Episodes
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Interoceptive Strategies and Co-regulation
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Do you know the term “interoception,” the perception of the internal state of one’s body? Tune into this episode for ways to help students refine their sense of interoception and gain awareness and self-control over their emotions and behavior. Dr. Amy Yillik’s guest this week is Katie Diez, an occupational therapist in the High Desert Education Service District who explains the importance of students becoming mindful of their body sensations and how these sensations are linked to emotions in particular. She suggests that educators encourage students to recognize physical sensations without judgment, link them to specific emotions, and develop strategies to deal with them.
Educators can use these same methods, even as simple as deep breathing, to handle their own stress. This episode offers an array of helpful suggestions for achieving mindfulness and self-control as we help students self-regulate their behavior.
Resources -
The Significance of Interoception
Mindfulness in the Classroom
Resources for Educators
Katie Diez demonstrates a mindfulness exercise, bead breathing
Katie Diez’s “Katie Calm Time” - working with students on turn taking, impulse control, and social skills
Using Body Wisdom to Calm the Stressed Brain - OEA self-paced module
Applied Educational Neuroscience Program OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
Introduction to Culture of Care (Part 2)
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
Wednesday Dec 13, 2023
Dr. Amy Yillik continues her conversation this week with her Culture of Care colleagues, Amber McGill and Erin Taylor. In this episode they explain in detail how the program, focusing on trauma-responsive, restorative, and equitable practices, supports schools in the High Desert Education Service District with workshops, coaching, and other pedagogical services that individual educators often have neither time nor resources to provide for their students.
This episode offers simple, yet practical suggestions for helping students feel secure and empowered. The three coaches also discuss ways for educators to focus on their own wellness and avoid burnout. The conversation is overall an optimistic one - despite overworked educators and understaffed schools, there is an upsurge of commitment to these areas of restorative and equitable practices in Oregon, and listeners are encouraged to reach out to make connections and find support.
Resources
Tim Feeney Script Guides to simplify restorative practices
Michael Grinder, ”Master the Science of Nonverbal Communication” with ENVoY Coaches and Trainers
Katharine Manning. The Empathetic Workplace: 5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job. HarperCollins Leadership, 2021.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Introduction to Culture of Care (Part I)
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023
In this first episode of Season 11, our host Dr. Amy Yillik, discusses the importance of supporting the adults in the school system in order to foster trauma-sensitive, restorative, and equitable environments for students. Dr. Yillik’s guests this week are her colleagues Erin Taylor and Amber McGill, who work with her in Culture of Care, a program created by six Oregon school districts in the High Desert Education Service District. The three women bring their experience and expertise in school psychology to hold workshops and learning opportunities for adults who work with students so that they can support students’ needs to feel safe, seen, known, and valued.
Tune into this episode to gain insights into the challenges faced by students navigating a system that may not always meet their needs. The problems are increasingly acute when overworked educators are often on the verge of burnout, with overcrowded classrooms, understaffed schools, and lack of time for self-care. The three Culture of Care coaches offer suggestions for school districts facing these hurdles.
Resources -
Culture of Care program
Dr. Amy Yillik’s TED Ed Talk
Erin Taylor’s TED Ed Talk
Matthew R. Morris on Teacher Burnout
Herbert J. Freudenberger. Burn Out: The High Cost of High Achievement. Bantam, 1983.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Season 11: Culture of Care Host Introduction
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
The Oregon Education Association welcomes you to Season 11 of the OEA Grow podcast series in which we will discuss the growing problem of trauma in our schools. Our host this season is Dr. Amy Yillik from Culture of Care, a program in central Oregon that offers coaching and consultation for schools in trauma responses.
In this season’s episodes, Amy draws on her more than twenty years’ experience as a school counselor, psychologist, and counselor educator, as well as her position as professor in the School Counseling Master’s Program at the University of Southern California. Amy will speak with educators around the state this season who have developed trauma-sensitive, restorative, and equitable practices to take care of our students, ourselves, and each other.
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Supporting Newly Arrived Students in Community College
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
Wednesday Nov 22, 2023
In this last episode of Season 10, our host Sakura Hamada expands the discussion of newly arrived students to include the community college level. Her guest is Kathryn Long from Clackamas Community College, who explains that adult newly arrived college students may not be actually newly arrived in this country because of registration timelines. They often differ from K-12 students, too, because of financial and work-related challenges. Educators should be aware of the students’ wide variety of backgrounds, some with previously earned degrees from other countries and others lacking any higher education experience.
Even though she is a teacher of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Kathryn teaches much more than English language skills, also helping her students to navigate American conversation, including cultural norms surrounding questions, compliments, and requests. She suggests several ways to converse with adults from other cultures with respect and understanding.
