What can the costume designer behind Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jackson’s Thriller teach educators?

A lot.

In this episode, Dr. Deborah Landis, UCLA professor and legendary Hollywood costume designer (also behind The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Oscar-nominated for Coming to America), breaks down how costume design is actually about:

• Reading deeply

• Interpreting text

• Understanding culture and history

• Building authentic characters

• Transporting an audience

And that’s exactly what great teachers do.

🎭 Why costume design starts with close reading
📚 How immersing students in one person or one time period builds lasting understanding
🎬 The difference between “accuracy” and “authenticity”
🧠 How asking better questions deepens learning
👕 Why what we wear tells a story — and how students can use costume to demonstrate understanding
🔥 What Indiana Jones teaches us about archetypes and engagement
🎓 Why performance and teaching are more alike than we think

Dr. Landis shares how her graduate students study Oscar Wilde by examining text, history, politics, art, and culture before ever designing a garment — and why K–12 classrooms can adapt this same immersive approach.

She reminds us:

“We’re in the transportation business.”

So are great educators.

If you want to make learning feel less like coverage and more like immersion — this conversation will spark ideas across history, ELA, arts integration, and leadership.

🎧 Listen in and ask yourself:
How might costume, story, and performance deepen learning in your classroom or school?

Deborah Landis LinkedIn Page

Deborah Landis Website

UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television

Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design - Book

Why do people keep doing the opposite of what we’ve clearly explained over and over again? Or do nothing at all?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Judy Newman, researcher, former principal, and author of Influence, for a practical, eye-opening conversation on applied neuroscience, psychology, and learning.

We unpack:

• Why thinking is not the same as learning (neurons fire vs. wire)

• How trust, relationships, and growth map directly onto the brain

• Why “one-and-done” PD and initiatives fail

• What neuroscience tells us about feedback, fear, and change

• How leaders can build influence without authority

• What this means for AI adoption, instructional change, and adult learning

• Why emotion—not logic—drives behavior more than we want to admit

This episode is packed with concrete implications for classrooms, PD sessions, leadership moves, and system-level change.

If you’ve ever said “But I already told them…” — this one’s for you.

Judi Newman LinkedIn Page

Influence Book

Dr. Judi Newman Webpage

Music by Aylex

In this wide-ranging conversation, Carol Ann Tomlinson reflects on her unconventional path into teaching and the classroom realities that led her to redefine differentiation—not as a set of tactics, but as an ethical stance toward learners.

Key Themes & Takeaways:

• Differentiation ≠ multiple lesson plans: It’s about common goals with multiple pathways, supports, and timelines.

• Choice builds agency: Students learn more deeply when they can choose how they engage and demonstrate understanding.

• Scaffolding is for everyone: Advanced learners need support too—challenge without scaffolding isn’t rigor.

• AI as a support, not a substitute: Translation, organizers, and access tools can expand equity when used intentionally.

• Second-order change: Differentiation only works when aligned with learning environment, curriculum, assessment, instruction, and classroom leadership.

• Safety precedes learning: Trust, belonging, and relevance are prerequisites—not “extras.”

Who This Episode Is For:
Teachers, coaches, school leaders, and anyone rethinking instruction in a post-COVID, AI-influenced world who wants learning to be human-centered, rigorous, and just.

Where to Learn More:
Carol Ann Tomlinson - ASCD

The Differentiated Classroom Book

What if schools taught longevity—not just aging?

On the latest episode of the podcast, I spoke with Karol Schwartzlander (California Commission on Aging) and Judith Hemphill about why aging belongs in our K–12 conversations.

We’ve added nearly 30 years to life expectancy, yet schools rarely prepare students for long, multigenerational lives. Aging doesn’t start at retirement—it starts at birth.

Key ideas from the conversation:

Positive images of aging can add years to life

Older adults bring wisdom, story, and mentorship students deeply need

Learning flows both ways—especially in an AI-shaped world

Intergenerational schools reduce loneliness and strengthen communities

One insight that stuck with me:

A positive perception of aging adds 7.5 years to your life.

That’s not just a health issue. It’s a curriculum, leadership, and systems issue.

Karol Schwartzlander LinkedIn Page

California Commission on Aging

Judith Hemphill LinkedIn Page

Teaching: The Inside Story

Music by Aylex

Grammar doesn’t fail because students can’t learn it.
It fails because of how it’s taught.

In this episode of the Have a Life Teaching Podcast, I’m joined by literacy expert Patty McGee, co-author of Not Your Granny’s Grammar, to rethink grammar instruction from the ground up.

We explore how grammar can be:

• taught through sentences, play, and inquiry

• embedded across ELA, science, and social studies

• accessible to multilingual learners

• focused on growth over time, not mastery in a day

Patty shares concrete classroom strategies, including sentence manipulation, low-prep grammar play, and assessment approaches that honor language, culture, and audience.

