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Host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross chatted with two classroom teachers about what it takes to create a classroom in which every student feels safe tasking risks as a reader and writer. Theresa Boyd is a teacher-leader coach and sixth grade social studies teacher at Mallard Creek STEM Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina; Ann Ingham is a third grade teacher from the Cedarsburg School District in Wisconsin and a 2025 Science of Reading Star Award winner. Theresa and Ann share what they're seeing in ELA classrooms today; students who are curious and collaborative, but also struggling with decreased reading stamina and fear of being wrong. After the roundtable, Ana and Eric reflect on key takeaways, including why sometimes you have to slow down teaching to speed up learning. Show notes:  Learn more about Amplify CKLA.Learn more about Amplify ELA.Follow Theresa on TikTok: @CraftyTeacherTees.Join our Amplify learning community.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes: "Growth lives outside your comfort zone." —Theresa Boyd "Mistakes are valuable. They literally grow our brains when we make them and see them and correct them." —Ann Ingham "Curiosity is very important. I think we've fallen away from that." —Ana Torres "Sometimes we have to step back from just teaching content and switch to teaching our students how to learn." —Eric Cross

On this episode of Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres is joined by Miguel Cardona, Ed.D., who served as the 12th U.S. secretary of education and is the founder and CEO of Cardona Solutions. A former fourth-grade teacher and an award-winning school principal who served as the Connecticut commissioner of education, Miguel explains why bilingualism is a cognitive and economic superpower—and why we should always view it as an asset. Miguel also shares why he believes we do students a disservice by assuming the only option for success is four-year college and describes what it could look like to reimagine high schools to include career pathways. Eric Cross, our Classroom Insider and a middle school science teacher, then joins Ana to reflect on why sympathy doesn't always translate into support, and why we should ask students about themselves rather than making assumptions. Show notes: Learn more about Miguel Cardona and Cardona Solutions.Listen to our Beyond My Years episode with Luz Muñoz.Listen to our Beyond My Years episode with Pedro Noguera, Ph.D.Listen to our special episode in Spanish with Luz Muñoz.Listen to Amplify's Multilingual/English Learners (ML/ELs) podcast playlistFollow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes:  "When you are thinking in different languages, your cognitive ability increases." —Miguel Cardona "Sympathy isn't always support, so check your expectations underneath it." —Eric Cross "I am a teacher at heart. I will have that teacher heart until the day I die." —Ana Torres "Bilingualism is an economic superpower. It is a cognitive superpower." —Miguel Cardona

Host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross lead a discussion with two classroom teachers who have been making the shift from delivering math to facilitating it. Amy Siegmundt teaches third grade in Lockland School District in Ohio, and Jeffrey Mashbitz teaches seventh and eighth grade in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania. Amy and Jeffrey share practical strategies for making facilitation work in any math classroom, including using sentence starters to help students talk about math and instructional routines that put students in the driver's seat. After the roundtable, Ana and Eric reflect on key takeaways, including why a great curriculum is less like a script and more like a recipe.  Show notes:  Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math.Watch Student Centered Math Practices on YouTube.Listen to all Beyond My Years' math episodes.Follow up on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes:  "You have to embrace the noise, because the noise and the conversation is the learning." —Amy Siegmundt  "The conceptual part is more of the focus now. Being a facilitator, you're paying more attention to why the math works and not just how to do the math." —Jeffrey Mashbitz "A noisy classroom was actually a joyful classroom. I realized that later." —Ana Torres "We can't expect students to know how to collaborate if you we haven't taught them." —Eric Cross

Host Ana Torres is joined by Fawn Nguyen, Director of STEM Initiatives at Amplify, one of the show's most beloved returning guests. A 30-year middle school math teacher and K–8 math coach before she joined Amplify, Fawn shares practical strategies for teaching math in a way that values multiple solutions and makes every student feel like they belong. Fawn breaks down the routines that open math up to every learner and explains why stepping back to let students do the thinking is one of the most powerful moves a teacher can make. Our Classroom Insider, middle school science teacher Eric Cross, joins Ana to reflect on why "I'm not good at math" is usually a scar with a story behind it. He and Ana discuss why widening our definition of success is where healing begins. Show notes: Listen to Fawn Nguyen's first appearance on Beyond My Years.Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math.Watch Student Centered Math Practices on YouTube. Listen to all of Beyond My Years’ math episodes.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes: "We can all be mathematicians—not just the fast ones." —Fawn Nguyen "You're not the answer key. What you say instead is: 'You tell me.'" —Fawn Nguyen "When you immerse children in critical thinking and problem-solving daily, they show up to problems they've never seen before and they're already in their problem-solving mode." —Fawn Nguyen "Who wants to teach anything if you know the kids are going to dread it?" —Fawn Nguyen "Teach in a way that makes you look forward to going back the next day." —Fawn Nguyen "When success is widened, more students are gonna be able to walk through it." —Eric Cross "Our anxieties are contagious—so it's important to include adults in the intervention, not just students." —Eric Cross "We make time for what's important. And if it's valuable, we will create those five minutes." —Ana Torres

