10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

Vicki Davis
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A teacher podcast for busy educators—about 10 minutes, every week. Stay current on artificial intelligence in education (plain English), edtech, and what matters in the classroom: culture, instruction, assessment, digital health and wellness, and more. Simple ideas you can use right away. Hosted by AP Computer Science teacher Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher)—author and longtime edtech blogger—this teaching podcast features best-selling teachers, researchers, and in-the-classroom administrators sharing practical strategies that connect with today's students. Follow the 10 Minute Teacher—the podcast for teachers and school leaders—for weekly, classroom-ready tips. Show notes & resources: https://coolcatteacher.com/podcast

  1. 5 hr ago

    Student Engagement Strategies: Adaptive AI for Reading

    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

    Student Engagement Strategies: Adaptive AI for Reading

  2. 1 day ago

    Real World Connections That Make Learning Relevant

    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

    Real World Connections That Make Learning Relevant

  3. 3 days ago

    Reward Charts and Stickers: Do Rewards Backfire?

    Reward charts, stickers, and systems might get students to do the work, but what if a long term use of rewards in this way ultimately backfires? Dr. Özgür Bolat says rewards can have the opposite effect if we're not careful. Dr. Bolat is a Fulbright scholar with a Harvard master's and a Cambridge PhD, and his book on rewards was a best-seller in Turkey before coming out in English as The Reward Trap. I asked him when rewards are ok and what his research shows about helping kids become intrinsically motivated. What you'll learn: Why a valedictorian with a perfect GPA ended up anxious, and what he traced it back to What a sticker chart quietly tells a child about the work Why three stars eventually have to become five The question to ask before you ever offer a reward How a World War I homework assignment can spark curiosity My sourdough cinnamon roll confession, and his answer What a horse-riding instructor teaches us about using rewards If this episode helps you, would you leave a rating or review wherever you listen? It helps other teachers find the show. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1025

    Reward Charts and Stickers: Do Rewards Backfire?

  4. 4 days ago

    24 Ways to Improve Your Graduation Rate

    Peer mentoring can improve your graduation rate. So can other interventions, but Cara Vienna, 2026 NASSP National High School Assistant Principal of the Year Finalist says it starts in ninth grade. In today's show, she shares all of the ideas, the surveys, the vision, and how the whole school came together to work and help everyone graduate. Cara shares 24 ideas to improve your graduation rate based on what they have done in her school that achieved a 100% graduation rate. You should find several to talk about with your school as well as programs full of ideas to help shift things culturally at your school. What you'll learn: Who struggling ninth graders listen to even more than their teachers and how to harness that relationship to help them improve and grow The ninth-grade class that teaches students how to email a teacher for help How often her team checks D/F lists, and what happens next The most common reason students slip through the cracks Why her counselors meet one-on-one with every single student What her school does first when the survey data comes back If this episode helps you, would you leave a rating or review wherever you listen? It helps other teachers find the show. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1024

    24 Ways to Improve Your Graduation Rate

  5. 5 days ago

    Teacher Burnout and Depression: When the Teacher Needs Help

    Teacher burnout is sometimes much much more. Burnout and depression can hide inside a teacher who looks like she's doing everything right. Now, I want to be careful with this episode. These are some hard things that a teacher dealt with in the classroom. Content note: this episode talks about depression, a student's suicidal thoughts and child abuse. Nicole Terrizzi taught for four years through Teach For America in Kansas City and then in Oakland, and has spent nearly 15 years in nonprofit work that serves education. She wrote her story in the memoir Learning in Free Fall. In today's episode, Nicole pulls back the curtain on the trauma that happened in her classroom, her own struggle to make it right (with an administrator that she believed didn't back her up), a hospital stay, and the treatment she says saved her life. She also tells the story about the principal whose hard conversation pointed her toward a new path. This is Nicole's story, shared so other teachers feel less alone. This episode is for general information and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. Everyone's situation is different. If you're struggling, reach out to a licensed professional, and if you're in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. What you'll learn: What happened after she called Child Protective Services as a mandated reporter Why her principal told her she was disappointed in her The question one wise principal asked that changed her career The struggle to stay in the classroom The boundary she wishes she'd drawn as a first-year teacher Why she tells struggling teachers to keep knocking If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If you're worried a child is being harmed, call or text the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453. Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1023

