The Secondary Teacher | Elective Teacher Resources, Secondary Teacher Strategies, and Teacher Planning

Have you ever walked into a classroom, shop, or lab and just felt comfortable? Alternatively, have you walked into a similar space that had you on edge? If you can feel that, so can your students. Having a welcoming environment will not only help your students be at ease and more productive, but it will do the same for you. Have you ever thought about how a student feels in your environment can play a role in them signing up again and helping increase enrollment? I admit that sometimes I was too overwhelmed to declutter and rearrange my classroom. I felt like it was a massive overhaul that would take the entire summer break to conquer. While some organization projects will probably take some time, here are some quick tips that you can implement today into your space to help you create and maintain a welcoming environment.

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• Quickly Clear Off Horizontal Surfaces

• From the Student Perspective, Take a Look at Your Walls

• Implement Routines to Keep Your Classroom Free From Clutter

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode10/

RECRUITING ROADMAP FREE DOWNLOAD: http://khristenmassic.com/roadmap

ALLIE CASAZZA PURPOSE SHOW: https://alliecasazza.com/podcast/

Too many times have I set a goal and then struggled to complete it. The goal was a great one and even followed the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely) acronym, but I still never reached it. Has this ever happened to you? I feel your pain, but I want to let you know that I was missing a key component to successfully reaching my goals: the road map to get there.

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• Why You Need a Road Map

• How to Find Your Finish Line and Starting Point

• Determining Your Mile Markers

Links Mentioned

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode9/

PREVIOUS EPISODE MENTIONED: http:khristenmassic.com/episode8

RECRUITING ROADMAP FREE DOWNLOAD: http://khristenmassic.com/roadmap

Recruiting for career and technical education teachers is essential in keeping a full-time job. In my first several years I approached recruiting and increasing enrollment in my program with little to no strategies and therefore I was constantly stressed and overwhelmed by having to teach multiple preps every year. Not only that, but over my career, I’ve felt like a first-year teacher several times because I was being asked to teach new or different preps from what I had the previous year in order to stay full-time. At year seven I finally added strategy to recruiting for the career and technical education program. Setting a goal and creating a roadmap is what finally got me headed in the right direction. 

RECRUITING ROADMAP FREE DOWNLOAD: http://khristenmassic.com/roadmap

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• No One is Going to Fill Your Classes

• Applying the SMART Goal Strategy to Setting a Goal

Links Mentioned

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode8/

RECRUITING ROADMAP FREE DOWNLOAD: http://khristenmassic.com/roadmap

Having parent engagement involves having relationships with parents--which is crucial for career and technical education teachers and maintaining and increasing enrollment.  No matter what level and program you teach, your parents have an influence on your current and future students because they talk to other parents. Because of this, we need to strengthen our engagement and communication with parents. We’ve all heard the horror stories about calling home and dealing with an uncooperative parent. While you still may have a negative experience with a very small percentage of your parent communication, there are ways to set you up for success from the beginning. 

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• Deciding what type of relationship you would like to have with parents

• Developing empathy by putting yourself in the parents’ shoes

• Being proactive with challenges and solutions
• Creating and implementing systems so that your communication is automated

Links Mentioned

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode7/

PREVIOUS EPISODE SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode2/

My grading philosophy has changed drastically over the years. When I first started teaching, I created courses that were geared to students like myself--overachiever would do anything to get an “A.” (Don’t worry, as my grading philosophy for my students changed, my expectations for myself and my mindset of learning changed as well). While you may have some students that fit into that category, most of your students do not. Your job is not to simply hand out marks for assignments--you are there to help students learn. And quite frankly, grades don’t matter in the grading scheme of things. This episode isn’t about what grading philosophy you should adopt, but rather ways to simplify your grading practices by seeing if you are making these common teaching mistakes.

