Conceptually Speaking

 According to cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff, “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.” And that is what today’s episode is …

When you reflect back on your most recent professional learning in-service days, what springs to mind? Rich educational experiences filled with meaningful learning? Or cringey icebreakers, one-size-f…

 Picture this: A group of passionate fans is huddled around their devices. Their favorite outlet has just dropped the latest response to a hotly contested article that has divided their community. As…

What comes to mind when you hear the word YouTube? Depending on your age and level of “online-ness” it might be anything from cat videos, to videogame steams, to TedTalks. But what about sociology? P…

Have you ever shot off an angry email or text message and immediately regret it? Or have you ever wondered why it’s better to hash out disagreements in person instead of by email? Despite its ubiquit…

Joseph Jones and TJ Vari are authors, speakers, and district administrators who have written four books together. Their most recent publication, Retention for a Change: Motivate, Inspire, and Energiz…

Graham Fletcher has served in education as a classroom teacher, math instructional lead, and currently as a math specialist.  His work with the math progressions and problem-based lessons has led him…

Zoe Weil (pronounced “Zoh While”) is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), and is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement. Zoe created …

Welcome to a special combined episode of Conceptually Speaking. This week Kayla and I linked up with Charles Williams, host of the Counter Narrative Podcast and a K-8 principal in the Greater Chicago…

What a school year this has been. Educators across the country (and the world) have navigated yet another year of teaching under COVID. Worse still, many American teachers, administrators, and distri…

Join Julie Stern and Mihai Catrinar on this week's episode as they chat with mental health specialist, consent workshop facilitator, and international school counselor, Cheryl-Ann Weekes. Her organiz…

Karine Veldhoen, M.Ed., is the founder of Learn Forward™ and a creative force in education. As Chief Learning Officer at Willowstone Academy she created the first model Learn Forward™ school while si…

This week on Conceptually Speaking science lead Julia Briggs and I are joined by the CEO and Founder of Organize Binder, Mitch Weathers. Mitch’s experience as an educator, department chair, and coach…

This week on Conceptually Speaking I’m joined by Joe Schmidt and our very own Nichelle Pinkney—coauthors of the upcoming book Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities from Co…

On this week's episode of Conceptually Speaking Elementary Lead Jess Mattei and I sit down with college professor turned content creator, Zoe Bee. While Zoe’s eponymous YouTube channel is a cornucopi…

Hello listeners. Conceptually Speaking is returning from its Holiday hiatus with an episode we’ve been itching to release. This week, Kayla joined Julie to have a conversation with Danny Bauer, autho…

Joining me on this week’s episode is our new Elementary Specialist, Jessica Mattei. Jess and I were lucky enough to chat with Dr. Miah Daughtery, Director of Literacy for NWEA and a powerful advocate…

Our guest this week is Dr. Traci Scheepstra , CEO and co-founder of Embodied Learnings. Joining Julie this week is our effervescent elementary lead and resident chair yoga expert, Nathalie Lauriault.…

In this week's episode of Conceptually Speaking, Julie and Kayla are joined by Kwame Sarfo-Mensa—mathematics teacher as well as Founder & CEO at Identity Talk Consulting. Throughout this powerful con…

On this episode of Conceptually Speaking, Julie and I are joined by, the ineffable Annie Murphy Paul a writer covering science and cognition and the author of The Extended Mind:  The Power of Thinkin…