Teach Me, Teacher

Hello everyone and welcome to season 7 of the Teach Me, Teacher podcast! If you are new to these intro episodes, I treat these as focuses for the season and update listeners on where I am at as the host and guide of the show. Times are changing, the new school year is here, and I am moving on to new and exciting adventures. Enjoy the show and WELCOME to yet another season of Teach Me, Teacher!   I...

Hello everyone! This is a re-run of our season 3 finale. Enjoy! From the post: I couldn't be any more excited to bring you none other than Hamish Brewer ! If you don't know who Hamish is, the relentless, tattooed, skateboarding principal in Northern Virginia isn't your normal principal. Hamish is high octane, constantly calling on his students to "Be Relentless. Mr. Brewer has become known as an e...

Hello everyone! Today, I am re-releasing what I believe is the one of the most important podcasts in the history of the show. Not only is it filled with honest and real world talk, it is filled with research based advice and insight from one of the premier thinkers on education today. In this episode, I sit down with Alfie Kohn and discuss a range of topics, such as why grading hurts more than it...

Hello everyone! Today I am joined by my friend David Bakker, PocketLab co-founder & Stanford teacher. In this episode we discuss the importance of scientific literacy, how to bring passion into the science classroom, and an amazing FREE conference any teacher involved with science should attend. I loved this talk!  Check out the FREE conference here.   Here's what it's about: ScIC "Science is Cool...

Hello everyone! As Teach Me, Teacher readies to enter it's seventh season, I wanted to take some time to let the summer breathe a bit with an "off season" mini-series of the show. Today you are listening to a Q&A episode from my second show, Craft & Draft , and next week we are going back in time to highlight some other episodes of the show you may have never heard or have forgotten about. Below i...

Hello everyone and welcome to part 2 of our season finale episode! If you missed part 1, check it out here. If you have been a fan of this show for any amount of time, you know that I am a mega fan of Donalyn Miller. Not just because she is an amazing person and educator, but because her work changed how I taught. In this episode we discuss: The legacy of Teri Lesesne The importance of having dive...

Hello everyone and welcome to part 1 of our season finale episode! If you have been a fan of this show for any amount of time, you know that I am a mega fan of Donalyn Miller. Not just because she is an amazing person and educator, but because her work changed how I taught. FULL STOP. So, it was an absolute pleasure to invite her back to the show to talk about all of her latest work and the soft c...

Hello everyone! As the school year closes out and we begin to look to the future, many of us are taking the time to look back and offer advice for new teachers from our experiences. Ciara Bennion, otherwise known as  @ciarak.beauty on Instagram  has been doing just that!  I have been a fan of Ciara's for awhile now, but what made me reach out to get her on the show was her video on what she would...

Hello everyone! As the school year closes out and we begin to look to the future, many of us are taking the time to look back and offer advice for new teachers from our experiences. Ciara Bennion, otherwise known as @ciarak.beauty on Instagram has been doing just that!  I have been a fan of Ciara's for awhile now, but what made me reach out to get her on the show was her video on what she would sa...

Hello everyone! Between the constant attacks on education, toxic echo chambers on the internet, and the quiet majority, many people believe that schools are doing very little good. Of course, we know this isn't true. We see the greatness happening everyday in the halls, our classrooms, and around school grounds. Yet we have struggled to share the good news about education in many places. We have l...

Hello everyone! Between the constant attacks on education, toxic echo chambers on the internet, and the quiet majority, many people believe that schools are doing very little good. Of course, we know this isn't true. We see the greatness happening everyday in the halls, our classrooms, and around school grounds. Yet we have struggled to share the good news about education in many places. We have l...

Hello everyone! I LOVE WRITING . It's such powerful tool to learn through and teach with. Because of this, understanding writing is key to employing it well in the classroom. While I talk about secondary focused writing often, I wanted to bring on someone who could give voice to the elementary perspective. Today we are returning to my chat with Melanie Meehan, author of The Responsive Writing Teac...

