Schoolutions: Curious Educators. Evidence-Based Strategies. Classrooms Where Every Child Thrives.

Stephen Noonoo is an editor and journalist who's covered education for more than a decade. Now a tech editor at Edutopia , he was previously the K–12 editor for EdSurge and has also worked at eSchool News, THE Journal, CUE, and SmartBrief.   Stephen created the Warning Bell  Substack to look honestly at today's teaching profession. He is dedicated to cataloging the stresses & problem...

This conversation with Patterns of Power grammar extraordinaires Holly Durham and Travis Leech will leave you ready to dive into authentic grammar instruction! Let go of ineffective worksheets and skill-and-drill grammar instruction as Holly and Travis describe the Patterns of Power Process with a focus on grades 9-12.   They explain why traditional grammar instruction focuses too often on rules a...

José Luis Vilson is best known as an architect for a hopeful future and an advocate for teacher voice. José describes his math pedagogy in this episode and why math is a social justice lever. He illuminates the restrictions we put on mathematics unknowingly as a society. José encourages us to ensure our classrooms and learning communities are interconnected and to look to the future with hope. Jos...

The renowned Dr. Molly Ness shares key points from her most recent book, Read Alouds for All Learners: A Comprehensive Plan for Every Subject, Every Day . Molly helps listeners understand the critical role read alouds play in the science of reading, along with current research and trends. Listeners will leave informed and inspired with a process and plan for integrating read alouds across all cont...

Are you dreaming about creating a humanities course for students in your high school? Learn from teachers Heather Roberts and Tom Bateson how to turn that dream into reality! Heather and Tom describe their first-year step-by-step process for designing their co-taught humanities course. They offer detailed strategies alongside struggles and successes to support colleagues in beginning their journey...

Beth Skelton and Tan Huynh call for us to shift the long-term English learner (LTEL) label and mindset to honor multilinguals’ valuable life experiences and academic potential instead.  Beth and Tan’s book, Long-Term Success for Experienced Multilinguals , offers a brilliant and accessible guide for cross-curricular implementation - designed explicitly for secondary content teachers.   Thank you t...

Renowned literacy expert, Ellin Oliver Keene , welcomes us into her Literacy Studio - a new, integrated approach to reader’s and writer’s workshop. Her latest book, The Literacy Studio: Redesigning the Workshop for Readers and Writers , offers a practical step-by-step approach to providing more autonomy and choice to students while gaining back time by combining reading and writing instruction. Ep...

Join the brilliant M. Colleen Cruz as she illuminates why mistakes are not the problem but part of learning.  Colleen’s most recent book, Risk. Fail. Rise.: A Teacher's Guide to Learning from Mistakes offers strategies for exploring why mistakes happen and how we can destigmatize mistake-making to encourage a risk-taking learning culture. Thank you to Colleen and bookshop.org , who are so gen...

Christy Lynn Anana is a Mindfulness Director with Whole School Mindfulness at Quil Ceda Tulalip Elementary , located on the land of The Tulalip Tribes in Washington State, north of Seattle. In this episode, Christy offers listeners two guided meditations alongside a peek into her published book series called I Am Healing .  Episode Mentions: I Am Healing Book Series I Can Feel Better: A Tapping St...

Rebekah Macden is a globally-renowned international educator, consultant, speaker, and coach. In this episode, she offers listeners an overview of Maracujá, her co-created, character-driven SEL program that continues to have a life-changing impact on thousands of students in schools around the globe. Listeners will leave inspired by Rebekah’s commitment to students feeling safe within their authen...

Leah Mermelstein , the author of “We-Do” Writing and many other renowned professional books, shares her secrets for creating integrated units of study.  Listeners will learn her step-by-step process to bend or create their own integrated curricula.   Episode Mentions: Leah Mermelstein's Schoolutions Interview , "We-Do" Writing  Book , "We-Do" Model Graphic & Self-Direc...

Jennifer Serravallo shares what inspired her to publish her most recent book, The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 , and launch her ground-breaking literacy podcast for educators, To the Classroom .  With each episode, Jen interviews leading researchers and scholars, seeking answers to all things literacy, and then processes the research with colleagues, leaning on the question, “How will we take what...

