Overthrowing Education

Welcome to the 100^th episode of Overthrowing Education! 

On today’s episode, I have the awesome privilege of chatting with 5 inspiring high school students – Pauline, Drizzle, Ella, Fahmi, and Katie and their equally inspiring teacher, Stacie Oliver. We mostly talk undgrading. Obviously, this is a topic I am passionate about, and I noticed in the Edu Twittersphere a teacher, Stacie, who was posting about her journey with her students about ungrading. I was impressed not only by Stacie, but also with her students whose work and reflections she sometimes posted.

I realized that with all of my episodes, and there are lots of good ones, about going gradeless and ungrading, they were mostly from the teacher’s point of view. So, I reached out to Stacie to see if I could have her and her students on to tell us about their adventures in ungrading. And also play The 5-Minute Game Show, of course!

I’d love to do this for 100 more episodes, at least and continue bringing passionate, creative and inspiring voices of educators and students, so please subscribe if you haven’t yet, and tell friends and colleagues to as well. And if you find yourself wanting an OE mug, t-shirt or tote bag here’s the Swag Shop.

Check out John Atkinson’s clever and funny cartoons including the ones that I used for The 5-Minute Game Show.

I want to thank my special guests Katie, Fahmi, Ella, Drizzle, Pauline and Stacie Oliver. Also, I’d like to thank the wonderful Barbara Heller who sang all the songs on the UnGradist Hits fauxmercial.

As I get ready for my 100th episode celebration, I thought it would be great to look back at my very first episode from August of 2019. I featured educator of excellence Jesse Stommel and we discussed Ungrading (of course!). 

My show was so different in the beginning, and I've streamlined it quite a bit since my earlier episodes. I originally had a feature called In the Trenches, and my guest on this episode was Leora Smith.  

I also had something I called Tirades, Tips and Tools. I don't think this 2-minute segment lasted more than 2-3 episodes. It was a good idea, but kind of redundant.  

I initiated my first fauxmercial which is called Grades-Be-Gone and of course, Jesse and I played the first The 5-Minute Game Show based on Two Truths and a Lie.

Even though the show has grown quite a bit 98 episodes after this one, I think that for the most part, it holds up. What do you think?

It is the 99th episode of Overthrowing Education and today’s topic is one I’ve haven’t addressed on the show yet, so I’ve brought on Sharon Duncan, who works extensively with gifted students and their families. And I also bring back innovative educator Jim Hahn, the founder of Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning and Arete Preparatory Academy before that. Last time Jim joined me with the co-founder of Qualia, Jon Cassie on episode 77. And of course, Qualia is also the sponsor of this show. When a school sponsors a podcast called Overthrowing Education that tells you a lot about how amazing that school is.

In our conversation, Sharon defines the various kinds of gifted students, and she also helps us understand how to best help them in our classes and schools. Jim continues to share some amazing ways to engage not only gifted students, but also curious students. And actually, these are things we can do to awaken curiosity in all of our students.

And that’s about it. I’d like to thank my guests today, Sharon Duncan and Jim Hahn, and my fauxmercial helping family Yossie and Tuvia Frankel.

My guest today is Lindsay Lyons. We talk about what a culturally responsive sustaining classroom is, as well as why and how to make it happen, especially through PBL. She shares a lot of practical ideas and resources. Then Lindsay knocks it out of the park playing a literature focused The 5-Minute Game Show.

I want to thank my guest today, Lindsay Lyons, and for help with the fauxmercial - Shane Lawrence, who is now on the podcast Unprofessional Development, and also Shane’s daughter.

Resources and links:

Lindsay's

 Website

 YouTube

Twitter 

https://extras.lindsaybethlyons.com/overthrowsurvey https://extras.lindsaybethlyons.com/overthrowcircle

https://extras.lindsaybethlyons.com/overthrowplanne

My guest today is Adam Bellow the co-founder of the very cool Breakout EDU. We talk Game-based and play-based learning in general and a lot about the magic of escape rooms. It’s a fun episode with some practical ideas, as well.

Also, in this episode I give a sort of overview of a game for humanities classes call Battle of the Big Ideas. For more information see below.

It’s not too early to be thinking about end of the year gifts for your colleagues or yourself for making it through this school year and Overthrowing Education swag is the perfect gift!

Resources and Links:

Breakout Edu

Find out more about Battle of the Big Ideas and how you can adapt and use it in curriculum: DM me @overthrowinged or @BatshevaFrankel or send an email to Batsheva@overthrowingeducation.com

Is it possible that Robots/AI will replace teachers someday? II first examined this question in an episode in early 2020. My guests said no, but my son, 14 at the time, predicted much of what we are seeing now with the explosion of growth in Artificial Intelligence. So, I brought my son, now almost 18,  back on the show to give his reflections on his past predictions and update us again. Is it inevitable that teachers will become obsolete? What can we do to make sure that we, as real live educators, are irreplaceable? 

