The Academic Coaching Podcast

What if some of the best technology for supporting neurodivergent students is already sitting inside the devices they use every day?

In this episode, I talk with speech-language pathologist and assistive technology specialist Joan Green about how to use technology more intentionally to reduce barriers and help students become more independent learners.

We get practical: built-in browser tools that can make reading easier, live captions for students who benefit from seeing what they hear, thoughtful uses of AI, and ways to combine digital tools with good old-fashioned handwriting, whiteboards, and retrieval practice.

But Joan’s bigger message isn’t about keeping up with the latest apps. It’s about getting better at noticing where a particular student is getting stuck—and then asking whether technology can remove some of that friction without taking over the learning.

We also tackle an important question for academic and executive function coaches: How much of this tech stuff are we actually responsible for knowing ourselves—and when is it time to bring in an expert?

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• Free built-in tech tools that support reading, including Chrome Reading Mode and text-to-speech.
• How live captions can help students with ADHD, auditory processing challenges, and hearing disabilities.
• Using AI tools like Gemini Notebook for active learning, quizzes, flashcards, mind maps, and study support.
• Balancing digital learning with hands-on strategies like handwritten notes and retrieval practice.
• When technology supports learning and independence—and when it can get in the way.
• The essential tech skills every academic coach and educator should know, including speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and AI literacy.
• How to identify a student's specific learning barriers and match them with the right assistive technology.
• Helping students become more independent while using technology intentionally and meaningfully.

About Joan Green

Joan Green, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist, assistive technology specialist, author, and founder of Innovative Speech + Technology. Now in her 40th year of practice, she helps people across the lifespan, from students and young adults to working professionals and older adults, use technology to reduce barriers, strengthen independence, and make everyday tasks easier.

Joan specializes in practical tools for organization, executive function, reading, writing, learning, communication, and productivity, with a growing focus on helping people use AI thoughtfully and effectively. Her approach is not about chasing the newest tools, but about matching the right solution to the person, task, and situation.

She leads the Tech Life Inner Circle, an ongoing community where members explore useful technology, ask questions, and receive practical support. Joan is also the author of four books, most recently Assistive Technology in Special Education, Third Edition.

Links + Resources

• Visit Innovative Speech Therapy
• Explore the Tech Life Inner Circle
• Join the free IST Tech Savvy Solutions Facebook Group
• Follow Innovative Speech Therapy on Facebook
• Connect with Joan Lipman Green on LinkedIn
• Follow Joan Lipman Green on Instagram

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Discover the Anti-Boring Learning Lab for coaching tools, professional learning, and community.
• Listen to The Academic Coaching Podcast on your favorite platform
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/MbxpQbS1tGU

In this episode, Gretchen talks with longtime Anti-Boring Learning Lab member Nancy Minolli about what it actually looks like to grow into your own style as an academic coach. Nancy started coaching in 2018 with one client, a teaching background, and a whole lot of uncertainty about what an academic coach was supposed to do. Eight years later, she has a thriving practice focused on college and graduate students—and a much clearer sense of who she is as a coach. Together, Nancy and Gretchen look back at how her coaching, confidence, clientele, and business evolved, including what she eventually had to stop trying to do “the right way” and learn for herself.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• How Nancy went from taking almost any student to discovering that college and graduate students were her sweet spot
• Why finding your coaching style means learning that every student doesn't need the same approach
• The shift from wondering “Am I good at this?” to trusting your own judgment—even in difficult conversations with families
• How Nancy built a consistently full practice largely through referrals and relationships
• How her relationship with the Anti-Boring Learning Lab changed as she became a more experienced and confident coach
• The Anti-Boring tools she still uses eight years later—and the ones she adapted or left behind
• What Nancy would tell her brand-new-coach self…and what she’s glad she had to figure out on her own

About Nancy Minolli

Nancy is an academic coach who helps college and graduate students strengthen their executive function skills, build confidence, and take charge of their academic success.  She understands the stresses that students face inside and out of the classroom.  She is a California Credentialed teacher with over 20 years experience in the classroom and now 10 years experience coaching young adults.  When she's not coaching, she can be found golfing, hiking or traveling.

Links + Resources

• Bay Area Academic Coaching: http://www.bayareaacademiccoaching.com

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Discover the Anti-Boring Learning Lab for coaching tools, professional learning, and community.
• Listen to The Academic Coaching Podcast on your favorite platform
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/41bEQXpftcI

What if a student looks completely engaged—taking notes, following directions, doing exactly what the teacher asked—but isn't actually doing much thinking?

In this episode, I talk with Ashley Doty, founder of Uncomplicate Ed, about the difference between behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement—and why compliance can so easily masquerade as learning.

We dig into what Ashley noticed while observing students taking notes in a high school chemistry class, how a small change to the note-taking process could require students to do more of the thinking themselves, and why teachers and coaches may need to get more comfortable talking less and leaving a little more space for students to process.

