In the final episode of this season of 16:1, special guest Dr. Brandi De La Cruz, 2025–2026 Tennessee Teacher of the Year, joins us for an honest, grounded look at the teaching profession. Dr. De La Cruz’s nonlinear path into mathematics education has become a core part of her teaching identity, and she speaks candidly about trying new things, building community, and deepening connections between classroom learning and community impact. We also discuss graduation pressures, funding incentives, local workforce expectations, teacher retention, professional development, and the evolving realities of AI in the high school classroom.

16:1 returns January 2026 with a new season. Happy holidays!

00:30 Wrap up thoughts on teaching 1984

06:40 Dr. Brandi De La Cruz: An indirect path to the math classroom

11:20 Learning to connect with students through lived experience

20:00 Local industry and applied learning connections

24:00 Why teaching is worth choosing

27:30 Metrics, misaligned incentives, and honest accountability

36:30 Finding your people in your school

43:15 What makes for meaningful professional development?

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

This week, we’re looking through our history to ground ourselves in a turbulent present. Tune in for our discussion of Septima Poinsette Clark, the Charleston-born educator and activist Martin Luther King Jr. once called “the mother of the movement.” Her story bridges the segregated classrooms of the early 20th century and the civil rights movement’s front lines. Through the establishment of hundreds of citizenship schools across the U.S., she helped thousands of Black Americans gain the literacy skills necessary to vote, transforming communities. We also consider her complex legacy as a woman who challenged not only racism but also sexism within social movements that she helped to shape.

02:24 Septima Poinsette Clark: Family History & Educational Empowerment

06:00 Teaching in segregated South Carolina and the fight for equal pay

09:00 Adult Literacy & Citizenship

12:20 Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests, and the Politics of Reconstruction

14:00 Workshops at the Highlander Folk School

16:00 Citizenship Schools and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

21:40 Septima Poinsette’s Civil Rights Activism: Legacy and Lessons

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

Two English teachers and a technologist come together for a lively discussion on George Orwell’s 1984 and teaching the text to high school students in the U.S. in 2025. Tackles complex topics (propaganda, surveillance, freedom of expression). Good for educators who are thinking of teaching the novel in their classrooms.

02:00 Framing & historical context, George Orwell

06:50 Making sense of Winston Smith

10:00 Misogyny and modernity

13:00 Memory, individuality, and the alteration of history

18:55 What is war in Oceania?

24:45 Newspeak, language, and narrative control

33:00 Art and entertainment in totalitarian Oceania

40:45 Student engagement with 1984

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

This week, we’re covering one of the most explosive education controversies in American history, the 1974 Kanawha County, WV “Textbook Wars.” What began as a school board vote over new reading materials in West Virginia eventually escalated into boycotts, firebombings, and a national debate over who decides what children learn. From the cultural divides rooted in West Virginia’s founding to echoes of the Scopes “Monkey” Trial and the rise of outside agitators, this episode traces how faith and identity can collide in America’s public school classrooms.

02:10 Setting the stage: The Civil War and West Virginia’s history of division

04:15 The Scopes trial: How America’s first classroom media circus reshaped public discourse

08:44 Labor and identity: Kanawha County’s legacy of protest and class tension

09:40 Alice Moore & the textbook controversy

23:30 Outside influence: How extremist groups amplified local outrage

25:55 Aftermath & legacy: What this fight tells us about freedom, pluralism, and fear in public education

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

Culturally responsive teaching begins with the recognition that learning doesn't happen in a vacuum. Teachers must carefully navigate curricular needs while building a foundation of trust and respect with students, each of whom carries unique stories and experiences into the classroom. In this episode, we explore the work of scholars who study those intersections: between school and family, the individual and their culture, classroom lessons and the many other concerns crowding a young learner’s mind.

00:00 Intro + Announcements

03:30 The US Education System: A Pressure Cooker

05:00 Revisiting Social Learning Theory; Lev Vygotsky, Albert Bandura

06:30 Dr Luis C Moll & Funds of Knowledge

08:30 Research Contributions from Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, Dr. Geneva Gay; culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy

11:20 Culturally responsive pedagogy and practical applications in rural classrooms

18:20 Culturally responsive teaching with varied student populations

21:30 Discussion Questions

31:10 What we learned

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

This week, our co-hosts (one a teacher, one a technologist) revisit ongoing discussions about the role of artificial intelligence in schools and classrooms with a focus on how institutions of higher education are addressing AI tools at a policy level. From Ohio State University's push for AI fluency to staunch opposition from other institutions over academic integrity concerns, we examine the varied approaches schools are adopting. The hosts also explore the personal impacts of these technologies within classrooms and the ethical considerations raised (think privacy, mental health, and the development of critical thinking skills in young learners) as AI expands its reach into academia and the workplace.

00:00 - Intro & Announcements

03:00 - 2025 AI Use Trends and Examples, Higher Education; Some Schools Enthusiastically Embrace AI Tools

09:00 - Skeptical Embrace: AI in College Admissions, Student Services, and Campus Safety

15:00 - Chat Tools and Mental Health Concerns

17:00 - Some Schools Reject AI Over Academic Integrity Concerns

20:00 Teacher Perspectives on AI: From Higher Ed Policy to Classroom Practice

30:00 Classroom Activities Using AI; The Educator's Role in AI Use Policy Discussions Discussions

37:20 What We Learned

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

We’re back after the summer break with new episodes of 16:1! New episodes will now be released on a seasonal schedule. Thanks for subscribing and supporting the show as we evolve!

In the first episode of this season, we’re exploring Appalachian regional history and a story of community resilience in some of the country's remotest regions. You’ll hear how the pack horse librarians, women who traveled by horseback or mule over rough territory, traversed dozens of miles each day to deliver books to Kentucky families with few connections to neighbors and very limited access to public libraries. In the wake of Wall Street’s crash in 1929, pack horse librarians delivered books, mail, and other goods to fuel curiosities and help people gain critical new skills that put them back to work.

Thanks for listening, and welcome back to 16:1!

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website.

In our final episode of the 2024-25 season, we reflect upon our year of learning and how our philosophies of education continue to evolve. We return to perennial questions: What's the purpose of education? Who gets to learn, and how? How do we best learn? What’s worth unlearning? And, where are we headed? From redefining student success to shifting attitudes on academic freedoms and institutional values, we’ve covered a lot of ground over the past year. We’ll revisit insights from guests on school leadership, student travel, pedagogy, rural education, and student-led local journalism. We’ll also grapple with what’s next for American schools and universities amidst so much uncertainty and turbulence. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back in September of 2025!

For a full list of episode sources and resources, visit our website at https://sixteentoone.com/archives