In the final episode of season 2, Nat and Alex come together to look back on the highs, lows, and learnings from the past year and reveal the season 3 theme. #conceptbasedpodcasting Show Notes: Checking-in on our rose/thorn…
If you were to scroll through most job postings today, you will likely see creative thinking listed as a required skill. And yet, many workplaces do not have the psychological safety for this skill to thrive. On the episode,…
This week a passionate teacher team talks about taking bold steps to innovate in their own classrooms to give students hope through a project they called the Sustainability Summit. Charlotte Nixon, Mark Schuegraf and Neil Fr…
How might school leaders apply inquiry-based learning in their work? If we know that inquiry can inspire curiosity, connections, and agency for our students, how might it transform the professional learning culture of a scho…
How was school for you? What were you like as a student? How does that impact how you show up as a teacher? For Alex, it was a bit rough at points. That said, he would not trade the experiences he had as a student. They made…
Have you ever wondered if one of your students is capable of murder? Well, what if you knew that your entire class had committed violent crimes? How would you build a positive classroom culture!? Dawn Matthews-Nichols has be…
I don’t remember learning writing strategies. Not that no one tried to teach it to me, it didn’t sink in. More than that though, I was and am still struggling to find my voice as a writer. Recently, I’ve learned that I’m not…
Nat is coming to you solo in this bonus episode because she quit her job last week... but it's not for the reasons you might think! Email the Podcast: Podcast on Twitter: Natalie on Twitter: Podcast on Instagram: Podcast…
This week’s project feature is about breaking down the barriers between the siloed subjects that we’ve all become comfortable with. Jessica Bates is a 17-year teaching veteran who has made her career about asking the questio…
Traditional curriculum does not situate Black youth in a positive light and Kaya Henderson is on a quest to do something about it. Kaya is perhaps best known for serving as Chancellor of DC Public Schools from 2010-2016 and …
Today’s controversial topics tend to center around truth. Discussions can become so heated that many simply choose not to engage. Meagan Heard is a teacher who seeks a world where students have the skills to navigate difficu…
Why do so many teenagers hate reading? Renowned author and Literacy advocate Penny Kittle believes it has everything to do with a lack of “book love” and that teachers have the capacity to ignite it. On the episode, she conn…
We’ve all heard the adage “with age comes wisdom” but what does it mean to be wise? If we view our work as educators through the lens of sustainability and legacy, the wisest thing we might do is lift up those younger than u…
In the simplest of terms, decolonization means moving from a triangle to a circle. From a hierarchy to a community. In the episode, Natalie joins the Head Learner of the Mill Bay Nature School, Kim Ondrik, and the Smuqw’a’ (…
This week we’re talking strategy. How we can we best help students who struggle with processing speed? When our students encounter difficulties, it can be heart breaking but how can we help students to reach their potential?…
Too often, self-assessment is treated as a capstone, rather than a catalyst, and portfolios as a scrapbook, rather than a learning tool. On this episode, we go beyond the mistakes we’ve made with self-assessment and portfoli…
Going gradeless is one of those terms that generates excitement or dread, depending on your interpretation. It’s a scary notion as a teacher to just take a chance and dive in. Charlotte Nixon, a seasoned teacher and playwrig…
Teaching has always been a profession that demands a lot from its practitioners. Between the global health crisis, political unrest and helping students navigate what the world is and is becoming, teachers need support from …
A misconception about inquiry-based learning is that it means leaving students to “discover” the curriculum on their own. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Trevor MacKenzie is a high school teacher, author, and speake…
Many of our institutional norms are causing “studenting” behavior that stifles thinking. Dr. Peter Liljedahl’s research aims to disrupt this behavior through “contrarian experimental methodology” and he has discovered 14 pra…
Assessment has many negative emotions attached to it due to the history of the word, yet it has so much potential to cultivate the equitable learning communities we all dream of. Adelee Penner has experienced the school syst…
Though we are learning more about the importance of human connections in schools and workplaces, which are the relationships that actually drive learning? In this solo episode, host Natalie Vardabasso explains how our relati…
We all have memories of Sex Ed that are filled with embarrassment and shame. How might we change our collective experience of this topic? What structural barriers create this problem? How might we reimagine Sex Ed as relatio…
In nearly every field of work, we are quick to jump on the latest and greatest strategy leading to a habitual focus on what we do, rather than a deeper analysis about why we do it. Project-based learning (PBL) threatens to f…