Videos

In this episode, we speak with Niles North High School Summer Reading Program leads ELA teacher Katie Gillies and librarian Beverly Zbinden. While summer reading may help reduce the potential student summer learning slide, Gillies and Zbinden discuss their true purpose in creating this ambitious project at North Niles High…

In an earlier episode, we spoke with Stanford University Professor Robyn Brinks Lockwood on how to better prepare high school students for the rigors of college communication and discourse (making presentations/speeches). In this episode, college professor and former high school ELA teacher Johanna Tramantano also sounds the alarm as it…

This week on the podcast, we are joined by chief academic officer Samuel Nix who discusses his book - 6 Stepa to a Strong School Culture: A Leadership Cycle for Educational Success. Nix should know - having taken, as principal, his school to the top 30 in the nation. Too…

In this episode of the podcast, we speak with authors Jenn David-Lang, the Main Idea, and Kim Marshall, the Marshall Memo, about their work in curating the "best of" resources available to educators - particularly leaders working with new teachers as well as new teachers interested in self-growth. New teachers…

We waste so much time as educators during the working day. If we are not chatting with colleagues during our prep periods, we are often using many of our precious minutes in our prep periods planning how we will use our prep periods. Teacher Ellen Linnihan, author of the book…

When students ask where are they EVER going to use the Math they are learning in middle and high school, there is usually something deeper going on; And that is a disconnect in, disinterest, and lack of curiosity in learning Math which manifests itself in misbehaving students. So says, Jenn…

In this latest episode of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast, we chat with education researcher John Hattie - professor at the University of Melbourne. We discuss, despite evidence suggesting it is ineffective, the continued prevalence of the theory of learning styles and preferences and targeting instruction for individual students…

Drama critic George Jean-Nathan once said that "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." Although 47% of all young people eligible to cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election did so, 53% did not. How did we get here? Professor Lindsey Cormack, author of the…

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by journalist Dana Seith, co-creator of the bold new storytelling card game Tell Me a Story — made in collaboration with The Bitter Southerner, We’re not just talking games — we’re talking transformation. In this episode, we unpack: - The five essential elements…

The other day, I was speaking with a colleague with whom I co-moderated a LinkedIn Live event, a year or two ago, on supporting multilingual students. She told me that, recently, someone reached out to her from across the country for support. I was so excited by this. I also…

Do You Know What the Superpower Understandings in Math Are? Recently, I wrote an article for ASCD about modeling Math through a gradual release framework. A common way through which to do this is to teach Math conceptually, representationally, and then abstractly (CRA Framework). However, there are other frameworks that…

Earlier in the second season of this podcast, we had as a guest Bo Stjerne Thomsen of LEGO Education discussing the importance of play in creative learning. In this episode, we continue our look at creativity in learning by discussing how to infuse art in the four core -content areas.…

Brak Rosenshine first published his Principles of Instruction in 2010 through the International Academy of Education (IAE) as part of their Educational Practices Series (booklet No. 21). Taking his years of research, Rosenshine paired down what good teachers do to obtain good academic outcomes: review, chunk information, question, model, guide…

Per our next guest on the podcast, MLL/STEM specialist Darlyne de Haan, there are over 900K high school MLL students in the USA - a large number of these students living in poverty (2014). While Algebra and other STEM classes can catapult students into lucrative STEM careers, still, only a…

How Should You Dress as A Teacher? Watch This Video! Dress codes are not going away any time soon. Research indicates that how teachers dress impacts the perception that others have of their professionalism. Teachers don't just work with children but adults, too! At the same time, dress codes can…

In this compelling video episode of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast, I sit down with AI strategist Kaylene P. Jones and cyber risk expert Robin Carolissen to unpack how the rise of AI and digital devices is rewiring the way students think, feel, and behave. We explore: The biggest…

Increasingly, financial literacy standards are being adopted across school districts and states. Join me and my guest Tevan Asaturi, Founder and CEO of Money Mastery University, as we discuss the need to teach financial literacy across K-16 - particularly in middle school, high school, and beyond - both as a…

There are times when school systems need to rely on external support to improve instruction and student outcomes. While external consultants often bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in what works in schools, it can be difficult to gain the trust of educators in that many educators are suspicious…

Join me and my guest Gretchen Bridgers and I as we discuss her latest book - Always a Lesson. In it, and in our conversation, Gretchen discusses the four building blocks of teaching that must be considered, in order, for teaching to be successful. These blocks, or'bricks", include lesson design,…

Assessment of student learning is critical if we are to get a true sense of what students know and can do before, during, and after teaching. Join me and my next guest, Nicole Dimich, as we discuss her book - Design in Five. We discuss five steps for creating more…

In this episode, I am joined by Erik Francis, author of the new book Inquiring Minds Want to Learn. In our conversation, we discuss not only how to use questioning as a form of assessment but, perhaps more importantly, as a tool for maximizing student interest and engagement in learning.…

Given the contentious nature of this election season and the accompanying polarization, humanities teachers could be forgiven for not wanting to teach the election process. Yet, if we onlt teach the past, including hard pasts like slavery, then we never prepare students for the hard present which can help them…