10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

Nicole Biscotti had children, and she was a teacher. She thought she understood everything about children. That was until her fourth son, Jason, was born. As Jason grew, Nicole knew he was different. Nicole shares how eventually she discovered Jason had ADHD and how she changed her high school classroom to reach all of the children. Kids with ADHD are different and need accommodations, but it can be challenging for already stressed teachers to figure out how to reach every child. Nicole shares her solution and some surprising things she learned as she has helped Jason grow and succeed in the classroom and at home. This show is a must-listen episode for parents of kids with ADHD and the teachers working to reach these precious children. Show Transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e778 Advancement Courses: Show sponsor Advancement Courses is who I chose for my professional development. I love their courses because they are flexible with up to 6 months to complete and you can receive graduate credit through CAEP and regionally accredited university partners or continuing education units that meet your state requirements. I recently shared 21 Top PD Topics for Teachers. With over 280 courses to choose from, Advancement Course offers subjects in everything from educator wellness to social-emotional learning and more. After you pick your PD, use the code COOL15 to save 15% off when you sign up at Advancement Courses. I highly recommend Advancement Courses for your professional PD Nicole Biscotti - Bio As Submitted Nicole is proud to be an educator and believes that everyone should have access to a quality education that connects them with their purpose. She seeks to bridge understanding, spark conversations, and inspire through her speaking, consulting, and writing. She wrote I Can Learn When I'm Moving: Going to School with ADHD with her 9 year old son about ADHD from the unique perspectives of a child and a mother who is also a teacher. She has seen both personally and professionally how children struggle to be understood and how adults are often at a loss with how to handle the difficult behaviors associated with ADHD and believes that by sharing her and her son's story, along with researched-based strategies, she can bridge understanding for kids who desperately need our support. Blog NicoleBiscotti.com Twitter @BiscottiNicole Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

World language teachers can have challenges with teaching students. Particularly when many want to use technology translators instead of learning the language. However, Rachelle Dene Poth has experience engaging and exciting students in her Spanish classroom From building relationships to using technology, she shares how Spanish teachers can engage students in learning. She uses augmented reality and virtual reality along with basic teaching concepts that apply to any world language classroom. Transcript and Show Notes: CoolCatTeacher.com/e777 Sponsor: Advancement Courses Last year, when I needed to take a college CEU course, I chose Advancement Courses and learned so much about teaching computer science in the classroom. I recently wrote about this on my blog called Seven Reasons Advancement Courses has Excellent Teacher Professional Development. Signup for a new course at Advancement Courses and use the code COOL15 to receive 15% off your Advancement Courses purchase. Thank you, Advancement Courses for awesome PD and for sponsoring today's episode. Rachelle Dene Poth - Bio As Submitted Rachelle Dene Poth is an edtech consultant, presenter, attorney, author, and teacher. Rachelle teaches Spanish and STEAM: What's nExT in Emerging Technology at Riverview Junior Senior High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle has a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master's in Instructional Technology. She is a Consultant and Speaker, owner of ThriveinEDU LLC Consulting. She serves as the past president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network and serves on the Leadership team of the Mobile Learning Network. At ISTE19, she received the Making IT Happen Award and a Presidential Gold Award for volunteer service to education. She is also a Buncee Ambassador, Nearpod PioNear and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert. Rachelle is the author of four books, 'In Other Words: Quotes That Push Our Thinking," "Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU" (EduMatch) and "The Future is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead," In 2020, Rachelle Dene published with ISTE "Chart A New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow's World." She recently published Your World Language Classroom: Strategies for In-Person and Digital Instruction. Rachelle is a blogger for Getting Smart, Defined Learning, District Administration, NEO LMS, and the STEM Informer with Newsweek. Twitter @Rdene915 and on Instagram @Rdene915. Rachelle has a podcast, ThriveinEDU available at https://anchor.fm/rdene915 ThriveinEDU is also a weekly show on Learningrevolution.com on Wednesdays.

