Episode 173: Interview w/ Melody McAllister

The Counter Narrative: Changing the Way We Talk (and think) About Education

In this episode, I chat with Melody McAllister, a wife, mother of five, educator, and author. She and her family relocated to Anchorage, Alaska from the Dallas, Texas area in 2019. McAllister is the 2017 Garland NAACP Educator of the Year and author of the “I’m Sorry Story”, a children's book about taking responsibility for mistakes and making sincere apologies. She is a classroom teacher, the community facilitator for several, large educational communities, and is a consultant for edtech companies and small business owners looking to enhance their social media presence. McAllister has spoken at ISTE and ASTE about equity issues in education, and writes about her life journey in her blog HeGaveMeAMelody.com She also guest blogs regularly at alicekeeler.com, edumatchpublishing.com, and spacesedu.com.

McAllister has been dubbed “Stream Queen” for her regular LIVE streaming broadcasts. You can watch and follow her LIVE streams on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube where she has a weekly book chat with other authors. She also hosts the Growth Over Grades Podcast sponsored by SpacesEDU.

During our conversation, we talked about the importance of restorative spaces. Melody points out that, as humans, we make mistakes and will often end up harming the relationships we have built with others. It is vital for us to learn how to navigate those spaces and engage in intentional work to rebuild connections. This is a challenging process and it is our job, as educators, to guide our students through this learning. What Melody does not condone, however, are forced apologies and other similar approaches that rob students of their accountability.

Ready to hear more? Let’s go.

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