Episode 19 - Preventing the Summer Slide in Reading

Episode Link
35 Min. 35 Sec.

John and Kelly welcome Agora Cyber School Reading Specialists, Janet Whippo, Lisa Samar, and Michelle Tilsner to discuss "the summer slide." They share strategies on how teachers can motivate students and parents to get reading over the summer, and to avoid the dreaded summer slide.


Resources

• Summer Reading Calendar
• Classroom Slide to Promote Summer Literacy
• Fourth Graders Free National Park Passes
• Summer Reading Info for Learning Coaches / Parents

Episode 18 - High School Students Mentor Elementary Students

Episode Link
19 min. 17 sec.

Why have high school students mentor elementary school students? How does it benefit the high school student? How does it benefit the elementary student? And how would a school go about setting up a program where elementary school students are mentored by high school students?

All of these questions are answered in this episode, where John and Kelly welcome Agora High School Instructional Coach, Rebecca Adams, and Agora Elementary School MTSS Coordinator, Lauren Wilson, who established a mentoring program.

We also welcome Agora Kindergarten teacher, Amy Lutz who has a high school mentor in her classroom.

And we welcome our very first student guest, Erica M., who mentors Amy's Kindergarten students.

Episode 17 - Differentiation in Cyber Schools

Episode Link
33 min. 48 sec.

The four hosts of the Cyber PD Podcast, Katie, Kelly, Steve, and John, are reunited in this episode to discuss differentiation in cyber schools. They define the term, discuss its importance, the philosophy behind it, and some strategies that could be used to incorporate differentiation into your classroom.

This was a listener requested episode. If you would like to request an episode, please do so in the comments section of  our blog.

Episode 16 - Teaching Advanced Learners in Cyber Schools

Episode Link
35 Min. 52 Sec.

John and Kelly welcome Pam Sieger to the show to discuss methods for teaching students who are advanced learners or who are gifted in cyber schools. Pam is an ELA teacher at Agora Cyber Charter Middle School, and is also on the board of the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE).

Resources

• Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) Website

Suggested Reading

• When Gifted Kids Don't Have All the Answers
• The Gifted Teen Survival Guide
• More Than a Test Score: Teens Talk About Being Gifted, Talented, or Otherwise Extra-Ordinary
• Succeeding with Habits of Mind: Developing, Infusing and Sustaining the Habits of Mind for a More thoughtful Classroom
• Aiming for Excellence: Annotations to the NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards
• Methods and Materials for Teaching the Gifted
• Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom

Episode 15 - Trauma Informed Part 2

Episode Link
31 min. 22 sec.

In this episode, Katie and Steve take a closer look at being trauma informed and trauma sensitive with guests, Maegan Bregenser and Mike Scheirer. They discuss signs of trauma that cyber school teachers can see when they are on the other side of a computer, how teachers should respond when seeing signs of trauma, research about the importance of building relationships with students affected by trauma, and more.

Instructional Strategies mentioned during the episode include:

• Routines
• Modeling Stress Management
• Music
• Wait Time
• Brain Breaks
• Apologize 

Resources

• Book Mentioned - What We Say and How We Say it Matter
• 10 Things Every Educator Should Know About Trauma-Informed Care
• The Trauma Informed Positive Behavior Support
• The Attachment and Trauma Network (ATN)
• Mike Anderson on Twitter
• Teachers at Agora Cyber Charter School also have access to Quest

Episode 14 - Trauma Informed Part 1

Episode Link

23:06

Jennifer Barrios and Gina Sczepkowski join Katie and Steve to discuss being trauma informed and trauma sensitive. They briefly discuss how trauma affects the brain, and why language, empathy, listening to students, and recognizing that “one-size-fits-one” is critical to student learning. They also discuss the unique situation Agora Cyber Charter is in for addressing the needs of students who have suffered through traumatic experiences.

Episode Resources

Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools

The Child Trauma Academy

Get Your Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Score

Episode 13 - Co-Teaching in the High School Classroom

Episode Link
39 min. 12 sec.

Katie DiSefano and Stephen Nugent are joined by Agora High School Literary Analysis and Composition co-teachers, Jordan Alderson and Anna Lepsch, to discuss co-teaching in the high school cyber-classroom. They discuss the importance of building trust between co-teachers to form a solid co-teaching relationship for the importance of students.

Episode 12 - Co-Teaching in the Middle School Classroom

Episode Link
19 min. 57 sec.

Kelly Quackenbush and John Thomas are joined by Agora Middle School Math co-teachers, Karen Hamburger and Jenna Dietrich, to discuss co-teaching in the cyber classroom. They discuss co-planning, co-instruction, and co-assessing, highlighting the importance of communication between co-teachers.

Episode 11 - Co-Teaching in the Elementary Classroom

Episode Link
30 min. 5 sec.


