Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast. This is a weekly show is for ruckus makers — What is a ruckus maker? A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.
Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with Elisabeth Bostwick. They discuss how to break free from the status quo by creating a culture that is comfortable with “taking the leap”.
We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com
Getting to know Elisabeth Bostwick
Elisabeth Bostwick is a multi-award-winning educator who is passionate about creating the conditions to spark curiosity and unleash creativity to empower learning. Driven to elevate education, Elisabeth speaks at both local and national conferences to support educators in their journey to foster cultures of innovation and authentic learning experiences for their students. In addition to being a classroom practitioner, Elisabeth has served as an instructional coach and grade-level chairperson. In these roles, she has worked alongside colleagues to support the integration of technology to deepen learning and has leveraged highly effective strategies to engage and empower all learners to maximize growth. Dedicated to making a long-lasting, positive impact on education, Elisabeth participates as a continuous learner to identify how we can support systemic change and develop essential success skills to ensure learners thrive to be future ready.
Elisabeth is also a co-author of Education Write Now, Volume II: Top Strategies for Improving Relationships and Culture. Recognized by PBS as a Digital Innovator All-Star and lead Digital Innovator for New York, Elisabeth regularly engages with other educators to bring professional learning experiences and contributes to individual and collaborative blogs in the PBS Teachers Lounge. She’s also been named the NextGen Young Professional Leader in Education and had the honor of being the recipient of the governor’s Empire State Excellence in Teaching award. Above all, Elisabeth strives to serve as a model for her children. She hopes to inspire them to be dedicated to developing their strengths and interests—leading them to their passions and fulfillment in life.
Her new book, Take the L. E. A. P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation will help readers reimagine learning by sparking curiosity, inspiring creativity, and promoting student agency.
Take the L. E. A. P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation
Questions in Learning Environments
Elisabeth talks about how her kids along with many others, were not asking as many quality questions as they could. This can lead to a feeling of unfulfillment and kids come home from school feeling as if they did not learn as much. She says that authentic learning and our traditional education do not always go hand in hand. Combined with the heavy emphasis on standardized testing, Elisabeth felt the need to create change in the way we look at learning.
“I felt driven to create a book to help educators break out of the mold of traditional education, and look at how we can infuse authentic learning with the interests and the strengths of the students we work alongside.” – Elisabeth Bostwick
Making an Impact in the Classroom
Elisabeth encourages more teachers to bring bigger concepts into the classrooms in which they teach. She says we can inspire authentic learning by figuring out what our students wonder about. If we can find the things that interest them and relate them to the subjects in the classroom, students would be much more interested and interactive inside the classroom.
“There are so many overlapping elements that you can pick and choose, and scaffold it within your own classroom so that it works for you.” –Elisabeth Bostwick
In the Students’ Best Interest
Elisabeth talks about ways to find the students’ interests. She says if you ask most students what their interests are, they will be unrelated to school. Kids will say their interests are sports, video games, and toys. Elisabeth says we have to find out why the kids like these things. We need to expose these kids to a variety of subjects and concepts to find their interests in the classroom.
“It’s not just about a students’ interests, but how we can help kids identify what those interests are.” -Elisabeth Bostwick
Elisabeth Bostwick’s Resources:
Links to Resources
Take the L. E. A. P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation by Elisabeth Bostwick
Education Write Now, Volume II (Eye on Education) by Jeffrey Zoul
The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity by George Couros
Elisabeth Bostwick’s Contact Info:
SHOW SPONSORS:
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