In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie welcome Kevin Roughton. Kevin is a middle school history teacher at Jurupa Middle School in Jurupa Valley CA not too far from Disneyland! He is an educational speaker, author, and was also selected as an Outstanding Middle School Educator of California Counsel For The Social Studies.  Let’s just put it this way, he’s a great educator and he’s on a mission to share his experiences and Disney and gamification to help better our profession. 

In the show today, you will hear how passionate Kevin is for his students and for the educational profession. He explains how he has been working on creating a classroom that is fully immersive and engaging to students while still providing a challenging curriculum that inspires his students to not just be observers of history but actual participants. From day one in his classroom, students are shown how they are historians as Kevin has created a theme and story, masterfully, that is carried throughout the school year. Kevin also shares with us how he fell back in love with Disney, specifically Disneyland and the Imagineers that make the magic. He talks us through this journey and how it has shaped his instructional practices. 

Through this journey of improving his practice, Kevin decided while listening to an Imagineering presentation, that he should write all of what he has learned and gleaned from Disney down in a book so others could benefit in their instructional practices. This book is near completion and should be available this summer. The title of the book is Teach With Magic. Use Disney Imagineering Techniques To Make Your Classroom The Most Engaging Place On Earth! 

Both Howie and Ryan got a sneak peek at his book and we can tell you that you are not going to want to miss this opportunity to hear Kevin share what he has learned from Disney through his actual life stories and experiences in the classroom.  

We hope you enjoyed hearing Kevin’s story as much as we enjoyed talking to him and like always make sure you leave us a review in Apple Music or wherever you listen to this podcast and also come join in on the fun and share your educational experiences with us over on our Facebook group, Educators Who Love Disney.

In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcast, Ryan and Howie are dreaming of those lazy summer days just around the corner but with that comes the reality that school is not out yet. The last month of school can be really challenging for us educators and also for our students! In this episode, Howie and Ryan discuss activities, tips, and lessons learned that will hopefully help you tackle those last few weeks of school and leave you with enough energy to enjoy that well-deserved Disney vacation. 

We all know that Disney has the ability to wow its guests and captivate customers for decades. Did you know that Disney’s return rate for visitors to its parks is around 70%, that’s incredible! Don’t you wish we could get 70% engagement and loyalty from our students, especially in the last few weeks of school? Well, in this episode, we will take a look at some of the things Disney does and try and see if we can apply those techniques to our classrooms to make those last few weeks of the school year just as engaging and enjoyable as the rest of the year. 

We hope you enjoy today’s episode and we hope you know that the My Disney Class community is always here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Whether you need help with a lesson plan or idea or you are just looking for someone to listen and support you, we are here. While Ryan and Howie will be the first ones to tell you they don’t have all the answers, they will definitely try to bring Magic to you in any way they can.

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.