The Teachers' Classroom

Regional Superintendent Julie Wollerman stops by for a conversation on the function of the Regional Offices of Education in Illinois, and what her role is. We also dive into a bit of truancy and the function and operation of Alternative Schools.

Master Teacher and national researcher Patrice Bain continues her discussion of working with metacognition and information retrieval with students. In this episode, we talk about (among a whole host of other topics) the best way for kids to take notes, use flashcards, and how to boost your study guides.

Master teacher and nationally recognized expert in how students learn, Patrice Bain is a 25-year veteran of teaching middle schoolers. She shares her simple yet powerful tips on how to help students understand their learning and how to retrieve information. This is the first of a two-part series.

What are we preparing our students for? What sort of work will they be doing in 10 or even 20 years? What do the schools who are currently successful do to maximize student success, and how should the schools of the future look to prepare our kids for the work of the future? Eric Patnoudes currently serves as the director of strategic initiatives at Otus.com.

Illinois Computing Educators' CEO Amber Heffner joins the show to talk about the new ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards, how ICE is helping educators across the State with PD and networking opportunities.

Dr. Beth Holland has over 20 years of experience in education. She blogs regularly for EdTech Researcher at Education Week and Edutopia, presents nationally as well as internationally, and researches the socio-historical, psychological, and communication systems affecting innovation in schools. In this episode, she talks about using different lenses to view education and possible changes, and then how to approach change in schools using a method from the Public Health sector.

Harvard graduate and rugby player, Standford design school fellow, and entrepreneur several times over, Jill Vialet talks about the role of an active lifestyle in her life as well as her experiences going through Design Thinking process in order to start two of her businesses, Playworks and Substantial Classrooms.

Mindy Fiscus, Digital Access Coordinator of the Learning Technology Center of Illinois explains the Future Ready Framework - its history, structure, underlying theory, and the impact it can have on the school improvement process.

Causes, effects, and solutions surrounding the shortage in teacher candidates in Illinois are discussed, including what can be done by the individual educator.

Educator and happiness coach Kim Strobel discusses some of the research behind happiness, and gives 5 Happiness Strategies for educators to practice daily that will increase their happiness baseline.

Dr. Sharon Vermont shares what she has seen in 20 years of practice with transgender students: fears, school practices, and what can happen without the right support. She also explains some of the terminology surrounding transgender students.

Education Attorney Chad Watkins discusses the legal cases behind LGBTQIA student rights in schools. He then gives some guidance to schools on bathrooms, overnight trips, documents, and more.

Author and international speaker Dr. Robert Dillon discusses the principles of classroom design and outlines actions teachers can take now on their journey toward designing their classroom with the learner in mind.

Julie Smith, professor and author of "Master the Media: How Teaching Media Literacy Can Save our Plugged-in World" talks about what Media Literacy is NOT, fake news, Twitter, and suggests some quick lessons and resources for teachers.

Third-grade teacher, TEDx speaker, and Mindfulness expert Michelle Benedict talks about her classroom's mindfulness practice and how it has changed her classroom's and school's culture.

Dr. Tali Raviv, Associate Director of the Center for Childhood Resilience in Chicago, talks about what causes trauma in students and how it can manifest physically, behaviorally, and cognitively. Dr. Raviv then gives suggestions on how school personnel can respond to these situations.

Attorney Chad Watkins discusses how recent court decisions and the US Constitution come into play when investigating and deciding on discipline for bullying situations in the school setting.

Special education teacher turned attorney Chad Watkins discusses the legal definitions of bullying and steps teachers can take to deal with bullying situations with their students.

'Ditch That Textbook' author Matt Miller and host Matt Weld talk about what it means to successfully integrate technology into the classroom.

National Open Education Resources (OER) expert Kristina Ishmael explains what is and what isn't an open resource, as well as their history, and what you need to do to contribute to the OER community.