I’m always game to talk about education – about pedagogical methods, about the “Why” behind what we do, how things might be changed for improvement, and anything else. Because I’ve been meeting less with my curriculum team and middle school division somewhat less this past year due to the pandemic, a lot of this chatter happens on Twitter. There, I’ve built a driven community of teachers and scholars who are earnest in their efforts, inspiring to me, and honest about their joys and struggles. Their virtual friendship has meant the world to me over the past year.

Enter podcasts. I’ve always been a huge fan of podcasts, as anyone who reads these articles regularly will know. Through educational communities on Twitter (my handle is @CaponeTeaches), I got a chance to be a guest on a few podcasts over the past year.

Today, episode 63 of Lesson Impossible debuted. In that episode, Aviva Levin asked me about interdisciplinary teaching and learning, aka integrative studies, aka integrated studies. I haven’t heard the whole episode in its completed form yet (it was just released!), but I remember our conversation (recorded about 9 months ago) fondly and well. We had a great chat about how interdisciplinary units may be built, what options teachers might have to introduce integrative curricula in their classrooms, and what my dream school w/ unlimited funding would look like.

A few months back, Lee Tucker interviewed me on The 8-Bit Instructor about my unique (or at least unusual) grading method in a college course I teach each term, how this idea might translate to other contexts, and what mastery teaching can look like to maximize student voice and choice (a phrase often used but rarely made practical).

I absolutely loved doing these two shows, mostly because it allowed an extended conversation on a topic that might be useful to other teachers – and I didn’t know where the conversations would go. Both Aviva and Lee are excellent interviewers, and they made me look like I knew what I was talking about. I appreciate being asked to visit with them.

If you want to connect via Twitter, I’m accessible @CaponeTeaches. Please let me know what you think, if you listen to these episodes, and I implore you to leave reviews for Lesson Impossible and The 8-Bit Instructor! It’s a great way to help out those awesome podcasts.