Episodes
Feb. 3, 2026
Why Learning That Lasts Often Feels Hard
Episode 120 — Why Learning That Lasts Often Feels Hard Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you understand why learning that lasts requires productive struggle and how retrieval and spacing routines help learning stick ...
Jan. 27, 2026
What Does it Mean for Learning to Stick in Your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom?
Episode 119: What Does It Mean for Learning to Stick? The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with an understanding of what retrieval practices are and how they help support student learning, in other words how to m...
Jan. 20, 2026
Leading Yourself When the System Falls Short
In this episode: We talk about what it means to be a self-led teacher and how being a self-led teacher can help shape your practice and improve student outcomes as an upper elementary literacy teacher. We also reveal our anch...
Dec. 30, 2025
The 2025 Playbook Recap: Our Top 5 Most-Listened-To Episodes
In this episode: Listen in as I wrap up the top 5 most listened to episodes in 2025. We talk about: The top 5 most listened to episodes of the podcast for 2025 and what you can look forward to from the podcast in quarter 1. L...
Dec. 23, 2025
From Reflection to Reset- The How Episode
We talk about: How to conduct a mid-year check in and what to do with the information you gather during your check in meeting. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Mid Year Check In Grab my free guide for keeping your...
Dec. 16, 2025
The Mid Year Pause: Why Reflection Matters
We talk about: The what and the why of taking time to reflect on your literacy block and how you are uniquely positioned to do that. Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: Mid Year Check In Grab my free guide for keepin...
Dec. 9, 2025
The Motivated Literacy Classroom
In this episode: Listen to the final episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: Reflecting on the three basic psychological needs that your students have and thinking about how they show up in your literacy...
Dec. 2, 2025
Building Competence – Helping Students Believe They Can
In this episode: Listen to the fourth episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk ab...
Nov. 26, 2025
Coaching for Motivation – Building Relatedness and Autonomy
In this episode: Listen to the third episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk abo...
Nov. 18, 2025
The Science of Motivation – Why It Matters in Your Literacy Classroom
In this episode: Listen to the second episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: We continue our conversation about motivation and why it matters in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We also talk ab...
Nov. 12, 2025
What Moves Them? Defining Motivation in the Literacy Classroom
In this episode: Listen to the first episode in our Motivation Matters Mini Series. We talk about: That ever illusive thing that we want students to have when it comes to our literacy classrooms. That thing that if they had i...
April 29, 2025
Finish Strong-ish Cultivating Classroom Community at the End of the Year
In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of maintaining the community that you’ve worked hard to cultivate all year long. We talk about: 1.What it means to cultivate community. 2. Why cultivating community during o...
April 23, 2025
Fisnish Strong-ish How to Keep Literacy Learning Front and Center at the End of the Year
In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of keeping literacy learning front and center at the end of the school year. We talk about: 1.What does it mean to keep learning front and center. 2. Why keeping learning f...
April 15, 2025
Finish the Year Strong-ish Making a Plan for your M.S.O.- Motivation, Self-Care and Organization
In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of leveraging the behind the scenes of being an upper elementary reading teacher to help you end the year strong-ish. We talk about: 1.What is the behind the scenes of teach...
April 8, 2025
Finish Strong-ish Permission to edit your vision
In this episode: I talk about the what, why and how of casting a vision that will help you finish the year strong-ish We talk about: 1.What it means to cast a realistic vision for the end of the school year in your upper elem...
April 1, 2025
Compare and Contrast Mini-Series: The What, The Why and The How of Comparing and Contrasting
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the What, the Why and the How that finding similarities and differences across texts plays in their reading lives. We talk about: Listen to the final ep...
March 18, 2025
Compare and Contrast Series: The What, The Why and The How of Comparing
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the What, the Why and the How of making comparisons in your upper elementary literacy classroom We talk about: Listen to the first episode in our compar...
Feb. 27, 2025
Helping students internalize what you've taught them
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the role modeling plays in increasing a student’s self-efficacy and self-regulation. This is a sneak peek at a workshop all about teaching students how ...
Feb. 12, 2025
Teaching for Transfer: What is modeling and why does it matter in your literacy classroom?
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about the importance of modeling in your literacy classroom. We talk about: What modeling is, what the research says about it and how you can impact it so tha...
Jan. 29, 2025
Teaching for Transfer: What is self regulation and why does it matter in our literacy classroom?
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about what the research says about self-regulation, why it matters and how it impacts students in your classroom. We talk about: What self-regulation is, what the research says about it a...
Jan. 15, 2025
Teaching for Transfer: Self-Efficacy and Upper Elementary Literacy
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about self-efficacy and how it impacts your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: What self-efficacy, why knowing what it is matters in your literacy classroom and how to he...
Jan. 1, 2025
The Top 5 Episodes of 2024
In this episode: Listen in as I wrap up as we recap the top 5 podcast episodes of 2024. We talk about: The top 5 most listened to episodes of the podcast this year and the main takeaways. I also included a tip for a learning ...
Dec. 18, 2024
Teaching for Transfer: Get Students in the Zone in Your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about why your students may not be applying what you’ve taught them and some ways to fix that. We talk about: The what, the why and the how of teaching students in their zone of proximal ...
Dec. 4, 2024
Teaching for Transfer in Upper Elementary: The Difference Between Rote and Meaningful learning
In this episode: Listen in as we talk about how to bridge the gap between rote learning and meaningful learning in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: The what, the why and the how of teaching students so...