Regenerative Ed

Today is an introduction to a 4-part deep dive (well, 5 if you count this intro). It’s a workshop-in-a-podcast learning series on the the four elements of air, fire, earth, water, what we can learn from them about creating new systems and structures around education.

The goal of digging into the elements here is to view ourselves and our work in education as part of a LIVING SYSTEM. Not part of an industry or a factory, which is no secret that’s how we operate! We know this. We see it. We dwell on the problems!

What we’re talking about here is a way of connecting to paradigms outside of industrial, extractive, colonial, capitalistic paradigms to see if there’s something here we can learn about setting up these new systems. We deal with education here in this Regenerative Ed Podcast, but, I often get folks saying, hey, this applies to the food system or the healthcare system or the personal systems I use in my household. Yes, yes! Definitely it does. We are in an age where it’s clear as day that the old systems aren’t working and we’re looking at what to do differently. I’m suggesting here that there are an infinite amount of things we can look to for inspiration, which is what we do on this podcast. In this series, we are focusing on the four elements. We’ll talk about science, we’ll talk about symbols, we’ll talk about cultural phrases, we may even dip into the cosmos. 

NOTE: I am not an expert in the elements! I am a human being with a history of experiences, many of which involve the educational system and textile systems, and I simply can observe patterns and connect them to ways to be in these new systems that has proved helpful for people. There’s no capital T Truth here! Take what works and leave the rest. Add to it and create your own. Next week, we’ll start with the air element! I’ll see you next week to chat more about movement, currents, music, libras, and what it all has to do with education. Come and join us for this workshop-in-a-podcast format, wherever you are, whenever you are.

For full transcript, you can head to the website.

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Today I'm joined by Dawnavyn James whose main message for us as an audience today is TEACH BLACK HISTORY!!! :)

Dawnavyn is an early childhood, elementary, and Black History educator. She is a PhD student at the University at Buffalo and a fellow for the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education. Her research interests include elementary Black history education, instruction, and curriculum development.

We talk about creating a safe container for race and identity conversations in the classroom especially for little ones and using picture books (at all levels) to help inspire those conversations. We chat about teaching Black History all year long, about shying away from teaching Black History or even teaching Black History incorrectly (Check out the widely used and harmful Harriet Tubman Worksheet Dawnavyn breaks down on her @queendomteaching Instagram Account)

Dawnavyn was such a delight to talk to. I feel so grateful that she took the time to share her thinking and experiences with our audience. 

Be sure to follow Dawnavyn for tips, picture book recommendation, Black History information, and to be sure you get her book when it drops!

Other links from this show:

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What does mending have to do with reimagining education? Check out this conversation I had with Rebecca Harrison of Old Flame Mending Company!

Rebecca is the person you'd turn to when you rip your absolute most favorite pair of jeans that fit you like a glove and you're having an internal dilemma as you hover them above the trash can. Off recording, Rebecca and I were chatting a lot about her team which she describes like a dream team full of some of the most talented sewists in Pittsburgh, and I was struck by the power of community. You’ll hear us chat about some of the logistics of mending– where to start personally or in a classroom, the importance behind the story of the clothing, how little is beyond repair and almost nothing is beyond repurposing, how mending is for everyone, not just people who have expensive clothing, and so much more. 

I have tremendous respect for Rebecca and what I’ve watched her build as a part of our fibershed since pre-pandemic. It is inspiring to see the growth of Old Flame Mending and also the culture at large, who, and it might just be my circles, but folks are starting to embrace this as a little protest to fast fashion and disposable culture.

Maybe it will inspire you to embroider a little heart on your shirt over a coffee stain, or maybe it will inspire you to teach mending in your learning spaces. Maybe it does none of that, really, but gets us all thinking a little more deeply about the work that’s happening out there in the world to find a way forward– a way that is filled with more healing. A way where we don’t just discard things that– at first glance–might seem to not be of use to us anymore. A way to flex our own creativity, our own voice, our own sense of style even. Maybe you can see mending as a way forward in a world where we’re sick of standardization and we want our own thing. 

There are a lot of implications here for education and just how to be as educators. Stay tuned at the end of the podcast after the interview for some questions and thinking about the application to your learning space! Oh! And one more thing– you have the power, right now, right as you’re listening this, to make a stand for a less disposable future and it will only take you 45 seconds without having to give any personal information away– vote for rebecca and Old Flame Mending Company to win this small biz grant. The link is in the show notes. Bonus– when you go to the link you see a whole slew of amazing visible mending designs they’ve done. You’ll be floored, just check it out. It takes less than 45 seconds and is a vote that you’re putting out into the universe for a future based on care. Deadline is March 8 so do it now!

Show links:

If this podcast meant something to you, would you please share it with a friend? Give it a like and subscribe? Maybe even add a comment? I know this is something I don't often do even though it really puts that good reciprocal energy out into the universe. I'm taking my own advice. Thank you so much! You can also support us by donating to our patreon, coming to one of our workshops, or checking out our services.

Today is a special podcast because I’m chatting with Jess, my twin. She’s here and well with a new baby in tow, and I for one am so very very very grateful that she is here and well and that we can continue our chats like we have since the womb (I assume?!).

This morning we were chatting about the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment that is so close to our houses and talking about what it has to do with extraction and systems like education– you know, a normal conversation for us–and I was like, maybe let's record this? So, we hopped on Zoom. And what you'll find (after my framing and announcements), is a meandering conversation between two sisters about ecological disasters, separation, education, and more.

I hope you experience this conversation as a jumping off point for your own thinking.

FREE RESOURCE: Download Place Workbook !

LINKS:

In this live (and recorded) two week, four-part class, you'll have the chance to progress through designing  for a change you want to make, an idea you want to bring to life, or a solution you want to present.  

I'll challenge you to concentrate on your intention and its connection to what we can learn from the air element as we move through the progression of the classes: class 1: our gut-→ class 2: our heart-→class 3: our head-→class 4: our hands (as directed by Tyson Yunkaporta in his book by Sand Talk). You'll have the chance to get unstuck and explore your own creative wavelength.

In addition to the two weeks of class, you'll receive a 30+ page beautifully designed PDF workbook filled with extra resources, reflection prompts, and key takeaways.

I felt really privileged to have this conversation with such a light! Rachel is so clearly passionate about her work, and it's contagious. Our conversation discusses the model of place-based--nay, a place-embedded micro-school, La Luz, and the ripple effects that happen when you embed students in the community. And, true to form as folks who care about questioning the whole system, we get into a lot of other territory: a respectful process for listening for what the community needs then designing curriculum from there, working with partners and being open to wherever they are right now, getting kids outside, school funding, Montessori curriculum, failure, emergence, brain development, being really compelled by what you're doing so it feels energy, leadership that breaks rules, and so much more. I hope that you enjoy this conversation with Rachel as much as I did! 

More about Rachel:

Episode Links: 

Grounded Teaching Links:

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I was thrilled to get the chance to interview classroom teacher, author, founder (and so much more!) Maja Watkins recently! When a colleague said I needed to connect with her, I Googled her up, and there I saw-- for the first time-- "Improv Curriculum" related to social emotional needs. IMPROV CURRICULUM?! Sounds pretty not-mechanical: not perfect, not scripted, not standardized, rooted in connection and joy and humor. 

Maja is so passionate about students, and she draws on her creative improv background when it comes to their social and emotional needs.  She's created literally hundreds of games to play with students to help them connect to each other, to class content, to themselves. This is one of those episodes that was not only enjoyable, but really helpful. I took away some concrete games that I've already played with my own kid. :) Definitely check out Maja's resources below to see her books and services! 

About Maja:

Maja is a mother, author, teacher, and founder living in Los Angeles, Ca. Through her work with children in various settings, and her experience growing up with a brother on the autism spectrum, Maja has developed an understanding of how powerful communication is for all people. Maja is the author of The Brain's Playground: Using Improv Games To Teach Social and Emotional Learning as well as the author of a parenting guidebook titled: 10 Minutes of Play for 10 Days. The Brain’s Playground includes her valuable research, data, and curriculum. Maja holds a degree in Child Development and is also a graduate of The Second City in Hollywood where she studied improvisation and sketch comedy. Maja works as a Social and Emotional Learning Specialist and creates inclusive opportunities where the curriculum is designed to allow children and young adults to reach their highest potential in whichever way they feel most comfortable.

Show Links:

FAIL. We all fail. What's it mean? What can we do with it? In a non-toxic-positivity sort of way, there's a lot failure can teach us about...teaching. And in a living-systems sort of view (which is what we do on the podcast and at Grounded Teaching), there's a lot we can learn about feedback systems to prevent or learn from perceived failures.

That's what November is actually all about. Each month, aligned to our monthly programming in We Are Verbs, we are digging into a theme, and with our new re-organization with sliding scale tiers including a free section  I record a podcast for each role and post it in the section that's totally free, forever. We're calling them mini-casts, and I'm housing them in the free section of our We Are Verbs community because the format of Regenerative Ed podcast doesn't work for speaking to individual educator groups. It would flood the feed. And this way you can simply log on and listen to the podcast that represents your role (and maybe dabble in a few others because they all apply!)

Come and join We Are Verbs, which is our program and community for all types of educators who are interested in a more regenerative future. You can check it out for free, forever!

