Two Pint PLC

It feels good to be able to help others, but what is the impact of providing that help? A review of helping behaviors highlight how helping too soon or in overbearing ways actually undermines learners. Teachers should focus on helping behaviors that cultivate student agency. Later, we see how small, frequent breaks produce better test outcomes than a single, large break in a long class. We conside...

Our approach to grading has connections to everything in our class design. We are joined by guest host David Clark to talk about alternative grading approaches that can focus on supporting student growth and protecting motivation by rejecting assumptions about how grades must work. Later, we read about the impact of even slight training in note-taking on student metacognition… but then we go right...

Our year in review looks back to find the most noteworthy learning from the past season. We always search for concrete “should’s” in our classroom - like encouraging students before tests or interleaving your skill practice. However, our top prizes go to big picture ideas about the very structure of our education system. Later, we reflect on our personal teaching journey and what we’ve learned abo...

Research has already shown that human attempts to multitask come with heavy costs. New research suggests other cognitive control activities also come with costs. In a classroom with many sources of potential distraction, how should practitioners help students put brain energy toward learning? Later, we read about classroom experiments that dispel the myth that interleaved practice can’t work in la...

Pressure to improve reading and writing performance is bringing fresh scrutiny to language instruction. Author Patty McGee joins us to discuss a curiosity-focused curriculum that eschews rules and correction to foster literacy growth. How can literary structure unlock new layers of meaning for readers? Later, we discuss the lack of adequate research on grading policies. What are grades for and how...

Many school reform efforts are seeking new ways to structure the teaching profession. Dr. Mary Laski joins us to discuss a program that integrates pay-for-performance as a key element. Their results show definitively positive effects in both near- and long-term outcomes, and we ponder how monetary incentives may be received at scale. Later, we read how the rate limit for simple learning in lab mic...

Classroom management is a frequent topic in teacher preparation and professional development, but what kinds of classroom structures really have an impact? We look at balancing support with avoiding being controlling and the importance of clarity of goals and purpose. Later, we discuss themes in building positive student relationships. Students notice teacher enthusiasm, authenticity, and a health...

Participation in dual enrollment programs has skyrocketed in recent years, but how many college credits in high school is the right amount? We see that getting the first dual credit course is good for most students, and that additional courses have diminishing returns or overwhelm students. Later, we read multilingual dialogue examples from a science class that fosters a safe classroom environment...

How should we approach making adjustments in the classroom to ensure we meet the needs of every learner? Dr. Ling Zhang joins us to discuss how US law and policy frame individualization and other requirements for tailoring instruction to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Focus on pacing toward common goals shows the most promise for legal compliance and learning gains. Later, we discus...

How do experienced teachers effectively monitor a classroom? We read an eye-tracking study comparing pre-service teachers with expert teachers that revealed more systematic patterns that were more resilient following disruptions. We discuss how teachers can make space to practice this element of classroom management. Later, we discuss how teacher encouragement shapes student motivation on major as...

Professional learning should be improving teaching, which ultimately should benefit students. We read a meta-analysis showing that effective teaching methods within professional development is far more likely to impact learning than the learning topic or time spent in the program. Later, we read a study of student perseverance that underscores the importance of establishing mastery goals with stud...

A listener request led us to a paper on eye-tracking technology for emerging multilingual learners. However, our conversation will focus on problems related to AI use and disconnects between the use of technology in the classroom and the real needs of teachers. Later, we learn about how a person’s fear of evaluation influences their response - both positive and negative - to different kinds of fee...

In a neuroscience-focused episode, we start with a new model of how having agency influences how much our brains are learning from moment to moment. Building classroom routines that emphasize student choice, from tiny procedural choices to major learning decisions, can boost the positive impacts of dopamine on their brain’s learning pathways. Later, we read an experimental study of the impacts of...

Student collaboration is a powerful tool for learning in many contexts, and we read a meta-analysis that highlights the benefits to both the givers and receivers of help in peer tutoring situations. It seems to be almost categorically good… but the details of successful programs remain elusive. Later, we read about how group structure predicts student creativity. How do we teach processes that pre...

Our season finale again reviews the most noteworthy papers from the past year. We reflect on hosting student data talks, the use of errors in the classroom, and more. We also spend time thinking about our goals for the types of papers we read and what kinds of “shoulds” (or “shouldn’ts”) we hope to get from them. Later, we share the results of a follow-up analysis of our past most noteworthy paper...

Education research, from technology to instruction to design, too often uses an instrumentalist approach that assumes the right tool or trick will simply solve a problem. Jason McDonald joins to talk about the need for entangled research that actually changes both the researcher and the system for the better. Later, we read The Opportunity Makers and reflect on how some important flaws put key fin...

In this extra length episode, we talk with Dr. Imogen Herrick about her work developing Community Science Data Talks. These talks help students engage the local consequences of climate change to develop their STEM knowledge while navigating their emotional experiences with the data. Our ranging conversation touches on the need for local data sources, fostering student agency, and cultivating civic...

All professional learning occurs when teachers try things in their classroom and iterate to make it better. We reflect on the importance of articulating aspirational goals and supporting teachers as they iterate toward their goals as on-going professional development. Later, we grapple with how research on the impact of educational technology cannot exist outside of the instructional context. What...

Dual language programs provide a local opportunity for students to get closer to an immersive experience learning a language directly within their school community. However, we read research on the barriers to providing multilingual instruction that fosters racial literacy within a similarly multilingual context. Later, we look at the positive impact of high quality instructional materials for Eng...

Team teaching is increasing in popularity among schools to help educators work together in their daily practice. We read about different models for team teaching and think about how it maps to our past experiences in a wide variety of teaming approaches from our own careers. Later, we reflect on how to develop epistemic empathy. Our ability to take the perspective of students who don’t yet know ou...

Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, provide a collegial network for educators to reflect on and improve their practice. We look at an evaluation of a pre-packaged PLC program that did not improve PLCs in schools, and wonder how we can support educators at the building level instead. Later, we look at how very early math is learned by children. They experience the snowball effect, meaning i...

Edutopia did another review of the best research of 2024, and we are here to talk about it. First, discussion of student errors can lead to big gains in student learning. However, those gains only come in an interactive, collaborative class culture. Later, the remembered success effect shows that ending challenging learning experiences with clear victories on more attainable problems improves stud...

Teachers may give lectures or create videos to provide information to students, and the speed of information delivery affects the cognitive load of students. We read a study of video playback speed and support materials that shows speeding up the videos may not be particularly harmful to their usefulness, and that other supportive elements are more important to consider. Later, we read a study of...

This month is our official “AI episode.” We are joined by Ben Riley, who wrote a guide for considering the use of AI for education. Our discussion considers the tasks for which AI might be useful, and the multiple concerns we have for its use as a substitute for thinking. Later, we read a study that shows AI can help people produce incrementally more creative task solutions. However, we are unconv...

Effective statistics instruction - like many other disciplines - should empower students to ask questions and interrogate data to answer questions. We look at research evaluating the impact of an inquiry-focused statistics curriculum that showed very large gains for student learning by emphasizing statistical practice rather than mathematical routines. Later, we read a review of creativity researc...