Overthrowing Education

My special guest today is educator and author Jacki Edry. I learned so much from Jacki about neurodivergence in many forms. She has experience with neurodivergence as an educator, a mother, and through an experience she herself had.

Jacki has great insights into how teachers and parents can help our neurodivergent students and children, to understand them, and give them the tools to really succeed. We packed a lot in this discussion!

Also, I have a favor to ask, which I do from time to time, in addition to the usual pleas of make sure to subscribe and leave a review (although, please do those things!). It really makes a difference when you share an episode of Overthrowing Education with a friend or colleague. Whether it’s this one (that I think every educator would benefit from) or another episode that really resonated with you, or an episode you think someone else would connect with or it would be helpful to. If you’re listening to this podcast, it’s probably because you really care about making education much, much better. The more we can share what good education could and should be, the faster we can make it happen. So, this week, please tell at least one person about this or another episode or the show in general. Students and parents will thank you for it.

Don’t forget about the Overthrowing Education swag. Get a great gift for an educator, including yourself.

I’d like to thank my guest today, Jacki Edry and my fauxmercial voice actors, Spencer Krull and Ben Elterman.

Links and Resources:

Book: "Moving Forward: Reflections on Autism, Neurodiversity, Brain Surgery, and Faith" on Amazon 

Website and blog on jackisbooks.com

LinkedIn: Jacki Edry

Facebook: @jackisbooks

Remember mix-tapes? This is formative assessment is about curating music. I share two ways to use published music and songs for quick check-ins.

Need help getting started? Wanna share something cool your students have done? Any questions? DM me on Twitter @BatshevaFrankel or drop me a line at Batsheva@OverthrowingEducation.com

My guest is Starr Sackstein, who is returning for a third time! We are both extremely passionate about going gradeless and its very important companion - creative and authentic assessments. Our conversation is all about practicality. I have lots of episodes about going gradeless – all good, check them out, one of them also features Starr. Some focus on the philosophy behind going gradeless and some that are more like “how-to” do it? This discussion is more in the latter category. But we add that extra important piece mentioned above, creative and authentic assessments. It’s really hard to give feedback only and not a grade with traditional tests and quizzes. It won’t work. So, we also talk practically about assessments, as well. The fauxmercial on this episode, a parody of an old Discover card commercial, will make much more sense after you listen to the episode.

I’d like to thank my awesome guest, Starr Sackstein.

Get your Overthrowing Education swag so you can show where you stand and that you care about education. Want to get the conversation started?  Try an OE shirt, hoodie, mug (of course!), tote bag, and a lot more. It’ll do the trick!

Links and Resources:

MsSackstein.com

mssackstein@gmail.com

Twitter: @MsSackstein

Starr Sackstein on LinkedIn and Facebook

masteryportfolio.com

Twitter: @masteryforall

Mastery Portfolio on Facebook and LinkedIn

Learn more about DISCOVER assessments

Episode 80: Micaela Blei: The Pedagogy of Story Framing

Overthrowing Education’s 3rd anniversary is this month, and one way I wanted to celebrate was by replaying an early interview I loved with incredible educator and award-winning storyteller, Micaela Blei. She joined me for a great conversation about how to use story frames to bring learning alive, engage students and provide deeper learning. We also talk about all the amazing ways we can use storytelling in our teaching.  The fauxmercial parody, “Story Surprise” starts us off and after her interviewed, Micaela plays a hilarious, and very challenging version of The 5-Minute Game Show.

Special thanks to Micaela and my fauxmercial cast -  the incredible Holender family actors Sophie, Benji and Karen, as well as Yossie Frankel and Eve Hirschman for helping write The 5-Minute Game Show.

Links and Resources:

Find Micaela at https://micaelablei.com/ and on Twitter @mblei

Vote for the Fauxsies! Get your ballot.

