, KySTE, MAESP, and ISTE. He is an ISTE certified trainer and educator and previously taught in the Brentwood School District as a 5th-grade teacher within a 1 to 1 Chromebook classroom. Jonathon is also host and creator of three educational podcasts. METC podcast, Podsquad, and METC minipod, all bring quality educational technology training to your ears on either weekly or monthly schedules.
We are pleased to have Jonathon on the show as he discusses some of the latest technology training he is doing. What the challenges are for those looking to help facilitate change in our schools and the challenges for those that are working to change their practices. Jonathon gives us some great insights on how we can move the change needle just a little bit each day and avoid some common pitfalls of technology integration. Jonathan has a great perspective as a result of all his travels to vastly different districts throughout the state of Missouri and we think you will agree that this is extremely valuable for all of us to hear and to consider as we look at the big-picture issues and successes in education as a whole. We know you will enjoy today’s episode as Jonathon shares his educational story and current journey in motivating, engaging, and connecting educators with and through technology.
Service Learning with Pixie Dust
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan discuss service-learning. As the temperatures dip and the leaves begin to change color, we often find ourselves becoming more and more reflective of our service to others. Though we strive to have service at the top of our priorities throughout the whole year, it doesn’t hurt to use this time around Thanksgiving to take some inventory on, not only our personal service but also on how we develop this reflective practice in our students.
Service-learning is an important part of education and is grounded in experiential learning, it’s learning by doing. Service-learning differs from “pure” experiential learning in two ways. First, the goal of service-learning is to direct the learners into practical settings where the primary motivation is service and the second is that the learning takes place in two ways. As the students take part in the experience and as they reflect upon what happened during the experience and as a result of it. Howie and Ryan discuss both these ways that they experienced this with students, teachers, and Disney. For example, Parkway’s Food pantry, Howie’s church and Disney’s steps to service-learning.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode as we reflect on service learning as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen our school and local communities.
Today on the show, Ryan and Howie welcome an extraordinary guest to the show, Lee Cockerell. Lee is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort. As the Senior Operating Executive for then years Lee led a team of 40,000 cast members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shipping and entertainment village and the ESPN sports and recreation complex in addition to the ancillary operations which supported the number one vacation destination in the world.
Lee has written four books, Creating Magic, The Customer Rules, Time Management Magic, and Creating Career Magic. All of which are packed full of golden nuggets that will be sure to inspire and encourage you to develop habits that will lead to a vast growth in your teaching or educational field. They can also be great sources for your students as they grow into their roles of leadership and future paths. One of Lee’s major and lasting legacies was the creation of Disney Great Leader Strategies which was used to train and develop the 7000 leaders at Walt Disney World. Many of these strategies are shared in Lee’s books mentioned above but today we are lucky enough to have him on the show and sharing his wisdom with us and how these strategies can help educators and students both achieve the greatness we are all capable of.
We know you are going to love today’s show as we hear stories and lessons that Lee has learned over his wonderful career in customer service and leadership roles. Lee is a marvelous storyteller, would you expect anything else from a Disney rockstar, and very passionate about making a positive impact on the world he lives in. Lee is a man that does what he says he’s going to do and shows time after time again that he lives by the advice he gives.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan discuss Howie’s recent European trip and how travel can be used to broaden student’s perspectives. Howie will give all the wonderful details of his recent cruise and inland excursions to some of the most historic and beautiful places on Earth. We will learn interesting details and tips that Howie has learned on his many travels and what we can expect as we potentially travel abroad.
Though Ryan has never traveled outside the country, he shares what he knows about one of Walt’s most famous trips called “Walt Disney’s grand tour.” Listen to why Walt was persuaded by his brother Roy to take this vacation and what many things were found to be inspirational by Walt that he would later use in the development of many of the characters and stories we love. For Walt, this vacation was relaxing, inspirational, timely, and also an opportunity to conduct the business of the company in Europe.
We conclude our show today by looking at how broadening our students’ perspectives can be vital to their growth in an ever-changing and global society. What ways do you challenge and stretch your students? We loved to hear from you on anyone of social media outlets or drop us an email at mydisneyclass@gmail.com. We hope you enjoyed this episode and come back for more fun, education, and magic!
Today on the show, Howie and Ryan welcome a friend and wonderful educator, Diane Trout. Diane is currently teaching 2nd grade at HEART academy at Julian Newman in Athens Alabama and is a Disney enthusiast, to say the least. She graduated from Athens State University with her B.S. in Elementary Education and a minor in Educational Technology. Diane has worked as a Title 1 coach and as a kindergarten teacher. In 2016 she was awarded “Outstanding Educator of the Year” from Athens State University and has shared her expertise, presenting at conferences like FETC, AETC, NATC, Athens State University’s TEACH conference, and several local EdCamps. Diane is also a Seesaw ambassador and Nearpod Certified Educator.
Diane has said, “I believe students have a genuine passion to learn and it is up to teachers to help develop those passions.” In today’s episode, you will hear from Diane how she goes about continuing her development as an educator and how she turns that development into the engaging lessons and activities that grow those passions in her students. One of the many professional development opportunities that she took advantage of was our P.D. Magic course and the culminating experiential learning field trip. Diane shares her expectations, experiences, and wonderful contributions to the course and then gives us some examples of how she is currently implementing these ideas into her classroom.
