The Teacher As...: Recent Episodes
Melissa Milner
The goal of The Teacher As... podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... highlights innovative practices and uncommon parallels in education. Melissa Milner, veteran teacher, is your host. Melissa shares her own thoughts in The Teacher As...episodes. She also interviews educators as well as professionals outside of education in the Zooming In episodes. A new type of episode on The Teacher As...podcast is an educational "draft" similar to a football draft but about educational topics.
Is your classroom filled with self-driven, collaborative learners? Do you wish your students were more confident and independent? In this episode, Melissa talks again with Paul Solarz who has created am amazing book, Optimized Learning, that helps teachers reach these ideals. Have a classroom where students have purpose and a clear sense of direction.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In this minisode, Melissa's students share why they love chess and why they think it should be played in schools.
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.
In this episode, Melissa talks about the many 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 math centers.
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.
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.
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.
In this episode, Melissa shares Walter Murch's thoughts about editing as a "discovery of a path." Student accommodations are discussed as a path for general education teachers to reach the diverse learners in their classroom. The Multi-Tiered System of Support and District Curriculum Accommodation Plans are discussed.
In the 100th episode of The Teacher As...Melissa chats with professor and poet Penelope Pelizzon. We chat about her genesis of becoming the successful poet that she is and her ideas about teaching poetry to all ages of students. We get into the weeds about rhyme and theme and she talks about the process of writing a book of poetry like her latest creation.
In this minisode, Melissa shares the top five most downloaded episodes since the podcast started in July of 2020 in honor of the 100th episode coming out on 12/3/23.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Heather Leonard, a Pre-K-12 curriculum coordinator, and Erin Burchill, a K-8 Humanities curriculum 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.
In this minisode, Melissa introduces her shift in focus from film director to film editor. Melissa's research into the parallels of film editing and teaching are explored in this series of minisodes.
Kelly Dempsey returns to The Teacher As...Podcast. We talk about upcycling thrifted items and how Kelly teaches about a thrifting mindset in order to find great items to use for designs. Kelly sees everything in a thrift store as potential raw material. Kelly shares her design process and how she prepares to teach her classes. In addition, she gives some great thrifting tips and shares how Tim Gunn was an amazing teacher/mentor.
In episode 95, Ryan Pelkey talks about the importance of paying attention to the mental health of teachers/staff. He offers ways to support each other and urges administration to focus on relationships.
In this Teacher As Filmmaker minisode, Melissa shares screenwriter/director David Lynch's philosophy on catching ideas for writing.
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.
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.
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.
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!
This minisode focuses on Spike Lee's ideas about bringing out the best in his actors and the parallels to classroom teaching.
This minisode focusing on director Spike Lee is part two. Spike's philosophy about rehearsal, collaborating, improvising, and bonding with his cast is parallel to the job of all educators.
In episode 87, the first episode of season 5, Aly Marie Moniz shares the steps she takes in programming her pilates classes and creating the best experience for her students. Her teaching philosophy and style are inspiring.
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.
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.
It's helpful to check in with students in the trenches to see what we are doing right and how we can improve our practice, as well as remember why we went into education in the first place. In this episode, I chat with the amazing Anna, an 8th grade student who shares her interests and opinions. Anna has an important message for all educators in this episode.
Episode 82 is the other half of my chat with Dr. Claire Honeycutt. In this section, we talked about the pandemic and its effect on our students, as well as Claire's approach to homeschooling.
Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record are back! This time they are chatting about meaningful math games. They talk about all different types of math games such as collaborative games, competitive games, card games and traditional games that students already know how to play like War and Jeopardy.
Are you looking for a 3rd-5th grade read aloud that will set your students' imaginations on fire? Malamander is it. Thomas Taylor, the author, joins Melissa to chat about all things "Eerie on Sea."
Dr. Claire Honeycutt is a college professor and she also homeschools her two young children. In this episode, the discussion centers around group work. Some topics include keeping in mind your learning objectives when structuring groups and providing opportunities for voice and choice.
In this episode, Melissa chats with teacher and singer/songwriter Vance Gilbert about the power of listening and "pedagogy on the fly."
Melissa chats with veteran elementary music teacher, John Coffey. They talk about the importance of music education, how students need to move and get their energy out in order to focus and learn among other topics.
