Teaching Unscripted

Today we are pleased to present the final episode of Conflict and Consensus , a three-part conversation led by author and educator Pablo Wolfe. Last episode, Pablo examined why preparation is so important for teachers, students, and caregivers to effectively engage with civic learning. Today, Pablo is joined by Hillary Usher, a Montessori educator in South Carolina. She and Pablo discuss the impor...

Today we are pleased to present part two of Conflict and Consensus , a three-part conversation led by author and educator Pablo Wolfe. Last episode , Pablo explored the meaning of the term “civics”, and the role it plays as a guiding value in our classrooms. Today, Pablo is joined by Rachel Hsieh, an elementary educator in her 13th year. She believes in centering student voices and learning alongs...

Today we are pleased to present Conflict and Consensus, a three-part conversation led by author and educator Pablo Wolfe. In this first episode, Pablo explores the term “civics” and offers us a working definition for these conversations. He investigates how it’s interpreted differently from various perspectives, and how teachers who believe in the civic purpose of schools are navigating these turb...

This week we are joined by Carl Anderson and Matt Glover, two long time educators and authors dedicated to student writing. Carl and Matt explore what makes a strong writing teacher, and what we can glean from the writing process. They identity several principles and aligned actions that teachers can take to improve their practice. If you enjoyed this conversation and want to learn more about impr...

The benefits of being outdoors for our emotional, mental, and physical health are well known. But how can being outdoors benefit literacy? This week we’re joined by Valerie Bang-Jensen and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater as they talk about Valerie’s new book Literacy Moves Outdoors: Learning Approaches for Any Environment. They walk through five easy ways to move literacy class outdoors, and how we already...

Are you looking for new ways to give your students the confidence they need to be the writers you know they are? Today we are joined by Matt Halpern, author of A Teacher’s Guide to Interactive Writing , the latest edition to Heinemann’s Classroom Essentials series. Joining him in conversation is series editor and author Katie Wood-Ray. Matt and Katie talk about modeling learning through instructio...

This week we have a special interview with Kylene Beers about her newly released second edition of When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Michelle Flynn joins her to talk about how Kylene’s thinking has changed over the past 20 years since the first edition, what new material is included, and how this book speaks to the urgency around reading. Stay tuned after their conversation for a sample...

What does critical reading and critical thinking look like in your classroom? Are students excited? Bored? A little Apprehensive? Today we are joined by two English teachers and authors, Marilyn Pryle and Rebekah O’Dell , to hear about how reading responses can be an approachable and effective strategy for helping students to engage meaningfully with a text. They advocate for moving away from...

It’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week and joining us today to keep the conversation around neurodiversity in education going is Rebecca Matte, Associate Professor of Education at Landmark College , and Mark DePietro, Vice President for Marketing and Communications at Landmark College. In her time working with neurodiverse students, Rebecca found that students were often quick to list things they st...

Are you looking for engaging lessons for whole-class teaching, need to supplement your core curriculum with small-group instruction, or need ideas for intervention? The Reading Strategies Book is among the most well-known reading instruction resources for K-8 educators. Last month, the newly updated Reading Strategies Book 2.0 launched. With new strategies, skill progressions, student-facing chart...

Have you ever thought “if only I had more time for my reading and writing workshops”? Enter the Literacy Studio, a new approach to the workshop model that allows for integrated reading and writing instruction without demanding more time or extra planning. Today we’re joined by Ellin Keene in conversation with Jaclyn Karabinas from the Heinemann PD team to expand on the ways in which the Literacy S...

What can we learn from the texts that we admire the most? How can they inform our own writing? Today we’re joined by authors Carl Anderson and Matt Glover. Carl’s latest book, A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts , is part of the Classroom Essentials Series , and takes teachers through all the fundamental steps to using mentor texts in their practice. In this conversation, Matt and Carl discuss why m...

