ClassCast Podcast Episode 048 features host Ryan Tibbens sharing insights and advice on reserving judgment (and passing it), building patience, and keeping an open mind.  As a teacher, he has developed a deeper appreciation for patience, optimism, and open-mindedness than most people (and certainly more than he had earlier in life); this quick solo episode includes ideas to help teachers maintain strong relationships with students and coworkers as well as advice to help families and friends overcome personal, political, and moral differences as we head into the holiday season.  Tibbens uses a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby to anchor these insights: "Reserving
judgments is a matter of infinite hope." (To read the full opening passage referenced in this episode, look at the bottom of this page.)  Before you give up on a student, "unfriend" an old friend, or uninvite someone from a holiday celebration, think long and hard about hope, possibility, and patience.  

You can find this and every other episode of the ClassCast Podcast on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, YouTube, and many more.  Be sure to subscribe, like, follow, share, leave a positive review, and tell your friends.  Happy holidays! 

​Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)!

from the opening of  The Great Gatsby: 

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

He didn't say any more but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought--frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon--for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit.

ClassCast Podcast Ep.047 features Shane Lawrence, the host of The Ed Podcast and a middle school drama/film/computer/art/English/everything teacher from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Shane and host Ryan Tibbens discuss Shane's experiences in education, podcasting, how to make school better for students, great movie and book recommendations, and more. For over six years, The Ed Podcast has been among the most loved and respected education podcasts; using that background, Shane shares what he has learned about great teaching and about how to broadcast it. For the "ideal school" section of this episode, Shane showed up prepared -- he had notes about schedules, planning times, options, and more. And of course, as a film and drama teacher, Shane shares some excellent movie and book recommendations at the end.  This episode has a little something for everyone, and it has a whole lot for teachers, administrators, and podcasters.

You can contact Shane via TheEdPodcast.com and on Twitter @theedpodcast.

Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, share, comment, review, and all that other good stuff wherever you get your podcasts.  Streaming now on all major services.

Table of Contents

1. 0:00-15:52 -- Intro to Shane Lawrence & Education Podcasting
2. 15:52-26:00 -- Shane's Education & Teaching Career
3. 26:00-31:13 -- How We Schedule a School Day
4. 31:13-1:06:04 -- The Ideal School
5. 1:06:38-1:14:25 -- Shane's Movie & Book Recommendations
6. 1:14:26-1:15:27 -- Wrap Up

​

Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)!

ClassCast Podcast Ep.046 features Taylor Freeman (founder & CEO of Axon Park, co-founder of Upload, Forbes 30 Under 30, and VR industry leader) sharing knowledge and insights about the exciting field of XR (virtual reality, augmented reality, etc. -- we explore the names and functions in this episode), how it can impact and improve schools, and how the world may change as virtual reality technologies become better, cheaper, and more popular. Whether you know nothing about virtual reality or you have your own headset, this episode has something for you -- educational applications, business dynamics, technical details, recommended platforms, and more. 

Host Ryan Tibbens first gave serious consideration to virtual reality schooling in late September 2020 after teaching synchronous online classes all day: "It would be great if students could work from home but feel like they were around each other, if they could look around and see each other to improve class climate and discussion." From there, the idea took off: "If we had virtual reality capabilities to recreate the classroom, why stop there? Why not make every day a lab day, field trip, or hands-on activity?"  Tibbens contacted Freeman, and the result is an engaging, truly outside-the-box discussion about how we can apply new XR technologies to improve nearly every aspect of both traditional and online schooling. 

Whether you're looking for educational innovation, information about a quickly advancing technology, what the future may hold, or even a great holiday gift idea, Ep.046's conversation with Taylor Freeman is rich in ideas and inspirations. 

​Contacts
Find Taylor Freeman on Twitter @TaylorPFreeman, on Instagram @TaylorPFreeman, and on LinkedIn.  Also follow @AxonPark and @UploadVR on Twitter and other social media outlets. Check out www.AxonPark.com and www. UploadVR.com for more information.

Table of Contents 

1. 0:00-9:47 -- Intro to Taylor Freeman &  VR in Schools
2. 9:47-13:31 -- The Inspiration for This Discussion
3.  13:31-23:52 -- Taylor's Education
4.  23:52-34:57 -- The Rise of Virtual Reality in School & Beyond
5. 34:57-42:19 -- VR, XR, AR, MR: What Are We Talking About?
6. 42:11-44:50 -- The State of XR/VR Today
7. 44:50-54:53 -- Axon Park: The School of the Future 
8.  54:53-1:01:02 -- How to Create a Virtual Setting
9. 1:01:03-1:13:56 -- Virtual Reality in Movies AND Taylor's Book/Movie Recs.
10.  1:14:22-1:30:06 -- Final Thoughts: Video, Cyber Sickness, Oculus Quest 2, & AR in Class
11. 1:30:06-1:37:53 -- Taylor's Ideal School

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