In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie look to tackle the difficult role of the educator in our current situation due to the pandemic. Already a year into living with quarantines, masks, social distancing, and the root of it all, COVID, educators have been looking for ways to keep their students and themselves safe while still keeping the wonderment and awe of learning going for our students.
Howie and Ryan have always been strong allies of the hands-on, real-world, problem-based, design thinking, approach to creating learning opportunities for students. Heck, they even wrote a book, Designing Disney Inspired Classrooms, that is packed with hands-on lesson ideas inspired by the most magical place on Earth, Magic Kingdom! We all know the importance of this style of learning for our students and how impactful it can be but how do educators create and implement these types of lesson plans with today’s COVID restrictions? What about if the school is teaching remotely? All these questions were bothering Ryan and Howie and in today’s episode, they look to tackle a couple of the hands-on lessons from their book and talk through how they can be reworked to still be engaging while meeting the safety requirements that may now be in place due to COVID.
We hope our attempt at trying to work through these real challenges that we educators are facing daily and understand that we don’t have all the answers but starting and having these conversations, we know that we as educators will pull through and deliver the incredible educational opportunities our students are used to and deserve.
Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney-loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Dave Bakker, co-founder, and COO of Pocketlab. Pocketlab by Myriad Sensors is a group of sensors created to collect data wirelessly. When you use them in your classroom with your students you can create lab reports, analyze data, and watch your students view and collaborate about the data in real-time. Currently, there are three options of sensors. There is the Voyager which can be used to collect data like motion, altitude, light, magnetic fields, and more. The Air that can measure carbon dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and light. Last but not least is the Pocketlab Weather which temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, heat index, and dew point.
Dave talks us through each of these sensors and why his company was driven to create them for the classroom. He also shares with us several different examples of how they can be used with students to spark engagement and help them understand the data that we as teachers are expecting them to analyze and draw conclusions from.
Dave also discusses with us the birth and upcoming opportunities for a very special conference called Science is Cool (ScIC). Back in March when people were first staying at home with the start of the pandemic, Dave and some of his colleagues were looking for a way to provide professional development in STEM to teachers while COVID-19 kept many of them at home. The result was a virtual conference called ScIC (Science is Cool) that has attracted tens of thousands of science teachers and education professionals from around the world. They have even hosted big-name Science celebrities like Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and others that have come on to help inspire and share with the science education community. Dave shares with us some of the latest info and guests lined up for the next ScIC conference that is coming up on April 1st, and that’s no joke!
Don’t forget to check out the links in the show notes to get more details on the conference and the sensors available from Pocketlab. Also, don’t forget to join our community of incredible educators over on Facebook in the Educators Who Love Disney group.
Howie and Ryan continue their conversation looking at E.P.C.O.T. and its inspirations for the classroom. On the January 1st show, Ryan and Howie had great intentions and ambitions to travel around the entire showcase and discuss each pavilion but they got so inspired by the great pavillions found in World Showcase that they only make it about halfway around World Showcase lagoon. In today’s episode, the goal is to finish our trip around World Showcase and stop at each of the remaining pavilions.
There is so much educational greatness in all of the Disney World property but the cultural richness and unique opportunities that World Showcase has are pretty special. As we continue our tour through the different pavilions, Howie and Ryan will share some of their initial thoughts of each pavilion and what makes them special in their minds as educational gems.
We hope you enjoy our trip around the different pavilions as Howie and Ryan stop at each one and discuss what types of inspiration they draw from each of them and how they would apply that to education. Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
Students Assemble with Cody Havard, Ph.D.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back to the show, Dr. Cody Havard from The University of Memphis. Those that remember, we had Dr. Cody on the My Disney Class Podcast back in Season 5 Episode 20. We strongly recommend that you go back and give it a listen as Dr. Cody does a great job talking about his passion for Disney and how Disney fandom has an impact on our lives and interactions.
Today on the show though Dr. Havard is here to discuss his newest published paper titled “Students Assemble: Acclimating to College using the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” This can be found in the Journal of Undergraduate Research but Dr. Cody has set up a special link just for our listeners to access and read the paper. He has also included some other valuable resources as well, so make sure to check out the link in our show notes so you don’t miss out!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the characters that play out their storylines inside of it are extremely popular right now in our society. Dr. Havard has recognized this in his students and discussions he has had especially in his course, Being a Fan of Disney. In this episode, Dr. Cody explains how he developed this idea and why he believes this can be a powerful tool not only with his college students but also with students in elementary, middle, and high school.
