Marc and Nick sit down with Stephanie Clinise, a ninth-grade English teacher at Hatboro-Horsham High School in suburban Philadelphia, to talk about what happens when a teacher leads with the hook every single time. Stephanie found We Will Write, a gamified writing platform out of Norway, got her students engaged in meaningful writing on their first try, and ended up on the floor at FETC 2026 sharing the story with anyone who would listen.

The conversation digs into the teaching philosophy underneath all of it: why context has to come before content, how a classroom timeline stretching from the Transcontinental Railroad to the birth of Taylor Swift unlocked Shakespeare and Roald Dahl for ninth graders, and how Stephanie is navigating AI in the writing classroom with real structure and genuine optimism. If you believe the lesson has to earn student attention before it can teach them anything, this one is for you.

GUEST LINKS

• @MrsClinise on Instagram
• @MrsClinise on TikTok
• Stephanie Clinise on LinkedIn
• We Will Write (platform featured in episode)

Follow Marc:

• marcisseks.com
• @marcisseks on X (Twitter)
• @marcisseks on LinkedIn
• @edupyro on TikTok
• @edupyro on YouTube
• CAPTIVATE on Amazon

Find State of Ed:

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• stateofedpodcast.com

Marc Isseks and special guest co-host, Karen Walsh sit down with Dan Thomas, a recently retired STEM teacher who spent his entire 32-year career at the same school he graduated from in Jamestown, New York. Now consulting and speaking under his Coach Thomas Tech brand, Dan brings a hands-on, PBL-driven philosophy to educators looking to make learning visible, meaningful, and yes, actually usable by Tuesday morning.

This conversation covers a lot of ground: why AI has finally moved past the shiny-new-thing phase and into real implementation, how the Tuesday Test reframes professional learning (if you cannot use it tomorrow without hand-holding, what is the point?), and why AI may be the first tool that makes genuine differentiation possible at scale. Dan and Karen, a veteran English teacher known for her commitment to creativity and reinvention, bring decades of classroom experience to a discussion that is as practical as it is forward-looking. The takeaway: the teacher who embraces this moment has more power than at any point in the history of education.

Follow Marc:

• Website
• X (Twitter)
• TikTok
• YouTube
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• LinkedIn

Find State of Ed:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Amazon Music
• stateofedpodcast.com

GUEST LINKS

Dan Thomas | Coach Thomas Tech

• coachthomastech.com
• @coachthomastech on X (Twitter)
• LinkedIn: Dan Thomas (coachthomastech)
• The TechEd Clubhouse Podcast on Apple Podcasts
• The TechEd Clubhouse Podcast on Spotify

Nick and Marc sit down with Dr. Rachel Edoho-Eket, elementary school principal, adjunct professor at McDaniel College, TEDx speaker, president of the Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals, and one of the top 100 influencers in education. She is also the author of two bestselling books, The Principal's Journey and Relational Intelligence.

Dr. Edoho-Eket shares the leadership lesson she wishes every aspiring principal understood before stepping into the role, why relationships are the engine of every great school, and how consistency, communication, and presence build the kind of trust that makes the hardest parts of the job possible. She also opens up about navigating imposter syndrome as a new principal, the surprising challenges of moving from assistant principal to principal, and why you don't need all the answers - you just need to know who to ask.

The conversation also tackles one of education's most pressing topics: AI in the classroom. Dr. Edoho-Eket shares her district's pragmatic approach to ethical AI implementation, why "guidance" beats "policy" in a fast-moving landscape, and how schools can build a strong foundation in digital citizenship starting at the elementary level.

Find Dr. Edoho-Eket: website, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn

Follow Marc on X, online, TikTok, or YouTube

Check out Marc's latest book, CAPTIVATE