The Teacher Leader Podcast

The Teacher Leader Press
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Education

The most powerful change in education? It doesn't come from the top down—it comes from teachers like you. Welcome to The Teacher Leader Podcast, where everyday educators become agents of change. Whether you're navigating your first year in the classroom or mentoring the next generation of teachers, this podcast is your resource for leading with impact, not authority. Hosted by lifelong educators Jody Tucker, Esther Valdez, and Allison Johnson, we explore what matters most: sparking classroom innovation, navigating tough conversations, building supportive teacher communities, and mastering practical strategies that transform your practice and inspire those around you. What sets us apart? Authentic stories from real educators. Sincere discussions about the challenges and triumphs of teaching, along with practical insights you can implement immediately. Subscribe now Join a community of educators who refuse to wait for change—they create it. The future of education isn't waiting for permission; teachers like you are shaping it, right now.

  1. 1d ago

    Robin Whitacre: The Day I Realized I Was the Gorilla

    Ever had a coworker suddenly become your boss, and watched the whole dynamic shift overnight? Robin Whitacre has, and she's got the gorilla story to prove it (yes, an actual gorilla, raised by chimpanzees, is involved). In this warm, funny, and reflective conversation, Robin joins Jody, Esther, and Allison to talk about the moment she realized her ideas as a new principal suddenly carried more weight than they used to, and what it took to hand that power back to her teachers. She shares the six-month listening tour (and surprise Native name) that helped turn around the lowest-performing school in the state, plus the staff meetings teachers actually looked forward to. It's equal parts belly laugh and lump in the throat. Robin’s work in K-12 education spans 35 years, as a classroom teacher, building principal, leadership coach, and professional learning designer and facilitator. In addition to being employed by school districts in Missouri and Colorado, she has built long-term relationships in diverse communities through her extensive coaching work with schools in Denver, Boise, Boston, and the Bureau of Indian Education in the Southwest, as well as her recent work with the Loyola Marymount University Center for Urban Resilience Restorative Justice Project. Robin’s passion is to support educators in bringing creativity, joy, and innovation to their schools and classrooms as they prepare learners for a future that is uncertain, complex, and evolving every day. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  2. Sep 18

    Kris Ferrell on the Power of Hot Cheetos

    A first-grader kept missing every other Friday and Monday. The school decided he was defiant and filed a petition to bring him into truancy court, a six-year-old standing in front of a judge. It took his court-appointed attorney about two minutes to find out why: his parents had split up, and on his dad's weeks, dad wouldn't drive him to that school. Nobody had ever asked him. That attorney was Kris Ferrell, and that story is the heart of this episode of The Teacher Leader Podcast. Kris has spent years representing Colorado kids in juvenile and truancy court, and she came on to dismantle almost everything schools assume about the students who don't show up. They're not the kids from The Outsiders. They're kids managing anxiety, bullying, safety, custody schedules, and younger siblings whose dismissal bell doesn't line up with theirs. Roughly 98% of them told her they actually want to be at school. Kris walks through why Colorado's truancy law, still on the books from 1963, catches kids after just four absences in a month, why truancy court makes things worse for nearly everyone it touches, and why she'd get rid of it entirely. Along the way: the Hot Cheetos eating contest that earned her trust in a juvenile detention center, why "help me understand" opens kids up when "why weren't you in class?" shuts them down, why student athletes miss far more school and somehow never end up in court, and the reminder that you can't build a real relationship with 125 kids, but you can build one with one, and that one spreads. Kris Ferrell is an attorney, writer, and investigator best known for her work as a Child Welfare Law Specialist and Guardian ad Litem, with a Hot Cheetos tolerance that rivals her teenage clients. She spent the majority of her legal career representing children in dependency and neglect, family drug court, juvenile delinquency, and truancy court as a defense attorney and guardian ad litem. She now spends her time helping families and children understand and navigate the judicial system as a child and family investigator. A semi-native to Colorado, she lives in Denver, CO and spends her time getting into good trouble. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  3. Aug 31