We know you are going to love listening to Diane and we know that you will know immediately through her passion that she is a true advocate for the student. Providing a creative, rich, and engaging magical classroom for all who come to her happy place.
Podcasts, Podcasts Everywhere!
In this episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are discussing what podcasts they listen to and why you may want to consider adding podcasts to your professional development repertoire. Podcasts are awesome if we do say ourselves! You can stream them, download them, listen on your computer or even your smartphone. Plus, they cover just about every topic you can think of. Though this may be considered a negative because of all the choices. Luckily, Ryan and Howie are here to help! They are sharing some of their favorite podcasts that cover everything from Disney, to animation, to education and everything in between.
While they don’t discuss every podcast they listen to, they do cover quite a few and that they think are some of the best. Many of the podcasts they share can bring you hours of entertainment and enjoyment. Others can bring you enjoyment through the knowledge they deliver and though the excitement you get from learning new things. Many of these podcasts are a great way to supplement your professional development.
So whether you are looking for podcasts that you can just listen to escape and enjoy, maybe find a little bit of Disney Magic, or you are looking for an opportunity to learn something new, we hope you enjoy some of our suggestions. We definitely know you already have great taste in a podcast!
Today on the show, Ryan and Howie welcomes a true Space Ranger, Denise Wright. Denise is a Science teacher at Ocean Bay middle school and has been in education for 22 years. She loves teaching Science and has a passion for STEM, robotics, NASA and of course, Disney. Denise is also a Tynker Blue Ribbon educator. Tynker Blue Ribbon educators are dedicated to making computer programming and coding an integrated part of students’ everyday lives. She is also a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador (SSA). Solar System Ambassadors work across the nation to share NASA science and mission discoveries through a variety of events that inspire students and communities. Denise also sits on the NSTA tech advisory board and was the 2015 teacher of the year.
Denise has a passion for astronomy and has worked to incorporate her passion into her daily lessons. She was a piloting teacher for the Distance Learning Program at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, South Carolina. In this program, she was one of the first teachers to pilot a historic Alvan Clarke Telescope to be used in a classroom distance learning environment. Denise also has attended Astronomy Camp at the University of Arizona and the NASA Space Science Teacher’s Institute at the University of Colorado.
So it’s safe to say that in today’s episode you are going to get a lot of Space talk, which is fine with Ryan! We know you are going to enjoy hearing Denise talk about all these great things she is doing to inspire students and she also shares a ton of resources that you can use in your classrooms to help inspire the world’s next Buzz or Sally Ride.
Today on My Disney Class Podcasts, Ryan and Howie are celebrating the start of their 5th year of the My Disney Class Podcast! They say time flies when you're having fun and that seems to be true for this podcast crew. Howie and Ryan have enjoyed countless wonderful guests that are Disney fans and incredible educators. The conversations are often fun and inspiring and they are always informative. Ryan and Howie are extremely appreciative of all the support they have received from all their listeners and friends.
On today’s show, Howie and Ryan are starting the new schools year off by sharing their summer reading lists. They share some of their favorite reads that cover Disney history, what we can learn from Disney and other educational favorites. We hope you enjoy this list and finds a couple of new books that you can dive into and enjoy.
Traveling through History with Savannah Sanders
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome the wonderful and well-traveled history teacher, Savannah Sanders. Savannah is multifaceted and does so much with passion and fun. Her teaching experience consists of nine years of teaching American History, 20th Century History, American Government, and Geography. She also has taught Freshmen and Sophomore English. She describes her teaching style as a combination of learning styles. In her classroom, she uses photos, videos, maps, and display slides showcasing the main points of her lectures. She encourages students to write, observe, critique, analyze, discuss, and connect past events with current events. Savannah believes in keeping it simple yet meaningful.
Savannah also has a passion for Disney and when she’s not visiting our favorite magical playground, she is writing for some great Disney blogs. One of them being Touring Plans which is a great resource for all us Disney planners and speaking of planning, Savannah can help you with that too! She not only plans her own vacations but as a certified travel agent that works for Destinations in Florida.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with Savannah as she shares how she makes her History lessons engaging as she harnesses the magic of Disney into her classroom. By the way, if you are looking for some lesson ideas, she has some on her Teachers Pay Teachers page, find the link to her page in the show notes as well as all her contact info. We hope you find some magic in looking to the past to help transform the future as Savannah does for her students!
Intentional Magic!
In this episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are reflecting back on the past P.D. Magic class and some of the comments that the participants made about Disney and intentionality. This word continually came up during the conversations about how Disney intentionally does certain things to help create magic or maybe even to make safety or logistic improvements. During our P.D. Magic conversations, the talk would shift to how we can be more intentional in education. How can we as educators take the idea about Disney intentionally lowering the window ledges on Main Street or how they purposefully guide guests into different lands with “weenies,” and then apply it to our profession.
On the show today, Ryan and Howie will look at a few of their favorite ways Disney is intentional and how they feel intentionality can be beneficial in education. Looking at answering some of the following questions to help guide the exploration of intentionality; Is the goal clearly defined? Is the activity appropriately challenging? Will the activity promote growth? Is there appropriate scaffolding for all levels? Is the activity interactive, meaningful, and thought-provoking? What kind of plans are there for differentiation? These questions and main other ideas are discussed in this episode as we explore intentionality that is inspired by the work being done at Disney.
