The Good Life EDU Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by speaker, author, and education advocate Allyson Apsey, who shares insights from her latest book, "Leading the Whole Teacher." Listen and learn from Allyson as she highlights her six elements of how we might effectively lead and support teachers, and just like her book, this resource is filled with practical strategies that are easy to implement. To learn more from Allyson, visit allysonapsey.com/

This episode brings together all five of Nebraska's Regional Program Coordinators for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and the group is joined by NDE's Darsha Pelland, who works in the Office of Special Education as the IDEA Low Incidence Director. On the pod, coordinators Heather Witte, Sara Peterson, Jill Hoffart, Lindsey Hinzmann, and Diane Meyer explain the full scope of services for our deaf and hard of hearing children and their families. Listeners will appreciate learning about the statewide structure, the programming available, and the heartfelt examples these great educators share from their personal experiences with serving their students. To learn more about this program and to contact a regional coordinator, access https://nrpdhh.esu9.org/ for more details.

This week, we explore a "co-teaching plus" approach to reimagining how teams of teachers can facilitate learning experiences thanks to Brent Maddin, the Executive Director of the Next Education Workforce Team and the Professor of Practice at the MLF Teachers' College at Arizona State University. Show notes: If you are interested in joining the 2022-2023 Next Education Workforce Learning Cohort, you can do so here: https://www.aasa.org/edu-workforce.aspx If you only have 10 minutes, check out this video that captures the big idea of the Next Education Workforce and click around the Next Education Workforce website. Here is the Resource Collection related to budget-neutral financial models that support innovative staffing (referenced in the episode). Recent press on the Next Education Workforce The Nevada Independent, “Reimagining Teaching” (July 28, 2022) AZ Republic OpEd, “Arizona needs great teachers, not just warm bodies, in classrooms. Here's how to get them” (July 30, 2022) EdWeek, “It’s Time to Rethink the ‘One Teacher, One Classroom’ Model” (July 20, 2022) Ed Surge, “Arizona Needs Teachers. Does the Answer Lie Beyond Recruitment?” (July 20, 2022) Scottsdale/Paradise Valley Independent, “Leaving the classroom: 30% of Scottsdale Unified teachers resign, retire” (July 6, 2022) CNET, “The Great Resignation Hasn’t hit School Teachers Yet. Here’s Why it Still Might.” (Feb 14, 2022).

Recently, The Good Life EDU podcast has been exploring a variety of ways in which the education community at large has responded to the present teacher shortage. In this episode, the superintendent of Morrill Public Schools, Barry Schaeffer, and the coordinator for the world languages program at ESU 5, Dr. Nicholas Ziegler, explain how distance learning courses are helping Nebraska schools offer students learning experiences that would be challenging to provide without this programming.

Dr. Kay Shurtleff of ESC Region 10 in Texas joins us on The Good Life EDU Podcast this week to share her recent research findings regarding teacher shortages in the US. In this episode, Dr. Shurtleff details the factors contributing to this issue and highlights several innovative efforts being made to address it. This conversation came about as a result of Dr. Shurtleff's recent AESA Perspectives journal article by the same title, "What Do We Really Know About the Teacher Shortage and What Can We Do?" which can be accessed at https://www.aesa.us/blog/?p=405.

This is the fifth episode in a five-part series with members of the NDE SEED Team as they share their work with establishing the Educator Effectiveness Standards in Nebraska. This particular pod hones in on school leadership through the Educator Effectiveness lens. Ryan Ricenbaw, co-lead of the NDE SEED Team, opens the episode with a recap of the June Educator Effectiveness Summit, and he is joined by Reid Ehrisman, principal at Madison Middle School, who provides his learning and reflections following that two-day Summit.

This episode highlights the amazing efforts and the resulting inquiry units of study developed by thirty Nebraska educators as a part of the ESUCC's 2022 social studies special project. This initiative brought together personnel from several ESUs, including members of SDA (the staff development affiliate) and TLT (the teaching and learning with technology affiliate) to train, lead, and support this select group of 4th-8th grade teachers as they designed units of study to implement in their own classroom practices and to share with others across our state! For more information on the SS special project, the inquiry design model, the NE social studies standards and shifts, and to receive access to the resource collection (including the inquiry training itself), access https://www.esucc.org/instructional-materials/social-studies/

