Turns out Owen does a lot to keep his students engaged! Learn more from listening to this week’s episode. You can grab a copy of this slidedeck from Owen to learn more about his classroom community builders.   Owen Bondono (pronouns: he/they) teaches 9th grade English at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan. He is the 2021 Michigan Teacher of the Year. His teaching focuses on growing students’ empathy, critical thinking, and communication skills in a space where they are safe and empowered. Owen is focused on bringing anti-racist and queer-affirming practices into the classroom and believes that advocacy drives all good teaching practices. In his spare time, Owen is a writer, the Detroit Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month, and a Dungeons and Dragons player. You can follow Owen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/owenmakesstuff Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Owen Bondono joins Donnie and Alisa to share a few classroom ideas that he uses in his high school English class.   Owen Bondono (pronouns: he/they) teaches 9th grade English at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan. He is the 2021 Michigan Teacher of the Year. His teaching focuses on growing students’ empathy, critical thinking, and communication skills in a space where they are safe and empowered. Owen is focused on bringing anti-racist and queer-affirming practices into the classroom and believes that advocacy drives all good teaching practices. In his spare time, Owen is a writer, the Detroit Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month, and a Dungeons and Dragons player. You can follow Owen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/owenmakesstuff Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin comes back to pass a note about how he encourages his students to discover new composers and how a solid music program can become the backbone of a school building.  Justin Johnson is entering his 10th year as director of bands at Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois, where he oversees all aspects of the band program. Justin prides himself on creating a classroom culture focused on student growth while creating an atmosphere that cultivates accountability, responsibility, and good will. His voice is valuable as a fresh perspective in education, and he continues seeking to teach values and lessons that reach beyond the band room.   You can follow Justin on Twitter at @1ILNupe Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Johnson is entering his 10th year as director of bands at Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois, where he oversees all aspects of the band program. Justin prides himself on creating a classroom culture focused on student growth while creating an atmosphere that cultivates accountability, responsibility, and good will. His voice is valuable as a fresh perspective in education, and he continues seeking to teach values and lessons that reach beyond the band room.   On this episode, Justin shares some excellent reading, writing, and art activities that his musicians participate in.   You can follow Justin on Twitter at @1ILNupe Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2021 National Teacher of the Year is back and better than ever! A believer in outdoor education for all, Juliana worked with her elementary special education students for years to have them develop a school and community garden.   As 2021 National Teacher of the Year, Juliana advocated for a “joyous and just” education for all students, one that is inclusive and celebratory of all students’ identities, families and communities. Since being announced as National Teacher of the Year in May 2021, Juliana has shared her “joyous and just” message with pre-service teachers, educators and policymakers across the country – including at the White House – and through U.S. and international media, including People Magazine, the TODAY Show, Univision, Telemundo, and Colombia’s El Pais, El Espectador, and RCN Noticias. You can follow Juliana on Instagram at @julianaurtubey Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Juliana Urtubey is the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. On this episode, Juliana chats with Donnie and Alisa about how she used worms to teach her special education students to “celebrate their success and compost their failures.” As a first-generation, bilingual immigrant, she has worked throughout her teaching career to serve as a mirror for her school community, helping students to be proud of their identities and families, and to acknowledge their strengths and contributions to the community. As 2021 National Teacher of the Year, Juliana advocated for a “joyous and just” education for all students, one that is inclusive and celebratory of all students’ identities, families and communities. Since being announced as National Teacher of the Year in May 2021, Juliana has shared her “joyous and just” message with pre-service teachers, educators and policymakers across the country – including at the White House – and through U.S. and international media, including People Magazine, the TODAY Show, Univision, Telemundo, and Colombia’s El Pais, El Espectador, and RCN Noticias. You can follow Juliana on Twitter at @JulianaUrtubey3 Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jena Nelson returns for another episode to talk about the joys of public education. As an educator with almost two decades of experience, Jena knows her stuff!   You can follow Mrs. Nelson on Twitter at @Jena4OK Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mrs. Jena Nelson teaches middle school at Classen SAS Middle School in Oklahoma City. In addition to being the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, she has a background in theater and dance, and lives on a farm with the happiest chickens you’ll ever meet. 🐔 You can follow Mrs. Nelson on Twitter at @Jena4OK Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The one and only DC talks with Alisa and Donnie about how he uses his elementary school gym to create a strong, supportive, and positive community within his building. DC is believer in what he calls the five “Learn Languages”: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Reassurance.   …and yes, DC did actually record this episode from his elementary school gymnasium.   