Hello everyone! I LOVE WRITING . It's such powerful tool to learn through and teach with. Because of this, understanding writing is key to employing it well in the classroom. For some educators, this comes naturally. For many others, we have to dedicate ourselves to understanding the craft to be able to teach it to young people. It also pays to know what the grades before you taught and how writin...

Hello everyone! In honor of teacher appreciation week, the United States Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona , has come to Teach Me, Teacher to discuss the politics continuing to shape education, as well as the hope and good news coming down from Washington. It was an absolute honor to speak with Secretary Miguel Cardona for the time we had. Many feel as if teachers are just yelling into the vo...

Hello everyone! Summer is on the way and that means many of you are eyeing new ways to serve as a leader in your district (and beyond.) But what does it mean to be a leader today? So much has changed over the past few years…is there even a guide anymore? YES! Matt Renwick, author of the fantastic Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H , is on the show today to talk about his lessons in leadership and his view o...

Hello everyone! Summer is on the way and that means many of you are eyeing new ways to serve as a leader in your district (and beyond.) But what does it mean to be a leader today? So much has changed over the past few years…is there even a guide anymore? YES! Matt Renwick, author of the fantastic Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H , is on the show today to talk about his lessons in leadership and his view o...

Hello everyone! One of the key aspects of being a teacher is being able to communicate well with many people. At times, especially in the classroom, it can feel like there just isn't time to communicate well. We have lessons and tests to do. Papers to grade. Emails to send… But this isn't something that's complicated. It's not "rocket science." It's a basic need that our classes need to succeed. L...

Hello everyone! One of the key aspects of being a teacher is being able to communicate well with many people. At times, especially in the classroom, it can feel like there just isn't time to communicate well. We have lessons and tests to do. Papers to grade. Emails to send… But this isn't something that's complicated. It's not "rocket science." It's a basic need that our classes need to succeed. T...

Hello everyone! Welcome to part two of my talk with Erin Gruwell! Last week, we discussed the power of writing, stories, and teaching honestly. In this episode, we dive into HOW to create a workshop that that is an empowering writing community and why this should be our goal. Backstory: Over twenty years ago, the students in first-year teacher Erin Gruwell's high school class in Long Beach, Califo...

Hello everyone! Over twenty years ago, the students in first-year teacher Erin Gruwell's high school class in Long Beach, California, were labeled "unteachable"—but she saw past that. Instead of treating them as scores on a test, she understood that each of them had a unique story to tell. Inspired by books like Anne Frank's diary, her students began writing their own diaries, eventually dubbing t...

Hello everyone! It's no secret that the trust people have about schools, rightfully and wrongfully, has been harmed. Many of the relationships involved with well functioning schools are struggling. Some of this is caused by media hype, while others are rooted deeply in the culture wars occurring right now in and around education. In part one with Dr. Zac Bauermaster, we discussed how Zac leads wit...

Hello everyone! Over the years we have featured some of the top leaders in education, such as Todd Whitaker, Hamish Brewer, and Adam Dovico. Even though Teach Me, Teacher is a teacher centered show, I love talking with administrators from all over because I feel like it brings a lot of light into the teams we work with. By understanding one another's jobs and hardships, we can better serve one ano...

Hello everyone! Writefully Empowered is HERE! It's my second book, all about creating a writing workshop that empowers young people to be their best and write pieces they care about. In this episode, I talk with my co-host of Craft & Draft (my second podcast) about her experience with reading the book, what her takeaways are, and what other educators might find useful in it too. You can get the bo...

Hello everyone! Last week, we dove into how educator Kass Haut, otherwise known as @heymshaut on Instagram and TikTok, discovered and came to love concept based instruction. This week, we take this a step further and go into the dos and don'ts, common pitfalls with concept based instruction, grades, and even working with parents! You do not want to miss this one! Enjoy!   Teaching our children to...

Hello everyone! Many teachers are always on the lookout for new ways of doing things. We want new ways to engage students in our content, new ways to plan, and new ways to assess. We want something that will take our class to the next level. If this is you, then concept based instruction just might be what you need to fire up your class work assessment, and planning! Kass Haut, otherwise known as...