The 10 Minute Teacher Podcast

Honesty. We need to be honest about where we are in education. Whether authentic, true, genuine learning is happening should be the question for all of us in education. None of us wants to pretend or participate in a farce. AI guilt is now "a thing" college graduates are talking about. College graduates who are not being "caught" but feel like they spent the last years pretending to learn. Dr. Christian Miller, author of The Honesty Crisis, has spent more than a decade running some of the largest funded research projects on honesty and moral character. He says that the internet was the first honesty crisis in education. AI is the second one. We talk about both sides of the desk on this one. Both the student writing their paper with AI and learning nothing, and the teacher giving AI-generated feedback without disclosing it to students. This is why an honest expert is staying up at night about the papers his philosophy students are writing (or if they are not). Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e978 

Wow, this is a sensitive topic. And remember that every person with autism has a different experience. But Claire O'Neill is a teacher and she's telling her story of school. Claire can see the roof of her old primary school from her classroom window. She remembers walking up to the school door with that gnawing, upset feeling in her stomach and the itchy, scratchy uniform that made her so uncomfortable. She says the room was either too hot or too cold. It was almost always too loud, and she says it was smelly. Claire got in trouble a lot. Now, that she's studied autism, she understands better why. Claire has spent more than twenty years teaching autistic students and is a PhD researcher at University College Cork (Ireland) studying what school is actually like for autistic teachers. Claire shares her story from an educational perspective. A full-circle moment of a PhD expert teacher reflecting upon the girl she used to be and advocating to help us all understand how to help children like her. My Mom was one of the most compassionate, intuitive teachers I've ever known. She always said when I had a student who learned differently and I would accommodate for the whole class, everyone in the classroom learned better. Claire says the same thing. She also talks about the importance of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She also encourages us to listen to our learners. Believe them when they tell you how they experience your room. And to act upon what they tell us. Claire is an expert, but I'm not. While I've taught some precious students with autism and most of them thrived in my classroom (one early in my career, I wish I could go back and use strategies I know now.) I share this story with sensitivity and the knowledge that I don't know what I don't know but I know it is important to listen. And isn't that what Claire tells us in the show? I hope this show makes us all more empathetic on this Wonderful Classroom Wednesday because not every child actually thinks our classroom is wonderful and we need to listen and learn to make it better. Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e977 

I find this conversation interesting because it tells a story from when ChatGPT was released about how a college student responded to it. Zach Kinzler was a junior in college. He was sitting in the front row of a systems engineering class when a friend punched him in the arm and said, "Look at this." The student had just used ChatGPT to solve the problem on the board. And Zach's journey began as he not only used ChatGPT to help him in his work but also talked openly with his professors about it. He did write his papers with ChatGPT. (OK, now I'm not for this, but this is Zach's story, and it is worth a listen.) Understandably, professors got upset. But when they did, Zach asked them to quiz him on what he wrote and what he had learned. He felt like he was learning faster. Zach leads academic sales strategies at Boodlebox and hosts the Smarter Campus Podcast. We discuss the difference between using AI to learn and using AI to skip learning. He also discusses AI agents and how they work. But here's a point I want us all to understand - Zach has struggled with reading his whole life. As I told a commenter today, not all uses of AI are good. However, not all are bad. I believe AI should improve human flourishing and never detract from it. Yes, AI is a flashpoint issue. People who are angry and hate it really hate it. And some who are fans really love it. I find myself somewhere in the middle. Just like in Web 2 days, actually, when I knew that social media could do good but also had the potential to do great harm. And I don't like to call AI a brain, but I also know that there is (and should be) room for different opinions and the voices should be heard. I've aired interviews of pundits and pro-AI advocates. But we need to listen, because often the way forward is in the conversation that helps us see what the future can look like. All the AI haters in the world, I don't think, can make it go away. Nor can all the AI advocates every convince me that AI should be student-facing for many of our younger students. I am interested to see what you think after you listen to this show. I do want to note that, as I cared for my Dad last year, I fell behind on airing some of my shows. This interview was recorded in 2025, but we've worked to preserve the story and relevant arguments. That delay was all mine, so if you hear anything dated, just know that's on me. As always, thank you for listening to the show! Link to show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e976 

When you're busy, it can be impossible to see the smoke. The smoke of your own burnout. As a teacher, for so much of my career, I've been busy. There have been seasons when I described the feeling to my husband as "hyperventilation." There were times I wore the lack of sleep as a badge of honor. Today's guest, Dr. Jen Rafferty, was a middle school music teacher for fifteen years. Then, when she reached what she thought was the top of her career (she published her first book, was presenting all over the country) - her marriage was falling apart, her back was debilitated with pain, and she had odd red splotches on her skin that seven doctors couldn't explain. In the end, it was stress. Looking back, she realized it was burnout. So, in today's Motivational Monday, we talk about what can help a teacher move out of burnout without having to quit or just try to make themselves into a different person. I find her arguments about emotional intelligence interesting, and they offer another view as we grapple with the realities and challenges of living a life of personal and professional balance and joy. Jen shares the brain science, tells her own story, and then gives us something we can do tonight. I've included links in the show notes below. If this is you and you're really struggling, remember, get help from a professional mental health professional, doctor, or minister. But if you're deaing with life management as all teachers do, I hope you'll find this show encouraging. Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e975 

Chronic absenteeism doesn't get fixed by counting absences. It gets fixed by asking why. Dr. Leah Marsh is Assistant Principal at Niles Middle School in Ohio and one of three finalists in the country for the National Association of Secondary School Principals Middle Level Assistant Principal of the Year. Under her leadership, Niles Middle School reduced suspensions by 32% while attendance and engagement went up. She did not relax a single standard to get there. SPONSORED: Ellis, a program of Children's Health Council, sponsored this episode. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. In this episode she walks through what her team actually did: pulling the absence data apart until it named real causes — a bus-driver shortage was one — building a Check & Connect mentoring program that pairs struggling students with one adult in the building who is glad to see them, and opening a room called the Dragon Den where a student can re-regulate and go back to class instead of collecting a detention. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why the number on your absenteeism report is the beginning of the question, not the answer • How her team decides which students get a mentor, out of 450 to 500 kids • What the Dragon Den is, and why it isn't just another detention room • Why a rise in tardies can be a win when whole-day absences fall • Her answer when someone asks whether a teacher's wake-up call is really the parent's job Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e974  If this episode gave you something to try, leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other educators find the show.

