How important is Art in a school curriculum? Colleen Arriola, host for OEA Grow’s fourteenth season, feels that art plays an essential role in education at all levels. A fifth-grade teacher at Guy Lee Elementary in Springfield, Colleen brings her experience as both an artist and an educator to discuss how art can enhance the traditional courses of study, provide alternative ways of learning, and celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of each student. Her guests this season are Oregon educators from a variety of disciplines and grade levels who will share the ways in which they integrate art in their classrooms and school environments.    Tune in to this season as we reevaluate the role of art in the educational experience and discuss how it can be used to engage students in any subject area.     Resources -  A Snapshot of K-12 Arts Education in Oregon   More Than Drawing and Coloring: Art (and Art Teachers) Has Power  OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Blaine ends this season with veteran educator Brad Rogers, who shares what he has learned from his years of teaching, first in Alaska and for the last seventeen years at Stanfield Secondary School. Summing up the wisdom of all of this season’s guests, Brad offers three key suggestions for educators at all stages of their careers: Maintain a healthy work-life balance. As a new educator, Brad spent long hours at school in addition to his normal teaching schedule, until he realized that no one can do it all in one day. The best advice he received was to make time for family and friends. Recognize that life as an educator is like a roller coaster with its ups and downs. We learn and grow from our mistakes.  Realize the lasting impact that you as an educator have on your students. Establishing a relationship to help a student succeed in a single class can spread to that student’s entire educational experience. It matters. Students remember and express gratitude sometimes years later.  Brad draws on his years of experience to share insight on each of these areas. This is definitely an episode for all educators, regardless of how long they have been in the field.    Resources -  Little Steps Toward Big Change (and Less Stress)    Make Educator Well-Being a Priority Now  OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Who better to discuss the importance of separating home from work than Blaine’s guest this week, Lucas Tynkila, whose home life actually overlaps his school life - three children who have all been his students at Stanfield Secondary School and his wife who teaches at the same school. It makes for an easy carpool, says Lucas. And he has enjoyed having his children as students; he gets to spend more time with them as individuals. Having his wife, Tracy, as a first-grade Stanfield Elementary teacher adds the benefit of a spouse who shares his educational ideologies and can relate to the stress of the job.  Even with the strong connections between his home and school life, though, Lucas stresses the importance of a healthy work-life balance. The best advice he received early in his career was simply to go home at the end of a work week, spend time with family and friends, and avoid being a perfectionist at school. He suggests that new educators take care of themselves to avoid burnout. The job gets easier and the rewards greater, he promises, as relationships are formed with students, who are able to learn only when they feel safe and comfortable asking questions. Advances in technology may have affected the education process in the sixteen years that Lucas has been teaching, but student-educator connections and trust remain essential to student success.    Resources 5 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance   Life Outside of the Classroom   Importance of Self-Care as a Teacher  OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Two different views on careers in education? Blaine welcomes Michelle and Travis Reeser from the Stanfield School District for this especially delightful episode about differing approaches to lives in education. These two guests, while married, are at opposite ends of the education spectrum with Michelle early in her career of teaching kindergarten and Travis nearing retirement as a high school PE teacher. Travis began coaching at 18 and teaching right after college, whereas Michelle didn’t become a teacher until after their children were born. But even with the contrast of grade level and years of experience, the two learn from each other and advise educators to ask questions and listen to the ideas of others in the field, regardless of where they are in their career lifespan. Being open to various points of view is key in the education field. From their differing perspectives, Michelle and Travis agree that education is a difficult career path, requiring hard work and learning how to meet students where they are. The reward can be watching a student succeed at something the student didn’t know was possible and realizing that your work doesn’t go unnoticed. Students remember and sometimes reach out after years have passed to say thank you.  Resources: Travis Reeser named 2023 Intermountain Regional Teacher of the Year   When Teachers Marry Teachers    OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Blaine discusses educator experiences from a mid-career perspective this week with his guest Sarah Burke, a middle-school science teacher at Stanfied Secondary School. In her tenth year of teaching, Sarah is still in awe of the impact educators have on students and their lives. She admits that the work can be frustrating, especially when students don’t seem to appreciate the demands of the job, but she encourages educators to take students’ sometimes negative attitudes as challenges rather than personal insults. After all, this might be the year when you help that resistant student discover an interest in learning.  Sarah advises educators to take care of themselves, too, with a healthy work/life balance. She has learned over the last decade that the old adage is true - you can’t fill anyone’s cup if yours is empty. She credits OEA for helping our state’s educators maintain healthy work hours, and she counsels educators to be careful of extra time commitments that take them away from home, family, and friends. Sarah’s personal self-care includes a special memorabilia box where she keeps emails and letters from students and parents, a reminder of why she continues her career as an educator.    Resources 6 Ways to Create Work-Life Balance OEA Introduction to Mindfulness webinar on May 1st with Talia Akre (Multnomah ESD EA) OEA Self-Paced Module Stress Management: Using Body Wisdom to Calm the Stressed Brain OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

