This minisode focusing on director Spike Lee is part two. Spike's philosophy about rehearsal, collaborating, improvising, and bonding with his cast is parallel to the job of all educators.

This minisode focuses on Spike Lee's ideas about bringing out the best in his actors and the parallels to classroom teaching.

This minisode explains Melissa's inspiration for sharing these short episodes that drop every other week. Melissa begins by focusing on The Teacher As Filmmaker. Each minisode is focused on a different teaching metaphor. Listen to the minisodes and get teaching inspiration from some of the most talented filmmakers in the business!

In Ep. 87, the first episode of Season 5, Aly Marie Moniz shares the steps she takes in programming her pilates classes and creating the best experience for her students. Her teaching philosophy and style are inspiring.

You don't have to be a professional actor to read dynamically to your class. In the last episode of season 4, 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. Check out this episode for more detailed tips and examples.

Do you encourage your math students to struggle with new ideas and problem solve? Math consultant, Jen Hawkins, shares teacher moves in this episode that will foster more independent math thinkers.

It's helpful to check in with students in the trenches to see what we are doing right and how we can improve our practice, as well as remember why we went into education in the first place. In this episode, I chat with the amazing Anna, an 8th grade student who shares her interests and opinions. Anna has an important message for all educators in this episode.

I get inspired watching creative people at work, so I am a big fan of Project Runway. Kelly Dempsey, Kelly from the Deli, is my favorite contestant and I get to chat with her in Episode 83. She shares about why and how she started designing, her time on Project Runway, and her new fashion education online platform.

Episode 82 is the other half of my chat with Dr. Claire Honeycutt. In this section, we talked about the pandemic and its effect on our students, as well as Claire's approach to home schooling.

Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record are back! This time they are chatting about meaningful math games. They talk about all different types of math games such as collaborative games, competitive games, card games and traditional games that students already know how to play like War and Jeopardy.

Are you looking for a 3rd-5th grade read aloud that will set your students' imaginations on fire? Malamander is a humorous, well written fantasy/science fiction story with a mystery at its core. Students love it.

Dr. Claire Honeycutt is a college professor and she also homeschools her two young children. The discussion in this episode centers about group work. Some topics include keeping in mind your learning objectives when structuring your groups, and providing opportunities for voice and choice.

In this episode, Melissa chats with teacher and singer/songwriter Vance Gilbert about the power of listening and "pedagogy on the fly."

Melissa chats with veteran elementary music teacher, John Coffey. They talk about the importance of music education, how students need to move and get their energy out in order to focus and learn among other topics.

Melissa discusses “hover-free” teaching with educator/author Miriam Plotinsky. Miriam discusses taking a measured approach with one small step at a time to get teachers ever closer to achieving ideal results in student-centered classrooms.

Recording a podcast episode with Milton Justice is a fun experience leaving much on the "cutting room floor." So this episode is mostly the leftovers, uncut Milton. He tells amazing stories about Tennessee Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Bob Hope to name a few. There is not much of a connection to education in most of these stories, but they are a hoot to hear. Consider it a holiday gift from The Teacher As...podcast.

Looking for that next great read aloud for your class? Here are five books that you can count on that are underrated and underappreciated.

What does innovative education look like? Brantley Turner, founding principal of the only Sino-US independent, cooperatively run high school in China shares her vision for innovative global education in Episode 73 of The Teacher As...podcast.

Are you afraid that bringing the ARTs into your classroom will just make more work for you? Elizabeth Peterson loves helping caring, creative teachers connect the arts with social-emotional learning strategies that are practical and meaningful. Elizabeth, a teacher herself, is the creator of SEAL, Social-Emotional Artistic Learning: a unique and holistic method of integrating the arts with SEL.

"The students tell me, without saying it, what they need to be taught." Melissa chats with the amazing Milton Justice. This Emmy and Oscar winner finds teaching actors is his true passion. He is the author of I Don't Need an Acting Class and has a successful podcast with the same name. Melissa and Milton talk about the parallels between teaching and acting.