Guests: Natalie Krafft, Oak Tree Elementary - Music and Marissa Gomez, Boulder Creek - Art In this episode, Brit chats with Natalie and Marissa about their world in special areas. We dive into the secrets of how these spaces boost brainpower fo

Tackling Teacher Perfectionism and More!

Feb 5th, 2024 52m 58s

Guest: Elizabeth Evans, Director of Civic Education Programs at Arizona State University In this episode, Brit and Liz bond over their common enemy: perfectionism! They share their own stories of overthinking and struggling to please others, wh

S7E54: Gamification for Motivation using Classcraft

Oct 25th, 2023 1h 5m

Guest: Leslee Mizen-Stroud, Middle School Social Studies Teacher In this episode, Brit gets all the details on how Leslee is leveling up her teaching game with Classcraft! This edtech gem is a gamified tool that even non-gamers can rock with th

S7E53: Getting Candid: Grading and Teacher Credibility

Sep 20th, 2023 1h 3m

Guests: Trisha Shores & Marcus Hire, High School English and Social Science Teachers and Instructional Coaches In this episode, we discussed the intersection of teacher credibility and grading practices and beliefs, namely what it takes to shif

S7E52: Building Community & Confidence with Younger Students

Sep 4th, 2023 56m

Guest: Jammie Zimmer, Second Grade Teacher Joining Wendy for this podcast is Jammie Zimmer, a second grade teacher who excels at Building Community and Connection. Although she teaches young children, many of her ideas can easily be transferred

S7E51: Perspectives on Teaching: Just Give Them a Pencil!

Aug 7th, 2023 1h 4m

Guests: Brit Bingold, Julia Salce, and Wendy Peterson Our Professional Growth Instructional Specialists are 'put on the spot' as they discuss perspectives on teaching from veteran teachers. Listen to learn, be entertained, and "give 'them' a pe

S6E50: Purposeful Classroom Movement

Apr 3rd, 2023 1h

Guest: Jordan Hall, Instructional Coach In this episode, Jordan and Brit celebrate episode 50 with one of our essential instructional routines: MOVEMENT! We discuss how purposeful movement utilizes strategies that allow students to move while p

S6E49: Say, Do, Make, Write: Opportunities for Formative Assessment

Mar 13th, 2023 54m 26s

Guest: Julia Salce, Instructional Specialist In this episode, we 'unlock' formative assessment by discussing it through an instructional lens. How can educators provide students opportunities to say, do, make, or write, thus allowing teachers

S6E48: Strategies for Effective Cooperative Learning

Feb 20th, 2023 57m 43s

Guest: Shannon Jauregui, High School English Teacher In this episode, Shannon and Brit share their love for Kagan cooperative learning strategies and how to use them intentionally in the classroom. Want to learn more? Kagan Structures: A Mira

S6E47: Rethinking Note-Taking

Feb 6th, 2023 49m 38s

Guest: Trish Smith, 8th Grade Social Sciences Teacher In this episode, Trish shares with Brit how she leverages different types of note-taking in her classroom to help her students comprehend the material and remember what they have learned to

S6E46: Elephants in the Classroom

Jan 23rd, 2023 59m 16s

Guest: Wendy Peterson In this episode, Brit and Wendy discuss two of John Hattie's highest rankings: Teacher Estimates of Student Achievement and Collective Teacher Efficacy. Despite their high effect sizes, both harbor "elephants" in the class

S5E45: Critical Wait Time Part 2

Dec 5th, 2022 46m 50s

Guest: Julia Salce, Instructional Specialist In this episode, Julia & Brit continue their conversation about using wait time in the classroom and its powerful effects on teachers. They also suggest strategies for Wait Time 1 & Wait Time 2. Wa

S5E44: Critical Wait Time Part 1

Nov 14th, 2022 54m 16s

Guest: Julia Salce, M.Ed, NBCT & Instructional Specialist In this episode, Julia and Brit GEEK OUT over their new learning about "wait time." We chat about how the brain learns through a "race-car vs. hiker brain" analogy and reveal how crucia

S5E43: Burning SPED Questions Answered

Oct 31st, 2022 57m 7s

Guests: Courtney McIntosh and Jennifer Reagan, Special Education Coordinators In this episode, Courtney and Jen answer four commonly asked questions from general education teachers about special education, including the similarities and differe

S5E42: Collecting Frequent 'Kid Data'

Oct 17th, 2022 58m 30s

Guest: Lindsay Wilson, Instructional Coach In this episode, Lindsay shares two strategies that create frequent opportunities to collect student classroom data that will help teachers make data driven decisions in their classrooms. Want more? He

S5E41: Instructional Tech Tools for '22

Sep 19th, 2022 59m 47s

Guest: Shawn Abele, District Technology Coordinator In this episode, Shawn shares several great tips and technology tools to assist students and teachers. We discuss how to use tech for engagement, efficiency, and ease. Other top tools from Sh

S5E40: Strategies that Fuel the Brain

Sep 5th, 2022 1h 7m

Guest: Julia Salce, Instructional Specialist In this episode, Julia and I chat about the ways the brain learns and how and WHY the 'link-it-learn-it-log-it' strategy for note-taking and the 'blind brain dump' strategy for retrieval practice he

S5E39: Student-Centered Coaching

Aug 22nd, 2022 54m 47s

Guests: Sarah Erhart, Ayn Kelly-Harris, Tammie Borden, and Wendy Peterson In this episode, a few of our district instruction coaches stopped by to discuss the role of an instructional coach and explain how coaches are an essential part of stud

S4E38: A Culture of REFLECTion

May 23rd, 2022 50m 19s

Guests: Julia Salce and Wendy Peterson, Instructional Specialists In this season finale, we discuss the last domain of our district Instructional Framework. The Reflect domain wraps of the mini-series we have done within Season 4. Want to know

S4E37: Instructional Book Tasting

Apr 11th, 2022 1h 16m

Guests: Julia Salce and Wendy Peterson In this episode, we chat about what we are currently reading and provide a 'taste' of each instructional book and what it has to offer educators. Instructional Books Discussed: Uncommon Sense Teaching b

S4E36: ASSESSment in ACTION

Apr 4th, 2022 59m 3s

Guests: Wendy Peterson and Julia Salce In this episode, the three of us dive into different types of assessment and how they each impact learning. We also discuss how to create a feedback-friendly culture in the classroom. Want to know more? B

S4E35: Painless Pivots for 4th Quarter

Mar 14th, 2022 1h 2m

Guests: Julia Salce and Wendy Peterson In this episode, we face “the beginning of the end” of this school year by unlocking three ways to painlessly pivot in order to wrap up this quarter in a positive and productive way. Want to learn more? "T

S4E34: Revisiting the Importance of ALEs

Mar 1st, 2022 1h 11m

Today’s episode is from season 1, episode 7 on Creating Active Learning Experiences. In this episode, Julia Salce debunks the myths of direct instruction and discusses the high-impact of blending short bursts of instruction with active learnin

S4E33: Quality Test Prep

Feb 14th, 2022 1h 7m

Guests: Julia Salce & Wendy Peterson, Instructional Specialists Gilbert Public Schools Professional Growth & Development As we enter into "testing season," we address high-stakes test preparation. In the episode, we dive into the "dos" and "don

Preparing for a Substitute F.A.S.T

Jan 31st, 2022 59m 55s

Guests: Wendy Peterson and Julia Salce Instructional Specialists, Gilbert Public Schools In this episode, we chat about creating effective and efficient substitute plans and discuss ways to make this process more beneficial all. Want our easy-