The ABC's High School Teachers Really Need to Know

Please take the time to listen to this week's episode.  Do it for YOU!  Effective teachers know that learning to bandage our wounds will lead to both better student outcomes and increased professional longevity.  Letting things go, establishing a healthy perspective, and focusing on the victories will move the needle for you, your career, and your effectiveness.  

We're back!  In this week's episode, we talk about the importance of affecting change, even though it feels like we're sometimes swimming upstream.  Effective teachers know that spending a disproportionate amount of time on students that don't want or refuse to learn is a losing proposition.  It's also time for us to actively and intentionally engage with parents.  Togethe...

In our final episode of the season, we look at how to turn the challenges of the 4th nine-weeks into incredible learning opportunities that improve outcomes.  Simply put, effective teachers are at their best in May.  We don't "mail it in" or give up.  We aren't just trying to survive.  Instead, we are leveraging the relationships we have built and the academic grit we have deve...

If you had to sum up your impact in the classroom in one sentence, what would it say?  How similar would it be to the sentence your kids would write?  Effective teachers strive to make a positive difference.  They also realize that being remembered for that impact is far more important than being remembered as a person.  

Living in the past, no matter how great it may be, can lead to emotional drag for you and unfair comparisons and contrasts for your students.  Effective teachers realize the importance of being fully present for their students and coworkers.  They also know that putting good memories where they belong and turning the page on the negative are critical keys to finding longevity and peace in our prof...

As a regular part of your process, utilize content experts/professionals, interventionists, and strong continuing education resources.  Make relationships with people outside of your classroom and leverage them to generate better outcomes for your students.  Don't just focus on your output.  Feed the starving baker and focus a little more on input.  In the long run, you will become more effic...

As an educator, if you aren't venturing into the unknown, you are reducing your effectiveness as a classroom manager, content leader, and professional colleague.  Don't grow or change for the sake of growing and changing.  Instead, venture into the unknown to add to your toolbox.  Those new tools can impact lives in such an incredible way - including your own.  

Educators have to balance a seemingly endless number of tasks and responsibilities.  This can lead to stress, anxiety, fatigue, burnout, and a lack of focus.  However, effective teachers know the importance of eliminating clutter and zeroing in on what's important - our students and learning objectives.  Clear your path and remind yourself to "make the main thing the main thing."  

In this episode, we will talk about ten things that can help reduce or eliminate misery in your classroom.  From mindless structure and obsessive bathroom policies to overreactions to gum chewing and more, we will discuss it.  It's amazing how being mindful of a few things can transform a below-average classroom to an effective one.  

Let's keep it simple.  Both philosophically and practically, the substitute shortage shouldn't be your burden.  Educators can advocate for their kids and themselves at the same time.  Stop going to work sick.  Stop missing family milestones.  Stop helping administrators, schools, or districts take advantage of you.  

Teachers often use "Review Days" as a regular part of their process, especially before summative assessments.  However, if not approached correctly, these days can actually hurt students and even prevent learning.  Playing games of random unit trivia and/or attempting to reteach every previous lesson are failing strategies for long-term learning.  Instead, effective teachers utilize &quo...

Quibbling with parents in emails, parent conferences, or anywhere else is usually a waste of time.  Effective teachers know that empathy, clear expectations, and emotional intelligence are key.  This week's episode will give you plenty of strategies and reminders to help you rise above the quibbling and focus on helping your students.  

It goes without saying that all of us have different life experiences, political beliefs, and professional practices.  These serve as our "lenses" through which we inevitably design and facilitate lessons.  Effective teachers are aware of these differences and the potential impact they have on students as both learners and people.  How a student receives or interacts with a lesson is aff...

The gap between who we are and how we actually come across to our students needs to be as narrow as possible.  In addition to being relationship-focused, effective teachers must possess high levels of self-awareness.  They need to reflect, seek feedback, and accept coaching on a regular basis.  Effective teachers come across as genuine because they ARE genuine.  They are liked AND respected.  Fall...

Effective teachers know they have to offer different pieces of the "pie" to truly connect with the diversity of students in the classroom.  In addition to offering countless ways to learn and show skills and progress, allowing them to "nibble" on different pieces improves the student experience.  So, what makes up your pie?  How big are the pieces?  Is it time to offer more or...

This episode discusses crucial strategies that will help your students find success in the classroom and beyond.  Effective teachers know that effort is really about motivation.  When we don't empathize or emphasize what really drives student motivation, we are building a recipe for underachievement and underperformance.  

Group work is often an obsession for teachers and other stakeholders.  The truth is, like any other instructional strategy, if it is not used with appropriate learning objectives in mind, the lesson will be more likely to miss the mark.  Effective educators know that we have to be intentional.  When used appropriately, group work can lead to powerful outcomes.  

Effective teachers know that the daily classroom experience has to be the most impactful part of the learning process, particularly in today's world.  We have to make each day relevant and valuable.  We need to design a daily experience that is R.E.A.L. and set manageable and meaningful expectations for students away from the classroom.  

Living at your job is not living at all.  We have to strive for balance.  Effective teachers know that you serve your students best when you are also at your best.  Find happiness and longevity in your job by also finding it in your personal life.  Your students will be beneficiaries as well.  

Spend time thinking about the ideal classroom, knowing that every classroom will look different.  What does the physical space look like?  How are lessons taught in that classroom?  What does assessment and classroom management look like?  Once you begin to understand what "ideal" looks like to you, start working towards it every day.  In all likelihood, you will never achieve "idea...

Will it get easier?  Will you figure it out?  Whether you're beginning your career, changing schools or roles, or approaching decades of experience, we are all looking to hit our stride.  How do we know we're there, and how do we avoid stagnation?  How should we approach the inevitable change in our field?  We will unpack these questions  and more in this week's episode.  

This week's episode is all about "game changers" that have helped me find success in the classroom and in education.  From instructional and assessment strategies to time-management, classroom strategies, and more, these are things that can help you become more effective.  My hope is that you can better identify what has worked well for you, use any of the "game changers"...

It is absolutely impossible for a teacher to adequately meet all of the mental health and socioemotional health needs of our students - nor should we try.  In a world and society that's  "all about me" and relative ethics, we have to focus on developing a classroom that is all about driving academic content and building relationships.  We can't allow the fires of the world to f...

Enrichment is far more effective than edutainment.  As students reach high school, they search for more "meaning" in lessons than "fun" alone.  Enrichment is the key to both engaging students and establishing that meaning.  For effective teachers, striving to make every class "fun" is a secondary concern to building lesson plans that allow students to explore and conn...

Effective and professional teachers document early and often.  They document the good and the bad.  They document how effective lessons are in meeting their goals.  They document patterns in student performance and behavior.  They then use this data to improve student outcomes.  It's not about paranoia or simply documenting for the major disruptions/issues in class (though that's importa...