One of the things that I've been really excited about is making these mini-casts in the free resource section of the community for individual educator groups, which is what the buffet in this title goes into, as I preview all the mini-casts in We Are Verbs:

It's a super easy and free way to stay connected to our theme in We Are Verbs throughout the month. Check it out at the links above!

LEARN MORE ABOUT WE ARE VERBS

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This week it's just me, talking about some things I hold dear: applying principles and themes of living systems to heal ourselves, our relationships to ourselves as "educators", and to make possible change for our learners by breaking down the barriers of modern western culture (that we might not even be aware have been towering over us), opening up a new way for ourselves and our students to learn to be in this world. 

That, and my black walnut hulling experience last weekend. 

If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend! Rating and reviewing is also helpful. Thank you! <3

Enjoy!

Tune into this amazing conversation I have with David Bidler, founder of Physiology First, where we explore the role physiology plays as educators who work, primarily, with the student brain (and, who do THAT, with ...  our own brains)!

What would happen if we were to put the physiology of the brain & body first? David's organization, Physiology First, aims to do just that by not only teaching skills like how to breathe, how to lift heavy weights, and how to endure cold plunges and ice baths (and how all of that improves hormones and brain health), but also how to envision the most inspiring version of your life, how to build relationships, how to become empowered. How, basically, to thrive. 

I know you'll get as much value out of this show as I did!

Physiology First LINKS:

Regenerative Ed Links:

ABOUT DAVID

David Bidler is an author, speaker, and social entrepreneur. As owner of The Distance Project, a human performance training center in Freeport, Maine, David has studied and applied the science of physiology across the lifespan. Through assessments on breathing, heart rate variability, and biometrics related to health and longevity David has utilized science-based tools to optimize human performance for close to a decade. In 2018 David began collaborating with Dr. Jose Herrero, a NYC based neuroscientist specializing in how breathing impacts the brain. This collaboration led to David’s participation in clinical research with patients, presentations on respiratory physiology for hospitals, and application of science-based breathing exercises with students and athletes across the globe. This collaboration inspired David to author Breathe to Perform: Simple Breathing Exercises to Reduce Stress, Improve Energy, and Peak Athletic Performance. As co-founder of Breathe to Perform, a consulting company specializing in the science of stress physiology, David works with companies and teams to implement health and wellness practices with measurable, scaleable results. David was instrumental in founding Physiology First in 2019. “The greatest problem of our time is the mental health of the next generation of problem solvers. We need to employ every tool in the health, wellness, and performance training toolbox for give the leaders of tomorrow the skills and tools they need today.” David is currently co-designing curriculum for the New Teacher’s Academy in Hoboken, N.J as well as a worldwide professional development program, The Functional Physiology Certification, to help educators and allied health professionals bring the Physiology First model to their private practices, schools, and communities. 

This episode I'm in conversation with Jennifer Lumpkin and Molly Martin, two Cleveland Community Organizing powerhouses. We're talking about the role of expanding democracy and what that has to do with viewing education as a living system. We get deep into the specific structure that they are working to promote called Participatory Budgeting.

Why are we talking about Participatory Budgeting on a podcast about education? First off, civics education is severely lacking and we can't expect ourselves to help ourselves into a new system if we don't understand how the old system functions. But, maybe even more importantly, PB is a way to think about flattening the hierarchy and distributing power, which is pattern we see over and over again in living systems, and if we want to mimic our systems (like Education!) after a living one, we might as well learn some structures that work well to flatten them, like PB! 

I hope you'll listen and be as inspired as I was after talking to these two, then share it with a friend and rate and review it. It means so much! 

Today's Guests:

Jennifer Lumpkin is a community organizer and supporter in coalitions and efforts across the City of Cleveland.  Jennifer founded Creative Community Builders, LLC in 2016 after organizing in Cleveland and Washington, D.C.  with a foundation on legacy farming and intercultural solidarity. Her organizing and partnership practice, My Grow Connect, is rooted in supporting the development of sustainable communities through creative relationship building, cultural organizing and mindful resource connections. 

Molly Martin works for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless to support the organization’s advocacy and organizing work and their mission to eliminate the root causes of homelessness. Molly grew up in Cleveland and is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She is passionate about homeless civil rights, housing justice, and deepening anti-racist commitment through policy advocacy and community organizing. She is an Advisory Board Member of Cleveland VOTES, a democracy-building organization strengthening our community’s civic muscle, and she is a Coordinating Committee Member of Participatory Budgeting Cleveland, a grassroots coalition of Cleveland residents actively organizing for a participatory budgeting process in Cleveland.

