Episode
How to Humanize Parent-Teacher Conferences -- with JEFF SMITH
- Podcast
- Teachers on Fire
- Published
- Nov 16, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1497
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Summary
→ How can we reimagine parent-teacher conferences?→ What are the issues most responsible for burning out teachers today?→ What are some rhythms and activities that can keep our fire for teaching alive?Welcome back to another episode of the Teachers on Fire Podcast, airing live on YouTube most Saturday mornings at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern. My name is Tim Cavey, and my mission here is to warm your heart, spark your thinking, and ignite your professional practice.Today’s Teacher on Fire is Jeff Smith. Jeff has taught in 12 schools over 32 years, with high school courses including mathematics (Pre-Algebra through AP Calculus), AP Comparative Government, Human Geography, and US History. He writes about teacher whitespace on Substack on Teachers' Unmuted.Connect with Jeffon LinkedIn andon Substack at https://jeffuson.substack.com/ In This Conversation 0:00:00 - Jeff Smith is a high school teacher in Illinois 1:46 - Are teachers just customer service representatives? 4:18 - What Jeff means by "whitespace" - where teachers find agency 6:52 - More about whitespace as a metaphor for freedom 7:58 - Bringing one story, one question into our conferences 10:28 - Jeff's view: what causes teacher burnout? 13:11 - What is the Teachers Unmuted blog on Substack all about? 16:10 - Why Jeff writes about his professional practice 20:08 - The hobbies and interests that keep Jeff on fire 23:38 - Where to connect with Jeff Smith and Teachers UnmutedVisit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/ .Song Track Credit: Tropic Fuse by French Fuse - retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library at https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/ .