Class Dismissed Podcast

Latest Episodes
How one educator tackled three natural disasters
Dr. Ben Burnett served as a school administrator through two powerful tornadoes and Hurricane Katrina. Most school administrators are fortunate enough to make it their entire career without witnessing their campus destroyed by a natural disaster.
Episode 137: How to inspire young scientist
How can you make science cool? Lynn Brunelle is a four-time Emmy Award-winning writer for “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” and she describes her time working on the Nye’s show as similar to working for a combination of Mr. Wizard and Saturday Night Live.
Making writing real in your classroom
Why the structured essay writing we're teaching in school is not necessarily what employers want. Learning to write an essay in school is standard. You brainstorm, research a topic, develop a thesis, outline the piece, and begin writing. Jill Pavich,
What if a student never sees themselves in a story?
It's demoralizing, and here's what you can do to prevent it. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a beautiful story, and it is one of the most commonly taught books in the secondary curriculum. But educator, Jennifer Buehler,
One day, no instruction, just play
How and why Global School Play Day is working to restore unstructured play for kids For five years now, the first Wednesday in the month of February has been designated as Global School Play Day. This year, on February 5th,
Why this teacher taught a YA novel she never read
"I wanted to find something that would possibly interest them and that they can’t find on the internet." Dina Leygerman was tired of having her high school students pretending to read the classic novels assigned in her class.
Why and how you should tie emotion to your history class
The Role of Emotion in History Education Dr. Dave Neumann is an Assistant Professor of History Education at Cal Poly Pomona and he was recently published in “Social Education” with his article titled “A feeling for the Past: The Role of Emotion in Hist...
Our best education podcasts interviews of 2019
These are our favorite interviews of 2019 Every year on Class Dismissed, we have an in-depth discussion with scores of amazing people working in education. We introduce our listeners to, innovative teachers, administrators, college professors,
Should we continue to teach Shakespeare?
Shakespeare is arguably the most widely taught author in the United States, but should he be? Christina Torres has been teaching Shakespeare to her students for the past seven years. She loves Shakespeare, she's read it, she's performed it,
Power to the "Late Bloomer"
We shouldn't obsess over early achievement. We live in a world where we applaud kids that do amazing things at a young age, but Rich Karlgaard is not focused on those early achievers. Karlgaard is the publisher of Forbes Magazine and author of "Late...