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What do you do if your child fails first grade? The system can label your child. That label then defines your child. That happened to Lois Letchford’s son, Nicholas, and Lois decided to change the label and his mindset to overcome the odds so he believed in himself. I asked Lois if she could share this story in my book. I was so moved that I asked Lois to have a conversation with me about her journey as a literacy spokesperson for struggling learners.

Lois Letchford has been a literacy problem solver. She specializes in teaching children who struggle with learning to read, her creative teaching methods vary depending on the reading ability of the student, employing age-appropriate, rather than reading-age-appropriate, material. Lois’s non-traditional background, multi-continental exposure, and passion for helping failing students equip her with a unique skillset and perspective.

“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds hard to answer.”  –– Alice Wellington Rollins

Lois and her family

Lois Letchford has been a literacy problem solver. She specializes in teaching children who struggle with learning to read, her creative teaching methods vary depending on the reading ability of the student, employing age-appropriate, rather than reading-age-appropriate, material. Lois’s non-traditional background, multi-continental exposure, and passion for helping failing students equip her with a unique skillset and perspective.

Reversed Memoir Book Trailer

Originally a physical education teacher, she later completed a Master’s in Literacy and Reading from the State University of New York at Albany. Lois has presented her work at SPELD in Australia, the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children, the Spring Festival of Children’s Literature in Maryland, and the Ireland International Conference on Education. She is a member of the Australian College of Education.

Reversed: A Memoir (Acorn Publishing), the story of her son’s—and her own—learning disability, is her first book.

Nicholas talking about his learning:

Lois mentioned these books in our conversation that she uses to teach pronouns: 

 “Ahhh,” Said Stork  by Gerald Rose  

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Lois Letchford
@LetchfordLois

Website: https://www.loisletchford.com/ 
FB: https://www.facebook.com/loisletchfordauthor/

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
––Babe Ruth

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For all of the Rethinking Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below, or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Go to this page for more information about Barbara’s new book, Define Your WHY.

I’ve spent most of my life as a teacher, a coach, and a mentor supporting teachers and administrators. Something is different now. I feel there is a sense of urgency to rethink the idea of “school” and what it means to be a teacher, a principal, and a student. I have also heard from people in and outside of education who felt lost and didn’t know their WHY. They said they accepted that they went down the wrong path and felt they were living someone else’s story. This made me stop and rethink my WHY. I became aware that that had happened to me. I thought I had no other choice to keep doing what I was doing, but I did. I thought of Churchill’s quote and that all of us need to live for something. 

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” ―Winston S. Churchill

Through these conversations, I realized how challenging it was to teach, how difficult it was to be a student, and how many educators had gotten lost in the WHAT and HOW that they’ve forgotten or maybe never knew their WHY. 

In 2017, I started the Rethinking Learning podcast to share stories about people who inspired me. It wasn’t long before I got it. It was all about the stories. I needed to learn more. In the process, I found out that most everyone I talked with had struggled or had made choices that didn’t always work. In fact, those struggles made them stronger. At this same time, I was searching for my WHY and considered the different struggles I had and other events in my life. I had changed careers, had taken projects that were only for the money, and went in a direction that was more about the WHAT and HOW instead of the WHY. 

I needed to search for my WHY. I adapted the strategies that I used during my coaching sessions and workshops to learn more about me. What did I love? What am I good at? It all came back to the stories and my love of writing. You see, I used to write poetry and short stories years before. I did co-author two books on personalized learning which I enjoyed, but that was not the kind of writing I wanted to do. I wanted to write about the stories and the WHY. To get me in the mood to write, I decided to blog, journal daily, and write a post for each podcast. The posts changed me. I realized that when I listened to the podcast I wasn’t connecting to the person as much as I wanted.

I asked my guests to share information about themselves in a Google doc so I could do research about them before our conversations. I also decided to listen closer by transcribing some of the conversations for the post. If I wanted to learn more, I reached out to the person after the podcast for more information. I know I was spending way too much time on each post, but I loved it. I loved learning about each person and collaborating with them to find pictures, links, and other resources about their lives. The stories motivated me to want to write more.

I asked different people who were on my podcast if they would like to collaborate with me by sharing some of their stories about their WHY in a book I wanted to write. 26 people said yes. I found My WHY: to write my new book, Define Your WHY. I’m really excited to share the stories and the strategies I used to define the WHY. I’ll be sharing more soon because my book is launching on Monday, February 17th and the link is up on Amazon for pre-order. http://bit.ly/defineyourwhybook

“Believe in yourself, your abilities and your own potential. Never let self-doubt hold you captive. You are worthy of all that you dream of and hope for.”     

––Roy Bennett

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Stephen Hurley currently lives at the intersection of two passions. A life-long love of radio (since Grade 4) and a 30-year career in public education in Ontario, Canada. Stephen is the architect and chief catalyst behind voicEd Radio—a 24/7 radio station dedicated to deepening the way we talk about education in Canada and around the world. Enjoy!

Your Background and as a Student

I grew up in a suburban neighborhood just outside Toronto, Canada. I was a fairly compliant student. I don’t remember ever disliking school but there were many times when I felt out of place. I learned that I loved to read and write early on in my schooling and I’ve found opportunities to nurture both of these passions in my personal and professional life. I was often caught daydreaming in class—something else that has stayed with me throughout life. 

Fourth grade was, arguably, the most important year of my schooling. It was during this year that I discovered a love for radio and a real passion for music. My Grade 4 teacher, Sr. Leona introduced me to a cassette tape recorder and a Radio Shack microphone and the combination of these two pieces of technology-fueled a passion to work in the broadcasting industry. Unfortunately, my parents insisted that I go to university instead of radio college, but the passion for the medium continued to inspire and attract me.

This was also the year that my parents bought a piano. I had been “playing” at my grandmother’s house since I was a small child but it wasn’t until I was 9 that a piano actually made its way into our house. Music became a central part of my growing up. A few years later I started playing piano and organ at our local church, a post that I held for over 30 years. I still play every day and I find great joy in continuing my journey through the worlds of both jazz and classical music.

Your family and where you live now

I waited until later in life to settle down and get married to the wonderful Zoe Jordan. I retired from teaching 7 years ago, but have 10 and 12-year-old boys (Luke and Liam) and am loving watching them move through these years of living and learning. 

I haven’t ventured too far from the place where I was raised but I do long to pick up stakes and move out to the country! 

Your journey as an educator

Although my mom insists that she always knew I would be a teacher, it wasn’t something that was really on my radar. In fact, I’m one of those people who kind of fell into the profession. I had been studying philosophy and theology and when I left my studies at a Roman Catholic seminary, I really didn’t know what to do. So, after a year working for Bell Canada, I applied to the teachers’ college and immediately fell in love with the work.