    Saira Galindo on SEL Beyond the 20-Minute Block

    Every school has an SEL block on the schedule, and most of them have a collective eye roll to go with it. Saira Galindo, Transformative Social Emotional Learning Specialist with Denver Public Schools, has a clear diagnosis for why. SEL got handed to teachers as a prepackaged twenty minutes with no explanation, when it's actually the thing they already do every time they check in with a student, ask a colleague for help, or take a day because they're not showing up as their best self. In this conversation Saira makes the case that until leaders build that culture with the adults in the building, it will never take hold with kids, and she gets specific about how: what she says to a room of skeptical principals, how she reframes "lead with vulnerability" for the secondary teachers who push back hardest, and why the strongest professional learning she runs introduces no new concept at all. Her proof is a district math curriculum she helped rewrite, with SEL in the first five minutes and the last five, where high schoolers who had stopped talking to each other after COVID started talking again and the hard math got easier. Saira Galindo is a Mexican immigrant, first-generation scholar, educator, and educational leader whose work centers on belonging, equity, culturally responsive education, and social-emotional learning. She spent nearly 14 years with Denver Public Schools, growing from a paraprofessional into a bilingual teacher and Transformative Social-Emotional Learning Instructional Specialist. She has also served as an adjunct professor, preparing future educators to lead with cultural awareness and compassion. Saira holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a master's degree in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education from the University of Colorado Denver. She is currently pursuing her Ed.M. in Educational Leadership, Organizations & Entrepreneurship at Harvard Graduate School of Education. As an immigrant and lifelong advocate for students and communities, Saira is passionate about creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, and empowered to use their voices. Outside of her work, she enjoys music, reading, soccer, concerts, and foodie adventures with her twin sister. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  4. Aug 3

    Breanna Wilson: Keep Your Revolutionary Optimism

    Breanna's path into teaching didn't look like the brochure. A teacher's-kid childhood, a false start at a "best in the nation" education program, family obligations that pulled her home to Denver, nearly a decade as a full-time para while she was also a full-time student — and finally, in her late twenties, a kindergarten classroom of her own at the school she never left. In this conversation with Jody, Esther, and Allison, she unpacks what that road taught her: that identity work is the actual foundation of equitable teaching, and that "we do what's best for kids" is a mission statement until you live it on the hard days. Stay for the walk-up song — it should probably be a morning circle chant. And if you've ever felt like the only way to grow in this profession is to leave the classroom, this one will change how you see your own influence. Teacher leadership, it turns out, has nothing to do with a title and everything to do with refusing to stay silent. Guest: Breanna Wilson A Denver native raised in a family of educators, Breanna Wilson was inspired from an early age to follow in their footsteps and dedicate her career to the classroom. Today, Breanna is a passionate early childhood educator committed to equity, cultural and identity sustaining practices, and developmentally appropriate strategies for diverse young learners. Outside of work, she loves spending time with her partner, Shaun, and their cat, dog, and snake. When Breanna is not with her favorite little people, you can find her lost in a good book or diving into the latest in nerd culture. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  5. Jun 25

    Educational Equity: Jenna Martin on Teaching Every Child

    What does it take to build a classroom where every child can bring their whole self?     Dr. Jenna Martin has spent two decades chasing that question—from a paraprofessional job to a Fulbright in South Korea to leadership roles guiding the next generation of teachers. Adopted from South Korea and raised in a monolingual English home, she built her career on seeing students for who they really are.     In this episode, Jenna sits down with hosts Jody Tucker, Esther Valdez, and Allison Johnson for an honest, funny, and surprisingly moving conversation about identity, courage, and the quiet biases that shape who schools serve. Together, they name the "fear fence" we hide behind, challenge what equity actually means, and ask the kind of questions most educators are too uncomfortable to voice.     Dr. Jenna C. Martin is a dedicated educational leader with nearly 20 years of K-20 experience teaching, program directing, professoring, and equity-centered leadership. She is committed to cultivating, supporting, and retaining educators who reflect the students they teach through innovative learning systems, collaborative partnerships, and a commitment to dismantling systemic inequities. Her career includes roles as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in South Korea, a middle school English Language Arts, Social Studies, and English Language Development teacher, an Instructional Coach in Title I secondary schools, Dean of Instruction, Assistant Principal, Assistant Professor of Education, Program Director, and currently Program Manager in a local school district. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  6. May 9

