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Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersLOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR: Fundraising Ideas for Books (Book Fairs & Read-a-Thons) [Ep 254]Looking for a way to fundraise and build a love of reading in your school? In this episode, we share how a well-planned Read-a-Thon can bring in big funds for books while creating a strong literacy culture. Amanda walks through her recent experience running a successful Read-a-Thon, including choosing a platform, organizing volunteers, and getting local businesses involved. We’re also talking about the perks of hosting a book fair (yes, in high school) to set the stage for an amazing school year ahead!Amanda has compiled her step-by-step process for hosting a read-a-thon into a resource fo...2025-04-1732 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersSUMMER READING RESCUE - PART 2 [Ep 253]What if summer reading didn’t have to feel like a chore for students or teachers?In part two of our Summer Reading Rescue series, I’m continuing the conversation about how we can reimagine summer reading programs to actually work, and even bring joy back to reading. We know the summer slide is real, and in part one, I laid the groundwork by talking about the research and the importance of having a clear PURPOSE behind your program. Today, we’re diving into the next two pillars: CHOICE and INTERACTION.I’m sharing practical ways to...2025-04-1043 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersSUMMER READING RESCUE - PART 1 [Ep 252]What the research tells us is clear: reading skills are lost over the summer. And that loss is not equitably distributed among our student population. It’s estimated that low income students can lose up to two months of reading achievement over the summer - much more than more affluent students.So we are faced with a dilemma: we know that the summer slide is real, but we also know that forcing students to read over the summer hasn’t necessarily worked for many of us.In today’s episode, Amanda makes the case for...2025-04-0339 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersTRENDING BOOKS: SPRING TITLES [Ep 249]Today we’re fully embracing the energy of spring - because what better time to refresh our bookshelves and reignite our love for reading?! We’re buzzing with excitement over all the amazing new releases coming out, from Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life to John Green’s Everything is Tuberculosis. If you’re anything like us, your TBR list is about to explode, and honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way!We’re sharing our top books that we cannot wait to read this spring, and hopefully this episode is coming your way just in time f...2025-03-1328 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersTHE NOVELS IN VERSE COLLECTION: Gateway Activity Ideas [Ep 245]Ever struggled to get students excited about novels in verse? In this episode, we’re sharing creative, low-pressure ways to ease them into poetry analysis without the overwhelm. With engaging, hands-on activities, you’ll learn how to make storytelling through verse feel accessible and fun from day one. As we always say, a good gateway can make or break a unit! 💥One of the biggest game-changers is meeting students where they are. By tapping into things they already love, like music and interactive learning, you can help them see the connections between poetry and storytelling in a way tha...2025-02-1319 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersTHE NOVELS IN VERSE COLLECTION: Unit Possibilities [243]Have you ever considered how novels in verse can transform the way you teach poetry and literature? In this episode, we dive into the world of narrative verse and explore how these texts, like The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, can bring poetry to life in your classroom!With their accessible format and rich themes, novels in verse offer endless possibilities for fostering student engagement while covering essential literary skills and perspectives. We’re breaking down two powerful approaches to teaching these texts: a skill-based focus and a theme-based focus. Whether you’re filling gaps in poetry inst...2025-01-3023 min
Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersNEW YEAR AT BNT: New Books for Teachers [Ep 239]Happy New Year, Brave New Teachers! 🎉In this episode of the "Brave New Teaching" podcast, hosts Marie and Amanda chat about their reading goals for 2025, highlighting how literature can really boost both personal and professional growth. They toss around some great book recommendations like "The Poppy War" by R.F. Kuang, and they’re super excited about discovering new authors and upcoming book releases. They also explore the fun idea of starting family book clubs and the joy of sharing reading adventures with kids. Marie's Books:Financial FeministThis is So Awkward: Modern Puber...2025-01-0224 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers238. LOOKING BACK/LOOKING FORWARDTeachers, it’s the home stretch to winter break and we hope you’re hanging in there! It’s hard to believe, but this is the LAST Brave New Teaching episode of 2024. It’s been quite a year, and we want to take a moment to reflect on the challenges and triumphs from the year. You’ll hear about our favorite podcast highlights and personal highlights from 2024, including interviewing incredible authors, featuring our kids on the podcast, and traveling to schools to offer PD to teachers. Plus, we’re sharing three big changes regarding this podcast and Happy Hour th...2024-12-1933 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers237. CHILL! WE HAVE YOUR SUB PLANS COVERED!Grab our Sub Plan FREEBIE here!We’ve all had those days. The days when something happens and you just can’t go to work. You caught the stomach bug, your child is sick, or you have an emergency. Whatever the reason, the only thing worse is knowing that you have to scramble to put sub plans together!You don’t want your students to have a waste of a day, but you also don’t have the time to whip something together that fits into the unit you’re currently working on. Well friends, we’ve been...2024-12-1238 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers236. THE BNT BOOKS OF 2024As we approach the end of 2024, it’s the perfect time for an updated book recommendation episode. At the time of this recording, one of us is in a bit of a reading rut and the other is absolutely killing it! Whether you’re struggling to pick up a book in this season or can’t get through them fast enough, you’re in the right place.Today we’re sharing our favorite books of 2024 - and there’s something for everyone. We have picks in all the genres from fantasy to historical fiction to YA and more. All th...2024-12-0529 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers🔒 HH 98: Life Updates from the Amanda & Marie Trenches ❤️Subscriber-only episodeNovember has been a doozy of a month, and we're here to catch you up on everything from Turkey mugs to teacher-mom struggles that are a getting REAL."Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can chat soon!"📚 BNT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCES 👩💻 Join Happy Hour! Curriculum Rehab Down with the Reading Quiz Shop the BNT Resource Library Connect with us on Instagram @bravenewteaching Subscribe to our YouTube Channel 2024-11-2926 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers234. The Art of Analysis: Scenario and Game-Based Strategies that are FUN (Part 3/3)In this episode of Brave New Teaching, Amanda finishes a three-part series on teaching different types of analysis, this time focusing on scenario-based and game-based teaching methods. Amanda, a former English teacher from Illinois, leads the discussion, sharing three specific lesson ideas: Rhetoric Roll-the-Dice and The Spare Change Gameshow. The episode contains a full walk through of implementation ideas for each type of lesson, so tune in for an episode bursting with inspiration and practical next steps for a lesson you can use tomorrow!"Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can...2024-11-2732 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers233. The Art of Analysis: 3 Visual Tactics to Teach Analysis (Part 2/3)In this episode of Brave New Teaching, Amanda continues a three-part series on teaching different types of analysis, this time focusing on visual teaching strategies to help students break apart a text. Amanda, a former English teacher from Illinois, leads the discussion, sharing three specific lesson ideas: Map it Out, One Pager Quote, and the Literary Polaroid. The episode contains a full walk through of implementation ideas for each type of lesson, so tune in for an episode bursting with inspiration and practical next steps for a lesson you can use tomorrow!"Send us a message - p...2024-11-1532 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers232. The Art of Analysis: A Deep Dive into Personification (Part 1/3)In this episode of Brave New Teaching, Amanda and Marie launch a three-part series on teaching literary analysis, focusing on close reading and personification. Amanda, a former English teacher from Illinois, leads the discussion, sharing insights from a summer training session. She emphasizes the importance of breaking down texts to understand how authors use personification to convey deeper meanings. The episode includes a detailed analysis of a passage from "I Must Betray You" by Ruta Sepetys, illustrating how personification enhances emotional depth in literature."Send us a message - please include your contact information so we can c...2024-11-0829 min
Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersBuilding Strong Writers: An Interview with Christina Schnider of The Daring English Teacher [Ep 230]Let’s be honest…teaching writing can be a struggle. We know that so many of you are seeing challenges with student engagement, confidence, and skills when it comes to writing, and let’s not even get started with AI! If you often feel like no matter what you do, writing just isn’t sticking for your students, then this episode is for you. We’re joined by full-time English teacher and author, Christina Schnider (aka, The Daring English Teacher). Christina has cracked the code on what high school ELA teachers can be doing in the classroom to build st...2024-10-2441 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers5 New Texts to Add to your Gothic Fiction Unit: Guest Collaborators Share New FavesGrab your pumpkin spice latte and favorite sweater, because it’s almost Halloween and there’s no better time than now to read gothic fiction! We’re here to share some new texts with you - roundup style. You’ll hear from us and three of our ELA friends so you can walk away with fresh stories to add to your gothic fiction archive. You can pair these newer options with the classics (Poe, we’re looking at you!). If you enjoy these suggestions, come join us over in Happy Hour! It’s our monthly membership whe...2024-10-1725 min
Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School TeachersBuffalo Dreamer: An Interview with Author Violet Duncan [Ep 228]Books are so special because they allow you to see the world from the comfort of your own home (or classroom!). Our guest today, author Violet Duncan, brings part of her world to students around the world through her storytelling. Violet is Plains Cree and Taino from Kehewin Cree Nation and began self-publishing books when she didn’t see her family represented on bookshelves.In this episode, Violet shares about her latest book, Buffalo Dreamer. It’s a middle-grade novel that explores Indigenous history, focusing on the legacies of residential schools and the discoveries of unmarked graves. If y...2024-10-1036 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers225. THREE NEW BOOKS FOR YOUR CLASSROOM LIBRARYReady to uplevel your classroom library this year? We’ve got just the thing for you! We’re sitting down with our executive assistant (and full-time ELA teacher) to share our top three new book recommendations. Choosing just one book each wasn’t easy, but we got it done!You’ll hear each of our selections and why we think it deserves a spot on your shelves. From historical to fantasy, we’re confident that this list has something for everyone. They just might become some of your students' favorites this year! For more book recommendat...2024-09-1925 min
Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers🔒 The Sherlock Society: An Interview with Author James Ponti [Ep 223]Subscriber-only episodeTeacher friends, it’s Marie here, and I’m extra excited for you to hear today’s episode. I get to sit down with middle grades author James Ponti! James is here to tell us about his inspiration behind The Sherlock Society, his journey from working in television to becoming an author, and so much more.To top it all off, my middle school son Wyatt is acting as my co-host to help me interview James! Wyatt has read some of James’ books and is a big fan, so it’s amazing to hear the ex...2024-09-051h 02Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers214. BNT LIVE (VLOG) WITH AMANDA AND MARIEWe say it each week in our podcast intro: Brave New Teaching is so much more than a podcast. We consider you part of our BNT family and that’s why we want to share a more personal episode with you today.We recently attended the TPT conference together in sunny San Diego, California and brought our mics along so you could join in on the fun. We are bringing you behind the scenes of special moments from the trip from reuniting at the airport to touring Marie’s house and more. We are beyond exci...2024-08-0129 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers212. WHY ALL MY RAGE SHOULD BE ALL THE RAGE IN THE ELA CLASSROOM (BNT '24)Camp BNT is in full swing and it’s time for our YA pick: All My Rage, by Sabaa Tahir. This book is beautifully written and will be so incredibly easy for your students to connect with. At the same time, it covers some very challenging topics, so much so that one of us had difficulty getting through it.Inside this episode, we’re sharing an overview of All My Rage, why we chose to highlight it this summer, what to know before reading, and examples of how you can use it with your students. We hope that...2024-07-1828 minBrave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers209. WELCOME TO CAMP BNT 2024: YOUR SUMMER TEACHER BUCKET LISTIt’s officially summer and that means Camp BNT is kicking off! We’re back for round two of Camp BNT and we’ve made some adjustments since last year that we’re excited to share with you.Last summer, we interviewed several incredible authors. You can catch up on those interviews and 2023 Camp BNT content inside episodes 152-166. Today, we’re beginning to think about our summer bucket lists and are encouraging you to do the same. Plus, you’ll get a glimpse at what’s lined up on our summer book stack from a YA novel to a PD...2024-06-2738 min