Schoolutions

09/04/2026

Counting down my top 20 episodes this summer, and #2 is my conversation with Professor John Hattie. I recorded this while writing my book, Forever Getting Better, about the five essential practices expert teachers use every single day.

Three things stayed with me from this one. Expert teachers are nosy. They push past the right answer to understand the thinking that got a student there. Hattie also laid out three questions expert teachers ask themselves that have a real impact on learning and engagement. And he explained why a small amount of precise feedback outperforms a large amount of general feedback.

If you believe teachers are the experts in their own classrooms, this conversation is for you.

Check out our full conversation🎙️https://youtu.be/LlrZvoGh1sw



Stenhouse Publishers Routledge Eye On Education Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

I’m counting down the top episodes of the last five season of the podcast, and number three is my conversation with Dr. Katy Anthes.

I met Katy two years ago at a CCIRA Colorado Literacy luncheon, where she presented on moving from polarization to progress using PEBC - Public Education & Business Coalition's FORWARD Framework. I took so many notes that day I knew I had to bring her onto the podcast.

Three things from that conversation have stayed with me since.

First, productive conflict requires a shift. Not from certainty to more certainty, but from contempt and certainty to curiosity and complexity.

Second, we have to be willing to complicate issues instead of flattening them into right and wrong. That's how we actually figure out what's working.

Third, real listening isn't about waiting for your turn to talk. It's about hearing someone's story and understanding why they believe what they do.

Check out our full conversation🎙️https://youtu.be/K_NI4T4t5AE



Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting

08/28/2026

We're at #4 in the summer countdown, and this one means a lot to me. It's my very first podcast episode, a conversation with Cris Tovani and Sam Bennett. In it, we talk about how to tell the difference between students who are truly engaged and students who are simply going through the motions. We talk about why long-term planning and strong relationships are the tools that actually reach reluctant learners. And we walk through how workshop structure gives kids choice and voice so they can connect to their teachers, peers, curriculum, and themselves.

If this episode resonates with you, Cris Tovani and colleagues are offering a thought-provoking 4-session Comprehension Matters Webinar Series this fall, August 12 through October 20. Details and tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/comprehensionmatterswebinarseries/2239772

Check out our full conversation🎙️https://youtu.be/8f1eFeTrNsE



Stenhouse Publishers Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting

08/24/2026

#5 on my Schoolutions summer countdown series is my 2023 conversation with Cornelius Minor, now one of the top 20 most listened to episodes on this podcast. We talk about why traditional behavior management systems fail kids by treating symptoms instead of listening to what children are actually trying to tell us.

Check out our full conversation🎙️https://youtu.be/3PoNUpvZZ3Q



Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting

08/21/2026

#6 of my summer series countdown, I talked with Em Hammond, creator of NeuroWild.

This one is about dysregulation. What it looks like, what it isn't, and what to do the moment it shows up in your classroom.
Em breaks down her NeuroWild Shift, a three-step approach for real time support. She also draws a clear line between neuro-affirming and neuro-damaging practices.

We bring in Dr. Ross Greene's idea that kids do well if they can, and layer it with Vygotsky's Zones of Proximal Development.

The image that sticks with me: be the thermostat, not the thermometer. Set your temperature and hold it steady while a kid's mood shifts around you.

This episode made my top 20 most listened list, so it's back for the summer rerelease. Give it a listen this weekend.

Check it out on YouTube🎙️https://youtu.be/mKZk0sTdiO8

08/19/2026

08/17/2026

Happy Monday! #7 on our summer series countdown is my conversation with Penny Kittle, and it's landed as one of our top 20 most listened to episodes from the last five seasons.

Penny breaks down the power of micro mentor texts. Short passages from published authors can teach specific craft moves without overwhelming students the way a full mentor text sometimes does.
We also talk about teaching writing as a process instead of a formula, modeling our own thinking and notebook work to build student confidence, and why daily low-stakes writing, the kind that isn't tied to a grade, brings the joy and flow back to our writers.

Check it out 🎙️https://www.buzzsprout.com/1890886/episodes/12676530


Scholastic Teachers Scholastic Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting

08/14/2026

This summer I'm re-releasing my top 20 episodes from the last five seasons, and my conversation with Peter Liljedahl came in at #8. If you've never heard of Building Thinking Classrooms, this is where to start. In this clip I break down three moves from Peter's research: a grouping structure that gets kids talking, a way to design tasks that keeps them working instead of shutting down, and the one change in how teachers ask questions that makes the biggest difference in the room.

Check it out on YouTube 🎙️hhttps://youtu.be/4qaCFNXFXd8



Corwin Olivia Wahl Coaching & Consulting