The ABC's High School Teachers Really Need to Know-logo

The ABC's High School Teachers Really Need to Know

Education Podcasts

This podcast was developed to help high school teachers better reach students, as well as gain more self-fulfillment by doing just that. We will discuss essential strategies and stories to help new, experienced, burned-out, and/or growth-focused teachers find their way in a world of confusing, endless, and oftentimes overwhelming resources for educators. Hopefully, you will find these both tangible and applicable in your own professional journey. This podcast is definitely not about “polish” and “pretty”. Instead, it’s about REAL strategies that have proven results in REAL classrooms. Thank you for taking the time to get better for your students. Most of all, thank you for being a teacher.

Location:

United States

Description:

This podcast was developed to help high school teachers better reach students, as well as gain more self-fulfillment by doing just that. We will discuss essential strategies and stories to help new, experienced, burned-out, and/or growth-focused teachers find their way in a world of confusing, endless, and oftentimes overwhelming resources for educators. Hopefully, you will find these both tangible and applicable in your own professional journey. This podcast is definitely not about “polish” and “pretty”. Instead, it’s about REAL strategies that have proven results in REAL classrooms. Thank you for taking the time to get better for your students. Most of all, thank you for being a teacher.

Language:

English


Episodes
Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #24; X-Teachers and X-Parents and X-Students, Oh My!

3/9/2025
Living in the past, no matter how great it may be, can lead to emotional drag for you and unfair comparisons and contrasts for your students. Effective teachers realize the importance of being fully present for their students and coworkers. They also know that putting good memories where they belong and turning the page on the negative are critical keys to finding longevity and peace in our profession.

Duration:00:18:31

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #23: Who You Gonna Call?

3/2/2025
As a regular part of your process, utilize content experts/professionals, interventionists, and strong continuing education resources. Make relationships with people outside of your classroom and leverage them to generate better outcomes for your students. Don't just focus on your output. Feed the starving baker and focus a little more on input. In the long run, you will become more efficient and effective, not to mention your students will be the beneficiaries of more meaningful lessons.

Duration:00:28:21

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #22: Venture Into the Unknown

2/23/2025
As an educator, if you aren't venturing into the unknown, you are reducing your effectiveness as a classroom manager, content leader, and professional colleague. Don't grow or change for the sake of growing and changing. Instead, venture into the unknown to add to your toolbox. Those new tools can impact lives in such an incredible way - including your own.

Duration:00:23:18

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #21: Unclutter Your Mind and Your Path

2/16/2025
Educators have to balance a seemingly endless number of tasks and responsibilities. This can lead to stress, anxiety, fatigue, burnout, and a lack of focus. However, effective teachers know the importance of eliminating clutter and zeroing in on what's important - our students and learning objectives. Clear your path and remind yourself to "make the main thing the main thing."

Duration:00:37:17

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #20: Top Ten Trademarks of an Anti-Misery Teacher

2/9/2025
In this episode, we will talk about ten things that can help reduce or eliminate misery in your classroom. From mindless structure and obsessive bathroom policies to overreactions to gum chewing and more, we will discuss it. It's amazing how being mindful of a few things can transform a below-average classroom to an effective one.

Duration:00:32:13

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #19: Substitutes Shouldn't Be Your Burden

2/2/2025
Let's keep it simple. Both philosophically and practically, the substitute shortage shouldn't be your burden. Educators can advocate for their kids and themselves at the same time. Stop going to work sick. Stop missing family milestones. Stop helping administrators, schools, or districts take advantage of you.

Duration:00:22:28

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #18: Review Day Revisited

1/26/2025
Teachers often use "Review Days" as a regular part of their process, especially before summative assessments. However, if not approached correctly, these days can actually hurt students and even prevent learning. Playing games of random unit trivia and/or attempting to reteach every previous lesson are failing strategies for long-term learning. Instead, effective teachers utilize "Review Days" as additional lessons to further and reinforce concepts, skills, and knowledge.

Duration:00:34:53

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #17: Quibbling with Parents is Usually a Waste of Time

1/19/2025
Quibbling with parents in emails, parent conferences, or anywhere else is usually a waste of time. Effective teachers know that empathy, clear expectations, and emotional intelligence are key. This week's episode will give you plenty of strategies and reminders to help you rise above the quibbling and focus on helping your students.

Duration:00:35:12

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #16: Personal, Political, and Professional Lenses

1/12/2025
It goes without saying that all of us have different life experiences, political beliefs, and professional practices. These serve as our "lenses" through which we inevitably design and facilitate lessons. Effective teachers are aware of these differences and the potential impact they have on students as both learners and people. How a student receives or interacts with a lesson is affected by these lenses (theirs and yours). We can't drive content in a vacuum. When we are more aware of these lenses, students are more likely to benefit from our process.

