Episode 114 - Serendipity

This week, Maria was sick and the chat room was not hopping.  I guess everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays.  But Sheila and Lisa did have one guest, who we were thrilled to call into our skype call to have her join the chat.  Amanda Marrinan took time away from her beach vacation to talk with us about how technology is working in the classrooms.  Sheila, Amanda, and Lisa shared many very exciting for us, and getting to be commonplace for the kids, activities that occur daily in our classrooms.  Enjoy the conversation.


The conversation can be heard here.

Episode 113 - Objectives - Should We Share Them With Students?

This week, Maria brought us an article about sharing objectives with students.  This author gave various reasons not to share objectives.  We debated the issue. Our next Conversations show will be held on Monday, December 19th at 8:00 Eastern. 

Chat and audio here.

Episode 112 - Character Education

This week, during our new Monday night time, we discussed Character Education.  As educators, we recognize the importance of teaching values but sometimes feel we are fighting an uphill battle.  How do we keep it going? 


Audio and Chat can be found here.


Our next show will be Monday, December 5, at 8:00 Eastern.  Hope to "see" you there.

Episode 110 - New Role for Librarians

This week Joyce Valenza and CathyJo Nelson joined us for a conversation about libraries and the new role of the librarian.

You can find the audio and chat archive here.

Episode 107 - Back to School Night

This week we discussed Back to School Night, debating what parents want to hear, what we want to say, and what our administrators expect us to say.  


The Chat and Audio can be found here.

Conversations #105 - June 19, 2011

This week we were joined by Amanda Marrinan, who was in the same time zone as Lisa, Maria and Sheila! She was visiting Maria before heading to ISTE11. This week we discussed our professional and personal plans for the summer. Curriculum planning and having fun were at the top of the list!

This is our last show of the season. We will be taking time off for the summer, but will be back in the fall! If you have topic ideas, please share them here!

Episode 104 - How do you end the year?

This week we discussed ending the school year. Although for some listeners this was a reflection, Lisa, Maria and Sheila still have about 2 more weeks to go! The chat contains plenty of ideas and links!

Audio and chat are located here.

Episode #103 How has your teaching changed with collaboration?

This week we talked about how collaboration and being connected has changed our teaching practice. We looked at how we use Twitter to reach out to our PLN for feedback, advice, support and ideas. John Fladd joined Maria and Lisa to share his thoughts on the topic. Sheila will be back next week.

Chat and Audio here.

Episode 102 - What Message Does Your Classroom Send?

This week, we discussed the message people get when they come into your classroom.  Does your room portray the message you want it to?  How do you get people to understand your message? 


Chat and Audio here. 

Episode 101 - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

This week Miguel Guhlin joined Lisa, Maria, and Sheila to continue a conversation he had started in a chat room a few weeks ago.  His question: Do you bloom where you are planted or do you move to bloom?  We discussed the pros and cons of staying in a difficult teaching situation where you can do great work for children or moving where you are more supported.


Chat and Audio Here

Episode 100!!! A Celebration

This week we celebrated our 100th Episode.  We talked about how we got started and moved right into a conversation about being connected as educators.  It was great fun!


You can find the chat and audio here.

Episode 99 - Teachers Advocating For Themselves

This week, Lisa, Maria, and Sheila got a bit political, talking about today's politics of teaching.  Our kickoff was a series of tweets by Diane Ravitch, @dianeravitch, about the need for educators to advocate for themselves.  Join us this week in finding a way to promote educators to the public - or at least to your parents.


Chat and Audio can be found here.

Episode 98 - School Rules

This week, Lisa, Sheila, and Maria talked about school rules - what are they, why are they, what should they be.  We started the show with some exciting news about our friend, Amanda Marrinan.  John Fladd also shared some great news with us.


You can find the chat and audio here.

Episode 97 - Exploring New Cultures - Heading to Belize

This week, Sheila brought along Tracy Sherrill and Tom Waldron to discuss the UNH Teacher Program trip to Belize.  These extraordinary teachers learn about working cooperatively and working with different cultures by traveling to Belize to work in schools there.  

You can find out more about the trip at this link. http://www.unh.edu/education/index.cfm? ID=AE6D7DDC-B1D3-0174-77D3FF16EAA9DDB8

Chat and Audio can be found here.

Conversations #96 - Spring in the Classroom (March 27, 2011)

Spring time is here! Well, on the calendar at least. Do our classrooms have seasons too? We discussed if there were spring/seasonal differences that affect our teaching and our students. Does your classroom change? The building staff? You?

Accepting Student Behavior - Episode 95

This week, Maria, Lisa and Sheila discussed the topic of acceptance of all students.  We talked about UDL and how that can help us accept differences among behavior, both social and academic.


Chat and audio here.

Conversations #94 Events, Pattern and Structure

We're back from a two week leave due to school vacation weeks. Today's Conversation was about using events, patterns and structures and examining the 5 events that led us to go into teaching. Lisa, Maria and Sheila each shared the 5 things that led them into education. They looked at the events and then looked for the patterns. Taking it further, they asked about the system that is in place that allows for these events to happen or for the pattern to evolve. Of course, there was plenty of conversation.

Audio and chat log here.

Conversations #93 - True Colors; Working with Colleagues

Lisa was off on vacation this week while Maria and Sheila discussed working with colleagues. What can we expect? How can we value differences and create unity? Maria shared a tool called True Colors. Many participants took the test to find out their personality "color." Scott Shelhart (orange) joined the orange and green personalities for a short bit. Although finding out about yourself is interesting, the important part is learning how others perceive you, how you can work with others knowing this information and not prejudging.

Take the test at http://www.truecolorstest.com/index.htm

We will return in 2 weeks on March 13, 2011.

Audio and chat are archived here.

Episode 92 - Homework

In this show, Mari, Lisa and Sheila discussed homework. What is it? An extension of school, work done at home? And what is its purpose? Is it required by the school and/or expected by parents? Should every grade level have homework?

Your homework for March 13th's show - Write down 5 events in your life that lead you into the field of education.

Note - We will take a winter break for Feb. 27 and March 6, 2011.

Audio and chat are located here.

Episode 91 - Change the Language

In this week’s show, Maria, Sheila, and Lisa spoke with Trung Le from CannonDesigns about how we can change the language of schools and the design to better help our students.  Taking ideas from The Third Teacher , we all were quite inspired.

Chat and audio can be found here.

Episode 90 - Curiosity

In this show, Lisa Parisi, Maria Knee, and Sheila Adams explored how to create a culture of curiosity in classrooms.

Link to audio and chat

Episode 89 - Teachable Moments

This week, we discussed the topic of teachable moments.  It seems that in these days of more content and high test expectations, there is very little time to take advantage of teachable moments.  We discussed ways to capitalize on the moments, as they arise.


Chat and audio can be found here.