New Teacher Talk

Elizabeth Wilkins and Anna Quinzio-Zafran

Are you a new teacher in an urban, suburban, or rural school? Or, are you an aspiring new teacher? We’re here to support YOU! This podcast channel is designed to help those new to teaching. We talk about the most common challenges educators face and how to find answers. On this channel, you will find a community of support as well as on our associated social media platforms: Instagram and BlueSky - @NewTeacherTalk.

  1. 1D AGO

    EP 191: Redirecting Behavior #4: Stop Punishing the Class

    In this final episode of the four-part series on Redirecting and Managing Behavior, Dr. Anna wraps up with five big-picture strategies that can transform your classroom, especially on the hardest days. You'll learn why giving up is never the answer and what to do instead when a lesson falls apart, how front-loading tasks with explicit instructions prevents behavior problems before they start, and why collective punishment backfires and damages the relationships you've worked so hard to build. Dr. Anna also shares practical ways to connect with students in small moments throughout the day and explains how building a class narrative gives students a sense of shared purpose that makes everything, including behavior, better. Whether you're in your first year or your fifth, these strategies will help you move from simply managing behavior to building a classroom community where students feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. HASHTAGS #ClassroomCommunity #TeacherResilience #StudentRelationships # #TeachingMindset #NewTeacherSupport #NewTeachers #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    14 min

  2. 3D AGO

    Ep 190: Meaningful Assessment Strategies That Connect Learning to Real-World Impact

    Jacqueline Sounhein, National Board Certified Teacher and director at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, shares transformative strategies for creating meaningful assessments that move beyond standardized testing. Discover how to engage students in authentic, community-based learning experiences by connecting classroom skills to real-world problems students care about. Jaci outlines two powerful strategies: first, engaging students in identifying problems within their school communities and combining those issues with curriculum standards to create relevant assessments. She provides practical examples, including how to leverage student passion about parking lot challenges to teach argumentation skills effectively. Second, Jaci demonstrates how to involve students in rubric development and assessment criteria, giving them ownership over their learning journey through journaling, self-assessment, and reflection. Hear an inspiring case study from Jaci's world cultures classroom, where students organized a community mental health walk/run that raised nearly $10,000 for NAMI. Learn how this comprehensive project allowed for both individual and collaborative assessment while creating lasting impact. Students still reference this experience in college applications years later. Whether you're looking to increase student engagement, create more authentic assessments, or connect learning to community needs, this episode provides actionable strategies you can implement immediately. HASHTAGS #MeaningfulLearning #StudentEmpowerment #RealWorldEducation #ProjectBasedLearning  #TeacherInnovation #Teaching Tips #NewTeachers #TeacherLearningJourney #FirstYearTeacher #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    12 min

  3. FEB 18

    Ep 189: Taking Care of You So You Can Take Care of Them

    Stress is inevitable in teaching, but it doesn't have to run your life. In this episode, Dr. Anna and Dr. Beth welcome back Jolee Jones, Director of Organizational Development and Experiential Learning with Douglas County School District, for a follow-up to our most downloaded episode ever. Jolee brings practical, research-backed strategies to help early career educators recognize stress before it takes over and build the kind of self-awareness that makes a lasting difference. From the MEPS framework for spotting your personal stress signals to the Energy Menu concept for fitting self-care into even the busiest school day, this conversation is packed with tools you can use right away, no extra time or money required. Jolee also digs into why saying yes to everything ultimately hurts everyone, how stress ripples from leadership down through a school, and why happiness for new teachers comes down to one powerful equation: reality minus expectations. Whether you're in your first year or supporting someone who is, this episode is the reminder we all need to put on our own oxygen mask first. HASHTAGS #TeacherStress #TeacherWellness #TeacherResilience #TeamBreath #NewTeachers #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    35 min

  4. FEB 16

    Ep 188: Morpheme Magic: Transform Literacy Instruction with the Smallest Units of Meaning That Make the Biggest Impact

