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Welcome back to our specialist and supporting teachers series! This is our fifth episode zooming into inquiry for you fabulous teachers.
In this episode, we will explore how we might infuse more inquiry into our practice through think, chat, create, particularly in the PE classroom. This will be a fun exploration of how we might ask some thought provoking questions to bring about more local and global inquiry into our practice.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome to the fourth episode of our specialist and supporting teachers series.
We are continuing our journey with agency through the lens of the specialist teacher, in particular the librarian. All other specialist and supporting teachers should be able to find ways to modify the strategies over the two episodes to help their practice. It's about look at practices and our content through a different lens.
This episode is dedicated to Kerry Darby, a passionate librarian at the Lawrence School. I met Kerry a year ago and shared my vision of a learner-driven library that promotes agency. Without a clear vision of what it would look like, she volunteered to beta test the process. She is that librarian…one that has a growth mindset. Everytime I chat with Denise, she always mentions Kerry’s passion to redesign the library space to reflect more learner agency. My kind of people.
Before we move forward, I want to clarify that these ideas are my personal opinion and not necessarily of the IB. You need to confirm everything with your IB consultant and/or IB world school manager. The ideas I am about to share are based on my experiences and observations. Now let’s get to it!
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome to the third episode in our specialist and supporting teachers series. If you haven’t listened to the series so far, consider going back to the beginning, because we are getting into the nitty gritty about your roles in each part of the PYP.
Agency is a huge push in the PYP, but I rarely hear it being discussed in the role of the specialist and supporting teacher role. It may have to do with your hectic schedule from 30-60 minutes per week to incorporate meaningful experiences. This can be quite a pressure. On the other hand, if we don’t allow agency to happen in our practice, then our learners will struggle to make independent decisions.
In this episode, we will explore a method to bring about more agency in your role as a specialist and supporting teacher.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome to the second episode of my new series to support specialist and supporting teachers. I just want to let you know that in this space you are so valued. The work you do makes the rest of the school more complete. Never forget this my friends as you try to navigate your role within the PYP framework.
Before we begin, I want to honor the contributions of my friend Yuni Santosa who gave me so many ideas for this series. She is a fabulous educator who is so passionate about the PYP and creating meaningful learning. Yuni works as a PYP teacher at the International School Ruhr and is also an IBEN member and concept-based trainer. Yuni provides many contributions online through Toddle App and beyond and I’m so thankful to have her in my professional network.
Before we move forward, I want to clarify that these ideas are my personal opinion and not necessarily of the IB. You need to confirm everything with your IB consultant and/or IB world school manager. The ideas I am about to share are based on my experiences and observations. Now let’s get to it!
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome to our new series about specialist and supporting teachers. I have been thinking a lot about this series over the past couple months, especially during a visit to Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. I had a candid chat with the specialist team and it made me think that other specialist and supporting teachers might appreciate the same guidance.
This episode, we will review some of the common misconceptions about the role of the specialist and supporting teachers within our schools. We will begin to discuss how we might support their roles, so they feel more part of the planning and teaching process.
I want to clarify that these ideas are my personal opinion and not necessarily of the IB. You need to confirm everything with your IB consultant and IB world school manager. This is based on my experiences alone.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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This is the final week of our exploration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. We will explore how to build more intellective capacity with Zaretta Hammond. At my age, I feel like this capacity is waning, so I hope to pick up some tips!
The chapter begins with a quote by Benjamin R. Barber, a political theorist. He states, “I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don’t. I divide the world into learners and non-learners.”
As I read this quote, I thought about how many people view success in life based on financial status, fame, and acquisition of stuff. The more that they have, the more successful that they feel. We don’t often think of the person that has repeatedly failed as a winner. Yet, the experiences and understanding they have gained by losing is probably worth more than all of the accolades from their peers.
I connect this to success in school. The accolades that schools often seek from learners are grades. If they fail, it means the school was a failure too. Since many schools are funded by the government or private investors, it’s difficult to justify that failure is a good thing.
If we look at every success story of every genius that walked the earth, they often talk about all of the failures they had. These experiences spurred them on to finding the correct solution or inventing a tool that would better mankind. Embracing failure is vital in this process. This is what independent learners do.
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I can’t believe that we are almost done with Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. This book has reaffirmed that some things I am doing are reflective of cultural responsiveness and that there are many ways that I can still grow. As we talked about in the last episode, it’s all about having a balanced academic mindset. We know that tasks may be challenging, but with time and practice, we still attempt them with a belief that we can do it. This is a game changer for those tough times.
