Show Notes
From book bans to chronic absenteeism to phone distractions, it’s a hard time to be a teacher. But amidst all the challenges, there’s something surprising happening among math teachers. Some of them say they’re more excited to go to work than ever before. Why? Because of a new approach to teaching math called “thinking classrooms” that has students up out of their seats and engaged in problem-solving. In this episode, MindShift listeners will hear a thinking classroom in action and reflections from the teacher and her students. Listeners also will learn about this model from the researcher who developed it, Peter Liljedahl.
More from MindShift Podcast
KQED is distributing a new podcast called Life, Automated from our partners at the Ryan Institute on Complexity that explores what it means to live, work, and make decisions in a rapidly automating world.
As confidence in higher education shifts and economic pressures intensify, young people are navigating increasingly complex decisions about life after high school. In this episode, college students share their financial realities and experts examine the tension between cultural expectations around college and emerging conversations about economic mobility, dignity of work, and long-term stability.
As skepticism about the cost of college grows, Career and Technical Education (CTE) is gaining renewed attention. But is CTE a shortcut around higher education or a bridge into it?
When a middle schooler started bringing home his worst grades ever, his parents were stunned. His teachers said he understood the material. The problem? He couldn’t stay off his school-issued iPad. In classrooms across the country, districts have banned phones, but the screens haven’t disappeared. They’ve just shifted to Chromebooks and tablets that students are required to use all day long. And for some families and educators, those devices are raising uncomfortable questions.
More than a decade after Rita Pierson stepped onto the TED stage and declared, “Every child deserves a champion,” her words still echo through schools, teacher prep programs, and staff meetings across the country. But what does it actually take to live out that message in today’s classrooms when teachers are stretched thin, burnout is high, and the emotional demands of the job can feel relentless?