Podcasts
Zooming In on Peter Reynolds’ Creative Compass Educator Lounge with Kate Farrell
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.
The Teacher As Author with Megan Daly
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.
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.
The Teacher As Facilitator: Student Voice and Choice Part 2
In this minisode season finale, Melissa continues to share one of her favorite articles about voice and choice by Alfie Kohn. Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide. In addition, she talks about a time management concept that can be applied to the classroom and she looks back at the episodes of the fifth season.
The Teacher As Facilitator: Student Voice and Choice Part One
In this minisode, Melissa shares from one of her favorite articles about voice and choice. Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide by Alfie Kohn lays out the rationale for voice and choice as well as what it looks like in practice. In this minisode, Melissa highlights the rationale and she will highlight what it looks like in practice in her next minisode.
Zooming In on Teacher Creativity with Jane Reynolds
Jane Reynolds, sister of author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, chats about her work in helping teachers tap into their creativity so they can model it for their students. Her teacher education work with her brothers, Peter and Paul, is revolutionary including their soon to be Teacher Learning and Creativity Center in Dedham, MA.
The Teacher As Proud Supporter of Students’ Reading Lives
In this minisode, Melissa talks about the importance of read alouds and silent reading time. She shares some reading successes in her classroom and encourages teachers to reflect on how far their students have come.
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.
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.
The Many Benefits of Students Playing Chess
In this minisode, Melissa talks about the benefits of students playing chess. From spatial reasoning and critical thinking skills to patience and time management, chess is a valuable addition to your indoor recess games and/or as a math center.
Zooming In on Cult Education with Janja Lalich
In this episode, Melissa talks to Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Sociology, who is an international authority on cults, extremism, and coercion. Janja's work is promoting a deeper, more accurate understanding of cults with the intent to avoid their manipulation, exploitation, and abuse. Janja explains why people get into cults and the importance of cult education and helping people heal after getting out.
The Teacher As Film Editor: The Bad Bits
In this Teacher As Film Editor minisode, Melissa talks about Walter Murch's term the "bad bits." Teachers are like film editors who sometimes cut out the "bad bits" of their lessons to meet the needs of their students.
Zooming In on a Mindhunter with Dr. Ann Burgess
Melissa speaks with Dr. Ann Burgess, a leading forensic and psychiatric nurse who worked for the FBI for over two decades. Dr. Ann tells how she educated FBI agents in data collection and organizing their research. She also shares about her college teaching her work to help with threat assessment in schools.
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. 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.