In this episode, Melissa chats with educator/author Miriam Plotinsky about secondary classrooms being student centered and "hover-free." Miriam shares her measured approach to get teachers closer to achieving ideal results with their students.
Recording a podcast episode with Milton Justice is a fun experience leaving much on the "cutting room floor." So this episode is mostly the leftovers, uncut Milton. He tells amazing stories about Tennessee Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Bob Hope to name a few. There is not much of a connection to education in most of these stories, but they are a hoot to hear. Consider it a holiday gift from The Teacher As...podcast.
Looking for that next great read aloud that will keep your students on the edge of their seats begging you to keep reading? Then check out my top five underrated read alouds for grades 3-6
What does innovative education look like? Brantley Turner, founding principal of the only Sino-US independent, cooperatively run high school in China shares her vision for innovative global education in Episode 73 of The Teacher As...podcast.
Are you afraid that bringing the ARTs into your classroom will just make more work for you? Elizabeth Peterson loves helping caring, creative teachers connect the arts with social-emotional learning strategies that are practical and meaningful. Elizabeth, a teacher herself, is the creator of SEAL, Social-Emotional Artistic Learning: a unique and holistic method of integrating the arts with SEL.
"The students tell me, without saying it, what they need to be taught." Melissa chats with the amazing Milton Justice. This Emmy and Oscar winner finds teaching actors is his true passion. He is the author of I Don't Need an Acting Class and has a successful podcast with the same name. Melissa and Milton talk about the parallels between teaching and acting.
Aviva Summers, a former student of Melissa's, is now teaching as well at a Jewish Day School. She chats about teaching Hebrew and Judaic Studies at the same school in which her mom taught for many years. Working with young students K-2, Aviva shares what her focus is in Jewish education.
Melissa chats with 11 year old youth runner, Michael Studer. He shares about his journey to becoming one of the fastest youth runners in the United States. Grit, dealing with disappointment, and understanding that his teammates are not his competition are a few topics discussed. Michael is an inspiring young man.
"All the tedious research is worth one inspired moment." -Uta Hagen
Actors prepare and teachers prepare. Retired theatre professor, Jane Cox, shares that there are many elements of acting that we can use in the classroom.
In the last episode of Season 3, Melissa talks about her exciting new podcast that she is cohosting with Robert FitzPatrick called Ponzinomics 101. She also shares about giving herself a break when things don't go the way she planned and how one account on Instagram @akprzy helped her gain some perspective.
Some multi-level marketing companies target teens. In this episode, Melissa focuses on one that seems to be the biggest offender, Cutco Knives/Vector Marketing. If parents, high school teachers, and college professors know about these companies, they can speak up when they see a student getting fooled by the deception.
Teachers differentiate for their students in the classroom. Shouldn't they do the same for their students when going on a field trip/school travel? In this episode, Luke Liddle, Managing Director for Independent Schools Cultural Alliance, explains how he allows for student agency in his work with international student travel.
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. Dr. Nicki and Ann Elise are so fun and knowledgeable. They share amazing resources for math teachers.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Libo Valencia, a high school/college math educator who incorporates math play into his instruction. K-12 teachers will be inspired by Libo's creativity and enthusiasm.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Eric Gibbs, President of Ouriginal, a plagiarism software for K-12 and higher education. Eric shares how teachers can use the software as part of the writing process to help students learn how to create original work.
In Part Three of her anti-mlm series, Melissa shares clips from her chats with Dave Vaughan and Sarah Haidar. Dave and Sarah share their thoughts on such topics as teaching about high control groups, the normalizing of MLMs in the workplace, and how to talk to someone who is in an MLM without it turning into an argument.
In Part Two of this Anti-MLM series, Melissa shares her personal MLM story, explains why she just recently became obsessed with this topic, and matches her experiences directly to Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control.
This episode is Part One of a three episode series about Anti-MLM education. Melissa chats with author, activist Robert FitzPatrick about the dangers of MLMs and why public education is not addressing these issues in curriculum at the middle school/high school level. Robert has been in many documentaries about MLMs including the recent Amazon documentary LuLaRich. He has a lot of current, vital information to share with educators.
