Morgan Torres-Unger is a teacher in California’s Central Valley, with experience teaching multiple age groups and content areas. In our conversations she shares a constellation of strategies and tactics which underscore important tenets of student-teacher relationships and how they improve all areas of teaching from classroom management to cognitive outcomes. Collectively, the ideas we discuss demonstrate a unified teaching philosophy which is simultaneously student-centered, learning-focused, data-driven, intrinsically differentiated, and yields positive outcomes.

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WORKS REFERENCED

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases using the links which follow. Using these links to purchase recommended books is a way to help support this podcast.

Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman:

Paperback: https://amzn.to/3CmMi2J

Audiobook: https://amzn.to/3J7F9Hl

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Introduction

02:26 - Does your personality match your job?

07:16 - Using vulnerability to explore students’ needs

09:57 - Creating opportunities for creative exploration

16:20 - Time, play, choice and attention

18:04 - Differentiating math instruction in a spectrum of skill levels

22:43 - Fallout of distance learning

25:38 - Maslow before you can Bloom

29:56 - Headgear Girl

34:31 - Boundaries of bullying

38:23 - Integrating healthy teen behavior into class structure

47:09 - Compliance does not increase learning.

51:22 - Motivation systems

54:10 - Assessment and grading: Test corrections, tutoring and reteaching

1:02:25 - District guidelines for grading

1:05:55 - A grade that measures academic progress

1:10:30 - Getting high at school

1:16:11 - Sex stuff: Real conversations with ‘tweens

1:23:23 - Listen like they should be listened to

1:29:51 - Sex education in the digital age

1:36:35 - Male role models for teen girls

1:49:29 - Teachers who nurture relationships

2:03:18 - Grace to increase engagement and achievement

2:10:55 - Examining the outcomes

2:23:27 - Examining what you are assessing

2:37:02 - Continuous improvement

2:47:19 - Closing