Rebel Teacher Alliance

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, the team talks joy, burnout, and the magic (literal and figurative) of fourth quarter teaching. Fabian dives into Parafly—how it’s helping students flex those paraphrasing muscles and why sometimes voting gets… weird. Scott launches a Hero’s Journey project to inject purpose (and birds?) into his class while Jamie, on spring break...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, Scott and Fabian talk about the wild sprint that is fourth quarter teaching—complete with unmotivated students, surprise PSA projects, and the eternal struggle to make gamification stick. Fabian shares how his students are creating Vox-style explainer videos (and why presenting should never be a snoozefest), while Scott reflects o...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, we sit down with the multi-talented Dr. Mervin Jenkins, who brings the heat with stories about hip hop pedagogy, community building, and the power of edutainment. We dive into the five pillars of hip hop and how they show up in classrooms—from breakdancing in P.E. to graffiti in art class. Dr. Jenkins shares his journey from art t...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, we dive deep into the post-conference haze as Jamie and Fabian return from Spring CUE in Palm Springs with arms full of swag (okay, mostly stickers). We unpack a slew of AI tools like Brisk and Curipod, explore using Magic School to run Star Wars-themed Civil War RPGs, and dream up lessons with trash pandas, rap pedagogy, and micr...

Welcome back to another episode! This week, Jamie is deep in open house prep and discovers the holy grail of classroom supplies: sticky-backed chart paper. Fabian experiments with ChatGPT for quizzes, but finds Claude and NotebookLM to be more reliable. Scott shares a new passion project from a student who wants to turn his artistic skills into a wall mural. We also discuss unexpected weather in C...

Welcome back to another episode! This week, Jamie and Fabian prepare to meet up in person (sorry, Scott) and discuss all things engagement. From making PE even worse (but somehow more fun) with chaotic math relay races to a deep-dive parks project that might just save national parks (or at least get kids to research them). Scott shares his foolproof bribery tactics for review committees and how du...

This week, we dive into the joys and pains of professional development (spoiler: no icebreakers this time), the magic of making fractions make sense, and why sketching during read-alouds might just be the engagement boost you’ve been looking for. Scott shares how his students are prepping for real-life interviews with actual hiring managers (and how not to answer the weakness question), while Fabi...

This week, Scott’s students reflect on their good old days of doing absolutely nothing in class—before he came along and ruined it with actual learning. Fabian survived a lock-in with his 10th graders, complete with late-night chaos, sprinklers gone rogue, and a morning spent knee-deep in Hawaiian taro fields. Jamie, meanwhile, has some thoughts on PDs (spoiler: chart paper and stale Snickers are...

This week, Scott’s students hit the third-quarter slump, and he may or may not have tricked them into working harder. Fabian finally ran the RPG Dice Roll Rumble—turns out, battling your students with oversized dice is as fun as it sounds. Jamie’s mini-report protocol has students writing full essays in record time (even at home, for fun—yes, really). Meanwhile, Valentine’s Day looms, bringing cha...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, we dive into the joys of third quarter blues, wrestling with student engagement, and the struggle of keeping things fresh in the classroom. We talk about the power of EdTech tools like read-aloud extensions and how tariffs make for surprisingly engaging classroom discussions. Plus, we get into an EMC2 strategy that brings dice rol...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, we sit down with the fantastic Dr. Fatty Acid (a.k.a. @When_Nerds_Teach) to talk about middle school madness, engagement strategies, and the legend of Squonk. We explore how humor fuels her classroom, the importance of recognizing student creativity, and why she’s always down to buy a hand-drawn pumpkin-truck tattoo concept from a...

Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, Scott’s students are deep into bridge-building (and possibly bridge-destroying) while he keeps them guessing about whether they actually like school or not. Fabian tries out a new EMC2 activity, The Firm, leading to a TikTok-inspired debate that goes in an unexpected direction. Meanwhile, Jamie welcomes a former student as a high...

Welcome back to the chaos of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, Fabian and Jamie unleash their impressions (did someone say Marge Simpson?) while Jamie’s students play the quiet power card with classroom drama worthy of an awards show. Scott takes us through a crash course in cryptocurrency (spoiler: the kids are not ready to mine Bitcoin just yet). Plus, hear about Jamie’s new board game club and...