    Bountiful Belonging: Dr. Arianne Rivera on Co-Creating Togetherness

    In this episode of the Teacher Leader Podcast, we welcome Dr. Arianne Rivera — educator, researcher, and lifelong champion of multilingual learners — to discuss her doctoral research on bountiful belonging. Drawing on painful experiences of exclusion in school, Dr. Rivera reframes belonging not as something we seek from others but as something we can actively create and give away. Her research shows that the most transformative moments of belonging rarely occur in large groups — they happen when one person genuinely says, "You can sit with me."   Dr. Rivera challenges educators to move away from systems that demand conformity as the price of inclusion and instead make small, intentional micro-adjustments: mixing age groups, deepening community, widening the welcome. Her guiding belief? Belonging, like love, only grows the more you give it. Dr. Rivera has over 25 years of experience in PreK-16 Education. She has worked as a teacher’s aide, substitute teacher, classroom teacher, K-6 ESL teacher/instructional coach, K-12 ESL and dual language resource teacher, central administrator, university instructor and program director, and consultant. Her passions are learning and connection. She develops practices and systems grounded in dignity, joy, and multi-directional impact. Her research interests include the phenomenological study of authenticity, belonging, community, and safety within and beyond educational contexts. Arianne currently serves as the Director of Student Success at the University of Colorado Denver School of Education and Human Development.   For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  7. Apr 9

    Christopher Rivas: Every Kid Has a Story — But Are We Really Listening? The Power of Storytelling and Silence

    What if the secret to student engagement isn't a new curriculum — it's simply making space for silence? In this episode of the Teacher Leader Podcast, hosts Jody Tucker, Esther Valdez, and Allison Johnson sit down with Christopher Rivas — actor, playwright, author, educator, and self-described "healthy disruptor" for a wide-ranging conversation about education, identity, and the transformative power of human connection. Christopher shares how genuine connection, not content delivery, is what young people are truly hungry for, and why he believes "communion" — not task completion — should be at the heart of every learning environment. From the story behind his memoir Brown Enough to his children's book You're a Good Swimmer (born in 15 minutes in a college dorm room), Christopher weaves together themes of identity, belonging, and the radical act of simply being seen. He also introduces the Brown Literacy Movement, his initiative to get diverse voices and books into schools that can't afford them. Whether you're a classroom teacher, a school leader, or anyone who works with young people, this conversation is a joyful, grounding reminder that relationships always come before results — and that the most powerful thing you can offer a student is your full presence. Christopher Rivas is an actor, author, podcaster, and storyteller best known for his on-screen work on the Fox series, CALL ME KAT. In addition, he hosts two podcasts on SiriusXM's Stitcher: Rubirosa, a limited series about the life of Porfirio Rubirosa, and a weekly show, Brown Enough. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Expressive Arts for Global Health & Peace Building from The European Graduate School and a Rothschild Social Impact fellow. Rivas resides in Los Angeles, CA. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

  8. Mar 13

    Brilliant, Beautiful, Unbreakable: Nicole Salinas on Being the Teacher Every Student Deserves

    In this episode of the Teacher Leader Podcast, Nicole Salinas shares her powerful journey into education—from growing up in a Spanish-speaking immigrant family to becoming a first-generation college graduate and special education teacher. Nicole reflects on the challenges she overcame, the mentors who believed in her, and the experiences that shaped her commitment to advocating for students from marginalized communities. With honesty, optimism, and a deep sense of purpose, Nicole Salinas reminds listeners why representation, resilience, and inclusive education matter—and why the next generation of educators is ready to lead. For books, resources, and events, visit: theteacherleader.org Thank you to our sponsor(s): Math and Movement

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

The most powerful change in education? It doesn't come from the top down—it comes from teachers like you. Welcome to The Teacher Leader Podcast, where everyday educators become agents of change. Whether you're navigating your first year in the classroom or mentoring the next generation of teachers, this podcast is your resource for leading with impact, not authority. Hosted by lifelong educators Jody Tucker, Esther Valdez, and Allison Johnson, we explore what matters most: sparking classroom innovation, navigating tough conversations, building supportive teacher communities, and mastering practical strategies that transform your practice and inspire those around you. What sets us apart? Authentic stories from real educators. Sincere discussions about the challenges and triumphs of teaching, along with practical insights you can implement immediately. Subscribe now Join a community of educators who refuse to wait for change—they create it. The future of education isn't waiting for permission; teachers like you are shaping it, right now.

Information

  • Creator
    The Teacher Leader Press
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Teacher Leader Podcast

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