Host Ana Torres is joined by Kelly Serpa, Ed.D., STEM product specialist at Amplify and passionate advocate for inclusive math instruction. Together, they explore what it takes to develop students' conceptual understanding in math and why an asset-based approach makes all the difference. Kelly shares the "aha moment" that transformed her teaching practice and breaks down practical strategies for developing deeper math thinkers—from hooking every student in the first five minutes with routines like Notice and Wonder to building fluency in an asset-based way, without the pressure of a timer. Classroom Insider and middle school science teacher Eric Cross joins Ana to share why these strategies for developing deeper thinkers are just as powerful in other content areas—including in his own science classroom—as they are in math. Show notes: Connect with Kelly Serpa on LinkedIn.Explore Amplify's Advice for the Math Classroom on YouTube.Check out Amplify's Fluency Practice. Watch Student-Centered Math Practices on YouTube.Listen to the Beyond My Years' math playlist. Learn more about math that motivates your K–5 students.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross. Quotes: "Engagement in the first five minutes of your math class is the most important thing." —Kelly Serpa "Every single kid needs fluency practice every single day." —Kelly Serpa "Build conceptual understanding first. Don't look at those lessons as fluffy, optional, or unnecessary." —Kelly Serpa "Kids know stuff. They don't come to us as an empty slate." —Ana Torres "Going from telling to questioning, that's really the engine of problem-based learning." —Eric Cross

Host Ana Torres is joined by Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., dean and distinguished professor of education at USC Rossier School of Education, one of the national's leading scholars on inequality and public policy in education. Together, they explore how to create a student-centered classroom in which every learner is encouraged to bring their full selves. Pedro then breaks down how to build authentic relationships with students, co-create classroom norms, and foster a culture in which mistakes are part of learning. He also shares powerful advice for supporting multilingual/English learners. Classroom Insider Eric Cross then joins Ana to reinforce why building relationships with students is every educator's professional responsibility. Show notes:  Learn more about Pedro Noguera, Ph.D.Connect with Pedro Noguera.Take your learning further with these episodes:The science behind a joyful classroom, starring Tracey Severns, Ed.D.Learning alongside your multilingual learners, starring Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ed.D.Give your multilingual/English learners the strongest writing instruction with these free ebooks.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes: "It's less about control; it's more about relationships. And if you build a good, positive relationship, then kids will listen." —Pedro Noguera "The hardest thing to teach a teacher is how to build relationships with kids." —Pedro Noguera "The real teaching is not in grading; it's in feedback." —Pedro Noguera "As educators, we're more than just the content that we teach." —Ana Torres "The most important teaching often happens after the first attempt." —Eric Cross "When we give feedback early and often, it improves learning." —Eric Cross

Beyond My Years host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross give you the first look at Season 3, launching July 22, 2026. This trailer highlights what's coming this season, including roundtable conversations with educators from across the country and candid conversations with Amplify's own experts in literacy and math. Season 3 focuses on the art and science of great teaching, drawing the knowledge of researchers and educators, including Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., Miguel Cardona, Ed.D., and Dan Meyer, Ph.D. We'll dig into topics from building relationships with students and teaching strategies for reaching every learner to student engagement in the math classroom, and more!

In the second part of our special Beyond My Years two-part math series, Ana is joined by Ian Brown, second-grade teacher at Mukilteo School District in Washington and author of the comic book I Hate Math, for a conversation focused on reducing math anxiety and creating positive math experiences. Ian shares his approach to helping students who genuinely dislike math, describing how he helps them get to a place where math success feels manageable and achievable. Together, Ian and Ana explore the power of honoring students' real feelings; creating classroom environments where mistakes don't carry shame; and using storytelling, humor, and metaphors to make abstract concepts concrete. Finally, Ana is joined by Classroom Insider Eric Cross to discuss making math feel safe, ways to give students both story and stage, and how the foundational work of differentiation and meeting students where they are is critical to the work of educators. Show notes: Read I Hate Math by Ian Brown.Subscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice .Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadvice.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes:  "You can't force someone to love something or to like something. But you can kind of talk them into not hating something." —Ian Brown "I hate shaming children. I hate shaming anyone. I think shame is the most insidious thing in the world." —Ian Brown "Math is just a description of the world around us. We live in the world, we can do it." —Ian Brown "I don't attach any value to success or failure. I only attach value to hard work and kindness." —Ian Brown "It's gonna be a grind. We're gonna be here for 180 some days. Well, let's have fun doing it." —Ian Brown "You have to feel your feelings so you can think your thoughts." —Eric Cross "The boring work is the real work." —Eric Cross "You need both culture and rigor. If you have culture without rigor, then learning is hollow. If you have rigor without culture, that's what made students hate the subject." —Eric Cross

