Anti-Burnout For English Teachers, a podcast for inspired teaching

Danielle Hicks, English Classroom Architect

85% of teachers say their job is "unsustainable." 55% plan to leave education sooner than planned. For experienced English teachers, these stats are our daily reality Each week on the podcast, we explore the strategies and mindsets to turn these stats around, looking at our own classrooms. We'll mine ideas to help you build strong, motivated readers while protecting your energy in the process, and break down strategies and tools that make this work sustainable. Reignite your passion. Rebuild a teaching life that sustains you. Inspire the next generation - without sacrificing yourself.

  1. 2天前

    80. Building OUT vs. Building UP: What Star Trek Can Teach Us About English Curriculum

    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds gives you both satisfaction (complete episodes) AND character development (growth across the season). What if English learning works the same way? We've been pressured to design curriculum where everything builds UP—each lesson scaffolding to the next in perfect linear sequence. But English skills aren't plot points that get resolved. They're character traits that keep developing through repeated encounters in varied contexts.

    26 分钟

  2. 10月2日

    79. Revisiting Pre-Pandemic Teaching Strategies

    In this conversation, I reflect on the changes in education since the pandemic and importance of revisiting effective strategies from the past, such as flipped learning, the role of homework, and the use of physical manipulatives in the classroom. Ultimately, we need to remember the core values of teaching and learning as they navigate the current educational landscape.

    23 分钟

  3. 9月22日

    78. Why Your Students Crave 90s Nostalgia

    Your students are obsessed with Outer Banks, rewatching Friends for the tenth time, and choosing shows from before they were born over algorithm-recommended content. This isn't random—it's sophisticated rebellion against hyper-personalization and a hunger for genuine community.In this episode, we explore why Gen Z actively seeks intergenerational cultural connection and how English teachers can use this craving to create deeper literary engagement. Let's take a look at why and how your lived experience of the 90s and 2000s is suddenly valuable curriculum content, and learn how nostalgic anchoring creates emotional safety for intellectual risk-taking. If you're tired of chasing trends to make literature "relevant," let's think about how to teach from authentic cultural knowledge that both energizes you and engages your students. Resources mentioned: Teaching with 90s Nostalgia Crash Course: subscribepage.io/eZSMtV

    21 分钟

  4. 9月15日

    77. Creating Your Classroom Microcosm (When Everything Else Feels Standardized)

    Feeling like you're just delivering someone else's curriculum in someone else's system? In this episode, we explore how to reclaim your professional agency by creating a distinctive classroom culture - even within the constraints of standardization. I'll share why building classroom microcosms isn't just good for students (though it is) - it's essential for teacher wellness and sustainability. We'll talk about the elements that create belonging, the "fandom" aspects that build real community, and how small acts of agency can transform both your teaching and your students' learning. Plus, I'll tell you about that time I gave away an Easy Bake Oven to my sophomores and why random moments of joy might be the most radical thing you can do in a standardized system.

    22 分钟

  5. 7月23日

    76. Are Your Students Living Like NPCs?

    Ever feel like your students are just going through the motions? In this episode, we explore why so many students operate like NPCs (non-playable characters) in their own education—and how the rise of AI has made this problem worse. Using examples from Westworld and real classroom experiences, we discuss how to design learning that breaks students out of compliance mode and into genuine thinking. Get the Classroom Culture Kit: https://english-classroom-architect.thrivecart.com/back-to-school-culture-kit/ Check out my TPT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/the-english-classroom-architect

    23 分钟

  6. 7月16日

    75. What Squid Game Taught Me About Creative Assignments

    You know those creative assignments that should spark magic but end up falling totally empty…for you and for your students? I’ve been wrestling with that for a while, especially when it comes to things like “rewrite the ending” or “imagine an alternate scene.” And weirdly enough… it was a blurb about Squid Game fan rewrites that finally helped me figure it out.In this episode, I’m talking about:Why creative assignments don’t always work the way we hopeThe difference between critical remix and fandom remixWhat most student engagement is actually measuring (spoiler: not creativity)How to build real investment before you ask students to createThis one’s part teaching reflection, part mini-rant, part deep dive into what happens when we confuse caring with creativity—and why that mix-up shows up all the time in English classrooms.Check out my session on building engaging classroom communities based on fandom principles at The Joyful Reading Summit. Get your ticket here → https://dmhicks00--samanthainsecondary.thrivecart.com/the-joyful-reading-summit-2025/

    16 分钟

  7. 7月13日

    74. Everything Everywhere All at Once and Teaching in the Age of AI

    Picture this: Everything you've ever owned, everything you've ever eaten, every experience you've ever had—all of it gets put on a bagel. That's the central image from Everything Everywhere All at Once, and it's exactly where we are as teachers right now with AI. Everything about AI is being put on the education bagel, and somehow, in the middle of all this noise, you're supposed to figure out what's actually good for the humans sitting in your classroom. In this episode, I explore how the film's framework helps us navigate the AI moment without losing ourselves (or our students) in it.

    18 分钟

  8. 7月2日

    73. Are Our Students Living a Severed Academic Life?

    What if your students were living their own version of Severance? In this episode, I explore how science fiction can illuminate the hidden architecture of our classrooms — starting with the unsettling parallels between the world of Severance and the way students split their authentic thinking from academic performance. From AI-written essays to the quiet grief of “bleed-through moments,” this is a look into cognitive residue, compartmentalized learning, and what it takes to build a classroom that resists separation and invites wholeness.

    14 分钟
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85% of teachers say their job is "unsustainable." 55% plan to leave education sooner than planned. For experienced English teachers, these stats are our daily reality Each week on the podcast, we explore the strategies and mindsets to turn these stats around, looking at our own classrooms. We'll mine ideas to help you build strong, motivated readers while protecting your energy in the process, and break down strategies and tools that make this work sustainable. Reignite your passion. Rebuild a teaching life that sustains you. Inspire the next generation - without sacrificing yourself.

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