Ignite Your Teaching

Send us Fan Mail What are your favorite teaching tools?   In this episode, I’m sharing four tools that have changed my teaching practice (and they’re probably not the kinds of tools you’re thinking of!)   I’ve used a lot of different tools in my classroom over the years, but some of them stand out from the crowd. There are certain tools that I reach for over and over again that I know have made me...

Send us Fan Mail What’s holding you back from using inquiry in your classroom?   A lot of teachers tell me that inquiry is too hard for their students, so I want to tell you a story about my class to show you how open-ended inquiry is and why it can work for students at all different levels.    This quick story will also give you some ideas on how to introduce inquiry to your classroom and how to...

Send us Fan Mail How do you deal with a badly behaved class?   In this episode, I am diving into the very important topic of classroom management. Specifically, I am talking about how to manage that class that the rest of the school says is one of the most difficult classes in the building… you know the one!   I am sharing what I’ve learned over the years so that you can go home at night without s...

Send us Fan Mail Do you struggle with assessment?   I think every teacher does. Assessment is one of those things that you know you need to do but never have enough time for. I want to change that for you.    In this episode, we’re talking specifically about assessing reading.    I’m answering all your burning questions about how to find time for assessment, what to assess, what not to assess, and...

Send us Fan Mail Can you believe this is the 200th episode of the podcast?! Me neither.    Thank you so much for being a part of this journey. To celebrate, I wanted this episode to be an opportunity for you to ask me anything. I asked you guys to submit your questions to me, so in this episode, you’ll hear my answers.    I'm reflecting on things we’ve covered in the last 200 episodes and ans...

Send us Fan Mail Did you know that good classroom management can lead to more respect between you and your students?   Let’s talk about what classroom management is and why it’s important. It’s the thing that’s going to set the tone for your classroom as you get back into the swing of things this school year.    You can put whatever system, program, or philosophy in place that you like, but it won...

Send us Fan Mail Do you focus more on teaching the writing process or teaching writing form in your classroom?    In this episode, we are digging into the difference between teaching the writing process and teaching writing form. You might not have given this much thought before, but I have some pretty strong feelings about it that I want to share with you.    If you’ve been around here for a whil...

Send us Fan Mail Do you have a plan for your guided reading this year?    I know that sometimes as teachers we guilt ourselves if we can’t get guided reading started right away, so I want to lift some of that burden from your shoulders. Guided reading doesn’t need to start right away, and I’m going to tell you why in this episode.    I want to walk you through my plan to get guided reading started...

Send us Fan Mail Do you use literacy centers in your classroom?   In this episode, I am talking about what literacy centers look like in my junior classroom because they look a little different from centers in my primary classrooms. As junior students go through the year, they often develop more independent skills, so how you use centers can change depending on their skill and comfort levels.    B...

Send us Fan Mail How do you feel about teaching language arts? If you are feeling overwhelmed, overworked, stressed, and uninspired, you are not alone.    It is easy to feel this way when teaching this subject because there are so many components to consider when creating the perfect language arts program. You want to teach in a way that actually engages students so that they use their language sk...

Send us Fan Mail What’s the biggest barrier to meeting students’ needs in your classroom? Time.    You’re being pulled in so many different directions, and you only have a finite amount of time.    If you’re spending all of your time planning an entire language arts program from beginning to end, you’re taking that time away from actually implementing the program and meeting your students’ needs....

Send us Fan Mail How confident are you in your language program?   Whether you’re super confident or there are some things you want to change, chances are you’re making some mistakes.   In this episode, I’m sharing five mistakes that you might be making during your language instruction.    These are really common and easy to fix, so don’t worry!   I’m covering what these mistakes are and giving yo...

Send us Fan Mail What should you do with your struggling readers during guided reading?   This is something that can be pretty daunting, especially if you’re in a junior classroom and you have a huge range of abilities in your class.    It’s important to remember that you will have different types of students in your classroom, and your strategy for supporting those students is going to look diffe...

Send us Fan Mail Do you need help with your guided reading sessions?    If so, I am excited to be sharing a complete plan for you to schedule your guided reading time in your junior classroom.    In this episode, I am teaching you how to set up your guided reading, and I am dispelling some myths about how to structure your guided reading time, especially as it pertains to junior grade levels.    I...

Send us Fan Mail Do you have your schedule ready to go for the fall?    If you’re anything like me, you’re probably already thinking about what your schedule is going to look like.    If you’re lucky enough to have already been given your schedule by your principal, I have some tools to help you figure out what each of your periods is going to look like.   In this episode, I am walking you through...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wanted to meet the team behind Madly Learning?   You get to in this episode! I have some of my amazing team members joining me to talk about all things teamwork and teaching. You will get to hear things like what their roles are on the team, what they’ve learned during the pandemic, and some of their favorite things about teaching.    Madison is part of the content t...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever found the perfect resource, only to realize that the jargon won’t work in your Canadian classroom?    Being a Canadian teacher can be kind of a struggle because so many resources are geared towards U.S. classrooms!    Nine years ago, there was a lack of Canadian teacher voices online, and that's when I started my blog, Madly Learning. Fast forward nine years and...

Send us Fan Mail Do you spend hours trying to come up with science lessons that are engaging and not boring? Do you end up just using worksheets because you don’t know what else to do?   In this episode, I am showing you how you can use inquiry-based learning and universal design in your science lessons. By the end of this episode, you’re going to have a whole bunch of ideas for lessons that go be...

Send us Fan Mail I know we’re all looking forward to the end of the school year, but are you setting yourself up for success for when you come back in the fall?    In this episode, we are talking about some of the best ways that you can close down your classroom at the end of the school year.   I think that June is the perfect time to start planning and prepping to close down your classroom in a w...

Send us Fan Mail What have you learned about yourself over the last year?   It’s been an incredibly challenging year for most of us, to say the least!   In this episode, I am reflecting on my last year of teaching and sharing my thoughts on it.   Around this time last year, I decided I was in need of a change, and I reduced my teaching contract to about three days a week.    I like to change thing...

Send us Fan Mail Do you get stressed about writing report cards? Do you wish that it didn’t take so long to do?   In today’s episode, we are talking about how you can prepare yourself to write your report cards by developing a comment bank.    We are also covering how to use this bank to write personalized comments for your students that reflect them individually and systematizing this process so...

Send us Fan Mail If you don’t love IEPs, that’s okay. I don’t either!   Luckily, I am talking to someone who does in this episode!   Today’s guest, Stephanie DeLussey, is talking all about teaching students with special and complex educational needs.    She is an absolute pro at all things IEP, so she is sharing some of her best tips and resources for those of us who find them to be a bit more cha...

Send us Fan Mail Are you looking for a new teaching position? Do you need to brush up on your interview skills?   Lucky for you, I am diving into the topic of interviewing in this episode.   Mostly, I am sharing with you how I recommend prepping and applying to a new position. This is something that I have done enough times, and I feel like I have really refined my process.    I also interview can...

Send us Fan Mail Are you looking for new ways to build connections and boost the confidence of your students?    In this episode, we are talking all about morning meetings and closing circles.    If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you're in for a treat.    My friend Monica Dunbar recently wrote a book all about how to start implementing them in your classroom to increase student enga...

Send us Fan Mail Can I tell you a secret? In my junior classroom, I don't want a word wall.   I don't want to take up all the space that a word wall requires when there are so many things I could be putting up there.   However, there are definitely still uses for subject-specific word walls, so we are going to talk about what those might look like and how you can make word walls more app...