artoflearning's podcast: Recent Episodes
Melissa Burrup
Art of Learning focuses on sharing the ideas, strategies and tools excellent teachers possess. Art of Learning hopes these resources provide children everywhere access to an inspired, confident and charismatic teacher that encourages them to pursue their gifts and talents to better our world.
My guest today is Kirby Mackenzie. She is McAuliffe Elementary's 2014 teacher of the year and an incredibly fun and inspiring librarian you will not soon forget. We discovered Kirby through The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she was featured multiple times for her school's dedication to providing books for their kids. When Kirby transitioned into the role of school librarian, she helped spearhead what is now a full blown movement at McAuliffe Elementary to ensure their students have books they love to read throughout the Summer months. The goal was simple, to mitigate the reading level losses they were experiencing at the start of each school year. What Kirby wasn't expecting was how inspiring she would become to others and how many resources would flow her way to help her and the McAuliffe team grow their vision. What I wasn't expecting was how funny, interesting and challenging the story was to get this program up and running. In this interview we talk about how the idea formed, those hard fought lessons from those first couple years and what the data they've collected reveals about the success of the program. This interview was a ton of fun, I think you'll get some great laughs but hopefully you'll also find some inspiration for yourself or to pass along because this idea impacts more than reading levels, it really brings together the whole community, school, teachers, parents and children working together on levels that might not otherwise be possible. So, buckle up sit back and enjoy this discussion with Kirby MacKenzie.
My guest today is Tracy Horodyski. Tracy is part reading interventionist and part instructional coach at Zinser Elementary. She is also the 2016-2017 Michigan state teacher of the year and a prime example of why I wanted to create this platform in first place. Here is an amazing teacher with 17 years experience, she won her states highest honor and there was nothing out there to help us learn from all her experience. Now, what struck me most about Tracy was that even though she comes from a background of educators, she still found the first years so difficult she almost gave up. Just from that, I was desperate to know more. How she got through it, what changed in her approach and what skills helped transitioned her out of that difficult start into a state teacher of the year. In this interview we talk about the insights and advice that transformed her teaching journey. Tracy walks us through the twists and turns of her pursuits in professional development that landed her into an instructional coach position at her school. It's a true testament where learning for the sake of learning can put you in a position you never thought possible. Also, we talk about one of the key skills she attributes much of her success to, the subtle and difficult art of listening. Tracy has great energy and a contagiously positive attitude. So I hope you learn a lot and enjoy this conversation with Tracy Horodyski.
My guest today is Maarit Rossi. Maarit represented Finland in the 2016 Global Teacher Prize finals. In this interview we are going to be discussing Math but even if that is not what your specialize in, all teachers can learn from the principles she and the Finnish education system use to engage students in learning. Maarit has written 9 Math text books and when her school was selected to take the international PISA test, it scored some of the highest in the world. And the students did this with shorter school days and less testing than most other countries. Some people in the international community were interested to figure out how this was possible and encouraged Maarit to make her teaching methods available to the rest of the world. She has spent years converting her books and techniques into an online curriculum to make her ideas available to everyone. In this interview we talk about the key components to get students learning at the deepest levels, how pathstomath.com was born plus the benefits and challenges to creating more classroom group discussions. So please enjoy this conversation with Maarit Rossi.
My guest today is Michael Soskil. Michael was one of the two Americans selected as Finalists in the 2016 Global Teacher Prize and prior to that was honored with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science. He has connected his classroom to the world and facilitated conversations between his students and more than 70 countries. Some of the results of these introductions are pretty incredible. His students notice problems others are having and Michael allows them the opportunity to get creative and solve them. Some of their ideas and efforts have actually saved lives! In this interview we discuss how you can place your classroom front and center on the global stage, how connecting students emotions to the content through service creates a growth mindset and passion for learning. So please enjoy this conversation with Michael Soskil.
My guest today is Sonya Romero, more commonly know as The Hero Teacher featured on Ellen in March of 2015. Her Ellen interview has more than 8 million views and climbing. Sonya has won several awards for her humanitarian efforts including a Congressional Award. Before Sonya entered the classroom she began her university studies in journalism and communications but went back to obtain a second bachelors in education. In 2004 she completed her masters and is currently working on her PHD. Sonya is Executive Vice President of Albuquerque Federation of Teachers and helps create content for the professional development courses they provide. You can find Sonya in her kindergarten classroom most weekdays at Lee Wallace Elementary in Albuquerque, New Mexico where her mission is to make every child feel safe. She accomplishes this by meeting each student's basic needs first by ensuring all children are fed and have comfortable clothes. Once that foundation is established she finds it much easier to build the love of learning into her students. In this interview we talk about how to build those important teacher/student relationships, solutions to help students the are negatively impacted by poverty and how her life has changed after being featured on Ellen. Researching and speaking with Sonya makes me want to work harder and give more. She is such a positive and generous spirit it's hard not to be transformed just listening to her speak so please enjoy this conversation with Sonya Romero.
My guest today is Shawn Sheehan. He is Oklahoma's 2016 teacher of the year and selected as one of four finalists for US National Teacher of the year. He teaches Specialized Education Math to Freshmen at Norman High School. In 2013 after overhearing a colleague discouraged her child from becoming a teacher, Shawn made it his mission to improve public perception and pride for his profession. Shawn started the Teach Like Me campaign to encourage teachers to share positive stories about life in the classroom. He spearheads the movement by producing short videos filled with inspiration about the challenges and joys of being an educator today. In this interview we talk about how Teach Like Me began, the performance aspect of educating, plus the benefits and challenges of implementing a blended class system. I couldn't stop smiling during this interview or even during the editing process. Shawn is an extremely charming individual and it's easy to see why his students love him. So sit back and enjoy listening to one our nations best, Shawn Sheehan.
My guest today is Master Bong Kang. He runs the Broken Arrow branch of Kang's Tae Kwon-Do, established in 1971 by his father Grandmaster Kang. Master Kang is a 9 time State Champion, 3 time Junior National Champion and 2 time Heavyweight National Champion. In 2012 he was selected by the United States Olympic team as an honorary captain to help the athletes prepare for competition. In this interview Master Kang shares his teaching methods, philosophy and talks in depth about the life skills students learn through Taekwondo.
My guest today is a great friend of mine, Dr. Meagan Moreland. She specializes in reading and is very interested in motivation and engagement. She mentors classroom teachers through the masters program which means she is very experienced helping teachers fine tune their skills and up their game. In this interview we cover a lot of ground. We talk about fear, happy folders which I found especially smart and interesting. We talk about some assessments you can use to find out what students are interested in so you can keep them motivated and engaged and much more. We hope you enjoy, Dr. Meagan Moreland.