Podcast: Putting Students in the Driver’s Seat

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Podcast: Sharon Murchie

After a summer hiatus (or a summer full of professional learning opportunities with teachers), we’re back! In this episode, we chat with Sharon Murchie, a high school English teacher with Bath Community Schools. She provides a look into her classroom and how she helps to empower her students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. We also flip the table and ask you to answer this episode’s #campfireQ!

Now, here’s the notes:

  • We’re excited to share a new opportunity with you for our podcast! We’ve taken the cast and turned it into a course where you can earn SCECHs. You can find it here.
  • What We’re Digging – This episode we’re switching it up a bit and sharing the Triple E Framework from Liz Kolb and sharing our own stories of false engagement. On that note, we worked with Liz through a book study on her book Learning First, Technology Second. Keep an eye out on our social media to see when the next section starts!
  • We chat with Sharon Murchie about genius hour in her classroom. She shares how she takes her standards and provides voice, choice and student agency so that her students have options to demonstrate their learning. Sharon explains how she sets this up using tools like Google Classroom and Docs. And just for fun, she plays a round of educational “Would You Rather?”.
  • In this episode’s #campfireQ we switch it up and throw the question back to YOU. We want to know, have you ever used technology for false engagement? And if you have, what would you do differently or how would you make it better? Don’t forget to share your stories and ideas with us!

As always, if you want to subscribe, check us out on iTunes, Google Play Music and SoundCloud!

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The Digital Backpack

The Digital Backpack, powered by Michigan Virtual, is a podcast dedicated to sharing tips and tricks for teachers as they navigate their journey through online and blended learning. Join the host Jeff Gerlach as he discovers new tools and resources for classroom use, talks to practitioners who are doing great things with their students, and has some fun!

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