Teacher's Aid

In this episode, we pause to examine the seemingly endless minor and high-stakes decisions that we need to make in our classrooms every day. Listen in as we identify ways to manage the decision fatigue that some feel. Follow on Twitter: @katyfarber @Non_Toxic_Kids @dubioseducator @drchriscip @Jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork Dr. Katy Farber is a classroom educator and writer from Vermont. She has written and co-authored several books about education, including Why Great Teachers Quit and How We Might Solve the Exodus (Corwin Press). Faige Meller taught for 38 years at the same school “The Center For Early Education” and that’s where she is a substitute teacher. She began teaching in 1977 in the preschool. In 1991 she became one of the kindergarten teachers. She taught kindergarten until retired in June 2015. She started subbing in 2016 and subbed in Toddlers, 3 and 4-year-old program, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd. She did a three-and-a-half-month sub position for a kindergarten teacher from January till Apri

By now most of us know why many teachers are leaving the profession, but one study reveals what may be the most overlooked reason teachers stay and what it will take to attract and keep more of us. Follow on Twitter: @educationweek @MrJosephHamer @elainemcneil16 @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Marina Whiteleather is the Director of Social Media and Audience Engagement for Education Week. Elaine McNeil, a social studies teacher, retired after 31 years of teaching middle and high school in Maryland. A former president of Queen Anne’s County Teacher’s Association, Assessor External Diploma Program, Elaine has a Master of Science degree from Radford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Melbourne University. Joseph Hamer is a second and third-grade combination teacher in Wichita, Kansas. He’s passionate about empowering children to explore their greatest potential through the liberty found in social-emotional learning. Joseph co-authored the brand-new activity book called Brain Awakes: Empowering

The ups and downs of the pandemic have elevated stress levels across the board and one of the potential flashpoints is sensitive discussions between teachers and parents. Join us for a fast list of do’s and don’ts for diffusing and managing these emotionally difficult conversations. Follow on Twitter: @sgthomas1973@MeredithNewlin @ToddWhitaker @mattwachel @bamradionetwork @jonharper70bd Dr. Todd Whitaker has been fortunate to be able to blend his passion with his career. Recognized as a leading presenter in the field of education, his message about the importance of teaching has resonated with hundreds of thousands of educators around the world. Todd is a professor of educational leadership at the University of Missouri and professor emeritus at Indiana State University. He has spent his life pursuing his love of education by researching and studying effective teachers and principals. One of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd has writt

As we head back to school in the first month of 2022, a period that is normally dominated by high hopes is already requiring a change of plans. A blizzard of policy changes is aiming to keep students and teachers in school during a new COVID surge. In this episode, we discuss what many teachers say they want right now — reliable guidance for teaching the rest of the school year that doesn’t leave us conflicted. Follow on Twitter: @AmandaFrasier @rickhess99 @curriculumblog @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Amanda Slaten Frasier is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy from Michigan State University. She has held a variety of positions in both K-12 and higher education. Dr. Frasier is currently a social studies teacher at University School at East Tennessee State University. Frederick M. Hess is a senior fellow and the director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he works on K–12 and higher education issues. He is the author of Educ

Yes, teachers are resilient and most will continue to try to handle whatever the pandemic throws at us, but relying on teachers to fix systemic problems has limits. In this episode, we talk about what it’s really going to take for teachers to recover from the frustration, exhaustion, and distress so many feel. Follow on Twitter: @SeanTSlade @curriculumblog @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Breanna Taylor is licensed to teach K-12 Special Education. She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello with a Bachelor of Arts P-4 Early Childhood Education, Master of Education Degree Dr. Steven Weber serves as the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning in Fayetteville Public Schools (Arkansas). During his career in public education, he has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of secondary instruction, and executive director of curriculum and instruction. He has also served as a social studies curriculum coordinator with the Arkansas Department of Education and the

Virtually every school district and school administrator has been laser-focused on providing the support teachers need to navigate another disrupted school year. Yet many of us still feel unsupported. Why is there a disconnect? How can we better match what’s being done to what teachers need? Follow on Twitter: @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork @CHHCS @DorisASantoro Doris Santoro is Professor of Education at Bowdoin College. Professor Santoro is a philosopher of education who studies teachers’ moral and ethical concerns about their work. She is the author of Demoralized: Why Teachers Leave the Profession They Love and How They Can Stay and co-editor of Principled Resistance: How Teachers Resolve Ethical Dilemmas. Olga Acosta Price, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and is associate professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the University. She is a clinical psychologist wit

