Welcome back to The No Name Paper! In this episode, Meghan and Candice sit down with Tisha Richmond, a high school culinary arts teacher, former tech integration specialist, and author who specializes in infusing joy and creativity into the classroom.

Tisha shares her journey from feeling teacher burnout to rediscovering her spark through technology and gamification. She discusses her brand new book, The Magical CTE Classroom, which focuses on strategies specifically designed for lab-based and Career and Technical Education environments. We also dive into her heartwarming collaboration with her son on their children's book, Dragon Smart.

Whether you teach Culinary Arts, Science, or any subject where students need to collaborate and create, this episode is packed with "ingredients" to spice up your instruction!

In this episode, we discuss:

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  Overcoming Burnout: How taking risks and being vulnerable with students helped Tisha fall in love with teaching again.

  
  

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  Gamifying the Lab: Using inspiration from reality TV shows like The Great Food Truck Race, Cutthroat Kitchen, and Crime Scene Kitchen to create engaging student challenges.

  
  

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  AI as a Creative Partner: How Tisha uses tools like Canva, Brisk, and Magic School to save time and generate creative clues for escape rooms and games.

  
  

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  The Magical CTE Classroom: Why CTE and lab-based classes needed a book of their own to address their unique learning environments.

  
  

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  Dragon Smart: The story behind the children’s book Tisha wrote with her son, Tommy, to celebrate the hidden brilliance in students who might not fit the traditional school mold.

  
  

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  Rapid Fire Strategies: Using "Plinko" boards for ingredient selection, "Mystery Badges" for classroom management, and letting students choose the classroom playlist.

  
  

Resources Mentioned:

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  Book: The Magical CTE Classroom by Tisha Richmond

  
  

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  Book: Make Learning Magical by Tisha Richmond

  
  

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  Book: Dragon Smart by Tisha Richmond and Tommy Richmond

  
  

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  EdTech Tools: Canva, Brisk, Magic School AI

  
  

Connect with Tisha:

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  Instagram: @tishrichmond

  
  

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  X (Twitter): @tishrich

  
  

Connect with Us:

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  Podcast: The No Name Paper

  
  

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  Hosts: Meghan Wells & Candice Miller