Change is a journey and can be complex. Matt Renwick inspires listeners with his article: 7 Questions I Ask Myself When Working with Educators Resistant to Change (derived from his book, Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H.: 5 Strategies for Supporting Teaching and Learning ). Matt's authentic approach and questions get to the heart of knowing each educator deeply for who they are both in and out of the...

Sara Bradford is an autistic woman ​and advocate. She ​is a member of the Autism Council ​of Utah and also the owner of the SJ Childs LLC Facebook ​Autism Advocate Support Group . ​In this episode, Sara shares her experience and perspective as a mother and partner to her ​husband and children, who are all on the ​autism spectrum. She is a global ​autism speaker and the ​podcast host of The SJ Chil...

Penny Kittle lives by her words, "When you stand next to beautiful writing, your writing is just kind of set free." Penny shares how her latest book, Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages From Great Books to Teach Writer's Craft offers a process for studying and teaching on the shoulders of incredible authors as mentors to transform student writing. Ep. Mentions: Donald Murray Do...

A.J. Crabill lives by his mantra: " Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change ." In this episode, A.J. explains why changing adult behaviors (especially regarding school boards) requires new mindsets, knowledge, and skills. His latest book, Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Be Effective , provides a step-by-step guide to transforming stude...

Kindergarten teacher extraordinaire "Mr. Greg" of The Kindergarten Smorgasboard and ELEVATE Conference shares why being a teacher matters most. Listeners will leave inspired by Greg's hilarious tales from the classroom and practical tips to try right away with their students!   Episode Mentions:  The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Resource Center Blog Basket Head   ELEVATE Conference Hol...

Chief of Operations and Lead Writer for Two Writing Teachers , Stacey Shubitz , and Two Writing Teachers Co-Author, Melanie Meehan share beliefs, practices, and research around the benefits of teaching writing through a workshop approach.    Stacey and Melanie also shine as authors of groundbreaking professional books and co-hosts of the Two Writing Teachers Podcast !  Episode Mentions:  Stacey’s...

Try out my new SpeakPipe widget! Leave a voice memo about a Schoolutions episode that has inspired you or a PK-12 public education issue/solution. Make sure to let me know your role or connection with public education.   Here’s to continuing to find inspiration together!  Connect with Schoolutions Podcast: via my Website via SpeakPipe on Twitter on Facebook on Instagram on Threads on LinkedIn When...

Dr. Tanya S. Wright shares research examining instructional practices that promote young children's oral language, vocabulary, and knowledge development. Listeners will be inspired to incorporate intentional vocabulary instruction for students throughout the school day. Tanya offers a wealth of information with examples based on her book, A Teacher's Guide to Vocabulary Development Acros...

Innovative thought partners Kate and Maggie Roberts share their newest venture to put professional learning back into teachers’ hands via The Content Shop .   They offer simple, practical, and bite-sized tools to optimize our teaching.  Episode Mentions:  The Content Shop Membership Options Greg Michie ( Twitter ) & ( Facebook ) Gail Dahling-Hench  Falling in Love with Close Reading: Lessons f...

Teacher, instructional coach, educational consultant, and author Julie Wright shares her brilliant solutions and protocols to address common problems of practice regarding our current RtI models. Julie’s book, What’s Our Response: Creating Systems and Structures to Support ALL Learners , is an invaluable resource filled with tips for breaking out of the RtI box that we sometimes unintentionally co...

This week is a special collaborative episode with the co-hosts of the Shifting Schools podcast, Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman. We reflect on our journeys as podcasters - offering up podcasts that have influenced us most, stand-out episodes from our own podcasts, and lessons learned from our guests. Listen to be inspired and hear what we value and believe to be true in order to do right by you, o...

Jill Macfarlane shares about supporting children and their families with the grieving process in her role as the Program Director at The Sharing Place since 2003. Jill’s gift for explaining how and why people die in developmentally kid-sized ways is incredible and necessary. In addition, Jill highlights resources for families and schools looking to support their communities as they process and mov...

Erin Croyle offers listeners her perspective on the differences between caregiving and parenting when it comes to being an advocate for disability rights and a mother to three children, one of them having Down syndrome. Erin helps listeners understand how they can both support the disability community and caregivers of children with disabilities as well. Listeners must take a moment also to be ins...