ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN… END? I began this podcast in January of 2020 - ya know - before the world as we knew it changed.  When I began the podcast almost 3 years ago - I could not have predicted all the changes that have occurred between then and now. There were the obvious changes like the changes brought on by the pandemic.  There were so many changes in the way your classrooms were run, and the changes in the way you had to teach your students.  But - teachers pivoted. Then, there were the changes that needed to be put in place as you welcomed students back into the ..read more

YOU HAVEN’T EXPERIENCED BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT LIKE THIS BEFORE… But you’re about to. Teachers know that success in the classroom begins with classroom management. And classroom management starts with relationships. Without building positive relationships with students, you’ll be swimming upstream all year long. Shawn Young, CEO of Classcraft (a behavior management tool), knows this all too well.  As a student himself, he often felt bored with school and didn’t feel a sense of belonging.  When he became a teacher himself, he wanted to create a different experience for his students - one ..read more

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT! But you might not have thought to use THIS particular app in the classroom. What is it?  Google Keep! If you haven’t thought about using the Google Keep app for your productivity and organizational needs in the classroom - then buckle up - all that is about to change! Today’s guest is none other than the amazing Michelle Emerson from Pocketful of Primary. Michelle Emerson has taught 2nd grade and 4th grade for seven years and now supports teachers around the world by creating digital teacher resources, producing educational videos for teachers on her YouTube ch ..read more

We’ve heard it said:  Relationships are everything. It’s a bold statement, but - man, is it ever true…ESPECIALLY when it comes to teaching! If the pandemic and the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that teaching and the success of students is more than just the academics that are taught.  At least - academics are only a piece of the puzzle. And if academics are like a puzzle... then the teacher-student relationship is the table that you build the puzzle on. And, the conversation that I had on this week’s podcast is simply amazing. Johnny Tiersma, 6th grade teacher and chil ..read more

NOT SO “NEWS FLASH”: TEACHERS DO MORE THAN JUST TEACH ACADEMICS… Teachers wear a lot of hats, and if we’re being truly honest, our jobs come with so many more responsibilities than just teaching reading, writing, math, science, and so on. We’re often asked to play many other roles like counselor, parent, comforter, and friend.  Our students come to us with not just academic needs, but also emotional and social needs, too.  And to ignore these needs would be a disservice to everyone! Whether it is in our job description or not, supporting the whole child - academically, socially, and ..read more

INTERVIEW WITH:  SARA MARYE Have you heard the phrase “science of reading” and been afraid to ask EXACTLY what it means? (ignorance is bliss, right?) Are your worried that it’s just one more NEW thing to add to your teacher plate? (Not ANOTHER reading program!) Good News!  I’ve brought on special guest, Sara Marye from The Stellar Teacher to break it all down for us (and spoiler alert - it’s NOT another new curriculum that you have to learn) In fact, the science of reading is NOTHING new, at all - it’s been around for decades.  In our conversation, Sara walks us through what ..read more

August is a crazy busy time as teachers are preparing for Back to School! In this episode, learn some amazing ways that you can save both time and money as you prepare for a new school year! From site-wide sales, to flash sales, to giveaways and other fun events...don't miss all that we've got going on in August! Be sure to download our "August Calendar of Savings" to get all the details and links! CLICK HERE for complete show notes ---------------------- LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:Summer Teacher Road TripTeachers Pay TeachersThe Classroom Nook Teacher ShopAugust Calend ..read more

Teacher Summer Road Trip 2022:  Week 7 This summer we are revisiting some of the most popular tourist destinations (aka popular podcast episodes) of the 2021-2022 school year. Each week join us here on the podcast as we revisit these action-packed, and idea-inspiring episodes as your rest, and refuel for the upcoming school year. This week's destination: Top Questions to Ask Before Starting Readers and Writers Workshop Highlights from the episode: How to set yourself (& your students) up for success right from the start Why your reading and writing environment matters What you sho ..read more

This is the YouTube Hack You’ve been Needing! YouTube can be an amazing learning tool for students.  Need a video on teaching nonfiction text features?  There’s a video for that. How about a fun science video on phases of the moon?  Yep - there’s one (or a hundred!) of those, too! With all the free content that is available on YouTube, there is NO shortage of topics to find. However, with a free platform like YouTube comes annoying ads that show up before your video, distracting sidebars with video suggestions that can easily derail your students’ attention, and a comment secti ..read more

READY TO GET YOUR TEACHER LIFE IN CHECK? We all have our favorite apps and digital tools that we can’t live without.  Tools to keep us organized.  Tools to remind us of tasks.  The list goes one.   I love sharing my favorite digital tools and apps for teachers AND students, so I’m starting a new series on the podcast called H(APPY) Hour! And since it’s January and we often focus on organization and productivity this time of year, I thought a great place to start this new series would be with my favorite app that helps me stay organized, and that app is:  Trello! In thi ..read more