EP111 Three things real teachers focus on in high poverty classrooms that actually get results (with Tamara Russell & Sarah Plumitallo)
Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers
Angela Watson
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 October 2017
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today I've invited two current teachers, Tamara Russell and Sarah Plumitallo, onto my Truth for Teachers podcast to talk about what they're doing with their students. This is something that I hope to do on the show more often because it's just another angle of expertise that I think is important for you to hear as a teacher. These two ladies are in the trenches, so to speak, on a daily basis and they share about their work on social media, which is where I first connected with them. We've had countless conversations about an issue we're all very passionate about, which is education equity, and I invited them both on the show so that more educators can learn from their experiences.
Our conversation ended up running for over an hour! For the first time ever on Truth for Teachers, I've decided to air almost the entire interview and split it into two episodes. The first half hour of our conversation was focused on classroom-based work, and the last 20 minutes was focused on building trust and relationships with families.
Tune in today to our conversation centered around classroom ideas that teachers can focus on in high poverty classrooms that actually work!
Click here to read or share the transcript and audio, or participate in the discussion.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to episode 111 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. |
| 0:05.8 | I'm your host Angela Watson and I'm here to speak life, encouragement, and truth |
| 0:11.2 | into the minds and hearts of educators and get you energized for the week ahead. |
| 0:15.0 | Today I'm talking with master teachers to Mara Russell and Sarah Plumetalo |
| 0:20.0 | about things that they're doing that are truly effective in their work with students |
| 0:24.0 | in Title I schools. |
| 0:26.0 | Visit truth for teachers.com to get a summary of key takeaways for this episode |
| 0:30.0 | or to share your thoughts in the comments. |
| 0:38.0 | So today I've invited two current teachers onto the show to talk about what they're doing with their students. This is something that I hope to do on the show more often because I think it's just another angle of |
| 0:43.3 | expertise that is important for you to hear as a teacher rather than always just |
| 0:47.3 | hearing from quote-unquote experts like myself and others who aren't doing |
| 0:51.5 | school-based work currently. |
| 0:53.0 | These two ladies that you're going to hear from today are in the trenches, so to speak, |
| 0:58.0 | and they're doing it on a daily basis. |
| 1:00.0 | And they also share about their work on social media and their blogs, which is where I first connected with them. |
| 1:06.0 | Tamara Russell is a National Board certified middle childhood generalist, |
| 1:10.0 | and she has 20 years of teaching experience. |
| 1:12.0 | She's currently a third grade teacher, a blogger, and a speaker in Central Florida. |
| 1:17.0 | Sarah Plomatalo is currently teaching ESOL students in grades 2 to 5 in a Title I school in Northern Virginia. |
| 1:24.9 | And she runs a federally funded after school program that serves 150 students in grades |
| 1:29.1 | K to 5. |
| 1:30.9 | Because we do talk about race and culture in this episode, I'll also mention that |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Angela Watson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Angela Watson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.
