Minnie Phan: A Young Girl and the Power of Art
Vietnamese children’s book illustrator Minnie Phan talks to KQED's Ki Sung about using art to process events and heal wounds in the Vietnamese diaspora.
Apr 08, 2025•22 min
MindShift Podcast
It’s easy to see a child’s education as a path determined by grades, test scores and extra curricular activities. But genuine learning is about so much more than the points schools tally. MindShift explores the future of learning and how we raise our kids. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us @MindShiftKQED or visit us at MindShift.KQED.org. Take our audience survey! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7297739/b0436be7b132
Episodes
Why Handwriting Still Matters in the Age of Screens
KQED's Nimah Gobir talks to educator and language therapist, Dr. Nancy Cushen White about why handwriting is such a powerful tool for literacy learning.
Mar 11, 2025•15 min
Disengaged Teens: What to Know and How to Help Them Find Their Spark
KQED's Ki Sung talks to Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of "The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better." They discuss the different modes of engagement and how to support teens at home and in school.
Feb 11, 2025•30 min
How to Help Boys Thrive in a Changing World
Ruth Whippman, author of "Boy Mom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity" talks to KQED's Nimah Gobir about the biggest challenges facing boys today, and actionable steps parents and educators can take to make a difference for the boys in their lives.
Jan 14, 2025•18 min
Book Reading Goals for Young Readers with Traci Thomas
KQED's Ki Sung talks to host of The Stacks podcast, Traci Thomas, about rereading books she loved as a child with her own children, what's on her reading list as they grow and what she's learned about reading from all of her author interviews.
Dec 10, 2024•24 min
The Lasting Impact of Full-Length Reading
Journalist Rose Horowitch and Author Danielle Bayard Jackson join KQED's Nimah Gobir in conversation to explore the problem of reading stamina in college students.
Nov 12, 2024•16 min
How the Mentor Mindset Can Help Adults Show Up Better for Tweens and Teens
David Yeager is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and an expert in behavioral science. He just published a book titled “10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People.” He joins KQED's Ki Sung in conversation to share strategies adults can use to get into the best mindset for helping adolescents be their best selves.
Oct 08, 2024•25 min
Why Poetry Is Making a Comeback in Schools
Hanif Abduraqqib. Sarah Kay. Elizabeth Acevedo. Clint Smith. Do any of these names sound familiar? How about Amanda Gorman? All of these writers are part of America’s thriving contemporary poetry scene. But you won’t find them in many text books, because high school poetry units tend to focus on dead poets, like Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe. North Carolina teacher Melissa Smith is working to change that. For the last seven years, she’s been diversifying the canon in her classro...
Sep 24, 2024•28 min
Humanizing History by Teaching with Primary Sources
If you think of social studies as a dry, dusty march of names and dates to memorize, think again. In the last two decades, as historical records have been digitized and made accessible to the public, teachers have begun using primary sources as portals for students to connect with the real people and places that came before them. At Rockingham County Public Schools in Virginia, fourth graders learn about the Civil Rights Movement by studying photos of segregated schools in Virginia and reading d...
Sep 10, 2024•28 min
How to Get Kids Thinking Instead of Mimicking in Math Class
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 f...
Aug 27, 2024•26 min•Season 9Ep. 4
The Black Panther Legacy and Oakland Community Schools
MindShift revisits the pioneering initiatives of the Black Panthers, who used a community school approach when they opened a first-of-its-kind school in East Oakland in 1973. Then we focus on Oakland Unified School District's ambitious journey to become a community school district. We’ll take a closer look at Oakland International High School (OIHS), a public high school established in 2007 that serves 100% English language learners and how they’ve successfully used the community school model to...
Aug 13, 2024•31 min
What Role Can Schools Play in Breaking Cycles of Homelessness?
This podcast episode explores Monarch School, a public school in San Diego County dedicated to serving unhoused students and their families. Highlighting the growing issue of homelessness among students and its adverse impact on education, we showcase Monarch School's community school model. By providing holistic support, including professionals and services co-located on the school grounds, this model has the capacity to disrupt patterns of homelessness. From addressing basic needs to offering ...
Jul 30, 2024•24 min
A Research-Backed Way to Improve Student Attendance
Not all students returned to school after the pandemic. Research shows that chronic absenteeism surged around the country. Niki Espinoza, a community school coordinator at Maple Elementary, discovered a strategy informed by Harvard research that centered collaboration with families. Using mail-based “nudges” and a social media campaign caused chronic absenteeism to decline. This episode presents an exploration of community schools, emphasizing the significance of partnerships with parents and de...
Jul 16, 2024•25 min
MindShift Returns With Season 9!
MindShift returns with Season 9! Discover solutions for raising our kids in the modern era. Hear from educators and experts creating pathways for students to flourish. Subscribe to receive new episodes starting July 16.
Jul 09, 2024•3 min
What's Lost When Books Are Banned?
We're sharing an episode from our friends at the Adult ISH podcast. In light of the latest number of attempted book bans as tracked by the American Library Association (ALA), Adult ISH hosts Nyge Turner and Dominique “Dom” French speak to Traci Thomas, host of “The Stacks” podcast, and Scott Stuart, author of “My Shadow is Purple,” about how removing access to books can cause harm. Want more great ideas about teaching and learning? Subscribe to the MindShift newsletter https://www.kqed.org/newsl...
May 14, 2024•38 min
Dipping Into the Mindshift Mailbag
We love hearing from you, our listeners, and learning how you’re putting the insights that we share into your teaching and your parenting. We like to see the way that we deliver value to your lives. If you appreciate the work that we do on Mindshift, please visit https://donate.kqed.org/podcasts to support us.
