With the end of the school year quickly approaching, your mind is on summer, relaxing, and taking a break from school. The last thing you probably want to do is start thinking about next school year. However, that’s exactly what I want you to do! While everything is still fresh in your mind, it’s important to take the time to reflect on the year and do an end-of-year audit. In the first episode of this two-part series, I’m going to share how to do an end-of-year audit as an assessment of your...

Something that I remember so vividly is my first year teaching. I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and couldn’t wait to have my own classroom and make it my own. I had wanted this for so long that I was ready to jump in and do all that I could to be the best teacher I could be. And while that sounds like the right thing, it actually made me tired, stressed, and overwhelmed. So whether you’re fresh out of college, coming to teaching as a second career, or a veteran teacher wanting to learn from ...

As a former secondary science teacher, I know how hard y’all work and plan to create meaningful lessons and activities for your students and are always striving to do what’s best for them. That’s why whenever Teacher Appreciation Week rolls around, I want to take time to say thank you and appreciate the teachers in my life, which includes you! To help celebrate this time, I wanted to reflect on four of my personal favorite and most influential teachers and share what I’ve learned from each of...

A group of people who are educators who don’t always get a lot of credit but also put in a lot of work are administrators. And with National Administration Appreciation Day a few days ago, I wanted to take some time to give some praise and kudos to those administrators who are trustworthy, support teachers, and care about the students in their school. So, in today’s episode, I’m reflecting back on a few of my favorite administrators and sharing some qualities they embodied that I appreciated ...

We’ve made it to our final episode in our AP science teacher interview series, and I’ve saved the best for last! When I sent out a survey several months ago, y’all requested to have him make another guest appearance, so here he is, Zach Matson! Teaching AP Chemistry for several decades, he has gained so much experience, knowledge, and tips that are going to help you be successful in teaching in your classroom. Even if you teach another AP science discipline, Zach first shares general tips and...

I’ve had so much fun and really enjoyed listening to my guest science teachers during my AP science teacher interview series. Each guest has given incredible insight about the AP exam and helpful tips for other teachers in their respective science disciplines. But out of all the AP science courses, I received the most questions about teaching AP Environmental Science. My guest on today’s episode, Ashton Allgood, is the perfect person to answer all of your questions while also sharing how she...

As we move forward with focusing on the different AP science classes, this week, we’re focusing on AP Biology. This class comes with a lot of content, material, reading, and prior background knowledge to help students succeed and prepare for the end-of-year AP exam. I’m so lucky to have guest Beth Hines be the expert on this class since she is a veteran teacher and has been teaching AP biology for 3 years. In today’s episode, Beth shares so much information, wisdom, and encouragement, and how...

It’s the beginning of April, and with the spring air around us, it reminds me of something fresh and new, so I decided to start a new series about teaching different AP sciences. Even though in my podcast episodes, I share ideas and strategies that will benefit all classes, I get a lot of questions targeted specifically toward teaching an AP class. So, in my first episode of the series, I have guest Laura Preiser, who shares how she prepares her students for the AP exam and what changes she’s...

As educators, we decided to make this our career because we love to help people and care about students and their success. However, just because that’s our personality and mission, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that’s how our students feel. One of the resounding themes from the survey I sent out was how do I get my students to care as much as I do? I’ve heard this a lot, so I wanted to address it on the podcast. So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing why this seems to be the case and what you can...

In last week’s episode, I asked you to examine your current job situation to see if there were more things causing you stress than things that brought you joy. One solution might be changing your scenery, such as switching schools or even districts, which would mean a teacher interview is in your future. Or even if you’re a beginning teacher looking for their first teaching job, this episode is for you! One request I get a lot is to share my teacher interview tips, which is exactly what I’m...

It’s no secret that teachers are constantly overwhelmed and stressed and often don’t feel appreciated for their work. Especially during this time of year, it can be hard to determine if the exhaustion you’re feeling is just temporary or a feeling that won’t go away. Trust me, I’ve been exactly where you’re at and want to help. So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing my process to see if the burnout you’re feeling is fixable or if it’s time to make a change. Make no mistake: deciding to make a...

Everyone is trying to achieve a work-life balance, but for teachers, that simple concept is actually very complicated. One of the reasons teachers struggle so much with having a life outside of school is the amount of grading that we have to do. While I’m biased, I believe secondary science teachers have the most grading, especially with the labs and having multiple preps. I want you to be able to manage and achieve this, so in today’s episode, I’m sharing four tips that will cut your grading...

