Building culture has a tremendous impact on teacher satisfaction, student engagement, and the daily education experience. This month’s article shows us how social contagion can cause teacher stress to burden students, teacher enthusiasm to excite students, and more!   Later, Laurence responds to a listener request with details on how he builds his classroom culture… Read More »

Teachers must build student relationships despite the great breadth in their cultural backgrounds. Dolores Greenawalt, a professor at Carroll University in Wisconsin, joins us to discuss her recent writing on building positive relationships… even when it seems impossible.   Later, we look at research data produced by the non-profit TNTP on the inequity of instructional… Read More »

Technology seems to be everywhere, and it is tempting to imagine children grow up with expertise through familiarity. The research paints a vastly different picture, and we discuss one of the top read articles of 2017 that deconstructs the myth of the digital native and the costly habit of multitasking.   Later, we take a… Read More »

All students should have access to challenging coursework that lets them grow in their areas of interest. Abby Whitbeck, the Executive Director of AP Strategy and Analytics for the College Board, joins us to talk about how they are using data to create new policies designed to improve representation of all students in Advanced Placement… Read More »

Enjoy a bonus episode that wraps season one of production. Check in with many of our guests and reflect on our year of learning. Camden Hanzlick-Burton – Episode 008 – 2:08 Shannon Ralph – Episode 010 – 17:08 Drew Ising – Episode 015 – 31:25

Responsive teaching is is an exciting way to highlight student voice, but it comes with its own share of challenges and tensions. Caroline Herbster and Jacob Truett, from FSU Teach at Florida State University, join us to talk about their research with veteran teachers as they work to incorporate responsive practices.   Later, we look… Read More »

Multilingual learners are sitting in most classrooms today. How do we support English language learners (ELL) students’ learning in math, science and social studies while they navigate the language and cultural barriers of their emergent bilingualism? We look at some research on how taking responsibility for our own cultural and linguistic perspective as teachers can… Read More »

Standards based grades are an exciting option for making grades more meaningful. We look at some recent writings on how to avoid some of the most common mistakes in our gradebooks, and then consider how standards-based grades can support some of the best practices.   Later, we read some additional work suggested by one of… Read More »

Students should drive their own learning. Drew Ising, another biology teacher from Baldwin High School, joins the PLC to discuss how the NGSS framework calls for letting our students take the lead in our classroom. We must guide students as they build understanding and skill, but how do we deal with misconceptions and incomplete understanding… Read More »

Social controversy swirls in the public space. Controversial issues carry into the classroom and affect how students interact with each other and the material. Teachers must have the courage to address contentious topics in their classroom, the wisdom to know where their expertise lies, and the resolution to see their choices through to the end…. Read More »