Hallway Conversations

Episode 046: Orbiting the Giant Hairball

This week’s conversation starts with Matt’s check-in question of, “What brought you joy this week?” (Are you using check-in questions with your students? We’d love to hear from you about this. You can always contact us at hallwayconvospod@gmail.com) The main discussion this week stems from a quote Dave brought from the book Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie: “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.” We think through the conditions teachers need to feel empowered to take risks, and how collaboration is a key aspect of thriving together–not getting tangled up in the “giant hairball” of an organization, while also not flying off on our own, but rather finding a way to settle into an orbit of innovation and creativity. 

• Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace, by Gordon Mackenzie - Amazon link

Episode 045: Coping with Newness

Happy New Year! The Hallway Conversations crew is excited to be back with you for a new season and more conversations about teaching and our ongoing learning. After some silliness and laughter checking in with our New Year’s resolutions, we get down to the question of the week. Dave raises the question, “How do we cope with new things?” This is the time of the year where educators are in the thick of things, and yet we often have the opportunity to engage with new things as well as we turn the calendar over. We talk through some new courses we will be teaching, new students we’ll be meeting, and new roles we are stepping into. But we also share strategies we use to manage the changes that are sure to come with new things. We hope, as always, that you’ll enjoy the discussion. 

• Dave’s guacamole recipe:
  • 2 large avocados
  • 2 Tbsp. lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp. cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. onion flakes
  • 1 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • ½ tsp. black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper to taste (if you like)
  • Mash avocados with a fork, add the lime juice and combine completely. Stir in all the spices to mix well. Cover, and leave it in the refrigerator for an hour for the flavors to come together.

Episode 044: Seeking the Well-Being of the City

Welcome to the final week of 2021! This week, Matt brings us a quote from Steven Garber’s excellent book, Visions of Vocation, which is a thoughtful exploration of what “vocation” is about in light of a biblical worldview. After sharing a quote that draws on imagery from Jeremiah 29 (“seeking the prosperity of the city” where God has placed us) Matt raises the question, “Do schools have a responsibility to help students seek the well-being of the ‘city’ they are part of?” We discuss ideas around teaching students about service, and giving students the opportunity to bring their learning outside the walls of the school, and the overlapping spheres of families, churches, and schools when it comes to forming students. As we discuss these topics, we realize that we don’t all see these things the same way, but have a lively and enriching conversation–we hope you’ll enjoy the discourse and find it helpful food for thought.

• Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, by Steven Garber - Amazon link

Christmas 2021 Bonus - Lessons from COVID

Like last week...we are taking a short break from recording new content in light of the busyness of the end of our semester. This week's bonus episode: the first episode where Matt and Dave invited Abby to join us in front of the microphone. Obviously, the quality of the discourse improved as soon as Abby was here, so we quickly encouraged her to join the team--and the podcast is better because she did! This episode includes some storytelling around the lessons we all learned from a year of emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19.  We hope you'll enjoy this one again, and look forward to new episodes coming your way again soon.

Christmas 2021 Bonus - Goals

Many thanks to our dedicated listeners! You encourage us so much. We are at that crazy-busy time at the end of the semester, and we haven't had the time to get together to record new content. So this week...a little Hallway Conversations history: the first ever episode of the podcast re-released for your listening pleasure. (Or, you know...to see how far we've come.) This episode was all about goals, and maybe this is an appropriate time to start thinking again about the goals you are setting for your students in their learning? We hope you'll enjoy this one again, and look forward to new episodes coming your way again soon.

Episode 043: The Danger of a Single Story

We have a lot of silliness in the intro to this episode, with Dave complaining about having a cold, an argument about whether real or fake Christmas trees are superior, and a surprise visit from our good friend and colleague, Ed. When we finally pull things together, Abby brings us a quote from a TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie entitled “The Danger of a Single Story,” and prompts us to continue the discussion from our last episode about stories and the role of storytelling in both our pedagogy and curricula. Through the ensuing discussion, we think through what voices teachers elevate (or silence) through the stories we bring into our classrooms, and the messages we might inadvertently be conveying or reinforcing to our students. No easy answers here for us, but we have lots of questions, as usual.

• Here is the TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that Abby references in this episode: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story 

Episode 042: Teaching as Storytelling?

This week, Dave brought a passage from Kieran Egan’s book, Teaching as Storytelling and raised the question, “How do we invite students to see their learning as part of a storyline?” We talk about the way stories can grab not just students’ minds (intellect) but their hearts (emotions) as well. Matt brings up the idea of human beings as “story-formed people” and we discuss the way that stories can draw students into deeper learning. We also talk about helping our students find themselves inside the stories of the curriculum...and how the Big Story of Scripture (Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration) can be used to frame the curriculum for our students.

• Teaching as Storytelling: An Alternative Approach to Teaching and Curriculum in the Elementary School, by Kieran Egan - Amazon link

 

Episode 041: Thanksgivings & Gratitude

This week, Abby raises the question, “What are you thankful for?” (She jokes that it’s the cliche question...but it *is* Thanksgiving week in the U.S., and we *do* have plenty to be thankful for.) The three of us share things about our work that bring us joyful gratitude in spite of the challenges that come with the work of teaching. Our deep hope for this episode is that it might give you some encouragement, and maybe a few laughs, and perhaps it will spark you to think about the things related to your work that give you a feeling of joyful gratitude.

Episode 040: ”More than one thing is happening when we teach...”

This week, Dave brought a quote from David Smith’s book, On Christian Teaching and closed with the question, “What really matters when we are teaching?” We spend some time thinking through the wide range of things that happen simultaneously when we are teaching, and how we can focus on the things that really matter amidst all of the complexity in what happens in the classroom. As Matt says it, “How can we make sure that we are actually on about the things we say we are on about?”

We highly recommend you read David I. Smith's  book On Christian Teaching: Practicing Faith in the Classroom - Amazon link

Episode 039: Partnering with Parents

This week, Abby—fresh off of parent-teacher conferences for her own kids—prompted us to think about the question, “What are some ways that we, as schools and teachers, can partner well with parents in the education of their kids?” We think both broadly about what “partnership” means, and more specifically about some particular things educators can do to build bridges between home and school, including “good calls home,” three-way conferences between teachers, parents, and students, and school-wide celebrations of learning. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, or a school leader, we hope this episode is an encouragement to you in fostering partnerships!