In this episode of Hack Learning "Uncut"--the unedited, occasionally-interrupted, under-eight-minute edition of the Hack Learning Podcast, Mark Barnes riffs on the word "rigor" and its use in education. Referencing a discussion on the Teachers Throwing Out Grades Facebook group page, Mark shares a few members' thoughts on the pros and cons of rigorous instruction. One member asks: Does anyone else shudder when they hear an admin use the word "rigor"? Some say the word is misunderstood, while oth...
Oct 14, 2016•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast During a presidential debate, a citizen asked Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump if they are appropriate for kids. In this episode, Mark Barnes expands on the question while explaining how to discuss politics and other sensitive issues in school and in your classroom. Mark suggests that teachers stop telling kids that their views on politics are personal. Rather, he says to tell students what you really think, which helps educators hack the problem of seeming too distant and unreal to kids. Learn ...
Oct 11, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast James Alan Sturtevant calls student engagement the "whole ballgame", and who would know this better than the 32-year veteran teacher, rapidly becoming known around the education world as the student engagement guru. While most teachers are racing for the door when they've been in education for 30 years, Sturtevant, whom Hack Learning nicknamed Jamstur (learn why in the podcast episode above), calls teaching a privilege and continues to raise the bar for all education stakeholders when it comes t...
Oct 04, 2016•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes explains how one Baltimore school repurposed and rebranded its detention room, turning it into a Mindful Moment Room, dramatically impacting schoolwide student behavior and almost magically making suspensions disappear. In Episode 63 of the Hack Learning Podcast, Mark explains how meditation, specifically mindfulness, calms students and helps them focus less on chaos and more on learning. In the What You Can Do Tomorrow segment, Mark explains how to learn practical meditation techniq...
Sep 27, 2016•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Renowned author, presenter, and memory expert Brad Zupp rarely forgets things. Since 2009, Zupp has been dedicated to testing the limits of his own memory while helping others learn the benefits that come from memory improvement. Zupp shows both adults and children how to supercharge their memories to improve grades, relationships, productivity, and peace of mind while remembering more of what they see, hear and read. You might even call Brad Zupp a memory athlete; he's a two-time American recor...
Sep 20, 2016•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jon Harper admits that in more than a decade in education, he's made plenty of mistakes. Some might call Harper a mistakes guru. He interviews experienced education stakeholders about their mistakes on his popular Bam Radio podcast, My Bad. In Episode 61 of the Hack Learning Podcast, Harper shares his journey to becoming a mistakes expert and provides steps for leveraging the power of mistakes, so we can become better teachers and learners. Learn more about Harper, the My Bad podcast, and how to...
Sep 13, 2016•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast When Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes realized his daughter's school backpack weighed in at a portly 20.2 pounds, he decided to tell the world that it's time to reimagine traditional homework. In this episode, Mark tells the story of weighing his daughter's backpack and finding tons--okay, pounds--of workbooks, textbooks, notebooks, and many other unnecessary items that make up her nightly homework. Mark asks the questions that many educators and parents won't ask, and supplies easy right-now s...
Sep 07, 2016•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast New York Times bestselling author Jessica Lahey explains the struggles that parents and teachers have with allowing kids to fail. Author of The Gift of Failure, Lahey had an amazing epiphany a few years ago: She had to allow her son to fail, so he could ultimately succeed. Lahey also shares 3 right now strategies to help you embrace failure and learn how to help kids channel it into success. Learn more about Jessica Lahey and her runaway hit, The Gift of Failure, by clicking into Episode 59 at h...
Aug 31, 2016•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why do students love some classes and hate others? What makes a certain teacher every kid's favorite? How do master teachers become so great? The answer is simple: Master teachers have daily habits that make them great teachers and learners. In Hack Learning Podcast Episode 58, Mark Barnes shares 3 powerful and simple things great teachers do. These 3 habits are part of the 10 Habits of Master Teachers presentation. Learn more at http://masterteacherhabits.com ....