What do you think? What do your students think? Let me know on Twitter @overthrowinged. 

I want to thank Tuvia for indulging me and coming back on with his updated reflections, and a special shout out to the amazing voice over artist Eli Schiff for playing the male teacher and Robo-Helper on the fauxmercial. I also want to thank all the teachers who originally let me know what tasks they dread that they would love to outsource to a robot which were reflected in Robo-Helper 

Make someone’s day with cool Overthrowing Education swag!

In this episode, I speak with Barbara Smith, a long-time forward-thinking educator and prolific writer. We talk about her upcoming book, The Gatekeepers: Why School Systems Should Rethink Resisting Change. We discuss who the gatekeepers are that keep us from moving education forward and creating a better system. Of course, that includes the U.S. and other countries' obsession with standardized tests, ranking schools and students, and a whole more. This conversation got me riled up, in a good way, to continue the work so many educators like you are doing to overthrow education. And bonus: we talked about the connection between a certain TV franchise and its connection to better education!

Also, this episode’s fauxmercial was borrowed from Episode 60 with Zaynab Baalbaki about creating transformative schools, because this episode is really about overcoming the challenges to create transformative education. Once again, the awesome Jake Miller joined me in this fauxmercial flashback.

I want to thank my special guest, Barbara Smith, and my fauxmercial helper, Jake Miller.

I also want to remind you to please rate and review this podcast so others can find it.

And of course, if you share it with your colleagues, friends, and some of those gatekeepers, we can help make some really positive changes in education. Of course, it couldn’t hurt to get some Overthrowing Education swag to really make your point!

Links and Resources:

For all of Barbara’s books and resources: www.z-pd.ca

Contact information: zpdschoolandcurriculumdesign@gmail.com

or

Barbaraj.smith@utoronto.ca

In the 4th episode in this series on AI in education, my guest, Matt Miller and I discuss the issues we need to consider as well as some very practical ideas for using ChatGPT and other cool AI in our classes. Matt has been digging deep into this subject and brings so much wisdom and insight into our conversation.

Matt shares some great resources to explore in the links below. And he also plays a fun version of The 5-Minute Game Show called “ChatGPT, Google or Me?”

I’d like to thank my awesome guest Matt Miller and my fauxmercial helpers including my award-winning Voice Actor friend, Eli Schiff as the announcer and Jakey Schiff, Yossie and Tuvia Frankel.

This is a great time to buy any burned-out or otherwise deserving teacher friend or colleague some Overthrowing Education Swag. Or buy some for yourself. You totally deserve it!

Links and Resources:

ChatGPT, Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence in Education

Tons of great resources and classes: DitchThatTextbook.com

Get on Matt’s email list to get all kinds of amazing resources: DitchThatTextbook.com/join

Classroom videos to use in class TODAY:  Teachflix

This project provides you with research-based teaching practices you can use in class tomorrow to save time AND teach better: EfficienTEACH.com

This episode is important for parents and educators to listen to. In it, my special guest – a teenage boy - and I dig deep into the ever increasing problem of teens and pre-teens being influenced by toxic people and dangerous messages online.

The most popular is Andrew Tate whose sexist and misogynistic views are couched between advice that many teen boys find empowering. How do we deal with his and other toxic influencers' bile as educators and/or parents?

Special thanks to my very special guest, Tuvia, and my awesome fauxmercial voice actor, Jake Miller.

Here are just some of the many articles to check out:

BBC Andrew Tate: How schools are tackling his influence

Andrew Tate: 'I fear online influencer radicalised my son'

TES Magazine How to respond to boys inspired by Andrew Tate

Education Week Misogynist Influencer Andrew Tate Has Captured Boys’ Attention. What Teachers Need to Know

Votes for Schools MISOGYNY & ANDREW TATE Part of our Classroom Conversations Series

The Guardian Vulnerable boys are drawn in’: schools fear spread of Andrew Tate’s misogyny

‘We see misogyny every day’: how Andrew Tate’s twisted ideology infiltrated British schools

NY Post UK schools grappling with teens brainwashed by Andrew Tate: report

Independent School holds Andrew Tate assemblies over fears of ‘toxic misogynist’s influence on children’

Edit CM Andrew Tate and His Boys: An Educators Guide

After 2 more philosophical looks at AI in education, I wanted to bring in some super practical ways to incorporate ChatGPT and other AI sites into your lessons and schools as a whole. My guest is Ben Talsma who you might remember from Episode 28 which is all about making meaningful PBL units. Recently I saw that Ben is sharing some very meaningful, practical weird and wonderful ways to incorporate AI into all kinds of lessons, including, but not limited to PBL units.

