TB
The Balance, by Dr. Catlin Tucker
catlinthebalance
Dr. Catlin Tucker is a bestselling author, international trainer, and keynote speaker. She was named Teacher of the Year in 2010 in Sonoma County, where she taught for 16 years. Catlin earned her doctorate in learning technologies from Pepperdine University. Currently, Catlin is working as a blended learning coach, education consultant, and professor in a Masters of Arts in Teaching program. Catlin has published several books on blended learning, including The Shift to Student-led, The Complete Guide to Blended Learning, UDL and Blended Learning, and Balance with Blended Learning. She is active on Twitter @Catlin_Tucker and writes an internationally-ranked blog at CatlinTucker.com.
- 33 episodes
- weekly
- Avg 35 min
- English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
- TB#197November 3 · 27 min
Deep Dive — Guided Notes and Note-Taking Strategies That Get Students Thinking
Are students making sense of the content, or simply filling in the blanks? In this Deep Dive, I explore how to choose note-taking supports purposefully and design guided notes that encourage students to explain, connect, analyze, and apply ideas. I share how to pair note-taking with the chunk, pause, process cycle, giving students time to work with information between instructional chunks. For teachers using cloze notes, I offer practical strategies to help students add meaning through annotations, examples, sketches, and connections. You’ll leave with concrete ways to make note-taking a meaningful part of learning and gain insight into students’ understanding. Related Blog: Are Your Guided Notes Supporting or Stifling Learning? Designing Notes That Promote Active Engagement
- TB#196October 27 · 38 min
Deep Dive — Differentiated Small-Group Instruction: 3 Ways to Meet Student Needs
How do you decide what to teach when you bring a small group of students together? In this deep dive episode, Dr. Catlin Tucker explores three approaches to differentiated small-group instruction: adjusting support for the same learning goal, targeting different skills within a standard, and addressing distinct needs across a unit. Through accessible classroom examples, she explains how to use student work, conversations, and formative assessment data to give small-group time a clear instructional purpose. Learn to unpack a standard into smaller skills and use flexible grouping as students’ needs change. You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how differentiated small-group instruction can strengthen Tier 1 instruction while keeping students connected to meaningful, grade-level learning. Episode Resources Related Blog: Differentiated Small-Group Instruction: 3 Ways to Respond to Student Needs
- TB#195October 20 · 25 min
Ask Catlin — Chunking Lessons, Differentiating Tier 1, and Ensuring Grade-Level Access
How can we make instruction more effective for students with different levels of readiness, learning needs, and language proficiencies? In this Ask Catlin episode, I answer three listener questions about chunking lessons, making differentiation manageable, and ensuring all students have access to grade-level learning. I explore the art of chunking and use a seventh-grade Bluebonnet math example to illustrate how the chunk-pause-process cycle gives students time to make meaning throughout instruction. Then, I discuss how data can help us choose between whole-group and small-group instruction and make purposeful adjustments without creating a different lesson for every learner. Finally, I unpack the difference between exposure and access, explain why groups should remain flexible, and clarify how differentiated Tier 1 instruction and additional Tier 2 support work together.
- TB#194October 13 · 58 min
Zaretta Hammond: Rebuilding Students’ Learning Power
In this episode, I talk with Zaretta Hammond about her book, Rebuilding Students’ Learning Power, and what it means to position students as the primary actors in teaching and learning. We explore the shift from a pedagogy of compliance to a pedagogy of possibility, where students have opportunities to think, talk, make mistakes, and work through challenges. Zaretta explains why explicitly teaching learn-to-learn skills is essential to making deeper learning available to every student and how these skills differ from instructional strategies. We discuss the teacher’s role as a cognitive mediator, coaching students to change their learning moves and become more independent learners. We also consider what teachers, instructional coaches, and leaders need to make this shift within the realities of curriculum demands and pacing guides. Throughout our conversation, we return to a powerful reminder: only the learner learns. Episode Resources Find Zaretta Hammond on LinkedIn Rebuilding Students′ Learning Power: Teaching for Instructional Equity and Cognitive Justice Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students
- TB#193October 6 · 33 min
Deep Dive - Are We Actually Designing Professional Development for Learning?
