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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 pod ...
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Raising the Bar: Exploring Rigor in the Classroom
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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 lo…
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Today we discuss being a mentor in the classroom to prospective teacher candidates.By Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans
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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.…
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In today's episode Natalie, Rachel, and Jamie talk about adding another mode to projects with students.By Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans
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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 bel…
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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!By Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans
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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.By Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans
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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 student…
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Thinking About ChromeBooks in The Classroom
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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.By Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans
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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 student…
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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…
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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…
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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 classr…
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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, …
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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 stu…
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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 we…
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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 occurr…
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Exploring the answer to “When Do I Use Essays, Short Answer, Or Multiple Choice In Assessment?”
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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…
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Exploring the question “When Do I Use Essays, Short Answer, Or Multiple Choice In Assessment?”
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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 i…
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Reflections on Starting The 2021 School Year
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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…
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How To Teach A Whole Novel: Answer Discussion
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After considering the many challenges and insecurities teachers face when teaching a novel, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel discuss how they tackle teaching a novel. Their conversation focuses on trusting your instincts, using a consistent method or means for students to track their understandings throughout the novel, and the importance of teaching wha…
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On this episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel discuss the insecurities and questions teachers face when teaching a novel. Together they consider the challenges of how to decide what to teach in a novel, the pacing, and the balance of reading and pausing to do projects. As they discussed, they also address the underlying insecurities that come with te…
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Exploring the answer “How Do I Build Community, Set Expectations, And Engage Students With Course Content During The First Two Weeks Of School?”
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After discussing the challenges of the first two weeks, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel share some of their approaches to the first few weeks of school. Natalie talks about the importance of sharing the purpose behind classroom expectations and holding students to those expectations. Rachel shares a community building activity that also serves to create…
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How Do I Build Community, Set Expectations, and Engage Students With Course Content During the First Two Weeks Of School?
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Starting the school year can be a daunting task. Within a short amount of time, teachers are challenged with creating a classroom culture that sets the tone for the school year. Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel discuss why creating expectations and community in a classroom is such a daunting task. Their conversation discusses the importance of viewing cl…
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How Can We Use Front-loading to Introduce Rather Than Answer?
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In this episode, Jamie expounds upon the idea of frontloading before reading a class text. If reading is meant to be a learning, exploratory, and organic process, what is the purpose of frontloading before students read a text? Jamie discusses her philosophy of providing students with broad historical and contextual details and waiting to discuss o…
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Exploring the Answer: “How can I help students see themselves as readers?”
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After considering the myriad of challenges facing teachers as they seek to promote an environment that encourages students to read, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel discuss solutions they’ve found helpful in their own teaching practices. Jamie considers the teacher’s perspective and how to position content in the classroom, Natalie discusses her independ…
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How Can I Help Students See Themselves As Readers?
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On today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel consider the question, “how can I help students see themselves as readers?” Helping students create a reader identity, combatting pessimistic views towards reading, and bolstering engagement with classroom content are all challenges that teachers face in their classrooms. This conversation addresses th…
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Reflections from the Year: Teaching During a Pandemic
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Teaching during the 2020-2021 school year was a challenge. As summer approaches, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel reflect on the year and consider how they would like to move forward. They discuss the obstacles of ever-changing schedules, teaching without their usual bag of tricks, and some of the issues in school systems which were highlighted by COVID.…
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Exploring the Answer: “How do I incorporate writing more regularly in my classroom?"
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Today, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel consider solutions to the question, “How do I incorporate writing more regularly in my classroom?” They consider how to use standards, timing, student experiences, and the length of assignments to craft meaningful writing assignments. This conversation explores how regular writing routines, thoughtful unit planning…
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Exploring the Question: “How do I incorporate writing more regularly in my classroom?"
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As teachers, we are surrounded with questions from students, colleagues, and ourselves (just to name a few sources). On today’s podcast, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel take a moment to unpack the question, “How do I incorporate writing more regularly in my classroom?” What do we mean when we use the word “writing”? How do standards, content, and studen…
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Every story needs an introduction, right? In this episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tell their stories. They discuss what led them to the classroom, what makes them passionate about teaching, and what their vision is for Teachers Changing Teaching. Plus, how a COVID summer and time on Jamie’s back porch inspired us to focus on our strengths. Toda…
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One of the most challenging aspects of teaching in the first few years is navigating how to unit plan in a way that covers the standards, encourages creativity, and assesses student learning. In this episode, Natalie and Rachel discuss how they use essential questions, standards, and assessment to guide their day-to-day lessons in a way that meanin…
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This week, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel discuss building community at school and simplifying the meaning making process. Natalie shares how her beliefs lead to joy, simplicity, and optimism in her classroom. Rachel shares a podcast project she created based on one of her values: community. Plus, why you might need a Mountain Poetry Phase. Today at sc…
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