Teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform, educational technology -- if it has something to do with teaching, we're talking about it. Jennifer Gonzalez interviews educators, students, administrators and parents about the psychological and social dynamics of school, trade secrets, and other juicy things you'll never learn in a textbook. For more fantastic resources for teachers, visit http://www.cultofpedagogy.com.
Latest episodes
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49 min
282: When Teachers Push Back: What Are We Missing?
When teachers push back against coaching, professional development, or a new initiative, they often get labeled as "resistant." But that label can keep us from seeing what's really…
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52 min
281: Why School Improvement Fails So Often, and What to Do Instead
Schools are constantly trying to improve, but too often, big improvement efforts don't lead to the changes people hoped for. In this episode, I talk with Jal Mehta and Max Yurkofsk…
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34 min
280: A Realistic Approach to Differentiation
In Part 4 of our Back to Basics series on unit planning, we're taking our sample unit and building in more differentiation. I'm putting out this series as an introduction to my new…
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34 min
279: How to Write a Lesson Plan
We've reached part 3 of our Back to Basics series on unit planning! Last episode, we built the assessment plan for our sample unit that included diagnostic, formative, and summativ…
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27 min
278: How to Create an Assessment Plan
It's part 2 of our Back to Basics series on unit planning! Last episode, we looked at the overall process and started by setting measurable objectives for a sample unit. Now we're…
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21 min
277: How to Plan a Unit of Instruction
I'm kicking off a four-episode Back to Basics series that will offer a practical overview of how to effectivley plan a unit of instruction. This week we'll start with the big pictu…
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53 min
276: A Classroom Ritual for Peer Affirmations
Character education often gets lip service in schools — we say it matters, but rarely build a real system to make it happen. What if students could regularly practice noticing and…
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54 min
275: Three Fresh Ideas for Structuring Professional Development
What often sets the best PD experiences apart are a few intentional choices in how that learning is designed. In this episode, I talk with Jenn White and Josh Kurzweil of Berkeley…
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1 h 51
274: Why School in Denmark is Better, and What We Can Learn from Them
When Pernille Ripp moved from the U.S., where she had taught for over a decade, to her native country of Denmark, she was immediately struck by how different school was. In this ep…
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27 min
273: The Art of Classroom Timing: 10 Ways to Fit it All In
It can ruin even the most carefully designed lessons: An activity you had planned takes way longer than you thought it would. Or worse, it takes way less time. And sometimes it can…
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33 min
272: The Replacement Skills Approach: Teaching Behavior Instead of Managing It
When a student behaves in a way that disrupts their own learning or someone else's, our response is often limited to a reprimand or a punishment. While this usually stops the undes…
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30 min
271: Meet Ellis: Your On-Demand Classroom Companion
Students are coming to school with more needs than ever, and a lot of those needs aren't strictly academic: anxiety, withdrawal, behavior issues, and learning differences that don'…
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52 min
270: Eight Ways to Squeeze Writing Instruction Into a Few Minutes
There's been no shortage of conversation about the science of reading over the past several years. But writing barely comes up, even though the two are deeply connected. That's wha…
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37 min
269: Bringing the Power of Debate to Math Class
Have you ever watched students sit completely silent in math class, only to come alive the moment they're asked to share an opinion? That's what inspired my guest Chris Luzniak to…
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54 min
268: What is a Warm Demander?
When our students face challenges in the classroom, some teachers double down on control and rigor: tighter rules, firmer consequences, higher demands. Others lean toward grace and…
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45 min
267: How Inquiry-Based Freewriting Can Deepen Student Writing
Teaching students to write well has always been challenging, and newer developments have made it even more difficult: The internet offers unlimited text to plagiarize, standardized…
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1 h 07
266: Six Ed Tech Tools to Try in 2026
We're kicking off the year like we always do, with a round-up of six educational tech tools we think are worth a look. On the list this year: a site that offers fantastic STEM inte…
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1 h 10
265: Growth Discourse: A Framework for Discussing Hard Topics with Students
We're living in a time when having a difference of opinion is a potential minefield of hurt feelings, emotional outbursts, and severed relationships. If this has caused you to avoi…
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1 h 20
264: How Schools Can Support Neurodivergent Teachers
Neurodivergent educators, like those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other forms of cognitive diversity, are essential voices in our schools. They bring innovation, empathy, and a…
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42 min
263: Five Skills that Get Students to Take Ownership of Their Learning
If we're doing our jobs right as educators, students will gradually become independent, self-directed learners capable of monitoring, directing, and actively participating in build…