As teachers, we have many ways to open class. Bell ringers, conversation starters, and even special handshakes can open class. But what if the answer is a question that helps create social connections? Dr. Leigh Zeitz from the University of Northern Iowa surveys his students. The result has helped him (and us) better engage students. (He also will share why his students said they turned off their cameras in zoom.) The results might surprise you! Show Notes and transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e776 Show Sponsor: Advancement Courses is my preferred professional development provider. Last year when I needed to take a college CEU course, I chose Advancement Courses and learned so much about teaching computer science in the classroom. I recently wrote about this on my blog called 7 Reasons Advancement Courses Has Excellent Teacher Professional Development. Go to Advancement Courses and use the code COOL15 to receive 15% off your Advancement Courses purchase. Thank you Advancement Courses for awesome PD and for sponsoring today's episode! Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The best Instructional Technology Coaches are partners, culture leaders, encouragers, and easy to work with, says Dr. Katie Ritter. She covers ten essential points for being a successful education technology coach based on her research and her personal coaching of instructional technology coaches and teachers. This blog post includes a full transcript, a pinnable (or printable) graphic, and the podcast episode. Show Notes, Resources and Transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e775 Today's sponsor is Lum.io, an award-winning digital learning tool that will transform your lessons into active, collaborative learning experiences If you're looking for a collaborative learning tool to make it easy to level up your lesson materials you already have with assessments, game-based activities, collaborative spaces and lots more all in one place, Lumio is the perfect choice for you. Head to Lum.io for more information and to sign up for FREE. Dr. Katie Ritter - Bio As Submitted Katie serves as the Director for Curriculum & Technology Integration at Forward Edge in Cincinnati, Ohio, working closely with district leaders to help them identify needs of their staff, develop and implement plans for improvement, and oversees the Curriculum & Integration Department. In the C&I department, Katie supervises a team of 15+ instructional design coaches that serve about 20 school districts, oversees a national coach mentorship program, and also created and oversees Edge•U Badges, an anytime anywhere professional learning program for educators. Before joining Forward Edge in 2015, she worked in adult education, supervised students in an alternative school, taught computer science, and was an instructional technology coach at both the building and K-12 district levels. Katie finished her Ed.D. from Vanderbilt University in December 2021, where her research focused on instructional coaching in K-12 schools. She served on the leadership team for the EdTech Coaches Network of ISTE from 2015-2020, was a Future Ready Schools Instructional Coaches Thought Leader from 2017-2020, is a cohost of the Restart Recharge Podcast for coaches, and is a Google Certified Innovator, Coach, and Trainer. Through her Innovator project, she developed Classroom Bridges, a site to connect educators to other educators around the world to develop global collaboration experiences for students. Katie is driven to empower others to realize their full potential so that they can make a positive difference on those around them! For contact information, please see visit http://linktr.ee/katiemritter. Blog: http://talktechwithme.com Twitter: @Katie_M_Ritter Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Surprise can increase learning and change the lives of our students in positive ways. Today's guest researcher, Dr. Michael Rousell, studies the neuroscience of surprise and has some interesting points for educators and presenters. The Johns Hopkins' article, The Element of Surprise Helps Babies Learn Significantly Better, points to a phenomenon that impacts all ages. For example, if you've played peekaboo with a baby, you know the surprise is what makes them laugh. Interestingly, researchers found that once babies saw something that surprised them, their engagement with the object peaked their learning behavior which improved significantly compared to a baby who was not surprised. So they found that babies who were shown surprising events were able to learn faster and more efficiently afterward than those who were not. Today we will discuss how surprise applies to learning. Show Notes and Transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e774 Sponsor: Today's sponsor is Lum.io, an award-winning digital learning tool that will transform your lessons into active, collaborative learning experiences If you're looking for a collaborative learning tool to make it easy to level up your lesson materials you already have with assessments, game-based activities, collaborative spaces and lots more all in one place, Lumio is the perfect choice for you. Head to Lum.io for more information and to sign up for FREE. Dr. Michael Rousell - Bio as Submitted I'm a teacher, associate professor, psychologist, and author. I taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. As an academic, I study formative moments, those events that instantly change what you believe about yourself. My next book is titled, The Power of Surprise: How Our Brain Secretly Changes Our Beliefs, (not yet published). My slogan: Whoever learns the most wins. You can see my recent TEDxSalem talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5O6mFWpgZo Blog: michaelrousell.com Twitter: @rousellm

Classroom culture defines your classroom. You can feel a classroom culture, but what is a classroom culture? How do you build a positive classroom culture? In this show, Andrew Sharos, author of Finding Lifelifes: A Practical Tale about Teacher and Mentors, shares how to create a thriving classroom culture. He also talks about creating positive classroom habits. Furthermore, you'll learn how he measures the success of his classroom culture. See transcript and additional resources in the show notes at https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e773 Sponsor: Advancement Courses Voting is now open in the Advancement Courses' Tournament of Teachers bracket challenge. Would you rather teach Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter or Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Ferris Bueller or Bart Simpson? From now until March 30, you'll have a chance to vote for which character you want to see advance through each round and see the winners announced on March 31. So, go to https://www.coolcatteacher.com/tournament to get your votes in and start playing. Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

You can have the first day back to school activities any day of the year. We all need classroom management tips and first-day back stations are one of those you can use any time of the year. Right now, this is more important than ever as classrooms return from quarantine, teachers handoff substitute teachers, students come back to school from spring break, or a classroom may get off track and need a fresh start. First-day back stations are a teaching tactic to add to your tool belt so you can help reestablish the procedures that give the order that students need and crave. See the full blog post, podcast, and transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e772 Sponsor: Voting is now open in Advancement Courses' Tournament of Teachers bracket challenge. Would you rather teach Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter or Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Ferris Bueller or Bart Simpson? From now until March 30, you'll have a chance to vote for which character you want to see advance through each round and see the winners announced on March 31. Go to www.coolcatteacher.com/tournament to get your votes in and start playing. Angelina Murphy is a secondary English language arts teacher based in Los Angeles. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and has a master's degree in education from UCLA, where her focus was on trauma-informed teaching, ethnic studies, and community-grounded praxis. Twitter: @magicalmsmurphy Instagram @magicalmsmurphy Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/profile/angelina-murphy Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a "sponsored podcast episode." The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

