Zooming In on Staying Positive with the Birch Meadow Staff

In this episode, Melissa shares her amazing Spring lineup of guests. Just to list a few, math educators Jen Hawkins, Ann Elise Record, and Dr. Nicki Newton return to The Teacher As…Podcast. Also, Daphne Russell - self proclaimed educational evolutionist and chaos pilot- will discuss reading.

In this minisode, Melissa's students share why they love chess and why they think it should be played in schools.

This is a rewind episode. This was originally published on February 19, 2021. It has the most downloads of all my episodes. Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record collaborate to create a top ten list of math routines.

In this episode, Melissa talks about the many benefits of students playing chess. From spatial reasoning and critical thinking skills to patience and time management, chess is a valuable addition to your indoor recess games and/or math centers. 

In this episode, Melissa talks to Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Sociology, who is an international authority on cults, extremism, and coercion. Janja's work is promoting a deeper, more accurate understanding of cults with the intent to avoid their manipulation, exploitation, and abuse. Janja explains why people get into cults and the importance of cult education and helping people heal after getting out.  

In this Teacher As Film Editor minisode, Melissa talks about Walter Murch's term the "bad bits." Teachers are like film editors who sometimes cut out the "bad bits" of their lessons to meet the needs of their students. 

Melissa speaks with Dr. Ann Burgess, a leading forensic and psychiatric nurse who worked for the FBI for  over two decades.  Dr. Ann tells how she educated FBI agents in data collection and organizing their research. She also shares about her college teaching her work to help with threat assessment in schools. 

In this episode, Melissa shares Walter Murch's thoughts about editing as a "discovery of a path." Student accommodations are discussed as a path for general education teachers to reach the diverse learners in their classroom. The Multi-Tiered System of Support and District Curriculum Accommodation Plans are discussed.

In the 100th episode of The Teacher As...Melissa chats with professor and poet Penelope Pelizzon. We chat about her genesis of becoming the successful poet that she is and her ideas about teaching poetry to all ages of students. We get into the weeds about rhyme and theme and she talks about the process of writing a book of poetry like her latest creation. 

In this minisode, Melissa shares the top five most downloaded episodes since the podcast started in July of 2020 in honor of the 100th episode coming out on 12/3/23.