Teach Me, Teacher

In this episode, Jacob Chastain sits down with Jennifer Serravallo to discuss Whole Book Comprehension and why knowledge building, sustained reading, and deep comprehension deserve a renewed place in today's classrooms. Together, they explore how literacy instruction has shifted over the past decade, why whole-book reading has become less common, and whether today's emphasis on knowledge-rich instruction is something new—or a return to what we've always known works. Jennifer also shares practical strategies for making whole-book teaching fit into real classrooms, how it connects with shorter texts and excerpts, and ways teachers and PLCs can begin strengthening comprehension instruction this school year. Whether you're a classroom teacher, coach, or school leader, this conversation will challenge the way you think about reading—and give you practical ideas you can use right away. **Announced in this episode is the new podcast from Jacob Chastain, The Golden Table. Click here to listen now. Jennifer Serravallo is the author ofThe New York Times' bestselling The Reading Strategies Book 2.0 and The Writing Strategies Book. These and some of her other titles have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese. Her popular books and resources help teachers make goal-directed, responsive, explicit strategy instruction doable in every classroom. Her newest titles are The Reading Strategies Book 2.0; Teaching Writing in Small Groups; A Teacher's Guide to Reading Conferences, and the assessment and teaching resource Complete Comprehension for Fiction and Nonfiction.

Hello everyone! Personally, I believe this episode to be the best episode of Teach Me, Teacher in a long time. James Nottingham is most known for his work with The Learning Pit, but he has also written several books, and consults regularly around the world. His newest book, Teach Brilliantly, can be found here. In this episode, we discuss the state of education around the world, the embattled nature of teaching, what matters in pedagogy, and what constitutes effective feedback for students. Truly, I loved this talk so much. Enjoy!

This week on Teach Me, Teacher, Jacob sits down with lifelong educator and friend Pam Ochoa — former cohost of the Craft & Draft podcast — who has stepped back into the high school classroom after retirement. Why now? What pulled her back? Together, they wrestle with big questions facing the profession: Where has quality professional development gone? Has the era of student voice and choice quietly faded? And what happens to schools when the champions of that work leave? Jacob and Pam dig into real data from schools where student voice and choice once thrived — and examine what happened after they stepped away. The results are sobering. This is an honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversation about leadership, sustainability, and whether we're losing something essential in today's classrooms. If you care about student agency, teacher autonomy, and the future of the profession — this episode is for you.

Hello everyone. What we do as educators has meaning, and the lives that we interact with and that affect us are just as powerful as what we offer them. Unfortunately, one of my previous students lost her life in the last few weeks, and I wanted to take the time to give my respects, solid her impact, and share her wonder with the audience.