Hey there Friends, It's Alex. I just wanted to come and say thank you to all of you for everything! Thanks especially to Natalie for all she's shared and taught me. I'm working on some new things starting with a new podcast on Youtube (for now) called Curiosity Bridge, the link is below. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfdO3NS1bd8fHfKYGsHPasQ Linkedin is best way to connect for those who'd like https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-noel-3a292980/ Thanks again, Alex...
Jul 15, 2024•2 min
On her final episode of the #EduCrush podcast, Natalie reflects on her personal growth throughout the past four years of creating the show and shares insights into what's next. Show Notes: The greatest validation comes from within. Creativity thrives on consistency. Equity without introspection is a trap. You are the solution until you become the problem. My voice is powerful. → Subscribe to Unleash YES, Nat's new podcast with co-host Tom Schimmer....
Jun 24, 2024•24 min•Season 4Ep. 114
This new podcast from Natalie Vardabasso with co-host Tom Schimmer will help you leave the politics of your job behind and experience the freedom of becoming your own boss. → Use this link to subscribe/follow on Apple, Spotify, or Google Podcasts!
Jun 21, 2024•3 min
On this episode Alex interviews passionate and innovative educator Andrew Rigby, on the numerous benefits of TTRPG’s for students in the classroom. Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading!...
Jun 17, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 113
Though Starr is considered a leading voice in innovative assessment and grading practices, it didn’t start out that way. Once upon a time, she was a teacher in her classroom on the precipice of making a terrifying change. In this episode, Nat talks with Starr about how her personal growth journey triggered a change in her practices and eventually a major pivot in her career. Learn how Starr learned to let go of control and empower students so you can do the same. Show Notes: How doing personal, ...
Jun 03, 2024•56 min•Season 4Ep. 112
Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading! On this episode Alex discusses how the court of public opinion influences policy, ethics and our feelings about assessment....
Mar 04, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 111
✊ Check out the website for the Empowerment Ecosystem Summit for the schedule, locations, and details on how to register! Parent communication isn’t the sexiest part of our jobs, but that doesn’t make it any less critical. Natalie is joined by Crystal Frommert, author of “When Calling Parents isn’t your Calling,” to discuss strategies to proactively partner with parents and how to assert ourselves when communication crosses into disrespectful territory. Show Notes: Whenever possible, we should l...
Feb 26, 2024•52 min•Season 4Ep. 110
On this episode Alex interviews an expert in the community work that goes on in major cities. He has 20 years of experience working with children and youth, non-profits, schools, and families. He also happens to be my older brother, Rodney Noel. Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessmen...
Feb 05, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 109
✨J oin us at the 2024 Empowerment Ecosystem Summit! Assessment and identity might not seem like a logical pairing on the surface, but they are a powerhouse combo for learning and professional growth. Everyone has an assessment story that we carry into the school space and those experiences determine what we believe to be true about ourselves, learners, and learning. Today Natalie reconnects with her childhood friend, Karley Alleyn, to explore the shared childhood experience that was fundamental ...
Jan 29, 2024•50 min•Season 4Ep. 108
Happy new year! What are the things in this world that make your jaw drop? Things that are so awesome that you can’t help but get excited about it, about learning about it and experiencing it? On this episode of #Educrush, Alex explores knowledge for need, for honour and for awe as we take some time to look to the past and to space! Links to SN 1006 because it’s awesome. https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1308b/ https://www.nasa.gov/universe/supernova-remnant-sn-1006/ Continue the conversation...
Jan 22, 2024•26 min•Season 4Ep. 107
✨J oin us at the 2024 Empowerment Ecosystem Summit! Sometimes, our focus on external change is just a reflection of the deeper changes we know we're avoiding in ourselves. Go read that again. Join Natalie for a solo episode to seize the new year and finally let go of the toxic habits, patterns, and relationships in your life to manifest your deepest desires. And no, manifesting isn’t magic, it’s science. Learn the biological basis for this powerhouse practice and a three-step process to apply it...
Jan 15, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 106
This week on #Educrush, Alex is looking back on some of the interviews that match with what has turned out to be the focal point of the year…Community. Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading!...
Dec 18, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 405
In this crossover episode, Natalie joins fellow podcast host and co-author, Tom Schimmer, to discuss how story is critical to rehumanize assessment, embrace the messiness of change, and to cultivate the mindset necessary for inner peace. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram 💬 Continue the conversation with Tom on Twitter or Instagram ✊ Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. ✨ Check out the website for the Empowerment Ecosystem Summit for the s...
Dec 11, 2023•56 min•Season 4Ep. 104
As the winter Holiday’s loom, now is the time of the year that I and others start to think about family. The countdown is on and we’re ready for a break. What does it look like to use this time, leading to the holidays, as an opportunity for personal growth and community building? Join Alex for a brief discussion on sharing traditions for the season! **Note from Alex** This episode is shorter than usual because I am sicker than usual but I hope you still enjoy! Continue the conversation with Nat...
Dec 04, 2023•19 min•Season 4Ep. 103
As soon as we say the word inclusion, there’s an exclusion. Designing an education system that is grounded in the mindset that all students belong and are capable of high levels of learning is the real goal. Dr. Shelley Moore joins Natalie to talk about what inclusion means to her and how we can make change through collaboration, standards-based approaches, and stories. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram 💬 Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagra...
Nov 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 102
Diversity, equity and inclusion will always be a complicated subject. It’s worthwhile to learn and to grow from it, because that allows us as teachers to create environments where all students can learn. Not just about the subject matter that we’re trying to teach but learn about what it means to be considerate of the communities we’re in and the people we encounter. This week on #Educrush, Alex interviews Professor and Author, Dr. Shirley Steinberg as they start to explore what it means to cons...
Nov 19, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 101
Fasten your seatbelts as Natalie takes you on a journey through the inception, challenges, and triumphs of Bio-Med Science Academy with its founder, Stephanie Lammlein. They explore how she turned a bold vision into reality, how the students are thriving in this educational ecosystem and the impact it's making on the rural community it serves. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram 💬 Continue the conversation with Stephanie on Twitter or Linkedin ✊ Join our Facebook g...
Nov 13, 2023•51 min•Season 4Ep. 100
Leadership is often cited as one of the most important and contentious parts of school’s life. Many dream of being a leader that is effective and inspiring and many more have opinions on what exactly a leader needs in order to be effective and inspiring. What if we focused on the leadership that lives in all of us? What does it look like to move away from a system where one person is always at the top and shift to looking at having the right leader for the right time. This week on #Educrush, let...
Nov 06, 2023•26 min•Season 4Ep. 99
In this solo episode, Natalie honors the Halloween season by describing five ghastly ghouls haunting our schools: phantom policies, zombie meetings, dementor processes, and the control and avoidance poltergeists. Learn what they are and how to defeat them! 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram 🎧 Listen to the podcast episode that inspired this episode: “Slaying your Organizational Debt Monster.” 🎥 Watch Rodney Evans describe organizational debt. ✊ Join our Facebook ...
Oct 30, 2023•33 min•Season 4Ep. 98
School or Athletics? That’s the question we often ask students athletes if grades begin to slip. What if we are misunderstanding the role that sports have in the education space? How can teams help students better grasp the concepts in the academic classroom. This week Alex sits down with Teacher, Coach and Athletic Director Nick Waterbury, who has spent time on a local and national and international level, giving opportunities for students and teachers to learn about leadership and participate ...