We think you are really going to enjoy hearing Dr. Havard discuss how he has analyzed each character of the MCU and then how he helps students draw connections to the characteristic traits of those characters with the character traits they have. There is definitely a Hulk size value of educational and social-emotional content in this episode. So unless you are an emotional Iron Man, we think you are going to agree with us too that Dr. Havard has knocked it out of the Universe with this paper and lessons. Don’t forget to check out the links in the show notes to see all the wonderful resources Dr. Havard has put together for us and also don’t forget to join our community of incredible educators over on Facebook in the Educators Who Love Disney group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan continue their conversation looking at E.P.C.O.T. and it’s inspirations for the classroom.
On the December 1st show, Ryan and Howie had great intentions and ambitions to travel around all E.P.C.O.T. And discuss each attraction, but they got so inspired by the great attractions in Future World that they only covered that part of the park.
In today’s episode, the goal is to make it around World Showcase and stop at each pavilion. Will they make it all the way around, you will need to tune in to see!
So the first great question that needs to be answered is, what pavilion is the “right” pavilion to start your journey around the showcase? Though we are aware of the great debate this is between Disney fans, Ryan and Howie take no sides and by default are going to start their journey in Mexico.
We hope you enjoy our trip around the different pavilions as Howie and Ryan stop at each one and discuss what types of inspiration they draw from each of them and how they would apply that to education. If for some reason Ryan and Howie don’t make it around to all the pavilions, you can bet they will pick this discussion up again and finish off E.P.C.O.T with a bang. Thanks again to all our listeners and remember to leave feedback on iTunes / Apple Music and join our community of Disney loving educators over on our Facebook page, Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome to the show an incredible 4th-grade teacher in the Hernando School district, Brooksville FL. Howie and Ryan were lucky enough to meet Nadia as she attended the first cohort to go through the P.D. Magic experiential trip to Walt Disney World. Nadia, as well as everyone in that group, thoroughly impressed Howie, Brian, and Ryan as they all were willing to put themselves out there, have fun, and share with each other. This made the first P.D. Magic trip a huge success and one that changed each of us for the better!
Nadia talks about her last year and a half and how she has been implementing Disney with her elementary school students. You will love hearing about how she has implemented global perspectives and engaging Disney motivations with her school’s new Cambridge program. She also discusses some of the challenges of teaching in a COVID hybrid world and how she feels that these challenges are helping her students turn into the next digital creative generation.
We hope you enjoy today’s show and our discussion with the wonderful Nadia King! Please keep the conversation going over on Educator’s Who Love Disney Facebook group and like always we would love any feedback you have. Please like and share our podcast on Apple Music and any other media platform you use.
EPCOT FUTURE WORLD OF EDUCATION
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing how they might approach creating lessons out of EPCOT attractions. In the show today we get a peek inside the workings of both Howie’s and Ryan’s mind and boy can that be scary! It all starts with a nightmare that Howie had that an upcoming book on EPCOT was due to the publisher and no ideas were coming to mind on how to create lessons for one of our favorite parks, EPCOT. This leads Ryan and Howie to the content of today’s show which is how we approach each attraction from the start. What’s the first impression of an attraction? What educational inspiration does this attraction give us? What’s the story? How can we take that story and use it to our advantage to create an engaging and inspiring lesson for our students? We will take a look at these questions and more as we walk around EPCOT in today’s discussion.
So as we walk and explore EPCOT for educational gold, which we found a ton, our inspiration took us to many places from the Sciences to History and even poetry. Howie and Ryan even got so carried away that they only made it through Future World. Look for a future episode where they continue their walk around EPCOT gaining educational inspiration around every corner and churro!
Ryan and Howie welcome an extra special guest to the show, Mark DiBlasi.
So, who doesn’t like playing board games? Many families regularly play board games when they gather together and many play board games when they gather for parties and such, but did you know that many educators are now using board games in their classrooms. So on today’s show, we are looking into how and why we should consider using board games in our classrooms. Here are five of the many reasons that board games can be a useful tool in the classroom.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are discussing how teachers can help students who are struggling with hidden hurdles. We all know that everyone has something they are dealing with and nobody’s life is perfect. We all have struggles, but how do we as teachers address all these struggles with everything else going on in school and when our students often keep these struggles to themselves?