Aug 24, 2016•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast When learning is relevant, students become enthusiastic and engaged. Denis Sheeran, math teacher and author of Instant Relevance, explains how he uses real life experiences to bring relevance to not only math but to any subject or grade. Want to use a snow day, a slice of pizza, or a drive to the store to make learning relevant? Sheeran tells you how in Hack Learning Podcast Episode 57 -- Hacking Relevance. Learn more about Sheeran and his book on the show notes page at http://hacklearningpodcas...
Aug 17, 2016•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Missouri school principal Naomi Austin shares her journey as a school leader, just completing her first year. Austin explains a new leader mistake she made and how she turned that apparent loss into a victory with her staff. Plus, she provides excellent advice for new and veteran leaders in classic Hack Learning style--with What You Can Do Tomorrow tips to build rapport with your stakeholders and to maintain momentum throughout the school year. Austin even explains what to do when leaders need a...
Aug 10, 2016•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast These three quick teaching and learning hacks, based on the runaway bestselling book, Hacking Leadership, are awesome for improving education at any school. Better still, they make people smile, and that’s a beautiful thing. Learn three simple leadership hacks you can implement tomorrow at school, home or in the workplace that will make your stakeholders smile and improve overall attitude and production. This is Hacking Positivity. Learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com ....
Aug 03, 2016•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Author James Sturtevant and I talk Hack Learning and student engagement.
Jul 29, 2016•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gerald Aungst, author of 5 Principles of the Modern Mathematics Classroom: Creating a Culture of Innovative Thinking, knows how to turn math haters into math lovers. In Episode 53 of the Hack Learning Podcast Aungst explains how he learned to inspire inquiry and conjecture in kids by creating unique situations where "something doesn't make sense or is not immediately obvious." Math teachers inspire curiosity in students by immersing them in a problem, Aungst says. Rather than handing them the co...
Jul 27, 2016•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Learn how Dawn Casey-Rowe, author of Don't Sniff the Glue, navigates the rough waters of standardization in her classroom. In Episode 52 of the Hack Learning Series podcast, Dawn explains how she engages students by merging her business experience with learning outcomes, in order to capture the attention of even the most reluctant learners. Dawn shares several what-you-can-do-tomorrow strategies for teachers who want to create an innovative classroom, including using social media platforms like ...
Jul 20, 2016•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 51, Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes recruits guru Don Wettrick to Hack Innovation. Wettrick is a high school teacher in Indiana, popular education presenter and author of Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level. His Innovation Class has grown into an amazing place, rife with students who are creating new programs that have caught the eye of the private sector. Don shares several fascinating stories about Innovation Class, focusing on stude...
Jul 13, 2016•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today's technology empowers teachers and learners to break down the walls of school and business. In Hack Learning Episode 50, Mark Barnes explains how you can easily share teaching and learning with all stakeholders with the power of live streaming video. Learn how Facebook, Periscope, and other platforms help you reveal your best practices and engage a global audience with live video. And learn how to begin immediately. See http://hacklearningpodcast.com for further details and resources....
Jul 06, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Publishing giant Amazon developed a tool for publishers and bloggers to market books, but in the process it may have empowered teachers to turn non-readers into lifelong readers. Kindle Instant Preview is helping educators bring books to life for students, and Instant Preview just might inspire even the most reluctant readers to dive into a book, once they peruse it from their tablet or mobile device. In this episode, Mark Barnes shares the Secret Sauce inside Kindle Instant Preview, which gives...
Jun 29, 2016•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes shares the evolution of the Hack Learning model and says it's time to reframe your thinking and to change your attitude about problem-solving in education and in life. It's time for right now solutions. Here are three examples of solve-today-implement-tomorrow strategies that are sure to improve teaching and learning in your class, at your school, and at home. Learn more at http://hacklearningpodcast.com . Tweet your thoughts to #HackLearning on Twitter....
Jun 22, 2016•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Renowned educators Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis are not your traditional school leaders. In fact, they prefer to lead from the middle, which is quite unorthodox, when you consider the typical top-down leadership model. In a recent conversation with Hack Learning creator and Times 10 Publisher Mark Barnes, Sanfelippo and Sinanis, co-authors of the new Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love, explain how to create a positive school cu...