You can follow Mr. DC on Instagram at @darrionc20 Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jess from GZM Shows is learning how to make a podcast, and she’s taking you along for the ride! Join her as she learns from her friends in the industry aspects of planning, pre-production, production and post-production… from picking a good title and theme music to RSS feeds and everything in between! Tune in weekly with classrooms, kids and adults alike to learn how to make your own show in funny-yet-informative 5-10 minute episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Darrion Cockrell – or Mr. DC as he likes to be called – teaches physical education at Crestwood Elementary School in St. Louis, Missouri. He has nine years of teaching experience and has been at Crestwood since 2015.  Mr. DC started a program for his students called CRESTFIT to get them, and the entire Crestwood community, up and moving. You can check out the CRESTFIT program in action here.   He is the 2020 Emerson’s Excellence in Teaching Award winner, Missouri’s 2021 Teacher of the Year, and the NEA’s 2021 Horace Mann Friend of Education award winner. In 2020 Chance the Rapper presented him with the National Box Tops for Education Twilight Award.   You can follow Mr. DC on Instagram at @darrionc20 Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicole is back to talk about the importance of recognizing, celebrating, and learning from the indigenous cultures within our schools.   Nicole Butler-Hooton has been an educator for the past 16 years. In 2021 she was named the Oregon Teacher of the Year, becoming the first Indigenous teacher to ever earn this recognition! She’s a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians - Chetco Band (Oregon) and the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Arizona). Fun fact: she might also just be the biggest fan of the Oregon Ducks on the planet. 🦆   If you’d like to connect with Nicole, give her a follow on Twitter @ButlerHooton. Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rochelle is back to talk about some of her favorite picture books that she shares with her students. If you missed the previous conversation we had with Rochelle, don’t be afraid to give it a listen!   Oh, and if you’d like it, here’s all of the books mentioned by Rochelle in this episode.   If you’d like to connect with Rochelle, give her a follow on Instagram @kidlitlove8 Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators!  For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rochelle Brown is the 2021 Connecticut Teacher of the Year and teaches Kindergarten in Windsor, Connecticut. Each Fall, she has the students in her classroom create posters of themselves that she keeps up all year long. These posters are filled with affirming messages from their classmates, and they help build a strong sense of community. She feels that the very act of allowing students to feel seen, heard, loved, and acknowledged is necessary to their success and progress.  Presently, Rochelle serves as the chair of Poquonock School’s Equity Committee. She has offered professional development opportunities for her colleagues and created an Instagram page, kidlitlove8, to bring awareness to multicultural children’s books and the importance of representation for all children. She continues to serve as a union representative for the Windsor Education Association, always ensuring that her colleagues are knowledgeable of their rights and responsibilities as professional educators.  If you’d like to connect with Rochelle, give her a follow on Instagram @kidlitlove8 Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators!  For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s back and better than ever! In this episode, Sara shares “The Studio Habits of Mind”, a teaching philosophy that brings the mindset of an artist into the classroom. You can view all eight of them here. Everyone can (and is!) an artist – even those of us (like Donnie) that can only draw stick figures.       If you’d like to connect with Sara follow her on Instagram @saraabaird   Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sara Baird has been teaching art since 2006, and she became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2014. She loves helping students explore their creativity and grow as artists. She stops by the podcast to talk with Alisa and Donnie about a teaching strategy, “See, Think, Wonder.”   …and in case you haven’t ever seen the painting “Watson and the Shark”, you can find it here.   If you’d like to connect with Sara, you can follow her on Instagram @saraabaird   Fun fact: Sara knows more about The Big Lebowski than anybody I’ve ever met.   Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators!  For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s back! Mrs. Reinke is back to share a variety of in-classroom strategies that she’s found success with over the years. There’s a reason she was named the North Dakota Teacher of the Year. She’s incredible!   If you’d like to connect with Kristi (or connect your class to hers!) follow her on Twitter @reinkekristi   Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristi Reinke teaches middle school in Minot (my-not*) North Dakota, and in 2021, she was named the North Dakota Teacher of the Year! Listen as Kristi shares her strategy for connecting her students to other middle schoolers all around the world, all while teaching them geographic awareness and cultural competencies.   If you’d like to connect with Kristi (or connect your class to hers!) follow her on Twitter @reinkekristi   Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators!   *Fun fact that Alisa and I learned: citizens of Minot like to say “Why not Minot”?  For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We interrupt this regularly scheduled week to bring you a special Holiday episode! In honor of Halloween and Día de Muertos happening soon, Donnie and Alisa share some unique ideas that you may want to try.  Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators! For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicole Butler-Hooton has been an educator for 16 years. In 2021 she was named the Oregon Teacher of the Year, becoming the first Indigenous teacher to ever earn this recognition! She’s a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians - Chetco Band (Oregon) and the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Arizona). Nicole is a believer in the importance of connecting with students and families. Fun fact: she also loves to golf and would definitely beat Donnie if they ever played a round together. ⛳   If you’d like to connect with Nicole and have any follow up questions about her ideas, you can find her on Twitter at @ButlerHooton.   Like Teachers Passing Notes? Please like, subscribe, and share it with other educators!  For more great shows, visit GZMshows.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices