The RocketPD Podcast: Real Talk with Educators

Robert Barnett is the co-founder of the Modern Classrooms Project and author of the book, Meeting Every Learner's Needs, Redesigning Instruction So All Students Can Succeed. On this episode of the Rocket PD Podcast, Corey asks Robert about his journey as a classroom teacher, the challenges of one-size-fits-all instruction, and how the community he's building through Modern Classrooms aims to change the status quo. Robert and Corey talk about ways that simple tools like video, self-paced lessons, and mastery checks can be used to individualize learning. And they ask - and just maybe answer - the question: Is it possible to meet every learner's needs? Stick around to find out.

Host

Corey Murray

Guest

Robert Barnett

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Modern Classroom Project https://www.modernclassrooms.org/

Meet Every Learner's Needs https://www.meeteverylearnersneeds.org/

Fall 2025 Cohort - Individualizing Instruction - Register Today https://rocketpd.com/cohorts/redesigning-instruction-a-three-step-process-to-meet-every-learners-needs/?

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Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Dr. Luvelle Brown is an author, educator, former superintendent of the year and AASA Effie A. Jones Jones Humanitarian Award winner. As a school leader, he has emerged as a champion for change in the area of school culture and a leading advocate for student inclusion.  In this episode of the RocketPD podcast, Dr. Brown confronts the inflammatory, often hurtful rhetoric that public school leaders and educators are forced to endure and talks about what it takes to create a truly inclusive learning environment where students and teachers feel supported and encouraged to do their best work.

Host Corey Murray

Guest Dr. Luvelle Brown

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The ‘Call to Courage’: standing up to intolerance & injustice in K-12 schools

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Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Dr. Catlin Tucker is a bestselling author, former Teacher of the Year, and expert on all things UDL and blended learning. On this episode of the Rocket PD podcast, Dr. Tucker challenges educators to reimagine traditional classroom education in favor of more student-centered blended learning models and describes what it looks and feels like when teachers transition from leading at the front on the room to faciliating and working alongside students as architects of the learning experience.

Host

Guest

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Josh Starr is the author of Equity-Based Leadership and the former superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MD). In this episode of The Rocket PD Podcast, Josh encourages school leaders to move from a problem mindset to a solution mindset and describes a framework for adaptive leadership that innovative leaders across the country have started adopting to tackle complex problems, be it chronic absenteeism, learning gaps, student mental health, or some other challenge, by moving beyond the technical aspects of their work and asking an entirely different set of questions.

Host

Guest

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Dr. Steve Constantino is the author of Engage Every Family. His Five Simple Principles logic model has become foundational to family engagement strategies in thousands of U.S. K-12 school districts. But there's a difference between family engagement theory, which nearly everyone can agree is important, and actual practice. In this episode of The RocketPD Podcast, Dr. Constantino talks about how a commitment to family engagement, done right, can help administrators address systemic problems, from chronic absenteeism to student discipline to MTSS to lingering learning gaps and everything in between.

Host

As educators weigh the potential benefits of artificial intelligence with the inherent risks, educator and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author of Adaptable A.J. Juliani has emerged as a leading voice of innovation, experience, and reason on the topic. On this episode of the RocketPD podcast, helps us balance obvious drawbacks of the technology, like cheating and plagiarism, with its potential rewards. He talks about how, when deployed responsibly in schools, A.I. is already helping educators improve decision making, save time, and differentiate instruction. Stick around until the end, where A.J. details a group he is pulling together to explore the benefits of A.I. in schools.

Host Corey

Guest

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Use AI to become a more efficient and effective K-12 administrator - RocketPD cohort

How To Lead Learning In An Age of A.I. and Distraction (books, podcasts & resources)

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Carla Tantillo Philibert is an educator, author, and entrepreneur whose work on student and adult well-being has taken her from starting a school in inner-city Chicago to classrooms and keynote stages around the world. On this episode of The RocketPD Podcast, Corey and Carla explore the growing challenge of staff retention and Carla offers up strategies to help schools nurture a culture of mutual support and encouragement, giving teachers and staff a framework and the tools to achieve satisfaction in their personal and professional lives.

This episode is brought to you by RocketPD.

Host

Corey Murray

Guest

Carla Tantillo Philibert

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

A 5-Part Framework for Adult Well-Being in Schools - RocketPD course

https://rocketpd.com/elevate-advocate-a-5-part-framework-for-supporting-adult-wellbeing-in-k-12-schools/

Class Catalyst (K-12 SEL tool)

https://www.classcatalyst.com/

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Newsletter: https://rocketpd.com/join-the-rocketpd-community/

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Kim Marshall is founder and editor of the Marshall Memo. He's also a former Boston principal and one of the world's leading voices on teacher evaluation. On this episode of The RocketPD Podcast, Kim and Corey take on the challenge of job-related stress and staff engagement in K-12 schools. Kim challenges principals and other school leaders to rethink the traditional teacher-evaluation process — in which school leaders deliver feedback in bunches, often toward the end of the year — with a system of “mini-observations,” featuring a series of frequent unannounced visits, followed by a brief face-to-face meeting and a short writeup delivered electronically that teachers can use to make improvements in real time.

This episode is brought to you by RocketPD.

Host

Corey Murray

Guest

Kim Marshall

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Rethinking Teacher Supervision, Coaching & Evaluation - RocketPD course

https://rocketpd.com/rethinking-teacher-supervision-coaching-supervision-evaluation

The Marshall Memo (newsletter & resources)

https://marshallmemo.com/

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Newsletter: https://rocketpd.com/join-the-rocketpd-community/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rocketpd9744

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If you don't know Jennifer Gonzalez by name, you almost certainly know her popular blog Cult of Pedagogy. A former classroom teacher and self -professed teaching nerd, Jenn has built one of the nation's most engaged communities of educators dedicated to sharing and promoting effective teaching practices. On this episode of The RocketPD Podcast, Corey and Jenn take on the myth that more teachers are disengaged and explore the art of lesson planning as a practice to help teachers both old and new build professional confidence, while simultaneously helping students reach and exceed their potential.

This episode is brought to you by RocketPD.

Host

Corey Murray

Guest

Jennifer Gonzalez

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

How to Build Teaching Confidence With Powerful Lesson Design - RocketPD course

https://rocketpd.com/build-teaching-confidence-with-powerful-lesson-design-with-jennifer-gonzalez/

Cult of Pedagogy (blog & resources)

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Newsletter: https://rocketpd.com/join-the-rocketpd-community/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rocketpd9744/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rocketpd

X: https://x.com/rocketpd

Peter Liljedahl is the author of Building Thinking Classrooms, a book that has quite literally started a movement, the premise of which is simple: If we want students to learn, we must teach them not what to do, but how to think. On this episode of The RocketPD Podcast, Corey talks with Peter about what a Thinking Classroom looks like, how it works, the years of research behind it, and the feeling that students and teachers get when they unlock the power of thinking.

This episode is brought to you by RocketPD.

Host

Corey Murray

Guest

Peter Liljedahl

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Building Thinking Classrooms (live) - RocketPD course

https://rocketpd.com/cohorts/building-thinking-classrooms-in-mathematics-with-peter-liljedahl/

Building Thinking Classrooms (books, podcasts & resources)

https://www.buildingthinkingclassrooms.com/

Join our K-12 Professional Learning Community:

Website: https://rocketpd.com/

Newsletter: https://rocketpd.com/join-the-rocketpd-community/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rocketpd9744/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rocketpd/

X: https://x.com/rocketpd