school administration

Things have definitely changed in schools. It may surprise you, but gone are the days of overly scrutinized calligraphy classes and with them, the ability to read cursive writing and sign a half-decent signature.

This week in Teachers in the News, Devin covers students attacking teachers, true crime teacher podcasts, self care for teachers, and an OUTRAGEOUS student loan bill for an Orlando teacher.

Devin's list of the most ridiculous rules at schools across the country will send you on your way asking who is running our schools?

Schools have reopened in Fall 2020 amid the COVID19 pandemic, and educators are putting in overtime to make it work. Four educators speak about their experiences getting students learning again either online or in person: Superintendent Teddy Clevinger in Bell County, Texas; engineering entrepreneurship teacher Melanie Kong in Seattle, Washington; science and engineering teacher Amy Morriss in New Orleans, Louisiana; and engineering and architecture teacher Audrea Moyers in Austin, Texas. They describe their challenges and successes as educators so far this year. Related to this episode: • Music clips from Doctor Dreamchip: https://freesound.org/people/Doctor_Dreamchip/ • Sketchup for schools: https://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-for-schools • Slack for distance learning: https://slack.com/solutions/distance-learning • Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software • Google Jamboard: https://jamboard.google.com/ • Are The Risks Of Reopening Schools Exaggerated? https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated • New Dashboard Tracks Coronavirus Cases In Schools Across 47 States: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/915738935/new-dashboard-tracks-coronavirus-cases-in-schools-across-47-states Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games or The Calculator Gator. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

The South-by-Southwest education conference for 2020 is cancelled, due to emergency declarations related to COVID-19. Pius and Rachel discuss what happens next, for educators in Texas and across the country. Related to this episode: • How Coronavirus Took Down SXSW: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/03/sxsw-cancellation-coronavirus-austin-music-film-festival/607669/ • How Do You Build a Career in EdTech?: https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2020/events/PP102219 • Past podcast episodes with Melanie Kong: http://www.k12engineering.net/guests/10 • State-by-state breakdown of 120 rural hospital closures: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/state-by-state-breakdown-of-120-rural-hospital-closures.html Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Author Roxanna Elden discusses her new satirical novel Adequate Yearly Progress, which tells the story of the teachers’ lives across one year in the fictional Texas high school of Brae Hill Valley. Roxanna’s book draws on her own experience as a K-12 public school teacher and her conversations with other teachers around the country. Roxanna says that past portrayals of teachers in popular media can be very unrealistic, and her book is meant to challenge that. Related to this episode: • Roxanna Elden, author: https://roxannaelden.com/ • “Adequate Yearly Progress” on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Adequate-Yearly-Progress-Roxanna-Elden/dp/1732098700/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 • Adequate Yearly Progress as described by the Texas Education Agency: https://tea.texas.gov/ayp/ • “See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers” on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/See-Me-After-Class-Teachers/dp/1402297068 • “The Office” TV show, on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/ • Tom Wolf, author and journalist, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wolfe • Zadie Smith, author: http://www.zadiesmith.com/ • Alisa Valdez Rodriguez, author, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisa_Valdes • “Freedom Writers” film, on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463998/ • National Novel Writing Month: https://nanowrimo.org/ • Vote for our proposals for SXSW 2019! "Podcasting Meetup: Educator Give & Get" (https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/90770), and "Teachers in Tech: Talking With Career Changers" at SXSW EDU (https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/91608) and SXSW (https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/91091) Our closing music is “Yes And” by Steve Combs, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