Only 18% of principals say they feel very confident about leading AI this school year — but 7 in 10 schools are already immersed in figuring it out. SPONSORED: Ellis, a program of Children's Health Council, sponsored this week's shows on the 10 Minute Teacher. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Principals Association, joins me to unpack a survey we ran together across his members and my Classroom Matters subscribers. What we found is more encouraging than the headline number suggests: the schools making progress with AI aren't the ones with all the answers. They're the ones where principals and teachers are figuring it out side by side. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why only 18% of principals feel "very confident" leading AI — and why overconfidence would be the real warning sign - What 7 in 10 schools are already doing, and what the other 3 in 10 say they're waiting on - The number one thing principals asked for in the survey — it isn't funding and it isn't tools - What happened when Ronn convened a teacher round table as a state deputy superintendent - The exact words to use when you want to help your principal — and why you shouldn't say them in a faculty meeting - Why "we were supposed to be good soldiers" is the wrong model for a profession trying to grow leaders Ronn Nozoe has been a teacher, a principal, deputy state superintendent in Hawaii, and a leader at the U.S. Department of Education. He now leads the National Principals Association, which serves about 17,000 school leaders across the country. Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e973  If this episode helped you, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it genuinely helps other teachers find us. And share it with a teacher friend who needs to hear that nobody has this all figured out yet.

Your student has an IEP all the way through high school. Then they graduate — and it doesn't go with them. Dr. Toby Tomlinson Baker was diagnosed with a learning disability in 1987, attended six different schools between kindergarten and twelfth grade, and was told by her guidance counselors not to bother applying to college. She has a PhD. In this episode she explains what actually changes the day a student walks off a high school campus, why the accommodations you fought for don't automatically transfer, and how to teach a student to ask for what they need before anyone makes them. In this episode, you'll learn: - What legally changes when a student moves from high school to college — and why a university can say no - Why self-advocacy is a skill you teach, not a personality trait a student either has or doesn't - What Dr. Baker found when she interviewed college professors about disability law for her dissertation - Why the accommodation that helps one student usually helps the whole class - The one thing that predicts whether a struggling student turns a corner Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e972  If this episode helped you think differently about a student, share it with a teacher who needs it. SPONSORED: Ellis, a program of Children's Health Council, sponsored this episode. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. Show Sponsor: Ellis, a program of Children's Health Council, sponsored this podcast episode. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. Ellis pulls from a knowledge base on content from trusted partners like CAST, CASEL, Understood and others, and gives you evidence-aligned ideas for students who are struggling with learning, behavior, or the emotional side of school (but not clinical advice). If you've got a student (or two) who you can't stop thinking about, try it and see what it brings you. No personally identifiable student information is collected, and it is a much better place to start than "brainstorming" with your general-purpose AI chat tool. Try Ellis today: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/ellis

Most teachers reaching for AI to help with a struggling student are reaching for the wrong kind of AI. General-purpose chat tools pull from the open internet, they were never trained on whether the information is accurate, and they should be nowhere near a student's personally identifiable information. Natalie Tamburello, a learning disability and education equity advocate at Children's Health Council, walks through what a teacher-facing AI built on vetted research actually looks like — and why she thinks that is where the real classroom wins are right now. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why "just ask ChatGPT" falls short when a student is struggling with behavior, learning, or the emotional side of school - What RAG (retrieval augmented generation) is, and how pulling from a curated library of vetted nonprofit resources changes the answer you get - Why the first question a good tool asks you is "what are this student's strengths?" - How to describe a student situation without putting personally identifiable information into any AI - The clear line between a classroom strategy and clinical advice — and what a teacher-facing tool should refuse to do Ellis is a free tool for K-12 educators from Children's Health Council. It pulls from a knowledge base of content from trusted partners like CAST, CASEL, Understood and others, it gives you information rather than clinical advice, and it does not collect personally identifiable student information. Today's show was sponsored by Ellis. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. https://www.askellis.org/  Full show notes, links, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e971  Share this one with the teacher down the hall who is still thinking about that one student.

Boundaries are not a heavy conversation you need a degree to have. They are small, repeated moments — and the right words handed to a child before they need them. Ashley Bendiksen, author of A Kids Book About Boundaries, shows teachers what to say. Ashley Bendiksen is a national speaker and abuse prevention advocate who spent years talking to teens about dating violence. Then she moved earlier. Her book for children ages five to nine teaches the skill underneath all of it: knowing you have a choice, and having the words to say so. In this conversation she shows what that looks like in an elementary classroom — the two-option choice, the "I don't like that" script, the pause to ask "did we ask first?" — none of which requires adding anything to your lesson plan. We also talk about your boundaries, because teaching is high-burnout work and we are modeling something for kids either way. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why boundaries are emotional and social, not just physical - The micro-moments that teach boundaries without a new lesson - A role-play activity you can run this week - What to say to the student who always decides what everyone plays - Why "let's all just get along" can send the wrong message - One small boundary to set for yourself this week Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e970  Show Sponsor: Ellis, a program of Children's Health Council, sponsored this podcast episode. All opinions are my own and that of the guest. Ellis pulls from a knowledge base on content from trusted partners like CAST, CASEL, Understood and others, and gives you evidence-aligned ideas for students who are struggling with learning, behavior, or the emotional side of school (but not clinical advice). If you've got a student (or two) who you can't stop thinking about, try it and see what it brings you. No personally identifiable student information is collected, and it is a much better place to start than "brainstorming" with your general-purpose AI chat tool. Try Ellis today: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/ellis  ★ If this show helps you, leave a rating or review wherever you're listening. It is the single thing that helps another teacher find us.

Jerry Kolber built Nat Geo's Brain Games and Netflix's Brainchild — then moved his team off screens entirely. In this episode he explains why, and what teachers are doing with kids' podcasts that he never planned for. The practical piece: transition time. Coming back from lunch or recess, a short episode gets students seated, listening, and settled without a single reminder — and they don't notice they're learning. Jerry also shares how mini quizzes every three or four minutes train attention, and why "co-listening" — making a show adults genuinely enjoy — is a deliberate design choice. Then the conversation turns. Vicki and Jerry talk through what happens when AI-generated audio floods the feed, and land on the question that actually matters: if a show gets something wrong, is there a human on the other end who can fix it? In this episode, you'll learn: - Why transition time is the highest-value slot for a short podcast in your day - How question breaks every few minutes build listening stamina - Why co-listening makes a classroom resource work at home too - How to search a back catalog for episodes that match your current unit - Why human accountability is the real dividing line with AI content One thing worth knowing: Who Smarted?+ is free and ad-free for educators. Go to whosmarted.com, click Educators, and enter your school email. Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e969  If this episode gave you something you can use Monday, please leave a rating or review wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help other teachers find the show.

