Podcast Archives - Page 19 of 28

Mar 27 2020

Taking Distance Learning Away from the Screen

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 19 Comments

In education, we often use a metaphor of content delivery. We use terms like "deliver a lesson." We ask, "did the students get it?" But the last week and a half has proven that teachers are not merely content delivery machines. In my last post,…

Mar 23 2020

I’m Releasing a Free Audio Book for Middle Grade Students

By John Spencer Creativity, Literacy, Podcast 35 Comments

Before getting started, I just want to point out that teachers have been amazing over the last few weeks. I've watched entire districts mobilize to provide online and long-distance instruction while also providing a safe way for kids to get breakfast and lunch. Someone tweeted…

Mar 17 2020

Providing Spaces of Permission in the Midst of Uncertainty

By John Spencer Podcast, Teacher Life 4 Comments

I spent hours on Saturday putting together a 3,500 word blog post, an eBook, and a toolkit. Given the stress of the previous days, I knew that sitting down for six hours and doing creative work would allow me to do something I loved while…

Mar 10 2020

Reflections on Turning Forty Today

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast, Teacher Life 2 Comments

A quick confession. I love birthdays. I am not great at wishing folks a happy birthday online. This is mostly because I don't know what part of it is supposed to be capitalized (Happy Birthday, Happy birthday, happy birthday). However, I love birthdays because they…

Mar 02 2020

Seven Reasons to Geek Out on Educational Theory

By John Spencer Innovation, Podcast 4 Comments

I haven't written a new article in nearly month. After getting back my data, I plugged away at writing Chapters 4 and 5 of my dissertation, followed by a few revisions. I will likely defend it next week or the week after. One of the…

Feb 20 2020

What Our Adopted Greyhound Taught Me About Life, Learning, and Creativity

By John Spencer Creativity, Podcast 2 Comments

This year, I decided my mantra would be "Be More Greyhound." This was my reminder to rest and to play and to find joys in things like walks. It was a reminder that I have the permission to be an introvert. For the last month,…

Jan 19 2020

Empowered Teachers Empower Students

By John Spencer Creativity, Empowering Students, Podcast 3 Comments

I have a bobble head of myself on the bookshelves in my office. It's a bit of an Easter egg that you can find in some of my videos. On the surface, this item seems arrogant and excessive. And yet, I didn't buy the bobble…

Jan 08 2020

4 Myths About the Future of Education

By John Spencer Podcast, Vintage Innovation One Comment

A decade ago, I watched a local school district purchase hundreds of interactive whiteboards. Hailed as the ultimate solution for student achievement, teachers attended flip chart trainings. The school district purchased packaged curriculum promising huge results. Specialists observed classrooms to see if teachers were implementing…

Dec 30 2019

Why Journalism Might Actually Be the Class of the Future

By John Spencer Creativity Deconstructed, Future of Learning, Podcast 4 Comments

This is my latest article on the topic of Vintage Innovation. Look for the book to come out soon. When we imagine the future of learning, we often hear about STEM and STEAM and things like robotics or coding. But I'd argue that one of…

Dec 27 2019

The Power of a Mid-Year Reboot

By John Spencer Creativity, Empowering Students, Podcast No Comments

So, it's the beginning of the year and all around I'm hearing conversations about New Year's Resolutions. One friend is going Paleo, another is doing Cross Fit, and still, another has decided she's going to read 100 books in a year (which might be doable if you…