Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  

This episode goes deeper into the qualities of a warm demander.  We talk about encourage productive struggle and teaching with rigor according to the science of learning.

We dive into the brain science of learning and how to strengthen pathways for deeper connection and higher learning.  We also tap into how to recover from a lesson that bombed!  Yes, you planned well.  Yes, you aligned the standards.  Yes, you gave it your all, but something just didn't stick.  I provide some ideas for how to recover with soul and encourage productive struggle.

Remember, the goal of culturally responsive teaching is to close instructional equity gap.  The only way to do so is to teach cognitive routines as habits of mind that focus on the process of learning so that the skill set naturally sticks to whatever content is being presented.


Additional Resources (click the highlighted text to access resource): 

1. FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator. 

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