Production team:

Host & Producer: Maria Xenidou

Introduction Voice: David Bourne

 

 Contact us:

impactlearningpodcast(at)gmail.com

 

 Music credits:

Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals

Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks

 

Where to find more about Christine Oliver:

LinkedIn

Twitter

 

Mentioned in this episode:

Classroom, Inc

Read to Lead Games

Lewis W. Bernard

The Urban Assembly

 

Listen to this episode and explore: 

Christina’s childhood: playing hide & seek and experiencing the joy of learning (4:50)

How her parents inspired Christina’s interest in education and reading (7:00)

Her love for history and humanity and her preference for hands-on learning in biology (8:00)

The person who inspired Christina to become a teacher (9:05)

What Christina learned about herself in her first job at a rifle club at the age of 13 (10:00)

Why Christina delayed her teaching career and got involved in politics at the NY State Assembly (12:00)

The role of representation in politics and how power can often lead to corruption (14:00)

How working at the NY State Governor’s office and visiting NYC led Christina to become a teacher in the Bronx (15:12)

Why teaching is the hardest job on the planet and why Christina loved it (16:45)

How life took Christina out of teaching when family illness sent her back to NY state (17:40)

How Christina started working on the intersection of politics and education in Washington, DC (18:25)

Why Christina decided to pursue her Masters in Education at Columbia SIPA in NYC (19:15)

How Christina’s interest in education reform led her to join the Urban Assembly (20:00)

Her decision to join Classroom, Inc and her current role as Executive Director (22:45)

The vision and mission of Classroom, Inc and their Read to Lead learning games platform (24:25)

How game-based learning helps bridge the skills gap between middle school and career (24:58)

How middle schoolers get exposure to over 30 different careers while building literacy skills (27:52)

What the Read to Lead games reminded Maria of during her former corporate career (31:04)

How the Read to Lead games, curriculum and resources develop and empower teachers to become more effective educators (32:45)

How adaptive learning is built in the Read to Lead games design to help struggling readers (35:70)

The three main Read to Lead learning games (39:65)

How the students build skills and confidence to be the boss at work (41:75)

The mission of Read to Lead: serving communities that lack resources and access to education (45:00)

How educators can access the free Read to Lead games, curriculum and resources (47:70)

What teachers love about Read to Lead: its unique value and impact on society (49:98)

What Christina wants to leave her mark on during her lifetime and Maria’s reflection (54:64)

Twitter Mentions