Jacob Kantor, known as "Chief Dodo," joins the podcast to share a rare inside view: running 100-150 district calls a month as a consultant connecting EdTech companies with school and district leaders. Jacob breaks down what's actually driving (or killing) a district's decision to adopt a new tool, from budget pressure, to why efficacy and case studies open the door but rarely close the sale on their own. He traces his own path from a recession-era curriculum rep knocking on school doors to running his own shop and talks candidly about how COVID-era ESSER funding fueled a wave of AI EdTech companies, some of which may not have survived without it. If you've ever wondered why your district adopted (or dropped) a tool or want to understand the sales conversations happening behind the scenes, this one pulls back the curtain.

Connect with Jacob:

https://thejacobkantor.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejacobkantor/

What changes when student work doesn't end on a screen?

Jeremy Mikla and David Berner are joined by Peter Valinski of Sawgrass Technologies and Vik Patel of Craft Express for a conversation about moving student creation from the digital world into something students can actually hold, share, use, and even sell.

What begins with personalized products quickly becomes a much larger conversation about learning. Peter and Vik explore how hands-on creation can help students develop ownership, resilience, creativity, problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset while connecting classroom learning to authentic audiences and real-world applications.

The conversation explores school-based businesses, spirit wear and student enterprises, maker spaces, career readiness, STEAM connections, customer feedback, and the many skills hiding inside the journey from an idea to a finished product.

They also tackle the changing role of creativity in an AI-powered world. If AI can make generating an idea easier, what happens to the importance of iteration, judgment, personalization, hands-on skills, and the ability to turn that idea into something real?

Along the way, Vik shares examples of schools beginning to build entrepreneurship and maker experiences around product creation, while Peter connects those classroom opportunities to evolving technologies in manufacturing, automation, robotics, and the workforce.

It's a conversation about much more than making T-shirts or mugs. It's about giving students opportunities to create for someone, solve real problems, learn from failure, and see where their ideas can take them.

Resources

Sawgrass Technologies: https://www.sawgrassink.com/education/

Craft Express: https://craftexpressus.com/

Craft Express on Instagram & Facebook: @CraftExpressUS

What happens when the numbers we use to define success in school don’t actually measure what matters most?

Jeremy Mikla and David Berner are joined by education advocate, author, filmmaker, and former venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith for a provocative conversation about what schools prioritize—and what students actually need for life beyond the classroom.

Drawing from his book Aftermath, Ted challenges the continued emphasis on math procedures that technology can perform instantly and argues for greater attention to ideas students will actually use: probability, statistics, estimation, algorithms, data, and decision-making.

The conversation expands from math into the larger purpose of school. Ted reflects on visiting 200 schools across all 50 states and the “bright spots” he found where teachers are trusted, students have agency, and learning is connected to genuine purpose. He discusses career-based learning, his documentary Multiple Choice, alternatives to the college-for-all pathway, the pressure created by elite college admissions, and why he questions the influence of standardized test scores on education.

Along the way, Ted offers a simple but powerful reminder: when students are engaged, they learn.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Ted Dintersmith — https://www.teddintersmith.com/

Aftermath — https://www.aftermaththebook.com/

Multiple Choice — https://www.multiplechoicefilm.com/

What School Could Be — https://www.teddintersmith.com/what-school-could-be

Most Likely to Succeed — https://www.whatschoolcouldbe.org/most-likely-to-succeed