Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers

Do you have a text that is required for you to teach but you just do not like teaching? Curriculum rehab may be just what you need to transform your unit into one you and your students truly enjoy! Our guest today, Maegan Baker, has revamped her unit on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe into one she enjoys instead of dreads and she is sharing how Curriculum Rehab helped with the process!In today’s episode, Maegan shares how going through Curriculum Rehab and aligning her teaching with EQs has made all the difference in how she teaches The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She is breaking down what two standards she decided to focus on, how she constructed her unit, how she helped her students begin to synthesize ideas throughout the unit, and what she found to be the missing piece in her unit thanks to Curriculum Rehab. Meet Maegan:Maegan Baker is a 7th grade ELA teacher in Washington. Before her current role, she taught K-12 English as a Second Language and is now in her 14th year of teaching. In addition to working full time as a middle school teacher, Maegan is our Executive Assistant here at Brave New Teaching helping us with ideas and so much more!Topics Discussed:Why Maegan decided to do Curriculum Rehab for her The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe unitWhich two standards Maegan decided to hone in on for the unitHow Maegan constructed her unit with the EQ as the driving factor How she tied Thank you, Mr. Falker as well as science into the unit to give her students new perspectiveWhy Maegan loves using literary PolaroidsRESOURCES MENTIONED:Follow Maegan on Instagram @mrs.bakerproductionsSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode207"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Friends, we are doing something a little different. We know how crazy days can get for teachers and they seem to be especially crazy come the end of the school year. Between state testing, wrapping up the current school year, and getting things ready for next school year, the days are just packed! Today, we are tagging along with Marie for a long 13 hour day at school. She’s checking in and sharing what she is doing from before school auditioning middle schoolers, to her crazy busy lunch period, and wrapping up her long day with rehearsals and a live Down with the Reading Quiz training. We can’t wait to share a glimpse into what the busy days look like and what we’re thinking, planning, and doing throughout the day!We’d love to hear what you think about the episode! Come follow us on Instagram and send us a message or head over to bravenewteaching.com to send us an email or leave us a voicemail. We can’t wait to hear from you!SHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode206"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Have you gotten to the end of the year not knowing what kids have truly learned? You know you’re teaching. You know what some students know and really understand. But when it comes down to it, you feel like you don’t really know what everybody learned. We completely understand! That’s what it felt like for us before we started backward planning and planning our year and assessments the way we teach in Down with the Reading Quiz and Curriculum Rehab.We know assessments are key in guiding our instruction and gauging student understanding. You’ve heard us talk quite a bit about Sesame Street Quizzes and how much we love them but there are other assessments we absolutely love for assessing student understanding, too. One of our favorites is the paragraph chunk quiz!Today, we are diving into paragraph chunk quizzes and ways to implement them in your ELA classes. We’re sharing what paragraph chunk quizzes are, why we love them, and different ways to format them to fit what you and your students need.RESOURCES MENTIONED:Choice Reading Unit Masterclass: Foster Authentic ReadersSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode205"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Are you tired of constant reading quizzes that you give just because you feel like that’s what you’re supposed to do? If so, you likely realize that you aren’t getting the data and information you need to know about your students’ understanding from them. We’ve been there and we get it!Assessment is legitimately the most important part when you're looking at data and metrics of education. But in order to get actual, usable data that informs your instruction, you need aligned formative assessments that assess students along the way, making sure that their skills are being built and allowing you to adjust and readjust along the way.In this episode, we are diving into the importance of assessments, why we need to reconsider assessments such as reading quizzes, mistakes we’ve made with assessments in our classrooms, and how you can make assessments more meaningful and impactful in your own classroom.RESOURCES MENTIONED:Check out Amanda's CAFE MODE TimersSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode204"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

