Education is Everyone’s Business: Bridging the Gap Between School and Learning for Success in Life
Logan Country Schools Exhibition of Learning Every educator I have ever met wants their students to be successful. The challenge, however, is that we don’t all share the same definition of success. Some educators narrow it to their specific standards, their class, or their personal view of what it means to be successful. Others focus on what they believe students need for the next grade level, while some look toward college and career readiness. However, in today's rapidly evolving world, it is critical that we look beyond the confines of our schools and our own experiences. We must ...
Episode 27: Creating Meaningful Learning Experiences in the Age of AI with A.J. Juliani
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: A.J. Juliani, author, speaker, and educator, shares his insights and experiences on creating meaningful and relevant learning experiences for young people. And, how doing so is evolving in the age of AI. Key topics covered include: 🏈 Drawing parallels between effective coaching practices and effective teaching practices, such as focusing on skill development and nurturing a love for the process rather than solely on winning. As A.J. put it, "first downs over touchdowns." 🤖 Realistic perspectives ...
Episode 26: From Reactive to Reflective: Cultivating Learner-Centered Literacy Through Student Voice with Dr. Stephanie Buelow
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Dr. Stephanie Buelow, Associate Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Hawaii, shares her experiences and insights as an educator aimed at putting learners at the center through literacy instruction and teacher development. Stephanie discusses key moments that shaped her teaching philosophy, including the power of student conversation and letting students take the lead with technology integration. She also reflects on how being a parent has influenced her view of honoring students as whole people. ...
Episode 25: What Happens When We Believe All Young People Are Brilliant? with Dr. Sonn Sam
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Sonn Sam, National Director of Partnerships at Big Picture Learning, discusses his experiences and insights on creating learner-centered education systems. Sonn shares how his experiences as a refugee from Cambodia shaped his educational journey and how he did not feel seen or supported in traditional school environments. He found mentors and purpose through community programs focused on his interests, like dance. Later, transformative educators helped Sonn discover his passion for empowering youth by asking him questions ...
Episode 24: The School Where Kids Design Their Own Education with Nerel Winter
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Nerel Winter, CEO of Bostonia Global in Cajon Valley, CA shares his experiences and insights on creating a learner-centered high school within a traditional district system. Nerel discusses his background as a musician who fell into education and became disillusioned by the conventional school system's focus on college admissions over personal purpose and relationships. This led him to envision a TK-12 school aimed at personalizing education around each student's interests, strengths and aspirations. Key topics covered ...
Episode 23: Can a Comprehensive High School Be Learner-Centered? with Melissa Agudelo
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Melissa Agudelo, Co-Principal of Lincoln High School in San Diego, shares about her experiences and insights as an educator and leader aimed at putting learners at the center by design. Melissa shares how she got into education through Teach for America in the 1990s and the impact of seeing disaggregated student data under No Child Left Behind, which made her question traditional approaches to teaching focused heavily on curriculum coverage versus relationships and relevance. She discusses ...
Episode 22: 10 Years of Learner-Centered Innovation in Rural North Dakota with Dr. Cory Steiner
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Marlon Styles takes a seat in the hosting chair to interview Dr. Cory Steiner, Superintendent of Northern Cass School District in North Dakota. Together, they explore the district's last decade of work transforming to a learner-centered, competency-based education system. Cory stresses the why behind it all - the obligation to meet every learner where they are and give them experiences to be ready for their next chapter. He shares openly about mistakes made, embracing vulnerability, and ...
Episode 21: Leading With a Learner-Centered Vision at Conway Academy with Tina Meglich
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: What does it take to shift toward a learner-centered approach? For Tina Meglich and the eight years she has led learner-centered transformation as an elementary principal, the answer begins by building a shared vision that honors student voice, cultivates learner agency, embraces an expeditionary learning model, and focuses on authentic assessments. In this episode, Tina provides insight into structures that support teacher collaboration, real-world projects, competency-based assessment, and student leadership. If you aspire to create more ...
Episode 20: This is What Happens When Everyone Gets an “A” with Monte Syrie
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: On the first day of his 20th year as an English teacher, Monte Syrie greeted each learner with a handmade, wooden "A" and told them: "This is your A for the year. No matter what, there is nothing that you can do to change that." Eight years later, the practice continues. To learn more about Monte, why he gave up on grading back in 2016, the impact it's had on his learners, and why he is ...
Using Feedback to Drive Learning, Connection, Purpose, and Ownership
Meaningful feedback is not the same as a grade or an evaluation. Feedback is information for the learner about where they are in relationship to the goal or target to help them get there.
Episode 19: Empowering Young People to Thrive in All Areas of Life with Kirsten Jones
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Did you know that over 70% of athletes drop out of sports altogether by age 13? That's just one fact we learned from Kirsten Jones, author of Raising Empowered Athletes, during this enlightening episode. Youth sports have always acted as a great space for kids to get their energy out while learning how to collaborate, lead, and work through adversity. But, what is the experience young people are having that make them give up on something ...
Episode 18: What Do Young People Need to Be Ready and Well? with Stephanie Malia Krauss
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Stephanie Malia Krauss is an author, advocate, and consultant for designing systems, structures, policies, and practices that support young people in building lives and futures they love. During our conversation together, Stephanie shares how we can support the whole child during such an unprecedented time—calling for us to slow down, nurture relationships, collaborate across ages and roles, and make wellbeing the guiding priority of our educational approaches. During the episode, Stephanie shares: 😊 Why she had ...
Changing how students learn, starts with changing how educators learn
As educators, we are socialized into the profession in various ways. These may include observations of our previous teachers (known as the apprenticeship of observation), our preparation programs, and especially our first on-the-job experiences. In short, our beliefs and expectations are shaped by our experiences including professional learning, which is why I often say: "If we want to change how students learn, we need to change how educators learn." Too often though, I hear from teachers and administrators (and this is further substantiated by research) that professional learning is not meeting the needs of the majority of teachers and ...
Episode 17: Breathing Life Back Into Learning with Eric Chagala
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Eric Chagala, the founding principal of Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA), emphasizes the importance of creating a school culture where all kids matter and shares insights from his dissertation on the critical resiliency of high-achieving Latinx youth. The discussion touches on Eric's experiences in education, his belief in design thinking, and his journey as a school leader. During the episode, Eric shares: ✨ How Washington Middle School (the precursor to VIDA) went from scores of ...
Episode 16: Keeping Humanity at the Center of Assessment with Buffy Cushman-Patz
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Watch on YouTube Episode Summary: Buffy Cushman-Patz, Founder of SEEQS Charter School in Hawai'i, discusses her educational journey and the philosophy behind creating a learning environment that focuses on essential questions of sustainability. SEEQS is guided by five values: Real-world situations and real-world contexts enable real-world learning. Learning occurs when learners take ownership of their learning. Everyone is a teacher; everyone is a learner, all of the time. A learning environment is composed of its community members, cultural values, and physical ...
3 Ways to Include and Amplify Student Voice
What happens when we listen to our learners? Spoiler Alert! The path that is ahead of us becomes so much clearer. Access three tried and true practices districts, schools, and learner-centered leaders are using to give students a seat at the table to amplify their voices.
So You Designed a Profile of a Graduate, Now What?
The first step is to co-author a shared vision for graduates with your community stakeholders. From there, we recommend the following considerations as a way to make your vision a reality.
4 Key Shifts from School-Centered to Learner-Centered
Discover 4 key shifts at the heart of learner-centered change in schools. Learn what they are, why they matter, and how to ignite change.
