Are Transgender Students’ Rights at Odds with Parents’ Rights? The California lawsuit over transgender students’ rights policy in the Chino Valley Unified School District has sparked a heated debate about parents’ rights and the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming students....

Thanks for dropping by for another episode. In this episode, we delve into three education-related news stories that are either influential or just plain odd. Listen to what Jen and I think, and then add your opinion in the comments...

In this episode, Anne and Jen shed light on the issue of teacher burnout and its prevalence in the education system. We discuss teachers’ experiences facing challenges such as an intense curriculum without sufficient resources, mold-infested classrooms, and unaddressed disciplinary...

In this episode of EdNews This Week, Anne announces that she and co-host Jen will be featured guests on another podcast called Behind the Mic, out September 1st on the Education Podcast Network. This week’s three news stories from the...

In this episode, Anne, Jen, and their special guest Maria delve into the multifaceted nature of the teacher workload, shedding light on the fact that the profession entails much more than simply standing in front of a classroom and delivering...

LA Unified School District teachers (and a lot of us other teachers) are not happy about mandated discipline changes, What Congress has heard about mental health issues in school (will they finally listen?) and How ChatGPT has a sister AI...

Ah, summer vacation! The time when teachers can finally break free from the clutches of students, exams, and endless lesson planning. It’s a time to kick back, relax, and forget about school… Or is it? Many teachers count the days...

Today’s news covers how Mastery Learning is now a thing in all 50 states. Why the Carnegie Unit that has defined learning for 100 years is obsolete, and I’ll show you the money, at least I’ll break down how the...

It’s Anne here with a mini-episode of Transparency and Teaching Podcast, the News Edition. We used to start our episodes with education news, but you know, uh, we got so long-winded as we talked about the main topics that we...

This episode features three education news stories that I feel may set the tone for schools and districts across the country. As we know, one district's policies and often the politics that give birth to them can act as a...

A recent article in “The 74” caught my attention this week. It discussed how Tennessee and Michigan are currently debating removing the statute requiring third graders who are reading below grade level to be retained. With state testing starting, people...

In today’s episode, we talk with Ben, a first-year teacher. Ben talks about his teacher preparation program and his student teaching experience. Ben shares what was difficult and how his pre-teaching experiences benefitted or hindered his time during student teaching.

The Pledge of Allegiance is a daily ritual in many schools and public events in the United States. The pledge, written in 1892,  is a promise of loyalty to the United States of America. However, over the years, the practice...

According to Merriam-Webster, the word indoctrinate originated in the 17th century.  It meant “to teach,” as it comes from docēre, the Latin word for teaching.  But by the 19th century, the meaning shifted to signify teaching someone to uncritically accept a...

What comes to mind when someone says, “Oh, that’s a really good school?” Is it students all sitting in their seats, diligently taking notes? Is it passing along students who can read and do math on grade level? Or is...

Hey, it’s Anne here to introduce today’s episode all about social promotion, you know, that practice where schools promote students to the next grade based on age instead of mastery. The idea is that keeping kids with their peer group...

Don’t be surprised if you find someone named “TBA” teaching your child’s class. There will apparently be A LOT of TBAs in charge of classes this fall. School districts across the country report record numbers of unfilled positions at the...

As summer vacation is ending, I was wondering if you are beginning to get a nervous tick when you hear, “Back to School Sale?” Or do you find yourself tearing up when you walk by the school supplies aisle? Or...

The 2021-2022 school year felt like it rose up from Hell. Thank goodness teachers can put the year behind them! If ever there was a school year that deserved a "middle finger," 🖕🏼🖕🏼that was one! Many teachers felt this year...

Happy 2022! Let’s hope this year makes up for the last two! It’s always good to be hopeful. And on that note, I hope public education survives. Last year brought educators and their curriculum under the microscope in a way...

In this episode, Anne and Jen shed light on the issue of teacher burnout and its prevalence in the education system. We discuss teachers’ experiences facing challenges such as an intense curriculum without sufficient resources, mold- infested classrooms, and unaddressed...

 Why teachers quit should be something every would-be teacher should ponder before taking out loans to pay for college. You don't want to be one of the 44% of newbies who quit within the first five years, because then what...

When did public schools become Public Enemy #1? There have been so many issues over the last few years that point accusatory fingers at our public schools.

Jackie is famous for knowing how to travel almost cost-free, and she shares her tips and tricks with us in today’s show. 

What makes an effective teacher effective? That's a pretty subjective question, isn't it? I'm beginning to believe that so much of what people think makes education good is subjective.