If grammar feels like a compliance task instead of a thinking tool—this conversation shows a better way.

Patty McGee Website

Not Your Granny's Grammar Book

Music by Aylex

In this episode, I speak with Adam Watson about role-playing and gamification as serious instructional tools, not motivational add-ons.

We explore how well-designed role-play:

• Shifts students from passive responders to active decision-makers

• Lowers affective risk while increasing cognitive demand

• Uses identity, narrative, and constraints to deepen reasoning

• Supports academic discourse without overscripting language

This conversation reframes gamification as a cognitive access strategy—especially powerful in discussion-based, humanities, and problem-centered learning contexts.

Key takeaway:
If students are thinking as someone, not just answering as themselves, rigor goes up—not down.

Adam Watson LinkedIn Page

Watson Edtech Page

Table-Top Role Playing Games in the Classroom Book

Music by Aylex

As we return to the second half of the school year, and exhaustion starts to set in, morale often becomes fragile—for teachers, students, and leaders alike.

In this episode, John is joined by Dr. Darrin Peppard, former Wyoming Principal of the Year and founder of Road to Awesome Consulting, to explore a critical reframe: morale isn’t a program—it’s a byproduct of a well-run school.

Darren traces his own leadership journey from classroom teacher to principal and superintendent, including the burnout that came from trying to be a “superhero leader.” From there, the conversation unpacks what truly boosts morale: clarity of vision, strong systems, shared leadership, and leaders who model what they expect.

Listeners will hear practical examples of how effective leaders:

• Build clear organizational and instructional systems

• Delegate leadership without micromanaging

• Create opportunities for teachers and students to lead

• Shift from “putting out fires” to feeding the culture

• Recognize, reward, and reinforce the behaviors they want to see

The episode closes with a powerful reminder: the same practices we ask teachers to use with students—clarity, modeling, and positive narration—are the practices leaders must use with adults. When schools are run well, morale follows.

Darrin Peppard LinkedIn Page

Road to Awesome

Music by Aylex

What does it really mean to communicate a vision—and why does it matter so much for school culture?

In this episode, John Schembari is joined by Corey Gordon, CEO of DeliverEd, to explore how schools and districts can move beyond vision statements as “documents on a page” and turn them into drivers of strategic action and improvement.

Together, they unpack:

• Why a clear vision is the essential first step in building strong school culture

• What effective vision statements include—and what they leave out

• How mission statements, portraits of a graduate, and strategic plans work together

• Practical ways to elevate student voice and stakeholder co-creation

• Common implementation pitfalls (initiative fatigue, lack of KPIs, rushing change)

• How leaders can live the vision through modeling, recognition, hiring, and accountability

This conversation is especially relevant for school and district leaders who want alignment, focus, and follow-through—not just another glossy plan.

🎧 Key takeaway: Vision only matters if it shapes daily decisions, behaviors, and systems—and leadership makes the difference.

Corey Gordon LinkedIn Page

DeliverED

Music by Alex

In this episode, John Schembari is joined by student author Amy Wallace and education researcher Dr. Nick Jackson to explore AI in education—from the learner’s perspective.

Key Topics Covered

• How students actually use AI to think, revise, and plan

• Why bans and AI “detection” tools fail

• What AI reveals about broken assessment systems

• Student agency vs. performative voice

• AI, careers, and uncertainty in the future workforce

• Lessons from Australia’s social media ban

• Why education must move from binary rules to ethical gray zones

Key Takeaway
AI is not an instructional shortcut—it’s a systems stress test.
And students are telling us exactly where the cracks are.

Music by Aylex

The Next Word: AI and Learning

Dr. Nick Jackson LinkedIn Page

Now Future Learning Website

Chronic absenteeism still hovers around 25% nationwide—and one root cause keeps surfacing: student disengagement.

In this episode, we sit down with Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, to unpack a hard truth many of us weren’t trained to question:

👉 Rewards, grades, praise, and “positive reinforcement” don’t build motivation—they often undermine it.

Alfie reminds us:

• Motivation isn’t one thing. The kind matters more than the amount.

• Intrinsic motivation (learning for meaning, curiosity, purpose) is more powerful than extrinsic carrots and sticks.

• The more we reward learning, the more we unintentionally teach students that learning isn’t worth doing on its own.

• What’s framed as “encouragement” is often control in disguise—and kids (and adults) feel it.

So what’s the shift?
🔄 From doing things to students → working with students
🔄 From praise and compliance → choice, voice, agency, and dialogue
🔄 From grades and behavior charts → feedback, reflection, and authentic assessment

This conversation isn’t about blaming teachers—it’s about questioning systems we inherited and reimagining classrooms (and workplaces) where engagement is designed, not bribed.

Alfie Kohn Website

Kohn's Zone Podcast

Punished by Rewards

Music by Aylex