Shifting Schools: Conversations for K12 Educators

What can picture books teach us about helping children feel heard—and learning to ask for help ourselves? Author and illustrator Christy Mandin returns to explore Millie Fleur's Pumpkin Problem and Millie Fleur's Worst Day Ever. Through her imaginative characters, Christy opens up conversations about creativity, community, and respecting children's emotional experiences. Together, we consider why a child's "worst day ever" deserves our attention, even when the problem seems small to an adult. Christy shares how life in her neurodivergent household shapes her approach to communication and why supporting someone involves both expressing our needs and noticing the needs of others. We also go behind the scenes of her creative process—from gardening and escaping chickens to a beloved shed character—and hear her refreshingly honest three-day rule for processing feedback. In this episode, we explore: Respecting children as whole people with experiences that matter. Asking for help and challenging the fear of burdening others. Using picture books to spark conversations and build community. Finding characters and creative inspiration in everyday life. Making space to process feedback before deciding what comes next. For educators, librarians, parents, and anyone nurturing creativity, this conversation offers an invitation to notice more, listen closely, and make room for support. Explore Christy's books and work: https://www.christymandin.com Discover the Millie Fleur series: https://www.scholastic.com/site/millie-fleur.html

What can a horror novel teach us about friendship—and why might surviving together be its most hopeful message? Author Ryan La Sala joins Tricia Friedman to explore the queer horror of The Dead of Summer, where estranged childhood friends must decide whether they can hold onto one another when disaster strikes. Their conversation moves beyond the scares to examine representation, found family, grief, and the surprising relationship between terror and joy. Ryan explains why he writes queer characters whose lives extend beyond coming out, how each novel challenges his creative process, and what it means to see The Honeys adapted for film. For educators, librarians, readers, and writers, this episode opens up questions about whose stories young people encounter—and how fiction can invite deeper conversations about belonging, loss, and care. In this conversation: Why horror creates room for creative experimentation and queer storytelling. How friendship and community shape survival in The Dead of Summer. How humor and joy coexist with fear. Exploring grief across The Honeys, Beholder, and The Dead of Summer. Anticipatory grief: how fear of future loss can interrupt the present. Ryan's collaborative role in the film adaptation of The Honeys. Explore the books: The Dead of Summer, The Honeys, and Beholder by Ryan La Sala. Ryan also discusses Bodies of Water, the sequel to The Dead of Summer. A question to carry forward: Which stories help young people imagine that they don't have to face difficult things alone? Share this episode with a reader or educator who would appreciate a different perspective on horror. Content note: Discussion of grief, sibling death, cancer, and fictional horror.

What does it take to build a firm around the needs of people facing some of life's most difficult circumstances? Tricia welcomes the founder of USA4ALL to explore the purpose behind its work, including serving survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. The conversation begins with the firm's origin story and the question of what makes its approach distinctive. For educators and community leaders, this episode invites reflection on how compassion shapes the organizations we build—and how we recognize whose needs deserve greater attention. As you listen, consider: What can an organization's origin story reveal about its values? How does compassion influence everyday decisions about whom we serve and how? Whose needs might be overlooked by the systems we work within? What would it take to strengthen connections between our communities and people who can offer informed support? Learn more about Renata Castro and USA4ALL, and use this conversation as a starting point for thinking about what purposeful, compassionate leadership can look like in practice.

What if your next assessment asked students to pitch a board game—and explain when they chose to use AI? In this episode, Tricia Friedman explores how game design can bring together research, persuasive writing, creativity, collaboration, and AI literacy. The central challenge: help students make thoughtful decisions about where AI supports their learning and where they want to work without it. You don't need time to develop an entire board game. Tricia introduces a smaller game-pitch challenge, using the history of the Spokane River as an example that educators can adapt to their own curriculum and local context. Together, we explore: A task that asks students to choose three moments to use AI and two to work without it—and justify those decisions. How matching game mechanics to a researched theme creates opportunities for testing, feedback, and revision. Connections to ELA, humanities, art, and mathematics through persuasive pitches, visual design, pricing, and material costs. How game reviews, playthrough videos, and crowdfunding pitches can become texts worth studying. What it means to approach assessment redesign with both boldness and humility. A question to bring to your next planning meeting: How could an assessment make students' judgment about AI as visible as their final product? Explore Tricia's free GAMES framework and consider where a game-pitch challenge could fit into an upcoming unit. https://shifting-schools-games.netlify.app/ Reach out: [email protected]

What happens when the cost of healthcare forces someone to delay a doctor's visit, skip a prescription, or take on debt? Tricia Friedman welcomes Dr. Camille Busette, executive vice president of Programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to discuss One Nation, Overcharged. The nationwide campaign brings people together to call for more affordable healthcare. The challenge is widespread, but it is not shared equally. In this conversation, Tricia and Dr. Busette examine what the data reveals about healthcare costs, whose experiences are too often overlooked, and how sharing those experiences can help communities push for change. Learn more about the campaign: https://onenationovercharged.org/