Todays episode was recorded while Howie and Ryan were actually in Walt Disney World.
Discover the power of professional development that is immersive, custom, and the most magical kind of development our hearts desire. We like to call it P.D. Magic!
Hear recordings taken from various parts of our first P.D. Magic cohort. You will hear their hopes for this course, their immersive learning that occurred on W.D.W. properties, and then finally their reflections of what magic they will bring back to their districts.
Ryan and Howie discuss some of the hidden educational gems in Future World at E.P.C.O.T. Student inquiry is an active learning process that allows students to investigate central, essential questions linked to curriculum standards and specific teaching objectives. We know that this form of instructions is effective and leads to a high level of engagement of our students, but do we as educators allow ourselves to learn in this way?
In this episode, Ryan and Howie will engage in this highly valuable form of learning as they try to ask questions and seek answers to those questions through the inspiration of Futureworld.
We think you will find something in our journey that will inspire you to create an engaging lesson or maybe spark a change in your educational repertoire. Travel with us around the different attractions in Futureworld as we discuss each one and how Howie and Ryan found hidden gems that they can use to help inspire educational magic!
Join us for a repeat performance of “A Magical Day with Brian Collins”
Ryan and Howie are honored to have former Imagineer Brian Collins here to discuss his story. Brian has been a Disney cast member since the early 1990’s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary front desk and as a Disney Imagineer. Listen to his story as he shares how he started at the ground level and worked his way up to the magical dream job at WDI.
Listening to today’s show, we know that you will hear the passion and humor that Brian brings to any task he tackles. There are few places that equal that of Disney when it comes to creativity, innovation, storytelling, and magic, but we all know that it’s the people that really make the magic. Brian Collins is one of those people and what’s even more magical is that he hasn’t stopped spreading the magic beyond the mouse. We hope you enjoy today’s episode as Brian shares with us how to think like an Imagineer!
We look at how music can inspire us and inspire lessons that our students will love. Walt was quoted as saying,” I think a good study of music would be indispensable to the animators - a realization on their part of how primitive music is, how natural it is for people to want to go to music - a study of rhythm, the dance - the various rhythms enter into our lives every day.” Ryan and Howie also believe that educators can learn a lot from music as well!
Howie and Ryan both share ideas they have either used or have found other teachers using that implements music into lessons that range from Communication Arts, Science, Math, etc. They quickly share a little about each lesson idea and give resources to help you implement music in your classroom. Whether your favorite Disney song is “Let it Go,” “You Got a Friend in Me,” or Walt and Ryan’s favorite “ Feed the Birds.” We think you will enjoy this episode that just scratches the surface of using Disney music in the classroom to set a song track to your teaching magic!
Ryan and Howie take a walk on the weird side and try to recapture their shadows! On today’s show, we welcome CJ Casciotta author of Get Weird. Discover the Surprising Secret to Making a Difference and creator of Ringbeller.
CJ is a writer and self-proclaimed serial media maker that has a passion for encouraging people to find or reconnect with their inner weird. As a writer and communicator, he’s traveled all over the world, inspiring communities like Lululemon, The Salvation Army, TEDx, and Charity: Water. As a media director and producer, he’s collaborated on projects with MGM Studios, The United Nations Foundation, and more. He created the popular podcast, Sounds Like a Movement and has been featured by MTV, RELEVANT, Catalyst, and Q.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with CJ as we talk about how we can encourage ourselves as educators to tap into our inner weird and how that can benefit our students. We also talk about valuing our student’s inner weird and what we can do to encourage it. Ringbeller was created by CJ and can definitely be one tool we can use to help in this endeavor. Ringbell is a series of video lessons that help teach kids creativity and kindness through interviews conducted by children. These children interview adult professionals about how they use creativity and innovation in their daily work lives. The premise is that aliens have recruited these students to help them learn about our planet, but what we all learn is how unique all of us are and how tapping into what is special about us will help us to find our true passions and best life. CJ has called Ringbeller “TED meets Mr. Rogers” for the modern classroom.
We think you will enjoy finding your inner weird with us today and be inspired by CJ like we were to value the individual traits in us that make us unique, special and helps us create the magic in our classrooms.
Disney: Truth, Myth, or Trash
In this My Disney Class episode, Howie and Ryan have a little fun being that it is April Fools day. Ok, Ok, it’s true that we have fun every day, but on this special day, we decided to share a fun activity that you can implement in several different ways in your classroom. We are calling it, Truth or Trash!
The way the game is played is simple. One person will give the others a fact about a topic, in our case, it will be Disney related, of course, then the others have to guess whether or not it is a truth or whether it’s trash (lie). Ryan and Howie take turns challenging one another with each of their facts or fact-ish comments, but also share ways they see this activity is used in the classroom and even share what makes a good stretch of the truth and how that you can use that knowledge to decipher whether or not someone or some source is accurately depicting the facts.
