Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Procrastination comes to us all. And sometimes, we just don't have enough time. Today we unpack how we deal with procrastination, which is often tackling it head on. But also learning to say no is part of the equation. This show is for anyone who has looming tasks and is struggling to focus to get them done. Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e853   Sponsor: EVERFI Everyone remembers THAT teacher. The study hall teacher who walked you through your first college application. The social studies teacher who taught you what taxes were AND how to file them. The math teacher who used student loans to show you how interest worked. YOU can be that teacher---and EVERFI wants to help you make that kind of impact with FREE digital lessons for K thru 12 students. From budgets and banking to credit and savings, you’ll find a financial literacy topic that’s right for your classroom. And especially during April, Financial Literacy Month, there’s no better time to equ...

In a world constantly demanding excellence and innovation, it is easy to overlook a fundamental truth: the way we treat each other has profound implications on our productivity, motivation, and overall well-being. So many educators juggle dual responsibilities of nurturing young minds and meeting their own family's needs. This balance is particularly challenging for many women in education. Creating environments where everyone is valued is vital to strengthening our schools. Dr. Tracee Perryman, author of Elevating Women Leaders: Stories of Strength, Survival, and Success, discusses the importance of understanding and addressing women's unique needs and motivations. Our conversation aimed to inspire and guide listeners, help women advocate for themselves, express their needs (before they resign with no notice), and be assertive in ways that help.   Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e852 Sponsor :  EVERFI  Everyone remembers THAT teacher. ...

A.J. Juliani, author if the upcoming book Meaningful & Relevant: Engaging Learners in an Age of Distraction (will be posted here when it is live), talks about how this generation has changed, the hinge of history now upon us and what it means to be an excellent educator in this age with his four ingredients of what creates a meaningful learning experience. His powerful examples help us understand what we can become to engage and transform our classrooms in positive ways (and keep what works.) His talk will inspire and encourage you. Show notes, transcripts and links.: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e851 Sponsor: EVERFI Everyone remembers THAT teacher. The study hall teacher who walked you through your first college application. The social studies teacher who taught you what taxes were AND how to file them. The math teacher who used student loans to show you how interest worked. YOU can be that teacher---and EVERFI wants to help you make that kind of impact with FREE digital less...

April is a busy month. Here are some of the tools and tips for you to explore as you prepare your lessons for this month! I talk about some great books, how I'm using the Elgato teleprompter, eclipse resources anyone can use anywhere in the world, Earth Day, financial literacy month, Arbor Day, some excellent professional development resources and a webinar I'm doing on AI in learning, resources for promoting student safety in automobiles, and, of course, some valuable test prep resources. I hope you find ideas for your classroom in this episode.   Show Notes: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e850   Sponsor: Everyone remembers THAT teacher. The study hall teacher who walked you through your first college application. The social studies teacher who taught you what taxes were AND how to file them. The math teacher who used student loans to show you how interest worked. YOU can be that teacher---and EVERFI wants to help you make that kind of impact with FREE digital lessons for...

As a teacher, it is healthy to evaluate where we are in our career. Is what I'm doing now still a good fit? Are there changes I need to make? And more.  Rob Donatelli has invented the Q.U.E.S.T. method of evaluating where.you are as a teacher and to help you determine how you should move into the future. We dive into this method in today's show to help all of us answer the ever-important question "Is teaching still a good fit for me?" Rob's book A Teacher's Q.U.E.S.T.: An Educator's Journey of Discovery and Rejuvenation includes this framework. Show Sponsor:  Modern Classrooms Project helps teachers bring engaging, exciting teaching to their classrooms. They have a free online course and community that you should join, but right now scholarships are open for fully funded enrollment in their virtual mentorship program and more benefits. Look at their open scholarships for ELL educators, special education, and scholarships for schools and districts acros...

Self-paced mastery-based learning has many misconceptions and misunderstandings about how it is being implemented. Today's guest, Joe Manfre, a math teacher from Hawaii, has been using this teaching method and has seen a positive improvement in his classroom in terms of student learning and empowerment. Joe clearly shares how self-paced learning is not about replacing the teacher with videos, but using instructional videos as a baseline of knowledge that can be accesssed both inside and outside the classroom. Joe also talks about formative instructional approaches in the classroom and the importance of balancing self-paced and collaborative structures in the classroom. Whether you're using this approach or just parts of it, you'll find benefits in listening to this episode. Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e848   Show Sponsor: Modern Classrooms Project helps teachers bring engaging, exciting teaching to their classrooms. They have a free onl...

Felienne Hermans is a middle school teacher one day a week, and college professor four days a week. She created a natural language programming tool in Dutch and English. After she released Hedy as open source, it became popular in many places and now has been translated into 50 languages and is spreading throughout the world. Hedy is a fantastic way to teach computational thinking and programming in an easy text-based way as students create flowers, music, and their own programs with the tool. Named after Hedy Lamar, both a movie star and electrical engineer who created a method used in today's wifi routers, let's talk about how every school can teach programming to kids in their native language and how teachers -- even those with no coding experience -- can get started! Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e847 Show Sponsor:  MAD-Learn  is a free, easy tool for students to use to build apps of their own in a private space for just you and your stud...