In Episode 124, Chey and Pav talk about their experience with open artificial intelligence - in this case, how they have been using ChatGPT as teachers. The AI chatbot has allowed for them to explore a number of ways to make planning, lesson-building and even feedback and assessment much more streamlined and efficient. The Dynamic Duo also discusses some of the ways they wish to use it going forward, as well as the potential pitfalls and negative consequences as well. Chey and Pav are always open and willing to engage in meaningful chatter about educational topics, just like how to use OpenAI ..read more

In Episode 123, Chey and Pav speak with Frank Bouchard, co-founder at Wipebook. The Dynamic Duo first became aware of Wipebook Flipcharts through professional development they were offered for math - Building Thinking Classrooms. Through the work of Peter Liljedahl, Chey and Pav learned about vertical classrooms and these dry-erase anchor charts that you can't help but be completely enamoured with! Speaking with Frank, Chey and Pav learned about the origins of the Wipebook brand as well as the design thinking process that was responsible for its inception. There's lots of application for the c ..read more

In Episode 122, Chey and Pav talk to Beth Lyons, teacher and one of the hosts of the podcast, "Read Into This." This conversation with Beth is the 2nd of a two part crossover episode - the first episode was featured on "Read Into This." Chey and Pav continue to talk with Beth about their new roles this year and what the transition was like, and continues to be like, now that they have made it past the half-way point of the school year. They tackle lots of current systemic and personal challenges, and work through some strategies to work though them.  An overdue conversation, and one that ..read more

In Episode 121, Chey and Pav speak with Dr. Gholnecsar (Gholdy) Muhammad, author of "Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy" as well as her newest release, "Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction." Dr. Muhammad talks to Chey and Pav about the origins of the framework, the importance of Black literary societies on present and future education, and the connections between Joy and Hope. Truly and engaging and inspiring conversation, you will take away so many meaningful nuggets.  Tune i ..read more

In Episode 120, Chey and Pav talk about their "One Word" for 2023! Chey and Pav welcome a new year, and with that, comes a new WORD that is meaningful to to them and also guides their practice in the many aspects of their lives. For this year, that word is "Focus." The Dynamic Duo discuss the many reasons why this has been chosen to be their word, and they chat about how to manifest success through Focus this year.  Chey and Pav also go back and reflect on their word from 2022 - Responsive - and see how it impacted their lives in this past year.  Chey and Pav are always open and will ..read more

In Episode 119, Chey and Pav talk about performative social justice work. Can our performative actions be a positive gateway to doing “THE WORK?” Chey and Pav discuss the many ways in which performative social justice work can be negative and potentially traumatizing for students and peers, but they also talk about how the performance can actually sometimes instil some positive change in educators.  Chey and Pav are always open and willing to engage in meaningful chatter about educational topics, just like Building Engaging and Meaningful Read-Aloud Tasks. Check it out and their other con ..read more

In Episode 118, Chey and Pav talk with Andrew Canle, an assistant principal, published author, doctoral student and small business owner from the New York Metropolitan area. Andrew talks about his newest venture - the Conversations with Charisma tabletop card games - aiming to help students build and participate in authentic conversations. This gamified way of building conversational skills has been shown to improve social and emotional learning as well as ways that students can engage with one another in more meaningful ways. Andrew helps Chey and Pav understand the ways in which he has seen ..read more

In Episode 117, Chey and Pav talk about the value of the Read-Aloud in the middle school classroom, and building engaging and meaningful tasks that can be done in conjunction with texts. The dynamic duo offers a few ideas on how to structure reading around chapter books and novels as shared readings, as well as picture books, and how they can be adapted to older grades as well as younger ones. The pair wraps up their thoughts by reinforcing the importance of reading aloud to children of all ages, even the grown-up ones.   Chey and Pav are always open and willing to engage in meaningful ch ..read more

In this Amplify & Inspire episode of The Staffroom Podcast, Chey and Pav talk to Jael Richardson, best-selling author of the book, "Gutter Child" and Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. They talk to Jael about the inspiration behind her new book, and some of the major themes of anti-racism and decolonization throughout this thought-provoking dystopian novel. Tying in many lived experiences of immigration, teaching and learning in a highly racialized community, and dealing with the challenges they continue to face with disruption ..read more

In Episode 116, Chey and Pav talk about relationship building and what it really looks like in classroom settings. Inspired by constant conversations on social media surrounding ideas such as "connections before content" or "relationships first," the Dynamic Duo felt compelled to share their ideas on the importance of establishing relationships through the meaningful content and curriculum they teach, and continuously working on building relationships over the course of the entire year. The conversation takes many twists and turns in this one, going from topics such as "Love" all the way to th ..read more