Hallway Conversations

Episode 038: Online Learning...the Future of Education???

This week we have a question from a listener! Alex asked the question, “In the pandemic we suddenly saw schools scrambling to operate online. Many schools were not truly ready for this. When you look at the role of online in the realm of education, what do you see as its place in the fabric of what schools do?” We think through the things schools and teachers experienced in the early days of the pandemic with the scramble to teach online, and the difference between online learning that was designed for online and what Dave calls “emergency remote teaching.” We think through some of the challenges and benefits of online learning at different grade levels, and the potential of online learning as part of the future of education.

Episode 037: On Empathy for Students (And Taylor Swift)

This week, we have a question from a listener! An anonymous listener asked the question, “If you could share one thing with a middle school student who is having a rough week…what would you tell them?” We think through ways to help encourage and support students, and we consider the importance of responding with empathy. Along the way we consider taking our students’ world seriously...and we learn that Abby is secretly a fan of Taylor Swift.

• We do recommend that you listen to Taylor Swift’s song, “Fifteen,” which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJqNJMyUGdU 

Episode 036: Getting to Know Students

This week, we have a question from a listener! One of our students, Lindsey, asked the question, “What are your favorite questions to ask or tools you use to get to know students?” We discuss the importance of building positive relationships, and why we believe that time taken for relationship building is never “wasted.” We then share some ideas for strategies we have found useful for connecting with students, getting to know them as individuals, and sharing things about ourselves in appropriate ways.

Episode 035: A LIVE Recording of Hallway Conversations!

We recently had the opportunity to record an episode in front of a live audience! We were at the Heartland Christian Educators Convention held on the campus of Dordt University in early October. We started by sharing some stories in response to Matt’s question, “Why did you become an educator...and what keeps you in education?” After this, we tackled a variety of questions submitted from our audience. We answered questions about risk-taking in the classroom, how often schools should review their curriculum, how to make school coffee more palatable, the mixed value of final exams, and Dave’s (questionable) fashion choices. We hope you’ll both enjoy and be encouraged by this longer-than-normal episode!

Episode 034: When it All Seems Like Too Much

This week, we have a question from some listeners--students of ours, who listen to the show!--who are wondering about what to do if they realize the negative environment of the school they are serving is affecting their mental and emotional well-being. We recognize that this actually describes what many educators are currently experiencing in their work today! We think out loud together about ways to approach this challenging situation, and think about what self care looks like for contemporary educators. As part of our conversation, Abby shared a piece by Jennifer Gonzalez, which you can read in its entirety here: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/

Episode 033: Protocols

This week, we discuss the idea of classroom protocols, which are ways of structuring learning activities to elevate reflection and get more students sharing their ideas as part of the learning process. We think through how we have encountered protocols for the first time, how we came to value them for getting students engaged and invested in the classroom, and the benefits we have seen from using them in our own teaching. Through the course of the episode, we share about a dozen ideas for various types of protocols that we have found to be successful in getting students actively engaged in learning through the way we structure learning activities using protocols.

Episode 032: Our Areas of Expertise - Leadership

This week we conclude our mini-series in which we reflect upon and share about our areas of expertise. This week, we ask Matt to share about one of his areas of expertise and passion: school leadership. Matt shares his story of how he became a school leader, and some of the key lessons he learned along the way. Abby shares that her kids’ school is currently looking for a school leader, and asks Matt for advice on what they might look for in an effective school leader. As always, lots of laughter, as we try to take our work very seriously even when we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

Episode 031: Our Areas of Expertise - Literacy

This week we continue our mini-series in which we reflect upon and share about our areas of expertise. This week, Abby shares from her well of wisdom about one of her several areas of expertise: Literacy. We focus especially on content-area literacy, and Abby helps us expand our understanding of what literacy looks like in content areas beyond language arts courses--and how it actually shows up in every discipline in some ways. She also shares some stories and tips for helping students effectively communicate their ideas, and encounter the ideas of others--the real key for literacy instruction!

• In this episode, Abby shared the book This Is Disciplinary Literacy: Reading, Writing, Thinking, and Doing...Content Area by Content Area. More information about the book here: https://www.amazon.com/This-Disciplinary-Literacy-Reading-Thinking/dp/1506306691 

Episode 030: Our Areas of Expertise - Educational Technology

This week we are beginning a mini-series in which we reflect on and share about our areas of expertise. This week, Dave shares his thoughts about his area of expertise: Educational Technology. We talk about how technology is changing the teaching and learning environment. Dave tells his story of how he got started in Educational Technology, the things he’s learned along the way, and some tips for educators on how to keep learning about new technologies.

Episode 029: Remembering How to Teach

Welcome to Season 3 of Hallway Conversations! We are excited to keep playing with ideas with you all, and we look forward to continuing to grapple with what teaching Christianly looks like as we begin this new academic year and new season of topics and questions. As we record this episode, we are at the end of our first week of the new academic year. To kick off this season, Dave asks the question, “What have you learned or remembered about teaching after week one?” We play around with some of the things we have remembered about how to teach. We hope you’re encouraged by listening in on our stories and wonderings about the joys and challenges of teaching!