Educators Amplified

A Teacher’s COVID Experience (Zach)

Hallie and Joanna amplify more results from the survey that educators have been responding to. Go to tinyurl.com/BeHeardEducators, to take the survey if you haven’t already.
Then, there is another educator on the podcast - Zach! 
Zach highlights how teachers may have felt they were in a “Goldilocks district” until 2020 exaggerated and exposed the hierarchy system within education. He eloquently outlines how decisions are made from people with no 'skin in the game’ because there is a lack of communication between who makes the decisions in a school versus who’s working with students on a daily basis.
Hallie, Joanna, and Zach discuss the incredible resilience of students and the importance of creating communities within the classroom. They are noticing the deep compassion children have during difficult times. 
Lastly, Zach shares how he has transcended his anger to focus on things that “give him Life”, which tends to be union work. He describes how an under-shared benefit of being part of the union is the feeling of being empowered because we work towards something bigger than ourselves. Everything about the union is a win-win situation. 
Give Zach some love and let us know your thoughts - on Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com
THANK YOU to Josh at Silver City Studios, DJ Dripsweat, and WEA Academy for your original music, skills, and sponsorship!

'Educator's Amplified' Evolves

Joanna and Hallie are talking today about the evolution of the podcast and themselves on this episode. From “What are you up to now?” to “What is Educator’s Amplified?” - the ladies cover all the questions you want answered. 
Exciting evolution shared this episode: THEY WILL BE ON THE RADIO ONCE PER WEEK! Educators Amplified and BustEd Pencils have teamed up for an education collaboration on Civic Media Radio on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm CST. Listen live on civicmedia.us! 
Thank you to educators who are doing the work in the classroom every day AND to all of our listeners for supporting us. We are so grateful.

Amplifying a Teacher’s Rally

This episode we talk about all things rallying! There was a WEAC sponsored Rally on May 20th, 2023 to support Governor Evers Budget. So we have a play-by-play of the rally for you! 
The best part: Listen to lots of different voices of educators and supporters at the rally. Hear their insight into what’s happening in education and the need for funding. 
Additionally, check out the article that was written by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the Rally as well - See how Wisconsin teachers support the WI governor's education budget: https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/05/20/weac-rally-support-governor-evers-education-budget/11921111002/
Thank you to our sponsor NEA! 
Thank you to Josh Evert and DJ DripSweat for your talent! 
Email us anytime at educatorsamplified@gmail.com 
Find us on Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified 

All About the Teacher’s Union

In this episode there is a lot covered! Being amplified is Ted Kraig, a WEAC Region 7 Uniserv Director. His experience working with the teacher’s union is to help frontline educators (teachers, paraprofessionals, school secretaries, guidance counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists) maintain professional level working conditions. He has a wealth of knowledge and understanding on what it is like to be a public school employee without actually being one. 
Listen to this episode to learn more about how educators are treated within the workplace. Hear about how Ted helps educators in a range of situations: education law, teacher improvement plans, salary negotiations, public school funding, professional work time, and much more! Be prepared to learn a lot from Ted - he is direct, well-versed, and clear about the educator experience in schools and how professionals should be treated.
To all frontline educators who work within public schools - if you haven’t already - join your union! Whether you have a local association or not, Ted explains how you can join at weac.org/joinnow and all the support you will receive. Educators - we need support now more than ever - connect with those who have your back! 
Connect with us via Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or through email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com and give us your answer to the question: IF YOU COULD WAVE A MAGIC WAND AND MAKE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITHIN EDUCATION DISAPPEAR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Thank you to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
Thank you to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
Thank you to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are interested in learning more about education from around the nation, go to: nea.org

A Millennial Teacher’s Experience (Katerina)

In this episode, it’s time to amplify Katerina - a teacher that Joanna and Hallie used to work with. Katerina is authentic, passionate, and gets right to the point. She shares her journey to becoming a teacher instead of pursuing her dreams of becoming an astronaut.
 
Hear what led Katerina to ‘make the move’ to leave one District and go to another, from Southeast Wisconsin to Chicago Public Schools. They discuss, in detail, the two top reasons for leaving education: #1 is salary and #2 is administration. And listen to how Katerina, Joanna, and Hallie all have their own way of relating to these reasons to leave.
 
They dive deep into serious issues going on in schools with students, like rising mental health, self-medicating, and extreme behaviors. It’s a raw conversation, but to them it’s a ‘typical day at the office’. 
 
Hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as they loved chatting again.
Connect with us via Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or through email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org
 

A Student’s School Experience (Xavier)

Joanna and Hallie talk with a (past) student for the first time on the podcast! Xavier talks about his experience as a student and now as a parent in school. Hear an authentic and raw conversation about what it was like for him, a hyper student who was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age, to navigate the school system. He talks openly about the benefit of his meaningful relationships with three teachers that helped him manage his education experience. 
Xavier’s bottom line is that it’s all about the approach and comes down to understanding. Plus a reminder to all students - you are loved. If you want to hear a student’s experience in school, this is a MUST LISTEN!
Also, don’t forget to RSVP to our Educational Event on March 4th 2023 - Flyer & RSVP HERE: https://forms.gle/NziZqJMXYW8TGE5D8
 
Connect with us via Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or through email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org

Transformation within Education

In this episode Joanna and Hallie are dreamin’ - they’ve got big ideas for how schools can transform in 2023 and beyond! And when they say “dreaming”... they actually can *see* this being a reality. 
They work through what they see, hear, and are within education to chat about how schools can transform to spaces where children’s needs are met in developmentally meaningful ways. From the teenage mental health crisis to a concerted effort to privatize education - they cover it all. It all boils down to nervous system regulation y'all! 
Take a listen and let us know what your thoughts and hopes for public schools are! 
 
Connect with us via Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or through email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org

A New Teacher’s Experience (Allie)

Joanna and Hallie start by talking about the added stress in our lives right now, especially during the holiday season. It’s *insider info* and expertise that teachers understand from working with children that this time of year isn’t always “the most wonderful time of the year”.
Our guest today, Allie, is in her third year as a classroom teacher. She started her career during a global pandemic and teacher exodus. She is authentic about hardships and of questioning herself during the start of her career. She asks the question a lot of teachers identify with: are we ever ‘good enough’?
Allie, Hallie, and Joanna chat about how they know each other and Allie’s immediate connection and inspiration to teach nervous system regulation in the classroom. She expresses how it has served her as a teacher and her ability to manage it all with this base-level understanding. 
Lastly, hear about Allie’s experience within WEAC - from Aspiring Educator to Early Career Educator (ECE) to Local President - she gains her energy from her work with WEAC. In the words of Allie, “joining the Union is a kind of a no-brainer”. 
Enjoy! 
Connect with us via Facebook and Instagram @EducatorsAmplified or through email at educatorsamplified@gmail.com
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org
 

A Global Leadership Director’s Perspective (Dr. Fullan)

In this episode, Joanna and Hallie talk with a Global Leadership Director (wowza!), the optimistic education researcher himself: Dr. Michael Fullan. Michael is an advocate for educators and explains how he writes what he captures from people on the frontlines within education. He has a clear way of expressing what’s going on in schools and how we can work towards making schools a place teachers and students can grow and learn.
Hear about how Joanna and Michael linked up through the concept of how schools are ‘Academic Obsessed’. Also, hear about how they have evolved to working together, including an op-ed titled “When It Comes to the Teacher Shortage, Who’s Abandoning Whom?”. (Links below to read more about it)
Most importantly, Michael is hopeful and inspires Hallie and Joanna (and hopefully you, the listener!) about where we can head in education when we ground in what’s working and offer effective, breakthrough solutions to the problems we face right now. 
 
Take a look at the article that brought Joanna and Michael together about ‘Academic Obsession’: https://michaelfullan.ca/3460-2/
Link to the article Joanna and Michael co-authored, “Who’s Abandoning Whom?”: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-when-it-comes-to-the-teacher-shortage-whos-abandoning-whom/2022/08).
Article Michael references in the episode, “6 Reasons Out Students Should Be Seen As Changemakers”: https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-here-are-6-reasons-our-students-should-be-seen-as-changemakers/2022/09
Other Shout Outs during the Episode:
Kevin Kumishiro
WEAC PDI Conference
NEA - National Education Association
 
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
 
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org
 

We Made It Back to School

We made it back, baby, and it’s a new school year! Have educators come back energized? How many new teachers are new at your school? What are you seeing and hearing at your public school?
In this episode, Joanna and Hallie talk about what they see and hear throughout multiple school districts across the state and nation now that we are back to school. They chat about what it’s like to be sitting in the ‘professional development’ meetings that educators have to come back early to school for. They identify the juxtaposition in schools between why teachers are in schools and what they are told to teach and its polarities. 
The good news is: Educators are now able to identify what they can and can’t take on this school year - healthy boundaries are being set! There is a larger community effort and understanding of the devastating effects of the privatization efforts on public schools - more people are standing up and speaking out! Educators are doing amazing, creative things - let’s bring more of it into our schools!
Something to remember: “don’t look up, look around,” tell us what that statement means to you - email us at educatorsamplified@gmail.com or message us on Facebook and Instagram at Educators Amplified. 
Here’s the article Joanna references about Cell Phones & Schools: 
“Teachers Tired of Fighting Cell Phones in Classrooms” 
Link to the episode where we were guests on SpearHead Conversations:
Educators Amplified on SpearHead Conversations
Link to Joanna’s article that she co-authored with Dr. Michael Fullan:
“When It Comes to the Teacher Shortage: Who’s Abandoning Whom?” 
THANK YOU to our sponsor: NEA (National Education Association)
THANK YOU to our producer: Josh Evert at Silver City Studios in Milwaukee, WI
THANK YOU to DJ DripSweat for our original music.
If you are in education within Wisconsin and want to join your professional organization now, go to: weac.org/joinnow
If you are interested in learning more from around the nation, go to: nea.org