The Anti-Boring Lab’s Origin Story: My Chat on the Learning Futures Podcast
From time to time, an interview captures something essential about the work of the Anti-Boring Learning Lab — and my recent conversation with Caris Kim on The Learning Futures Podcast felt too rich not to share. Enjoy!
About This Conversation
This episode of The Learning Futures is a conversation with podcaster Caris Kim, who also works in the tech startup world and is deeply curious about how learning works, why students struggle, and what we can do differently. As someone who only recently graduated from college, she brings a wonderfully fresh perspective — especially around how much she wishes she’d learned this science earlier.
(And truth be told, the best part of our talk happened after we stopped recording — when she shared more candidly about the pressures of high-stress academic environments. I won’t share that publicly, but it was a powerful reminder of why students so desperately need academic coaching and executive function support, including honest conversations about how brains learn.)
Highlights From the Conversation
• My “bus stop curriculum” when I was in 5th grade
A funny little glimpse into my early days as a budding teacher — long before I ever trained academic coaches or built the Anti-Boring Learning Lab.
• The winding road from actor/eductor → teacher → academic coach
How I moved from educational theatre (CLIMB Theatre), to teaching, to discovering the world of academic coaching for neurodiverse learners.
• The moment I discovered the science of learning
Everything changed in 2013 when I attended a Learning & the Brain conference and finally learned what research actually says about study skills, memory, and effective learning strategies.
• Why academic coaching isn’t tutoring
We talk about the difference between reteaching content and helping students understand why they’re not learning effectively. This is central to anyone exploring how to become an academic coach or start an academic coaching business.
• Retrieval practice, dual coding, and the “least you need to know”
We get into the core science behind learning — and yes, I quiz Caris live so she can feel the technique, not just hear about it.
• Scaling with humanity
Why I refuse to grow the Lab like a typical edtech company — and instead focus on sustainable, relational growth that supports EF coaches, tutors, and learning specialists.
💡 What You’ll Notice About My ‘Teaching’ Style
A fun fact: I often forget to warn podcast hosts that I’ll likely end up coaching them in real time during the interview. It’s simply how my brain works — and how my tools work — to show AND tell at the same time.
And Caris handled it beautifully.
I’m naming this because if you watch the video, you’ll see me model the same techniques I teach inside the Anti-Boring Learning Lab, especially to educators building their academic coaching or executive function coaching skill sets.
If you watch closely, you’ll notice:
I ask curious questions to spark metacognition
I sneak retrieval practice into the conversation
I model “the least you need to know” to avoid cognitive overload
I teach science through relatable metaphors
I use the Consent Burger (empathy → short teaching → autonomy)
I make vulnerability normal, because learning is emotional
I show what student-centered coaching looks like rather than explaining it
This is my favorite thing to do — what I call the meta-meta conversation:
👉 Not just talking about learning… but watching how we’re learning while we’re learning.
If you’re a tutor, teacher, learning specialist, or someone exploring how to become an academic coach, this interview is full of subtle techniques you can borrow (or avoid!) in your own work.
If anything stands out to you, I’d love to hear what you notice.
Want More Learning to Learn Tools?
Explore our free resource library inside the Anti-Boring Learning Lab — packed with student-tested tools for study skills, executive function, and neurodiverse learners. Here’s a screenshot of what’s in store inside the free library. Just click on the above link or the picture below.
Your Turn
As always, I’m fascinated by how people notice their own learning. So if you spot any coaching moves I used — or if the way I interacted with Caris either supported or disrupted your own processing — let me know below.
Your comments help me keep refining how I teach, train, and talk about learning.