Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works

By Gene TavernettiEducation How To

Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works episodes

November 11How Can Teachers Move From Balanced Literacy to Science-Based Reading Instruction?
Virginia Quinn-Mooney — Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works
About This Episode
In this episode of Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works, Gene Tavernetti talks with first-grade teacher and literacy advocate Virginia Quinn-Mooney about the Science of Reading, teacher learning, and the work of bringing research-backed instruction into classrooms. Virginia shares how the launch of Sold a Story helped prompt the Science of Reading Virtual Happy Hour, a community that connected teachers with influential literacy advocates and created space for honest professional learning.
The conversation explores classroom practice, teacher collaboration, advocacy, and the tension between evidence-informed instruction and the systems that resist meaningful change. Virginia and Gene return to a practical hope: teachers can model effective instruction every day and help more students experience the teaching they deserve.
What You’ll Learn
How Sold a Story helped teachers begin reexamining literacy instruction.
Why teacher communities and honest conversation matter for professional learning.
What Virginia learned from hosting the Science of Reading Virtual Happy Hour.
How classroom modeling and research-backed practice can influence students directly.
Why implementation depends on leadership, accountability, and follow-through.
How educators can keep working for better instruction even when systems move slowly.
Chapters
00:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
01:05 — Introducing Virginia Quinn-Mooney
05:00 — The impact of Sold a Story
10:30 — Building the Science of Reading Virtual Happy Hour
17:00 — Teacher learning, advocacy, and community
25:00 — Bringing research-backed practice into classrooms
34:00 — What effective modeling looks like every day
43:00 — Systems, implementation, and the challenge of change
52:00 — Hope, persistence, and doing better for students
57:00 — Closing thoughts
Resources
Sold a Story
Gene Tavernetti and TESS Consulting Group
Added/created/modified by Codex on 2026.11.04 00:00 on ombee.

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
1 hr 2 min
November 04Special Education, Explicit Instruction, and the Power of Literacy — with Dr. Lalita Karpen
Special Education, Explicit Instruction, and the Power of Literacy — with Dr. Lalita Karpen
About This Episode
In this episode of Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works, Gene Tavernetti talks with Dr. Lalita Karpen about special education, specially designed instruction, literacy, and the responsibility schools have to provide effective instruction for every student.
Dr. Karpen shares her path from leaving high school to earning a doctorate, and explains why she sees literacy as a human right. The conversation then examines how specially designed instruction differs from accommodations, how it should build on strong Tier 1 instruction, and what teachers and school leaders can do to support students with disabilities.
What You’ll Learn
Why literacy and education can change the trajectory of families and generations.
What specially designed instruction means under special education law.
How SDI should connect content, methodology, and delivery to individual student needs.
Why teacher preparation and instructional leadership must better support special education.
How mentoring, lesson planning, immediate feedback, and progress monitoring help teachers serve students well.
What co-teaching, school choice, and student-loan forgiveness mean for students with disabilities.
Chapters
00:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
01:28 — Dr. Karpen’s journey and the power of literacy
08:10 — Education as a human right
15:45 — What specially designed instruction means
26:20 — Preparing and mentoring special education teachers
37:35 — Applying SDI to individual student needs
48:10 — Instructional leadership, co-teaching, and school support
57:20 — Teacher preparation, school choice, and student debt
63:10 — Closing thoughts
Resources
Dr. Lalita Karpen on LinkedIn — Connect with Dr. Karpen and follow her education work.
Dr. Lalita Karpen on X — Follow Dr. Karpen’s updates and resources.
Council for Exceptional Children — The professional organization referenced in the conversation.
This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
1 hr 4 min
October 28From Six Teachers to a Movement: Building Professional Development That Lasts
From Six Teachers to a Movement: Building Professional Development That Lasts
About This Episode
Most professional development begins with enthusiasm and ends before it changes classroom practice. In this episode of Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works, Gene Tavernetti talks with Suzannah Evans and Dr. Shane Saeed about the Science of Learning Collaborative in Colorado’s St. Vrain Valley School District.
What began in 2019 as a small book study nearly disappeared during COVID-19, shrinking to six committed educators. Instead of giving up, Suzannah and Shane built a voluntary, sustained model of professional learning that now connects more than 100 teachers across a large district. They explain how the collaborative creates practical learning, peer accountability, teacher leadership, and a network where educators can test ideas in classrooms and return to learn from one another.
The conversation is a useful reminder that lasting professional learning does not require a massive initiative. It can begin with a few people, a worthwhile question, a small pilot, and enough patience to let the work spread through trust and word of mouth.
What You’ll Learn
Why one-and-done professional development rarely produces lasting change.
How a six-person learning group grew into a district-wide collaborative.
Why voluntary participation can create stronger motivation and accountability.
How hybrid meetings, reflection, and classroom application support busy teachers.
Ways to build teacher leadership and a cross-school community of practice.
How to start small, choose an effective pilot group, and let results spread organically.
Chapters
00:00 — Welcome and introducing Suzannah Evans and Shane Saeed
02:37 — The Science of Learning Collaborative begins
06:24 — From a 2019 book study to six teachers during COVID
12:01 — Designing a flexible, sustained professional-learning model
15:47 — Peer learning, accountability, and teacher leadership
24:00 — Building momentum across a large district
36:00 — Voluntary participation and meaningful buy-in
46:17 — Scaling a grassroots writing initiative
50:12 — Start with a small pilot and let the work speak
54:15 — The origins and classroom logic of the FAST framework
Resources
St. Vrain Valley Schools
Vrain Waves: Necessary Condition — Learning Together
Suzannah Evans on LinkedIn
Suzannah Evans on X
Dr. Shane Saeed on X
Teach FAST / TESS Consulting Group
About the Guests
Suzannah Evans is an instructional coordinator at St. Vrain Valley School District and a facilitator of the district’s Science of Learning Collaborative. Dr. Shane Saeed is an elementary ELA curriculum coordinator, author, speaker, and co-host of the Vrain Waves podcast. Together, they support educators in turning evidence-informed ideas into practical classroom improvement.

