Classroom Q and A

We invited a panel of educators to discuss specific strategies they use to improve their mastery of the teaching craft.

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Latrese D. Younger has over fifteen years of education experience across several different school districts. She began her journey as an English Language Arts teacher in Dinwiddie County, VA, which she credits with firming her foundation in education excellence. Throughout her career, she has taught ELA for grades 6-12. She possesses a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from Virginia State University and a Master of Educational Leadership with a concentration in Technology Education from Strayer University Henrico Campus. Currently, she is pursuing her doctoral degree from Virginia Tech University. She is the content curator for and founder of the non-profit, Black Women Education Leaders, Inc (BWEL).

Kayla Towner is a senior technology trainer at the Utah Education Network and a Hope Street Group Fellow. Kayla instructs, guides, consults and helps educators of any level effectively use technology in the classroom. She has used her expertise to present at schools and districts across the state of Utah. She is pumped about sharing Utah’s Online Library with educators and encouraging educators to expand their comfort zones to be innovative creators. Kayla is Advanced Nearpod Certified, Google Level 1 Certified, Microsoft Innovative Expert, and an ISTE Certified Educator. Prior to her work at the Utah Education Network, Kayla was the 2020 Outstanding Young Educator at UCET and a leading educator in Davis School District, where she taught all subjects in elementary school (2nd and 5th grade).

Carissa McCray, PhD (she/her), is an English instructor in K–12 education who has worked in the city of Duval County and rural Sumter County, Florida. With insight gained from teaching grades 6 through 12, including teaching corrective to advanced courses, she has refined her craft to focus on redefining the educational trajectory for students of color that addresses equitable education, rural education, and the impact of trauma. Her current book, Equitable Instruction, Empowered Students, provides tools to combat biases inherent in education with pedagogy that encourages students to dismantle the injustices surrounding them. Tackling every angle of the classroom, from instructional practices and curriculum to classroom culture and communication, the book provides opportunities for reflection and inspires readers to ignite change.

We’re now a couple of months into a post-pandemic school year which for many teachers is their first. This week, what would you like to share with all new teachers, especially those starting this school term?

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Cindy Garcia serves as the district-wide instructional specialist for Bilingual/ESL Mathematics PK-6 in Pasadena ISD. Cindy previously served as a campus mathematics coach and bilingual third-grade teacher in PISD. Cindy writes a monthly blog about ways to support English Learners at www.teachingelementaryels.weebly.com.

Culturally responsive teaching tells students that their life experiences matter and helps students connect to the curriculum. The practice is well suited to teaching English classes, but many communities are rejecting culturally responsive teaching. In this episode, we talk about teaching a culturally responsive English class and responding to those who are critical of the practice.

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Stephanie Smith Budhai, PhD, is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Department at Drexel University and co-author of “Culturally Responsive Teaching Online and In-Person: An Action Planner for Dynamic Equitable Learning Environments“. Stephanie is a certified K-12 teacher and has spent over a decade helping pre-service and in-service teachers develop their capacity to use culturally sustaining, decolonized, and anti-racist pedagogies in their teaching. Stephanie is the co-chair of the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE) Culture and Climate committee, and is on the board of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association of Multicultural Education.

Jennifer Yoo-Brannon is a teacher and instructional coach in El Monte, California, with over 16 years of experience teaching high school students, mentoring teachers, and designing and facilitating professional learning. Jennifer’s passions include: building collective teacher efficacy, designing meaningful professional learning, and fostering emotional resilience among all educators. She is an Edsurge Voices of Change Writing Fellow and has written for Edsurge and The California Educator.

Join us as we define and clarify what culturally responsive teaching means in a social studies context. Our guests explain why culturally responsive teaching is uniquely well-suited to teaching social studies and address the myths and misconceptions that make the practice more challenging.

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Keisha Rembert is a passionate learner and fierce equity advocate. She is an award-winning educator who taught middle school ELA and United States History teacher for many years and now instructs future educators. She hopes to change our world one student at a time.

Denise Fawcett Facey was an award-winning classroom teacher for more than two decades and now writes on education issues. The Social Studies Helper is one of three books by this author.

Dr. Dennisha Murff is an administrator, author, adjunct professor, consultant, and relentless advocate for equitable education. Throughout her career, she has worked to incorporate equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and cultural responsiveness in her work. Dr. Murff has over 24 years of experience in education, including several years as an elementary school principal. She has also served as an assistant principal and elementary teacher. She is currently the Language Assistance Program Curriculum Coordinator in her school district. Dr. Murff has received a variety of awards and recognitions, including 2020 IASP Elementary School Principal of the Year. She is the founder of Murff Consulting Group, LLC, an educational consulting group focused on “cultivating the greatness” within each scholar.

Sarah Cooper teaches eighth-grade U.S. history and civics and is Associate Head of School at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada. She is the author of Making History Mine and Creating Citizens.

The ranks of English language learners continue to expand rapidly. Some have no proficiency with the language, but many are intermediate English skills. In this episode, we explore strategies that are well suited for ELLs who have more developed English fluency.

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Luisana González, serving Dual Language Students in Illinois in a fifth-grade classroom, started her teaching career with multilingual learners in 2005. She has previously taught K-5 MLs in a resource position, 2nd grade sheltered and 2nd grade DL before embarking on her teaching and learning journey with 5th graders in their DL program.

