Melissa Milner and Andrea Calvin are starting their podcast adventure with this episode. They share personal interests, such as Melissa's love for concerts and Andrea's passion for baking. Andrea mentions upcoming events, including the MassCUE Fall Conference at Gillette Stadium. Melissa talks about her after school drama club and podcasting with students. Their next episode will be in December.
Melissa Milner hosts Ed Goyette, co-founder of Major Choice, a career mentorship program for students with and without disabilities. Major Choice is a sponsor of The Teacher As…Podcast. Ed shares the program's inception during the pandemic and its expansion to a national level. The program emphasizes personalized mentorship, self-exploration, and career exploration, aiming to help students find fulfilling careers. Educators and professionals are encouraged to become mentors or volunteers.
Melissa discusses the inspiration that came from a Metallica Master Class titled "Being a Band." She shares metaphors to teaching including Metallica's keys to building a resilient team: not neglecting individuals, keeping cool, empathizing, being real, embracing strengths, checking egos, building up bandmates, and remembering common goals.
Brad and Tricia, co-founders of Major Choice, discuss their mission to help young people, especially those on the autism spectrum, figure out their post-school paths. They highlighted their program which includes self-exploration, career exploration, and outreach. They emphasized the importance of live mentoring and skill-building
Melissa chats with Caroline Starr Rose, a middle grade and picture book author, discusses her journey from teaching to writing. She shares her experience of writing "May B," a historical fiction verse novel, which took 12 years to publish. Rose emphasized the importance of persistence and the impact of positive teacher encouragement.
Melissa Milner talks with Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns who have collaborated on a book titled "Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students." Erica, a superintendent, and Tiffany, a university administrator, share their extensive experience in education and their mission to help students feel cared for and connected. They discuss practical strategies for building relationships, such as listening well, treating students with dignity, and fostering trust.
In this episode, Melissa shares the process of planning for her afterschool drama club. She talks about one main resource that she is pulling from, dramanotebook,com created by Janea Dahl.
Melissa talks to Dr. Aditya Nagrath, founder of Elephant Learning, who discusses his company's program, which has helped over 175,000 students learn a year's worth of math in three months with 30 minutes of weekly use. He emphasized the importance of teaching math as a language and gamification to reduce math anxiety.
Melissa discusses her experience with the WIDA course on developing language for learning in mathematics, which aligns well with her district's Illustrative Mathematics (IM) curriculum. She highlights the importance of math discourse and the role of teachers as guides rather than leaders.
Mel Emerick took time out to write a guest blogpost as a companion to our conversation. The podcast episode is Zooming In on Humor as a Teaching Tool with Mel Emerick. Mel writes about how we need to engage students and make them feel safe before we can teach them anything (Maslow before Bloom).
This blog was created as a companion resource for my presentations at the MassCUE Conference on 10/15/25 and 10/16/25. It is chock full of resources to start podcasting with students no matter what level you teach.
Brad Duquette shares about his company, Major Choice. Major Choice’s mission is to help young people, especially those on the autism spectrum, figure out their post-school paths.
Enjoy this guest blogpost by author educators Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns about connecting with students.
In this guest blogpost, Janea Dahl, the creator of Drama Notebook, shares ways to incorporate drama into the elementary classroom. Janea emphasizes the importance of creativity, cooperation, and confidence-building in drama education.
In this guest blogpost, Jen Hawkins talks about student vital actions focusing primarily in the math classroom, although these vital actions can be applied to any classroom.
Aly Marie Moniz, Pilates instructor extraordinaire, explains why teaching is an artistic skill. Make sure to check out podcast episode 87 The Teacher As Pilates Instructor with Aly as well.
You don't have to be a professional actor to read dynamically to your class. This blog post accompanies Episode 86 where I share tips to make your read alouds more entertaining for your students. Adjusting your pace and/or volume, for example, can make your reading more captivating.
Math consultant Jen Hawkins shares her thoughts on productive struggle and student independence in math class. Jen was my guest in Episode 85: Zooming In on Math Teacher Talk.
Melissa interviews Mel Emerick, an elementary music teacher and author. Mel discusses her innovative teaching methods, including using a rubber chicken for green-screen lessons and creating a curriculum for oral dictation. She emphasizes the importance of humor and engagement in teaching, aiming to make learning enjoyable and memorable for students.