Stellar Teacher Podcast with Sara Marye

One of the biggest mistakes teachers make at the beginning of the school year is assuming that students know how to follow classroom procedures after hearing them once. We explain expectations, answer a few questions, and then wonder why students forget what to do the next day—or even five minutes later. The reality is that classroom procedures are skills, and like any skill, they must be taught, modeled, practiced, and reinforced over time. In this episode of The Stellar Teacher Podcast, we're continuing our New Teacher Blueprint series by sharing a simple, effective framework for teaching classroom procedures that actually stick. Whether you're a first-year teacher preparing for your first classroom or a veteran educator looking to strengthen your classroom management systems, this episode will help you build routines that support student success all year long.

What is the balance between supporting multilingual learners while still providing access to rigorous, grade-level instruction? In this replay episode of The Stellar Teacher Podcast, we revisit an insightful conversation with literacy experts Dr. Jana Echevarría and Dr. Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez about supporting multilingual learners in today's classrooms. As the number of multilingual learners continues to grow across the country, it's more important than ever for teachers to understand how language development and literacy instruction work together.

*Phew* Classroom procedures... are tough. The beginning of the school year can feel overwhelming, especially when you're staring at endless lists of classroom procedures to teach. If you've ever seen those "100 procedures every teacher should teach" checklists and immediately felt stressed, we get it. The truth is, you do not need to teach every classroom procedure during the first week of school. In this episode of our New Teacher Blueprint series, Tami is talking about how to prioritize the classroom routines and procedures that students need most during the first days of school. Instead of trying to teach everything at once, we'll help you identify the routines that will have the biggest impact on creating a calm, organized, and successful classroom environment.

If you're looking for practical, research-based strategies for reading success that you can implement in your classroom, this episode is a must-listen. In this conversation, literacy expert, educator, and author Lindsay Kemeny joins us to discuss the powerful ideas behind her book, Seven Mighty Moves: Research-Backed, Classroom-Tested Strategies to Ensure K-3 Reading Success. Lindsay shares how her personal journey supporting her son with dyslexia led her to rethink her instructional practices and embrace a more structured, evidence-based approach to literacy instruction.