Teaching Unscripted

On today's podcast we’re talking with Heinemann author Harvey “Smokey” Daniels. Smokey is giving us a preview of Heinemann’s upcoming  Multi-Day Institute titled: Teaching with Student-Directed Inquiry: Pathways to Literacy, Empathy Achievement and Action  Presented by  Sara Ahmed ,  Harvey "Smokey" Daniels ,  Cornelius Minor ,  Nancy Steineke  and  Kristin...

On The Heinemann Podcast today, the need for and needs of teachers of color. "Growth is uncomfortable and all things need to be uncomfortable to grow.” Those are the words of Tiana Silvas, a member of the current class of  Heinemann Fellows . She goes on to say in today’s podcast that while conversations about race and privilege are tough and can be uncomfortable, we need to be open to h...

What happens when a bestselling children’s book author teams up with a nationally known writing teacher? Well, you get the new book  Teaching Nonfiction Revision: A Professional Writer Shares Strategies, Tips, and Lessons.  On today’s Heinemann Podcast we’re talking with Sneed B. Collard III about Teaching Nonfiction Revision. Sneed Collard is an award winning children’s author who has b...

Heinemann author Maggie Beattie Roberts is our guest today on The Heinemann Podcast. I’m sure you think about your favorite teacher from time to time, but what can our memories do to inform our teaching? Heinemann Author Maggie Beattie Roberts thinks we can use these influences to help form teaching archetypes to better our practice.  Maggie Beattie Roberts began her teaching career...

On today’s Heinemann Podcast,  Supporting Struggling Learners . How do we meet the needs of all our students while also meeting the demands of the curriculum? Every learner has strengths, writes Patricia Vitale-Reilly. She goes on to say, upon those strengths is where growth can occur. In her new book, Supporting Struggling Learners, Patty outlines 50 instructional moves for the classroom tea...

Today on The Heinemann Podcast, how can teachers improve their practice around LGBTQ needs in the classroom? It’s October 11th, National Coming Out Day. A day for those who identify as LGBTQ to be visible. A day to say you matter, you’re not alone. How can educators make their classrooms a safer place for LGBTQ students and why is it important for both LGBTQ teachers and students to see...

On today’s Heinemann Podcast, taking charge of your teaching evaluation. Evaluations can feel like a one-way street, with teachers feeling powerless. It doesn't have to be that way, Author Jennifer Ansbach writes about how we can take charge of evaluations by keeping the focus on student learning. In her new book,  Take Charge of your Teaching Evaluation , she writes about the...

We’ve all been there. In the dead of night, lying awake, replaying that one moment over and over again in our minds. The daily mistakes we make, both large and small, are part of what make us human, and yet, are often impossible to forgive ourselves for. In his new book,  Embarrassment , Tom Newkirk writes, "We perform for ourselves, often the harshest of audiences.”   But...

Editors are the crucial, unseen collaborators of published writers. In her new book,  Back and Forth: Using an Editor’s Mindset to improve Student Writing , Heinemann author  Lee Heffernan  describes adopting that role in her classroom and how it helps student-authors dig in and produce dramatically better writing. Lee relies on both student-centered pedagogy and the experience...

Students tend to weigh the social risks before taking any kind of action in math class. Staying silent tends to feel safer. So it’s important to create climates where students feel a sense of belonging and want to join in. In her new book,  Motivated , Ilana Horn explores connections between the five motivational features of math classrooms —illuminating strategies that can make math mor...

When we rely on lecture to cover more content, we’re doing students a disservice. Although lecture can be engaging and even useful, lecture alone cannot give students real opportunities to learn, retain, and transfer the ideas, skills, and practices we’re trying to teach. Authors Cris Tovani and Elizabeth Moje help us translate the time spent lecturing into powerful learning experiences where...

Mosaic of Thought , by  Ellin Keene  and  Susan Zimmermann , became a runaway best-seller as the first book to explicitly describe the use and benefits of strategy-based comprehension instruction. To recognize the 20th anniversary of the book,  Tom Newkirk , who served as editor, recently sat down with Ellin Keene to revisit how Mosaic of Thought came to be and the impact...

