The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast

We've reached part 3 of our Back to Basics series on unit planning! Last episode, we built the assessment plan for our sample unit that included diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments. Now it's time to choose the learning activities that will move students toward success on those assessments: the daily lesson plans. I'm putting out this series as an introduction to my new online course, Mastering the Lesson Plan. These four episodes will give you the big picture, but the course takes a much deeper dive into each step of the process and gives you practical tools you can use to plan stronger instruction. To learn more about the course, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101. ___________________________ Thanks to Brilliant and Notability for sponsoring the episode. To read a written version of this podcast, visit cultofpedagogy.com/how-to-write-a-lesson-plan.

I'm kicking off a four-episode Back to Basics series that will offer a practical overview of how to effectivley plan a unit of instruction. This week we'll start with the big picture, an overview of the process I use for planning a unit, starting with setting measurable objectives and getting a sense for how you will assess them at the end of the unit. In the next episode, we'll zoom in on that process of designing the assessment plan. I'm putting out this series as an introduction to my new online course, Mastering the Lesson Plan. These four episodes will give you the big picture, but the course takes a much deeper dive into each step of the process and gives you practical tools you can use to plan stronger instruction. To learn more about the course, visit cultofpedagogy.com/teaching101. ___________________________ Thanks to Alpaca and iCivics for sponsoring the episode. To read a written version of this podcast, visit cultofpedagogy.com/how-to-plan-a-unit-of-instruction.

If we're doing our jobs right as educators, students will gradually become independent, self-directed learners capable of monitoring, directing, and actively participating in building their own learning. But what if that's not happening? What if students continue to lean heavily on their teachers for step-by-step instructions on every task, never really taking the learning process into their own hands, and as a result, limiting their growth to only what their teachers happen to spoon feed them? In this episode, author Zaretta Hammond offers five "learn-to-learn" strategies we can coach in our students, moves that build their learning power and boost their cognitive capacity. ___________________________ Thanks to foundry10 and SchoolAI for sponsoring the episode. To read Hammond's article and get links to the book Rebuilding Students' Learning Power, visit cultofpedagogy.com/learn-to-learn. To learn more about The Teacher's Guide to Tech, visit teachersguidetotech.com.

Concept maps are graphic organizers or visual representations of knowledge. They're simple, they're low-tech, and they're incredibly powerful tools for learning. In this episode, cognitive scientist Dr. Kripa Sundar explains why concept maps are so impactful, then shares a handful of specific practices that will help you make the best use of them. Also joining us is Dr. Pooja Agarwal, editor of the book Smart Teaching Stronger Learning, which includes a chapter on concept mapping along with nine other high-impact teaching strategies. ______________________________________________________________ Thanks to Solution Tree and Listenwise for sponsoring this episode. For links to the book and a full transcript of this episode, visit cultofpedagogy.com/concept-maps. To learn more about the Teacher's Guide to Tech, visit teachersguidetotech.com.

Project-based learning can be a powerful instructional framework, but it is often structured in ways that exclude students who need a different approach. Too often, PBL becomes a space where accommodations and differentiation fall by the wayside. The good news is that we don't have to abandon PBL or dramatically overhaul it to make it work for diverse learners. In this episode, author and educator John Spencer shares five small but thoughtful structural changes we can make that will allow every student to thrive in a project-based environment. ______________________________________________________________ Thanks to EVERFI and Listenwise for sponsoring this episode. To read John's post, visit cultofpedagogy.com/accessible-pbl. To learn more about the PBL Master Course bundle, click HERE and use the code pedagogy at checkout to take an extra $20 off!

Sometimes the best instructional materials are sitting right in our classrooms. At a time when AI threatens to make human writing obsolete, using students' own work as a teaching tool offers a wonderfully authentic alternative. In this episode, educator Marcus Luther joins me to share four ways he uses student exemplars to teach craft lessons, build student confidence, practice giving feedback, and foster a much-needed sense of belonging. ______________________________________________________________ Thanks to Solution Tree and The School Me Podcast for sponsoring this episode. To read Marcus's post and see photos of these practices in his classroom, visit cultofpedagogy.com/student-exemplars.

The practice of collecting supplies and distributing them to all students over the school year has become a common practice in elementary schools. Unfortunately, not all parents are happy with it, and much of the trouble stems from a few key misunderstandings. In this episode, my guest Julie Lause explains why schools use these systems and how they ensure that time in class is used effectively and every student gets the best education possible. Thanks to Alpaca and the EVERFI for sponsoring this episode. To read Julie's guest post, visit cultofpedagogy.com/community-supplies. You can find Julie on TikTok at @thebossyhouse