Join us for this episode as we explore how to support a positive academic mindset and how to support struggling learners. This is a super-packed episode. The longest one ever!
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome back my friends to another episode of Confessions of a PYP Teacher. This episode speaks directly to my heart and I hope it will resonate with you too. Zaretta Hammond focuses on building deep alliances with our learners in chapter 6 of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. We will uncover some parts, but it’s not possible to unpack all of the ideas. Have fun reading and finding your own nuggets of wisdom.
The chapter begins with a quote by Rita Pierson, “Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be.”
This sets the stage for ways to support our learners by building a strong alliance, so learners can build an academic mindset over learned helplessness.For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.com
Thanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Something I’ve been thinking about has been learner relationships and why they are not the primary focus in many elementary classrooms. Usually within the first month of school, teachers are building systems and routines of how the classroom will operate, but do they really take the time to get to know their learners personally? Zaretta Hammond points out, “Too often though, we ignore the quality of our interactions with students and instead focus primarily on the curriculum.”
In this episode, we will explore how to build more authentic relationships that help us to affirm and validate our learners.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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In the past episode, we discussed our own role as a culturally responsive teacher and how it shapes our frame of reference when teaching a classroom full of learners from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, let alone language acquisition, disabilities, and gender identity needs. This was compared to our understanding of surface, shallow, and deep cultural beliefs and ways we may trigger amygdala hijack without knowing it.
I don’t know about you, but my brain exploded. This is completely normal, when we peel back the layers of our own cultural frames of reference and compare them with our learners. Zaretta Hammond references a three part process for widening our own lens called description, interpretation, and evaluation.
I introduced it in the last episode to get you thinking, but this time, we are unpacking it to the fullest. Are you ready for description, interpretation and evaluation? I’m ready to get vulnerable and make changes in my practice.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome to another deep dive into the fabulous book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. This week will be full of insights about ourselves. Are you ready to go deep into your practice? To be honest, this chapter left me with a feeling of being exposed, but that is the process of recognizing how our beliefs and behaviors shape cultural responsiveness or not. Yikes, we went there already, but this is all part of our growth into becoming more aware educators while honoring the things we are doing well.
This episode will explore how culture has shaped our view of our learners. Hammond asks some deep questions that have sparked my reflection and hopefully yours.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome back to another episode of Confessions of a PYP Teacher and our exploration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brian by Zaretta Hammond.
I’m not going to lie, this next part of the book makes me feel like a numpty. Zaretta Hammond begins the chapter by stating, “If we want to use culturally responsive teaching to support the cognitive development of dependent learners, we have to know how the brain uses culture to make sense of the world. When we know this, we can easily piggyback on the brain’s natural systems to activate its unique ability to grow itself.” I don’t know about you, but this sounds really beyond my pay grade, but I’m going to do my best.
Join me as I attempt to unpack the connection of culture on the brain.
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Welcome back to another episode of Confessions of a PYP Teacher. We are continuing our exploration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. This week, we will examine the influence of culture and shine light on our need for awareness.
Zaretta Hammond states, “Building background knowledge begins with becoming knowledgeable about the dimensions of culture as well as knowledgeable about the larger social, political, and economic conditions that create inequitable education outcomes…teachers also have to be aware of their beliefs regarding equity and culture.”
What are some of the ideas that pop to your mind? Listen to this episode to find out more.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome back to our book study of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (CRT) by Zaretta Hammond. As I reviewed my notes for the last episode, I discovered that I missed two key significant ideas that I want to explore before moving forward.
Hammond refers to the school-to-prison pipeline, which is something that is quite prevalent within the United States. This pipeline consists of learning systems that withhold rigorous instruction to children of color, particularly black and latino boys. The repetitive instruction sparks behavior issues, which increases learners from being removed from the learning setting. The decrease in instruction widens the gap for developing young people who can critically and creatively think.
The pipeline can largely be attributed to the pedagogy of poverty. Hammond describes this as, “setting up students up to leave high school with outdated skills and shallow knowledge. They are able to regurgitate facts and concepts but have difficulty applying this knowledge to new and practical ways.” Unfortunately, you often see this at the elementary/primary level in poorer schools. Having worked in these conditions, I’ve seen the pedagogy of poverty used repeatedly by teachers who came from a similar background. They are often perpetuating the same low-level instruction to the next generation without knowing it.
