Sustainable Teacher Podcast

Latest Episodes:

75. How the Flipped Classroom Helps You Reach Post-Pandemic Students Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

Today’s episode topic on how to reach your post-pandemic students is very similar to and piggy backs off of a recent episode on the same topic, and that would be episode 72, which we have linked in the show notes below so you can go there and give it a listen if you haven’t yet.

In that episode we talked about how our students have changed and how we can respond to those changes in ways that are sustainable for us, the teachers in the room.

This episode is going to continue that conversation with a focus on how aspects of the flipped classroom allow you to be effective with today’s post-pandemic student.

At this time this episode will go live, just a couple weeks ago I was on a Facebook live with a group of teachers where we discussed the topic of how the pandemic has collectively changed students and what trends we are seeing. To summarize what those teachers shared, they see that students are disconnected from learning, and from others, they are less motivated to achieve and learn, and overall just less engaged in the process of school.

And this breaks my teacher-heart.

Now this isn’t to say that all students are behaving this way, but it’s definitely a trend teachers are seeing amongst many of their students.

So, what are we to do?

Well, I’d love to help you with some strategies that will allow the ability and extra time to dedicate to re-engage your students, and connect with them, without having to feel guilty about spending class time doing so. I’ll make suggestions based off of my twelve years of flipping my classroom and helping hundreds of other teachers flip theirs in ways that engaged and empowered their students while preserving their own evenings and weekends for things other than work in the mean time.

After listening to this episode you will have a clear understanding of what aspects of the flipped classroom you want to implement so that you’re prepared to more effectively respond to the needs of your post-pandemic students.

So if you are ready for this discussion and ready to take back your classroom of engaged students, then this episode is for you. And I bet it’s for one or two of your teacher-friends as well. If you agree, go ahead and click that share button and send this episode their way. I so appreciate you taking the time to help me get my message of teacher-sustainability into the ears of more teachers like you.

Alright, let’s get into episode 75, how to reach your post-pandemic students with the flipped classroom.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/how-to-reach-your-post-pandemic-students-continued

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

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"I love Mandy and the Sustainable Teacher." <-- If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more teachers -- just like you -- move toward the sustainable work-teacher-life balance that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

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74. How Flipping Your Classroom Helps Overcome the Game of Grades May 24, 2022

Show notes

Oh, the game of grades. It’s the toxic consumption of our students' attention only on what grade they are paid with for every little move they make in your classroom rather than on the experience of learning that happens in their brain while a student of yours.

It’s as if you have to pay your students in the currency of grades for any “work” they do in your class, otherwise it won’t get done. As if the work getting done is the goal - NO! It’s not! The learning that happens while doing the work is the goal, and yet our students can’t take their focus away from the work.

So how do overcome this game of grades? How do we make the focus of our classroom on the learning that happens rather than the “work” that leads to grades?

I’ve actually addressed this topic already in episode 30 titled Overcoming the Game of Grades with Your Students. So that episode is very much a precursor to this one. Although it’s not required to listen to episode 30 before proceeding with this one, it’s definitely an episode you want to select “play next” on. I’ve linked episode 30 below in the description of this episode so you can check it out.

This episode is going to focus on how the flipped classroom specifically can help you overcome the game of grades with your students.

In fact, after listening to this episode you will have a laser sharp depiction of what the flipped classroom will do for your classroom culture and the performance of your students because of how it shifts the focus away from grades and onto the learning itself.

I’ll discuss the various aspects of the flipped classroom that you’ll implement when you’re ready to start your flipping journey, and how you’ll see that work pay off as a result in your students’ focus on learning rather than on grades.

If this episode topic is intriguing to you, I would so appreciate you click to share the episode with your teacher-friends. Send it in a text or email, post a screenshot on social media tagging me as @teachonamission, and I so appreciate you helping us get our message of sustainability into the ears of teachers craving to get back to the manageable career they love.