For twenty-five years we sent the struggling kid to the back of the room with headphones on. Todd Brekhus of Renaissance explains why that model broke personalized learning, and how teacher-facing AI hands the room back to you. Todd Brekhus is Chief Product Officer at Renaissance, General Manager of Nearpod, a former English teacher and technology director, and the creator of the myON literacy platform. We recorded this conversation at ISTE 2026. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why "personalized learning" quietly pushed teachers out of the loop, and what changes when you say "personalized teaching and learning" instead - How to pull last year's skill-level data and plan two paths before tomorrow's lesson - Why back-of-the-room intervention stigmatizes kids, and how to differentiate inside the core lesson - The case for a formative check every six to eight minutes without leaving your slides - Why Renaissance deliberately chose not to build student-facing AI, and what productive struggle has to do with it This episode is sponsored by Renaissance. Renaissance Intelligence connects the loop across assessment, curriculum, instruction, practice and proficiency, so educators can act on student needs in real time. Learn more at renaissance.com/intelligence Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e968  If this episode gave you something you can use tomorrow, leave a rating and review wherever you're listening — it helps other teachers find the show. And share it with a teacher friend who's tired of the screen-time argument. Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a sponsored episode. Renaissance has compensated me to share information about Renaissance Intelligence. However, all opinions expressed are my own. I have personally reviewed these resources and only recommend tools I believe offer genuine value to classroom teachers. My endorsement is limited to the educational products and services discussed in this episode. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." The sponsor has no impact on the editorial content of this show.

Alice Keeler built the Educator AI Assistant — a Google Sheets add-on that collects no data — in two days. In this episode she talks about how she vibe codes with Gemini to create extensions and tools for teachers and the classroom. Vibe coding is all the rage and everyone is talking about it. But how do you actually do it? This conversation goes specifically to Gemini, surfaces the privacy issues we should be concerned about, and casts a vision for what school IT departments are becoming — or might need to become. Alice makes the case that if a district can describe the tool it needs, someone inside that district can build it — and know it is safe, because they made it themselves. She also talks about what it costs to own the thing you built, and the question worth asking about any tool you rely on: is anyone still maintaining it? This was recorded in the middle of last year. The tools have changed and they will keep changing. The principles underneath — how we protect student privacy and help our schools succeed — have not. Full show notes, Alice's free resources, and a Gemini prompt you can use tomorrow: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e966  If you're vibe coding in your classroom, I'd like to hear your story.

Quantum computing is roughly where AI was nine years ago. Dr. Nneka McGee has already taught it to five-year-olds — with a penny. Nneka is the founder of Muon Global, project lead and principal co-author of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning white paper "AI + Learning Differences," and the author of an ISTE Jump Start Guide on introducing AI to young learners. Her FETC session on quantum for educators is what convinced me this belonged on the show. Her argument is simple and hard to dodge: the technologies that will shape our students' careers are being built right now, states are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in them, and we are sending kids to college without the grounding to take those seats. As she puts it — there will be a breakthrough technology like ChatGPT in quantum at some point, and where will we be as educators if we didn't do what was necessary? Then she gets practical. You'll hear how she teaches superposition, entanglement, and coherence with materials already in your desk drawer. You'll hear about the plate with no nose — an image generator's mistake she turned into a full lesson on why AI still needs a human in the loop. And you'll hear about my own ninth grader, who worked out on her own that attackers could capture encrypted traffic today and decrypt it years from now once quantum arrives. That's a real, named threat, and she nailed it. In this episode: - Why quantum won't replace classical computing, and the problem it's actually built for - The encryption math that makes today's passwords a temporary arrangement - "The nerds before the herds" — the 2022 ISTE room with empty seats - Teaching quantum concepts to four- and five-year-olds - Why the awareness gap is the opportunity, not the obstacle Full show notes, every resource, and free unplugged activities you can use this week: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e967  ⭐ If this show helps you teach, please leave a rating or review wherever you're listening. It's the single best way to help another teacher find us — and it takes about thirty seconds. Share this one with the teacher down the hall who thinks quantum is over their head. It takes a penny to prove otherwise.

A struggling Title I school built its culture around the 7 Habits — and the academics followed. Principal Muriel Summers tells how. In 1999, Muriel Summers became principal of A.B. Combs Elementary in Raleigh, North Carolina — the fifth person interviewed for a job four others had walked away from. She had just heard Dr. Stephen Covey speak, and she went back to her staff with one question: do you think we can teach these habits to children? There was no framework. There was no money. What they built turned A.B. Combs into the original Leader in Me school and one of the most visited schools in the world. Muriel is now Global Ambassador for the Leader in Me, co-author of the updated The Leader in Me, and co-author with David K. Hatch of the new book Teacher Believed in Me. This is a Motivational Monday conversation for every educator heading back to school. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why Muriel fixed the school's culture first and let the academics follow — "you don't have to worry about the academics, they just happen" - The one question she asked parents, students, teachers, and local business leaders before changing anything, and what each group actually said - The three words posted above the front door that every child read getting off the bus: you are seen, you are known, you are loved - How children as young as five were taught to interview teacher candidates — and the one time in twenty years Muriel overruled them (she was wrong) - What "every child has genius" looks like in practice, from 900 pieces of art on the walls to a morning meeting that matters as much as instruction Full show notes, resources, and Muriel's books: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e965  If this episode gave you something to use tomorrow, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help another teacher find it. And share it with a colleague who's rebuilding their classroom culture this year.

Free, ad-free BBC videos with ready-to-teach lesson plans — Bluey, leveled reading articles, dinosaur field trips, and a daily newsroom, all free for K-12. Kimmie Fink spent 13 years in the classroom and was named Puget Sound Teacher of the Year before becoming Senior Editor of the BBC Learning Hub. At her ISTE 2026 booth, teachers kept asking what the premium version costs. The answer: there isn't one. Everything is free. In this Fab Idea Friday episode, Kimmie walks through what a teacher can download and use tomorrow — and how a former teacher decides what belongs in a resource library she once wished she had. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the BBC Learning Hub holds the only licensed Bluey learning materials — 15 free lessons on friendship, feelings, and reading body language Where to find leveled reading articles pulled from BBC magazines, written at grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 so every reader in the room can access the same content How the Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trip works — six dig sites, an interactive map, a paleontologist field journal, and a full teacher guide, in a 45- to 60-minute student exploration you can also break into pieces How a daily five-minute Newsbite with built-in questions gives you a media literacy warm-up that's ready every school day How to sign up free, build your own playlist, and assign it straight to Google Classroom Full show notes, every resource link, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e964 This episode is sponsored by the BBC Learning Hub.

The moment you put a grade on something, it stops being formative. Starr Sackstein returns for her fourth 10 Minute Teacher appearance to make assessment practical — what formative really means, what to do with the data you're already collecting, and the strategies that work at the start, middle, and end of a lesson. Starr has spent more than two decades helping teachers move from traditional grading toward feedback that actually drives learning. Her newest book, Actionable Assessment, is co-authored with Michael McDowell. In this episode, you'll learn: - The one-word difference between assessment OF learning and assessment FOR learning — and why it changes everything - Why putting a grade on a formative task cancels the formative part - How the four corners strategy works, plus the Post-it note round that gives quiet students the floor - The most common assessment mistake teachers make: assessments that don't match what we're actually trying to assess - Why observational data is just as valid as testing data — and why you don't have to quiz every day Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e963  If this show helps you, a rating and review wherever you're listening genuinely helps other teachers find it. And if you know a teacher who is drowning in grading right now, send them this one.