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
1 hr 3 min
October 21Mitch Weathers on Executive Functions, Clarity, and Organized Binders
Summary
What are executive functions, and how can teachers support them without adding another program to the school day? Mitch Weathers returns to Better Teaching to discuss the cognitive skills behind organization, task initiation, self-regulation, planning, and follow-through.
Mitch explains why clarity, modeling, predictable routines, and a well-designed classroom environment protect students' cognitive capacity. He also makes the case for analog tools in a digital world and shares how the Organized Binder approach helps students—and teachers—build practical organizational habits.
Chapters
0:00 — Welcome and meeting Mitch Weathers
2:15 — What executive functions are and why they matter in classrooms
8:30 — Core executive functions: working memory, inhibition, and flexibility
15:30 — Higher-order executive functions and age-appropriate expectations
24:00 — Clarity, modeling, and predictable classroom routines
33:00 — The Organized Binder approach and building student independence
42:00 — Analog tools, technology, and protecting students' cognitive work
50:00 — Connecting executive-function supports with effective lesson structure
53:20 — Closing thoughts and practical next steps
Show Notes
Mitch Weathers is the author of Executive Functions for Every Classroom and co-author of Executive Functions for Every K–3 Classroom.
Connect with Mitch on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Mitch and Gene discuss the Organized Binder approach, which supports organization, task initiation, self-regulation, and follow-through.
The conversation explores how teachers can make expectations clear, model routines, reduce unnecessary cognitive load, and create predictable environments that help students develop executive-function skills.
Mitch explains why analog tools can complement technology by giving students opportunities to practice the skills they will need in other settings.
Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works is hosted by Gene Tavernetti. Find more about Gene's work at tesscg.com.

