The What And Who Of EDU

What should educators do when one bad grade suddenly feels like the end of the semester? In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, ten instructors share practical teaching strategies for helping students recover from academic setbacks without lowering expectations or erasing accountability. From calming the initial panic and doing the actual grade math to diagnosing what went wrong, improving stud...

Teaching has always required flexibility. But today's educators are navigating challenges that barely existed when many of them started, including generative AI, widening preparation gaps, post-pandemic isolation, student mental health, digital literacy, politically charged classroom conversations, and questions about what a grade can actually certify. In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, edu...

Student attention and classroom engagement can feel harder to hold when every laptop, phone, and smartwatch comes with an escape hatch. But the answer is not necessarily another device ban. In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, ten educators share practical teaching strategies for helping students focus, participate, and reconnect when attention wanders. Their approaches range from active lear...

What if the best way to know whether a student understands something isn't a traditional test at all? What if it was a bathroom stall poster or a campus full of long lines and slow WiFi? In this Top 10 episode, instructors share 10 alternative assessments they've used to measure student learning beyond standardized tests. These authentic and unconventional assessments ask students to apply what th...

What makes a student trust an instructor in week one, before there's any grade, feedback, or office-hours crisis to go on? Usually, it's not one big moment; rather, a handful of small, visible signals like showing up prepared, being reachable online, admitting a mistake, learning a name. In this Top 10 episode, 11 instructors share small, practical teaching strategies that build that trust early....

AI in education is no longer a future-tense conversation. It is already in the classroom, in the syllabus, in student workflows, and increasingly in the questions instructors are asking about assessment, academic integrity, and what teaching strategies they're supposed to use now.  In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, we explore AI in education and are counting down 10 teaching strategies and...

Ten instructors. Ten strategies. Zero crickets. In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, educators share the practical moves they actually use to spark real conversation,  from low-stakes writing and small-group rehearsal to current events, icebreakers, and discussion prompts that sound like real life.  Built for busy educators, it's a look at how teachers create the kind of classroom climate whe...

What happens when "college should be hard" collides with "students are barely holding it together"? In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, we're unpacking how instructors balance academic rigor with student mental health. Because challenge builds growth but unmanaged stress can just shut learning down. From reset days and scaffolded assignments to flexible deadlines and second chances, we're co...

Students aren't waiting for class to start learning science. They're getting it from their feeds first. In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, we sit down with journalist and Newsreel founder Jack Brewster to discuss how algorithms, influencers AI-generated content, and viral misinformation are shaping what students think they know before they ever walk into the classroom. From the rise of AI-d...

Burnout in higher education doesn't always show up as a crash. More often, it looks like reheated coffee, a growing to-do list, and the sense that the work never really ends. In this episode, we share 10 strategies from real educators who have figured out how to keep going without burning out, from setting boundaries and saying no, to redesigning assignments and letting go of perfection. These are...

What if some of the most important things students learn in your classroom… aren't on your syllabus? In this episode of The What & Who of EDU, we're unpacking the hidden curriculum, the life skills students develop alongside your course content.  From learning how to actually listen and ask better questions, to navigating uncertainty, analyzing trade-offs, and staying in the discomfort of real lea...

What if high school prepared students not just for exams, but for real life? In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, host Marisa Bluestone talks with David Anderson, economics instructor and AP Business with Personal Finance author, about a new kind of course designed to help students build the skills they'll need after graduation.  From making decisions without clear answers to managing money...

What if your students already have the answer… but skipped all the thinking that got them there? That's the problem ten instructors sat down to solve. In this episode, they share how they get students to show their work, not just turn in something correct. You'll hear how they grade reasoning, build reflection into assignments, use peer review as a mirror, and yes, navigate all of this in the age...

This episode is proof that every subject can be the "cool one" …  if it's taught with purpose, passion, and the right demo (hello, exploding gummy bears). We asked 10 professors to explain what makes their field unforgettable. The result is a joy-filled look at classroom strategies, student engagement, and the surprising connections between psychology, economics, biology, chemistry, and more. Whet...

Can AI make learning more accessible … or is it just adding new barriers? In this debut episode of The What & Who of EDU's AI+ series, we sit down with Rachel Comerford, Senior Director of Accessibility at Macmillan Learning, to talk about what AI is getting wrong (and right) when it comes to accessibility. From the myth of the "fully accessible" AI tool to why Universal Design for Learning is mor...

Some teaching strategies feel right—until they don't.  The What & Who of EDU is kicking off season 2 with a banger, breaking down the most common student engagement myths that sound like good advice but actually backfire in real classrooms. From "just make it fun" to "you can tell who's paying attention by looking," these well-meaning myths often make teaching harder, not better. Whether you're te...

What if the most powerful teaching tips weren't found in textbooks, but in the lived wisdom of the educators down the hall?  In this Season 1 finale, host Marisa Bluestone counts down 10 unforgettable mic-drop moments from the year, the ones that stuck, stirred something, and might just reshape how you teach. From building student belonging in unexpected places to teaching confidence through well-...

Some teaching ideas feel a little too trendy, too techy, or too fluffy… until they're not. Today we're counting down 10 teaching strategies educators once doubted and now swear by. From the surprising power of silence to the glow-up of structured lectures, these are the classroom moves that went from "no thanks" to "never teaching without it." You'll hear from instructors across English, psycholog...

What do sleep, gratitude, and emotional chaos have in common? Psychology. In this student-focused episode of The What and Who of EDU, Dr. Dave Myers and Dr. June Gruber return to explore how psychology can help students live better, not just learn better. From stress and self-compassion to gratitude, emotional diversity, and the paradox of happiness, they unpack the research behind what really hel...

What if the secret to better teaching isn't about what you teach, but how students experience your classroom? Psychology legends Dr. David Myers and Dr. June Gruber have spent decades studying what actually makes information stick and it's not more PowerPoint slides. In this episode, they reveal why removing 18 chairs from your classroom, scheduling 5-minute coffee chats, and teaching students abo...

Is the pursuit of happiness actually making students less happy? In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, we sit down with Dr. David Myers and Dr. June Gruber, co-authors of the world's best-selling psychology textbook, to explore what decades of psychological research reveal about student mental health, emotional well-being and why today's students are struggling more than ever. Discover why e...

What if the most important things students learn… aren't showing up on your tests? In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, we go beyond the buzzword to explore authentic assessment: what it is, where it came from, and whether it actually works. With insights from education researcher Sarah Gray, we dig into what authentic assessment looks like in practice, how it holds up in the AI era, and wh...

Is an "A" really the best indicator of learning? Or is it just proof that a student figured out the system? In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, we explore 10 creative, surprising, and inspiring ways educators are measuring learning beyond the gradebook. Because the real story of learning is bigger, messier, and far more meaningful. Brought to you by Macmillan Learning 🎓 Key Takeaways Judg...

You've heard the stories. You've heard the tips. You've heard the bell ding (you know the one). But in all our episodes of The What & Who of EDU, we somehow forgot to introduce... us. In this special behind-the-scenes episode, we're flipping the mic to spotlight the trio that brings the EDU-niverse to life: Marisa Bluestone, Host and Resident "Why?" Asker LaShawn Springer, Host and Champion of Inc...

🎧 In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, we're talking accessibility. Not just ramps and captions (though those matter), but the small shifts, the flexible paths, and the "you can sit with us" energy that make learning possible for every student. We're counting down 10 ways real instructors are making their classrooms more accessible: strategies you can borrow, adapt, and make your own.  Bro...