The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast

Students learn better when movement is included in a lesson. In this episode, theater educator Jocelyn Greene teaches us four fun improv games that can work in most classrooms to get students actively engaged and make the learning really stick. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to EVERFI and The Wired Classroom for sponsoring this episode. To watch videos of all four games, visit cultofpedagogy.com/theater-games.

Teaching is intense, vulnerable work that brings up a range of emotions all day, every day. If we really want to help teachers thrive, we need to go beyond the technical parts of the job and look at how our core human needs show up in this work. In this episode, author and instructional coach Elena Aguilar joins me to explore what it looks like when a teacher's needs for belonging, autonomy, competence, self-esteem, trust, and purpose are not being met, and what can be done to address that. Thanks to EVERFI and Listenwise for sponsoring this episode. For links to Elena's book, Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching, visit cultofpedagogy.com/pod and choose episode 233.

The act of thinking about our own thinking, or metacognition, plays a huge role in how well our brain holds on to information. If we can get a better understanding of how metacognition works, we can tap into it to improve our learning and teach our students to do the same. In this episode, cognitive scientist Megan Sumeracki explains how we can make that happen. Thanks to EVERFI and The Wired Classroom for sponsoring this episode. For links to Megan's book, Ace That Test, visit cultofpedagogy.com/metacognition.

All students can benefit from learning and practicing executive functions, the skills we use to control our attention, keep ourselves organized, initiate tasks, and manage time. But where do we find the time to teach them? In this episode, educator and author Mitch Weathers shares his proven 5-step system for integrating executive functions into regular class time without taking away from the regular lesson. Thanks to EVERFI and The Wired Classroom for sponsoring this episode. For links to Mitch's book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/executive-functions

The podcast is on a break this summer because I'm working on a big project. I thought I'd take a few minutes and tell you a little bit about it. More on the project here. Be back soon!!

When teachers and students feel heard, the climate of a school just gets better, and semantic pulse surveys can make that happen. In this episode, we'll learn what about this fresh approach to surveying and how teachers and administrators can create their own to gain better insights about the students and teachers they serve. This episode is sponsored by Alpaca. School leaders can get 15% off a year of Alpaca's pulse surveys — visit alpacapacks.com/pedagogy to learn more. To read the post, visit cultofpedagogy.com/semantic-pulse-surveys

You can never have too many ideas for helping struggling students, right? In this episode, you'll get a few more that you may not have tried. My guests are two teachers — learning specialist Sarah Riggs Johnson and math teacher Nate Wolkenhauer — who share their system of strategies that help all students learn better, a kind of pyramid where the ones at the bottom apply to all students, the middle layers are used with a smaller group, and at the top are strategies that are only needed for a few students. If you teach math or special ed, this one is a must, but even if you don't, you're going to come away with some new ideas for how to help students who struggle — even if they don't have an identified learning disability. Thanks to Scholastic Magazines+ and Studyo for sponsoring this episode. To read Nate and Sarah's post, visit cultofpedagogy.com/tiered-learning-supports

The rights of parents to choose the best school for their children — also known as school choice — may seem simple on the surface, but it's anything but, and it has the potential to impact teachers and students all over the country. In this episode, I talk with Cara Fitzpatrick, author of The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America. We discuss why school choice is actually pretty complicated, we dig into some of the key groups that have historically pushed for it, and we explore some things concerned citizens can do to ensure that families can still get their children the best education possible. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to WeVideo and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To read a transcript and get a link to Cara's book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/pod and choose episode 228.

Annotation can be a powerful way to improve comprehension and increase engagement, but its effectiveness can vary depending on how it's taught. In this episode, two teachers share their classroom-tested approaches to teaching students how to effectively annotate texts: 3rd grade teacher Andrea Castellano and high school English teacher Irene Yannascoli. Thanks to Listenwise and Studyo for sponsoring this episode. To read a full transcript of this conversation, visit cultofpedagogy.com/art-of-annotation/.