Shop for Overthrowing Education swag

My guest is a fellow edupodster. Christopher J. Nesi is from House of Ed Tech, among others, and he’s an ed tech tool maven. In this episode, you’ll hear all about the awesome things he does in our discussion, which ranges from why podcasting is great for teachers and students to sharing some great tech tools and how to use them, and to giving some bold predictions of the future of tech education, as well as technology in general.

And speaking of the future - in the very near future, on Aug. 18th, 2022 you can watch the Fauxsie Awards. Aug 18th, happens to be the 3rd anniversary of this podcast. To celebrate, I am honoring the commercial parodies that come near the beginning of each episode and the talented people who helped me make them. We are having a live, online streaming ceremony, where you can meet some of the voices behind your favorite Overthrowing Education fauxmercials. And don’t forget to vote. Everyone who does can enter the raffle for great OE swag, and more prizes. You have until Aug. 10th to vote. The competition is heating up, so make sure to get your ballot in.

And On July 26th at , I’m giving a free on line workshop to humanities teachers about a game frame I co-created called Battle of the Big Ideas. This fantasy football meets big ideas game frame can be easily adapted to your curricula and student needs.  It’s a fun and creative way for students to dig deep into the content while developing the skills they need. This is not a badges or leveling up thing; it’s a sophisticated game frame which means that you take the basic frame work of the Battle of the Big Ideas game play, and have total freedom to create the perfect game for your content and students. Come join me at 4 pm PT on July 26th, for this free workshop! Register here.

I want to thank my warm and wise guest, Chris Nesi.

And special thanks to my husband, Yossie Frankel, who put on his star trek hoodie and socks to help write most of the script for the Star Tek fauxmercial, and he provided all of the male voices, possibly with some help from his star trek shot glass!

Links and Resources:

https://twitter.com/mrnesi

https://instagram.com/houseofedtech

https://chrisnesi.com/linkedin

https://thepodjournal.com

In the last episode, I interviewed Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie, the founders of Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning to find out what their secret sauces to success are and how they can be added to other schools and classrooms. I thought it was important to also hear from some students at Qualia, Jiyen, Diego, and Ella. I asked each of them similar questions, as you’ll hear, and I think their answers are very telling and informative for educators and parents.

Also, I want to let you know about a great opportunity: I’m giving a free online workshop on a game frame for humanities classes called Battle of the Big Ideas which is like combining fantasy football (or other sports) with philosophy and big ideas. I’ve given this workshop at ISTE and other conferences for the last couple of years, and I wanted to share it with you. It's a unique way to help your students dig deep, think critically and creatively, and enjoy learning, in any humanities subject. The workshop is on July 26th at 4pm PDT. Get more information and register here.

Lastly, don’t forget to vote for your favorite fauxmercial (the commercial parodies near the beginning of almost every episode) for the Fauxsies Awards. The battle is heating up. We’re announcing the winners in August to celebrate Overthrowing Educations 3-year anniversary! Fill out your ballot!

My special thanks to my guests Ella, Jiyen and Diego. And my fauxmercial helpers (which, full disclosure, was taken from another episode), Yossie and Tuvia Frankel.

Jiyen’s Podcast Unknown Knowns

In this episode, Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie from Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning and The Arete Institute, are not only my wonderful guests, but they also the sponsors this podcast.

Jim and Jon chat with me about the many lessons and approaches more traditional style -schools, and actually all schools, can learn from Qualia and from its predecessor Arete Preparatory Academy. 

Of course, we talk about some of my favorite topics such as going gradeless and authentic, creative assessments, but there is even more practical wisdom they that share - things we can start doing right away.

I want to thank my guests Jim Hahn and Jon Cassie as well as my fauxmercial helpers Yossie and Tuvia Frankel.

Links and Resources:

Serving students in grades 4 through 12, Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning offers online and in-person courses for highly curious students looking to explore and expand their passions in an intellectually stimulating environment.

Jon’s Podcasts:

www.gamelevellearn.com

www.manywindows.net

For this series, on each mini-episode, I share one quick idea that can be applied to any subject. Some of them you may have already mastered, or maybe just tried once, or hadn’t even thought about yet.  