Resources
Immigrant Students in Oregon Higher Education
ESOL at Clackamas Community College
Kathryn suggests OER (Open Educational Resources) texts to reduce financial hardships on students. Also see the Open Textbook Library.OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Supporting Newcomers Experiencing Trauma
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Wednesday Nov 15, 2023
Host Sakura Hamada focuses this week on trauma experienced by newly arrived students and how educators can create safe spaces for them. Her guest is Franky Collins, who is experienced in working with both elementary and middle-school newcomers. She explains that these students can often come from traumatic backgrounds and family situations, so educators must be prepared with individualized lessons, spaces to retreat for de-stressing, and a variety of modalities for learning. She emphasizes the importance of collaborating with colleagues and reaching out to families to focus on what’s best for each student.
As a bonus, Franky divulges her secret of using music and dancing, usually at the beginning of each day, to create an atmosphere of casual community building and socio-emotional learning. Of course, the students contribute to the class’s playlist, often from their homelands, and Franky shares with us the musicians from around the world who are currently popular with her students. She adds that she finds it useful to read migration literature to understand her students more thoroughly. Her goals are three-fold: that her students are unafraid to ask for help, that they have organizational skills for success, and that they get to know themselves and their friends.
Resources -
Trauma Informed Education
Franky Collins recommends this memoir for educators of newcomer students - Javier Zamora. Solito. Hogarth, 2022.
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
The Challenges of Language Learning
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
In this episode host Sakura Hamada focuses on the challenges of language learning for newcomer students with her guest, Gaby Aguilar-Lopez, from Twality Middle School in the Tigard-Tualatin District, who teaches ELD (English Language Development) and AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination). The two educators discuss how crucial language is as a connector for students, and how difficult it can be for newcomers to master the academic and grammatical use of language, in addition to the more basic intercommunication skills (BICS).
This episode offers practical suggestions about how to welcome our newly arrived students and encourage their language acquisition, and also their socio-emotional learning. These newly arrived students should be praised for their achievements and the knowledge they already possess, instead of being reminded of any limitations.
Resources
Newcomer Students’ English Language Development
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
Newcomer Tool Kit OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
More Ways to Support Newly Arrived Students
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
This week’s episode offers additional suggestions for supporting newcomer students with Sakura’s guest, Beyoung Yu from the Portland Public Schools. As an English Language Development (ELD) educator, Beyoung builds a base for the English language with his students, but he sees his job in a broader context as well. He offers suggestions about how to connect with students’ cultural identities and first languages to make them feel seen and heard instead of being the “other.” Beyoung explains how he also reaches out to students’ families to form strong communication channels.
Beyoung’s suggestions include working to create a more inclusive curriculum for all students. He encourages educators to grow their own curriculum by using other teachers as resources, applying for grants, and building a relevant collection in the school library. This expanded curriculum counteracts the limitations of standardized testing and assessment that focuses on only one aspect of a student’s achievements. The goal is to be mindful of students’ identities and their backgrounds.
Resources
ELD Department Main Page, Portland Public Schools
K-5 English Language Development, Portland Public Schools
NEA Foundation Grants and Fellowships
Exploring Young Immigrant Stories
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Portland Association of Teachers Strike (Bonus Episode)
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
In this very special bonus episode, we hear from a variety of educators from the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) on the conditions that led to the historic vote to authorize a strike. With nearly 99 percent of their members voting to authorize a strike, PAT educators explain why they are on the precipice of their first strike since the formation of PAT as a union in 1966.
Portland educators and students have been asked to do more with less and are impacted by large class sizes and caseloads, a lack of special education resources and support, buildings in need of repair and renovation, and historical defunding issues. Learn about Bargaining for the Common Good and how Portland educators demanding, “The time is now!” will increase expectations across the state of Oregon for safe, sustainable, and equitable schools for our students.
https://www.pdxteachers.org/
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Supporting New Comers in Middle School
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Host Sakura Hamada turns our attention this week to ways in which educators can support newly arrived students in middle school. Her guest is Rena Jan, a seventh-grade counselor for the Beaverton School District, who acknowledges that middle school is often a bewildering time of change and transition, even for students without language or cultural challenges.
Rena suggests that extra care be taken to ensure that the newly arrived students feel supported and gain a sense of belonging. To that end, she spends a great deal of time with new students, especially on their first day, to get to know them as individuals. She checks in with them throughout that first day to be sure that they can navigate the lunch line, the changing of classes, and even the school buses at the end of the day.
Rena’s concern extends to the parents who might have difficulty communicating with the school through the various apps that can be confusing for anyone. Outreach to parents is crucial, she believes. Rena feels that her role as counselor is to help with any obstacle that stands in the way of students’ learning and becoming part of the school community.
Resources
Oregon’s Migrant Education Program
Immigration and Racial Equity for Immigrant and International Students
Multilingual and Migrant Education
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network