Innovative Educators

Surviving Standardized Testing

Spring has sprung and for many of us in education that means the arrival of testing season as well. This period often tests the will of teachers and the patience of students more than it actually assesses academic proficiency. In this episode, we unpack a few ways to help teachers not burn out and sustain during the long, mundane days of watching kids answer questions. Testing doesn’t have to be as awful as it can be. All it takes is a bit of innovative thinking. Testing Encouragement Signs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fykqKZqQqSRAt2eh2Tf_hNBJVptdUYlW/view?usp=sharing

Spring Refresh

Returning from spring break can feel like trying to run a marathon uphill in the mud. The "spring energy" is high, teacher batteries are low, and the temptation to switch to "survival mode" (weekly movies and disengaged worksheets…) is stronger than ever. In this episode, we’re diving into why the best way to save your energy is actually to double down on what’s best for your students. It might not be the easiest path, but it’s the one that ensures you (and your students) cross the finish line of the school year with your sanity intact. https://brookefolgers.com/podcast [https://brookefolgers.com/podcast] https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab [https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab]

March Madness

Schools have their own version of "March Madness" where the office referrals spike and the countdown to Spring Break seems to never end. But we can’t lose a month of learning just because we’re tired and kids are energetic in an unhelpful way. In our latest episode, we’re talking about how to mitigate and embrace the chaos. Innovation isn’t about lowering expectations, rather it is harnessing students' identities and realities to elevate our learning communities. There is still time to swap “crashing out" for strategies that work. Zombie Apocalypse Lesson Plan - The goal is students to work collaboratively to develop an idea based on previous learning. This works well to review or synthesize content. Anything in brackets is to be edited by you! Worksheet [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AbpN_BjYVLNvdeHuAAeUsEmdOThLysQTtYg3KSNOs3Q/edit?usp=sharing] Slides [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rGhP_MTqvbX_snPXLks2OG3FdNUrPIgy0PP_Sk83bWE/edit?usp=sharing] Digital Innovative Educators Lab [https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab] - This isn't just a podcast, it's a call to action. We are building a virtual community of innovative educators dedicated to pushing boundaries and supporting one another’s wildest ideas. Click this link to join!

It's Your Turn

The most successful changes in education don't come from new gadgets; they come from radical shifts in perspective as a result of being in community. After seeing the transformative power of something called the Innovative Educators Lab in a district setting, we're opening the doors to educators everywhere. This isn't just a podcast, it's a call to action. We are building a virtual community of innovators dedicated to pushing boundaries and supporting one another’s wildest ideas. Click this link to join the Virtual Lab: https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab [https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab ]

Let's Draw a House

What might happen when we stop lecturing and start sketching? In this episode, we explore how we can use blank paper as a tool for discovering content. This is not art as a break, this is not art for mental health even though art is very important for mental health. This is about art as learning and you, educator, are the strategic facilitator of this art making. True innovation shouldn’t be a new fancy tool; it’s a radical change in delivery. Join us as we discuss how a simple shift in medium can lead to students having "mind-blown" moments related to your class. If you want your class and content to matter, get out the markers and the paper. — Three activities to have kids discover content through art: 1. Draw a house 2. Draw your community 3. Draw your descendants Activity from Stanford d.School can be found here: https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/portrait-descendant-futures-thinking-k12 [https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/portrait-descendant-futures-thinking-k12] Thinking Routine from Project Zero, See, Think, Wonder: https://pz.harvard.edu/resources/see-think-wonder [https://pz.harvard.edu/resources/see-think-wonder] Follow up questions with art: * What do you think about that? * Can you say more about that? Check out Donor’s Choose to get supplies for art in your classroom: www.donorschoose.org [http://www.donorschoose.org]