South Phoenix Oral History Project

It's the second season of the More and More Every Day Podcast. Join us every day for short (10 minute) episodes to talk all things oral history and challenge yourself with a daily oral history prompt.

Share your progress with us:
@SMCChistory (Twitter and Insta)
[email protected]
More and More Every Day is brought to you by the South Phoenix Oral History Project at South Mountain Community College, in partnership with the Southwest Oral History Association.

In the spring of 2020, a team of educators at Saint Mary’s College of California in the Teacher Educator Program got together to meet the challenge of transitioning to online teaching head on. Together, Drs. Mary Raygoza, Raina León, and Aaminah Norris collaborated on an open document, titled "Humanizing Online Teaching," inspired by one of the classes in their program. They shared it widely, and within a few days, several hundred educators across the country viewed the document. "Humanizing Online Education" emphasizes the following categories: Building and Maintaining Beloved Community; Be Prepared; Fostering Equitable Participation; Group Work and Group Roles; Sharing Out; Other Helpful Zoom Functions; Be Flexible, Be Patient, and Be You; and Some Notes on Asynchronous Teaching.
We first interviewed Mary, Raina, and Aaminah in April, but due to an unexpected technological error, we lost their file. We were crushed. The conversation in April was robust and complex, full of raw emotions like hope, fear, and gratitude. We decided to take a risk and sheepishly reach out to these three brilliant teachers to ask for a do-over. We were thrilled when they agreed!
Our second conversation was just as fulfilling as the first. In it, we talk about how each of them is coping with the realities of teaching in the COVID19 Era. We dive deep into our emotions about George Floyd's assassination and the aftermath, the calls we all faced to make contributions in this unique historical moment, and how we think our students are affected by the realities of 2020.
Find their episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Show notes:

• Take a look at their shared document: Mary Raygoza, Raina León and Aaminah Norris. "Humanizing Online Teaching" (2020). Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mary-candace-raygoza/28/
• Mary co-hosted the "Humanizing Online Math Teaching" webinar over the summer. Click here for the slides.
• Aaminah has a new podcast. Listen to "Unhidden Voices." She mentions her interview with her brother, who was tear gassed while protesting. Find the interview here: https://anchor.fm/aaminah-norris/episodes/A-Black-Man-Leads-by-Example-with-Special-Guest-Matin-Abdel-Qawi-eh9slc
• Raina León is a nationally-lauded writer, artist, and coach. See her website: https://rainaleon.com/.
• Raina read poetry by Derrick Weston Brown.
• You can connect with us:
  • Insta: @SMCCHistory
  • Click here to read our first More and More Post
• Please support our show by donating to the South Phoenix Oral History Project!

Interview conducted: 7/27/20

Dennis Kibbe teaches Computer Information Systems at Mesa Community College in Arizona.
In the spring of 2020, Dennis and Summer touched base about the rapid switch to online teaching and learning during the outbreak of COVID19. An expert in teaching using technology, Dennis had a lot of excellent advice for his fellow teachers about teaching online, and doing it well.
Dennis suggests his students use the Pomodoro technique to help them to focus getting work done for classes. It's a tried and true method that writers use all the time. But students in any class can benefit from this approach to manage their time.
Looking for a good book? Dennis suggests The Science of Getting Rich, which inspired the film The Secret.
Hear the interview wherever you get your podcasts.
Show notes:

• Dennis attended several useful webinars in the spring, and encourages you to check out Discovery Education.
• Consider the Pomodoro technique! One of our narrators, Helen Sword, has a great video with a built-in timer!
• Connect with Dennis by contacting him through his Mesa Community College profile.

Interview Date: 4/13/2020

Connect with us:

Click here to tell us your story.
Why is it called More and More Every Day? Click here to read our first More and More post. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcchistory
Click here to join our mailing list.

Today's episode is an early interview with Summer and Liz Warren. Liz and Summer collaborate regularly at South Mountain Community College. Listen to them talk through the initial shock of the rapid move to online teaching and telecommuting.
Liz Warren is the founding director of the Storytelling Institute, the first program in the country to offer an academic certificate in Storytelling. She is a co-founder of the South Phoenix Oral History Project.
This is an early interview, one that is a conversation between two women who are first starting to talk through the realities of teaching and meeting online, while missing each other and their communities. They discuss their personal and professional worries along with little victories. They also think through the logistics of the upcoming interviews and the potential for a nationally-reaching podcast.
The title of this episode nods to Liz's critique of our question about "normalcy." It's a thoughtful and meaningful consideration of how we regard routines, and how we view a future return to life as normal. Her point has stuck with us since the conversation in March.
Show notes:

• Liz Warren performs often with the Arizona Storytellers Project. In March, the Storytellers Project launched a national live from home showcase, featuring Liz. See her tell here.
• Follow Liz's blog at Tell Me Something Good.
• Liz is the author of The Oral Tradition Today.
• Liz quotes "London Rain" by Louis MacNeice.
• Connect with Liz at [email protected].
• Follow the Storytelling Institute on Facebook.

Connect with us:
Click here to tell us your story.
Why is it called More and More Every Day? Click here to read our first More and More post. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcchistory
Interview Date: 3/26/20

In this week's roundup, Cody and Summer discuss themes and patterns in episodes, interviews, and posts from the first week of May.

Highlights from the Weekly Roundup V:

• Cody and Summer are elated with their new dual microphone setup!
• National Teacher Appreciation Week - we dropped a new episode every day featuring a classroom teacher.
  • Reviews of each episodes: Phillip Martinez, Stephanie Burke-Liggett, Jennifer Syler, and Lalo Quezada.
• We dropped a special graduation episode for our class of 2020.
• Cody's A-ha and Oh-yeah moments about appreciating all educators on a school campus.
• Lots of love to our loyal listeners, Wasim & Andrew.
• Welcome to our newest listeners, Steve and Susan! Glad you joined us!
• Cody won paper-rock-scissors. We still don't know what the final score is.

Looking ahead to the coming weeks:

• We will be taking the third week of May off.
• Our summertime schedule will move to a weekly email and 2 episodes a week, with roundups thrown in as needed.

Shout outs:

• Dr. Tom Sheridan, author of Arizona: A History
• Abbie Cakes' amazing mango peach lemonade (@Abbiecakesco)
• Isha Sesay's Beneath the Tamarind Tree (@iamishasesay)
• Jo Robinson's Eating on the Wild Side
• Cody finished Jo Boaler's Limitless Mind. He suggests it to all teachers!
• Maricopa County Library District offers curbside pickup!

Connect with us:
Click here to write for us.
Click here to tell us your story.
Click here to read our first More and More post.
Follow us on Instagram @smcchistory
Find us on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!