Episodes

In This Episode We Discuss Why most end-of-year classroom plans fall apartHow to move from reacting to intentionally designing the end of the school yearThe three patterns that lead to behavior shifts and loss of structure af...

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Agarwal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as ...

Episode 131 How to design read aloud lessons that build understanding—not just engagement The difference between read aloud that supplements vs. supplants your instruction Using read aloud to teach reading skills like charact...

Episode 130 Show Notes Accountable Talk During Read Aloud: How to Move Beyond Turn and Talk to Real Thinking Why student talk doesn’t always lead to deeper thinking How to structure read aloud conversations to move beyond par...

Episode 129 - Why Read Aloud Still Matters in Grades 3–5 Classrooms In this episode we talk about: Why read alouds still matter in your Upper Elementary literacy classrooms. How Read alouds support learning science, How Read ...

In this episode: Listen in as I interview Stacey Riedmiller of Literacy for Big Kids. We talk about the what, the why and the how of reading what your students are reading. We talk about: 1 .What- What does it mean to read wh...

Listen to this interview with Dr. Pooja Aragawal as we talk about: 1.What’s actually happening when students aren’t holding on to what we have taught them from one day to the next. 2.How to think about retrieval strategies as...

Episode 127 In This Episode We Discuss How to incorporate science of learning strategies into your literacy block Using retrieval practice in reading lessons Why spaced practice improves student learning Turning learning obje...

Episode 126 — Designing for Transfer in Reading Instruction Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what you can do to help support student transfer of information through the application of knowledge in your upper el...

Episode 125 — What Really Drives Student Motivation? Goal: The goal of this episode is to understand what fuels student motivation in your upper elementary literacy classroom. We talk about: 1.What really fuels student motiva...

Episode 124 — Teaching Students How to Take Charge of their Learning Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with the what, the why and the how of getting your students to take charge of their learning. We tal...

Episode 123 :Designing Reading Lessons That Outlast the Pacing Guide Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you design literacy lessons that promote transfer and long-term learning — even when that means making intentional...

Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for helping students build connected meaning within and across texts. We talk about: 1.Concept Mapping 2. Recap of chapter 6 of Smart Teaching Strong...

Episode 121 — Why- How Your Students Learn and Practice Matters in your Upper Elementary Literacy Classroom? Goal: The goal of this episode is to help you walk away with tangible tools for choosing how to teach and practice ...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...