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PODCAST

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA

Betsy Potash: ELA

Want to love walking into your ELA classroom each day? Excited about innovative strategies like PBL, escape rooms, hexagonal thinking, sketchnotes, one-pagers, student podcasting, genius hour, and more? Want a thriving choice reading program and a shelf full of compelling diverse texts? You"re in the right place! Here you"ll find interviews with top authors from the ELA field, workshops with strategies you can use in class immediately, and quick tips to ignite your English teacher creativity

education how to

All Episodes

05:25

322: A Super Simple Way to Learn Names

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/29

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to talk about learning names, and my easy trick for mastery. It took me many years, but finally, after a year in which I had a Kalina, Karina, Ekaterina, and Katrina, I figured out a plan that really worked. I hate not knowing students’ names. It stresses me out, big time. Maybe you’re the same? The worst is when I think I know someone’s name and then it’s actually someone else’s name, so I feel like I betrayed them both. So finally, after about five years of

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19:38

321: Jason Reynolds doesn't write Boring Books

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/27

Jason Reynolds' website headline reads "Here's What I Do: Not Write Boring books." How great is that? As with everything he does, he seems to be speaking directly to the young people he's always trying to reach. There's a reason The Library of Congress chose him as the national ambassador for young adult literature. Last year I created an Instagram series all about Jason's incredible work, and different ways you might use it in the classroom. But I've heard from a number of folks who aren't on

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03:40

A Simple Go-To for Better Discussions

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/22

On this week’s mini-episode, I’m sharing the coolest discussion warm-up I’ve ever learned, which I picked up at the Exeter Humanities Institute one week after my first year of teaching and the same week that I met my husband. You’re going to love it! As you know if you listen to the podcast much, my favorite discussion method is called Harkness, and it was first invented and pioneered at Phillips Exeter Academy. If you’re interested in diving deep with Harkness, there are several past episodes you

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38:24

319: Got Phone Problems? Help for a Distracted...

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/20

The first time I really understood what flow meant I was barefoot in salty sand, building a beach sculpture in Mexico alone in the sunshine. Two hours seemed to disappear in moments as I gathered water-smoothed scraps of painted tile and bright shells and arranged them into swirls and towers underneath the cliffs. Take a second here and ask yourself - when do you feel that amazing feeling, where you are completely immersed in the thing you are doing so the rest of the world falls away?

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06:12

318: Try This with your Teacher Budget

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/15

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to give my answer to a question I see all the time in our Facebook community, Creative High School English, and it’s this: What’s the best way to spend a teacher budget? So let’s dive into five great options. . Classroom Poster Printing Over the years I’ve seen a lot of wonderful classroom poster creation from fellow educators and artists across the world. And they look beautiful in framed 8 1/2 X 11. But what if you took your digital download and went bigger

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19:03

317: Classroom Design with Real Impact (from the...

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/13

Today I’d like to share one of my favorite episodes from the Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast archives. In this special episode, I invited five creative guests to give their take on impactful classroom design. This back-to-school season felt like the perfect time to share it again. I’ll be back with a full episode on Thursday, but at the moment I’m in the throes of a 6,000 mile move with my two kids and our cat, and my office is basically a giant pile of boxes. So please forgive the change in

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04:10

316: Easy Ways to Connect with your Department

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/08

On this week’s mini-episode, I just have a very quick idea for you and it’s this. As back-to-school hits, it’s easy to immediately become isolated in your classroom. You’ve got a million to-dos for your space and your students. But the school year is going to feel better if you feel connected to the teacher across the hall, the teacher next door, and the teacher upstairs. Know what I mean? So this week I want to recommend that you host your department for something this back-to-school season. And

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19:18

315: The Back-to-School Independent Reading Kickstart

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/06

Back-to-School season is the perfect time to set up your reading program for success throughout the year. Heading into the school year with a well-organized library, a plan for routines like First Chapter Friday and Book Trailer Tuesday, a kickoff book tasting, an appealing book display, and a regular time to read will help so much in inspiring your students to read for joy throughout the year, and hopefully for the rest of their lives. Lately I've been thinking about a well-run reading

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06:51

314: How to Plan toward an Assessment

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/08/01

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question from our community about lesson planning. Here it is: “How do you plan? I’m struggling to put together a series of lessons that culminate into a bigger assignment. For example, if I want my students to end up writing a persuasive essay, what would I plan to prepare them to write it? Do you go with a theme? Make it part of a novel study? I’m struggling!” OK, this is a big question, but I’m ready for it. In today’s episode, we’re digging into