Oct 23, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 97
Is participation the only thing that can be assessed in Phys Ed class? How might health be integrated as a goal alongside physical activity? Nat joins Canadian PHE and assessment expert Josh Ogilvie to explore what’s possible for Phys Ed when we embrace conversation, personal inquiry and belonging. Show Notes: The shift to Physical “Health” Education (PHE) was an intentional one to explore the intersection between movement and mental health. The ideal goal of a PHE program is for each student to...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 96
What is burnout? Why does it have such a tight grasp on discussions of educator’s efficacy and longevity? This week on #Educrush Alex discusses learnings about the insidious natures of and potential strategies for dealing with Burnout. **For the curious, here are some links to the papers I read that don’t cost money or require membership at a university library.** National Library of Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834764/#:~:text=Although%20definitive%20evidence%20has%20n...
Oct 09, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 95
Where is the space for entrepreneurship in education? How might visionary educators expand their impact outside the four walls of their classroom and school? Dr. Will joins Natalie to discuss what an EduPreneur is and how we can disrupt our limiting beliefs around money and worthiness to become one. Show Notes: Dr. Will’s mission in education is to fill the “hope gap" An EduPreneur is someone who wants to make a greater impact in education without being confined by the rules of the system. Break...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 94
This week on #Educrush, we’re talking to a recent high school graduate and previous guest to the pod, Reese Gagne. She shares her insights about the value, complexity and elusive nature of community as she begins her post-secondary journey, and we begin our school year! Links: Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based way...
Sep 25, 2023•43 min•Season 4Ep. 93
What makes for good design? If teachers are to see themselves as learning designers, what qualities might guide their work? Join Natalie as she talks to a professional interior designer to discover parallels to teaching. Show Notes: If architects create the outside of a building, interior designers create the inside (of which decoration is only one small piece). Good design is more of a noun than a verb that includes functionality, inclusiveness, aesthetics, and a powerful user experience. There...
Sep 18, 2023•52 min•Season 4Ep. 92
This week on #Educrush Alex talks a little bit about his summer learning and discusses the true enemy of education, Apathy. Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with Alex on Twitter or Instagram Continue the conversation with ______ on Twitter or Instagram Join our Facebook group for community, connection and allies. Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading!...
Sep 11, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 91
In the season 4 opener, Natalie comes to you solo to share a story of failure that reveals an important truth about change. 💬 Continue the conversation with Natalie on Twitter or Instagram ✊ Join our Facebook group for community, connection, and allies. ✨ Download Nat's six research-based ways to INSPIRE change in assessment and grading!...
Sep 04, 2023•28 min•Season 4Ep. 90
Nat and Alex come together to answer the season 3 inquiry question, “How might we rehumanize education through story?” by reflecting on what they learned from conversations with guests. Show Notes: · Nat and Alex check-in. (0:30) · Stories are the bedrock of community and how we decolonize education. (3:15) · To tell a story of personal growth, we need to feel that we belong. (7:45) · We must rewrite the stories about leadership, wellness, and power that limit our humanity in school spaces. (9:5...
Jul 03, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 89
What is decolonization? How is story integral to it? How might we all become better at receiving and telling stories? Natalie joins Indigenous scholar, teacher and changemaker Carolyn Roberts to discuss circle work, deep listening, performative allyship and finding our voices. Carolyn’s Blog Post, “ It’s about representation: Let’s talk about The Outsiders and Animal Farm .” Carolyn’s Podcast Series, “ Walking in Relation ” Follow Natalie: Twitter | Instagram Follow the Podcast: Twitter | Instag...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 88
This week on #Educrush, Writer, Producer and Science communicator Ceri Riley shares her experiences being an educator outside of the classroom, the challenges that she has faces and the importance of making sure that everyone has access to learning! Ceri on Twitter: @Ceriley Alex on Twitter: @MrAlexNoel Natalie on Twitter: @natabasso Podcast on Twitter: @educrushpod Podcast on Instagram: @educrushpod Links Mentioned: https://open.spotify.com/show/22OJWsluntwDB1siMFIA9V?si=8ece44d390e3487b https:...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 3Ep. 87