Throughout my career, I’ve always enjoyed being “on the edge” of things. An early adopter and enthusiastic “embracer” of change, technology and new approaches to teaching and learning, life as a teacher have allowed me to explore imagination, creativity, and innovation in ways that other professions would not have permitted. 

I’ve always been a little bit restless and this resulted in me applying for a variety of different roles and, when I couldn’t find something that captured my imagination, writing proposals for the positions that I wanted. 

I spent 30 years with the same school district in Ontario but held a variety of roles: Grade 4-8 classroom teacher, technology resource, teacher educator and arts consultant. 

But, you know, there’s a sense in which an entirely new career in education has taken flight since “retiring” 7 years ago.

VoicEd.ca

In 2011, I became a little frustrated by some of the polarization that was developing on social media and across the blogosphere. I felt that there was a need to invite deeper and broader conversations about the issues that were important to us as educators and so I started voicEd.ca—originally a multi-author blog space invited contributions from across the education landscape. I was hoping for a diversity of perspectives, vibrant conversation, and even some disagreement. That happened, to a degree. 

In 2017, I revived that vision but, this time, drawing on my life-long passion for radio to create voicEd Radio. We are a growing community of educators, parents, researchers, policy-makers, and students who are working to help broaden and deepen the conversations that we’re having about education. Our explicit belief at voicEd Radio is, “If we want to change the way we DO education, then we’re going to have to change the way we TALK ABOUT education. And we’re doing that through the creation and network of podcasts including my own, the development of live radio shows and the coverage of education events from across Canada and around the world.   

Next steps for you

I would like to continue to grow the voicEd Radio community and, in particular, nurture a vibrant live radio experience for the education community, nationally and internationally.

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Stephen Hurley has been working in Canada’s education space for 35 years, serving as a classroom teacher, curriculum consultant, and teacher educator. Stephen is passionate about supporting and nurturing new conversations about education across the country. He is the architect and chief catalyst behind voicEd Radio—a 24/7 radio station dedicated to deepening the way we talk about education in Canada.

voicEd Radio is a 24/7 Internet-based radio station designed to both broaden and deepen the conversations that we have about education in Canada. Drawing on the stories, experiences, and passions of educators, students, parents and community members from across the country and around the world, voicEd Radio is a type of national gathering place for lively talk, insight and debate about the things that matter most to us in education.

Website: https://voicEd.ca

Blog: https://stephenhurley.ca

Twitter: @stephen_hurley

Facebook: @voicEdCanada

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below, or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

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Nicole Biscotti is proud to be an educator and believes that everyone should have access to a quality education that connects them with their purpose. She seeks to bridge understanding, spark conversations, and inspire through her writing. Nicole is writing a book with her 9-year-old son from the unique perspectives of a child and a mother who is also a teacher. 

Your background – where you grew up

I grew up in between New York City and Phoenix, Arizona. My parents divorced when I was little and my childhood was filled with a lot of instability and chaos. I moved a lot, had a few different living situations, and the setting and the characters changed frequently. I see myself in a lot of the kids that I teach that are struggling with instability at home while they deal with the challenges of being a teenager.

What it was like for you as a student

I was a mostly introverted kid with pretty low self-esteem who didn’t think that what I thought or felt mattered much. I escaped the chaos around me by reading in my bedroom most of the time. I was very disconnected and didn’t do well in school until I went to live with my dad in high school. I remember that in the 7th grade I was failing Reading Class, partly because I had not filled out even one book report. My mother made me document all that I had read that year and I had, in fact, read 114 books. Looking back I marvel at how disconnected I was to not even think about filling out the form and getting credit for doing that in my class. When I went to live with my dad in high school, I saw this change as a new start.  My father had very high expectations of me and I really wanted to please him. I pretty much changed overnight into an Honors student.

Your family – your children

I have raised my children largely alone, without a lot of economic resources. I have 4 children: my oldest is Nicholas who is 19, he makes me proud every day with his diligence and accomplishments.  I have twin girls that are physically identical to each other and pretty much to me. They are 10. Their names are Rose and Julia. Rosie is a great writer and very artistic and Julia is bright and joyful and loves horses.  Jason is 9 and is a Math wiz who loves to play soccer.

I believe in education and am convinced that education provides us with opportunities. Nicholas graduated from a Title 1 high school and is currently on his way to becoming an Officer in the United States Marines through an ROTC scholarship. Nicholas has talent as we all do, and he has worked hard.  I believe that the difference between my son and many other kids (including my younger self) is that he (a) found his purpose and (b) had support. We live in a place and time that is full of opportunities yet kids are struggling. We need to address these gaps in education to ensure that each and every child has the support that they need to succeed. 

WHY you went into education

At 38 years old I had the opportunity to start over.  I chose education because I wanted to spend my time and energy on something that I perceived as important and could make a difference in people’s lives.

My Story WHY I am a Teacher on BookCampPD

I teach Spanish but my commitment to kids only begins at promoting bilingualism. The need that I see every day is so great that I cannot stop at being a Spanish Teacher. Kids are struggling with mental health issues, disabilities, family situations, and the confusion of being a kid. I organized a student-led leadership group on campus to address the lack of connection and to encourage kids to offer peer support. Our group was amazing and I’m proud to say that many of the kids that participated were not your typical student leaders but rather kids that were struggling themselves. We received a state award and the news came to our school. I cannot tell you how proud the kids were. My work is to continue to support kids, spark conversations, and to bridge understanding, as a teacher and a writer.  

Jason’s story

My youngest son, Jason, has ADHD and was basically expelled from kindergarten.  I’ll be honest, I had no idea how to relate to Jason’s challenging behavior. I was a mostly compliant child, at least on the surface. I was quiet and did not want to draw attention to myself from adults because I was very intimidated and had low self-esteem. I was also able to do well in school with little effort. I tried very hard to not make adults mad.  

Jason’s Message to Teachers about Kids with ADHD

Why you and Jason are writing his story

How many Jason’s are out there without guidance and support?  I barely knew how to help him and I’m a teacher. Jason has ADHD and Oppositional Disorder. I am close to finishing my second Master’s Degree in Education and I can tell you with all honesty that I was not prepared in any way to support kids with ADHD. I know that parents are struggling and that teachers are overwhelmed, and what tugs at my heart the most is that I know that there are little ones like my son that are hurting, scared, and feeling rejected.  We have to start talking honestly about ADHD and inclusion and how to best support everyone involved. It is simply unacceptable to know that there is a suspension to prison pipeline and to know that ADHD kids are disproportionately affected and not increase our efforts.  In writing Jason’s story, I am not only attempting to help other children, but I am also validating my son’s voice as well.

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Nicole Biscotti is proud to be an educator and believes that everyone should have access to a quality education that connects them with their purpose.  She seeks to bridge understanding, spark conversations, and inspire through her writing.

