Blogs are great, but some people do better with listening. So welcome to the Learning Made Easier Podcast, which launched on March 4, 2019. Join me and my colleague Dinur Blum as we talk about all kinds of learning-related topics, from time management to being a first-generation student and everything in between.
In each episode, we’ll discuss a learning-related topic – including the research on that topic and our own experiences with it in the classroom and in coaching – and then go into how teachers can use it in their classrooms to help their students and how students can use it to improve their learning. Parents who are interested in how to help their students get better at school can also use these techniques. There’s something for everyone!
We also have a set of special episodes that deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on teachers, students, and institutions. You can find those episodes here.
You can become a patron of our work at Patreon.com, too!
Here’s a list of the episodes we’ve published so far.
Episode 1: What We’re About
2-28-2019
Episode 2: Pulling Back the Curtain
3-4-2019
Episode 3: Learning is Not a Race
3-11-2019
Episode 4: Intellectual Bulimia
3-18-2019
Episode 5: The OLI Method and the Growth Mindset
3-25-2019
Episode 6: Studying = Interacting With the Material
4-1-2019
Episode 7: The Trade-Off
4-8-2019
Episode 8: Improvement, Not Perfection
4-15-2019
Episode 9: How to Change Your Thinking
4-22-2019
Episode 10: Interview with Dr. Stacy Smith on Student Writing
4-29-2019
Episode 11: Why Early Confusion Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Learning
5-6-2019
Episode 12: Time Management: Making Time Noticeable
5-13-2019
Episode 13: Time Management: Using a Planner and Calendar
5-20-2019
Episode 14: Time Management: How to Prioritize
5-27-2019
Episode 15: Time Management: How to Remind Yourself
6-3-2019
Episode 16: Time Management: Disciplined Planning
6-10-2019
Episode 17: How to Take Effective Notes
6-17-2019
Episode 18: How to Get Out of a Slump
6-24-2019
Episode 19: Why We Judge Ourselves (and How to Stop!)
7-1-2019
Episode 20: Interview with Gretchen Wegner, M.Ed.
7-8-2019
Episode 21: What Grades Mean in College
7-15-2019
Episode 22: How Talking it Out Helps You Learn
7-22-2019
Episode 23: How Mistakes Help You Learn
7-29-2019
Episode 24: How Small Improvements Lead to Big Outcomes
8-5-2019
Episode 25: How to Make a Study Group Work For You
8-12-2019
Episode 26: Take Your Time To Do It Right
8-19-2019
Episode 27: Work Easier, Not Less
8-27-2019
Episode 28: Work Easier, Not Less 2
9-2-2019
Episode 29: Kickstarting College – Academic Norms for Freshmen and Transfers
9-9-2019
Episode 30: How to Apply for College (With TheCollegeSpy.Com)
9-16-2019
Episode 31: Kickstarting College – Non-Academic Norms for Freshmen and Transfers
9-23-2019
Episode 32: Disabled Students and College Expectations
9-30-2019
Episode 33: Academic Services – How to Make Students Aware of Them
10-7-2019
Episode 34: How Professors See Academic Services
10-14-2019
Episode 35: When Using Academic Services Seems Like Weakness
10-21-2019
Episode 36: Professors and Attendance
10-28-2019
Episode 37: Applying to Graduate School
11-4-2019
Episode 38: How to Create Effective Tests
11-11-2019
Episode 39: How to Write Effective Multiple-Choice, True/False, and Matching Questions
11-18-2019
Episode 40: An Interview With Professor Thomas Norman
11-25-2019
Episode 41: How to Write Effective Written Questions
12-2-2019
Episode 42: All About Rubric Creation
12-9-2019
Episode 43: How to Take Multiple-Choice, True/False, and Matching Question Tests
12-16-2019
Episode 44: How to Take Essay, Short-Answer and Fill-In-The-Blank Tests
12-23-2019
Episode 45: Group Work – and Free Riders
12-30-2019
Episode 46: When Non-Academic Problems Need Non-Academic Help
1-6-2020
Episode 47: How to Talk to Your Professors About Your Grades
1-13-2020
Episode 48: Grades and Self-Worth
1-20-2020
Episode 49: Getting Good With “Good Enough”
1-27-2020
Episode 50: When Life Throws a Curveball
2-3-2020
Episode 51: Ungrading – Different Ways to Assess Student Work
2-10-2020
Episode 52: How to Do Things Right Without Being Stressed
2-17-2020
Episode 53: The 3×3 Method for Reading In-Depth
2-24-2020
Episode 54: Deserving vs. Earning
3-2-2020
Episode 55: How to Handle Mistakes
3-9-2020
Episode 56: Basic Self-Care for People Who Learn
5-25-2020
Episode 57: How to Stop Overthinking (Part 1 of 2)
6-1-2020
Episode 58: How to Stop Overthinking (Part 2 of 2)
6-8-2020
Episode 59: Letters of Recommendation
6-15-2020
Episode 60: An Interview With Kyle Grappone
6-22-2020
Episode 61: The Myth of Multitasking
6-29-2020
Episode 62: “Trying Hard” vs. “Working Effectively”
7-6-2020
Episode 63: How to Ask Better Questions
7-13-2020
Episode 64: The Myth of Motivation
7-20-2020
Episode 65: Making the Most of Limited Time
7-27-2020
Episode 66: Failure Planning With Future You
8-3-2020
Episode 67: When Your Professor’s Not Responding
8-10-2020
Episode 68: How to Handle Difficult In-Class Conversations
8-17-2020
Episode 69: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Summarizing
8-24-2020
Episode 70: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Questioning
8-31-2020
Episode 71: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Unpacking
9-7-2020
Episode 72: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Analyzing
9-14-2020
Episode 73: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Relating
9-21-2020
Episode 74: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Explaining
9-28-2020
Episode 75: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Defining
10-5-2020
Episode 76: Giving (And Receiving) Effective Feedback
10-12-2020
Episode 77: How to Ask for Help
10-19-2020
Episode 78: The Hattie/Donoghue Model of Surface and Deep Learning
10-26-2020
Episode 79: How to Foster Non-Divisiveness in the Classroom
11-02-2020
Episode 80: An Interview with Megan O’Connor of Kaplan Test Prep
11-09-2020
Episode 81: What If It Goes Wrong? Well, What If It Goes Right?