In today’s show, Ryan and Howie are discussing stories of some of their former students and family that have such struggles and how they as teachers, parents, family, etc. can help. They also discuss some general classroom routines and procedures that you can use as a teacher to help all your students, even when they haven’t shared their hidden struggles with you.
Also, they bring on a very special guest at the end of the show that shares his personal experience as a current 5th grader with a genetic eye disorder called Stargardt. Cooper is Ryan’s nephew and he has decided to come on the show to talk candidly about his hidden struggles and also about how he recently raised nearly $4,000 for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Cooper and My Disney Class all hope that researchers will find a cure for this and all the eye diseases out there!
We hope you enjoy this show and hope that this show serves as a reminder that all of us are carrying around hidden struggles and sometimes the simple act of kindness can make all the difference.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are welcome their good friend Brian Collins. As most of you know by now Brian works with us to help bring magic and pixie dust to the world of education. What some of you might not know is that Brian continues to branch out into many other areas of education and technology with several different companies and groups. These groups with Brian are doing so many innovative things that we had to have him on to share all the exciting things coming down the pipe.
For those of you that don’t know Brian, come on what’s that matter with you, just kidding but here’s a quick background on Brian. Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 4th time on the show, fifth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
We hope that you enjoy our conversation with Brian and if you have any questions or want to connect with any of us, including Brian, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are getting into the fall spirit and sharing their top ten biggest thrills or scary experiences at Walt Disney World! This is sure to be a wild ride through the spinning teacups of Ryan and Howie’s minds and memories. So buckle up and don’t pick up any hitchhiking ghosts as we take a journey through the scariest experiences at WDW.
By this time in the school year, most of us are really ready for a break and if you’re like Ryan you partake in the Halloween candy that is meant for your students way too much. That’s why we decided to just have a little bit of fun on today’s episode and share some of the scariest experiences that we’ve had in the parks. Now we know what you’re going to say,” Walt Disney World isn’t scary!” but we think you will agree that the experiences that we are sharing in this episode would scare even the bravest Gaston or even a braver Merida. We hope you enjoy this fun break as much as we did and we hope this encourages you to find those moments in your classroom when you can take a break with your students and have a little fun. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Halloween and like always we’d love to have you join our community over on Educators Who Love Disney Facebook group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome a wonderful guest that is known for his hard work, leadership, customer service, and for being a guy who understands that developing a successful culture in your kingdom starts with you. Today we welcome none other than Mr. Dan Cockerell former Vice President of Magic Kingdom.
Dan has had one heck of a journey inside and through the Walt Disney World Co. He started in the Walt Disney World college program before his legendary dad begun his career at WDW, though we find out that Valarie, Dan’s wife, beat both of them as she started at WDW 2 years before Dan! Dan then went back to college to finish up at Boston University, graduating in 1991. He then went back to Walt Disney World and was hired as a parking attendant at E.P.C.O.T. which lead him to work overseas at then Euro Disney ( now called Disneyland Paris). From there he went on to work on the resort’s side of the business, working at places like Pop Century. Dan continued to work his way through various positions in the company learning everything he could which lead him to be promoted to Vice President of E.P.C.O.T, Vice President of Hollywood Studios, and then his final position, Vice President of the Most Magical Place on Earth, Magic Kingdom.
Dan retired from Disney in 2018 after 26 years and 19 different positions. Though he was retiring, he was ready to stop working. Dan and his wife Valerie have set out on a new venture and have started their own consulting and speaking business. You can find all the information about his services, book, podcasts, blogs, and more at CockerellConsulting.com or look for links on our show notes page.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan share ways they send stress to Neverland. Though we all would love to say that the profession of education is full of pixie dust every day, we know this isn’t always true. Especially this time of year, when most of us are just coming off of summer break and starting a new school year. This time is especially hectic and as soon as you scratch one item off of your to-do-list, you have to add six more items. If you add the fact that most of us this year are currently starting in a new model with new procedures due to COVID, stress levels are breaking record highs!
In this episode, Ryan and Howie will share the ways they handle stress, which to no one’s surprise has definite elements of Disney in them. We also would like to mention that in no way are Howie or Ryan mental health experts and in this podcast, we are just sharing what works for us. If you are having mental health issues, please seek out help and guidance from a professional.