Educators are lifelong learners and their students benefit from having well rounded, curious teachers. In this first episode of Season 3, Melissa shares how the purpose of this podcast is changing for her. She is focusing on exploring her own interests and how they relate to education. Nature, writing, podcasting (especially with students), film, and her new obsession coercive control/cults/MLMs and the need for education about them.
In the last episode of Season 2, Melissa takes a stroll around her school to find out how her colleagues stay positive with all the changes and upheaval in education due to the pandemic. Enjoying the students' positive energy and having a work life balance are among the topics mentioned.
In this episode, Melissa chats with garden photographer and podcaster, Elizabeth Wilson. Elizabeth shares her thoughts about helping students capture nature and important moments in their lives. Educators will be inspired.
In this special episode, Melissa pays tribute to her father, Lester Fleishman, who passed on 10/16. Two of his former students share their thoughts on how Lester Fleishman influenced them, not just in music, but in life.
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 and speech. Teachers can learn a lot from Ashleigh about helping their students become more confident public speakers.
In this episode, Jamie Benning shares with educators his process for creating documentaries. He talks about interviewing, curating clips to use, and being flexible to allow the story to unfold.
In this episode, Michael McLaughlin and Leeann Blais, educators at Austin Prep in Reading, MA collaborate to create a top ten list of tech tools for student collaboration. Michael is the head of middle school and Leeann is a 6th and 7th grade English teacher.
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.
In this episode, I zoom in on research and the writing process with author and Washington Post writer, Geoff Edgers. Geoff's advice for teachers includes stressing the importance of in depth research and give students plenty of time to write and revise.
In this third edition of the Top Ten episodes, school leaders Grant Hightower and Craig Murray collaborate to create one essential top ten list of movie quotes that are a metaphor for education. Grant and Craig are accomplished educational leaders and movie buffs.
In Episode 48, Melissa chats with investigative journalist Dave Malkoff about his work for the Weather Channel and beyond. Dave gives teachers his recommendations for improving students' interviewing skills and how they should focus on telling a story. This is a great follow up to my recent Podcasting with Students series.
What equipment and technology do I need to podcast with students and how do I share our podcast with the most listeners? In this episode, I share some affordable, realistic answers to these questions and reflect on what worked for The Birch Meadow Way Podcast this past Spring 2021.
In the second episode in the Podcasting with Students series, Melissa shares tips on how to improve students' vocal performance including pace, emphasis, diction, tone, and volume.
What are the best content choices for podcasting with students? In this first episode in the Podcasting with Students series, I share clips from The Birch Meadow Way Podcast which my fourth grade colleagues and I started with our students this past Spring 2021. I reflect on the content choices for our first season of The Birch Meadow Way and what I believe our next steps should be.
In this second edition of the Top Ten episodes, Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record return with their own lists of top ten math manipulatives and collaborate to create one essential top ten list. Dr. Nicki and Ann Elise are so knowledgeable and share their favorite manipulatives and how they like to use them with students.
In this episode, I interview educator Michael McLaughlin, Head of Middle School at Austin Prep in Reading, MA. Michael shares how he strives to raise the engagement of his middle school learners and how he is inspired by sharing ideas with other educators.
In this episode, Melissa shares a recording of her radio interview with Irish superstar Jen Zamparelli. They discuss Melissa's tweet of a student's sympathy card that went viral. Melissa shares how the grieving process is ongoing and how thankful she is for her support system.
In this episode, Melissa and some of her students share their thoughts about dads. Melissa also shares her interview with her Dad, a former music educator, from last August.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Pamela Malkoff Hayes. Pamela is a licensed marriage/family therapist and a board certified art therapist. Pamela shares the thoughtful questions that she poses to her clients about their artwork and how teachers and school counselors can use art therapy techniques in their work with students.
In this episode of Adventures in Coteaching, Melissa and Tricia chat with their fourth grade teammates, Patti Beckman and Arielle Mucha. They look back at the past school year and talk about supporting each other, collaborating, and taking on a big project together.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Tre Hadrick. Tre is an educator, TEDx Speaker, author, and school counselor who keeps a sharp focus on literacy in his work.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Kerry Tuttlebee, principal of 360 High School, a very innovative school in Providence, RI. Students, parents, teachers, and community members worked to create the school. They are a maker focused school and use design thinking with their students.
