An Honest Review Of The 10 Best Teacher Podcasts In 2022

There are lots of teacher podcasts out there, but they’re not all updated. There are also some gems that are buried several pages into the iTunes collection, so it’s not easy to find the best teacher podcasts. Just because it doesn’t pop up in the first few choices doesn’t mean it’s a bad podcast!

The best teacher podcasts that I’ve found fall into the following categories:

Funny or irreverent group podcasts hosted by several teachers
Practical teacher tips to make your life easier
Podcasts that feel a bit like professional development
Academic podcasts that are more theoretical about the world of public education today

My favorites are the ones that are optimistic and hopeful, because I’m trying to surround myself with good thoughts so that I can be at peace with my day, and be the best wife, mom and educator that I can be.

Contents hide

1 The Best Teacher Podcasts that are Funny

2 The Best Teacher Podcasts that are Actually Helpful

3 Looking for More Teacher Content? Check these Posts Out!

The Best Teacher Podcasts that are Funny

If you need to laugh, here are the best teacher podcasts for you! These podcasts are conversational and hosted by a team of teachers hanging out, rather than a single professional just speaking alone to the audience.

Teachers Off Duty

Teachers Off Duty is a podcast from Bored Teachers, so it’s definitely focused on being FUN and FUNNY.

This podcast always has a roundtable of teachers who like to keep it real. You’ll probably recognize many of these teachers from the Bored Teachers platform if you follow them on Facebook, Tiktok or Instagram. If what you’re missing in your career is a crew of teacher friends, this will help alleviate that pain.

As you listen, you’ll feel like these folks just dropped into your classroom during a planning period and they’re ready to shoot the breeze with you.

This is definitely a very professionally done podcast, so there’s not a lot of downtime, and it’s pretty slick. It’s one of the best teacher podcasts in terms of production value.

Here’s the Podcast:

Things We Wish They Would Have Taught Us in College
Why Teachers Everywhere Are Leaving the Classroom
Crazy Stories of Substitute Teachers

Teacher Needs a Drink

This podcast is recorded by a team of teachers “under the guise of anonymity and under the influence of a few cocktails.” There’s a long intro, but there’s a lot of jazzy background music, so you can easily fast-forward through it and find your place at the end of the opening.

Teacher Needs a Drink is VERY irreverent and not always funny. There’s language, there’s quite a bit of negativity about the profession sometimes (which, I mean, we can probably agree that public education is a mess right now), and there’s plenty of discussion around social issues that affect the classroom. It’s definitely left-leaning politically.

All of the podcasters have silly pseudonyms and they don’t reveal the location of their schools, so they can speak freely without getting into trouble. I have noticed that everyone seems to work in middle or high school. It’s a well-named podcast, because it does sound like a group of high school teachers got together at a happy hour and just happened to record their thoughts.

What you might really like about the podcast is the “realness” factor. You won’t hear any professional development tips or overly sweet ruminating on the joys of the profession. If you need an outlet for your frustrations, you’ll find a friend in this crew. It’s one of the best teacher podcasts for folks who have no patience to “grin and bear it.”

Sample Podcast Titles:

best teacher podcasts - teacher needs a drink

Looking to add a bit of easy breezy fun to your classroom management? Check out these fresh takes on playing Secret Student!

The Best Teacher Podcasts that are Actually Helpful

If you are looking for podcasts that are like bite-sized trainings with great people, here are my favorites! Some of these are less practical and more philosophical, food-for-thought conversations.

Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers

I haven’t ever taken Angela Watson’s 40 Hour Teacher Workweek course/program, but this podcast makes me want to take it so badly! She has amazing content, and her goal is to help teachers prioritize and become more efficient so they can stop working a million hours a week.

At times, her podcast does some sales. The purpose of this free resource (for her) is to push listeners to participate in her program. I’ve heard incredible stuff about this course.

In spite of it being a bit sales-y at times, there are so many helpful nuggets in here. This isn’t a super fun podcast, but it isn’t annoying, either. It’s just useful and accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time.

Angela is SMART, and it shows in her podcast. It’s one of the best teacher podcasts for folks who struggle with time management. I suspect her program is very high quality.

Sample Podcast Titles:

best teacher podcasts - truth for teachers

Here’s my master list of 25 tips for new teachers – I hope it helps!

Beginning Teacher Talk

This podcast is well-named, because I wouldn’t recommend it to a veteran. I’ve been teaching for about 6 years now, and she hasn’t had many organizational or classroom management ideas that are novel to me.

However, I think if you’re a new teacher struggling to keep your head above water, this podcast could be great!

That’s because her advice is all bite-sized and totally easy to implement the very next day. It’s a very quick podcast, so you can easily listen while you do the dishes or get dressed in the morning. It’s all just super practical.