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

I was so excited to get to talk to Tyler Bastian today about so many *incredible* things-- everything from a film he co-created years back. It's titled "Everything is Incredible"-- a theme which actually surfaced so many times in our conversation about education and life in general. I know you're going to love it!

About Tyler:

Tyler Bastian is an educator, filmmaker, father, and the founder of Roots Charter High School. Tyler loves to teach and has a passion for discovering and developing potential in everything around him.

For four years Tyler taught Character Education at a local High School and believes positive character is the greatest indicator of success. In 2012, Tyler began to develop the concepts that have become Roots Charter High School.

Roots Charter High School is Utah’s first farm-based charter high school.  Roots works with students that come from risky environments, helping them find and reach their potential.

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Today we're talking with Dr. Ruth Ann Smalley, a former educator, about teaching, homeschooling, healing, climate change, and writing.  Ruth Ann shares her journey and the threads that pull everything together. Our conversation feels really generative and hopeful in the midst of bleak climate catastrophes. She also shares a concrete healing practice, a classroom tip we can all use, and more about her work as an author writing the children's books she wishes she had when her kids were younger.

Ruth Ann Smalley, Ph.D, is a children’s book author and energy practitioner living in upstate New York.  Her work focuses on earth stewardship, healing, and sustainability; she loves using poetry, narrative, and humor to deal with the big, scary issues. Also a wellness and creativity coach, Ruth Ann helps people of all ages access their unique voices and healing powers. Her picture book, Sheila Says We’re Weird helps families discuss the simple values of green living, and is available online and through your local bookstore. She is currently at work on a middle grades eco-adventure trilogy, and has offered free video-recordings of the first two volumes, Defender of Dirt and Running with the Sun on her YouTube channel. She welcomes collaborative projects with like-minded educators!  You can find out more at ruthannsmalley.com or at her vibrant-energies.com website.

Videos:

A short list of high impact books on the environment, education, transformation that impacted Dr. Ruth Ann Smalley:

Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards

Sandra Steingraber, Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis

Rob Hopkins, From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want

Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Eek! I'm thrilled to bring you a conversation I had this week with Ian Sanderson.

Ian Sanderson is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.  He is committed to serving people from all backgrounds as they develop and elevate their awareness—of themselves, their work, their relationships, and the world—through innovative synthesis and application of Indigenous, Eastern, and Western thought. He facilitates individual and group learning processes, serving a diversity of people and organizations whether in conference rooms, schools, or in a forest. He has 25 years of outdoor and experiential education experience, applying principles of tracking and other natural-world skills to present day situations. He owns the Boulder Quest Center, a martial arts dojo where he teaches and trains in the art of To-Shin Do ninjutsu; a modern application of timeless principles of how to intelligently handle the challenges likely to arise in our societies today. Utilizing reality-based empowerment training, he coaches students in ways to promote peace, security, well-being, and building the kind of resiliency and perseverance that leads to life mastery.  He holds the rank of Yondawn- 4th-Degree Black Belt, and is also a student and practitioner of the Tendai and Shugendo Buddhist traditions of Japan since 2007 and took his deshi vows in 2017. Ian has also taught at Naropa University for over 10 years and is a Senior Adjunct Faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program.

We hit on topics from breaking patterns to embodiment to disconnection because of covid to fear-based living, to the complication of a pendulum-swinging, reactive culture around very, very important justice issues.  We sneak in a few things about teaching, too. :)

Links

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

This week, a special Twin Talk with Jess (co-founder of Grounded Teaching and HS English teacher AND twin sister to me!) where we briefly review each of the previous pattern podcasts we discussed over this series in a casual, bite-sized conversation.  We also answer some frequently asked questions we've received about We Are Verbs! Enjoy this low-key  conversation between two sisters who shared a womb and who might talk too fast when they're talking to each other. :) 

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Find new definitions of success! Detach from outcomes! Ask yourself "what is uniquely mine here to do?"! And then scatter those seeds, ash, glass, lava rock out into the world through an explosive move...or a gentle drop. Your choice!

The natural pattern of scattering provides us with so much wisdom and inspiration for what's important. For what's a good use of our precious energy. For who we actually are, and how we can feel nourished.  This podcast form feels a little more scattered than the previous ones, and that's not intentional at all, maybe just how it's supposed to be. Tune in to consider reshaping industrialized patterns into ones that are better for you, a living thing, and for the world you're wanting to participate in.   Scatter is pattern #8 of a 8 patterns in podcast form that we'd normally deliver in an online workshop, but, you can tune in here for free.

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Create (flexible) boundaries! Harvest Nourishment! Broaden instead of bulldoze! How? Nets. Really, Sarah? Yep! The natural patterns of nets provide us with a lot of food for thought for reshaping patterns of linear shots and/or burnout that come from existing in all sorts of industrial models--schools included. I hope you'll check it out. If it resonates, like, subscribe, share-- you know! 