We hope you enjoy this episode on stress and we know that you are doing great things in the classroom despite the added pressures this year. Please reach out to us if there is any way we could help you or your school and if you looking for a great support group of educators, come join our community of My Disney Class educators on our Facebook page, Educators who love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan welcome a fabulous gifted teacher from Slidell Louisanna, Monica Finch. Monica studied Gifted education at Northwestern State University and is currently teaching Gifted to 1st through 6th grades at St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. She does travel between schools to meet her district’s need for those students needing Gifted guidance. She definitely has a very unique story and you are really going to enjoy hearing how she brings the magic to all of her students in all the different buildings and different grade levels.
We first met Monica as she took our online P.D. Magic professional development course and she was so creative attacking each lesson and completed all 25 lessons with so much passion that we knew we needed to get her on the show. Our discussion will of course cover all the unique and creative ways she teaches and pushes her Gifted students to achieve their very best but we will also tackle her thoughts and fears with the upcoming school year with our concerns with COVID and online, blended and in-person learning.
We hope like always that you enjoy Monica’s story as much as we do and we also once again want to thank you for joining our My Disney Class community in our 6th year!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are preparing for season 6 as well as preparing for the new school year. First, we wanted to say thank you to our incredible community of listeners that have made the past five seasons of My Disney Class so wonderful and educational. We look forward to a great season 6 with more great guests and lots of talk and love for Disney. Secondly, we know that season 6 and the new school year won’t be like our last five seasons and we wanted to take time in this first episode of season 6 to share some of the ways we are preparing for the new type of school settings and the year ahead.
We hope you enjoy this episode as we discuss the three main options of learning out there, online, blended, and in-person. We look at the plusses and minuses of each choice and then address ways we can make sure to make the best of each situation and keep our students viewing their education in a positive light. We will also share some of the resources we have gathered to help us start the new year and with things like how to make online meets more interactive. We know these are trying times and we love to help any way we can, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us and we will do whatever we can. Also, if you haven’t already joined our very supportive group of educators over on Facebook at Educators Who Love Disney, please do so we can all help each other through this pandemic and the upcoming school year.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome a few of our educators that joined us on our 1st P.D. Magic class at Walt Disney World. Like we mentioned before, we had to postpone our 2020 group due to COVID 19 but reliving some of the memories with our 1st group was an awesome way to remind ourselves how powerful the Disney educator community is. Being that it had been a year since we were all together and since we were all going through this tough period during the pandemic, we thought we would get together on Zoom and check-in with each other.
P.D. Magic is more than just a professional development opportunity, it is also an experience where you walk away with new friends that just happen to work in education and love Disney like you!
We hope you enjoy the last episode of season 5 as we recorded our reunion and the wonderful discussion that took place that night. We talk about everything from the parks, how we dealt with distance learning, and our fears and questions for the future of both education and visiting the parks. Thanks again for listening. Howie and I can’t believe we are finishing year 5!
You, the listener, are so important in what we do and are a key part of our My Disney Class Community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if we could ever be of any assistance and if you haven’t already, come join our group on Facebook at Educators Who Love Disney.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan look back on this year starting in August 2019 and bring everyone up to our current situation. Ryan and Howie typically love to reflect back on what has transpired over the current school year and with the podcasts, but this year has definitely been a wild ride and disembarking and exiting into the gift shop has some scary question marks! Though trying to stay positive is important and we try to do our best to look back at both Disney and our school year to remember the good times and the lessons learned.
We hope you enjoy today’s show as we cover everything from the NBA experience to Disney + and everything from last summer’s podcast recommendations to this basted pandemic that has turned our educational lives upside down. There are always lessons to be learned if we just take the time to slow down and look at things through different lenses. Remember though reflection is good, but perseverating on the past and things we cannot change can be toxic.
Think of what our good buddy Gusteau says in Ratatouille-- "If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead."
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome an incredible panel of super guests to discuss the future of theme parks and education. In today’s episode, we have former Imagineer Steve Alcorn is an American entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, author, and teacher best known for his involvement in the theme park industry. As a co-founder of Alcorn-McBride, he was an early pioneer of computer peripherals. In 1982 he joined Walt Disney Imagineering (then known as WED Enterprises) as a consultant, where he worked on the electronic systems for Epcot Center. During his two years with Imagineering, he designed show control systems for The American Adventure, wrote the operating system used in the parkwide monitoring system, and became Imagineering’s first Systems Engineer, heading up mechanical, electronic and software systems for the Journey Into Imagination ride.