    In this transformative episode of the New Teacher Talk podcast, Leana Malinowsky, an elementary teacher and certified structured literacy dyslexia specialist, reveals why morphemes are the "magical" building blocks that can revolutionize literacy instruction across all grade levels, and why most teachers weren't adequately trained to teach them. Discover what morphemes actually are: the smallest units of language that carry meaning in our morphophonemic English language. Leana breaks down the critical differences between free morphemes (standalone words) and bound morphemes (prefixes and suffixes), then further explains inflectional morphemes (changing syntax like tense) versus derivational morphemes (changing word meaning). Through clear mathematical equation demonstrations like "play + er = player," she makes complex linguistic concepts accessible and immediately usable in your classroom. For teachers of younger students, Leana provides a comprehensive implementation toolkit including teacher modeling techniques, student identification activities, underlining exercises, and word sum practice. She identifies nine essential starter morphemes (S, ES, RE, PRE, IN, ED, ING, ER, EST) that appear frequently in lower grades and demonstrates their powerful cross-curricular applications, including mathematical contexts where ER and EST suffixes naturally occur. For educators working with older students, this episode explores morphology's far-reaching impact on spelling accuracy, decoding efficiency, reading fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Leana advocates for explicit morpheme instruction across all content areas, providing specific subject-based examples: Greek bases (micro, hydro) for science vocabulary and Latin bases (tri, quad) for mathematical terminology. She shares advanced instructional strategies including sophisticated word sum activities, morpheme-based vocabulary analysis, and evidence-based resources from the Florida Center for Reading Research. Throughout the episode, Leana addresses the gap in teacher preparation programs and provides actionable professional development resources, including Deb Glasser's acclaimed books "Morpheme Magic" and "Morphemes for Little Ones," peer-reviewed academic articles on explicit morphology instruction, and Reading Rockets as an accessible resource for educators and families alike. This episode empowers teachers to begin morphology instruction immediately, even imperfectly, emphasizing that collective learning and growth benefit both educators and students. Whether you're a special educator, general education teacher, reading specialist, or classroom teacher seeking to strengthen literacy outcomes, this episode delivers the knowledge and practical strategies to make morphemes work in your classroom starting tomorrow. Perfect for: Elementary teachers, special educators, reading specialists, dyslexia specialists, literacy coaches, student teachers, and any educator committed to evidence-based structured literacy instruction. 3 Resources Mentioned in the Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/tiffany-hogan/episodes/Episode-33-Morphology-and-morphological-awareness-with-Julie-Wolter-ehrcm3  https://nclii.vuspedsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Explicit_Morphology_Instruction.pdf?fbclid=IwdGRleAPMAKNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEexGVboQZ4ffyVbnSYpB9QZkx7pbGIr7I2XTO3O-4xqLz_gx4s369f2Xr7BkQ_aem_pj0gvACwMW8TfJbE3bl28w  https://fcrr.org/student-center-activities/fourth-and-fifth-grade HASHTAGS: #Morphemes #MorphemeMagic #LiteracyUnlocked #WordPowerSkills #LanguageLearningTips #Teaching Tips #NewTeachers #TeacherLearningJourney #FirstYearTeacher #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    10 min

  5. FEB 11

    Ep 187: Breaking the "I'm Just Not Good at Math" Myth

    Series: 2 of 3 - Breaking the Myth - “Intelligence is Fixed” In this episode, former high school science teacher Dr. Ken King dismantles one of education's most damaging myths: that success in subjects like math, science, music, or physical education depends on innate talent rather than effort and learning. Drawing from his classroom experience and modern learning science, Ken explores how deeply ingrained beliefs about fixed intelligence create self-fulfilling prophecies that discourage persistence and curiosity. Students who say "I'm just not a math person" or "I can't do science" aren't recognizing their true potential—they're reflecting cultural myths about how learning works. Ken presents four evidence-based perspectives that counter these limiting beliefs: neuroplasticity, challenging fixed intelligence assumptions, thoughtful instructional design, and multimodal learning approaches. He explains how the brain literally rewires itself through experience, with neural pathways strengthening through practice and productive struggle. Mistakes aren't failures. They're essential to the neuroplastic process that builds long-term understanding. The episode offers practical strategies teachers can implement immediately, including process-focused feedback that emphasizes effort and strategy rather than innate ability, scaffolded task design using Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, and authentic growth mindset modeling. Ken shares specific examples of effective feedback in science and math contexts, backed by research from Hattie and Temperly demonstrating the powerful impact of focusing on learning processes. Whether you're supporting elementary pre-service teachers who claim they "can't do science" or secondary students convinced they lack a "math brain," this episode provides the research foundation and practical tools to help learners recognize that intelligence is dynamic and grows through challenge, support, and meaningful experience. Perfect for new teachers, teacher educators, and anyone committed to helping students move beyond limiting beliefs to discover their true learning potential. HASHTAGS: #GrowthMindset #NeuroplasticityLearning #TeacherEmpowerment #LearningScience #BrainGrowth #EducationMyths #Newteachertips #newteachers #newteachertalk #podcast