Because maybe the question isn't just, “Are they doing what we asked?”

Maybe it's: “Who's doing the thinking—and how do we know?”

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• Why students can look busy and compliant in class without actually doing the thinking—and how educators can tell the difference.
• What Ashlee discovered while observing note-taking in classrooms, and a simple protocol that turns copying into active learning.
• Why teachers and academic coaches need to talk less, embrace silence, and give students more time to process.
• How students can take more ownership of their learning, including a playful trick that lets them decide when the teacher stops talking!
• Why movement breaks, retrieval practice, and teaching students about their own brains can make learning more effective.

About Ashley Doty

Ashley Doty is the founder and CEO of Uncomplicate Ed, where she helps educators and leaders turn research into practical, usable instruction. A former teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, principal, and principal coach, Ashley has spent more than 20 years in education. Her work focuses on cognitive science, instructional clarity, and helping schools create learning experiences that are both rigorous and accessible. She presents nationally, works with schools and districts across Florida, and is passionate about uncomplicating education so teachers and leaders can focus on what matters most: student learning.

Links + Resources

• Explore Ashlee's professional development resources, including PD in a Box®: www.UncomplicateEd.com

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Discover the Anti-Boring Learning Lab for coaching tools, professional learning, and community.
• Listen to The Academic Coaching Podcast on your favorite platform
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/Yeqam2VpnAQ

What happens when a student’s diagnosis could help them understand themselves—but the adults around them aren’t ready for them to know?

In this episode, I talk with educational psychologist Dr. Liz Angoff about helping students become authentic collaborators in understanding their own brains, rather than simply telling them what an assessment says about them.

We bring Liz a tricky situation straight from the Anti-Boring Learning Lab: a coach working with a teenager whose family is reluctant to share a new autism diagnosis. That leads us into a much bigger conversation about autonomy, support, collaboration, and what it can look like when students and adults try to solve problems together.    Pasted text

And if you’ve ever helped a family figure out whether—or where—to pursue an assessment, stay to the end. Liz shares two surprisingly simple questions that can tell you a lot about whether an assessor will actually help a family understand what comes next.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• Why students deserve to be authentic collaborators in understanding their own brains and diagnoses
• What happened when Liz explained dyslexia to a student—and why he broke down in tears
• How Liz uses a “brain under construction” metaphor to help students understand their strengths, challenges, and diagnoses
• What to do when a family is hesitant or resistant to sharing a diagnosis with their child
• Why “In the real world, you can’t always get what you need” may not be the whole story
• How coaches can support students in advocating for what they need while also finding solutions that work for everyone
• The two surprisingly simple questions Liz recommends asking when choosing an assessor
• Why what happens after an assessment may be just as important as the assessment itself
• How Liz’s upcoming workshop tackles tricky assessment feedback conversations with families

About Liz Angoff

Liz Angoff, Ph.D., is a Licensed Educational Psychologist with a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology, providing assessment and consultation services to children and their families in the Bay Area, CA.  She is the author of the Brain Building Books and Our Brains, empowering neurodivergent children to understand, celebrate, and advocate for their amazing brains. More information about Dr. Liz and her work is available at www.ExplainingBrains.com.

Links + Resources

• Site: www.ExplainingBrains.com
• Register for Liz's October 23 workshop on tricky assessment feedback conversations: Explaining Brains Webinars
• Follow Liz on social media: @explainingbrains

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Discover the Anti-Boring Learning Lab for coaching tools, professional learning, and community.
• Listen to The Academic Coaching Podcast on your favorite platform

In this episode, Gretchen talks with Jordyn Shapiro, founder of Just Start LA, about what it looks like to build an executive function coaching business remarkably fast. Jordyn filled her own coaching caseload in just three months, opened a 2,400-square-foot office at 22, and now leads a growing team of young coaches. But the really interesting part is how she’s learned to build the systems and support she needs to keep that growth going. They talk about hiring and training coaches, learning which families to say no to, building a business with ADHD, and why knowing that you’re not the right person to help can be just as important as knowing what you do well.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• How Jordyn filled her coaching caseload with 20 students in just three months
• Going from solo coach to a growing team—and why Jordyn genuinely enjoys the challenges of running a company
• What Jordyn has learned about setting expectations with families and recognizing “red flags” before taking on a client
• Why the entire Just Start coaching team is under 27—and what youth can bring to the coach-student relationship
• How Jordyn trains new coaches using both the Anti-Boring Learning Lab and Just Start’s own 13-week training process
• The systems she’s built for intake, training, team support, and working on the business instead of only in it
• How Jordyn’s own ADHD influences both the way she runs her business and the way she thinks about executive function support
• The surprising way Jordyn was able to fund her business at such a young age

About Jordyn Shapiro

Jordyn Shapiro is the founder of Just Start LA, which provides executive function coaching, academic tutoring, ACT/SAT and AP test preparation, and college application essay support. Jordyn began tutoring as a teenager and started building what would become Just Start while attending UCLA. Today, she leads a growing team of coaches and tutors and is pursuing a master’s degree in industrial-organizational psychology.