She is writing a book with her 9-year-old son from the unique perspectives of a child and a mother who is also a teacher. She has seen both personally and professionally how children struggle to be understood and how adults are often at a loss with how to handle the difficult behaviors associated with ADHD. She hopes that by sharing her and her son’s story, along with researched-based strategies,  educators and parents will benefit from others’ perspectives, communication will increase, and adults will be better equipped to help children who desperately need our support.

Nicole and her family live in Phoenix, Arizona and enjoy barbecues and road trips to Mexico.  She is originally from New York City where she gained a love of culture and travel. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from the University of Florida and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Phoenix.  She is currently a Spanish Teacher and World Languages Department Chair in a public high school. She is a certified Translator & Interpreter as well.

Website: nicolebiscotti.com

Blog:  nicolebiscotti.wordpress.com

Twitter: @BiscottiNicole

Instagram: @BiscottiNicole

Medium: medium/@BiscottiNicole

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below, or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Barbara Gruener loves the challenge of being an educator and staying current as things trend in and out of our field. She is a coach, mentor, consultant, speaker, and author of What’s Under Your Cape.

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Barbara especially enjoys working with people as they discover who they are, what they stand for, what motivates them, and what they want and need. Enjoy our conversation!

Where you grew up

Growing up on my family’s dairy farm in Wayside, Wisconsin, I learned what it meant to work hard and make a living off the land. My parents always welcomed people into our home including foreign exchange students and foster children, so I learned to cook and manage a household at a fairly young age. I also grew to appreciate diversity and culture! These skills have all served me well as an adult.

What it was like for you as a student

I got my education at a parochial grade school, a public high school, and a Big 10 University. My first-grade teacher knew what the young know-it-all, energetic child in me needed; she made me a teacher’s assistant at the age of 6. I love learning and teaching; I didn’t love leaving Miss Natzke, and my grades 3 and 4 with the next teacher weren’t very happy. That teacher didn’t know I was an assistant and, even if she did, she didn’t need one. I was a scared, nervous wreck. It did make me happy when it was announced that summer that she was moving, especially since my little sister wouldn’t have to endure another year with her. That is until the move was to grades 5 and 6. I barely survived those four years with her; I stayed home most of the 7th grade with a severe stomach muscle spasms. After a year to heal, I did return back to school and remember enjoying my high school years. College at UW Madison was kind of hard for a farmer’s daughter like me but I love a good challenge. I graduated with a BS majoring in English and minoring in Spanish.

Your family

There were five of us kids plus mom and dad grew up on the farm in my family of origin; they all still live in WI but me. My parents divorced just as they were about to celebrate their Silver Wedding Anniversary. I’ve managed to stay very close with my Wisconsin family despite the distance.

Journey to become an educator

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in English and Spanish. I began a Spanish Department in a small high school in central Wisconsin before heading to Texas in 1985. I taught Spanish and ESL classes at North Shore Middle School for a year before moving to FISD to teach Spanish and coach volleyball and softball at Friendswood High School. My education includes earning a Master of Science degree from the University of Houston Clear Lake in Education in 1989, followed by a Master of Science degree in Counseling in 1994. After 16 years of teaching and counseling at the secondary level, I decided to give the elementary school a try; there I found my niche as the counselor and character coach at Westwood for grades PreK through 3rd for 14 years, then with grades 3-5 at Bales Intermediate for three additional years.

Trauma

In January of 2013, early one afternoon on my way to get my son from Junior High for a dentist appointment, I was hit head-on by a drunk driver, who was also on her way to get her child from school. I was left broken in 3 places physically and in many more pieces emotionally. I returned to work fairly quickly, but by May that semester, I was unable to continue after PTSD made my life too difficult. After two years of trauma therapy, some medical intervention to take the edge off, and the opportunity to give my Victim Impact Statement, I was able to journey through recovery to the other side, to find my joy again, and to forgive so that I could move on. I still experience the startle response when I’m traveling down the road, and I still have chronic pain in my shoulders and neck, but it’s nothing that a chiropractor and a counseling session or two can’t help. This trauma amplified my voice for trauma victims and made me so much more trauma aware and sensitive.

Character Ed

I learned about perseverance, resilience, work ethic, responsibility, growth mindset, and grit from milking 250 cows on the dairy and doing chores before and after school during my formative years. In 1989, community members met and decided what we wanted our graduates to look like; during that time, they selected 14 traits and values that they wanted our graduates to live. In the year 2000, after a Character Counts! Training, I brought the Six Pillars of Character to our school and the Board adopted this framework to revitalize our CE efforts. Under my leadership, Westwood Elementary earned the distinction of Texas State School of Character in 2007. In 2009, we earned a National School of Character (NSOC) honor. The NSOC process strengthened our journey down Character Road; those days were, indeed, magical.

Barbara’s keynote from the National Forum on Character Ed

Book: What’s Under Your Cape

At the end of May 2014, just before my 53rd birthday, my first book was released.

What’s Under Your Cape? SUPERHEROES of the Character Kind

Superheroes

In the Fall of 2013, I was giving a workshop at the National Forum on Character Education called Character Is Our Superpower. Marion Nelson, an independent publisher, attended that workshop in DC and invited me to write the book to help other educators focus on strengths as superpowers. SUPERHEROES swoop in and come to the rescue; so do Character Kids (and adults!). It’s not about intangibles like invisibility or spidey-sense; it’s more about inspiring values like service, unconditional love, perseverance, empathy, respect, honesty, enthusiasm, responsibility, obedience, encouragement, and self-discipline.

Cape up; it becomes a fun tagline.

Kindness Matters and Spreading Love

In May of 2018, I decided to retire from my full-time work in public schools and pursue my encore career in consulting, mentoring, coaching, speaking, and writing. I’m currently freelancing as well as speaking with the Character Strong team. Additionally, in September of 2019, I am going back to school on a part-time basis, to serve as a mentor and SEL coach! Here is a graphic by Jule Woodard @woodard_julie about Kindness being a Superpower!

Gratitude, SEL, and Mindfulness

Gratitude: my one word for 2013, helped me tremendously during my trauma recovery. I strive to make it a verb, in all things. In fact, it’s neurologically impossible to be in a state of anxiety and grateful at the same time. Here are some of the suggestions I made in my freelance growth sessions:

Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL)

To me, SEL and Character Development are all about how we establish and maintain healthy relationships, about communicating, self-regulating, making responsible decisions, connecting relationally. It’s HEART work, it’s holy work, and it’s important work. It’s also about serving, about being the KIND of leader that we would follow. It’s about head, heart, and hands; it starts with empathy, becomes compassion, then moves to kindness. And kindness, my friends, is the real global warming!

Mindfulness

I’ve been researching and studying the practice of mindfulness for six years. My trauma responses and recovery brought me to mindfulness, by necessity, because I had to slow down. It’s when I learned to savor, an important lesson because we simply cannot serve from an empty vessel. It pairs nicely with self-care, to be in the moment, mindfully aware, without judgment. It’s a joy to support and encourage those educators in the field to take care of themselves so that they can overflow as they serve.

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Sharing my joy and delight for educating tomorrow’s leaders through speaking and writing is one of my sparks and my blog has been an amazing outlet for that passion. Prior to blogging, my work has been published in Teaching Tolerance magazine, Teaching PreK-8 magazine, Change magazine, Daughters magazine, and the MO Counseling Interviewer. Since the year 2008, I’ve written monthly blog posts for the Josephson Institute of Ethic’s Character Educator and most recently for Really Good Stuff and The Teachers’ Lounge. I’ve also guest posted at Books That Heal Kids, Cachey Mama’s Classroom, Teach Forever, and I Can Teach My Child and I’ve written a guest post for Kleinspiration (thanks Erin!) and was recognized at Maria Dismondy’s blog. I spent three years writing the Counselors’ Corner post for Free Spirit Press and currently guest post periodically for the Prosign Design and the Character Strong blogs.

Website/Blog: corneroncharacter.com

Twitter: @BarbaraGruener #Whatsunderyourcape 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhatsUnderYourCape

The Corner on Character Where Character Speaks podcast: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-corner-on-character-prosign-design-N3Q7LvmJs6D/

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Dr. Sarah Thomas is a Regional Technology Coordinator in Prince Georges County, MD, and Affiliate Faculty at Loyola University. Sarah’s passion has also expanded to helping educators connect globally that led the EduMatch project that she founded in September 2014. 

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EduMatch has grown to include Voxer, guest blogging, a weekly Twitter chat/podcast, and a publishing arm. I’m so honored to know Sarah and to be part of the EduMatch community. Enjoy our conversation!

About where you grew up

I was born and raised in Alexandria, VA and stayed there for 26 years. I moved to Woodbridge which is not that far from my mom and dad so I see them almost every day on my way to and from work. I went to Fairfax County Public Schools and then to Howard University for undergrad and grad school. Then I went to George Mason for my doctorate.

What it was like for you as a student

I was an early reader and elementary school was a lot of fun. When I got to middle school, it wasn’t as much fun. Everything was separated into tracks. I was the only student in my track that looked like me. The experience was at times difficult navigating my identity, how I fit in the space and it was a little rocky for a while. Academically, when I wanted to get my work done, I buckled down. Whenever I had positive interactions, that would consume me and not do homework. I would stay on AOL and chat messenger for however long and tie up the phone lines. In my junior and senior years, when it was time to start looking at colleges, I got it together. That’s what It was like for me as a student: the best of time and the worst of times.

Your journey as an educator

It’s funny that I would always come back to becoming an educator. I just looked at my first-grade writing book I kept that the teacher put together with cardboard and wallpaper and saw that I wrote that I wanted to teach first grade. Lo and behold almost 20 years to that date, I taught first grade. I was thinking of going to law school or into TV production which ended up being my undergrad major, but my mom started teaching middle school at that same time. I went to help her in the classroom, and when I saw her with the kids, I just knew this was where I wanted to be even though I had done most of my coursework. 

I saw a flyer for alternative certification through Howard University, so I applied. They took me and here I am. That was a challenging time and did a lot of learning on the job. I was immature for my age at 22 and making rookie mistakes. I wasn’t in climates that were conducive to making mistakes so I was in four different schools in five years. I want to say that the third school was a good experience but the fourth school was a French immersion school. That was a fantastic experience and stayed there for seven years. I always wanted to work at that school because my family is from Haiti. I started speaking French with my parents to prepare myself. There was a sense of community with great relationships with my colleagues, parents, families, and the principal who was like a working mom to me. I stayed there as a technology liaison until the principal left. I fell in love with the fifth school but only stayed there a short while. 

Sarah Thomas on Being a Learner and Building a Personal Learning Family

My next step was teaching technology education at the high school and then where I am now one of the Regional Technology Coordinators in Prince Georges County. We have 208 schools with help schools support to integrate technology. This is my dream job. 

Building my #PLN

I remember I was at Common Ground Maryland 2013 and they had a hashtag. I had a twitter handle but I wanted people to take me seriously. So I typed in the first thing that came into my mind since I was knee-deep into my dissertation on English Language Learners. So I spelled out my name phonetically so out came “sarah da teechur” and that’s how I got my handle @sarahdateechur and it stuck.

I also teach at Loyola and was talking about using different tools. I was tweeting out Buffer and had put on an impromptu twitter chat. I went on my phone and it said that my Twitter account was locked. I was able to unlock it but everyone I followed was wiped out. It was finally restored but that was crazy. I love to use Twitter, Voxer, and all the tools.

EduMatch-Connecting the Dots: Learning with your PLN

EduMatch 

This was almost five years ago now. I was on Voxer with a good friend of mine, Rafranz Davis, and were talking about math and gamification. She started mentioned different people to talk to and asked her if there was a program that would match person A to person B to person C. So I had this idea and tweeted out saying what I wanted to do about building a place to connect. Mark Gates in Australia was the first person who responded and I got information about him and added him to a list and tweeted him out. At that point, I set up a site with a Google form and people joined and brought their ideas. From there, we went to Voxer, Tweet and Talk, and a bunch of other things. It’s growing more than I ever would have thought.

The mission of EduMatch® is to connect educators
around the world with similar topics of interest.

It’s all about the teamwork aspect where people are bringing part of themselves and investing time and energy helping to grow exponentially. 

EduMatch Community

You sign with the Google form that was the very first form we started with. We had Person of the Day and now what we do is send people to search our Awesome Table of previous EduMatchers to connect with other educators around the world with similar interests.

EduMatch Publishing

Publishing started in 2016 and got really active a little over a year ago. Somebody asked in the Voxer group what was on your educator bucket list. A lot of people said they wanted to publish someday and write their own book. So this is obviously something that a lot of people want to do so let’s try it. There was a group of about 20 of us the first year. Everybody submitted a chapter and we put out EduMatch Snapshot in Education. That was such a great experience that we made it an annual thing. Last year, we started solo projects. We’ve put out 10 solo books so far and a couple more crowdsourced books in addition to EduMatch Snapshot 2018, Makers in Schools, To Whom It May Concern. We also have Dr. Will with the EduPreneurs as our very first documentary. We’re just trying to grow from there. We’re in talks with someone who does curriculum. Very excited! Check out the EduMatch Books.

Listen to the Teacher’s Journey – Season 2 – Episode #9: The EduMatch Story

EduMatch Podcast Network

We have a site that Brian Costello is heading up. He’s kind of growing that out. So we’re going to get that rolling pretty soon where we have a group of folks supporting one another and come up with initiatives together. View our Podcast calendar, and sign up to be a panelist.

