This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 137 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.

In this episode we're going to talk about a fantastic resource right in your school that

you may be ignoring, your after-school staff.

Sometimes it turns out that the thing we need has been there all along. We just didn't see it.

If you're like I was as a classroom teacher, you have this vague awareness of an after-school

program at your school. In mind, they congregated in the cafeteria. And it was the exact same kids we taught during the day,

but once they went to after-school, it was like they were in a different world. I just didn't pay attention to what was going on there.

So when Yvajo Myers submitted her post about this topic, I saw myself immediately in her story.

A classroom teacher who then transitioned into after-school, she realized what untapped potential existed in these programs,

and how if teachers just did a few things to build relationships with the after-school staff,

the kids in those programs could reap huge benefits.

In our conversation, Yvajo shares seven things you can do to start bridging that gap in your school.

Support for this episode comes from Participate. Participate is a free community learning platform that combines your

favorite parts of social media and online learning. Connect with other educators, take self-paced courses based on your interests,

design ready-to-use unit plans, and get recognized for your work all in one place. Participate is home to dozens of

free communities and thousands of adult learners collaborating around topics such as the Global Goals, Project-Based Learning, and Social Learning.

Get started today with our free Project-Based Learning community at go.participate.com slash pedagogy.

Support also comes from Pear Deck. Every teacher knows what it's like to struggle to get all students engaged in a lesson.

You're presenting the material you carefully prepared while some students are daydreaming, others might be lost, and a few students are dominating the discussion.

Thankfully, Pear Deck is here to save the day. With Pear Deck, you can take that same presentation, add interactive prompts, and send it straight to student devices so they can participate in real time.

Now every student has a voice, and you can see who's stuck and who's keeping up. Because all participant contributions are projected anonymously to the class, students who are apprehensive can feel more confident when answering and sharing.

In great news, Pear Deck is offering my listeners a free 60-day premium access trial. To redeem it, just go to Pear Deck.com slash Cult of Pedagogy.

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