Timed tests don't make kids faster! These experts say timed tests make kids anxious and don't tell you what a child actually knows. Dr. Jennifer Bay-Williams and Dr. Gina Kling, co-authors of Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to Support Learning and Retention, explain what to do instead: low-stress card and dice games where nobody races anybody, and where watching kids play gives you better assessment data than any speed drill. Vicki shares why math facts in first grade were harder for her than calculus at Georgia Tech. (She also shares why her mom, who sat at the kitchen table with her, changed everything. Not everyone has that, so we need to do better!) In this episode, you'll learn: Why playing a game to learn basic facts isn't a reward day, it's best practice The three reasons Bay-Williams says timed tests need to be abandoned What students do when they're under time pressure (they drop back to counting) How to play Salute — the card game that started this writing partnership Better ways to assess fact fluency: game observation, quick interviews, strategy writing How to coach parents who tell their kids "I was never good at math" Show notes, the full transcript, and every resource mentioned: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e962 If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening — it's how other teachers find the show.

The wow has to be secondary to the why. Meghan Freeman spent a year letting her staff play in VR before a single student put on a headset — and what they found changed how she designs immersive learning. Meghan Freeman, M.Ed., is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of IlluminateXR. Before that she founded and led Elite Academic Academy, where she bought 46 headsets for her staff and gave them an entire school year to explore, argue, and write the policy themselves. In this conversation she gets specific about what actually works: how to manage a room full of students who can't see the room, how long a first session should run, and the one question a teacher has to answer before booking the equipment. In this episode, you'll learn: What XR means and how VR, AR, and AI fit together in a classroom Why the "wow" of an immersive moment has to be secondary to the "why" The classroom-management controls that make group VR workable — spatial audio, seating, mute, and locking down browsers Why the first trip in should be a scavenger hunt, not instruction How long students should actually be in a headset, and why motion sickness matters How she used VR sprints to reach students working toward a diploma on their second or third try What happened when her school put human intelligence first and standards second Show notes, resources, lots of links to VR activities, and the full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e961 If this episode helped you, please take a moment to rate and review the show wherever you're listening. Reviews are how other teachers find us — and share it with a colleague who's about to get headsets and no plan.

Most principals say "data-driven" and mean test scores. Dr. Deborah Dennie means attendance, discipline, and climate too — and it changed her school. Dr. Deborah Dennie has led Leonardtown Middle School in St. Mary's County, Maryland for ten years. She's Maryland's Middle School Principal of the Year and one of three middle-school finalists for the 2026 NASSP National Principal of the Year. In this episode she walks Vicki through the data routine she runs every two weeks, why she spent her entire first year looking and listening instead of changing things, and how a classic car show and a 94% attendance goal did more for her building than another round of test-score analysis. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why her first year as principal was spent looking and listening, not changing anything • The every-two-weeks data review she runs with her assistant principals and resource teacher • How she identifies teachers above the building failure average — and the questions she sends them • Why attendance and discipline data drive instructional data, not the other way around • How her school hit the state's 94% attendance number using community, not consequences • What she tells teachers who are hurting and tired Full show notes, free data drive resources, AI prompts, and the transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e960 ⭐ If this episode helped you, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help another teacher find it. And share it with a school leader who needs to hear it.

Travel with students changes what a school leader sees. Karen Spencer, principal of Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, treats travel as part of her school's mission rather than an add-on — a sixth grade overnight, a seventh grade STEM and history trip to Boston, Washington D.C. in eighth grade, and international travel in high school. In this conversation she walks through how the Boston trip started, what it costs a principal in effort, and what she gets back that nothing inside the building can give her. In this episode, you'll learn: How a single teacher's push to "bring more STEM to the school" became an annual seventh grade trip to Boston Why the trip grew from STEM-only into STEM, history and fun — MIT, Harvard, robotics, the Freedom Trail, Lexington and Concord What a grade-by-grade travel ladder looks like when each grade builds on the last What hands-on learning looks like abroad — cooking classes, flamenco lessons, hiking and biking Karen's honest answer to administrators who ask why she'd take on the headache, and the mindset she says you have to bring Full show notes, resources and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e959  Sponsor. Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation to show them how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Imagine your students coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or even sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. If you want to inspire your students and give them a fresh perspective on the power of STEM, visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. If this episode gave you something useful, share it with a teacher or administrator who's been thinking about taking students somewhere.

Gold standard PBL isn't a fun project with a poster at the end. Lisa Mireles of PBLWorks explains what a real project based learning classroom looks and sounds like — and how to teach it without falling behind on standards. Lisa Mireles, Ed.D., is Managing Director of Digital Curriculum at PBLWorks (formerly the Buck Institute for Education). She's taught bilingual students in California, led schools in Indonesia and India, served as an IB coordinator, principal, and assistant superintendent, and was named HIDOE Kaua'i Complex Educational Officer of the Year in 2018. In this episode, you'll learn: • What the Gold Standard framework actually contains — seven essential project design elements plus seven project based teaching practices — and why a great project still fails without the teaching moves • What you see and hear in a gold standard PBL classroom: a productive buzz, a project wall with the driving question and milestones, students returning to their need-to-knows, teachers coaching instead of lecturing • Concrete projects outside business and computer science: designing a community microgrid in high school science, designing a custom diamond in middle school geometry, and a second grade community heroes gallery • How PBL turns literacy into an all-day practice — reading, writing, speaking, and listening — rather than something that only happens during the literacy block • Lisa's answer to the time squeeze: coverage isn't enough, and going deeper on power standards teaches more than racing through everything • The principal move worth stealing — have teachers mark what they planned to teach, then revisit after the project to mark what they actually taught deeply. It's always about twice as much. • Where to find more than 100 free project ideas, searchable by grade and subject, that scale up or down for your students Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e958  If this episode gave you something you can use, take a second to leave a rating or review wherever you're listening. It helps other teachers find the show. And if a colleague is on the fence about project based learning, send this one their way.

AI in the classroom isn't a tool problem — it's an assignment problem. Dr. Nancy Frey on designing work students can't fake. Dr. Nancy Frey — professor of educational leadership at San Diego State and teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College — joins Vicki Davis for a practical conversation about what actually changes in a classroom when every student has AI. Not which app to use. What to assign, what to collect, and what to teach kids to verify. Nancy's newest book, Teaching Students to Use AI Ethically & Responsibly, is co-authored with Salman Khan, Douglas Fisher, James Marshall, and Meghan Hargrave. In this episode, you'll learn: - How to build verbal assessment into a classroom that has 180 students — including a Google Docs workaround when face-to-face isn't practical - Why you should collect the student's dialogue with the chatbot, not just the finished product - How lateral reading — Sam Wineburg's method — transfers directly to interrogating AI-generated content - What appropriate AI use looks like by grade band: "truth detectives" in K–2, "information investigators" in grades 3–5 - How to redesign a task so it's AI-resistant, plus Carol Jago's reflective questions a chatbot can't answer for a student Show notes, the full transcript, and every resource: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e957 ★ REVIEW ASK: If this show helps you teach, please rate and review it wherever you're listening. It's the single best way to help another teacher find us — and I read every one.

