After 6 years, I am taking a break from podcasting. I am calling it a summer vacation for now, but we will see if the break is actually a bit longer. Before I go, I am going to leave you with a clips episode from some of my favorite conversations during the early years of the podcast. This episode could have easily been 60 hours long, but I hope you enjoy these 2 hours to keep you company during summer break. Clips are from: Episode 1: Brian Dempsey Episode 7: David Knuffke Episode 13: Paul Strode Episode 14: Chi Klein Episode 15: Lee Ferguson Episode 16: Paul Andersen Episode 17: Bob Kuhn Episode 18: Ryan Reardon Episode 21: Chris Baker Episode 23: Chris Monsour Episode 25: Mark Peterson Episode 29: Valerie May Episode 30: Jon Darkow Episode 36: Jen Pfannerstill Episode 38: Ryan Lacson Episode 46: Brittany Franckowiak Episode 61: Tanea Hibler Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

We made it?! I don’t know if it was that we had our expectations too high or that the pandemic has broken us all, but the 2021-2022 school year was rough. With that in mind, we are going to hunt for the silver linings to the storm cloud that was this past school year. Show Notes: We start this show with the goofy question: What is one of your favorite things to do by yourself on a completely free, unscheduled day? Joining us from Texas, Lee Ferguson: catching up on TV, shopping Joining us from Wisconsin is Sedate Kohler: Walk my dog to Starbucks and listen to music (maybe sing out loud to the world as I do it) Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: Walk my dog, dance in my living room, roller skate, maybe record a podcast. LOL!! Aaron: Take myself out to lunch with a book. Questions Discussed in this episode: - What was one of your best interactions with students from the school year? - What is one thing you learned or got better at during the past 2 years of teaching? - What are you most looking forward to about Summer 2022? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

One of the topics that teachers have been discussing a lot this year has been how issues with student behavior feel worse this past school year compared to the past. Today we discuss this topic and reflect on how we may reframe this issue next year. Show Questions: We start this question with the goofy question. What is a dumb rule that you have had to follow at some time during your life? Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: Honestly, most rules are pretty dumb, but we have them becuase humans are just dumb sometimes. Like in Arizona you don’t have to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, but you aren’t allowed to drive between the lanes like you can in California. That’s just dumb to me. And the rules vary so much from school to school and place to place that many rules start to feel arbitrary. One school had a rule where kids had to come into the lunch room and sit down and be quiet before they were allowed to get in line to get lunch. They couldn’t eat outside, or kick back and relax during lunch time. So weird to “police” the kids during their one major break of the day. Joining us from Texas, Lee Ferguson: (If you don’t say your school’s dress code Jeans Policy…) Ha! But yes, the dress code regarding “professional dress” is probably the stupidest thing ever. Context though--I work in a pretty conservative district in Texas and most districts here have similar employee dress codes. As far as I know, I taught an entire year (nearly 2) in jeans, and it didn’t affect how my students learned or performed. Hell, the year I wore jeans every single day my kids did the best they ever have on the AP exam, so…yeeeaaah, I’m gonna wear jeans when I feel like it. :) Joining us from Wisconsin is Sedate Kohler: I ride horses and am really involved in a youth equestrian program. We are similar to scouting and have a similar organizational structure, and a lot of spirit. We wear pins, which is unique to our org. When we compete, we wear our pins, it’s required. For a very long time, we were not allowed to wear our pins when we jumped our horses, because of the “risk of impalement”. Aaron: Some of the rules around coaching and dismissals were strange. I would need to collect notes if parents wanted to take kids home from away games. So families would write notes, then I would see them as they left. It was weird. I recently found an old coaching folder with a tone of old notes. Do you feel there have been more student behavior issues in your school/classroom this year compared to previous years? Are students just rebelling against rules trying to “control” behavior, or are there larger issues at play? How are the discussions about behavior being discussed? Are schools taking into account the pandemic? Are there discussions about restorative justice? Changing policies? Do you think this is a temporary shift due to the pandemic or do larger changes need to take place? Are there things we could do in our classrooms to improve classroom culture to reduce behavioral issues? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

