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Vrain Waves seeks to provide teachers powerful professional learning anywhere, and anytime. We feature interviews with educational giants, successful professionals, and sought-after consultants to help teachers feel more informed, inspired, and connected. Join us each week as we highlight educational theory, strategies, and tools that all teachers can put to use in the classroom.
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Inspiring students to self-assess and start working independently doesn't have to be complicated! Not only are students becoming aware of what they need and advocating for themselves, but also engaging in some beautiful metacognition. Another added benefit? All that independence and efficacy actually leads to higher-quality collaborative work! Tune…
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Happy October to our Vrain Waves listeners! The perfect follow-up to our first episode with Brandon Slade is our conversation with these two rockstar St. Vrain educators, secondary special education teacher, Sarah Patton, and elementary counselor, Mike Laurent. Tune in as we talk about go-to strategies for not just students with needs, but the whol…
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Welcome to Season 7 of Vrain Waves! We are kicking off with what we all need at the start of the year. Setting up for success means explicitly unpacking directions and expectations for all students, especially those with executive functioning deficits. Tune in as we chat with Brandon Slade from Untapped Learning and let's all be reminded that what'…
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Wrapping up Season 6 with two rockstar teachers who show us what it looks like to reframe Assessment in the classroom. The key to engaging students is not tricky; it's building intrinsic motivation through authentic assessment and grading practices! Tune in as our very own Sam LaFever and Gideon Matchey unpack how they use explicit assessment strat…
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What are some ways we can reframe assessment? How can we shift toward seeing assessment as evidence of success rather than a "gotcha"? Tune in as Hacking Student Motivation author Tyler Rablin speaks to creating multiple opportunities for students to grow and learn over time. Let's stop focusing on mistakes and start focusing on trends in our class…
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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 stude…
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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 f…
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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…
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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 tea…
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Learning Party, Part 2: All Ages Welcome!
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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 Scie…
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Learning is a party; make sure to invite your students!
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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 part…
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Feedback Part 2: So Nice, We Had to Do It Twice!
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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 moti…
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"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 an…
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Classrooms, Community, and Collective Efficacy!
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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. @SuzannahEvans2 @saeed_shane @WestviewSVVSD @AltonaMS…
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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…
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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 educat…
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Episode 060: Grading for Equity with Joe Feldman Connect with Joe Feldman Website: https://crescendoedgroup.org/ | Twitter: @JoeCFeldman Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Lindsay Laporte Twitter: @LaPorteLindsay |Oakley Schilling Twitter: @OakleySchilling| Ben KalbTwitter: @mrkalb…
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Principal Kafele on Transformative Change
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Episode 059: Principal Kafele on Transformative Change Connect with Principal Kafele Website: https://principalkafele.com/| Twitter: @principalkafele| YouTube: School Leadership Thoughts Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Shane Saeed| Instagram: @fantasticallyfourth Twitter: @saeed_shane Ben Kalb| Twitter: @mr…
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Dr. John Spencer and the Sporky Food Truck
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Episode 058: John Spencer and the Sporky Food Truck Connect with John Spencer Website: http://www.spencerauthor.com | Twitter: @spencerideas| YouTube: Spencer Videos Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Violet Twitter: @vhchristensen | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Violet hosts a podcast for instructional coaches called …
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Dr. Katie Martin: Clarity and Purpose during a Pandemic
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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! Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Temple Hayles Gu…
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Connect with Zaretta Hammond Twitter: @Ready4Rigor | Website: crtandthebrain.com | Book: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key, Stoicism, Blog post about habits Zaretta’s Curre…
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Connect with Kate Murphy Website: https://www.nytimes.com/by/kate-murphy | Book: You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro to Kate Murphy, her book (01:24) Best Nonfiction book of 2020 Listening for …
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Coping with Covid: Catlin Tucker on teaching during a Quarantine
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Episode 054: Coping with Covid, with Catlin Tucker 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 abo…
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Episode 053: Ending Average with Todd Rose Connect with Todd Rose Website: https://toddrose.com | Twitter: @ltoddrose | Most Recent Book: Dark Horse Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro to Todd Rose (00:22) Episode with John Couch WWII cockpit story Episo…
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Aligning Words and Intentions with Mike Anderson
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Aligning Words and Intentions with Mike Anderson Connect with Mike Anderson Website: https://www.leadinggreatlearning.com/| Twitter: @balancedteacher | Most Recent Book: What We Say and How We Say it Matter Connect with Vrain Waves Website: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb What We Say and H…
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