We're back! Well, Kate's back. After giving everyone a bit of time off over the school holidays we're back with a special episode. On her recent travels to Harvard, Kate had an opportunity to talk to some fantastic educators about the challenges they face in their work.

In this episode we tackle the issue of burnout. What is burnout, what does it look like and how can we recognise the signs that we're at risk? We explore some of the factors that can put teachers into a burnout tailspin and we consider the impact of "carer fatigue" in the teaching profession.

Are there really bad teachers out there? The truth is, just like any profession, some people aren't very good at their job. In this episode, we explore the idea of the "bad teacher" and consider the qualities we'd prefer not to see in the teaching profession, everything from eating chalk to hating kids.

Kate spoke to her teacher friends to collect some insights into what teachers want parents to know. In this episode we talk through the list and offer our own reflections. We cover topics like tutoring, failure, performance pressure, resilience and why you should leave maths teaching to the maths teachers.

In this episode we talk with Dr Mark Williams about the impact of devices on our kids. Most schools in Australia put a device in every child's hand but how is this technology really impacting learning. Mark unpacks some of the myths about learning on screens and offers a strong case to consider going screen-free in your classroom.

In this episode we chat to our friend Dr Mark Williams about some of the mental health challenges that we see in schools today. We explore some of the reasons for the rise in mental health challenges and discuss some things schools can do to support the development of healthy brains and healthy kids.

In this episode we talk through some practical tips for responding to escalating or challenging behaviours. We consider our default responses to big behaviours and some reasons to unlearn some unhelpful responses. We offer some ways to interpret oppositional behaviours in order to develop appropriate responses and talk about why cascading threats rarely works and why strategies built on good relationships usually do.

In this episode we welcome special guest Dr Mark Williams, an internationally renowned professor of cognitive neuroscience and author of 'The Connected Species'. Mark shares his wisdom on the science of connection and offers some practical tips on how teachers can develop and strengthen their relationships with students. In a wide-ranging conversation we talk about in-groups and out-groups, responding to bullying and the importance of physical touch.