Episodes

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Summary Ashton Rodenhiser, a professional live illustrator and graphic facilitator, discusses the power of visual communication and the process of graphic facilitation. She explains how she got into graphic facilitation and the tools she uses for her work. Ashton also introduces the concept of sketchnoting and shares how it can be taught to students. She emphasizes the importance of providing students with the freedom to doodle and draw while setting parameters to ensure the focus remains on le...

Summary In this episode, Matt Rogers and Ken Ehrmann discuss the upcoming paternity break for the Powered Up Podcast. They reflect on the podcast journey and the impact it has had on their teaching identities. They also discuss the future of the podcast and the importance of setting boundaries as a new parent. They share their experiences and insights on re-entering the classroom after a break and the challenges of balancing work and personal life. Finally, they reminisce about the most memorabl...

Summary Ryan Rydzewski, co-author of the book 'When You Wonder, You're Learning,' discusses the enduring lessons of Mr. Rogers and their relevance in education today. He emphasizes the importance of relationships in the classroom and the need for teachers to bring their passions into their teaching. Ryan also highlights the impact of Mr. Rogers' methods on student learning and the need for changes in teacher training. He shares examples of schools prioritizing curiosity and relationship-building...

Summary In this conversation, Christopher Scott Wyatt discusses his experience with being diagnosed with autism later in life and the shifting nature of diagnostic labels. He emphasizes the importance of individualized approaches in education and the need to focus on students' strengths and weaknesses rather than their labels. Wyatt also discusses the benefits and limitations of labels and the impact of discrimination. He shares strategies for supporting students with diverse needs and highlight...

Summary In this conversation, Kathy discusses the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and its impact on teaching. She shares her experience in incorporating SEL into the classroom and emphasizes the need for teachers to set clear boundaries for communication and grading. The conversation also explores the challenges faced by teachers and strategies for self-reflection and personal well-being. The episode concludes with a discussion on enhancing lessons and continuing the conversation o...

Summary In this episode, Matt Rogers discusses his career in education, with a focus on special education. He shares his passion for working with students with special needs and the challenges and rewards of teaching in special education classrooms. Matt emphasizes the importance of collaboration and stakeholder involvement in supporting students with special needs to be included in regular education classrooms. He also discusses the benefits of inclusion for all students and the role of empath...

Summary In this conversation, Suzanne Dailey, an instructional coach, shares her experiences and insights on creating a positive classroom environment, supporting multilingual learners, promoting teacher wellness, and practicing happiness as a discipline. She emphasizes the importance of validation and asking questions in coaching conversations and staying in touch with the classroom as an instructional coach. Suzanne also discusses her work in teaching happiness and the impact it has on teachi...

Summary In this conversation, Ken Ehrmann and Gary Whitehead discuss the changes in high school English education, including the impact of technology and online teaching. They also explore the influence of being a poet on teaching and the importance of analyzing poetry with students. Gary shares his experience as the advisor of the school newspaper, discussing its history and transformation, as well as the integration of media platforms in the journalism class. They also touch on the influence o...

Summary In this conversation, Pablo Munoz, a former superintendent of schools, shares his personal and professional journey in education. He discusses the importance of personal stories in education and how his background influenced his leadership style. Munoz also introduces the concept of the leader's algorithm and the personal theory of action, which he used to guide his work as a superintendent. He emphasizes the significance of policy and setting clear expectations for student achievement. ...

In this conversation, Meghan Sheriff and Gretchen Gales discuss various aspects of teaching writing, including engagement, balancing content and writing skills, providing feedback and revisions, the value of writing conferences, and peer editing strategies. In this conversation, Meghan Sheriff and Gretchen Gales discuss their experiences teaching writing and running a tutoring business. They highlight the challenges of sharing personal narratives in writing assignments and the importance of crea...

Lori Danz is the Wisconsin 2023 State Teacher of the Year. A career-long high school biology teacher has leveraged the unique opportunities of her district to add a whole other facet to her day. She manages and teaches the outdoor forest for her school district. All teachers, K-12, can come experience the forest for instructional purposes. Utilize the resources available in your district to create immersive experiences. Learn about the outdoor forest classroom available to Wisconsin students. ...

