Have a Life Teaching

We hope you have enjoyed season two. We will be back with brand new episodes and a third season in August 2025.

In the meantime, please feel free to catch up on any of our past episodes.

Music - Aylex

In this episode, I talk with educator and author Susan Midlarsky about her book The Art of Learning Math: A Manual for Success.

We explore how math can be more than numbers—how it can help students see patterns in life, solve problems creatively, and rebuild confidence after math-related stress or trauma.

Susan shares:

• How recognizing relationships and patterns helps students make sense of math and the world

• Ways to address math anxiety and trauma with compassion and curiosity

• The importance of student-led problem solving over rote memorization

• How connecting math to real life builds confidence and resilience

This episode is perfect for educators, parents, or anyone looking to make math a more meaningful, empowering experience for learners of all ages.

Susan Midlarsky LinkedIn Page

Book - The Art of Learning Math

Homepage

Achieve the Core Coherence Maps

Music - Aylex

In this episode of the podcast, we chat with a pioneer in the AI space - Dr. Ken Kahn.

Ken walks us through the amazing ways we can increase student creativity through the use of high-powered AI chat bots, not reduce it.

We discuss how students can create games and simulations to demonstrate their knowledge of concepts in all core content areas, without needing to know code, as well as ways to create multimodal resources for students (music and images) and choose your own adventure type activities.

It truly is a brave new world! Listen in as Ken and I discuss these ideas as well as how his new book can serve as a guide to educators in maximizing the use of AI with students.

Ken Kahn LinkedIn

Ken Kahn Book - The Learner's Apprentice

Music - Aylex

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 book "How to Raise a Citizen" believes that this situation, overall, is the result of a lack of youth awareness of the political and democratic process. So how then can educators, along with parents, teach students what they need to know?

In this episode we discuss:

- The definition of "citizen".

- How teachers can teach the political process through experiential learning.

- How we should spiral or build upon learning of the democratic process in each grade not just in middle school or 11th grade government class.

- How to turn youth from consumers of information on the Internet to information seekers.

- Why adults need to turn down the negativity about politics and teach students how to argue opposing viewpoints with civility.

- How teachers can teach the democratic process without falling victim to increasing legal jeopardy when what they teach upsets some parents with strong political views - red or blue.

- How parents can and should support the awareness of their children about the democratic process.

We hope you will listen in to this important conversation.

Lindsey Cormack LinkedIn page

Book - How to Raise a Citizen

How to Raise a Citizen Instagram

How to Raise a Citizen Webpage

James Madison's Montpelier Website

Music - Aylex

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 need certain supports beyond what David-Lang calls the boiler plate "where are the keys" training all teachers get at the beginning of each year.

Marshall and David-Lang offer their suggestions on what this training should look like if we want to retain their talents.

The Marshall Memo

The Main Idea

The Best of the Marshall Memo

Music - Aylex

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 towards a specific approach such as visual, auditory, verbal, and/or kinesthetic learning.

Rather, Hattie suggests that we think in terms of using a variety of learning strategies that evidence suggests are high impact strategies for improving student knowledge and retention of learning:

- Organizational strategies

- Learning consolidation techniques

- Exposed student thinking practices

We also discuss specific techniques for helping teachers to design lessons that engage students in each of these best learning practices.

The Hattie Family Foundation Website

Learning Styles, Preferences, Learning Strategies Article

Corwin Visible Learning Website

Visible Learning: The Sequel Book

10 Mind Frames for Visible Learning Book

Music by Aylex

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 "Teacher Time Management - How to Prioritize Your Day So You Can Enjoy Your Evening", offers us several strategies for making every extra moment in our teaching count in terms of our efficiency.

We discuss:

- How to classify our activities into three categories - those activities that require high concentration, average, and low concentration.

- How to plan out in advance how to use low intensity/energy times in our teaching.

- What to do when students experience periods of high/low energy

- The power of video as a time saver for teachers.

- How to plan your units so we have an easier end of year.

Ellen Linnihan LinkedIn Page

Teacher Time Management Book

Ellen Linnihan YouTube

Music by Aylex

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 relates to high school students not having the executive functioning skills necessary to thrive in college and career settings.

However, says Tramantano, there are simple practices that K-12 teachers can implement to help students develop not only the communication skills they will need in higher education but the metacognition that students need to direct their own learning.

I hope you will listen in (and subscribe) as we discuss:

- The CONNECT Framework for developing student metacognition in high school and beyond.

- Simple middle and high school classroom practices for student self and peer reflection on learning.

- How best to facilitate student conferences that place the student in the driver's seat.

and

- The gradual release of control over assessment and analysis of learning to students from middle through high school.

Johanna Tramantano LinkedIn Page

Literacy Landscapes Podcast

Leveraging Literacy Webpage

Music by Aylex

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 of unforgettable narrative storytelling

- How stories boost executive functioning and student focus

- Creative ways to use storytelling cards in your classroom to bring narrative fiction to life

Click, listen, and subscribe.

Because if your students can’t tell a story, they might be missing the most powerful tool they’ve got.

Dana Seith LinkedIn Page

Tell Me a Story Card Game

Music by Aylex

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 often, says Nix, school leaders go from crisis to crisis rather than developing a systemic approach to school improvement which lies at the heart of sustainable and strong school culture. Also, many school leaders maintain a mindset that prioritizes teaching over learning,

Lastly, leaders have a tendency to hold other educators accountable without having been clear in communicating the school mission nor having provided quality feedback so that teachers can improve.

To change this, Nix recommends that school leaders:

- Clarify the mission

_ Plan Strategically

- Empower Self and Others

- Measure and Gather Feedback

- Adjust and Improve

- Be Accountable and Give Rewards

I hope you will listen in to our conversation as we discuss each of these six steps.

Samuel Nix Solution Tree Page

6 Steps to a Strong School Culture Book

SNIX3 Consulting

Music - Aylex