Teach Me, Teacher

Keys to Focus Student Writing with Martin Brandt (pt.1)

Hello everyone! I hope you are ready for some AMAZING content today, because I have brought on one of my favorite educators in the literacy space, Martin Brandt [https://betweenthecommas.blogspot.com/2020/03/i-wish-that-i-knew-what-i-know-now-when.html?fbclid=IwAR0d8acHkotJFLhx_2m9xara3qa3YGkJWo_eQKdfi1rdlOSKsN_gleDPWtA], to discuss his book Between the Commas [https://www.heinemann.com/products/e10820.aspx], and how to use writing instruction that WORKS! In this talk, we discuss: 1. That writing is more than just responses to questions and essays 2. How to achieve sentence focus 3. The power of writing instruction that frees students from artificial constraints …and much more! For this episode, I just wanted a pure talk about teaching writing. And that's what it is! Enjoy! NOTE: This episode originally appeared as #158 of the podcast.

#408 Choosing to Keep Teaching (Pam Ochoa pt.2)

This week on Teach Me, Teacher, Jacob sits down with lifelong educator and friend Pam Ochoa — former cohost of the Craft & Draft podcast — who has stepped back into the high school classroom after retirement. Why now? What pulled her back? Together, they wrestle with big questions facing the profession: * Where has quality professional development gone? * Has the era of student voice and choice quietly faded? * And what happens to schools when the champions of that work leave? Jacob and Pam dig into real data from schools where student voice and choice once thrived — and examine what happened after they stepped away. The results are sobering. This is part 2 of the discussion from last week. This is an honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about leadership, sustainability, and whether we're losing something essential in today's classrooms. If you care about student agency, teacher autonomy, and the future of the profession — this episode is for you.

#407 Is This Era of Teaching Dead? with Pam Ochoa (pt.1)

This week on Teach Me, Teacher, Jacob sits down with lifelong educator and friend Pam Ochoa — former cohost of the Craft & Draft podcast — who has stepped back into the high school classroom after retirement. Why now? What pulled her back? Together, they wrestle with big questions facing the profession: * Where has quality professional development gone? * Has the era of student voice and choice quietly faded? * And what happens to schools when the champions of that work leave? Jacob and Pam dig into real data from schools where student voice and choice once thrived — and examine what happened after they stepped away. The results are sobering. This is an honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about leadership, sustainability, and whether we're losing something essential in today's classrooms. If you care about student agency, teacher autonomy, and the future of the profession — this episode is for you.

A Closer Look at Student Behavior with Ms. Chyna (Greatest Hits)

Hello everyone! I wanted to talk about behavior and better ways we can respond as teachers. To do so, I brought on the amazing Ms. Chyna, a behavioral special education teacher, otherwise known as @especiallysped [https://www.instagram.com/especiallysped/?hl=en] on Instagram. In this talk, we set the stage for how we should be thinking about behavioral issues in the class, and then move on to discuss ineffective and effective ways to deal with such problems. But most importantly, we discuss why humanizing our interactions with our most challenging students can be the real difference.

#406 Rest in Peace, Cyanna Boone

Hello everyone. What we do as educators has meaning, and the lives that we interact with and that affect us are just as powerful as what we offer them. Unfortunately, one of my previous students lost her life [https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/fort-worth-stop-six-park-shooting-arrest-two-killed/] in the last few weeks, and I wanted to take the time to give my respects, solid her impact, and share her wonder with the audience.