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Conceptually Speaking
This podcast is all about engaging experts in dialogue about the concepts and patterns that help us understand our world. Each week, I chat with guests from a variety of fields to better understand how their cognitive processes and social practices help them navigate complexity and solve wicked problems in their domain. Whether chatting with academics, YouTubers, educational leaders, or neuroscientists, every episode is an invitation to explore meaningful questions and reconceptualize what we think and feel about education.
Episodes
75 episodes
Rod Naquin Talks Large Language Models & Dialogic Computing
For this episode I'm joined by friend of the show Rod Naquin, a Louisiana based education leader and doctoral student whose research and writing explores the intersection between dialogue, learning, and large language models. Drawing on thinker...
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1:04:32
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Dr. Ashely Rogers Berner Talks Educational Pluralism & Democracy
To say we’re living through a moment of education polarization would be a mild understatement. Considering the digital echo chambers we all find ourselves in, I believe it’s more important than ever to engage with people who may move in differe...
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1:05:54
Dr. Andrea Gambino Talks Critical Media Literacy
One of the best things about attending conferences is the conversations, connections, and collaborations that emerge after the sessions are over. Last year, I was lucky to meet Dr. Andrea Gambino at NCTE 2023 in Columbus. Andrea earned her Ph.D...
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1:00:49
Dr. J Palmeri Talks Multimodality & New Media Pedagogies
The emergence of ChatGPT has sent shockwaves through many secondary and post-secondary English departments. There’s no shortage of doomsaying and prognosticating about the future of writing instruction, even the discipline itself, in the wake o...
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1:12:35
Dr. Sheena Mason Talks Raceless Antiracism & Literary Studies
For anyone who’s been tuned into Conceptually Speaking for a while, you know I love finding new approaches, perspectives, and frames to tackle complex issues. Despite the fact that’s a staple on the show, my guest for this episode, Dr. Sheena M...
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1:00:36
Shawna Coppola Talks Literacy For All
Complaining about the theory-practice divide in education feels a bit cliche, but there’s a reason why it’s a constant source of conversation and consternation in classrooms, conferences, and academic journals. As someone with their feet firmly...
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51:47
Jeffrey Austin Talks Emergent Strategy and Facilitating Educational Change
According to the late Octavia Butler, ”God is Change and in the end, God prevails.” Though Butler passed in 2006, her words resonate deeper than ever. And while she’s no longer able to chart out fantastical journeys across the stars, the philos...
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1:00:27
Dr. Sarah Jerasa Talks Reading, BookTok, & Digital Literacies
What if I told you there’s a magical place where young people spend hours upon hours discussing, sharing, creating, and theorizing about their favorite books? What if I told you that place was TikTok? Or, more specifically, a corner of TikTok k...
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50:42
Rebekah O'Dell and Matthew Johnson Talk Camp Rewrite & Re-envisioning Professional Learning
This week I’m lucky enough to be in dialogue with two educators and authors whose work I’ve admired for quite some time. Rebekah O’Dell is a classroom teacher and author of Writing with Mentors and Beyond Literary Analysis and Matthew Johnson a...
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50:31
Nawal Qarooni Talks Caregiver Collaborations and Social Literacies
There’s no shortage of authors, consultants, and coaches discussing the importance of culture when it comes to learning, especially literacy learning. However, I can’t think of any that brings the same level of depth, nuance, and accessibility ...
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47:17
Garreth Heidt Talks Meaningful Education and The Good Life of Teaching
This week on Conceptually Speaking, I had the pleasure of chatting with fellow teacher and friend of the show, Garreth Heidt. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of crossing paths with Garret on Twitter, he teaches sophomore English a...
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53:00
Dr. Mark Bracher Talks Global Justice, Social Wisdom, and Systems Thinking through Literary Study
Lately, it feels like the world is both literally and figuratively on fire. As a mere English teacher researcher and content creator, there are times when feel kind of powerless in the throes of political upheaval, culture wars, and social unre...
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1:02:37
Brett Vogelsinger Talks Poetry, Prose, & Pedagogy
How often do you find yourself wanting to hit pause in your curriculum? To slow down and notice more deeply? Read more closely? Maybe even engage in some playful fun? Like most teachers, there are times when I find myself sprinting through the ...
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49:47
Dr. Troy Hicks & Dr. Kristen Turner Talk Digital Literacies and Technology Integration
As melodramatic as it may seem, I’ll never forget the first time I encountered The New London Group’s A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures. After an evening of min...
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55:28
Matt Slocombe Talks Analogical Reasoning, Conceptual Change, and Transfer
According to cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff, “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.” And that is what today’s episode is all about. On this week’s episode, I’m j...
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53:40
Human Restoration Project Talks Professional Learning & Progressive Pedagogy
When you reflect back on your most recent professional learning in-service days, what springs to mind? Rich educational experiences filled with meaningful learning? Or cringey icebreakers, one-size-fits-all lectures, and flavor-of-the-month flu...
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51:12
Dr. Karis Jones Talks Literacies, Equity, & Acafandoms
Picture this: A group of passionate fans is huddled around their devices. Their favorite outlet has just dropped the latest response to a hotly contested article that has divided their community. As the group reads through, they debate, d...
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56:54
F.D Signifier Talks Pop-Culture Sociology and the Pedagogy of YouTube
What comes to mind when you hear the word YouTube? Depending on your age and level of “online-ness” it might be anything from cat videos, to videogame steams, to TedTalks. But what about sociology? Philosophy? Cultural studies and critical theo...
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52:59
Rob Ashton Talks Communication, Cognitive Bias, and the Written Word
Have you ever shot off an angry email or text message and immediately regret it? Or have you ever wondered why it’s better to hash out disagreements in person instead of by email? Despite its ubiquitous nature, written communication is the life...
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50:11
Dr. T.J. Vari and Dr. Joe Jones Discuss Educational Leadership & School Culture
Joseph Jones and TJ Vari are authors, speakers, and district administrators who have written four books together. Their most recent publication, Retention for a Change: Motivate, Inspire, and Energize Your School Culture, details...
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43:35
Graham Fletcher Talks Fluency, Progression, Coherence, & Accessibility in Mathematics
Graham Fletcher has served in education as a classroom teacher, math instructional lead, and currently as a math specialist. His work with the math progressions and problem-based lessons has led him to present throughout North America and...
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47:13
Zoe Weil Talks Being A Solutionary and The Purpose of Education
Zoe Weil (pronounced “Zoh While”) is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), and is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement. Zoe created IHE’s M.Ed., M.A. and graduate certificate pr...
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45:48
Conceptualizing Counter Narratives with Charles Williams **BONUS EPISODE**
Welcome to a special combined episode of Conceptually Speaking. This week Kayla and I linked up with Charles Williams, host of the Counter Narrative P...
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46:33
Dr. Adam Sáenz Talks Emotional Intelligence, Wellbeing, and Self-Actualization
What a school year this has been. Educators across the country (and the world) have navigated yet another year of teaching under COVID. Worse still, many American teachers, administrators, and district staff have found themselves in the crossha...
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54:43
Cheryl-Ann Weekes Talks Mental Health, Resilience, and Self-Compassion
Join Julie Stern and Mihai Catrinar on this week's episode as they chat with mental health specialist, consent workshop facilitator, and international school counselor, Cheryl-Ann Weekes. Her organization, Weekes Enterprise, LLC, was created as...
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55:31