Teaching the Holocaust is a required part of the curriculum in many states. But how do you teach Holocaust history with the level of sensitivity it deserves? Join United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Program Coordinator Bethany Nagle and Wendy Amato as they discuss best practices for planning memorable, effective lessons in multiple subjects. You'll also learn about the free resources available to every educator from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Continue Learning

Resources

• Explore the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's educator resources
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum lesson plans and classroom activities (including the timeline activity mentioned by Bethany)
• More information about the "First Persons: Conversations with Holocaust Survivors" program

Events

• Join a free webinar with Bethany and Wendy to dive deeper into foundational resources for teaching the Holocaust
• Register for the free 2021 Belfer National Conferences for Educators

Videos

• Lessons from the Holocaust Teaching Channel video
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum YouTube page

"We're not preparing students to take a test or to earn a diploma. We're preparing them to be independent, successful, resilient, resourceful human beings."

Giving students the power of autonomy can be one of the most important skills you'll ever teach. Listen in as CEO of engage2learn Shannon Buerk and Wendy Amato discuss how to use goal-setting to both allow students to take control of their own learning and to promote equity in every classroom.

Continue Learning

• Learn more about engage2learn

Articles

• How to Proactively Plan for True Differentiation
• engage2learn Life Ready Best Practices Research Base (whitepaper)
• Mitigating Learning Loss: It’s About Time

Videos

• Three Ways to Practice Goal Setting with Your Students
• Communicating Learning Goals
• Building Class Culture with Social Skills Goals

What's the most important thing for teachers and parents to prioritize during hybrid learning? Continue learning from Doug Lemov and Wendy Amato in part 2 of their conversation (listen to part 1 here!). In this episode, Doug outlines his strategies for routines that help connect your "Room-ers" and "Zoom-ers" and how to make hybrid lessons feel more purposeful. 

Want to hear more from Doug and Teaching Channel? Sign up for a 15-hour professional development course to watch real lessons from online and hybrid classrooms.

Continue Learning

• Watch a free webinar series with the Teach Like a Champion team and Wendy
• Sign up for a 15-hour professional development course from Doug and Teaching Channel
• Learn more about Teach Like a Champion

Articles

• Jill Mattis' Hybrid Classroom [VIDEO]
• Cultivate a Culture of Error
• Making Hybrid Work: Mika Salazar on Setting up Your Classroom [VIDEO]

Videos

• Checking for Understanding in a Virtual World (webinar)
• Boosting Engagement, Rigor, and Connection Online Part 1 (webinar)
• Boosting Engagement, Rigor, and Connection Online Part 2 (webinar)

Hybrid teaching can feel like being asked to juggle while on a unicycle. What can teachers do to manage both their "Room-ers" and "Zoom-ers"? Listen in as author and educator Doug Lemov and Wendy Amato discuss how to engage virtual and in-person students, technology tips, and building a classroom community.

Want to hear more from Doug and Wendy? Join a free webinar series to learn more about the topics discussed in this podcast.

Continue Learning

• Join a free webinar series with the Teach Like a Champion team and Wendy
• Sign up for a 15-hour professional development course from Doug and Teaching Channel
• Learn more about Teach Like a Champion

Articles

• Jill Mattis' Hybrid Classroom [VIDEO]
• Cultivate a Culture of Error
• Making Hybrid Work: Mika Salazar on Setting up Your Classroom [VIDEO]

Videos

• Checking for Understanding in a Virtual World (webinar)
• Boosting Engagement, Rigor, and Connection Online Part 1 (webinar)
• Boosting Engagement, Rigor, and Connection Online Part 2 (webinar)

How have your life experiences shaped who you are in the classroom? Listen in as author and educator Kwame Sarfo-Mensah and Wendy Amato as they discuss the cultural bias in standardized testing, building community connections, and how all educators can have a culturally responsive classroom. 

Want to hear more from Kwame and Wendy? Join a free webinar series to learn more about the topics discussed in this podcast.

Continue Learning

• Join a free webinar series with Kwame and Wendy this March
• Sign up for a 15-hour professional development course from Kwame and Teaching Channel
• Learn more about Kwame's work with Identity Talk Consulting

Articles

• Cultural Bias in Assessment
• Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain
• Culturally Responsive Teaching: It Begins with Responsiveness

Videos

• Coaching for Equity
• Leading & Evaluation for Equity (webinar)

Do teachers get summers off? Listen to the president of iteach Andrew Rozell and Wendy Amato as they bust a few teaching myths, talk about the greatest classroom moment, and take a look at what needs to change with teacher compensation. You'll also hear about how iteach is providing educators with an alternative path to teacher certification. 

Episode Page

Continue Learning

• Learn more about iteach and its alternative certification programs
• Read the iteach blog 

Articles

• Let's Talk About It: Teacher Pay
• Pushing Back on Outmoded Beliefs
• 'I Work 3 Jobs And Donate Blood Plasma to Pay the Bills.' This Is What It’s Like to Be a Teacher in America (TIME Magazine article)

Videos

• A Journey Back to Teaching - iteach LIVE featuring Christina Griffin
• Interviews with iteach graduates

Schools are becoming more and more diverse as equity gaps for historically underserved groups grow wider. Join educators Sarah Ottow and Wendy Amato as they discuss their experiences and strategies for teaching ELLs in classrooms all over the world. You'll also hear their thoughts on how teachers can shift their equity mindset and why educators need to stop claiming they're "color blind". 