Most teachers know AI belongs in their classroom — almost nobody tells them where to start if they don't teach computer science. Karim Meghji, President and CEO of CodeAI (the nonprofit formerly known as Code.org), gives the answer at ISTE 2026. Vicki took one of Karim's classes on the ISTE show floor before this conversation — including a lesson that asks AI to generate a "healthy meal" and then hands students the cultural bias in the result to talk about. That design choice is the whole episode: students don't learn what AI gets wrong by being told, they learn it by watching it happen and then discussing it. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why CodeAI rebranded from Code.org — and what "glass box instead of black box" means for how you teach - Why Karim's teams deliberately build lessons where the AI answers incorrectly - The question he wants every student asking: who is in control — you or the AI? - What sits behind free student AI tools — pre-filters, post-filters, and hundreds of jailbreak tests - The exact first step for a teacher who has never taught a line of code Karim's answer to "where do I start" is shorter than you'd expect, and it puts the teacher and the students in the same boat on purpose. Full show notes, every resource, and the transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e956  If this show helps you teach better, leave a review wherever you're listening — it's how other teachers find us.

You gave the directions. You were clear. You wrote them on the board. Half the class still did it wrong — here's the reason why. Dr. Jeff Bogaczyk, head of school at Christian Life School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and studies media ecology — how our communication technologies shape the way we think, relate, and learn. In this Motivational Monday conversation, he explains the cognitive bias that quietly sabotages teacher-to-student communication, and what one school does about it on purpose. In this episode, you'll learn: The curse of knowledge: a 1990 Stanford study asked people to tap out a familiar song's rhythm — and revealed why what's obvious to you is noise to everyone else The illusion of transparency: why we assume other people know what we're thinking and feeling, and what that assumption costs in a classroom The repetition rule one head of school gives his teachers: the moment you're sick of saying it is the moment they're finally starting to hear it Why the brain-as-computer metaphor is wrong, and why emotional intelligence is the skill AI can't replace How "confident communicators" becomes a real, teachable outcome in a portrait of a graduate Jeff's line that will stick with you: "There is no relationship without communication. Communication is — you might even say it is the relationship." Show notes, resources, and the full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e955 If this one gave you language for something you've felt in your classroom, share it with a teacher friend who needs it this week.

How do you teach about space in any classroom—not just science? Dr. Mark Wagner says space is the ultimate hook for engagement, and the growing space economy means every student needs to understand it. In this conversation, the CEO of Aries Learning and author of Space Education shares why space belongs in every subject, the mindsets students need, and simple ways to bring exploration into your room this week. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the space economy (projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030) touches nearly every career How satellites and Starlink already shape agriculture, GPS, and global internet access The four mindsets Mark teaches: explorer's mindset, moonshot thinking, design thinking, and operational mindset Low-cost, hands-on ways to let students explore—from a simple map to student-built payloads What the "overview effect" teaches students about caring for our planet Full show notes, links, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e954 If this episode helped you, share it with a teacher friend who'd love to bring more wonder into their classroom.

Choosing a dissertation topic? Dr. Maggie Broderick shares "servant scholarship" — how to pick research that helps real teachers and students instead of just checking a box. In this conversation, Dr. Maggie Broderick — associate professor at National University, dissertation chair, and editor of the International Journal of Online Graduate Education — joins Vicki Davis to explore how doctoral students and classroom teachers alike can choose research with a servant's heart. In this episode, you'll learn: What "servant scholarship" is and why your motivation ("your why") shapes better research How to support teachers of less commonly taught subjects who often feel isolated Why connecting research to practice — and policy — matters more than just "learning the ropes" How researchers can keep a servant's heart even when funding is involved Encouragement for anyone weighing a PhD or EdD Full show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e953 If this episode helped you, please rate the show and leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps more educators find these conversations. And share it with a teacher friend who's thinking about grad school.

Project-based social studies ideas students never forget — from 2026 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year Megan Philbrook, whose students secretly nominated her for the award. Megan Philbrook teaches social studies to grades 5 through 8 in rural New Hampshire, where her students wrote, directed, and filmed their own play on Ancient Rome, podcast about the American Revolution, and research WWII veterans buried fifteen miles from their school. In this conversation she shares how project-based learning and civic engagement make history unforgettable — and the classroom moves that made her students love her enough to nominate her for Teacher of the Year without telling her. In this episode, you'll learn: How to reuse last year's student projects to inspire this year's students A 30-second door-greeting ritual that starts every class with connection The "look through the window" rule for teaching controversial history without taking sides Where to find free state-level resources for America's 250th birthday Why "close your mouth but open your ears" is her best advice for new social studies teachers Full show notes and every resource mentioned: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e952 Share this one with a teacher friend who makes learning magical.

Can elementary students build their own apps? Two elementary teachers — Erin Keith and Edward Courtney — show how they use MAD-learn for gold-standard project-based learning, and how app-building teaches the soft skills that last long after the code. In this episode, you'll learn: How teachers with no coding background get started with app development Real student apps — from advocacy projects to digital portfolios to "Meet the Teacher" apps The soft skills students build: persistence, teamwork, and design thinking How to introduce AI to elementary students safely and thoughtfully Why moving students from app users to app creators changes engagement Full show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e951 This is a sponsored episode featuring MAD-learn. If this one helps you, share it with a teacher friend who's curious about coding with kids.

What students achieve is tied to whether they feel valued — and the same is true for the teachers who serve them. In this Motivational Monday conversation, coach and author Debbie Simões (founder of Best Questers, co-author of High Five to Thrive) shows teachers how valuing students transforms a classroom, even on the hardest days. Drawing on years in inner-city classrooms, Debbie shares how to see past a child's behavior to the person of value underneath, how to communicate to connect instead of to correct, and how to be a "hope agent" for yourself and your colleagues in a season of burnout and teacher shortages. In this episode, you'll learn: Why "communicate to connect" changes how kids respond to correction The difference between behavior-based praise and identity-based praise How to respond when a student is at their worst What it means to be a "hope agent" when your own tank is low The mantra that can transform a school: people of value who value people and add value to them Full show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e950 If this episode encouraged you, share it with a teacher friend and rate the show wherever you're listening.

