Value Adds Value!

Are you trying just to 'get through' to the holidays? Are you at the end of your rope? If you are you are not alone in that, but we want to help you get back on track with this episode of the Value Adds Value Podcasts with our friend and mentor Carrie Conover! Carrie is the founder of Educators 2 Educators (educators2educators.com) and the New Year Teachers Reboot Conference! After ten years in the Chicago Public Schools and another decade in the Ed. Tech world she branched out on her own two years ago with a podcast that led to the conference. We have been so grateful to her for including us in her events and for the constant advice she gives teachers on how to better themselves. We're delighted to share that with you here! As she puts it, "my mission is to take care of teachers and teaching." In this episode she gives great advice on how to grow through your struggles and explains how teacher can benefit from her FREE online conference! We hope that you will sign up for the conference and maybe check out ou

We had planned to release a new episode with our friend Gary Gray Jr. today, but the stars didn't align for us to make that happen. In preparation for that episode which will be coming soon we wanted to share one of the powerful conversations we had with him this year! Over the course of this 2.5 year journey of creating a podcast we've been blessed with so many new relationships, but the one we have with Gary Gray Jr. is at the top of the list of most valued! Not only is he an incredible teacher who is providing amazing content to teachers across the world, but he is genuinely one of the most caring people we've ever met. He has continually been willing to be a sounding board for us and has provide perspective and wisdom at every turn. We hope you enjoy the first part of our conversation with Gary on the burdens of being a content creator as an educator, his move to Manila, and how we can grow in our practice of being culturally responsive as educators.  We're sure you already follow Gary, but please g

Well it's that time of year when it's dark most of the day. It's dark when we wake up and for a lot of us it's dark when we get home. We know it can be draining to be cold and deprived of sunlight, but we believe its a time of year as teachers that we need to take advantage of our opportunities strengthen our relationships and teaching practice. In this episode we introduce our topic over the next couple months which is how to thrive going into the holidays. We know that it can be so easy for us to coast through this time of the year, but when we do we make that latter parts of the year more challenging than they need to be. The best thing we can with our upcoming time off is reflect on our year to this point and strategize on how to get better in the time we have between Thanksgiving and Christmas break. We hope you enjoy it! If you want to try out Nearpod for free click the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue To sign up for the Educators 2 Educators New Year Teachers Reboot Conference click the link

Welcome back for part 2 of our interview with Brandy Gratten (@brandygratten on TW and IG) on the power of reflection for teachers! If you haven't listen to the first part please go back and do so because hearing her story of starting her reflection practice as a college athlete and having it carry her into her adult life was so powerful. We felt so fortunate to be a part of this interview and to be able to call Brandy a friend! During our talk she lays a few concrete steps teachers can take to improve their teaching practice through reflection. No matter what your current position in the education space you can improve your practice through reflection. We hope you enjoy it!! Be sure to follow Brandy on Social Media and please follow us and reach out @valueaddsvalue! Also if you are looking for other podcasts check out theledproject.com/hub! And if you want to try Nearpod for FREE head over to go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue!! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

We were very fortunate to get to see Brandy Gratten present at The AIE Conference in October about how they engaged in building culture with their students. We are even more grateful that she gave of her time to record two episodes of the Value Adds Value on the power of reflection! We loved getting to hear the story of how she started her reflective practice as a college basketball player and how it still carries her through her teaching practice.  As an assistant principal at YMLA in Austin, Texas, she still takes notes on her days and reflects on how she can improve as an educator. We hope you enjoy the first half of our interview with Brandy Gratten and be sure to check in next week for the second half!  You find Brandy on Twitter: @brandygratten If you want to try out Nearpod for free go to go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

Thank you for checking out this episode of the Value Adds Value Podcast!  On episode 8 of season 2 we reflect on the first part of our school year and how we have grown from where we were last year. Our relationship developed out of the reflections we shared as teaching teammates and over the last six years we have each played the role of mentor and mentee. Before we discuss the need for teachers to reflect on their practice we felt the need to demonstrate we reflect on our own! We hope you enjoy this episode and that it inspires you to do the same! If you haven't please hit the subscribe button and leave a review! It would mean the world to us!  Also click the link below to try Nearpod for free!! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

With the release of the Teach Better Team book with thought we'd throw it back to our conversation with Rae Hughart! During this conversation we talked about themed internships and how to create buy in with our students. If you want to buy the Teach Better book click the link below! https://www.teachbetter.com/product/teachbetter/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

As we move into October the focus of the podcast is shifting to the power of being a reflective practitioner as a teacher and what better place to start than our weekend on the River Walk! We had the incredible good fortune to have two of our favorite conferences line up over a three day span this past week! We were able to attend The AIE Conference and Teach Your Heart Out at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio. We were able to present two sessions at AIE that we are very proud of: Old School Strategies, New School Tools and Building Digital Character. When then had some of our favorite humans on the planet pour into us at what was our 4th Teach Your Heart Out Conference! We encourage you to attend both and for more information you can click the links below: http://aieconference.net https://www.teachyourheartoutcon.com/ And to try Nearpod for free check the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

On this episode we talk with Nasser Muhammad of Lifting as We Climb an educational consulting firm with the mission to provide educational services to schools, students and parents in a three pronged community approach which creates a hub of responsibility for all involved. Thank you so much to Liz Kleinrock for the introduction! On this episode we talked about how teachers how teachers can discover their implicit biases, his view on personalized learning and how he strives to better serve our black boys who are in special education. We were so thrilled to meet Nasser and we look forward to working with him in the future! Please be sure to check out the work Lifting As We Climb is doing! www.liftandclimb.org/ Instagram: @lifting.climbing Twitter: lift_climb --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

In episode four of season two of Value Adds Value we talked about the importance of building relationships with our kids, but in the course of that conversation we realized that we hadn't emphasized enough the need for teachers to show up authentically to do so.  We know that showing up authentically can be incredibly difficult and is even more so when you are searching for your self confidence as both of us have over the course of our careers. On this episode we talk about the ways we have built our self confidence as people and how that is impacted us as educators. YOU CAN NOT SUBSCRIBE TO THE BELIEF THAT OUR PERSONAL LIVES DO NOT IMPACT US AS TEACHERS!! If you lack self confidence as a person as much as you try to hid it in your classroom eventually your armor will crack and when it does it won't be pretty. We know from experience... so please don't ever feel bad for prioritizing yourself and know that the work you do to become a better person will pay dividends for your teaching practice! If you w

On this episode of the Value Adds Value Podcast we continue our conversation about building relationships and discuss our experiences in building relationships with kids! We've mentioned on the podcast before that we both have moments in our past that we regret the opportunities we've missed in building relationships with kids.   What seems counterintuitive to a lot of teachers is that building relationships is about setting expectations.  Our expectations as teachers are our opportunity to show up in authentic ways with our kids. Our expectations show are kids who we are and what we believe in.  And that what our kids want to see-- who we truly are! And if there is anything we've learned over the years its that students know when you're not being real with them and it will become a barrier to the relationship if you don't show them your truest self! We hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast and if you want to try out Nearpod for free or get a great deal on the GOLD and PLATINUM membershi

On the third episode of Season 2 of the Value Adds Value Podcast we discuss what we have learn about the value of building relationships with the teachers at your school! It seems so obvious that we should work to build strong relationships with our colleagues, but most teachers know just how difficult it can be to do. Teaching staffs are filled with teachers who are all unique in their approaches and perspectives on education, so naturally their will be friction. We can't underestimate the power of friction to build a fire for good in our schools. We must learn how not to shy away from friction with colleagues, but approach it with respect to do what is best for our kids. In this episode you'll learn from our experiences both good and bad on building relationships with our team members! Don't forget you can try out Nearpod for free using the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

On this episode of the podcast we follow up our conversation on our back to school strategies with a talk on how to create intentional classroom cultures! During this conversation we talk about what an intentional culture looks like for each of us, how we're working to building it to start the year, and what can happen if we don't get intentional about our classroom cultures. We hope you enjoy it! Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on social media @valueaddsvalue and @its.wil.law.iii! And if you want to try Nearpod for free click the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