Ryan also shares his version of Truth or Trash that he uses in his classroom as a first day, getting to know you activity. Ryan talks about how he gives his students a first-day quiz (insert groans here) where they have to look at a list of ten facts about him and then guess which fact is not true. This is a great way to help students get to know you as a person and not just their teacher and it’s also a great way to start building a foundation for a classroom environment that values sharing. We hope you enjoy today’s episode and hope all of you find more truths than trash out there.
On this episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back to the record-setting third time, Professor Jerry Johnson from Buena Vista University. Jerry is not only a recurring guest on this show, but both Howie and Ryan are honored to call him a true friend. Want to know more about the incredible things Jerry is doing in his University classes? Check out Episode 13 in season 1 where we first interviewed Jerry and shared the magic he’s making for his students at Buena Vista!
Today, Jerry has come on to talk about a very special passion project that he has been working on with students for three and a half years. This project is something that both Ryan and Howie had not even heard about in all their Disney research, so both of them were highly intrigued to hear more. The project is a documentary called, “Growing Magic: The Mickey Mouse Cornfield Story.”
Jerry and his students’ story starts when they took a two-hour trip to investigate the place were this cornfield Mickey was created. Though it has long disappeared, 1988, Jerry and his students found through talking to some locals, that were around then, they may be onto a very special story. So, on their van ride home, they decided to start this journey of creating a documentary.
After years of work and thirty plus different students lending their specialized skills, “Growing Magic: The Mickey Mouse Cornfield Story” is ready to premiere. The debut will happen March 28th at Buena Vista University with many other screenings happening across the country, including one near Anaheim CA. If you have a chance to catch this film, we really think you will enjoy it. Not only for the stories and Disney history that was captured by Jerry and his students, but also because of the passion and hard work that is evident in this production. We know Walt would give it a “Yeah, that’ll work!”
Learning at Sea
In this episode of My Disney Class Podcast, we welcome back ashore Howie fresh from his recent Disney Cruise. Howie is somewhat of a cruise expert as he has been on many different cruise lines and has traveled by water quite often for not being a clownfish. All kidding aside, we are tackling the issue of continuing to help our children grow both academically as well as culturally. Whether on land or at sea, we as educators know there is always something we can learn.
We focus on the Disney cruise for this podcast because um yeah, this is My Disney Class Podcast but Howie does mention some other cruise lines and what they offer educationally as well. The Disney cruise line may be a bit more pricey but it does offer an unforgettable vacation experience for families and is worth the premium over other cruise lines with its impeccable attention to detail, personalized service and wealth of educational experiences. We hope you enjoy our conversation in this episode as we share ten or so learning opportunities you can write home to your teachers about as you set sail on your cruise!
FETC-19 REFLECTIONS with Rae and Bruce
Today on the show, Howie and Ryan welcome two extraordinary individuals that happen to take part in the recent Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC). Both Rae Hughart and Bruce Umpstead are here to discuss their opinions on the conference as well as what they feel the future is for technology and its role in education.
Rae comes to us from central Illinois and is currently a 6th-grade math teacher at Evans Jr High. She is also the Director of training and development for the Teach Better Team. Bruce is joining us from Michigan where he is the Director of State programs at IMS Global. He also serves as the FETC 2019 IT Track Chairperson and Host. They both bring a vast wealth of knowledge and passion to this discussion and we know that you’re going to love hearing their thoughts on FETC and technology in general.
Kid-powered Innovation
On today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan share some impressive examples of students doing innovative things inside and outside of the classroom. Innovations are always needed since every problem needs a solution, so there is always a need for someone to discover a new and useful way to tackle these problems. So how then do we allow our students these opportunities so they are able to sharpen those problem-solving skills?
A collaborative classroom encourages innovation by pushing students to work with others who may be different from them, either in their belief, behavior, or background. Collaboration in the classroom encourages discussion, which is the father of all innovation. Ryan and Howie will discuss some of these traits that they believe help create the environment for innovation to flourish inside the classroom as well as discuss some of the challenges. They will also share some impressive stories, like that of Ann Makosinski that through her empathy for a family friend, designed and built a human-powered flashlight. There truly is magic in releasing your students and allowing them to ignite and follow their passions to reach great heights. We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope that we’ve inspired you to find more ways to release your own and your students’ innovation magic!
Howie & Ryan welcome an incredible educator from the UK in Preston England.
Daniel McComb, teaches courses in recreational activities, sport, literacy, and many and he inspires his students with challenging and engaging lessons that reach beyond the classroom walls to bring high-interest topics to his students.
He has brought Marvel comics into his literacy course. His students were asked to write a news report pretending that they were covering a Tony Stark press conference where Spiderman was being unmasked. His students even had a hard deadline to meet or they would be fired. We hope you enjoy this episode
Howie and I would first like to wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year and we hope that 2019 brings you more magic than your heart desires. In this episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are doing a little Disney dreaming and sharing what they are looking forward to in 2019 and beyond.
If you haven’t visited Walt Disney World recently, then there’s even more for you to explore and experience than ever before with much much more to come. There is the giant elephant in the room that is Galaxy’s edge the new Star Wars land coming to Hollywood studios. This new land promises to be the dream every Star Wars fan has been waiting for and the level of interaction between the land and its guests promises to be one like we have never seen before. Let’s just say, Ryan and Howie, can’t wait!