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Create Attraction! Embrace Diversity! Grow Stronger and more Nourished! How? Lobes. I know, it sounds a little weird. But the natural patterns of lobes provide us with a lot of food for thought for reshaping patterns of boredom and weakness that come from an industrial model. We talk about how this applies to education and our personal life with one of my favorite, most helpful principles ever: the edge effect.  Enjoy!

Keep posted on what we've got coming up for Grounded Teaching in the next few weeks!

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Stay Awake! State Your Change! Practice empathy! Rest! Clouds can teach us so much, and we talk about it all in this episode where we offer some insight on how to live. It's slightly different than the other podcasts in this pattern series-- a little broader-- but that's okay. Float on! 

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Friction! Speed! Industrial Culture in a Nutshell! We talk about it all in this episode where we offer some insight on maybe where we DON'T need to streamline, actually. Where it actually is counter to our values (wait, what are OUR values, even?!). We take a stab at where it's most helpful to apply streamlining, and where might be doing us a disservice-- mainly in the classroom, but this episode, as most of them, can apply to most other areas of life. Since our culture mainly exists in this industrial paradigm. :)

Streamlining is episode #4 of a 9-episode podcast (#1 was the intro!) that we'd normally deliver in an online workshop, but, really, maybe you're sick of logging into Zoom AFTER work, and would prefer it coming through your weekly podcast feed? I dunno! We're experimenting here!

Regenerative Ed Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Extraction! Cracking under pressure! Reciprocity! Simplicity! We talk about it all in this episode where we offer some insight on appreciating branching patterns in natural systems, and then how we might consider modeling patterns or systems or thought processes in our life after a branching pattern if what we're going for is more reciprocity and simplicity.  Tune in!

Links:

Waves is episode #3 of a 9-episode podcast (#1 was the intro!) that we'd normally deliver in an online workshop, but, really, maybe you're sick of logging into Zoom AFTER work, and would prefer it coming through your weekly podcast feed. In this pod I share some observations I make about waves, where they occur, what their functions are, and then we take a look at how we can apply this structure to some of the areas of our lives that are causing us friction because, well, we're human beings, and perhaps the friction is because this part of our life was unconsciously (or consciously) designed to work like a machine.  This is where we have an opportunity, folks!  Where we can invite in a pattern where the functionality isn't something like, say, meeting a quota, but something else much more beautiful.

I spend a good bit of time in this episode discussing the medium of waves, specifically water as a medium.  Let me know what you think!

Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

This is the second episode in a 9-episode series about biomimicry and using patterns in nature to help us re-consider elements our lives (and maybe even the ed system), and design them for patterns that create more life. The last episode was the intro, and today we're digging into our first natural pattern: spirals.

Join me as I think-aloud how I've come to look at breaking out of the industrial patterns in life--things like making sure everything is in a straight line!--because, well, there may be some places where straight lines aren't actually the best.  What are those places? And how can we look to spirals for inspiration? 

Links:

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Happy New Year! Today's podcast reviews why we should be spending time looking at patterns, how to recognize patterns in order to set us up for an 8-part series on different types of patterns found in natural systems. Why? Well, so we can be present and feel empowered to be designers of resilient systems in our own life (and work!)! We hope you'll join us for this series. Next episode, we'll get started with the first pattern: spirals. Be sure you listen to this one first!

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Is a response to the two profit-driven, extractive systems of fast food and fast fashion that's resulting in a crisis is actually...being slow about it? And what can we learn from this for Education? Dare we call it slow...schooling? (just another way to see it as an industrial, mechanical, colonial, extractive, capitalistic, etc. system) "Slow Schooling" doesn't quite have the ring, I get it, but in this podcast I riff about the concepts and draw the comparisons for what we can learn!

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

The first day of school. The first day of Thanksgiving break. The dates of Winter break. The dates of spring break. PD days. The last day of school. All definitely on my calendar, and all used to orient my way through the year. While that's fine and even logical, what could happen to the way we view work if we use seasonality and connection to orient ourselves in this time-space continuum, instead of just not-work days or commercial holidays? I share some brief thoughts and application for the classroom. Please continue the conversation on Instagram @groundedteaching  or on our free community!

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

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This week I muse about STRESS in a way that will (I'm hopeful!) leave you feeling a little better, maybe with a little game plan, and maybe also with a few ideas for creating a more regenerative classroom towards the end. Listen in and let us know what you think!

