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PODCAST

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

Jeff Utecht & Tricia Friedman

Shifting Schools is a thought-provoking podcast that explores the latest trends, strategies, and tools in K-12 education. Hosted by educators Jeff Utecht and Tricia Friedman, the podcast provides a platform for teachers, administrators, and education thought leaders to share their experiences and insights on how to improve teaching and learning. From innovative approaches in classroom management to leveraging technology for personalized learning, Shifting Schools tackles the most pressing issues

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All Episodes

17:56

Jerry Spinelli: What Young Writers Need to Know About...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/07/06

Newbery Medal-winning author Jerry Spinelli joins the podcast for a conversation about writing, perseverance, childhood, and the stories that stay with young readers. Known to many elementary and middle school teachers through books such as Maniac Magee, Stargirl, Wringer, and his latest book, Fifth Grade Top Dogs, Spinelli reflects on the long road to becoming a published author. Before his first book found a home, he wrote four novels that were rejected and spent nearly twenty-five years working

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18:18

Colin Woodard on Civic Identity, Trust, and the...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/07/05

In this Fourth of July weekend episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Colin Woodard, director of Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University's Pell Center, about national identity, civic trust, polarization, and the stories that shape how people understand belonging. Woodard's work asks a question that belongs in every civics and history classroom: What story holds a nation together? Drawing from his background as a historian, journalist, and researcher, he explains why national identity is not

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23:12

Teaching the Declaration Beyond the Fourth of July

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/07/05

In this Fourth of July weekend episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with historian and author Katie Kennedy about her new book, The Declaration Decoded, and the stories behind America's foundational documents. For history and civics educators, this conversation offers a timely reminder: founding documents are not static artifacts to memorize. They were written by real people, shaped by conflict, compromise, risk, contradiction, and imagination. Kennedy helps bring those documents back into the realm of

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28:27

What 600 Letters Can Teach Us About WWII

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/29

In this episode, Tricia speaks with Jan Cress Dondi about the years-long research journey behind her USA Today bestselling WWII book. What began with the discovery of hundreds of family letters became a much larger act of historical reconstruction, combining personal correspondence, military records, National Archives research, firsthand family memory, and deep attention to the emotional lives of the people who lived through war. Jan shares how she pieced together the stories of two young airmen

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17:39

AI in Schools Is Changing: What Leaders Need Now

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/22

In this episode of Shifting Schools, Jeff and Tricia reflect on the 2025–2026 school year and what they are seeing as schools move into a more mature phase of AI work. The conversation moves beyond tools and prompt tips into the deeper questions now facing educators and school leaders: AI companions, student wellbeing, shadow AI use, schoolwide expectations, sustained professional learning, and the need to rethink pedagogy for a world shaped by information overload. Jeff and Tricia discuss why AI

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19:14

The Father's Day Gift of Curiosity: Brian Boone on...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/19

Looking for something thoughtful, funny, curious, and conversation-starting for Father's Day weekend? This episode may be just the thing. We are welcoming back Brian Boone, a writer, researcher, and storyteller whose work reminds us that trivia is not really about random facts. It is about memory, meaning, surprise, and the pleasure of sharing something unexpected with someone else. That makes this conversation especially fitting for Father's Day weekend. Trivia has a way of bringing people together

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26:32

Will this be the summer of vibe coding?

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/15

In this episode of Shifting Schools, Jeff and Tricia talk about vibe coding: the emerging practice of using AI tools to help turn prompts, sketches, hunches, and half-formed ideas into working prototypes. They look at what this shift means for educators, students, school leaders, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing the relationship between imagination and production. This is not a conversation about replacing technical skill. It is a conversation about what becomes possible when more

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17:36

Meredith Walker on Why "Be Yourself" Isn't Enough

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/08

What do we really mean when we tell young people to "be yourself"? In this episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Meredith Walker, co-founder of Smart Girls with Amy Poehler and author of Be Yourself and Other Bad Advice. Together, they question one of the most common phrases young people hear from adults: "be yourself." It sounds kind. It sounds simple. But for many young people, especially those still figuring out who they are, the advice can feel vague, confusing, or even impossible. Meredith

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27:49

How to build a story one ingredient at a time with...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/06/01

Join us as Keala Kendall, author of the compelling gothic novel That Which Feeds Us, takes us through her creative process, the importance of representation in storytelling, and how horror can serve as a mirror to society's fears and unresolved histories. This conversation uncovers the layers behind her work, blending culture, history, and genre to provoke thought and evoke emotion. Main topics covered: Kendall's artistic process and how the novel evolved from initial inspiration The

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16:59

Veronica Roth on Taylor Swift, Dystopian Fantasy, and...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/05/25