We also talk about several other attractions coming to Hollywood Studios, including Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Pixar Place being transformed into Municiberg city block from the Incredibles. All these coming attractions are sure to expand Hollywood Studios into an immersive fun experience for the whole family that we at My Disney Class are sure will provide plenty on new inspirations for the classroom as well.
We also talk about some of the other changes coming to some of the other parks including Guardians of the Galaxy at EPCOT, Ratatouille: The Adventure, Tron Lightcycle Power Run and many more. We hope you enjoy this episode as we look to the future and reflect on the past. Here’s to a magical and fantastic 2019!
We re-visit with Angela Maiers as she shares about releasing the genius inside us all, and launching a global movement. Discover Passion projects and how we can go beyond the idea of passion / genius hour projects-liberate the genius in ourselves as well as our students.
Angela shares her framework for liberating genius which includes the following:
- Need to accept our genius
- Need to notice the genius around us
- Leverage all of the collective genius
On today’s show, Howie and Ryan are sharing what they are thankful for and man do they have a lot to be thankful about. First of all, we are so so thankful for all the listeners who support our podcast and educational adventures. We really appreciate all the love and friendships this show has brought us and are fortunate to have this opportunity that continues to give us so many wonderful connections.
Howie also takes us through one of his recent educational adventures. He was lucky enough to get to take a group of adult learners down to Walt Disney World to experience and practice photography in the most magical and picturesque place in the world. He shares with us his experience in guiding this group and also lets us in on some of the fun they had each day.
We wrap up the show with some hints to some of the presents we are planning for you guys in the new year. We are incredibly excited as we are working behind the scenes on some awesome educational opportunities that will not only add magic to your professional development but will also remind you of the joy and happiness that we experience with our students every day!
On today’s show, Howie and Ryan are excited to be bringing the perspective of the student to My Disney Class Podcast. There is no doubt that the student is the main mouse in this Magic Kingdom we call school, but we often don’t invite the student to the discussion when making important decisions. Ryan and Howie have rectified this issue by inviting a student on to the show to share his thoughts on his own educational experiences.
To begin incorporating student voices, educators should think beyond student groups and after school activities, welcoming a range of student opinions in decisions about academic content, discipline, school culture, free time, the physical space of the school, and family partnerships. They should even consider an individual student’s wishes about which adults in the building will best teach and counsel them.
Listen to today’s show as we hear about a student’s daily routine in a middle school and how that student works juggles academics as well as all the extracurricular activities. We can learn so much from just listening to our student guest and we are glad he has come on to share his thoughts. We hope you enjoy this episode that looks to bring you the student’s perspective and a chance to reflect on what impact we are having on our students.
On today’s show, Ryan and Howie travel to another of Walt Disney’s inspirational destinations. This time we are going to visit Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford museum. Henry Ford made it his personal mission to preserve and record America’s technological and cultural progress. His success in the automobile industry allowed him the assets and the ability to create an exhibit hall that would display inventions and artifacts that told this story of America’s progress. We all know how Walt loved progress and he was an American history buff as well, so this was an obvious place for him and Lilian to visit.
Opening in 1933, the museum included many items from Ford’s personal collection. It varied from automobiles to player pianos, from steam engines to grease pumps. Ford also built a collection of buildings that spanned behind the museum that he named Greenfield Village. Most notable of the buildings he built was a replica of Independence Hall. This beautiful museum and village really do an incredible job of telling the story of America’s technological advances.
Howie and his wife were fortunate enough to travel to Dearborn, Michigan and follow Walt’s footsteps as they visited the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Howie takes us through this space recalling the highlights and unique items that he and his wife encounter along the way. We really get a sense of what this massive land really encompasses from Howie’s description and we began to see how this place provided many inspirational ideas for Walt and Disneyland. We also can see how drawing from inspirational places and items can help us in the classroom as well. Many teachers find inspiration in a variety of ways much like Walt did in his travels. We hope you enjoy today’s show and our trip to Greenfield Village.
Ryan and Howie welcome two brothers that have taken their passion and Pixar to a whole new level! Mason and Morgan McGrew have been working a passion project over the last few years to recreate Pixar’s Toy Story 3.
They are doing this scene by scene using stop-motion animation. This connection has blossomed into a project that has caught the attention of many, including Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich. They share their process of how they are going about recreating each scene and their biggest challenges and greatest successes.
When students are given the chance to pursue their passions and interest, you never know where it might lead.
Playing Like a Toy in Toy Story Land
On today’s show, Ryan and Howie discuss the new land down at Hollywood Studios called Toy Story Land. This new 11-acre land will transport guests into the adventurous outdoors of Andy’s backyard. Guests will think they’ve been shrunk to the size of Woody and Buzz as they are surrounded by oversized toys that Andy has assembled using his vivid imagination. Using toys like building blocks, plastic buckets and shovels, and game board pieces, Andy has designed the perfect setting for this land. This area has three main attractions, Toy Story Mania which already existed and two brand new attractions, Slinky Dog Dash and Spinning Alien Saucers.
Listen as Ryan explains his experience and walks you through a personal tour of the land. We will look at each attraction and even discuss the surroundings as well as the hidden easter eggs that are littered all throughout this land. We will also discuss how this land celebrates imagination, creativity, and making but even more so how it celebrates the unlimited genius of the child and how play can let them explore that. With that being said, we can definitely see how classroom teachers and staff can be inspired by playing like a toy!
