Teach Smarter

In this episode of Teach Smarter, Pete sits down with Shane Safir and Marlo Bagsik, co-authors of Pedagogies of Voice: Street Data and the Path to Student Agency, to discuss what it actually means to give students a voice in their education.

The conversation explores the difference between collecting student feedback and acting on it, what belonging and agency look like in classrooms, and why some practices can be difficult to implement even when educators recognize their value.

They also discuss the pressure teachers and school leaders face to meet curriculum expectations and accountability measures, whether schools place too much emphasis on what can be measured, and how small changes in everyday interactions can affect students' experiences.

The conversation also turns to artificial intelligence, including its potential benefits for educators and concerns about what happens when technology begins doing too much of the thinking for students.

Shane Safir is an author, educator, and leadership coach with more than 25 years of experience in education. She was the founding co-principal of June Jordan School for Equity in San Francisco and has worked with schools and districts on educational equity, student voice, and leadership. She is the author of The Listening Leader and co-author of Street Data and Pedagogies of Voice.

Website: https://shanesafir.com

Marlo Bagsik is an educator and professional learning leader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work includes English language arts, restorative practices, trauma-informed education, and professional learning. He has served as a classroom teacher and district professional learning coordinator and is a co-author of Pedagogies of Voice.

• Pedagogies of Voice: https://www.corwin.com/books/pedagogies-of-voice-288927

• Shane Safir's Website: https://shanesafir.com

• Street Data: https://shanesafir.com

• Pedagogies of Voice Resources: https://www.corwin.com/landing-pages/pedagogies-of-voice

  
  

In this episode, Stephanie and Pete talk with Elena Aguilar about some of the harder parts of coaching and school leadership: emotions, resistance, conflict, and team dynamics. Elena explains what she means by “emotions are data,” how leaders can acknowledge emotions without turning every conversation into therapy, and what a healthy adult culture looks like in practice.

They also discuss why teams struggle to communicate and make decisions, why some conversations should not happen over email, and what AI can and cannot do in coaching.

About Our Guest

Elena Aguilar is a writer, educator, coach, and the founder and CEO of Bright Morning Consulting. She is the author of eight books, including The Art of Coaching, The Art of Coaching Teams, Onward, Coaching for Equity, The PD Book, and Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching. She also hosted The Bright Morning Podcast.

Learn more about Elena and Bright Morning
Explore Elena’s books
Listen to The Bright Morning Podcast

What does decades of research tell us about how students learn, and why do so many schools still move away from it?

Dr. Zach Groshell returns for part two of our conversation about explicit instruction and the science of learning. This time, we move beyond instructional philosophy and look at the evidence behind clear modeling, guided practice, frequent checks for understanding, and the gradual release of responsibility.

Zach explains findings from Project Follow Through, cognitive load theory, the worked example effect, teacher-effectiveness research, and Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction. We also discuss how explicit instruction differs from lecturing, when inquiry and projects make sense, and why stations and small-group structures should serve a clear instructional purpose rather than become expectations for their own sake.

The conversation also addresses some of the hardest questions schools face. How do you provide grade-level instruction when many students have significant prerequisite gaps? When should targeted intervention occur? What should leaders look for during classroom walkthroughs? And how can teachers increase participation through cold calling, choral response, turn and talk, mini whiteboards, and other opportunities to respond?

Zach Groshell, PhD, is a teacher, instructional coach, education consultant, and the author of Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching.

Learn more about Zach and his work:

Just Tell Them:
https://www.amazon.com/Just-Tell-Them-Science-Explanation/dp/103600368X

Education Rickshaw:
https://educationrickshaw.com/

The Direct Instruction Podcast:
https://zachgroshell.wordpress.com/

What separates school leaders who create lasting change from those who remain stuck in cycles of good intentions?

In this episode of Teach Smarter, Stephanie Dinnen sits down with Dr. Brandi Chin to discuss why hope cannot replace strategy, accountability, and consistent follow-through. Dr. Chin shares the three qualities she looks for in effective leaders, humility, hunger, and emotional intelligence, and explains why self-awareness may be the most important leadership trait.

They also discuss why leadership programs often leave aspiring administrators unprepared, how schools can build stronger leadership pipelines, why excuses can reveal lowered expectations for students, and what school improvement looks like when leaders receive tailored, long-term support instead of one-time professional development.

Dr. Brandi Chin is the Partner of Quality Schools at The Opportunity Trust and the author of Hope Is Not a Strategy: How Great Leaders Build Real Accountability. She has more than 16 years of experience in K-12 and higher education. She previously served as an assistant superintendent at Uncommon Schools in Camden, New Jersey, and as the founding school director of DSST Middle School at Noel Campus. Under her leadership, her schools earned some of the highest academic growth results in Denver and Colorado.

Connect with Dr. Brandi Chin:

Website: https://brandichin.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bnchin/

Helping every child learn to read is one of the biggest challenges facing schools today. In this episode, we sit down with Matt Pasternack, founder and CEO of Once and the first employee at Clever, to discuss a different approach to early literacy.

Matt shares why he believes instructional assistants are one of the most underused resources in education, how schools can provide effective one-on-one reading support without hiring additional teachers, and what school leaders should look for when evaluating new edtech products. We also discuss why so many education tools fail to scale, what meaningful research actually looks like, and how schools can make better decisions when investing in literacy programs.

