If you're teaching in the United States during the pandemic right now, you're likely having the most challenging year of your career--regardless of whether you're teaching in person, remotely, or a hybrid of the two. Without a coordinated federal response to the Covid19 pandemic in the United States, states are largely on their own to figure out ho…

Back in March 2020, I sat down with Thomas Kearns to record this episode. While the pandemic was raging through Washington and New York state, it still hadn’t reached the Midwest. A few days after we recorded this episode, the pandemic reached the Midwest and everything changed. This episode got lost in the chaos and stress of that time, but I am t…

As we approach Fall in the United States, teachers are facing a difficult choice: teach in person during the Covid-19 pandemic or leave their jobs. In this episode, we sit down with Kelley Huxtable to hear what it's like to make this gut-wrenching decision.By JD Pirtle

In September, Nora Flanagan will begin her 23rd year as an educator in Chicago amid the challenging pedagogical circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic and the immense struggle Chicago Public School teachers have faced getting the support and resources they need from the community. Nora (@noraflanagan) is co-author of Confronting White Nationalism i…

In this episode, we talk a bit about what's coming up in season two of the podcast and have a conversation with Liz Gallo, CEO of WhyMaker. More info about Liz and WhyMaker can be found here whymaker.co. Follow Liz on Twitter @whymaker.By JD Pirtle

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages in Personal Protective Equipment or PPE for medical professionals have been an ongoing issue. Two key types of PPE in desperate need are face shields and surgical masks. To mitigate this shortage, educators, makers, and everyday people have been sewing, laser cutting, and 3D printing PPE and then …

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages in Personal Protective Equipment or PPE for medical professionals have been an ongoing issue. Two key types of PPE in desperate need are face shields and surgical masks. To mitigate this shortage, educators, makers, and everyday people have been sewing, laser cutting, and 3D printing PPE and then …

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

As humanity takes measures to slow the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, businesses, schools, and many public gathering places are shutting down or being restricted. This is very worrisome for all of us, and as of now, there are many unknowns. Educators of all types are facing the many challenges of online and distance…

What exactly is Design Thinking? What are its origins and how can it be best applied in a classroom or in any school setting? How can educators use it in all aspects of teaching, from classroom layout to curriculum design? Our guest today is Annette Diefenthaler. Annette is a portfolio director at IDEO, where she works to bring human-centered desig…

How can educators recognize learning which happens between report cards? How can they acknowledge student achievement which may be difficult to assess with traditional means? Digital badging and micro-credentials offer an alternative to traditional assessment and an emerging method teachers can use to appreciate what their students are doing in any…

Ryan Banks Academy is Chicago’s first tuition-free independent school—and will soon be a boarding school. Founded in 2018 by former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) social worker Valerie Groth, Ryan Banks Academy's mission is “to transform urban education by cultivating the talents and potential of at-risk students in Chicago through an immersive and i…

What’s the best way to document your ideas? Or communicate those ideas to others? For some people, writing is the most effective method. Others communicate best through drawing. For some, it’s both. Visual thinkers like Brandy Agerbeck work to empower others to draw what they are thinking and feeling, and through graphic facilitation, help organiza…

How much screen time should my child have? Should my students have? How do we know what’s safe and what isn’t on the internet? Dr. Devorah Heitner is an educator and researcher who explores these questions and many more. As founder of Raising Digital Natives, she advises schools, parents, and organizations on how best to mentor children and adolesc…

This episode features author and educator Alfie Kohn. Alfie has written and lectured extensively in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. His work has challenged the status quo in education for over four decades. In our conversation, Alfie details his thoughts on popular education topics like Grit, Growth Mindset, and EdTech.• Arti…

Our guest in this episode is Bob Clagett. Bob is the founder of I Like to Make Stuff, a Youtube channel with 2.75 million subscribers and a website that features a multitude of free project how-to videos and step-by-step instructions. Viewers get in-depth and easy to follow instructions on how to make just about anything, from a full-scale, interac…

This episode features a conversation with Dale Dougherty. Dale is the co-founder of O’Reilly Media and the founder of Maker Media, which publishes Make Magazine and initiated the wildly popular worldwide Maker Faires. Dale is widely considered to be the godfather of the Maker Movement and is one of its greatest champions. We talk to Dale about his …

We have a conversation with designer and educator Cas Holman in this episode. Cas is the founder and principal designer at Heroes Will Rise, an independent toy company focusing on products designed in the spirit of invention and creativity. She is also full-time faculty at Rhode Island School of Design in the Industrial Design Department. Her work …

This episode features artist, educator, and author Erin Riley. Erin is the director of Greenwich Academy’s state of the art Engineering & Design Lab. She is also the author of a new book The Art of Digital Fabrication: STEAM Projects for the Makerspace and Art Studio.• More information about Erin’s new book can be found here:artofdigitalfabrication…

This episode is the second part of our story about the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. First, we talk to Maxine Brown, director of EVL, about her background and her 30+ years at EVL. We learn about CAVE2, the latest large scale virtual reality environment invented at EVL. Ph.D. graduate Victor Mateevitsi…

In this episode, I have a conversation with computational information designer Ben Fry, co-creator of the Processing programming language and principal of Fathom Information Design. Along with Casey Reas, with whom he created Processing, Ben is the author of Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists and Getting Started wit…

In this episode, we talk to April Welch. She’s the Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Director of Esports at the Illinois Institute of Technology, or IIT. April details a range of projects she’s initiated and directed in her role at IIT, especially how she built an early Maker Space and launched an award-winning Esports program. …

This is our first two-part story. We'll be exploring the Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. EVL has been a hub of innovation in art and technology for 46 years. EVL has a tremendous history filled with ground breaking inventions and connections to culturally significant things like Star Wars, the dawn of pe…

In this episode, we talk to engineer, author, and educator Sylvia Libow Martinez. She is the author of Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, which has been called the bible of the Maker Movement in schools. First, we detail the origin and current state of the Maker Movement in Schools, and then Sylvia and I discuss t…

The LT Makers Lab at Lane Tech College Prep high school in Chicago is an amazing innovation and digital fabrication classroom. We’re heading to Lane Tech for a conversation with educator and technologist Jeff Solin. Jeff is the mind behind the LT Makers Lab and an award-winning National Board Certified Teacher. We'll also delve into Lane Tech's his…

In this episode, we sit down with nonprofit leader, educator, and author Dr. Gabrielle (Gabe) Lyon. She is the author of the graphic novel No Small Plans, the forthcoming graphic novel Washington, By and By, numerous curricular tools and was recently appointed executive director of Illinois Humanities. Gabe details her process for creating graphic …