Melissa discusses her experience with the WIDA course on developing language for learning in mathematics, which aligns well with her district's Illustrative Mathematics (IM) curriculum. She highlights the importance of math discourse and the role of teachers as guides rather than leaders.
Melissa discusses the benefits and logistics of podcasting with students, highlighting its role in enhancing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in anticipation of her Podcasting with Students workshop at the Reynolds TLC Center in May, 2025. She details the various types of student-created content emphasizing the importance of student voice and choice in content creation.
Lana Montero, a K-8 math coach with 12 years of experience, discusses her transition from the classroom to coaching, emphasizing the importance of feedback and collaboration. She emphasizes the role of coaching as a supportive, collaborative effort to help teachers improve.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Glenn Kirschbaum, a documentary filmmaker. Glenn discusses the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, including the success of his Gene Wilder documentary, which was supported by Mel Brooks and Alan Alda. Glenn highlights the importance of staying relevant and connecting with audiences, especially young people, through compelling storytelling.
Melissa chats with Janea Dahl, the creator of Drama Notebook, a resource for drama teachers with over 1,500 lesson plans, royalty-free scripts, and tutorial videos. Janea founded Drama Notebook to provide high-quality, flexible resources for drama teachers, who often work in isolation. The site aims to make drama accessible and affordable for educators. Janea emphasizes the importance of creativity, cooperation, and confidence-building in drama education.
Melissa chats with Cori Myka. Cori runs Calm Within Adult Swim, a swim school focused on helping adults overcome water fears. Cori discusses the importance of mindfulness, creating a sense of safety, and understanding the brain's responses.
Melissa Milner and Kate Farrell discuss the launch of the Creative Compass Educator Lounge, a new resource for educators at Peter H. Reynolds' website. Kate emphasizes the importance of community and resources for creative educators, highlighting the lounge's features, including webinars, lesson plans, and a book club.
Melissa chats with Jon Ryan, founder of the acapella group Ball in the House. Ryan discusses the group's origins, evolution, and educational outreach. Ball in the House teaches K-12, emphasizing performance, songwriting, and music history.
Melissa welcomes Megan Daly, a former fourth-grade teacher and author of the children's book "My Teacher Doesn't Like Me." Megan shares her experience with a student who felt she didn't like him, leading to the book's creation.
In this guest blogpost, Janea Dahl, the creator of Drama Notebook, shares ways to incorporate drama into the elementary classroom. Janea emphasizes the importance of creativity, cooperation, and confidence-building in drama education.
In this guest blogpost, Jen Hawkins talks about student vital actions focusing primarily in the math classroom, although these vital actions can be applied to any classroom.
Aly Marie Moniz, Pilates instructor extraordinaire, explains why teaching is an artistic skill. Make sure to check out podcast episode 87 The Teacher As Pilates Instructor with Aly as well.
You don't have to be a professional actor to read dynamically to your class. This blog post accompanies Episode 86 where I share tips to make your read alouds more entertaining for your students. Adjusting your pace and/or volume, for example, can make your reading more captivating.
Math consultant Jen Hawkins shares her thoughts on productive struggle and student independence in math class. Jen was my guest in Episode 85: Zooming In on Math Teacher Talk.
This blogpost is chock full of math games that were discussed in Episode 81: Meaningful Math Games with Ann Elise Record and Dr. Nicki Newton.
Dr. Claire Honeycutt, college professor and homeschooler, writes about psychology based strategies that apply to working with students in this guest blog post.
In episode 76, Melissa chats with educator/author Miriam Plotinsky. In this guest blog post, Miriam shares some of her published work in her area of expertise.
Melissa breaks down Lt. Pete Mitchell as a teacher in Top Gun Maverick. Pete, known as Maverick, has his students doing and practicing and he limits his lecture time. He scaffolds skills and works on building a team. He also assesses them along the way. This reluctant teacher crushes it.
Actors react to their scene partners in different ways. As teachers we have so many ways to react when students are confused and struggling. Focus on empathy and a culture of taking responsibility for our learning.
Melissa talks to Dr. Aditya Nagrath, founder of Elephant Learning, who discusses his company's program, which has helped over 175,000 students learn a year's worth of math in three months with 30 minutes of weekly use. He emphasized the importance of teaching math as a language and gamification to reduce math anxiety.