S02 EP29 SYS & Virtual School Success

Guest Bios -

Andrew Senkowski is a former Math educator who has worked in both brick & mortar and online schools over the past decade. He currently lives and works from Pennsylvania as a Content Editor Manager for a national curriculum company, but stays connected to online teaching as an Instructional Coach for SYS.

Nick Wolf spent his career working in all aspects of K-12 education, both nonprofit and for-profit, from the local to national levels. Nick started out his career at the KIPP Foundation before moving on to work at Alma, an upstart student information system, and now serves as the Technology Systems Coordinator at SYS Education.

Episode Summary -

Today Andrew and Nick teach us that there's a lot that must be pre-planned and intentionally designed in the background for an online school or program to function really well for students and families. These two help us understand that it's okay to use fewer apps and use them really well, and that we should treat ourselves like a best friend and be kind to ourselves as we learn and take risks in the online world.

Timestamps -

Learning about Andrew's birding life [3:23]

Nick is an indoor kid [4:48]

Andrew's take on the unseen work of an online educator [6:29]

Balancing synchronous and asynchronous instruction [8:05]

The tech side of a school is all about preparation [11:10]

What is equity of access? [12:10]

Eliminating user friction [13:00]

It always comes back to universal design for learning [16:00]

The walled garden of student safety [16:33]

What all the successful schools start with [17:56]

The most important factor in any online program [18:38]

Start with ideas, not tech [21:21]

Steady, responsive and flexible leadership [24:44]

What Andrew learned from working in an online school in PA [26:13]

Nick's advice for first-year online teachers [31:16]

Nick quotes Shakira [32:29]

Andrew's advice to treat ourselves like a friend [34:27]

Concerning student accountability [37:06]

Andrew's favorite teacher growing up [39:53]

Nick's favorite teachers growing up [42:45]

Resources -

SYS Education Website

The Big Year Movie

Whiteboard.fi

Desmos

MyEdTechLife Podcast

SYS FREEBIE! Open Educational Resources (OERs) for MS/HS and K-5

Dr. Katie Novak's Website

Chase Orton's AOE Episode

Contact Nick Wolf on Twitter @NickCWolf and nwolf@syseducation.org

Contact Andrew Senkowski at asenkowski@syseducation.org