🧵1/2 Sarah Tesar taught kindergarten for 12 years, building theme-based units that integrated everything. Admin didn't stop her because kids were engaged and learning. You don't need permission to innovate. You need courage to use your professional judgment.

🧵1/4 How An Apple Stand Became The Ultimate Classroom "They were more proud of those books than they were of the muffins." Sarah's daughters ran an apple stand. They wrote how-to books (How to Make Muffins, How to Make Applesauce) and gave them to customers.

🧵1/2 Sarah Tesar taught kindergarten for 12 years in a high-needs district. She left not because she stopped caring, but because she cared so much she had nothing left for her own family.

1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E17 Why This Teacher Left Public School (But Still Believes in It) After 12 years teaching kindergarten, Sarah Tesar left. Not because she burned out, but because she couldn't stop giving everything to students while her own cup stayed empty.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E16 BONUS: Mindful Waiting: A Secret to Better Student Engagement MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW told herself "I don't know you" every morning—with her OWN children. The ones she literally created and raised. Here's why that matters for educators

🧵1/2 How much practice time do students really need? Visited a classroom today where a teacher tried fishbowl discussions for the first time. His patience with reluctant learners was incredible. My younger son's trumpet teacher says: "Get the music under your fingers."

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E16 Find Your Inner Calm in the Classroom 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/366b19 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/sM5N4zaWtG8

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E15 BONUS: What Happens When You Break Teaching Traditions? After talking with @sarahmzerwin.bsky.social about "Step Aside," I can't stop thinking about "phantom policies"—the teaching traditions we follow just because we've always done them.

🧵1/6 Three moments this week reminded me why teachers need to DO the work we're asking students to do. 🎯 Let me share what made thinking visible…

🧵1/2 This insight from s @sarahmzerwin.bsky.social flips the script. Her driving course metaphor: you don't toss kids the keys—you strategically position yourself to support their navigation. @stenhousepub.bsky.social

🧵1/4 The Truth About Student-Driven Learning 🎧🎙 Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/bsiNQiIn5DQ

🧵1/2 "Craft a path toward that third thing—the beautiful content—that students can drive and explore on their own." Sarah Zerwin on Parker Palmer's wisdom: student-driven learning means knowing your content BETTER, not less.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E15 Launching Students into High-Level Work They Care About with @sarahmzerwin.bsky.social 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/361fbb 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/bsiNQiIn5DQ

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E14 BONUS: One Skill Art Teachers Say Matters More Than Technique In my latest bonus episode, I unpack why this simple approach could transform any classroom—art, math, or anything in between.

🧵1/2 Two teachers nearing 30 YEARS in education who still show up excited about their content and their kids every single day. One sees teaching as solving puzzles - conveying history's story while being responsive to each group.

🧵1/2 Kate Driscoll, an art educator, on why she prioritizes Australian contemporary artists over historical "masters": When students study living, local artists instead of distant historical figures, art transforms from something untouchable to something possible.

🧵1/4 Why Local Art Matters for Kids! 🎧🎙 Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/wWpZsQCFHvI

🧵1/2 Kate Driscoll, an art educator, captures what truly matters in teaching: "If there's one thing that I want the kids to be able to do when they leave me is to notice how many colors are in that leaf... art's all around us."

🧵1/2 After flying home from NCTE 2025, my brain is buzzing. Three practices teachers are using to reclaim responsive teaching. The power of "confianza" between families and schools. And why we need to see the world through children's eyes again - with wonder and curiosity.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E14 Why This Art Teacher is Making Kids LOVE Creating 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/35d7ae 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/wWpZsQCFHvI

🧵1/2 🎙 Why "doing less" creates more learning. ✔️Kate Driscoll opens eyes to art everywhere ✔️Sarah Zerwin creates student-driven spaces ✔️MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW teaches calm through noticing ✔️Sarah Tesar breaks free from traditional schooling constraints ✔️Chrissy Beltran coaches with flexibility

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E13 BONUS: How to Raise a Kind, Empathetic Child That kid laughing during your serious lesson isn't being disrespectful. They're dysregulated. Eli Harwood taught me: • Nervous laughter = body's response to horror • Use reaction journals, not forced empathy

🧵1/2 “Confidence believes YOU deserve good things AND so does everyone else. Arrogance believes in a hierarchy of deserving.” This distinction from Eli Harwood is everything. True confidence isn't zero-sum - it's abundant. You can believe in your worth without diminishing others'.

🧵1/2 Mind-blowing insight from attachment expert Eli Harwood: Babies literally don't have consciousness of self. They're born 100% dependent, experiencing life only through who touches & feeds them.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E13 What Kids REALLY Need When They Act Out 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/358c6f 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/PdSf9T4zmQg

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E12 BONUS: Why Students Are So Tired & How to Fix It New episode reveals: when students see they're 2/3 through a task (like minute 13 of 20), they don't GET tired - they EXPECT to be tired. Their brains literally prepare for exhaustion that isn't real.

