by Amanda | Apr 20, 2025 | ADHD, Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Teacher Shortage Crisis
Share Tweet Pin It Amanda returns after a long hiatus, excited to start a new season focused on mindfulness, neurodiversity, equity, and student engagement. In this special episode, Amanda shares a recording of her first mindfulness class from her...
by Amanda | Jul 14, 2024 | Elementary Teachers, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Teacher Shortage Crisis
Share Tweet Pin It In this thought-provoking episode, co-hosts Trina, Amanda, and Jess delve into the challenges and frustrations faced by educators in today’s educational landscape. Focusing on the controversial adoption of canned curriculums in...
by Amanda | Mar 29, 2024 | ADHD, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Professional Development Books, Secondary Teachers
Share Tweet Pin It Show Notes In this episode of “Empower Students Now,” host Amanda interviews Vanessa Jones, an English teacher, writer, and voice actor who has recently authored a guidebook on adult ADHD. Vanessa discusses her personal...
by Amanda | Mar 10, 2024 | Equity, Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Reading, Reading Workshop, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice, Student Motivation, Support for Struggling Readers
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of Empower Students Now, host Amanda interviews her sister Shelly Gonsalves, who opens up about her lifelong struggle with reading and learning difficulties. Shelly recounts her early educational challenges, the lack...
by Amanda | Sep 1, 2023 | ELD, Equity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice, Teacher Shortage Crisis
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode, Amanda and Trina interview two teachers who pushed back against using canned curriculum and discuss the sensitive nature of the stories shared by teachers and the importance of protecting their identities. They share...
by Amanda | Jun 30, 2023 | Equity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Reading, Reading Units, Reading Workshop, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice
Share Tweet Pin It Do you want to teach your students how to read more effectively and prepare them for college and life? In this podcast episode, Amanda discusses the book “Reading Reconsidered” by Doug Lemov, which provides a wealth of...
by Amanda | May 25, 2023 | Equity, Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice, Student Motivation, Support for Struggling Readers, Support for Struggling Writers
In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, Amanda introduces her new course, The Empowered English Classroom, which aims to increase student engagement through equitable teaching practices. Amanda discusses the Empowered English Classroom Framework, which...
by Amanda | May 4, 2023 | Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Student Motivation, Technology
In this podcast episode, Amanda discusses the negative impact of shaming kids and ourselves for screen use. She argues that screens can have benefits for neurodivergent individuals and others seeking community, and emphasizes the importance of cultivating a...
by Amanda | Mar 21, 2023 | Argumentative Writing, Discussion, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers
This podcast and website cost money to maintain. I enjoy providing free support for as many teachers as I can but I also have to pay the bills. The best way you can support the work I do is by purchasing one of my resources or one of my courses here. Not only will you...
by Amanda | Jan 20, 2023 | Discussion, Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Technology
118SHAREShare Tweet Pin It The best way to handle new technology being introduced to the education world is to investigate the tools for ourselves, with an open mind, rather than getting caught up in fear and overwhelm. I know this is hard to do,...
by Amanda | Sep 27, 2022 | Assessment, Equity, Podcast, Reading, Secondary Teachers, Support for Struggling Readers
Share Tweet Pin It I wrote this six part equity series to better understand the inequities surrounding the ways in which we teach and assess reading and writing skills in the United States. I wanted to know more. Not only that, I wanted to find...
by Amanda | Jan 8, 2022 | Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice, Support for Struggling Writers
I’ve learned and changed tremendously since the events of 2020-2021, you might even call what’s happened an identity crisis…I want to share this story here to make sense of everything for myself but also because I know there are many teachers out there...
by Amanda | Jul 31, 2021 | Secondary Teachers, Support for Struggling Writers
751SharesShare Tweet Pin It Writing is such a critical subject to master. Students who have confidence and skills as writers have the potential to go far in education and life. But, writing is one of the toughest subjects to teach and one of the...
by Amanda | Mar 6, 2021 | Differentiation, Podcast, Reading, Research, Secondary Teachers
154SHAREShare Tweet Pin It What are best teaching practices? Have you ever questioned your beliefs? When you begin questioning your beliefs, it is referred to as a paradigm shift.Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People describes...
by Amanda | Dec 8, 2019 | Management, Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Writing Independence
We all have resistant writers in our classrooms. This is a fact of teaching life. In the video below learn 13 different ways that you can help resistant writers become much more motivated. Not all of these ways will work. You need to try different combinations with...