Screens, Spies & Student Privacy: Gordon Korman’s Snoop for Digital Literacy
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Release Date: 07/23/2025
Tami Charles on Picture Books, Fear in Creativity, and Teaching Unity Through Stories
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What happens when a children’s book becomes a tool for unity, empathy, and allyship? In this conversation, Tami Charles—author, former teacher, and champion of diverse stories—opens up about the creative process behind her latest picture book, Together United. She shares how her writing is shaped not only by ideas, but by her collaboration with illustrators, the ever-present feeling of fear, and her commitment to creating stories that help children see themselves and each other. We talk about: How collaboration between author and illustrator can lead to unexpected, beautiful outcomes...
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Teaching Creativity: Alan Gratz on Storytelling, Curiosity, and Collaboration
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Join host Tricia Friedman in conversation with Alan Gratz, the New York Times–bestselling author whose novels have captivated readers for over five years. Gratz shares how baseball shaped his storytelling, why creativity and curiosity belong at the heart of every classroom, and how interdisciplinary learning strengthens student engagement. This episode explores the connections between empathy, character development, and allyship—inviting educators to think differently about how stories shape our understanding of one another. Discover how reading diverse perspectives, teaching creativity,...
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Narrative Justice: The Future of Climate Justice with Shilpi Chhotray
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What if the fight for climate justice began with the stories we tell? In this reflective episode, Tricia Friedman sits down with Shilpi Chhotray, host of A People’s Climate, to unpack the concept of narrative justice — the belief that climate storytelling must center the communities most impacted by environmental change. Together, they explore how Indigenous knowledge, fiction, education, and intersectional media can reshape public understanding of the climate crisis. Shilpi shares her journey amplifying global majority voices — Indigenous, Black, and Brown storytellers — who are...
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Can we befriend the dark?
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
A conversation that reminds us how curiosity, art, and iteration can reshape are necessary and may even be assets for our school leadership and the ways we nurture creative courage in young learners.... In this episode, Tricia Friedman sits down with author-illustrator Christy Mandin to explore what school leaders can learn from the creative process behind children’s literature. Together they unpack how curiosity fuels empathy, how messy iteration sparks innovation, and how embracing the dark and uncertain moments of creativity can make us more...
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The Creative Process of Ryan La Sala: Writing Fear, Joy, and Queer Resilience
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Tricia Friedman sits down with bestselling author Ryan La Sala for a deep dive into the creative process behind his latest book. Together, they explore how queer horror, artistic design, and emotional literacy intersect to shape stories that resonate with today’s readers. La Sala reveals how multiple drafts, layered perspectives, and intentional design choices come together to build a reading experience that’s as visual as it is emotional. The conversation highlights how horror can be a vehicle for exploring complex emotions and how queer narratives give young readers language for...
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Claribel A. Ortega on Why Monsters Matter: Writing Hope and Friendship in Dark Times
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
What can monsters, middle-grade fantasy, and community-centered storytelling teach us about the world we live in today? In this episode, Tricia Friedman sits down with New York Times bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega (Witchlings) to explore how fantasy fiction helps young readers navigate identity, belonging, and hope in turbulent times. Ortega shares her creative process—from plotting complex magical worlds to writing on planes during book tours—and reflects on the power of friendship, grief, and imagination as tools for resilience. This episode is perfect for educators, librarians,...
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On the future of Higher Education
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Today, a college diploma is no guarantee that graduates have the competencies that businesses need, including using emerging technologies, communicating, working in teams, and other necessary skills. So, it’s fair to ask, “Do students really need a college degree”? Brandeis University President, and nationally respected higher education leader and researcher, Arthur Levine has been at the forefront of the changing role of higher education. Co-author of THE GREAT UPHEAVAL, HIGHER EDUCATIONS PAST PRESENT AND UNCERTAIN...
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Raghad's Second Chance Story
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Raghad shares her remarkable journey from Syria to Canada through the Second Chance program. She discusses the challenges of being one of the few students applying to universities abroad from Syria, her initial rejections and waitlists from U.S. universities, and how Second Chance opened new doors for her education and future as a changemaker. Key Topics Discussed The Application Journey from Syria Growing up in Syria with dreams of studying abroad Navigating an unfamiliar application process with no local precedent Working with Dawn Network, a program supporting Syrian women in higher...
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Karam's Second Chance Story
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Karam Abboud shares their Second Chance story. If their story inspires you, consider exploring ways to make even more stories like this a possibility. Learn more: Every year, brilliant low-income students from around the world risk being left behind — not for lack of talent, but for lack of financial means to accept their college admission offers. Until Second Chance takes action. Each April, at the final hour of the admissions cycle, we identify a cohort of extraordinary students and connect them with full scholarships...
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242: Abraham's Second Chance Story
Be a Better Ally: critical conversations for K12 educators
Every year, brilliant low-income students from around the world risk being left behind — not for lack of talent, but for lack of financial means to accept their college admission offers. Until takes action. Each April, at the final hour of the admissions cycle, we identify a cohort of extraordinary students and connect them with full scholarships at leading universities worldwide. On the podcast you get to hear first hand from students who have experienced the mission of Second Chance. This September, we...
info_outlineIf your digital‑literacy lessons feel stuck on the same old slide deck, Gordon Korman’s brand‑new novel Snoop (Scholastic Press, July 1 2025) offers a timely narrative hook. The story follows Carter, a phone‑addicted tween who—after two broken legs and zero mobility—turns police webcams into his personal feed and learns the hard way that surveillance isn’t a superpower.
Teacher Take‑Aways
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Mirror, then Question. Use Snoop’s live‑cam plot to ask: Who controls the lens in your daily media diet?
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Empathy through POV. Have students rewrite a chapter from the watched classmate’s perspective to surface the ethics of surveillance.
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Data Literacy Mini‑Lab. Compare Carter’s police‑cam feeds to real‑world open‑data CCTV dashboards; chart what’s missing from each data set.
Learn more about this week's guest:
Gordon Korman is a household name in the middle grade space. With over 100 titles to his name, he’s written a book for every kind of reader in this age group—from reluctant to voracious and all the shades in between. His brand-new adventure: SNOOP is the story of a screen-obsessed boy who finds himself trapped at home—and discovers that life gets harder when screens are all you have.
If Carter hadn't been checking his phone, he might have seen his brother coming down the ski slopes in his direction. And if Carter had seen his brother in time and avoided the crash, he might not have two broken legs right now. Oops. Now Carter is stuck at home for weeks, with both his legs in casts. Bored, he starts checking out the live feeds from police cams around his town.
Before he knows it, he's obsessed—watching his classmates when they don't know he's looking and discovering some other very strange things going on that no one else is noticing. But what happens when Carter is found out... and the people he's watching know where he lives?
SNOOP tackles finding a balance between screen-free time and being connected to the outside world. When screen-addicted Carter is forced to relate to the outside world only through screens he discovers that there’s something missing. Between being unable to stand up for himself to his classmates via Zoom to getting only part of the story through the police cameras, Carter finds that screens aren’t the perfect medium he thought they were. But he also manages to break up an illegal animal-smuggling ring and call an ambulance for a woman who unexpectedly goes into labor. The story, wisely, ends with a call for balance and moderation. As Carter says, “I took it too far. You just have to know where to draw the line.”
Get your copy: https://gordonkorman.com/from-snoop
Learn more about Tricia five week AI Literacy challenge:
https://www.shiftingschools.com/aingela
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