The Thom Gibson Podcast

I spoke with several people that are on the front lines of where esports and education intersect. We discuss: What exactly are esports What types of esports scholarships and programs are available at the college level How an esports program is so much more than just playing video games Why educators need to consider starting an esports program at their school Where to go for gaming PCs when your school doesn't have the funds for them Resources for getting an esports club started at your school Resources for implementing esports into English curriculum You'll also hear a little audio from an esports project I tried out with my some of my students. Links James O'Hagan's Podcast 'The Academy of Esports': [taoesports.com/][1] University of California - Irvine Esports program : esports.uci.edu/ North American Scholastic Esports Federation resources : esportsfed.org/ Freakonomics episode on esports : freakonomics.com/podcast/sports-5/ Thom Gibsons esports project vlog : youtube.com/watch?v=uIDAVzgexAE Connect

A few months ago I didn't know that storytelling competitions were a thing. Then I heard Matthew Dicks on a podcast and he shared what makes for good storytelling. I thought it was interesting but it wasn't until he told a short 5-minute story that I was convinced of his mastery of the craft and I wanted to learn more. I found out Matthew Dicks was not only a champion storyteller but also a classroom teacher and that he had a podcast with his wife Elysha where they listened to stories told from the stage and critiqued them; sharing what made them such powerful stories and what they could have done to improve the story. I initially was drawn to the storytelling podcast because I thought I could get tips on how to tell better stories in social contexts but I walked away wondering how I could implement this into my classroom. In today's episode, Matthew and I explore the following: what are a couple things you can do to make your storytelling better than 90% of the stories most people tell what storytelling l

In this short episode, I share a little bit of why I started this podcast, why I changed the name, and the vision going forward. Hope you like the new podcast art! Connect with me: Thom Gibson www.thomgibson.com twitter.com/gibsonedu youtube.com/gibsonedu instagram.com/booksandbeefjerky gibsonedu@gmail.com

In this episode: I speak with mindfulness specialist James Butler to discuss best practices surrounding how to get started with mindfulness in the classroom. I interview psychologist Dr. Tori Olds about the deeper happenings in the mind when mindfulness is being practiced. I chat with educator Jaclyn Mann about her experience in leading mindfulness activities in her classroom. You'll hear a couple in-class sessions of both Jaclyn Mann and myself leading mindfulness practices in our classes Resources James Butler spoke about: Stop Breathe Think Calm Insight Timer AISD Mindfulness YouTube Playlists Connect: James Butler - Twitter (@mbutler629) Dr. Tori Olds - Deep Eddy Psychotherapy Jaclyn Mann - LinkedIn

Epic Rap Battles of History is one of my favorite YouTube channels. I knew that giving students opportunities to write songs about content was a good assessment, but I never thought of utilizing raps / slam poetry specifically. So much opportunity for students to show what they know in this creative assessment. Chalimar Chieza has been doing rap battles in her history classes for years. In this episode we talk about: Why she started utilizing raps / slam poems What the 'battle' element could look like How she sets students up for success How she assesses their work and knowledge of the content Connect with Chalimar Chieza on LinkedIn! Rap Battle / Slam Poetry Rubric

I got the chance to go into Mike Franz's high school gov & econ class when they were playing YOLO, a year-long game where one week of school represents one year of life. The first week of the game the students are 18 years old, the last week of the game they are near retirement age. What will they make of their society, of their economy, of their investments, of their world? We explore the following: what the game looks like from beginning to middle to end how Mike utilizes class jobs to stay organized and to have the game virtually run itself salient teaching opportunities that come up when using gamification in the classroom how teachers can begin to incorporate gamification into their classes how The World Peace game inspired YOLO instances where the game took a turn for the worst an invitation for other teachers to try YOLO in their government and economics class If you'd like to reach out to Mike about YOLO or gamification, he can be reached at: m.franz@headwaters.org If you'd like to take a look