Today’s DISCOVER assessment idea is based on roving or on the street reporters. It's a fun formative assessment that can help students express deeper understandings. 

Need help getting started? Wanna share something cool your students have done? Any questions? DM me on Twitter @BatshevaFrankel or IG @Batsheva.Frankel
See New Lens Ed. for more information about great assessments.

My guest, Jess Fuller tells us about RESCHOOL, the creators of the amazing game Revolve as well as other education-changing tools.

I love game-based learning – I don’t really video games, and I definitely don’t mean badges and leveling up. I mean learning content, deriving meaning, or assessing for understanding through playing or creating games. But can games actually have an impact on bigger changes in education? And if so, how? Jess and I discuss all of these questions, among other important issues.

Then play along with Jess on The 5-Minute Game Show as she knocks it out of the park!

In our chat, I mention a game-frame approach that I’ve been using and teaching to humanities teachers called Battle of Big Ideas. I designed this flexible and fun “philosophy meets fantasy football” type game to help students dig deeper into literature and history, finding connections and relevance as they create and build teams based on big ideas. It’s great for grades 7th -12th.

I’ll be giving a free interactive Battle of the Big Ideas workshop session on July 26th at 4 pm PT. If you teach a humanities class or if you’re just curious and want to see what it’s all about, sign up here.

I’d like to thank my wonderful guest, Jessica Fuller and re-thank my fauxmercial helpers, Jake Miller and Tuvia Frankel.

And speaking of fauxmercials, don’t forget to vote! You don’t have to fill out every category, just the ones you want. Here’s your ballot. 

Resources:

RESCHOOL website: www.reschoolcolorado.org

Link to RESCHOOL’s newsletter https://www.reschoolcolorado.org/newsletter/

Twitter handle: @ReSchool_CO.

The REVOLVE site: www.revolvethegame.com

Jessica Fuller’s contact information:

LinkedIn profile link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fuller-b8244b11/

Email: jfuller@reschoolcolorado.org

Sign up for the FREE Battle of the Big Ideas workshop on July 26th, 2022 at 4 pm PT

Get your Overthrowing Education merch here.

This episode’s topic couldn’t be timelier. I have a really enlightening conversation with my guest, Carter Weinstein, who as a high school senior wrote a book to help teens dealing with anxiety, and also to help parents and teachers understand what it’s like for teens to experience anxiety. I thought this would be a a helpful way to honor Mental Health month. We talk about his book and also what factors in education are causing or exacerbating so many mental health issues for students, and what we can do to fix them.

Carter also does a great job playing The 5-Minute Game Show.

Please remember to vote for your favorite Fauxmercials with this ballot.

Contact and Resources:

Conquering Fear: One Teen's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety

Website: www.carterweinsteinbook.com

Instagram: @carterweinsteinbook

Facebook: Conquering Fear: One Teen's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety

I want to thank Carter Weinstein. And thank you all for listening and caring about education. Please rate and subscribe to this podcast so others can find it!

Since every episode starts with a fauxmercial - a commercial parody about fake educational products we wish were real - So New Lens Ed. and The Arete Institute are honoring these made-up commercials with a real awards show- The Fauxsies. Vote for all your favorites in different categories and enter the raffle to win some great prizes! You can find the ballot here:

https://tinyurl.com/FauxsieAwardBallot

Or Overthrowing Education

The Fauxsies will be broadcast live in August of 2022.

My special guest is an educational tech expert, IT superstar and STEAM teacher, Yossie Frankel (and he’s also my husband!). I finally get to record a conversation about one of the most important changes we should make in education: Cross-curricular subject blending. Yossie and I chat about why it’s so important and how to do it seamlessly (including PBL).  And find out about what Yossie calls, “The Westly Crusher Effect”, my new acronym for all subject blending, and how Yossie’s augmented reality prediction is similar to a Korean Drama plot. Then we play the 5-Minute Game Show that combines fake educational products, puns and famous 80’s movies.

