Rebel Teacher Alliance

Rebel Teacher Alliance
  • 4.9 (11)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Teachers Rethinking Student Engagement

  1. 3D AGO

    Episode 270 - Finding Our 7th Graders (S07E12)

    Welcome back to Rebel Teacher Alliance -- all three of us this time. We open with updates: Hawaii is slowly drying out, the California teacher strikes have resolved,  and John survived a travel nightmare involving a five-hour airport delay, a missing rental car, and someone else's 5:30am alarm. Then John drops his big news -- he's back in a school building full time as a staff development teacher, working with seventh graders for the first time, and he is all in. Fabian talks about making the switch to Claude, including a newsletter automation he built for his Global Politics class that crawls the web and outputs a ready-to-send HTML email every week. And we dig into what makes a good PLC versus the cast of characters you actually find in most of them. We close with John pitching Castle Combo, a compact tableau-building card game that plays in 25 minutes and has him very, very excited. If you love what we're doing, subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts -- even a single emoji counts, we promise. Join the conversation on our Discord at rebelteacheralliance.com and find us on the socials below. Instagram: @rebelteacheralliance BlueSky: @rtalliance.bsky.social TikTok: @rebelteacheralliance Fabian: @hofmannedu.bsky.social Jamie: @jedijamie.bsky.social John: @meehanedu.bsky.social Things mentioned on the episode: Innovative Schools Summit (ISS) Claude AI Castle Combo (board game)

    39 min

  2. MAR 17

    Episode 269 - Finding Our Porta Potty (S07E11)

    Welcome back to Rebel Teacher Alliance -- just Fabian and Jamie this time, John's off traveling. Fabian opens with Hawaii survival mode: the Kona Low brought flooding, snapped coconut trees, and a power outage he fixed with a tarp and a pizza. Jamie brings the California teacher strike saga -- 800 kids in her husband’s district without a permanent teacher, superintendent salaries pushing $700K combined, and the unhinged tale of Porta Potty Gate. Then Fabian unpacks his big takeaway from the Learning and the Brain Conference. We close with Fabian assigning John Meehan to build a full Goonies-themed classroom around the dungeon crawler board game he's been playing with his six-year-old in our ever popular segment “What’cha been playin’...?”.. Never say die! If you love what we're doing, subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts -- even a single emoji counts, we promise. Join the conversation on our Discord at rebelteacheralliance.com and find us on the socials below. Instagram: @rebelteacheralliance BlueSky: @rtalliance.bsky.social TikTok: @rebelteacheralliance Fabian: @hofmannedu.bsky.social Jamie: @jedijamie.bsky.social John: @meehanedu.bsky.social Things mentioned on the episode: Professor Talithia Williams (mathematician and statistician) -- https://talithiawilliams.com Dr. Adam Gazzaley (UCSF neuroscientist; FDA-approved ADHD video game) -- https://gazzaleylab.ucsf.edu EndeavorRx (FDA-approved ADHD game) -- https://www.endeavorrx.com Dr. Jean Twenge, San Diego State University -- https://www.jeantwenge.com George Couros, Innovator's Mindset -- https://georgecouros.ca Goonies Never Say Die board game -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1JBQZK

    48 min

  3. MAR 3

    Episode 268 - Finding Our Depth Advantage (S07E10) w/ Dr. John Spencer

    Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week we sit down with Dr. John Spencer, fresh off his keynote at the Learning and the Brain Conference in San Francisco. We talk about why slowing down is actually the move in a world that keeps telling us to go faster, how to use AI as a study tool without letting it do all the thinking, and what it even means to teach for depth when your students can generate a five-paragraph essay in 30 seconds. Also: Dr. Spencer once modified a game of Pit to teach how markets work and used a version of Risk to walk students through the whole lead-up to World War One, so you already know the Whatcha Been Playin' segment is going to go places. If you want to keep the conversation going, subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts -- it genuinely helps people find us. Come hang out in our Discord at rebelteacheralliance.com. You can also find us on Instagram, BlueSky, and TikTok all at @rebelteacheralliance. Find Fabian at @hofmannedu.bsky.social, Jamie at @jedijamie.bsky.social, and John at @meehanedu.bsky.social. Things mentioned on the show: The Depth Advantage by Dr. John Spencer spencereducation.com Learning and the Brain Conference Pit card game Oregon Trail card game

    47 min

  4. FEB 13

    Episode 267 - Finding Our Missing Chapter (S07E09) w/ Jenny Chan

    Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week we sit down with Jenny Chan, founder of Pacific Atrocities Education, to talk about the history most Western classrooms still barely touch: World War II in Asia and the Pacific. Jenny shares how her grandma’s reaction to Japanese anime led her into archives, denialist comment sections, and a mission to make “never again” mean something when the first time was never taught. We get into yellow journalism and media literacy, how Japan, Korea, and China remember the war differently, and the challenge of teaching atrocities without turning it into shock value. Jenny also breaks down how she builds lesson plans teachers can actually use (without five extra hours of prep). And in our ever popular segment “Whatcha been playin’…?”, Jenny isn’t gaming, she’s pickling vegetables like the apocalypse is scheduled for next Thursday. Join @hofmannedu.bsky.social, @jedijamie.bsky.social and @meehanedu.bsky.social by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts! Join our Discord on rebelteacheralliance.com or here. Find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on BluSky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance.

