Experienced educator and Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes explains three easy ways to create your own TQZ, or Teacher Quiet Zone, and escape the chaos of your hectic work day. Based on a concept from the bestselling book, Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes for Every School, Mark details what a TQZ is, where to find it, and how to start using it immediately. The Teacher Quiet Zone can be used by non-educators too and is a marvelous way to reduce stress and decompress from the craziness of your wo...
May 17, 2016•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the new Hack Learning Series book,Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love, Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis discuss how important it is for leaders to be present and engaged with all stakeholders. Hack Learning host Mark Barnes shares the authors' 5 strategies for moving beyond traditional leadership and engaging with all stakeholders daily. This is 5 Quick Tips for Becoming a Lead Learner.
May 15, 2016•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast In another brief Hack Learning 101, Mark Barnes provides a quick tip for looking inside the lives of educators and schools, using Periscope live streaming video. Mark also explains how to break down the walls of teaching and learning with monthly PassTheScopeEDU events--live streaming videos from more than a dozen educators, opening the doors to their classrooms and homes, in order to reveal exactly how they teach and learn. This is Hack Learning 101.
May 12, 2016•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast School district superintendent Joe Sanfelippo and professor emeritus John Bennett explain how old-school mandates that stifle teacher autonomy can destroy school and work place culture. Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes rants about outdated leadership practices and challenges leaders to trust the people they hire to do the job the best way they know how. This is Hacking School Culture.
May 07, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nashville teacher Mike Stein shares the power of Genius Hour with Hack Learning host Mark Barnes, who passes along some quick tips for starting your own Genius Hour. Learn how to inspire students to pursue their passions and, more important, how to intrigue kids to believe those passions are valuable parts of independent learning. This is 101: Genius Hour for Passion Projects.
May 05, 2016•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes shares 10 teaching strategies for amazing leanring in May -- a time when many teachers and learners shut down for the summer. Mark highlights some of the best ways to engage learners until the end of the school year and beyond, featuring 10 tweets from a live #HackLearning Twitter chat, facilitated by Jennifer Hogan, a co-moderator of the #LastBell movement. See all 10 strategies at HackLearning.org. This is Hacking the End of the School Year.
May 02, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast As long as report cards exist, teachers must supply a number or letter grade at the end of a grading period. For teachers who operate no-grades classrooms, based on conversation about learning and ongoing narrative feedback, report card time can be a struggle. If we're not assigning grades throughout the year, how do we suddenly assign a grade for a report card? Hack Learning creator and no-grades classroom advocate Mark Barnes provides 5 strategies for successful student self-grading at report ...
Apr 30, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this 101 session, Mark Barnes explains the power of Twitter hashtags for creating your own tribe of like-minded teachers and learners. Mark, whose tweets reach more than 3 million newsfeeds monthly, explains how you can create any hashtag you like on any subject of interest and find people who will tweet their thoughts and resources about the topic daily. Soon, you'll have your own expert tribe that you can learn from 24/7. Hack Learning 101 appears in your Hack Learning Podcast feed every Th...
Apr 28, 2016•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Education hacker, Mark Barnes, never envisioned himself as a podcaster, believing that producing a podcast would be far too time-consuming and very difficult. After producing twenty-eight episodes for the Hack Learning podcast, in just over two months, attracting more than 7,000 listeners, Barnes explains how he records, uploads, and publishes Hack Learning episodes in just minutes a day. This is Hacking the Podcast.
Apr 26, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast With so many websites and mobile applications available and more cropping up daily, teachers sometimes struggle to find the right tool to engage learners. Longtime educator, author and Cult of Pedagogy publisher, Jennifer Gonzalez, shares simple strategies for finding the best EdTech for your students, as she discusses her new Teachers Guide to Tech -- an interactive library of hundreds of powerful tools and ways to use them in any classroom. Gonzalez reveals one shockingly simple hack for bette...
Apr 24, 2016•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes shared the hashtag #TeachOneLesson on Twitter, and something amazing happened. If you had the power to reach every child in the world with one brief, simple lesson what would it be? Share it on Twitter and Facebook at #TeachOneLesson.
Apr 16, 2016•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast One classroom sign, shared on social media, shocked many teachers and parents, while inspiring others to cheer. The sign's message? "You cannot do extra credit to bring up your grade." This sign and the uproar it sparked on Facebook and Twitter encouraged author/speaker/educator Mark Barnes to continue the conversation with his own network and in this Hack Learning Podcast episode. This is Hacking the Message.
Apr 11, 2016•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you shout out of anger, not only does it impede problem solving, shouting, especially at children, can erode trust and lead to even more battles. Quoting the advice of psychologist Karen Young and expert teacher and author Jennifer Gonzalez, Mark Barnes shares several quick fixes for your yelling problem. This is Hacking the Shout.
Apr 05, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Educator, author and instructional design expert, Ross Cooper, explores inquiry based learning with Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes. Cooper explains what inquiry in the K12 classroom looks like and what teachers need to do to create an environment that encourages students to look beyond the surface and participate in a productive struggle that leads to deeper understanding of concepts. This is Hacking Inquiry Based Learning.