    14 min

  6. FEB 9

    Ep 186: Why Your Well-Being Matters for Student Success with Faye Snodgress

    In this essential episode of New Teacher Talk, elementary teacher Faye Snodgress reframes educator self-care as fundamental infrastructure for effective teaching, not an earned reward. She challenges the myth that teaching will eventually calm down, establishing that burned-out teachers cannot effectively support student success. Faye introduces the compassionate systems framework, demonstrating how teachers' well-being directly influences classroom climate, student regulation, and learning outcomes. This perspective transforms self-care from a potentially selfish act into essential maintenance benefiting the entire educational ecosystem. The episode covers emotional literacy as a critical component, treating emotions as signals rather than problems. Faye acknowledges common feelings among teachers—overwhelm, guilt, self-doubt, anxiety, exhaustion, and grief for unmet expectations—and provides practical reframing techniques to identify what emotions communicate about personal needs and context. Rather than prescribing intensive routines, Faye emphasizes small, consistent compassionate actions: deep breathing exercises, brief outdoor breaks, declining unnecessary tasks, seeking help when needed, and establishing work boundaries. She introduces a concrete framework for regular self-assessment through weekly or daily check-ins and journaling to track patterns. The episode concludes with a powerful reminder: when teachers practice emotional awareness and self-care, they model essential life skills for students, including emotional literacy, boundary setting, and regulation. Your well-being directly teaches your students through your example. Essential listening for educators feeling overwhelmed, questioning whether self-care is "worth the time," or seeking sustainable practices supporting both personal well-being and student success. HASHTAGS #TeacherSelfCare #EmotionalLiteracy #CompassionateSystems #CompassionateActions #TeacherWellBeing#NewTeachers #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    7 min

  7. FEB 4

    Ep 185: Wait Time 2: The Research-Based Strategy That Transforms Classroom Discussion with Dr. Monica Boehle

    Discover how a simple 1-3 second pause can revolutionize your classroom discourse and dramatically increase student engagement. In this research-rich episode, Dr. Monica Boehle, Associate Director of High School Curriculum in St. Charles, Illinois, and National Board Certified Social Studies teacher, breaks down the transformative power of Wait Time, the strategic pause after a student responds. Dr. Boehle presents compelling research showing that teachers typically dominate 70-80% of classroom talk time, with some students remaining silent for entire school days. Drawing on John Hattie's visible learning research and dialogic teaching principles, she makes the case for shifting this dynamic so learners engage 70% of the time while teachers listen 30%. The evidence is clear: Wait Time 2 produces higher-quality answers, increases participation from quieter students, and creates more efficient, meaningful learning experiences. This episode is packed with practical implementation strategies, including specific prompting questions, guidance on maintaining neutral body language, and techniques for building a classroom culture where students engage with each other's ideas. Dr. Boehle explains how Wait Time 2 particularly benefits multilingual learners, students with special needs, and struggling students who need additional processing time. You'll learn how to move beyond the traditional Interrogate-Respond-Evaluate model toward genuine classroom discussion that makes every student feel valued and heard. Whether you're a new teacher building your instructional toolkit or an experienced educator looking to deepen student thinking, this episode offers actionable, research-backed strategies you can implement immediately to transform your classroom discourse. Key Topics: The difference between Wait Time 1 and Wait Time 2 Research on teacher talk time vs. student engagement High-effect-size instructional methods from Hattie's research Social-emotional learning benefits of Wait Time 2 Practical implementation strategies and prompting questions Supporting multilingual learners and students with diverse needs Building classroom culture for meaningful discourse HASHTAGS #WaitTime2 #StudentListeningTime #TeacherTalkLess #ClassroomDialogue #ThinkingClassroom #StudentVoiceMatters #NewTeacherSupport #NewTeachers #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    12 min

  8. FEB 2

    Ep 184: Will I Get Rehired? Navigating Contract Renewals and Non-Renewal as a First-Year Teacher

    Feeling anxious about whether you'll be offered a contract for next year? You're not alone. In this episode, Dr. Anna and Dr. Beth address one of the most stressful aspects of being a new teacher: contract renewals and job security. The hosts share personal experiences with the nerve-wracking waiting period, explain typical district timelines for renewal notifications, and help you understand what factors are within your control versus systemic issues like budget cuts or enrollment changes. Learn when to be concerned, how to advocate for yourself through professional conversations with administrators, and practical strategies for managing the emotional toll of uncertainty. Whether you're hoping for renewal, facing non-renewal, or considering other options due to poor fit, this episode provides honest guidance for navigating this challenging time. Dr. Anna and Dr. Beth discuss what administrators actually look for in renewal decisions, how to demonstrate growth and professionalism, and actionable steps to take regardless of your situation—including strategic job searching while maintaining professionalism in your current role. If you're checking your mailbox obsessively or lying awake wondering about next year, this episode will help you focus your energy productively and remember that your worth as an educator isn't determined by a single contract decision. HASHTAGS #ContractRenewalTips #TeacherJobSearching #NewTeacherAnxiety #TeacherGrowthMindset #TeachingResilience #TeacherSelfcare #EducatorEmpowerment #Teaching Tips #NewTeachers #FirstYearTeacher #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherPodcast

    13 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Are you a new teacher in an urban, suburban, or rural school? Or, are you an aspiring new teacher? We’re here to support YOU! This podcast channel is designed to help those new to teaching. We talk about the most common challenges educators face and how to find answers. On this channel, you will find a community of support as well as on our associated social media platforms: Instagram and BlueSky - @NewTeacherTalk.

Information

  • Creator
    Elizabeth Wilkins and Anna Quinzio-Zafran
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2021 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    New Teacher Talk

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