Best Betsy Potash Podcasts (2024)

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292: Try the Sesame Street Quiz (5 Different Ways) 4:29

1d ago4:29

4:29

Today, I want to highlight a useful tool Amanda Cardenas shared earlier this year on the show called The Sesame Street Quiz. It’s so versatile, so fun, and so helpful that I feel it deserves a show of its own, so here we go. Amanda has already shared with us how these work, back in episode 267. Here’s a quick review: A Sesame Street Quiz gives stud…

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291: When Genius Hour WORKS (The Elective Series) 29:14

3d ago29:14

29:14

Have you ever wished you could get students excited about genius hour, then immediately wondered what you’d do if half of them couldn’t think of a topic? Well, today on the podcast, creative teacher Melissa Moser is here to talk about one of her favorite electives to teach - Genius Hour, and exactly how she sets students up for success - even the o…

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290: Try this Hack to Teach Varied Sentence Structure 5:00

8d ago5:00

5:00

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for this week’s mini episode. Today, I want to share a fun visual trick for helping students vary their sentence structure.…

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289: How to Launch Book Talk Podcasts in Class 10:00

10d ago10:00

10:00

Book talk podcasts can provide gentle choice reading accountability, target presentation of knowledge and speaking skills, and build a library of book recommendations for future students. Not bad, right? Today on the podcast I'm going to walk you through how to launch a book talk podcast with your students, and why it will be fantastic. Example Scr…

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288: A Lesser-Known Amanda Gorman Gem 5:07

15d ago5:07

5:07

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for this week’s mini episode. Today, as earth day inches closer, I want to share a favorite find, Amanda Gorman’s video poe…

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277: How Erica Used the AI PBL Project to give her Students Voice 28:40

17d ago28:40

28:40

It’s never a bad thing when your classroom innovation lands you at a press conference with your state’s department of education! That’s what happened to today’s guest, Erica Kempf. She decided to try out the project-based-learning unit I designed about the ethical use of artificial intelligence, and along the way she and her students made it their …

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276: Let All Books Count: A Tale of Two Kids 3:36

22d ago3:36

3:36

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for this week’s mini episode. Today, I want to talk about a much-debated subject - when it comes to choice reading, what co…

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275: Teaching SciFi & Fantasy (The Elective Series continues) 13:26

24d ago13:26

13:26

We’re about to dive into an elective that combines Beowulf, The Hobbit, Ursula Leguin, graphic novels, and contemporary YA! What holds all these threads together? That’s what repeat guest and creative teacher Caitlin Lore is about to tell you as we continue our series on creative electives across the country. Get ready for the big reveal in just a …

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274: Using Students’ Love of Youtube to our ELA Advantage 3:02

29d ago3:02

3:02

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for this week’s mini episode. Today, I want to talk about Youtube, and how we can use students’ love for it to our ELA adva…

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273: First Chapter Friday: Nancy Tandon Reads 7:15

1M ago7:15

7:15

Welcome to the author spotlight series at Spark Creativity. In this series, you’ll hear from authors sharing their work directly into your classroom. So sit back and listen in. Today we’re hearing from Nancy Tandon, reading from her book, The Way I Say It. Nancy has worked as an elementary school teacher, a speech-language pathologist, and an adjun…

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272: You Need to Know about this Short Story 6:20

1M ago6:20

6:20

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for today’s edition of “Highly Recommended.” Today, let’s talk Ken Liu’s short story, “The Paper Menagerie,” one of the bes…

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271: #Bookface is Well Worth a Look 9:49

1M ago9:49

9:49

You know how we feel here at Spark Creativity about Book PR. Basically it's the best. We're all about bookish posters, displays, podcasts, guest readers, First Chapter Fridays, book trailer Tuesdays, and book tastings. If it helps kids get excited about books, we're all in! Recently I saw a lovely post over in my Creative High School English Facebo…

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270: Try a March Madness Poetry Bracket 5:14

1M ago5:14

5:14

Today, let’s talk about March Madness, and how to harness all that awesome enthusiasm to get your students excited about poetry. Last year I worked with Melissa Alter Smith from #teachlivingpoets to create a March Madness bracket for The Lighthouse, and I learned a lot from her in the process! This is such a fun and easy way to bring more voices in…

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269: Teaching Research to Digital Natives 9:55

