Team teaching is increasing in popularity among schools to help educators work together in their daily practice. We read about different models for team teaching and think about how it maps to our past experiences in a wide variety of teaming approaches from our own careers.

Later, we reflect on how to develop epistemic empathy. Our ability to take the perspective of students who don’t yet know our content helps us be better guides in their learning journeys, but relies on our hard won experience in the classroom.

097 Team Teaching & Epistemic Empathy

Dual language programs provide a local opportunity for students to get closer to an immersive experience learning a language directly within their school community. However, we read research on the barriers to providing multilingual instruction that fosters racial literacy within a similarly multilingual context.

Later, we look at the positive impact of high quality instructional materials for English-language learners that improves their test performance while substantially increasing their ability to engage in effective argumentation.

098 Racial Literacies & Multilingual Content

All professional learning occurs when teachers try things in their classroom and iterate to make it better. We reflect on the importance of articulating aspirational goals and supporting teachers as they iterate toward their goals as on-going professional development.

Later, we grapple with how research on the impact of educational technology cannot exist outside of the instructional context. What problem does any given technology help teachers solve, and how effectively does it help teachers solve it?

099 Synthesis of PD & Classroom Technology

In this extra length episode, we talk with Dr. Imogen Herrick about her work developing Community Science Data Talks. These talks help students engage the local consequences of climate change to develop their STEM knowledge while navigating their emotional experiences with the data. Our ranging conversation touches on the need for local data sources, fostering student agency, and cultivating civic empathy and hope.

100 Data Talks with Imogen Herrick

Education research, from technology to instruction to design, too often uses an instrumentalist approach that assumes the right tool or trick will simply solve a problem. Jason McDonald joins to talk about the need for entangled research that actually changes both the researcher and the system for the better.

Later, we read The Opportunity Makers and reflect on how some important flaws put key findings at odds with most other educational research.

101 Ed Tech & Opportunity Makers

Our season finale again reviews the most noteworthy papers from the past year. We reflect on hosting student data talks, the use of errors in the classroom, and more. We also spend time thinking about our goals for the types of papers we read and what kinds of “shoulds” (or “shouldn’ts”) we hope to get from them.

Later, we share the results of a follow-up analysis of our past most noteworthy papers. Where are they now, and what do we hope to see from the papers we highlight each year in the field more broadly?

102 Season 8 Finale

Student collaboration is a powerful tool for learning in many contexts, and we read a meta-analysis that highlights the benefits to both the givers and receivers of help in peer tutoring situations. It seems to be almost categorically good… but the details of successful programs remain elusive.

Later, we read about how group structure predicts student creativity. How do we teach processes that prepare students to be ready to be independent when creativity matters most?

103 Peer Tutoring & Collaborative Creativity

In a neuroscience-focused episode, we start with a new model of how having agency influences how much our brains are learning from moment to moment. Building classroom routines that emphasize student choice, from tiny procedural choices to major learning decisions, can boost the positive impacts of dopamine on their brain’s learning pathways.

Later, we read an experimental study of the impacts of emotional events on long-term memory. How can we leverage the benefits of positive emotional experiences in authentic, sustainable ways all year long?

104 Dopamine Motivation & Emotion to Memory

A listener request led us to a paper on eye-tracking technology for emerging multilingual learners. However, our conversation will focus on problems related to AI use and disconnects between the use of technology in the classroom and the real needs of teachers.

Later, we learn about how a person’s fear of evaluation influences their response - both positive and negative - to different kinds of feedback. We reflect on what this means for differentiation within feedback strategies and if our classroom culture can help move students away from fear of feedback.

105 Technology Applications & Feedback Structure

Professional learning should be improving teaching, which ultimately should benefit students. We read a meta-analysis showing that effective teaching methods within professional development is far more likely to impact learning than the learning topic or time spent in the program.

Later, we read a study of student perseverance that underscores the importance of establishing mastery goals with students, while avoiding extrinsic rewards, to increase their perseverance and improve academic performance.

106 Professional Development & Student Perseverance

Open Access Educational Resources (OERs) are an emerging alternative to traditional textbooks, but how do new technologies compare to traditional options? Dr. Virginia Clinton joins us to discuss her recent papers “Savings without sacrifice: a case report on open-source textbook adoption” and “Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis”.

Later, we read a study that examined what kinds of supports teachers in high-achieving classrooms provide for student metacognition. We find ways to get more out of our interactions with students by explicitly supporting how they think about their learning.

We drink Rye on Rye, a barrel-aged rye ale from Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, MO.

027 Reading And Metacognition

Teaching is a personal profession. We shine brightest when we work together in a safe environment for the betterment of our students. Two Pint PLC is a podcast that invites you to join two educators who discuss the big issues in education in a personal and casual conversation. Two Pint PLC combines the research base, current events and personal experiences to provide a context for each listener’s own professional development.