We recap the South by Southwest Education conference (SXSW EDU) in 2018 after it ends, talking about the reactions of attendees, educational technology, PBS, escape rooms, political visitors, the educational pipeline from industry on down to K-12, ideas for future SXSW events, and more. Related to this episode: • Scandinavian Airlines direct flight between Austin and Stockholm: http://kut.org/post/scandinavians-apparently-love-sxsw-so-airline-flying-nonstop-austin • The lingonberry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_vitis-idaea • SXSW EDU (South by Southwest Education): http://sxswedu.com/ • SXSW EDU panel “Practitioner Perspective: Finding Edtech Efficacy”: https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2018/events/PP76404 • Example research paper on an educational product (a K-12 engineering curriculum in this case): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10956-014-9498-4 • KIPP Chart School network: http://www.kipp.org/ • “What Matters for Charter Performance,” 2017 article from US News: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2017-06-30/3-hidden-findings-from-credos-charter-school-performance-study • PBS Kids apps: http://pbskids.org/apps/ • Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, book available at SXSW book signing and online: https://www.pioslabs.com/improv4design.html • Lead users, in business: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_user • Empathic lead user analysis: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=1604193 • Stanford Design School escape room, Deeper Learning Puzzle Bus: https://dschool.stanford.edu/k12-lab-network/puzzles • Unity for Education, game design engine: https://store.unity.com/education • Unreal Engine for Education: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/education • “How Integrating Arts Into Other Subjects Makes Learning Come Alive” from KQED: https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/38576/how-integrating-arts-into-other-subjects-makes-learning-come-alive • “Yes, and” game, similar to “Yes, I know”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSzCfsGvwj0 • “Reacting to Secretary DeVos at SXSW EDU,” article in Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/reacting-secretary-devos-sxsw-edu • “Betsy DeVos at SXSW EDU: ‘What Students Really Need Won’t Originate in Washington’,” article in EdSurge: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-03-06-betsy-devos-at-sxsw-edu-what-students-really-need-won-t-originate-in-washington • “Betsy DeVos addresses education inequality during SXSW panel,” article in The Daily Dot: https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/betsy-devos-education-sxsw-panel/ • Panelpicker for next SXSW: https://www.sxswedu.com/panelpicker/ • “What does college and career readiness mean?” article from the Washington DC Superintendent of Education: https://osse.dc.gov/service/what-does-college-and-career-readiness-mean • “How to Prepare Kids for Jobs that Don’t Exist Yet,” session at SXSW EDU: https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2018/events/PP72525 • WeCreateEdu, a YouTube educational collaborative: http://www.wecreateedu.com/ • The photo in this episode’s cover art was taken at the Austin Convention Center during SXSW EDU 2018. It shows a collaborative wall for attendees to write on and draw on during the conference. Our closing music is “Yes And” by Steve Combs, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

We close out Season 2 with another visit from Rachel, an educator with experience in school improvement strategies. First Pius and Rachel discuss future plans to present sessions at the upcoming South by Southwest EDU conference in 2018, followed by an homage to Austin, Texas. Then the main discussion starts, as Rachel defines what “underperforming” or “failing” schools are and how STEM and engineering programs sometimes could be used to try to turn them around. Mentioned in this episode: • South by Southwest EDU (SXSWedu): https://www.sxswedu.com/ • SXSW session “Podcasting for Education Meet Up” https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2018/events/PP71654 • SXSW session “Designing Lessons: Tips from Improv & Engineering” https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2018/events/PP74100 • Whole Foods bought by Amazon: https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-11-17/whole-foods-last-solo-numbers-quantify-amazon-effect • National Instruments, hardware/software company: http://www.ni.com/en-us.html • Home Away, tech/vacation company: https://www.homeaway.com/ • WeWork, coworking space: https://www.wework.com/ • The League, dating app: http://www.theleague.com/ • Atkins, global engineering consulting: http://www.atkinsglobal.com/en-gb • Hanger, prosthetic company: http://www.hanger.com/ • Spun, liquid nitrogen ice cream food truck/trailer: https://www.spunicecream.com/ • Past episode with Sadhan and Rachel: http://www.k12engineering.net/transcripts/ep23.html • Engineering Word Of The Day, podcast: http://engineeringwordoftheday.com/ • Email list for the show: http://eepurl.com/cWSuiP • Twitter for the show: @K12Engineering, https://twitter.com/K12Engineering • Facebook for the show: @K12EngineeringEducation, https://www.facebook.com/K12EngineeringEducation/ • Rachel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/rfahrig • Pius’s Twitter: @PiusWong, https://twitter.com/PiusWong • Donate to the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs • Guidebook “Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games” by Pius Wong, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers: http://www.pioslabs.com/improv4design.html Our closing music is called “Wishing” by Soirée, used with permission, and you can find more tracks by Soirée on SoundCloud, user “soireebeats”: https://soundcloud.com/soireebeats Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com. Support Pios Labs at: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs The cover art for this episode is a photo of part of the view of Austin that Pius and Rachel talk about early in the episode. Pictured is the trailer for Spun, the shop that churns and freezes their ice cream with liquid nitrogen, below lights strung up around Whole Foods. Across the highway pictured is National Instruments.

