The Teacher As...

This is a rewind episode. This was originally published on February 19, 2021. It has the most downloads of all my episodes. Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record collaborate to create a top ten list of math routines. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aimin...

In this episode, Melissa talks about the many benefits of students playing chess. From spatial reasoning and critical thinking skills to patience and time management, chess is a valuable addition to your indoor recess games and/or math centers.  Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration,...

In this episode, Melissa talks to Janja Lalich, Ph. D., Professor Emerita of Sociology, who is an international authority on cults, extremism, and coercion. Janja's work is promoting a deeper, more accurate understanding of cults with the intent to avoid their manipulation, exploitation, and abuse. Janja explains why people get into cults and the importance of cult education and helping peopl...

In this Teacher As Film Editor minisode, Melissa talks about Walter Murch's term the "bad bits." Teachers are like film editors who sometimes cut out the "bad bits" of their lessons to meet the needs of their students.  Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, a...

Melissa speaks with Dr. Ann Burgess, a leading forensic and psychiatric nurse who worked for the FBI for  over two decades.  Dr. Ann tells how she educated FBI agents in data collection and organizing their research. She also shares about her college teaching her work to help with threat assessment in schools.  Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities....

In this episode, Melissa shares Walter Murch's thoughts about editing as a "discovery of a path." Student accommodations are discussed as a path for general education teachers to reach the diverse learners in their classroom. The Multi-Tiered System of Support and District Curriculum Accommodation Plans are discussed. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and...

In the 100th episode of The Teacher As...Melissa chats with professor and poet Penelope Pelizzon. We chat about her genesis of becoming the successful poet that she is and her ideas about teaching poetry to all ages of students. We get into the weeds about rhyme and theme and she talks about the process of writing a book of poetry like her latest creation.  Major Choice is a career mentorship prog...

In this minisode, Melissa shares the top five most downloaded episodes since the podcast started in July of 2020 in honor of the 100th episode coming out on 12/3/23. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Educato...

In this episode, Melissa chats with Heather Leonard, a Pre-K-12 curriculum coordinator, and Erin Burchill, a K-8 Humanities curriculum coordinator. They share their strong focus on collaboration in order to eliminate the barriers that stop teachers from being able to implement the curriculum successfully. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The p...

In this minisode, Melissa introduces her shift in focus from film director to film editor.  Melissa's research into the parallels of film editing and teaching are explored in this series of minisodes. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help s...

Kelly Dempsey returns to The Teacher As...Podcast. We talk about upcycling thrifted items and how Kelly teaches about a thrifting mindset in order to find great items to use for designs. Kelly sees everything in a thrift store as potential raw material. Kelly shares her design process and how she prepares to teach her classes. In addition, she gives some great thrifting tips and shares how Tim Gun...

In episode 95, Ryan Pelkey talks about the importance of paying attention to the mental health of teachers/staff. He offers ways to support each other and urges administration to focus on relationships. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help stud...

In this Teacher As Filmmaker minisode, Melissa shares screenwriter/director David Lynch's philosophy on catching ideas for writing. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Educators and professionals are enco...

In Ep. 93, Sara Lodgen shares her work with The Welcome Project which is a nonprofit that supports adult immigrants and their families in the Somerville, MA area. It was interesting to learn about the different services/programs they provide.  Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, an...

It is important to be prepared and to plan in order to be flexible and creative. In her Master Class, film director, Jodie Foster, shares the importance of planning in her work and the metaphors to teaching are powerful. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, a...

Michael Bycraft is a robotics, design, and makerspace teacher living in Thailand. Listen to episode 91 to hear about his fascinating student led approach to engineering. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Edu...

This minisode explains Melissa's inspiration for sharing these short episodes that drop every other week. Melissa begins by focusing on The Teacher As Filmmaker.  Each minisode is focused on a different teaching metaphor.  Listen to the minisodes and get teaching inspiration from some of the most talented filmmakers in the business! Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students wit...

This minisode focuses on Spike Lee's ideas about bringing out the best in his actors and the parallels to classroom teaching. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Educators and professionals are encouraged...

This minisode focusing on director Spike Lee is part two. Spike's philosophy about rehearsal, collaborating, improvising, and bonding with his cast is parallel to the job of all educators. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find...

In episode 87, the first episode of season 5, Aly Marie Moniz shares the steps she takes in programming her pilates classes and creating the best experience for her students. Her teaching philosophy and style are inspiring.  Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploratio...

You don't have to be a professional actor to read dynamically to your class. In the last episode of season 4, I share tips to make your read alouds more entertaining for your students. Adjusting your pace and/or volume, for example, can make your reading more captivating. Check out this episode for more detailed tips and examples. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with...

Do you encourage your math students to struggle with new ideas and problem solve? Math consultant Jen Hawkins shares teacher moves in this episode that will foster more independent math thinkers. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students fi...

It's helpful to check in with students in the trenches to see what we are doing right and how we can improve our practice, as well as remember why we went into education in the first place. In this episode, I chat with the amazing Anna, an 8th grade student who shares her interests and opinions. Anna has an important message for all educators in this episode. Major Choice is a career mentorsh...

Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Educators and professionals are encouraged to become mentors or volunteers. https://www.majorchoice.com/home-page5pdqllzu62926234 Check out Drama Notebook: https://www.drama...

Episode 82 is the other half of my chat with Dr. Claire Honeycutt. In this section, we talked about the pandemic and its effect on our students, as well as Claire's approach to homeschooling. Major Choice is a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students f...