Whether you're a teacher, principal, district leader, or instructional coach, this conversation offers practical ideas for improving reading outcomes and building stronger literacy systems.

About Matt Pasternack

Matt Pasternack is the founder and CEO of Once, an early literacy company helping schools improve reading outcomes through one-on-one instruction. Before founding Once, Matt was the first employee at Clever, where he helped grow the company into one of the most widely used education technology platforms in the United States. He began his career as a middle school English teacher through Teach For America and has spent his career building tools that help schools better support students and educators.

Try Once here: http://tryonce.com/

Recess is often treated as a break from learning, but what if it's actually one of the most important parts of the school day?

In this episode, we sit down with Lauren McNamara, founder of Schoolyards for Thought, to explore how recess, play, and schoolyard design influence belonging, behavior, mental health, and academic success. We discuss why so many schoolyards fail to meet students' needs, what schools can do to create spaces where every child feels connected, and why investing in play may have a bigger impact than many traditional interventions.

If you're a teacher, school leader, or parent, this conversation will challenge the way you think about recess and why it deserves a much bigger place in the conversation about improving schools.

About Lauren McNamara, Ph.D.

Lauren McNamara, Ph.D., is the founder of Schoolyards for Thought and Recess Project Canada. A learning scientist and researcher, her work focuses on the connection between play, belonging, school climate, and student well-being. Through her research and partnerships with schools across North America, she has helped reshape how educators think about recess, advocating for school environments that promote inclusion, social connection, and learning. Lauren's work has influenced school policy, playground design, and conversations about the role of play in education around the world.

In this episode, we sit down with high school chemistry teacher and education writer Marcie Samayoa to explore one of the most overlooked conversations in education today: how we teach science. Marcie challenges the idea that students should be expected to discover complex concepts on their own before they have the foundational knowledge needed to succeed.

Drawing from her experience teaching in a Title I school, Marcie shares how she uses explicit instruction, retrieval practice, literacy strategies, and carefully structured routines to help students build confidence and master challenging content. We also discuss the role of inquiry-based learning, student behavior, classroom technology, and what science educators can learn from elementary teachers.

Whether you're a teacher, coach, administrator, or education leader, this conversation offers practical insights into helping students develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive.

About Marcie Samayoa

Marcie Samayoa is a high school chemistry teacher, education writer, and author of the Substack Scientists in the Making. Her work focuses on applying cognitive science, explicit instruction, retrieval practice, and evidence-based teaching methods to science education.

Teaching in a Title I school in Los Angeles, Marcie is known for challenging conventional approaches to science instruction and advocating for strong foundations in knowledge, literacy, and mathematics before students are asked to engage in higher-order thinking and inquiry. Through her writing and professional learning contributions, she helps educators bridge research and classroom practice to improve student learning and confidence.

You can find her writing at Scientists in the Making and connect with her through her education publications and social media channels.

Many schools say they’ve implemented high quality instructional materials. Dan Reynolds argues most have only adopted them.

In this episode, we sit down with Dan Reynolds from SRI International to unpack what schools are getting wrong about literacy instruction, curriculum implementation, and comprehension assessment. Drawing from a large multi year research study across multiple districts, Dan explains why surface level implementation often looks successful during walkthroughs while missing the deeper instructional work students actually need.

About Our Guest

Dan Reynolds, PhD, is a Senior Education Researcher at SRI International whose work focuses on adolescent literacy, reading comprehension, and the implementation of high quality instructional materials. A former high school English teacher, administrator, and teacher educator, he has led and supported large scale literacy research projects across districts and states. His work examines both the impact of literacy interventions and the instructional practices that support student learning. Reynolds has authored more than 25 peer reviewed publications and co authored the book Tackling Tough Texts: A Research-Based Guide to Scaffolding Learning in Grades 6–12.

Learn more about Dan’s work here: https://www.sri.com/people/dan-reynolds/

Instructional coaching is often set up to fail. Coaches are undertrained, overloaded, and expected to change instruction without a clear model or enough time to do the work.

In this episode, Peter sits down with Jim Knight, the researcher who coined the term instructional coaching, founder of the Instructional Coaching Group, and author of The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching. With more than 30 years of research behind him, Jim is widely considered the leading voice in the field.

They discuss why coaching fails before it even starts, what districts consistently get wrong, and what it actually looks like when coaching works the way it should. They cover the seven factors that separate effective coaching from surface-level compliance, why student-focused goals should drive every coaching cycle, why partnership is the foundation of the work and not an add-on, and where AI fits into coaching and where it falls short.

Find Jim's work:

• Instructional Coaching Group: instructionalcoaching.com
• The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching
• Online learning platform: radicallearners.com
• LinkedIn

Dr. Katie Novak is one of the leading voices in Universal Design for Learning and the author of sixteen books including UDL Now and Elevating Educational Design with AI. In this episode, we talk about what UDL actually looks like when you're working with scripted curriculum, how it's different from differentiated instruction and personalized learning, where AI can help with lesson design and where it still falls short, and why the word fidelity makes so many teachers shut down. Katie also shares her approach to finding flexibility that already exists inside high quality instructional materials without sacrificing rigor.

Books Referenced:

• Elevating Educational Design with AI: Making Learning Accessible, Inclusive, and Equitable by Catlin Tucker & Katie Novak — Amazon
• Forward, Together: Moving Schools from Conflict to Community in Contentious Times by George Couros — Amazon

Find Katie:

• Website: novakeducation.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katienovakudl/