10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

College readiness. Some of our students will go to college but are they ready for it? Is what we're doing their junior and senior year getting them ready for the independence and accountability (and consequences) that come with a successful college career? Dr. Johanna David-Tramantano shares her CONNECT framework for helping get students ready for that ever so important first year of college. Johanna is the author of Connect: A High School-to-College Success Framework. She says that we need to help students develop: communication, organization, networking, navigating technology, engagement, collaboration, and transition as part of that successful move to college. This Fab Idea Friday is for high school teachers, counselors, and parents of seniors and college freshmen. We can help children win but it takes a reality check and advance preparation. Let's dive in! What you'll learn: Why are so many students struggling with the move from high school to college? What does the CONNECT framework stand for? Why do "digital natives" still need to be taught tech skills? What can dual enrollment leave out before freshman year? Why should teachers model note-taking for students? How do you taper reminders senior year without leaving students on their own? When should you check in with your college freshman? If this episode helped you think about the seniors in your life, please leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps other teachers and parents find the show. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1030

For thousands of years, rites of passage were an indicator that a child was becoming an adult. Have we lost the rites of passage? Today, many teens get a phone with no guide, no milestones, and no process of learning and earning more responsibility. Can rites of passage help parents and teachers help children grow up well in the digital age? In today's show, Betty Ray, founder of Boss Battle Labs and former director of programming and innovation at Edutopia (the George Lucas Educational Foundation), shares her STARS model for designing a modern rite of passage. She also shares a "Signal Check" process that parents can use to set device boundaries in ways that kids understand. This is an important Thought Leader Thursday for parents or anyone who works with helping kids draw boundaries for digital devices. What you'll learn: What is a rite of passage, and how is it different from a ritual? What traditional rites of passage gave kids that school often doesn't Why handing a teen a phone is like handing over the car keys The five parts of the STARS model How a "yellow zone" turns device battles into skill building What happens when a kid slips back from green to yellow If this episode helped you think about the teens in your life, please leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps other parents and teachers find the show. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1029

Struggling readers in middle and high school might pretend to read or might act out. On the U.S. "Nation's Report Card," about two-thirds of fourth and eighth graders are not yet reading proficiently. Two-thirds! But these students don't want to be seen with a babyish-looking book or for anyone to know they're struggling. Not wanting to embarrass kids can make it tough to reach and help these readers. In today's show, Louise Baigelman, founder and CEO of Storyshares, explains how we can help older students without embarrassing them. Louise started as a Teach for America teacher working with newcomer students, and she built a library of high-interest stories written at the reading levels older students need. Her work has been honored by Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Library of Congress. She shares the mistakes well-meaning teachers make, the cues to watch for, and something you can do tomorrow morning. I hope this adds to the conversation about what we can do to help every child be a proficient reader. This is an important topic! What you'll learn: Why a newcomer student picked a book she couldn't read and said she loved it What changes for students after third grade Whether a first-grade reading program will help a ninth grader The classroom behavior that may really be a reading cue A 20-second conversation that helps a struggling reader feel seen If this episode helped you think about your struggling readers, please leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps other teachers find the show. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1028

Adaptive AI to engage students in reading? Dr. Ron Yaros says it is possible. His fascinating study had articles from the New York Times chunked and placed in more social-media like ways and found that while people read the New York Times format for longer than the chunked version, the easier-to-scan format resulted in higher achievement for the students reading them. This is done with adaptive AI. It is taking the words and adapting them to an easier-to-navigate structure, in this case. I've included some prompts in the show notes that can help you adapt text, but it seems to me that groups targeting students might just want an adaptive button on their own site as there are issues with us doing it for them. Ron directs the Digital Engagement Lab at the University of Maryland and is the author of The Digital Engagement Model: How to Capture and Keep Audience Attention. His DIET and SPICE frameworks hold some fascinating approaches to improving our teaching. You can use his ideas immediately! What you'll learn: Why students spent more time on a New York Times article but learned more from a chunked version of the same story The difference between adaptive AI and generative AI Why environment and time matter as much as interest when students read How many times a day students check their phones in Ron's field study The five SPICE variables Ron uses to plan every class Why Ron never makes a video longer than five minutes One thing you can try before Friday Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1027

Real world connections answer "Why do we have to learn this?" They make every subject relevant and boost student engagement, says Dr. Annalies Corbin, author of Hacking School: Five Strategies to Link Learning to Life. We talk about practical ways to help students know why what they are learning matters to their lives. This is a great episode for teachers who feel like "because I said so" isn't cutting it anymore. Annalies founded the PAST Foundation to help link learning to life, and she shares how we can connect real world learning to the standards we already teach. What you'll learn: What math researchers say to do in the first minute of every class Big real world problems you can bring into science, math or history How an ecosystems theme and a zoo trip can run all quarter How the businesses your students drive past every day can shape your next unit What changed for middle schoolers who said "I want to be a nurse" during a summer program The strategy teachers worry will cost them control of their classroom but doesn't need to Why nobody rings a bell in the real world when it is "time to change subjects" Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1026