Be a Better Ally: Critical Conversations for K12 Educators

Tricia Friedman
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What does real allyship look like in a classroom, a staff room, a school community? Be a Better Ally helps K-12 teachers and school leaders build inclusive classrooms where every student feels they belong — without slogans, scripts, or shame. Host Tricia Friedman (Director of Shifting Schools) sits down with the authors, researchers, and educators shaping these conversations to explore student identity, belonging, school culture, media literacy, and the digital lives of young people. Each episode leaves you with something to try, question, or read next. 280+ episodes of critical conversations for anyone who believes schools should be places where everyone gets to become themselves.

  1. 2d ago

    What Makes a Monster? Ending Witchlings with Claribel A. Ortega

    What makes a monster? NYT bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega just finished the five-book Witchlings series, and she's got thoughts. We talk about The Sims as a storytelling engine, why curiosity about death and darkness is something to welcome, and how kids are finding their first real friends through Seven, Valley, and Thorn. Claribel shares how she held a whole series in her head from day one, why "writing" includes walks with her dog Steven, and why she refuses to write about community without living it. Educators: stick around for Ghost Squad Week and her classroom resources. Gamers: she leaves you with two indie picks that might eat your weekend. Chapters 00:00 Steven, her canine manager 02:38 Why raccoons are half monster 04:20 Respect across species 05:53 The Sims and worldbuilding 07:48 Why we're curious about the dark 09:56 What readers write to her 11:58 Planning five books from the start 14:14 Showing up for inspiration 15:53 Community, Ghost Squad Week, and Louise Penny 20:24 Design and crediting illustrators 24:33 Game recommendations 26:35 What's next: Thirty Ways to Kill Your Avatar About the Guest Claribel A. Ortega is a New York Times bestselling author born in the Bronx to a Dominican family. She wrote Ghost Squad, the graphic novel Frizzy, and the Witchlings series, which concludes with The Sea Witch Prophecy. Resources Mentioned Claribel's site: https://www.claribelortega.com Witchlings series: https://www.claribelortega.com/witchlings Educator resources + Ghost Squad Week: https://www.claribelortega.com/educators-teachers Paralives: https://www.paralives.com Dressmaker on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4019220/Dressmaker/ Louise Penny: https://louisepenny.com Website designer Danika Corrall: http://www.danikacorrall.com

  2. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Enjoy: On Purpose with Jay Shetty

    Introducing MIKAYLA NOGUEIRA EXCLUSIVE: The Story She’s Finally Ready to Tell from On Purpose with Jay Shetty. Follow the show: On Purpose with Jay Shetty Jay sits down with beauty creator Mikayla Nogueira to go beyond the online persona and share the real story behind her rise. Mikayla opens up about the struggles that shaped her before finding success, the viral moment that changed her life overnight, and the painful reality of a marriage impacted by addiction and divorce. She also shares how she found her way forward, reconnected with her high school first love, and launched her own beauty brand with Sephora. With Love and Gratitude, Jay Shetty Built-in protections for teens. JAY'S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe here: https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast What We Discuss: 00:00 Introduction 00:45 Why Share Your Story Now? 01:31 Beyond The Influencer Persona 02:46 Childhood Memories That Shaped Her 03:45 Bullying & Discovering Makeup At Age 10 05:24 The Insecurities Behind the Confidence 06:48 Expressing Her True Self Online 08:55 The Origin Of Her Passion For Makeup 11:18 Work Ethic And Thinking Big 12:37 Creating Her Very First YouTube Video 13:58 Presenting A 50-Page Business Plan 16:30 Returning To Her Hometown & Donating Makeup 18:00 Getting Hired At Ulta Beauty 23:52 Letting Go of the Future She Planned 28:10 Losing Her Job and Finding a New Path 31:34 The First Viral Video 37:08 Manifesting Success & Building A Content Engine 41:53 Experiencing Her First Cancellation 45:25 Reflecting on Past Controversies 48:56 The Mental Health Toll of Rapid Growth 52:54 The Boston Accent 56:48 Meeting Her Ex-Husband Cody 59:41 Navigating Addiction In A Relationship 01:04:08 Dating An Influencer & Dating An Addict 01:05:56 Marriage Through Addiction and Relapse 01:13:00 A Harrowing Late-Night Emergency 01:18:11 Making the Decision to Divorce 01:33:53 The Path To Divorce 01:40:46 Finally A Fresh Start 01:46:45 Reconnecting With High School First Love, Zach 01:52:21 Building Her Beauty Brand (POV) 01:57:30 Looking Back 01:59:34 Mikayla On Final Five Episode Resources: Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/share/1C43BCLCFi/?mibextid=wwXIfr TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@mikaylanogueira Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/mikaylajmakeup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Enjoy: On Purpose with Jay Shetty

