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It feels good to be able to help others, but what is the impact of providing that help? A review of helping behaviors highlight how helping too soon or in overbearing ways actually undermines learners. Teachers should focus on helping behaviors that cultivate student agency. Later, we see how small, frequent breaks produce better test outcomes than a single, large break in a long class. We consider strategies that help students quickly refresh their attention in contexts within and beyond a simple lecture.

Our approach to grading has connections to everything in our class design. We are joined by guest host David Clark to talk about alternative grading approaches that can focus on supporting student growth and protecting motivation by rejecting assumptions about how grades must work. Later, we read about the impact of even slight training in note-taking on student metacognition… but then we go right back to debating what we need from scholars who want to talk about grades.

Our year in review looks back to find the most noteworthy learning from the past season. We always search for concrete “should’s” in our classroom - like encouraging students before tests or interleaving your skill practice. However, our top prizes go to big picture ideas about the very structure of our education system. Later, we reflect on our personal teaching journey and what we’ve learned about saisons this year.

Research has already shown that human attempts to multitask come with heavy costs. New research suggests other cognitive control activities also come with costs. In a classroom with many sources of potential distraction, how should practitioners help students put brain energy toward learning? Later, we read about classroom experiments that dispel the myth that interleaved practice can’t work in language learning contexts. It seems well-designed interleaving is a nearly categorical good.

Pressure to improve reading and writing performance is bringing fresh scrutiny to language instruction. Author Patty McGee joins us to discuss a curiosity-focused curriculum that eschews rules and correction to foster literacy growth. How can literary structure unlock new layers of meaning for readers? Later, we discuss the lack of adequate research on grading policies. What are grades for and how can our policies help us meet those goals?

Many school reform efforts are seeking new ways to structure the teaching profession. Dr. Mary Laski joins us to discuss a program that integrates pay-for-performance as a key element. Their results show definitively positive effects in both near- and long-term outcomes, and we ponder how monetary incentives may be received at scale. Later, we read how the rate limit for simple learning in lab mice makes rapid practice functionally identical to spaced practice. We consider the implications for interleaved teaching.

Classroom management is a frequent topic in teacher preparation and professional development, but what kinds of classroom structures really have an impact? We look at balancing support with avoiding being controlling and the importance of clarity of goals and purpose. Later, we discuss themes in building positive student relationships. Students notice teacher enthusiasm, authenticity, and a healthy sense of authority. How can we each approach these elements in a way that works for us?

Participation in dual enrollment programs has skyrocketed in recent years, but how many college credits in high school is the right amount? We see that getting the first dual credit course is good for most students, and that additional courses have diminishing returns or overwhelm students. Later, we read multilingual dialogue examples from a science class that fosters a safe classroom environment where they use discussion to help students learn the English language and science content simultaneously.

How should we approach making adjustments in the classroom to ensure we meet the needs of every learner? Dr. Ling Zhang joins us to discuss how US law and policy frame individualization and other requirements for tailoring instruction to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Focus on pacing toward common goals shows the most promise for legal compliance and learning gains. Later, we discuss an example course fully committed to student growth through interlocking systems of active, collaborative learning and minimizing grade-based motivation.

How do experienced teachers effectively monitor a classroom? We read an eye-tracking study comparing pre-service teachers with expert teachers that revealed more systematic patterns that were more resilient following disruptions. We discuss how teachers can make space to practice this element of classroom management. Later, we discuss how teacher encouragement shapes student motivation on major assessments. Our words of encouragement promote class engagement that itself boosts success.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?