Podcasts
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 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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Ep. 88 Introduction to The Teacher As… Minisodes
This minisode explains Melissa's inspiration for sharing these short episodes that drop every other week. Melissa begins by focusing on The Teacher As Filmmaker. Each minisode is focused on a different teaching metaphor. Listen to the minisodes and get teaching inspiration from some of the most talented filmmakers in the business!
Ep. 86 Zooming In on Dynamic Read Alouds
You don't have to be a professional actor to read dynamically to your class. In the last episode of season 4, 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. Check out this episode for more detailed tips and examples.
Ep. 85 Zooming In on Math Teacher Moves with Jen Hawkins
Do you encourage your math students to struggle with new ideas and problem solve? Math consultant, Jen Hawkins, shares teacher moves in this episode that will foster more independent math thinkers.
Episode 64: Top Ten Ways to Get Students Problem Solving with Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record
Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record are back! They each have their own lists of the best ways for students to practice problem solving and they collaborate to create one essential top ten list.
Episode 54: Zooming In on Voice and Speech with Ashleigh Reade
In this episode, Melissa interviews educator Ashleigh Reade, assistant professor of theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Ashleigh teaches voice and speech for both the musical theater and contemporary theater programs, as well as the Actor's Toolkit for first-year students. She shares her focus on expressivity, intention, and context when helping anyone with vocals or speech. Teachers can learn a lot from Ashleigh about helping their students become more confident public speakers.
Episode 51: Zooming In on the Writing Process with a Student Author
In this episode, I chat with Eva, a 15 year old high school sophomore who loves to write. Eva provides great insight for teachers about what students really hope for when learning how to be better writers. Eva shares what inspires her, as well as her writing process. She is able to publish her work, collaborate with other young authors, and get feedback with a site called Wattpad.
Episode 27: Adventures in Coteaching
Melissa and Tricia discuss the coteaching model with their colleagues Heather Sullivan and Olivia Morris.
Episode 26: Zooming In on Personalized Learning
Personalized learning and creating an educational system that is more equitable.