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - the reason I do this podcast is for you! I love sharing ideas, strategies, activities, and curriculum with you that help make your science classrooms more successful. This is why I reached out to you to hear what questions you had for me or for your science classrooms. So, for the next few months, I’ll be answering all your questions, starting today. This important question that was mentioned a lot revolved around increasing retention and how to...

If you’ve been in education long enough, you know that new acronyms and ideas are constantly being tossed out there. Once these ideas are presented, schools and districts want them implemented, which results in teachers stressing about incorporating them into their lessons. But in reality, teachers are already doing a lot of these ideas; they’re just called something different. This is exactly what happened with CER. So, in today’s episode, I’m explaining what CER is and why you’re already...

We’ve all had someone who isn’t trained in our subject area be a substitute in our class before, but only for just a day or two, and we survived. But when it’s for an extended period of time, that’s when planning can get challenging. This episode is more than for those going on maternity leave. Most of us don’t anticipate when we need to go on extended leave, but it’s critical to think about and plan for it. So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing how you can effectively plan for a long-term...

No matter what subject or grade you teach or how long you’ve been teaching, you have been behind schedule at least at one point in your career. Trust me, I’ve been there, and it is stressful! Especially if you have an end-of-year test that you’re preparing for. But instead of feeling overwhelmed, in today’s episode, I’m sharing ways to assess why you’re behind schedule and providing practical ways to prevent it from happening in the future. When we start to get behind schedule, our natural...

If you’re a beginning teacher or teaching a new prep for the first time, everyone’s advice is always to fake it till you make it! We’re conditioned to believe that you need to project confidence to show your students that you’re qualified to be their teacher. But is that narrative what’s best for your students? I’ve had many conversations with teachers about how to act confident when you don’t feel that way, and my answer may surprise you. It’s normal to want to display a sense of...

Have you ever made a mistake in your classroom? Or handled a situation differently that caused more problems or regretted how you handled it? I am raising my hand high in the air! Even though it feels like you’re the only teacher something like this has ever happened to, in reality, you’re not alone. I received an email a few months back that resonated with me, and I knew it would resonate with y’all as well. It was from a second career teacher who shared her struggle with this exact topic....

If you are anything like I was in the classroom, this time of year is when I often felt the most drained, with little energy. The excitement of break seems so far away; it’s dark, and the days seem never-ending. And while I can’t change any of those things for you, I can give you some encouragement to make it through. Similar to last week’s episode, where I shared five systems for the home, in today’s episode, I’m sharing five truths for the classroom. Y’all know how much I thrive off a...

With the demands of teaching, we often come home with no energy but are faced with the demands of our home life as well. And just like we have routines put in place to make things easier at school, we can do the same when we’re at home. So, in today’s episode, I’m sharing my best systems for the home that will help you maximize your energy from the day. Each of the systems for the home that I share helps you manage the daily tasks of running a home, how to build in more time for yourself,...

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you were able to unplug over this winter break and recharge so you can tackle the last semester of the school year. Since the start of a new year is the perfect time to hit the reset button, I really wanted to start the year off by assessing where you are in life, what your priorities are, and the types of boundaries you should have. During today’s episode, I want to introduce you to what it means to be living in your current season and how to honor that...

It’s officially the last week of 2023, so I wanted to end the year with the most listened to episode from the year. It was no surprise to me that my interview with Casey O’Hearn was the top episode because of his approach to teaching, his philosophies, and his outlook on how to interact and connect with his students. Adapting to teach in a post-pandemic world, Casey shares his approach to classroom management post-COVID and how you can implement his ideas. Post-pandemic, a lot of teachers...

As I mentioned last week, I’m taking the last weeks of December to replay my top three episodes of the year based on your listens and downloads. I was shocked that this original episode was number two, but so excited because it’s something I’m passionate about, which is curriculum design, specifically strategizing your sequence. This was the first episode in our curriculum design series, which is a great place to start when developing your own curriculum. To get you started, I’m sharing 10...

Happy December, y’all! The one word that describes my life right now, which might describe yours as well, is frantic. So, I thought for the rest of the month, we’d revisit episodes from this past year that can either be good reminders for you during this last month of school or ideas you need to think about or reinforce when you return from break in January. In today’s episode, we’re listening to the third most popular episode, which focuses on five classroom management routines and...