All Episodes
Episodes
Episode 160 | Belonging Doesn't Just Happen w/ Jalpa Vaidya Patel
What if some of the most important lessons about belonging happen outside the classroom?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits down with educator, school social worker, author, and parent Jalpa Vaidya...
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Episode 159 | What Happens When a School Actually Commits to This Work w/ Lucy Canzoneri-Golden
What does meaningful school change actually look like?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits down with Dr. Lucy Canzoneri-Golden, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Coral Reef Montessori Academy Charter...
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Episode 158 | The Power of Picture Books in Student Identity w/ Sarah Cordova
What if picture books were some of the most powerful tools available to educators—not just for teaching reading, but for helping students understand themselves?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits...
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Episode 157 | Where Are the Libraries?
Libraries shouldn't be a luxury.
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán reflects on a social media post from an educator who challenged the reality that many students still attend schools without fully...
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Episode 156 | From Invisible to Valuable: Teaching Students from Refugee Backgrounds w/ Dr. Yacoub Aljaffery
What happens when schools see refugee students through a lens of deficit instead of possibility?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits down with Dr. Yacoub Aljaffery, author of Narratives of Success...
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Episode 155 | ELA Isn’t Dead. We Just Forgot What It Could Be.
ELA isn’t dead.
It just needs to be revived, reimagined, and remembered differently.
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán reflects on why imagination, joy, speculative thinking, and culturally relevant...
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Episode 154 | Cultural Humility Is Different Than Cultural Competence
Episode Summary
What happens when schools misunderstand culture as misbehavior?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán reflects on powerful conversations with a Dominican mother advocating for her son after...
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Episode 153 | Cultivating Hope in a Time Like This
Episode Summary
What does it mean to cultivate hope in a moment like this?
In this reflective episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán explores the idea that hope is not denial, optimism, or pretending things are...
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Episode 152 | When It Happens in Real Life: What Pushback Looks Like & How to Respond
Pushback doesn’t show up as a theory—it shows up in real moments.
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán breaks down what pushback actually looks like in schools and professional spaces—from parent emails...
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Episode 151 | Does Grammar Instruction Kill Student Voice? w/ Patty McGee
What happens when students stop worrying about grammar?
For many teachers, the answer is surprising: their writing becomes more powerful, more authentic, and more alive.
So why does that change when we shift the focus...
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Episode 150 | Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals w/ Christy Mihaly
Episode Summary
What does it mean to stand for justice—not just with your voice, but with your refusal?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits down with author Christy Mihaly to explore the life of...
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Episode 149 | When “Misbehavior” Is a Misunderstanding w/ Dr. Daniel Russell
Episode Summary
What if much of what schools label as “misbehavior” is actually a misunderstanding of culture?
In this episode of Our Classroom, Roberto Germán sits down with Dr. Daniel Russell to unpack how student...
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