Episode 22: Girish Gupta and Project Ed--The Power of Digital Literacy and Student-Generated Videos

Today on the call, Girish Gupta joins me to discuss digital literacy and he and his team are using student generated videos to engage students in an entrepreneurial way. 

I first met Girish when we both sat on a panel at an education event at Apple. The theme of the night was digital storytelling and I loved watching the student-created videos he and his team produces with project-ed. If you're like me and you want your students to create projects that connect to the real-world, then you'll this.

On the interview, Girish shares:

• Why digital literacy
• The value in student-generated content
• The concept of students making money for their work 
• What makes a great video

Connect with Girish:

• @projectedvideos
• ggupta@amplify.com

Episode 21: Dr. Scott Mauk on School Violence

Today on the call, innovator school leader Scott Mauk joins me to discuss a topic that I hold close to my heart: school violence.

As teachers and school leaders, this is the last thing we want to think about, but something we cannot ignore. For those who don't know, I live about an hour outside Sandy Hook Elementary where a terrible school shooting took place. One year after that event, I had an amazing opportunity to engage my students in a global dialogue on school violence. Thanks to a partnership with Google and Global Nomads Group, my students had a discussion on gun violence with students from Virginia, Somalia, and Pakistan. It was an incredible experience and one I hope to repeat in the future. 

One day, Scott and I were talking about this and so we decided to go ahead and bring this topic on the show. For those who don't know, Scott is an incredible and innovative school leader in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. He'll go into detail about his work, so I will let him tell his story.

On the interview, Scott shares:

• How school design influences school violence
• Tips for being proactive with school violence
• What brought him to focus on personalized education

Connect with Scott:

• MaukS@edmonds.wednet.edu

Episode 20: Using Design Thinking to Approach Global Education w/ Maggie Chumbley

What's Maggie reading? 

Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley

Global Educator Maggie Chumbley joins us on the podcast today to share her thoughts on global education. After teaching abroad and then moving throughout the United States, Maggie has worked with a number of students and school settings. What I loved about talking to Maggie is that she got me to look at global education not just as the concept to connect students on a global level, but to also connect students to the globe they inhabit. Specifically, now that we live in the connected world, it's incredibly easy to see the global human footprint.

The world got a lot smaller when we fit the internet in our pockets.

Maggie's latest project, the Midway Education Collaborative, engages students in inquiry over global issues like pollution, energy, and, in her latest work, how the Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch has churned up so much trash that it's greatly debilitating the Albatross population. 

On the interview, Maggie shares:

• How to use design thinking to teach global education 
• Tips for teaching global impact to students
• The various ways to define "global education"
• How social activism can inspire students to create meaningful projects and inquiry  

Connect with Maggie:

• @maggiechumbley 

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast, whether you use RSS, iTunes, or an app like Stitcher. To do this, click on one of the buttons on the left-hand side of the website. 

Thank you to all of those who left a rating of the show over at iTunes. I really appreciate it.   

Please leave a comment below!

Episode 19: The Future of High School w/ the Waterloo Global Science Initiative

Joining me on the call today I have Julie and Zainab from the Waterloo Global Science Initiative. We focus our discussion on the future of high school and the World Literacy Summit. 

Not too long ago, this group put together a pretty awesome five-day event that brought in leaders from all around the world to combine ideas that would recreate how we think of education our children. 

What I love most about the WGSI is that they are very action oriented and focused on pushing forward and doing. Also, they focus a lot on motivating everyone to get behind their movement by using everyday language and avoiding education speak. Why? Because very academic terminology can often ostracize the exact families that send their children to our schools. 

On the call Julie and Zainab share:

• What High School Will Look Like in 2030

• Redefining the Role of the Teacher
• Why Failure is a Good Thing
• Why Education Speak Can Hinder a Message

Connect with Julie and Zainab here:

• @wgsisummit
• wgsi.org

I'm excited to share their story and their thoughts on the future of high school because this group of 13-18 year olds so often get neglected. I'd love to hear what you think of this episode, so make sure to send your comments over to mark@markwguay.com or send me a tweet @markwguay.

Before we dive in, I'd just like to say thank you to all those who have been sending me emails thanking me for putting together this show. It's been so uplifting to hear from you all and I can't wait to hear more. One of the coolest things is that I'm finding that the audience for this show is truly global. We have listeners in Spain, Mexico, California, India, and the UK. How awesome is that? 