Ok, let’s get to it.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/how-flipping-your-classroom-helps-overcome-the-game-of-grades

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

73. The 3 Pros and Cons of Flipping Your Classroom May 17, 2022

Show notes

“The flipped classroom was a strategy I knew I wanted to implement, but I never saw it coming when my flipped classroom gave my students more access during the pandemic and is now a strategy that provides me more sustainability in my post-pandemic classroom.”

This is a quote from a teacher whom I’ve helped flip their classroom, and seriously, I can’t say it much better than that.

Which is why in this episode I am going to dive into both the benefits and the drawbacks of flipping - at least from the perspective of someone who is considering flipping their classroom and hasn’t quite doven in yet (or maybe you have dabbled in the technique but not gone all in just yet).

After listening to this episode you’ll have a clear understanding of how the flipped classroom makes for a more sustainable and effective classroom in the post-pandemic world, knowing if the strategy is a good fit for you.

Because here’s the thing, although the post-pandemic classroom brings multiple additional hurdles, like students attending your classroom in different ways giving you what equates to more preps, as well as increased absences, and a list too long to get into, the standards are not going away. Which means the expectation is continued effectiveness and performance even though your day is increasingly less sustainable.

And this is the nature of the beast. This is unfortunately the new normal for at least the time being. Not to say that the systemic unsustainability of it all shouldn’t be addressed quickly and effectively, but if you’re anything like me, I’m not one to wait around on other people to make my situation better or what I want it to be.

So if you’re ready to make your post-pandemic classroom more effective for your students (no matter how they attend your class) and more sustainable for you in your daily teaching life, providing you more time at home and with your family, then this episode is for you.

And I’m betting this episode will resonate with one or two of your teacher-friends, and if that’s the case, go ahead and click that share button in the app where you’re listening, or copy the web address if you’re listening on our website, and send this episode over to them. I bet they’ll thank you for it, and I will too because your help in getting our message into the ears of more teachers means the world to me.

Alright, let’s get to the episode on Flipped Classroom Pros and Cons, so grab your pen and paper if you’re a note-taker and let’s get to it.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/the-three-pros-and-cons-of-flipping-your-classroom

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

FLIPPED CLASSROOM FREE PD: https://www.teachonamission.com/pd

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72. How the Pandemic Has Changed Our Students May 12, 2022

Show notes

The pandemic took all the routines and understandings about school, shook them up in a paper bag, and spit them out with no semblance of what they once were.

At least that’s how some of our students are now behaving.

With student apathy and absences on the rise as expectations and stakes for students and teachers remain the same, we are working through trying times in education.

Education is different. Our students are different. And if we don’t respond to how our students have changed, we will not be as effective with them in our classrooms.

We must change with our students but in a way that does not sacrifice our evenings and weekends to do so. I’m all for changing with the times and responding to the ever changing needs of our students, but I believe it is absolutely contradictory to the system’s success if we do so at the sacrifice of our teachers’ well being. And requiring that they do it all without support will lead to the end of education as a whole because teachers will burn out and new teachers will avoid the career field entirely.

In this episode, we’ll look at how exactly students have changed from living through and going to school through a pandemic, and how as teachers we can respond to those changes without being the sacrificial lamb in the process - that is, we’ll respond to our students’ needs while striving for work-life balance as educators.

This is an important message that I believe and want all educators to hear, and I would SO appreciate you helping me do that… I would love it if you would share this episode with a teacher-friend which will help us spread our message of sustainability for teachers, and hopefully revive the career field a bit during this trying time. I truly appreciate your efforts.

Let’s get started.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/how-the-pandemic-has-changed-our-students-and-how-teachers-can-respond

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

VIP WAITLIST: https://www.teachonamission.com/waitlist

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71. Make the Most of Class Time So You Can Leave On Time May 03, 2022

Show notes

Quick question for you… when you were in college as a pre-service teacher, making your preparations to become a teacher, taking all your education classes, did you ever take a class on how to lecture?