Jun 18, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you want to build an engaged, vibrant learning community at your school and in your school district, you need to connect with teachers, parents, and community leaders on social media. School principal, connected educator and author of the popular Learning and Leading education blog, Bethany Hill, joins Mark Barnes in Episode 46 to discuss community building in and around schools, using the power of social networks, blogs, online courses and other social sharing tools. Building a successful le...
Jun 15, 2016•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Apple Distinguished Educator Peter Cameron dramatically changed his teaching methods. He created a new kind of homework, which he calls "home share". After reading Cameron's blog post on this alternative to traditional homework and discussing it with him, Mark Barnes explains Cameron's home share strategies and expounds upon the value of Cameron's unique out-of-school assignments, in yet another assault on traditional homework. This is Hacking Homework . . . Again. Learn more at http://hacklearn...
Jun 10, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Flipped learning has become wildly popular in education. Unlike a traditional course setup, where content is delivered in class and students apply and practice their learning through homework, the flipped classroom turns that arrangement on its head: The initial content delivery happens at home, and then students and teachers re-converge in class to apply and practice their learning. In this episode, Mark Barnes identifies the biggest problem with the trendy flipped classroom and provides some s...
Jun 04, 2016•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if you could build a small group of experts or like-minded people who answer your questions or respond to your rants 24/7. Mark Barnes explains how he "Voxes" his way to success with his own expert groups with one simple, free web and mobile application. Learn how to build your tribes and start communicating with them immediately for improved personal and professional growth, in another brief edition of Hack Learning 101.
Jun 02, 2016•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jennifer Hogan tells Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes about her initial experience with the backchannel, which it turns out she may have unwittingly created decades ago. Hogan, an Alabama principal, #USedchat co-founder and global education consultant, conducted an online chat with her students, using, get this, an old AOL chat room, where she discovered some amazing things about teaching and learning in the digital world. In this episode, Hogan explains how that AOL chat turned a shy kid into ...
May 31, 2016•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some of Twitter's most experienced live chat creators and moderators join Mark Barnes to discuss the influence of Twitter on teaching and learning, during live Twitter hashtag chats. Sharing their insights are Tom Whitby, co-creator of Twitter's oldest live discussion, #Edchat, Brad Currie, co-moderator of #Satchat, Connie Hamilton, moderator of #TMchat and Starr Sackstein, co-founder of #Sunchat. These Twitter facilitators reach millions of people weekly during their live chats, which feature h...
May 28, 2016•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast In an under two minute hack, Mark Barnes is joined by Missouri principal and globally connected educator Naomi Austin, who shares her story of change. After some serious reflection and self-evaluation, Austin decided that her assessments were not not efficiently assessing her students. This epiphany led Austin and a colleague to drastically change their practice and Austin's mindset about traditional grades. Learn how Self-Evaluation Changes Practice in about 101 seconds.
May 26, 2016•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Teacher and student engagement expert Jim Sturtevant joins Mark Barnes in a discussion about the concept of the avatar -- no, not the movie. Sturtevant, author of You've Gotta Connect and Hacking Engagement, explains the power of the avatar for engaging kids and helping teachers and parents learn all they can about their most important target audience. Sturtevant details how he gets kids to open up about themselves with a simple online survey and then uses this information to discover the studen...
May 24, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast World renowned teacher/rapper and Youtube phenom Jason Levine, aka Fluency MC, shares three hacks for English Language Learning, including a surprising tip about using social media. Levine travels the world, demonstrating how to engage English Language Learners in ways most teachers and learners have never seen. An international Youtube star, whose unique ELL rap videos have been viewed millions of times, Fluency MC stops rapping just long enough to share some practical, yet powerful, tips for m...
May 21, 2016•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes, one of education's top social media and digital learning experts, explains the power of Periscope. Mark provides four simple steps to help you get started with the live streaming video tool in 101 seconds or less. Listen to this brief episode and start sharing your message with the world, using Periscope today. This is Hack Learning 101: The Power of Periscope.
May 19, 2016•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
