Classroom Matters

This week's Classroom Matters episode kicks off our 3-part series with students and recent high school grads. Join host, Kristy Houle, as she begins the series by chatting with Lexi Allen, a recent high school graduate that now attends IUPUI in Indianapolis. Lexi fills us in on just how prepared she feels for this next chapter in her life and how her public school experiences have helped her...

How do you balance the political pull of education while doing what's best for students at the same time?  Education has become a system of not only expecting academic achievement for ALL students, but also teaching to the whole child.  Dr. Margie Vandeven started her career as a teacher and now serves the state of Missouri as the Commissioner of Education.  However, for educators like Dr. Va...

The nation has been facing a teacher shortage for some time now and folks may be wondering how we have gotten to this point and what we can do to fix it. It’s no secret that the field of teaching has changed drastically over the last 20 years. Our nation’s teachers have seen those changes up close and personal and many are making the decision to leave the field altogether.  During this episode of...

Engaging students in meaningful, memorable learning experiences can transform a child’s worldview. It is this belief that fuels our mission at Springboard to Learning to develop children’s abilities to think critically, create, collaborate and communicate. Springboard to Learning envisions a future where all children are passionate, engaged learners who experience success.  In this episode of Clas...

Want to know the secret of how to successfully lead a school district while keeping your sanity?  Then join me for a conversation with Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines as he walks us through what it has taken to get where he is today.  As the superintendent of the Mehlville School District, Dr. Gaines has pretty much seen it all and continues to shine a positive light on the sometimes-challenging w...

Do you want to know what it’s like to live your mantra, die and then come back to life with a new mantra?  Then you will want to tune in to this episode of Classroom Matters with host Kristy Houle.  Dr. Stephen Sroka was a happy, healthy guy who spent his time traveling the country giving hope and inspiration with his slogan “The Power of One.”  While on stage he went into cardiac arrest and was r...

Most teachers knew at an early age that education was the career path they wanted to take, but at what cost?  In today’s world of bullying, state and national testing, school violence, and academic standards, it’s no wonder that we are facing a teacher shortage.  At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Stephanie Koscielski is working diligently to ensure that educators are highly qualified and ab...

If you say the words “flipped classroom" to most students they will look at you like you're nuts! In many cases, so will most teachers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t using the method or that they haven’t had huge success with it. So many of our teachers are already implementing this unique form of learning in their everyday lessons, but they just don’t put a name to it. T...

“Gifted students will do fine on their own.” “Gifted programs are elitist.” These and other myths prevent our country from appropriately educating millions of advanced students.  In April 2019 Christine Nobbe was named Gifted Director for the state of Missouri and prior to that spent thirty years in the classroom setting. From special education to gifted teacher Christine has been able to help sch...

Never being able to identify with characters in a book can be a difficult thing for a child who is learning how to read.  This is the struggle that one family had as they attempted to educate their children in a mostly Caucasian world of books.  That is when Jeffrey and Pamela Blair first began to realize that they and other African American families were facing challenges of finding books to help...

In 2018 Beth Davey, an art teacher from the Ritenour School District was named Teacher of the Year by Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  What Beth soon realized was that “with great power comes great responsibility” …or was that Spiderman?  Listen in as Ms. Davey talks about her year spent as Teacher of the Year, and how she used that time to advocate for keeping and sus...

You’ve heard the buzzwords…..media, technology, interactive, innovative, but what do they really mean and how can you use them effectively in a classroom setting?  Teaching with innovation and technology is nothing new to the world of education, but are we truly doing it right?  How is it possible for teachers to prepare students for future careers that don’t yet exist?  Don Goble, award-winning s...

As a professional speaker and former educator, Dr, Debra Peppers is no stranger to the epidemic of teacher stress. Hundreds of high-performing teachers suffer each year from not only mental anguish, but physical side effects caused by the unrealistic expectations that society has put on today’s teacher. Join host, Kristy Houle as she talks with Dr. Peppers to uncover the struggles of present day t...

Dr. Bill Daggett chats about the annual Model Schools Conference and how to get educators to become more future-focused to prepare students for what is ahead of them.  We also get a chance to discuss the Rigor/Relevance Framework and how this approach had led hundreds of schools in successful transformations. Before founding and now serving as Chairman of the International Center for Leadership in...

Kenneth Williams talks about how schools and educators can “live their posters” and truly achieve learning for all.  We also get a chance to talk about his newest book Starting a Movement; Building Culture from the Inside Out with Professional Learning Communities that he cowrote with Tom Hierck. As founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Unfold the Soul,  Kenneth Williams is living proof that  edu...

Dr. Kim Bearden is explains how to create a positive and successful school climate.  Kim Bearden is the cofounder, executive director, and language arts teacher at the highly acclaimed Ron Clark Academy, an innovative middle school and educator-training facility in Atlanta. More than 50,000 educators from around the world have visited Kim’s classroom and have attended her workshops to learn better...

The Classroom Matters podcast aims to share the good, the bad and the ugly of our education system. Join Kristy Houle, former teacher, principal  and Outreach Coordinator for Educate. Today, as she talks with a wide variety of fascinating people on important and interesting educational topics.