OEA Grow

Gamification in a Biology Course

In this episode, we turn to community college for a discussion of how gamification can create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. Dr. Sascha McKeon is a biology instructor and faculty at Blue Mountain Community College. Leonne talks with Sascha about how she successfully gamified her biology for non-majors course by creating four different paths to completion based on the four “houses” in the Harry Potter book series. Sascha explains how and why she got started in gamification, how she has implemented it, and its effects on her students. In her examples, gamification dovetails with differentiation and Universal Design for Learning strategies by giving students abundant choice in how they complete the course. In this way, different learning styles are valued, opening the door to increased student ownership, relevance, self-awareness, and self-empowerment. A devout researcher, Sacha has carefully measured and assessed her gamified course to evaluate both student success and course rigor. By using LMS analytics, Sascha found the amount of time students invested in the biology course (doing science!) tripled when compared with previous iterations of the course. For those new to gamification, Sascha recommends starting small and looking for ways to increase student choice.
 
Resources:
Contact Dr. Sascha Mckeon smckeon@bluecc.edu 
NW eLearn
Gamification of education and learning: A review of empirical literature
The Gamification of learning: A meta-analysis 
Game On! Gamification, Gameful Design and the Rise of the Gamer Educator - Kevin Bell
Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World - Jane McGonigal

Place-Based Education

Kelsey Madison is an Oregon educator with a passion for working with youth in outdoor places. In this episode, season host Leonne talks with Kelsey about place-based education. Kelsey defines placed-based education as a way to ground in the place that we are in. It helps communities by asking those people to identify and solve local concerns. With a degree in environmental biology, experience in many placed-based education seasonal jobs nationally, and service in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, Kelsey brought her passion and skills to Oregon. Kelsey worked for MESD Outdoor School in Oregon for two years and was most recently a long-term middle school science substitute teacher in Portland Public Schools. As a long-term sub, Kelsey’s approach to place-based education was rooted in building trust and relationships with students and taking them outside every day. Leonne and Kelsey ponder the idea of a “common core” for outdoor education as well as place-based education’s connection to mindfulness. Kelsey’s advice to educators is to find out the history, culture, and local ecology of the place you’re in as a way to embrace place-based education even within the walls of your school or college.  
 
Resources:
Beetles Project - Resources for Outdoor Science Programs
Video: Placed-Based Learning: Connecting Kids to Their Community (Hood River, OR)
Placed-Based Learning (higher ed) - Teaching in Higher Ed podcast
Native Land Interactive Map
Oregon Outdoor School Providers and Sites

Special Education and Inclusion

How does special education connect to a safe, welcoming, and inclusive school? In this episode, Leonne talks with life skills and peer tutoring special education teacher Niels Pasternak (Eugene EA) to answer this question. Niels is also the Chair of the OEA Special Education Committee and the Executive Director of Educational Equity Now. For Niels, special education is all about inclusivity, serving all students, and helping all students feel like they fit in. To do this, he recommends focusing on students' needs, strengths, and interests. Neils also points to approaches like differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning because when it comes to education, one size doesn't fit all. Leonne and Niels also discuss the power of life skills and peer tutoring programs in their schools. Finally, Niels explains the work of the OEA Special Education Committee, the OEA Educator Empowerment Academy, and the member resources provided by both.
 
Resources:
SpEd Connect: Ask the OEA Special Education Committee a question
Educational Equity Now
Link to join Oregon Educators United
OEA Educator Empowerment Academy
Universal Design for Learning - CAST

Window of Tolerance

This week, Leonne interviews Phoenix Blickle, a nurse with the Multnomah Education Service District working in two elementary schools. In the episode, Phoenix explains the window of tolerance. Coined by a neuropsychiatrist named Dan Siegel in a 1999 book, the window of tolerance describes the mental/emotional states where we’re able to function at our best. When you’re within your window of tolerance you can experience all the ups and downs of life while being grounded and present. Phoenix also explains what it looks like when we're out of our window of tolerance. In this model, dysregulation is seen as either “hyperarousal” or “hypoarousal” and is related to one’s fight, flight, or freeze response. Phoenix and Leonne also discuss strategies to help students navigate their window of tolerance, starting with noticing our own state and helping students notice what state they’re in. The window of tolerance also has a broader reach into activist spaces. 
 
Resources:
Window of Tolerance Overview (5 minute video) - Sophie C
Practices for returning to your window of tolerance (all ages) - Dr. Laura K. Kerr
Window of tolerance as a river - supports and practices for children - Government of Jersey Psychology and Wellbeing Service 
Window of tolerance as a rainbow (all ages) - Lindsay Braman

Trauma Informed Education

You’ve probably already heard the term “trauma informed” but maybe you’re wondering what exactly this looks like in education? In season 3 episode 3, Leonne interviews Jeff Crapper, a CTE Teacher on Special Assignment in Beaverton, an award-winning science and health sciences teacher, and a facilitator in OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator series.He’s also a parent with years of experience navigating systems with children who have experienced trauma. Jeff asserts that student behavior is often a manifestation of something else. With a trauma-informed approach, we can ask ourselves how we can support students, not blame them for their behavior, and nurture their success. Jeff explains the OEA Trauma-Informed course series (free for members and available for undergraduate and graduate credits) and his own trauma-informed work in the classroom detailing specific examples working with teen refugees from conflict-heavy areas of the world. Leonne and Jeff dig into the concepts of holistic and systemic approaches to being trauma-informed and acknowledge the impact of community-level trauma such as poverty, racism, and the Covid pandemic.The power of positive adult relationships in students’ lives can’t be underestimated: With awareness, creativity, collaboration, and educators' own regulation, we can help build resilience and confidence in students affected by trauma. 
 