    Teacher Burnout and Depression: When the Teacher Needs Help

  6. 6 days ago

    AI in Schools News: Gemini Notebook, GPTs and Student Data

    So many things have happened in the past week that impact schools: lots of Gemini Notebook updates, ChatGPT for Teens' harsh review from Common Sense Media, suspected freezer hacks at US military bases and confirmed ones in France, a university's chief academic officer resigning over undisclosed AI use in published materials, and a new heart study that our coaches need to hear about. I also recorded some bonus material for "geeks" or more advanced people that you can listen to for the last three minutes if you like. Oh, and much more. I ended up with 17 news stories plus 7 new features from Gemini Notebook and some notes for administrators about the repercussions of these stories. This isn't the first change to hit the world, but it seems to be the fastest. AI is impacting everything but it is more than AI being discussed this week. Every source is linked in the show notes. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the cafeteria freezer belongs on your school's IT checklist The Gemini Notebook feature that lets teachers read student chats, and what to tell kids first How researchers found AI studies dated before ChatGPT even existed What happens to your custom GPTs on December 11 How a university provost's undisclosed AI use came to light A new heart study every coach should hear about Bonus for vibe coders: why Claude might refuse to build that game and more... If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps other teachers find the show. Show notes and every link: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1022

    AI in Schools News: Gemini Notebook, GPTs and Student Data

  7. 3 Nov

    Lead with Love: Why the Principal of the Year Reads His Mistakes to His Staff

    Can you lead with love and be a successful principal? Jason Johnson, principal of Orange High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina, shows us that you can. I found some of the things he does shocking (but refreshing, actually). Jason is the 2026 US National High School Principal of the Year. So, what does he do that is shocking? He once read all the mistakes he made one year at the last faculty meeting of the year. He tells brand-new teachers to make mistakes (and how he works with them). If kids want to drop an AP course, he wants them to talk to him personally. In his 29 years in public education, most of them in Orange County Schools, he has built a school where the state performance grade climbed from a C to a B, and proficiency rose for every student group. Jason also shares the one thing his principal said to him when he was a teacher that caused him to immediately go get an application for grad school to seek to be a principal. He also shares his ideas for giving effective feedback to teachers and tips for relating to students and teachers. Even if you're a teacher, things he says in this show (like about math class) will be things you can use as you speak to students and colleagues. What you'll learn: Why every faculty meeting at Orange High starts with two claps What his own teachers call him out for What he wishes he'd known in his first principals' meetings The 30-minute intervention block built on essential standards Why he thinks kids who hate math are really afraid of mistakes Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1021

    Lead with Love: Why the Principal of the Year Reads His Mistakes to His Staff

  8. 31 Oct

    Math Anxiety and Mental Math: Advice From the Fastest Human Calculator

    Math anxiety and mental math are two topics math teachers talk about constantly. How do we engage students who are scared of math? And how important are math facts anyway? Our guest, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash, won the 2020 Mental Calculation World Championship doing math in his head. So what does a champion mental mathlete think about memorizing math facts? As he has worked to help kids get better at math, what has he learned about overcoming math anxiety? And what is wrong with the test scores we use every day that may be keeping kids out of future careers in math? Let's talk about this and more with Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash, known as the world's fastest human calculator. What you'll learn: What the world's fastest human calculator really thinks about memorizing math facts Why he walked away from competing to take on math phobia The teacher he'd choose over an AI that's right every time The placement test that got an eighth grader completely wrong What music class would look like if we taught it like math Why 10 comes after 9 (most kids have never been told) A story with enemy ships that hooks students who hate trigonometry Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e1020

    Math Anxiety and Mental Math: Advice From the Fastest Human Calculator
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A teacher podcast for busy educators—about 10 minutes, every week. Stay current on artificial intelligence in education (plain English), edtech, and what matters in the classroom: culture, instruction, assessment, digital health and wellness, and more. Simple ideas you can use right away. Hosted by AP Computer Science teacher Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher)—author and longtime edtech blogger—this teaching podcast features best-selling teachers, researchers, and in-the-classroom administrators sharing practical strategies that connect with today's students. Follow the 10 Minute Teacher—the podcast for teachers and school leaders—for weekly, classroom-ready tips. Show notes & resources: https://coolcatteacher.com/podcast

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