    38 min

  5. JAN 29

    Episode 266 - Finding Our Funishment Line (S07E08)

    Welcome back to Rebel Teacher Alliance! Today we pick up where the last episode left off, then get practical. We revisit key takeaways from our conversation with Sheri Schmidt, then jump into Fabian’s Articles of Confederation lesson flow: AI-made explainer with NotebookLM, image generation in Gemini’s Nano Banana, and a simple prompt-tracking organizer students actually complete. From there we build a no-nonsense rubric for meaningful PD, call out time-wasting icebreakers, and sketch what good conferences and staff days should look like: choice, niche tracks, protected passing time, and trust. Join @hofmannedu.bsky.social, @jedijamie.bsky.social, and @meehanedu.bsky.social by subscribing and leaving a rating on Apple Podcasts. Hop into the Discord at rebelteacheralliance.com to drop your PD must-haves, and find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on BlueSky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. Things mentioned on the show: - CoraQuest

    52 min

  6. JAN 13

    Episode 265 - Finding Our Anti-Hate Toolkit (S07E07) w/ Dr. Sheri Schmidt

    Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week we get practical about teaching in the age of online radicalization. With guest educator Dr. Sheri Schmidt, we unpack how memes become on-ramps, the “entertain, envelop, escalate” pipeline, why curiosity beats zero-tolerance, and how to build school and home guardrails that actually work. We talk gaming platforms, algorithm rabbit holes, student vulnerability, and student-led countermeasures. We also hit the manosphere surge, board meeting pressure campaigns, and what media literacy looks like when you teach it early and often. In “Whatcha been playin’…?” we spotlight Votes for Women and how it doubles as a civics lesson. Join @hofmannedu.bsky.social, @jedijamie.bsky.social and @meehanedu.bsky.social by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts. Join our Discord on rebelteacheralliance.com or here. Find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on BluSky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. Things mentioned on the show: - Resources for Social Justice Work mentioned by Sheri on the show - Western States Center - Votes for Women Boardgame

    57 min

  7. 12/24/2025

    Episode 264 - Finding Our Abandoned Frosting Can (S07E06)

    Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, the crew closes the year with games, grit, and some heresy about AI. We talk why conferences got stuck on AI instead of pedagogy, Jamie’s analog win with Snowball Swap, and Fabian’s new classroom app build that replaces Glide with a clean Base 44 setup students actually use. John teases EMC2’s upcoming Faction Clash and we run our year-end “What’ve you been playin’?” featuring Clank Legacy, The Hunger, Wingspan’s dragon cousin Wyrmspan, Betrayal at House on the Hill, We’re Doomed, Five Minute Dungeon, and Dice Throne. Plus Costco chaos, Buc-ee’s brisket, and holiday teacher life. Join @hofmannedu.bsky.social, @jedijamie.bsky.social and @meehanedu.bsky.social by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts! Join our Discord on rebelteacheralliance.com or here. Find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on Bluesky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. Things mentioned on the show: Factions Clash Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated Clank! Catacombs The Hunger The Hunger: High Stakes (expansion) Wingspan Wyrmspan Finspan Betrayal at House on the Hill We’re Doomed! 5-Minute Dungeon Dice Throne: Season One Marvel Dice Throne Marvel Dice Throne: Missions Dice Throne: Santa vs. Krampus

    58 min

  8. 12/10/2025

    Episode 263 - Finding Our Hair in a Box (S07E05)

    Welcome back to a new episode of Rebel Teacher Alliance! This week, John Meehan officially joins as our co-host and we get practical about teaching in the age of AI. We unpack why “if AI can do the task, fix the task,” swap in EMC2 protocols that force real thinking, and show how QFT on vertical whiteboards sharpens research questions. Plus Tier List warm-ups, Micro Lab and Big Picture Pinpoint in action, four common school stances on AI, IB context, and in “Whatcha been playin’…?” we hit Carcassonne (Hills & Sheep), Jaws of the Lion, and Zombie Kids Junior. Also: new-dad life and a very cold house. Join @hofmannedu.bsky.social, @jedijamie.bsky.social and @meehanedu.bsky.social by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts! Join our Discord on rebelteacheralliance.com or here. Find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on BluSky @rtalliance.bsky.social, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. Things mentioned on the show: “AI Didn’t Break College, It Exposed a Broken System” - Article we discuss Carcassonne - The Legacy game?

    45 min
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4.9
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Teachers Rethinking Student Engagement

Information

  • Creator
    Rebel Teacher Alliance
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    284
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Rebel Teacher Alliance
  • Show Website
    Rebel Teacher Alliance

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