Not talking about racism is not a solution. How do we have this conversation and how do we unravel assumptions about racism? Even if you don’t have the expertise we can create safe space for the conversation. How do we get started and move forward? How can these talks bring us together?  Sonja Cherry-Paul, Cornelius Minor, and Sarah K. Ahmed hold a discussion. Copyright Heinemann Publishing 2...

Do you know how you fit into your teaching team? And how do we build an effective teaching team? On any given day you could find Cornelius talking about members of the Justice League or The Avengers. And in a sense he still is on today’s podcast. Cornelius is helping us think through how we assemble our teacher teams by looking to superhero teams. Much like members of The Avengers, our teaching te...

Feedback can sneak up on you in the most unlikely of places. For Cornelius Minor, it came from a former student at a laundromat. In our continuing series of conversations with Cornelius Minor we're talking about the importance of feedback and love in the classroom.  Cornelius is a frequent keynote speaker and Lead Staff Developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New...

When we think about engagement we almost immediately focus on the student who won’t talk or just doesn't engage. But what about the student who is over engaged? On today’s podcast we’re continuing our series of conversations with Cornelius Minor. Today we’re talking about a student he has nicknamed “Prez” short for president of the class.  Mr. Minor is a frequent keynote speaker and Lead...

What do you do about the student in your class who doesn't like you? On today’s podcast, we’re continuing our series of conversations with Cornelius Minor. In his classroom, he’s facing the question: how do I recognize what the difference is between “can’t learn” and “won’t learn” ?  Mr. Minor is a frequent keynote speaker and Lead Staff Developer at the Teachers College Readin...

“As a profession, we are gripped by fear.” Those are the opening words from Lucy Calkins in her forward to  The Unstoppable Writing  teacher by Colleen Cruz. As Lucy prepares the reader for Colleen’s words, she goes on to write: “(Fear) is a cage that traps us, alone, into our worst selves. Into a space with demons only we can see. We become the person we dread being.” In  The Unsto...

“I think my parents hate me”  That is how a student, who we’ll call “Earl,” recently started a conversation with his teacher, Cornelius Minor, after class one day. On today’s podcast we’re talking about advocating for our students with  Cornelius Minor . Mr. Minor is a frequent keynote speaker and Lead Staff Developer at the  Teachers College Reading and Writing Project &n...

Linda Rief  is always teaching. She has inspired thousands to lead students on a journey to becoming lifelong readers and writers. In her book  Read Write Teach , Linda offers the what, how, and why of a year’s worth of reading and writing for middle and high school students with a comprehensive and flexible framework. The title,  Read Write Teach  means a lot to Linda. Sh...

What happens when we put our students in the driver’s seat? Harvey “Smokey” Daniels says; when we let kids be curious, they dive deep. They persist longer when they’re curious. Smokey says if we can activate a student’s curiosity, they no longer need to be forced into action. So where do elementary teachers fit inquiry and curiosity into their day? How do teachers harness the power of curiosity? A...

On today’s podcast, putting the fun back into writing.  Ralph Fletcher  says nothing helps writers grow like practice, but not just any kind of practice will do, you’ve got to bring the joy! In his new book,  Joy Write , Ralph shares the whys and the how of giving students time and autonomy for the playful, low-stakes writing that leads to surprising, high-level growt...

Today on the podcast: problem-based teaching. How do we prepare students for a world that’s changing so rapidly that a majority of those sitting in classrooms today will go on to hold jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t yet been invented to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet? Author Vicki Vinton, says the answer is to help build students’ capacities as c...

Think of your STEM journey as a highway. When you’re driving along you see those marker signs on the side of the road. These guideposts can provide direction and key information just when you need it. This is how authors Jo Anne Vasquez, Michael Comer and Joel Villegas describe how their work in  STEM Lesson Guideposts  is designed. They say their guideposts provide direction and ke...

During the evaluation process, teachers might be asking for one thing while evaluators are looking for something different. How do we bring these two perspectives together to reach common goals? In  Making Teacher Evaluation Work , Authors Rachael Gabriel and Sarah Woulfin suggest there’s a way to not only improve the evaluation process, but use evaluations as a way to improve teaching....