Links:

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

"My goal this year is for you to own your  learning." "Teachers need to have ownership over their own professional development." "I'm working to help principals own the relationships they foster with their community." Today, I chat (with myself-- solocast!) about one of the ed jargon-y terms that get thrown around a lot by us well-meaning educational professionals. "Ownership". Does it have a place in our communication about school when we're using school as an entry point for creating a more regenerative future? Let's explore some alternatives!

Links from today's podcast:

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

This week I'm talking to teachers AND musicians, Shanna and Eric of By Light We Loom, who have their music has been featured in movies and countless stages. We check in about how music can teach us about teaching, focusing in on four areas: presence, process, rhythm, and emergence. 

About Shanna and Eric

Since its origin in late 2014, By Light We Loom has toured heavily with highlight stops at MidPoint Music Festival, Brite Winter Festival, NEO Cycle Music Festival, The Heights Music Hop, and opening for notable indie acts: The Paper Kites, Car Seat Headrest, Maps & Atlases, Telekinesis, Lucy Dakus, Sondre Lerche, Deep Sea Diver, The Mynabirds, Twin Forks, The Kin, Kopecky, Radiation City, Matt Pond PA, Frontier Ruckus, and more.

By Light We Loom released their debut EP, “The Ignition,” in May of 2015 to critical acclaim and local radio play. Maturing their sound through live performances, they quickly released a more realized EP, “Caught in the Tide,” in January of 2016. “Caught in the Tide” received nationwide radio play, landing the album in the Top 100 of the College Radio Charts. The success of this album resulted in By Light We Loom being named Cleveland Magazine’s “Best Indie Rock Artist of 2016” . Songs from “Caught in the Tide” were also featured in episodes of PBS’s “Roadtrip Nation” in 2017 and 2018. They followed up this release with an intimate four-song EP "Canopy" that pays tribute to Eric's father who passed suddenly the year prior.  Most recently, By Light We Loom's original music was featured in the award winning film "The Enormity of Life."  Eric and Shanna are currently working hard on a new release due out in October of this year.

Regenerative Ed Links (UPDATED SINCE THIS EPISODE AIRED):

Most of all, if this podcast meant something to you, please share this podcast with your educator buddies, share on your social medias, subscribe, leave a review-- it helps us out a lot! Thank you!

Today I'm sharing about a potential purpose for ed we can rally around while recapping what we mean by "Regenerative Ed" (surprise-- they're similar!). While I share my own thoughts, this episode is meant to be a conversation starter, not an end-all-be-all answer!

Share your thoughts about what education is for on our Regenerative Ed Mighty Network (ya'll, it's free.). 

We believe that reciprocity is an important part of a healthy living system, but that doesn't necessarily mean $$ through our Grounded Teaching Patreon.  If you got something out of this podcast, send us a word of affirmation, share the podcast with a friend or rate/review, or even shoot a prayer/send a good vibe-- we will take it! :) 

There are so many entry points with the potential to jostle us awake from what we may perceive to be "just the way things are"-- and gender binary is one of those (major) ways our culture can get stuck in black-and-white thinking... which is, as you know because you're here, pretty incongruent with the idea of being better educated. Finn Menzies shares queerness as one entry point--one portal-- to being able to see and live more freely. So let's dig into it!

Finn Menzies has been an educator for over 10 years. He has taught in classrooms ranging from preschool to college. Currently a kindergarten teacher, his priority is creating an environment that promotes connection, awareness, and curiosity. 

Finn is well known in his community as a teacher of trans experience. He offers guidance to LGBTQ families & has shared his story as a part of FLASH, King County’s comprehensive sexuality education curriculum.

When Finn is not teaching kids or consulting grownups, he is either writing poetry about the magic and the albatross of growing up as a trans man or facilitating UNdoing Ego: a writer's workshop on meditation and generative writing.

Other mentions:

It's a twin talk! Which means I sit down with Grounded Teaching co-founder (and my twin sister) Jess, who also happens to be a wildly talented high school English teacher going into her 17th year in the classroom. 

We start out by introducing our new Regenerative Ed network--it's totally free!

What is the Regenerative Ed Network? We're trying to distance ourselves from facebook and wanted a place we can build a movement of teachers, ed leaders, etc. who really care about the future of holistic education.

Best part: you can meet and interact with people from all over! Today is the launch day, so if you join today, welcome! You're one of those people that shows up to the party first! But please engage on there.

We can't wait to connect with you there! 

Place Based Ed: Jess spills the details of her year-long Edshed project. We cover

We may beat ourselves up because this year didn't go as planned. STOP! "Should have" is rooted in fictional fantasy of the past, and it's not a helpful centering of reflection for moving into a more  regenerative way of being, teaching, leading, parenting, etc. We aren't in the past. We are here. Quit shoulding on yourself. 

