Parents love to say that they don’t have favorites, but we all know the truth. It is at least slightly less problematic when a teacher says it - slightly. Ben and Amanda share some of their most enjoyable interactions with students and why bus trips should count as a high-impact practice. This is some time to reflect on why the student that skipped the exam to go rock climbing is actually one of the best or how if you make a student on of your favorites, years later they will someday use their audio mixing skills to record a new opening track for your podcast. These two teachers’ pets unpack what makes a student a 'main character' and how we can find that feeling with all our students.

This episode is hosted by Amanda Colosimo and Benjamin Schermerhorn. Music for the opening and closing of the episode was mixed by Clayton Behlok.

Amanda and Ben get together to record on a Sunday afternoon to talk about exactly the work-life balance. They could possibly cut this episode to 5-minutes because Amanda tells us right off the bat that balance isn’t possible. Still, they spend the episode talking about how they keep to-do lists, set intentions for each day, and carve out a little bit of time to fill their own cups.

In this episode, they mention the article: “The math doesn’t work” published in April 2013 on Inside Higher Education and written by Nate Kreuter.

In this episode, Ben and Amanda talk about the ways they leverage the knowledge their students already have, whether it is from a previous day of class, a whole other course, or just everyday life. Amanda talks about how cookies and rocks are basically the same. Ben makes some Excel jokes and does his best to briefly talk about quantum mechanics without talking about quantum mechanics. So, you know, just some good old-fashioned fun with these two.

Grab a beverage of your choice, take a break, and let’s talk teaching.