Welcome back to the Heinemann Podcast. Today we are joined by Julie McNamara . She is an associate professor of mathematics education at California State University, East Bay, in Hayward California. She also provides professional development and classroom coaching to teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area. This short conversation was recorded back in September, where Julie talked about how student...

Do you want your students to engage more authentically in math? You might consider implementing a math workshop framework, which encourages students to build their math skills through discussion, routines, and classroom community. But not all math workshops are created equal. They are susceptible to the barriers we often come up against in our classrooms, like homogenization, and rigid texts that...

Storytelling is one of the most universal and longstanding forms of communication. Our world continues to be shaped by the stories we tell and consume. Storytelling is a staple in most lower grades, but once kids reach middle school, narrative has often been replaced with the standard essay. This week on the podcast, we’re exploring ways that storytelling can re-enter the classroom to compliment t...

Concern about the mental health of our students has been increasing over the years, especially with the rise of COVID. But where did it start? And what's being done to address it? Today on the Heinemann Podcast we are joined by Executive Director of NAMI New Hampshire Susan Stearns to discuss the response to rising concern surrounding student mental health. If you or someone you know is experienci...

Do you know what to look for when searching for professional development? What challenges do you seek to address? Do you want something self-paced? Online? In-person? Long term?  Choosing the best professional development for you can feel overwhelming. Here at Heinemann we not only have ample options for you, but dedicated professionals who can help you find what you need.  Lish Mitchell...

We’ll be taking the next several weeks off for our summer break, but if you want more audio content from Heinemann, like and follow Heinemann Audiobooks wherever you get your podcasts. We keep the feed up to date with samples of our audiobook catalogue so you can easily find the right audiobook for you. To close out our season, we’re sharing a sample from Patrick Harris’s new audiobook The First F...

How can we break through misconceptions about math and create space for students and educators alike to engage with the fun, creativity, and joy of math? Today we are passing things over to Kent Haines. Kent is a Heinemann Fellow Alum and middle school math educator based in Alabama. He is joined by Howie Hua, a math instructor at Fresno State University. Howie teaches future math educators and he...

What happens when students have the freedom to know themselves as learners, and lean into their agency? Today Debbie Miller and Emily Callahan join us to talk about fostering student agency in the classroom. Debbie and Emily are co-authors of I’m The Kind of Kid Who…: Invitations That Support Learner Identity and Agency . Their book presents readers with a series of “invitations” that welcome stud...

As Mental Health Awareness month comes to a close, we wanted to take some time to address the long standing and often overlooked state of teacher mental health in the U.S. Well-meaning approaches tend to miss the glaring issue of broken structural supports that leave teachers and their students with little to work with.   To begin to address some of those structural supports, we’re joine...

We all have stories that shape our lives, make us who we are, and are worth sharing. Today on the podcast we’re pleased to introduce Patrick Harris. Heinemann’s relationship with Patrick began back in 2017, and last week we proudly published Patrick’s first book with Heinemann, The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers.  Through his writing and personal experiences, Patrick brings to light th...

What do we want students to get out of math class? Proficiency? A love of math? Job prospects? Today we are passing things over to Kent Haines. Kent is a Heinemann Fellow Alum and middle school math educator based in Alabama. He is joined by Heinemann author Steve Leinwand. Steve is the author of Accessible Mathematics and Sensible Mathematics, and most recently the co-author of Invigorating High...

After living and teaching through a pandemic for over two years, we all need time to process and release in a collective manner. Where do we start? Today on the podcast we are excited to share an excerpt of an interview between Roberto and Lorena Germán as they discuss the far-reaching impact of Lorena’s latest book Textured Teaching . If you like what you hear, you won’t want to miss Lorena and R...

What are the makings of a good mini lesson for writing?  Today on the podcast we’re talking with author Ralph Fletcher about the effectiveness of a good writing mini lesson in particular the value of having a visual in your mini lesson.  Ralph is the author of a new digital resource called Get Focused, a series of 23 On-Demand video writing lessons with an accompanying PDFs to help stude...