In this edition of the Boston EdTalks podcast, we sit down with Codman Academy humanities teacher Sydney Chaffee, the 2017 National Teacher of the Year, on her classroom work, her focus on collaborative learning, the importance of social-emotional learning in the classroom, and hear more of what she is doing in her role as Teacher of the Year. Ethan Bronner is your host.

On this edition of the Boston EdTalks podcast, we look at the intersection between the structures of school administration and what happens in the classroom. Terms like “empowering educators”, “fostering collaboration” and “culture of innovation” are thrown around in any number of school districts. But how many really mean it, and what does it mean for a school and a district to make those catchphrases a real piece of the educational process? Revere Public Schools Superintendent Dianne Kelly and math teacher Will Schwartz sit down with Ethan Bronner to talk about the change needed to make it possible for teachers to play leadership roles, play a collaborative role with administrators in decision making, and turn their classrooms into more innovative, flexible environments for learning.

On this edition of the Boston EdTalks podcast - it’s time to get real. Ethan Bronner talks with 2017 Boston EdTalks presenter Francis Pina, a math teacher at Charlestown High School, about the importance of being authentic as a classroom teacher. At Charlestown, Pina focuses on fostering a culture that not only teaches his students math skills, but also strategies for moving forward, asking questions, sharing answers and connecting math knowledge with broader learning, critical thinking and applied skills. Those skills set them up to succeed long after their high school careers are over.

In this edition of the Boston EdTalks podcast series, teacher Lindsey Minder of Codman Academy discusses how she is able to use the teaching of mindfulness as a tool to create healthier classroom communities. In this conversation, she covers her own practice and provides tips for other teachers seeking to bring a mindfulness component into their teaching. (Runs 29:00) Timeline: 0:00 Introductions 0:50 How spending time on mindfulness impacts instructional time 7:20 How mindfulness activities balance with physical activities 9:15 Mindfulness with middle or high schoolers 10:20 Measuring the impact of mindfulness practice 14:00 How other teachers can introduce mindfulness practice in their classrooms 17:00 How mindfulness practices transfer outside the classroom where it is learned 24:15 How mindfulness practice shifts perception of stress and the ability to manage it 26:20 Closing thoughts

Welcome to the EdTalks podcast series, a series of conversations with some of the innovators from the classroom and the district level who joined us this past year for Boston EdTalks. Lawrence Massachusetts Superintendent and Receiver Jeff Riley joined the Lawrence Public Schools in the aftermath of the state's takeover of the system. In five years since, he improved test scores, lifted the district's graduation rate, and managed to do it in collaboration with district teachers. Ethan Bronner of Bloomberg News talked with Superintendent Riley about his approach in Lawrence, and discussed his own story as a parent of a special-needs student in public school. This podcast was recorded in 2017, before Superintendent Riley was under consideration to be hired as Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.