If your school is lucky enough to have a full-time certified librarian, it's likely they are not being utilized to their full capacity. In fact, yours may be one of a growing number of schools that are eliminating librarians altogether, and that is a terrible idea. In this episode, I sit down with four accomplished librarians — K.C. Boyd, Barbara Paciotti, Lauren Mobley, and Karina Quilantan-Garza — to explore all the ways a certified school librarian can make teachers' work easier, more efficient, and more effective, and to make a strong case for why every school needs one. Thanks to WeVideo and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. To read a full transcript of this conversation, visit cultofpedagogy.com/pod and choose episode 226.

Many states are seeing record high numbers of teacher turnovers and vacancies. While the problems that caused this shortage have not gone away, there are groups of people who are coming up with some creative ways to address this situation, new and surprisingly affordable pathways for training good, enthusiastic teachers. Two of these programs are Oxford Teachers College at Reach University and Educators Rising. In this episode, educator Kimberly Eckert talks with me about how and why both of these outstanding programs work. Thanks to Edge•U Badges and EVERFI for sponsoring this episode. To read a full transcript of our conversation and find links to all the resources mentioned in this episode, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teacher-shortage.

Crying in front of your students can be a humiliating experience. Not the kind that happens when you're moved to tears by a poignant story or you react to upsetting news; those moments can actually bond you to your students. It's the kind that comes from frustration, shame, anger, or loss of control. It might be something you experience as a new teacher, but it can also happen well into your career. Regardless, if it happens to you, it can shake you up. In this episode, I share a few thoughts that might help. Thanks to Edge•U Badges and EVERFI for sponsoring this episode. To read a written version of this episode and find links to all the resources I mention, go to cultofpedagogy.com/crying-in-class.

It's happened to so many teachers: You teach your heart out. Really just knock it out of the park. Then you ask a question all students should know the answer to … and nothing. What's going on? In this episode, educator and writer Blake Harvard offers four possible explanations for why we get the blank stare, along with four solutions that will help us see a lot less of it. Thanks to Edge•U Badges and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. To read Blake's article, go cultofpedagogy.com/stare.

As our student population grows ever more diverse, many schools haven't been quite as successful as they'd like to be when trying to connect with students' families. If current efforts aren't working, it's time we tried a different approach. In this episode I talk with Nawal Qarooni, author of the new book Nourishing Caregiver Collaborations about the specific approaches teachers can take to more authentically involve families in their children's education Thanks to Listenwise and Khan Academy Kids for sponsoring this episode. For links to Nawal's book and a transcript of this conversation, go to https://cultofpedagogy.com/pod and choose episode 222.

When high school English teacher Dan Tricarico started taking photos of his colleagues, he didn't expect them to create new bonds among his staff. Teachers rarely get an opportunity to have their humanity and uniqueness showcased in this way, but these beautiful portraits do just that — and anyone with a smartphone can do the same thing for the teachers at their school. Thanks to WeVideo and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. To view the full portrait gallery go to https://cultofpedagogy.com/pod and choose episode 221.

Standardized testing has, without a doubt, created a lot of problems in education, and far too often, our conversations about these problems end in statements like "we need to just get rid of them all" or "Oh well, nothing we can do to change things." In this episode, education researcher Jenn Binis joins me to talk about a different approach to solving the problems around standardized testing: moving away from all-or-nothing thinking and towards the idea of reducing harm. Jenn offers 5 specific strategies educators can take to make things better. Thanks to NoRedInk and Edge•U Badges for sponsoring this episode. Read Jenn's full blog post by going to cultofpedagogy.com/standardized-tests-what-to-do

It's a brand-new year, and to celebrate the launch of the 10th edition of our Teacher's Guide to Tech, we're exploring 8 tech tools that are worth a look in 2024. I'm joined by my team of ed tech geniuses — Brandie Wright, Lucia Hassell, Kim Darche, and Marnie Diem — to talk about a collection of tools that can make your teaching richer, more efficient, and more satisfying. Enjoy! Thanks to WeVideo and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. Check out the 2024 Teacher's Guide to Tech at https://teachersguidetotech.com.

