011: Sustainable Teaching, Radical Reflection with Alex Valencic”

🎙️ No Name Paper Podcast | Featuring Alex Valencic
Episode Title: “Sustainable Teaching, Radical Reflection: A Conversation with Alex Valencic”

Episode Summary:
In this illuminating episode, we sit down with Alex Valencic, a passionate educator, instructional coach, and professional development advocate, for an honest conversation about the evolving role of teachers in today’s educational landscape.

Alex shares how his early love of learning led him into the classroom, and how that love has grown into a commitment to creating systems where teachers thrive—not just survive. From his advocacy for inquiry-based learning to his insights on teacher sustainability and burnout prevention, Alex offers a nuanced and deeply personal view of what schools could look like if educators were truly supported.

This episode is a must-listen for classroom teachers, campus leaders, and anyone seeking a better way forward in education.

💡 In This Episode, We Explore:

• 🎒 Alex’s journey from student to classroom teacher to coach

• 🧠 How professional learning communities (PLCs) can support authentic reflection—not compliance

• 🔁 The power of rethinking how we “do” PD, and how schools can stop overloading teachers

• ✏️ Lessons learned from instructional coaching and what helps teachers feel heard

• 🕊️ How to talk about teacher burnout without shame—and build cultures of sustainability

• 📚 Why Alex champions inquiry-based, student-centered learning

• 🔍 The importance of radical self-reflection in school leadership

• 🌱 What “sustainable teaching” really looks like—and why it matters now more than ever

📌 Quotable Moments:

“You cannot talk about teacher burnout if you’re not willing to talk about the system that causes it.”
“We need to treat professional learning as a conversation, not a checklist.”
“Students thrive when teachers are thriving. Full stop.”