In this episode we talk with Dr. Brad Kershner, a school leader, educational researcher, and author of many essays and a book titled Understanding Educational Complexity- Integrating Practices and Perspectives for 21st Century Leadership.  We get into the goal of education, identity, educational leaders (not managers!), definitions of faith and hope that could be helpful for all of us in ed. We even get to touch on social media, polarization, and technology-- this conversation spans a lot of really deep topics, and I hope it can be a springboard for our own contemplation about our roles in the ed system.

More About Dr. Brad Kershner:

An Earth Day episode where I take a good look at the work I did today as a literacy coach, and, maybe how it's effective or not, but more importantly, how the whole dang thing might be anchored in the wrong stories.  Some solo musings, today, friends! 

Are we wasting our energy in ed? Short answer is that it’s complicated, but based on the perennial, indigenous, connected wisdom that there is no such thing as “waste”: THE ANSWER IS NO. But it feels like we are.

Because, why else would we be SO tired?

Jess and I try to tease it out by thinking about reciprocity, living systems, and the mechanical ed system in this twin-talk episode.

We're in a season of melting here in the Northern half of the US. If we think about education as a living system, we've been in a frozen winter structure forever. Let's take a lesson from nature. It's time to thaw out.  In this episode we mention: Free Breathwork Workshop on March 19

I'm F*cking Tired: An Energy Retreat for Teachers

Short term solutions and instant gratification--our culture is totally bombarded and shaped by all of the messaging that points towards short-game decision making. While this is a thread that weaves through almost all of our episodes and our workshops at Grounded Teaching, let's take a little dive into the idea of playing the short game vs. the long game in education. 

This week we're sharing a talk we gave last Friday for Botanical Colors where we talk about how using plant dyes (think: onion skins for yellows, avocado pits for pinks, indigo for blues) can be a portal to thinking about systemic change differently. Jess and I talk about our own experiences working in the public school system as well as a little more about what we do outside of Regenerative Ed. Take a listen and let us know what you think!

Today I'm talking about that delicious treat that belongs as an amazing punctuation point on your stack of pancakes: maple syrup. And, also: why maple syrup is not an entire diet.  We're considering the living system that creates maple syrup and what we can learn about that living system, so we can apply it to our educational system in an effort to treat it more like a tree than a factory. Everyone wins! 

In today's podcast, we're scratching the surface of our culture's obsession with "The Linear"... linear timelines, forward progress, the whole bit. And how thinking of things linear is not BAD, but it's certainly incomplete. And this obsession seeps its way into the way we do everything, including ed. Join me for the beginnings of a conversation about how we can recognize our obsession with The Linear and what we can do about it. 

Today I'm chatting with Emily Pek in a new type of episode we'll be adding to the mix here on Regenerative Ed-- where we interview folks from OUTSIDE of education in order to learn more about how we can improve education.  Emily shares a lot of knowledge, and I draw the connections to how we can improve ed! I hope you enjoy. 

About Emily: Emily runs Frayed Knot Farm and is one of the stewards of the land which it's on, in Newbury township of Geauga County which is 30 miles from downtown Cleveland. Indigenous to the Erie and Mississugua nations. 

Frayed Knot Farm as an enterprise, focuses on cut flower production, that is offered in a CSA style subscription service throughout the summer season, as well as providing blooms and foliage for celebratory arrangements and workshops. Frayed Knot has also been host to The Cleveland Flax Project. 

Frayed Knot uses regenerative agricultural techniques that honor the land and its stewards and provide nourishment to the surrounding ecosystem.

Check her out @frayedknotfarm on instagram!

We're back after a little pandemic break--and if feels so good!  In this episode, I chat about what in the world a teacher is to do when the world around us is moving at such a dizzying clip. How do we find our priorities and flex some agency to prepare our little (or sometimes big!) human students with the education they'll need to thrive in the future. 

Find show notes and transcript at www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode13

Maybe your life- like mine- has completely lost most of the rhythm that you've been cultivating for several years. How do we find a new rhythm during this great time of transition? How do we use the concept of rhythm to help us deal with our grief of what's happening in this time? How can we find comfort in micro-moments of rhythm and be more aware of the rhythms in our lives when we feel like there's no real pattern anymore? I'm exploring all these questions in this episode.  Show notes: https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode12

During this time of uncertainty, we're all mumbling "I don't know" probably a few more times than we're used to. If we allow ourselves to feel the I don't knows, to grieve the losses we're suffering with self-compassion, we'll be able to move through our emotions and balance what's activating our amygdala during this unprecedented time. Join Sarah as she goes through her own reflections on uncertainty, how she's allowing herself to grieve and hold space for self-compassion, and how you can help your students move through this uncertain time (and practice for uncertain times to come). 