Currently working on a couple Thom Gibson Podcast episodes that aren't quite done yet but I did want to get an episode out this month. In this, I pulled a review that I did for my #bookstagram Instagram account. It was a review of Carla Shalaby's 'Troublemakers' which is a book on what we can learn from kids who we generally deem as 'troublemakers' and how can we love and honor them as members or our learning community. I agree with the general premise of the book (work harder to love kids that are hard to love) but really had a hard time with the tone and arguments of the author on this one. Follow me on Instagram for more book & jerky reviews: www.instagram.com/booksandbeefjerky See the video version of this podcast on my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/gibsonedu

With the start of the school year upon us, I've been thinking a lot about the first day of school. Is it the most important day? How do you balance the need for rules & procedures with getting kids stoked about being in your class? How do you ensure students have a voice and feel seen & heard on the first day? How do you not only begin to develop a positive relationship with students but also help them begin to develop positive relationships with each other and with the content you're teaching? What do students think makes a great first day? Special thanks to CJ Reynolds for his video that sparked this podcast. See the video and his YouTube channel HERE. Thanks to Terra Lynch for offering her 20 years of classroom insight to the discussion. You can find here on Twitter HERE and her new book, Protocols In The Classroom can be found HERE. Music by Hippo Campus

Think of your Kindergarten teacher. How do you think your educational experience would have been different if that teacher continued to be your teacher for every year until you graduated high school? In today's podcast I chat with Mark Rogers, who will be starting a 13-year experiment this year. The practice is called 'looping' where a teacher sticks with a group of students for more than one year. We discuss the following: •how he got into looping with students •why he's embarking on this 13-year experiment •what the challenges of looping are •what teachers can do if they'd like to try their own 2-3 year looping experiment. Learn more about Mark Rogers 13-year looping project at loop13.org Follow Mark Rogers on Twitter at @rogersmarkd

In Kindergarten, students are bursting with curiosity; why are doorknobs round, what is carpet made out of, why are my fingers little? Unfortunately, as students progress through their education, they tend to become less curious about the world around them and settle for just asking the questions that will get them the answers to pass the tests that determine their future. In todays episode, I chat with two-time Teacher-of-the-Year science teacher Kelley Janes who takes time out of every class to allow students to ask questions about the world around them; fostering, encouraging and nurturing that innate curiosity. We talk about the following: how she structures question time what she does when she doesn't know an answer what makes a good question what makes a bad question what this could look like in classes outside of science. Music by [DigitalDisciple][1]

After a rough go as a kid in some of the schools I went to, I vowed to learn martial arts some day. A month after I turned 30, I joined a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school. I've been going strong now for a little over 5 months and I've begun to see a little bit of overlap between the mats and the classroom. How did becoming a learner at level 0 again impact me in the classroom? What insights did my coaches give me into teaching that I hadn't paid as much attention to? What can educators learn from the world of martial arts? Music by Jel Music by Timber Timbre The Headwaters School Mikal Abdullah on Twitter Aces Jiu Jitsu Club

A bonus track to the podcast: Our first book club review - Man's Search For Meaning. I share the things that made me thing, that I connected to, and the mindsets I hope to also maintain.

Can High-5's really make that much of a difference in school culture? In this episode, I explore the various ways I've begun to greet students at the door right at the beginning of class and how they've helped build a positive culture in my classroom and school. I also have another teacher, Justin Aion sound off of why he started High-5 Fridays at his school and the effects it had on his own school culture. Music by Podington Bear Connect with Justin Aion

In episode 2, I recorded the sounds of my robotics classroom for a couple of days while they worked on and presented their final projects. I reflect on some of the observations of going back and listening to the audio. You also hear students working to troubleshoot their creations which included an electric guitar, a whack a mole, an etch-a-sketch, and robotic arm controlled via sensors on a glove connected bluetooth. Music by Podington Bear

I wanted to start a podcast so I did. Think of it as being a fly on the wall in my (and others) classroom. In this episode we go into the classroom economy auction that we have every month. Students bid on items, start their own businesses, create loyalty programs, and more. You hear the sounds of students arguing about prices, the excitement build up over a 'mystery item' in the auction, and the groans of buyers remorse. You can find more of how I run my classroom economy at www.thomgibson.com/classroomeconomy Hope you dig it :) Music by Podington Bear