Educator's Playbook

A 2022 Gallup poll reported what many of us already suspected: K-12 educators have one of the highest burnout rates of any segment of the U.S. workforce. It's a growing crisis but not an insurmountable one.

To help explore burnout's root causes, repercussions and remedies, we turned to Annie McKee, who wrote the book on being happy at work. A senior fellow at Penn GSE and NYT-bestselling author, Annie has a candid conversation with host Kimberly McGlonn about the emotional intelligence and resilience necessary to navigate the intricate landscape of modern education. Then, former classroom teacher Stacey Carlough joins Kimberly to discuss some of the systemic and individualized strategies employed to alleviate burnout. In her new role, Stacey leads programming centered around teacher mental health and developing top-down solutions, like communities of care. Stacey emphasizes that burnout is not an individual problem – it's up to school leaders to create a nurturing, sustainable educational environment where their teachers, counselors and other employees can thrive.

GUESTS:

• Stacey Carlough, Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning, Office of School & Community Engagement, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
• Annie McKee, Adjunct Professor & Senior Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

NEWSLETTER:

• Subscribe to the Educator's Playbook newsletter for ongoing resources and content

RELATED PLAYBOOKS:

• No. 65: Tips to avoid burnout for teachers working this summer
• No. 34: Why you should make a career plan (Even if you aren’t looking for a new job)
• No. 29: Facing a problem? Ask yourself these questions
• No. 26: Discussing Nondiscussables
• No. 23: How to be happy at school
• No. 20: Taking a minute for your mental health
• No. 12: Reimagining leadership in your school
• No. 3: Saving the parent-teacher relationship from stress

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES & RESOURCES:

• “How to be happy at work: The power of purpose, hope and friendship.” by Annie McKee (2017)
• Gallup: K-12 Workers Have Highest Burnout Rate in U.S.

Educators are all too familiar with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. It's known as the nation's report card– and as a country, our grades are dropping.

According to NAEP's long-term trend report, students' reading and math scores have declined for the last decade. States have been evaluating and adjusting their policies, curriculum and school schedules in response. On this episode of the Educator's Playbook podcast, host Kimberly McGlonn delves into the complexities and nuances of those changes, and the role teaching standards and innovative policies play in shaping the future. What's working, what isn't – and why?

Our first guest on this deep dive is Patrick Sexton, head of teacher ed programs at Penn GSE. He talks about how crucial an effective rollout of new standards is for long-term success. Even the most well-intentioned standards will fall short without adequate training for educators. Then we're joined by Mississippi's state literacy director, Kristen Wynn, who shares what they've been doing to radically transform the state's approach over the last decade. She provides valuable insight into what it took to help their students gain proficiency against various factors.

GUESTS:

• Patrick Sexton, Executive Director of Teacher Education Programs, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
• Kristen Wynn, State Literacy Director (K-12), Mississippi Department of Education

NEWSLETTER:

• Subscribe to the Educator's Playbook newsletter for ongoing resources and content

RELATED PLAYBOOKS:

• No. 62: Bringing theater into the classroom
• No. 41: Engineering can be elementary
• No. 22: Math that students can use in real life, right now

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES & RESOURCES:

• National Assessment of Educational Progress
• 76.3% of Mississippi third graders pass state reading assessment on first attempt (05-18-23)
• National Report Finds Mississippi’s 3rd Grade Promotion Law Leads to Early Literacy Gains (02-07-23)
• Mississippi Literacy-Based Promotion Act
• From Mississippi’s State Literacy Plan: Strong Readers, Strong Leaders Mississippi and Leading in Literacy

Arming students with critical thinking skills is essential in this digital era when screen time dominates and the dissemination of information (and misinformation) is constant. But how, exactly, do we do that?

In this episode of the Educator’s Playbook podcast, host Kimberly McGlonn taps into two experts to help empower K-12 students and educators to discern, analyze, and evaluate content and information in a never-ending news cycle.

She speaks first with Megan Fromm of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, an organization at the forefront of raising awareness about the importance of media literacy. Together, they unravel some of the complexities around teaching students to view the digital landscape through a critical lens until dissecting and discerning the content they encounter becomes reflexive. Then Kimberly is joined by #PennGSE associate professor Abby Reisman, who provides additional insight and effective strategies for instilling these essential skills in students. Abby focuses on document-based historical inquiry, a way of studying history where you look at original documents, like letters, diaries or newspaper articles from the past, to better understand and explore historical events and the people involved in them.

This episode is a deep dive into the intersection of education, critical thinking and the digital world, offering educators tangible strategies and insights to empower the next generation of critical thinkers.

GUESTS:

• Megan Fromm, Education Manager, National Association for Media Literacy Education
• Abby Reisman, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

NEWSLETTER:

• Subscribe to the Educator's Playbook newsletter for ongoing resources and content

RELATED PLAYBOOKS:

• No. 49: How to make the most of teaching history online
• No. 13: Teaching students to think like historians

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)
• News Literacy Project
• Project Look Sharp
• Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island
• Stanford History Education Group
• History-Social Science Project at UC Berkeley
• UCLA History-Geography Project, part of the California History Social Science Project

Join us this fall for an all-new podcast series made by educators for educators!

Subscribe now and don't miss a single episode as we examine some of the biggest issues facing K-12 today and share practical, easy-to-implement advice geared toward teachers, administrators and counselors.

In the meantime, check out our library of related articles from the popular Educator's Playbook monthly email newsletter at http://educatorsplaybook.com.

The Educator's Playbook podcast is produced in Philadelphia with partner RADIOKISMET.

Hosted by seasoned educator Kimberly McGlonn, this episode takes a deep dive into the widening ideological and cultural divides impacting K-12 education. As schools find themselves at the epicenter of debates surrounding issues like race, gender and sexual orientation, educators must grapple with the challenges of a rapidly politicized classroom environment. We're joined by leading education historian and Penn GSE professor Jonathan Zimmerman, author of "Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Classroom." He provides valuable insights into the shifting ideological landscape since the book's first publication in 2002 and gives us some historical context for censorship, politicization and polarization. Then, professor of practice and former superintendent Andrea Kane sheds further light on the real-life implications of these culture wars for educators, students and communities, sharing some of her experiences on the front lines over the years. Tune in for a candid discussion on navigating these complex issues in today's educational setting.

FEATURING:

• Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
• Andrea Kane, Professor of Practice, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

NEWSLETTER:

• Subscribe to the Educator's Playbook newsletter for ongoing resources and content

RELATED PLAYBOOKS:

• No. 69: Explaining war to children: 6 tips from a Penn GSE expert (02-25-22)
• No. 64: How to be a good parent and a good ally (06-10-21)
• No. 63: How to get even better at supporting your LGBTQ+ students (06-08-21)
• No. 58: How teachers can talk about violence at the Capitol (01-07-21)
• No. 39: Putting Black history lessons into action (02-05-20)
• No. 17: How to confront hate speech at school (11-17-16)
• No. 7: Responding to anti-Muslim rhetoric (02-04-16)
• No. 5: Treating racial competence as a skill to be learned (02-03-16)

OTHER RESOURCES:

• New books from Penn GSE professors focus on free speech on campus (02-15-23)
• School censorship is not democratic. Speaking up is the solution from the Philadelphia Inquirer (05-30-23)
• Jonathan Zimmerman: Do we really want discussion in our schools? Book censorship indicates otherwise from the Chicago Tribune (05-15-23)
• Penn GSE alumni event focuses on free speech in education (12-13-22)