As a teacher, you probably find yourself in situations pretty often where you're made aware of a student having needs or challenges that exceed what your school typically offers them. The list of student needs in so many schools is never-ending, and your desire to help meet them is probably pretty strong, too. But attempting to meet these needs on your own — to become a kind of "savior" to your students — can not only lead to burnout for you, it's also not ultimately that helpful to the student long-term. In this episode Alex Shevrin Venet, author of the book Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, returns to talk about the danger of getting into a savior mentality when helping our students, how to tell if you're slipping into that kind of thinking, and how to shift toward healthier and more helpful ways of thinking about and approaching student needs. Thanks to NoRedInk and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. You can find links to Alex's book and a full transcript of our conversation at cultofpedagogy.com/savior-mentality/.

Our classrooms have the potential to be spaces where we learn how to have conversations about challenging topics with respect, curiosity, and kindness. Contrary to the voices that say race is not an appropriate topic for school, in this episode we're saying just the opposite. My guests are Matthew Kay, author of the book, Not Light, But Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom, and Jennifer Orr, Kay's co-author of the follow-up book, We're Gonna Keep On Talking: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom. I talked with Matt and Jen about the value of discussion as a teaching tool, the elements that are necessary for creating a healthy ecosystem for race conversations, some strategies for having these conversations in organic and authentic ways, and a message for teachers working in states that are hostile to conversations about race. Thanks to NoRedInk and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. You can find links to both books and a full transcript of our conversation at cultofpedagogy.com/classroom-conversations-about-race/.

I have no new strategies or tools or books to share with you this week. Nothing new to implement. Just a simple call to action for administrators to start giving your teachers more specific, genuine positive feedback. They need it. Thanks to NoRedInk and The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. You can read this podcast as a post at cultofpedagogy.com/your-teachers-need-a-win/.

Cooperative learning can be a powerful learning strategy, but only if it works well. In this episode Connie Hamilton, author of Hacking Group Work, returns to the podcast to share 17 small changes you can try that will make group work more effective in your classroom. Thanks to EVERFI and Verizon Innovative Learning HQ for sponsoring this episode. You can read a full transcript of this podcast at cultofpedagogy.com/group-work-17-tweaks/.

At a time when student behaviors and attitudes seem more troubling than ever before, we may need to approach their behavior in a different way, too. In this episode, Alex Shevrin Venet returns to talk about unconditional positive regard, a philosophy that offers students care no matter what — they don't have to earn it, and nothing they do can make it go away. This approach can transform some of the most difficult student-teacher relationships, but it's not easy. Venet shows us how it works, why it works, and how teachers can get the support they need to navigate it. Thanks to Listenwise and EVERFI for sponsoring this episode. Read the full transcript and find links to Alex's book, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education at cultofpedagogy.com/unconditional-positive-regard/.

Giving students time for reflection on their learning is so good for them: It builds their metacognitive capacity, it teaches them to take agency for their own learning, and it helps them and YOU see more clearly what they have learned and what they need next. But when we have so much other stuff to do, reflection often gets shoved out of the way. In this episode, high school teacher Marcus Luther returns to share a simple, completely free system he developed for giving students regular time for self-reflection. It's a year-long document we're calling a Learning Story. Thanks to Listenwise and EVERFI for sponsoring this episode. Read Marcus's full blog post about this strategies, view images, and grab a free Learning Story template at cultofpedagogy.com/learning-stories.

When it comes to teaching kids how to read, what is the big debate about? And what does research say we should be doing? In this episode, literacy expert Jen Serravallo and researcher Dr. Kelly Cartwright help us understand the different perspectives on effective reading instruction and what research says teachers and school leaders should be doing now to help kids learn to read. Thanks to EVERFI and Verizon Innovative Learning HQ for sponsoring this episode. You can read a full transcript of this podcast at cultofpedagogy.com/reading-instruction/.

Students who have learned enough English to do well socially may still need scaffolding to thrive academically. In this episode, I talk with Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton, authors of the book Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals, about the specific strategies teachers can use to help these learners reach their full potential across the curriculum. Thanks to Grammar Gap Fillers and Giant Steps for sponsoring this episode. You can read a full transcript of this podcast at cultofpedagogy.com/experienced-multilinguals.