In this episode, Khristen discusses how to avoid:

• Grading Everything

• Not Aligning Grades to a Standard

• Saving Grading for the End of the Day

• Having your LMS Automate Grading

• Expecting that Students will Re-Submit Work

• Grade-Dependent Projects

• Having Late-Work Policies

Links Mentioned

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode6/

FREE WORKBOOK FOR DETERMINING YOUR ESSENTIAL STANDARDS: http://khristenmassic.com/standards

PREVIOUS EPISODE SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode1/

Teaching and staying up to date with content is difficult enough, but you need to focus on building student relationships as well. I dare say that relationships and building a community takes precedence over your content. Every student--and every person--wants to feel accepted by someone and by implementing student conferences into your teaching practice, you can be that person. This single practice changed my teaching and classroom management that I recommend it for every teacher out there. 

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• The advantages of implementing student conferences

• How conferences can look in the CTE classroom--even if it is virtual

• Insights on how to have great student conferences
• Questions that you can ask during student conferences

Links Mentioned

Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School by Star Sackstein

Better Conversations: Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected by Jim Knight

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES:  http://khristenmassic.com/episode5/

At times, teaching is stressful and can take its toll both physically and emotionally. As a career and technical education (CTE) teacher, there can also be additional stress and worry about enrollment and recruitment for the next year. All teachers naturally face the ups and downs of the school year and here are some ways to prevent teacher burnout and better handle stressful situations and times of the year.

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• Set a Morning Routine You’ll Stick To
• Practice Stress-Relieving Activities
• Set Boundaries
• Ask for help
• Take Time to Do Something for You Every Week

Links Mentioned

ON YOUR PREP PODCAST COMMUNITY: http://www.facebook.com/groups/onyourpreppodcastcommunity/ 

WEBSITE: http://khristenmassic.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/khristenmassic/

ON YOUR PREP SHOW NOTES: http://khristenmassic.com/episode4/

Recruitment for your career and technical education program is key to you teaching what you want and being able to teach full-time. One way to increase your enrollment is by using social media. Social media allows you to get information about your program to community members, parents, and students. Even if you have or are planning on having a specific social media presence for your program, make sure to utilize the school and district social media channels as well. In this episode, I teach you about using the social media and public relations person that your school or district already has in order to get your posts seen by a large audience. 

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• What to send to your school/district PR/social media person each month
• Figuring out what to submit for social media
• Tips for taking photos and captions engaging

Links Mentioned

http://khristenmassic.com/

Follow me on Instagram

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Curriculum Mapping

AI-Powered Curriculum Mapping for Busy Teachers: https://khristenmassic.thrivecart.com/ai-curriculum-mapping/?coupon=PODCAST

In my career, I’ve taught anywhere between three different courses to eight within a single school-year. Most days I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water staying just one step ahead of my students. With so many standards to “cover,” I was wearing myself out and quite honestly I had no idea where my students were in their learning as I was busy looking ahead to the next standard we needed to cover. Does that sound familiar to you? While that exhaustion was there during my first several years of teaching, my last two years were completely the opposite. What if I told you that “less is more” can help you and your students? Here I’m going to share with you how you can dwindle down your standards from many to a few that mean less overall work for you and more in-depth learning for your students.

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• Essential Standards, Power Standards, Big Rocks (“eduspeak”)
• Determining “Nice to know” from “need to know”
• What this looks like in your CTE classroom

Links Mentioned

http://khristenmassic.com/

FREE Workbook for Determining Essential Standards

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work

Mentioned in this episode:

AI Curriculum Mapping

AI-Powered Curriculum Mapping for Busy Teachers: https://khristenmassic.thrivecart.com/ai-curriculum-mapping/?coupon=PODCAST

Do you ever find yourself driving to school and remember getting in the car, but not the drive? Do you have a shower routine: like shampoo hair, wash face, rinse, condition hair, wash body, rinse? Routines can take complex time-consuming tasks and make life simpler, more efficient, and less stressful.

In this episode, Khristen discusses:

• How to conduct a routine audit for your classroom
• How to automate routines
• Setting up your teacher routines

Links Mentioned

http://khristenmassic.com/

Follow me on Instagram

Jasmine Star Automation Podcast 

Learn Like a Pirate by Paul Solarz