In our final episode of the season, we will talk about the prevalence of "zero to sixty" in education.  Things change fast in our dynamic profession, and the journey from year one to beyond is a roller coaster.  Effective teachers need to be prepared for the ride.  We are also joined by two special guests this week that will provide interesting takes - former students and a college senior about to enter the field of education.  

Do you remember being a teenager?  The struggle is real for them.  How are we supposed to get them to focus on things like algebra, Spanish, and biology with all of THAT going on in their heads?  The good news is that the answer really comes down to what teaching has always been about:   coaching, empathizing, and leading by example.  

XL educator egos have no place in a classroom.  They undermine relationships, productivity, and learning.  They also make for bad colleagues and lifelong learners.  Instead, learn with your students and model the behaviors you want to produce.  

Watching others teach is the number one way to grow as an education professional.  Unfortunately. too many teachers and administrators fail to make it a priority.  If you don't observe others, you miss out on valuable perspective, ideas, and growth.  You also inevitably underserve your students.  

Please stop judging teachers for working at night or whenever they are able to find time to be creative, innovative, productive, or anything else.  Stop expecting teachers to think the same, act the same, or lead their classrooms the same.  Collaborate without strings attached.  Teachers have to be at their best as often as they can.  If that means grading papers and fighting fires at 11pm for you, then great!  If that means responding to emails as you eat your eggs with the sunrise for you, then great!  Just don't expect me to have to do it too.  Don't preach individuality in the classroom and then put teachers in a box.  

For educators, a few things in this world are certain - death, taxes, and the undeniable teacher truths mentioned in this week's episode.  Remember, as an educator, you are never alone.  Connect and collaborate with the amazing people in our field.  In addition to making you better at your job, it will also help you find support.  

It's hard to believe, but this week we are celebrating 150 episodes!  Thank you for making this journey so special!  We have thousands of listeners from six continents, many of which have been with the podcast for years, all working to find support, collaboration, and better ways to serve our students.  You are superheroes!  This week, we continue with a discussion of the importance of "backwards" design.  The backwards design framework will help you improve your lessons and generate student mastery of content.  

School soap operas are a real thing, and effective teachers know how to minimize their involvement.  This episode will discuss some crucial strategies that will help you be happier AND more effective as an educator in today's world.  It's time to reduce the drama!

Students have changed, along with the rest of the world.  Effective teachers don't complain - they adjust.  We have to continue to work hard to reel students back into our lessons and process.  Even better, let's not lose them at all.  This episode will offer up some crucial strategies on how to do just that.  

Stop giving zeroes for assignments, awarding bonus points for non-content, increasing grades as part of class "curves," providing extra credit to "help" grades, and all other practices that distort or misreport a student's level of mastery.  Effective teachers know that grades should reflect mastery.  They also know that it's better to barter behavior with privileges, not points.  Grade inflation, reduced student effort, and academic misconduct have reached epidemic levels in our society.  Be a part of the solution and not the problem.