Play is powerful. Not only is it critical to the individual development of children, but it can create schoolwide cultures of inclusion, celebration, and healthy conflict resolution. No one knows this better than our guest on the show today, Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks.

For almost 30 years, Playworks has worked to give kids a safe, healthy, inclusive recess experience. They partner with schools, starting with a Great Recess Framework evaluation. Then they place Playworks staff at the schools for recess, implementing the basics: Rock, paper, scissors as a conflict resolution tool; high fives; and positive language coming from adults. Plus, they train near-peer mentors as Junior Coaches, allowing kids to shine as leaders at their school.

Beyond discussing the importance of play, both for kids and adults, we also dive into Playworks’ approach to sharing its practices with other organizations. Often nonprofits hesitate to share their “secret sauce” with other nonprofits, not wanting to risk their piece of the funding pie. Elizabeth explains how, for the sake of helping as many kids as possible, Playworks moved past this.

In fact, you can check out Playworks’ free YouTube resources after you listen to the show!

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How recess can set the tone for the whole day
• The basics norms Playworks establishes for recesses
• Why Playworks now makes its practices available to other organizations

Resources:

• Watch hundreds of instructional game videos on the Playworks YouTube channel
• Take the Recess Checkup at RecessLab.org

Produced by NOVA Media

Almost ten years ago, Tom Thorpe wanted to create a learning environment that was embedded in the community and shaped around individual students. Today, REDI Lab, a “school within a school,” is physically located in a Denver Housing Authority neighborhood and sees over 100 students create their own learning path every year.

As our guest today, Tom tells us the origin story and evolution of the Research Entrepreneurship, Design, & Inquiry Lab at Colorado Academy. He walks us through the trimester-long program: Teaching self-empathy and self-discovery, letting students dwell in problem-solving stages, and putting process over product.

We also talk about the importance of developing teacher agency alongside student agency, including what that may look like in terms of experimentation and assessment.

Tom does an excellent job weaving together his real world experience and pedagogical theory. Enjoy!

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• Teaching students self-empathy and self-discovery
• REDI Lab’s emphasis on process over product
• Why teacher agency must grow alongside student agency

Resources:

• Learn more at ColoradoAcademy.org/REDI-lab-at-ca

Produced by NOVA Media

If a student misses even a single building block in their math education, they will struggle in future lessons. In math, every concept builds on itself. That’s why developing an excellent math curriculum is so critical… and so difficult.

Today our guests are Tammy and Marc Goldberg, education innovators with Mathnasium. They’ve helped the company revamp its curriculum to help both instructors and students. Every concept is broken down into sequential pieces. Instructors assess where the student needs to (re)start, and each student gets all the time and individualized attention they need until they master that building block.

But that kind of individualization can be hard to come by in traditional education systems. We discuss the challenges of creating math curriculums in schools. But Tammy and Marc do have some suggestions for a path forward: Get rid of timed number fact tests. Treat math like we treat reading in the early grades. Use precise language when teaching concepts.

Tune in for this tough, but important conversation.

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• How math concepts build on themselves
• The emotional and social stigmas attached to struggling in math
• Key changes that could make a big difference in math curriculums

Resources:

• Learn more at Mathnasium.com/Mathnasium-Method

Produced by NOVA Media