Edcamps 

Edcamp Voice is entirely through Voxer.

Your passion, purpose and what’s next

I super excited and on cloud 9 to do what I love in multiple aspects of my life. The one thing I am pretty excited about is the non-profit that provides grassroots grants for educators and students. The website http://edumatchfoundation.org

Dr. Sarah Thomas is a Regional Technology Coordinator in Prince Georges County, MD, Affiliate Faculty at Loyola University, and recently graduated with a Ph.D. in International Education in December 2017.

While Sarah is still passionate about best practices, such as flipped/blended learning and gamification, her passion has also expanded to helping educators connect globally.  This is the rationale behind the EduMatch project, which she founded in September 2014. The project belongs to all EduMatchers, and together it has grown it to include Voxer, guest blogging, and a weekly Twitter chat/podcast. Her newest developments are: 

• the publishing arm of EduMatch.
• a nonprofit arm: EduMatch Foundation

 Sarah loves to connect with other educators because she strongly believes that we are all experts at something, and can learn so much from each other!  

• Website: https://www.sarahjanethomas.com/
• Blog: www.medium.com/@sarahdateechur
• Twitter: @sarahdateechur
• Email: sarah@edumatch.org 
• Facebook: sarahdateechur
• Voxer: sarahdateechur

Official Twitter handles are @edu_match and @edumatchbooks

Other websites

• Edumatch.org
• Edumatchpublishing.com
• Edumatchpn.com
• Edcampvoice.com

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Mandy Froehlich is a speaker, consultant, and author from Wisconsin. She is the Director of Author Success for EduMatch Publishing and a co-host of the podcast Teacher’s Aid on BAM Radio with Jon Harper.

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Mandy is the author of two books, The Fire Within and Divergent EDU and is passionate about speaking, coaching, and supporting teachers. Mandy is also the Edumatch publishing: Director of Author Success. Enjoy our conversation!

What it was like when you were a student 

I played by the rules all the time. My drive to do well when I was in elementary was to make my teachers happy and not get in trouble at home. They told me I was gifted (GT) at one point and put me in special classes, but looking back I’ve wondered if I was part of that weird study where they told ordinary kids they were GT to see if thinking they were smart had an impact. In middle school and high school where I didn’t have as much of a connection to the teachers, I did well because I was supposed to. I never had any real intrinsic motivation to do well. I never felt good when I did, only felt bad when I didn’t.

Mandy’s 2018 Ignite speech

Your journey as an educator 

I was excited about teaching but burnt out fast. I was nearly one of the five-year statistics. Moved positions because I thought the district was to blame but it was really about me. Not that it was my fault, but that I hadn’t watched for the burnout that everyone had spoken to me about. I thought it could never happen to me because I loved teaching and the kids too much. Became a technology instructional coach and then tech director, but miss my days as a tech integrator.

Presenting/Keynoting and PD

I am passionate about learning and my profession in general, but my two favorite components of my position are being able to provide professional development to teachers and present/keynote conferences. I believe that by providing these opportunities to teachers, I am in turn able to reach many more students and ultimately affect their learning experiences. Also, on a personal side note, I was insanely afraid of public speaking throughout my life until I reached college. At that time I took multiple public speaking courses to try to get over my fear of speaking in front of people to the point where it was silly for me not to declare it as my minor because I had so many credits. The ability to get up in front of adults (which is not the same as getting up in front of kids) and not bawl like a baby is one of my accomplishments that I’m most proud of. Just another reason I think I like providing PD, presenting & keynoting.

Fire Within book

Mandy’s first book is The Fire Within: Lessons from defeat that have ignited a passion for learning discusses mental health awareness for teachers.

Divergent EDU book

Her second book is Divergent EDU, is based on an organizational structure she developed to support teachers in innovative and divergent thinking.

Mandy is also the EduMatch Publishing as the Director of Author Success.

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Mandy Froehlich passionately encourages educators to create innovative change in their classrooms. Her interest lies in reinvigorating and re-engaging teachers back into their profession, as well as what’s needed to support teachers in their pursuit of innovative and divergent thinking and teaching. She consults internationally with school districts and post-secondary institutions in the effective use of technology to support great teaching, mental health support for educators, and how to create organizational change.

• Twitter: @froehlichm  #DIVERGENTEDU #firewithinbook
• Website: https://mandyfroehlich.com/ 
• Email: mandyfroehlichedu@gmail.com 
• Author: The Fire Within: Lessons from defeat that have ignited a passion for learning bit.ly/firewithinbook
• Author: Divergent EDU: Challenging Assumptions and Limitations to Create a Culture of Innovation bit.ly/divergent_edu
• Co-hosts podcasts with Jon Harper on the BAM Radio Network’s Teacher’s Aid

Articles

A Roadmap for Building an SEL Program for Hoonuit
The Rules of Teacher Engagement for Hoonuit

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Paul Emerich France teaches third grade and is a National Board Certified Teacher (#NBCT) who contributes to the education conversation regarding personalized learning and social justice education. 

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Paul helps debunk many of the myths of personalized learning and helps paint a picture of what personalized learning ideally looks like in the classroom. Paul shared about his new book “Reclaiming Personalized Learning: A Pedagogy for Restoring Equity and Humanity in our Classrooms” and provided some tips and strategies. I learned some great ideas from him. Hope you enjoy our conversation!

Where you grew up

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in a little town called Mount Prospect where friendliness is a way of life. My parents still live in the same house. I have two sisters and an older brother and everyone lives close.  I had a wonderful upbringing, great teachers and great schools where I had the privilege of going to. Then I went to the University of Illinois and did my undergrad in elementary education and my masters at Roosevelt University in reading. I’m nationally board certified. I owe it all to a great family and a great place where I was able to grow up.  

BPLC19 – Keynote: Paul Emerich France

What it was like for you as a student

I was like your rule follower typically on the higher achieving side student. The education system worked well for me, but it wasn’t when I became a teacher. I saw that everyone is not like me and not everyone was like me when I was growing up. It definitely shapes the way I see the classroom now. Education was really built for people who were like me growing up and that was not fair or inclusive. It has heavily impacted how I see my kids and my classroom now, and I try to build an environment that helps kids like me be successful but also helps all kids regardless of their learning preferences are needs so all kids are successful. When I was in college and realized how many life experiences I didn’t have, I learned how to think on my own for the first time. I wish that I would have had what my kids have now. 

“We want our kids to leave school being autonomous, thinking critically, finding things they like to do and that they are interested in, and discovering a purpose in the classroom.”