The middle school classroom is so unpredictable. In this episode, our guests share what they’ve learned works when teaching middle school students and what doesn’t. Join us for a discussion about what middle schoolers need and what qualities make middle school teachers effective.

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Serena Pariser has twelve years of experience teaching in public schools, including charter schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade. She was named Gompers Preparatory Academy Teacher of the Year. She served as Assistant Director of Field Experiences at the University of San Diego and also served as adjunct faculty. Serena is the bestselling author of Real Talk About Classroom Management: 50 Best Practices That Work And Show You Believe In Your Students and Real Talk About Time Management: 35 Best Practices for Educators.

Jeremy Hyler was a middle school English teacher for almost 22 years. Currently, he works as a Manager of Educational Partnerships for the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. He is a teacher consultant for the Chippewa River Writing Project, and a Media Literacy Innovator for KQED. Jeremy has co-authored the best-selling book Create, Compose, Connect! Reading, Writing, and Learning with Digital Tools (Routledge/Eye on Education, 2014) with Dr. Troy Hicks, along with From Texting to Teaching: Grammar Instruction in a Digital Age (2017), and Ask, Explore, Write. Jeremy blogs at MiddleWeb

We all know that arts and crafts can just be enjoyable busy work or a tremendous way to activate student learning. In this episode, we explore practical ways to use arts and crafts more effectively.

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Jerilou J. Moore, Ph.D., Professor Emerita at the University of Mississippi School of Education, has taught art classes for teachers.  She enjoys showing preservice and in-service teachers how to integrate the arts to aid physical and social emotional development of children and enhance learning through creative thinking and problem-solving. Moore developed ideas for children’s art over the years during the time she was an elementary principal, administrator, teacher, art judge, and university professor. She has shared her ideas at numerous early childhood conferences. She was twice awarded Teacher of the Year by students and faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Education.

Kerry P. Holmes, Ed.D., is a Professor Emerita of Elementary Education at the University of Mississippi.  Her research and publications are in early childhood education, vocabulary, and early reading. She was awarded The School of Education Outstanding Researcher and Outstanding Faculty researcher. She taught kindergarten and 1 st grade for five years in California, was a substitute teacher in special needs and K-12 classes in Virginia and taught 1st grade in a critical needs school in Mississippi.  She is co-author of The A in STEAM: Lesson Plans and Activities for Integrating Art, Ages 0-8.

Mike Kaechele leads Project Based Learning and Social and Emotional Learning workshops around the country helping teachers make the shift to student-centered inquiry. His passion is inspiring educators to design SEL infused PBL curriculum for all content areas and age levels. During 20 years of PBL teaching, Mike has taught social studies, math, STEM, and STEAM classes.

New and veteran teachers generally agree that performance observations are just slightly more appealing than a root canal. In this episode, we invite a panel of teachers and administrators to explore ways to make the practice more productive and less distressing?

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Dr. Elvis Epps serves as the Principal at Lake Worth Community High School in the School District of Palm Beach. He has been a teacher, assistant principal, and principal for more than 28 years. He is a veteran of the US Navy.

Ryan Huels is an Assistant Principal at Oregon Elementary School in Oregon, Illinois in Northwest Illinois. Prior to venturing into administration, Ryan was a First-grade teacher and high school basketball coach. He has a passion for creating a student-centered learning environment in his building fostered on creating positive relationships with students, staff, and stakeholders.

Jennifer Schwanke has been an educator for 20 years, teaching or leading at all levels. She is the author of You’re the Principal! Now What? Strategies and Solutions for New School Leaders. In addition to her blog, she publishes frequently on the Choice Literacy and Lead Literacy websites as well as Education Week Teacher, Principal, and Principal Navigator.

Dr. Denita Harris is a Curriculum Coordinator for the MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis, Indiana. She has over 20 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and district-level administrator. She is the recipient of the 2019 INTESOL (Indiana Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Best of the Best in K-12 Education.

Adeyemi Stembridge, PhD is an educational consultant specializing in equity-focused school-improvement. He is a coach and thought-partner to teachers and administrators with an interest in the design of culturally responsive systems and learning experiences for students.

We are still struggling to come to grips with American slavery and now the heightened dissonance around the topic has spilled into our classrooms. In this episode, we talk about the challenges of teaching about slavery and how to navigate them with integrity, transparency, and efficacy.

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Keturah Proctor has over 20 years of experience in education advocating for students through an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist lens. Ms. Proctor is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and District Curriculum Coordinator in her district, Regional Equity Professional Development Facilitator, Education Ambassador for the National Public Education Support Fund and Community Activist.

Alice Mercer teaches fourth grade at an elementary school in Sacramento, CA. She started her career in Oakland, Ca, and moved to Sacramento in 2001. She is the parent of a now-adult son with ASD, and is a caregiver to her husband who is medically fragile. Alice is active in her union and on social media.

Art has the ability to be a powerful tool for engaging, differentiating, and humanizing virtually any subject. Join us as we cover several practical strategies for using art effectively in any classroom.

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Keisha Rembert is a passionate learner and fierce equity advocate. She is an award-winning educator who taught middle school ELA and United States History teacher for many years and now instructs future educators. She hopes to change our world one student at a time.

Wendi Pillars, NBCT, has been teaching for more than two decades and has yet to teach the same exact lesson twice. Fueled by curiosity, a desire to innovate, and a slight ability to rock a stick figure, she is on a perpetual quest to make information understandable and engaging for others. She is the author of Visual Impact and Visual Notetaking for Educators.