In a rare opportunity, we had the pleasure of speaking to a superintendent and a long-time school board president in the same conversation. PJ Caposey, Illinois Superintendent of the Year, and Bryan Wills, school board president, are colleagues, friends, and co-authors of the book Cracking the Coaching Code. PJ and Bryan share their experiences as district leaders and the insights one can learn from the Enneagram Personality Test. How leaders face challenging situations and tougher decisions. ...

Grace Stevenson is focused on creating positive mindsets and habits for teachers. After leaving a career in the business world, she launched a twenty-year teaching career in the trenches. Her experiences, passion, and research have driven her new career. She is focused on identifying why she has a positive experience and helping other teachers find the same joy. Creating practical small habits to recognize joy. Retrain your brain to see the moments of joy. Involve the students in your intenti...

Kimberly Radostits is the 2022 Illinois Teacher of the Year, and she is focused on supporting students to grow and take flight to their maximum potential. She has spent her entire career building a program that targets at-risk freshmen to increase the graduation rate dramatically. Community-based program for at-risk freshmen to help them sustain a successful high school career. New teachers have one mentor, as opposed to a grade-level partner. The freshman onboarding program has dramatically ...

Dani is the 2023 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year and clarified why in this conversation. She is dedicated to the quality education for every child she interacts with daily. She spends most of her time supporting the students who need it most. Dani acknowledges her strengths and weaknesses as a teacher and how that helped her find her best position in alternative education. Bias is all around us, even in the situation of handedness. Scissors were made for right-handed people, not left-handed. ...

Kyle Niemis, now a former teacher, comes back to the podcast and works for Quizizz. He joined us to provide an in-depth look at this fantastic online tool, highlight its best features, and share some big updates. We trust Kyle, and we endorse the use of this fantastic online tool. Kyle provides countless examples of fantastic instructional practices that Quizizz can enhance. A variety of question types for teachers to ask dynamic questions. A variety of settings to allow teachers to create dif...

Dr. Michael Ida is the 2023 Hawaii Teacher of the Year and a long-time math teacher. More recently in his career, he started teaching computer science, and this transition has created a huge shift in his teaching approach and education mindset. The focus of his teaching and the design of the lesson has transferred over to student experiences and interactions. Michael’s approach to teaching computer science was focused on creating scenarios and situations for students to learn through challenge....

Bryson is an elementary music teacher who is passionate about inclusion. He quickly learned how music teachers are not prepared to include special education students in the classroom successfully. This podcast is inspirational for every teacher, regardless of content area. Be aware of the sensory inputs in your classroom and how it is triggering students. Classroom management strategies for allowing students to have fidgets, headphones, and other accessories while maintaining strong management...

Leana Malinowsky is a passionate, qualified, and impactful educator who is changing readers' lives. She shares key instructional strategies to help support young readers and allow their learning to thrive. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/poweredup/support

Renee Jones is the 2023 Nebraska Teacher of the Year, a high school English teacher who provides incredible experiences for her students. She is focused on their development as individuals and in the curriculum content. She focuses on creating key success criteria to help them flourish and grow. Classroom cell phone policies in the school and the classroom. Renee shares her policies and how the school has supported her. Creating opportunities to learn proper digital citizenship. Structures fo...

Robert Dunlop is a quality educator, speaker, and author. He has had such a diverse experience in education that offers our audience a quality listen. Our conversation rolls from pedagogy to classroom management to feedback, the focus of his book, striving for happiness. The expectations we have for students can impact our approach to instruction. More importantly, when we have more confidence in what they can do, we can push them to higher-level thinking skills. Utilize the professional resou...

Betsy Hill brought our podcast new information, perspective, and valuable content. She focuses on studying the brain and, more importantly, the cognitive skills for our brain to learn. There is a lot for teachers to keep in mind to see how we can best support the growth of students. For information to reach long-term memory, we are either auditory or visually dominant. It will not stick well if students are not exposed to content in that form. The brain is more malleable than we ever thought. ...

Cohens Mugisha is an incredible educator, changing the lives of the students he works with in his community of Ibanda, Uganda. His classes are focused specifically on writing and speech, but it is evident throughout the conversation these are only leverage points to create real-world learning experiences for students. Technology integration is a pursuit of all educators; it’s just a means of what type of technology His students are engaged in real-world skills to help apply to the outside worl...