Episode Page

Continue Learning

• Register for a free webinar series hosted by Wendy Amato and Sarah Ottow (or watch the recordings)
• Sign up for a 15-hour book study based on Sarah's book The Language Lens for Content Classrooms
• Purchase The Language Lens for Content Classrooms (Purchase the book directly from the publisher at this site using the code TCHLLC10 for 10% off)
• Read Confianza's blog and check out their other course offerings

Blogs

• 3 Tips for Supporting ELLs Through Co-Teaching and Collaboration
• Supporting Equity for English Learners Remotely
• Support Language Learners With Confianza

Videos

• Video Playlist: The Power of Collaboration for ELLs
• Milton Chen on Deeper Learning for ELLs
• Scaffolding Text Structure for ELLs

What is project-based learning (PBL)? What are the challenges and benefits of this approach to deeper learning?

On this episode of Tch Talks, we're chatting with the brilliant and creative Jennifer Pieratt, who is deeply committed to making deeper learning for all students and teachers a reality. Jenny helps us dig into some common questions around PBL, such as: How is PBL different from a simple culminating project? How can you integrate PBL into your existing standards and curriculum? And — with all the resources floating around in the education ecosystem — where do you begin? Listen in to find out more on this episode of Tch Talks.

• CraftED Curriculum
• PBL Planning Workbook
• The PBL Blog
• More articles on PBL and Deeper Learning
• Follow Jenny on Twitter: @craftEDcm
• Follow Jenny on Instagram: @Crafted_jennypieratt
• Follow Jenny on Facebook: Crafting Deeper Learning
• Expeditionary Learning Models of Excellence
• High Tech High Projects
• Buck Institute for Education (BIE)
• BIE PBLU

Tch Videos

• My Favorite No: Learning From Mistakes
• Deeper Learning Series

Jenny’s Blog Posts on Tchers’ Voice

• 3 Steps to Successful Student Collaboration
• Getting Started with PBL: Do ONE Thing Really Well
• Project Based Learning: Assessment and Other Dirty Words
• Crafting Deeper Collaboration: An Invitation
• Design Thinking, Empathy, And Equity
• Design Thinking, Empathy, and Equity – Part 2
• Critical Friends: Building a Culture of Collaboration

How might student learning improve if assessments were innovative, authentic, and playful?

Learning can — and should — be fun, but when it comes to assessment, teachers can be very serious. However, there’s no need for the fun to stop when the assessments come out.

On this episode of Tch Talks, Dr. Yoon Jeon Kim, a research scientist at MIT Teaching Systems Lab, and Louisa Rosenheck, a designer and researcher of educational technologies in the MIT Education Arcade, come together to discuss how thoughtful design of authentic, creative, and playful assessments can engage students, help them to learn and grow, and allow them an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities in a more personalized and meaningful way. YJ & Louisa — both self-proclaimed "assessment nerds" — discuss types of playful assessment, assessment tools, connections between assessment and social and emotional learning, and their shared goal of empowering teachers with assessment literacy. Perhaps, moving away from traditional assessments and embracing a little whimsy in the classroom just might be a key leverage point to impacting the way students learn in schools. Listen in to find out more.

• MIT Teaching Systems Lab
• MIT Education Arcade
• Overview: Playful Assessment
• MetaRubric Activity
• Beyond Rubrics: Assessment in Making
• Game-Based Assessment
• Follow YJ Kim on Twitter: @yjkimchee
• Follow Louisa Rosenheck on Twitter: @skiptomylouisa

Tch Videos

• The Work of Play
• Project Earth Game
• Performance as a Culminating Activity
• Museum Exhibition as a Culminating Event
• Living Wax Museum: Researching & Portraying Influential People
• Student Profile: Portfolio Defense
• Calibration: Assessing Portfolio Defenses

Tchers' Voice Blog Posts

• #TchWellness: Incorporating Play Into Your Life As An Educator
• Tch Tips: Creative Assessment Strategies
• Tch Talks 22: Intention & Critical Creativity in the Classroom
• Minecraft: Education Edition

School just got out, so hopefully, as an educator, you’re taking time to relax. But we all know that most teachers don’t shut their minds off completely in the summer. You’re probably already thinking about the year ahead. One thing you might be thinking about is how to better serve your English Language Learners (ELLs), especially since they continue to be a growing population in U.S. schools.

In this episode of Tch Talks, educators Sarah Ottow and Nicole Shimizu share their list of five things you can do to reach and teach your ELLs during the next school year. Their ideas are practical and fairly easy to try, and there are some ideas you can staring work on this summer! Listen to find out more.

ELL Deep Dive

Resources and Tips from Confianza

Collaboration & Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners

3 Tips for Supporting ELLs Through Co-Teaching and Collaboration

Authors of Color Reading List

Video Playlist: The Power of Collaboration for ELLs