Did you ever wish you could talk to me about something you heard on the show? Have a question? Want to share an idea? Or just let me know that you totally aced The 5-Minute Game Show? You can! Go to the Overthrowing Education website scroll down and record a message to me. I can even respond!

I just want to give special thanks to Ben Talsma. And don’t forget to get your Overthrowing Education swag.

Links and Resources:

Twitter: @BenTalsma.

To find great stuff that Ben has created for teachers, including awesome PBL units and tons of free resources, can be found at www.blueappleteacher.org.

This is really cool and helpful: ** The Sentient Syllabus Project **

ATLIS Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools: ATLIS: Artificial Intelligence in Edu (padlet.com)

AI - A Discussion for Education - Google Slides

More to come soon!! 

I am so ready for some huge, great changes, to education. How about you? How are we going to make this happen? How can we provide a super high quality education for every student? My guest today, Dr. Lacrecia Terrance, has been working toward this goal for a long time. In our conversation she shares a lot of practical experience with how PBL and the concepts of unschooling can genuinely create a better and more equitable education experience. We do talk a little educational philosophy, but there are also practical ideas and tools, as well.

After our chat, Lacrecia crushes an NFL/PBL hybrid The 5-Minute Game Show!

I want to thank Dr. Lacrecia Terrance and re-thank Shane Lawrence who is now a co-host on the Unprofessional Development podcast for joining me on the fauxmercial.

Follow Dr. Terrance’s journey on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram  @TheEduProject

Visit the EduProject website 

Email lterrance@theeduproject.org

PBL Works

In September of 2022, Fauxsie awards were given out at a fake, but very fun awards ceremony honoring the talented people who have helped me create the commercial parodies - fauxmercials - that come at the beginning of each episode. As a little gift this holiday season, I present some of the award-winning performances that listeners voted on.

These are the commercials you won't mind sitting through. 

There has been an explosion of handwringing among educators and academics, and cheers from students about the strides and easy accessibility of Artificial Intelligence that will probably change the entire nature of how we educate. What can we expect? How do we adapt?  Can anything good come out of this? This is just the first in a series of examinations of this incredibly important topic that will certainly affect every aspect of education at least from middle school through higher education. On this episode it’s just me and AI. We even had fun playing The 5-Minute Game Show! Well, at least I did. I can’t speak for my friendly AI.

I want to especially thank Tuvia Frankel for clueing me in to the importance of dealing with this issue right away, and for writing the fauxmercial!

Resources and Links:

Various great essays on AI by Stephen March in The Atlantic

The End of High-School English by Daniel Herman in The Atlantic

The Brilliance and Weirdness of ChatGPT by Kevin Roose in The New York Times

Today, I’m continuing a hot topic in education right now -homework. My guests in this episode are incredible educators Starr Sackstein and Connie Hamilton who co-authored the excellent book, Hacking Homework. We have a great conversation that explores homework issues including giving practical ideas for how to do it right, if you have to do it all. And we also have a lot of fun!

When I asked parents and teachers on Twitter, “How do you feel about homework?” I received almost 500 answers, along with a healthy discussion. And while people had a variety of passionate opinions, most were respectful of each other. In addition to a lively Twitter discussion, one teacher, Alex Giorgianni, reached out to me with an amazing assignment he’s and his colleagues, Mike Rinyu and Maryann Hilton gave their sophomore World History/English 2 and Junior US History/English 3 classes when they were studying propaganda in the US. It was called “The War on Homework” – you can find the assignment on their episode page on the Overthrowing Education website. Also, you can see the incredible results of Flagler Palm Coast HS students here.

I want to give special thanks to my guests Connie Hamilton  and Starr Sackstein, my fauxmercial helpers Yossie and Tuvia Frankel, and Alex Giorgianni and the students of Flagler Palm Coast HS for sharing their work with us.

Links and Resources

For Connie:

Twitter: @conniehamilton

website: conniehamilton.org

For Starr:

Chief Operating Officer at Mastery Portfolio

Chat with Starr: sign up for a time

Starr's TEDx Talk  A Recovering Perfectionist's Journey to Give up Grades

Amazon Author page

Starr's  website

Twitter @MsSackstein

Starr on LinkedIn

Starr on Facebook

My guests on this episode, Noah King and Peter Littig have podcast called The Math Club that I really love. I would never have guessed that I would enjoy a podcast about math, but I really love it. The show is a funny, clever and down to earth mode of explaining interesting math concepts . . . that I mostly understand.

Pete, Noah and I discuss how to make math approachable and fun to learn, and also fun to teach. We discuss a lot of really practical ideas and resources for that K-college math teachers as well as for other subjects wanting to try something cross curricular can use to make math relevant and meaningful to all students -even the ones who think, “I’m not a math person.”