Me neither.

Another question, when you were assigned to make plans for an entire unit, like a curriculum map for a unit in one of those college classes, did you plan to lecture in class 80%+ of the time and say that out loud to your class?

Yeah, me neither.

That’s because as a pre-service teacher you were being trained on how to best help your students through the learning process, you spent thousands of dollars on your education to become the expert on the learning process, and now that you are actively in the classroom, let’s face it… you’re an overpaid lecturer if that’s all you do.

Oh man. I may have just ticked off a lot of people, but let me explain real fast.

I don’t believe lecturing is bad. Seriously, I don’t. Some of the best teachers I ever had were artists at lecturing and I learned SO much. It’s a form of content delivery, and I still do it in my own classroom.

But here’s the thing. We are trained professionals in the art of learning, and the art of learning that consists of our students just sitting there and getting the information from us is NOT THE hardest parts of learning. So why are we spending so much of our time and energy on the easiest parts of learning?????

This is the topic I’m going to dive into in today’s episode of the Sustainable Teacher Podcast, and I hope you’re ready to join me for it.

If you are, be sure to grab the link to this episode and let one of your teacher-friends know that you’re about to give it a listen, and they should too. I so appreciate your help in getting our message out to other teachers that you, the teacher in the room, are a total B-A, and deserve the sustainable classroom of your dreams.

So let’s get to it.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/make-the-most-of-class-time-so-you-can-leave-on-time

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

FLIPPED CLASSROOM STARTER KIT: https://www.teachonamission.com/starterkit

FLIPPED CLASSROOM FORMULA™ WAITLIST: https://www.teachonamission.com/waitlist

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70. How I Accidentally Monetized My Flipped Classroom Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

I don’t know if I’ve ever told the full story of how I flipped my classroom and what happened once I had flipped. You know, like the whole story, start to finish. Sure, I’ve told it in bits and pieces as was applicable to the episode or post on our website, but not the story in its entirety.

Well, buckle up because I’m going to share it in this episode with a focus on the absolutely unexpected surprise I got in my inbox shortly after publishing my first videos, and the surprise that just keeps on giving now that I’m 12 years past flipping for the first time.

After listening to this episode you’ll see the bonus, and what was hidden advantage of flipping your classroom that may or may not be a perk to you, but at least lets you know the possibilities of flipping so that you can make the most informed choice for your unique classroom. You’ll be ready to start flipping and see the worldwide impact, yes worldwide impact, you can have with your new classroom that surpasses the limitations of its four walls.

Even if this idea of monetizing your flipped classroom is of zero interest to you, the potential global impact might be. Not to mention how prepared you’ll feel for any and all of your current and future students who someday could be reporting to you in any number of ways, not just in person. And I firmly stand my ground here that flipping your classroom is the BEST way to make your content accessible to your varyingly attending students while remaining sustainable for you.

So if this sounds like something you want to learn more about, well, teacher-friend this episode is for you. And, it might be for one of your teacher-friends as well. So if you could, please grab this episode link or a link to the show and share it with your friends, and I so appreciate you for it.

Alright, let’s get to this episode.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/how-i-accidentally-monetized-my-flipped-classroom

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

STARTER KIT: https://www.teachonamission.com/starterkit

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69. The No.1 Thing You Need to Flip Your Classroom Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

The most common question I get from teachers about making a more sustainable classroom or flipping their classroom is “Where do I start?”

You may be asking yourself this question before you even considering if flipping your classroom is something you want to do, and I think you are absolutely justified in doing so because you want to know if it will be worth your time.

Well, when I answer this question, and what I’ll lay out for you in this episode is the fact that how you start your classroom is not just the answer to how you get started with step one, it’s also the exact thing you should be focusing on for each and every step you take and decision you make in your flipped classroom.

What that means is that when you take this first step toward flipping your classroom, you’re also helping your future self by making each and every other step in the flipping process that much easier to take - saving you time and headache in the process.