Also joining the panel is our favorite partner in Disney education trouble and mischief, Brian Collins. Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 4th time on the show, fifth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
Rounding out this assembly of superhero guests is our new Disney friend and recent guest, Dr. Cody Havard from the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is currently an Associate Professor of Sport Commerce and the Coordinator of Research in the Kemmons Wilson School at the University of Memphis. He is the Director of the Bureau of Sport and Leisure Commerce and the KWS Coordinator of Research at the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is also an avid Disney fan himself and uses Disney as a valuable learning tool in some of his college courses. For more information on Dr. Havard’s research and instruction, check out episode 20 of season 5!
We know there is a lot of uncertainty these days and we are all longing for the days when we can get back into the parks and escape from reality. We also know that many educators are struggling with envisioning what our profession, buildings, students, etc. will look like when we return. We hope you enjoy and find some comfort in our assembly of some very creative and knowledgeable friends to help discuss what this new normal will potentially look like.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are discussing the opportunities that teachers have for getting professional certifications. There is no doubt that educators are lifelong learners. We are constantly trying to set a good example for our students and improving ourselves both personally and professionally is just one way we do that. Going through a certification process can do so much more for educators than giving them a banner to put under their name in an email. No matter what certification process you go through you are going to discover new teaching strategies that you can take back to the classroom and make changes to your teaching and curricula to better suit the needs of your students. In addition to the hours spent teaching in the classroom, much of teachers’ time is spent on student evaluations, curriculum development, and other paperwork. The certification process can help teachers to become better at planning their time and staying organized. This ultimately makes teachers more efficient and gives them extra time to focus on students rather than the paperwork. These are just a couple of the benefits of going through a certification process.
Ryan and Howie will discuss a few of the certification programs out there that they are familiar with and share the pros and cons of each one. One of the programs that they are both currently going through is the National Geographic Educators Certification program. They discuss this one in detail and share their successes and struggles as they are getting close to finishing.
We know that there are many certification choices out there and because of time, we were only able to mention a few. We hope you find this episode useful in a basic introduction to what the processes are like and why you may want to consider doing one.
One thing that Howie and Ryan do know is that no matter what educators choose to do to help them professionally, they all demonstrate a commitment to excellence!
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Professor Cody Havard Ph.D. from Memphis University. Dr. Havard is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with a Ph.D. in Sport Administration. His doctoral dissertation was on rivalry in intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Havard is currently an Associate Professor of Sport Commerce and the Coordinator of Research in the Kemmons Wilson School at the University of Memphis. He is the Director of the Bureau of Sport and Leisure Commerce and the KWS Coordinator of Research at the University of Memphis. Dr. Havard is also an avid Disney fan himself and uses Disney as a valuable learning tool in some of his college courses.
On today’s show, Dr. Havard will share with us his background in education and Disney fandom, which includes incredible amounts of research that he has conducted on how rivalry and fandom shape us as human beings. Most of us know based on our feelings that Disney can have a positive effect on our psyche, but Dr. Havard will share actual data that he has collected that will enlighten us on the science behind our fandom.
Dr. Havard will also share how he incorporates Disney into his college courses and also share the wonderful resources that he and his students are creating that educators can use in their classrooms today to make an impact with their students. We know you are going to enjoy the show today as we dive deep into the data and the science behind Disney fandom.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are imagining and dreaming of what it would be like to have the parks to ourselves. In these unprecedented times, we are seeing video and images of the parks completely empty. Though these images can be unsettling, to say the least, we wanted to look at it from a positive spin and discuss some of our favorite attractions. Like most of you, our schools are sitting empty as well and we hope that looking and reflecting on the empty parks can help some reimagine and reflect on the positive opportunities our empty schools might be able to give us. We at My Disney Class Podcast, so hope that our schools can go back to normal soon and when they do, we know that they are going to be stronger and better because of the work that you do.
We hope that all our listeners are safe and healthy and that you are getting the support you need for not only continuing the learning for our students but also getting the support you need for your own health and mental wellness. Please feel free, like always, to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help support you. Also if you have not already done so, please consider joining our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. There is already a good group of educators there ready to embrace you and help support each other and we would love to have you join the group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome back one of their partners in mouse crime and good friend Brian Collins! Brian was a Disney cast member since the early 1990s and helped create magic daily as he worked both on the front line of customer service at the Contemporary Resort and as a Disney Imagineer. During his time at WDI, Brian was a show writer and worked on classic attractions like Jungle Cruise and The Great Movie Ride, just to name a few. This is Brian’s 3rd time on the show, fourth if you count a Retro Replay of one of his earlier episodes, and if you are looking for more of his background story then you definitely want to check out episode 20 of season 2 or episode 12 of season 3.