Episode 18: Vlad Moskovski - Mindfulness in Education

What's Vlad reading: Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan

I am very excited for this episode because it dives into a topic that has grown to have significant meaning in my life. And that's meditation and mindfulness. Also known as mindful living. 

You may be thinking…what does this have to do with education? Well, bear with me and you'll see. It has everything to do with long-term education.

It’s why Vlad calls meditation “technology of the mind.” 

I've talked about this a little bit before on the show, so some of you know why I have such a passion for education. 

I grew up with a single mother on welfare who somehow found the money to send me a private school. It wasn't a boarding school or anything like that. The tuition wasn't very much, in fact, but even a few hundred bucks a year was very difficult for her to come up with. I didn't realize this until maybe high school. 

During this time I was introduced to meditation and it quickly become part of my daily ritual. I didn't really know much about it, but just thought that it was cool. After I grew into a consistent practice I began to sense such a deeper understanding of who I am and what I want to do in the world. I realized how important my education has been to my success in life when all the statistics would say that as an adopted child raised by a mother on welfare, I would be anything but successful.

So, meditation is something I personally believe in. I wouldn't call myself a meditation expert at all, which is why I am bring my friend Vlad onto the show today. 

Vlad runs a meditation practice over in the San Francisco Bay area and has been integrating mindfulness practice into the surrounding high school area. 

We chat about a few things, but mostly on how mindfulness can benefit students and grow emotional intelligence.

It's one of my favorite conversations and I hope you enjoy it!

Click here for some of the research we mention. 

Connect with Vlad here:

Website: CompassionateLeaders.org

Vlad's crowd funding program! Let's help him reach his goal by April 25th! 

Email: info@compassionateleaders.org 

Episode 17: Tom Krieglstein - Building Your Edtech Community and Tips for Starting Up. (HINT: You'll save a lot of money).

What's Tom reading? Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg

Joining me today, I have Tom Krieglstein on the show. He is such a mastermind behind the educational technology scene. He's started up several successful #edtech campaigns and also runs the successful Meetup NYedTech.

If you are interested growing your existing edtech community or thinking of starting up your own ed-tech company, this episode is for you.

Amongst other super helpful information, Tom shares 3 tips for the education entrepreneur that will save you a lot of money.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast, whether you use RSS, iTunes, or an app like Stitcher. To do this, click on one of the buttons on the left-hand side of the website. 

Thank you to all of those who left a rating of the show over at iTunes. I really appreciate it. Honestly, it really makes my day when I see that one of you took the time to open up iTunes and rate the show. 

On the interview, Tom shares:

• Specific advice for kickstarting a start-up in the #edtech scene
• The value of a bottom-up approach when starting up a business
• Time management tips for the edu-entrepreneur 
• Growing a community into a thriving ecosystem 

Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks for tuning in! 

Episode 16: The Future of Education w/ Stanford d.school Fellow Melissa Pelochino

What's Melissa reading?:  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business  by Charles Duhigg

Joining me on the call today to discuss the future of education is Melissa Pelochino - an incredibly gifted educator who currently resides as a fellow the d.school at Stanford University. 

I've been getting some requests from listeners to bring on guests that can speak specifically about prototypes and ideas for the future of education, which is why I feel so lucky to share Melissa's message with you.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast, whether you use RSS, iTunes, or an app like Stitcher. To do this, click on one of the buttons on the left-hand side of the website. 

Thank you to all of those who left a rating of the show over at iTunes. I really appreciate it. Honestly, it really makes my day when I see that one of you took the time to open up iTunes and rate the show. 

My favorite golden nugget is what Melissa shared on the power of habit. Just small sips each day dip us into a whole new habit and this is how effective long-term change can happen. 

On the interview Melissa shares:

• Her thoughts on the future of education
• A better way to bring in professional development
• What's going on at the d.school at Stanford University
• The power of habit

Stay connected with Melissa here:

• Her Twitter: @mpelochino 
• Stanford d.school Twitter: @k12lab 
• Email: melissa@dschool.stanford.edu

Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks for tuning in! 

Episode 15: Jennifer Vollmann - New Global Citizens

I'm so, so, so excited to have Jennifer Vollmann on the show with us today to share her insights on preparing students to be global citizens.

The focus of this week's episode is on how we can prepare students for the global world and help students realize how their actions will impact the world on a global level. 

