Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to listen to interviews with educators who are on the forefront of innovative pedagogy, with your host Aviva Levin. Check out www.lesssonimpossible.com for podcast info and blog.
Episodes
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to engage and motivate your students through improv. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is French and Social Studies teacher, as well as podcast mission coordinator, Aviva Levin.
This interview was originally recorded for The Compassionate Educators Show. This week Marie, host of Compassionate Educators, is doing something similar, as she’s airing Aviva’s interview of her as one of her own episodes.
In this episode, Marie and Aviva discuss:
1️⃣ Aviva’s journey to finding improv and creating a place for it in her French and Social Studies classes
2️⃣ How improv allows students to engage with the subject matter, self-differentiate, be their own representative resources, and practice a growth mindset
3️⃣ Being willing to hand over control to students’ imaginations
Click here for more details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
Sunday Oct 25, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to build, repair, and restore school relationships through restorative justice. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Laura Fittz, English teacher, Peace Team facilitator and PhD student from Nashville, Tennessee.
In this episode we discuss:
1️⃣ Moving away from punitive practices and towards healing relationships between students, students and staff, and staff with each other
2️⃣ Letting students take the lead and getting families involved in the restorative process
3️⃣ Operating restoratively within an unrestorative system and starting the personal journey towards restorative practices
Click here for more details about our conversation, links to studies and resources mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Oct 18, 2020
Sunday Oct 18, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to use comprehensible input when teaching languages, specifically the TPRS method. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Adriana Ramirez of British Columbia.
In this episode Adriana:
1️⃣ defines Comprehensible Input (CI) and explains how students are still learning grammar, just doing so intuitively
2️⃣ responds to a ton of misconceptions and critiques of CI and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling)
3️⃣ discusses students taking ownership of the stories, adapting for teaching during Covid-19, and finding inspiration in other teachers through social media
Click here for more details about our conversation, links to people mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Sunday Oct 11, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to explore the perspective of an educator who researched and taught in rural schools. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Casey Jakubowski, of Watervliet, New York.
Click here for details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Oct 04, 2020
Sunday Oct 04, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to examine the factors contributing to, and find strategies that teachers, administrators and districts can use to prevent, teacher attrition. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Jaime Bonato of Sacramento, California.
In this episode we discuss:
1️⃣ The main factors that are leading to teachers leaving the profession (it’s not the money!)
2️⃣ How the traditional school system is set up so that the beginning years of teaching are often the most difficult
3️⃣ Strategies that districts, teacher prep programs, administrators, mentors, and colleagues can use to reduce the attrition rate
Click here for details about our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to consider a new resource: Classcraft, an app that fosters social emotional development and personalized learning through gaming principles. The resource specialist assigned to help you with this task is Shawn Young, co-founder and CEO.
Click here for a description of our conversation, links to the studies mentioned in the introduction, and more information about the podcast.
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to find ways to incorporate gamification and game-based learning into your teaching practice. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Batsheva Frankel of the Overthrowing Education podcast.
In this episode we discuss:
1️⃣ The differences between ‘game-based learning’ and ‘gamification’ and examples of each
2️⃣ How game-based-learning and gamification can open students’ creativity and increase engagement and enthusiasm for a subject
3️⃣ Making changes to education when we see room for improvement and the value of Twitter and podcasts to see what’s possible
❗Then Batsheva gets a taste of her own medicine when she plays her podcast’s signature 5-minute game show… as a contestant!
Click here for a detailed description of our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to consider a new resource: iCivics, a collection of online games and lesson plans to help students engage with American civics. The resource specialist assigned to help you with this task is Carrie Ray-Hill, Senior Director of Digital Learning.
In this episode we discuss:
1️⃣ How iCivics defines civics, its civic education mission and maintaining political neutrality
2️⃣ Helping teachers prepare for the 2020 election with games, lessons, info-graphics, webquests, and a Facebook group
3️⃣ The future of iCivics, including adapting materials to distance learning
Click here for a more detailed description of our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about Lesson: Impossible.
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to consider the perspective of an educator who has experience with hybrid and at-home school models. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Dr. Scott Mauk, principal of Edmonds Heights K-12.
In this episode we discuss:
- What teachers should keep in mind about a hybrid model
- Some positives that families are reporting about pandemic learning and how to preserve them in a return to ‘normal’
- Working collaboratively and empathetically with parents
You can follow Scott on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebok or contact him through his website.
You can also follow Lesson: Impossible on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or explore other impossible lessons at www.lessonimpossible.com
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Your lesson, should you choose to accept it, is to empower students through civics education, specifically programs like the Equity in Civics Youth Fellowship. The special agent assigned to help you with this task is Amber Coleman-Mortley of Washington, D.C.
NOTE: Applications to become an Equity in Civics Youth Fellow are due on September 20 for the 2020-21 cohort
Click here for a detailed description of our conversation, links mentioned in the episode, and more information about the podcast.