Episodes

In this episode: Listen in as I give you tangible steps that you can use to conduct your mid-year check in. I even get vulnerable and do mine here on the podcast so that you can see how easy and beneficial it is to do one. I talk about: I talk about the what, the why and the how of conducting a mid-year check in. 1.The What- a mid-year check in is a meeting that you do with yourself half way through the year and reflect or think about the practices surrounding your literacy block. 2. The Why-...

Listen in as: We revisit this listener favorite where I give you actionable ideas that you can use to get yourself ready to truly enjoy your winter break. I talk about: The things you need to do to start your break off right, why it’s important to think about how you want to feel at the end of your break before it starts and ways to reignite your passion for teaching before coming back in the new year. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: 4 steps to crafting a mini lesson One on One Co...

In this episode: I talk about the evidence based practices you need to be embedding into your Math block. We talk about: 1.What students need in order to become proficient readers and how you are already tackling this in your Math block. 2. Why embedding evidence based literacy practices into your Math block just makes sense. 3.How to embed evidence based literacy practices into your Math block Quotables: -Students need to be able to understand what the problem is asking them to solve as well...

In this episode: I talk about the evidence based practices you need to be embedding into your Science and Social Studies content areas. We talk about: 1.What students need in order to become proficient readers and how you are already tackling this in your Science and Social Studies block. 2. Why embedding evidence based literacy practices into your Science and Social Studies block just makes sense. 3.How to embed evidence based literacy practices into your Science and Social Studies block Quota...

In this episode: I talk about how literacy impacts everything that students have to learn and everything we teach, therefore the teaching of literacy is everyone’s problem and should be taught across content areas. We talk about: 1.What it means to be literate. 2. Why literacy is everyone’s problem. 3.How a student becomes a proficient reader. Quotables: -Being literate is the ability to read, write, speak and understand in a way that allows someone to function in their everyday life. -Students ...

In this episode: I talk about the top reasons you should invest in your own professional development We talk about: 1.What it means to invest in yourself. 2. Why investing in your own professional growth is sometimes essential. 3.How professional growth can be a door opener to different opportunities in education. Quotables: -We are the ones that know what we need and how we best learn. -Sometimes we have to save ourselves, because we are not in an environment that wants to invest in our gro...

In this episode: I talk about the role community plays in your professional growth. We talk about: The what, why and how of cultivating a community that will both support your professional growth and impact student performance. Quotables: -A community approach to professional development would allow teammates to feel empowered to help each other troubleshoot or reteach/model a part of the professional development they attended and feel they have a firm grasp on. -A community centered approach ...

In this episode: I talk about what to do if you don’t have the money to invest in professional development opportunities. We talk about: The what, why and how of pursuing professional development opportunities even if you don’t have the money to pay for it yourself. Quotables: -Professional development means any opportunity to grow our literacy practice via the acquisition and implementation of evidence based practices that support student learning. -We pursue evidence based literacy related p...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about What do I do if I don't have a literacy coach/or don't feel supported by my coach. . We talk about: What to do if: You don’t have a literacy coach on your campus. You have a coach, but they are overrun by other duties as assigned. You have a literacy coach, but they don’t have the capacity to support you. Quotables: -Support from a literacy coach does not mean that someone will do the work for you, but it should mean that they will do it alongside y...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about the what, the why and the how of embracing the role of life long learner. We talk about: -What it means to be a lifelong learner. -What life long learners don’t do. -How to take on the role of life long learner. Quotables: -A lifelong learner is always thinking about how they can improve, acknowledges what is going right so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel and isn’t afraid of trying new things. -Being a reflective teacher means to think ab...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about how the mini lesson is a versatile tool that can be used to teach each component of your literacy block. . We talk about: How the mini lesson is the tool that you need in your toolbox, it’s literally the swiss army knife of your literacy block. It will not only help you teach each component in your literacy block and how mastering it will help you get everything in. Quotables: -The mini lesson is the MVP of your literacy block and that is because it he...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about how to craft a realistic time management plan for the beginning of the school year. We talk about: My go to beginning of the school year tips for teachers which are: -Take good care of you -Plan and then plan some more -Identify your non negotiables and focus on those Quotables: -Some ways to take good care are to: walk away from gossip, don’t engage in kid bashing and try to keep your focus on what you can control -Planning and prepping are really a ...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about my top three tips for starting the school year off strong in your literacy classroom. We talk about: -Helping students see themselves as readers -Getting to know your students as readers -Helping students feel safe taking risks in your classroom Quotables: - Reading in your classroom needs to be seen as non negotiable. When students know that in your classroom everyone reads, then it will be that much easier for them to see themselves as readers. -O...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about the two things you need to know about your students when you are changing grade levels. We talk about: -What you need to prioritize most when changing grade levels. -What not to do when changing grade levels. -How to work with where your students are at developmentally and not against it. Quotables: -The two main things I am going to advise you to do are: determine what is developmentally appropriate and get to know the grade level standards. -Knowi...

