Students Will Be Honest: Teachers Just Have to Ask
It’s always good to gather feedback from kids… That feedback can be in the form of thoughts on lessons, opinions on activities, and other “stuff” too. Here is a real …
What Drives Teachers? (Literally)-Mr. Greg from the Kindergarten Smorgasboard is a Teacher Just Talking About “Wagons”
What drives you? Making an impact on kids? Seeing students learn and grow? But what literally drives you? For me, it’s a silver Toyota Highlander drives me to school every …
How to Be the BEST Teacher You Can Be All School Year Long…
Are you an energetic teacher who has a passion for continuous improvement and looking for a fun, fresh perspective? Are you a new teacher who is looking to start your …
3 Things That You Have Permission To Do This School Year (You Don’t Even Need Your Principal To Sign Off Either)
Sometimes we simply don’t need permission to do great things for kids! But, teachers like us seek permission for lots of things. Can I do that? Better e-mail my principal. …
3 Simple Goals that Will Change This School Year
Our job as teachers this year still feels so different than it has in the past, But the work we are about to do is also SO significant. And I …
Balancing Parenting Life with This Teacher Life- Caitlin & Jessica are Teachers Just Talking About all Things Being a Mom
What do wine, target, and temper tantrums have in common? They are all part of being a teacher and they are also part of being a mom. In this transparent, …
The Teacher Boost and Essential Reminder You NEED Before This School Year Starts- Monthly Motivation Episode
Super sad that summer is over? If you said yes, I get it. Super excited that the school year is starting? If you said yes, I get that too. But …
Education Reminder: LOVE vs. HATE
You can LOVE teaching and HATE that summer is ending. You can LOVE teaching and HATE all the stress we are feeling for a new school year. You can LOVE …
What Do We Really Learn From Letter Grades?
Traditional letter grades in school continue to be an ineffective measure. Because what do an A, B, or C really mean? What if we focused more on encouraging kids to …
How To Have The Best School Year of Your Life- Even If The Plan Keeps Changing and You Are Super Stressed Out (Summer Replay Episode)
Here we are getting ready to start another year of awesome education for students. But this year still feels so stinkin’ different right? The good news is our entire profession …
The Best SEL Curriculum for Your Students & School
Make Your SEL & Morning Meeting Planning SO much Easier! To be honest, sometime SEL feels like “one more thing” even though we know in our teacher hearts that it …
3 Secret Ways to Be The Best Freaking Teacher You Can Be (Summer Replay Episode)
We all want to be terrific teachers. We all strive to be exceptional educators. But sometimes it feels like we get stuck and think, “I don’t know what to do …
The Dollar Tree: The Ultimate Teacher Trap
It just doesn’t make sense… We walk into Dollar Tree to buy popcorn and juice boxes for a classroom party. And walk out with $172 worth of items we don’t …
100th Episode Celebration + HUGE Giveaway For Awesome Listeners Like You!
YOU have made the This Teacher Life podcast a HUGE success by creating the momentum for 100 episodes to be released. Now it is time to throw a party and …
Educators Can STOP Doing This! (And START Doing This)
Teachers, We are going to look back on the year 2020 and 2021 and think… What a beautiful opportunity we had to revolutionize education. This is our moment to STOP …
3 Ways to LOVE Teaching this Year… Even When It’s Freaking Hard (Summer Replay Episode)
Every single teacher who walks in (or logs in) to their classroom deserves to LOVE that experience. The big question is, do you right now? If you aren’t able to …
Fonts Don’t Fuel Kids!
“Thank you so much for spending 17 minutes picking out the font for this google doc. Your choice really helped me engage in the lesson and retain the information.” ~Said …
Getting Real with Gerry Brooks: The New “Normal” for Schools (Summer Replay Episode)
Erducators get excited about this interview with the Gerry Brooks! In this episode we dive into what “normal” now means for education. This is an exclusive opportunity to hear Gerry …
Bring the Awesome to Your Science Lessons!
Who is concerned about creating dynamic, engaging, collaborative science lessons during our new “normal” in education? Part of teaching science is getting kids connected to real world applications, right? Luckily, …
2 Really Simple Ideas to Build Ridiculously Strong Relationships in Schools (Summer Replay Episodes)
The importance of relationships was still “up for debate” in some schools, even a year ago. But at this point, it is so very clear that the power of building …
Working and Learning are 2 Totally Different Things. Here’s Why…
There is a substantial difference between WORKING and LEARNING. Working out 5 problems can prove that students are proficient. They don’t always need 25 practice problems and 70 fill in …
2 Ideas that Answer the BIG Question “How Are We Supposed to Balance ALLLL of the Teacher Things?” (Summer Replay Episode)
Do you feel like it is nearly impossible to juggle everything going on in your teacher life right now? Creating lessons. Teaching in multiple different methods. A million E-Mails. Recording …
Is School Really About Curriculum and Content?
School isn’t all about learning content. It’s about having students figure out what the content will mean for them in their lives. And in order for that learning to take …
What the H*ll Does “Learning” Even Really Mean in 2021? (Summer Replay Episode)
Kids come to school to “learn” but that is a super generic word. What does learning even mean right now, in 2021, as we continue in a pandemic. Let’s get …
Clapping vs. Critiquing In Classrooms
Let me get straight to the point… Our classrooms should have far more clapping than critiquing. How motivated are you when somebody tells you that you are doing something wrong? …