Author Archives: Julie Rust

 This episode of “Parent Teacher Conference” takes us to the Upper School, where Emmi Sprayberry (chair of our arts department) facilitates a conversation with Raymond Huang, current senior; Tangela Chambers, mother to two upper school students (a senior and sophomore); and Dawn Denham, senior seminar English teacher.   High school is full of challenges…and for manyContinue reading “Inspire & Innovate’s “Parent Teacher Conference” Episode 2 Launch: The Power of a Story”

Well, we just made it through parent teacher conference season here at St. Andrew’s. From all accounts, they were generative and collaborative conversations in which it was clear that parents, teachers, and admin are all part of the same team dedicated to supporting youth in their growth and abilities. In the spirit of those dialogues,Continue reading “Launch of Next Podcast Series: “Parent Teacher Conference” (Episode 1, Middle School & Positive Classroom Environments)”

I don’t know about you, but when I used to teach middle and high school English, I felt the visceral weight of all that I wanted students to accomplish as a result of my class: vocabulary, speaking/listening, comprehension, literary devices, love for reading/writing, basic knowledge of literary canon, openness to diverse perspectives, writing, multimodal design,Continue reading “It Takes a Village: Resources on North Campus to Support Your Learning Goals”

I’ve heard it again and again from faculty. Different words, sure. Different tones, different rifts on the same melody. But the gist is the same: “Julie, I know you mean well, but I don’t have time to read those emails you send out.” “This year is somehow much more stressful than last year.” “Anytime youContinue reading “Let’s Be Real: What Teachers Need”

Contributed by Jessica Farris Meetings, meetings, meetings. Perhaps you, like early childhood music teacher Susan Lawler, are a natural at note-taking. Any time I see Suan jotting away on her yellow legal pad, I am intensely jealous – her notes thorough, her penmanship pristine. Her green Ward planners are just as thorough and perfectly catalogedContinue reading “The Art of Visual Note-taking”

We end our mini-series, “Living it: Stories from the Teaching Life” with a laughter and truth-packed episode featuring two of my favorite humans (not to mention educators) in the Jackson Metro Area: Shamia Hopper & Lucy Kaplan.  I had the pleasure of working with both of them while at Millsaps College, and I can quiteContinue reading ““Do it Anyway”: Stories from two third year teachers”

This post was contributed by Emmi Sprayberry. This week’s podcast features Tonja Murphy, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Mississippi Book Festival. Tonja is an amazingly passionate and talented woman who uses her skills as author, consultant, and motivational speaker to give back and invest in the community of Jackson, MS. I first met Tonja atContinue reading ““Meeting Students Where They Are: Mentoring as Teaching” featuring Tonja Murphy”

This post was authored by Dean Julius. This week we’re pumped to release our second episode of Series 2 (“Living it: Stories from the Teaching Life”) with a conversation with Josh Brister, a great human and an even better Spanish teacher at St. Andrew’s. Josh Brister came to St. Andrew’s in perhaps one of theContinue reading “Podcast Episode Drop: “Finding your Jam when you feel like an Imposter” with Josh Brister”

Authored by: Marty Kelly What do you get when you interview two longtime educators? A bucket of metaphors apparently. (I hope you see what I did there.) Listening to Julie’s barely twenty-minute interview with now-retired middle school teachers, Virginia Buchanan and Harriet Whitehouse, I counted at least five analogies about teaching and school: being onContinue reading ““Pure, Unadulterated Common Sense”: A Conversation with Virginia Buchanan & Harriet Whitehouse”

It’s that smell-of-fresh-marker-beginning-of-school-season again and Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators is back at it with a mini-series to get you back into the swing of things.  Without a doubt, our first series released last Spring (“Teaching in the Time of Covid”) remains relevant.  We are still masked, still distancing, and still very muchContinue reading “Launching Our Next Series, “Living It: Stories from the Teaching Life.””

Last but certainly not least in Season 1 of Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators, we feature NAIS Chief Innovation Officer: Tim Fish.  He started his career as a 4th-grade teacher and has served as a founder, board member, and consultant for a variety of education and technology-related schools, organizations, and companies. His MagneticContinue reading “Final Podcast Drop in Season 1: Tim Fish in “Centering Agency””

Design-based thinking. Problem-based-learning. Student-centered learning. Project-based-learning. There are a host of ways to frame designing learning experiences for youth that revolve around inquiry, utilizing the general template of students: (1) Asking a question (2) Doing some research (3) Crafting an artifact or paper or project to demonstrate your sense-making and (4) Reflecting on the entireContinue reading “i2 Inquiry-Based-Learning Fellows”

This week’s Inspire & Innovate Podcast features guest, Michael Nachbar, the Executive Director of Global Online Academy, a pioneering network of schools and educators reimagining learning to empower students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society.  If you’ve ever wanted to get inside the brain of a teacher planning learning experiences, you areContinue reading ““Centering Teaching by Design”: A Conversation with Michael Nachbar”

This week’s featured Inspire & Innovate Podcast guest, Charlie Jenkinson, serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA).  He believes that “schools have responsibility to act as powerhouses of social and global mobility” and he leads with a vision of ever-broadening access to and transformation of our educational spheres.  DuringContinue reading “This Week in i2 Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators, Charlie Jenkinson talks “Centering Relevance””

We’re back on another Tuesday with another podcast drop: this week featuring Julie Mountcastle, simultaneously Head of School and Grade 2 / 3 Teacher at Slate School, a K-12 independent school located in North Haven, Connecticut.  Slate School happens to be near and dear to our hearts, as one of the co-founders, Alexander Clark, isContinue reading ““Centering Curiosity” with Julie Mountcastle”

Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators is excited to release our second set of episodes about this unique moment in the education landscape featuring the ideas and expertise of consultant, author, and ed-activist, Ian Symmonds. Ian’s experience in senior positions such as executive director and dean spans over 30 years, and he has workedContinue reading “Podcast Drop: “Centering Relationships,” Featuring Ian Symmonds”

The i2 (Inspire & Innovate) blog has highlighted the ideas and experiences of faculty at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School ideas since August 2019.  Today we are excited to launch Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators.  In our first twelve episode series, we explore the nuances of teaching and learning during this challenging past yearContinue reading “Launching Season 1 of “Innovate & Inspire: A Podcast for Educators””

I’ll never forget a moment when I was seven or eight riding in the gray Plymouth Voyager minivan and my mom, for the millionth time, explained the meaning of a word I’d encountered in my (fifth) re-read of a Babysitter’s Club book. “I don’t get it, Mom,” I said, “it seems like you and DadContinue reading “Words to the Wise: Inspiration from Veteran Teachers”

Blog Contributed by Rev. Annie Elliott Over the past year, I’ve learned that creating concise, informative, and engaging content requires a variety of skills and a tremendous amount of planning.  This summer, as I wrote the syllabus for my World Religions class, I reflected on both the knowledge and the abilities that I wanted myContinue reading “From Page to Screen: Exploring Faiths through Video Production”

Ray McFarland is many things.  He is an award-winning, beloved faculty member.  He is an accomplished actor and singer.  He is keeper of our beautiful Center for Performing Arts. He is the first to remind colleagues that “our St. Andrew’s community is a family.”   But one thing he would be the first to pointContinue reading “On Movie Soundscapes & Growing to Trust Ourselves: A Conversation with Ray McFarland”