Your journey as a writer

I first started writing on my own blog. I wanted to write a children’s book and was googling about how to become an author. That’s where I found that I needed a blog to build a following to get an agent so I started a blog about 6 and 1/2 years ago called “The Thinking Specialist.” I called it that because of the way I viewed the classroom. I’m not necessarily an expert in one content area but I feel I’m a thinking expert. My job is to teach my kids how to be critical thinkers so I need to know about metacognition and how thinking works. That’s why I called it that and then I didn’t like that name anymore. Now it is at https://paulemerich.com and call it “InspirED: Restoring Equity and Humanity.” 

I was writing about how kids see themselves in the curriculum. The essence of personalization is that it is meaningful and relevant to all individuals because they can see themselves and find a purpose in it. I literally just started writing. I think that’s what anybody who wants to write just needs to start doing. You’re going to have posts that are awful and look back not believing what you wrote. Then you’re going to write things that are timeless and that you are so proud of that they are up for everyone to read. But you have to have both. This is where vulnerability comes in. You have to have the good and the bad in order to write. 

Importance of Being Vulnerable

Being vulnerable is essential to learning. I have an article coming out in Educational Leadership on the Value of Vulnerability in September 2019. This is kind of the glue in our classroom. If our kids don’t feel comfortable in our classroom opening up and letting them be seen and that means the good, the bad, and the ugly, then we cannot actually reach them in a meaningful way. In order for learning to be relevant, meaningful, and personal, we need to be able to meet kids where they are and help them overcome their obstacles. We also need to find time and ways to validate and appreciate their assets as well. If we are not able to see those obstacles, then we cannot help them. I tell my kids that if they don’t know what to do, write me a note and tell me what you don’t know or need help with. 

Teaching With Jillian Starr Podcast

The purpose of assessment in my classroom is that I want to know what to teach you next. I need to know what you don’t know and that’s a vulnerable position to be in to say I don’t know. Lots of kids think they should already know this stuff. I tell them “If I thought you already knew this then I would be trying to teach you about it. I’m teaching you because I think you don’t know it.” I think you can find vulnerability everywhere not just in schools but everywhere in the world. It is essential to learning. We all have obstacles and challenges that are not supposed to be a place or source of shame, it’s supposed to be where we’re all in a community where we have these things. If we know each other’s obstacles, we can actually help each other to overcome our obstacles. We also want to be vulnerable with our colleagues and even say “I don’t know” something and ask for help. What an awesome thing to be able to do!

Flexible Content & Tools: Part 3 – An Interview With an Elementary Educator
By Noah Dougherty for Education Elements

Your book “Reclaiming Personalized Learning: A Pedagogy for Restoring Equity and Humanity in Our Classrooms”

Reclaiming Personalized Learning, available October 2019 from Corwin Press, unpacks personalization in three main sections. The first section, Foundations, conceptualizes humanized personalization in three dimensions: the collective conscious, small group interactions, and the inner dialogue. In the second section, Pedagogy identifies the components of humanized personalization, which includes cultivating awareness, building learner agency, and mindfully designing instruction for personalization. In the final section, Equity, discussions about the importance of identity and justice in the process of personalizing learning in our classrooms.

My WHY to write this book was that I was getting the idea of personalization wrong. I feel lucky that I entered the personalized learning (PL) realm when I did. A lot of us were learning about PL and making mistakes with it. I was a believer of the myths around personalized learning. That’s good to look back on something you wrote and see how much you’ve grown and learned so many new things. 

I realized this when I was working in Silicon Valley for three years for an educational technology startup and teaching the whole time. We were opening schools and building technology. At the end of the three years, I believe we were trying to monetize tools that were digitizing curriculum. I didn’t see how that was making learning more meaningful or relevant. Programming kids with content is not what personalized learning is. You can reach a group of human beings without individualizing the curriculum by actualizing autonomy and agency. That was a big WOW moment for me.

Changing my Thinking

First, I wouldn’t be where I am without the books on personalized learning that you and Kathleen wrote. I felt it was necessary to talk about your PDI chart because both of you are the thought leaders in personalized learning. I would be remiss to write a book about personalization and not include what’s already out there. Second, the way I say it is that Personalization, Differentiation, and Individualization are all connected to one another. The way I see it is that Personalization is the way to make learning meaningful and relevant to the individual. Individualization is embedded in that. Yet, we assume the teacher is individualizing the teaching for the learner. I believe that Individualization in a Personalized Learning model that is achieved through a child’s autonomy. This is about creating a curriculum where there are different points of entry for the diverse learners in your class. Differentiation works to encompass our instruction to have differentiated instruction that you are intentionally engineering for a diverse group of learners to integrate or converge with one another. There is this idea about partnerships where we connect with others who are learning together just like you and I are having through this conversation. 

One of my Go-To strategies is “Turn and Talk.” It is so easy. After sharing an idea, I have the kids turn and talk about what they just heard. I ask them things like “do you agree or disagree?” That’s personalized learning right there. 

5 Myths of Personalization

I think the myths are really big. I feel I could do an entire talk just on these myths. As a teacher, it is easy to do what is done. There is also a push back when questioning the status quo. One big issue for teachers is about their concerns on time but I want to talk about sustainability. Let’s consider humanization vs dehumanization for teachers like the chart above. If teachers are burnt out and exhausted every day, that’s dehumanizing. They leave work feeling undervalued or devalued, that’s dehumanizing. We have to talk about sustainability in personalized learning because it is not just another thing teachers are doing. 

When we bring in project-based learning activities, we can make the content we are “covering” a little more sustainable. Yes, it is our duty to teach them content and skills but we can that in a more creative way. For instance, I do a project where they create a neighborhood based on the needs of the residents. They built scale models of the buildings where they are calculating area and perimeter, collaborating with their peers, and a whole logical thinking component to this. It is this really rich day where I am collecting data if they can calculate area and perimeter, multiply, and add, but it’s in this relevant, human, meaningful experience. It is about the process, not the product. 

[This is Barbara: Please listen to the entire podcast and his examples and tips. A great conversation with more information than I could include in this post. Make sure you check out Paul’s new book that is coming out in October 2019 and follow his work. I learned so much about Paul just from this conversation. Enjoy!]

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Paul Emerich France is a National Board Certified Teacher, dedicated to helping all learners feel seen, heard, and valued in the classroom. Paul writes for a number of prominent education publications, such as Educational Leadership, Edutopia, EdSurge, and the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Today.

Paul has taught in multiple settings, ranging from transitional kindergarten to fifth grade. He has taught in both public and independent schools, even spending a bit of time in Silicon Valley, working for an education technology company, founding three micro-schools and building personalized learning software for the classroom. It was this experience that secured Paul’s understanding of human-centered pedagogy that prioritizes humanity over technology.

