Classroom Caffeine

Classroom Caffeine

Education research has a problem. The work of brilliant education researchers often doesn’t reach the practice of brilliant teachers. But the questions and challenges from teachers’ practice sometimes don’t become the work of education researchers. Classroom Caffeine is here to help. In each episode, listeners hear from a leading education researcher or practitioner who shares what they want others to know about their work. Each conversation offers new insights into teaching and learning.

Episodes

October 8, 2025 22 mins

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Feeling stuck in your teaching practice? Wondering how to better support struggling students? You're not alone. Many educators reach a point where they need deeper knowledge and skills to advance their impact. Dr. Elizabeth Burke Hadley's journey from literature lover to high school English teacher to literacy researcher demonstrates how advanced study can transform both career trajectory and professional ef...

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What drives successful teachers to return to graduate school after years in the classroom? For elementary teacher Christy Gupta, it was recognizing gaps in her knowledge about early literacy instruction that propelled her into USF's Master's in Reading Education program. In this candid conversation, Christy shares how graduate education has transformed both her teaching practice and her professional confiden...

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Ever wondered what graduate education might do for your teaching career? Dr. Alexandra Panos never planned to become a teacher—until life's unexpected turns led her to discover a passion for education that graduate study would transform into a lifelong calling.

"Graduate school is transformation," Dr. Panos explains, detailing how advanced study changes not just what you know, but who you are. ...

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What does it truly mean to invest in yourself through graduate education? Dr. Patriann Smith's remarkable journey from Caribbean teacher to academic leader offers a compelling answer to this question.

For educators contemplating graduate education, Dr. Smith offers a profound perspective shift. Rather than focusing primarily on logistical challenges like financing or scheduling, she encourages potential students t...

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In this special series of Classroom Caffeine in collaboration with the Stories-To-Live-By Collective, we highlight this group of K–12 teachers from across the state of Florida and former teachers now in higher education who are working together to sensemake and take action. We talk with educators and researchers who are working together to explore how literacy teaching can respond to the climate crisis. Since 2021, th...

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August 12, 2025 9 mins

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Host Lindsay Persohn reflects on Season 5's journey through literacy education, where conversations explored evolving reading debates, strategies for supporting diverse learners, vocabulary development, and content-specific literacies. Lindsay also shares a recap of research presentations and publications related to podcasting by the Classroom Caffeine team.

Season 6 of the show promises two compelling s...

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July 15, 2025 45 mins

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Dr. Seth Parsons talks to us about the power of the teacher, the value of good curriculum, and motivation and engagement in learning. Seth is known for his work in the areas of elementary literacy instruction, student engagement and motivation, adaptive teaching, and metacognitive strategy development. His research has been published in many of the field’s top journals, including the Journal of Literacy Research, Revi...

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In this episode, Dr. Elfrieda “Freddy” Hiebert talks to us about language, learning to read, and authentic interactions with interesting texts. Freddy is known for her work addressing how fluency, vocabulary, and knowledge can be fostered through appropriate texts. Through documents such as Becoming a Nation of Readers, published by the Center for the Study of Reading in 1985 and Every Child a Reader, published by the...

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May 13, 2025 38 mins

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Corrine Wickens talks to us about self-efficacy and identity, teaching as coaching and a translational act, and challenging our assumptions. Corrine is known for her work in the areas of adolescent literacies, disciplinary literacies, and gender and sexuality. Her research interests examine issues of ongoing discourses around sexuality and schooling, gender and sexual characterizations in contemporary young adult lite...

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In this episode, Raúl Alberto Mora talks to us about education theory as a driver for innovative teaching, mentoring and supporting one another, and the journey of a career in Education. Raúl is known worldwide for his work in the areas of alternative literacy paradigms in second language education and research, the study of second language literacies in physical and virtual spaces, and the use of sociocritical framew...

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March 11, 2025 19 mins

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Dr. Doug Fisher is known for his prolific work in instructional design, curriculum development, and professional learning. Additionally, he is a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College, an award-winning, open-enrollment public school in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California that he co founded in 2007. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator...

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Jennifer Serravallo specifically focuses on ideas from her latest book, Teaching Reading Across the Day. Her books utilize research-supported practices, translated for everyday classroom teaching. Jen is known for her work in the areas of reading and writing strategies, individualized literacy support for students, and teacher professional development in literacy. She is a New York Times Bestselling author of teacher ...

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January 14, 2025 51 mins

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Dr. Donna Scanlon talks to us about considering reading skills and strategy instruction from the perspective of the learner. Donna is known for her work in support of children who experience substantial difficulty in learning to read and on how to prevent and remediate reading difficulties. In particular, she and her colleagues developed an approach to early literacy instruction and intervention known as the Interacti...

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Former Classroom Caffeine guests Margaret Vaughn and Dixie Massey are back to share with us their most recent collaboration, a book entitled Overcoming Reading Challenges: Kindergarten through Middle School. In their book, they address topics like phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension, as well as factors like motivation and student agency. Dr. Margaret Vaughn is known for her wor...

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November 14, 2024 34 mins

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Dianna Townsend talks to us about providing meaningful encounters with words by focusing our instruction in language-rich classroom environments. She provides some concrete teaching strategies, backed by decades of research in vocabulary instruction and learning. Dr. Townsend is known for her work centering on the language development of adolescents, with specific attention to vocabulary. Her most recent book is Words...

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October 8, 2024 43 mins

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Donalyn Miller talks to us about access to reading and books, reader identity and reader communities, and joy in reading and learning. Donalyn is known for her work sharing the importance of self-selected independent reading and provides suggestions and resources that foster children’s love of reading and the development of positive reading identities. She is known as The Book Whisperer, the title of her first book, p...

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September 10, 2024 36 mins

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MaryEllen Vogt talks to us about supporting reading development for multilingual learners, teamwork, and the power one can find in being well-informed. MaryEllen is known for her work in the areas of teacher professional learning, reading intervention, disciplinary literacy, and effective instruction for multilingual learners. She is the author or co-author of over 70 articles and chapters and 17 books about literacy ...

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Drs. Robert J. Tierney and P. David Pearson talk to us about their latest collaborative work, an open-access monograph entitled Fact-Checking the Science of Reading. In this free volume (linked in the show notes, on their guest page, and available at literacyresearchcommons.org), Rob and David take a journalistic approach to identifying the current global conversation around the Science of Reading, while offering cont...

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In this episode, host Lindsay Persohn shares reflections on Season 4, a preview of Season 5, updates on the team's research around scholarly podcasting, and gratitude for support and collaborations with team members.

Stay connected with us on social media for the latest updates. Thank you for being part of our Classroom Caffeine community, and we can’t wait to share Season Five with you!

Link t...

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June 11, 2024 36 mins

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Dr. Meg Jones talks to us about queer and trans issues in education, and being an ally to all youth in our classrooms and beyond. Meg is known for her work in queer and trans issues in education, including educational policy, school-based literacies, and teacher education. In 2021-2023, through a Fulbright Finland Foundation and then an American Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship, Meg was a visiting researcher at the ...

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