On this episode of Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres is joined by Gregory Trieste, a senior product specialist for STEM at Amplify, longtime disability rights advocate, and former educator with over 20 years of experience. Gregory explores why learning differences are assets—not deficits—and shares ways to reach every learner in your classroom. Drawing on his own experience as a student, Gregory explains why disengagement and acting out are often forms of self-protection. He also walks through a GPS analogy to illustrate why some students need to take the scenic route to arrive at understanding. Our Classroom Insider, middle school science teacher Eric Cross, then joins Ana to reflect on how fostering a classroom of exploration creates more opportunities for students to participate and why disengagement is a clue, not a conclusion.

Show notes:

• Learn more about Amplify Science.
• Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math.
• Connect with Greg Trieste on LinkedIn.
• Register for Greg’s upcoming webinar on Oct. 21.
• Learn more about upcoming Amplify events!
• Watch Student-centered math practices videos on YouTube.
• Join our Amplify learning community.
• Follow us on Instagram.
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years.
• Connect with Ana Torres.
• Connect with Eric Cross.

Quotes:

"It's almost never, 'I can't learn this.' It's almost always, 'I'm struggling to learn this way.'" —Gregory Trieste

"Nothing else matters if students are not engaged." —Gregory Trieste

"Make joy part of your decision matrix." —Gregory Trieste

"Treat disengagement as a clue, not a conclusion." —Eric Cross

"Allow students to be the authors in their learning." —Ana Torres

Host Ana Torres and Classroom Insider Eric Cross chatted with two classroom teachers about what it takes to create a classroom in which every student feels safe tasking risks as a reader and writer. Theresa Boyd is a teacher-leader coach and sixth grade social studies teacher at Mallard Creek STEM Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina; Ann Ingham is a third grade teacher from the Cedarsburg School District in Wisconsin and a 2025 Science of Reading Star Award winner. Theresa and Ann share what they're seeing in ELA classrooms today; students who are curious and collaborative, but also struggling with decreased reading stamina and fear of being wrong. After the roundtable, Ana and Eric reflect on key takeaways, including why sometimes you have to slow down teaching to speed up learning.

Show notes:

• Learn more about Amplify CKLA.
• Learn more about Amplify ELA.
• Follow Theresa on TikTok: @CraftyTeacherTees.
• Join our Amplify learning community.
• Follow us on Instagram.
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years.
• Connect with Ana Torres.
• Connect with Eric Cross.

Quotes:

"Growth lives outside your comfort zone." —Theresa Boyd

"Mistakes are valuable. They literally grow our brains when we make them and see them and correct them." —Ann Ingham

"Curiosity is very important. I think we've fallen away from that." —Ana Torres

"Sometimes we have to step back from just teaching content and switch to teaching our students how to learn." —Eric Cross

On this episode of Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres is joined by Miguel Cardona, Ed.D., who served as the 12th U.S. secretary of education and is the founder and CEO of Cardona Solutions. A former fourth-grade teacher and an award-winning school principal who served as the Connecticut commissioner of education, Miguel explains why bilingualism is a cognitive and economic superpower—and why we should always view it as an asset. Miguel also shares why he believes we do students a disservice by assuming the only option for success is four-year college and describes what it could look like to reimagine high schools to include career pathways. Eric Cross, our Classroom Insider and a middle school science teacher, then joins Ana to reflect on why sympathy doesn't always translate into support, and why we should ask students about themselves rather than making assumptions.

Show notes:

• Learn more about Miguel Cardona and Cardona Solutions.
• Listen to our Beyond My Years episode with Luz Muñoz.
• Listen to our Beyond My Years episode with Pedro Noguera, Ph.D.
• Listen to our special episode in Spanish with Luz Muñoz.
• Listen to Amplify's Multilingual/English Learners (ML/ELs) podcast playlist
• Follow us on Instagram.
• Subscribe to Beyond My Years.
• Connect with Ana Torres.
• Connect with Eric Cross.

Quotes:

"When you are thinking in different languages, your cognitive ability increases." —Miguel Cardona

"Sympathy isn't always support, so check your expectations underneath it." —Eric Cross

"I am a teacher at heart. I will have that teacher heart until the day I die." —Ana Torres

"Bilingualism is an economic superpower. It is a cognitive superpower." —Miguel Cardona