Coming back to another disrupted school year has placed unexpected and unprecedented stress on teachers. In this episode, we check in to see what we can learn about how teachers are managing the increased demands of teaching when their emotional and mental tank is already on empty. Follow on Twitter: @TchrBreakroom @TishJennings @madeline_will @Jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork Monica Swift, M.Ed., is an educator with 20+ years of varied experience in the field of education. She currently serves as an intermediate literacy instructional coach and an elementary classroom teacher. Throughout her years in the profession, Monica has served in private, public, and post-secondary education as teacher, coach, consultant, trainer, researcher, education systems strategist, and more. Patricia (Tish) Jennings, M.Ed., Ph.D. is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of social and emotional learning and mindfulness in education and Professor of Education at the School of Education and Human Development at the U

In this segment, we follow up on our discussion on spotting elementary school students in distress and how to approach those who may be on the edge. Join us as we talk about the feelings that surface when a student is lost. Follow on Twitter: @sgthomas1973 @bamradionetwork @jonHarper70bd Lynsay Ayer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who conducts research on youth mental health. She is a member of the suicide prevention research team at the National Institute of Mental Health and is also a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Robert C. Schmidt, Ed.D, LCPC, NCC is a national speaker and consultant on building sustainable school mental health and suicide prevention programs centered on data collection, outcomes, quality of services, and student achievement. With interests embedded in research, Dr. Schmidt has published chapters in recognized books including the award-winning book by Dr. Kathryn Seifert, How Children Become Violent (2006) and Youth Violence (2011). He has led studies in the

We are still searching for an "acceptable" phrase to define what teachers around the world are doing this school term. Many are avoiding the term "learning recovery" like a carton of milk past the expiration date.  In this episode, we found out why ignoring, dismissing, or simply overlooking learning recovery is a privilege that many students and teachers simply don't have. Follow on Twitter: @RobertG_Jenkins@ISTE  @mrhooker @curriculumblog @sgthomas1973 @kylehamstra @bamradionetwork @jonHarper70bd Robert Jenkins is the global director of education for UNICEF. Robert joined the organization in 1995. He brings over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian programming in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Jenkins served as the UNICEF Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Strategy in UNICEF Headquarters from 2009-2014. Mr. Jenkins earned a Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Bath and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Eco

In this segment, we talk about spotting elementary school students in distress and how to approach those who may on the edge. Join us as we identify behavioral indicators and practical intervention strategies. Follow on Twitter:  @sgthomas1973 @bamradionetwork @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Lynsay Ayer, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who conducts research on youth mental health. She is a member of the suicide prevention research team at the National Institute of Mental Health and is also a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Robert C. Schmidt, Ed.D, LCPC, NCC is a national speaker and consultant on building sustainable school mental health and suicide prevention programs centered on data collection, outcomes, quality of services, and student achievement.  With interests embedded in research, Dr. Schmidt has published chapters in recognized books including the award-winning book by Dr. Kathryn Seifert, How Children Become Violent (2006) and Youth Violence (2011). He has led studies in t

This term, many teachers, school leaders, students, and parents are going to be touched by the discussion seeping into schools around the United States. What is Critical Race Theory, and how did it get on the list of back-to-school things we all need to think about? In this episode, we invited three guests with specialized experience, knowledge, and insight to help us understand the basics. Follow on Twitter: @DrDorindaCA@JG4Justice @s_e_schwartz @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Sarah Schwartz is a reporter for Education Week who covers curriculum and instruction. Before joining the staff, she was as an Education Week intern, covering education technology. She has also worked at a middle school in New York. Janel George is an Associate Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her work and scholarship focus on racial stratification and inequality in U.S. education. She has written about the resegregation of public schools, discriminatory school discipline practices, Critical Race Theory, and res

Many students will be starting school for the first time this year and many will do so without the benefit of kindergarten or face-to-face learning. What special needs will our youngest students bring into the classroom, and what do we need to know to help them adjust? Follow on Twitter: @dubioseducator @drchriscip @madeline_will @Jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork Faige Meller taught for 38 years at the same school “The Center For Early Education” and that’s where she is a substitute teacher. She began teaching in 1977 in the preschool. In 1991 she became one of the kindergarten teachers. She taught kindergarten until retired in June 2015. She started subbing in 2016 and subbed in Toddlers, 3 and 4-year-old program, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd. She did a three-and-a-half-month sub position for a kindergarten teacher from January till April 17th — which included in the classroom and then remote learning. Christina Cipriano, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and Director of Research

A recent three-year study at the  Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence affirmed what most of us know -- Teachers feel deeply unappreciated and it's impacting our social-emotional well-being. In this episode, we zero in on the swell of teacher appreciation that was sparked by remote learning, why it faded, and how we can get it back and make it stick. Follow on Twitter: @marcbrackett @DrKpsychologist @MrJosephHamer @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. His research focuses on the role of emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. He has published over 150 scholarly articles, received numerous awards, and is featured regularly in popular media outlets such as the New York Times, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and The Today Show. Marc serves on a number of boards, including the Collaborative

