What Teachers Have to Say
What Teachers Have to Say is a podcast about teaching, AI in education, instructional practice, and teacher identity. Hosted by Jacob Carr and Nathan Collins, it centers real classroom experience, system pressures, and how AI is reshaping learning.
No performative edu‑influencer culture. No toxic positivity. Just honest conversations about what’s actually happening in schools.
What This Podcast Covers
- AI in education and classroom use
- Teaching strategies and instructional design (EduProtocols)
- Teacher burnout and system design
- Student skill development and transfer
- EdTech tools and practical workflows
Who This Podcast Is For
- K–12 teachers
- Instructional coaches and leaders
- Pre‑service teachers
- Educators exploring AI and EdTech
- Anyone tired of surface‑level PD
Who We Are
Jacob (Jake) Carr
EdTech Coach for a County Office of Education, author, and speaker on AI in education. 15+ years across K–12 (grades 1–12) in diverse settings. Brings a philosophical lens, connects classroom practice to systems, and pushes conversations deeper before landing on something usable.
Nathan Collins
High school English teacher, dual‑enrollment instructor, and Personalized Learning Teacher in a rural hybrid model. Grounds the show in current classroom reality, student data, and practical constraints. A measured counterbalance to big ideas.
What We Explore
AI in Education — A structural shift, not a novelty. Learning, assessment, and independence in an AI‑rich world.
Burnout as a System Problem — Not a personal failure. We name the incentives that reward unsustainable work.
Instructional Routines That Work — Repeatable structures that lower planning load and raise thinking, repetition, and collaboration.
Skills That Transfer — Thinking, communication, adaptability. Not just content.
The Format
Long‑Form — Monthly flagship episodes with deep dives, interviews, and debates.
Short‑Form — Field notes, solo reflections, headlines, and listener voicemails between major episodes.
Your Voice Matters
Leave a SpeakPipe voicemail with a question, win, or rant. We feature listener voices in episodes.
Beyond the Podcast
The companion newsletter goes deeper: AI in education, teaching strategies, and teacher identity. Free, weekly, and practical.
FAQ
What is it about? Teaching, AI in education, and real classroom conditions.
Who hosts it? Jacob Carr and Nathan Collins.
Is it AI‑focused? Yes, always tied to real practice.
How often? Monthly flagship + shorter episodes between.
Where to listen? Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms.
Subscribe and Follow
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- Newsletter
Stay curious. Keep thinking. Keep showing up.
What Teachers Have to Say
56 Skills for the Future: EduProtocol-ing the McKinsey & Company Report
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Are we really preparing students for their future? Educators are tasked to teach state standards, but are we also teaching the skills that students really need to be successful in the “real world”? State standards and standardized tests often test rote memorization more than real world application. The struggle is real and how will they get a job when they can’t turn in homework on time?!?! is a common refrain in the staff room, but what are the real life skills we need to be teaching?
Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company recently put forth a report on the “56 foundational skills for the future of work” they refer to as: future-citizen skills. While meant for the business world to guide global leaders and captains of industry, Jake & Nathan explore how these skills are reflected in an educational environment. Does what we teach translate into real world outcomes in the lives of our students?
Stay to the end for tips on how you can start teaching these skills in your future-focused classroom! Using EduProtocols as a framework, our hosts consider the popular EduProtocols: Wicked Hydra (One of Jake’s own! From his upcoming book!), Iron Chef, and Sketch & Tell and align the classic pedagogical approaches embedded in these lesson frames to McKinsey & Company's 56 real-world, business-approved, future-citizen skills. You can build self-confidence and real-world-skills in students. Join us as we pull back the curtain on the “foundational skills” that are crucial to our students’ future success.
Resources Mentioned in the episode:
McKinsey & Company: Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work
EduProtocols: ELA Edition by Jacob Carr COMING SOON! Sign up here for updates!
EduProtocols: Social Studies Edition by Dr. Scott Petri & Adam Moler
Find Adam Moler’s work at Moler's Musings
Got a question? We'd love to answer it! Leave us a voicemail on SpeakPipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/whatteachershavetosay
Want more EduProtocols from Jake? Check out his book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and more.
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