Positive, accurate representations of Arab voices and contributions are largely missing from our classrooms. In this episode, four educators — Sawsan Jaber, Reem Fakhry, Fatma Elsamra, and Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi — teach us how we can change that. This episode is sponsored by JumpStart. Read a full transcript of this episode and find a robust list of excellent resources for integrating Arab narratives into your curriculum at cultofpedagogy.com/arab-narratives.

Trauma-informed teaching has gotten a lot of attention in recent years, and my guest, Alex Shevrin Venet, is a wonderful guide to help us better understand how it works. Her book, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, offers a holistic, nuanced exploration of what this work looks like in practice, and it does so with equity at the center. In this episode, we talk about what trauma-informed teaching looks like in practice, how some approaches to this work miss the mark, and how teachers can start applying some basic principles of good trauma-informed teaching right away. Thanks to EVERFI and Giant Steps for sponsoring this episode. Read a summary of this interview and a full transcript at cultofpedagogy.com/trauma-informed-education.

Do you ever feel like you're just marching through your content, trying to get it done? Like your students are just regurgitating it back, but not really learning it? Would you love to design deeper learning experiences in your classroom, but you're just not sure how? This episode may have some answers for you. I talk with Sarah Fine, co-author of the book In Search of Deeper Learning, about the specific elements found in classrooms that offer richer, more engaging learning experiences for students, and how you can apply those elements to your own teaching. Thanks to EVERFI and Giant Steps for sponsoring this episode.

The core activity of this after-school program is boxing, but it offers so much more to students. In this episode, I talk with Jamyle Cannon, executive director of The Bloc Chicago, about why this program has been so wildly successful at helping students achieve personal and academic success, and how other educators can follow the same model by building engaging programs around student interests in their communities. Thanks to EVERFI and Giant Steps for sponsoring this episode.

When we ask a broad question to a large group — students, an audience, attendees at a meeting — we often get nothing in response. Plenty of the people probably have something to say; they just haven't been asked the right question. ------------------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

In too many classrooms, our students aren't really thinking. What they're doing instead is more like mimicking, and my guest Peter Liljedahl is determined to change that. In this episode, we'll learn about his Thinking Classroom approach to instruction, where students are up on their feet, actively and collaboratively problem-solving, in a format that has taken the math world (and beyond) by storm. Thanks to Listenwise and Wipebook for sponsoring this episode.

Anticipatory sets — quick preludes to your lessons — are a creative way to get students interested in what's to come. They are not an absolute necessity, but if you can work them in, they make a lesson just a little more special. ------------------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

To learn any concept well, students need to experience multiple, varied examples of that concept, and coming up with those examples can be a time-consuming task for teachers. ChatGPT can help you get it done in a fraction of the time. In this episode, Stanford's Chris Mah and Sarah Levine show us how it works. Thanks to Listenwise and Wipebook for sponsoring this episode.

Many teachers give out copies of their slides as a supplement to a lecture or presentation, but this practice leads to terrible slides and ultimately, ineffective teaching. In this EduTip I'll share a better alternative. ------------------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

After years of listening to shallow, perfunctory student discussions, ELA teacher Jessica Cannata found a way to make those conversations more natural, more interesting, and more real. In this episode, Jessica explains how her Real Talk strategy works, and how you can use it in lots of other courses outside of the English classroom. Thanks to EVERFI and Parlay for sponsoring this episode. You can learn more from Jessica Cannata at EB Academics.

In episode 178, we learned about an approach to school change called Street Data. I believed so strongly in this methodology that I asked the two authors of Street Data, Jamila Dugan and Shane Safir, if they would allow me to produce a video series documenting teachers in two schools as they worked their way through the Street Data process, so that other teachers could learn from it. In today's episode, I talk with Jamila and Shane about the project, and we hear from teachers Amanda Liebel and Araceli Leon about their experiences. The video series is now available at cultofpedagogy.com/streetdataseries.

The time students spend in your classroom may be the only opportunity they have all day to engage with other humans in any meaningful way. And it's such a shame to waste that by letting them stay in some sort of Matrix-like environment where they're only plugged into devices and rarely even look to the left or to the right. So take deliberate steps to help them get to know each other. ------------------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to The Modern Classrooms Project for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

A messaging platform that translates messages into any language, a daily curation of current events, the one everyone's talking about that writes essays for you, and more: Here are six tools we think are worth a look this year. And while you're listening, you can grab a brand-new copy of the 2023 Teacher's Guide to Tech here. Thanks to JumpStart and Hapara for sponsoring this episode.