We absolutely love hearing real life stories and examples of how you are implementing Brave New Teaching strategies and tools to make a bigger impact on your students and make your life easier! High school English teacher, Lannette Story, is back with us to walk us through what semester two looks like for her classes after she did a complete curriculum rehab last summer. This week, Lannette is sharing how she kicks off second semester with Romeo and Juliet in an engaging and meaningful way, what her Ruta Sepetys unit looks like, and how she wraps up the school year with a Socratic seminar based on the year-long essential question.If you’ve embarked on a curriculum rehab or have designed your curriculum to be more inquiry based and driven, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us on Instagram, send us an email, or leave us a podcast review. We want to hear more stories from you and have you share them on the podcast so feel free to reach out - we are open ears and excited to hear your journeys! RESOURCES MENTIONED:Follow Lannette on Instagram @Lanney220Teaching Shakespeare: Basics with the BardTeaching Shakespeare: The Modern Classroom ApproachSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode203"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Have you wondered what it could look like when you actually start using the strategies and tools we talk about in your classroom? Our guest today, Lannette Story, is sharing all about how when she started implementing the concepts and strategies we share, her excitement for teaching returned and she was able to teach with less stress!We are so excited to be talking with Lannette today about what she has been able to implement in her classes. She is sharing how she was feeling before finding Brave New Teaching, the process of how she went from what she was doing before to completely revamping her curriculum, and what her first half of the school year looks like. In this episode, Lannette explains how she incorporates Sesame Street Quizzes, year long essential questions, and more! She had so much to share and will be back again next week where we’ll be tackling Romeo and Juliet, a Rudisill Petty's unit, and some ideas for a final summative assessment for the end of the year.RESOURCES MENTIONED:Stone Blind by Natalie HaynesMedusa by Rosie HewlettSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode202"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

How is it even possible to balance writing novels, teaching, and empowering students as a role model? That’s exactly what our guest does daily! Brave New Teaching friends, you are in for a treat today as you hear from author and middle school teacher, Marc Gregson.In this episode, Marc shares his journey that led him to being a middle school teacher and published author and how he manages to successfully balance everything from family time to building relationships with students to writing for three hours a day! You are going to love hearing about how he engages and motivates young writers in his class while including them in his own writing and publishing journey.RESOURCES MENTIONED:Check out Marc’s websiteConnect with Marc on Instagram @MJG_WriteFollow Marc on TikTok @MJG_WriteFollow Marc on TwitterSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode201"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Friends, we have made it to 200 episodes of Brave New Teaching! We are so incredibly thankful for you joining us here, whether you’ve been here since we started in 2020 or are just tuning in for the first time. In this episode, we’re featuring audio messages that you, our listeners, have sent in about what has stood out to you in our past 200 episodes. You’ll hear from veteran teachers, first year teachers, and teachers who have implemented some of the strategies we’ve discussed. We want to continue providing you what you need in your classroom. We are always listening to you, looking for feedback and ideas on what you need, and of course, are always up for providing book recommendations! Join us over on Instagram and let us know what you need. Again, thank you for being here!RESOURCES MENTIONED:Check out Curriculum RehabSign up for Camp BNT 2023Visit Ruta Sepetys’ websiteSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode200"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

What do you do when you aren’t provided enough copies of books for every student? Unfortunately, this is a real problem that ELA teachers are facing. We know how incredibly frustrating and problematic this is for both teachers and students!  You want students to be engaged with the book. You know how important it is for students to read at home and dedicate class time to instruction. But access to limited materials is not allowing that to happen. Today we’re back with a lesson plan rescue! We’re sharing creative and productive ideas to overcome this issue so you can still accomplish what you need to in your classes. We’ll look at how providing multiple ways of reading the book, decentering the novel, and layering units on top of each other can help you work around the lack of book copies. RESOURCES MENTIONED:Check out Amanda's Digital Choice Boards HEREDown With the Reading Quiz - Our Signature FREE TrainingSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode199"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Do you struggle with knowing where to start when it comes to writing essential questions? We completely understand the challenge and we’re here to help!Essential questions play a crucial role in guiding lessons and engaging students in meaningful discussions. Knowing how to start crafting essential questions can be a challenge for some teachers. The truth is, there is no one place to start. It’s a process and you’ll likely refine your EQs year after year to make them stronger.In this episode, we are sharing three essential questions for teaching poetry that showcase different ways for you to just start learning how to formulate your own EQs. We’re breaking down our thought process behind each EQ and how each could be used in your ELA classes.RESOURCES MENTIONED:Check out our Master Classes in the Brave New Teaching ShopSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelEssential Question Expert: Designing EQs that Engage and Inspire CourseSHOW NOTES: https://www.bravenewteaching.com/home/episode198"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"Get your FREE Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs gateway lesson: shop.bravenewteaching.com/cloudyCheck out Curriculum Rehab here!Support the show📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩‍💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel