Podcast
10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher
Hosted by Vicki Davis · EN
A teacher podcast for busy educators—about 10 minutes, every week. Stay current on artificial intelligence in education (plain English), edtech, and what matters in the classroom: culture, instruction, assessment, digital health and wellness, and more. Simple ideas you can use right away.
Hosted by AP Computer Science teacher Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher)—author and longtime edtech blogger—this teaching podcast features best-selling teachers, researchers, and in-the-classroom administrators sharing practical strategies that connect with today's students.
Follow the 10 Minute Teacher—the podcast for teachers and school leaders—for weekly, classroom-ready tips.
Show notes & resources: https://coolcatteacher.com/podcast
59episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Keeping the Teacher at the Center of Classroom AI
Yesterday00:17:04Tap to summarizeFor twenty-five years we sent the struggling kid to the back of the room with headphones on. Todd Brekhus of Renaissance explains why that model broke personalized learning, and how teacher-facing AI hands the room back to you. Todd Brekhus is Chief Product Officer at Renaissance, General Manager of Nearpod, a former English teacher and technology director, and the creator of the myON literacy platform. We recorded this conversation at ISTE 2026. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why "personalized learning" quietly pushed teachers out of the loop, and what changes when you say "personalized teaching and learning" instead - How to pull last year's skill-level data and plan two paths before tomorrow's lesson - Why back-of-the-room intervention stigmatizes kids, and how to differentiate inside the core lesson - The case for a formative check every six to eight minutes without leaving your slides - Why Renaissance deliberately chose not to build student-facing AI, and what productive struggle has to do with it This episode is sponsored by Renaissance. Renaissance Intelligence connects the loop across assessment, curriculum, instruction, practice and proficiency, so educators can act on student needs in real time. Learn more at renaissance.com/intelligence Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e968 If this episode gave you something you can use tomorrow, leave a rating and review wherever you're listening — it helps other teachers find the show. And share it with a teacher friend who's tired of the screen-time argument. Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a sponsored episode. Renaissance has compensated me to share information about Renaissance Intelligence. However, all opinions expressed are my own. I have personally reviewed these resources and only recommend tools I believe offer genuine value to classroom teachers. My endorsement is limited to the educational products and services discussed in this episode. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." The sponsor has no impact on the editorial content of this show.
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How to Teach About Quantum Computing to Littles (Yes, Littles!)
2d ago00:15:38Tap to summarizeQuantum computing is roughly where AI was nine years ago. Dr. Nneka McGee has already taught it to five-year-olds — with a penny. Nneka is the founder of Muon Global, project lead and principal co-author of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning white paper "AI + Learning Differences," and the author of an ISTE Jump Start Guide on introducing AI to young learners. Her FETC session on quantum for educators is what convinced me this belonged on the show. Her argument is simple and hard to dodge: the technologies that will shape our students' careers are being built right now, states are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in them, and we are sending kids to college without the grounding to take those seats. As she puts it — there will be a breakthrough technology like ChatGPT in quantum at some point, and where will we be as educators if we didn't do what was necessary? Then she gets practical. You'll hear how she teaches superposition, entanglement, and coherence with materials already in your desk drawer. You'll hear about the plate with no nose — an image generator's mistake she turned into a full lesson on why AI still needs a human in the loop. And you'll hear about my own ninth grader, who worked out on her own that attackers could capture encrypted traffic today and decrypt it years from now once quantum arrives. That's a real, named threat, and she nailed it. In this episode: - Why quantum won't replace classical computing, and the problem it's actually built for - The encryption math that makes today's passwords a temporary arrangement - "The nerds before the herds" — the 2022 ISTE room with empty seats - Teaching quantum concepts to four- and five-year-olds - Why the awareness gap is the opportunity, not the obstacle Full show notes, every resource, and free unplugged activities you can use this week: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e967 ⭐ If this show helps you teach, please leave a rating or review wherever you're listening. It's the single best way to help another teacher find us — and it takes about thirty seconds. Share this one with the teacher down the hall who thinks quantum is over their head. It takes a penny to prove otherwise.
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Vibe Coding with Gemini: Build Your Own Classroom Tools
3d ago00:10:20Tap to summarizeAlice Keeler built the Educator AI Assistant — a Google Sheets add-on that collects no data — in two days. In this episode she talks about how she vibe codes with Gemini to create extensions and tools for teachers and the classroom. Vibe coding is all the rage and everyone is talking about it. But how do you actually do it? This conversation goes specifically to Gemini, surfaces the privacy issues we should be concerned about, and casts a vision for what school IT departments are becoming — or might need to become. Alice makes the case that if a district can describe the tool it needs, someone inside that district can build it — and know it is safe, because they made it themselves. She also talks about what it costs to own the thing you built, and the question worth asking about any tool you rely on: is anyone still maintaining it? This was recorded in the middle of last year. The tools have changed and they will keep changing. The principles underneath — how we protect student privacy and help our schools succeed — have not. Full show notes, Alice's free resources, and a Gemini prompt you can use tomorrow: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e966 If you're vibe coding in your classroom, I'd like to hear your story.
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How a School Built Its Culture Around the 7 Habits — and the Academics Followed — Episode 965
4d ago00:17:45Tap to summarizeA struggling Title I school built its culture around the 7 Habits — and the academics followed. Principal Muriel Summers tells how. In 1999, Muriel Summers became principal of A.B. Combs Elementary in Raleigh, North Carolina — the fifth person interviewed for a job four others had walked away from. She had just heard Dr. Stephen Covey speak, and she went back to her staff with one question: do you think we can teach these habits to children? There was no framework. There was no money. What they built turned A.B. Combs into the original Leader in Me school and one of the most visited schools in the world. Muriel is now Global Ambassador for the Leader in Me, co-author of the updated The Leader in Me, and co-author with David K. Hatch of the new book Teacher Believed in Me. This is a Motivational Monday conversation for every educator heading back to school. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why Muriel fixed the school's culture first and let the academics follow — "you don't have to worry about the academics, they just happen" - The one question she asked parents, students, teachers, and local business leaders before changing anything, and what each group actually said - The three words posted above the front door that every child read getting off the bus: you are seen, you are known, you are loved - How children as young as five were taught to interview teacher candidates — and the one time in twenty years Muriel overruled them (she was wrong) - What "every child has genius" looks like in practice, from 900 pieces of art on the walls to a morning meeting that matters as much as instruction Full show notes, resources, and Muriel's books: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e965 If this episode gave you something to use tomorrow, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help another teacher find it. And share it with a colleague who's rebuilding their classroom culture this year.
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Free BBC Resources for Your Classroom: Dinosaurs, Bluey, Planet Earth and News — Episode 964
1w ago00:14:57Tap to summarizeFree, ad-free BBC videos with ready-to-teach lesson plans — Bluey, leveled reading articles, dinosaur field trips, and a daily newsroom, all free for K-12. Kimmie Fink spent 13 years in the classroom and was named Puget Sound Teacher of the Year before becoming Senior Editor of the BBC Learning Hub. At her ISTE 2026 booth, teachers kept asking what the premium version costs. The answer: there isn't one. Everything is free. In this Fab Idea Friday episode, Kimmie walks through what a teacher can download and use tomorrow — and how a former teacher decides what belongs in a resource library she once wished she had. In this episode, you'll learn: Why the BBC Learning Hub holds the only licensed Bluey learning materials — 15 free lessons on friendship, feelings, and reading body language Where to find leveled reading articles pulled from BBC magazines, written at grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 so every reader in the room can access the same content How the Walking with Dinosaurs virtual field trip works — six dig sites, an interactive map, a paleontologist field journal, and a full teacher guide, in a 45- to 60-minute student exploration you can also break into pieces How a daily five-minute Newsbite with built-in questions gives you a media literacy warm-up that's ready every school day How to sign up free, build your own playlist, and assign it straight to Google Classroom Full show notes, every resource link, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e964 This episode is sponsored by the BBC Learning Hub.
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Assessment and Feedback That Move Learning Forward — Episode 963
1w ago00:14:38Tap to summarizeThe moment you put a grade on something, it stops being formative. Starr Sackstein returns for her fourth 10 Minute Teacher appearance to make assessment practical — what formative really means, what to do with the data you're already collecting, and the strategies that work at the start, middle, and end of a lesson. Starr has spent more than two decades helping teachers move from traditional grading toward feedback that actually drives learning. Her newest book, Actionable Assessment, is co-authored with Michael McDowell. In this episode, you'll learn: - The one-word difference between assessment OF learning and assessment FOR learning — and why it changes everything - Why putting a grade on a formative task cancels the formative part - How the four corners strategy works, plus the Post-it note round that gives quiet students the floor - The most common assessment mistake teachers make: assessments that don't match what we're actually trying to assess - Why observational data is just as valid as testing data — and why you don't have to quiz every day Full show notes, resources, and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e963 If this show helps you, a rating and review wherever you're listening genuinely helps other teachers find it. And if you know a teacher who is drowning in grading right now, send them this one.
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Math Games That Build Fluency While Kids Have Fun — Episode 962
1w ago00:16:16Tap to summarizeTimed tests don't make kids faster! These experts say timed tests make kids anxious and don't tell you what a child actually knows. Dr. Jennifer Bay-Williams and Dr. Gina Kling, co-authors of Math Fact Fluency: 60+ Games and Assessment Tools to Support Learning and Retention, explain what to do instead: low-stress card and dice games where nobody races anybody, and where watching kids play gives you better assessment data than any speed drill. Vicki shares why math facts in first grade were harder for her than calculus at Georgia Tech. (She also shares why her mom, who sat at the kitchen table with her, changed everything. Not everyone has that, so we need to do better!) In this episode, you'll learn: Why playing a game to learn basic facts isn't a reward day, it's best practice The three reasons Bay-Williams says timed tests need to be abandoned What students do when they're under time pressure (they drop back to counting) How to play Salute — the card game that started this writing partnership Better ways to assess fact fluency: game observation, quick interviews, strategy writing How to coach parents who tell their kids "I was never good at math" Show notes, the full transcript, and every resource mentioned: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e962 If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening — it's how other teachers find the show.
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How to Make VR Actually Work in Your Classroom — Episode 961
1w ago00:16:37Tap to summarizeThe wow has to be secondary to the why. Meghan Freeman spent a year letting her staff play in VR before a single student put on a headset — and what they found changed how she designs immersive learning. Meghan Freeman, M.Ed., is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of IlluminateXR. Before that she founded and led Elite Academic Academy, where she bought 46 headsets for her staff and gave them an entire school year to explore, argue, and write the policy themselves. In this conversation she gets specific about what actually works: how to manage a room full of students who can't see the room, how long a first session should run, and the one question a teacher has to answer before booking the equipment. In this episode, you'll learn: What XR means and how VR, AR, and AI fit together in a classroom Why the "wow" of an immersive moment has to be secondary to the "why" The classroom-management controls that make group VR workable — spatial audio, seating, mute, and locking down browsers Why the first trip in should be a scavenger hunt, not instruction How long students should actually be in a headset, and why motion sickness matters How she used VR sprints to reach students working toward a diploma on their second or third try What happened when her school put human intelligence first and standards second Show notes, resources, lots of links to VR activities, and the full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e961 If this episode helped you, please take a moment to rate and review the show wherever you're listening. Reviews are how other teachers find us — and share it with a colleague who's about to get headsets and no plan.
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Data-Driven Leadership That Changes School Culture — Episode 960
2w ago00:13:56Tap to summarizeMost principals say "data-driven" and mean test scores. Dr. Deborah Dennie means attendance, discipline, and climate too — and it changed her school. Dr. Deborah Dennie has led Leonardtown Middle School in St. Mary's County, Maryland for ten years. She's Maryland's Middle School Principal of the Year and one of three middle-school finalists for the 2026 NASSP National Principal of the Year. In this episode she walks Vicki through the data routine she runs every two weeks, why she spent her entire first year looking and listening instead of changing things, and how a classic car show and a 94% attendance goal did more for her building than another round of test-score analysis. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why her first year as principal was spent looking and listening, not changing anything • The every-two-weeks data review she runs with her assistant principals and resource teacher • How she identifies teachers above the building failure average — and the questions she sends them • Why attendance and discipline data drive instructional data, not the other way around • How her school hit the state's 94% attendance number using community, not consequences • What she tells teachers who are hurting and tired Full show notes, free data drive resources, AI prompts, and the transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e960 ⭐ If this episode helped you, please rate and review the show wherever you're listening — it's the single best way to help another teacher find it. And share it with a school leader who needs to hear it.
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Travel With Students: A Principal's Grade-by-Grade Plan — Episode 959
2w ago00:10:31Tap to summarizeTravel with students changes what a school leader sees. Karen Spencer, principal of Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, treats travel as part of her school's mission rather than an add-on — a sixth grade overnight, a seventh grade STEM and history trip to Boston, Washington D.C. in eighth grade, and international travel in high school. In this conversation she walks through how the Boston trip started, what it costs a principal in effort, and what she gets back that nothing inside the building can give her. In this episode, you'll learn: How a single teacher's push to "bring more STEM to the school" became an annual seventh grade trip to Boston Why the trip grew from STEM-only into STEM, history and fun — MIT, Harvard, robotics, the Freedom Trail, Lexington and Concord What a grade-by-grade travel ladder looks like when each grade builds on the last What hands-on learning looks like abroad — cooking classes, flamenco lessons, hiking and biking Karen's honest answer to administrators who ask why she'd take on the headache, and the mindset she says you have to bring Full show notes, resources and the complete transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e959 Sponsor. Today's show is sponsored by EF Explore America and their STEM Tours. Lead your students on a STEM tour to places on the cutting edge of innovation to show them how STEM thinking often shows up where you least expect it. Imagine your students coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or even sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington DC. If you want to inspire your students and give them a fresh perspective on the power of STEM, visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM. If this episode gave you something useful, share it with a teacher or administrator who's been thinking about taking students somewhere.
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