the highlighter podcast

The Highlighter Podcast #5:

History Teacher Erin Brandvold

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon It was a big delight to speak with History teacher Erin Brandvold this week. Erin is an excellent teacher, teacher-leader, instructional coach, and fitness guru.

We chatted about “Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville,” a fascinating episode of This American Life that I highlighted in last Thursday’s issue of the newsletter. It’s a story of a man in a small town in Alaska who researches his stance about immigration for an upcoming vote on a local measure.

I’ve decided that Erin should have her own podcast — that is, after she keeps teaching her students like the star she is, and after she completes half marathons and five-minute planks as part of Teacher Beasts.

Please take a listen and enjoy. Also, if you like the podcast, please feel free to subscribe!

Apple Podcasts: j.mp/hipod
Google: j.mp/hipodgoogle
Pocket Casts: j.mp/hipodpc
Anchor Station: j.mp/hipodanchor
RSS Feed: j.mp/hipodrss

Thank you, and see you next Sunday night for the next episode of the podcast! favicon

the highlighter podcast

The Highlighter Podcast #4:

Humanities Teacher Marni Spitz

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Last week’s episode of The Highlighter podcast was very popular — there were more than 120 listeners. What a great way to start!

I just published the fourth episode, and I’m pretty excited about my conversation with Humanities teacher Marni Spitz. If you’re a fan of Iserotope, you’ll know that Marni is a contributor to TEACHER VOICES. Now she’s a podcast star, too.

In this episode, Marni and I chatted about “Youth From Every Corner,” an excellent article from last week’s digest. As a teacher, Marni knows firsthand how marginalized students of color face the unfair challenge of being labeled as failures even when offered opportunities to gain power in our society.

Please take a listen and enjoy! favicon

the highlighter podcast

The Highlighter Podcast #3:

Artist and Art Teacher Heidi asks me questions

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon The Highlighter Podcast is becoming a real thing! In this week’s episode, I chat with East Bay artist and art teacher Heidi, who flips the script and asks me questions, rather than the other way around.

It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to speak with Heidi.

Please check it out, and feel free to leave your comments about the episode below! Also, if you like the show, please subscribe via Apple Podcasts (or by searching for “The Highlighter” on other podcast catchers.) favicon

Amazon Education donates 200 Kindle Fires!

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon This is a wonderful way to start a week!

Amazon Education has generously donated 200 Kindle Fire HDs and 200 cases to the Kindle Classroom Project. This is one of the largest donations in KCP history!

 

I am very grateful to Alicia (San Mateo, CA), who connected me in February with representatives at Amazon. After several conversations, the team at Amazon Education in Seattle followed up and completed the gift.

The Kindles and cases arrived on Friday and are ready to be processed, assembled, registered, and delivered to students next month!

The devices will go to students at Envision Academy in Oakland. Last year, the school ran a very successful reading program, with every student having the chance to read on a Kindle. With these new devices, I look forward to deepening our partnership this year.

 

One big benefit of this donation is that it means that students and teachers at Envision Academy will not have to learn how to use various types of Kindles. Even though Kindles are relatively easy to navigate, it’s better if everybody is using the same version.

Additionally, because Fires come with color touch screens and speakers, students will have access to all of the features that the Kindle affords, including text-to-speech.

Thank you again to the team at Amazon Education! This is a huge day for the Kindle Classroom Project, and I really appreciate your enormous contribution. favicon