In today’s episode, the tables are turned as Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel ask upcoming teachers Val and Eden what excites them about teaching, what intimidates them most, what the purpose of school is, and what their personal teaching philosophy is. Val shares her thinking around classroom management, and Eden encourages teachers not to limit students’ interests based on teacher expectations. The conversation is a refreshing call to remind all educators what the whole purpose of education is. When there are a million other voices telling you what to care about in your classroom, we invite you to listen to this conversation and ground yourself in what truly matters.

Today at school, consider this: How can you create a safe space for students? What do you believe the purpose of education is? What is your greater purpose for teaching?  What still excites you about teaching?

In today’s episode, Val Harder and Eden Hinton, preservice teachers and undergraduate students who are completing their teaching degrees, ask Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel their pressing questions as they consider setting up their own classrooms for the first time. The teachers discuss classroom management, grading, and the “why” behind teaching. They go on to talk about maintaining a work-life balance, engaging students in reading, and cultivating classroom culture. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share what keeps them in the classroom when there are so many challenges in the teaching profession. 

Today at school, consider this: What can you systematize to take back time and balance in your life? How can you best give and utilize feedback to support students? What’s your “why”? What keeps you in the classroom when the days are difficult? 

In today’s episode, Val Harder and Eden Hinton, preservice teachers and undergraduate students who are completing their teaching degrees, ask Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel their pressing questions as they consider setting up their own classrooms for the first time. The teachers discuss classroom management, grading, and the “why” behind teaching. They go on to talk about maintaining a work-life balance, engaging students in reading, and cultivating classroom culture. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share what keeps them in the classroom when there are so many challenges in the teaching profession. 

Today at school, consider this: What can you systematize to take back time and balance in your life? How can you best give and utilize feedback to support students? What’s your “why”? What keeps you in the classroom when the days are difficult? 

In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel analyze “The Mower” by Philip Larkin. The conversation starts by Natalie asking, “What do you notice?” The poem then leads to discussions about grief, nature, punctuation, imagery, and kindness. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel also consider the best way to follow-up close readings and analysis in the classroom. In this impromptu analysis, the hope is that you would be inspired to tackle poetry with your students or on your own. 

Today at school, consider this: Read a poem. What do you notice? 

In this very special episode, the Teachers Changing Teaching  producer,  Russ,  makes a guest appearance! In the English World, there is often a sense of mystery, elusiveness, and aloofness surrounding poetry. Russ shares about an experience he had writing poetry in class. This leads to a conversation about the perceptions of poetry in school. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share about their own hesitations surrounding poetry and the poets that helped them move through those hang-ups. 

Today at school, consider this: What are your assumptions and fears around poetry? How can you replace those poetry fears with playfulness and courage? Who is your spark poet? 

 
Based on our previous conversation about frontloading (Episode 9 - “Frontloading”), Rachel follows students’ curiosity while introducing Romeo and Juliet. Her students came up with a list of intriguing and eclectic questions. The question today: So now what? In an on-the-spot lesson planning session, Jamie and Natalie share ideas for how to use students’ questions in instruction. Along the way, they discuss the importance of having students categorize and of honoring students’ curiosity.


Today at school, consider this: How can you foster students’ curiosity? How can you use students’ questions to inspire your instruction? 

What’s the easiest thing for three English teachers to talk about? Books.  In today’s episode, Rachel asked what everyone has been reading, what’s been inspiring, and what types of readers we are.  As those who want to encourage students to find their own reading identity, the three women discussed how they help students think about these items as well.    

Today at School: Make a list of books that inspire you. Read those.

We’ve all been there: the moment where you realize you’re overcomplicating what should be simple.  Too often in teaching, we spend so much time in the planning process that we actually end up doing most of the learning for our students.  In today’s episode, Natalie explains what a “tape moment is,”  Rachel gives an example of a tape moment that occurred recently, and Jamie discusses the philosophical reasons for why teachers desire so much control in the classroom.

Today at school, consider this: what would it look like if I really “went for it” with my class period, rather than my planning? If you’ve ever had a tape moment, what did you learn? What did your tape moment reveal about yourself? 

The Answer to: In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tackle the dreaded topic of assessment. Specifically, they wonder which form of assessment to use and how to philosophically align them with instruction. The conversation also quickly turned to a larger discussion about what our teaching and learning is helping us to understand about our students and if that translates to our assessments. The three also discuss the challenges with each form of assessment and how certain types of assessment seem inherently more merit-worthy in the ELA discipline.

Today at school, consider this: What type of assessment would you like to grade? Be honest!

In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tackle the dreaded topic of assessment. Specifically, they wonder which form of assessment to use and how to philosophically align them with instruction. The conversation also quickly turned to a larger discussion about what our teaching and learning is helping us to understand about our students and if that translates to our assessments. The three also discuss the challenges with each form of assessment and how certain types of assessment seem inherently more merit-worthy in the ELA discipline.

Today at school, consider this: How is your instruction philosophically aligned to your assessments? What are you trying to learn about students, and how does that affect your assessment? What are you TRULY wanting students to learn, and how is that represented in your assessment?