What makes a good teacher for future engineers? In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, we ask five practicing engineers about their favorite teachers growing up. The engineers come from different disciplines, and they all share the best qualities of the teachers who made an impact on them. Mentioned in this episode: • National Teacher Appreciation Week at the National PTA: http://www.pta.org/ThankATeacher • University Interscholastic League (UIL) of Texas: http://www.uiltexas.org/ • Discover Magazine: http://discovermagazine.com/ Our closing music is from "When You Go" by Steve Combs, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com. Check out the book and ebook “Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games” by Pius Wong, on Amazon, Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook, and other retailers: http://www.pioslabs.com/improv4design.html

The SXSW Education conference and festival this year highlighted equity, fairness, and justice as a major theme. How does this apply to engineering and computer science education? This episode explores the views of various speakers and attendees at SXSW, starting with Dr. Chris Emdin, who emphasized that education is a civil rights issue. Then it looks at the relevant views of college students, educational leaders, teachers, and industry professionals. Finally Aditya Voleti and Michelle Ching share their thoughts on equity in educational technology, coming from the perspective of two teachers-turned-entrepreneurs. Mentioned in this episode: • Dr. Chris Emdin’s SXSW Edu talk: https://youtu.be/XbBwM1c-6xM • Proposed Texas Senate bill for student input: https://legiscan.com/TX/research/SB508/2015 • Proposed Texas House bill for student input: https://legiscan.com/TX/research/HB1585/2015 • Hidden Figures movie on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/ • Code2040: http://www.code2040.org/ • Laura Weidman Powers’ SXSW Edu talk: https://youtu.be/eYh0fVfFggY • Oracle Academy: https://academy.oracle.com/ • The University of Texas Center for STEM Education: https://stemcenter.utexas.edu/ • Landmark Consulting Group: https://www.consultlandmark.org/ • Literator: http://www.literatorapp.com/ • The Lean Lab: http://theleanlab.org/ • Startup Weekend EDU: https://startupweekend.org/interests/EDU Our closing music is from "Late for School" by Bleeptor, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com. Check out the book and ebook “Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games” by Pius Wong, on Amazon, Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook, and other retailers: http://www.pioslabs.com/improv4design.html

"What else can high school look like?" Mikala Streeter wondered about that question as her career expanded from the computer science industry into teaching young people and nurturing their passions. Mikala is Principal and Lead Teacher at the LIFE School, an independent high school that she founded in Atlanta, Georgia. She talks about the philosophy of The LIFE School, which focuses on curiosity, real-world work, and breaking barriers among disciplines. As an MIT grad, she also highlights how her students integrate design thinking into their interdisciplinary self-directed projects. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

● The Life School: http://www.thelifeschool.co/ 

● Google Ventures “Design Sprint” process: http://www.gv.com/sprint/ 

● The book Freakonomics: https://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/dp/0060731338 

● Contact Mikala Streeter: http://www.thelifeschool.co/contact.html Remember that the podcast will be at the SXSW Conference and Festival in March, 2017! Pius and Rachel from the podcast will be running workshops for educators and professional engineers: https://www.sxsw.com/ 

Our opening music comes from "School Zone (radio edit)" by The Honorable Sleaze, who’s also on Soundcloud. Our closing music is from "Late for School" by Bleeptor. Both are used under Creative Commons Attribution Licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com