Show notes: https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode11

On today's show, we talk about something that ALL of us know is so important in our classrooms: relationships. We had such a great conversation with Es Swihart-- a current high school English teacher, teacher of the year, and founder of Worthy Self Edu. In this first-ever interview on Regenerative Ed, Es and Sarah discuss student worth, teacher worth, relational triggers, reciprocal relationships, and paradigms we can shift as educators. 

You can check out Es's work at Worthy Self Edu and follow her @worthyselfedu on Instagram-- her IGTV stories are bite-sized inspiration for the way you move through the world.

You can check out the show notes at https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode10 and please leave us a voicemail with a comment or a question!

We're getting pretty good at throwing around the important C words in 21st century education: collaboration, creativity, and communication. They're top-of-mind for me, and I'm guessing it's the same for you.

At the same time, there are lots of words and concepts that education could potentially steal from other systems or beliefs. And, since I believe in the power of language, I know it's very beneficial to use exact terminology that gets us thinking more about how we help nourish and cultivate both the students in our room and ourselves.

The word I want to challenge us to start using more in our classroom today is... STEWARDSHIP. This podcast goes into the definition of stewardship, why I believe it's so important for today's learners, and how to start using it in your own life and your own room to create a more regenerative classroom culture.

Check out the show notes page, where you can also leave us a voicemail with a comment or a question! https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode9

If you like this podcast, don't hesitate to rate and review! 

It's easy to look at a weed as a nuisance, just like it's easy to look at a challenging behavior in your classroom as a nuisance (or worse). And so, being the best teacher we can be, we try to "solve the problem". Weed killer and mowers, red/green behavior charts and elaborate behavior point systems. 

But what if we looked at the whole scenario through a regenerative, win-win mindset: what if paused and looked at that "weed", or that behavior, for what it really offers, instead of jumping to fix the problem with the way we've been conditioned to think about it? What possibilities could open up?

Check out this week's podcast to hear Sarah compare weeds to those behaviors, and three questions you can ask yourself to pause and really improve the classroom culture you cultivate.

Check out show notes and leave us a comment or question voicemail at https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode8. We could feature your question or comment on the next show!

The instagram/pinterest game can be tough and a little misleading about what our role is as educators, and where we can spend our super finite time creating the inputs our students need. In this episode, Sarah opens the conversation of where to start with planning. Spoiler, it doesn't have to do with fancy-looking lesson plans-- it has to do with student output. Sarah shares the connection to this realization with her own health and farming journeys at the beginning, tying it into practical ways to know where to re-focus our attention when we start to get a little lost in the Pinterest world of fancy-pants plans. 

The main takeaway- take the time to OBSERVE your student outputs first. Then, plan for what will make a difference there.

Check out a summary and some helpful questions at:

https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode7

This episode might helps us avoid getting sucked up in the past, the future, or the little things that we let steal our presence and our joy. Sarah goes through two specific reflections about this and leaves you with two tips for healing. 

Show notes: https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode6

In this podcast, Sarah asks the question we don't often ask, at least not in formal situations: What is this whole K-12 machine attempting to do, and what should it be doing? What should we be striving for? This podcast provides an analogy and some language that might help you talk about it with your own colleagues, as well as two practical tips at the end to get started making some shifts in your room tomorrow.  

You have permission to think about the whole thing differently!

For show notes, check out the show webpage: https://www.groundedteaching.com/podcast/episode5

If you like this podcast, please let us know! Either by leaving a review on itunes, send us an email at hi@groundedteaching.com, or DM us on instagram: @groundedteaching. We really appreciate all of your insights, questions. Our goal is not to have the answers, but to keep moving this conversation. Thank you for being a part of this community!

In this episode, Sarah uses lessons from nature as a way to better understand symbiotic relationships in the classrooms as one way teachers can find impact, nourishment, and a sustainable career (and some teacher tools that might get in the way).

In this episode, Sarah explores an idiosyncrasy of one of the kindest modern TV icons, what it has to do with living systems, and how it can directly translate to the classroom with two crystal-clear, high-leverage pausing strategies. 

Check out the show notes page for all the links!

In this episode, Sarah looks at naturally occurring phenomenon in nature: edges, and the margins that surrounds them, and explores what an application of this type of thinking might mean for our classrooms. 

In this episode, Sarah explores the effects of a mechanical mindset in our educational system, and how some slight shifts away from that mechanical mindset might open up possibilities to see our schools as living systems. 

This brief episode shares what regenerative ed is, what the goals for the podcast are, and how Sarah's career as a former classroom teacher (NBCT) and current instructional coach came to meet her background as a community organizer as a land steward for local fashion-- and how the connection of these two systems as living systems might lead new paradigms in education that are holistic and successful for every human in the system.