Teaching Matters 101 Podcast

Melanie Battles, PhD

On this podcast, we are dedicated to keeping it real about the state of education, current issues within our schools, and solutions on how to break the cycles of educational trauma, neglect, and instructional inequities. Listen in for episodes that break down the definition and qualities of "good" teaching. This channel is designed for educators and families who are looking for techniques and habits of mind that will cultivate the genius in our youth. From teaching strategies to unpacking educator mindset and practice, we spark enriching thoughts and conversations that will transform our educational landscape and revitalize the soul of teaching and learning.We are always looking to interview educators (current, retired, or those who have left the field) who are emboldened with a passion to discuss the real issues and discuss possible solutions to highlight and revitalize the spirit of integrity, purpose, and dedication to the field of education.You are invited and encouraged to leave a review and rate our podcast to expand the reach of our message. read less

Episode #9:  Diving Deeper into the Cognition of a Warm Demander
Apr 26 2023
Episode #9: Diving Deeper into the Cognition of a Warm Demander
Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  This episode goes deeper into the qualities of a warm demander.  We talk about encourage productive struggle and teaching with rigor according to the science of learning.We dive into the brain science of learning and how to strengthen pathways for deeper connection and higher learning.  We also tap into how to recover from a lesson that bombed!  Yes, you planned well.  Yes, you aligned the standards.  Yes, you gave it your all, but something just didn't stick.  I provide some ideas for how to recover with soul and encourage productive struggle.Remember, the goal of culturally responsive teaching is to close instructional equity gap.  The only way to do so is to teach cognitive routines as habits of mind that focus on the process of learning so that the skill set naturally sticks to whatever content is being presented.Additional Resources (click the highlighted text to access resource): FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator. Follow us on all of the socials: InstagramFacebookLinkedIN You can also join our community and connect with us here.
Episode #8: Breaking down the identity of a Soul Scholar:  Qualities of a Warm Demander
Apr 19 2023
Episode #8: Breaking down the identity of a Soul Scholar: Qualities of a Warm Demander
Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  You are listening to a replay of an episode from our series "Being a Warm Demander".  A warm demander earns the right to demand excellence, both academically and emotionally, through relationship building and cultivating a space of belonging and responsiveness.  We're diving into some research (CASEL) about social emotional learning and instructional needs that reflect the Goldilocks method of teaching and ways of being that inform our practice to provide a "just right" methodology of teaching, learning, and engagement.  Additional resources (click the highlighted text to access resource): FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator.  Follow us on all of the socials: InstagramFacebookLinkedIN You can also join our community and connect with us here.
Episode #7: The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series-Part III: Trust Generators that Work
Mar 29 2023
Episode #7: The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series-Part III: Trust Generators that Work
Episode Disclaimer:  The recording is a bit spotty and I'm not really sure why.  Please bare with me and grant me some grace in our imperfections.  It's not too bad where you can't understand but it gets a bit blotchy from time to time.  But the content is so good that you'll want to hang around and listen in! I'm working on solutions now!  Any recs, please email us at info@scholarsforthesoul.com.  We're always open to grow!  Welcome to the Teaching Matters 101 Podcast!  This was the last episode in the series of The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series.  We were unable to post the previous two episodes due to tech issues, but feel free to listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast channels.  This episode dives into understanding and identifying trust generators and how to use them in building relationships and planning for the cultivation of this space during your lesson.  Trust generators include the following:  Selective vulnerabilityFamiliarityCommon interestsAcademic competence Genuine ConcernListen in for some tools to add to your toolbox on the journey to "being" culturally responsive and walking in your position as a Soul Scholar.Resources mentioned in the podcast: 1) Free E-book: First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. 2) Free masterclass this Saturday, April 1, 2023 10:00 AM-11:30 AM CST 3) Join our community to stay abreast to all that we offer, gems that are dropped, and exclusive offerings and specials to our paid events and services.   See ya next week!Subscribe!Like!Share!
Episode #6: The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series (Part II): Understanding hormones and their connection to relationship building is vital
Mar 22 2023
Episode #6: The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series (Part II): Understanding hormones and their connection to relationship building is vital
Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  In our last episode, we discussed a prerequisite to relationship building:  radical welcoming and radical belonging.  There will be no relationship building if we don’t welcome and make space for the diversity and beauty of our students’ individual and collective identities and cultures. This episode is going to take understanding the science of relationship building to the next level through an understanding of how relationships actually do foster increased academic achievement. Resources discussed in the podcast (click the highlighted text to access resource): FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator.   The Urgency for Cultivating Academic Mindset with Dependent Learners IG Live Series @scholars4thesoulFriday nights at 5pm CST (March 3, 10, 17, 24)Components of an academic mindset: I belong to this community.I can succeed at this.  My effort is worth the workThere is value in the work.Warm Demander Series:  The identity of a warm demander and how to cultivate that identity through culturally responsive teaching.  LinkedIN, Facebook, and YouTube series:  Saturday mornings at 8am CST (March 4, 11, 18, 25) "How to Build Academic Mindset through Powerful Instruction" Masterclass.  🗓️ April 1st 10-11:30 AM CSTFREE!FREE!FREE! Learning outcomes:  ✍🏾Participants will be able to seamlessly integrate social emotional development skills within their content area. ✍🏾 Participants will be able to design a learning environment of radical belonging that cultivates student intellectual and emotional genius.    ✍🏾Participants will be able to design a lesson plan using the 4 academic mindset components.  CLICK HERE FOR THE REGISTRATION LINK.
Episode #5:  The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series-Part I: Embracing and Enacting Radical Welcoming and Radical Belonging
Mar 15 2023
Episode #5: The Science behind Building Authentic Relationships Series-Part I: Embracing and Enacting Radical Welcoming and Radical Belonging
Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  Listen in as we go on a journey to break down the science behind building authentic relationships with students...and it all starts with Embracing and Enacting Radical Welcoming & Belonging!!!Resources discussed in the podcast (click the highlighted text to access resource): FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator.   The Urgency for Cultivating Academic Mindset with Dependent Learners IG Live Series @scholars4thesoulFriday nights at 5pm CST (March 3, 10, 17, 24)Components of an academic mindset: I belong to this community.I can succeed at this.  My effort is worth the workThere is value in the work.Warm Demander Series:  The identity of a warm demander and how to cultivate that identity through culturally responsive teaching.  LinkedIN, Facebook, and YouTube series:  Saturday mornings at 8am CST (March 4, 11, 18, 25)
Episode #4:  Teach like your soul is on FIRE!!!
Mar 10 2023
Episode #4: Teach like your soul is on FIRE!!!
Welcome to Teaching Matters 101: a podcast for folks who are passionate about educating diverse students with compassion, care, and courage.  I am your host, Dr. Mel, lifelong learner and educator and CEO of Scholars for the Soul: An Educational Solutions Firm.  We are here to talk about all things education: from teacher identity to teaching strategies, we unpack it all and invite you to join us on this journey of discussing teaching matters that impact education and make real teaching matter.  Today's episode is a conversation from one soul scholar to another.  You will be emboldened by the passion of Dr. Mel to continue to reflect upon and examine the fuel to your fire that motivates why you do what you do in our nation's schools and classrooms.Dr. Mel breaks down the current state of education, specifically as it relates to the state of Arkansas and other southern states, with their current attack on critical race theory and "indoctrination".  She provides a refreshing insight into reframing our teacher mindset and identity work from deficit to strength based and offers solutions that center culturally responsive teaching as the way to engage diverse learners and their families and communities. Important note: Culturally responsive teaching is the solution.closes instructional equity gapprovides teachers a pathway towards transformation and its sustainability over timeprovides a clear road map for educator identity and teaching practices that integrate culture and information process as the solution to good teaching that closes the gap.Resources discussed in the podcast (click the highlighted text to access resource): FREE E-BOOK:  First Steps to Understanding and Implementing Culturally Responsive Teaching: Exploring the journey from identity to instruction. This text will guide you on a journey of understanding culturally responsive teaching as a way of being that takes identity work, building academic mindset for yourself and your students, confronting blindspots within your instruction, and advocating for support while practicing critical self-reflection.  It’s a free tool that will empower you to actualize your own personal and professional development that grows your capacity as a culturally responsive educator.   The Urgency for Cultivating Academic Mindset with Dependent Learners IG Live Series @scholars4thesoulFriday nights at 5pm CST (March 3, 10, 17, 24)Components of an academic mindset: I belong to this community.I can succeed at this.  My effort is worth the workThere is value in the work.Warm Demander Series:  The identity of a warm demander and how to cultivate that identity through culturally responsive teaching.  LinkedIN, Facebook, and YouTube series:  Saturday mornings at 8am CST (March 4, 11, 18, 25)