Helping Kids Be Healthy and Whole While Learning from Home
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Release Date: 04/15/2020
How Teachers Can Give High-Potential Students a College Roadmap
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Too many bright, high-achieving students hit a wall because they lack access, know-how, and the “network advantage” that makes college applications feel possible. In this episode, I talk with Zak Adams, a junior at Harvard University, about how mentorship can help high-potential, low-opportunity students pursue “dream universities” they might not otherwise consider. We discuss Project Access, an international, UK-registered charity that pairs students with mentors connected to their target universities. If you work with juniors right now, this conversation will help you see practical...
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Reaching English Language Learners: Day One
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Speakable: Today's Sponsor This podcast is by . Want to bring daily speaking practice to your classroom without adding prep or grading? Speakable helps language teachers assign speaking tasks, give instant feedback, and leaders can track progress, all with tools aligned to ACTFL and WIDA standards. ✅ Instant AI grading ✅ No setup or training required ✅ Student data and growth insights 👉 Explore how works, whether you're a teacher or a school leader, you'll find the right place to start.
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AI as an Assistant: Rethinking Learning and the Future of School
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Opening Paragraph In this episode, we tackle the challenges educators face as uncertainty around AI, demographic shifts, and evolving student futures continue to reshape schools. Teachers are feeling the pressure to personalize learning for every student, and we explore how AI might assist rather than overwhelm us in that work. Jennifer Womble, Conference Chair for FETC, joins us to unpack trends that matter now and in the years ahead. Whether you’re attending FETC or not, this conversation will help you make sense of what’s next in education. What You’ll Learn In this episode, you’ll...
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Getting Consistent Results from AI: What Teachers and Students Need to Know
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Many teachers are frustrated when AI gives great results one day and confusing or unreliable responses the next. This episode explores why that happens and how it affects both teachers and students in real classrooms. I sit down with Rob the AI Guy to unpack a key concept that explains much of this inconsistency and helps educators use AI more wisely. If you want clearer results and better classroom conversations about AI, this episode will help. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: Understand why AI responses can drift or become unreliable over time Use simple strategies, like starting...
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The Science of Attention: The Difference One Teacher Makes
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
The science of attention explains why learning cannot happen without focus—and why one teacher can make all the difference. Learn how to understand the science of attention and help students learn. This episode is an extended episode shared from my other podcast/radio/TV show: Cool Cat Teacher Talk. I'm sharing it because it is helpful, but also because I share a very special story at the end. - I hope you enjoy! - Vicki In this episode, host Vicki Davis sits down with Myriam Da Silva, AI ethicist, neuroeducation leader, and CEO of , to explore how attention actually...
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4 Essential Ways to Teach Reading with Jennifer Burns
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Every child can become a reader — but only when we build strong foundational skills. In this episode, literacy consultant Jennifer Burns explains the “Fundamental Four” every student needs to read with confidence: seeing like a reader, hearing like a reader, thinking like a reader, and believing they are a reader. Whether you teach early learners, support struggling readers, or want practical strategies to strengthen reading instruction, Jennifer shares clear, teacher-ready ideas you can use right away. You’ll learn how to improve eye training and decoding, how to reduce reading...
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Play, Curiosity, and the Joy of Math with Dan Finkel
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
What if math could feel like play? 🎲 In this inspiring episode, mathematician and educator Dan Finkel—founder of —joins Vicki Davis, the Cool Cat Teacher, to explore how curiosity, productive struggle, and play can make math more meaningful and fun for every learner. Discover how to start math lessons with questions, why struggle builds deeper understanding, and how to help students fall in love with problem-solving again. Perfect for teachers, parents, and anyone who wants to make learning joyful. 📘 Show Notes & Links: 🧲 Sponsor: Today’s episode is sponsored by...
