Category: S.A.F.E TOPICS

Unlearn Grading to Ungrade Learning: Part 1 – A SAFE Topics Podcast

Good afternoon campus community,

In our latest episode release, the SAFE Topics team had a conversation with faculty members on the topic of ungrading! We explore ideas like deconstructing traditional grading, assessment being a conversation, meeting resistance, and self-reflections. Join hosts Sean and curry alongside Joe Salamon (Physical Science), Chad Tsuyuki (English), Virginia “Gin” Schwarz (English & Literature), and James Garcia (Sociology) as we talk about the world of ungrading. This episode is one for the books! Keep an eye out for Part 2 coming in the Spring ‘22 semester!

Access the transcript for this episode.

And don’t forget to listen to the mini-series, “Hyflexing,” with hosts Sean and curry!

Ways to Listen!

  1. Podbean – S.A.F.E. Topics
  2. Google Podcasts
  3. Spotify
  4. Apple Podcasts
  5. Amazon Music
  6. Audible

What to Listen For

  • How are we all thinking about assessment in our classrooms?
  • Is ungrading a privilege reserved for full time faculty?
  • Points, points, points!
  • Deconstructing the years of high school grade trauma.
  • The myths of the transactional relationship vs an authentic relationship.
  • Ungrading isn’t a radical idea – it’s being used in other places too.
  • “If you don’t do this, you won’t get that.”
  • The self-worth tied to the grades.
  • How the grade becomes the message.
  • Having both flexibility and rigidity.
  • Have you been met with resistance to ungrading?
  • The importance of feedback.
  • Grades still matter → We’re still working within a paradox.
  • Thoughts on the affective, formative, and summative.
  • Being way less stressed when you don’t have to be a policing person.
  • Making sure we have these conversations and self-reflecting.

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team

curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Mana Tadayon – Student (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes, Online)

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Down with Spring Break – A SAFE Topics Podcast

Hello campus community and happy Tuesday!!

The SAFE Topics team just released the latest episode, “Down with Spring Break!” In this episode, the team host a debate among with MiraCosta students and faculty over spring break. We ask why about the value of breaks and the costs of interruptions. We share the realities of workloads carried into breaks. And question what exactly it is we need a break from in the first place. Join hosts Sean, curry, and Mana along with Daniel Ante-Contreras (English), Carson Arias (mechanical engineering major), and Kayla Kamani (psychology & film major) in an argument over keeping or abandoning spring break!

Ways to Listen!

  1. Podbean – S.A.F.E. Topics
  2. Google Podcasts
  3. Spotify
  4. Apple Podcasts
  5. Amazon Music
  6. Audible

What to Listen For

  • Is spring break necessary?
  • The importance of a mental break where you can breathe.
  • Eliminating spring break altogether and extending our summer instead.
  • Catching up on work, working on mental health.
  • An institutional lens around spring break.
  • The lack of student input in talks around spring break.
  • “Doing the good for the most amount of people.”
  • The concept of spring break as a guilty pleasure.
  • Do we need a break from classroom culture?
  • Learning vs. time demand.
  • Admin and faculty should be more mindful of time especially during distant learning.
  • Working smarter and not harder.
  • Were any minds changed about their views on spring break?

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team

curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Mana Tadayon – Student, ASG President (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes, Online)

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Why Ethnic Studies? – A SAFE Topics Podcast

Hello campus community!!

The SAFE Topics podcast is BACK! We’re now in our 4th season of the podcast and we are truly appreciative of our guests, supporters, and our listeners. This season we’re kicking things off with a bang and already pumping out some episodes for you all. Our first episode this season was entitled, “Back to Campus! Kinda…” and started with a series of interviews with some folks around the MiraCosta College campus. The team interviewed students, staff, and faculty about their experiences about what’s making them happy to be on campus and some of the realities we’re still dealing with.

Along with that, we’ve also started a “Hyflex” mini-series where Sean and curry try to figure out this new HyFlex teaching thing. Check out the episodes on Hyflexing, Designing a New Course, and the COR of Your Class. Truly helpful and informative dialogue between Sean and curry about all things Hyflex!

And finally, our most recent release is now available to all! In this episode, the SAFE Topics team has a conversation with faculty leaders at MiraCosta who are charged with developing an Ethnic Studies program. We ask why about the political context, the timing, and the salient characteristics of Ethnic Studies, and how an Ethnic Studies department will benefit students and faculty campus wide. Join hosts Sean, curry, and Mana along with Maria Figueroa (English), JahB Prescott (English), Tyrone Nagai (English), Alicia Lopez (Sociology), and Steven Moreno-Terrill (Sociology) as we get into this topic!

Ways to Listen!

  1. Podbean – S.A.F.E. Topics
  2. Google Podcasts
  3. Spotify
  4. Apple Podcasts
  5. Amazon Music
  6. Audible

What to Listen For

  • Why ethnic studies and why now?
  • Ethnic studies have historically been met with resistance.
  • Why is it important for ethnic studies to be its own thing?
  • Student generated, not institutionally generated.
  • What are the characterizing features of ethnic studies today?
  • The interdisciplinary approaches to teach ethnic studies.
  • How ethnic studies benefits everyone.
  • We’re pioneers because we’re the first ones to do this at MiraCosta.
  • The “ah-ha” moment of ethnic studies.
  • The concept of community in ethnic studies.
  • What about students who might feel like they don’t fit in?
  • How ethnic studies can make us better.

Additional Resources (Thanks to Tyrone Nagai!)

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team

curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Mana Tadayon – Student, ASG President (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes, Online)

Connect with Us

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Safe Topics

Stay great!

The S.A.F.E. Topics Podcast Team

Linguistic Bias, Part 2 – A SAFE Topics Podcast

All of us with the SAFE Topics podcast team are back at it with another episode! In this latest release, we continue our conversation with faculty on the topic of linguistic bias. The question we initially asked was: how do we welcome diverse voices and prevent privileging one dialect over the other? Join hosts Sean, curry, and Mana along with special guests Maria Figueroa (English), Denise Stephenson (Director of Writing Center), Eric Robertson (Communication Studies), and Andrea Petri (International Languages) as we go into part two of this most excellent episode!

Ways to Listen!

  1. Podbean – S.A.F.E. Topics
  2. Google Podcasts
  3. Spotify
  4. Apple Podcasts
  5. Amazon Music
  6. Audible

What to Listen For

  • How is language like code as in computer science?
  • Are we perpetuating bias in our professional language?
  • Being a jerk vs misunderstanding. 
  • Respectability politics.
  • “Erasing ourselves in order to be seen.”
  • Focusing on the identity of a language.
  • Dropping the F-Bombs to dismantle the system.
  • Relaxing when you have privileged positions to be your authentic self.
  • Formality vs informality.
  • Pluralizing language.
  • What makes language legit in your classrooms?
  • Mana gets the chills at the end! 🙂

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team

curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Mana Tadayon – Student, ASG President (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes, Online)

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Linguistic Bias, Part 1 – A SAFE Topics Podcast

We hope you are all doing well and are ready to listen to our latest release! In this episode, the SAFE Topics podcast team has a conversation with faculty on the topic of linguistic bias! The question we ask is how do we welcome diverse voices and prevent privileging one dialect over the other? Join hosts Sean, curry, and Mana along with Maria Figueroa (English), Denise Stephenson (Director of Writing Center), Eric Robertson (Communication Studies), and Andrea Petri (International Languages) as we go into part one of this great episode and keep an eye out for Part Two to be released later this week!

Ways to Listen!

  1. Podbean – S.A.F.E. Topics
  2. Google Podcasts
  3. Spotify
  4. Apple Podcasts
  5. Amazon Music
  6. Audible

What to Listen For

  • How is a discipline that teaches formal language structures racist?
  • The ordering and structuring of teaching language.
  • Moving away from the prescriptive to the descriptive.
  • The concept of language or dialect.
  • How do you approach students who seek help in spaces like the writing center?
  • “Searching for a standard.”
  • Contextualizing is very important when teaching language.
  • Code switching – assimilate, strategize, or eliminate?
  • How language can create a power distance.
  • Language is only one form of communication.
  • Breaking away from standards for students who need it.
  • Positionality and giving students agency.
  • Fairness vs equity.
  • The idea of articulation.
  • The team discusses code-switching.

Mentioned in the Episode

The S.A.F.E. Topics Team

curry mitchell – Faculty, Letters (Co-host)
Sean Davis – Faculty, Sociology (Co-host)
Mana Tadayon – Student, ASG President (Co-host)
Kelly Barnett – Intern and Music Technology Student (Audio Editor)
James Garcia – Associate Faculty, Sociology (Show Notes, Online)

Connect with Us

PodBean
Safe Topics
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