ClassCast Podcast Ep.035 features Sara Potler LaHayne, the founder and CEO of Move This World, a social-emotional learning (SEL) program that has served over one million students across 35 states, helping young people to achieve and maintain better mental health, emotional stability, and personal control -- all of which contribute to happiness and educational success.  Throughout the episode, Sara and host Ryan Tibbens discuss what SEL is, how it works, what students/parents/teachers do in the Move This World program, and how we can make schools better by treating students as complete, dynamic human beings. SEL has become somewhat of a buzz word in public education lately, but Sara has dedicated over 13 years to building her company, increasing awareness of SEL, and supporting young people across the United States. If you want to learn more about social-emotional learning, the Move This World program, or why helping students with emotional well-being is so important, be sure to listen to the full episode. 

Check out Move This World on social media:

Facebook: @MoveThisWorld
Twitter: @move_thisworld
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/move-this-world
Instagram: @move_thisworld


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This clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.035 features Sara Potler LaHayne, founder and CEO of Move This World, explaining the concept of social-emotional learning (SEL), introducing the Move This World program, and declaring its significance for students of every age and background. SEL has become somewhat of buzz word in education over the last couple of years, but this trend has been built on decades of hard work by school counselors, psychologists, researchers, and entrepreneurs like Sara. If you want to know more about SEL and how it can help the young people in your life or school, this clip is a great starting point. 

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In this clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.035, the CEO & founder of Move This World, Sara Potler LaHayne, explains the roles teachers play in the Move This World program and in social-emotional learning (SEL) in general. Sara points out how teachers must engage in the regular practice to maximize the benefits for the students and themselves; however, because of Move This World's production quality and micro-lesson structure, teachers have to do zero planning. Teacher feedback and buy-in are essential for most student support programs to be successful, and Sara does everything she can to address teachers' needs and increase their participation.  If you want to learn more about SEL and teachers' involvement in that education, don't miss this clip. 

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ClassCast Podcast Ep.034 features Catina Franklin Sweedy, an unschooling advocate and leader at the Embark Center for Self-Directed Education in Leesburg, Virginia, discussing unschooling, student choice, mentorship, intellectual freedom, and innovation in public education with host Ryan Tibbens.  As COVID-19 pressures mount on public schools, students, parents, teachers, and other institutions, many families are unsure of what schooling decisions to make this fall and beyond; this discussion will not only present them with innovative options in the short term but with visions of change and progress to carry our students and schools into a new educational paradigm. 

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In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.034, self-directed education expert Catina Franklin Sweedy explains the concept of unschooling and how it (and other alternatives) provide families with educational options, both during the pandemic and beyond. In addition to unschooling her own children, Catina has worked at the Embark Center for Self-Directed Education, an unschooling center in Leesburg, Virginia, for over a decade. Her insights into the benefits of freedom, choice, and student efficacy are essential listening for anyone involved in education -- schooling, unschooling, or otherwise.

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In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.034, self-directed education leader Catina Franklin Sweedy and host Ryan Tibbens discuss the value of choice in education -- from homeschooling, unschooling, and traditional schooling to class and content choice, from libertarianism to curiosity.  Increasing students "voice and choice" has been trendy in formal education for the last few years, but education leaders always frame it as a surface-level choice, not as a choice between school formats, content areas, and specializations.  In this clip, we explore what real choice looks like. 

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In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.034, Catina Franklin Sweedy describes her own schooling; she and host Ryan Tibbens then discuss the value of mentorship and making personal connections with teachers and advisors. Catina's career has been two-fold -- a highly sought-after clarinetist and teacher AND a self-directed education leader -- and this clip illuminates the path that led her to both musical success and educational innovation. Host Ryan Tibbens also shares his experiences working with students and offering mentorship to young people in public schools. 

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In this clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.034, unschooling expert Catina Franklin Sweedy shares her ideas about improving schools (and "unschools") in great detail -- ending compulsory attendance, moving to an interdisciplinary model, enhancing student choice, creating more labs and open facilities, improving the architecture, and more. Host Ryan Tibbens shares many of her visions and adds in one of his own goals -- using vacant commercial real estate for future school facilities. If you are interested in changing and improving the public school model, you can't miss this clip.

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In this highlight clip from ClassCast Podcast Ep.034, unschooling advocate Catina Franklin Sweedy and host Ryan Tibbens discuss the importance of literacy and numeracy but disagree somewhat over how to support young people in developing those skills. Still friendly and productive, this is one of the only disagreements in the entire discussion -- Catina advocates full self-direction, and Ryan prefers compulsory direct instruction for literacy and numeracy skills.  This leads to discussions of how to implement more choice in schools, how to scale a hybrid plan, and how culture shapes our ideas about what skills are essential.  Though it comes from the end of the episode, almost an afterthought, this is one of the most entertaining sections of the discussion.

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ClassCast Podcast Ep.033 features host Ryan Tibbens sharing his views about reopening schools in the fall and, more importantly, advice about how teachers, administrators, parents, and students can all adjust their rhetoric to achieve better results. In recent weeks, social media posts from parents and from teachers have turned increasingly vitriolic, illogical, and unproductive. Private pages and Facebook groups have emerged catering to every possible reopening preference, and in those echo chambers, the people who are supposed to care most about students -- parents and teachers -- seem to have lost focus on the purpose of school -- education. From concerns about childcare to teachers' health, from tax rates to technology, we would all benefit from a little more composure and compromise. Check out this sub-30 minute episode and let us know what you think. 

Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, share, and comment to spread the word and increase the level of discourse about education. (Then take a break from social media to reset your composure!)

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