Schools and districts invest significant time and resources in professional development, but are we creating the conditions for teachers to actually learn? In this deep dive, I explore ideas from a recent blog by my colleague Nicole Wilkinson, Blend Education’s new implementation support specialist, who makes an important distinction between professional learning and what she calls “PD as PR,” time designed to build shared understanding and organizational alignment. I add a third category, compliance, and share my own experiences facilitating professional learning for hundreds of educators at a time compared with working with groups of teachers who have opted in because they’re genuinely curious and ready to learn. I challenge the assumption that getting more people in the room automatically creates greater impact and explore why purpose, motivation, physical environment, and thoughtful design matter. Ultimately, if the goal is learning, we need to design professional development with the same intentionality we expect teachers to bring to designing learning experiences for students. Related Blog: https://catlintucker.com/2026/09/what-is-your-professional-development-actually-designed-to-do/
- TB#192September 29 · 31 min
Ask Catlin — Can Chunk, Pause, Process Work with Read-Alouds and Gradual Release?
Can you use Chunk, Pause, Process when you’re reading aloud to students or teaching with an “I do, we do, you do” lesson? In this Ask Catlin episode, I explain how to build meaningful pauses into both approaches so students have time to think, talk, and make sense of new information. I walk through examples from elementary read-alouds and secondary classrooms, then show how the cycle can make each stage of gradual release more responsive to students’ needs. I also share how to use Four Corners to check for understanding during direct instruction and uncover misconceptions while there’s still time to address them. You’ll leave with practical ways to hear from more students and use what you learn to guide your next instructional move.
- TB#191September 22 · 55 min
Beyond the AI Debate: Designing for Connection, Collaboration, and Better Writing with Adam Sparks
Technology has the potential to connect students, foster collaboration, and support richer learning experiences, but those benefits exist alongside real concerns about AI, screen time, and the role technology should play in schools. In this episode of The Balance, I talk with educator and Scriblit founder Adam Sparks about how we navigate those tensions without reducing the conversation to technology being either good or bad. We explore the role technology can play in helping students develop as writers, including how peer feedback, communication, and collaboration can make writing more social and dynamic. Adam and I also discuss the growing presence of AI in education and what it means to acknowledge both its potential benefits and the harm and risks associated with it. Ultimately, our conversation asks a bigger question: How do we thoughtfully prepare students for the world they are entering while continuing to design learning experiences that prioritize connection, communication, critical thinking, and meaningful human interaction? Episode Resources Check out Adam’s Substack, Edtech Confidential Scriblit — Write Better Together! Modern Classroom Project PAIRR Instructional Materials
- TB#190September 15 · 32 min
Deep Dive - Reciprocal Teaching & Reading Comprehension
How can teachers help students become more strategic, confident, and independent readers? In this deep dive episode, Dr. Catlin Tucker explores reciprocal teaching, a guided, inclusive strategy that engages students in collaboratively making meaning from texts through four comprehension lenses: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. She explains why explicit instruction is essential to the success of student-led learning and shares a five-stage process for onboarding students to the reciprocal teaching routine. From teacher modeling and supported practice to a fishbowl demonstration, small-group application, and self and peer assessment, this episode offers a practical pathway for gradually transferring cognitive responsibility to students. The goal is not simply to teach students a new routine, but to help them develop the skills and confidence to navigate challenging texts across subject areas. Resources: Related Blog: Strengthening Reading Comprehension with Reciprocal Teaching Resource: Reciprocal Teaching Template Resource: A Teacher’s Guide: Reciprocal Teaching for Elementary Students: A Teacher’s Guide Resource: A Teacher’s Guide: Onboarding Students to Student-Led Learning Strategies
- TB#189September 8 · 50 min
Deep Dive - MIT’s 2026 AI Report: What It Means for Teaching and Learning
In August 2026, MIT released a report examining how generative AI is affecting teaching, learning, assessment, and the human relationships at the heart of education. In this deep dive, I explore why the report carries particular significance coming from an institution so closely associated with technological innovation. I unpack seven key takeaways, including AI’s potential to expose weaknesses in existing educational practices, bypass productive struggle, increase isolation, complicate assessment, and strain trust between students and educators. I also examine MIT’s distinction between augmentation and automation and consider how it can help educators decide when AI adds value to learning and when it replaces the thinking students need to do. Ultimately, this episode asks how schools can prepare students to use AI effectively, responsibly, and ethically without surrendering the human judgment, creativity, connection, and intellectual engagement education should cultivate. Related Resource: MIT Report on AI K-12 AI Implementation Guide: Skills Before Tools
- TB#188September 1 · 25 min
Ask Catlin - Are We Expecting Independence Before We’ve Taught It?
