Previewing Nebraska Education-Related Legislation from the 2024 Session

In this episode, Dr. Mike Dulaney and Kyle McGowan of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and Dr. John Skretta, Administrator of ESU 6, discuss several education-related bills that will be heard during this year’s legislative session in Nebraska. Together, these leaders and education advocates provide context and details that are sure to support anyone interested in learning more about the prominent topics and themes in education in our state.

To learn more about NCSA, visit: News Stories | Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA)

To stay up to date on the 2024 Legislative Session, visit: Nebraska Legislature – Home

To watch Nebraska’s Legislative Session live, visit: Watch Live | Nebraska Public Media

C3 Teachers and Nebraska ESUs Are Transforming Instruction in Social Studies

This episode highlights the shift to inquiry for social studies instruction. On the pod, John Lee of C3 Teachers conveys the details of their national efforts with the C3 Inquiry Design Model that Nebraska ESUs utilized in their collaborative efforts to develop inquiry units of study for grades 4-8. Mark Brady of ESU 7 also joins us to share the history of this effort in Nebraska that has produced 60+ inquiry units developed by Nebraska teachers for Nebraska teachers (that are aligned to the Nebraska State Standards).

To access the C3 Teachers’ site and resources, visit: Home Page – C3 Teachers

To access the Nebraska Hub on the C3 Teachers’ site, visit: Nebraska C3 Hub – C3 Teachers

If you are a Nebraska teacher who would like more information about joining the 2024 Summer Inquiry Project, reach out to your local ESU for more details or visit our website page: Social Studies Project – ESU CC

Digital Citizenship and Live Virtual Learning Experiences Through Banyan Global Learning

In this first episode of 2024, we are joined by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning for a conversation that spans an array of topics all related to teaching learners Digital Citizenship, whether that be in your own home or in the school environment. On the pod, Seth shares his passion for connecting with students and schools through a live virtual connection to make space for conversations that can help them to better navigate the digital world we live in.

To learn more about Banyan Global Learning, visit: Home – Banyan Global Learning

To listen to his podcast, Make It Mindful, visit: Make It Mindful: An Education Podcast on Apple Podcasts

To listen to his podcast, Why Distance Learning, visit: Why Distance Learning? on Apple Podcasts

ESU Federal Level Advocacy for Nebraska Education

This episode features two return guests to our show, Dr. Dan Schnoes of ESU 3 and Dr. Larianne Polk of ESU 7. Dan and Larianne each serve their respective ESUs as the Chief Administrator, and this past October, they had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC to meet with Congressmen and women and advocate for Nebraska education. In this episode, they highlight the six main topics from those collective conversations.

To learn more about the national efforts and opportunities for service agency advocacy at the federal level, visit AESA’s page: Federal Advocacy – Association of Educational Service Agencies | AESA

Media Literacy in the Era of Generative A.I.

Media Literacy speaker, author, and evangelist, Julie N. Smith, joins The Good Life EDU Podcast this week to talk about the impact generative artificial intelligence is having on media literacy efforts in education. On the pod, Julie highlights examples of how AI is being used to create content and what consumers (like educators, learners, and the general public) can do to keep from being misled by fake news and misinformation.

To connect with Julie, visit Julie Smith – Media Literacy Education since 1997 (heyjuliesmith.com)

For access to resources mentioned in the episode, visit:

AI Tools from Julie Smith

Julie Smith Misinformation Resources

Highlighting the Important Role of ESUs in NDE Educator Pipeline Grants

This week The Good Life EDU Podcast features the work of five Nebraska ESUs that received an Educator Pipeline Grant from the Nebraska Department of Education. John Skretta, Molly Aschoff, and Drew Harris join the pod to speak to the unique models that each ESU designed as a way to meet the specific local needs of the districts that they respectively serve. The conversation spans opportunities for education administrators, new-to-the-profession classroom practitioner support, Educator Rising pipeline efforts, fostering substitute teacher pools, and more.

For more information on the ESU in your area of Nebraska, visit our page: ESU Coordinating Council (ESUCC)

How Distance Learning Is Addressing Teacher Shortages

Dr. Nicholas Ziegler, World Languages Coordinator at ESU 5, is back on the show this week to give an update on Distance Learning in Nebraska. On the pod, Dr. Ziegler also speaks specifically about the Distance Learning World Languages Program at ESU 5 and the tremendous successes that students are experiencing through those DL courses. Listeners can expect to learn about the content area of World Languages, Distance Education, and how 76 districts across the state are turning to distance learning as an effective avenue for staffing courses when an in-person instructor is not available.

To learn more about the ESU5 World Language Program, visit: Distance Learning | ESU 5 – Serving Educational Needs in Southeast Nebraska

To learn more about the Nebraska OER Commons, visit: Self-Evaluation Checklists | OER Commons

What Educators Need to Know About Generative AI Prompting, AI Literacy, and What’s Next

Amanda Bickerstaff, CEO and co-founder of AI for Education, joins The Good Life EDU this week to share how teachers can take a more nuanced approach to prompting generative AI chatbots to save time during the lesson design process and enhance learning opportunities for students. Our conversation builds from there to include insights on generative AI for student use, AI literacy, and the next wave of AI tech tools that are closer to the classroom than one might think.

To connect and continue learning from Amanda, visit: AI for Education

Nebraska Schools Working Together to Tell Their Stories

This week, we welcome Dr. John Schwartz, Superintendent of Millard Public Schools, to The Good Life EDU to share how schools across Nebraska are telling their stories through the Rooted in Nebraska campaign. Dr. Schwartz is one of a number of leaders in our state who are committed to this effort to highlight how we are “Rooted in Academics and Grown for Success” in Nebraska.

Rooted in Nebraska

To learn more about the Rooted in Nebraska campaign and access available resources, visit https://www.rootedinnebraska.org/

Also, be sure to check out the hashtag #RootedNE

How One District Has Embraced Artificial Intelligence

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Rob Dickson and Dyane Smokorowski from Wichita Public Schools. They take us through their district’s venture into generative AI, which kicked off with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022. In our conversation, Rob and “Smoke” delve into the motivations behind their initiative, the implementation process, and the significant shifts they’ve witnessed since then, impacting their dedication to advancing teaching and learning.

To learn more about technology at Wichita Public Schools, visit: Technology / Who We Are (usd259.org)

To read the Edweek article about this effort, visit: ChatGPT Is Everywhere in This District. Here’s What It Looks Like (edweek.org)