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Anne Podolsky of the Learning Policy Institute shares the latest research trends in effective teacher professional learning. Some of the findings-particularly on learning environments for experienced teachers may be surprising. What is not surprising is that the collegial professional learning environment of a school has a huge effect on student academic and social emotional learning.

National Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025 Missy Testerman uses her position to advocate for the teaching profession. In this conversation, she shares how even in times of stress and upheaval there is great joy and positivity in the education profession.

She taught, she founded schools, she was published widely, she demonstrated that women and girls could achieve academically at the same levels as men and boys. She became one of the most famous women of her time in the 19th century. Yet, almost none of us have ever heard of Catharine Beecher (even those who know of her famous younger sister). In this episode biographer R. Lee Wilson shares the story of one of the most influential educators that you have never heard of and why he believes you should know how Catharine Beecher changed American education for the better.

At both the local and national levels PBS stations are facing serious challenges. Yet, they keep providing some of the most helpful and robust resources for educators. In this conversation local PBS educator Robyn Stringfellow shares how PBS stations support the work of teachers-and will continue to do so in the future!

Every interaction with every student is important, but how we structure (and yes, even plan) our conversations have an enormous impact on how students learn and achieve. In this conversation Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns, authors of Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students, share their strategies building connecting relationships with students.

English teacher and author Matthew R. Kay shares how to build the classroom ecosystem for having meaningful conversations in the classroom, especially conversations about race in America. In this conversation he shares several interventions he uses and discusses how to craft great questions that lead to quality conversations in the classroom.

Matthew Hawn used to be a social studies teacher until he was fired. He had his day in court and won, but instead of being reinstated the school board appealed. In this conversation, Matt shares his story, his thoughts on teaching controversial issues and how the community and particularly his former students have reacted. Despite many setbacks, he continues to be optimistic about the future and his desire to return to the classroom.

Have you ever noticed that tree-lined streets and neighborhoods with lots of trees seem appealing? Have you ever thought that your school or the area around campus could use more trees? Well, it turns out that trees do more than just make things look nice: having a lot of trees on campus and near a school actually improves achievement (yes for real!). In this episode of The Thoughtful Teacher Podcast Albert Garcia shares research that directly connects a fuller tree canopy with improved student achievement and he tells why planting trees is one the strategies for student success.