In the first episode of a special Beyond My Year two-part math series, Ana chats with Matt Cash, director of elementary curriculum and instruction for Lake Elsinore Unified School District, in California, about math leadership and change management. Matt shares his experience helping move his district from a localized approach to a unified system to provide centralized resources, professional development, and assessment. Together, Matt and Ana discuss the importance of listening to educators during adoption processes, the power of creating systems that support teachers, and the best ways to build unity around instructional approaches. Matt also shares practical advice for educators navigating curriculum reviews and pilots. Before the episode's end, Ana is joined by Classroom Insider Eric Cross, who reflects on how teachers can use their voices early in adoption processes, pilot with fidelity, and give themselves grace during implementation. Show notes: Check out the full change management bundle — including the change management playbook— at amplify.com/MathChangeManagementSubscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom on Amplify's YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice. Check out our new math change management playlist!Check out our new student-centered math practices playlist!Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom on Amplify's YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadvice.Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross. Quotes: "When you're removing variability out of your system, quality is going up." —Matt Cash "Professionals are obsessed with the idea of getting better." —Matt Cash "Advocate for your kids." —Matt Cash "Give yourself grace in year one, but stay engaged and keep asking for support." —Eric Cross "Instead of quietly struggling and going back to old materials, put that energy into requests and make your voice heard." —Eric Cross "Sometimes the buy-in comes when we understand things better." —Eric Cross

Host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross recently recorded a video with their six takeaways from Season 2 of the Beyond My Years podcast. Listen right here, or watch the takeaways video on our new YouTube channels, linked below. Watch: Beyond My Years season two wrap-upCatch videos of host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross on our new YouTube Channels:@AdviceForTheMathClassroom@AdviceForTheLiteracyClassroom

In this special episode, we're bringing you an inspiring conversation from a recent edWebinar that will transform how you approach literacy across every subject area.  Join Ana Torres, Beyond My Years podcast host, Eric Cross, our Classroom Insider, and Susan Lambert, host of our sister podcast, Science of Reading: The Podcast as they share how literacy fits into every subject area, why this is such an important topic, and what it looks like in practice.  In this episode, you'll: - Discover strategies to weave literacy seamlessly into your classroom. - Learn strategies and tactics for supporting multilingual learners. - Get strategies for developing academic language across all subjects. - Explore what literacy instruction looks like in an adolescent classroom.  Show notes: Watch the Beyond My Years season two wrap-upCatch videos of host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross on our new YouTube Channels:@AdviceForTheMathClassroom@AdviceForTheLiteracyClassroomWatch the edWebinar video and earn CE creditsSubscribe to Beyond My YearsSubscribe to Science of Reading: The Podcast

To celebrate this second season of Beyond My Years, Ana is joined by Mike Flynn, nationally recognized expert in mathematics education and online learning. He explains how "disorienting dilemmas" can bolster our productive beliefs and lead to transformative change in our teaching. Mike and Ana also discuss the importance of teacher advocacy, the power of collective voice, and ways to overcome barriers to change. Our favorite Classroom Insider, Eric Cross, joins Ana to discuss how important it is to challenge our assumptions as we continue to grow and change. Show notes: Connect with Mike Flynn on LinkedIn Learn more about Flynn Education: https://flynneducation.com/ Subscribe to Advice for the Math Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/mathclassroomadvice Subscribe to Advice for the Literacy Classroom on Amplify’s YouTube channel: amplify.com/literacyclassroomadviceFollow us on InstagramSubscribe to Beyond My Year.Connect with Ana TorresConnect with Eric CrossQuotes: "Leadership comes in a lot of different formats, but anyone interested in influencing change can orchestrate experiences to disrupt unproductive beliefs." —Mike Flynn "Don't be afraid of your own teacher voice and exercising that. Advocacy is one of the best things you can do." —Mike Flynn "Sometimes it gets really hard before it gets better. It just always reminds me to remember the long game." —Mike Flynn "As a learner, you have to have humility. Otherwise you won't grow." —Eric Cross "Change really behinds when you look at the unintended consequences of our practice." —Eric Cross