Have a pen and paper ready to take notes because this week we are joined by tech integrationist, Eric Curts of Stark Portage Area Computer Consortium (ESC) who shares a myriad of tech tools, sites, and insights that educators can look to integrate into their lesson design and professional learning in the school year ahead. In the episode we discuss... Eric Curts's Control, Alt, Achieve Blog: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/ Google's Screencast App for ChromeOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHyPcIHvlxo Feedly: https://feedly.com/ Steve Wick's Blog: https://rechargelearning.blogspot.com/ 75 Super Ed Tech Blogs to Follow: https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2021/04/edtech-blogs.html No Sign-Up Tools: https://www.nosignup.tools/ Geo Artwork from Google: https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/geo-artwork/wgEPVBAUiRVlEQ?hl=en EmojiMix: https://tikolu.net/emojimix/ Google Educators Group of Ohio: https://sites.google.com/view/geg-ohio/home

Erica Johnson, Assistant Special Education Director at ESU 10, and Pam Brezenski, Special Education Director at ESU 13, join the pod this week to explain the individualized programming that our 18 to 21 special education learners receive in Nebraska as they work towards completing their IEP goals.

Dr. Chris Haeffner of Lincoln Public Schools (ESU 18) joins The Good Life EDU this week to share out about the work that their district is doing to create resources to support school librarians in their district and across Nebraska. Those materials include clear identification of learning objectives by grade level bands, an at-a-glance pacing guide, and lesson plans specific to each objective. Best of all, the team at LPS wants this work to be available to all school librarians, so if you are interested in accessing their resources, now and as they develop more, you can access those at https://home.lps.org/libraries/

In this episode, educator, author, and consultant Lainie Rowell joins us to discuss her latest book, Evolving with Gratitude. Our conversation takes a deep dive into Lainie's learning on the topic of gratitude, and she shares a myriad of practical practices that educators can implement both personally and professionally for the health and wellness of themselves and the students they serve. Learn more from Lainie at https://www.lainierowell.com/

Nebraska's Educational Service Unit 3 is the only service agency in the country that owns and operates a fully-functioning farm. In this episode of The Good Life EDU podcast, we chat with Troy Glock, the Executive Director of Program Services for ESU 3's Gifford Farm to learn more about the unique learning opportunities and services this special place is providing students in the Omaha Metro Area and across the state of Nebraska. For more info on Gifford Farm, access http://www.esu3.org/GF/Home

This week, we dive into a data dialogue with Amy Trauernicht of ESU 13 and Melissa Engel of ESU 16, the co-chairs of the Data Cadre in our state. In the episode, Amy and Melissa explain all things data related to education from what data is collected, how it is housed, the process for facilitating data dig conversations, and the logistics for how the Data Cadre supports teaching, learning, and other edu-initiatives across Nebraska. Should you be interested in learning more about the data cadre, accessing their resources, and potentially signing up to become a member of this group, please visit the Nebraska Data Cadre website at https://sites.google.com/esucc.org/data-cadre

Brandon Mowinkel, principal at Milford Jr/SR High School in Milford, Nebraska, joins us for the pod to preview his message for his keynote and breakout sessions at the upcoming Future Ready Nebraska Conference. In this episode, Brandon shares insights about the culture at Milford and the guiding principles that have led his school, staff, and students through his tenure there. Register for the #FRNebraska Conference at nefutureready.com

Andy Boell of the Northeast Network Nebraska Consortium and Gary Needham of ESU 9 join us on the pod this week for a conversation on the topic of cyber security in education. In this episode, Andy and Gary provide insights regarding the current work being done to thwart cyber attacks on Nebraska schools. They also spend some time advocating for where this work could go next to ensure that information stays secure.

This week, Dr. Dan Schnoes, the chief executive officer of Nebraska's ESU 3 shares about his new appointment to the Executive Board of AESA, the Association of Educational Service Agencies. In this episode, Dr. Schnoes provides insight into the role ESAs play broadly in the US while also underscoring AESA's efforts to lead, grow, advocate, and connect agencies to one another and the larger conversations happening in our country. For more on AESA, check out their website at aesa.us

The Good Life EDU podcast is back again this week with yet another preview from a Future Ready Nebraska Conference featured speaker! Award-winning school librarian and school board member, Elissa Malespina, joins us to share her insights on the important role school librarians play in supporting learning and school culture. Register for the in-person or virtual experience at the Future Ready Nebraska Conference, visit nefutureready.com