Best Practices in Education: Recent Episodes
Odyssey School
Best Practices in Education with Odyssey School offers professional resources, practical tools, and inspiring conversations for parents, teachers, and administrators who seek the best in education. In each episode we interview Odyssey teachers and others in the field of education who have lived experience to share.
We know that comprehension is built with knowledge building curriculum. We love building knowledge! One really fun way to build knowledge is through project based learning. In this episode Master Teacher, Carly Penny talks about her experience with project based learning and how it builds knowledge!
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Part 4- Comprehension Through Knowledge Building Curriculum with Equity in Mind!
The science of reading has taught us that students build comprehension through knowledge building. We went searching for a knowledge building curriculum that we wanted to use. In our search, we made equity a high priority. We strongly believe in decolonizing history. We want to give our students a world view that celebrates all cultures. That search led us to Fishtank Learning! In this episode, we also hear from the head of school at Odyssey, Dr. Howard. He explains why equity is so important.
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Part 3- Phonics and Intervention with UFLI
Every good science of reading program needs a strong phonics program that is explicit and systematic. It also requires intervention work. In this episode, we discuss how we use UFLI as a tool to teach phonics according to the science of reading and Orton-Gillingham methods. We also talk about how we use small group interventions to help support struggling readers. This episode will be helpful for anyone looking for ways to implement a high quality reading and phonics program!
https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/
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In the second episode in our series on the Science of Reading we discuss assessment. Odyssey moved away from Fountas and Pinnell assessment and adopted Acadience this year! The difference has been amazing! Please enjoy listening to us explain why and how it works!
Use this link to learn more about Acadience Learning. https://acadiencelearning.org/
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Odyssey Elementary Director Robin Skeen takes on a six part series of the science of reading and how it can be applied in the classroom and beyond. Part 1 is an introduction and overview of the program.
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We close out the third season of Best Practices in Education with special guests from AVL Rise, a peer-to-peer literacy and mentorship program based in Asheville, North Carolina, which is funded through OpenDoors Asheville.
Program Director, David Kennedy, a Jamaican native, is a father, creative, music artist, writer, educator, and scholar. As an educator, he has over 7 years of experience at the primary, secondary and tertiary level as a Special Education and Social Studies teacher, also an Adjunct Lecturer, and was a certified professional teacher in two states, Florida and Colorado. David is joined in the studio by Toni and Kei'Shawn, ages 16 and 8, a student pair who participated in the program for the '21-22 school year.
AVL Rise uses youth culture pedagogy and hip hop elements to build cohesion and growth within its students and reimagine the classroom setting. Listen till the end to enjoy the original song, "Everyday We Rise," written and performed by David "Coppa Stone" Kennedy, Nex Millen, and Open Doors senior, Khalid Jean.
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Guest Host Elijah Allred is back to interview Intermediate teacher, Kylie Hulver. In this episode, Kylie talks about game design and how to create moments of joy and movement in the classroom, while building gross motor skills and mental acuity for your students.
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Intermediate Director, Kalyan Volpe, returns to the podcast to talk about his "Spiritual Warrior" intermediate program. Volpe defines spiritual cultivation in his classroom as the individual's attunement to their inner landscape and translating the information and knowledge taken from that attunement out into the physical world. It includes mindfulness practices, meditation, and developing inner attributes, such as focus and courage.
Listen to learn more about how to inspire preteens and teens to engagement and leadership.
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Kindergarten teacher Samantha Sole shares about her journey to integrate sign language into the kindergarten classroom. Supporting students in using movement to communicate opens up new pathways in the brain for communication and understanding, and builds empathy for difference.
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Odyssey High math teacher, Grant Yost, reflects on why he prioritizes getting feedback from his students throughout the semester. He shares the strategies he uses to both elicit honest responses from students, as well as how to set clear boundaries about what feedback can and can't change about the classroom experience.
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5th and 6th grade teacher, Kylie Hulver, talks about how to successfully settle and energize in the classroom. She uses silence and breath to support students in developing self-regulation. She uses energizers to teach skills that are translatable to content. Plug in to listen to the conversation she and guest host Elijah Allread share.
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Teachers often report feeling unsupported and financially challenged when seeking opportunities for their students. First and second grade teacher, Barbi Brittain, shares how cultivating community support can bring new opportunities to the classroom. An outside-the-box thinker, Barbi encourages teachers to make strategic partnerships that empower students and also make parents and community members feel a part of something bigger.
