
Podcasts
Zooming In on Math Coaching with Lana Montero
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.
Zooming In on Documentary Storytelling with Glenn Kirschbaum
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.
Zooming In on Drama Education with Janea Dahl
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.
Zooming In on Calm Within Adult Swim with Cori Myka
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.
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.
Zooming In on Music Education with Jon Ryan from Ball in the House
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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. 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.