After listening to this episode you’ll have taken the first and, what I would argue, most important step in flipping your classroom, putting you one huge step closer to the classroom of your teacher-dreams with engaged and accountable students, a classroom that lights you up and runs so well that you don’t need to work on evenings and weekends.

Because you know better than anyone that teaching right now is hard. And we’re being told the solution is to hustle harder, work more, care more, and engage them more. Evidence of the “great resignation” is showing us that teachers have had enough of the narrative that in order to be effective in the classroom that they need to be the ones doing more. Together, we can challenge this narrative and show our colleagues, new teachers coming into the field, and even administrators that we can have more by doing less - we can do more by streamlining. And this episode will explore how.

Let’s get to it.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/the-no-1-thing-you-need-to-flip-your-classroom

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

STARTER KIT: https://www.teachonamission.com/starterkit

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68. Working Through the Shame Behind Teacher Burnout Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

Welcome back to the Sustainable Teacher Podcast, or welcome for the first time if this is the first episode of the show that you’re listening to. Either way, I’m so happy to have you listening in. And I’m going to start off by saying that this episode will be a healthy dose of tough love.

I have all the love for my people - and my people are teachers. They are educators through and through, and I love them. But I also have tough love for you today. And I’ll say that a dose of tough love might not be exactly what you want today. Heck, it might not be what you need, because you really need an open ear to vent to. And that’s healthy as well, but unfortunately, on this platform I can’t be that listening ear, so I encourage you to go and find it. We have our Sustainable Teacher Podcast private community on Facebook that you are welcome to join and find a safe place to vent and express your concerns. Be sure to find that link in the description below where you’re listening.

Ok, are you ready for the tough love that’s wrapped in a hug and a strong look in the eye?… There is no shame in feeling burned out as a teacher. None at all. But it’s time to do something about it and decide if you’re in this or not.

Ok, there it was. Tough love is not easy, because it’s tough. But it’s still love and it’s necessary. Now, I’m not saying this to say get the heck out, NOW! I’m also not saying that you will be ready to decide to do something about it right now. But for some listeners, maybe you, this is the perfect time because you NEED to do something about your burn out. You need to take a moment or a day or a few days to focus on what it is that’s burning you out, and not live in it anymore. Stop letting your day’s worth be determined by what’s burning you out, and instead do something about it.

After listening to this episode you will be relieved of your shame within being burned out as a teacher, as well as have a clear path BACK to the career you love IF that is the path you wish to choose.

Because here’s the truth - teaching is so incredibly hard right now. Teaching is always hard through major historical events, and those events are not going away anytime soon. So how do we find our constant amongst all the unpredictable in a way that allows us to love what we do? This is the larger question that I hope this podcast helps you answer, but this episode is meant to help you decide if you can bounce back from your burn out. Because screw the shame. It’s time to take a few steps that I’ll outline in this episode for whenever you’re ready to take them that will lead you back to the career you love. Or not - because it is your choice. No shame involved.

So buckle your seat belts for an episode of tough love and guidance - I’m not just going to lecture the whole episode - but hope to impart some inspiration to act.

Here we go.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/working-through-the-shame-behind-teacher-burnout

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

STARTER KIT: https://www.teachonamission.com/starterkit

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67. What I'm Reading: My Top 5 Recommended Reads Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

I recently was driving in the car sans children so it was very peaceful and serene. Not to say my time in the car with my three boys isn’t wonderful - it’s just a louder version of wonderful where I don’t get to sit in quiet or do what I ended up doing on this particular drive which is downloading a book that I forgot I had waiting for me on Audible and click play.

I’m going to recommend this particular book to you in this episode so I will talk more about it later, but for now I need to share how the book struck me in a way I was not anticipating.

So I’m driving along and I’m listening in as the author tells a story and brings wisdom to something I had been feeling for most of my life, and she gave such clarity I didn’t know I needed. I was even brought to tears - not tears of sorrow necessarily but tears of feeling seen in what I thought was just all in my head.