Summer reading for teachers — 11 books I've highlighted over 6,800 times and keep coming back to. This Significant Saturday special is my personal summer list for educators and lifelong learners, spanning AI ethics, productivity, faith, and the classroom-management classics I hand every first-year teacher. In this episode, you'll learn: Why The Age of AI by Jason Thacker belongs at the top of a Christian educator's list The one big-picture idea from The Future Is Faster Than You Think that brings hope about technology Which books to reach for when you're feeling burned out or overwhelmed The productivity and knowledge-management book that changed how Vicki organizes ideas The two classroom-management classics worth giving every new teacher Pick just one or two — you don't have to read them all. Choose what speaks to where you are right now. Full list with links to every book: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e949 If this list pointed you to your next read, leave a rating or review wherever you're listening, and share it with a teacher friend who needs a good book this summer.

Adobe Express and Canva are packed with AI tools that save teachers hours — Amy Storer shares the features her teachers love most. Innovative learning specialist Amy Storer (Montgomery ISD, TX) walks through the AI-powered tools inside Adobe Express and Canva that teachers and students are getting most excited about — from studio-style student podcasts to interactive games you can build without writing a line of code. She also shares a favorite bonus tool for creating step-by-step how-to guides, and closes with a word of encouragement for any teacher feeling buried by "all the things." In this episode, you'll learn: How Adobe Express's Create a Podcast and one-click Enhance make student podcasting simple Why Animate a Character is an easy win for your youngest learners and GT projects How Canva Code lets you build interactive, self-grading activities with no coding A hidden Canva presentation timer and how Scribe turns clicks into a how-to guide Amy's "pick one tool" philosophy for teachers who feel overwhelmed Full show notes and links: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e948 If this one gave you an idea you can use, share it with a teacher friend who could use a time-saver.

Teacher burnout isn't weakness — it's disconnection. Michelle Singh shares how teachers can reconnect, set boundaries, and feel fulfilled again. Michelle Singh — National Board Certified Teacher, founder of The Restful Teacher, and CEO of LCT-E Learning Solutions — spent more than 20 years in the classroom and district leadership before her own burnout forced a change. In this honest conversation with Vicki Davis, she offers teachers a path back to the work they love. In this episode, you'll learn: Why teacher disengagement is an "iceberg" with far more below the surface How to serve from fulfillment instead of sacrifice The power of starting with acknowledgement How to build a support team so you're not doing it alone The "clarity audit" — a simple self-reflection tool you can try this week Why writing down small wins carries you through the hard days Full show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e947 Share this episode with a teacher friend who needs the encouragement.

Why do we have to prove we're human in the age of AI? STEM educator and AI coach Brandie Wright shares the real story behind her ISTE main-stage talk on sparking curiosity — and why the presence of a teacher still matters. When Vicki first heard Brandie's story on the ISTE main stage, she wasn't sure the student was real — that's how believable AI-generated stories have become. This Wonderful Classroom Wednesday conversation is about curiosity, human connection, and the artisanship of teaching in an age when a kid alone with a screen simply isn't enough. In this episode, you'll learn: How "crew" — school-family grouping — builds the relationships that spark curiosity Why one student calls the whiteboard marker "magical" What teachers misunderstand about where AI's believable stories actually come from Why small classes and real human connection matter more than ever Three quick ways to spark curiosity in your own classroom Full show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e946 If this episode encouraged you, leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend.

Steve Swanson built an AI grading tool — and then deleted the feature that would have returned AI-generated grades straight to students. He's a high school engineering teacher who was staring down 150 assignments after a field-trip week, and he built ClassLens because he needed it for his own gradebook. But when he got to the point where he could push one button and have everything graded and sent back automatically, it felt wrong. So he took the button out. In this Tech Tip Tuesday conversation, Steve makes the case for "human in the loop" — not as a buzzword, but as the actual job of teaching. He also answers a question he pitched to me by email, and it's the right one: what is the single question every teacher should ask before letting an AI tool grade student work? In this episode, you'll learn: The 30-second checklist to run before you let AI grade a stack of student work The one question to ask any vendor about where student data goes — and what "they hold none of your data" actually means Why writing a strong rubric changes the quality of what AI hands back to you Whether it's a violation of student trust to send AI-written feedback without disclosing it The teaching-assistant analogy that reframes the whole AI grading debate Show notes, resources, and the full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e945

Hope isn't just a feeling — it's a practice you can build. Psychologist and author Dr. Julia Garcia (The 5 Habits of Hope) joins Vicki Davis to redefine hope as something educators can practice, even in the hardest seasons. Recorded shortly after Vicki lost her father, this is an honest, encouraging conversation about hopelessness, grief, and the small habits that help us hold on to hope. In this episode, you'll learn: Why we experience hope as a feeling — and how to practice it instead The habit of reflection: pausing long enough to connect with something real The habit of receiving: learning to name and accept support How to reshape the thought patterns that keep us stuck How to keep teaching and creating through grief Full show notes and transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e944 If this episode encouraged you, share it with a teacher friend who needs a little hope today.

How do students actually learn? AP Psychology teacher Blake Harvard — The Effortful Educator — shares the cognitive science of attention and memory that every K-12 teacher can use tomorrow. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Vicki Davis talks with Blake Harvard about why attention is a necessary component of learning, the simple pre-test that primes the brain, and the mistake of making hard content even harder. Blake breaks down the two strategies with more than a century of research behind them — retrieval practice and spaced practice — and why rereading notes just doesn't work. In this episode, you'll learn: Why attention is where we lose students the most — and how to win it back The power of a quick pre-test to prime the brain for new content How limited working memory means complex material needs simpler activities Why retrieval practice (not rereading) builds lasting memory How spaced practice beats cramming — in less total study time Listen, then share this with a teacher friend, and leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps more educators find the show. Full show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e943 Sponsored. This episode is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like. Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

Experiential learning through travel changes students for good — and Denver science and CTE teacher Angela Cannava proves any teacher can lead it. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Angela shares how curriculum-aligned international trips with EF Explore America transformed her students: a forensics lab in Great Britain where they did real DNA fingerprinting, and a Belize Ridge-to-Reef conservation expedition with a midnight bat workshop. She tells the story of a student who barely spoke in three years coming home changed, and a Belize traveler now headed back to work at the conservation NGO he visited on the trip. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why curriculum-aligned travel makes lessons "stick" long after the trip ends - How travel transforms your relationships with students — and the culture of your whole classroom - The two things to nail before your first trip: a diverse chaperone team and clear student expectations - How to make international travel doable on a teacher's schedule by partnering with a tour company - Why the learning ripples out even to the students who stayed home Read the full show notes and resources at https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e942  Sponsor. Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation to show them how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Imagine your students coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or even sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. If you want to inspire your students and give them a fresh perspective on the power of STEM, visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. If this show helps you, please rate or review it wherever you're listening, and share it with a teacher friend.

Art teacher Tim Needles brings AI art into the classroom without losing the watercolors, clay, and joy of real art. In this Tech Tool Tuesday, Tim shares how he uses Adobe Express and text-to-image to amplify student imagination, why the kids who use AI well are simply more descriptive, and the daily 10-minute creativity habit that helps teachers fight burnout. Plus: the legacy mural project that reaches a whole community, and the student who broke INTO the art room to keep working — and now works at Industrial Light & Magic. In this episode, you'll learn: How to bring AI art into any subject with Adobe Express (works on a Chromebook) Why specificity makes the difference between weak and strong AI art prompts How to keep students respecting traditional media in the age of AI A simple daily creativity habit that protects against teacher burnout Why "fun is underrated" — and how passion projects change kids' lives Full show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e941 If this show encouraged you, leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend.

Vibe coding for teachers means describing what you want in plain English and letting AI write the code — no coding background required. 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Donnie Piercey joins Vicki Davis to show how any teacher can build custom classroom tools that save real time. Donnie shares the small-problem-first method he used to build printable daily student task lists, auto-translate his classroom newsletter into five languages, and create self-checking games — plus the dead-simple troubleshooting trick of screenshotting the error and pasting it back to the AI. Vicki shares how she rebuilt a unit into a game that raised her eighth graders' scores five points with zero retests. In this episode, you'll learn: - What vibe coding actually is (and what it isn't) - How to pick the one small problem worth solving first - How to fix broken code without knowing how to code - Why publishing to HTML lets your tool work anywhere - How AI tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, Canva Code, and Google Apps Script fit in Full show notes, resources, and transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e940  If this episode gave you an idea, share it with a teacher friend and leave a review wherever you're listening. Sponsor: Today's show is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like. Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

MIT's Justin Reich interviewed 120 teachers and students about AI in the classroom — and his honest takeaway is that there are no research-based best practices yet. Here's what to do instead. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Justin Reich (MIT Teaching Systems Lab, host of The Homework Machine) joins Vicki Davis to talk about what AI is really doing in K-12 classrooms, why the research is still in its infancy, and how teachers can run their own small "local science" experiments right now. In this episode, you'll learn: Why classroom teachers and students — not thought leaders — give the truest picture of AI in schools Why there are no AI "best practices" yet (and the 25-year research timeline that explains it) How to run a small, honest "local science" experiment in your own classroom this week Why your domain knowledge — not the tool — is what makes AI actually useful Four ways teachers are handling AI cheating (and how to tell when yours isn't working) The power of "subtraction": what schools should stop doing to do their best work Full show notes, resources, and the books mentioned: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e939 If this conversation helped you, please leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend — it genuinely helps more educators find the show. Sponsor. Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation to show them how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Imagine your students coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or even sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. If you want to inspire your students and give them a fresh perspective on the power of STEM, visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. All opinions are those of the teachers and the host.

Moviemaking in the classroom isn't the fun thing you do at the end of the year — it's how Jessica Pack gets to know her students on day one. The 2014 California Teacher of the Year and author of "Moviemaking in the Classroom" shares the exact projects she uses in the first two weeks of school to lift student voice, build creative confidence, and weave in generative AI the right way. You can use it now or next school year as you plan ahead this summer! I want to give you lots of ideas for what you can do in your classroom with moviemaking!   In this episode, you'll learn: Two day-one projects that turn new students into whole people (using the book "The Best Part of Me" and the "I Am" poem) How to introduce generative AI through Adobe Express and build "AI citizenship" from the start Why growth over grades helped her long-term English learners blossom How to balance high-tech and low-tech so creativity — not the tool — stays the point A simple "me in three" starting point for teachers brand-new to moviemaking Full show notes, resources, and Jessica's book: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e938 If this episode gave you an idea for what you can do in your classroom, share it with a teacher friend and leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other educators find the show. Today's show is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like. Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

Dr. Sarah Thomas says AI is a creativity amplifier — a tool that gives teachers back their time so they can do the work only humans can do. In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Dr. Sarah Thomas — founder of EduMatch and a Regional Technology Coordinator — reframes artificial intelligence as a creativity amplifier rather than a replacement for human thinking. We talk about what she actually automates, how to use AI ethically with students, and why staying pro-human matters more than ever. In this episode, you'll learn: Why AI works best as a creativity amplifier that frees up your time The "big rocks" to protect first: COPPA, FERPA, and student data (PII) How to move teachers from fear to confidence with AI The 80/20 rule for verifying AI output — and the "find the lie in AI" classroom game Why a robot will never replace the relationship at the heart of teaching Full show notes and links: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e937 If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend. Sponsored. This episode is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like. Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

Four STEM teachers. Four trips that changed students forever. From Panama to the UK to MIT to DC. When a student does real science in a real place, STEM stops being abstract. Miranda Grabowski's biology class planted mangroves in Panama. Angela Cannava's biomed students ran a live DNA fingerprinting experiment in London. Karen Spencer's seventh graders toured MIT and Harvard in Boston. Edith Cortez's eighth graders from Laredo, Texas competed at science museums in Washington DC. In every story, something very cool happens: students look up at the scientists and engineers in the room and realize — "I could do this for a living." In this episode, you'll learn: - How to align a STEM trip to what you're already teaching in the classroom - What happens when a student's classroom finally connects to what scientists actually do - Why taking students to see real labs, real campuses, and real professionals changes what they believe is possible - How teachers in different states and different budget situations made these trips happen — and why they'd do it again Show notes and resources at https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e936  Sponsor. Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation to show them how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Imagine your students coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or even sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. If you want to inspire your students and give them a fresh perspective on the power of STEM, visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. All opinions are those of the teachers and the host. If this episode moved you, leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other remarkable educators find the show. I read every one.

Jean-Claude Brizard, President and CEO of Digital Promise, joins Vicki on this Thought Leader Thursday episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast. From his beginning teaching incarcerated youth at Rikers Island, where he met a young man his own age who couldn't do basic math, to leading a global nonprofit that's reshaping how teachers and developers co-create AI tools — Jean-Claude shares why he's been in education for 38 years and counting. In this episode, you'll learn: Why teachers must be "crew, not passengers" on AI How Digital Promise is co-creating with teachers to extend a science-of-reading platform for multilingual learners How Gen AI is letting students talk to the "average Americans" history forgot — including a Georgia housewife who captured seven British soldiers Why mitigating AI bias requires educators in the room from the start How to spot certified tech versus "shiny object" fluff Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e935 If this episode made you think, leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other teachers find the show. And share it with a teacher friend.

