ClassCast Podcast Ep.053 features Dr. Matthew Rhoads, a leader in edtech, blended learning, data utilization, and pandemic responses; he's also the author of Navigating the Toggled Term: Preparing Secondary Education for Navigating Fall 2020 and Beyond.  Matt shares insights into how teachers can leverage technology to adapt to ever-changing pandemic scenarios while also preparing themselves and their students for the future of education. From "moneyballing" school to "navigating the toggled term," from pandemic adjustments to the future of distance learning, this episode connects current contexts to on-going innovations in ways that will help listeners understand the effects on every student and teacher. If you have any interest in school now or in the next decade, Dr. Rhoads shares ideas and predictions that will cement the value of edtech and adaptability into your priority list. Don't miss Matt's second book,  Navigating the Toggled Term: A Guide for K-12 Classroom and School Leaders, which will be released later in 2021. 

Contact Dr. Matthew Rhoads via Twitter @MattRhoads1990 and www.MatthewRhoads.com. 

Table of Contents (Highlights **)

1. 0:00-6:15 -- Intro to Pandemic Schooling*
2. 6:15-9:28 -- Dr. Rhoads' Education & Experiences
3. 9:28-17:49 -- Engines of Innovation & Pandemic Effects
4. 17:49-24:21 -- Matt's Preferred Edtech & Data Tools
5. 24:21-35:30 -- Moneyballing School: The Role of Data in Modern Schooling**
6. 35:30-55:44 -- Navigating the Toggled Term: In & Out of School during the Pandemic**
7. 55:44-58:26 -- Matt's Ideal School
8. 58:26-1:02:14 -- The Future of Online School
9. 1:02:53-1:08:51 -- Concerns about Concurrent Hybrid/HyFlex in K12** 
10. 1:08:51-1:12:05 -- Book #2
11. 1:12:05-1:15:14 -- Matt's Book & Movie Recs
12. 1:15:14- End -- Wrap Up

Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)!

ClassCast Podcast Ep.047 features Shane Lawrence, the host of The Ed Podcast and a middle school drama/film/computer/art/English/everything teacher from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Shane and host Ryan Tibbens discuss Shane's experiences in education, podcasting, how to make school better for students, great movie and book recommendations, and more. For over six years, The Ed Podcast has been among the most loved and respected education podcasts; using that background, Shane shares what he has learned about great teaching and about how to broadcast it. For the "ideal school" section of this episode, Shane showed up prepared -- he had notes about schedules, planning times, options, and more. And of course, as a film and drama teacher, Shane shares some excellent movie and book recommendations at the end.  This episode has a little something for everyone, and it has a whole lot for teachers, administrators, and podcasters.

You can contact Shane via TheEdPodcast.com and on Twitter @theedpodcast.

Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, share, comment, review, and all that other good stuff wherever you get your podcasts.  Streaming now on all major services.

Table of Contents

1. 0:00-15:52 -- Intro to Shane Lawrence & Education Podcasting
2. 15:52-26:00 -- Shane's Education & Teaching Career
3. 26:00-31:13 -- How We Schedule a School Day
4. 31:13-1:06:04 -- The Ideal School
5. 1:06:38-1:14:25 -- Shane's Movie & Book Recommendations
6. 1:14:26-1:15:27 -- Wrap Up

​

Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)!

ClassCast Podcast Ep.043 features host Ryan Tibbens discussing wide-reaching, intrusive, and imperfect policy changes in his school division that are resulting in suppression of teachers' First Amendment rights, paranoia among employees, book banning, censorship, and more. Banned Books Week 2020 runs from September 27 through October 3 and, ironically, included Tibbens' first personal run-in with book banning during his 15 year teaching career. The new policy not only infringes upon employees' first amendment rights in hopes of protecting the division's public image and efficiency, but it declares a universal ban on racial slurs "regardless of intent" as well.  That, of course, sounds great, but it results in a wide variety of high quality texts becoming unsafe -- or possibly banned -- for classroom use, rendering teachers' efforts to support national and local antiracist goals harder to achieve because teachers have fewer options for texts to inform and guide those discussions. In this episode, Tibbens addresses problematic aspects of the new policy, connects it to classroom realities, and defends The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Just Mercy, and more. 

If you are serious about fighting racism and censorship while promoting critical thinking and intellectual freedom, this episode is not to be missed. 

Don't forget to like, share, follow, subscribe, and leave a positive review wherever you get your podcasts! 

~~ Disclaimer: This recording includes ideas and opinions of the speaker, Ryan Tibbens, and do not reflect the views of his employer nor any other organization or agency. ~~

~~ UPDATE: Since this episode was released, several leaders within the school system have reached out for clarification.  Contrary to initial comments, they say that no specific books are being banned.  Additionally, in part because of the awareness and concerns raised by this podcast, the proposed Professional Conduct Policy has been sent back to committee for revision. Final language is still pending.  Individual leaders have clarified their statements and suggested that teachers will have their support to teach whatever quality books they choose.  That being said, their comments also suggest a shift from what the American Library Association calls "direct censorship" (a formal ban by school leaders) to "indirect censorship" (an informal ban imposed by teachers/librarians on themselves in order to avoid conflicts or problems at work or in the community). At this point, the censorship seems to be individual teachers' problems, not leadership's, because there is no formal ban or limitation on the texts.  School leadership has since issued guidelines on how to handle books with racially offensive language, which includes "DO NOT use audio books or read passages with sensitive language or racial slurs aloud, nor should students read these passages aloud. Teachers may not read the passage and omit the offensive word or supply a substitute word. Language spoken aloud that is oppressive causes violence and trauma to students and provides tacit permission for students to use these terms outside of the classroom."  This guideline makes the texts addressed in this episode (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X) unusable for whole class and small group applications because the texts can't be read or discussed aloud. Again, based on recent comments from leadership, they are not prohibiting any text; however, the limitations on how to use the books likely leads to indirect censorship.  School leadership also requested the clarification that books including gender reassignment surgery are not included in elementary classroom libraries, though the other texts/topics I mention are present.  Overall, I sympathize with everyone involved in the situation and understand that everyone is doing what they think is best to improve education and fight racism. That being said, the broader arguments and positions stated in this episode still stand.  We cannot fight racism by making anti-racist books unusable in the classroom. 

​Banned Books Week Links:
- ALA's "Banned Books Week"
- NCTE's "Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship of Instructional Materials"
- NCTE's "The Students' Right to Read"
- NCTE's "Statement on Academic Freedom"
- NCTE's "Position Statement Regarding Rating or 'Red-Flagging' Books"
- ACLU's "Banned Books"

See Ryan Tibbens' written defense of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn here. 

Table of Contents
- Introduction & Conduct Policy -- 0:00-8:09
- Racial Slurs -- 8:10-12:03
- Huckleberry Finn -- 12:03-23:19
- Banning Words, Banning Books -- 23:20-44:29
- Banned Books Week -- 44:29-47:20
- What's This All About? -- 47:20- end