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
In the Small Places with Dr. Fred Mednick: Stories From a Teacher Changemaker
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Move into the weekend with an incredible, inspiring, hope-filled conversation about the immense cultural value teachers have as problem solvers and keepers of democratic ideals. Don't wait for acts of Congress, act with your conscience.
Dr. Fred Mednick is a teacher changemaker, global educator, thought leader, and founder of Teachers Without Borders. Awarded the Champion of African Education Award, the Luxembourg Peace Prize, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for Peace. Professor Emeritus from Johns Hopkins and Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Jake & Nathan have an incredible conversation about the idea of the classroom—your classroom—as a laboratory of democracy. This educator calls Dr. Jane Goodall a close friend and mentor, and his new book In the Small Places: Stories of Teacher Changemakers and the Power of Human Agency describes the stories of local heroes who are working on some of the world's most challenging issues: education in emergencies, peace and human rights education, and the education of girls.
With a title borrowed from the following quote, this book portrays teachers as the human center of social change—"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Resources mentioned in the episode:
In the Small Places: Stories of Teacher Changemakers and the Power of Human Agency Amazon Link
In the Small Places: Stories of Teacher Changemakers and the Power of Human Agency Website
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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