In this Ask Catlin episode, I respond to three questions educators have recently shared with me on social media about active processing, note-taking, and the Station Rotation Model. I explore how teachers can build meaningful processing opportunities into whole-group instruction without creating elaborate activities, and I share a gradual-release approach for explicitly teaching students how to take notes. I also discuss how elementary resource teachers can use Station Rotation to provide targeted small-group instruction for students working toward different IEP goals. Across all three questions, I emphasize the importance of providing intentional scaffolds and support as we help students develop greater confidence and independence as learners.
- TB#187August 25 · 1 hr 3 min
Teachers as Learning Architects: Rethinking Teaching, Space, and AI with Gerardo Martinez
In this episode, I chat with Gerardo Martinez, Executive Director of Educational Technology for Westminster School District, about what educators can learn from the field of architecture when designing meaningful learning experiences. Gerardo shares how his journey from architecture to education shaped his thinking about instructional design and the role of physical learning environments. We also explore his innovative i4 teacher leadership program, why inspiration must precede innovation, and how districts can cultivate cultures in which teachers feel empowered to experiment and grow. Finally, we discuss how AI is reshaping the design process and why the teacher's highest-value work has never been delivering information, but designing learning experiences that foster curiosity, agency, and deep understanding. Episode Resources Gerardo Martinez’s LinkedIn
- TB#186August 18 · 29 min
Deep Dive - How to Onboard Students to Student-Led Learning
Student-led learning doesn’t happen simply because we give students more control. Students need to be intentionally onboarded to the roles, routines, and skills that allow them to lead their learning successfully. In this episode of The Balance, I break down a practical process for onboarding students to student-led learning strategies, from making the purpose clear to explicitly teaching, modeling, and practicing the individual skills students will need. The goal is to help teachers build students’ capacity over time so they can gradually step back and position students to do more of the thinking, communicating, and meaning-making. Episode Resource Related Blog: Onboarding Students to Student-Led Learning Strategies
- TB#185August 11 · 30 min
Ask Catlin – What's the Best Way to Start the School Year?
Ask Catlin is back! In this monthly Q&A series, I answer questions I've been getting from teachers through my website and social media, sharing practical, research-informed strategies you can put into practice right away. Over the last few weeks, teachers have been asking thoughtful questions about how to build meaningful relationships with students, create classrooms that foster independence, and establish routines that set the stage for a successful year. In this episode, I share practical strategies you can implement immediately, from community-building activities and learner profiles to designing learning spaces that reduce teacher dependence and increase student ownership. If you're looking for actionable ideas to help you start the year with confidence, this episode is for you. Episode Resources: Online Self-paced Course - Start Strong: A Teacher’s Guide to Back-to-School Success Blog - Icebreaker Idea: Fun with the Frayer Model Blog - Scavenger Hunt: Get Kids Talking on the 1st Day of School Template - Learner Profile
- TB#184August 4 · 23 min
Back to School: Set Up Your Classroom for Independence, Access, and Agency
As you prepare for a new school year, it's easy to focus on lesson plans, supplies, and classroom décor. But before students experience your instruction, they experience the environment you've created. In this episode, I explore how thoughtful classroom design can reduce friction, support student independence, increase access, and create opportunities for learner agency from the very first day. I'll share practical ideas for designing classroom zones, arranging furniture to support different kinds of learning, creating visual supports that students actually use, and building spaces that students help shape throughout the year. Whether you're teaching in a brand-new classroom or making the most of heavy desks and limited space, you'll walk away with a fresh lens for designing the conditions that make meaningful learning possible. Resources: Online Self-paced Course - Start Strong: A Teacher’s Guide to Back-to-School Success Blog/Podcast - What to Do When Students Finish Early in a Station Rotation Podcast - Driving Inquiry & Documenting Thinking with Learning Walls featuring Jessica Vance
- TB#183July 28 · 49 min
AI and the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE) with Dr. Cameron Sublett