2M ago9:55

9:55

Remember when research projects involved stacks of books and notecards? Yeah, me too. But we all know research has changed. I recently finished a couple of pedagogy books for English teachers - one by Angela Stockman on designing inclusive spaces for writers, and another by Katie Novak on Universal Design for Learning in the English classroom. And …

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268: Try These Google Translate Tools in Class 2:55

2M ago2:55

2:55

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for today’s edition of “Highly Recommended.” This week, I want to make sure you know just how amazing the Google Translate …

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267: So your Students aren't Doing the Reading? Here's Help. 36:10

2M ago36:10

36:10

Today on the podcast, we’re sitting down with Amanda Cardenas to talk about a very big question. A huge question, really. What can teachers do when students aren’t doing the reading? And is reading out loud the majority of our texts the answer? Spoiler alert, we both can completely understand how this would seem like the answer, but in the long run…

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266: Summer PD that Delivers 6:11

2M ago6:11

6:11

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for today’s edition of “Highly Recommended.” This week, let’s talk about some of the best summer PD options out there. Firs…

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265: Teaching Conversation in a Polarized World (The Elective Series Begins) 17:30

2M ago17:30

17:30

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about electives. Electives I want to design, like one about Youtube creation and one about Taylor Swift, and the amazing electives teachers in our community are designing and teaching around the world. So of course I’m really excited that today on the podcast we’ve got the first show in a new series about creative el…

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264: Launch Tiny Podcasts (don't be intimidated) 3:31

2M ago3:31

3:31

Welcome to the Thursday edition of The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast, a podcast for English teachers in search of creative teaching strategies. Whether you’re new to the show or a long-time listener, I’m so glad you’re here for today’s edition of “Highly Recommended.” This week, I want to suggest you take the plunge and help your students create…

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263: Let's Reimagine the "Teacher Work Room" 17:54

2M ago17:54

17:54

Ahh, the hum of fluorescent lighting. The slightly stained carpeting. The copier that is almost-if-not-already-out-of-paper. The dirty coffee cups. It's no secret that at many schools, the common teacher workspace isn't exactly inviting. No one really seems to be in charge of it, no resources really seem to be allocated toward it, and no one has ti…

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262: Let Students Design Escape Rooms 1:48

2M ago1:48

1:48

This week, I want to suggest you let your students design an escape room. Escape rooms are, in the iconic words of Zoolander, so hot right now. And they have been for years. Students love them! Who wouldn’t want to learn while exploring mysterious clues and piecing together puzzles? The problem is, they take a little bit of forever to create. We’ve…

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261: Skill Practice that Isn't Boring: Grammar Edition 14:12

2M ago14:12

14:12

So you want your students to get better at something, but drill-and-kill is clearly not the answer. Been there, done that, didn't like it. So what's a creative teacher to do? Today I'm going to pull an example of a grammar skill and walk through five different ways to practice it without those groans you dread. While the skill I'm zooming in on may…

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260: Try this Super Bowl Activity for Rhetorical Analysis that's Fun 3:27

3M ago3:27

3:27

This week, I want to share a great way to tie rhetorical analysis into the upcoming Superbowl. First things first, we know this Superbowl has a hilarious additional wrinkle, in that the world is excited to watch not only the game, but Taylor Swift attending the game. That extra detail may help more students be interested in a Superbowl-related acti…

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259: First Chapter Friday: Matt de la Peña Reads 14:14

3M ago14:14

14:14

Welcome to the second episode of the author spotlight series here at Spark Creativity! In this series, you’ll hear from authors sharing their work directly into your classroom. Today we’re hearing from Matt de la Peña reading his short story "How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium," f…

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258: A Simple Trick for a Better Discussion 3:42

3M ago3:42

3:42

This week, I want to share a quick way to help make your next discussion better. The next time you plan a discussion in class, start it off with this quick warm up. Invite every student to write an open-ended question about the reading or the current book at the top of their notes. Then ask them to pass their notebook to the left and let their neig…

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257: Build a Common Errors Hyperdoc to Dramatically Speed up Grading 11:09

3M ago11:09

11:09

We've been talking this month about the paper pile. The work bag shadow. The stack of essays you just might have taken to the ice cream social/Superbowl party/beach vacation/bar/hospital... Today I want to share a strategy I honestly think every teacher can use to save time on grading and actually help kids improve their writing more. This episode …

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256: Highly Recommended: Try a Pancake Project (It's Not About The Pancakes!) 4:24