In general, as women are increasingly setting firmer boundaries, being fierce and tender is an emerging mantra among female teachers. In this episode, we talk about the sprouting new rules of being authentic in the school and classroom settings. Follow on Twitter: @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork @self_compassion @mrsmeganmorgan Kristin Neff, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion over fifteen years ago. She has co-developed an empirically-supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, and is the author of the books Fierce Self-Compassion, Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook, and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals and founder of www.self-compassion.org. Megan Morgan is a School Administrative Manager for Davenport Community School

Seeing the various ways teachers are spending the summer is always interesting. Some of us travel, some rest, some play. Others dive into projects, write books, or immediately start bulking up their skills for the next term.  On the heels of an extraordinarily demanding school year, we're checking in with our peers to see how they plan to make the most of the summer break? Follow on Twitter: @TchrBreakroom @drchriscip @kavithacardoza   @Jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork Monica Swift, M.Ed., is an educator with 20+ years of varied experience in the field of education. She currently serves as an intermediate literacy instructional coach and an elementary classroom teacher. Throughout her years in the profession, Monica has served in private, public, and post-secondary education as teacher, coach, consultant, trainer, researcher, education systems strategist, and more. Kavitha Cardoza is an award-winning journalist based in Washington, D.C. She covers education and poverty.  Christina Cipriano, Ph.D., is an Assi

In this episode, we take a close look at a quality that is so counterintuitive that many of us misinterpret it as selfishness. But our guests flip our thinking on its head and show how this single quality can positively impact our students, our peers, and our school climate. Follow on Twitter: @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork  @HelenRiessMD  @MrJosephHamer Get the books:  Brain Awakes |  The Empathy Effect Helen Riess, M.D. is the author of The #Empathy Effect and a psychiatrist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She directs the Empathy and Relational Science Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She has devoted her career to the art and science of healing relationships. Her research has been published in leading medical journals and has won many awards. Dr. Riess’s TEDx talk "The power of Empathy TEDX" has been viewed by more than 500,000 viewers.  Her new book, The Empathy Effect has been licensed in nine foreign countries. In 2012, Dr. Riess co-founded Empathetics.com a

We've received and sent lots of mixed messages to each other this school year.  As we head for the finish line, we pause for a hot minute to take look back on the highs and lows of this mind-numbing and eye-opening school term. Follow on Twitter: @TchrBreakroom @drchriscip @madeline_will   @Jonharper70bd @bamradionetwork Monica Swift, M.Ed., is an educator with 20+ years of varied experience in the field of education. She currently serves as an intermediate literacy instructional coach and an elementary classroom teacher. Throughout her years in the profession, Monica has served in private, public, and post-secondary education as teacher, coach, consultant, trainer, researcher, education systems strategist, and more. Christina Cipriano, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center and Director of Research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI). Dr. Cipriano’s research focuses on the systematic examination of social and emotional learning (SEL) to promote pathways to optimal

The stress and trauma that students and their families experienced during the pandemic are increasingly showing up in our classrooms. In this episode, we explore how to we can manage our own pandemic stress, so we can better help students with theirs. Follow on Twitter: @KlikaBart @TirrellCorbin @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Dr. Carlo Panlilio is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education, and a faculty member with the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, at the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland, College Park with a specialization in Developmental Science. His program of research focuses on the dynamic interplay between development and learning for children who experience early maltreatment, and how elucidation of such processes can inform trauma-informed classroom instruction and prevention efforts. J. Bart Klika is the Chief Research Officer with the national organization

Is it possible that learning to give and accept grace is more important this year than being a super positive teacher no matter what? Listen in as we try to determine when positivity is good and when grace is better. Follow on Twitter: @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork @DrKpsychologist @AriannaProthero @MrJosephHamer Jelena Kecmanovic, Ph.D is the founding director of the Arlington/DC Behavior Therapy Institute and an adjunct professor of psychology at Georgetown University. In addition to academic articles, she has written for the Washington Post, The Conversation, Psychology Today Magazine, and others. Arianna Prothero is a Texas-based reporter for Education Week covering students and their well-being. She has also extensively reported on school choice policy for the paper. Previously, she was a reporter and anchor at WLRN, the NPR-affiliate station in Miami. She got her start in journalism at WFIU, the public radio station in Bloomington, Ind. She has a degree in political science from Indiana University.

Many of us are trying various hybrid teaching strategies to reach and teach students this year. In this episode, we take time out to reflect and examine approaches that are motivating and demotivating our students. Follow on Twitter: @RainbowECT @jonHarper70bd @bamradionetwork Over the past 15 years, Cindy Chanin Founder of Rainbow EDU Consulting, has personally and extensively tutored virtually every subject. She has celebrated her gift of making education a positive, holistic experience, and specializes in working with adolescents of varying skill levels (middle school through college level). Cindy also has an extensive background in mentoring teens and young adults to help them find their ‘why’ in the world."