INTRODUCTION

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Thanks for stopping by. My name is Jeffery E. Frieden, and I am on a mission to help teachers move beyond surviving school to thriving as a professional. I am a full-time high school ELA teacher at Hillcrest High School, in inland Southern California. I have been a classroom teacher for 15 years.

MY STORY

In the spring of 2017, I decided to launch on online platform in the hopes of writing a book about something I was doing in the classroom, then using that platform to promote the book. By the end of November, I self-published my book on Amazon, so I met my goal. And that was a rewarding experience, but what happened along the way, and what has happened since, has been life-changing!

Feeling stuck in a teaching situation where I was not encouraged to exercise my expertise, professionalism, and creativity, I started connecting with other educators on Twitter who were feeling the same. That was empowering. Until that time, I tended to see my district as the whole universe of edu, and whatever happened there was happening everywhere else. But (thankfully) I was wrong.

In 2018, I discovered the #PLN (Professional Learning Network) — educators deciding on their own to connect and grow professionally. This started on Twitter, but grew to connecting with educational podcast hosts, which led to deepening all of these connections through the app Voxer. Making these connections has made me feel the most validated and supported I have ever experienced in my 15 years of teaching.

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Having such a wonderful experience blogging, tweeting, and engaging with podcast host, In January of 2019, I decided to experiment with podcasting myself and created Dear Teacher, Don’t Give Up! The goal of was to hear from successful teachers who, at one point in their career, faced overwhelming circumstances, burn out, or demoralization and found a way to move past the hardship, stay in the classroom, and continue in the job they love. My goal was to run 12 episodes, reflect, then evaluate if I would keep going. I did run 10 episodes, and I will podcasting, though I am temporarily setting that aside to focus on writing.

INTERVIEWS

November 18, 2018 marked the first time I was interviewed for a podcast, and it was THE Cult of Pedagogy!

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In the episode I discussed a protocol I designed to help my students develop agency in holding one-on-one, content-centered conversations with nearly all of each of their classmates over the a period of about two weeks. Though this protocol was developed in an English Language Arts classroom, it is for ALL content areas where there is either academically complex text, topics, or procedures that are best handled when students learn to interact with one another.

I HAVE ALSO BEEN A GUEST ON THE FOLLOWING PODCASTS:

PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS

Over the 15 years I have been teaching, I have been working aggressively to develop my teaching practice. After lots of reading, practice (trial and error), reflection, and refining, I have matured into a teacher who excels at the craft.

I speak and tailor workshops on the following topics:
  • Classroom Discussion: Cultivating Student Voice through Content-Centered Conversation
  • Teachers Grading Less, Students Learning More: Moving from Evaluation to Feedback-in-Process
  • It’s a Process: Moving Beyond Essay Writing to Developing the Whole Writer
  • Student-Teacher Conferences: Assessment for Learning, Not Grades
  • Personalized Development: Growing a Professional Learning Network

Please consider me for your upcoming professional development needs, and see more of what I have to offer at my presentations and workshops for teachers page.