Ep. 110: Back to School-- Love It Or Leave It Edition

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EQ: What did you LOVE from the 20-21 school year you’re going to keep doing this year? What are you happy to LEAVE behind?

In this episode, Hope and Megan continue the conversation that they started in Ep. 109. This time focusing on what lessons do they want to take with them from the last 18 months of pandemic teaching, and what do they want to leave behind in the past? Once again the ladies use listeners’ thoughts, ideas, and opinions to help shape the conversation in this episode. The conversation covers topics such as Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the classroom, creative approaches to teaching content, what the benefits were of being forced to use technology, and the relationships that are built within the walls of a school building. Throughout the episode they also discuss the idea of not wanting to “go back to normal” and rather re-define what a post pandemic education could look like.

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Hope: Reach out for support/help/ideas. Find the experts that are doing this well and use them to help, especially in times of stress and anxiety.

  • Megan: Make your own love it/leave it list for yourself and with your fam. Reflect and be intentional with what you don’t want to carry with you anymore, and what lessons you have learned from this that you want to take forward.

Ep. 43: We’re in the Fire: On Teacher Diversity & Genuine Equity

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EQ: What role does teacher training play in the health of our schools and the future of the teaching profession?

Guest: Tamar Krames, 2006 MIT grad, Art/ELL teacher, OSPI, currently adjunct faculty for the Master’s in Teaching at Evergreen State College

The journey to teaching is different for everyone and our amazing guest Tamar focuses on what it means to have a transnational perspectives. We discuss the relationship between literacy and language, then transition to the problem of lack of “teacher diversity.” Tamar challenges us and our listeners to expand the way we think about this and the way that all CURRENT teachers can strive to address the issue of representation (we can add books, artwork, and broaden curriculum choice). She also reminds us that teacher diversity isn’t just race, but also about language (English) supremacy (but one way to “write and think smart”) and additional intersecting oppressions that keep amazing people out of the profession. Systemically, we need to consider who is seen as an expert and make our schools places that teachers want to stay (teacher of color retention).

We transition to the role of teacher prep programs in diversifying the field, supporting culturally responsive teaching practices, and the unspoken assumptions that being a person of color means you’d be able to work cross-culturally. There are programs intentionally working to recruit and support teachers of color. Some reading:

Guilty Favesies:

  • Annie: vegan milkshakes

  • Tamar: Star Trek

  • Hope: Hi-Chews

Do Your Fudging Homework: