Innovative Educators

Some day the first three days of school set the tone for the school year, but I believe the first three months determine the school year. Today, we discuss a few simple strategies to focus on during the first third of the school year to set you and your students on track for a meaningful and sustainable school year. Even if the school year has started, it's never too late to try something new.

So, what will you try this week? Prioritization, clear and consistent structures, or a new way to plan? Reach out on instagram @brookefolgers with your success stories.

Spring has sprung and for many of us in education that means the arrival of testing season as well. This period often tests the will of teachers and the patience of students more than it actually assesses academic proficiency. In this episode, we unpack a few ways to help teachers not burn out and sustain during the long, mundane days of watching kids answer questions. Testing doesn’t have to be as awful as it can be. All it takes is a bit of innovative thinking.

Testing Encouragement Signs: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fykqKZqQqSRAt2eh2Tf_hNBJVptdUYlW/view?usp=sharing

Returning from spring break can feel like trying to run a marathon uphill in the mud. The "spring energy" is high, teacher batteries are low, and the temptation to switch to "survival mode" (weekly movies and disengaged worksheets…) is stronger than ever.

In this episode, we’re diving into why the best way to save your energy is actually to double down on what’s best for your students. It might not be the easiest path, but it’s the one that ensures you (and your students) cross the finish line of the school year with your sanity intact.

https://brookefolgers.com/podcast

https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab

Schools have their own version of "March Madness" where the office referrals spike and the countdown to Spring Break seems to never end. But we can’t lose a month of learning just because we’re tired and kids are energetic in an unhelpful way.

In our latest episode, we’re talking about how to mitigate and embrace the chaos. Innovation isn’t about lowering expectations, rather it is harnessing students' identities and realities to elevate our learning communities.

There is still time to swap “crashing out" for strategies that work.

Zombie Apocalypse Lesson Plan - The goal is students to work collaboratively to develop an idea based on previous learning. This works well to review or synthesize content. Anything in brackets is to be edited by you!

Worksheet

Slides

Digital Innovative Educators Lab - This isn't just a podcast, it's a call to action. We are building a virtual community of innovative educators dedicated to pushing boundaries and supporting one another’s wildest ideas. Click this link to join!

The most successful changes in education don't come from new gadgets; they come from radical shifts in perspective as a result of being in community. After seeing the transformative power of something called the Innovative Educators Lab in a district setting, we're opening the doors to educators everywhere.

This isn't just a podcast, it's a call to action. We are building a virtual community of innovators dedicated to pushing boundaries and supporting one another’s wildest ideas. Click this link to join the Virtual Lab: https://brookefolgers.com/virtual-lab

What might happen when we stop lecturing and start sketching? In this episode, we explore how we can use blank paper as a tool for discovering content.

This is not art as a break, this is not art for mental health even though art is very important for mental health. This is about art as learning and you, educator, are the strategic facilitator of this art making.

True innovation shouldn’t be a new fancy tool; it’s a radical change in delivery. Join us as we discuss how a simple shift in medium can lead to students having "mind-blown" moments related to your class. If you want your class and content to matter, get out the markers and the paper.

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Three activities to have kids discover content through art:

1. Draw a house
2. Draw your community
3. Draw your descendants

Activity from Stanford d.School can be found here: https://dschool.stanford.edu/tools/portrait-descendant-futures-thinking-k12

Thinking Routine from Project Zero, See, Think, Wonder: https://pz.harvard.edu/resources/see-think-wonder

Follow up questions with art:

• What do you think about that?
• Can you say more about that?

Check out Donor’s Choose to get supplies for art in your classroom: www.donorschoose.org

When another horrific headline happens, we still have to show up to school and show up for kids. We know we should talk about it, but the "how" is the part that keeps us stuck.

In today’s episode, Brooke shares actionable starter tips for those high-stakes conversations. We’re moving past the "I don't know what to say" hurdle and leaning into creating genuine emotional safety for the kids in our lives.

You don't need to have all the answers to be an adult that has tough conversations. You just need a way to begin.

Ready to start? Here are some of my favorite picture books / poems:

Black Panther Wakanda Forever: The Courage to Dream by Fredrick Joseph

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

Grandad’s Camper by Harry Woodgate

The Artivist by Nikkolas Smith

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz - Sáenz has poetic epigraph like pages at the start of different sections that are painfully beautiful

“The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry

We’re tackling adultification, the bias that strips kids of their innocence and replaces empathy with "adult" consequences.

I’m breaking down why I use the words “kids” and “children” (yes, even for 12th graders) to talk about students. We’ll explore where this bias sneaks into our discipline and the difference between holding high expectations and denying a child the right to be a learner. Whether they carry adult burdens at home or not, school must be the place they are allowed to make mistakes and learn.

They’re just kids. Sometimes we all need the reminder.

Show notes:

• Georgetown Law’s report, “Girlhood Interrupted” https://genderjusticeandopportunity.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/girlhood-interrupted.pdf
• “Adultification, Anger Bias, and adults’ different perceptions of Black and White children” by Alison N Cooke and Amy G Halberstadt https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9248049/

If your students are rolling their eyes at "Two Truths and a Lie," it’s time to listen to them. As teachers, we often feel pressured to "perform" community with forced games and random icebreakers, but real belonging isn't built in a five-minute activity—it’s built through the subtle, human, and consistent ways we treat our students.

In this episode, we’re moving away from the performative and toward the authentic. We discuss how to transform your classroom into a space where students feel they belong. Learn how to ditch the "forced fun" and cultivate a culture of dignity, hospitality, and real conversation that actually makes kids want to be there.

Stop trying to win them over with Uno. Start building a space where they truly belong.

What's on your mind writing prompt:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15V5fT9Sz0Qd4XZJcDAzVCr9LWn5hFSCt73N8ECWWbJ0/edit?usp=sharing

AI is everywhere in education right now, but is it making our schools more equitable? In this episode, we move past the "learning shortcuts" and look at how AI can be a subversive tool for justice and inclusion.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to use AI to create accessible, inclusive communication to families
• Why AI should NOT write texts for our class
• How AI can make math culturally responsive

Let’s stop using AI to just work faster and start using it to bridge the gap. Our students’ ability to see themselves as problem-solvers depends on it.