Season 1
Dealing with Death
Just Open the Door
Stop Making Kids Allergic
Having the Hard Conversations
This episode delves into the hardest conversations to have: death. What do we do with it? No matter who you are, where you grew up, what you believe, what you look like, or who you voted for you still have to deal with the same, universal condition of being human. It can be very divisive, very uncomfortable, and very unnerving to discuss the end of someone - even ourselves. And yet, isn’t death the lurking topic that every other conversation revolves around? In this episode we will wrap up the season with this conversation and provide some contrasting views on how each of us approaches this topic.
This episode delves into how we approach our interactions with the people around us. We all have certain expectations of interactions; someone comes to our door, we have a disagreement, we are going to talk to a spouse or parent or teacher. We have an idea of how these conversations will go and what these entail…before they actually happen. But, do our expectations line up with reality? Are we avoiding conversations because of what we think will happen?
This episode delves into the relationship between the parents and kids, particularly with what parents do to protect their kids from difficulties - any sort of difficulties; what consequences may follow that? As well intentioned as it may be. For instance, if a student is "just not feeling it today" and they have their parents sign them out of school, is this healthy or beneficial for the student? Won't it just become a pattern avoidance for anytime a student finds something difficult or uncomfortable?
This episode delves into the difficult conversations that we don’t like to have so we choose to ignore and avoid them. What does this do for our kids? Our students? Does this make them better people in the future? Are they better off - in the future - having avoided the hard conversations early on in their life? What are some practical ways to approach these harder conversations in the classroom?
This episode delves into grading the process vs. the end result. Students (arguably everyone in society) has shifted to only focusing on the end result - if we are only concerned with the product in something (a paper, a project, a task) and don’t really care how we get to the point (even encouraging speed over quality) then “the ends justify the means” adage becomes relevant. Is it actually wrong, then, to fault a student for using AI? If grades are the only factor in determining placement or scholarships AND grades are only given for the product, then we can’t really fault students for using their resources effectively. We have become an ‘outcome focused’ society that is constantly looking for the quick and easy route to the outcome instead of enjoying the learning process and struggling through it.