Make It Mindful: An Education Podcast

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth talks with Dr. Grant Atkins and Dr. Caroline Miller — a researcher who studies how educational technology gets implemented and whether it works, and a former high school teacher who left the classroom just as generative AI was beginning to reshape how students write — about the current backlash against ed tech and what's actually driving it. The conversatio...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth talks with Dr. Katherine M. Heavers — a high school biology teacher, evolutionary biologist, and co-author of Transforming Teaching Through Relationship-Building and Self-Reflection: Finding Our Way In — about what it actually takes to build authentic relationships in a classroom. Heavers draws on her doctoral theory of the "telling break" and 12 years of r...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth talks with Dr. Maggie Broderick — academic program director of the Master of Arts in Social Emotional Learning at National University's Sanford College of Education — about teacher dispositions, the classrooms inside schools where marginalized students find belonging, and what's happening to teacher attrition when emotion labor goes unsupported. Maggie's cu...

In this episode of Make It Mindful , Seth talks with Rushton Hurley — founder of Next Vista for Learning and Director of Innovation at Junipero Serra High School — about the annual showcase that brings student projects from Serra in California together with student projects from Parklands College in Cape Town. Rushton's claim, sharpened over years of running the Creative Solutions for the Global G...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth talks with Mitch Weathers and Sarah Oberle, Ed. D. — a middle/high school teacher-turned-author and a primary educator who completed her doctorate studying working memory — about why executive functioning looks fundamentally different in grades K–3 than it does anywhere else in school. Their new co-authored book grew directly out of feedback that K–3 teache...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth talks with Jessica Werner, Ph. D., founder and CEO of Northshore Learning, about why teacher burnout is better understood as a systems problem than a personal one — and what happens when schools try to fix it without addressing the foundations that are already shaky. Jessica draws on her doctoral research in Uganda, where a policy expanding secondary school...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth Fleischauer talks with international school consultant Chris O'Shaughnessy about narrative therapy — what it is, why it matters, and how its techniques can quietly transform the way educators approach empathy, resilience, and cross-cultural understanding. What begins as a conversation about storytelling opens into something much bigger: a practical framewor...

In this episode of Make It Mindful , Seth Fleischauer talks with child development expert and author Deborah Farmer Kris about awe — what it is, why it matters, and why it might be the missing piece at the center of meaningful education. What begins as a conversation about a single emotion opens up into something much bigger: a research-backed framework for understanding how wonder drives curiosit...

In this episode of Make It Mindful , Seth Fleischauer welcomes Christian Pinedo of AIEDU to explore what artificial intelligence actually means for the future of education. Rather than focusing on tools or hype, the conversation digs into how AI is exposing deeper challenges in the education system—from outdated assessment models to the need for systemic change. Drawing on his experience at Stanfo...

Ryan Nuckolls-Rosa, Executive Director of Dramatic Results, joins Seth to talk about what it takes to build classrooms where students feel safe enough to create, collaborate, and think critically. They unpack “art scars,” why belonging is not a “nice-to-have,” and how arts integration and human-centered design can help students see themselves as problem-solvers early—especially in Title I contexts...

Justin Reich (MIT) on “local science,” AI hype cycles, and why schools need to do less. Justin Reich returns to the podcast with an “applied historian” lens: not dismissing generative AI as just another hype cycle , but insisting we treat early classroom uses as experiments—because history says our first instincts about new tech in schools are often wrong. We talk about what Reich learned while ma...

What happens when the “direct service” model—pull-out support, isolated practice, and heroic effort—doesn’t translate into real independence for students in real classrooms? In this episode, Seth Fleischauer is joined again by Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan —speech-language pathologist, executive functioning specialist, and host of the De Facto Leaders podcast—to talk about what breaks down when clinicia...

In this short bonus episode, Host Seth Fleischauer reflects on a question sparked by a recent conversation with Stephanie Frenel of SchoolOps AI : why do schools so often default to quantitative data and shy away from qualitative insight? Drawing on his own teaching experience and conversations with fellow educators, Seth explores how numbers feel safer, more objective, and easier to defend—while...

School leaders are drowning in data—test scores, surveys, observations, behavior reports—but starving for insight. In this episode of Make It Mindful , Seth Fleischauer is joined by Stephanie Frenel , founder and CEO of SchoolOps AI , for a deep conversation about what it actually takes to make sense of complexity in schools—and how AI can support that work without stripping out the human judgment...

In this episode, Seth speaks with Valérie Besanceney , an international educator, author, former Executive Director of Safe Passage Across Networks (SPAN), and current International Advisor on Transitions, Care, and Mobility Services for the Council of International Schools (CIS) . Her work focuses on helping globally mobile students—and the educators and institutions that support them—navigate tr...

In this short follow-up episode, Seth revisits a moment from his recent conversation with Karle Delo about student use of AI. While recording that episode, Karle mentioned catching a student actively using AI to cheat on math homework during her workshop—an anecdote that raised a question Seth forgot to ask in the moment: When she paused the workshop and asked students why any of this matters, wha...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, host Seth Fleischauer welcomes Karle Delo, AI Strategist at Michigan Virtual and one of EdTech Magazine’s Top 30 IT Influencers to Follow in 2023, for a deeply practical conversation about how students actually use AI. With 14 years of experience as a science teacher, tech integration specialist, and curriculum director, Karle brings a grounded, student-centered...

In this special bonus episode, host Seth Fleischauer unpacks a surprising insight from his recent conversation with Dr. Chandler Chang of Therapy Lab: an AI “scribe” that listens to therapy sessions and supports teens between appointments. Yes, it raises privacy flags. Yes, it feels futuristic. But if we can suspend disbelief and concerns for a moment, the implications could be huge. Seth explores...

In this episode of Make It Mindful , host Seth Fleischauer welcomes back to the podcast Dr. Chandler Chang—clinical psychologist, child and adolescent specialist, and founder of Therapy Lab—to explore how young people are navigating mental health, technology, and growing up in an always-on world. With a practice built around time-limited, evidence-based therapy plans (sometimes called “bite-sized...

In this rewind episode of Make It Mindful , we revisit one of our most popular episodes. Host Seth Fleischauer welcomes Dr. Karen Dudek-Brannan, a speech pathologist and educational consultant, to delve into supporting executive functioning. Building on the previous conversation with Mitch Weathers in episode #49, this episode explores how executive functioning challenges impact social, academic,...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth Fleischauer welcomes Greg Kessler , Professor of Innovative Learning Design and Technology at Ohio University, to explore the evolving intersection of language education, technology, and cultural context . Drawing on more than two decades of international consulting—with the U.S. Department of State among many partners , alongside universities, ministries o...

Guest: Chris Brida , District Administrator, Career & Technical Education (CTE), Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate at Portland (OR) Public Schools.  A returning guest, Chris is building systems-level, boundary-spanning partnerships that tie K–12 CTE to real pathways in higher ed, industry, and community—while bringing AI into both the classroom and the collaboration process....

In this episode of Make It Mindful , Seth Fleischauer welcomes back Aaron Baughman—AI Strategist at Michigan Virtual —to explore what’s changed in K–12 AI and what’s working in real classrooms. With clear, passionate urgency, Aaron makes the equity-centered case that AI can fix what’s broken in K-12 schools—if we do it right : use tools and policies that protect students, empower teachers, and unl...

In this episode of Make It Mindful, Seth Fleischauer welcomes back to the podcast Dr. Trevor Soponis—educator, researcher, and founder of the Sustainable Learning Projects—to explore how to make professional development more impactful for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Drawing on years of observation and coaching across continents, Trevor shares how he helps teachers in Taiwan incre...

In this episode of Make It Mindful , host Seth Fleischauer takes us on the origin story of Learning Live—his scrappy, video-conferencing English program that began in 2007 with one camera and 42 fifth-graders in Taipei. Through candid student testimonials (from reporting on Ukraine news to college-application interviews) and Seth’s own memories of adapting progressive pedagogy to a Taiwanese conte...