11-16-2020
Episode 82: How to Create Respectful Group Projects
11-23-2020
Episode 83: How Do Professors Perceive Students Who Work Full-Time?
11-30-2020
Episode 84: How to Best Position Yourself for Graduate School
12-07-2020
Episode 85: Being a Student-Athlete
12-14-2020
Episode 86: Writing as (American) Football
12-21-2020
Episode 87: Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies
12-28-2020
Episode 88: Setting Up Standards-Based Grading
1-04-2021
Episode 89: Let’s Talk About Cheating
1-11-2021
Episode 90: An Interview with Professor Tanya Nieri of UC Riverside
1-18-2021
Episode 91: How to Handle Graduate School
1-25-2021
Episode 92: How High School is Different From College
2-1-2021
Episode 93: How to Stay On Track
2-8-2021
Episode 94: How to Track Student Participation
2-15-2021
Episode 95: The Myths of Learning Styles
2-22-2021
Episode 96: How to Write a Résumé
3-1-2021
Episode 97: How to Interact with Stressed-Out Students
3-8-2021
Episode 98: College, a Vocation, or a Gap Year?
3-15-2021
Episode 99: How to Deal with Devastating Events
3-22-2021
Episode 100: Challenges First-Generation Students Face
3-29-2021
Episode 101: Writing as Construction – Building a Paper From the Ground Up
4-5-2021
Episode 102: Writing as Construction – Managing Sources and Their Shared Ideas
4-12-2021
Episode 103: Writing as Construction – The First Draft
4-19-2021
Episode 104: Writing as Construction – The Final Draft
4-26-2021
Episode 105: How Sleep Affects Learning
5-3-2021
Episode 106: How to Know When Too Much is Too Much
5-10-2021
Episode 107: How to Study Effectively on Zoom
5-17-2021
Episode 108: How to Narrow Your Scope
5-24-2021
Episode 109: How to Handle Final Exams
5-31-2021
Episode 110: How to Keep in Touch
6-7-2021
Episode 111: How to Handle Mistakes
6-14-2021
Episode 112: How to Handle Finals Week
6-21-2021
Episode 113: College Presentations and Social Anxiety
6-28-2021
Episode 114: How to Manage Work AND School
7-5-2021
Episode 115: Handling Stress and Staying Focused in a Pandemic
7-12-2021
Episode 116: FOMO, or The Fear of Missing Out
7-19-2021
Episode 117: There’s No Such Thing as “Lazy”
8-2-2021
Episode 118: How to Thank Your Professors
8-9-2021
Episode 119: Twice Exceptional
8-16-2021
Episode 120: Should You Change Your Major?
8-23-2021
Episode 121: Should You Use Public Transportation?
8-30-2021
Episode 122: How to Get Students Participating in Online Discussions
9-6-2021
Episode 123: How to Stop Procrastinating
9-13-2021
Episode 124: How to Make Study Time Work for You
9-20-2021
Episode 125: Dealing With Anxiety
9-27-2021
Episode 126: Derail Bad Habits by “Playing the Tape”
10-4-2021
Episode 127: Manage Your Time With Parkinson’s Law
10-11-2021
Episode 128: How to Be Assertive
10-18-2021
Episode 129: How to Say No
10-25-2021
Episode 130: Dealing with Difficult People
1-10-2022
Episode 131: Responding to Difficult People
1-17-2022
Episode 132: Internal Shifts to Help Deal with Difficult People
1-24-2022
Episode 133: Handling Specific Groups of Difficult People
1-31-2022
Episode 134: Going Back Home After Your First Term or Year
2-7-2022
Episode 135: Four Academic Mistakes First-Year Students Make
2-14-2022
Episode 136: Four Financial Mistakes First-Year Students Make
2-21-2022
Episode 137: Four Self-Respect Mistakes First-Year Students Make
2-28-2022
Episode 138: How to Stay Safer on Campus
3-7-2022
Episode 139: How to Be Assertive Without Being Mean
3-14-2022
Episode 140: Trauma-Informed Teaching
3-21-2022
Episode 141: How to Make Decisions When You Feel Stuck
3-28-2022
Episode 142: Finding Your Inner Six-Year-Old
4-4-2022
Episode 143: How Students Perceive “Cheating”
4-11-2022
Episode 144: How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive
4-25-2022
Episode 145: The Blame Game
5-9-2022
Episode 146: Patchwriting – What It Is, and How to Avoid It
5-16-2022