Lastly, we make a special announcement – The Fauxsy Awards- a tribute to Overthrowing Education’s commercial parodies will be held in August. Listen for more details on how to vote.

My special thanks to Yossie for this episode and all the wonderful ways he makes my life better (It’s our 18th wedding anniversary this week!).

Links and resources:

PBL Works

Catlin Tucker, Blended Learning expert

Looking to learn more about how to incorporate and integrate cross-curricular learning, great tech tools and/or PBL with customized workshops, courses, or coaching? NewLensEd.

Overthrowing Education swag

In honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I invited longtime educator and author, Deborah Farmer Kris as my guest to offer organic and meaningful ways to integrate SEL through cultivating awe, generating play-based learning and other seamless paths.

This is also a great episode for parents, so please pass it on!

And you won’t want to miss Deborah’s victorious The 5-Minute Game Show.

My special thanks to Deborah Farmer Kris for being my guest and to Yossie Frankel for once again lending his awesome announcer voice for the Edu-Play-Arama fauxmercial.

Don’t forget to check out the Overthrowing Education merch!

Resources and Links:

Parenthood365

I Love You All the Time

You Have Feelings All the Time

Mindshift

PBS Kids

Hadley Hooper’s Illustrated Picture Books

Free Spirit Press

Michelle Borba - Thrivers

In this episode, the tables are turned.  I was a guest on Shane Lawrence’s The Ed Podcast and we talked about so many important ways that we can begin to really overthrow education for the better including inquiry and game-based learning, authentic creative assessments and why I compare traditional education to a rotary phone and what it’s going to take to upgrade to a smart phone (metaphorically speaking).

When Shane interviewed me, it was at the beginning of 2020 and it aired on March 5th of 2020 (Cue ominous music). Needless to say, much has changed since then. You know many about the big changes, but I also update you on what’s up with me.

Lastly, I’ve got a really fun and exciting announcement coming up in May about the fauxmercials. So, stay tuned!

I want to especially thank Shane Lawrence for lending me this episode and his voice for the fauxmercial! And also thank Yossie Frankel for lending his voice as well.

Links and Resources:

The Ed Podcast

Shane’s Twitter: @theedpodcast

New Lens Ed. – See my workshop, courses and more.

My Twitter @BatshevaFrankel

Lenses of Questioning Self-Paced Course

Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning

Jacob Johnson, aka Grade Slayer shares his continuing journey on going gradeless and gives help for any teacher who wants to start. This is my fourth episode that deals specifically with going gradeless or ungrading and each episode adds a different dimension which brings more to the conversation- one of the most important conversations in education right now. And of course, at the end of our discussion, Jacob is subjected to The 5-Minute Game Show.

The fauxmercial is a parody of those old record compilations commercials, and the incredibly talented Barbara Heller was kind enough to record the songs for me. And she actually recorded longer versions and even made-up some verses. Unfortunately, the fauxmercial was already getting long so I had to edit them down. However, Barb has such a stellar voice that I knew I had to put the long, unedited version at the end of the podcast.

My special thanks to Jacob Johnson and to my fauxmercial helpers, Barbara Heller, Yossie Frankel and writer and Assistant Producer, Eve Hirschman.

Don’t forget to check out the Overthrowing Education swag on the website.

Links and Resources:

Jacob on Twitter

Ungrading blog post by Susan D. Blum

Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) by Susan D. Blum

Can Skateboarding Save Our Schools? TedX talk by Dr. Tae

On this episode I welcome back amazing educator and author, Matt Miller. After this episode, check out his appearance way back on episode 10. He is truly one of the best resources for teachers out there, and he again shares some of his wisdom, techniques, and tech tools to take your teaching to the next level no matter where you are in your career or what you’re teaching. Check the links below for great resources!

Please share this podcast with every educator and parent you know! And don’t forget to order your Overthrowing Education swag.

I’d like to give special thanks to Matt Miller for joining me again, and to Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and Yossie Frankel for lending their voices to the Levelevator fauxmercial.  

