The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast

Whole books have gradually lost their place in many classrooms, as packed curricula and an increasing reliance on short texts and excerpts leave little time for reading complete books. In this episode, literacy expert Jen Serravallo explains why whole-book reading matters and shares practical ways teachers can make room for it again, even when they're required to follow a prescribed curriculum. Thanks to Highfive and SimpleK12 for sponsoring the episode. To read a summary or a transcript and find links to the book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/whole-books. Check out Jen's new resource kits: Whole Book Comprehension, Grades 1-6 To learn more about Mastering the Lesson Plan, visit cultofpedagogy.com/mlp.

How do we know whether students can actually use what they've learned? Traditional tests can tell us a lot, but they don't always show us whether students can apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. In this episode, I'm talking with author and educator Jay McTighe about performance tasks, which not only give us a richer picture of student learning but can also be powerful learning experiences in their own right. Jay shares three great examples, explains what makes these tasks effective, and offers practical advice for designing your own, including common mistakes to avoid. Thanks to Highfive for sponsoring the episode. To read a summary or a transcript and find links to the book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/performance-assessments. To learn more about Mastering the Lesson Plan, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101.

When teachers push back against coaching, professional development, or a new initiative, they often get labeled as "resistant." But that label can keep us from seeing what's really going on. In this episode, author Elena Aguilar shares insights from her new book, How to Coach Resistance. We talk about how coaches and leaders may unintentionally contribute to the pushback, practical ways to respond to emotions and identify barriers to change, and what to do when a teacher's objections have merit. Thanks to Highfive for sponsoring the episode. To read a summary or a transcript and find links to the book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teacher-pushback. To learn more about Mastering the Lesson Plan, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101.

Schools are constantly trying to improve, but too often, big improvement efforts don't lead to the changes people hoped for. In this episode, I talk with Jal Mehta and Max Yurkofsky, authors of A Chance to Solve Their Own Problems, about what gets in the way of meaningful school improvement, what needs to be in place for it to work, and how leaders can create the conditions that allow educators to solve problems together. Thanks to Brilliant and Listenwise for sponsoring the episode. To read a summary or a transcript and find links to the book, visit cultofpedagogy.com/continuous-improvement. To learn more about Mastering the Lesson Plan, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101.

In Part 4 of our Back to Basics series on unit planning, we're taking our sample unit and building in more differentiation. I'm putting out this series as an introduction to my new online course, Mastering the Lesson Plan. These four episodes will give you the big picture, but the course takes a much deeper dive into each step of the process and gives you practical tools you can use to plan stronger instruction. To learn more about the course, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101. ___________________________ Thanks to Brilliant and Notability for sponsoring the episode. To read a written version of this podcast, visit cultofpedagogy.com/realistic-differentiation.