Teachers Changing Teaching
Veteran teacher Dr. Jamie Collins and novice teachers Natalie Davey and Rachel Evans discuss the challenges, joys, and practicalities of teaching in the English classroom. We believe there’s beauty in storytelling, there’s beauty in reading, and there’s beauty in learning. Sometimes, though, the beauty is difficult to see through the things that make teaching difficult: isolation, a mountain of expectations, complicated school systems, and finding the best ways to teach students. In this podcast, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel talk realistically about those challenges and the motley of factors that contribute to them. Then, they offer solutions. The goal? A community of empowered teachers.
Episodes
Throughout the series, we will examine the role of technology in promoting rigor, the benefits and challenges of rigor, and the importance of differentiating instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. We will also explore ways to assess and measure rigor in the classroom and how to use data to drive instruction.
Whether you are a teacher looking to enhance your instructional practices or a parent interested in supp...
Today we discuss being a mentor in the classroom to prospective teacher candidates.
Our hosts had the opportunity to present at a conference at John Brown University and host a Q&A around their experiences hosting and producing a podcast for teachers. Here is the raw audio from the presentation. We hope you enjoy listening to the process we've gone through to create this podcast for teachers. It's been transformative.
In today's episode Natalie, Rachel, and Jamie talk about adding another mode to projects with students.
In a follow-up episode to “Thinkin’ About Part 1,” Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share their experience of moving away from the use of individual student devices in the classroom. What have they discovered? Focused work, more assignments submitted, easier grading, and the music of rustling papers.
Today at school, consider this: What lies have you believed about yourself and your teaching? What are you good at? What are your...
Natalie sits down with Jamie to discuss leading the student council program at the school where she teaches. This section is geared towards those who do not have student council as an elective. Enjoy!
Today on the show Natalie shares her experience leading Student Council at her school. If you are in charge or helping with StuCo at your school this episode will help guide you. We hope you enjoy this 2 part series on StuCo.
In today’s episode, the tables are turned as Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel ask upcoming teachers Val and Eden what excites them about teaching, what intimidates them most, what the purpose of school is, and what their personal teaching philosophy is. Val shares her thinking around classroom management, and Eden encourages teachers not to limit students’ interests based on teacher expectations. The conversation is a refreshing call to ...
In today’s episode, Jamie asks Rachel and Natalie to identify something that she keeps “thinking about” as they teach. Rachel discusses her feelings about technology, specifically ChromeBooks, in the classroom.
In today’s episode, the tables are turned as Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel ask upcoming teachers Val and Eden what excites them about teaching, what intimidates them most, what the purpose of school is, and what their personal teaching philosophy is. Val shares her thinking around classroom management, and Eden encourages teachers not to limit students’ interests based on teacher expectations. The conversation is a refreshing call to ...
In today’s episode, Val Harder and Eden Hinton, preservice teachers and undergraduate students who are completing their teaching degrees, ask Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel their pressing questions as they consider setting up their own classrooms for the first time. The teachers discuss classroom management, grading, and the “why” behind teaching. They go on to talk about maintaining a work-life balance, engaging students in reading, a...
In today’s episode, Val Harder and Eden Hinton, preservice teachers and undergraduate students who are completing their teaching degrees, ask Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel their pressing questions as they consider setting up their own classrooms for the first time. The teachers discuss classroom management, grading, and the “why” behind teaching. They go on to talk about maintaining a work-life balance, engaging students in reading, a...
In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel analyze “The Mower” by Philip Larkin. The conversation starts by Natalie asking, “What do you notice?” The poem then leads to discussions about grief, nature, punctuation, imagery, and kindness. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel also consider the best way to follow-up close readings and analysis in the classroom. In this impromptu analysis, the hope is that you would be inspired to tackle poe...
In this very special episode, the Teachers Changing Teaching producer, Russ, makes a guest appearance! In the English World, there is often a sense of mystery, elusiveness, and aloofness surrounding poetry. Russ shares about an experience he had writing poetry in class. This leads to a conversation about the perceptions of poetry in school. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share about their own hesitations surrounding poetry and the p...
Based on our previous conversation about frontloading (Episode 9 - “Frontloading”), Rachel follows students’ curiosity while introducing Romeo and Juliet. Her students came up with a list of intriguing and eclectic questions. The question today: So now what? In an on-the-spot lesson planning session, Jamie and Natalie share ideas for how to use students’ questions in instruction. Along the way, they discuss the importance of ...
What’s the easiest thing for three English teachers to talk about? Books. In today’s episode, Rachel asked what everyone has been reading, what’s been inspiring, and what types of readers we are. As those who want to encourage students to find their own reading identity, the three women discussed how they help students think about these items as well.
Today at School: Make a list of books that inspire you. Read those.
We’ve all been there: the moment where you realize you’re overcomplicating what should be simple. Too often in teaching, we spend so much time in the planning process that we actually end up doing most of the learning for our students. In today’s episode, Natalie explains what a “tape moment is,” Rachel gives an example of a tape moment that occurred recently, and Jamie discusses the philosophical reasons for why teachers desire...
The Answer to: In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tackle the dreaded topic of assessment. Specifically, they wonder which form of assessment to use and how to philosophically align them with instruction. The conversation also quickly turned to a larger discussion about what our teaching and learning is helping us to understand about our students and if that translates to our assessments. The three also discuss the chall...
In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tackle the dreaded topic of assessment. Specifically, they wonder which form of assessment to use and how to philosophically align them with instruction. The conversation also quickly turned to a larger discussion about what our teaching and learning is helping us to understand about our students and if that translates to our assessments. The three also discuss the challenges with each...
Now that the 2021/2022 year has begun, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel reflect on their first weeks back. They each share what has been encouraging to them and what brings them joy during these exhausting first days. In the midst of fatigue, they all agree that getting to be with students is the very best thing.
Today at school, consider this: What made you joyful after the first few weeks of school? What excites you about the...
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