10 Minute Teacher Podcast with Cool Cat Teacher

Moviemaking in the classroom isn't the fun thing you do at the end of the year — it's how Jessica Pack gets to know her students on day one. The 2014 California Teacher of the Year and author of "Moviemaking in the Classroom" shares the exact projects she uses in the first two weeks of school to lift student voice, build creative confidence, and weave in generative AI the right way. You can use it now or next school year as you plan ahead this summer! I want to give you lots of ideas for what you can do in your classroom with moviemaking!
 
In this episode, you'll learn:
Two day-one projects that turn new students into whole people (using the book "The Best Part of Me" and the "I Am" poem)
How to introduce generative AI through Adobe Express and build "AI citizenship" from the start
Why growth over grades helped her long-term English learners blossom
How to balance high-tech and low-tech so creativity — not the tool — stays the point
A simple "me in three" starting point for teachers brand-new to moviemaking
Full show notes, resources, and Jessica's book: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e938
If this episode gave you an idea for what you can do in your classroom, share it with a teacher friend and leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other educators find the show.
Today's show is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like. Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

Dr. Sarah Thomas says AI is a creativity amplifier — a tool that gives teachers back their time so they can do the work only humans can do.
In this episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast, Dr. Sarah Thomas — founder of EduMatch and a Regional Technology Coordinator — reframes artificial intelligence as a creativity amplifier rather than a replacement for human thinking. We talk about what she actually automates, how to use AI ethically with students, and why staying pro-human matters more than ever.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why AI works best as a creativity amplifier that frees up your time
The "big rocks" to protect first: COPPA, FERPA, and student data (PII)
How to move teachers from fear to confidence with AI
The 80/20 rule for verifying AI output — and the "find the lie in AI" classroom game
Why a robot will never replace the relationship at the heart of teaching
Full show notes and links: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e937
If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend.
Sponsored. This episode is sponsored by EF Educational Tours and their Career Readiness Tours. Lead your students on an international EF Career Readiness tour and show them what a career in fields like agriculture, hospitality, or automotive engineering could look like.

Imagine your students connecting with entrepreneurs at the London School of Economics, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Toyota's manufacturing in Japan, or touring a French culinary school to see future chefs in action. If you've been trying to break through to your students and show them how to turn their career dreams into reality, browse EF's collection of Career Readiness tours at eftours.com/ready.

Four STEM teachers. Four trips that changed students forever. From Panama to the UK to MIT to DC.
When a student does real science in a real place, STEM stops being abstract. Miranda Grabowski's biology class planted mangroves in Panama. Angela Cannava's biomed students ran a live DNA fingerprinting experiment in London. Karen Spencer's seventh graders toured MIT and Harvard in Boston. Edith Cortez's eighth graders from Laredo, Texas competed at science museums in Washington DC.
In every story, something very cool happens: students look up at the scientists and engineers in the room and realize — "I could do this for a living."
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How to align a STEM trip to what you're already teaching in the classroom
- What happens when a student's classroom finally connects to what scientists actually do
- Why taking students to see real labs, real campuses, and real professionals changes what they believe is possible
- How teachers in different states and different budget situations made these trips happen — and why they'd do it again
Show notes and resources at https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e936 
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. All opinions are those of the teachers and the host.
If this episode moved you, leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other remarkable educators find the show. I read every one.

Jean-Claude Brizard, President and CEO of Digital Promise, joins Vicki on this Thought Leader Thursday episode of the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast. From his beginning teaching incarcerated youth at Rikers Island, where he met a young man his own age who couldn't do basic math, to leading a global nonprofit that's reshaping how teachers and developers co-create AI tools — Jean-Claude shares why he's been in education for 38 years and counting.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why teachers must be "crew, not passengers" on AI
How Digital Promise is co-creating with teachers to extend a science-of-reading platform for multilingual learners
How Gen AI is letting students talk to the "average Americans" history forgot — including a Georgia housewife who captured seven British soldiers
Why mitigating AI bias requires educators in the room from the start
How to spot certified tech versus "shiny object" fluff
Full show notes, transcript, and resources: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e935
If this episode made you think, leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other teachers find the show. And share it with a teacher friend.

Brain first AI teaching: a new MIT Media Lab study shows students who think before they use AI have a clear advantage over those who start with AI. Philip Seyfried — Teachers College, Columbia doctoral student and co-author of AI-Enhanced Literacy — shares the brain-first framework, why AI detectors don't work, how to monitor AI use in the classroom transparently, and how to build the kind of trust that lets students tell you the truth about how they actually used the tools.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• Why MIT's research shows brain-first / AI-second produces stronger writers
• Why AI detectors fail — and what to do instead for academic integrity (with danah boyd's em-dash story)
• Why you should push AI to your students instead of grading WITH AI yourself — Vicki's classroom approach
• The "Beautiful Sentence" moment: why human teacher feedback still beats anything an algorithm can give
• Why we shouldn't anthropomorphize AI — and where beginning teachers should actually start (Phil cites Ethan Mollick's "Co-Intelligence" + "three sleepless nights" with AI)
Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/e934
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 — coding robots with MassRobotics at MIT, exploring marine ecosystems in Florida's coral reefs, or sitting down to talk with a former spy in Washington, D.C. Visit efexploreamerica.com/STEM.
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