Listen to this episode to find out how we can address the school-to-prison pipeline and the pedagogy of poverty through Hammond's Ready for Rigor framework.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Welcome my friends to a new book study. I have wrestled with what to talk about next within my podcast series and I kept circling back to Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond. This book changed me this past year and I couldn’t wait any longer. There will be insights from Zaretta’s book, my thoughts, and my meanderings. If you’ve been listening at all, you know I tend to get off track a bit, but I believe these are the times that I make the most ahas. I hope you do too.
Let me start off by saying that, Zaretta Hammond is the first person in a long time that made me excited, weep, and find hope in a short span of time. This book made me excited to see all of the possibilities that are available to learners from diverse backgrounds if we just focus on building rigor instead of watering down curriculum. She made me weep, because I think of all the learners I wasn’t able to reach during my teaching career, because I didn’t have this book to guide me. Zaretta made me hope that if more people read this book, then we will have less learners falling through the cracks of the education system. I choose to focus on hope.
My hope is that you find nuggets along this ready journey that stay with you and help you think differently about our role as educators. Be sure to check out Zaretta's keynote address at Toddle TIES 2023. Here is the link to watch the presentation: https://www.toddleapp.com/ties/speakers/
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Hello, dear educators, and welcome to the final episode of our application series. I'm Lu Gerlach, your host and fellow advocate for empowering young minds through thinkchat. Today, we're embarking on a thrilling journey, exploring how to craft a classroom that truly tickles our learners' brains and igniting a fiery passion for learning. It's all about creating a learner-driven haven that celebrates agency, choice, and ownership. So, let's dive right in!
We are engaging in the ultimate reflective practice. As we go back through all of the elements of a PYP classroom success criteria, what is on your list? Here is a recap of the big ideas we have discussed. Get ready to apply!
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Hidee Ho Neighbor, my name is Lu Gerlach and I’m from thinkchat. Welcome to confession #126! In this episode, we'll be exploring some of the big ideas presented in the inspiring book, 'The Expert Effect' by Zach Rondot and Grayson McKinney. Get ready to join me on a journey of reflection and growth as we uncover the transformative power of allowing our learners to become the experts. So, grab your favorite cup of tea, find a cozy corner, and let's reflect back on how to allow your learners to become an expert in their learning.
This episode, we will only have one application challenge, because I have been quite intense the past two episodes. I can’t help it, I get excited about this stuff and have to share it with you!
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Welcome back my Lu Crew. I’m Lu Gerlach from thinkchat, just in case you forgot my name. This is confession #125! We are going to sit for a moment and reflect on how to make local and global inquiry happen within our context. This seems like quite an abstract concept to many people, because we tend to overthink it. Let’s take a deep breath and break it down into manageable parts that you can apply.
Disclaimer, there are two possible ways to apply local and global inquiry to your context. You can choose to complete both or only one, based on where you are on your inquiry journey. I like to have choices, so I don’t feel hemmed into a process, especially when talking about this topic. The primary goal is to have fun with local and global inquiry.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Good day to my fabulous thinkchat family. It’s me again, Lu Gerlach, your host, and welcome to confession #124, where we will explore how to use personal inquiry in our practice. Every time that we loop back with an application series, it has helped me to grow as a practitioner and consider my own actions.
For this episode, we are returning to Kath Murdoch’s book, Getting Personal with Inquiry Learning.
This episode will be a three-part process to stretch us, since it’s been a while since exploring the book.
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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Good afternoon to my favorite people, I’ll just call you my Lu Crew. If you haven’t guessed, I’m your host, Lu Gerlach from thinkchat, and I am having fun with today’s episode. As we end 2023, I want us to think about where technology has greatly exploded this past year and where it is rapidly going in the years to come. We cannot pretend that it won’t change our roles as educators. Of course it will. At the same time, we need to look at AI as a partner in getting information more quickly and sometimes more accurately.
We have known for quite some that the internet is the depository of information and we are the facilitators of meaning making. Our role will require us to know how to engage with the technology to gain the maximum output. With this in mind, we are going to explore our new relationship with ChatGPT in this episode and challenge ourselves to start using it tomorrow.
Before we begin, I want to be clear that our goal is meaning making. More is not more. For ChatGPT to be effective in our practice, we need to know how to engage it successfully. Here is my attempt in modeling the process while making some mistakes along the way. I will present my prompt, ChatGPT responses, and my commentary of the answers.
Let’s get started!
For a written blog post and other resources, visit: https://thinkchat2020.weebly.comThanks for listening! Please find us on X @thinkchat2020, LinkedIn @lugerlach, and Instagram @thinkchat2020.
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