Episode #265: Natalie Vardabasso

Dana GoodierOut of the Trenches Podcast

Natalie Vardabasso is an Education Consultant, Speaker, Podcast Host who has served as a high school and middle school teacher, instructional coach, and assessment lead in a K-12 context where she led her community through assessment and grading transformation. Her mission is to reimagine education through a liberating praxis, and she is currently doing that as a full-time consultant, host of … Read More

Episode #244: Kip Shubert

Dana GoodierOut of the Trenches Podcast

Kip is an educator and coach who is driven to lead and love staff and students to believe and discover that they are the greatest miracle in the world. Having almost thirty years’ experience in education, Kip is sharing that secret sauce as an educator, coach, author, speaker, and as a podcast host of The Secret Sauce with Kip Shubert. … Read More

Connecting Your Class with Authors

Mason NicholsBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better, Innovate Better

TL;DR: Virtual learning led to decreased student motivation, prompting the need for engaging and meaningful activities. Using picture books and connecting with authors proved effective in fostering social-emotional learning and motivation. Strategies such as utilizing social media, attending author book signings, and exploring author websites facilitated connections and sparked students’ interest in writing and reading. After several weeks of virtual … Read More

Episode #220: Dan Tricarico

Dana GoodierOut of the Trenches Podcast

Dan Tricarico has been a high school English teacher for over thirty years. He’s also the author of The Zen Teacher: Creating Focus, Simplicity, and Tranquility in the Classroom (DBC, Inc. 2015) and Sanctuaries: Self-Care Secrets for Stressed Out Teachers (DBC, Inc. 2018). In his spare time, he enjoys writing fiction, listening to music (especially Roots Rock and The Blues), reading mystery novels, staring … Read More

Episode #216: Cathy Jean François

Dana GoodierOut of the Trenches Podcast

Cathy Jean-François, an educator with the NYC Department of Education, has a BA in Creative Writing and Literature from Hofstra University and a Master’s Degree in Education from St. John’s University. When she is not working on lesson plans and grading assignments for her 7th grade and high school students, she is either writing a new post for her blog, Cathy’s … Read More