Apr 02, 2016•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Inspired by a Washington Post article comparing the college admission process to the Hunger Games, Mark Barnes offers three hacks that can revolutionize this process. This is Hacking College Admissions.
Mar 29, 2016•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Teacher, digital learning specialist, and mom, Kerry Gallagher, explains how a label after an in-class assessment gave her 7-year-old daughter a stomach ache. Then, Gallager and Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes suggest some simple ways that both teachers and parents can eliminate labels and inspire children to think about learning, without the hindrance of a grade. This is Hacking Assessment.
Mar 24, 2016•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if every single student in your class participated in your next discussion? Yes, even the most reluctant learners, the shy kids, and English language learners. Imagine the power of 100 percent participation. Teacher, bestselling author, and Hack Learning creator, Mark Barnes, shares 5 ways you can engage all learners tomorrow. This is Hacking Class Participation.
Mar 22, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes shares 5 classroom management tips that he says will work at any school. Learn more about hacking classroom management at www.hacklearning.org .
Mar 20, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hack Learning creator Mark Barnes enlists the help of seven experienced educators, who share various ways teachers can engage students in learning, without using traditional worksheets. These education hackers teach all levels in various subjects, demonstrating that the old worksheet is obsolete in any classroom. This is Hacking the Worksheet.
Mar 17, 2016•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast With more than 120 million illiterate children, it's time to put books in kids' hands. In this episode, Mark Barnes shares how one school built a Book Nook, filled with thousands of books, which the school gave to its students. Unlike the school library, the Book Nook is a place where students can simply take books and keep them. In one of the easiest, yet most powerful education hacks ever created, you learn simple steps for launching your own Book Nook as early as tomorrow. Then, you can build...
Mar 13, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Two popular connected educators discuss the problem of the unconnected educator and share some Right-Now strategies for helping them plug in to incredible professional development on Twitter. This is Hacking Connected Education with Mark Barnes.
Mar 10, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Hacking the Test (Part 1), Mark Barnes explains how a test is NOT assessment and how teachers can shift the conversation about learning away from the test. In Part 2, Mark shares a story about how a second-grade teacher and his 7 year olds discover that a one-time test says nothing about learning, and they provide a better alternative to the traditional test. This is Hacking the Test (Part 2).
Mar 03, 2016•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast A simple tweeted picture ignited an ongoing conversation about education technology and its place in schools. Should we ban mobile devices in classrooms? Should we strengthen network filters? Or should we teach kids boundaries? Hack Learning creator and author of Teaching the iStudent Mark Barnes provides two simple steps for improvement. This is Hacking Digital Citizenship.
Mar 01, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes explains how author/expert Mike Fisher reimagines teaching the Common Core, with his one-letter hack. Fisher replaces the "r" in "rigor", to completely change the climate of today's classrooms, even in a standardized world. Barnes wonders if it's possible to change other areas of teaching and learning by shifting the language in other trendy education words. He suggests that major change is possible if teachers work together to come up with other one-letter or one-word hacks. Share y...
Feb 27, 2016•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's time to stop punishing students for turning in their work late. Author/educator Mark Barnes explains why late policies cripple learning and discourage students. Barnes provides simple steps for encouraging students to budget their time and one step for Hacking the Late Policy. Wait till you hear how Mark Barnes suggests that you Hack your own late work policy. Learn more at http://hacklearning.org .
Feb 26, 2016•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Learn 3 quick tips for improving your professional growth today. Bestselling author, educator, and creator of the Hack Learning Series, Mark Barnes, explains how you can access a limitless supply of powerful information from like-minded people, and put it in the palm of your hands, using tools you likely know but may not be using to their full potential. Learn more at http://hacklearning.org .
Feb 24, 2016•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Would teaching and learning change if teachers treated all students like they were your own children? Author/educator and Hack Learning Series book publisher Mark Barnes shares one of his worst moments as a teacher--when he humiliated a student--and how that moment forever changed his teaching style. This is hacking rapport building.
Feb 21, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sometimes leaders need to make decisions on their own. Author/educator Mark Barnes explains how one poor school principal decision can inhibit learning, damage relationships, and cost a district a lot of money. Barnes then shares one simple fix for this big problem. This is Hacking School Leadership.
Feb 20, 2016•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if you had more time at work? Imagine an extra 2-5 hours on the job that are self-directed. Mark Barnes explains how every educator and private sector employee can have this extra time. All you have to do is move the workplace meeting to the cloud. Learn how a digital backchannel and bin can replace almost all meetings, building up to 20 more hours per month into your work days. We're hacking the meeting.
Feb 18, 2016•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Barnes identifies 6 reasons that teachers assign traditional homework and explains how to circumvent each reason and eliminate outdated traditional homework. In this brief episode, Mark Barnes explains how to throw out homework, while inspiring independent learning. Join Mark in Hacking Homework.
Feb 18, 2016•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
