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Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
Do you need innovative strategies to strengthen your school culture and spark student growth? This podcast is your go-to resource for coaches, teachers, administrators, and families seeking to create dynamic and engaging learning environments.
In each episode, you'll discover how to unite educators and caregivers to support students, tackle common classroom challenges, and cultivate an atmosphere where every learner can thrive.
With over 25 years of experience as a teacher and coach, host Olivia Wahl curates episodes with insights from more than 150 expert interviews, offering practical tips that bridge the gap between school and home.
Tune in every Monday and Friday for actionable strategies and inspirational stories that can transform your approach and make a real impact on learning.
Start with a fan-favorite episode today (S5E1: Inside the Secret Moves of Expert Teachers with John Hattie) and take the first step towards transforming your educational environment!
Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.
How is @openplansnyc Turning School Streets into Outdoor Classrooms for Students?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this clip (watch here), Sabina Sethi Unni from Open Plans defines a school street as a DOT program enabling schools to close adjacent streets to car traffic during school hours, enhancing school safety. This initiative, rooted in urban planning, can range from simple pick-up and drop-off closures to creating spaces for recess and gym. The aim is to improve road safety and overall student safety by managing traffic around schools.
This is the kind of innovative teaching environment and instructional leadership thinking that drives real school improvement, strengthens family partnerships, and builds school culture from the ground up. Whether you're a principal, teacher, instructional coach, or caregiver, this conversation will inspire you to think differently about the spaces where students learn, move, and thrive.
📩 Want to bring a School Street to your school? Contact Sabina at sabina@openplans.org
Ready to unlock more innovative teaching strategies that empower educators and drive real school change? Subscribe and explore the full channel.
Watch, reflect, and share Part 1 & Part 2 of our @schoolutionspodcast S5E36 interview.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 What is a School Street?
0:12 Pick-Up & Drop-Off Safety
0:22 Recess & Gym on the Street
0:35 Outdoor Learning & Science Fairs
0:48 Community Programming & Halloween Parades
1:02 School Streets as a Hub for Student & Family Life
📧 Connect with me if you’d like a thought partner to help you cultivate curious learners who advocate for what they believe in.
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
📌 Subscribe for more tools for empowered educators, teacher mentors, school counselors, instructional leaders, and anyone committed to thriving students and school change.
#Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #ForeverGettingBetter #CuriosityDriven #EvidenceBased #ClassroomReadyStrategies #SchoolStreets #OpenPlans #StudentEngagement #ActiveLearning #EquityInEducation #SchoolCulture #InnovativeTeaching #WholeChild #OutdoorLearning #FamilyPartnerships #InstructionalLeadership #SchoolImprovement #EmpoweredEducators #ProKidMindset #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #InclusiveClassrooms #TeacherCoaching #EducationTransformation #ThrivingStudents #SchoolLeadership #ParentInvolvement #InspiringStudents #TeacherImpact #ProfessionalDevelopment #NYCSchools #UrbanEducation
When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
Can you define, Sabina, what a School Street is, what it looks and feels like for us? A School Street is a D.O.T. program that, allows schools to close the streets in front of or adjacent to their schools, off to car traffic during the school day. It can be very simple. It can be closing during pick up and drop off. It can look like recess and gym. It can also feel like outdoor learning. Schools more so definitely used this during the pandemic, during the height of the pandemic. But I definitely there’s still schools who like will bring class outside, do a science fair. And then it can also look like community programing, whether it's like a Halloween parade. A lot of schools do that. Or whether it's a health fair, programing that involves parents and the broader school community. But it is really, a real like hub for activity with schools.
