I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we are interviewing teacher, writer, and podcaster Jacob Chastain, a middle school teacher who uses the writer’s workshop method every day in his classroom. He will discuss how this method benefits students, how he puts it into practice, and where you can find more information. Links mentioned in this episode: https://teachmeteacherpodcast.com/ https://www.facebook.com/teachmeteacher/ https://ebacademics.com https://ebacademics.com/book Are you e...
May 03, 2021•40 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In this episode, Meredith takes us back to the beginning of her career when she almost quit her seventh grade teaching position. She candidly shares what it took for her to survive some really challenging moments in the classroom, and she offers wisdom for teachers everywhere who are struggling to get by this year. Meredith brings honesty, humor, and compassion to the conversation as she pulls back the curtain on what life is now like as a principal, an...
Apr 27, 2021•15 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Listen to this episode where we describe how to effectively assess students with shape, found, or blackout poetry. Better yet--give students a choice in their assessment to improve buy-in and enhance learning. Today, we share our best tips for making these assessments work in the classroom so that you can start planning your assessment today! Links mentioned in this episode: https://ebacademics.com/2017/01/found-poetry-activity.html https://ebacademics....
Apr 20, 2021•17 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we share our Elements of Poetry Mini Research Project so that you can consider including a research component in your next poetry unit. We explain the purpose and framework of the assignment, giving you the strategies and tools to do this project in your class with any poems of your choice! Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elements-of-Poetry-Poetry-Research-Project-PRINT-AND-DIGITAL-3124454 Are you enjo...
Apr 13, 2021•11 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we walk you through our favorite poetry resource--poetry stations . In just five stations, we explain how to get every student analyzing word choice, rhyme scheme, theme, and more! You can say goodbye to class periods where students zone out and stay silent as you do the hard work of breaking down a poem. Listen in to hear how you can get students doing the thinking and talking about any poem in your curriculum. Links mentioned in this episode: h...
Apr 06, 2021•17 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Through our own trial-and-error, we were able to create a rigorous one-pager assignment that gave students the opportunity to showcase their best thinking and creativity every time. Listen in to hear how we completely redesigned our one-pagers so that students could enjoy the task and teachers would be proud of the results. Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/DIGITAL-and-PRINT-One-Pager-for-Reading-Activity-Choic...
Mar 30, 2021•13 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we wrap up our three-week series on the EB lesson-planning framework and share how we create and assign end-of-unit “Beyond” lessons. Not only do we discuss why “Beyond” lessons are so simple to create, but we also give you our best strategies for assigning these lessons based on decades of trial-and-error. Listen in to reevaluate how you’re assessing your students. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode y...
Mar 23, 2021•10 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we discuss how looking closely at the standards will provide you with the exact topics and framework for your lesson plans. We share specific lesson ideas and strategies for developing your lesson plans (that we refer to as “Through” lessons), and we offer practical tips for cutting down on time spent planning so that you can feel more confident and energized each day in the classroom. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us ...
Mar 16, 2021•10 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we share some of our favorite engaging “Into” lesson plan ideas that can be repurposed over and over again throughout the year so that your planning can be efficient, and your students will be excited to start each new unit. We also share why it is so essential to begin your units in this way. Listen in to get a lesson-planning formula that will save you time and get you better results! Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us...
Mar 09, 2021•9 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, we share our tried-and-true Women’s History Month Brochure Project that will engage students and push their thinking. Whether you want to just listen in and get ideas for a similar project, or buy our read-to-teach resource, we know this episode will provide you with a timely and meaningful learning experience for your students. Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Leaders-History-Vashti-Harrison/dp/0316475114/ref=sr_1_1...
Mar 02, 2021•12 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! If you want to see your students make genuine writing growth, it’s time to abandon the full-length essay craze, give yourself a break from non-stop grading, and instead assign targeted writing responses. Listen to today’s episode to hear our personal mistakes, and the strategies we use now to get real results in students’ writing. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to! Make sure to Subscribe ...
Feb 23, 2021•8 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Whether you work with toxic teammates, are teaching online and feeling disconnected, or enjoy your coworkers but are just struggling to find “your people,” this episode is for you! Today we share how to surround yourself with people who will help you build a life and career you love. We get personal about our teaching experiences and offer some simple and practical strategies for finding the right teaching community, no matter where you are right now. A...
Feb 16, 2021•7 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we share our favorite engaging introductory lesson activities for several different genres of expository writing. Listen in to hear how you can create these activities in your classroom to get your students eager and excited about your next writing unit. Engagement is more than half the battle in helping students reach their full potential as writers. Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0879234059/ref=bseries_p...
Feb 09, 2021•12 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we share our all-time favorite Valentine’s Day lesson that we’ve used in fifth grade, all the way up to high school! We explain, step-by-step, how we use Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and conversation heart candies to help students write a love letter using textual evidence and love-induced zest. Whether you want to create the lesson on your own, or snag ours here , this activity is sure to be a hit with your students. We want you to capit...
Feb 02, 2021•13 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Today, EB team member and full-time teacher, Kara Wojick, shares her experience both resisting batch planning and giving it a try. She talks with us about the massive transformation she experienced in her work satisfaction and personal life after finally deciding to make the time to batch lesson plan. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to! Make sure to Subscribe and leave us a Review! Your re...
