In this episode of the Wired Educator podcast, I interview Stephanie Castle and share her amazing experience as an educator in Shanghai during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, her ability to adapt and innovate with remote learning, and her adventurous travel from location to location amidst this pandemic. We also discuss her successful return to China, where she was just released from a 14-day quarantine. She is healthy, happy and teaching! She has much to teach us about remote instruction and learning as well as the living of life. Stephanie and her colleagues have been instructing remotely longer than any other teachers. Buckle-up, this is the episode you are looking for!Â
Stephanie Castle is a good friend of mine and a fellow Apple Distinguished Educator. I’ve had the good pleasure to travel with her to different parts of the world through the Apple Distinguished Educator Program. She’s a wonderful human and an incredible teacher. She is the first person from whom I ever heard of the term, coronavirus, back in January when she was unable to return to her school in China due to the virus. Stephanie shares her amazing story in this episode and she provides a great perspective and insight on remote instruction and remote learning as well. As I mentioned she is a brilliant educator, and she has a lot to offer.Â
Stephanie Castle is an IB Biology teacher at Shanghai American School and an Apple Distinguished Educator. Originally from London, she has taught both High School Biology and Chemistry, previously working at the United Nations International School in New York. Stephanie has a passion for technology integration into the teaching and learning of Science, particularly in giving students opportunities to visualize their learning, explain complex scientific processes and engage in problem-solving. She is the creator of a YouTube channel for IB Biology and author of the published iBook “Creative Clips in Science – Stimulating Inquiry and Visualizing Learning”.  You can follow her work on Twitter @castlestephanie.
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In my introduction, I salute our first responders and essential workers during this time of crisis, and I offer some insight and direction on how you can apply the practice of mindfulness to your life.
Dr. Moats has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. After a first job as a neuropsychology technician, she became a teacher of students with learning and reading difficulties, earning her Master’s degree at Peabody College of Vanderbilt. Later, after realizing how little she understood about teaching reading, she earned a doctorate in Reading and Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Moats spent the next fifteen years in private practice as a licensed psychologist in Vermont, specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals of all ages and walks of life who experienced reading, writing, and language difficulties. At that time, she trained psychology interns in the Dartmouth Medical School Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Moats spent one year as the resident expert for the California Reading Initiative; four years as site director of the NICHD Early Interventions Project in Washington, DC; and ten years as research advisor and consultant with Sopris Learning, obtaining two Small Business Innovation Research grants from the NICHD.
Weston Kieschnick is a lifelong educator with more than fourteen years of experience designing, developing, and delivering leadership training and professional development to teachers and school leaders around the globe. He is the author of the best selling book, Bold School: Old School Wisdom + New School Innovation = Blended Learning that Works, co-author of The Learning Transformation: A Guide to Blended Learning for Administrators and the creator and host of 
Dr. Matthew X. Joseph has collected incredible insights on how best to support teaching and learning, and his work has led to nationally published articles and opportunities to speak at multiple state and national events. He has been a school and district leader in many capacities in public education over his twenty-five years in the field, with experiences such as being the director of digital learning and innovation, an elementary school principal, a classroom teacher, and a district professional development specialist. Matt currently serves as the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Leicester Public Schools. He earned a master’s degree in special education and administration and has his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Boston College. Matt holds licenses in teaching, school administration, and MA superintendent.
Jakob was one of the leading forces behind FlowFactory, Denmarks’ first High School that was 100% based on Challenge Based Learning and cross-curricula, Real World projects, together with both local and international corporations and organizations (like LEGO Education, SamLabs and Danfoss). His mission is to inspire us to reinvent education … to dare to think differently about learning and to aim higher and to see new creative possibilities for learning that are based on future trends instead of historical traditions.