As I have been reimagining my curriculum over the past few years, the idea of using a scientific phenomenon to hook kids into our work has been both exciting and challenging. Today, I discuss the concept of phenomena with Tanea, Mark and Jess. We definitely had a lot of fun, so we hope you enjoy the conversation. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question: What is an area of science that you find cool, but don’t really understand the underlying mechanism of (possibly nobody knows) Joining us from Minnesota, Mark Peterson: I ran across the idea of telescoping generations a few years ago at an NSTA conference. Aphids, reproducing asexually, have the next generation, fully formed inside them, and within that next generation is another daughter ready to form…and so on. Nature is just weird sometimes. Joining us from Missouri is Jessica Popescu: I just learned from the book Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake that fungi mycelium transfer nutrients between plants, poisons, hormones and maybe even genetic material! Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler: I suspect that us humans don’t understand a lot of things, so this is a hard question for me. I’ll ponder a bit Aaron: Why do we sleep? Why do we dream? What are the biological functions? Questions Discussed on this show: How do you define a scientific phenomenon? Do you use these in your curriculum? Do you think that phenomena have to be something that is part of the students lives before introduction? What is one of your favorite phenomena to engage students (I know this might be tough)? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

As we head into state assessment season (people who don’t spend their lives in schools call this spring), I thought it would be fun to talk about different forms of assessment and what this looks like in our classrooms. Show Notes: - We start this question with the goofy question. When was the last time you had to sit down to take a test? Joining us from Ohio is Tanea Hibler:I don’t remember. Oh, it was when I took the GRE about 1-2 years ago. I was totally freaked out and super nervous and actually did better on the English and writing then I did on the math. I almost walked out of the testing center in the middle of the test as well. I think my scores might have been why I got waitlisted for the Vanderbilt PhD program : ( But I have moved on now, and I’m happy that things worked out the way they did. I could tell you about what happened when I had to take the SAT’s too, there was so much instability and drama going on in my life and the SAT just was a huge source of stress for me. I HATE TESTS. Joining us from Minnesota, Mark Peterson: I'm going to turn the clock back to 1985 when I had to take the driver’s exam in Minneapolis, MN because I had moved from Iowa City, IA after grad school for my first HS job. Joining us from Missouri is Jessica Popescu: I think it was my PRAXIS when I was becoming certified to teach in 2013? It’s been a while! Aaron: Mine was way back in 2006 when I took my subject area test for my National Board Certification. Questions We Discuss: - Do you differentiate between formative and summative assessments in your class? Do your students know the difference? - What does the concept of an “Authentic Assessment” mean to you? - Do your students talk about Assessment/Test Anxiety? How do we help students manage this anxiety? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode we discuss the sometimes challenging issues dealing with late work, retakes and revisions, particularly considering the grading practices through the lens of grading equity. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question. How do you personally feel when you need to get to an event by a certain time? Are you an early person, a late person, or does it vary? Joining us from Illinois is Amy Kelly: I want to be an early person, and if I am on my own, I will generally be a little early because being late really stresses me out. When it involves my kids, I would say I am exactly on time or late though. Joining us from Ohio is Jon Darkow: I like to be on time, but damn, something always comes up. Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I am usually a little early for most things because I’m afraid of being late. Aaron: I am very comfortable being on time, but as I age, I tend to be early for most things…I this may be a result of my wife’s desire to not be late. Questions Discussed in this episode: Setting the baseline, does your school have any grading policies in place about Late Work, Retakes, and Revisions? Considering your own grading policies, how do you handle late work? Are revisions and retakes designed into your curriculum? Are there any barriers to you offering more revision and redemption opportunities to your students? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

On this episode we discuss two grading practices that are used in many classroom but are certainly possible issues when it comes to grade equity. Show Notes: We start this question with the goofy question. Have you been caught up in the 2022 Wordle wave? Any other puzzle games popular with your family, friends or students? Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: No but I have played Sweardle 🤣🤣 Joining us from Illinois is Amy Kelly: I have to be honest, I hadn’t heard of Wordle until about a week ago. As far as puzzle games…and I am not sure if this counts, but I love my Rubik’s cube! Joining us from Ohio is Jon Darkow: http://worldle.teuteuf.fr Aaron: I have been playing Heardle (name that tune style game) and my wife plays Semantle (Guess the right word base on contextual similarity) Questions We Discuss: - Setting the baseline, does your school have any grading policies in place about zeros or group grades? - Considering the policies, do you ever record or want to record zeros or group grades in your gradebook? How do you feel about these grading practices? - Are there any other grading policies or practices that you struggle with in terms of fairness to students? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