Ryan and Howie welcome the wonderful and magical Maria Esterline! Maria describes herself as a simple educator that is passionate about creating learning experiences that prepare students for the real world. Her mission in life has been to be the change you wish to see in the world. She believes the change has to start with her and that’s exactly how she lives her life daily. If you have ever met or get the chance to meet Maria, you will see this for yourself as she is sure to build a meaningful relationship with you and offer her serves to you.
On today’s episode, Howie and Ryan are looking into the wonderful, inspirational travels of Walt Disney. According to several sources, Walt was inspired by several trips he took that helped him shape his future park, Disneyland. Of the many influences that Walt had, Howie recently was able to visit one in person, the Tivoli Gardens.
Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park and garden that is located in Copenhagen Denmark. The park was first opened on August 15th in 1843 and is the second oldest operating amusement park in the world. The oldest happens to be a few miles north in nearby Klampenborg called Dyrehavsbakken.
Tivoli Gardens had just over 4.5 million visitors in 2017 and was the second-most popular seasonal amusement park in the world after Europa-Park. Tivoli is the most-visited theme park in Scandinavia and the fifth most visited in Europe.
Walt traveled there in 1951 only four years before the opening of Disneyland. It was said that he walked the park and made many observations, taking notes in his notebook and asking plenty of questions. Art Linkletter, who was a longtime friend of Walt, was with him on the trip and has been quoted as saying that Walt would ask Art’s opinion on this visit about how he could recreate or improve on all the wonderful things they were experiencing at Tivoli.
Howie does an excellent job of walking us through his experience at Tivoli and even points out where and what he found that reminds him of certain attractions at Disneyland. You will be surprised what Howie found and how much it resembles a lot of our beloved classics at the Happiest place on Earth. Ryan and Howie then close out the show by relating what Walt did and learned on his travels with ways we can be inspired in our own schools. We discuss things like visual reflective learning, finding inspiration from classroom visits, and developing creativity and innovation through engaging lessons. We hope that you enjoy our reflection on Walt’s trip to Tivoli and we are sure to find more inspiration from some of Walt’s many other trips which we will be sure to talk about on future My Disney Class Podcasts.
On today’s episode, Ryan and Howie are talking with author and friend Lou Prosperi about his new book “The Imagineering Process”. Lou has worked in the game industry for over ten years as a freelance game designer and writer where he worked on the creation of a role-playing game called Eathrdawn. Then Lou went on to work as a technical writer and instructional designer for a large enterprise software company which he continues to create technical documentation and training for software applications. Lou is a long time Disney fanatic which started when he and his wife spent their honeymoon at WDW in 1993. Lou’s first book, The Imagineering Pyramid, has been a huge success and you can learn more about it and Lou’s story on a previous episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Season 2, Show 10. (WWW.mydisneyclass.com )
The Imagineering Process will help educators go beyond the different levels of the pyramid we discussed in season 2 and really focus more on the creative process that Imagineers use. Lou helps us break down this process into practical steps that can be applied to any content area lesson planning or activities. We talk through Needs, Requirements, and Restraints, Blue Sky, Concept Development, Design, Construction, Models and Openings, Evaluations, and Show Quality Standards. All these are chapters in Lou’s book and he helps us understand them each as they apply to Imagineering and how we can then work through them to achieve greatness in our classrooms and schools.
We think you will enjoy hearing Lou’s story as much as we did and we know you will find his book very interesting as well as useful for developing your own classroom magic in your school.
Welcome to Season 4 of My Disney Class Podcast! Ryan and Howie are thrilled to be starting their fourth season co-hosting the show and are incredibly grateful to all the listeners for tuning in. In this episode, we look at what it is like to let go, sing it with me now, of control of your classroom as well as letting go of some control during your family visit to WDW. We know that letting go of control for the first time can be hard whether you're letting your kids visit their first attraction on their own or letting your students choose how they represent their learning. Either way, we believe that once you do, you won’t regret it and it will make a major difference in the confidence of the children involved.
Howie starts us off on this journey by sharing one of his personal family stories from his last trip to WDW this summer. He shares how a simple ride on Space Mountain made worlds of difference in confidence and empowerment with his grandkids. He might also let on that the adults learned a little bit too!
Ryan and Howie then share some of their tips and stories about how they have given up some of the traditional control and power inside their classrooms. Whether it is in an administrative position or a teacher in the classroom, there are several ways that you can bring your students or staff into a role of empowerment.
We hope that you have enjoyed the last 3 years of the My Disney Class Podcast and we are excited to bring you year 4! Starting with this important and timely topic of letting go of control in your classroom. We hope that you give it a try this new school year and we wish you the best as you start the new school year.
We are joined by our very special guest, Dr. Sam Patterson who is the Makerspace Coordinator at Echo Horizon School and is coordinating and inspiring youth to be dreamers, creators, and doers.
Our conversation spans Makerspaces to puppets and everything creative in between. Learn how he created a classroom environment that helps break down insecurities in his students and allows them to take risks that often pay off in large learning dividends.
On today’s episode, Ryan and Howie continue their discussion on using cell phones and apps in the classroom. You can tell that they are “Appy and they know it” in this show as they take turns sharing different apps and tools to make education more efficient, engaging, and effective.
