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In this final episode of the second season, Santha and John reflect on the topics they discussed during this season about improving teaching quality, including building level-PD, incorporating student feedback, and the teacher evaluation process. They also reflect on the teacher strike they went through earlier in the school year and the role that teacher unions might play in the future. Last, they share some goals and excitement they have for the upcoming school year, even as they bemoan the end of summer. 

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Recorded live at the College Board’s annual Advanced Placement conference in Las Vegas, John and Santha host an engaging roundtable of teachers from around the country who represent multiple disciplines and grade-levels about they continue to improve as professionals. The guests are Kate Cordes, an English teacher from Billings, Montana, Matt Ellington, a social studies teacher in Chino Hills, California, Karen Hyers, a math teacher from Minnesota, and Jim Morris, a professor of Biology at Brandeis University, near Boston.  Thanks to BFW publishers for hosting this roundtable.

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Throughout this season, Santha and John have been  talking about how to get better at their jobs as teachers, but have missed an invaluable resource for teacher improvement that is right in front of them…literally right in front of them: their students. In the first part of the episode, Santha coaches John on how to develop an effective survey of his students to get actionable feedback from them, and in the second half, they look at the results together and discuss next steps. Be sure to check out sample teacher feedback surveys on the website: thirdrailclassroom.com

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Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic. While we know that this severely impacts students’ learning, what exactly is the role of the classroom teacher in addressing this issue? John and Santha discuss the need for a systemic response by schools and districts, and then Santha shares interviews with students who were present at her school, but who chose not to go to class. Their responses lead John and Santha to discuss possible actions that classroom teachers can take to encourage student attendance. 

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Throughout this season, Santha and John have been looking at the different tools available to help teachers to get better at their jobs, one of which is the evaluation process that most teachers are required to go through every year. Do they actually help teachers or are they just another hoop for them to jump through? To try to get some answers, John interviews Dr. Josh Bleiberg, an Assistant Professor of Education Policy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. 

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An expectation for most teachers at the beginning of each school year is to write goals for their students’ learning. Too often the goal-setting process is tedious and inauthentic for many teachers. In this episode. Santha helps John to develop a meaningful professional goal for the year by asking four simple, but essential questions. 

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In this bonus episode, recorded over the summer, John describes his history with and feelings about the teacher evaluation process and interviews one of his building administrators, Sean Murray.  

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In this special episode, John and Santha share their thoughts on the unprecedented teacher strike in Portland, OR that lasted for more than three weeks. They recount the reasons for the strike and give first-hand descriptions of their days on the picket line and the first day back with students. John and Santha end by sharing some lessons learned for other educators who might find themselves participating in a similar labor action. 

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We are seeing an unprecedented amount of labor actions in the past few years with a number of teachers unions around the country deciding to strike for higher pay, better working conditions, and stronger supports for students. There are prevailing ideas among some people that teacher unions fight mainly to protect teachers’ jobs, but in John’s interview with University of Utah economics professor Dr. Eunice Han, she shares her research about the connection between strong teacher unions and student achievement.

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Few classroom teachers love going to staff meetings at the end of a long teaching day, but they are usually the only times we can get together to learn from each other. John interviews Megan Harowitz, a staff development teacher in Rockville, Maryland, about the benefits and challenges of building-level professional development. Megan offers specific approaches and suggestions to make this time valuable to teachers.