Dave Burgess, of Teach Like a Pirate, is one of the most energetic and positive people you’ll hear. In this inspiring and fun conversation, he gives great practical tools and ideas for how to hook our students into our lessons, helping them buy into the content with joy whether in person or online. Then Dave plays a pirate-themed The 5-Minute Game Show, of course.

My guest, Amber Harper of The Burned-In Teacher Podcast is a valuable resource for helping with the very real problem of teacher burn-out that affects almost all teachers often multiple times in a career. After one of the most challenging semesters in most teachers' careers Amber’s Burned-In Teacher approach is a true remedy giving solid tools and advice on what to do when feeling burnt out. And then we play a fun The 5-Minute Game Show, where the clues are Haikus.

Welcome to this special holiday bonus episode that is all about enjoyment. Whether you are an educator, parent or student, or really anyone on this planet right now, this has been a really challenging year.  So I wanted to give you a well-deserved gift of this fun game show compilation taken from a few older episodes and give you a chance to get some real gifts by flexing your creativity.

Natalie Vardabasso, a true assessment innovator and host of the #Educrush Podcast speaks with me about how we can move way beyond tests, quizzes and other traditional paradigms of assessing students to find creative and authentic ways for students to express their knowledge, actually understanding where our students are at and how we can move them forward. This episode explores the bigger philosophy behind overhauling assessments including why we should be assessing for mastery and not grades, and also delivers lots of practical ideas to inspire you. Special thanks to Natalie, who also co-wrote the fauxmercial, “Brain Snoop” with me, as well as, lent her voice talent. And, thank you to Eve Hirschman who co-wrote this episode’s The 5-Minute Game Show with me.

Today’s show with wonderful and generous guest, Zack Hartzman of Hey Listen Games, is filled with practical ideas and resources for engaging students through using video games. Zack explains how he uses “non-education” video games in his lessons, and all the resources he has created for educators free of charge, so they can do the same. This interview was recorded at the end of February of 2020, and like so many interviews I did before mid-March, I put it aside for a while to deal with what was happening in the moment. However, the information and resources shared on this episode can be used in remote learning very easily, as well.

My guest in this episode, Kevin Stoller, started Kay-Twelve in 2009 to help educators design better learning environments. He is the author of “Creating Better Learning Environments” and host of the  Better Learning Podcast. We discuss different ways to enhance student engagement and provide true equity by focusing on the design of classroom. He gives lots of tips for educators even with no budgets, and in an interview update, talks about what to do now, and why there are better options than plexiglass. Special thanks to Kevin and to my fauxmercial voice actors, Shane Lawrence of The Ed. Podcast and his daughter. Other Links: Kevin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinstoller/ Lorraine Connell’s Are we Breeding Poodles

My guest is the incredible Joshua Silverstein, an educator who is also a beatboxer, rapper, comedian and writer. In fact, he wrote, produced and performed the entire fauxmercial this week! And our conversation in this episode focuses on the importance for both students and educators to be creative, find ways to allow for self-expression, again – for both teachers and students. And how doing so creates personal and powerful learning for all.

On this episode my guest is the wonderful and kind, Dr. Sam Fecich, the prolific author and host of the EduMagic podcast, which focuses on guiding preservice and new teachers to greatness. But I found so much of what we discussed to be relevant to all teachers in this time. Then hear Sam (mostly) rock The 5-Minute Game Show. Today’s fauxmercial is an homage to every teacher who suffered bad advice and was inspired by good advice when they were new. Special thanks to Dr. Samantha Fecich and my wonderful fauxmericial voice artists who joined me, Spencer Krull, Miriam Pesso and Yossie Frankel.

In the last part of this 3 part series, our panel - Andre Daughty, Stacey Joy, Charity Parsons, Brett Mitchell, Jason Ernest Feldman and Dr. Hattie Mitchell - brings solid ideas for moving forward in trying to eradicate racism in education. They speak to all the stakeholders including schools, districts, teachers, parents and students - letting us know what it will take to bring an equitable, enjoyable and meaningful education to every student. Special thanks to my co-host and co-producer of this series, the incredible Lacrecia Terrance for helping put this series, and for co-writing an voicing a part of this episode’s fauxmercial. Also special thanks to Destiny Terrance and Yossie Frankel for their voice work as well. Some resources mentioned in this episode: Dr. Bettina Love and her book, “We Have to Do More Than Survive” Gholdy Muhammed and her book, “Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy” Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz and The Archeology of Self

In this second episode of the series, our panel - Andre Daughty, Stacey Joy, Charity Parsons, Brett Mitchell, Jason Ernest Feldman and Dr. Hattie Mitchell, share their powerful and painful stories of personal experiences with racism in education. Before we can move forward, we must understand what the many issues are, and the best way to truly understand them is by listening to people’s experiences. Even though we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, this sampling of what our panel has experienced as professionals, parents and students is an important place to start. Special thanks to Lacrecia Terrance, my amazing co-producer and co-host for this series and our esteemed panel for sharing their stories. Thanks also to voice actors Jill Moray, Spencer Krull, Tsofiya Bookstein and Tuvia Frankel for joining me in the fauxmercial for Clarity Eyedrops.