Episode 048: Education Foundations

Education Foundations, large and small, exist all over the nation to support schools and teachers with a focus on meeting school needs where gaps exist. OKCPS has an exceptional foundation that, like other foundations, is working to address many of the educational challenges that our district faces. I visited with Mary Mélon, who is the president of the OKCPS Foundation. You can find more information at their website www.okckids.com, on their Facebook page, or on Twitter.

Advertisement

Episode 047: OPSRC

This episode of Passing Notes is a cross over with the OPSRC podcast School ZonED. I sat down with Executive Director Brent Bushey and talked all things education and podcasting. You can find out more information about OPSRC -Oklahoma Public School Resource Center – on their website, Twitter, or Facebook.

Reflection Questions:

• Reflecting on the 2018-2019 school year, what areas of growth have you identified for the coming school year?
• What resources are you looking to for growing your practice in the 2019-2020 school year?
• What podcasts/books are you listening to and learning from this school year?
• How can you be a resource to other teachers and to parents in the coming school year?
• What do you need from your school leader or other teachers this school year? How are you advocating for those resources?

Episode 046: Coaching New Teachers

For this episode of Passing Notes, I visited with Dr. Joanna Lein. Joanna is the Executive Director of the Teaching and Leading Initiative of Oklahoma (TLI). TLI is a nonprofit organization based out of Tulsa, OK that works to develop the skills, knowledge, and mindsets of teachers and school leaders with a focus on novice teachers. You can find Joanna on Twitter @JoMabeeLein or follow TLI Oklahoma @OklahomaTli.

Reflection Questions:

• What spoke to you in this episode?
• Where is your struggle? Classroom management? Guided reading? Instructional practices? Differentiation?
• What micro skills do you need to grow during the 2019-2020 school year?
• What are your goals for the 2019-2020 school year? How do you plan on growing? What small steps can you take towards that goal?
• How are you sharing your knowledge with other teachers?
• How are you supporting novice teachers?
• In the coming year, have you considered time in your day to reflect on your teaching practice?

Episode 045: #oklaed Reflects

A look at the 2019-2020 school year by the community of #oklaed.

Reflection Questions:

• What happened this year that you are proud of?
• What lessons did you learn from working with your students? families?
• What do you hope to improve/change for next school year?
• What are you reading this summer to grow as an educator?
• How are you relaxing and rejuvenating this summer to begin the 201920-2020 school year?

Episode 044: Legislative Wrap Up

The 2019 Oklahoma Legislative Session has come and gone. This year Passing Notes, with the help of a couple of friends, worked to help keep #oklaed informed with regular updates on all things #okleg. Please send your feedback to me by commenting below or direct message me @thestephhinton.

This last episode, posted a little later than planned, is a conversation with Senator JJ Dossett of Senate District 34 and Representative Cyndi Munson of House District 85 (twitter handles linked to name). This episode focused on #oklaed reflections and frustrations from the legislative session.

A BIG shout out to Todd Gragg and Shari Gateley who took the time to research and record for each episode!

Episode 043: Legislative Update 10

Listen in as Todd Gragg, Shari Gateley, and I talk all things #oklaed #okleg.

Episode 042: Student Podcasts

Erin Barnes is a principal and former teacher of Epic Charter Schools. She is also a co-host of the OklaSaid Podcast and the producer of the podcasts The Emancipation Podcast Station and Navigating School.

I sat down with Erin to talk about how thinking outside the box and allowing students to demonstrate mastery through a variety of means provides educators with a more authentic forms of assessment.

Reflection Questions:

• What do you currently use to assess student mastery?
• Do you currently use any alternative forms of assessment when determining student mastery?
• What alternative forms of assessment have been the most effective for you?
• Have you ever considered using student podcasting to determine student mastery? How would creating a student podcast help you identify mastery and needs for remediation?
• What other forms of authentic assessments have you tried or considered trying? How did this experience grow your thinking about assessments or student mastery?
• What are your next steps towards changing assessments in your classroom?

Episode 041: Legislative Update 9

In this episode Todd Gragg, Shari Gateley, and I talk about the state’s education budget, Governor Stitt’s Board of Education appointments, and school shootings. #oklaed

Episode 040: Blogging & Podcasting for Education

For this episode of Passing Notes, Michelle Waters from reThinkELA and I talk all things!! Our focus for this episode was on blogging & podcasting for education but we also visited about student voice & choice, falling in love with reading, literature, and more!

Michelle Waters is a high school English teacher in rural Oklahoma. She is the genius behind reThinkELA, which provides English teachers with a community of learners to grow and think critically about their teaching practices. reThinkELA is a blog, a podcast, a place to chat. You can find Michelle Waters – on Twitter @watersenglish or at her blog reThinkELA.com.

reThinkELA is a member of the #oklaed Podcast Network.

Reflection Questions:

1. What ways do you currently add student voice and choice in your classroom?
2. What are some of your current practices to encourage a love of reading/writing in your classroom?
3. Do you currently have a student who you are struggling to connect with literature? What are some ways you might think outside the box/mix it up in your classroom to help this student?
4. How are you sharing what is happening in your classroom/school with others?
5. How do you learn from others about best practices? Do you listen to podcasts? Read blogs? Read books?
6. How are you a life long learner? What are practical steps you can take to be more purposeful about learning (i.e., PLC book study, listening to a new podcast)?

Episode 039: Legislative Update 8

This episode of Passing Notes Todd, Shari, and I focused on other systems that impact education because it is not enough to fully fund education. We cover healthcare, criminal justice, DHS, and how all three intersect with education. To sum it up, if we are going to be a top 10 state, Oklahomans need to care for Oklahomans and our policies need to be reflective of the Oklahoman Standard.

Find Todd on Twitter @MrGragg and Shari @ShariGateley.