The Getting Smart team is excited to be bringing you a conversation with one of their favorite teacher bloggers, Rachelle Dene Poth! Rachelle is a French, Spanish, and technology teacher and an ed-tech consultant. She’s also an attorney with a Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology and leads the ISTE Teacher Education Network. In 2019, Rachelle received the ‘Making IT Happen Award’ at the annual ISTE Conference. Rachelle has published four books on education, with her most recent being Chart a New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World. In Rachelle’s and Tom’s conversation today, they discuss Rachelle’s newest book and talk about the future for teaching and learning. Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode with Rachelle Dene Poth. [:52] Tom welcomes Rachelle to the podcast. [1:26] Going in the way-back machine, Rachelle shares why she studied French at Penn State. [3:33] When and why Rachelle began to study Spanish. [4:38] Having just wrapped up her 24th year at Riverview School District, Rachelle shares some of her thoughts around how quickly time flew by. [5:19] The origin story of how Rachelle became interested in ed-tech and why she became an ed-tech consultant. [7:09] How Rachelle thinks of her role as a teacher and how it has evolved over the course of her 24-year career. [9:15] Rachelle shares her go-to writing strategies and hacks. [11:24] What motivated Rachelle to publish a book of quotes (In Other Words: Quotes that Push our Thinking). [12:58] About Rachelle’s book, The Future is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead, and her experience with writing three books at the same time. [14:07] What is ‘gladiating together’? [14:42] About Rachelle’s book, Unconventional: Ways to Thrive in EDU, and how it provides practical advice for getting started with unconventional learning experiences for all students. [15:53] Advertising and sponsorship opportunities available through Getting Smart. [16:24] About Rachelle and ISTE’s collaboration on Chart a New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World. [17:04] About ISTE’s tried and true process for peer-reviewing books. [18:22] A summarization of Rachelle’s advice from chapter 1 of Chart a New Course, “Connections and Presence: Navigating the Digital World”. [20:17] A look at Chapter 2: “Team Up: Relationship Building and Social-Emotional Learning.” [21:41] How Chapter 3, “Create and Connect: Fostering Communication Skills,” gave teachers and readers a broader view of new communication skills. [23:23] What Chapter 4, “Show What You Know: Bringing Stories to Life,” covers. [24:30] About the last chapter in the book, “Create Global Connections: Learning Together and Exploring the World.” [26:42] Ed-tech lightning round! Tom asks Rachelle: Will AR and VR ever live up to the hype as a learning medium in schools? Does Rachelle use Google Expeditions and other similar tools? What are her thoughts on AI and machine learning? Does she believe that machine learning will impact administrative applications? [29:30] The challenges that come with schools opening back up this fall. [29:54] Is coding more of a language or a job skill? [30:58] Are a lot of Rachelle’s students on TikTok? Is the world beginning to shift from print to video? [31:53] Some of Rachelle’s favorite apps that help create or leverage sustained learning relationships. [33:10] Rachelle shares words of encouragement for teachers who are undecided whether or not they want to return to the classroom this fall. [35:30] Tom thanks Rachelle for joining the podcast. &nbsp; Mentioned in This Episode:                                                                             — Email Jessica to learn more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities with Getting Smart!        &nbsp; Get Involved: Check out the blog at . Find the     , leave a review and subscribe. &nbsp; Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to...

274 - Rachelle Dene Poth on Charting a New Course

Today we’re talking with John Winsor on the open talent economy. John Winsor built a big publishing business around sports and fitness. He saw the business changing and started crowdsourcing articles from athletes. That got him interested in open talent — otherwise known as ‘work outside of full-time employment,’ which includes the freelance and the gig economy. Three years ago, John joined the faculty at Harvard Business School as a visiting executive and founded Open Assembly, an organization that hosts conversations about the future of work. In this conversation with Tom, John describes the shift to open talent. Corporations are interested in this shift because of the potential to get work done faster, better, and cheaper. Individuals like the flexibility and variety. Tom and John also talk about the new social contract that would be needed to support open talent markets. &nbsp; Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode with John Winsor. [1:05] Tom welcomes John to the podcast. [1:11] John shares how and why he went to Colorado College. [2:28] Is Colorado College still a ‘big block’ school? How did the way that the college was organized aid John in his learning? [3:44] John reflects on receiving his MBA in Marketing at the University of Denver. Tom and John also discuss how both CC and UoD have evolved over time. [7:07] How John got into the publishing business. [9:48] About John’s interest in racing and cycling. [12:33] How and where John became interested in the idea of open talent and the future of work. [15:38] John defines what open talent is. [16:52] Should everyone be in the ‘open talent’ space? Or is it something that complements full-time employment? What does John see, five to 10 years from now, for the open talent space? [19:15] How it could be possible to create an open talent economy that is equitable for everyone. [25:00] Ways to help the open talent economy scale in an equitable way. [27:17] Advertising opportunities available through Getting Smart. [27:47] Three years ago, John founded Open Assembly, an organization that produces content around open talent and more. John shares what they have accomplished so far with Open Assembly and what they’re trying to accomplish, going forward. [31:12] What high school education for a market of open talent should look like. [33:46] Does John agree with Ryan Craig’s advice around giving a “hard sprint to a good first job”? [37:55] Will an open talent economy lead to the widening income and wealth gap? [40:30] How we can all play a part in creating the foundation for an open talent economy. [43:02] Tom thanks John for joining the podcast! &nbsp; Mentioned in This Episode:                                                    — Email Jessica to learn more about sponsorships and advertising opportunities with Getting Smart!                                    &nbsp; Get Involved: Check out the blog at . Find the     , leave a review and subscribe. &nbsp; Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email  and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list! &nbsp;