  3. Sep 30

    Who Helps Us Become Creative? Friendship, YA, and Jasmine Guillory

    What helps a young person believe their creative ideas are worth pursuing? New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory joins Tricia Friedman to discuss her first young adult novel, It's Only Dancing, inspired by Dirty Dancing. Together, they explore teenage friendship, artistic possibility, and what it means to write about young people with respect. Jasmine shares how an encouraging friend helped her begin writing, why finishing an imperfect draft matters, and how her creative process changes from book to book. She also reflects on the joy of learning something difficult—a conversation with particular resonance for educators thinking about creativity in the age of AI. In this episode, we explore: Taking teenagers' passions and perspectives seriously. How unexpected friendships help us try something new. Supporting a creative person through listening, questions, and encouragement. Making room for the struggle and discovery involved in learning. Valuing art for the joy it brings, alongside its career possibilities. Listen with this question in mind: Who in your classroom or community needs encouragement to keep going with an idea they're still learning how to express? Featured book: It's Only Dancing by Jasmine Guillory. https://www.jasmineguillory.com/its-only-dancing

  4. Sep 24

    Student voice, and meeting the moment

    This short episode asks for your help. In anticipation of the upcoming AAIE Institute in Atlanta, might your students want to weigh in and share their feedback on questions we will be using for focus groups and surveys? If yes, share this link with them: https://student-voice-questions.netlify.app/ Want to join me this November for an online series that begins the critical work of reimagining assessment? Learn more: https://cdlt.isa.nl/events/ai-attention-and-the-architecture-of-assessment

  5. Sep 9

    When Someone Else's Curiosity Becomes Yours | Brian Boone

    Does the world keep getting stranger, or are we hearing more about how strange it has always been? Returning guest Brian Boone joins Tricia to explore curiosity, creativity, and human behavior through the stories in Uncle John's All-Knowing Bathroom Reader. From the ways horses reshaped human societies to a chimpanzee's place in early morning television, Brian shares stories that invite us to reconsider what we think of as normal. We also go behind the scenes of the book's collaborative process. Brian explains how the team traces stories back to primary sources, checks claims, and turns a writer's enthusiasm for an unfamiliar subject into something readers want to explore. In this episode, we discuss: Why Brian believes greater access to information shapes our sense that these times are uniquely strange. What our relationships with other species reveal about human history. How unusual experiments and failed ideas open up conversations about creativity. Why fact-checking requires more work when stories circulate across multiple websites. How collaborators with different interests expand one another's curiosity. What decades of writing trivia have taught Brian about wisdom and our desire to learn. For educators, this conversation offers a question worth bringing into the classroom: How might a surprising story get someone interested in a subject they thought wasn't for them? Featured book: Uncle John's All-Knowing Bathroom Reader https://bathroomreader.com/

  6. Sep 2

    Be Bold, Be Humble: Rethinking Assessment with AI

    What does it look like to be bold about AI in education while remaining humble enough to revise what does not work? In this episode, Tricia Friedman responds to recent guidance from MIT by sharing a practical way to experiment with AI, assessment, and curriculum design. The challenge invites students to research a topic, develop the concept for a board game, select mechanics that support its theme, and pitch their idea. Along the way, students must make five deliberate choices: three moments when AI could assist their work and two when the task should remain human. They then explain what each choice contributed, complicated, or diminished. Tricia introduces a shorter version of her free GAMES Framework for educators who want to explore game design without committing to a complete game-development unit. Her example draws inspiration from the history of the Spokane River, but the structure can be adapted to almost any subject or local context. The episode also considers: Why AI literacy requires judgment, not simply tool proficiency How game design can bring together research, writing, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration Why the relationship between a game's theme and mechanics matters How playtesting gives students useful feedback about difficulty, clarity, and engagement What board-game boxes, reviews, playthrough videos, and Kickstarter campaigns can teach us as contemporary texts How the challenge could extend into mathematics, economics, visual art, media literacy, or local history Why alternative forms of assessment can help students make their thinking more visible The goal is not to use AI throughout the assignment. It is to give students genuine practice deciding when AI adds value, when it distracts from the work, and what evidence supports that judgment. Explore the free GAMES Framework: https://shifting-schools-games.netlify.app/salmon-challenge   Read the MIT report referenced in the episode: https://aiandeducation.mit.edu/   Have a unit that does not seem to connect naturally with game design or AI literacy? Send Tricia the topic and challenge her to find the connection. Contact Tricia: tricia@shiftingschools.com

  7. Aug 27

    What Young People Notice: Tiffany D. Jackson on Grief, Ghosts, and Trust

    What do young people understand that adults mistakenly believe they have hidden from them? Award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson returns to the podcast to discuss Ghost in the Night, her haunting middle-grade novel set against the ghost tours, buried histories, and complicated beauty of Savannah, Georgia. Tiffany invites educators to take young readers—and their capacity to confront difficult subjects—seriously. We explore why children sometimes attach themselves intensely to a particular interest while processing grief, and what educators might discover if they look beyond the fascination and ask what need it may be meeting. We also discuss the importance of grief literacy, the trust created when adults acknowledge what children already know, and the difference between protecting young people and underestimating them. The conversation moves beyond the ghosts of Savannah to examine whose histories become tourist attractions, whose stories remain untold, and how literature can inspire students to investigate the overlooked histories of their own communities. Tiffany also shares why young characters need opportunities to form friendships without constant adult choreography, how she calibrates horror for middle-grade readers, and the deceptively simple practice she recommends to every aspiring writer: read closely enough to notice how a story works. This episode explores: Why educators need to take children's inner lives seriously How intense interests can sometimes help young people process grief The role of grief literacy in schools and classrooms How honest conversations can build trust between adults and children Why young people need agency in friendship and problem-solving Whose histories are preserved, promoted, ignored, or buried How place can function as a character in a novel What horror offers middle-grade readers How students can learn the craft of writing by reading like writers At its heart, this conversation asks educators to consider what becomes possible when we stop assuming young people cannot handle the truth—and begin giving them stories that honour their intelligence, curiosity, and humanity.

  8. Aug 20

    Our Voices Are Our Power | Dr. Camille Busette

    What happens when we stop treating unaffordable healthcare as an individual problem—and recognize it as a shared crisis? In this episode of Be a Better Ally, Tricia Friedman speaks with Dr. Camille Busette about One Nation, Overcharged, a people-powered movement demanding a healthcare system that puts people over profits. Dr. Busette explains why so many people experience the rising cost of healthcare privately, even as families across the United States face the same impossible choices: medication or groceries, an inhaler or gas, necessary care or financial security. When these struggles remain isolated, it is easy to mistake a broken system for a personal failure. But sharing our stories can change that. Together, Tricia and Dr. Busette explore how personal experiences can build collective understanding—and how conversations in book clubs, faith communities, community gatherings, and even art spaces can help transform that understanding into action. They also discuss: Why asking "Whose perspectives are missing?" can change how we define a problem How healthcare costs affect people far beyond the person receiving care Why storytelling is essential to building people-powered solutions What those with greater financial privilege need to understand about healthcare affordability How seemingly small necessities, such as access to an inhaler, can prevent medical and financial trauma Why we are all responsible for one another How listeners can speak up, share their experiences, and organize within their communities As Dr. Busette reminds us, when one person cannot afford the care they need, the consequences reach their family, neighbors, community, and all of us. Healthcare affordability is not someone else's issue. It is a social and economic responsibility we share. Learn more, share your story, or find and organize a local event through the One Nation, Overcharged campaign.

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What does real allyship look like in a classroom, a staff room, a school community? Be a Better Ally helps K-12 teachers and school leaders build inclusive classrooms where every student feels they belong — without slogans, scripts, or shame. Host Tricia Friedman (Director of Shifting Schools) sits down with the authors, researchers, and educators shaping these conversations to explore student identity, belonging, school culture, media literacy, and the digital lives of young people. Each episode leaves you with something to try, question, or read next. 280+ episodes of critical conversations for anyone who believes schools should be places where everyone gets to become themselves.

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