Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

Tricia Friedman shares a real-life story about a flooded basement, an insurance claim, and what it revealed about AI literacy. After a major storm in Ottawa caused basement flooding, Tricia found herself facing the kind of problem many people recognize: too many damaged items, too many documents, too many decisions, and a process that can quickly become overwhelming. But this time, compared with a...

Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli joins the podcast for a conversation about writing, perseverance, childhood, and the stories that stay with young readers. Known to many elementary and middle school teachers through books such as Maniac Magee , Stargirl , Wringer , and his latest book, Fifth Grade Top Dogs , Spinelli reflects on the long road to becoming a published author. Before his f...

In this Fourth of July weekend episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Colin Woodard, director of Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University's Pell Center, about national identity, civic trust, polarization, and the stories that shape how people understand belonging. Woodard's work asks a question that belongs in every civics and history classroom: What story holds a nation together? Drawing from his...

In this Fourth of July weekend episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with historian and author Katie Kennedy about her new book, The Declaration Decoded , and the stories behind America's foundational documents. For history and civics educators, this conversation offers a timely reminder: founding documents are not static artifacts to memorize. They were written by real people, shaped by conflict, compr...

In this episode, Tricia speaks with Jan Cress Dondi about the years-long research journey behind her USA Today bestselling WWII book. What began with the discovery of hundreds of family letters became a much larger act of historical reconstruction, combining personal correspondence, military records, National Archives research, firsthand family memory, and deep attention to the emotional lives of...

In this episode of Shifting Schools , Jeff and Tricia reflect on the 2025–2026 school year and what they are seeing as schools move into a more mature phase of AI work. The conversation moves beyond tools and prompt tips into the deeper questions now facing educators and school leaders: AI companions, student wellbeing, shadow AI use, schoolwide expectations, sustained professional learning, and t...

Looking for something thoughtful, funny, curious, and conversation-starting for Father's Day weekend? This episode may be just the thing. We are welcoming back Brian Boone, a writer, researcher, and storyteller whose work reminds us that trivia is not really about random facts. It is about memory, meaning, surprise, and the pleasure of sharing something unexpected with someone else. That makes thi...

In this episode of  Shifting Schools , Jeff and Tricia talk about vibe coding: the emerging practice of using AI tools to help turn prompts, sketches, hunches, and half-formed ideas into working prototypes. They look at what this shift means for educators, students, school leaders, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing the relationship between imagination and production. This is not a...

What do we really mean when we tell young people to "be yourself"? In this episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Meredith Walker, co-founder of Smart Girls with Amy Poehler and author of Be Yourself and Other Bad Advice . Together, they question one of the most common phrases young people hear from adults: "be yourself." It sounds kind. It sounds simple. But for many young people, especially those...

Join us as Keala Kendall, author of the compelling gothic novel  That Which Feeds Us , takes us through her creative process, the importance of representation in storytelling, and how horror can serve as a mirror to society's fears and unresolved histories. This conversation uncovers the layers behind her work, blending culture, history, and genre to provoke thought and evoke emotion. Main topics...

This week, Tricia Friedman speaks with Veronica Roth, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the author of Seek the Traitor Son , the first book in a new epic romance dystopian fantasy series. In this conversation, Veronica shares how watching Taylor Swift perform during the Eras Tour helped her reflect on her own earlier work, her growth as an artist, and what it mea...

This week, Tricia Friedman welcomes Dr. Brittney Cooper to the podcast to talk about her new picture book, Mama Says I'm Fine , illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. The conversation explores the story behind the book, the emotional weight of the phrase "you're fine," and how children's literature can hold care, resilience, identity, and family love. Dr. Cooper also reflects on what it means to write wi...

Patricia Cornwell joins Tricia Friedman for a conversation about memory, writing, curiosity, forensic science, and the memoir she never expected to write. In this episode, Cornwell reflects on the childhood experiences that shaped her imagination, including the early encouragement that helped her begin to see herself as a writer. She talks about learning to "populate the world with imagined charac...

Tricia and Jeff talk about what AI literacy actually looks like in K-12 — past the policy memos, past the vendor pitches, past the "ban it or adopt it" debate that keeps stalling schools out. They were very excited to receive questions from a student, and they used those as the structure for this conversation. The conversation uses the Shifting Schools BAKE framework as a loose map: Balance, Adapt...

This week Jeff and Tricia share their five top gifts to celebrate the special educator in your life. They take you through why these five gifts celebrate creativity, learning, wellness, and show personal recognition during Teacher Appreciation Week. Featured on the show: WoofPack   https://woofpacks.ca/ SketchBox   https://getsketchbox.com/ PlantWave   https://plantwave.com/en-ca/products/plantwav...

What happens when you stop talking about students and start talking with them? In this episode, Jeff Utecht sits down with high schoolers and asks a question most adults skip: what do you actually need from school right now? Not what teachers think they need. Not what the policy documents say. What the students themselves would name if someone gave them the mic. What they share is honest, specific...

This week Jeff talks with Nick and Marnie about why we want to help students stop waiting for permission and start building a bridge to a career on your their own terms. In this episode, Jeff Utecht is joined by Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio , authors of The Business of You , a book that reframes career growth, personal branding, and leadership through a simple but demanding idea: you are alre...

What can a graphic novel teach educators about belonging, friendship, and the inner lives of young people? Sara Amini is an actor and author whose semi-autobiographical middle grade graphic novel Mixed Feelings started as a collection of essays before finding its real form. In this conversation, she and Tricia dig into why the graphic novel gave her a sharper way to tell a story about not fitting...

Alyson Gerber joins Tricia Friedman to talk about The Liar Society, why friendship is serious business, and what mystery stories can teach young readers and adults about belonging, trust, competition, and connection. In this conversation, Alyson shares why friendship sits at the center of her work, how middle grade fiction can help readers think more deeply about loneliness and identity, and why t...

What happens when we stop asking AI to do everything faster and start asking how it might help us understand people better? In this episode, Jeff sits down with Andy Sitison, CTO of Share More Stories , for a conversation about empathetic AI, story collection, and why trust may be the real differentiator in the next phase of technology. Andy shares how his work uses AI not just as a productivity t...

Jeff Utecht is back with a brand new book for schools looking to understand what to prioritize in the era of AI. Human Still Required is available for purchase, and you can get chapter one free: https://humanstillrequired.com/ Learn all about it in this special bonus episode.

What does it take to write a story that faces darkness without surrendering to it? In this episode, Tricia speaks with acclaimed screenwriter Billy Ray about his move into YA fiction with Burn the Water, a future-set story shaped by Shakespeare, political urgency, and a deep belief in young people's capacity to lead us forward. Their conversation explores community, imagination, hope, and the disc...

What can a cheetah and a rescue dog teach us about trust, friendship, and belonging? In this episode, Tricia Friedman sits down with bestselling author Jasmine Warga to talk about her newest book and the powerful themes at its heart: vulnerability, unlikely friendships, and the courage it takes to let someone truly see you. Inspired by a real program in zoos where rescue dogs are paired with anxio...

In this episode, we sit down with Tui T. Sutherland , bestselling author of the Wings of Fire series, for a rich conversation about creativity, writing, world-building, empathy, and storytelling for young readers . Tui shares how play, curiosity, and even dogs can support focus and imagination, why world-building starts with better questions , and how writers can balance community feedback with th...

In this episode, we sit down with beloved children's book author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds to explore how educators can ignite creativity and self-discovery in young learners. Peter shares why a single question can transform how we teach, and why imagination and dreaming big aren't luxuries but essentials. What We Cover: How teachers activate creativity through authentic, feeling-driven qu...