podcast Archives - THOM GIBSON

07 Sep 2020

UPDATE | What I’ve Been Working on & Pushing Pause on the Podcast

I took a break over the summer from the podcast. The plan was to get a handful of interviews recorded over the summer and be ready to go with episodes starting in mid-August. That didn't happen. But here's what I did instead. EPISODE NOTES I realized that it's pretty difficult to schedule podcast interviews when you have a new baby in the house with a somewhat unpredictable nap schedule, and I decided I wasn't going to cut into family time. COURSES FOR TEACHERS I'VE BEEN CREATING During the times the little one napped, I decided to create a new course…

12 Jun 2020

6 Teacher Wellness Tips for a Quarantined Summer

It's been a rough school year to say the least. In this episode, I help you think through how you will rejuvenate, recover, and recharge this summer so you can come back ready in the Fall semester. EPISODE NOTES I walk through six tips on how to ensure your summer is a time to recharge, including: strategies to wean yourself off of social media a bitwhat to think through when developing your evening routine to get more sleephow to start small when it comes to exercising each weekwhere to start when it comes to preparing for the fall semesterpractical advice on how to structure your own…

29 May 2020

3 Remote Teaching STEM Projects; TikTok, Minecraft, & eBay

It's the end of the year. Traditional paper/pencil tests seem to be tricky with remote learning. Today I share 3 end-of-year STEM projects I did with my math & robotics classes. They involved TikTok, Minecraft, and eBay. EPISODE NOTES I got all these ideas from other educators on social media. In this episode, I take time to reflect on these three projects. I talk specifically about: how I had students create a TikTok as their final math summative grade my rubric for the TikTok project reflections on what I would do differently with the TikTok project if I did it again how I introduced the Rube…

15 May 2020

How COVID-19 Will Change Education

A month ago I read an article that said schools will definitely be doing 'blended' learning permanently and that social distancing will require schools to have kids come to school on different days to lower the capacity. I thought 'well…that MIGHT happen but we can't say with certainty.' 30 days later, these are the exact things school leaders are discussing around the world. What will education look like in the Fall of 2020? What will it look like in a post-COVID-19 world? EPISODE NOTES I wanted to chat with someone about everything I had been reading online and seeing from…

01 May 2020

Create Immersive Learning Experiences with Augmented Reality (without fancy equipment)

https://videopress.com/v/dWGmA3Cx?autoPlay=true&loop=true&muted=true&persistVolume=false&preloadContent=metadata This episode was recorded in February before many schools began remote teaching. While the context of the conversation is a normal classroom, there are applications to remote teaching if you and/or your students have a device at home Generally when people thing of augmented reality, they think of Pokemon Go. The game tapped into the nostalgia of Pokemon fans everywhere, myself included. It created an immersive experience for users where they could actually see Pokemon in their physical environment through the use of their camera phone. Creating an immersive experience shouldn't just be limited to mobile games though. How…

17 Apr 2020

How to Boost Engagement During Remote Learning (Without Using Zoom)

Four educators (from elementary to high school) share their best advice for those doing distance / remote learning, including one educator in Hong Kong who has just completed his 10th week of remote teaching. EPISODE NOTES I reached out to a handful of people on Twitter who had done distance learning for at least a couple of weeks already. Student engagement is one of the biggest challenges in distance learning. While I originally just asked for their best tip, I love that thoughts and guidance on how to increase student engagement was a part of each of their answers. In the episode,…

03 Apr 2020

A Better Way To Teach Math

This episode was recorded and edited before the coronavirus & distance learning was front of mind for educators. Valuable takeaways though regardless if you're virtual or in person One of challenges of teaching math is being able to satisfying answer the question 'why'? Before we can even answer the question for students, we have to answer the question for ourselves. Why does the math work this way? It's much easier to teach a student how to do a problem. It's a bit harder to explain to them why it works the way it does. It's even more challenging to help…

19 Mar 2020

UPDATE: New Baby, COVID-19, and Life at Home

https://youtu.be/BpSlAy2nPd0 We had a baby amidst all this coronavirus stuff. I wanted to share an update on how things have been and my plans during my time at home on paternity leave / quarantine . TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Life with a newborn6:11 - Daily schedule during quarantine10:03 - Future podcasts12:28 - Distance learning in the country15:38 - New content for teachers (livestreams, courses)18:42 - My distance learning plan so far20:24 - Tips for making the most of self-quarantine time CONNECT W/ ME ON HOW THINGS ARE GOING Email | thom@thomgibson.comTwitter | @gibsoneduYouTube | /gibsoneduInstagram | @gibsoneducation SUPPORT THE PODCAST Enroll…

21 Feb 2020

No Planning Time, Low Test Scores, & Correcting Students | Q&A Show

What do you do if you don't have a planning period? How do you help students master a skill after they've failed a test? How do you correct students when they're wrong? Any advice for a first time long-term sub? We explore these questions into today's Q&A show. EPISODE NOTES In this Q&A show, we discuss: How do you support students & help them master content after they've scored low on a test?How do you find time to prep, grade, plan without using all of your free time outside of school if you don't have a prep period?How do you…

14 Feb 2020

Skype | Classroom Uses You Haven’t Thought Of

Sometimes we don't utilize simple tools that could have a powerful impact in our classroom. Skype has always been one of those tools for me. It has the power to bring the world into my classroom but I've rarely utilized it. I think it's not until we hear stories of how others are using it that it begins to spark ideas for what it could look like in our classroom. EPISODE NOTES Today I chat with two educators who are all about Skype in the classroom. Jeni Long & Salleé Clark (who go by the dynamic duo name of Jenallee)…