Organizing apps in the different ways that they may help you can be an effective way to think about which apps you may want to use in your classroom. Otherwise the sheer number of apps out there, some may find quite overwhelming. Some apps that Howie and Ryan share to help acquire information are apps like; Kahoot, Epic!, and Google Hangouts. Apps that help you make meaning of things include; Symbaloo, SeeSaw, and Padlet. So you get the idea, breaking down the different categories of apps for you and sharing some of our favorites in each category was really fun. Hopefully, you find it fun and valuable to your professional growth. Ryan and Howie love sharing what others have taught them and this episode was filled with resources that they picked up all over their PLN. Now it’s your turn to try some out and share your favorites with other educators, so they too can bring the magic of apps to their teaching.
We hope you enjoy this part 2 of “Picture Perfect End To The School Year.” There are plenty more apps that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface. We may have to jump back into this topic from time to time.
On today’s episode, Ryan and Howie welcome an extra special guest to the show, Mark DiBlasi. Yes, you heard me right, we are talking with one of Howie’s children. Listen as we discuss games in the classroom and we might also get a window peek back to how Howie was/is as a father.
So, who doesn’t like playing board games? Many families regularly play board games when they gather together and many play board games when they gather for parties and such, but did you know that many educators are now using board games in their classrooms. So on today’s show, we are looking into how and why we should consider using board games in our classrooms. Here are five of the many reasons that board games can be a useful tool in the classroom. 1. Play is an important part of our mental and social development. 2. Games provide stories and information presented in a new format. 3. Many board games challenge students to think critically. 4. Playing a board game is an “inquiry-based research process.” 5. Board games are an effective way to employ cooperative learning in the classroom.
Now that we know why and how board games should be taken seriously as a classroom tool, we need to bring in an expert to help show us the world of board games. Luckily, Howie has an inside track on a wonderfully insightful and knowledgeable gamer, Mark DiBlasi. He generously agreed to come on our show and share his wisdom. Mark starts by giving us some background on what got him into gaming and also shares why it was an important activity in a young child’s life. Mark then shares what he believes would be some of the best games to use in the classroom and how to go about implementing these games into your curriculum. Mark gives us a lot to think about when we are deciding on what games to choose, but he also does a nice job of honing in on what is important about each type of game. These categories of games can really help educators zero in on what they are trying to accomplish in their classroom. Hopefully, you will find games as powerful as we learned they can be from Mark and hopefully you will be giving them a try in your classrooms instead of just in your living room.
Howie and Ryan shate their favorite ways to use phones at WDW. How they make planning easier and fun using the My Disney Experience app, other travel apps, and how they pass the time waiting for their next landing at MCO. Next, we look at apps that will help you maximize your magic while in the parks. Again the My Disney Experience App is a must but there are also some third-party apps like Touring Plans and AccuWeather that can come in handy too. While sharing a few other apps used in the parks, Howie gives some great tips and apps on how to make your pictures more magical as well
Ryan and Howie start to look at the value of cell phones in the classroom and also share some of their favorite school apps.
More than just a space! With Dr. Robert Dillon and Rebecca Hare
Rebecca and Robert have teamed up to help share their mutual passion for purposeful design by writing a book that was inspired by the process they both went through together designing learning spaces in the Affton School District. The book is titled THE SPACE: A Guide for Educators. We are so happy that they could take time out of their busy schedules and share with us their expertise on this subject as Howie and Ryan both throw some burning questions they have about their book, design in general, and design in action. Ryan definitely admits to being on the basement level when it comes to designing learning spaces but Rebecca and Robert do a wonderful job of bringing him up to speed and tackling the big picture questions by honing them down to specific ideas that can be put into practice by any educator.
Discussion about the new Disney Star Wars hotel coming to Walt Disney World that would be a resort that would be designed to look like you’re staying on a starship
We dream big with our “Blue Sky” discussion about a Star Wars’ universe with personal interactions with Star Wars’ characters, live performers throughout the starship. With even more immersive activities like flight training, ship exploration, lightsaber training, and personalized, secret missions both on the starship and throughout Star Wars Land.
We have discovered patents that Disney has filed on possible room design, electronic enhancements and interactive elements that could be used in the resort and in the rooms. Come along as we speculate on how to solve the design problems for the new resort.
We discuss the Imagineering process and how you can teach your students to address projects in your own class in a very similar way. We will also take a deeper dive into how patents work and how you can use them in your lessons to enhance the real world value of the content that you are teaching. To round this episode out, we will also address how to use search engines to efficiently and effectively. You will also find value in this beyond your own searching, as I know students can often need direction in their own research searching as well.
Welcome back to Nicole Mancini. Nicole teaches 5th Grade and is passionate about student choice.
In classrooms that do create an environment where student's voice and choice are prevalent, you would see a curriculum and learning environment where students are actively choosing how they learn and possibly what they learn. Nicole has created such an environment inside her classroom, and she shares how she goes about laying the foundation for such an environment.
She shares strategies, lessons, and tools that she uses to execute student choice in her classroom. Learn how to engages students and takes them to the next level through the process of writer’s workshop and utilizing independent reading, book talks, 30 book challenge, and student choice in selecting their own reading books.