275 - John Winsor on the Open Talent Economy

Today on the podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Ron Berger. Ron has been teaching for 40 years and is currently the Chief Academic Officer at EL Education. He’s also the author of some popular books you may have heard of! One of which, Leaders of Their Own Learning: Transforming Schools Through Student-Engaged Assessment, is one of Getting Smart’s favorites. Last year, Ron joined the Getting Smart podcast to discuss a companion piece to Leaders of Their Own Learning. (If you missed it, be sure to check out episode 222, linked below!) In this episode, Ron is joining the podcast once again to discuss his newest book, We Are Crew: A Teamwork Approach to School Culture, that he wrote in collaboration with Anne Vilen and Libby Woodfin. At EL Education, ‘crew’ is the culture and the advisory structure. We Are Crew details secrets to create secondary schools that promote academics and character development. Listen in to hear about how crew as a culture and structure is transforming schools! &nbsp; Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode with Ron Berger. [1:00] Tom welcomes Ron back to the podcast. [1:07] Ron speaks about the impact his previously published book, Leaders of Their Own Learning, has had on schools, educators, and students. [2:17] How the timing of Ron’s new book, We Are Crew, came out at an opportune time with the current global pandemic. [3:42] What is ‘crew’ as culture? How is it different from traditional public schools? [8:41] What is the structure of crew? [9:43] How the crew model varies between elementary and secondary schools. [11:20] The role that crew fulfills in a high school. [13:29] About crew’s post-secondary planning and goal-setting. [14:42] Why is it hard for homeroom advisories in high school to be done well? And how can they be improved? [17:38] What makes crew particularly successful? [19:45] Chapters 4-7 in We Are Crew cover the specific jobs that crew does for EL Schools. In Chapter 4, the book details how to help young people become effective learners. Ron further elaborates on this and details how crew helps them understand themselves as a learner. [22:15] Chapter 5 in We Are Crew is about becoming ethical people. Ron shares how crew aids in that. [24:55] Chapter 6 is on contributions. Ron elaborates on how crew helps young people understand contributions and begin to make their own, unique contributions. [26:51] Chapter 7 talks about post-secondary. Ron adds his thoughts on how educators can help young people imagine possible futures. [30:04] Tom and Ron reflect on the timeliness of We Are Crew. [31:13] Where to find Ron and access free EL Education resources online. &nbsp; Mentioned in This Episode:                                                        &nbsp; Get Involved: Check out the blog at . Find the     , leave a review and subscribe. &nbsp; Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email  and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

276 - Ron Berger on A Teamwork Approach to School Culture

Today, the Getting Smart team is bringing you an episode on leading in a culture of change with Michael Fullan. Michael has been the world’s most persistent and persuasive advocate for powerful learning experiences. He is encouraged by the global momentum he sees with whole systems adopting deep learning strategies and policies. Twenty years after his best-selling book, Leading in a Culture of Change, Jossey-Bass released the second edition — certainly a timely resource! In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss the new edition of Leading in a Culture of Change and all that has been updated within its pages. With more than 50% of the words being completely new in the book, it is an incredibly important resource not to miss out on (even if you have read the first edition)! Michael gives listeners a preview of what he covers in this book as well as his views on what is currently happening in the world and how it is impacting the movement to deeper learning. &nbsp; Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode with Michael Fullan. [:41] Tom welcomes Michael back to the podcast! [:49] When was the first edition of Leading in a Culture of Change released? [1:08] How much did Michael rewrite in this second edition? [2:28] What is a ‘culture of change’? And what does it have to do with education leadership? [5:55] Why you need to read the second edition of Leading in a Culture of Change (even if you’ve already read the first edition). [6:51] Key differences between the first and second edition of the book. [9:20] What being a lead learner means. [10:22] The importance of the phrase, “I don’t know,” in unlocking deeper learning. [11:58] The five components of change leadership. Michael explains the first one, moral purpose. [12:48] Why it is more important to focus on impact than moral purpose. [13:30] Discussing the notion of unintended consequences and how they can come about. [14:32] The second of the five components of change leadership: understanding change. Michael also shares what he means by nuance when it comes to leaders that succeed vs. those that fail. [16:43] Change is complicated and requires us to study the nuances of change and to be prepared for things to occur differently than we had anticipated. Michael unpacks this idea and shares potential mistakes that can be made during change. [20:20] The third of the five components of change leadership: building relationships. [24:22] Reimagining education in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. [27:22] The fourth component of change leadership: creating and sharing knowledge. [32:23] The last of the five components of change leadership: creating coherence. [34:13] Is it easier to create coherence in a new school than an old school? How does Michael engineer coherence in an incoherent system that has layers of inherited policy, structure, and systems? [37:27] Is Michael still optimistic about more deep learning globally? [38:48] Tom thanks Michael for joining the podcast! &nbsp; Mentioned in This Episode:          — Grab yourself a copy here!                                                                                                                            &nbsp; Get Involved: Check out the blog at . Find the     , leave a review and subscribe. &nbsp; Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email  and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list! &nbsp;

277 - Michael Fullan on Leading in a Culture of Change

The Getting Smart Podcast covers topics in K-12, HigherEd and lifelong learning. Episodes cover developments in research, technology, entrepreneurs, methods and more to bring listeners some of the most informing, insightful and innovative strategies around education today. 

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