May 06, 2024•4 min
Where Are All the School Buses?
We're sharing an episode from our friends at the Bay Curious podcast. California has fewer school buses than in other parts of the country. A survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration found that nationally, almost 40% of school-aged kids ride a school bus. In California, that number is only 8%. KQED's Katrina Schwartz tracks down the reason why that number is so low. Want more great ideas about teaching and learning? Subscribe to the MindShift newsletter. https://www.kqed.org/newsle...
Apr 09, 2024•24 min
How Much Phonemic Awareness Do Students Really Need?
Education journalist, Jill Barshay of the Hechinger Report, writes a weekly column about education research called “Proof Points.” She joins KQED's Ki Sung to discuss her latest piece about phonemic awareness and why this important skill, that's at the root of learning how to read, is so hotly debated.
Mar 12, 2024•22 min
5 Cognitive Biases that Shape Classroom Interactions - and How to Overcome Them
Educator, Tricia Ebarvia advocates for a more complete way of seeing ourselves, one another and curricula. She just published a book titled “Get Free: Antibias Literacy Instruction for Stronger Readers, Writers, and Thinkers." She joins KQED's Ki Sung in conversation to unpack bias, which is all around us, and to share tips on how teachers can enable students to improve their reading and writing skills.
Feb 13, 2024•24 min
Bettina Love Explains How Policy Ended a 'Glorious' Era in Black Ed
In "Punished for Dreaming," Bettina Love reflects on a 'glorious' era in Black education, unraveling historical nuances and consequences of policy decisions that led to its decline. Through insightful analysis, she navigates the challenges faced by Black students and educators, offering solutions for a more equitable educational future.
Jan 09, 2024•22 min
Nurturing Students’ Academic Identities in Uncertain Times
Miriam Plotinsky, an instructional coach, author, and former high school English teacher, discusses her latest book, Writing Their Future Selves: Instructional Strategies to Affirm Student Identity. It contains a wealth of tools for classroom teachers including journal prompts, discussion formats and some of Plotinsky's favorite writing games.
Dec 12, 2023•21 min
How to Build a Safe Space to Discuss Students’ Names
Matthew R. Kay and Jennifer Orr discuss how they turn simple conversations about students’ names into opportunities for connection and self-discovery.
Nov 14, 2023•17 min
Phyllis Fagell's Tools to Unleash Middle School Superpowers
Phyllis Fagell, Psychotherapist and author of the new book “Middle School Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times," talks about why middle school is the last best chance to impress social skills and values upon kids; plus she’ll share some developmentally appropriate tools parents and educators can use to better understand their tweens, cultivate a sense of belonging and help them when they get into trouble.
Oct 24, 2023•28 min
Dear Math: You Are Terrible and Wonderful
MindShift spotlights a teacher who encourages students to name their feelings and share their past experiences – the highs and the lows – by writing letters to math. This activity launches a yearlong process of building a classroom culture where all students feel confident to share their ideas and problem-solving strategies. The episode features excerpts from “Dear Math” letters, insights from math education experts, and reflections from two alumni about how the class shaped their mathematical i...
Sep 26, 2023•25 min
How Green Schoolyards Can Turn Schools into 3D Textbooks
Most people are familiar with snow and rain as reasons to cancel recess. But what about canceling recess because it’s too sunny? Playgrounds in California are heating up. And with asphalt blacktops and metal monkey bars, kids are forced to skip outdoor activities to avoid getting burned on school yards that can reach up to 140 degrees. One solution to this problem is to green schoolyards by adding trees, gardens, and other vegetation. Green schoolyards not only help reduce heat island effects bu...
Sep 12, 2023•21 min
The Right Way to Say “I’m Sorry”
We all know how it feels to get a bad apology. “I’m sorry if,” “I’m sorry but,” and other ways people skirt real acknowledgement of wrongdoing. Effective apologies require empathy, perspective-taking, honesty and courage, and making amends is an important habit for healthy school communities. In this episode, MindShift talks with two authors who analyze apologies in the news for a website called SorryWatch. Then we meet a fifth-grade teacher who teaches her students a seven-step formula for apol...
Aug 29, 2023•19 min
Inclusive Dress Codes: A Challenge and an Opportunity
In recent years, dress codes have been undergoing significant shifts in many schools across the nation. With language targeting hair, visible skin, and footwear, dress codes are often touted as promoting professionalism and eliminating distractions in the classroom. However, policies around dress codes are receiving pushback from students and parents for disproportionately impacting students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students from low-income backgrounds. In response to student-led research,...
Aug 15, 2023•22 min
How Extroverted Teachers Can Engage Introverted Students
As educators move away from sage-on-the-stage instruction, their first step is often to foster more student discussion. A talkative classroom might be a mark of success in student-centered learning, but it doesn’t mean every student is engaged. In this episode, MindShift visits a language arts classroom where an extroverted teacher has developed creative ways of inviting introverted students to share their thinking. We also hear from an education researcher who says we should view student engage...
Aug 01, 2023•24 min
Uncovering Healthy Relationships With Consent Education
Age-appropriate consent education involves much more than navigating sexual activity. It can show up in situations as mundane as sharing fries, asking someone to dance at prom, or initiating a romantic relationship. By teaching students how to ask for and give enthusiastic consent, they can navigate these situations in a way that ensures both parties feel comfortable and respected. In this episode, MindShift explores how teaching consent in school empowers students to set boundaries and express ...
Jul 18, 2023•25 min
Mindshift is Back with Season 8!
MindShift is back with Season 8! Hear from educators and experts creating pathways for students to flourish. Subscribe to receive new episodes starting July 18.
Jul 11, 2023•4 min