Schurtz and Ties: A podcast about education and culture
Inspired by the classroom, Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller wrestle with how to become better teachers, leaders, and people.
Schurtz and Ties is sponsored by PeerDrivePD.com and is a proud member of the TeachBetter Podcast Network.
Recent Episodes
March 9, 2026
Episode 140: The Literacy Knowledge Teachers Need with Mary Jo Fresch
In Episode 140 of Schurtz & Ties , we welcome back literacy expert Mary Jo Fresch to talk about what teachers really need to understand about reading, vocabulary, and language. Mary Jo has spent decades helping educators make...
March 1, 2026
Episode 134: The Wisdom of Being Unsure with Maggie Jackson
What if uncertainty isn’t weakness—but the doorway to deeper thinking? In this episode of Schurtz & Ties , we sit down with journalist and author Maggie Jackson, whose books Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure an...
Feb. 22, 2026
Episode 133 (Part 1): Teaching Through Fear — Inside a School During a Political Firestorm
Teachers carry more than lesson plans. They carry fear that isn’t theirs. They carry responsibility no one trained them for. They carry the weight of holding stability when everything else feels uncertain. In this first episo...
Feb. 22, 2026
Episode 133 (Part 2): The Fear Teachers Carry — When One Decision Can End a Career
Teachers carry more than lesson plans. They carry the knowledge that one moment—one decision, one sentence, one misunderstood action—can change everything. They carry the quiet awareness that the work they love can also make ...
Feb. 15, 2026
Episode 132: Brain Myths, Learning Science, and What Teachers Actually Need to Know — with Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa
In Episode 132, we are joined by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa , an internationally recognized researcher and author whose work sits at the intersection of mind, brain, and education science . This conversation explores what neuro...
Feb. 9, 2026
Episode 131: No-Nonsense Brewing No-Nonsense Education
A true barstool conversation with brewer Jeremiah Johnson In this episode, Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller step outside the education silo and sit down with Jeremiah Johnson , founder and owner of Jeremiah Johnson Brewing C...
Feb. 1, 2026
Episode 130: Choice, Structure, and the Cost of Getting Education Wrong with Barry Schwartz
🎙️ Episode 130: Barry Schwartz Choice, Structure, and the Cost of Getting Education Wrong In Episode 130 of Schurtz & Ties , we are joined by Barry Schwartz , renowned psychologist and author whose work has shaped how we thin...
Jan. 28, 2026
Schurtz Shorts: What’s Our Guiding Light?
Schurtz Short: What’s Our Guiding Light? In this Schurtz Short, Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller wrestle with a deceptively simple question schools often rush past: What is our guiding light when we make decisions? As school...
Jan. 24, 2026
Episode 129: When Inclusion Stops Working — A Conversation with Dr. Douglas Fuchs
🎙️ Schurtz & Ties Dr. Douglas Fuchs on Inclusion, IDEA, and the Limits of the General Classroom In this episode of Schurtz & Ties , Kasey Schurtz sits down with Dr. Douglas Fuchs , one of the most influential scholars in spec...
Jan. 18, 2026
Episode 128: Feed the Cats: Coaching Classrooms, Competition, and Joy with Tony Holler
What if the key to better classrooms isn’t more compliance—but more fire ? In this episode of Schurtz & Ties , Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller sit down with Coach Tony Holler —creator of the Feed the Cats philosophy, longti...
Jan. 10, 2026
Episode 127: Anxious Kids, Anxious Adults: Communication, Accountability, and the Work Beneath Behavior with Peck
In this episode of Schurtz & Ties , Kasey Schurtz and Brian Miller welcome back therapist, former educator, and author Charle Peck, LCSW, M.Ed. for a candid conversation about student anxiety, adult stress, and the communicat...
Jan. 5, 2026
Episode 126: Brain Science, Trauma, and Rethinking School Behavior with Dr. Katie Lohmiller and Halley Gruber
In this conversation, Kasey and Brian sit down with Dr. Katie Lohmiller and Halley Gruber, co-founders of the Educational Access Group, to explore what it really means to build trauma-responsive, brain-based schools. They unp...
Dec. 24, 2025
Schurtz Shorts: Christmas Special
n this Christmas Special episode of Schurtz and Ties, hosts Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller engage in a lively discussion with their friends and fellow educators, Matt and Eric. They reflect on their shared experiences in e...
Dec. 17, 2025
Ep. 124: Beyond Punishment: The Case for Accountability
American educators are in urgent need of meaningful behavioral support. Too often, punishment and consequences are conflated, while accountability gets lost in the noise. In this episode, Brian and Kasey unpack what accountab...
Dec. 14, 2025
Schurtz Shorts: The Balance Between Punishment and Accountability
In this Schurtz Short, Kasey Schurtz and Brian T. Miller unpack the difference between accountability, punishment, and consequences, and why conflating them creates confusion for both students and staff. They explore how clar...
Dec. 10, 2025
Ep. 123: Beyond the Gap: Grade-Level Access, Scaffolding, and What Today’s Learners Need, with John Almarode
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. John Almarode , an internationally recognized expert in student engagement, visible learning, and the science of how the brain learns best. With years of research, countless publications,...
Dec. 8, 2025
Schurtz Shorts: Emotionally Sound Leadership: What to Share, What to Hold, and Why it Matters
Emotions are complex. For leaders, they’re even more so. Left unfiltered, they can become dangerous—for both the leader and the people they lead. Over-filtered, they create distance—leaders risk becoming hollow, disconnected ...
Dec. 1, 2025
Ep. 122: People, Curriculum, and the Ocean Between.
Public education is living in a strange moment. Polls show trust and confidence in our K–12 system at an all-time low — a record 26% of Americans believe schools are headed in the right direction. And yet every day, inside cl...
Nov. 25, 2025
Schurtz Shorts: When Your Best Strategies Stop Working
Most of our go-to strategies work because—well—they work for most kids. But every educator knows the moment when a trusted approach suddenly falls flat. So what do we do when the strategy that helps 90% of students leaves the...
Nov. 20, 2025
Ep. 121: Doing the Inner Work, with Jennifer Abrams
In this follow-up conversation with international consultant and author Jennifer Abrams , we go deeper than strategies and surface-level “tips” for conflict resolution. This episode is about the inner work —the courage, humil...
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