This episode offers the wisdom of a seasoned educator as Blaine welcomes Anna Halsey from Stanfield Secondary School as his guest. Anna brings a wealth of experience to this conversation, having begun her career as an elementary teacher and now, twenty-four years later, thoroughly enjoying her role as a math teacher for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (she admits to loving her days with quirky middle-schoolers). Anna discusses frankly how her life as a teacher has evolved as her own life circumstances have changed. In her decades as an educator, Anna has also seen the profession grow to include more than simply the classroom exchange of information from teacher to student. Educators value connections with students’ lives both in and outside of school, involving entire families and social/emotional learning. We realize that students need to trust us before they can learn anything from us. And they need to be convinced of the value of that knowledge. Anna’s advice to educators at all stages of their careers - we learn to educate by actually educating. Students teach us how to teach them. Don’t worry if some days, or even years, are not as successful as others. Remember that the career path you have chosen is difficult and so very important. And the most sobering realization - always assume that you will be the topic of someone’s dinner table conversation.  Resources -  Support for Early Career Educators OEA Professional Learning Opportunities to help educators grow in their professional practice  OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Season 13 of OEA Grow examines the life of educators at every point in their careers, from aspiring educators to veterans nearing retirement. Our host this season is Blaine Ganvoa who earned his Master of Education degree from Eastern Oregon University and is currently a social studies teacher at Stanfield Secondary School with nineteen years of experience in that position. Blaine brings a depth of perspective as host for this season with his varied school and district roles as Head Volleyball Coach, District State Testing Coordinator, Oregon Trail Regional Educator Network board member, and the current Stanfield Education Association President.    For the next several weeks, Blaine will be talking with Oregon educators at all stages in their careers about their challenges and successes as they progress in the education field. We’ll hear why people choose this profession, how they feel about their preparation, what they have learned from colleagues and their own experiences, and advice they might offer to others. It will be an exciting season full of ideas and insights for all of us, no matter where we are in our own career path. OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

This episode originally aired October 26, 2022 in Season 5: Behavior.   To kick-off the Behavior season, member host Alexis Hennessey talks with educator Mary Michael about co-regulation, social emotional learning, and trauma informed behavior approaches. Mary has been an educator for over 30 years, has taught every grade level from Kindergarten to ninth grade, and is currently a certified trauma-informed mental health and behavior specialist. Mary and Alexis pack a wealth of helpful information into 30 minutes. Their conversation centers on the importance of regulation for both students and educators and how we can bring co-regulation into schools and classrooms. Many students enter school lacking the skills to co-regulate. Often, those students are impacted by trauma and/or the trauma experienced by their parents/caregivers. How can we support these students in managing their own behavior and give them agency in the process? Through teaching social emotional skills, including regulation, social skills, problem solving skills, and communication skills, academic outcomes are also increased. Alexis and Mary acknowledge how difficult it is for educators to be in school situations making decisions about behavior in the moment. Mary states, “We want everyone to walk away with their dignity”. Their conversation also demonstrates the value of behavior specialists to schools.    Resources:   OEA Becoming a Trauma Informed Education Series Permission to Feel - Mark Brackett Teachers Guide to Trauma: 20 Things Kids with Trauma Wish Their Teachers Knew - Dr. Melissa Sadin and Nathan Levy What Happened to You - Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing - Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey Co-Regulation video recording - (56 minutes; access for OEA members only) - https://tinyurl.com/OEArecordings  Zones of Regulation handouts The Neurobiology of Emotion Regulation Development and the Role of the Early Environment - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham Development of human amygdala-prefrontal cortex circuitry and the role of the caregiver - UC Davis MIND Institute, Dr. Nim Tottenham OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network

Our final episode of Season 12 focuses on a statewide program for teaching about Oregon agriculture, the environment, and natural resources. Toni’s guest is Jessica Jansen of the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation, dedicated to helping K-12 educators use agriculture to add to their existing curriculum in science, math, history, and nutrition. This nonprofit organization, housed at Oregon State University and funded by Oregon’s agricultural community, offers resources at no cost through its lending library, educator workshops, and virtual field trips. Jessica suggests that educators visit the foundation’s website to access these resources, noting in particular the kits mailed by the lending library to Oregon schools. Each kit is intentionally user-friendly with materials and clear instructions for a class project. Educators can choose kits in such varied subjects as spinning wool or growing and tasting microgreens. Toni recounts her own success with the foundation’s resources, making mozzarella cheese with her students and taking a virtual field trip to Christmas tree farms. With 220 different agricultural commodities in Oregon, even rural students will be unfamiliar with products from other parts of the state. Oregon educators in both rural and urban areas are encouraged to take advantage of this resource.    Resources:   Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom    Monthly Subscription Boxes for grades 3-5 (only 20 subscriptions are available each year, so apply as soon as applications are accepted in August)  “Jessica Jansen: ‘I love agriculture, and I love teaching people about it’” July 6, 2023. Women in Ag 2023, a Capital Press annual special section highlighting the contributions women make in the agricultural sector

This week Toni discusses the community college experience in rural areas with her guest Jessica Breidinger, a Social Science instructor at Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) in Ontario, Oregon. Rural community colleges offer the interpersonal benefits of most community colleges with their small class sizes (usually 13-25 students at TVCC) and instructors with advanced degrees leading courses. TVCC’s location in a small town offers an additional advantage because interactions between students and educators extend beyond the classroom. Toni and Jessica laugh about seeing students in the grocery store and around town on a regular basis. Students profit from this extra level of empathy and connection, having what amounts to a team of cheerleaders for their entire academic journey. Adding to this community spirit at TVCC is its on-campus housing, a rarity among community colleges. Students have a sense of belonging and know that they have continuing support as individuals with the encouragement to test their limits in their road to success.    Resources Treasure Valley Community College OEA supports Community College Faculty and Staff Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Hachette Books, 2005  Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber, Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy. University of Toronto Press, 2013.  James M. Lang, Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass, 2016  OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network