This school year is FINALLY ending (thank god for small favors) and we are packing up our minimally used classrooms. For many teachers, this will be their last time having to do this. Covid caused many to throw in the...

The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in the 2017-18 school year there were 3.3 million full and part-time traditional public school teachers. That is the most recent count available. That’s a lot of college tuition and credentialing fees. So does...

Here’s how the school year progressed. It started as “We won’t likely be returning to campus this year.” Then it changed to  “I doubt it will happen.” Which changed to, “Maybe it will happen.” Then to, “It’s happening,” and finally…...

In 2005 then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to make changes to California’s teacher tenure, increasing the time to achieve tenure from 2 to 5 years. He also proposed that teacher pay be based on merit, not length of tenure, and that...

We are rapidly approaching the end of our 3rd quarter and it looks like a pretty done deal that after spring break, we will be going back to school for real this time!  So what does that really mean? We’ve...

It should have been expected that the attack on the Capitol last month (has it been that long already?😳) would prompt controversial classroom discussions. Students want to explore their questions and find answers to their concerns. This puts teachers in...

So it’s Winter Break and we’ve had a little time to collect ourselves and get refreshed for round two of Online Learning. I wish…. I don’t know about other teachers but, Sharyn, Jen, and I are feeling a little burned around the...

So the election is over (or is at least supposed to be over…) Who will Biden pick for secretary of education? Of course, teachers are most interested in Besty Devos’s replacement. In this episode, we discuss the possible replacements for...

Hello Faithful Listeners! So, yeah, this episode is a bit late, (or a bit early if you want to pretend last week didn’t happen). Here’s why:The end of our first quarter of distance learning has just come to a close....

Our guest co-host, fellow co-worker and single parent, Angel, joins us today to share her unique (or not so unique, depending on your family dynamic) situation of juggling two elementary school aged children during distance learning, while also wearing the...

I think distance learning is finally getting to us. We’re tired.  We’re punchy, We talk about alcohol more than usual.  Distance Learning Trippin’ Today we get into how parents and students are coping with distance learning from the teacher’s point...

We are feeling swamped with back to school Covid Style. Planning lessons for 2 1/2 hour synchronous classes and 150 minutes of weekly asynchronous work is time consuming. So until we find our rhythm we are bringing you mini lunchroom...

There’s no more waiting for it to arrive.  It’s here! School has started and teachers are in a frenzy to get on board the Distance Learning Train!  In today’s episode, we try to stay optimistic as we talk about what...

Today we get into ways teachers can save money on travel (once travel is a “thing” again!) Never too soon to start planning! We discuss ideas for social distancing conscious travel and how to make your “safer at home” quarantine...

Well not exactly perfect, but much, much better In this episode, we get into the topic of restorative practices. The International Institute of Restorative Practices website describes restorative practices as an emphasis on repairing the harm done to people and...

We are a bit concerned about what August might entail as pediatricians and the president push to reopen schools, but at whose expense? We start the episode with a discussion of what the California state budget holds for education, plus...

In Episode 007  you’ll hear: and Jen’s sex education 🍆🍑and barforama 🤮 substitute teaching stories. Fun times! For resources used in this episode and more stories about other teacher’s substitute teaching experiences go to our website. www.TransparencyinTeaching.com. and subscribe!

On today’s episode Sharyn and Anne Zoom with co-workers Jimese and Diedre, who bring their perspectives as black educators to the conversation about what we all need to be thinking about and doing differently in our classrooms to ensure equity...

Jen, Sharyn and I start the show by discussing the latest education news which in this case is what the proposed 10% budget cut might mean for schools (for me, it might mean retirement!) These could be the single biggest...

Why do we send our children to school? To learn stuff?  What stuff? Who decides which “stuff” is important and which can be set aside? How do we know they learned this stuff? In the long past, education meant learning...

Hey, Anne here. Thanks for hitting the “Listen Now” button. I know there are sooooo many other things you could be doing with all your free time now. Glad you chose to spend some of it with us. In this...

First, this is just my opinion. For what that’s worth, it’s the opinion of someone who’s been in the classroom for 33 years. I don’t know how students view grades in elementary school. I get the feeling that parents are...

Why Bother to Become a Teacher? Go search on Google “number of new teachers who quit,” and you’ll find pages and pages (115,000,000 results in the search I did) of statistics that all read about the same: “Close to half...

Transparency in Teaching (stuff) Anne, Jen and Sharyn share a little about what to expect in their off the wall new podcast that takes you into the “teacher’s lounge” and lets you listen in to real conversations from real in...