In this episode: Listen in as I wrap up season 5 of the podcast. We talk about: The top 5 most listened to episodes of the podcast this season and the main takeaways. I also mentioned how we can hang out face to face this summer. Give the episode a listen and jot down the episodes that you need to binge right now. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Read and Respond: An Upper Elementary Teacher Summer Series Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Get on the mini lesso...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about the third question you need to ask yourself as you reflect on this past school year in your classroom. We talk about: 1.What- What does it mean to take care of yourself? 2. Why- Why is it important to take care of yourself? 3. How- How do you embark on the ever elusive self care journey? Quotables: -You need to define what self care means for you. -Part of taking care of yourself is paying attention to the season that you are in and acting accordin...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about the second question you need to ask yourself as you reflect on this past school year in your classroom. We talk about: 1.What- What does it mean to reflect on the challenges that you have encountered in your literacy classroom this year? 2. Why- Why should you take time to reflect and choose just one challenge to focus on? 3. How- How do you go about reflecting on one challenge and what you have already tried to resolve it? Quotables: -As much as...

In this episode: Listen in as I talk about the first question you need to ask yourself as you reflect on this past school year in your classroom. We talk about: 1.What- What does it mean to reflect on what is going well in your classroom this year? 2. Why- Why should you take time to reflect on the good things going on in your classroom this year? 3. How- How do you go about reflecting on what went well in your classroom this year? Quotables: -Not making a habit of reflecting on what is g...

In this episode: Listen in as I interview Stacey Riedmiller of Literacy for Big Kids. We talk about the what, the why and the how of reading what your students are reading. We talk about: 1.What- What does it mean to read what your upper elementary students are reading? 2. Why- Why is reading what your upper elementary students are reading important? 3. How- How do we make reading what our upper elementary students are reading happen? Quotables: - Reading what students are reading means tha...

In this episode: After listening to this episode you will leave with clarity around the what, the why and the how of supporting struggling students in the upper elementary classroom. I talk about: 1.What- What does it mean to support struggling students in our upper elementary classrooms? 2. Why- Why do we want to provide support for our struggling students? 3. How-How do we support struggling students in our upper elementary classrooms? Quotables: - When we are talking about how to support stri...

In this episode: After listening to this episode you will leave with clarity around the what, the why and the how of differentiated instruction in the upper elementary classroom. I talk about: 1.What- What is differentiated instruction anyway? 2. Why- Why does differentiated instruction matter? 3. How-How do I differentiate instruction in my upper elementary literacy classroom? Quotables: - Differentiation is the ability of the teacher to ensure that content, process, product or accountab...

In this episode: After listening to this episode you will leave with clarity around the what, the why and the how of tier 1 instruction in the literacy classroom. I talk about: 1.What- What is high quality tier 1 instruction anyway? 2. Why- Why is tier 1 instruction important and why is it important to make it available to everyone? 3. How- How do I deliver high quality tier 1 instruction? Quotables: - Tier 1 instruction is what every single student in your classroom is entitled to. It consists ...

In this episode: After listening to this episode you will leave equipped with tangible steps to help students be able to independently execute the skills you teach them. I talk about: 1.What exactly do we mean when we say we want students to work independently? 2. Why do we want students to be more independent members of the literacy classroom? 3. How do we help students cross the bridge to independence? Quotables: - We want students to be able to use the strategies we teach them in order to...

In this episode: After listening to this episode you will leave equipped to choose or create a resource that is appropriately rigorous for your students. I talk about: 1.What rigor is and what it isn’t. 2. Why we want to find or create appropriately rigorous resources for our students. 3. How to find an appropriately rigorous resource or just make one ourselves. Quotables: - You build in rigor through your knowledge of your standards and your ability to hold students accountable -The main ...