Episodes

Episode 119: What Does It Mean for Learning to Stick? The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with an understanding of what retrieval practices are and how they help support student learning, in other words how to make learning stick. We talk about: 1.Retrieval Practice and how it helps learning stick. 2. Recap of chapter 1 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Two retrieval strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Grab...

In this episode: We talk about what it means to be a self-led teacher and how being a self-led teacher can help shape your practice and improve student outcomes as an upper elementary literacy teacher. We also reveal our anchor text for quarter 1. We talk about: 1.Self-leadership what it is, why it’s necessary and how I am poised to support you on this journey. 2. Why being research informed is a form of professional leverage that you need to have in your back pocket. 3.Why knowing how to impl...

In this episode: Listen in as I wrap up the top 5 most listened to episodes in 2025. We talk about: The top 5 most listened to episodes of the podcast for 2025 and what you can look forward to from the podcast in quarter 1. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Book a discovery call for one on one coaching or school professional development Next Steps: If this episode resonated with you, take a screenshot of the episode and tag me on i...

We talk about: How to conduct a mid-year check in and what to do with the information you gather during your check in meeting. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Mid Year Check In Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Book a discovery call for one on one coaching or school professional development Next Steps: If this episode resonated with you, take a screenshot of the episode and tag me on instagram @msevamireles. This helps my show remain active in order to continue ...

We talk about: The what and the why of taking time to reflect on your literacy block and how you are uniquely positioned to do that. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Mid Year Check In Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Book a discovery call for one on one coaching or school professional development Next Steps: If this episode resonated with you, take a screenshot of the episode and tag me on instagram @msevamireles. This helps my show remain active in order to con...

In this episode: Listen to the final episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: Reflecting on the three basic psychological needs that your students have and thinking about how they show up in your literacy classroom. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Motivation Audit Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Book a discovery call for one on one coaching or school professional development Next Steps: If this episode resonated with you, take a screenshot ...

In this episode: Listen to the fourth episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk about how to cultivate competence in your literacy classroom so that students can grow confidence in their ability to succeed. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Black Friday Solutions mentioned in the episode: Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Bo...

In this episode: Listen to the third episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk about how to cultivate relatedness and autonomy in your literacy classroom. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Black Friday Solutions mentioned in the episode: Done-With-You Mini-Lesson 1:1 Coaching. My Launching Independent Reading On Demand Workshop Teaching main ...

In this episode: Listen to the second episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk about learning science and what it has to say about what drives motivation. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Book a discovery call for one on one coaching or school professional development Next Steps: If this e...

In this episode: Listen to the first episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: That ever illusive thing that we want students to have when it comes to our literacy classrooms. That thing that if they had it would make it so much easier to teach them, it would make it so much easier to engage them, and it would make it so much easier to partner with them in their education. We are talking about student motivation. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Grab my free guid...

In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of maintaining the community that you’ve worked hard to cultivate all year long. We talk about: 1.What it means to cultivate community. 2. Why cultivating community during our post testing era matters. 3.How to cultivate community after the state testing in upper elementary. Quotables: -Cultivating community means to foster the growth and closeness of a group of students and/or staff members so that they feel a sense of belonging. -Teachers...

In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of keeping literacy learning front and center at the end of the school year. We talk about: 1.What does it mean to keep learning front and center. 2. Why keeping learning front and center during our post testing era matters. 3.How to infuse your literacy block with purposeful learning after the state testing in upper elementary. Quotables: -Oftentimes the end of the school year will have us chunking the progress students have made right out ...

In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of leveraging the behind the scenes of being an upper elementary reading teacher to help you end the year strong-ish. We talk about: 1.What is the behind the scenes of teaching. 2. Why you should focus on controlling the controllables at the end of the school year. 3. What is your M.S.O. and how do you plan for it? Quotables: -Teaching requires a lot of teachers and most of what it requires is intellectual. This means that there is often not...

In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of casting a vision that will help you finish the year strong-ish We talk about: 1.What it means to cast a realistic vision for the end of the school year in your upper elementary literacy classroom. 2. Why casting a vision is a form of self care that your future self will thank you for. 3.How asking yourself 4 simple questions will help you cast a vision for ending the year strong-ish. 4. What the research has to say about how casting a vis...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the What, the Why and the How that finding similarities and differences across texts plays in their reading lives. We talk about: Listen to the final episode in our compare and contrast mini series. We are talking all about contrasting, what it is, why it matters and how it impacts your literacy classroom. We will also talk about how to help students compare and contrast across multiple texts. Quotables: -When we contrast ...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the What, the Why and the How of making comparisons in your upper elementary literacy classroom We talk about: Listen to the first episode in our compare and contrast series. We are talking all about comparing, what it is, why it matters and how it impacts your literacy classroom. Quotables: -When we compare we are using a higher or thinking skill to discern the relationship between two or more things to decide how those t...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the role modeling plays in increasing a student’s self-efficacy and self-regulation. This is a sneak peek at a workshop all about teaching students how to internalize what you've taught them. We talk about: What the research has to say is the missing link between what you’re teaching students and how to get them to internalize what you’ve taught them. Quotables: -Modeling plays a vital role in the first two levels of self-...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the importance of modeling in your literacy classroom. We talk about: What modeling is, what the research says about it and how you can impact it so that you can increase student learning in your classroom. Quotables: - Modeling is the process by which learners pattern their thoughts, beliefs and behaviors after those displayed by one or more models. -Models provide students with examples of others who have successfully c...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about self-regulation, why it matters and how it impacts students in your classroom. We talk about: What self-regulation is, what the research says about it and how you can impact it so that you can increase student learning in your classroom. Quotables: - Self-regulation as the capacity to understand and direct one’s own learning. -Self-regulation skills can and should be explicitly taught and frequently reviewed in order to h...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about self-efficacy and how it impacts your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: What self-efficacy, why knowing what it is matters in your literacy classroom and how to help raise it. Hear what the research says its impact is in your literacy classroom and what you can do to impact it. Quotables: -Self-Efficacy refers to what a student thinks they are able to do as it relates to learning and their ability to perform a task. -Self-efficacy c...

In this episode: Listen in as I wrap up as we recap the top 5 podcast episodes of 2024. We talk about: The top 5 most listened to episodes of the podcast this year and the main takeaways. I also included a tip for a learning process that you can help influence when we come back from winter break. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Research: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: (2018). How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures. Washington, DC: The Nat...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about why your students may not be applying what you’ve taught them and some ways to fix that. We talk about: The what, the why and the how of teaching students in their zone of proximal development. What the research says good learning is. Tangible steps for making this happen in your classroom. Quotables: - Zone of proximal development is the distance between what a child can do independently (actual development) and what they can do with assistance (leve...

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about how to bridge the gap between rote learning and meaningful learning in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: The what, the why and the how of teaching students so that they apply what you’ve taught them. Learn what the research says the goal of learning is. Walk away with tangible steps for making this happen in your classroom. Quotables: - Teaching for transfer matters in our literacy classrooms. It is the entire point of teaching....

In this episode: Listen in as we talk about promoting self leadership through cultivating a community of readers in the upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: The what, the why and the how of building independence by promoting self leadership through cultivating a community of readers in the upper elementary literacy classroom. Quotables: -Cultivating a community of readers means that we create an environment where upper elementary students take on the identity of reader no matter ...