{"podcast":{"title":"School of Practice","slug":"school-of-practice-7494269","podcast_index_feed_id":7494269,"rss_url":"https://wpvip.edutopia.org/feed/podcast/school-of-practice","website_url":"https://www.edutopia.org/","image_url":"https://wpvip.edutopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/school-of-practice.png","author":"Edutopia","episode_count":22,"summary":"School of Practice, the first podcast from the team at Edutopia, brings you ready-to-use strategies to improve your teaching today. Join us for 15-minute episodes filled with smart, pedagogy-shifting advice—backed by research and test-driven by teachers just like you.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-14T20:20:21.537972+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/school-of-practice-7494269"},"episode":{"title":"Converting ‘Fast Finishers’ Into Self-Directed Learners","slug":"converting-fast-finishers-into-self-directed-learners","published_at":"2025-11-25T11:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/school-of-practice-7494269/converting-fast-finishers-into-self-directed-learners","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/school-of-practice-7494269","url":"https://www.edutopia.org/","audio_url":"https://wpvip.edutopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ToddFinley_v7_withAD_mixdown_-18LUFS.mp3","summary":"“I’m done, what’s next?” In every classroom, a handful of students will finish the work at warp speed. While the rest of the class is still mid-task, teachers must quickly pivot to keep the fast finishers busy, without missing an instructional beat. Former K-12 teacher Todd Finley argues this challenge presents a golden opportunity. “Instead of asking the question: ‘How do I keep fast finishers busy?’ the question should be: ‘Am I providing them with activities that are really meaningful?’” he says. In this episode of School of Practice, Finley, a professor of English education at East Carolina University, shares flexible, low-prep strategies for keeping speed racers engaged in meaningful work that’s immersive and challenging. Plus: Logistical tips for busy classrooms, and pointers for aligning tasks to classroom objectives. Related resources: Your Student Finished Early—Now What? Early Finisher Activities Your Students Will Love The Representation of Semantic Information Across Human Cerebral Cortex During Listening Versus Reading Is Invariant to Stimulus Modality We Drastically Underestimate the Importance of Brain Breaks Classroom Cheat Codes: Effective Teaching Strategies to Power-Up Engagement","meta_description":"“I’m done, what’s next?” In every classroom, a handful of students will finish the work at warp speed. While the rest of the class is still mid-task, teac…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1195,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/school-of-practice-7494269/episodes/converting-fast-finishers-into-self-directed-learners/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/school-of-practice-7494269/converting-fast-finishers-into-self-directed-learners.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}