Links + Resources

• Site: https://www.juststartla.com
• IG: @juststartla
• TT: @juststartla
• Facebook: @JustStartLA
• Substack: @justjordyn
• LinkedIn: @juststartla
• Youtube: @JustStartLA

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/6szn_SniKBE

In this episode, the tables get turned: new tutor Alondra Padilla comes prepared to interview Gretchen about how she found her way from teaching to academic coaching to founding the Anti-Boring Learning Lab—but pretty quickly, Gretchen starts asking Alondra questions too. What follows is a surprisingly honest conversation between two educators from different generations and very different backgrounds about the experiences that shaped them. They talk about being first-gen, shame and imposter syndrome, making room for mistakes, equity and personalized learning, and what happens when students are asked to fit themselves into systems that weren't necessarily designed for them. Gretchen also shares stories from her own journey into education and academic coaching that she's never told publicly before.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• How Gretchen went from teacher to academic coach—and eventually founded the Anti-Boring Learning Lab
• Alondra's experience as a first-generation college graduate, child of immigrants, and student in LA public schools
• Why mistakes can be an essential part of learning rather than something students need to avoid
• Shame and imposter syndrome—and how both can show up at very different stages of an educator's career
• The ways school can ask students to mask, code-switch, or otherwise adapt themselves to fit
• What equity and personalized learning can look like when we start with the student rather than the system

About Alondra Padilla

Alondra Padilla is an English educator and scholar committed to supporting students as whole learners. A UCLA alumna and Los Angeles native, she grew up advocating for educational equity. She currently provides private tutoring and academic support while pursuing a Master’s degree in Education and a PhD in English. She hopes to become an English professor and continue empowering students to reach their educational and professional goals.

Links + Resources

• Atelier Tutors: https://www.ateliertutors.com/

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/UajGgT44ibU

Catherine Pacilio, an executive function and academic coach and founder of Pacilio Coaching, joins Gretchen to unpack what happened when she and fellow Anti-Boring Learning Lab member Robin turned the science of learning into a five-day summer study skills intensive for middle and high school students. Catherine shares what worked, what students responded to, and what surprised her about teaching study skills online — including the differences she noticed between middle and high schoolers, and between running small groups versus one-on-one sessions. We also dig into the challenge of balancing how much to teach with how much students can actually absorb and use. Together, Gretchen and Catherine explore what this experiment revealed about building a study skills toolkit that can carry students into the school year.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• How Catherine and fellow lab member Robin designed a collaborative five-day study skills intensive — one built for online delivery, the other for in-person
• Using retrieval practice and movement to make quizzing more active, including a physical-challenge game that had students doing wall pushups and star jumps for wrong answers
• Backwards learning, the Study Cycle, and Quizzable Study Tools from the Anti-Boring Toolkit, and how Catherine trimmed and paced mini lessons for a condensed format
• What Catherine noticed about teaching the same content to middle schoolers versus high schoolers — from session length to how much structure each age group wanted
• Why one-on-one coaching surprised Catherine by feeling especially effective, even as she saw real value in the group dynamic and peer normalization
• The difference between teaching a strategy and helping a student actually use it once school starts — and how Catherine is building in a follow-up coaching session each October to bridge that gap

About Catherine Pacilio

Catherine Pacilio is an executive function and academic coach for adolescents and the founder of Pacilio Coaching. She brings 17 years of experience in education, a master's degree in Special Education, and certification as an Academic and Executive Function Coach through the Anti-Boring Learning Lab. Catherine works with middle and high school students to build practical, personalized systems that support confidence and independence.

Links + Resources

• Pacilio Coaching: https://www.paciliocoaching.com
• Instagram: @paciliocoaching.com

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/iTR_fL4_voI

Frankie Trevor, a senior at California State University, Sacramento and former academic coaching client of Gretchen Wegner, joins Gretchen to reflect on how coaching skills can take years to fully take hold. Frankie went from a 1.39 GPA and deep shame about his grades to the Dean's Honor Roll and Presidential Honor Roll, with plans to take the LSAT and pursue law school. They talk honestly about his initial resistance to coaching, the relief of having a judgment-free person look at his grades with him, and the unexpected challenges that made his first year of coaching especially difficult. Together, they explore what happens when coaches teach skills that a student may not be ready to use yet—and why those lessons can still matter years later.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• Frankie's "begrudging acceptance" of needing help and the shame he felt around his grades and asking for support
• Looking at his online grade portal together without judgment, even when it showed zeros and missing work
• The planner and "first steps" strategies that eventually became part of how Frankie manages college work
• The one-page planner, binder system, and other organizational tools Gretchen used with Frankie in high school
• How the Study Cycle, Hone It Notes, and creating a "survival sheet" became useful study strategies later in college

About Frankie Trevor

Frankie Trevor is a senior at California State University, Sacramento, where he currently holds honor roll standing. He is preparing to take the LSAT and plans to pursue law school after taking a gap year. Frankie worked with Gretchen Wegner as an academic coaching client during his junior year of high school, where they worked on organizational systems, study strategies, and self-advocacy skills that he later carried into college.

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/dz7O9IMN1s4

Suzy Evans and Dr. Shane Saeed, instructional coordinators in Colorado's St. Vrain Valley School District, have spent eight years building a different kind of professional learning experience: a voluntary Science of Learning Collaborative, coordinator-led and increasingly teacher-powered. In this conversation, they share what happened when Gretchen brought her working memory mini-lesson to their teachers—and how the "parking spaces" metaphor quickly became part of the language teachers used with each other and their students. They talk about what makes professional development actually transfer into classroom practice, including the importance of community, sustainability, and giving teachers space to experiment and learn together. Together, they explore what it can look like when brain science moves beyond a PD session and becomes something teachers and students actually use.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• The "parking spaces" metaphor for working memory and cognitive overload—and how teachers began using it with students from kindergarten through 12th grade
• The Science of Learning Collaborative, an opt-in professional learning model that has grown to 75 educators
• Ways to "clear parking spaces," including movement breaks, brain dumps, and checks for understanding
• Why every brain is different, and how processing speed and neurodiversity can affect how students experience cognitive overload
• The surprising idea that a teacher's own working memory can become a bottleneck during explicit instruction

About Suzy Evans & Dr. Shane Saeed

Suzy Evans is an Instructional Coordinator for St. Vrain Valley School District, where she supports principals and teachers in data analysis, instructional decision-making, and collective efficacy; she co-facilitates the district's Science of Learning Collaborative and co-hosts the Vrain Waves podcast.

Dr. Shane Saeed is an Elementary ELA Curriculum Coordinator for St. Vrain Valley School District, specializing in structured literacy and educational equity. She holds a doctorate in executive leadership, authored Be the Flame, and is a national speaker and ASCD & ISTE-recognized leader. She also co-hosts the Vrain Waves podcast.

Links + Resources

• Vrain Waves Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vrain-waves-teaching-conversations-with-minds-shaping/id1365316994
• Suzy Evans on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzannah-evans/
• Dr. Shane Saeed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-saeed-ed-d-686296132/
• Be the Flame by Shane Saeed: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/be-the-flame-sparking-positive-classroom-communities_shane-saeed/29003758/item/64854630/
• Teach FAST by Gene Tavernetti: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/teach-fast-focused-adaptable-structured-teaching/37475687/
• SOL in the Wild: https://solinthewild.substack.com/
• Powerful Teaching by Pooja Agarwal & Patrice Bain

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Gretchen's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner

Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/0yq29ZyNv3s

In this episode, Gretchen talks with Sarah Ward — speech-language pathologist and Co-Director of Cognitive Connections — about why task completion is its own executive function skill, separate from starting. Gretchen opens up about her own struggle to finish things (yes, including a song she wrote herself about it), and Sarah brings decades of clinical experience into genuinely tiny, doable tweaks for classroom teachers, coaches, and tutors alike. They cover why students insist they're "done" when they're not, a simple reframe for procrastination, and why this year's college freshmen are struggling in ways past cohorts haven't. If you work with students who swear they're finished when they're not, this one's for you.

You'll Hear Us Talk About

• "Mind miming" — a mental simulation trick that helps students actually finish what they start
• Why so many students insist they're done with something... when they're not
• A simple reframe for procrastination — Sarah's "hesitator" vs. "procrastinator" distinction
• The "job talk" trick that gives any task a real finish line
• Why this year's college freshmen are struggling with executive demands in new ways
• Sarah's favorite definition of emotional regulation — the ability to tolerate discomfort

About Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC/SLP, is a licensed speech-language pathologist and Co-Director of Cognitive Connections, LLP, where she has spent over 30 years working in diagnostic evaluation, treatment, and case management for children, adolescents, and adults with developmental and acquired brain-based learning challenges, with a particular focus on executive function. She holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions and co-developed the 360 Thinking™ Executive Function Program with Kristen Jacobsen, which received the Innovative Promising Practices Award from CHADD. Find her at efpractice.com.

Links + Resources

• Sarah's website: https://efpractice.com

Learn More About the Anti-Boring Learning Lab

• Download our free Toolkit: https://antiboringlearninglab.com/resources
• Connect with Gretchen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-wegner
• Watch the video version of this episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/IWsmawTJ9jc