Students graduating today will be graduating into a world that Daniel Pink, Seth Godin, and Sir Ken Robinson all agree is a global world. Students will live in a world that crosses cultures on a daily basis without ever having to board a plane. All it takes is a click of a button. 

Outsourcing, partnering, and creating new bodies of work that we can't  even think about today will involve an intricate web of global networking.

Jennifer is at the head of this move connecting students to non-profits and connections to create opportunities for students to engage in a globally connected work style very much like the world of work they will be graduating into.

I love this kind of stuff, especially since I was the student who sat in school and wanted to know the clear connection the content I learned had to do with the real world. 

Jennifer's work with New Global Citizens is doing just that. 

So, for any of my listeners who are want to know how to best prepare their students to become global citizens or for the education entrepreneurs looking for how to take your startup idea from napkin to real work business plan, Jennifer can help give you the insight needed.

Jennifer shares 

• How New Global Citzens was formed
• The need for a Global IQ score
• The benefit of travel (virtual and real) for students worldwide
• What the global economy looks like for graduates today

Quick note:

I'm 99% done with my e-book that serves as a toolkit for school leaders on how to use social media. It takes all that I've learned as both an educator, my M.S. Educational Leadership, and my marketing MBA study. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer in the book, just send them over to mark@markwguay.com.

If you haven't yet done so, please head over to iTunes and give an honest review of the podcast

Find out more and reach out to Jennifer at,

• Website: newglobalcitizens.org
• Twitter: @NGCitizens
• Email: jennifer@newglobalcitizens.org

Let me know what you think of the episode by leaving a comment!   

Episode 14: Zak Malamed - Stuvoice.org

I'm so excited to be back and share this week's podcast interview with you. I'm pumped to have Zak Malamed join in on the call today. Zak shares his story of how be founded the company Student Voice, the organization built to give voice to students to best transform education. 

The focus of this week's episode is thinking of ways we can invite students into the conversation and empower them to help be the change they want to see in education. To me, it's a lot like bringing in customer reviews and modifying the business plan if the customer is either not happy or not even buying the product

And when the customer happens to be students and the product learning, we can't afford to not have the customers buy the product. (click to tweet!)

Because of the shift in education technology, students now have the ability to get their voice heard. Zak, who is extremely savvy with Twitter, found out that Twitter's hashtags allow for students to connect and communicate simultaneously across the globe.

Quick note:

I'm 99% done with my e-book that serves as a toolkit for school leaders on how to use social media. It takes all that I've learned as both an educator, my M.S. Educational Leadership, and my marketing MBA study. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer in the book, just send them over to mark@markwguay.com.

Also, if you haven't yet done so, please head over to iTunes and give an honest review of the podcast. 

Find out more and reach out to Zak at,

Website: stuvoice.org

Twitter: @stu_voice

Email: Zak@stuvoice.org

Let me know what you think of the episode by leaving a comment!   

Episode 13: Greg Rosenbaum - SXSWedu

What happens when you combine Woodstock with TED? You get the SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas.

On the call with me today, I have Greg Rosenbaum - the organizer behind SXSWedu - the yearly conference that takes place in Austin, TX. To me, this conference is like a combination of TED and Woodstock. It's jaw-dropping brilliance that gets the mind spinning meshed with some of the best music of our time - which, by the way, led him to winning the Forbes 30 under 30 award for a top mover and shaker in transforming education. 

Greg and I talk about:

• The value of building a network of supporters.
  • Greg shows how building a network can inspire motivation and create opportunities to make transformative ideas happen. 

• How to grow a conference into an award-winning annual event
  • Greg share his journey of how he helped grow SXSWedu into what it is today.

A couple quick notes: I really appreciate those who went over to iTunes and left an honest rating of the show and a comment. If you haven't' had the chance to do so, please head over there when you can. Click here to go there right now. It helps pull up the show's rankings and allows other people to listen in, and join you in transforming education. 

One last thing: I'm just about finishing up on an Ebook that I have been working on for a while and would like to hear from you. The book is a social media toolkit for schools on how they can use social media to better connect with the community and be a social media role model for students. 

I want to know what questions you have about social media. I'll then take your questions and ask the social media and marketing experts when I travel from conference to conference. 

Send your questions over to @markwguay or mark@markwguay.com.  

Let's get into the episode