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What does it mean to act in the role of teacher as (loving) antagonist? Intermediate Language Arts teacher Elijah Allred answers random questions offered by students. We laugh a lot. And we get into a deep conversation about how when teachers challenge their students, when they play the mischievous trickster, the developmental process gets rich and rewarding for our students.
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Kindergarten teacher, Shirley Rotolo, talks about strategies to increase reading comprehension in students. She explores research based method from a practical standpoint, integrating Orton-Gillingham inspired practices with other strategies to get the best outcomes for her students.
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High School Science Teacher Andrew Rabin encourages science teachers of all ages to engage their students in bird watching. An experiential activity that brings core elements of science alive, birdwatching is fun, challenging, rewarding, and can be done without a significant cost to the classroom.
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Elementary Program Director Robin Skeen talks to us about creating learning paths in the classroom. We'll get a quick how to and learn some resources to get started. A bonus: these paths provide teachers with the opportunity to move smoothly between remote and on site learning!
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Teaching students to become systems thinkers is a priority for high school scienc teacher, Andrew Rabin. In this episode, the last episode of Season Two, Andrew walks us through how to teach a life cycle analysis project in high school, what processes he uses, and what the value of this kind of project is.
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Kindergarten teacher, Shirley Rotolo, uses cultural art to support her students in engaging their creativity and passion. She talks about ways to include cultural art during thematic units, creating pottery, visual art, and other 3-D sculptures to build curiosity about our diverse world.
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High School math teacher Grant Yost shares strategies for how to create a positive learning environment. He encourages fellow teachers to assess their own favorite learning spaces and make changes in the classroom with an eye toward calm, creativity, and connection.
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Speech Language Pathologist and Emotional Intelligence Teacher, Stacey Crowley, makes a case for harnessing the moment to rethink the role education plays in the mental fitness of students and educators. She ties the 21st century skills employers require to the SEL skills we teach students today.
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Intermediate Program Director Kalyan Volpe shares how storytelling in the classroom builds relationship and promotes transformation. As a teacher who straddles the developmental divide between childhood and pre-teen and teen unfolding, Kalyan dives into the somewhat mystical process of supporting students through their individual journeys of becoming.
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We ask teachers to do so much! In this episode, Intermediate teacher (5-8) and Director, Alex Eren, shares about the organizational systems that save time and energy. Learn to make your classroom more organized, and your processes sleek and sophisticated--in both the physical and electronic world!
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Join us on the most recent episode of Best Practices in Education. Elementary Director Craig Deutsch returns to the podcast to share how he uses self-regulation as an energy management strategy in the elementary classroom. According to Craig, helping students do the work in metacognition and self-reflection can make your classroom happier and more well-regulated. Tune in to learn more!
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Intermediate (5-7th) grade teacher, Kylie Hulver, shares her excitement in getting students to move their bodies and engage their spirits as part of the learning process. In Kylie's classroom, students jump, run, sing, or build lego creations to help them understand ratios and solve long division. We know learning engages a variety of intelligences. This episode can help you think about how to practice multimodal learning with students yourself.
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This year has presented educators with unexpected challenges at every turn. Some of us are teaching online. Some of us are teaching hybrid, and some of us have been on-site for most of the year. High School Director Gabriel Johnson shares a process for revising curriculum when teachers aren't able to meet all their learning objectives.
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High School teacher Hadley Cluxton returns to the podcast to share how to successfully use graphic novels to reach students who learn through a variety of modalities. She offers an exhaustive list of resources, particularly for history teachers.
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Executive Director Cory Adams talks about the preparation required to get the school ready to face the challenges of the pandemic.
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Season 2, Episode 2. 3rd and 4th grade teachers Robin Skeen and Carly Penny use a blended model to meet students where they are and challenge them to thoroughly understand, apply, and create by being metacognitive and resourceful.
Look through the presentation at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HNUhXsC_NLm7tRpHCbrFqGOdp6WzghtjgkS-i7tRMFU/edit?usp=sharing
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COVID-19 has changed the way teachers do everything! In this episode, 1st grade teacher Selma Neel shares what it's like for her elementary classroom to move outdoors as teachers and students adjust to (mostly) all-weather school.
Here's a link to the visual presentation as well.