Brain first AI teaching: a new MIT Media Lab study shows students who think before they use AI have a clear advantage over those who start with AI. Philip Seyfried — Teachers College, Columbia doctoral student and co-author of AI-Enhanced Literacy — shares the brain-first framework, why AI detectors don't work, how to monitor AI use in the classroom transparently, and how to build the kind of trust that lets students tell you the truth about how they actually used the tools. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why MIT's research shows brain-first / AI-second produces stronger writers • Why AI detectors fail — and what to do instead for academic integrity (with danah boyd's em-dash story) • Why you should push AI to your students instead of grading WITH AI yourself — Vicki's classroom approach • The "Beautiful Sentence" moment: why human teacher feedback still beats anything an algorithm can give • Why we shouldn't anthropomorphize AI — and where beginning teachers should actually start (Phil cites Ethan Mollick's "Co-Intelligence" + "three sleepless nights" with AI) Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e934 Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation — coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington, D.C. Visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. If this episode helped you, please leave a rating or review on this site. It helps others find the show! Thank you for your help!

What does real world STEM education look like in a high school where students run actual manufacturing contracts on industry-grade equipment, intern at MIT, and learn AI ethics alongside CAD? Joe Fatheree (Top 10 Global Teacher Prize, Illinois Teacher of the Year) and Dr. Mark Buckner (Smart Industry Top 50 Innovator, founder of Oak Ridge High School's iSchool and Wildcat Manufacturing) take Vicki inside a $1.25 million state grant program where 26 student-run contracts with 18 companies have produced near-net-shape metal 3D printing, augmented reality experiences, and graduates already working four to five years ahead of their college peers. This extended episode also tackles the AI conversation educators most need: where AI belongs in classrooms, where it doesn't, what neuroscience says about kids' developing brains in the attention economy, and why "just because you can does not mean you should" is the most important lesson STEM students will learn this year. In this episode, you'll learn: How Wildcat Manufacturing's profit-sharing model pays students for real client work The three pathways Oak Ridge graduates take — start a business, $100K+ workforce, or accelerate into engineering Why Mark teaches industry frameworks (Scrum, Lean, Toyota Kata, Deming) instead of "edu-ese" Where AI helps (rapid feedback, math practice) and where it harms (Grok Annie, social companionship, attention erosion) What the "Manhattan Project 2.0" frame means for AI policy and your classroom Show notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e933 EF Explore America STEM Tours sponsored today's show. Show students how STEM impacts the world up close and in action. Students could code robots with MassRobotics at MIT or explore marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs or even sit down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. Students will learn how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Inspire your students visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM

ADHD misconceptions are sabotaging your students' confidence and success. In this episode, Jheri South—a certified ADHD specialist and mom of seven neurodivergent kids—reveals the five things that actually engage an ADHD brain, the hidden emotional struggle affecting 95% of people with ADHD (rejection sensitivity dysphoria), and why "just try harder" is the worst advice you can give. Learn practical strategies for classroom engagement, how to recognize hyper-focus, and why consistency matters more than you think. In this episode: The difference between ADHD behaviors and ADHD neurology The five things that engage an ADHD brain: novelty, interest, challenge/competition, urgency, and passion Why urgency triggers hyper-focus (and why it's not laziness) Rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) and why it's often more disabling than distractibility How classroom placement and private conversations rebuild self-confidence Why inconsistency erodes ADHD students' self-worth The role of project-based learning in ADHD engagement Being a difference maker instead of a "put-downer" Show Notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e932  This episode is sponsored by the VAI Educators Studio from Van Andel Institute for Education. Get 50% off with promo code COOLCAT at coolcatteacher.com/vai .

Free AI literacy resources for every K-12 teacher — not just computer science. Karim Meghji, President and CEO at Code.org, shares how to teach AI in any classroom. In this episode, you'll learn: Why AI literacy belongs in every subject, not just CS class How to get started with Code.org's free Hour of AI activities at hourofai.org Unplugged AI activities that work without any computers — perfect for K-5 Why teachers need to invest in their own AI education first (and a free way to do it) Where to start by grade level: elementary, middle school, and high school resources Karim explains that students need to understand not just how to use AI tools, but how they actually work under the hood. Code.org's Hour of AI brings together hundreds of partners offering one-hour activities across grade levels and subjects. And their new unplugged AI curriculum lets students explore generative AI through conversation and collaboration before ever touching a computer. Show notes and all links: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e931 This episode is sponsored by the VAI Educators Studio from Van Andel Institute for Education. Get 50% off with promo code COOLCAT at coolcatteacher.com/vai . 

Inquiry-based learning doesn't have to mean overhauling your entire schedule. Terra Tarango, Chief Education Officer at Van Andel Institute for Education, shares practical ways K-8 teachers can weave inquiry and hands-on science into any subject — starting small and building from there. Sponsored by the VAI Educator's Studio from Van Andel Institute for Education. In this episode, you'll learn: How a 5-lesson kindergarten bee project covers science, math, ELA, and SEL Why "Beat the Bot" is the perfect activity for teaching kids what humans do better than AI How to flip your planning — start with what's interesting, then connect the content What ethical PD looks like (and why Terra says theory-heavy PD is "unethical") Small first steps: pledge forms, student pitch tanks, and flipping instruction order Show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e930 Get 50% off VAI Educator's Studio membership with promo code COOLCAT at coolcatteacher.com/vai 

In this episode, Malia Hollowell shares actionable, science-backed strategies to transform early reading instruction. Learn how to organize sight words by phonics rules, leverage spoken language as your teaching superpower, support dyslexic learners, and use word ladders for real reading growth. You'll also discover why leveled readers fall short and how to find trustworthy literacy resources. In this episode, you'll learn: How to organize sight words by phonics rules instead of random lists Why spoken language and sound tapping beats flashcard drilling How to support the 20% of learners with dyslexia using audio-focused strategies Why word ladders are more effective than traditional leveled readers Where to find trustworthy literacy sources backed by research Free editable sight word games from Playdough to Plato Show Notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e929 About the Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Van Andel Institute for Education. The Educator's Studio is a resource-packed platform with classroom-tested lessons, hands-on projects, professional development, and a supportive educator community. Get 50% off with promo code COOLCAT at coolcatteacher.com/vai.

Phone addiction in teens is real — and Australian psychologist Dr. Brad Marshall has evidence-based strategies that actually work from treating 2,500+ families. Dr. Brad Marshall, known as the Unplugged Psychologist and Director of Australia's Screen & Gaming Disorder Clinic, joins Vicki Davis to share what two decades of clinical work and university research reveal about helping kids break free from phone addiction — without shame or judgment. In this episode, you'll learn: Why parental control software fails — and the "handbrake rule" that actually works What happened when Australia banned phones in every school Why sleep is the number one thing to protect from screen overuse Why expecting teens to self-regulate phone use is "neurologically ridiculous" How to have a non-judgmental conversation with teens about their phone habits Show notes and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e928 Love the show? Rate and review on Apple Podcasts — it's the #1 way to help other teachers find us.