The Edu20/20 Podcast

Welcome to the Edu20/20 After Hours Podcast… and yes, we’re ending the season with state testing. Because what better way to wrap things up than revisiting one of the most stressful and chaotic times of the school year? In this episode, we’re sharing real stories from state testing--the kind that sound made up until you’ve actually lived through it. We’re talking: • The rules, the pressure, and th...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast… and yes, this is the season finale. We’re talking about that very specific time of year. Testing? Done. Kids? Done. Teachers? Definitely DONE. And somehow, you still have weeks left. This episode is all about what to do with that time-- keeping things meaningful without making it harder on yourself. We’re sharing what we’ve tried, what worked, what didn’t, and...

Welcome to the Edu20/20 After Hours Podcast… where we’re nearing the end of the season by going all the way back to the beginning. In this episode, we’re talking about who we were before education-- the random jobs, weird experiences, and moments that somehow shaped how we show up in classrooms today. From running errands for executives (yes, including private jets) to Walmart snack bars, call cen...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast… where we take the things we’ve all done in classrooms and actually look at whether they’re working. This episode is all about study guides. We’ve all used them. We’ve all handed them out before a test. We’re talking through what’s actually happening when students “study” and why a lot of it doesn’t last. This conversation gets into: • What we’ve done (and seen...

Welcome to the Edu20/20 After Hours Podcast, where we’re not solving education today, we’re just trying to survive it. This episode is all about teacher life hacks. We’re talking about: • The tiny changes that save your sanity during the week • How to create routines that work for your brain • Why your people at work matter more than anything • Systems, boundaries, and protecting your time • And t...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast. This episode is all about success criteria and why it’s become one of the most misunderstood (and overcomplicated) things happening in classrooms right now. After hundreds of classroom observations, we’ve seen it all: • Success criteria turned into an agenda • Success criteria that literally gives away the answer • Success criteria used as a compliance checkbo...

Welcome to the Edu20/20 After Hours Podcast. This is your official warning to not listen to this one with your kids in the car. In this episode, we’re sharing some of the wildest, most unhinged things we’ve heard in the classroom, from students, parents, and situations that no teacher prep program could ever prepare you for. We’re talking: • Parent notes that should’ve never been written • Classro...

Welcome to the Edu20/20 Podcast, where we take the things everyone says we “have to do” in education and talk about whether they actually make sense. This episode is all about goals and why they so often feel like a moving target. We break down why goals feel overwhelming (or unclear), what teachers actually need, and how simplifying your focus will lead to real results. Chapters: 0:00 Why goals f...

In this After Hours episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast, Shannon flips the script and puts Courtney in the hot seat. We talk about her journey into foster care and adoption--how she went from zero kids to two in 48 hours (and eventually three) while also running a company and teaching full-time. We get into: • What actually led to the decision to foster • What those first 48 hours were really like • T...

In this episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast, we’re continuing the conversation on lesson planning and zooming in on one of the most overlooked (but critical) parts: checks for understanding. The reality is kids can be doing all the things and still not learning anything. We get into what it actually looks like to monitor learning in real time, how to check for comprehension (not just completion), and...

Welcome to the Edu20/20 After Hours Podcast, AKA the version of us that probably shouldn’t be mic’d up, but here we are. This episode is fully dedicated to Shannon because she casually dropped one of the most unhinged life stories we’ve ever heard and then just moved on like it was normal. We’re talking about her first marriage inside a highly controlled religious organization, what that process a...

In this episode, we’re breaking down a game-changing practice: lesson framing. If your students constantly ask: “Is this for a grade?” “Why I gotta do this?” …it might not be defiance. It might be that the lesson wasn’t framed clearly. We talk about: - What “lesson framing” actually means (beyond writing standards on the board for compliance) - How framing creates clarity, predictability, and smoo...

In this episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast After Hours, Courtney Dumas and Shannon Street take you behind the scenes of life on the road as co-owners of Edu20/20. When you travel across states supporting teachers and leaders, you collect stories… and we’ve collected a lot. In this episode: - The infamous Office Depot bathroom injury (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like) - The gas station with the “...

In this episode, we’re breaking down a game-changing practice: lesson framing. If your students constantly ask: “Is this for a grade?” “Why I gotta do this?” …it might not be defiance. It might be that the lesson wasn’t framed clearly. We talk about: - What “lesson framing” actually means (beyond writing standards on the board for compliance) - How framing creates clarity, predictability, and smoo...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast: After Hours where the vibes are relaxed, and the stories are unfiltered. In this episode, Shannon Street and Courtney Dumas swap teacher-and-student prank stories. You’ll hear: - The remote-control fart machine prank that had an entire class convinced Shannon was guilty - Courtney’s “good kid gone rogue” moment involving stolen transparencies… and an April Foo...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast! Courtney Dumas and Shannon Street are back (with a new studio setup, look at us movin' on up in the world 👀). This episode tackles moving toward instructional goals and why so many goals don’t go anywhere: because we don’t break them into the knowledge and skills teachers (and students) actually need. You’ll hear: - Why “busy” isn’t the same as progress...

Student engagement sounds great in theory—until you’re standing in front of 37 students wondering how to let go without losing control or running out of time. In Part 2 of our student engagement series, Courtney and Shannon get practical. They talk about the real fears teachers have around engagement and how to build engagement for learning step by step without chaos. In this episode, you’ll learn...

“Just make it more engaging” is among the most common feedback teachers get...and the least helpful. You're basically asking the instructional equivalent of “have you tried being better?”😅 In this episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast, Courtney and Shannon unpack what “engagement” actually means, break down the 3 levels of student engagement, and explain why fun doesn’t always equal learning. You’...

Welcome to another After Hours episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast. Courtney and Shannon share their real origin stories: from trauma bonding over a confusing group project to small‑town classrooms, alternative school, religious detours, and even Middle Tennessee Teacher of the Year. Basketball camps, a sister with dyslexia, and one dramatic shattered windshield all made an appearance on the road to E...

Welcome back to the Edu20/20 Podcast. In this episode, we dig into one of our favorite Priority Skills: classroom management. We talk through the routines and systems that make classrooms run smoothly, from how students enter to how they get materials, transition, partner, and exit. If kids touch it or use it, it probably needs a routine. Good management takes the cognitive load off students so th...

Welcome to the After Hours edition of the Edu20/20 Podcast. Think of this as the space where we tell the stories that don’t usually make it into our trainings but absolutely shaped who we are as educators. In today’s episode, it’s all things Courtney. Specifically, the era we now lovingly call Avocado Gate. Yes, she really got written up for a dancing Snapchat avocado during a leadership meeting....

Welcome to the first-ever episode of The Edu20/20 Podcast, your go-to space for simple, effective teaching and coaching strategies. Today, we’re unpacking a big question in education: What actually makes teaching “good”? Courtney and Shannon break down the five Priority Skills every effective teacher and instructional coach should know: Classroom Management, Student Engagement, Behavior Management...