The Best of Us

Amber Chandler, a veteran teacher and longtime union president, explains why support for new teachers tends to disappear right after year one, and how she built a program around simple, intentional social connection to change that. It's a candid look at what actually keeps teachers in the profession, and why it starts with relationships, not programs.

Sharron Helmke of Learning Forward shares what separates coaching that builds real capacity from coaching that just feels good in the moment, and why a teacher relying on their coach's approval is a warning sign rather than a compliment.

Chelsea Waite of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Caitrin Wright of Silicon Schools Fund share what they learned from a cohort of educators who designed and piloted their own AI use cases — and why the most promising results had less to do with efficiency and more to do with strengthening human connection.

Sara Scribner shares how a rural New Hampshire district stopped waiting for special education teachers to arrive and built its own pipeline instead, covering tuition, providing housing, and keeping every graduate in the classroom.

How can districts design professional learning that treats teachers as the adult learners they are?

In this episode, Allie Rodman—a former teacher, coach, assistant principal, school board member, and author of two books on professional learning—explains why the field has spent a decade building SEL programs for students but never did the same work for the adults in the building. She shares how sitting on a school board revealed the gap between what districts say they value and what they actually fund, why teacher voice means co-creating from the start rather than asking for input at the end, and what it looks like when over 90% of teachers choose personalized learning—even when it means using their own time.

What if the key to better professional learning is asking more questions instead of giving more answers?

In this episode, Nadira Singh shares how she uses curiosity, empathy interviews, and a scientist's mindset to help educators across 142 schools learn and grow.

When Katy Meyers' first-year teacher announced she was leaving education, Katy flipped the question: instead of asking why teachers quit, she researched what makes them stay. The answer—being heard matters more than being fixed—transformed how she leads, and it applies to students too.

What if admitting "I'm not sure I'm good enough for this" is actually the most powerful thing a leader can say? Elizabeth Dampf believes that self-doubt isn't a weakness to hide—it's a doorway to better leadership. In this episode, she challenges the myth of the "strong leader" and shares why vulnerability, curiosity, and honest reflection create more effective leaders than projecting certainty ever could.

Why do most new superintendents feel overwhelmed by board relations, politics, and finance rather than instruction? In this episode of The Best of Us, Dr. Michael Hinojosa shares his Success Triangle framework for balancing stakeholder relationships, how he developed 50 future superintendents while leading six districts over 40 years, and why incrementalism is innovation's worst enemy in urban education.

Over 15 years, Teresa Morales Young has built something rare in education: a teacher pipeline that actually works. As leader of the Department of Teacher Development at Fresno Unified—California's third-largest district—Teresa has created 12 interconnected pathways that guide educators from high school through their entire career, achieving retention rates that far exceed state averages.