This week, Martha Bruckner, the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Omaha Education Consortium, joins The Good Life EDU to share the history and present work of this unique organization. MOEC’s membership is comprised of Omaha-area educators from public schools, higher ed institutions, and service agencies who are collectively committed to enhancing public education through collaborative efforts that support school, teaching, learning, and kids.

To learn more about MOEC, access their website at: Metropolitan Omaha Educational Consortium | University of Nebraska Omaha (unomaha.edu)

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This week, we are joined by Dr. Amy Rhone, NDE’s Administrator and State Director for the Office of Special Education, to chat about the department’s focus on inclusion practices and how that work aligns with the coherence efforts going on in our state. Dr. Rhone is an inspirational leader who has a big heart for the work that she and others have the opportunity to elevate throughout Nebraska, and that aspect of her character truly shines as she shares about the guidance, pilot groups, and other resources that have been developed to support implementation in Nebraska schools.

For more on NDE’s Journey to Inclusion effort, visit – Journey to Inclusion – Nebraska Department of Education.

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This week on The Good Life EDU Podcast, we asked Shelby Aaberg (Scottsbluff HS), Heidi Rethmeier (ESU 8), and Trever Reeh (Westside HS) to join us for a conversation on Nebraska’s new data literacy standards in mathematics. The episode captures everything from the origin story of these standards to how math departments and math teachers might approach embedding them into current coursework. We were also grateful to learn more about the upcoming mathematics conference hosted by the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Mathematics (NATM) along with the myriad of other resources shared that are relevant to professionals in their work in this area.

Visit the NATM site for more info and to register for the conference at https://www.natmathematics.org/

Additional resources referenced in the episode include…

• Skew the Script: https://skewthescript.org/
• Stats Medic: https://www.statsmedic.com/
• Mathigon: https://mathigon.org/
• Graspable Math: https://activities.graspablemath.com/
• Desmos: https://www.desmos.com/
• GeoGebra: https://www.geogebra.org/?lang=en

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Bill Pulte of ESU #3 and Andy Boell of the NNNC join The Good Life EDU Podcast his week to provide an update on the present efforts to ensure that Nebraska schools, educators, and students are safe from cyber-attacks. This episode highlights the concern, the current collaborations taking place, and the proposed bills being discussed in the legislature to keep information and hardware safe.

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This week, we are joined by Brian Buffington who serves as a tech integration specialist at Pioneer RECA in Cleveland, Georgia. This episode focuses on some of the fun stories and innovative practices that Brian has seen and led in his region in an effort to enhance his support of school leaders and teachers. This episode previews the message of an upcoming session that Brian will be leading for AESA’s Small Staff Community of Practice titled, Buff Nuggets for Leaders: Empowering Others.

For more on the AESA session, access the following link before March 23rd. 2023-24 Small Staff ESAs Community of Practice | AESA (growthzoneapp.com)

For more Buff Nuggets from Brian Buffington, access https://briankbuffington.com/

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