AI isn't just changing the tools people use at work; it's reshaping the tasks, decisions, and skills required across nearly every industry. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Cameron Sublett, co-author of Applied Co-Intelligence: Preparing Career and Technical Education Learners for an AI-Driven Workforce, to explore what these changes mean for Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the future of career readiness. We discuss the Applied Co-Intelligence Model, the difference between AI exposure and AI displacement, the human skills that are becoming even more valuable, and why authentic, performance-based learning is critical for preparing students to work thoughtfully alongside AI. Whether you're a CTE teacher, instructional coach, school leader, curriculum designer, or simply thinking about how AI is changing education, this conversation offers a practical and hopeful framework for preparing students for careers that will continue to evolve. Episode Resources Dr. Sublett’s LinkedIn Profile Applied Co-Intelligence: Preparing Career & Technical Education Learners for an AI-Driven Workforce Related Blog: Rethinking Career Readiness in an AI World: What It Means for CTE Books Mentioned: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI Human Work
- TB#182July 21 · 21 min
Deep Dive - Start the School Year Strong: Reflection and Goal Setting for Teachers
A new school year offers more than a fresh classroom and a new group of students; it offers a fresh start for us as educators. In this episode, I share the reflection routines and goal-setting strategies I use to learn from the previous year before jumping into planning. We'll explore simple ways to capture what worked, identify what needs to change, organize your thinking, and set meaningful professional goals that support both your students and your own well-being. If you're ready to start the year with intention instead of simply checking off a back-to-school to-do list, this episode is for you. Related Resources: End-of-the-Year Housekeeping: Reflect & Organize Save Your Sanity with a Things to Revamp for Next Year List Goal Setting Graphic Organizer
- TB#181July 14 · 25 min
Deep Dive - UDL and Station Rotation in Early Elementary: Strategies for Building Independence
Can kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students really thrive in student-centered learning environments? In this episode, I explore how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the Station Rotation model can help teachers proactively design learning experiences that support learner variability while building growing independence. You'll learn six practical strategies for teaching routines, designing classroom environments that reduce barriers, providing meaningful choices, scaffolding new learning experiences, and helping young learners develop the confidence and skills to take increasing ownership of their learning. If you've ever wondered whether your students are "ready" for Station Rotation or UDL, this episode will challenge that assumption and provide concrete ideas you can put into practice right away. Episode Resource Check out The Station Rotation Model & UDL
- TB#180July 7 · 34 min
Ask Catlin - Can Students Really Handle Station Rotation?
Ask Catlin is back! In response to the thoughtful questions I've been getting through my website and on social media, I'm bringing back this monthly Q&A series to tackle real classroom challenges with practical strategies you can use right away. In this episode, I answer three of the most common questions I get about the Station Rotation Model: How do you give directions without spending valuable class time explaining every station? What should students actually be doing at the online and offline stations? How do you manage classroom behavior and keep students engaged while you're working with a small group? Whether you're just getting started with station rotation or looking to refine your approach, you'll walk away with strategies for building student independence, designing meaningful learning experiences at every station, and creating classroom routines that set students up for success. Have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Ask Catlin episode? Submit it through my website or connect with me on social media. If you're wondering about it, chances are other educators are too! Related Resource: [Resource] The Process for Co-Creating Class Agreements
- TB#179June 30 · 1 hr 2 min
Beyond Coverage: Designing Learning for Understanding & Transfer with Jay McTighe
In this episode, I chat with Jay McTighe about Stage 3 of Understanding by Design and what it really means to create learning experiences that move beyond content coverage toward understanding and transfer. We unpack the different types of learning goals related to acquisition, understanding, and transfer, and explore how those goals should shape both the teacher’s role and the student experience in the classroom. Our conversation also examines the ongoing pressure schools feel to “cover” large volumes of content in preparation for standardized exams, and why that mindset can work against deeper learning. Jay shares practical insights into formative assessment, feedback, and the use of authentic performance tasks as opportunities for learning, not simply evaluation. We also discuss how AI can support both teachers and students in designing richer learning experiences, clarifying goals, and creating more responsive pathways. Check out Jay’s Work https://jaymctighe.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymctighe Teaching for Deeper Learning Related Resources 8 Quick Checks for Understanding How to Provide Better Feedback Through Rubrics Instructional Shifts to Support Deep Learning You Can Teach for Meaning Making the Most of Professional Learning Communities