150 episodes listed below
Classroom scripts and steady reassurance for elementary teachers' first years.
Dr. Lori Friesen coaches new elementary teachers through the parts of the job she says they never learned in university, from settling a hurtful remark to running a lesson outdoors. Her advice comes as numbered steps and exact wording a teacher could use the next morning.
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Beginning Teacher Talk is a coaching show for elementary teachers in their early, overwhelming years, led by Dr. Lori Friesen. Episodes open with the same promise: she wants to be the mentor she wished she had when she first started teaching. Her subject is the practical, behind-the-scenes material she says teachers did not learn in university. Precision sets the tone. Friesen gives out scripts, timers and numbered lists instead of general encouragement. Her approach to an unkind remark has three steps: name what happened, name the impact, then repair and replace. In her example, a child told a classmate she looked like a chicken during group work. The point is that no one debates whether it happened, because, in her words, the classroom runs on reality, not argument. Another title in the recent run names lawnmower parents directly. Outdoor lessons get the same structured treatment. She turns spring energy into a clear task with a clock on it, a meeting spot to regroup at, and a debrief afterward about what went well and what needs work. Several recent episodes deal with surprise, curiosity and novelty, including 'How to Build Curiosity Into Lessons (Even the Boring Ones)' and 'Novelty Without Burnout (So You're Not Entertaining All Day)'. The surprise ideas are deliberately small: write the word 'surprise' into the day's schedule without explaining it, then fill the slot with a guest reader, a short video or a quick virtual field trip. On curiosity, she suggests sometimes delaying the why, letting students try a math problem before showing them why reading every word matters. On novelty, she suggests rotating what she calls wrappers, meaning the way familiar routines are packaged, at about three new tools a month. The goal is variety without turning the teacher into a cruise director. The show also covers harder material. An episode on inclusion that is not working asks teachers to record disruptions as facts, such as lost instruction time, evacuated classmates and staff called in to help. In it she rejects the idea that trauma-informed means unlimited tolerance and argues that a nervous system needs structure to feel safe. She closes by telling teachers who are dealing with that situation that they are not failing. Throughout, the tone is warm and personal: she calls her audience 'my friends' and signs off with affection. The show's title speaks to new teachers, but the sign-off also includes experienced and veteran teachers in its reminder that there is no need to struggle.
Made for: Suits a listener who is new to teaching elementary school and wants concrete scripts for behavior, engagement and difficult days. The sign-off also speaks to experienced teachers, so it fits a veteran looking for fresh low-prep ideas.
What sets it apart: The advice comes as exact wording, timers and numbered steps instead of general pep talk. It pairs warm reassurance with frank talk about inclusion that is not working and about protecting teachers from burnout.
"Just because you're a beginning elementary teacher, there's no need for you to struggle like one." Welcome to Beginning Teacher Talk, the weekly podcast hosted by Dr. Lori Friesen, where we talk about all of the things you wish you learned in college about teaching elementary school. We feature kid-tested classroom management techniques, organizational strategies, creative ways to motivate your students, how to work with colleagues, seasonal gems, and how to de-stress and eliminate the overwhelm that too often accompanies your first years of teaching.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · August 2026
A weekly elementary-teacher coaching podcast that turns classroom-management and motivation problems into specific, repeatable routines rather than general advice.
Beginning Teacher Talk sits at the practical end of the Education beat, a weekly, host-led coaching session aimed at elementary teachers still finding their footing.
You need the mentor who names the chaos, then hands you the exact classroom sentence.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded guide to holding classroom reality when a child tries to rewrite it.
Episode 392 looks at lawnmower parents through a familiar early-elementary bind: a child shifts the story, support feels thin, and the teacher still has to keep the room steady. Dr. Laurie Friesen frames the response in usable terms.
A grounded guide to taking elementary learning outside without letting spring turn the lesson into recess.
Spring energy can blur the line between outdoor learning and recess, and Dr. Laurie Friesen keeps that line easy to see. The episode centers on the small structures that help elementary students work outside with purpose: a clear task, a specific product, a timer, pre-taught…
A practical case for making classroom novelty occasional, repeatable, and easier on teacher energy.
Episode 389 makes a practical case that novelty in an elementary classroom does not have to mean a bigger performance from the teacher. Dr. Laurie Friesen focuses on rotating familiar classroom wrappers: a schedule shift presented as a reveal, occasional surprise or mystery, and…
Let students feel the need for a lesson before explaining its purpose.
Curiosity drives this single-episode review through a simple classroom move: Laurie Friesen encourages elementary teachers to let students feel the need for a lesson before explaining its purpose.
A simple schedule tweak turns classroom anticipation into a practical teaching tool.
This episode gives beginning elementary teachers a small, usable way to make the school day feel less predictable. Dr. Laurie Friesen suggests adding the word "surprise" to the daily schedule, without explaining it in advance, then using that time for something brief and…
A clear, practical case for using anticipation and mystery to bring energy back into an elementary classroom.
A classroom can go quiet in the wrong way even when the teaching is sound, and Dr. Laurie Friesen builds this episode around a simple shift: give students something to wonder about.
Art teaching, grounded in real classrooms.
Classroom engagement, made concrete.
Practical systems for calmer elementary classrooms.
Practical ideas for reaching every student in the room.
Classroom strategy, talked through by working educators
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Beginning Teacher Talk episode 391 gives 10 outdoor classroom management strategies for spring lessons with Dr.
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Beginning Teacher Talk episode 389, 'Novelty Without Burnout (So You're Not Entertaining All Day),' centers on how Dr.
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