The Best of Us

About The Best of Us

On The Best of Us podcast, we highlight the stories, practices, and tactics of K-12 professional learning leaders working to enhance the educator experience. We speak with educators, researchers, and policy makers about what’s working to drive teacher engagement, practice, and retention and how we can all bring out the best of us.

Publisher

KickUp

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Nov 2022

Latest episode

29 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

48 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Sept 2026

   S4/E11: Amber Chandler on Why Teacher Retention Starts With Relationships

   Amber Chandler, a veteran teacher and longtime union president, explains why support for new teachers tends to disappear right after year one, and how she built a program around simple, intentional social connection to change that. It's a candid look at what actually keeps teachers in the profession, and why it starts with relationships, not programs.

2. 

   1 Sept 2026

   S4/E10: Sharron Helmke on the Real Work of Coaching and Mentoring Teachers

   Sharron Helmke of Learning Forward shares what separates coaching that builds real capacity from coaching that just feels good in the moment, and why a teacher relying on their coach's approval is a warning sign rather than a compliment.

3. 

   7 Jul 2026

   S4/E9: When You Give Educators the Space to Experiment with AI with Chelsea Waite & Caitrin Wright

   Chelsea Waite of the Center on Reinventing Public Education and Caitrin Wright of Silicon Schools Fund share what they learned from a cohort of educators who designed and piloted their own AI use cases — and why the most promising results had less to do with efficiency and more to do with strengthening human connection.

Who has been a guest on The Best of Us

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Steve Robinson
• Dr Tiffany Anderson
• Dyane Smokorowski

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

24

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32