Glen Irvin Flores has been in education for over 20 years, and he currently works as an instructional coach in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. Glen was previously a Spanish teacher. Glen is well known by the Schoology community as a Gamification expert, Schoology Ambassador, and he was the 2016-2017 Schoology Educator of the Year. He is an avid gamer with a passion for gamification, playful learning and game-based learning. As a teacher his classroom was a gamified, quest-based, mastery learning environment where students were given the time and opportunity to succeed. Glen is the co-host of OnEducation Podcast whose goal is to have honest conversations about teachers, teaching and everything in between.
Glen is the co-host of the OnEducation Podcast with Mike Washburn. That is how I was introduced to Glen as Mike was on this show. Glen loves his podcast, but he had never really intended to begin one until he met Mr. Washburn. Glen shared that he had no idea that podcasts were popular when Mike first proposed the idea for the podcast saying, “I can never thought of myself being a part of a podcast.” They met for the first time after a gamification session that Glen presented at a conference, and Mike suggested they co host a show. While Glen agreed at the time, he didn’t necessarily think it was actually going to happen. The show is very successful. They have been named among the top 30 influencers in educational technology for two years in a row, and Glen reflected that, “It’s being go super great, and we’re super blessed in terms of having great listenership.”
When preparing for his guest appearance on the P3, Glen said that he was intimidated, in a good way. He was used to going on podcasts where he just spoke about what he does and things that he’s used to talking about. Glen said that this show gave him the opportunity to reflect. “I chose three songs, but as my wife and I were travelling this past weekend, we talked through it...it’s a really cool concept as far as to be able to say what songs you would actually choose.” She liked his choices, but he had a hard time not picking songs from the 90’s alternative rock category. In the end, however, Glen felt that these songs choices better-reflected each of the categories, and he was really excited to share them.
Glen’s nostalgic song is by artist who met a tragic and untimely end. It’s a traditional Mexican song often played by mariachi bands, but this artist’s version made it a rock song. “I had my Spanish students...learn this song to sing along.” It’s his favourite, and he loves this version of it. It reminds him of being a Spanish teacher and the impact his students have had on his life. Glen busts this one out at open mic nights; he always chooses this song being it’s a song that everyone can sing along to. According to the press release, this song was recently selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". There was a biopic where Lou Diamond Phillips plays the artist, and Los Lobos recorded the song for the soundtrack, bring the tune to a new audience and back to the charts. Here is La Bamba by Ritchie Valens:
Glen’s identity song is by an artist who is very famous in Latin America and even Spain, according to our guest. Many of his songs are about lifting people up from oppressive governments and he often mixes languages in his lyrics. “The reasons why I love this song is that it’s such a happy song, and I like to believe that some of the things that I portray and want to bring out in people…,” are the happiness and joy that this song brings.” Glen described the beat as reggae style, and he mentioned that this is another song that he plays on guitar. This is the artist's most popular song, and Glen encouraged listeners to check out his other music. Glen decided to become a Spanish teacher because he spent summers in Mexico with his grandparents, and he was deeply impacted by his immersion in the geography, his family, and culture. Glen's favourite class was Spanish, and his high school Spanish teacher was the only one who made him feel good about school. His teacher encouraged him and said that he had a talent for the language. “My teacher became a mentor to me,” and he went to college to become a Spanish teacher. He likes to expose his students to the diversity of the Spanish language and cultures. Here is Me Gustas Tu by Manu Chao:
Glen’s pick me up song means The Black Shirt in English. Glen asserts that this is a layered song and that the meaning doesn’t translate very easily. “I love the contrasting things as far as the message within the song and then the actual music you get to listen to.” This Columbian artist, according to our guest, is one of the the top 2-3 artists in Latin America in terms of pop songs. Here is Juanes with La Camisa Negra:
Glen is a conference speaker and presenter. He will have just returned from FETC in Miami when this blog gets posted. He will be at ISTE this summer with the OnEducation Podcast, and he will be doing some presentations, as well. He usually presents at Schoology Next, too. Feel free to connect with Glen on Twitter @irvspanish, subscribe to his YouTube Channel for Teaching Tips and Tricks, or check out his website. He’s be happy to make a connection and talk education with you.