🧵1/2 Another pattern in every expert teacher's practices: They pay attention to connections. Not just teacher-to-student, but: • Student to student • Student to self • Student to curriculum • Classroom to real world Sam Bennett visualizes this as a square with hearts at each corner.

1/2 For 400+ years since Descartes, we've treated the mind and body like they're divorced. In classrooms, this looks like: "Sit still and think." "Stop fidgeting and focus." "Your body is a distraction from your mind."

1/3 Why Students Remember 76% More When They Move While Learning 🎧🎙Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/4-mosH0raZg Gravity Goldberg shares why students who move while studying retain 76% more information...

🧵1/2 🧠 "Movement isn't the distraction from learning. It is the learning." Dr. Gravity Goldberg drops this truth in "The Body Brain Connection"—and it changes everything we thought about kids who can't sit still.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E12 The Secret Connections Between Your Body & Brain 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/35424d 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/4-mosH0raZg Students get mentally fatigued at the 2/3 mark of any task—not because they're actually tired, but because they EXPECT to be tired.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E11 BONUS: Why Every Student IS a Math Person We became teachers to help but what if making math too easy is actually stealing our kids' mathematical identity? In this bonus episode, I'm unpacking my conversation with Mona about why struggle is the secret ingredient.

I've been in classrooms with incredible teachers & jumping on late-night Zooms for my book project. One pattern: the best educators meet people where they are while maintaining sky-high expectations. @stenhousepub.bsky.social #Schoolutions #OliviaWahlCoachingConsulting #ForeverGettingBetter

🧵1/3 Your 4-year-old is already a mathematician, and formal schooling might actually be getting in the way. “Little kids have an ability to solve problems without formal schooling. We can reason about the world and make sense of the mathy things going on around us.” @stenhousepub.bsky.social

🧵1/4 Why Math Education Needs a Revolution 🎧🎙 Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/HO0l_eyKZPw @stenhousepub.bsky.social

🧵1/3 The uncomfortable truth about teaching math: Most teachers give problems that are too easy because we're wired to be helpers. But if kids solve it before you finish explaining? You've just wasted 25 minutes.

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E11 - 5 Steps to Creating a Classroom of Problem Solvers 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙Listen: pod.fo/e/34fb8d 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/HO0l_eyKZPw @stenhousepub.bsky.social

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E10 BONUS: Drowning in Standards? How to Cut Back to What Matters MOST Doug Reeves's research is wild—students who deeply master 88% of standards outperform those who race through 100%. 🎧🎙 Listen: ➡️ pod.fo/e/34d5a9 ➡️ youtu.be/zWWOACEnWNc

The secret to identifying what REALLY matters in your curriculum? Larry Ainsworth's R-E-A-L criteria. Too many districts pick standards based solely on "what's on the test" (Assessment).

Coaching insight: The 4 modes of engagement from "The Disengaged Teen" are perfect for teacher coaching! Passenger → inspire curiosity Resistor → understand the why behind the push back Achiever → unpack perfectionism Explorer → grow together @drrebeccawinthrop.bsky.social

🧵1/3 Creating IEP Goals That Boost Student Success 🎧🎙 Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙 Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/K7DUbP37fOc The reading intervention nobody talks about: Student reading 4 grades behind? Don't water down the thinking

We've all been there - racing through standards, checking boxes, knowing deep down our students aren't really getting it. Essential standards aren't about teaching less; they're about teaching better. #Schoolutions #SchoolutionsTeachingStrategies #TeacherTips #EssentialStandards

🧵1/2 This month, I'm collecting toolbox moments like: Holding onto moments of selflessness between strangers, Daniel Pink wisdom on creativity ("It's connection, repetition, and courage"), and Dr. Douglas Reeves on agency as "The New Literacy." www.oliviawahl.com/campaigns/vi...

🧵1/4 #schoolutionspodcast S5E10 Less is More: Rethinking Essential Standards for Deeper Learning 📣 New Podcast Episode Alert! 🎧🎙 Listen: pod.fo/e/3497ad 📺🎙 Watch: youtu.be/K7DUbP37fOc

November's conversations are about one thing: what happens when good ideas meet bad implementation? From Larry Ainsworth's essential standards reality check to Eli Harwood's "greet kids like dogs do" attachment science - we're leaning into curiosity this month.

🧵1/5 #schoolutionspodcast S5E9 BONUS: Rethinking Certainty in Education - Why We’re Doing It All Wrong New bonus episode ⬇️ 🎧🎙 Listen ➡️ pod.fo/e/347fcb ➡️ youtu.be/h5gj6yH9Sjs

🧵1/3 Documentation isn't about checking boxes—it's about studying your practice. @angelastockman.bsky.social illuminates why the shift from "teacher doing" to "teacher learning" changes everything.

🧵1/3 The SECRET to Effective Teaching (HINT: It’s NOT Having All the Answers) 🎧🎙 Listen to the Full Episode: www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/epis... 📺🎙Watch the Full Episode: youtu.be/8omXvWmAPl0 @angelastockman.bsky.social

🧵 1/4 "The stories are the solutions." - @angelastockman.bsky.social This one line from our conversation has me rethinking everything about resistance in education.