Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by the always fabulous, Femi Adeniran, to continue a conversation that started when I appeared on the Beyond Good podcast about math, coaching, and instruction. We discuss: How to begin a maths lesson How not to begin a maths … Continue reading S5E17: Femi Adeniran on Explicit Math Instruction and Coaching for Better Math Teaching
S5E16: Scott Jackson on Summer Camp
Welcome back to Progressively Incorrect. I’m your host, Dr. Zach Groshell. In this episode, I’m joined by Scotty Jackson to talk about how summer camp can create the experiences—and build the kinds of values—that help kids be better people: honesty, respect, responsibility, caring, and belonging. I’m not coming at this as a distant observer. I … Continue reading S5E16: Scott Jackson on Summer Camp
S5E15: Barbara Oakley on Constructivism vs. Learning Science
In this episode, I sit down with Barbara Oakley—engineer, bestselling author, and one of the most influential voices in the science of learning—to talk about why so much instruction still misses the mark, what “good teaching” looks like when you take cognition seriously, and what’s at stake if we keep defaulting to methods that feel … Continue reading S5E15: Barbara Oakley on Constructivism vs. Learning Science
S5E14: Thinking Out Loud… What comes first in coaching, techniques or lesson design?
The “Thinking Out Loud” episodes on Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works are a running set of conversations to make sense of instruction, coaching, and implementation as they actually function in schools—not as we wish they did. The premise is straightforward: Gene Tavernetti and I take a concrete problem of practice, name what tends to go wrong, … Continue reading S5E14: Thinking Out Loud… What comes first in coaching, techniques or lesson design?
The Workload Solutions the Profession Doesn’t Want
I’m very concerned about teacher workload. Plenty of teachers are running on fumes. In the 2024 State of the American Teacher survey, 59% of teachers reported frequent job-related stress and 60% reported burnout.Still, I’ve noticed something odd in the workload discourse: the most dependable solutions to reducing workload often turn out to be the ones … Continue reading The Workload Solutions the Profession Doesn’t Want
S5E13: Mike Schmoker on How Schools Can Get Results Now
Mike Schmoker is one of the most influential voices in school improvement, urging schools to recommit to the fundamentals: coherent curriculum, strong lesson design, and authentic literacy—reading, discussion, and writing—throughout the school day. Across books like Focus and Results Now 2.0, and decades of essays and commentary, his through-line is the same: schools don’t usually … Continue reading S5E13: Mike Schmoker on How Schools Can Get Results Now
S5E12: Brian Poncy on Better Ways to Teach Math Facts
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Brian Poncy to explore a claim you’ve probably heard in schools: “Teaching math facts interferes with understanding.” From there, we dig into better ways to think about math facts, what schools can do differently, and the practical decisions that show up when schools decide to take facts … Continue reading S5E12: Brian Poncy on Better Ways to Teach Math Facts
S5E11: Alex Gingell on Setting the Culture and Conditions for Effective Instructional Coaching
In this episode, I sit down with Alex Gingell to unpack what it actually takes to make instructional coaching work in a school. Alex explains why his first priority wasn’t improving teaching, but stabilizing behavior, curriculum, and trust—and why coaching can only succeed once those foundations are secure. We talk through how he used Steplab … Continue reading S5E11: Alex Gingell on Setting the Culture and Conditions for Effective Instructional Coaching
S5E10: Laura Doherty on the Baltimore Curriculum Project
In this episode of the Direct Instruction podcast, I’m joined by Laura Doherty, President and CEO of the Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP)—Maryland’s largest operator of neighborhood, PK–8 public charter schools, and one of the longest-running Direct Instruction networks in the United States. For nearly three decades, BCP has been quietly doing something that many systems … Continue reading S5E10: Laura Doherty on the Baltimore Curriculum Project
Stop Asking Teachers to Chase the Discovery Dragon
The phrase “chasing the dragon” refers to the classic cycle of addiction. People keep chasing the dragon not because it’s working, but because they’re convinced the payoff will eventually come — if only they keep trying. (I’ll spare you a digression into my history with the game of golf.) Teachers are told to chase the … Continue reading Stop Asking Teachers to Chase the Discovery Dragon
Education Rickshaw 
You must be logged in to post a comment.