John Palfrey

Today we share another great episode from our friends at Upper MiddleBrow. As students, parents, and teachers happily (or wrenchingly) returned to school, Upper MiddleBrow invited TeachLab host Justin Reich to talk about stories with teachers. They identify many examples of bad teachers and bad teaching in fiction, and while film and TV often present sympathetic teacher protagonists, they wonder if the Great American Teacher novel is yet to be written.

Resources and Links

Check out Upper MiddleBrow, a podcast where hosts Jesse Dukes and Chris Bagg discuss high-craft works of popular culture

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

See Upper MiddleBrow’s Teacher Protagonist’s graphic

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

Civics 101 is a podcast refresher course on the basics of how the U.S. government works, born from the brain trust at New Hampshire Public Radio and hosted by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice. This is the second part in their series about the state of civic education in the US. 

In this episode, TeachLab host Justin Reich joins the Civics 101 team  to talk about how teachers choose what to teach, so-called "divisive concepts laws," and how we can approach disagreements without falling prey to "division actors."

This episode features: 

• Justin Reich, Director at MIT Teaching Systems Lab and host of the TeachLab podcast
• Louise Dube, Executive Director of iCivics and member of the Implementation Consortium at Educating for American Democracy
• CherylAnne Amendola,  Department Chair and teacher at Montclair Kimberly Academy and host of the podcast Teaching History Her Way

Resources and Links

Check out Civics 101: A Podcast, a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Click here to see a map of all the states that have passed legislation limiting what teachers can say regarding race, sex, gender, etc. 

Click here to see the Interactive Roadmap by Educating for American Democracy.

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different
 

Transcript 

https://sonix.ai/share/XBF9ue1HSi1uek4spV3fHohu
 

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

Civics 101 is a podcast refresher course on the basics of how the U.S. government works, born from the brain trust at New Hampshire Public Radio and hosted by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice. Today is the first part in their series about the state of civic education in the US. 

In this episode, the Civics 101 team gauges how we're doing civics-wise and then delve into the perpetually controversial history of history; have we ever agreed upon a narrative for our nation that we can teach students?

Walking us through the past, present, and future of social studies and civic education are Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Adam Laats, Historian and Professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership at Binghamton University. 
 

Resources and Links

Check out Civics 101: A Podcast, a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

In our final episode in our Iterate series, we are joined by one of our favorite collaborators here at the Teaching Systems Lab: artist, creative professional and graphic recorder, Haley McDevitt. Haley is a master of listening, synthesizing, and creating visuals that support big ideas. And, Haley is the  illustrator of our host Justin Reich’s new book, Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools.

Justin and Haley go behind the scenes to share the creative process for the book’s illustrations. We also hear about Haley’s own experiences with iteration and growth mindset in her creative life, and learn about the amazing resources that she created to support educators who read Iterate. 

Resources and Links

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Take a look at our free downloadable materials for Iterate, designed by Haley McDevitt

Check out Haley McDevitt’s amazing graphic recording work 

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Explore our course Youth In Front, with illustrations by Haley McDevitt

Transcript 

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/iterate-haleymcdevitt/transcript

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

This week on TeachLab, we continue our series of conversations with innovative educators with Mel Cheng, a lifelong educator and learner. Mel is the Director of Engagement at What School Could Be, and before that worked as a classroom teacher, technology facilitator and coach, and administrator at Hawaiʻi’s first public charter school for 23 years. A maker enthusiast, Mel believes that intentionally designing environments in which learners are free to tinker builds stronger communities and richer connections.

We talk to Mel about her experiences with the Cycle of Experiment and Peer Learning, and the idea that people who can really change the teaching and the learning in schools are the classroom teachers.

“Intuitively we know that teachers are the driving force of change and administrators need to create the conditions for this to happen but rarely is that articulated, much less given a road map” 

Mel Ching’s review of Iterate:The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Resources and Links

Visit the What School Could Be platform to find resources for educators and join the community.

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/iterate-melching/transcript
 

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

This month on TeachLab, we’re releasing a series of conversations with innovative educators to celebrate the release of our host Justin Reich’s new book, Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools.

This week we’re lucky to be joined by Ronni Moore, an educator who is passionate about re-envisioning what school can be. Ronni is the director of high schools for Crystal House Indianapolis, and was part of the founding team of Purdue Polytechnic High School North, a design thinking high school in Indianapolis, Indiana. We talk to Ronni about the power of relationships, achieving big change through small steps and leading throughout the pandemic.

Resources and Links

Learn more about the innovative schools from Ronni’s interview, Christel House Indianapolis & Purdue Polytechnic High School

Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/iterate-ronnimoore/transcript

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

This week, our host Justin Reich released his new book, Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools. To celebrate the launch and dig into the themes of the book, we’re releasing a series of conversations with innovative educators. 

In this episode, we’re joined by Erik Burmeister, an award-winning teacher, principal, and superintendent who worked as a highly impactful educator in California for over 20 years before launching his strategic consulting firm, Solutionary Advisors. We talk with Erik about his experiences leading change using design and innovation principles.

Resources and Links

Pre-Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Learn more about Erik Burmeister’s work at Solutionary Advisors

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/iterate-erikburmeister/transcript
 

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

In the eighth and final episode of our series on Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we talk  with Katie Rinderle, a 10 year veteran educator from Cobb County, Georgia. Katie is the first teacher in Georgia to be terminated for violating the state's divisive concept laws. What did Katie do? She went to a school book fair, sponsored by her school, and bought the best selling picture book, My Shadow is Purple, which touches on gender identity. Her 5th grade students selected the book for a read aloud, and Katie read the book and invited her students to do a reflection poem. Then, a parent complained, and Katie was fired. 

Katie's case has garnered national attention as a test of what public school teachers can and can't teach in the classroom. We’re joined in our conversation with Katie by her attorney, Michael Tafalski, from Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Special thanks to our friends at Learning for Justice, and the Justice in Schools team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for their collaboration on this work.

Resources and Links

Georgia Teacher Fired for Reading Children’s Book About Acceptance - SPLC Article

Katie Rindele’s Opinion piece on MSNBC

Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest Press Release on Katie’s Case

Learn more about My Shadow Is Purple and Author Scott Stuart

Pre-Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/teacher-speech-e8/transcript
 

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

In the seventh episode of Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we dive back into our exploration of book bans and challenges throughout the United States. We sit down with Jen Varney and Barb Fecteau of the Massachusetts School Library Association, to hear about how the current climate is impacting the lives of school librarians, and their strategies for navigating these times. And, we talk to Sabrina Baêta, Program Consultant from the Freedom to Read Program at PEN America to better understand the current state of book bans, how they’re increasing throughout the United States, and what concerned citizens can do. 

Special thanks to our friends at Learning for Justice, and the Justice in Schools team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for their collaboration on this work.

Resources and Links

Learn more about PEN America’s important work on Book Bans

Find great resources from the Massachusetts School Library Association 

Take our course on supporting youth activism at www.youthinfront.org

Pre-Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/teacher-speech-e7/transcript

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter

In the sixth episode of Teacher Speech and the New Divide, we turn our attention to Guilford, Connecticut. Guilford is a small town with a big commitment to equity for their students, and serves as a microcosm for the debates surrounding schools in the US. Our host Justin Reich sits down with Amity Goss, Assistant Superintendent of Guilford Public Schools, to learn more about what’s happening in Guilford, how it impacts teachers, and the steps that the district is taking to support educators. And, Professor Meira Levinson, Founder of EdEthics, joins us to introduce educational ethics as a powerful tool and resource for having difficult conversations. 

Special thanks to our friends at Learning for Justice, and the Justice in Schools team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for their collaboration on this work.

Resources and Links

Learn more about EdEthics

Take our course on supporting youth activism at www.youthinfront.org

Pre-Order Justin Reich’s new book Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools

Watch our documentary film We Have to Do Something Different

Transcript Pending

Credits

Host Justin Reich

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley 

Recorded and Mixed by Garrett Beazley

Follow TeachLab on Twitter and YouTube

Follow our host Justin Reich on Twitter