In today's show, Brian talks about how Himself, Howie, and Ryan all met and how that meeting has led us all to the place where we are now which is joined together in the pursuit of bringing pixie dust to the educational world. Each part of this trio shares some of their favorite memories from their learning escapades together and they share future pursuits as well. Towards the end of today’s show, the topic moves to ideas to help yourself and students stay engaged and creative during the recent stay at home orders we are all living through.
We hope you enjoy today’s show as much as we did making it and if you haven’t checked out Brian Collins and his work, what are you waiting for! Go, run, and look him up, you won’t be sorry.
Like always, please give us a rating and review on Apple Music. We so appreciate the feedback and love to hear from our incredible community. Also do forget to check us out on all our social media outlets, especially Educators Who Love Disney on Facebook.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are discussing the very shocking and difficult new normal that most of our educational institutions have been thrown into because of COVID-19. As Howie and Ryan have always been huge fans of all the wonderful educators out there and have been honored to have had a small number of them on the show to highlight their stories, we are especially proud of all the educators today as they have tackled this situation with grace, selflessness, and determination to help bring a level of normalcy and continuing learning to all their wonderful students. While we know that there is no replacement for the magical learning environment and community you have created for your students and there is no way to replicate the learning experiences that they get when they are with you and able to collaborate with you and their peers, we wanted to at least share some of our thoughts, plans, and resources with you. This is no way a complete list and we don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we feel that by sharing and working together, we can all get through this.
We hope that all our listeners are safe and healthy and that you are getting the support you need for not only continuing the learning for our students, but also getting the support you need for your own health and mental wellness. Please feel free, like always, to reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help support you. Also, if you have not already done so, please consider joining our Facebook group, Educators who love Disney. There is already a good group of educators on there ready to embrace you and help support each other and we would love to have you join the group.
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Howie and Ryan are pleased to have Micheal Corbert on the show. For some time now, countries and regions around the world have adopted various initiatives to encourage and support the use of computers in their educational systems. These initiatives have taken many different forms in different countries, some focusing on strategic support for hardware and software-related programs, some on strategies more directly focused on curricular and instructional aspects of computers, some on strategies for the school manager, and others on different approaches to teacher education and support. Regardless of the focus or scope of the initiative, one aspect has become crystal clear and reoccurs in all the studies and that is that the teacher is the key figure in the eventual success of any technology-driven educational initiative
Micheal Corbert is one of those teachers that is pushing his district’s educational technology initiative forward. He has been doing this for 31 years working in the computer lab of his school and teaching such classes as Introduction to computer programming and Digital Literacy. He has even developed his own curriculum involving creative coding and wouldn’t you know as a long time Disney fan, he even finds ways to incorporate his love of Disney in his lessons.
We know you are going to enjoy hearing Micheal’s story and also be encouraged to start using technology in your classroom if you are not already doing so. Like always if you have any thoughts or suggestions about this show or future shows, make sure to reach out to us on social media or email us at MyDisneyClass@gmail.com. Also if you enjoy the show, please write a review and rate us on iTunes as this helps other educators find our show.
Cruising into Spring
In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are cruising into spring by discussing Howie’s recent cruise on the Disney Wonder. Howie is quite the cruising expert, a matter of fact, we could and should start calling him Captain Howie! Though he’s taken many cruises from Princess to river cruises in Europe, Disney cruises are his favorite. I don’t think that’s much of a shocker and with this being his 10th Disney cruise, we thought it would be a great time to discuss why he loves them so much and how we can take advantage of all the great educational opportunities that await us on the seas.
In this show then, Howie captains us through the deep waters of cruising and helps make sense of all the many activities that are available to someone going on a cruise. We will look at onboard activities like live shows, fine dining opportunities, parties, and different youth clubs. We look even further into one of these opportunities that’s just for kids and is packed with educational gems, if you are like Ryan and Howie, you will be wishing you were a kid again just to get the chance to explore!
Howie also takes us through off-board excursions. These are the opportunities, some of them at an additional cost, that happen while the ship is in port. There are many many choices and they do depend on where you are cruising to but no matter what your destination is, we are sure you are going to find opportunities to explore culture, foods, nature and much much more.
We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope that it has encouraged you to look at taking your next cruise keeping the educational opportunities in mind. Though you won’t see Ryan out on the seas anytime soon, you never know, you may just run into Captain Howie!