Also, when I asked the guys if they wanted to write a fauxmercial with me, all I had was a title idea, Revenge of the Math People. Noah took that idea and ran with it - he wrote the script and produced it. He also designed a movie poster to go with it!

I want to thank my guests today, Peter Littig and Noah King, with a special thanks to all the Revenge of the Math people players: Noah, for writing and producing, and voice acting along with Eli Schiff, Tuvia Frankel, Yossie Frankel, Barbara Heller, Peter Littig, and me, and of course the amazing Math People kids -Mrs. Martinez's 3rd grade students from Marylin Avenue Elementary School.

Please don’t forget to recommend this episode, and the whole podcast to people you know would benefit from and/or enjoy it!

Looking for a great gift for you or your favorite educators? Check out the Overthrowing Education Swag shop.

Links and Resources:

email: mathclubpodcast@gmail.com

Twitter: @MathClubPodcast

The Math Club can be found on Spotify, Apple, and Audible, and we're hosted on Libsyn.

My guest on this episode is awesome educator and author Elizabeth Jorgensen who I initially met on a social media platform that rhymes with bitter (which is basically how many of us feel about it right now). We discuss Process Based Assessment, moving away from grades, and of course, why and how to make a homework-less teaching practice.

 Recently, I reached out to educators to get there take on homework and I got an incredible response- very diverse and passionate. Elizabeth reached out to me to share an essay she wrote (see link below) that I really loved. She is also the author of Hacking Student Learning Habits: 9 Ways to Foster Resilient Learners and Assess the Process not the Outcome, among many other books.

I’d like to thank my guest, Elizabeth Jorgensen and my Almighty Mouse fauxmercial helpers, Yossie and Tuvia Frankel.

Links and Resources:

The Essay I reference

https://twitter.com/LyzaJo

https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.jorgensen1

https://www.instagram.com/lyzajoelle/

website: www.lizjorgensen.weebly.com

Gwen Jorgensen: USA's First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete (Meyer & Meyer Sport)

Sijo: Korea's Poetry Form (Parkyoung)

Hacking Student Learning Habits (Times 10 Publications)

Go: Gwen, Go: A Family's Journey to Olympic Gold (Meyer & Meyer Sport)

• SIJO: Korean Poetry (Edited by Lucy Park and Elizabeth Jorgensen) sold at Amazon. Also, complimentary copies of this book are available for educators who teach sijo in classes in the USA. Send an email to sejongculturalsociety@gmail.com
• My latest project is a Young Adult/Middle Grade nonfiction biography: Gwen Jorgensen: USA's First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete. My co-author and I are offering no-fee author talks to school groups, classrooms and sport teams. We also have a free educator guide for anyone who teaches this book. Send an email to elizabeth.jorgensen@gmail.com

On this episode, I reflect on the past - sharing ideas, musings, anecdotes, subtle hints, honest confessions, and a look at how reflection moved education forward for all of us.

Special thanks to Barbara Heller and Yossie Frankel, my fauxmercial helpers.

Newlensed.com

Lenses of Questioning Course

DISCOVER Assessments

Overthrowing Education merch

My guest today is longtime educator and author Jason Ablin. We talk about creating gender equality in education – what does it mean? What would it look like? And how to get it. Then Jason performs well with a music/literature mashup on The 5-Minute Game Show.

I did indeed pilfer today’s fauxmercial from an earlier episode on implicit bias and micro aggressions. But it could still apply here.

Speaking of fauxmercials, we held our first Fauxsie Awards Show honoring all the great talent that has helped me over the years with the commercial parodies near the beginning of every episode. We had a blast and I’ll share parts of it at a later date.

I want to give special thanks to Jason Ablin and an encore thanks to my fauxmercial helpers Jill Moray, Tzofiya Bookstein, Spencer Krull and Tuvia Frankel.

If you like what you hear, please subscribe on your platform of choice, and tell friends and colleagues to check it out. And perhaps get some Overthrowing Education swag while you’re at it.

Jason’s Book: The Gender Equation in Schools: How to Create Equity and Fairness for All Students

Website: Ablin Educational Services, LLC.

Blog: Educating Gender

Twitter: @jasonablin

In this episode, I have a great conversation with Alfonso Mendoza, also known as Fonz, of the website and podcast My EdTech Life. He is an Instructional Technologist and Google Innovator who shares a huge range of insights, ideas, effective pedagogy and of course, a slew of powerful tech tools. We also discuss his ideas of the future of education technology, and I hope his vision pans out, because it would be truly incredible.

Don’t forget check out the Overthrowing Education swag!

Alfonso can be reached at @myedtechlife on all socials