The harsh reality of classroom life is that students and teachers both report lower motivation and morale right now. We must reengage students! Games can help us! SEL games can help you teach social-emotional learning skills and life skills. Today's expert, Dr. Matthew Farber, gives us an interesting twist on games by integrating them with SEL. He has practical ideas for understanding and using game-based learning in the classroom. Games make a great addition to every teacher's toolkit. From board games, in-class games, or video games, students love them! So, let me encourage you to take some time to learn about SEL games today in this podcast. 8 Actions Teachers Can Take After Reading this Post and Listening to This Podcast Understand that parents do not typically like the term social-emotional learning and prefer the term "life skills" but as you teach life skills, they want to partner with teachers in the process. Understand games can be a powerful way to teach life skills Find some games to try with students in class Understand the concept of asymmetrical game design and how it can teach teamwork. Educators should look for games with asymmetrical design as they test games for the classroom. Understand the concept of situational game design and how it can open up conversation in the classroom. Understand that the Nintendo switch can be hooked to a projector and passed around the room to create conversations about situational games. Check out 16 links for game-based learning resources. Look at practical classroom resources to dig deeper into game-based learning and SEL Resources Transcript and Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e771 Thank You Advancement Courses: Thank you Advancement Courses for sponsoring today's show. This month, Advancement Courses is kicking off their annual Tournament of Teachers bracket challenge where educators can win up to $2,000 in prizes. This year's "Mischief-Makers Edition'' features some of the most incorrigible students from literature and film, including Draco Malfoy, Veruca Salt, Bart Simpson, and Ferris Bueller. From now until March 20, choose which mischief-maker you'd rather teach and submit your bracket in order to play. Then from March 21-30, you'll have a chance to come back and vote for your favorites to advance. Enter now and you could win prizes like a $1,000 Amazon gift card and more. Visit www.coolcatteacher.com/tournament/ to learn more and submit your brackets!

How do we accelerate learning? The US Department of Education Roadmap for Reopening Safely says that "accelerated learning provides opportunities for students to learn at grade level rather than through tracking or remediation…." Simply put, acceleration "builds on what students know as a way to access new learning." (Roadmap p 18) Sponsor: Advancement Courses Thank you Advancement Courses for sponsoring today's show. This month, Advancement Courses is kicking off their annual Tournament of Teachers bracket challenge where educators can win up to $2,000 in prizes. This year's "Mischief-Makers Edition'' features some of the most incorrigible students from literature and film, including Draco Malfoy, Veruca Salt, Bart Simpson, and Ferris Bueller. From now until March 20, choose which mischief-maker you'd rather teach and submit your bracket in order to play. Then from March 21-30, you'll have a chance to come back and vote for your favorites to advance. Enter now and you could win prizes like a $1,000 Amazon gift card and more. Visit www.coolcatteacher.com/tournament/ to learn more and submit your brackets! This report also says that the pandemic negatively impacted math and widened achievement gaps. There is little doubt that many amazing kids are struggling to reengage with their learning progress. We cannot be content to let a generation of kids fall by the wayside. This is our watch and our duty and we have to work to do what is best. So, while some advocate acceleration for gifted kids, we need acceleration for all kids. It isn't about "catching up" right now education is about reaching every child's potential. We would love to see this generation transcend and rise above the many challenges of our world. To get there, we must reengage. Acceleration research says it is a way to do that. Dr. Nancy Frey has researched Acceleration Research along with Douglas Fisher and shared their results in Rebound: A Playbook for Rebuilding Agency, Accelerating Learning Recovery, and Rethinking Schools. This episode is a companion to podcast episode 768 with Douglas Fisher about schools that rebound. This episode focuses specifically on acceleration research. See the transcript and full show notes at https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e770

Reading stamina matters. Prior to the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of students in the US were not at or above grade reading level for grade 4,8, and 12 (NAEP). If that isn't bad enough, UNESCO found that more than half of children and adolescents were not even learning worldwide. Furthermore, in September 2020, UNICEF reported that 1 billion children worldwide aren't learning at all. With these big picture stats and stories coming from the classroom, teachers need advice on helping students develop reading stamina. In episode 769 and this blog post, we're going to dig into reading stamina, why it is important, and practical ways we can help our students progress with reading stamina. My goal is to create a useful resource that teachers everywhere can use to get started with building reading stamina. Today's guest is Lisa Hollihan Allen. Sponsor: Today's sponsor, Literal is an app to help students in grades 6-12 engage with reading. The books literally are broken into text message-sized chunks making reading easier, plus Literal has classroom management features for teachers. Go to https://www.literalapp.com and use the promo code "coolcat" to get a free Educator account to try Literal in your classroom. Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e769