Pencil Busters, this episode is a little different. Today, we celebrate 10 incredible months of Producer Jess’s time with BustED Pencils. Why? Because this educated educator is going on to more education! Over the past 10 months, I- that is Jess- have learned and grown so much. I planned and produced each episode of the […]

Guest: Jess Plotkin-Sell

Apr 5, 2025

45:33

Randi Weingarten, President of AFT, joins us to discuss the lawsuits her organization is pursuing against the Trump administration’s reckless and harmful policies. She shares the deliberations she and AFT undertake when considering which lawsuits to pursue. It comes down to two simple factors. First- is the policy actively hurting people and standing in the […]

Guest: Randi Weingarten

Apr 2, 2025

21:14

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the trajectory all of our lives. Now, five years since the onset of the pandemic, we look at all that we’ve become. So often, we hear the endless clarion call of “learning loss” in education. Rarely do we hear about all of the learning students, teachers, and families gained. Nor do […]

Mar 31, 2025

22:41

Class, we talk about AI a lot here. Is it good or bad? Well, it’s technology, so it is neither and both depending on the user. But what if we could consider it as *more* than a tool, and far less than a replacement for a teacher? Britni Walz, Instructional Services and Technology Director for […]

Guest: Britni Walz

Mar 29, 2025

45:31

Class, welcome to our next season of covering essential curricular activities! We began this weekly segment in fall with First Downs and Friday Night Lights. Then, we transitioned into Free Throws and Face Offs. Now in spring, we introduce Hurdles and Home Runs! You can expect to catch up on the classic spring sports of […]

Mar 28, 2025

21:38

Class, we are so excited to share that our friend Hallie Newman Schmeling is running for School Board! Teacher Hallie- as we call her around here- and Teacher Joanna are Educators Amplified, a podcast dedicated to raising up the voices of educators. Hallie joins us today to discuss why she chose to run for School […]

Guest: Hallie Schmeling

Mar 26, 2025

22:28

Class, welcome to another new week! Despite our best efforts at cheer, we’re finding it hard to be all smiles to start this week. And we find that sentiment reflected in our nation’s continually declining happiness index. For the second consecutive year, America ranks at a new low on the World Happiness Report. Why is […]

Mar 24, 2025

23:08

Class, welcome to sprinter- that delightful damp windy transition from winter to spring. Chad, host of the WXCO morning show and Civic Media sports broadcaster and Jimmie, Civic Media sports editor, have been two of our favorites for this Friday segment. Today, they bring us a final update on the winter sports and a preview of […]

Guests: Chad Holmes, Jimmie Kaska

Mar 21, 2025

23:46

Class, we’ve all experienced terrible trainings, right? Modules drier than a desert and handbooks that leave us bored to tears while not providing any actual knowledge of the company’s methodologies or values? Well, thank goodness for educated workplace educator and brand new Pencil Buster Luis Garcia, co-founder and president of PETE-Personalized Education, Training, and Enrichment! […]

Guest: Luis Garcia

Mar 19, 2025

23:39

Happy Monday Class, let’s bust some pencils! In last week’s homeroom, we covered the lawsuit filed by 8 Attorneys General in opposition to the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in teacher training grants. Now, their efforts in suing pay off- at least temporarily- as a federal judge orders those grants reinstated in the […]

Mar 17, 2025

22:20