This week, Tricia Friedman speaks with Veronica Roth, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the author of Seek the Traitor Son, the first book in a new epic romance dystopian fantasy series. In this conversation, Veronica shares how watching Taylor Swift perform during the Eras Tour helped her reflect on her own earlier work, her growth as an artist, and what it means to keep creating after a hugely successful series. She also talks about world-building, writing for

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16:49

Dr. Brittney Cooper on Picture Books, Collaboration,...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/05/18

This week, Tricia Friedman welcomes Dr. Brittney Cooper to the podcast to talk about her new picture book, Mama Says I'm Fine, illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. The conversation explores the story behind the book, the emotional weight of the phrase "you're fine," and how children's literature can hold care, resilience, identity, and family love. Dr. Cooper also reflects on what it means to write with intention and to collaborate with artists, editors, and readers in mind. Known for her work as a New

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17:03

Why Patricia Cornwell Still Believes in Stories

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/05/11

Patricia Cornwell joins Tricia Friedman for a conversation about memory, writing, curiosity, forensic science, and the memoir she never expected to write. In this episode, Cornwell reflects on the childhood experiences that shaped her imagination, including the early encouragement that helped her begin to see herself as a writer. She talks about learning to "populate the world with imagined characters," the role of journaling and archival memory in writing memoir, and why finding the opening hook

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36:53

The Questions Students Are Asking About AI: and the...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/05/04

Tricia and Jeff talk about what AI literacy actually looks like in K-12 — past the policy memos, past the vendor pitches, past the "ban it or adopt it" debate that keeps stalling schools out. They were very excited to receive questions from a student, and they used those as the structure for this conversation. The conversation uses the Shifting Schools BAKE framework as a loose map: Balance, Adaptability, Knowledge-sharing, Empathy. A mindset-first approach for leaders who want to think clearly

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21:42

Great gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/05/03

This week Jeff and Tricia share their five top gifts to celebrate the special educator in your life. They take you through why these five gifts celebrate creativity, learning, wellness, and show personal recognition during Teacher Appreciation Week. Featured on the show: WoofPack https://woofpacks.ca/ SketchBox https://getsketchbox.com/ PlantWave https://plantwave.com/en-ca/products/plantwave Back To The Roots

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16:06

What we learn when we listen to students

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/04/26

What happens when you stop talking about students and start talking with them? In this episode, Jeff Utecht sits down with high schoolers and asks a question most adults skip: what do you actually need from school right now? Not what teachers think they need. Not what the policy documents say. What the students themselves would name if someone gave them the mic. What they share is honest, specific, and worth slowing down for. Some of it will confirm what you already suspected. Some of it will

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34:26

The Business of You with Marnie Stockman and Nick...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/04/20

This week Jeff talks with Nick and Marnie about why we want to help students stop waiting for permission and start building a bridge to a career on your their own terms. In this episode, Jeff Utecht is joined by Marnie Stockman and Nick Coniglio, authors of The Business of You, a book that reframes career growth, personal branding, and leadership through a simple but demanding idea: you are already running a business, and that business is you. Using the story of Sydney, a young professional trying

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24:26

Sara Amini: The Stories We Carry and the Friends Who...

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/04/13

What can a graphic novel teach educators about belonging, friendship, and the inner lives of young people? Sara Amini is an actor and author whose semi-autobiographical middle grade graphic novel Mixed Feelings started as a collection of essays before finding its real form. In this conversation, she and Tricia dig into why the graphic novel gave her a sharper way to tell a story about not fitting neatly into any one category, and what that means for the kids (and adults) who read it. They talk

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24:19

Why Friendship Is Serious Business for Kids and Adults

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/04/06

Alyson Gerber joins Tricia Friedman to talk about The Liar Society, why friendship is serious business, and what mystery stories can teach young readers and adults about belonging, trust, competition, and connection. In this conversation, Alyson shares why friendship sits at the center of her work, how middle grade fiction can help readers think more deeply about loneliness and identity, and why the best friends are the ones who cheer for your growth. They also go behind the scenes of writing a

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32:24

Living at the edge of emerging technology

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/03/30

What happens when we stop asking AI to do everything faster and start asking how it might help us understand people better? In this episode, Jeff sits down with Andy Sitison, CTO of Share More Stories, for a conversation about empathetic AI, story collection, and why trust may be the real differentiator in the next phase of technology. Andy shares how his work uses AI not just as a productivity tool, but as a way to surface patterns in human experience by gathering and analyzing stories from real

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17:36

Human Still Required: out now!

Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators ·

2026/03/26

Jeff Utecht is back with a brand new book for schools looking to understand what to prioritize in the era of AI. Human Still Required is available for purchase, and you can get chapter one free: https://humanstillrequired.com/ Learn all about it in this special bonus episode.

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