Summary: This episode explores the power that comes from teaching economics as a reflection of human action and the ways that this lens can help teachers empower their students to understand that their choices and actions matter. During the conversation, Kobi and Colman also discuss what it takes to have honest, complex conversations about economics and why content knowledge matters just as much as pedagogy.

Timestamps:

4:44 — The Sphere Summit experience and how it reinvigorated teacher passion

8:25 — Connecting students to the bigger picture through economics as human action

12:25 — Challenging conversations around economic systems and trade-offs

16:31 — Pedagogical strategies including news culture, and real-time charting

22:18 — Teaching predictions through the concept of consumer anticipation

28:18 — The content knowledge gap facing economics educators

32:57 — What all educators should know about the value of economics

Resources Mentioned:

• "Spotlighting the World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell"
• The World Factbook Archives (from UPenn)
• Financial Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• Bloomberg
• The Journal of Economic Education
• Sphere Education Initiatives
• Sphere's Real World Economics Lessons
• Sphere's Economics in One Virus Lessons

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Kobi Nelson sits down with Lory Warren and Christina LaRose from the Prohuman Foundation to discuss the collaborative lesson series they created about five women from the Revolutionary era whose contributions shaped history but who have largely been left out of the historical record. Together, they explore what it really means to have influence, why students benefit from encountering diverse and complex historical figures, and how focusing on our shared humanity can shift the way we think about courage and impact.

Main Topics:

• What Is the Prohuman Foundation?
• Redefining What It Means to Be an Influencer
• Elizabeth Freeman: Curiosity, Courage, and the Law
• Anna Smith Strong: Influence Hidden in Plain Sight
• Nanyehi: Community, Peace, and Complex Legacies
• Deborah Sampson: Fighting Where There Was No Path
• Esther de Berdt Reed: Writing, Persuasion, and Fundraising for the War Effort
• What Do We Hope Students and Teachers Take Away?

Resources Mentioned:

• The Prohuman Foundation
• Women in the American Revolution
• Sentiments of an American Woman by Esther de Berdt Reed (1780)
• Sphere Education Initiatives

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Description: In this episode, two middle school teachers and two high school teachers talk about what students actually learn when they are given the space to engage in challenging conversations that do not resolve easily. Together, we explore the balance teachers often need to find between freedom and structure, the ways that discomfort can be a powerful learning opportunity, and what it might mean for teachers to embrace uncertainty in their own teaching practice.

Main Topics:

• Discussion Norms in Classrooms (02:23)
• Silence Doesn't Always Mean Disengagement (04:47)
• Teaching Challenging Primary Documents (06:40)
• The Tension Between Structure and Freedom (09:02)
• Discomfort, Growth, and Lobster Metaphor (15:52)
• High School Perspectives on Challenging Conversations (18:42)
• Are Students Ready for Challenging Conversations? (23:19)

Resources Mentioned:

• Teaching the Declaration of Independence lesson by Nancy Wickham
• Sphere's Civil Discourse Through Literature lessons
• "Windows and Mirrors: Children's Books and Parallel Cultures" by Rudine Sims Bishop
• "Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors" by Rudine Sims Bishop
• Sphere Ed | Teaching Civic Culture Together

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.