Learning requires us to be vulnerable, and in order to do that, we need to feel safe. In this episode, I talk with Elena Aguilar, author of The PD Book, about how professional development facilitators can make that happen for teachers. Thanks to JumpStart and Hapara for sponsoring this episode.

Two factors have given lectures a bad name: overuse and poor execution. In this episode we'll deal with both of these issues, considering when a lecture might be the best choice, then looking at ten things you can do to make sure the lectures you do give are outstanding. Thanks to EVERFI and Hapara for sponsoring this episode.

Offering small group mini-lessons that students only sign up for if they are interested is another great way to offer personalized instruction. Author and writing instructor Melanie Meehan returns to share how she has used this strategy in her classroom. Thanks to EVERFI and Today by Studyo for sponsoring this episode.

We are living in a time where a segment of the population is working as hard as it can to keep our students ignorant of history. Dozens of states are attempting to erase history from textbooks and curriculum if it paints certain populations in an unflattering light, and teachers' jobs are under threat in many places if they teach certain concepts. If you are a student or parent living in a place where history is under attack, and you want to give yourself or your child the education that your legislators are trying to take from you, the nine outstanding resources in this episode are for you. Thanks to EVERFI and Today by Studyo for sponsoring this episode.

While it's true that student choice has a lot of value, it's possible to give so much choice in an assignment that it kind of backfires. When a task has little to no structure at all, students often respond with confusion, not creativity. ------------------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to CommonLit for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

Our sensory systems have a HUGE influence on how we learn, serving as building blocks for regulation, engagement, exploration, safety, movement, social interaction, and brain integration. In this episode, pediatric occupational therapist and author Jamie Chaves shows us how applying some basic principles of sensory processing in the classroom can remove unnecessary barriers and boost learning in significant ways. Thanks to EVERFI and Today by Studyo for sponsoring this episode. Check out Jamie's books, The "Why" Behind Classroom Behaviors and Sensory Smart Classrooms (affiliate links).

When a student or audience member has a question, repeating it before you answer allows everyone else to hear it and gives you a chance to clarify the questioner's intent. ---------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to CommonLit for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

Even though many of us are back in physical classrooms this year, blended learning offers a way to weave together online and offline learning to position students at the center of the learning process. Instead of reverting back to a teacher-led, whole-group instructional model, blended learning can free us from the front of the room and allow us to work directly with individual and small groups of learners. In this episode, Catlin Tucker shares four specific models teachers can follow for structuring blended learning lessons and units to suit different purposes. ------------------- Thanks to CoderZ and Today by Studyo for sponsoring this episode. ---------------- Check out Catlin's book, The Complete Guide to Blended Learning (affiliate link).

Collaboration is great as long as you have high-quality projects for students to work on. In this episode, we'll explore five unique ideas for collaborative projects that can be adapted for any subject area, along with suggestions for adding criticality and opportunities for student agency to each one. ------------------- Thanks to CoderZ and Hapara for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

Stopping while you read a text out loud might be necessary in order to explain, dissect, or analyze something, but those interruptions can really mess up a listener's experience of the text. Next time, start with a smooth first read, then start over and get into the instruction. ---------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to Edulastic for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

Critical thinking is something usually reserved only for advanced classes, but if we want our students to receive an equitable education, they all need regular practice in thinking critically. In this episode, Tangible Equity author Colin Seale shares three easy strategies for infusing critical thinking into any lesson. ------------------- Thanks to CoderZ and Pear Deck for sponsoring this episode. -------------------

If too many of your classroom plans go off the rails, you might need to add more norm-setting, where you clarify expectations in detail before starting an activity. It's a step some of us skip, but the time you spend on it will pay off later. ---------- You can find full written versions of these tips at cultofpedagogy.com/edutips. ------------------- Thanks to Edulastic for sponsoring this episode. -------------------