Back to School Week - FAAF 275 In this 275th episode, I share my reflections from Sept 7-12, 2026. Check out the WHOLE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST I put together with all the listens mentioned below: >>> https://bit.ly/E275FreshAirAtFivePlaylist <<< 8th: Evolving With Gratitude E105 “Encore: Angela Duckworth on the Power of Situation[Ally]”; Angela Watson’s Truth For Teachers E355 “A short history of the 8-hour workday (and how to protect yours)”; The Easy EdTech Podcast E386 “Strategies for Keeping Stud

How to Teach Background Knowledge for Reading Comprehension in First Grade | Writing About Reading Series How do you teach first graders to use background knowledge while reading? In this episode of The Education Connection, Robin Wilson shares a simple, first-grade-friendly way to introduce background knowledge, also called schema, as a reading comprehension strategy. Robin shares how she begins with a big-brain anchor chart and asks one simple question: “What do you know?” As students share

Meet Danielle Kalinski, the Principal at Big Picture Academy at Frontier Central School District in Western NY. Danielle was a guest on the #ELB podcast over five years ago and continues to grow in her leadership journey at Frontier. We'll discuss her current role as Principal at Big Picture Academy, her family, leadership & more. Join us LIVE on the #ELB podcast on Tuesday, 9/8/26 at 4:15 EST.This podcast is sponsored by IXL Personalized Learning. IXL is used by more than 1 million teachers eac

Disclaimer: This episode includes a conversation about human trafficking, online exploitation, and the ways children can be vulnerable in digital spaces. This is an important but difficult topic, and we invite you to listen in a way that allows you to process the conversation with care. Protecting students means preparing them for the world they live in, including the digital spaces they navigate every day. In this episode, I talk with Laura Parker, CEO and co-founder of The Exodus Road, a glo

How do you teach retelling in first grade without students telling every tiny detail—or barely telling you anything at all? In this episode of The Education Connection, we're wrapping up Part One of the Writing About Reading series with a simple approach to teaching students how to retell a story using the most important details. I'll share how I use a four-square graphic organizer to help first graders plan their thinking before they begin writing. We'll talk about what to include on the grap

Meet the remarkable Franci Paz Pienda, a sophomore at Amityville HS in Long Island, NY. At the recent school administrators' summer leadership retreat, Superintendent Dr. Gina Talbert invited a number of stakeholders, including student representatives, one of whom was Franci. He was outstanding- spoke up, participated, stayed up front, and was a star at the event. I said, "I gotta get him on the podcast!" & Here is this morning, Labor Day 9/7/26, at 10:10 am. Join us — we'll talk leadership thro