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13:19

313: Don't Make My First Day of School Mistakes

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/30

Maybe you've heard the story of how I almost quit teaching on my first first day of school. Despite the fact that I had spent three months preparing moment-by-moment lessons for fall. Despite the fact that I was wearing my super cool white embroidered top from Bass and carrying my first ever leather shoulder bag. Despite the fact that I had asked all my friendly, talented and kind new colleagues what I should do on the first day. I totally blew it, big time. And I want better for you. I

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06:09

312: Your Stress-Free Back-to-School Night

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/25

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to share my top strategy for taking the pressure off you while delivering a great experience for parents on back-to-school night, stations. Back-to-school night, like the first day of school, can be a stressful time. You’re trying to get a lot of information across quickly, and it can feel like the only way to get that accomplished is by talking fast and furiously for the eight or so minutes you have with your rapidly moving parents. A colorful presentation

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16:39

311: Teaching Life Skills

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/23

If I told you the elective we’re about to dive into has an “awkward party” unit, would you believe me? Well, it does, and I can’t wait for you to learn about it and start planning an awkward party lesson of your own. Today on the show, we’re continuing our creative electives series with veteran teacher Lisa Blake, who's been teaching for 33 years in Northern California. She's built a life skills elective to give her students confidence in how to learn new skills, not just to teach the skills

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06:11

310: Rock the Reading Block

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/18

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question from our community about reading in class. Here it is “ Hi all. Next year my middle school will be implementing a 45-minute every-other-day reading block for all students. All teachers (ELA or not) will be required to cover the class. I am wondering…what you do with it…” In today’s episode, I’m going to weigh in on how I would use a gift like this. If you give kids time to read in class, hopefully you’ll find some helpful ideas in how you can

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10:43

309: Exploring Modern ELA Mediums (The Elective Series)

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/16

What would you do if you had nine weeks to help ELA students imagine the real-world use of ELA skills? Inside the unique elective wheel program at Lisa Jones' school, students explore each discipline for nine weeks before moving onto the next. To show them literacy in action, Lisa has crafted an elective with three real-world projects to help them imagine how they might use their ability to communicate across modern mediums. Listen (or read) on to dive into these three real-world projects with us

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06:57

308: Build an Easy Careers Unit

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/11

This week let’s talk about careers. I don’t know if you can relate, but I graduated from high school with a general awareness of maybe six careers - law, medicine, teaching, ministry, science, and business. Let’s talk about how we can show our students a broader view of what’s out there - and build in some ELA skills to the process. A fun way to start any careers unit is with a careers scavenger hunt, an easy form of research students can do as they move through their days. Just ask your students

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20:17

307: Teaching African American Literature (The...

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/09

Today on the show, we’ll find out what happened when an administrator attended a student’s genius hour project presentation about a new elective she wanted to see proposed Teaching African American Literature. Spoiler alert, magic. We’re continuing our elective series today, and I’m delighted to tell you we're hearing from passionate veteran teacher Bethany Yuninger. She'll be sharing her African American Literature Elective, and wait til you hear the story of how this elective came to be -

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05:57

306: Help! My Readers have such Different Skill Levels

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/04

On this week’s mini-episode, I want to answer a question sent in by a member of our community. Here’s what she writes: Hi Betsy, I have classes of 10th graders who are SO divergent in skill levels. Some are reading Murakami for fun, and some are reading at a 5th grade level. I am struggling to differentiate for them and provide challenge for the strong and support for the others.” Today on the show, I’m going to offer some ideas for this listener, and I hope they can help you too, if you find

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11:27

305: Teaching Dramatic Writing (The Elective Series...

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/07/02

Today on the show we’re hearing from Valerie Boehm, who teaches a Dramatic Writing elective in Georgia as part of the state’s initiative to help more students find their way to good jobs in the film industry. So cool, right? This episode is part of our continuing series on electives, which has been SO MUCH fun to record. I hope you’re as excited to be hearing from all these wonderful teachers about the creative things they’re doing with their courses as I am! (Check out past elective episodes

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01:45

Trailer: The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/06/21

Join me each week for innovative teaching strategies you can use immediately in your ELA classroom, from choice reading help to book clubs, project-based-learning to AI, student podcasting to genius hour, we cover the good stuff. Whether you're trying to figure out how to engage your eighth graders, trying to help your 11th graders through the college essay, or trying to shepherd you twelfth graders through to the end, you'll find help here! Follow along on Instagram @nowsparkcreativity or visit my

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06:24

⏰ Camp Creative: Three Podcast Project Options for...

The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast | ELA ·

2024/06/13

It's day four of Camp Creative - time to explore three types of student podcasting projects you might want to use next year! The book talk podcast, the life skills podcast, and the full PBL podcasting unit. Remember, Camp Creative is my favorite event of the year, and I wanted to make sure that no matter how busy you are, you can just pop in some earbuds and follow along. But you DO need to be signed up for camp to snag all the free resources (like all three of these podcasting projects), and it's

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