Now, Paul is a sought-after writer and speaker, having presented at SXSW EDU and serving as a keynote speaker at regional and national conferences. His teaching and thought leadership have been featured in the Atlantic, WIRED, and the New Yorker. Above all else, he enjoys connecting with his students and fellow teachers, encouraging all to have courageous conversations about identity to make learning personal for adults and children alike.

• Website: https://paulemerich.com
• Twitter: @paul_emerich
• Instagram: @paul_emerich

Writer for…

• EdSurge: https://www.edsurge.com/writers/paul-france
• Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/profile/paul-france
• Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/author/paul-emerich-france-275
• Sage Publications: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/author/paul-e-france

Articles:

• Personalized Learning is a Problem of Privilege | EdSurge, January 2018
• Personalized Learning Isn’t About Tech | Edutopia, March 2018
• Why are we still personalizing learning if it’s not personal? | EdSurge, July 2018
• What the SAMR Model May Be Missing | EdSurge, October 2018
• It’s Time Teachers Reclaimed ‘Personalized Learning’ in the Name of Equity | EdSurge, February 2019
• Supporting LGBTQ Students in Elementary School | Edutopia, June 2019

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Tara Linney is a Google Certified Innovator, Mentor, and Trainer, currently working as an EdTech Coach in Paris, France. Tara has a passion for advocacy and equity which is what led her to write the book “Code Equity: Keying Girls into Coding.”

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I was so fortunate to have met Tara at ISTE in 2018 in person. At that time, she was president of the Global Collaboration PLN where I participated in the scavenger hunt. Tara knows how to make life exciting and fun. Enjoy the post and podcast!

Your background

I grew up as a Coast Guard brat, living in various towns around the U.S. By far, my most favorite place to live as a child was Spring Valley, California. In college, I carried on with the nomadic lifestyle that being a Coast Guard brat brought. Beginning my college experience in North Carolina as an Elementary Education major, before transferring to Florida to switch majors altogether, leading to a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. My background is very diverse, to say the least. I’ve lived in three countries in my life, with the current being France.

EduMatch Special Edition with Tara Linney

Start with the why! Get to know #EduSnap17 Contributing Author @TaraLinney, as she talks about her chapter on Purpose-Based Learning. Check out her work in Volume 1, Chapter 2 in #EduMatch Snapshot in Education. Find out more at https://buff.ly/2D3bjka

What it was like for you as a student

In elementary school, I was a member of the Peace Patrol and was typically the student chosen to show the new students around. From a very young age, I’ve been a very altruistic person, giving resources and time to nonprofits and causes that were in line with my beliefs, like Keep America Beautiful, the American Cancer Society, and feeding the homeless.

As a student, I was very diligent and thorough. I was ranked as “gifted” from a young age and quickly discovered how to learn, unlearn and relearn. Whenever there was a topic or content area that was of interest to me, I would apply it to my personal life activities. The long division became something that I would do on long car rides, setting up my own math problems with a host of random numbers. Poetry is another area that I really took to as a student. I’ve had poems published in anthologies, and was actually scolded by a teacher once in school for writing a poem that was “too mature”….she accused me of not being the author….the matter was settled once she read my other poems.

One thing that has been ingrained in me as a learner, is how to be an advocate. Throughout my life, I’ve watched as my mother advocated for my autistic brother’s academic journey, trying to make it as normal and mainstream as possible. Seeing this example throughout my whole life has, in essence, taught me how to advocate for marginalized students, to ensure that they have everything they need in order to be successful. This passion for advocacy and equity is what led me to write the book “Code Equity: Keying Girls into Coding”.

Your journey as a teacher

Following a career in the nonprofit and marketing worlds, I decided to jump into education. My first teaching role was as a K-8 prep teacher in Philadelphia, PA. As I jumped into my first year of teaching, I was also beginning my Master’s degree and teacher certification program at Drexel University. It was a bumpy launch, to say the least.

Episode 9: Tara Linney Part 1 podcast with Brian Costello

After getting laid off in Philadelphia, I took a job as a Technology Teacher in Matthews, NC. During that time, I was getting deeper into my Master’s program, and as my educational beliefs started developing, I realized that they weren’t in line with the opportunity that I had in North Carolina – so, I moved to Washington, DC. In DC, I started as a Technology Teacher at an all-girls public charter school in Ward 8, before moving into the role of the school’s first EdTech Coordinator.

Becoming an EdTech Coach

It was during this time in 2013, when Code.org launched with the Hour of Code, that I became so interested in coding. While at the FETC conference that year, I met Kevin Elgan, the Educational Manager for Tynker at that time. That meeting eventually led to a summer position as a consultant for Tynker in the summer of 2014. Following the work with Tynker, I became the first EdTech Coach at a school in Illinois, rolling out their 1:1 Chromebook program.

Then, one day while I was scrolling through Twitter, I saw a tweet from Jay Atwood, announcing that Singapore American School was hiring for an EdTech Coordinator. I applied, and four weeks later, got the interview that then led to the job. After working in Singapore for the last 3 years, I seized an opportunity that came across my Twitter feed while I was attending a conference in India. A few short days later, I accepted a job offer for EdTech Coach at the American School of Paris.

EduTECH Asia 2017 – Keynote Panel: Women in Tech

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Tara Linney is an award-winning Learning Innovation Coach, recognized for her work in gender equity in the teaching of computer programming, global collaborations in education, and educational coaching. As a Learning Innovation Coach, Linney has guided educators on developing interdisciplinary learning opportunities, allowing their students to leverage prior knowledge in the learning of new concepts. Part of Linney’s recent work includes integrating Sustainable Development Goals into education, finding places of overlap within the C3 Framework, NGSS, and Common Core State Standards, integrating computer science into the curriculum and using ISTE Student Standards to support the “how” in the learning process.

In 2015, Linney became an international educator, based in Singapore. She has traveled to conferences throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe to speak on a wide variety of educational topics. Linney is a Google Certified Innovator, Google Education Trainer, ASCD Emerging Leader, Seesaw Ambassador, Common Sense Certified Educator, and a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. She is the Past President of the ISTE Global Collaboration PLN and has been an active ISTE member since she began her career in education, back in 2010. She holds an M.S. degree in the Science of Instruction from Drexel University and is certified as an Instructional Technology Specialist.

Two of Tara’s biggest passions include teaching kids how to code and introducing them to a more global world. Tara Linney is the author of a book released in May 2018, Code Equity: Keying Girls into Coding.