Welcome back to the chaos of post-break classrooms! This week, the gang tackles everything from sneaky teacher games during faculty meetings to creative ways of easing students (and themselves) back into the school grind. Fabian introduces the “one word” project and a sneaky vocabulary game, Jamie shares her Iron Chef reboot for expectations and a hydro flask decorating activity, and Scott does so...

Welcome back to the Rebel Teacher Alliance! In this episode, we sit down with Emmy-nominated producer Jerry Kolber, the creative mastermind behind Brain Games , Who Smarted? , and Mysteries About True Histories (M.A.T.H.). Jerry shares his journey from making reality TV to redefining edutainment with shows that entertain, educate, and sometimes blow our minds. We talk about magic, Star Wars fandom...

Welcome back to a fresh episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, we dive into the joys and challenges of breaking away from a "frictionless" learning environment to embrace novelty and active engagement in the classroom. From playful lawsuits with "The Firm" to discussions about middle schoolers' peak altruistic learning phase, Michael Matera joins us to share his gamified insights and classr...

Welcome back to another episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance ! This week, Jamie takes us into the sticky, sugary chaos of her legendary gingerbread house project, while Scott shares the triumph of his students conquering a farmers market with their handcrafted creations. Fabian dives into his revolutionary Number Mania project, giving students a chance to connect history with creative data design. Pl...

In this episode, Jamie and Fabian chat with Dr. Peter Liljedahl , the mind behind Building Thinking Classrooms. Peter shares how his journey into teaching wasn’t a childhood dream but a path he stumbled into through coaching, carpentry, and a knack for helping others learn. They dive into how the Thinking Classroom approach works in not just math, but other subjects like social studies and languag...

In this episode we navigate the transition to BlueSky, the new social media platform, and share their latest classroom innovations. Fabian discusses a creative activity involving the Declaration of Independence, where students use Play-Doh and thin slides to visualize quotes. Jamie introduces her adaptation of an EduProtocol called “EduRacer” to help students construct well-structured paragraphs....

In this episode, hosts Scott, Jamie, and Fabian share their latest classroom innovations. Scott celebrates his new Bamboo Labs P1S 3D printer and discusses integrating 3D printing into student projects. Jamie brings autumn into her classroom with EMC² Learning activities like "Pick a Pie Pandemonium" and "Fall Star Scramble," engaging students in interactive literacy games. Fabian revitalizes his...

In this episode of the Rebel Teacher Alliance, hosts Fabian and Scott are joined by special guest Candice Healing, who steps in for Jamie. Candice, an experienced educator from northern Alberta, shares her journey of gamifying her classroom over the past seven years. The trio explores innovative teaching strategies, including EMC² Learning resources like "Coins for Content" and the Marshmallow Cat...

In this episode of the Rebel Teacher Alliance, hosts Fabian, Scott, and Jamie share their latest classroom adventures in engaging students through gamified learning. Jamie introduces "Mystery Writing," a program that combines videos with writing prompts.. She also discusses using "Resource Rumble" for interactive learning. Scott talks about engaging his students with games like "Herd Mentality" an...

In this episode of the Rebel Teacher Alliance, hosts Fabian, Scott, and Jamie welcome special guest Trevor MacKenzie, an educator and author specializing in inquiry-based learning. Trevor shares his journey into teaching and emphasizes the importance of fostering curiosity and student agency in the classroom. The discussion covers practical strategies for implementing inquiry-based learning, such...

In this episode of the Rebel Teacher Alliance, Scott, Fabian, and Jamie dive into classroom innovations and share some laughs. Scott discusses his success with DonorsChoose and using ChatGPT for project ideas. He also recounts a mix-up attending a Harry Potter fundraiser organized by Fabian's students. Fabian highlights the impressive Harry Potter event, which raised significant funds for Habitat...

In this episode, hosts Scott, Fabian, and Jamie share classroom experiences. Jamie recounts a recent fall at school and preparing for parent-teacher conferences. Scott discusses a wetlands field trip and positive changes in his students. Fabian explains how he's using AI and Google Forms to streamline student feedback. Jamie introduces "Play-Doh Vocab" as a hands-on way to teach vocabulary. Fabian...