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In the first episode of Season 2, teachers reflect on what they learned from teaching during the first days of the pandemic. Different voices tell unique stories and share insight.
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When we need it most, this teaching conversation is all about how love keeps learning going. Whether it's falling in love with poetry or cultivating love, connection, and safety among students, Dr. Richard Chess of UNC-Asheville shares how he introduces students to literature and each other.
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Students need novel ways to interact with screens as we move to remote learning. High School Director Gabe Johnson talks about using games in the virtual classroom, what kinds of students they engage, and who gets left out of the equation.
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Intermediate teacher Jenny Einzig talks about experiential learning in the classroom and how it can really bring students alive.
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Alex Eren and Kalyan Volpe, Intermediate teaching partners, talk about partnership. What does it take to have a strong partnership in the classroom? What does success look like?
Check out their presentation to learn more: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TImiV98CWI8aXcqE04TruTD7Cykp5nRAnC5kD_aXIvw/edit?usp=sharing
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Sound Designer River Guerguerian joins Executive Directors Cory Adams and Megan Martell in a remote interview to discuss how Odyssey is managing the transition to remote learning during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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Studio guest and chef Ashley Capps joins us to share about how important emotional intelligence is to the process of cooking and training others to cook.
Ashley has worked at Five and Ten Restaurant in Athens, GA, Eleven Madison Park in New York, Farm and Sparrow Bakery in Asheville, and MG Road Bar and Lounge in Asheville, before moving to Buxton Hall. She served as the opening pastry chef for Rhubarb, an Asheville establishment named to Bon Appetit’s "Top 50 Best New Restaurants" and Southern Living’s list of “100 Best New Restaurants in the Southeast.”
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Kindergarten Teacher Shirley Rotolo discusses the benefits of reading literature aloud in classrooms and at home to students through high school, offering title recommendations, and exploring her own relationship to literature as a multi-lingual educator.
To learn more, check out the presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F6BrDrXnGv7MHBMSkgs5EwUH-9kZN1xt2Rc4sn3PRuk/edit?usp=sharing
Support the show (http://odysseycommunity.org/giving-to-odyssey/)
Support the show (http://odysseycommunity.org/giving-to-odyssey/)
First Grade teacher Craig Deutsch shares about how to bring your own interests into the classroom, using passion as a way to expand and connect with students. Teaching can be a demanding profession, and it's important for teachers to feel alive and excited about the material they teach.
For more information, check out Craig's podcast below:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cRftXEg4NIiqW31qDatYvCpIqkXVP3he6QbIGxkbOxo/edit?usp=sharing
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Odyssey High teacher JP Bowers talks about how to guide students and faculty through experiential team building. She considers how connection informs relationship and impacts learning in both obvious and subtle ways.
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High school social studies teacher Hadley Cluxton unpacks the complexities of teaching "histories" rather than "History" through a lens of decoloniality, pluriversality, and re-existence. She shares the theory behind this rebellious and vital perspective, defines these terms for those of us who are new to the conversation, and inspires us to embrace the conversation and the work to become better teachers.
For more information, check out Hadley's Best Practice Presentation - Part 1
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YNp495cHJnXoUPn2yJGvrkD1w9AXCxh1Jfiy2wFDqwg/edit?usp=sharing
And Part 2
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RYMHaQV-70T052TypK8IDinPrwf4z6JhTM_QovzSrvY/edit?usp=sharing
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Preschool Director Courtney Fincher speaks to the developments in the fields of interpersonal neurobiology, attachment, and polyvagal theory. She explores how to implement the information we're learning in these areas within the context of early childhood education.
To learn more, check out the presentation here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1q13KUE84ZrJlF2oIq-NmP4YnHjHvlXUAvrILuAEgyKs/edit?usp=sharing
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Teacher Pana Columbus talks about using six action levels to solve real world problems. She talks about teaching systemic disruptive action to address climate change.
To learn more, check out Pana's presentation at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RRTsRRcFvP-fwfonXZG7ugTrwSRFrwJ7SrWHfcEdFPk/edit?usp=sharing
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High School Director Gabe Johnson gives an introduction to Communicative Action through the lens of the Integral Model. Along the way, he describes the AQAL, one of Integral's tools for navigating perspectives of consciousness.