Duration:00:28:12

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #15: Operation Dumbo

1/5/2025
The gap between who we are and how we actually come across to our students needs to be as narrow as possible. In addition to being relationship-focused, effective teachers must possess high levels of self-awareness. They need to reflect, seek feedback, and accept coaching on a regular basis. Effective teachers come across as genuine because they ARE genuine. They are liked AND respected. Falling to achieve these things can make you come across like a Dumbo to your students, and in turn, impact the learning.

Duration:00:18:50

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #14: Not Just One Piece of Pie

12/29/2024
Effective teachers know they have to offer different pieces of the "pie" to truly connect with the diversity of students in the classroom. In addition to offering countless ways to learn and show skills and progress, allowing them to "nibble" on different pieces improves the student experience. So, what makes up your pie? How big are the pieces? Is it time to offer more or remake others?

Duration:00:27:01

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #13: Maximizing Effort

12/22/2024
This episode discusses crucial strategies that will help your students find success in the classroom and beyond. Effective teachers know that effort is really about motivation. When we don't empathize or emphasize what really drives student motivation, we are build a recipe for underachievement and underperformance.

Duration:00:43:27

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #12: Leverage Group Work Correctly

12/15/2024
Group work is often an obsession for teachers and other stakeholders. The truth is, like any other instructional strategy, if it is not used with appropriate learning objectives in mind, the lesson will be more likely to miss the mark. Effective educators know that we have to be intentional. When used appropriately, group work can lead to powerful outcomes.

Duration:00:16:56

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #5: Keep the Emphasis on Daily Classroom Value

12/8/2024
Effective teachers know that the daily classroom experience has to be the most impactful part of the learning process, particularly in today's world. We have to make each day relevant and valuable. We need to design a daily experience that is R.E.A.L. and set manageable and meaningful expectations for students away from the classroom.

Duration:00:34:07

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #10: Join the Living

12/1/2024
Living at your job is not living at all. We have to strive for balance. Effective teachers know that you serve your students best when you are also at your best. Find happiness and longevity in your job by also finding it in your personal life. Your students will be beneficiaries as well.

Duration:00:24:27

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #5: Imagine the Ideal Classroom

11/24/2024
Spend time thinking about the ideal classroom, knowing that every classroom will look different. What does the physical space look like? How are lessons taught in that classroom? What does assessment and classroom management look like? Once you begin to understand what "ideal" looks like to you, start working towards it every day. In all likelihood, you will never achieve "ideal" or "perfection," but you will certainly have philosophical and tangible goals to work towards. Effective teachers know that trying is far more powerful than not trying.

Duration:00:15:28

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #8: Hitting Your Stride

11/17/2024
Will it get easier? Will you figure it out? Whether you're beginning your career, changing schools or roles, or approaching decades of experience, we are all looking to hit our stride. How do we know we're there, and how do we avoid stagnation? How should we approach the inevitable change in our field? We will unpack these questions and more in this week's episode.

Duration:00:22:31

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #7: Game Changers

11/10/2024
This week's episode is all about "game changers" that have helped me find success in the classroom and in education. From instructional and assessment strategies to time-management, classroom strategies, and more, these are things that can help you become more effective. My hope is that you can better identify what has worked well for you, use any of the "game changers" that have impacted my classroom, and make an even bigger difference for those you serve.

Duration:00:39:03

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode #6: Furries and Other Fires

11/3/2024
It is absolutely impossible for a teacher to adequately meet all of the mental health and socioemotional health needs of our students - nor should we try. In a world and society that's "all about me" and relative ethics, we have to focus on developing a classroom that is all about driving academic content and building relationships. We can't allow the fires of the world to flood our classrooms. While they certainly impact our classrooms because learning environments should reflect real life, effective teachers know that we have to focus on why we were hired in the first place.

Duration:00:17:11

Ask host to enable sharing for playback control

Episode $5: Enrichment > Edutainment

10/27/2024
Enrichment is far more effective than edutainment. As students reach high school, they search for more "meaning" in lessons than "fun" alone. Enrichment is the key to both engaging students and establishing that meaning. For effective teachers, striving to make every class "fun" is a secondary concern to building lesson plans that allow students to explore and connect with the lesson themselves. Plus, making every class fun is a daunting task, especially for the teenaged brain.

Duration:00:31:14