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Can AI Replace Teachers? Dr. Catlin Tucker on Smarter Lesson Design and UDL
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Dr. Catlin Tucker, bestselling author and blended learning expert, joins Vicki Davis to talk about how teachers can design better lessons with AI—without losing their essential human touch. From universal design for learning (UDL) to creating meaningful student choice, Dr. Tucker explains how AI can elevate lesson planning when used with intentionality and creativity. They discuss the limits of “AI lesson generators,” what true differentiation looks like, and why great teaching still depends on relationships, empathy, and design thinking. Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Clixo, an...
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6 Ideas for Teaching Writing Now with Nancy McCabe
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Teaching writing can feel challenging in today’s world of short attention spans and AI-generated text—but it doesn’t have to be! In this encouraging episode, author and professor Nancy McCabe joins host Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher) to share six creative strategies that help students rediscover the joy of writing. From 10-minute free writing sessions to outdoor field trips and imitating great authors, Nancy shares proven ideas that work for every age. She also explains why mistakes and “messy drafts” are not problems to fix—but signs of authentic thinking and growth. Sponsored by...
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AI, Speakable, and the Future of Language Teaching
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Learning a new language can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! In this inspiring conversation, Spanish teacher Dawne Beck joins host Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher) to share practical ways to create a low-anxiety, high-engagement classroom where students actually enjoy speaking another language. From using game-based learning and storytelling to integrating AI pronunciation tools like Speakable, Dawne explains how to build students’ confidence while keeping the focus on communication over perfection. She also discusses strategies for helping third-language learners and students who...
info_outlineStudents can sense and even internalize the emotions their teachers are feeling, especially stress, depression and worry. Not only do we need to help kids stay physically healthy, we need to help them stay emotionally healthy. SEL expert Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl unpacks the concepts of stress contagion, the importance of routines, co-rumination and other SEL topics to help us better help today's students.
Disclosure: Note that today's guest is an advisor for today's sponsor. All content and opinions are my own and that of the author.
Sponsor: The WE Schools Program, made possible by the Allstate Foundation, is kicking off National Volunteer Week with Let's Volunteer Now! Join this free online event to help discover how virtual volunteering can help your students build SEL skills. It will be hosted on Friday, April 17 at 1pm EST on the @Wemovement Facebook channel with special guests SEL expert Dr. Amy Cranston and her brother award-winner actor Bryan Cranston, and joined by remarkable students and WE Volunteer Now campaign participants, Tyler and Jameson.
Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl - Bio as Submitted
Dr. Kim Schonert-Reichl is an expert advisor for the WE organization’s WE Schools program, which is accessed by over 18,000 schools across North America – with a special emphasis on social and emotional learning and mental wellbeing.
Dr. Kim is known as a world-renowned, American expert in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL) and sits on CASEL’s Board of Directors.
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- Within the realm of SEL, Dr. Kim’s studies have covered the following topic areas:
- The correlation between social and emotional competence (SEC) and academic achievement in early adolescence (click here for 2018 research)
- The identification of the processes and mechanisms that foster positive human qualities such as empathy, compassion, altruism and resiliency in children and adolescents
- How volunteer action helps develop caring, altruistic behaviors and promotes emotional and physical well-being (click here for 2018 research)
- The use of mindfulness in the classroom to foster a stress-free environment (click here for 2016 research)
- Projects that examine the effectiveness of classroom-based universal SEL programs (i.e. Roots to Empathy, MindUp)
Dr. Kim has over 100 publications in scholarly journals, book chapters, and reports and has edited two books on mindfulness in education, including a co-edited book (with Dr. Robert W. Roeser) published by Springer Press in 2016 titled “Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research Into Practice.” She has presented her research at over 200 scholarly conferences and has given over 300 presentations on the topic of children’s social and emotional development and social emotional learning.
Dr. Kim’s research has been highlighted in several magazines and newspapers across the US, and internationally, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Scientific American Mind, Neurology Now, The Huffington Post, The Telegraph, The Atlantic and many more. Her research on the Roots of Empathy was profiled on the PBS Newshour special, the American Graduate.