In this episode Melissa and her mother, Linda Fleishman, celebrate Mother's Day by discussing Linda's teaching career, her years raising her two children, and her second career in Human Resources.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Carly Spina. Carly is an EL/Bilingual/Dual Language Instructional Coach who is passionate about her work with her colleagues. Carly talks about the power of the coteaching model and about her philosophy of coaching other educators.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Dr. Bethany Milner about study habits and setting students up to succeed.
In this episode, Melissa talks with friend and colleague Jan Rhein. Jan is a literacy coach/specialist who has the added perspective of having been a classroom teacher. Her lens on literacy can help all educators.
In this episode, Melissa returns to the podcast after losing her husband, Josh Milner. She talks to Dr. Paul Coleman about his book Finding Peace When Your Heart is in Pieces. Dr. Paul Coleman is a psychologist, author, and speaker who specializes in grief/trauma, intuition development, and rebuilding relationships. Melissa and Dr. Paul discuss the four paths of the "hero's journey" and how educators can help students who may be experiencing trauma, grief, or loss.
The Teacher As...Top Ten episodes are a new addition to the podcast. Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record collaborate to create one top ten list of math routines. The collaboration gets a bit intense when the two disagree as they get closer to the top five picks. These math educators have so much to share in this episode.
Melissa chats with Danielle North, co anchor of the morning news in Rhode Island, WPRI12. They talk about the parallels between new anchors/reporters and teachers. The importance of good timing and balance in the delivery of information are discussed, as well as the impact of the information we share and the importance of active listening.
Melissa talks about chess and the show The Queen's Gambit. She talks about how Understanding By Design, Project Based Learning, and Student-Led classrooms are purposeful and strategic.
Melissa and Tricia interview two colleagues, Heather Sullivan and Olivia Morris, who are coteaching in second grade.
In this episode, Melissa chats with teacher and author, Paul Emerich France, about personalized learning and creating an educational system that is more equitable.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Mike Earnshaw. Mike is a principal and the co host of the podcast Punk Rock Classrooms. Mike shares the parallels between punk rock and education and shares how he supports his teachers and students.
In this Zooming In episode, Melissa explains the structure for The Teacher As... podcast for Season 2 and shares her new, creative ideas for episodes.
In reaction to the events of this week, Melissa starts this episode with her thoughts on teachers talking about horrible events with our students. Then Melissa jumps into her planned episode about the parallels between teaching and negotiating. She shares related clips from past The Teacher As...interviews, as well as two negotiating techniques straight from FBI hostage negotiator, Chris Voss. Three books are highlighted with specific sections shared related to educators building rapport and gaining trust.
Melissa reflects on Season 1 of The Teacher As...podcast and what she hopes to offer educators in Season 2 which starts January 10th.
In this bonus episode, Melissa and Tricia talk about the first couple of weeks of the hybrid model in their district. They talk about teaching remotely and in person and the challenges and rewards that come with this model. Flexibility and empowering students to give feedback on the process and routines is key.
In this episode, Dr. Robyn Bratica chats with Melissa about social emotional learning, running, and her fabulous daughter, Juliet. Robyn gives solid advice about how to be a supportive practitioner.
In this episode, Melissa chats with Donna Kim, a friend from high school. Donna talks about her work in becoming a grief recovery specialist and what she is zooming in on with this new career.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Monique Pillow Gnanaratnam. Monique works at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and shares her passion for family, culture, and connection.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Ricardo Calderon. Ricardo is a world traveler and a passionate educator. He teaches Spanish and uses project based language learning and technology to inspire his students.
In this episode, Melissa talks with Phaedra Hise. Phaedra is an award-winning writer, editor, and author. Phaedra shares the purpose of any piece of writing and the skills involved to do her work. The concept of the "value proposition" is fascinating in the context of a classroom.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Lt. Al North , a firefighter in Rhode Island. They discuss the job of a firefighter and the parallels to teaching. Some themes that emerged were planning and preparation, teamwork, and noticing signals.
