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Schoolutions: Teaching Strategies to Strengthen School Culture, Empower Educators, & Inspire Student Growth
Do you need innovative strategies for better classroom management and boosting student engagement? This podcast is your go-to resource for coaches, teachers, administrators, and families seeking to create dynamic and effective learning environments.
In each episode, you'll discover how to unite educators and caregivers to support students, tackle common classroom management challenges, and cultivate an atmosphere where every learner can thrive.
With over 25 years of experience as a teacher and coach, host Olivia Wahl brings insights from more than 100 expert interviews, offering practical tips that bridge the gap between school and home.
Tune in every Monday for actionable coaching and teaching strategies, along with inspirational stories that can transform your approach and make a real impact on the students and teachers you support.
Start with one of our fan-favorite episodes today (S2 E1: We (still) Got This: What It Takes to Be Radically Pro-Kid with Cornelius Minor) and take the first step towards transforming your educational environment!
Schoolutions: Teaching Strategies to Strengthen School Culture, Empower Educators, & Inspire Student Growth
Why This Teacher Left Public School (But Still Believes in It)
In this S5E17 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, Sarah Tesar shares why being a public school kindergarten teacher for 12 years made her an excellent teacher for other people's children, but prevented her from being fully present with her own family, and how she's now created a hybrid homeschool model that honors both her expertise as an educator and her needs as a whole human being.
What You'll Learn:
✅ The emotional cost of teaching and recognizing when your cup is empty
✅ How to create mixed-age classrooms where kindergartners and fifth graders thrive together
✅ Theme-based curriculum built around science and social studies standards that naturally integrates literacy, math, student engagement, and active learning
✅ Scaffolding strategies across multiple skill levels for effective teaching and classroom behavior management
✅ Creating 3-hour learning sessions so engaging kids beg to attend
✅ Why social-emotional intervention deserves the same priority as academic intervention for student success and classroom belonging
✅ Practical strategies for integrated, joyful learning in any setting—public school, homeschool, or hybrid through innovative teaching and instructional strategies
Whether you teach in a traditional school or are exploring alternative models, Sarah shares research-backed strategies (including Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and attention in class techniques) you can use tomorrow to create more purposeful, engaging learning while honoring your own wellbeing and inspiring students through student participation.
Some resources mentioned:
➡️UFLI Phonics
➡️Elizabeth Sulzby's Emergent Storybook Reading Process
➡️Tara West's Writing Curriculum
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Introduction: The Cost of Being a Good Teacher
3:00 - Meet Sarah Tesar: From Public School to Homeschool
5:00 - Research Foundation: Vygotsky & Zone of Proximal Development
6:00 - The Breaking Point: When Teaching Depletes Your Cup
9:00 - The Empath's Dilemma: Giving Everything Away
11:00 - What Shifted: Finding Balance in Hybrid Homeschool
14:00 - Meeting Children's Needs: Systems & Social-Emotional Support
17:00 - A Day in the Life: Morning Homeschool Routine
20:00 - Scaffolding Phonics Across Ages
21:00 - The Apple Stand: Relevant, Purposeful Learning
23:00 - Hybrid Classroom: K-5 Students Learning Together
25:00 - Curriculum Design: Science & Social Studies as Foundation
27:00 - Scaffolding Writing: From Words to Paragraphs
29:00 - Integration: Shattering Educational Silos
31:00 - Parent Expectations in Hybrid Homeschool
33:00 - Lightning Round: Homeschool Myths & Best Practices
35:00 - Closing: The Gift of Having Something Left to Give
36:00 - Takeaways: What You Can Try Tomorrow
Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.