Here's a link to his brief presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MV8y0Q_mKFusB_jRpgGRoDnq0ZA-jeb9Q5ZvDt8sIm0/edit?usp=sharing
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Ta'rin'ii Isner, a 5th and 6th grade teacher, discusses her inspiration in teaching coming of age, the power of names, and cultivating a sense of purpose from indigenous Aboriginal and African cultures.
"The Spirit of Intimacy" and "Welcoming Spirit Home," by Sobonfu Some
A short video on the power of ritual:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPVx9LemV9s
"The Healing Wisdom of Africa" and "Of Water and the Spirit," by Malidoma Some
http://malidoma.com/main/
Check out more info in Tarinii's Best Practice presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cw0Idznj4X0Iaw36bjT6gH_WQ9_6wTv7mRPjW08H1b0/edit?usp=sharing
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Carly Penny explains her design thinking process in developing a Podcasting Project with her third and fourth grade students. Hear strategies for deepening standards to create authentic learning in an interdisciplinary style that can be applicable all year long.
See Carly's presentation here: https://docs.google.com/a/odysseycommunity.org/presentation/d/102BpLqdfLM9vBXPfC2VT0EwYW79nUt4ihcKb-5CVcNA/edit?usp=drive_web
Listen to a student podcast here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sbHhXDq8AAcqnPfHcl7T2FZhVEJMJ6_F/view
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Science is not just what those people wearing white coats do in labs, and the scientific method isn't a linear process. What?! High school science teacher Andrew Rabin shares his process for exploring authentic science with students.
To learn more, check out the link below:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fwCWoiYpXhsfAbeKdwutIxZFg6W5DJGUCkRTnXBzTA0/edit?usp=sharing
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Middle school teacher, Alex Eren, talks about the practice of self-care and its importance to teachers. She offers strategies and tips about how to make self-care happen even in the briefest moments.
To learn more through Alex's presentation, click the link below.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iUjPcQ7kYxiCcIemwGQZOY_p91lykhKSX-1_mSYEEoM/edit?usp=sharing
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Selma Neel describes how she supports students with learning differences and their peers navigate the emotional and social experience of learning about their diagnoses. Through expert panels, students embrace the strengths that come with their differences and find support in working with the challenges.
Check out Selma's presentation below to learn more.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QdoZ8nlKtGuTgUxDvCXSeL3nULHu7w1yyLT1ZuWRk08/edit#slide=id.p
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We all enter our classrooms with biases: teachers and students alike. Listen as high school math teacher Grant Yost explores different mental biases, specific strategies to bring metacognition into any classroom, and the benefits of shining light on some specific ways bias can hinder and reflection can bolster student learning in mathematics.
Check out the presentation below.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eOmEOFLB-dsF7JjIB0Cu8h10g-nMVTfy1x94degOtUs/edit?usp=sharing
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Middle School teacher Jenny Einzig is passionate about social justice. In this episode, we hear about her approach to teaching about immigration, navigating political issues in the classroom, and ultimately focusing on cultivating empathy and understanding through language arts.
For a look at Jenny's presentation, with more information and notes, take a peek here.
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In the current educational landscape, teachers sometimes struggle to name and address different experiential modes of being as pathways for learning. Intermediate teacher Kalyan Volpe talks about the role spirituality plays in holistic education, sharing specifics about what his students' exploration looks like in the classroom.
For more information, go to the presentation below.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yR33y7FZE9l-OiVbDBNHgDRJc_u6FTRzB0OaJa79010/edit?usp=sharing
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Magical thinking is an important part of healthy development in young children. Mary Virginia Bunker does a deep dive into what defines magical thinking, how it manifests in the kindergarten classroom and beyond, and why it's so valuable for our students growth.
For more information, check out the presentation below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XSxHkOLZhL_4smiLJutUakauoCNIb_o/view?usp=sharing
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By creating a classroom economy, students can learn about production, marketing, business, and economics through personal experience. Robin Skeen describes how she organizes her "Community Time" market in her third and fourth grade classroom, including what works and what doesn't.
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Executive Director Cory Adams explains a little about the Integral Model, how it's applied at Odyssey School, and the training she uses to help teachers implement the model in their classrooms. Ken Wilber's "theory of everything" can be tough to understand. Focused, productive activities with faculty are a good way to teach how to implement higher level thinking activities in the classroom.
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An Executive Director talks about the system for professional development at Odyssey School. Teachers meet weekly to share a "Best Practice." They explore, experiment, and document successes and failures in the classroom together.
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