On this episode of the podcast we follow up our conversation on our back to school strategies with a talk on how to create intentional classroom cultures! During this conversation we talk about what an intentional culture looks like for each of us, how we're working to building it to start the year, and what can happen if we don't get intentional about our classroom cultures. We hope you enjoy it! Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on social media @valueaddsvalue and @its.wil.law.iii! And if you want to try Nearpod for free click the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

On this episode we talk to Tori Pattison about what it means to be both engaging and educating! This was such a fun conversation about heading back to school and how Tori uses purpose driven routines in order to set her students up for success. Tori spoke at length about how all of your routines must have a greater purpose in order for your students to take hold of them. To Tori this means that routines must work towards the greater purpose of helping students learn to respect ideas and feelings. This may seem like a hard concept for 1st graders to learn, but Tori proves that with high expectations students can learn anything! Our favorite routine that Tori has is that she calls all of her classroom jobs "the economy" and each student job is called an "internship". She gives examples of how students thrive in these "internships" as a sanitation specialist who sweeps up the room or a woodworker who sharpens pencils. We also got a chance to talk with Tori about what types of technology she uses in the classroom

On this episode we talk to Tori Pattison about what it means to be both engaging and educating! This was such a fun conversation about heading back to school and how Tori uses purpose driven routines in order to set her students up for success. Tori spoke at length about how all of your routines must have a greater purpose in order for your students to take hold of them. To Tori this means that routines must work towards the greater purpose of helping students learn to respect ideas and feelings. This may seem like a hard concept for 1st graders to learn, but Tori proves that with high expectations students can learn anything! Our favorite routine that Tori has is that she calls all of her classroom jobs "the economy" and each student job is called an "internship". She gives examples of how students thrive in these "internships" as a sanitation specialist who sweeps up the room or a woodworker who sharpens pencils. We also got a chance to talk with Tori about what types of technology she uses in the classro

And we're back for season 2 of the Value Adds Value Podcast!! Over the next 52 weeks we'll be releasing 52 new episodes featuring some of the greatest educators from around the country, but starting out it is just your boys. On this episode we talk about our approach to the new school year, how we can improve our school climates, and what are our goals are for 2019-20. We excited for you to take this journey with us as this season we will structuring our podcast like a class. This means each week the content will feed off the prior week and the guests will all be experts in that area. We can't wait for you to see what we've got in store! If you want to go deeper with us and become a part of our PD community go to patreon.com/valueaddsvalue! There you can PD on your own terms and get credit when you do! And while you're at it be sure to explore our exclusive offer with Nearpod! To see everything they have to offer click the link below! go.nearpod.com/valueaddsvalue --- Support this podcast: https://anch

After a short break we are back to put a bow on season 1 of Value Adds Value. We're so grateful to all of our guests and to everyone who listens. On this episode Kyle talks about what it is like to go through new teacher trainings ten years after he initially did so. It is amazing what kind of perspective you can gain in ten years! Thank you for listening this far to Value Adds Value and we can wait for you to see what's in store on season 2! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

We wanted to share Kyle's presentation for the Teach With Tech Conference in the summer of 2019! It's a talk about why there are endless possibilities when it comes to using podcasts with your students. Originally we had wanted it to be a more of the practicality of using podcast, but after about four tries it just became a talk from the heart! The link to our AIE presentation on how to use podcasts as projects can be found below! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1N8yqkx4xRdPUKq7WcL4lRN0COwWQezvXsqrm8e_QyME/edit?usp=sharing --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

We have been incredibly fortunate to have become a part of the Teach Your Heart family and we want to do our part to support their non-profit The Pink Santa Hat Movement. So figured there was no better way to do that than to bring on the founder of both Ms. Lisa Dunnigan to talk about how they are changing education for the better! We hope you'll listen to this podcast and support the work they do for teachers who have been affected by breast cancer. If you have been affected or know someone who has been please reach out to Lisa or Tosha! The link you need is below! https://thewrightstuffchics.com/pages/pink-santa-hat-movement --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support