Ana is joined by Daniela Anello, CEO of DC Bilingual Public Charter School, to discuss how educators can create environments in which they can be their whole selves. Daniela tells her own story of identifying her values as a teacher and claiming the sense of purpose she wanted to bring into her own classroom; and then lays out how she works to incorporate them on a day-to-day basis. She also explains why its important for teachers to take chances, make mistakes, and try again—behaviors should be modeled for students. Ana is then joined by our Classroom Insider, middle school science teacher, Eric Cross, who delves into the importance of "being yourself on purpose" when. you teach. Show notes:  Connect with Daniela Anello on LinkedIn. Learn more about Daniela’s work at DC Bilingual. Check out the Marshall Memo. Follow us on Instagram.Subscribe to Beyond My Years.Connect with Ana Torres.Connect with Eric Cross.Quotes: "I needed to be in a place where I could be my full self, demonstrating all of the identities that make me who I am." —Daniela Anello "The first step is recognizing your own identity and your own values and the aspects of you that you want to see reflected in the place that you're going to pour your love and heart into." —Daniela Anello "Change and improvement happen over time." —Daniela Anello "Go where you're going to grow." —Eric Cross "If I'm in an environment where I can't be my authentic self, and I know what that is and I know what I value, then it might be time for me to go somewhere where I can flourish." —Eric Cross "A system is not a person. If you build something on a person, then when that person leaves or gets burned out,  your system falls apart." —Eric Cross

Host Ana Torres is joined by nationally recognized educational consultant and thought leader Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D., to discuss what critical thinkng is and how to help students develop it. In addition to explaining why critical thinking is crucial for long-term academic success, Mitchell also gives educators four clear steps that they can implement to effectively develop critical thinking skills in their classrooms. Ana is then joined by Classroom Insider extraordinaire Eric Cross, who discusses how he encourages his students to hone their critical thinking skills in his classroom. Show notes: Visit Mitchell Brookins' website: https://brookinsconsulting.org/Connect with Mitchell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-brookins-ph-d-6a7259274Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amplify.education/Subscribe to Beyond My Years: https://amplify.com/beyond-my-yearsConnect with Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/Connect with Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/ Quotes: "When you're a school administrator, you can't be confusd as to what your identity is. People expect you to step in with voice, with passion, with vision, and direct the path," —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. "[Critical thinking] is actually cognitive support. It's a mental act of process in which you acquire knowledge and understanding." —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. "When I see questioning that probes, that's how I know I'm in a classroom where a teacher honors students' thinking. It is an honor to hear what children have to think." —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. "That's how you know your in a classroom with critical thinking: We're not rushing the conversation. We're enjoying it." —Mitchell Brookins, Ph.D. "There's an art and a science to teaching, and I think that they're two different things." —Eric Cross "The importance of modeling can't be overstated." —Ana Torres

As we wrap up another incredible year together, Ana revisits her Season 1 conversation with the director of STEM Initiatives at Amplify, Fawn Nguyen. Ana is joined by Classroom Insider Eric Cross to pull out some brand-new takeaways and actionable tips that educators can use right away to create a classroom environment that sets students up for success. They also look ahead and give a sneak peek of what's coming up on Beyond My Years in 2026. Before the episode's end, Fawn gives new advice for avoiding burn out in the second half of the school year by "doing less, but doing it better." Show notes: Connect with Fawn Nguyen: https://fawnnguyen.substack.com/ Subscribe to Beyond My Years https://amplify.com/beyond-my-yearsFollow us on Instagram @amplify.education Connect with Eric Cross: https://www.ericcross.org/ Connect with Ana Torres: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayansi-ana-torres-m-ed-26a10654/Quotes: “In my next lifetime, I would still teach, I would go back to teaching. That's how much I love it.” —Fawn Nguyen "If I could give one piece of advice to young teachers, it would be to hold high expectations of their students." —Fawn Nguyen "We can have high expectations of [students] and still be very compassionate and be their biggest cheerleaders." —Fawn Nguyen “It has to be an exchange. We can't be just receiving, asking kids to be [themselves], and yet we ourselves are not.” —Fawn Nguyen "One of the things I always believed as an educator was when we make children believe they can, they do." —Ana Torres "Be willing to change your practice even when it challenges tradition." —Eric Cross