Contact Information

• Email: techlinney@gmail.com
• Website: codeequitybook.com
• Twitter:     @TaraLinney

Other resources from Tara

ISTE Interview with Ignite Speaker Tara Linney with APlusEdTech

https://www.aplusedtech.com/2018/01/07/iste-interview-with-ignite-speaker-tara-linney/

Stories in EDU – The One With Tara Linney Where She Tells About Teaching Students Around the World

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-bretzmann-group/stories-in-edu/e/53220264

Code Equity with Tara Linney with Bedley Bros.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/bedleybros/episodes/2018-06-20T07_50_30-07_00

Collaborative Techniques for Bringing Coding into the Elementary Classroom

Tara Linney Shares Collaborative Techniques for Bringing Coding into the Elementary Classroom | Education Vanguard # 44

https://21clradio.com/tara-linney-shares-techniques-for-bringing-coding-into-the-elementary-classroom-education-vanguard-44/

Code Equity

060: Code Equity with Tara Linney with Aaron Maurer

https://coffeechug.simplecast.com/episodes/060-code-equity-with-tara-linney-efc50d7f

ISTE Global Collaboration Leadership Team

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For all of the Conversations on Learning podcasts with Barbara Bray, click on the podcast tab at the top, the logo below or go to https://barbarabray.net/podcasts/

Tonya Gilchrist is an internationally experienced educator, presenter, consultant, instructional coach, and curriculum specialist. She specializes in amplifying inquiry across reading and writing workshops and effectively utilizing the workshop model in host country languages.

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Tonya helps schools around the world powerfully launch reading and writing workshops and create balanced literacy programs. She currently resides happily in Tokyo with her husband, a fourth-grade PYP teacher. Hope you enjoy the post below and our conversation!

Growing up

I grew up in Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley which is about an hour from Washington D.C.  

Most of my family was in West Virginia as well as so I grew up around lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles. I have one sister, Tabitha who goes by Tabby and is a few years older than I am. All of my cousins and family were close, and it was wonderful to have that support growing up.

Starting at the age of seven, my sister and I were raised by my father and the one big thing that shaped me was having him be such an important presence in my life. He died when I was just about to graduate from university. That was so hard because he was my dad, my best friend, my minister, and my example of servant leadership that I strive to emulate today. My sister and I are so close and are there for each other.

What it was like when you were a student

I had incredible teachers that inspired me when I was around third grade when I was 9 to become an educator. I had excellent experiences in that sense with supportive and fantastic teachers who were caring in positive cultures. Reflecting back now, I dealt with perfectionist tendencies—a “straight A” student, but still dealing with a need to be “perfect.”  That was challenging for me then and into my adult life because I put so much pressure on myself because of the systemic nature of the school. It meant that to be “good” meant all straight As and doing things perfectly. In other areas of my life, I felt like trying to be perfect left a mark, not necessarily in a positive way. I was always feeling like I’m not quite “good” enough and not being able to embrace my imperfections. That has impacted me now because I don’t want other students to have to feel that pressure. It should be about the process, joy, and curiosity, not the mark you get at the end.

How are we helping to free ourselves and our students from this harmful expectation? The magic happens in our so-called imperfections—that’s where we learn and grow through the exploration. That’s how they are going to discover their genuine, authentic self. That’s what creates a lifelong learner.

Your journey as an educator

I went to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, then to Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. I started teaching in Fredrick County, VA and had a great experience there for about four years. I had an incredible administration that taught me in my first year of teaching about what it means to be an educational leader. Then I met my husband, Nathan, who was in Texas, which meant we had a long distant relationship for about a year. We realized we needed to be together so I moved to the Fort Worth area to be with him and taught there for about 4 years with wonderful colleagues and leaders.

Nathan and Tonya Gilchrist

It was then when the focus was on standardized tests and standardized teaching. It seemed like all the joy was sucked out and all the creativity was gone. I was really struggling with that and hitting a professional low. It wasn’t joyful anymore and I was literally googling what else I could do with my teaching degree. That’s when I discovered the world of international teaching and IB schools that are all inquiry-based. I knew this is what I needed. So after my husband and I agreed, I started applying for jobs. I received several offers and decided on Bangkok, Thailand.  That was 2013 and staying in Thailand for 2 years. It was phenomenal and definitely recommend it. The students and the people there are incredible. It was a wonderful experience and exactly what I needed. It was like a breath of fresh air. I was given autonomy and developed agency to have a voice and choice in how I wanted to teach.

Living in Tokyo

We have been in Tokyo now for four years and love it. I am a middle school literacy coach at Tokyo International School, a, IB (International Baccalaureate Organization) Prek-8th-grade school for English and Japanese literature classes. Nathan was a web designer and started subbing at my school. He is now a 4th-grade teacher at the Canadian International School in Tokyo. I also teach English and Literature for 6th and 8th grades. What I found is that skills are transferable across all languages. There’s a term called “Translanguaging where there is lots of research regarding it. We need to respect and honor the native language while we are learning a new language.

What are we doing in education to honor all languages?  

[Listen to Tonya’s analogy about languages, translanguaging, and cooking at 25:55.]

Literacy Coach & Consultant

I am on a mission to empower amplifying inquiry and honoring agency—for teachers and students, valuing all languages in literacy instruction, working with schools around the world

To celebrate my joining the incredible @ErinLiKent Consulting, here’s a “quick guide” to two of her favorite things: Amplifying Inquiry & Honoring Agency in R/W Workshops. To access the whole document, go to  http://www.erinkentconsulting.com 

Classroom Culture: It’s All about Relationships

https://tonyagilchrist.com/classroom-culture-relationships/

It’s all about relationships.

Are learners disengaged?  Work to form stronger relationships.  Are they off-task, possibly even misbehaving?  Work to form stronger relationships. Are they itching to leave your classroom?  Work to form stronger relationships. Are they reluctant to share their thinking, even one-on-one?  Work to form stronger relationships.

What is Agency? Should it be Measured?

https://tonyagilchrist.com/measure-agency/

For most of us, agency is something that we have always valued. We became educators because we want to instill a lifelong love of learning in our students. We want our students to develop the skills they need to have agency over their own learning and over their own lives.

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Tonya Gilchrist is an internationally experienced educator, presenter, consultant, instructional coach, and curriculum specialist. She currently serves as a staff developer for Erin Kent Consulting. In addition to helping schools around the world powerfully launch reading and writing workshops and create balanced literacy programs, she specializes in amplifying inquiry across reading and writing workshops and effectively utilizing the workshop model in host country languages.

Along with her experience as a classroom teacher and educational leader, she also holds an IB Certificate in Leadership Practice and an IB Advanced Certificate in Leadership Research. Moreover, she is certified by Results Coaching Global and also as a trainer for ISTE’s Coaching Academies. She also served as a curriculum designer at Pearson’s CCSS Summer Institute with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has presented at EARCOS as well as numerous international literacy conferences. She also presents annually at Shenandoah University’s Children’s Literature Conference.  She currently resides happily in Tokyo with her husband, Nathan, a fourth-grade PYP teacher.

Contact Information

Website: https://tonyagilchrist.com
Email: tonya.renae@gmail.com
Twitter: @Mrs_Gilchrist
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyagilchrist/