10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

Schools are being targeted with "spearfishing" attacks - a new form of phishing that is quite deceptive. Citizenship encompasses digital citizenship and the importance of lateral reading are three of the motivating topics tackled today with education thought-leader Dr. Alec Couros. Sponsor: SmartBrief Keeping up with the news is challenging. Today's sponsor, SmartBrief, has some email newsletters...

Play belongs in every classroom. Today, Jill Vialet shows us how. www.coolcatteacher.com/e490 Bio as submitted Jill Vialet is the Founder and CEO of Playworks, the leading nonprofit leveraging the power of play to transform children's social and emotional health. For more information, visit: www.playworks.org .   Blog: https://www.playworks.org/about/staff/meet-ceo-founder/   Twitter: @jillvialet...

Music education helps students engage with learning and has many positive benefits. Today's guest, Tiffany Kerns, Executive Director of the CMA Foundation talks about remarkable music teaching and their quest to recognize the top music teachers in the United States. www.coolcatteacher.com/e489   Related Resources Music education gives students an exciting and creative reason to be in the classroom...

When I shared a USA Today Article on PBIS on my Facebook page , teachers started responding and yelled volumes about mis-implementation mis-understandings and mis-use of discipline -- specifically PBIS -- in their schools. So, Melissa Man, special education teacher with her Master's in Counseling agreed to come on the show and talk about the topic. What do you think? Melissa Mann's Bio as Submitte...

Matt Timmons-Brown is the "Raspberry Pi Guy" on Youtube. If you don't know what the Raspberry Pi is, it is an amazing small computer from which you can make amazing things. Matt is the author of Learn Robotics with Raspberry Pi . This 19-year old student at the University of Edinburg talks about how he interested himself in Computer Science and shares his insight on how to engage his generation in...

Students need to trust their teachers. The result is better relationships, better learning, and a better quality of experience for everyone -- teachers and students included! Today's featured educator is CJ Reynolds, a teacher in West Philadelphia. CJ shares how to build relationships with students in some unconventional and cool ways. He also talks about why his YouTube channel has become so popu...

This time of year is a challenging one for educators. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. Today's show will encourage and help you to overcome that overwhelmed feeling with 21-year educator Jon Harper. www.coolcatteacher.com/e485 Bio as Submitted Jon is the author of My Bad: 24 Educators Who Messed Up, Fessed Up and Grew , the host of My Bad and the co-host of Teachers' Aid. During his 21 years in edu...

Dr. Sarah Fine, co-author of  In Search of Deeper Learning, The Quest to Remake the American High School talks about her research into remarkable high school experiences. Also, check the show notes for a transcript. www.coolcatteacher.com/e484 Dr. Sarah Fine, Bio as Submitted Dr. Sarah Fine is an educator, ethnographer, and the co-author of In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the Ame...

Teachers spend hours giving effective feedback only to have students not respond or use it to improve. In this case, one could argue that the teacher isn't giving effective feedback because it is not being used to learn. Twelve-year English teacher turned principal Jordan Catapano helps us have more effective feedback that actually works to improve learning. www.coolcatteacher.com/483 Jordan Catap...

Dr. Nicol R. Howard champions digital equity issues for children. What are those issues? How can we help? Today we take a dive into digital equity and the issues we should all consider -- and it is not just those with poverty who may not have access. Hear the surprising thing realized at the end of the show. www.coolcatteacher.com/e482 Related Resources Closing the Gap: Digital Equity Strategies f...

Preventing burnout, finding the right colleagues, communication, the struggle with perfection... these topics are just some of the encouragements that 30-year special education teacher-turned-college-professor Pat Hensley has for teachers everywhere. This South Carolina teacher has a message of hope and encouragement from her experience in education that will help all of us get motivated this Mond...

Shalini Shankar has been studying Generation Z. From spelling bee's to sports, this generation seems to be professionalizing their childhood. Learn more about this generation so you can be a better teacher for them. www.coolcatteacher.com/e480   Shalini Shankar is Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of three books, including Beeline: W...

Joe Fatheree helped co-organize a recent national summit on school safety in the United States. In today's show, Joe talks about the summit, what schools are doing nationwide on safety, and the need to help lonely children who are struggling. www.coolcatteacher.com/e479 Joe Fatheree's Bio as Submitted Joe Fatheree is an award-winning author, educator, and filmmaker. He has received numerous educat...

Standards-based grading -- where students are assessed by specific standards -- is being discussed or implemented in many districts. Today we talk to an award-winning French teacher turned Instructional Technology Program Manager who can help us understand the pitfalls and possibilities of successful implementation. Nicole Naditz will also give us advice for getting started with standards-based gr...

Extensions can be useful, helpful tools for parents and teachers. There are pitfalls and pluses from each extension and ways to use them in the classroom. In this episode, I'll put my geek hat on and share eleven essential chrome extensions and information on the new web browser, Brave, and why people are using it. In the show notes, I share the links. Enjoy! Extensity Read Write Toolbar Grammarly...

Students need to feel valued. Today's featured educator Crystal Willis from Instagram and TpT as "SunflowersandSped" shares five important tips to help students feel valued. From noticing strengths to not making a simple mistake that makes people feel dumb -- Crystal has practical tips to help all of us better make children feel loved. www.coolcatteacher.com/e476 Subscribe to this show on iTunes o...

Frederick Douglass said, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." Reading is important. Today, we talk to reading expert, Amy Mascott, about how parents and teachers can help older children develop a love of reading.  www.coolcatteacher.com/e475 *** Advancement Courses Sponsor:   Advancement Courses , a 30-year leader in teacher PD, is kicking off their Spring Sale! Use the code COOL 20...

Girls and people of color need role models who look like them. Today's show is a team of people at Google who have done just that. Komal Singh is a Google Engineer and recruited other Google employees to participate in a powerful 20% time project that encourages girls to go into STEM. Learn about the project, the vision, and how you can share it with girls in. Ara the Star Engineer is a book to in...

Desmond Tutu says, "Restorative justice says "No, the offense affected a relationship" and what you are seeking for is to restore the relationship, to heal the relationship." Today, Brad Weinstein and Nathan Maynard, authors of Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility Using Restorative Justice  help us understand how restorative justice should work and so...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only as moral and as good as those who create it. Today, AI ethics thought-leader Joe Fatheree and I discuss this topic. Without discussing the ethics of AI and its algorithms, we risk opening the ultimate Pandora's box of technology problems when we should instead work to get hope out of the AI box and keep the demons that could misuse and abuse us locked away. I'm...

Need to improve classroom management? Today Darrian Tanner, the Florida State High Impact Teacher award winner for 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 talks about how to help teachers improve their classroom management skills. www.coolcatteacher.com/e471 *** Sponsor: Advancement Courses , a 30-year leader in teacher PD, is kicking off their Spring Sale! Use the code COOL 20 to save 20% off each course. Advanc...

Do your students hate to write? If you need quick ideas to help reach reluctant and struggling writers, Michele Haiken will help us learn more! Michele Haiken, Ed. D. is an educator and ISTE author. She has taught middle school English for the past 20 years and an adjunct professor of literacy for the past twelve years. She is the author of Personalized Learning (ISTE, 2018) and forthcoming New Re...

Noa Daniel talks about how unconventional project-based learning and how we can engage students with learning. If you're struggling with student engagement, this is for you. www.coolcatteacher.com/e469 Noa Daniel's Bio as Submitted Noa is a passionate educator and an enthusiastic learner. She is a classroom teacher, podcaster, blogger. She is also a coach, consultant and Chief Building Officer at...

Brooke Markle, a veteran middle-level English educator, realized that her kids hated their desks. They wiggled. They moved. They struggled to pay attention. So, with a limited budget, she decided to change her classroom to give students a choice. The results are exciting.  www.coolcatteacher.com/e468  

Frank DeAngelis was principal of Columbine high school in 1999 and remained the principal until 2015 when all of the students who were in PreK at the time of the shooting graduated. His story of resilience and leadership is one that will inspire you to be there for your students even when times are tough. He tells his story in " They Call Me 'Mr. De: The Story of Columbine... '" www.coolcatteacher...