Episodes

Episode 137- Listen to this interview with Lanesha Tabb as we talk about: 1.Closing the gap between student thinking and student writing 2.Using grammar and sentence-level instruction to improve writing quality 3. Keeping writing instruction meaningful, manageable, and engaging through the last day of school Stay in touch with Lanesha Tabb: @lanesha_tabb on instagram If you’re ready to strengthen your instruction and design literacy lessons that actually stick, you can learn more about coach...

Episode 136- Listen to this interview with Dr. Shane Saeed as we talk about: 1.The role forgetting plays in learning. 2. Familiar vs Known and the role it plays in student learning. 3.What retrieval strategies to use now as you wrap up the school year. Stay in touch with Dr. Shane Saeed: @drshanesaeed on everything If you’re ready to strengthen your instruction and design literacy lessons that actually stick, you can learn more about coaching and professional development below: Work With Ev...

In This Episode We Discuss Why end-of-year classroom routines often fall apart after testingHow to maintain high expectations in your upper elementary literacy classroom through the last day of schoolThe connection between teacher expectations, student behavior, and student effortWhy structure and consistency matter more than “keeping students busy” during the post-testing seasonHow to cast a realistic vision for the end of the school year without burning yourself outThe difference between react...

In This Episode We Discuss Why most end-of-year classroom plans fall apartHow to move from reacting to intentionally designing the end of the school yearThe three patterns that lead to behavior shifts and loss of structure after testingWhy maintaining high expectations matters academically and behaviorally through the last day of schoolHow to keep learning, routines, and classroom community intact without burning yourself outA simple 4-part framework for helping upper elementary teachers finish ...

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Agarwal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as design decisions. 3.How to use retrieval practice in order to simplify your lesson design. 4. One shift you can make this week to help learning stick during your literacy block. Past Episodes mentioned: Episode 131: Designing Read Aloud Lessons That Build Understanding (...

Episode 130 Show Notes Accountable Talk During Read Aloud: How to Move Beyond Turn and Talk to Real Thinking Why student talk doesn’t always lead to deeper thinking How to structure read aloud conversations to move beyond participation The role of explanation, listening, and idea-building in student learning How accountable talk supports comprehension and long-term retention Using simple, high-impact sentence stems to guide discussion Designing read aloud instruction that builds thinking wi...

Episode 129- Why Read Aloud Still Matters in Grades 3–5 Classrooms In this episode we talk about: Why read alouds still matter in your Upper Elementary literacy classrooms. How Read alouds support learning science, How Read alouds support The Science of Teaching Reading. Choose texts that build knowledge Pause for thinking, not just predictions Plan 2–3 intentional thinking stops instead of a lot of questions “How might my read aloud time become one of the most instructionally powerful pa...

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...

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Aragawal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as design decisions. 3.How to use retrieval practice in order to simplify your lesson design. 4. One shift you can make this week to help learning stick during your literacy block. Past Episodes mentioned: Episode 131: Designing Read Aloud Lessons That Build Understanding ...

Episode 127 In This Episode We Discuss How to incorporate science of learning strategies into your literacy block Using retrieval practice in reading lessons Why spaced practice improves student learning Turning learning objectives into student thinking opportunities Supporting metacognition during literacy instruction Applying research-based strategies without overwhelming your schedule Practical Strategies Mentioned • Brain dump retrieval activity • Student self-rating for understanding ...

Episode 126 — Designing for Transfer in Reading Instruction Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what you can do to help support student transfer of information through the application of knowledge in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: 1.How to get students to apply what they’ve learned in your classroom. 2. Recap of chapter 8 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the ...

Episode 125 — What Really Drives Student Motivation? Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what fuels student motivation in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: 1.What really fuels student motivation. 2. Recap of chapter 7 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Episodes 110, 111, 112, 113 and 114 Episode 120 Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini...

Episode 124 — Teaching Students How to Take Charge of their Learning Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with the what, the why and the how of getting your students to take charge of their learning. We talk about: 1.The what, the why and the how of teaching students how to take charge of their own learning. 2. Recap of chapter 5 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Ep...

Episode 123 :Designing Reading Lessons That Outlast the Pacing Guide Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you design literacy lessons that promote transfer and long-term learning — even when that means making intentional decisions beyond the pacing guide. We talk about: 1.Combining interleaving and concept mapping in your literacy classroom. 2. Recap of chapter 4 and 6 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources men...

Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for helping students build connected meaning within and across texts. We talk about: 1.Concept Mapping 2. Recap of chapter 6 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. 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 Link to the book (a...

Episode 121 — Why- How Your Students Learn and Practice Matters in your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom? Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for choosing how to teach and practice literacy skills in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: 1.Blocked Practice vs Interleave Practice 2. Recap of chapter 4 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the...

Episode 120 — Why Learning That Lasts Often Feels Hard Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you understand why learning that lasts requires productive struggle and how retrieval and spacing routines help learning stick beyond the lesson. We talk about: 1.Spaced Practice 2. Recap of chapter 3 of Smart Teaching Stronger Learning 3. Strategies that you can implement in your classroom today. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Grab my free guide for keeping your mini lesson mini Boo...

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...