Podcasts
Zooming In on Genocide Education with Janet Singer Applefield
In this episode, Melissa speaks with Janet Singer Applefield, author of Becoming Janet. She is a child survivor of the Holocaust, author, notable speaker, and change agent. Janet spoke about her years of hiding in plain sight, how she helped get the MA Genocide Bill passed, the story of her book getting written, and her resilience through it all.
Zooming In on Sound Play in the Classroom with Hayes Greenfield
In this episode, Melissa speaks with Hayes Greenfield, the founder of Creative Sound Play, an interconnected, play-based, generative learning system for Pre-K educators. Hayes shares about his book, Creative Sound Play for Young Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Enhancing Transition Times, Classroom Communities, SEL, and Executive Function Skill. The concepts discussed can be applied to elementary and middle school as well.
Zooming In on Narrative Nonfiction with Candace Fleming
Candace Fleming is an author of many fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults. Among other things, Melissa and Candace talk about the research process, the power of nonfiction and how teachers can help students get more specific in their research.
Zooming In on Balance, Boundaries, and Breaks with Evan Whitehead
Evan Whitehead, M.Ed. is an author, speaker, Mental Health Advocate, and the creator of Balance Boundaries and Breaks.™️ Evan shares his struggles with finding balance that brought him to his new focus of helping all educators find a healthy work/life balance.
The Teacher As Encourager of Logic
In this very short minisode, Melissa, with laryngitis, shares that listeners should go to the Episode 112 page on theteacheras.com to see her students' reflections about logic puzzles. The students share how the puzzles got easier with continued practice and how they created their own logic puzzles.
Zooming In on Math Puzzles with Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record
Dr. Nicki and Ann Elise share 10+ fun math puzzles you can use in your classroom tomorrow! Puzzles to practice math facts, understand algebra and many more math concepts. "Puzzles are a portal to perseverance," Dr. Nicki Newton.
Zooming In on Math Student Vital Actions with Jen Hawkins
In this episode, math educator Jen Hawkins shares the 7 student vital actions in the math classroom that are grounded in equity and logical thinking/reasoning. Jen talks about the importance of productive struggle as well as all students regularly using math vocabulary as they share their thinking.
Powerful Poem for the Classroom: There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk
In this minisode, Melissa shares a powerful poem that she feels could be shared with students in fourth grade and up. It is about the process of changing and it's been around since the 70s.
Spring Episode Preview
In this episode, Melissa shares her amazing Spring lineup of guests. Just to list a few, math educators Jen Hawkins, Ann Elise Record, and Dr. Nicki Newton return to The Teacher As…Podcast. Also, Daphne Russell - self proclaimed educational evolutionist and chaos pilot- will discuss reading.
Students’ Thoughts About Chess
In this minisode, Melissa's students share why they love chess and why they think it should be played in schools.
Rewind: Top Ten Math Routines with Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record
This is a rewind episode. This was originally published on February 19, 2021. It has the most downloads of all my episodes. Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record collaborate to create a top ten list of math routines.
Ep. 100: Zooming In on Poetry with Penelope Pelizzon
In the 100th episode of The Teacher As... Melissa chats with professor and poet Penelope Pelizzon. Penelope shared her genesis of becoming the successful poet that she is and her ideas about teaching poetry to all ages of students. They get into the weeds about rhyme and theme and Penelope talks about the process of writing a book of poetry like her latest creation.
Ep. 99: Top Five Teacher As… Episodes/ Upcoming 100th Episode!
In this minisode, Melissa shares the top five most popular episodes of the podcast to celebrate the upcoming 100th episode of The Teacher As…podcast.
Ep. 98: Zooming In on Curriculum Collaboration with Heather Leonard and Erin Burchill
In this episode, Melissa chats with Heather Leonard, a curriculum coordinator, and Erin Burchill, a K-8 Humanities coordinator. They share their strong focus on collaboration in order to eliminate the barriers that stop teachers from being able to implement the curriculum successfully.
Ep. 97: The Teacher As Filmmaker/Film Editing Part One
In this minisode, Melissa shifts focus from film director to film editor. Paul Hirsch's book, A long time ago in a cutting room far, far away... will provide the parallels to teaching for this series of minisodes.
Ep. 96: Zooming In on Kelly Dempsey’s Design and Teaching Process
Kelly Dempsey returns to The Teacher As podcast. We talk about upcycling thrifted items and having a thrifting mindset. We also talk about Kelly’s design and teaching process.
Ep. 94: The Teacher As Filmmaker/ David Lynch
In this Teacher As Filmmaker minisode, Melissa shares screenwriter/director David Lynch's philosophy on catching ideas for writing.
Ep. 93: Zooming In on Adult Immigrant Education with Sara Lodgen
In Ep. 93, Sara Lodgen shares her work with The Welcome Project which is a nonprofit that supports adult immigrants and their families in the Somerville, MA area. It was interesting to learn about the different services/programs they provide.
Ep. 92: The Teacher As Filmmaker/Jodie Foster
It is important to be prepared and to plan in order to be flexible and creative. In her Master Class, film director, Jodie Foster, shares the importance of planning in her work and the metaphors to teaching are powerful.
Ep. 91: Zooming In on the Engineering Design Process with Michael Bycraft
Michael Bycraft is a robotics, design, and makerspace teacher living in Thailand. Listen to Episode 91 to hear about his fascinating student led approach to engineering.