Struggling to keep your students engaged? Discover the keys to a classroom they'll love with Elijah Carbajal!

Take Notes with Jen Rafferty

Do you feel like your students hate the idea of going to school? Are you running out of ideas to keep them engaged and excited about learning new things?

In this episode, I had a conversation with Elijah Carbajal, a teacher whose main drive is to make school a place for students to love. We dive into how he views school culture and how he transforms the teaching norms into what young kids would understand.

Elijah emphasizes how much better learning could be by using language or games or pop culture references that kids would understand. And by telling captivating stories and incorporating the subject matter within it as moral lessons, the students are kept engaged and wanting for more. As his book says, school becomes “A Place They Love.”

We also talked about the ways of keeping the school fun, engaging, and safe, and we challenged the notion that learning can either be fun or rigorous and hard. Elijah dials in on the truth that when things get more fun, learning becomes even more rigorous, except it becomes less hard and more engaging for the students.

Elijah’s stories will encourage you to be bolder, more creative, and more engaged with your students more than ever.

Ready to transform your classroom into a place that the students will love?

Tune in to this episode filled with inspiring stories and valuable takeaways!

Stay empowered,
Jen

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About Elijah:

Elijah is a teacher, like his mom, uncle, and grandparents before him. He has been teaching in the state of New Mexico since 2014, currently working in the Albuquerque Public School district. Elijah enjoys podcasting about all things educational and listening to podcasts created by his friends in education, some of which he has been honored to be a guest on. He is the host of The Shut Up and Teach Podcast and the author of the book A Place They Love: Creating a Healthy School Culture and Positively Impacting Students. Elijah strives to make school a place that students love to be at by creating fun, safe, and engaging experiences and environments for all students. By challenging the norms of what education should look, act, and feel like, Elijah has created exciting opportunities for authentic learning to take place. Outside of the classroom, he can be found running, listening to or creating music, reading, or relaxing with his cat, Nala.

Connect with Elijah:

Twitter: @carbaeli

IG: @carbaeli

Transcript