In this episode, hosts Kelly Quackenbush and John Thomas are joined by Agora Elementary School ELA co-teachers Gina Mallon and Robin Hartman to discuss co-teaching in the cyber classroom. They discuss co-planning, co-instruction, and co-assessing, as well as some of what co-teaching allows in the classroom.

Episode 10 - Tapping in the Classroom

Episode Link
14 min. 58 sec.

In this episode, hosts Kelly Quackenbush and John Thomas are joined by Agora Elementary advanced learner math teacher, Megan Kiebler. Megan will introduce us to the concept of tapping, which is a free stress relief technique that can be used for teachers or students. In the episode, we discuss the benefits of using tapping for teachers as well as students, how to use it most effectively, and with whom it should be used.

Resources:

• Common Beliefs Handout
• Tail Enders Hand Out
• Tapping Points for Older Children
• Tapping Points for Younger Children

Episode 8 - Connect 4: Four Techniques for Connecting with Students in a Cyber School

Listen Here

29:03

In this episode, John Thomas and Kelly Quackenbush interview Amber Brisbane, a transition teacher at Agora Cyber Charter School. They discuss four strategies that Amber has identified that help to build relationships with students. Those strategies are, “Kicking It Old School,” “Conversations Matter,” “Reflect and Refresh,” and “Keep It Real.” Find out how you can use these strategies to build relationships with your students in this episode.

Resources

Padlet of Ideas

Episode 7 - Teaching Art in a Cyber School

Episode Link
31:23

In this week’s episode, hosts Katie DiStefano and Steve Nugent welcome Agora Cyber School High School Art teacher, Nichole Simpson. Nicole answers the common questions faced by fine art teachers in cyber schools: How do you teach something like art in a cyber school?

Nichole brings the philosophy of “Why can’t I?” to her classroom. When faced with the question about whether something can be done in a cyber school, she asks, “Why can’t I?” She thinks about what can be done in a brick and mortar, and asks why we can’t do such things here. With the right attitude, the answer is often that you can do it, just a bit differently.

Nichole also talks about how to find resources that work in the cyber environment. 

Resources

• Feather Project mentioned in episode
• You can follow Nichole on Instagram: @mrssimpsonarteacher (one "t")

Episode 6 - What Game Developers Know About Motivating Students

Episode Link
33:44

In this week’s episode, guest Allison Keefe, a middle school ELA teacher with Agora Cyber Charter School, joins hosts Kelly Quackenbush and John Thomas to discuss what game developers know about keeping players motivated, and how teachers can bring those strategies into the classroom.

Episode 5 - Reaching Students with Emotional Support Needs in the Cyber Environment

Episode Link
23:06

In this episode Agora High School Emotional Support Teachers, Heather Silberman and Anta Brucker join our co-hosts, Kelly Quackenbush and John Thomas. They discuss topics such as:

• What it means for students to have emotional support needs.
• The reasons students with emotional support needs join cyber schools.
• The relationship between "Emotional Support" and "Behavioral Support."
• Building relationships with students who have emotional supports in the cyber environment.
• How general education teachers can meet the needs of students with emotional disturbances. 
• The importance of developing relationships between emotional support teachers and general education teachers.

Episode 4 - The Power of Introverts

Episode Link
30:16

In this episode, hosted by Katie DiStefano and Steve Nugent, Agora High School Principal, Holly Allen, and Agora Family Coach, Tiffany Joyner, discusses what power introverts bring the community. While it may seem like extroverts dominate most conversations, introverts play a pivotal role in steering the direction of organizations and schools.

As processors and listeners introverts bring a unique and valuable perspective to the work environment. In this discussion, both introverts and extroverts will learn how to work with each other to maximize the benefit we all can bring to the table.

Resources - 

• Book Mentioned - Quiet by Susan Cane
• Working With Introverts (Written by an Actual Introvert) by Season Hughes)
• The Scariest Thing About Introverts (Leadership Freak Blog) 
• What's Wrong With Introverts (Leadership Freak Blog)
• A Psychologist Explains How to Beat Social Anxiety by Angela Chen

Episode 3 - Meditation for Educators

Listen Here
29 minutes 35 seconds

Steven Nugent and Katie DiStefano interview Jennifer Adrienne. Jennifer, a teacher at Agora Cyber Charter School, has been practicing heart rhythm meditation since 2013. She teaches a local beginner’s meditation class and is writing a book on meditation for beginners. 

In this episode, Jennifer addresses how meditation is related to self-care, addressing its effects your concentration, relationships, health, etc. These are all issues that teachers face in the cyber environment. She shares how to get started with meditation, and why it’s worth investing the time to get started. Finally, she talks about how teachers can impact their students by having a focused mindset, developed through meditation.

Resources:

• Institution for Applied Mediation on the Heart
• HeartMath
• Book mentioned in the episode - Living From the Heart