Two Pint PLC

We read a longitudinal study examining US gifted systems failing to identify students with spatial aptitude over the past 60 years. We search for the causes and consequences of undervaluing spatial reasoning, and identify classroom practices that support those students in our schools. Later, we discuss ways to get the benefits of peer observation for teachers when observable colleagues are not rea...

Grading always occurs in a social context. We’ll examine a study that measured how weight bias manifested when scoring writing samples. Work from overweight students was scored lower in some categories, but teachers believed bias was far less of an issue than their scoring revealed. Later, we unpack research on the impact of subtle changes in prompting on participant success in a simple logic puzz...

The push for data-driven instruction can sometimes feel at odds with empowering educators to exercise their professional judgement. We read the story of one Kansas district that attempted to implement a new system for helping students. A push for data and numbers seemed to push out all the other sources of information, undermining their ability to help those students. Later, we see a nation-wide b...

In our increasingly globalized world, ever more students are growing up immersed in multiple cultures throughout their childhood. These children can become “third culture kids”, young people who identify with a hybrid culture that is distinct from any of the places they’ve lived. We consider how teachers can be sensitive to their experience and supportive in their journey. Later, we’ll read about...

Every student deserves an equitable opportunity to learn in our classroom. Jennifer Pusateri joins us to share how her work with universal design for learning (UDL) helps remove barriers to learning for students. We re-examine our assumptions for how a classroom must run and find ways to provide options for each learner in our room. Later, we debate how useful metadata can be for supporting studen...

Research on growth mindset took the education world by storm in the 2000’s, prompting excitement and criticism. We read a large scale expansion of the growth mindset research that addresses some of the most common criticisms of past work and provides actionable guidance for classroom teachers. Later, we look at how different forms of feedback can affect students’ ability to solve math problems on...

Even young students can begin to understand abstract topics like quantum mechanics, if given the chance. Nahuel Acosta and Auriana Anderson join us to discuss their research related to delivering guest lessons on quantum mechanics in K-12 classrooms. We learn why teaching quantum mechanics concepts early is useful, what their research revealed about their students' growth, and how the experience a...

Summer is a time for reflection and renewal of purpose. We pause from our usual analysis of research and news to reflect on the past year. We'll pull back the curtain on how and why we've made some of our show decisions this past year. We'll also wrestle with what we hope to do better next year.

We must balance teaching content knowledge and professional skills. Will Dunn joins as a guest host on an episode dedicated to exploring how we pursue this balance throughout educational practice. We start with a discussion of how we should situate competencies in standards. Later, we read about the theory of embodied cognition. This theory emphasizes the importance of sensory experience, and we d...

Retrieval of information is a demanding cognitive process, and teachers must find instructional approaches that improve later retrieval of learned material. We discuss how different student experiences lead to varied success in retrieval, and how it might affect our choices for the experiences we provide in our classroom. Later, we read an updated analysis of several major standardized tests in th...

Open Access Educational Resources (OERs) are an emerging alternative to traditional textbooks, but how do new technologies compare to traditional options? Dr. Virginia Clinton joins us to discuss her recent papers “Savings without sacrifice: a case report on open-source textbook adoption” and “Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis”. Later, we read a study th...

Problems in education are often a complex mix of social, cognitive, and historical processes. Dr. Beth Holland, author of a recent Education Week piece we read, joins us to talk about education perspective. Later, Dr. Holland shares her expertise in studying school networks as we discuss how we can get more from our efforts in working with colleagues. The Peer Review brings us a paper from our lis...

The notion that “schools are designed like factories” is a pernicious myth in education. Jenn Binis, host of the podcast Ed History 101, joins us to discuss why this narrative is so prevalent and how the myth ends up hurting teachers. Later, we read a paper on how teachers build social capital in their building. Community cohesion is valuable, but too much can lead to some unintended consequences....

Good teaching requires creativity, but how do we create a supportive environment for innovative teaching? We read an article lays out how an innovation commons allows people to innovate, and we discuss how we could build an innovation commons in education. Later, Youki Terada joins us for an extended Peer Review. Youki has published a round-up of educational research from 2018, and we compare note...

Algorithms that effectively guide instruction is the dream of some people… but the reality of what instructional programs can do right now is something else entirely. Shane Lawrence guest hosts this month as we discuss a recent study on how computer-assisted instruction compared to human teachers. Later, we look at some urban planning research to find lessons on how we can create better learning s...

Building culture has a tremendous impact on teacher satisfaction, student engagement, and the daily education experience. This month’s article shows us how teacher stress burdens students, enthusiasm is contagious, and more! Later, Laurence responds to a listener request with details on how he builds his classroom culture in the first two weeks of school. We also bring back the non-sequitur with a...

Teachers must build relationships with their students, despite the great breadth in their cultural backgrounds. Dolores Greenawalt, a professor at Caroll University in Wisconsin, joins us to discuss her recent writing on building positive relationships… even when it seems impossible. Later, we look at research data produced by the non-profit TNTP on the inequity of instructional practice. Their da...

Technology seems to be everywhere, and it is tempting to imagine children grow up with expertise through familiarity. The research paints a vastly different picture, and we discuss one of the top read articles of 2017 that deconstructs the myth of the digital native and the costly habit of multitasking. Later, we take a look at some of the popular writing on socio-emotional development. It can be...

All students should have access to challenging coursework that lets them grow in their areas of interest. Abby Whitbeck, the Executive Director of AP Strategy and Analytics for the College Board, joins us to talk about how they are using data to create new policies designed to improve representation of all students in Advanced Placement classes. Later, listeners have recommended Science/Fiction, a...

Enjoy a bonus episode that wraps our first season of production. Check in with many of our guests and reflect on our year of learning.

Responsive teaching is is an exciting way to highlight student voice, but it comes with its own share of challenges and tensions. Caroline Herbster and Jacob Truett, from FSU Teach at Florida State University, join us to talk about their research with veteran teachers as they work to incorporate responsive practices. Later, we look to a British study on the effects of classroom consensus on socio-...

Multilingual learners are sitting in most classrooms today. How do we support ELL students’ learning in math, science and social studies while they navigate the language and cultural barriers of their emergent bilingualism? We look at some research on how taking responsibility for our own cultural and linguistic perspective as teachers can help. Later, we discuss another listener recommendation. S...

Standards-based grades are an exciting option for making grades more meaningful. We look at some recent writings on how to avoid some of the most common mistakes in our gradebooks, and then consider how standards-based grades can support some of the best practices. Later, we read some additional work suggested by one of our past authors. Her new work helps us connect our ideas on building student...

Students should drive their own learning. Drew Ising, another biology teacher from Baldwin High School, joins the PLC to discuss how the NGSS framework calls for letting our students take the lead in our classroom. We must guide students as they build understanding and skill, but how do we deal with misconceptions and incomplete understanding without removing their control over the process? Later,...

Social controversy swirls in the public space. Societal tensions carry into the classroom and affect how students interact with each other and the material. Teachers must have the courage to address contentious topics in their classroom, the wisdom to know where their expertise lies, and the resolution to see their choices through to the end. We examine the writings of Dr. Diana Hess, an expert on...