3M ago4:24

4:24

This week, I want to tell you a story about pancakes. You might know I love to cook and bake. My instagram stories feature enough pan-banging cookie demonstrations, bread-baking Sundays, and chocolate donut dipping and sprinkling to show my secret food blogger tendencies. So of course, I have a treasured pancake recipe, and my family loves a good w…

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255: How to Set Up Self-Editing Stations 14:54

3M ago14:54

14:54

I'll never forget the "C" I got on my first English paper in college. I was walking across the quad in the warm eucalyptus-scented California air when I confidently pulled my paper from my bag to look at the comments. The day suddenly slid into grayscale as I saw my grade. After a lifetime of "A" and "Great job" written at the bottom of every paper…

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254: Highly Recommended: Try This For Black History Month 3:10

3M ago3:10

3:10

This week, I want to share a quick resource to help you celebrate Black Artists and Authors in your classroom next month. Last year I started a project to create heritage displays you can use in your classroom throughout the year for special months like Black History month, Women’s History month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, …

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253: No More Taking Grading Everywhere you Go 22:46

3M ago22:46

22:46

I recently polled our community on Instagram about the paper pile. Because let's face it, it's a huge part of an English teacher's life. How many papers will you assign? How will you grade them? When will you grade them? These become defining questions. I heard from teachers who have graded papers at an ice cream social, at the bar, at a Superbowl …

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252: The First Chapter Friday Series: Megan E. Freeman reads from Alone 12:23

4M ago12:23

12:23

Welcome to the first episode of the author spotlight series here at Spark Creativity! In this series, you’ll hear from authors sharing their work directly into your classroom. Today we’re hearing from Megan E. Freeman, reading from her book, Alone. Stay tuned throughout the year to hear from many more wonderful authors, including Matt de la Peña, P…

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251: Highly Recommended: My Favorite Planner Routine 7:50

4M ago7:50

7:50

This week, I want to share the daily planning routine that is working better for me this year than anything I’ve ever done. Figuring out how to approach time when it seems that there is never enough can make a big difference in how you feel about your day, and that’s why I think a simple thing like a planner routine that feels really helpful is wor…

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250: Fire up your Choice Reading Program, with Abby Gross 31:00

4M ago31:00

31:00

Today on the podcast, we're sitting down with Abby Gross from Write on with Miss G, who has become known for her thriving reading program and the wonderful tools she has developed to support other teachers with their own reading programs. After spending the first part of her career teaching high school English, Abby unexpectedly fell in love with t…

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249: Highly Recommended: Make Over your Work Space 4:04

4M ago4:04

4:04

This week I want to talk about your work space and why it matters that you love it. Do you remember having a locker in middle school? Remember taping pictures all over the door, adding one of those rectangular magnetic mirrors, maybe a little pink plastic basket with gum and lifesavers? Setting up my locker was so important to me those days, and I …

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248: A Simple Solution To The First Day Back 6:42

4M ago6:42

6:42

There's nothing quite like knowing exactly what you're going to do on the first day back after break as you cruise into the winter vacation. Giving yourself that mental cushion means that maybe when you wake up in the middle of the night over break, you can think about what cookies you want to make in the morning and which book you want to read by …

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247: Highly Recommended: This Book Project Kids Like 2:40

4M ago2:40

2:40

This week I want to talk about the literary food truck project and why it’s time to try it if you haven’t yet! Since I designed this project many years ago, I’ve heard from sooo many teachers about how well it worked for them as an engaging AND analytical way to wrap up their choice reading or book club unit. I got three lovely notes from teachers …

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246: Inspire Winter Break Reading with a Book Tasting Now 8:41

5M ago8:41

8:41

Did you know that in Iceland they have a special holiday tradition called "Book Flood" on Christmas eve? People gift each other books, then relax and read them while drinking hot cocoa or eating holiday chocolate. Isn't that just the best idea? I love it. This year I want to suggest you help your students have a book flood of their own, by making s…

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245: Highly Recommended: "Sketchnote Fever" 4:15

5M ago4:15

4:15

This week I want to talk what to do if you're trying to help your students take advantage of the benefits of sketchnotes but they're stuck. We’re going to dig into a special video series by Sylvia Duckworth called “Sketchnote Fever” and how it can help. Students often struggle at first with sketchnotes, because they feel ill-equipped to add icons a…

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244: Creative Winter Poetry Activities for ELA 16:24