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
55 min
October 14Starfish Teachers: It Made a Difference to That Teacher
Summary
What happens when some of the best teachers in a district are invited to present at conferences across the country, but are never asked to share what they know in their own schools? In this solo episode, Gene Tavernetti reflects on the way classroom teachers with deep expertise in evidence-informed instruction can be sought out by educators elsewhere while their knowledge is overlooked or discouraged at home.
Gene explores Tall Poppy Syndrome, the social cost of standing out, and why sending teachers to conferences with instructions to bring learning back is unlikely to produce meaningful schoolwide change without leadership and a culture that values internal expertise. He revisits the Starfish Story with a less comforting conclusion: if conference learning changes only one classroom, perhaps all we can say is, “It made a difference to that teacher.”
Chapters
0:00 — The expertise schools overlook
2:00 — Tall Poppy Syndrome and the cost of standing out
5:00 — Why conference learning does not automatically spread
8:00 — The Starfish Story and a challenge for leaders
Show Notes
Gene Tavernetti reflects on teachers whose expertise is valued everywhere except at home.
The episode asks school and district leaders whether they know where the expertise is in their own organization.
A strong internal culture gives teachers meaningful opportunities to share and use what they know.
This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
12 min
October 07Digital Captives: Reclaiming the Human Side of Teaching
Summary
In this from-the-archives episode, Bart Hoffman interviews Dr. Frank Rodriguez and Gene Tavernetti about their book Digital Captives: Helping Schools Strike a Balance Between Humans and Hardware. They trace how technology moved from a tool intended to augment instruction into something that can displace attention, relationships, reading, and meaningful learning.
Frank and Gene discuss what they have observed in schools and after-school programs, why the pandemic accelerated existing problems, and how educators can respond without swinging from unquestioned technology adoption to an equally unhelpful rejection of digital tools. Their central message is practical: schools need intentional systems that put humans, learning, and healthy technology habits back at the center.
Chapters
0:00 — Introduction: from digital natives to digital captives
2:17 — What changed for students and schools
6:00 — When technology stopped augmenting instruction
10:27 — The problem of too much digital material
14:09 — Finding balance between humans and hardware
18:00 — Adult modeling, attention, and schoolwide systems
23:18 — Practical ways schools can reset technology habits
26:00 — Screen inferiority and reading comprehension
31:30 — Rebuilding conversation, focus, and human connection
38:00 — Leading change without creating another pendulum swing
47:56 — The book, the authors, and where to learn more
60:30 — Closing thoughts
Show Notes
Dr. Frank Rodriguez — Educator and leader of after-school and community learning programs whose work with students and staff helped prompt the research behind Digital Captives.
Gene Tavernetti — Host of Better Teaching and co-author of Digital Captives.
Bart Hoffman — Education leader and friend of the podcast who conducts the interview.
Digital Captives: Helping Schools Strike a Balance Between Humans and Hardware is written by Frank Rodriguez, Donna Smith, and Gene Tavernetti.
Learn more about the authors and the book through Schools Next.
This is a refreshed from-the-archives presentation of Better Teaching episode 90.

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
1 hr 3 min
September 30 Culture Is Built, Not Inherited: How Schools Actually Change
Summary
Gene Tavernetti examines the familiar explanation that school improvement is difficult because “it’s just the culture.” Drawing on work with schools across the United States and Canada, he argues that culture is not fixed atmosphere—it is the residue of daily decisions, habits, and follow-through.
The practical path to change is to change what people do. Gene lays out a focused approach: choose one or two specific instructional practices, support them through consistent coaching, use common look-fors in leadership walkthroughs, and protect the commitments through follow-through. The goal is a shift from isolated classrooms to a shared identity around how “we teach here.”
Chapters
0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
0:37 — Why “it’s just the culture” becomes an excuse
2:13 — Culture is built from daily decisions
3:08 — Change behavior before trying to change beliefs
4:12 — Make coaching and walkthroughs consistent
5:26 — From “I teach here” to “we teach here”
6:42 — Protect the culture you want through follow-through
Show Notes
Guest/host: Gene Tavernetti
Gene’s professional site: tesscg.com
Gene’s books include Teach Fast: Focus, Adaptable, Structured Teaching and Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles.
Better Teaching is part of the BE Podcast Network: bepodcastnetwork.com
Production card: Basecamp