Jan 26, 2021•20 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we ask you to consider a few important questions: How do you spend your prep periods? How often do you analyze student data? And how is teaching affecting your personal life? If you don’t like the answers to these questions, we’re here to help you start working smarter, not harder. Hello batch planning, and goodbye stress, resentment, and burnout. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're ...
Jan 19, 2021•10 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we share exactly how to begin batch lesson planning by first looking at your entire school year, then getting more granular by focusing on individual units, and finally planning daily lessons. We discuss all of our best strategies in this episode so that you can learn from our many years of practice! Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to! Make sure to Subscribe and leave u...
Jan 12, 2021•12 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we share the best strategy to make your teaching life manageable and enjoyable. You will kiss burnout goodbye and stop planning day-by-day. Using our best techniques for batch planning, you will change your teaching life forever--seriously! Batch planning changed our teaching experiences, and now, we batch plan just about everything. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listening to! ...
Jan 05, 2021•12 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, you will hear from members of the EB Teacher’s Club and the EB Writing Program. These fabulous educators share how becoming an EB teacher changed their careers and lives for the better. The transformations they experienced are motivating, inspirational, and the perfect way to close out the year 2020. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know which episode you're listen...
Dec 29, 2020•15 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Fortunately, over the years, we’ve learned what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to teaching narrative writing. And today, we share the three questions you should ask yourself about your narrative writing units to make sure your students are really mastering the writing standards. Links mentioned in this episode: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Writing-Activity-for-Middle-School-Gingerbread-House-for-Sale-2867123 https://ebac...
Dec 22, 2020•16 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we share exactly why a perfectionist or comparison-driven mindset is so harmful to your students’ learning outcomes and your own professional development. We also give you the tools and encouragement to leave your comfort zone, try something new, mess up, and try again. A teacher who unafraid to fail, and willing to be flexible, is the teacher your students truly need. Links mentioned in this episode: ebacademics.com/detectivelesson ...
Dec 15, 2020•11 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! When Mindy found the EB Writing program, her life changed. She is now able to spend more time with her husband, she feels confident about the writing instruction her students are receiving, and she has a newfound love of writing, herself! Listen to today’s episode to hear about Mindy’s transformation after implementing the EB Writing Program. Plus, learn how she took a narrative writing publishing party to the next level by involving her community! You ...
Dec 08, 2020•19 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! And today on the podcast, we’re going to talk through the most common stressors that teachers experience--everything from last-minute lesson planning to grading burnout--and we’ll give you multiple solutions or strategies for each so that you can focus your time and energy on what WILL work instead of what won’t. You deserve to love your job and have a life outside of teaching. Listen in to today’s episode to learn the simple changes we made that dramat...
Dec 01, 2020•20 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! You’re exhausted, and you’re probably just barely making it through these last few weeks before break. We’ve been there, and that’s why we created an incredible holiday writing activity years ago that we’ve used every December for ages! It is always a huge hit because it’s rigorous, highly engaging, and it gets everyone in the holiday spirit. Listen to today’s episode to hear all about our Gingerbread House Writing Activity and how we successfully imple...
Nov 24, 2020•9 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! In today’s episode, we encourage you to step into a new mindset. We encourage you to nurture a new and improved thought process. We invite you to step into the role of an empowered educator--an educator who creates the life she wants to lead, and isn’t just a victim of circumstance. We all have challenges, but the teachers who succeed in the classroom--feel organized, prepared, confident, and at ease--they play to win. They develop game-plans while othe...
Nov 17, 2020•16 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Thousands of teachers have discovered the mindset and strategies to avoid burnout, feel accomplished each day, and be resilient to change in the classroom. These teachers are empowered educators, and you can be one, too. Listen to today’s episode where we help you transform your overwhelm into efficient productivity and a positive outlook on life. Because, really, life is too short to dread each day and feel buried beneath stress. Today, we share the to...
Nov 10, 2020•10 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Listen to today’s episode to learn the four habits that we swear by. These simple habits that you can easily start practicing today, transformed our teaching experience into one that was calm, enjoyable, predictable, and manageable. It provided us the ability to leave school at three o’clock each afternoon and arrive at school not long before the first bell, our hot chocolate in hand and at ease, knowing our room and lessons were perfectly prepared for ...
Nov 03, 2020•14 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! There is so much power in where we choose to direct our attention, and in today’s episode, we discuss some simple shifts you can make, right now, to change your mind and your life--in and outside of the classroom. Today’s podcast will leave you feeling rejuvenated and empowered, and the best part is that you can start implementing our tips the minute the episode ends! Happy listening! Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us know whi...
Oct 27, 2020•18 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Listen to today’s episode to learn three strategies to give your lesson planning an extra boost, plus, get a step-by-step breakdown of how we, at EB Academics, create engaging and rigorous content for students, even when dealing with a “boring” topic like punctuation. You’ll leave today’s podcast with your brain swirling with ideas and a new way to plan that is both efficient and effective. Are you enjoying the podcast? Tag us @ebacademics and let us kn...
Oct 20, 2020•18 min
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a text! Too often (and we’re guilty of it too!), teachers blame their students for not knowing something, but they don’t take the time to teach it! Let’s change that. It’s October, you’ve seen where your students struggle with writing, and it’s time to implement some targeted grammar instruction. Tune in to hear three reasons grammar is the most underrated topic to teach in ELA and learn why you just might fall in love with it this year. Plus, get some incredib...
Oct 13, 2020•13 min