5M ago16:24

16:24

The week before winter break can be a great time for wintery poetry. A mini-unit like this is flexible, seasonal, and easy to fit around whatever else is going on in those final (frantic? fun? festive?) days. You may have favorites of your own to incorporate, but today I just want to share three quick and creative ideas for your toolkit. #1: Winter…

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243: Highly Recommended: The Chunk-and-Schedule Method 5:39

5M ago5:39

5:39

This week I want to share a productivity tip that has changed my life in ways large and small. Three years ago we were all in the heart of a pandemic. My children were very young - five and eight. My mom was sick. There was a lot of pressure on our family, as there was on pretty much every family. I had been sharing teaching ideas on this podcast a…

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242: Building Better Book Clubs, with Martina Cahill 21:54

5M ago21:54

21:54

Today on the podcast, we’re sitting down with Martina Cahill, who goes by The Hungry Teacher online. One of her great gifts is helping middle school ELA teachers rock it with choice reading and book clubs, though I believe a lot of what she teaches can easily apply to high school too, especially when it comes to cultivating a culture of reading, tr…

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241: Highly Recommended: Reframe Argument like This for Students 4:31

5M ago4:31

4:31

This week I want to talk about argument, and why it seems so esoteric to kids when they learn about it at school, and so relevant when they watch it unfold on their screens. This week a member of our Lighthouse community threw out a question - is the five paragraph essay dead? It really got me thinking about my experience as someone who basically w…

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240: Easy Ways to use Performance Poetry in ELA (and why you Should!) 20:17

5M ago20:17

20:17

When it comes to an engaging poetry unit, I believe the #1 building block is performance. There's something about watching contemporary poets stand up and deliver their work that is undeniably engaging. Kids might hate the piece they see performed. They might love it. They might feel their skin crawl watching it because they think the poet is so aw…

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239: Highly Recommended: Use One-Pagers as a Creative Gateway 4:51

5M ago4:51

4:51

This week I want to talk about how one-pagers can be a powerful gateway to creative options in your classroom. Let’s start with the one-pager basics. A one-pager allows students to express their takeaways from, well, just about anything, on a single paper through a combination of words and images. A one-pager can includes quotations, analysis, key …

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238: Let me Plan your ELA Lessons the Week before Thanksgiving 11:44

5M ago11:44

11:44

The week before Thanksgiving it's easy to feel a little scattered! For teachers AND students. It can be nice to take a break from your main unit and focus on some activities that still promote ELA skills but give kids something freshly engaging to focus on. Since I imagine your attention is a bit divided at the moment between lesson planning, menu …

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237: Highly Recommended: Don't Grade it All 6:48

6M ago6:48

6:48

This week I want to share advice I only wish someone had given me long ago - don’t grade everything your students create in class. It’s easy to feel pressure to put a grade on everything students make. They often come in expecting to see a letter on top of every single piece of paper they create for you. But ew. It’s impossible to keep up, and it d…

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236: When your Students just... Don't Care 18:52

6M ago18:52

18:52

We've all been there. You walk into a class, unveil your lesson plan with all the joy and care of a museum curator lifting the veil on a new Van Gogh, and your students just... don't care. They've got their own problems. Their own stresses. They decided in 4th grade they didn't like reading. In 5th grade that they "weren't creative." In 7th grade t…

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235: Highly Recommended: Gene Luen Yang's Ted Talk 2:44

6M ago2:44

2:44

I want you to watch Gene Luen Yang's Ted talk called “Comics Belong in the Classroom!” Here's why. It's a hilarious look at why comics are such a powerful medium for our students, how they accidentally got classified as a negative influence on young people (with totally false evidence) and the power they can actually wield for good - Avengers-style…

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234: Closing the Opportunity Gap, with Reid Saaris 30:50

6M ago30:50

30:50

Today on the podcast, we’re joined by education leader Reid Saaris. He’s the founder of Equal Opportunity Schools, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that students of all backgrounds have opportunities to succeed at the highest levels. He is an Echoing Green, a Draper Richards Kaplan, and a Stanford Social Innovation Fellow, and has advised federal,…

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233: Highly Recommended: Teach Living Poets 3:13

6M ago3:13

3:13

This week I want to share a wonderful website and resource with you, Melissa Alter Smith’s brainchild, Teach Living Poets. When I first started teaching poetry, it couldn’t have been clearer to me that students needed modern poets to relate to. Though we eventually enjoyed unpacking poems like Wallace Stevens’ “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” t…

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