Resources:
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator Series
The Body Keeps the Score - Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) - CDC
Individual and Community Trauma: Individual Experiences in Collective Environments - Lauren Weisner
Community trauma 101: Building resilience in 2020 - Texas Children’s Hospital
Co-regulation and other trauma webinar recordings (OEA members only, request access, PDUs available)

Inclusive Student Center in Middle School

In the second episode of the Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Schools season, Leonne talks with Kelsey Hibbert, Dean of Students at Linus Pauling Middle School in Corvallis and former middle school teacher. At Linus Pauling, Hibbert runs the Student Center, a place for students who need to reset and regulate, report safety issues or difficulties, or talk through peer-to-peer issues. At the Student Center, staff take a collaborative problem solving approach to discern what each student needs. For example, they might need someone to talk to, something to fidget with, a quiet place to do their work, an opportunity to put their head down and rest, etc. With parameters, these are just some of the options offered to students at the Student Center. Hibbert explains that the goal is for students to know they have a place to get their needs met when classroom support isn’t enough. Part of the success of the Center is collaboration with counselors, mental health specialists, classroom teachers, and other staff at the school. The center is also a space for student clubs to help build a sense of belonging. Leonne and Kelsey discuss the changes they’ve seen since Covid and the need for trauma-informed practices such as “connect before correct”. They also emphasize the need to reflect on what’s working and what’s not working. In the end, the Center staff strive for students to feel like they've had a successful day. Not surprisingly, Hibbert was a 2022 recipient of a Corvallis Public Schools Foundation Golden Apple award.
 
Resources:
OEA’s Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator Series
Collaborative Problem Solving Overview (5 minute video) - Think Kids
2022 Golden Apple Recipient: Kelsey Hibbert - Corvallis Public Schools Foundation

Navigating Critical Conversations about Honest, Accurate History

OEA member host Leonne Bannister kicks off season three with community partner Amanda Coven, former middle-school math teacher and current Director of Education at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. Leonne and Amanda discuss navigating critical conversations about honest, accurate history with a focus on Senate bill 664: Holocaust Education which passed in 2019. It is currently a K-12 mandate with full integration into grade-level standards in social sciences scheduled for 2026.
Amanda explains that SB664 is not just about the Holocaust, because If we want to prevent mass violence, we need to understand how violence unfolds in a variety of different places and situations. Additionally, the skills necessary to navigate critical conversations about history are transferable to all kinds of other difficult conversations. Amanda and Leonne discuss what the mandate looks like in practice and provide tips for teachers, including using trauma-informed measures before teaching any difficult history, being honest and open with students about our own difficulties discussing these topics, reassuring students that we will check in with them, using your school counselor, and including processing time at the beginning and end of lessons.
Amanda also provides information on how educators can get support from her and the Museum. Finally, Amanda explains the difficulties of current Jewish American students in their schools and their struggle to feel safe.
 
Resources:
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education
Amanda Coven email address: acoven@ojmche.org 
National Museum of American Jewish History
Pantsuit Politics podcast
I Think You're Wrong But I'm Listening
Now What? How To Move Forward When We're Divided (About Practically Everything)

Season 3 Host Introduction

Welcome to season three of the OEA Grow Podcast, a member-led production of the Oregon Education Association. In season three we will be discussing Safe, Welcoming, and Inclusive Schools. This topic has been a prominent one on educators’ minds both before and since the publication of OEA’s Crisis of Disrupted Learning Report. We will continue with member-to- member conversations with the occasional community partner guest. Some of the topics of discussion include behavior interventions, social emotional learning, trauma informed education, and special education. Listen in as you sip your morning coffee, cook dinner, etc. Our member educator host for season three is Corvallis school counselor Leonne Bannister.
Head over to grow.oregoned.org to stay up to date on all the professional learning opportunities available through OEA.

The Mediation Process

In the final episode of Season Two: Conflict Resolution Strategies, Joyce welcomes Brinda Narayan-Wold and Huck Wilken to discuss the free and confidential mediation process available to OEA members. The OEA Mediation Network helps individuals and teams reduce conflict-based suffering and get back to a place of dignity. Communication, decision making, and professionalism issues are the three major reasons people seek mediation. The process can be initiated by emailing the Mediation Network. Mediators will then conduct individual and impartial interviews with each party to ensure that people feel heard and understood before the group session. In group mediation, everyone wants to come to a solution and the solution arises from the participants themselves. To emphasize the confidential nature of mediation, Brinda and Huck explain that mediation sessions and their outcomes are not shared with HR, principals, or local unions. One-on-one coaching and mediation are also available to help individuals develop conflict resolution skills and strategies. For example, teachers can learn how to deal with a difficult principal. Brinda and Huck emphasize that when we get through challenges and conflict, we are better people and educators.
 
Ready to contact the OEA Mediation Network? Email mediation@oregoned.org 
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network

Values, Needs, and the Neuroscience of Conflict

Joyce is joined by retired educator Beverly Wilson to discuss what happens in our brains and bodies when we experience conflict. When our values, needs, or identities are threatened, we react biologically and have an opportunity to interrupt the conflict. They discuss values (culturally defined) and needs (universal), the role they play in conflict, and the different ways people respond to a given situation. By engaging our prefrontal cortex, slowing down our thinking, and asking reflective questions we are able to disengage our amygdala. Beverly reminds us that by validating, empathizing, and asking clarifying questions, we can help someone who is starting to become elevated to slow down. 
Learn more about the OEA Mediation Network and opportunities for Conflict Coaching.