In this episode, Melissa talks to educator Kerry Gallagher about her groundbreaking work with students, teachers, and families. Kerry explains that she strives to blow up the existing models to provide valuable structures for teaching and learning.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Nancy Barile, punk rocker and amazing educator. Nancy shares how punk rock has shaped the way she approaches her teaching practice.
In this episode, Melissa talks to three different music educators about their work teaching and inspiring students. Bri Knox works in a rural area in Wisconsin, Mel Steiger works in a suburb of Boston, and Holly Hudson works in the city in Buffalo, NY.
Melissa continues this short series of episodes talking to musicians and music teachers. In this episode Melissa talks to Dr. Robyn L. Bell. Dr. Bell is an established conductor and the director of Instrumental Studies at State College in Florida. She conducts for a Pops orchestra, as well as a symphony orchestra in her community. The takeaways from this interview for teachers centers around nonverbal communication and immediate feedback.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Nico de Villiers. Nico is a vocal coach, a pianist, and a podcaster. He talks about listening acutely and supporting students when teaching or coaching.
In this bonus episode, Melissa and Tricia share that they are very happy to still be coteaching since it was in question most of the summer. They share what is working, what is challenging, and some predictions as the district phases into a hybrid model.
In this episode, Melissa talks to Ann Elise Record about her work with teachers, the power of running records, and the importance of helping students think creatively and flexibly about math.
In this episode, Melissa interviews her former theater professor, Whitney White, know as Whizz to his students. Whizz shares his philosophy and pedagogy of teaching which includes encouraging students and having a deep passion for whatever you teach.
In this Zooming In episode, Jack Mangan shares his experiences as a writer who has collaborated with many different talented professionals. Teachers of writing will especially enjoy this chat with Jack, but any educator can learn a lot from the writing profession and Jack's perspective.
In this episode, Nicole Kang talks about the idea of teachers focusing on computational thinking and using coding for a purpose. Nicole is an educator, coder, and entrepreneur who is letting her passions drive her to help children enjoy writing.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Kristy Sumner. Kristy leads paranormal investigations with her company Soul Sisters. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, this interview will hopefully inspire you, like it did me, to get into digital storytelling with your students.
In this episode, Melissa talks with Dave Burgess, the author of Teach Like a Pirate and successful publisher of over 100 books about educational practice. Dave talks about how he went from teacher, to speaker, to author, to publisher and inspires us to share our own "art" as teachers.
Melissa interviews her dad, Lester Fleishman, who was a music educator who helped two different towns go from having no music program to having successful bands, including a marching band. Sit back and listen to the maestro himself.
In this episode, Melissa interviews Angela Stockman, who is a researcher and author of three books including Make Writing and Hacking the Writing Workshop. Angela shares the research method she uses and how it has changed the way she approaches writing instruction.
In this episode, Melissa talks with Leah Henry, a project based learning facilitator and coach. Leah shares the importance of always learning as educators and how we can help students investigate their questions through project based learning and become lifelong learners as well.
Melissa interviews Matt Paxton from the TV shows Hoarders and Legacy List with Matt Paxton. Matt talks about working with people who have suffered trauma and how compassion and humor are vital.
In this episode Melissa talks with Paul Solarz, teacher and author of Learn Like a Pirate. Paul shares projects that he is zooming in on right now as well as his overall focus on student-led learning and prioritizing skills when planning classroom curriculum and instruction.
In this episode, Melissa and her principal, Julia Hendrix, discuss the importance of building relationships and the challenges of starting this particular school year. Julia shares ideas for strengthening social studies content and starting the conversation about equity and anti-bias.
In this bonus episode, Melissa and Tricia talk about co-teaching in their fourth grade classroom this year. Both are new to co-teaching and on this adventure together. This will be a monthly bonus episode.
Melissa talks about someone she wishes was her teacher growing up. It may surprise you!
In this bonus episode, Melissa gives a book talk on Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed. She reflects on one lesson from the book that she did with her students and shares a reading of an important part of the book.
Grant Hightower, the METCO director in the district Melissa works, shares his vision of equitable education. How can teachers make real change? Please check out The Teacher As...website.
Host Melissa Milner introduces the elements of The Teacher As...podcast. She highlights the sharing of uncommon parallels and practical ideas for making our teaching better. Melissa talks about the interviews she will do with people in education and beyond. Please check out The Teacher As... website.