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
9 min
September 30The First Skill Every New Teacher Needs: Fluency in Explicit Instruction
Summary
What do new teachers most need to know? Gene Tavernetti argues that one of the most important answers is explicit instruction—not as a topic to study in a professional-development session, but as a practice to design, deliver, and improve until it becomes fluent. Drawing on work with teacher-induction programs and new hires from many different credentialing programs, Gene explains why fluency in explicit instruction reduces decision-making load and strengthens classroom practice.
The conversation also explores why explicit instruction provides a baseline for accommodations and modifications, reduces unnecessary variation before interventions are introduced, helps educators evaluate curriculum and AI-generated lessons, and gives professional learning communities a common language for collaboration.
Chapters
0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
0:41 — What new teachers need beyond credentialing
2:20 — Moving from knowledge to fluency in explicit instruction
4:45 — Why fluency reduces classroom decision overload
6:25 — Using strong lesson design as a baseline for adaptations
7:35 — Eliminating variables before launching interventions
9:05 — Evaluating curriculum and AI-generated lessons
10:35 — Building a common language for collaboration
12:25 — What explicit instruction does—and does not—mean
13:25 — Recap and closing
Show Notes
Guest/host: Gene Tavernetti
Gene’s professional site: https://tesscg.com/
Gene’s books include *Teach Fast: Focus, Adaptable, Structured Teaching* and *Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles*.
Better Teaching is part of the BE Podcast Network: https://bepodcastnetwork.com/
Basecamp production card: https://3.basecamp.com/3104101/buckets/37549891/card_tables/cards/10347189507
This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
15 min
September 23How to Sabotage a Coach
Summary
Instructional coaches are often treated as a school’s all-purpose backup: covering classes, managing testing logistics, joining extra committees, and handling whatever emergency appears next. In this episode of Better Teaching, Gene Tavernetti explains how those individually reasonable requests quietly dismantle a coaching program.
Gene makes the case for protecting coaching time as carefully as instructional time. He recommends a clear job description, a schedule that protects observation and debriefing, explicit monthly expectations, and a target of spending 70–80 percent of the coach’s time in classrooms. The long-term choice is clear: covering a class solves today’s problem, while coaching improves instruction this year and the years that follow.
Chapters
0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
0:46 — The all-purpose support trap
1:23 — How understaffing consumes the coaching calendar
3:12 — The message teachers receive when coaches are pulled
4:08 — Define and protect the coaching role
4:49 — Keep 70–80% of the coach’s time in classrooms
5:16 — Dr. Randy Olson and the “nothing is an emergency” rule
5:44 — Short-term convenience versus long-term improvement
6:42 — Closing thoughts and resources
Show Notes
**Host:** Gene Tavernetti
**Core takeaway:** Protect the coaching calendar like instructional time. Define what coaches do—and what they do not do—and hold leadership accountable for preserving that work.
**Recommended starting point:** Write a clear coaching job description, set a weekly schedule for observations and debriefs, and review the coach’s time allocation monthly.
**Gene’s books:** *Teach Fast, Focus Adaptable Structure Teaching* and *Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles*
**Website:** TESS Consulting Group
**BlueSky:** @gtavarnetti
**X/Twitter:** @gtavarnetti
**BE Podcast Network:** bepodcastnetwork.com
About Better Teaching
Better Teaching is hosted by Gene Tavernetti and focuses on practical ideas for teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and everyone who supports better work in classrooms—no clichés, no buzzwords, only stuff that works.
Added/created/modified by Codex on 2026.09.22 13:22 PT on ombee

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
8 min
September 16The Coaching Trap: Why Scripted Feedback Makes Coaching More Human
Summary
In this episode of Better Teaching, Gene Tavernetti challenges the belief that effective coaching must be spontaneous and unscripted. He explains why a well-designed coaching script does not make a feedback conversation rigid or inauthentic—it gives the coach a reliable structure for specific, courageous, and useful feedback.
Gene connects coaching scripts to classroom-management routines, surgical checklists, crisis-response training, and his own experiences as a counselor, principal, and coach. The practical takeaway is simple: prepare the sequence, transitions, and language of a feedback conversation so you can be fully present when the conversation begins.
Chapters
0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching
0:45 — The coaching trap: unplanned and unscripted feedback
2:57 — Why educators distrust scripts
3:57 — Scripts, checklists, and professional responsiveness
4:49 — How preparation helps coaches face fear
6:25 — Using scripts in high-stakes conversations
8:01 — What happens when a coach goes off script
8:47 — A practical standard for scripting feedback conversations
9:37 — Resources and closing
Show Notes
**Host:** Gene Tavernetti
**Featured idea:** Script coaching conversations with the same intentionality teachers bring to well-planned lessons.
**Gene’s books:** *Teach Fast, Focus Adaptable Structure Teaching* and *Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles*
**Website:** TESS Consulting Group
**BlueSky:** @gtavarnetti
**X/Twitter:** @gtavarnetti
**BE Podcast Network:** bepodcastnetwork.com
About Better Teaching
Better Teaching is hosted by Gene Tavernetti and focuses on practical ideas for teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and everyone who supports better work in classrooms—no clichés, no buzzwords, only stuff that works.
Added/created/modified by Codex on 2026.09.14 17:27 PT on ombee

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.
11 min

About Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works

From the publisher's feed

Descriptions of effective teaching often depict an idealized form of "perfect" instruction. Yet, pursuing perfection in teaching, which depends on children's behavior, is ultimately futile. To be…