March Madness and the solar eclipse might be over but the excitement of Spring continues! Tune in to hear from our very own @missluker as she speaks to shifting the epicenter of learning, replicating yourself, and creating more powerful feedback loops. How do we do this & still ensure quality instruction? Blended Learning! Dive in, build your students' agency, your own agency, the collective efficacy, and honor what it means to be a learner!

Tune in for our conversation with Dr. Scott McLeod about his 4 Shifts Protocol and how these shifts can help teachers engage in reflection, apply deeper learning principles, and build student agency in their classrooms. As we learn and grow as educators, the 4 Shifts Protocol is intended "to get at some specific, concrete ‘think abouts’ and ‘look fors’ that can help educators dialogue around what they might change." Continuous refinement for the win!

If the instructional door you chose to open isn't working, find a different door! We can hold high expectations for our students AND meet them where they are at the same time! Tune in as our second married teaching couple, Ken and Kendra Versoi drop amazing and tangible strategies for effective facilitation (hint, hint it starts with Relationships).

Gifting our listeners with all things Geoff Krall! Author of one of our favorite books, Necessary Conditions: Teaching Secondary Math with Academic Safety, Quality Tasks, and Effective Facilitation, Geoff speaks to creating academic safety, moving from an emphasis on speed to thoughtfulness, and the power of letting go. But if you're not a math teacher, never fear! There is something for ALL teachers here....tune in and take a beat! Let's learn TOGETHER!

Think that the Science of Learning practices are only for older students? Not true! The learning party invitation can and should be extended to all grades, Kindergarten through 12th. Tune in to our first mini-wave episode of Season 6 to hear how master (and married) St. Vrain Valley teachers, Arianne Tasker and Adam Wellington, incorporate the Science of Learning in their 1st-grade and high school classrooms. It's simpler than you think!

Why did we all become teachers? Chances are, it's because we love to learn. How can we create and inspire that same love for learning in our students? By magic? No, not with magic at all, but with science. The science of learning allows students to internalize their successes, invest in the outcomes, and get in the driver's seat! Learning is a party; make sure to invite your students, is the mission statement. Embedding these practices in your classroom will be the game changer for you as an...

Feedback is too important to only talk about once! We return to one of our favorite topics with two of our own St. Vrain Valley teachers, @HeatherLea303 and @Janis Vogelsberg, to hear how they model feedback in their classrooms, give explicit instruction around the tricky peer feedback loop, and inspire students to shift away from the external motivation of grades and instead use feedback for intrinsic continuous improvement. Tip for Success: Your students should be giving you feedback too!

"Feedback is not a luxury, it's a necessity; not a means to an end, but an end in itself. It's the purpose of why we teach." If these aren't mic-drop quotes for you, we need to talk! Or you need to for sure read this duo's latest work, Feedback for Continous Improvement in the Classroom. Listen in as we talk all things feedback with Brent Duckor and Carrie Holmberg!

Our first mini-wave goes straight to the source...2 classroom teachers right here in St. Vrain! Join us as Altona Middle School's Cleveland Smith and Westview Middle School's Danny Hernandez talk classroom connections, relationships, and building collective efficacy.

We Love It Here! Yep, we sure do! Shane and I are loving being behind the mic with Vrain Waves and in this episode, we chat with Clint Pulver, the Undercover Millennial, whose book, I Love It Here, is a must-read for anyone in the business world AND anyone in education.“No significant learning can ever happen without significant connection” is just one of our favorite takeaways and goosebump moments. Building on the last episode about creating a network and village for yourself as teachers,...

The mic has officially been passed to us from Ben Kalb! With the re-launch of the podcast, we are celebrating all things NEW; new year, new students, and new teachers! Our goal is to create inspiration and empowerment for educators, so alongside the giants of education, new hosts Suzy Evans and Shane Saeed will also be talking with classroom educators and how they use these theories in their practice on a daily basis. Join us for our first episode of 2023 as we talk about the power of...

While almost every aspect of school and life has changed between the 20th century and today, little has changed with how we grade our students. In this episode Joe Feldman stops by to discuss his book Grading for Equity: What it is, Why it Matters, and How it Can Transform Schools and Classrooms!

Principal Kafele is one of the most sought-after school leadership experts and education presenters in America! He has delivered thousands of conference and program keynotes, professional development workshops, parenting seminars and student assemblies over his 34 years of public speaking. In this episode we talk about identity, social justice education, and school leadership!

John Spencer is the author of the best-selling books Launch, Empower, and Vintage Innovation. He is also a successful college professor who has utilized the hybrid learning model. In this episode we discuss how to empower learners during this unprecedented time in education.

Katie Martin is a best selling author, an acclaimed keynote speaker and a highly sought after educational consultant! Whether you are teaching completely in person, totally virtually, or in a hybrid environment, in this episode we discuss how you can thrive!

Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, joins Becky and Ben to discuss the importance of true collaboration with families during this time of shutdown, what relationship-building really means, and how growing independent learners may well be our most important charge as educators.

Listening is one of those skills that always gets a lot of philosophical and moral attention but not a ton of practical attention. Kate Murphy’s new book, You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters, is an exception, providing an in-depth look at why listening is important for our lives and what we get out of it. The book itself is a call to action, urging the reader to stop missing out on opportunities for lack of listening. As educators, we should be proud of our listening...

As we all try to wrap our heads around the implications the pandemic will have on our students, our communities, our families, and ourselves, we hope to provide some comforting guidance from an expert in remote learning. Catlin Tucker, whose original Vrain Waves interview aired back in Season 2 about her book Power Up Blended Learning, joins us again for a Sunday discussion about how we can approach these changes to our instruction.

In this episode, Ben and Becky interview author, educator, and entrepreneur Dr. Todd Rose, who helps us understand the applications of his research in the classroom. From Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Website: “Todd Rose leads the Laboratory for the Science of the Individual. His work is focused at the intersection of individuality and personalization applied to how people learn, work, and live. He is also the co-founder of Populace, a non-partisan think tank dedicated to equipping...

Best selling author, consultant, and teacher extraordinaire Mike Anderson swings by Vrain Waves to discuss the intersection of our language patterns and our best intentions. In this episode we explore how our language affects student learning and behavior.

Ben and Becky had the incredible opportunity to sit down and speak with the best selling author, world-renowned coach, and world-class principal Jimmy Casas. In this episode we talk about remembering your why, building school culture, and living your excellence. A big thank you to CASE.

Ben and Becky break down a recent talk Thomas Friedman delivered to a packed house in our district just before winter break. He talked about the accelerations he writes about in his columns and books, the importance (now more than ever) of being kind to one another, and his advice for young people in this world that is being rapidly reshaped before our eyes. We’ll post a video of his entire talk on our blog when we’re able, but tune in to this episode to hear how we can apply his messages of...

We can’t believe our luck - we got time, albeit a short amount of time, but we got time with THE Manoush Zomorodi - podcast queen, entrepreneur, and, at least for today, our guru of boredom. Listen to Manoush talk to Becky and Ben about the power of boredom, bored and brilliant challenges you can try, and ways to embrace your own brilliance.

Today on Vrain Waves we have an exciting and somewhat earth shaking interview from Natalie Wexler, education journalist and author of The Knowledge Gap. She walks us through the contributing research and education history that led her to write the book, and some strategies for schools to set the foundation for student success. From her website: “Education journalist Natalie Wexler focuses on two ideas that have solid evidence behind them but have been mostly overlooked by schools and...