Links and Resources:

Ditch That Textbook site

Ditch That Textbook courses

Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit

My guest blog for Matt, 10 Amazing Assessment Ideas

Matt’s books

Shane Lawrence, veteran educator, and the long-time host of The Ed Podcast shares some wisdom he has learned and gained from all of the educators on his podcast over hundreds of episodes as well as his students. It covers both bigger picture and  lot of practical ideas. Because Shane teaches, among other things, film studies and film production we talk about ways to incorporate filmmaking into any subject, and after our interview, I share more ways to use video making in your class. Also, you won’t want to miss the film-themed The 5-Minute Game Show written by associate producer, Eve Hirschman, because Shane totally nails it!  

Links and Contact Information:

Shane's Twitter and Instagram: @theedpodcast

Shane's Email: theedpodcast@gmail.com

The Ed Podcast

Episode 134 on The Ed Podcast with Batsheva 

Batsheva@newlensed.com

New Lens Ed.

Shop for Overthrowing Education swag 

For this series, on each mini-episode, I share one quick idea that can be applied to any subject. Some of them you may have already mastered, or maybe just tried once, or hadn’t even thought about yet.  

Today’s DISCOVER assessment idea is a riff on a really fun improv game called Sports Announcers.

Need help getting started? Wanna share something cool your students have done? Any questions? DM me on Twitter @BatshevaFrankel or IG @Batsheva.Frankel
See New Lens Ed. for more information about great assessments.

On this episode I have an incredibly insightful and super practical conversation with veteran educator and author Katie White. Perhaps if every educator put student-self assessment in the easy to implement way Katie describes, we would raise the level of learning %100, as well as raising the level of joy in learning for students.

I want to welcome back my new associate producer, Eve Hirschman to the show. If you are a long-time listener or you’ve dug back into older episodes, which I highly recommend, you might remember that Eve wrote and co-wrote some of the early fauxmercials and game shows. I was finally able to coax her back to take on even more behind the scenes work along with writing. In fact, in this episode, she wrote the Right Track fauxmercial and The 5-Minute Game.

Links and Resources:

Contact Katie:

Twitter: @KatieWhite426

Instagram: @softedgedlearning

Email: k.white@sasktel.net

Website: www.kwhiteconsulting.com

Books available on Amazon:

Softening the Edges: Assessment Practices that Honor K-12 Teacher and Learners

Unlocked: Assessment as the Key to Everyday Creativity in the Classroom

Student Self-Assessment: Data Notebooks, Portfolios and Other Tools to Advance Learning

Katie’s new book: Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Assessment and Grading by Nicole Dimich, Cassandra Erkens, Jadi Miller, Tom Schimmer and Katie White (released April 2022, available for pre-order)

Overthrowing Education Swag Shop

Find out more about Batsheva’s Lenses of Questioning online - at your own pace- course.

My guest, Barbara Heller, and I discuss how to integrate mindful meditation into your class routine to help your students feel centered, more focused and open up their channels to creativity, which can benefit all subjects.  Barbara is not only a thoughtful and passionate educator but also a published author, voice over artist, award winning film writer, director, playwright, and songwriter who also writes an original and evolving curriculum infusing mindfulness and creativity called “Meditate and Create.” In addition, she hosts a podcast called See One Beautiful Soul about what she calls the real F word- forgiveness.

Barb has been a regular voice actor on many of my fauxmercial, and the one on this episode is extra special because Barbara conceived of it, co-wrote it, does the two main voices – the young teen and the announcer - and she wrote and sang so beautifully the Forgive- Ness jingle. Lastly, you’ll hear some of the many voice impressions Barb does when we play a very unusual version of The 5-Minute Game Show.

Links and Resources

www.BarbHeller.com

Barb’s original guided mindful meditations

And feel free to email her at info@BarbHeller.com for the worksheets that go along with the meditations or hire her to do a Live Zoom Meditate and Create session for you and your students or try a 1:1 Coaching.

See One Beautiful Soul: The podcast about Seeing the Good in Ourselves and Each Other!

Overthrowing Education Swag