From the framework of Self-Determination Theory, we discuss how different kinds of autonomy support students' motivation in the classroom. Our featured article is Supporting Autonomy in the Classroom: Ways Teachers Encourage Student Decision Making and Ownership. This article is from Educational Psychologist in 2004, by Stafanou, Perencevich, DiCinto, and Turner. You can find the article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326985ep3902_2

Autonomy Supportive Teaching

We discuss 2004 Elementary School Journal article The First Days of School in the Classrooms of Two More Effective and Four Less Effective Primary-Grades Teachers by Bohn, Roehrig, and Pressley. The article can be accessed here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3202942?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

In a nutshell? Teachers practices in the first few days of the school year set the foundation for subsequent student motivation and achievement throughout the year.

Special thanks to Joe Stone for sound editing and intro music.

Starting the School Year Strong

In this episode, we discuss the article "No one wants to be a loser: High school students' perceptions of academic competition" by Kowalski and Christensen. The article can be read here: https://www.mwera.org/MWER/volumes/v31/issue4/V31n4-Kowalski-FEATURE-ARTICLE.pdf

Are students motivated by competition? You may be surprised at the results of this study. How should teachers use competition in their classrooms? Spoiler alert: they shouldn't!

The Role of Competition in Classrooms

Today we chat about how we approach the teaching of reading as we read Lucy Calkins' article "No one gets to own the term 'The science of reading.'" We talk about the history of the "reading wars" and how we both endorse a balanced literacy approach. We also discuss how to support older students who are lacking foundational reading and decoding skills. Read along with the article here: 
https://readingandwritingproject.org/news/no-one-gets-to-own-the-term-the-science-of-reading

Special thanks to our sound editor and theme music creator, Joe Stone.

How to Teach Reading

We discuss Kara Newhouse's MindShift article: Four Core Priorities for Trauma-Informed Distance Learning.
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55679/four-core-priorities-for-trauma-informed-distance-learning
For more about Trauma-Informed Teaching, we recommend this site: https://www.transformingeducation.org/trauma-informed-sel-toolkit/
We also mentioned the great Catholic resources on this site:
https://www.looktohimandberadiant.com/2016/02/from-kids-for-kids-practical-ideas-for.html
Thanks for listening, and thanks to our sound editor and music composer, Joe Stone.

Trauma-Informed Teaching and COVID

In this episode, we chat about how teachers can use "talk moves" to facilitate classroom discussions. Talk moves are great for formative assessment and for improving writing.
The article we reference can be found here: https://my.nsta.org/resource/?id=10.2505/4/sc16_053_08_24 or by googling Talk Moves by Page Keeley, 2016.

Teacher Formation: Talk Moves for Classroom Discussion

We are Monica Kowalski and Erin Wibbens, professors of education working with beginning teachers in Catholic schools across the country. We believe that teacher formation is an ongoing process that includes learning from current research.  In each episode, we will unpack a work of current educational scholarship and discuss applications for classroom teachers.

Special thanks to our sound editor and theme music creator, Joe Stone.

Teacher Formation

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