As a group of lifelong learners, we are in a community of teachers who are often getting additional degrees and certificates, some are for career advancement, while others are just for growth and learning. With that in mind, we are discussing the pros and cons of teachers pursuing additional degrees. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a goofy question: Were you a good student in high school, good at “doing school,” both or neither? - Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: Both. My grades in high school were good, but I was also good at playing the game of school because I was a rule follower. College was a whole other ballgame. - Joining us from Colorado is Hannah Hathaway: I think I was a fairly traditional good student. There were some times where I “played the game” of school, but mostly I liked my classes and liked doing work because I enjoyed learning. That’s probably why I was a student for so long, lol. - Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: More good at playing school than actually being a good student, but I was also a strict rule-follower and enjoyed school a lot. I just didn’t have any good study or metacognition skills. - Aaron: More good at school than a good student in high school. Questions Discussed: What would motivate you to apply for a graduate program at this point in your career? Or if you have done so, why did you apply? What are some of the barriers that make attending a graduate program challenging? (Should I say that time is a given?) What are some of the options out there for working teachers looking to attend programs? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, as we return to the topic of professional development to discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of pandemic PD and what PD may look like in the future. We kick off our episode with a goofy question: If you could attend a PD workshop run by any person (scientist, author, teacher, etc) whose workshop would you want to attend? - Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: Maybe because yesterday was Darwin Day, but I’m going with the obvious Charles Darwin pick. - Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I’ll go with Rudolf Virchow, because I have to know, is that story about you giving that politician dude a worm-infested sausage and daring him to eat it true? Also, I think it would be cool to learn from Sean Carroll. - Joining us from Colorado is Hannah Hathaway: Just because I want to meet and chat with this person, I’ll go with Ira Flatow. - Aaron: Terry Gross from Fresh Air or Rosalind Franklin, Questions We Discuss: - What have you missed most about face-to-face PD over the past 2 years? - Have you had any really good PD through remote platforms over the past 2 years? - Do you have any PD plans in the coming months? Do you think you will have face-to-face PD anytime soon? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, we return to a topic that comes up every few months, the concept of teaching an interdisciplinary class. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with a question: what was your favorite non-science subject(s) in school when you were a kid? Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: Art and orchestra! I loved drawing and playing the violin. I was a quiet kid in school but was able to express myself through art and music. Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: Music theory was one of my favorite classes. I also really loved Government class. Aaron: Probably History. I had several amazing high school history teachers. Questions Discussed: - How siloed are the subjects in your school? Do teachers with different disciplinary expertise get to collaborate? - Are there any interdisciplinary classes or projects that you know about that are currently being taught in your school? If not, do you know other schools where they are taking place? - What would be your dream interdisciplinary class or project to run? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool

Today, we discuss the presence and influence of other adults in our classroom. Show Notes: We kick off our episode with the question: What is something New and Exciting happening in your professional life in 2022? Joining us from Texas is Lee Ferguson: I am starting classes for administrator certification on January 18. Joining us from Missouri is Kelly Kluthe: I made a major change and moved from high school to elementary! Aaron: I am going to have a Student Teacher! Questions We Discuss: Oftentimes, teaching can look and feel like you are isolated as an adult in a room working with young people. This has its advantages and its disadvantages, but it is also not really true. Other adults have a significant influence on how we do our work. Let's start with a basic question, are there other adults that ever walk into your classroom while you are teaching? Why are they there? Who are the adults that are never in your room, that have an influence on the teaching and learning in your classroom? Credits: Please subscribe to Life of the school on your podcast player of choice! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LOTS Music by: https://exmagicians.bandcamp.com/ Show Notes at Lifeoftheschool.org You can follow on twitter @MrMathieuTweets or @lifeoftheschool