We are not joking with this April 1st episode! On today’s show, Howie and Ryan are feeling hungry, hungry for learning with Disney details. Episode 17 is all about the places you can grab a bite to eat, but also learn something as well. Ryan and Howie share some of their favorite places to eat on property but not necessarily because of the food, though we promise the food is pretty good too.
Ryan and Howie welcome a phenomenal teacher and innovator, Chantell Mason. Chantell is currently a 6th grade Science teacher at Steger 6th grade center in the Webster Groves school district. We discovered Chantell because she is just received the ISTE “Making It Happen” award and was honored at METC. She not only won this award but has also been recognized by METC as a Spotlight Educator and Outstanding Young Educator. She is also recognized by PBS as a Digital Innovator and she is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. While this list is really impressive, we think as you listen to the show, you will find what is really impressive is Chantell’s passion for her students.
We hope you enjoy our conversation with Chantell as she discusses her work with students and how she focuses on creating a classroom environment that fosters an empathetic global community. Her implementation of project-based learning with an emphasis on empathy and global awareness really helps her students become invested in their content and will definitely foster a deeper learning that her students will not soon forget. Chantell really does a great job of sharing how she delivers these lessons and will give you, like she did me, several tips and resources for creating PBL magic in your classroom.
Ryan and Howie are taking a look at play in education. With the opening of Toy Story Land being announced for this June 30th at Walt Disney World, Howie and Ryan have been wondering about how important play is in education. Listen today as they discuss four fundamental questions surrounding play in education: 1) What is play in education? 2) What does research say about play in education? 3) Can learning through play really help teachers to achieve their formal lesson goals? 4) What strategies can educators use to implement play in education?
Howie and Ryan, do their best to try to tackle these questions as they share what they have found in their research as well as what they have learned through their own experiences. We hope you enjoy this episode on play and we hope that it may have inspired you to be more like Andy and create a classroom more like Andy’s room. ANDY IS COMING…. (silence)
Howie and Ryan discuss the different conferences that they have recently presented at. These conferences include ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), FETC (Future of Education Technology Conference), TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) They share what they love about attending conferences and some tips on how you too can be a presenter at one of these conferences or any conference.
Listen as Ryan and Howie compare the pluses and minus of each conference and how each compares to each other. We think you will find that there are some big similarities and also some big differences. Don’t get us wrong, we love going to conferences, but we want you to be prepared and excited about what you will experience if you choose to attend one of these conferences. Believe us, you are going to learn a lot, have tons of fun, and feel really, really drained by the end of each day. Of course, it is all worth it, whether it’s a tool or strategy that is going to change the way you teach or a connection that you make with a fellow educator, you are going to find real value in stepping out of your comfort zone and attending a conference. There is a lot of Magic going on in education around the nation and a conference is a great way to find some!
Discover one of Walt’s famous failures. Holidayland opened on June 16th, 1957 in Disneyland for large events like corporate parties, family reunions, etc. Holidayland closed in 1961 due to its lack of shade, nighttime lighting, lack of restrooms, and overindulgence of alcohol by guests. Learn about its history and why it failed. So how does Walt’s failure in Holidayland tie to education? Join us and find out
Brian shares his work on an upcoming new theme park, non-Disney related, in China. Discover exciting and challenging stories and concepts that fit with the Chinese culture and how the theme park industry overseas is raising the bar.
How to stay on top of the theme park industry by attending conferences like ITSEC and IAAPA. Learn about what goes on behind the curtain of the theme park industry and what new and innovative things are just around the corner that is being showcased at these conferences.
Howie and Ryan are briefly reflecting back on 2017 and then looking to the future of 2018 and what we hope it brings both in education and in Disney. Each of them will share their educational Disney resolutions and explain how they hope each will bring positive change.
We share how reading more books, creating challenges, connecting to the circle of life and many other resolutions can help you and your school community stick to the visions you have for 2018.
Thank you to all of our listeners, you all are truly the Magic that creates the beauty of education. We look forward to learning more about all of you in 2018 and also look forward to all the new members of the My Disney Class community.
In today’s episode, Ryan and Howie welcome to the show the wonderfully talented and energetic Dyane Smokorowski or Mrs. Smoke as she goes on Twitter. Not only is Dyane a dynamic educator but she also has a long list of notable accomplishments. Including 2013 KS teacher of the year, listed by NSBA in 2009 as Top 20 to watch, Google Certified, EdcampKS Organizer, Educational Speaker, ECET2KS, Instructional Tech Coach, and Skype Master Teacher. Whew! This educator is blowing the roof off the profession but we think you will be most impressed by her passion and energy she displays during the podcast.
We hope you enjoy listening to Mrs. Smoke’s story today as she shares with us her passion for bringing Disney Magic to her school and district and how we as educators we can impact our school community. Topics we discuss range from developing engaging curriculum, working with staff to help foster a growth mindset community, and how incorporating technology, like Skype, can create a global classroom environment.
We hope you enjoyed listening to another incredible educator and true Edmagineer, Dyane Smokorowski! We really enjoyed having her on and learned a lot. We also Disney Geeked out together, which is always fun. Additionally, we hope all of you have a blessed and joyous holiday season and we wish you a truly Magical New Year!