And the book, so aptly named, is Jennie Allen’s Get Out Of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts.

The book title doesn’t necessarily matter for the purpose of me bringing it up in the intro of this episode. What matters is a few key things that will serve as another part of this episode where we talk about what we teachers can get out of our reading when there seems to be no time and no energy left over to do anything for ourselves… even picking up a book.

Those key things are this:

I wasn’t reading the book, I was listening to it, and that didn’t make the message and lesson I received from the book any less meaningful.
Reading this book wasn’t an added item on my to-do list, and yet I was happy to be doing it without the overwhelm of needing to do something else more meaningful or productive.
This book was one after quite a large stack of books that were either unread in my nightstand or completely abandoned, nor did it have anything to do with my profession.

I’ll get into each of these items, plus some, and recommend my top 5 recent reads, but the goal is that after listening to this episode you’ll not only have that list of 5 recommended reads from me, but also some strategies or practices I’ve used to maintain some semblance of reading of books amidst the craziness of life, raising a family, and running a business while teaching part-time.

Because here’s my truth or reality I want to get across to you listening today. Before all of the commitments I hold near and dear to my heart in my life right now - being a mother of three boys, a principal’s wife, running a business and teaching, plus a few others - I read almost non-stop. Then my reading came to a crashing halt when I became a teacher, and then even more so when I became a mother. And for some reason I felt guilty about that. As if it was the indicator of the fact that I’m NOT able to do it all.

This may seem like a nothing topic to you, which that’s totally fine, but I’ve learned a few things over the last five to ten years that I’ve reflected on and want to share from a place that is a working-mom-teacher perspective.

So, if you’re ready to join me, I would so love it if you took a moment to share this episode with a friend - and this time it doesn’t only have to be a teacher-friend. You can click on the share button where you’re listening, and send the episode in a text or email, or even share it on social media. It would mean the world to me.

Alright, let’s get to it.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/what-i-m-reading-right-now

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainableteacher

FULL FOCUS PLANNER: https://www.teachonamission.com/planner

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66. A Sustainably Epic Classroom with Trevor Muir Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Hey there teacher-friend and welcome back to the Sustainable Teacher Podcast, I’m so glad you’ve chosen to join us today, and man have you picked a good episode to land on. I am so excited to have Trevor Muir on the podcast today.

Trevor’s roots are as a high school English teacher, and is now teacher, author, and speaker. He is the author of the books The Epic Classroom and The Collaborative Classroom. Trevor is a teacher at Grand Valley State University, was a national faculty member for the Buck Institute for Education, and is one of the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation speakers. His work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Edutopia, EdWeek, and WeAreTeachers. He gave a TED Talk titled, "School Should Take Place in the Real World," at TEDxSanAntonio. Trevor’s Facebook page, The Epic Classroom, has inspiring videos that have been viewed over 30 million times. At the heart of Trevor’s work is the conviction that every student has the potential for greatness, and every teacher can be equipped to unlock that potential.

This episode is sure to light you up as a teacher, giving you inspiration and fuel for your own sustainability, but it also offers practical take-action pieces you’re sure to find valuable.

Before we get started, take a moment to click on the three dots or share icon to share this episode with a friend. If you’ve listened to an episode with us before or this is your first time, we would so appreciate you taking a moment to help us get in the ears of other teachers with this never more important message that teachers matter, and their sustainability matters. We so appreciate you.

Ok. Without further ado, here’s Trevor Muir.

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER SHOW NOTES: https://www.teachonamission.com/blog/leading-a-sustainably-epic-classroom-with-trevor-muir

SUSTAINABLE TEACHER CHALLENGE: https://www.teachonamission.com/sustainableteacherchallenge

TREVOR’S LINKS

PODCAST: https://www.trevormuir.com/podcasts/the-epic-classroom-with-trevor-muir

WEBSITE: https://www.trevormuir.com/