Finally, some of her podcast is dedicated toward moving people to an email list and making sales for “The Academy,” so be prepared for the occasional sales pitch.

Sample Podcast Titles:

beginning teacher talk - best teacher podcasts

Teach Me, Teacher

This podcast is hosted by Jacob Chastain, and it’s really great if you’re looking for something more serious that tackles hard topics in education. He has managed to reach and interview some really big names in education, and the conversations are always heartfelt, high quality, and interesting.

With that said, it’s definitely more academic in nature, so you can’t do a lot of daydreaming and stay engaged. I really enjoy this one and consider it the best teacher podcast for folks who want a birds’ eye view of education policy and reform.

Another high point – this podcast is never overly negative about the field of education. While he doesn’t bury his head in the sand and pretend things are great, the overarching vibe is always hopefulness, and he spends a lot of time focusing on the good parts of being a teacher. If you need some positivity in your life, this is a great choice.

Here are his 10 ten podcast episodes, including titles like:

Eric Weinstein on Edugenic Harm and Neurodiversity
Supporting Students Through Grief and Trauma with Krista St. Germain
Critical Race Talk with Calvin Robinson

Here is what you can do if you’ve got a bullying problem in the classroom.

Hot Mess Teacher Express

This is another Bored Teachers podcast, featuring Jess Smith. She is the quintessential elementary school teacher. She’s very CUTE, she occasionally breaks into unnecessary song during the course of ordinary conversation, and she’s very open with her feelings and doesn’t mind sharing herself with the masses. She gives off those vulnerable, cozy schoolteacher vibes.

She’s pretty encouraging and feels like a teacher bestie in your ears. If you’re looking for a pretty well-rounded education podcast that talks about some big issues in education without getting totally bogged down in negativity, this is a good option to try.

She only has 21 episodes so far, so it’s a pretty new podcast. She’s only putting out new content once or twice a month.

Sample Podcast Titles:

hot mess teacher express - best teacher podcasts

Real Teacher Talk

Kristen Donegan’s podcast is pretty new. She currently has one season of podcasts released, with 9 episodes total. But it’s a very promising podcast! She released her first season on May 8th of 2022, and most of her episodes so far are for helping teachers close out the school year well so you’re ready for next year (without having to go to school over the summer).

Here’s her intro text:

“I often say what’s on a teacher’s mind and my mission is this: help busy teachers leave school at 3:00 so they can finally enjoy their life outside the classroom. Why? Because I know how tiring it is to have a never ending checklist as a teacher and miss out on being fully present at home. On Real Teacher Talk, discover how to work smarter, not harder, enjoy teaching again, and still have plenty of time to shut off your brain outside the classroom to do the things you love. Sound impossible? I promise, it isn’t.”

Here are some sample podcast titles:

real teacher talk - best teacher podcasts

Here is a list of 12 game changing classroom management strategies to transform your classroom vibe!

The Burned-In Teacher Podcast

I love Amber’s ideas for stopping teacher burnout. That’s her mission – to help listeners avoid the cycle that she fell into time and again. Amber struggled with burn-out throughout her teaching career, but she’s found ways to stay “burned in.”

So this podcast has a very specific niche for teachers; it’s not about perfecting what you’re doing for students or administrators, it’s all about becoming the kind of teacher that can stay in the profession and love what you do.

She makes it clear in her intro that her podcast goes well beyond traditional self care because “no amount of wine or bubble baths” was going to solve her problem. She needed to make some more radical changes to the way she approaches her teaching career.

She categories burned out teachers three different ways, and tackles each problem differently: Burned and Bored, Burned and Unbalanced, Burned and Over-It.

You can take her burnout quiz here.

I consider this the best teacher podcast for friends who need a mindset shift in order to survive until retirement.

Sample Episode Titles:

burned in teacher podcast - best teacher podcasts

Stellar Teacher Podcast

You’ll especially like this podcast if you’re a reading teacher, because Sara Marye is a current literacy specialist and former teacher. Her intro lets listeners know that it’s a “no fluff lesson ideas and strategies that will help you feel confident in your abilities to truly grow your students as readers.”

Occasionally, she deviates from literacy tips and speaks more generally to all teachers.

She has 87 episodes at the time of this writing, and she uploads a new show about once a week. I think it’s the best teacher podcast for reading and writing teachers.

Sample Podcast Titles:

stellar teacher podcast - best teacher podcasts

10 Minute Teacher Podcast

I love this podcast from Vicki Davis (@CoolCatTeacher) because my commute is 12 minutes – so short podcasts are key! She has also been very consistent with her recordings for a very long time. She releases a new episode weekly, and she now has almost 800 episodes.

Her podcasts are very conversational, and you’ll hear more ideas from her interview guests than you do from her. She has had some super interesting guests.

Most of her stuff is very practical, so it’s genuinely helpful in a short amount of time.

Sample Podcast Titles: