The Teachers' Classroom

You know how every once in a while you cross paths with someone and you wonder why you’ve never met this person before? In this episode of The Teachers’ Classroom, we are going to take a slight detour so that I can introduce you to Kim Darche who is definitely someone you should know.

Anger is one of the most common human emotions and one that educators often face from other people, whether parents, colleagues, or community members. Understanding what anger is from a physiological standpoint, how we receive anger, and then how we can best deal with the anger of others helps us to maintain control of our lives and sanity.

The teacher, substitute teacher, and administrator shortage continues to cause classes to be cancelled or filled by unqualified people. Dr. Jim Rosborg, long-time educator in Illinois, discusses the history of teacher certification as well as the poor choices that have been made. This is a republishing of the most-listened to episode on this podcast with an update on developments since the original publication.

As educators empower students with personalized learning and problem-based learning, we need to make sure that their opinion matters. In this episode, Desiree Alexander defines Student Voice, how it differs from Student Choice, and how teachers and schools can start hearing their students' voices.

Digital Equity in schools involves many different conversations, from big-picture politics to families and their access to - and knowledge about - technology used for learning. Dr. Beth Holland from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and Mindy Fiscus from the Illinois Learning Technology Center discuss what digital equity conversations are going on at both the national and state level before we dig down to talk about what schools and teachers can do to ensure equity within their classrooms.

Sometimes the people you meet by being a Connected Educator help you with a single question. Others remain long-term collaborators, like Rae Fearing with Matt Weld's NoWorksheetWeek project. In this episode, Rae and Matt talk about teaching, leadership, technology, NGSS, Google Innovators, and more.

Positive relationships between students and teachers solve both discipline and instructional challenges while making the classroom experience even more rewarding for everyone. Kiera Vargas gives concrete methods on how to form positive relationships with students.

In a continuation of our 'What Do They Do?" series, host Matt Weld of TeachIllinois talks to two IL school superintendents about their roles and responsibilities. Their answers may not be what you'd expect.

Two college students talk about how they teach forgiveness - what it is and steps to getting there - to incarcerated youth. They discuss the different forms of forgiveness including re-forgiveness, something we all need to practice.

What are the most compassionate responses to students immediately following a traumatic situation, and how that compassion extends into the long term? Real do's and don'ts from an expert in navigating traumatic events. We're publishing this Bonus Episode in response to the uptick in student deaths we have seen in our region this season.

There's a difference between advice and feedback, and there are ways to work smarter not harder. In this episode, Amy Mayer, a nationally known speaker and Google professional development guru, shares her secrets to quickly providing feedback that is personally relevant to students.

As schools become aware of the importance on their brand and how their presence on social media can drive the brand and the culture of their buildings, it's important to understand what makes good content. Taylor Siebert of ClassIntercom is an entrepreneur from Nebraska who has found that through servant leadership, working hard comes naturally, with connections that actually hold value.

More often than not, people in helping professions are experiencing Role Creep, where they are expected to do more than what the job description outlines. In order to maintain the mental health of everyone in schools, we talk about possible shifts in new teacher training as well as pre-emptive resilience training and the importance of friends.

Part of being in a helping profession such as teaching is responding to others' behaviors. Add to that the lurking specter of disaster in which we are responsible for the safety of 30 children plus students at once, plus the long work hours, and it's the recipe for a traumatic response on the part of the educator. This episode with our Professional Crisis Tamer discusses the cognitive and emotional components of a crisis, Moral Distress, and Compassion Fatigue.

Two high school students discuss how they started a business in 5th grade and have grown it into a national voice for Minecraft in Education. They share some of their biggest lessons learned when starting a business, such as the importance of contacts as well as how Minecraft can - and should - be used in every classroom starting in first grade.

In which I follow my own advice, become vulnerable, and put my learning out there for all to share in the hopes that others may find a tidbit to spark an interest. I muse about gender, mindfulness, decision making, trends in conferences, and multipotentiality. We're all in this great profession called education to share and learn from each other.

O'Fallon, IL District #90 Board President John Wagnon has been a board member since 2013 and president since 2015. In this episode, he explains the purpose of the BOE, its role with the superintendent, as well as some responsibilities that came as a surprise to him.

Every school has a brand. Every school should celebrate the great ways they are keeping their promise to educate and nurture the community's kids. Joe Sanfelippo talks about how his district uses social media with intention to communicate their story to their families and to the world.

Shawn McCusker of EdTechTeacher and co-host of the 'So We've Been Thinking' podcast joins the show to chat about the power of podcasting, his story of starting a podcast with his co-host, and details on how his show actually comes together.

New Athens High School teacher Kyla Patton has studied with John Maxwell, leads PD sessions for her district, and understands that teaching and coaching become transformative when you focus on the person. In this episode, she shares some of her routines and resources.